The Complete Protected by the Damned Series

by Michael Todd

  Damian hung up and shook his head, glancing up as the ghost hunters carried their video equipment to the van. Two of them looked as shocked as Eric, but the leader didn’t seem to be fazed at all.

  “I gotta go talk to them really fast,” Damian told Eric. “Just stay here and relax for a minute.”

  “I will not argue with you,” Eric replied, shaking his head.

  Damian got out of the SUV and walked over to the three, watching them put the last of their equipment in the van. When the leader turned around he shook Damian’s hand, excited about the footage they had gotten.

  “Thanks for everything,” he said.

  “No problem,” Damian replied. “I just need you guys to remember to make sure that neither my face nor Eric’s is on any of those videos you release, or you and I will have another discussion—and I’ll bring Katie with me.”

  “Right,” they all said, terrified.

  Eric chuckled; his window was down, so he heard them talking. Damian went back to the SUV and climbed into the driver’s seat, then started the car and headed out of the neighborhood.

  He realized Eric was staring at him with his eyebrows raised.

  “What?” Damian asked.

  “Why would you threaten them with Katie?”

  “Because you aren’t as impressive as she is when it comes to scaring people,” Damian replied. “Trust me, they’ve seen what she can do, and they do not want to mess with what they saw.”

  “I don’t doubt you in the least,” Eric agreed.

  Stephanie sat there for a moment trying to figure out the best way to contact Korbin, since he was probably still in his meeting.

  She sent him a text first, telling him it was vital he call her before he left the general. She sat there for fifteen minutes waiting for a call, a text, anything to show he had seen that, but he didn’t respond at all.

  Finally she picked up the phone and dialed his number.

  “Yes,” he answered abruptly. “I am in the middle of a very important meeting right now.”

  “Damian and Eric went out on a possession call a bit ago,” Stephanie explained, momentarily ignoring his piss-poor attitude. “When they had finished—successfully—they called and told me about a new game on the market called Mirror Mirror. It allows you to contact spirits, and that game was how the demon got into this kid’s body. It is sold all over the world, or so it said when I looked it up.”

  Korbin, voice still terse, asked. “How does he know it was the game?”

  “The demon told him before he shoved him back to hell,” Stephanie replied dryly. “The kids thought they were going to contact the girl’s grandmother, but that wasn’t what happened at all.”

  “Jesus,” Korbin replied, sighing over the phone. “What a fucking mess. All right, thanks for letting me know, I’ll approach the general about it.”

  “Oh, and Korbin?” Stephanie said quickly before he hung up.

  “Yeah?” he asked, obviously ready to end the call.

  “You would think that by now, between work and the personal thing you would trust my judgment enough to not question me or be nasty when I think there is a good enough reason to interrupt you,” she told him. “Next time remember that.”

  She hung up.

  Korbin pulled the phone from his ear and looked at the screen, surprised by Stephanie’s reaction.

  He hadn’t meant to disrespect her, but now that he thought about it he could see exactly why she might be upset with him. He went back to the table and sat down, waiting for a good moment to interject. When the general finished with the topic he was on, Korbin spoke.

  “That was a call from the team that went out on a demon exorcism,” Korbin announced. “Apparently there is a new game out there called Mirror Mirror, and it’s allowing demons to jump into bodies. My priest just exorcised a high-school-aged girl.”

  The general growled, mangling his cigar, and slammed his fist on the table. “Goddamn it! So, what? We now have to worry about a fucking game that has gone national?”

  “Actually it’s gone international, from what I’ve been told,” Korbin replied.

  The general turned to Colonel Jehovivich. “I want you on a bird, and by that I mean an airplane…or hell, a fucking bird—whatever will get you to this company right now to shut it the fuck down. Then I want to understand what it’s gonna take to pull that game out of circulation immediately.”

  “Yes, sir,” she replied, standing up.

  The general watched as she quickly gathered her things and raced from the room. When the door shut behind her he leaned forward, rubbing his face. His unlit and barely-intact cigar was now in his hand.

  “I cannot believe the kind of bullshit luck we have been having on a daily basis,” he told them. Every time he turned around there was something insane happening.

  He looked at Korbin, who was shaking his head in irritation. “With all the fucking problems we have, you’re telling me now that somehow our fellow idiots…I mean, Americans, have introduced a way to pull demons through a game?” The general groaned and leaned his head against the back of his chair.

  He looked at the men in suits. “I think this meeting is over. You two, schedule your arrival with Katie before you leave. I’ve got to get to my office and attempt to pull children’s games off the shelves before we have a rash of insane twelve-year-olds running around.”

  Everyone shook the general’s hand and he stomped out of the room. Katie looked at Korbin and Calvin, who shrugged.

  “We should be at your base by Thursday afternoon,” Butler told them.

  “Sounds good.” Katie nodded. “It’s time to make some weapons, ‘cause I got a list a mile long of demons waiting for one between the eyes.”

  Chapter 6

  Katie, Korbin, and Calvin walked out of the building and stopped outside for a minute before heading toward the chopper. Korbin looked grumpy as hell and was staring into space. Katie tilted her head and stepped in front of him, then waved her hand in front of his face.

  “You in there, chief?” she asked.

  Korbin’s eyes focused on her and he sighed. “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Stephanie snapped at me for being short with her on the phone,” Korbin grumped. “She called in the middle of a meeting, so it was a natural reaction. She acted like a jilted girlfriend, which was exactly what I was trying to avoid. That was why I didn’t want to ask her out. I didn’t want there to be any weirdness in the kitchen.”

  “Stephanie reacted perfectly naturally,” Katie replied. “She didn’t react like a girlfriend, she reacted like a human who just got her ass jumped because she was doing her job. I would be sad for her if she hadn’t said something smart back to you. Hell, I would have fucking let you have it with both barrels.”

  Katie blew a wisp of hair out of her face. “You have to remember that she took care of her own business—and straightened ours out—well before we ever asked her to. You aren’t thinking before you react. Sometimes you forget that we are under stress too, Korbin, and that when you snap at us we want to kick you in the teeth.”

  “You’re right.” Korbin sighed and glanced around. “I’ve been out of my element lately; I’ll be the first to admit it. Working with the government has thrown me off. I have been here a long time, at least for a demon hunter, so I know what the government has done to us. Acting like it never happened and moving forward with this alliance is difficult for me. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

  “You cannot continue to think that way,” Katie told him. “I understand it’s important to be cautious. I get that—and I am being cautious—but it’s not a good thing when you are constantly looking for something wrong and taking it out on your own people. You need to take a deep breath and believe that right now this is the best option we have. We need to stick together as a team here, Korbin, so that if the worst happens we still have each other. Otherwise we are all as good as dead. Most of the time it’s
not the skill that wins battles, it’s teamwork—and ours is top-notch because we are friends.”

  “I know,” Korbin agreed. “And now I need to figure out how to apologize to Stephanie—and actually get her to accept it.”

  “Don’t make excuses,” Calvin supplied. “That’s one of the biggest things; you don’t want to make excuses for your behavior. No matter why you did it, you want her to know you feel bad for snapping at her.. Otherwise it’s just going to get worse.”

  Katie turned to him, surprise evident on her face. “Look at you, knowing about women.” She laughed.

  “I know a thing or two from my past life,” he told her, straightening his shirt. “I can be a real gentleman when I want to be.”

  Speaking of gentlemen. Pandora preened. There were at least six very hot men commenting on the bodacious body that walked past them a minute ago.

  I need to come here more often, Katie replied. I mean, seriously…a girl could grow a huge head here.

  Or give it. Pandora giggled. I do know that we just made a deal with the human equivalent of the devil and we got checked out by at least ten men while we were here, which means a celebration is in order.

  “I suggest donuts,” Katie exclaimed excitedly…and aloud.

  Korbin and Calvin stopped talking and looked at Katie in confusion. She was smiling to herself, kicking rocks and not paying them any attention.

  “You think I should get donuts for Stephanie?” Korbin asked. “I didn’t think she was a huge fan, but if you think she is I’m not gonna argue.”

  Katie looked at the guys. Once she realized that she had said that out loud there was no going back. She was hell-bent on getting delicious donuts, something Pandora hadn’t asked for in at least a week.

  “Well, sure.” Katie smiled. “Every girl loves sugar. You can give them to Stephanie too, but I’m suggesting I need donuts right now.”

  “What, are we gonna land the chopper on the roof of a donut shop?” Calvin asked. “You want us to climb down ladders, maybe?”

  “No.” Katie giggled. “Hold on one second.”

  She walked over to a group of airmen who were watching from a distance. It looked like she was flirting with them, but Korbin and Calvin couldn’t hear what she said. Finally one of them came over and handed her something small.

  She kissed him on the cheek before walking back toward Calvin and Korbin. When she reached them, she revealed the set of keys in her hand. They went to the parking lot and beeped the alarm until finally they found his SUV in the back corner.

  “So?” Katie asked, climbing into the back seat.

  “Absolutely,” Calvin agreed, putting the car in drive.

  “You can always count me in for donuts,” Korbin assured them.

  Calvin headed into the small town that bordered the base and finally found a locally-owned donut shop.

  Katie was like a kid in a candy shop, and Korbin was determined to take a ton of donuts back to the base. He now had it in his head that he would win Stephanie back with the cream-filled chocolate glazed. They ended up leaving the place with five dozen donuts.

  These better not be those damned potato-flour ones, Pandora grumped. They don’t heat up well. They just get mushy. It’s so gross.

  “Excuse me.” Katie addressed the girl behind the counter. “Do these donuts warm up well?”

  “They sure do.” She smiled. “I heat mine almost every morning.”

  She gets to eat donuts every morning? Pandora scoffed. That lucky fucking bitch! Why couldn’t I have entered her body? I could be in donut heaven every day and never have to worry about fighting other demons with bitchy attitudes.

  Forget the donut every morning and your comment about my attitude, and think about how tomorrow morning you will be able to warm the donut up and savor every delicious bite. That is if they don’t all get eaten tonight, Katie replied. They promised that these donuts are good for heating up, and I doubt they’d lie to me. They see the truth I am seeking, and I have found it for you, so can we go now? We need to get back to base before the demon war is over.

  Yes, yes, Pandora griped. Pushing me and shit. Besides, if they are lying I will exact revenge. I know how to hang people from hooks and torture them with hot oil. I know how to remove every piece of skin while keeping the person alive long enough to feel the pain. I am not against waterboarding, but I don’t use water. I use blood.

  Whoa, whoa, crazy ass. Katie chuckled. You need to keep a lid on your homicidal tendencies while you are in my body.

  Hey, when you lie to me, you are asking for capital punishment, Pandora growled.

  You demons are hypocrites, Katie told her. Every single one of you goes out and lies, lies, lies to everyone you meet, but let someone do it to you and you fly off the handle. Peeling skin off bodies and trying to kill people—I think you need to think about your attitude, young lady.

  Pandora gasped. You are patronizing me. How dare you?

  I am not patronizing you. Katie laughed. I’m just letting you know that you are bat-shit crazy.

  I can show you crazy, Pandora assured her. I can make you see tiny pink elephants and create some disease where you strip naked anytime you are in public. I can see you now, running around with your titties bouncing up and down, screaming about the pink elephants chasing you. It would be fucking hilarious.

  And you would be right there inside me, Katie ground out. We could ride off to the crazy house together where they don’t have donuts…or anything else edible either. It’s also pretty noisy, and they make you wear a uniform.

  Dammit, Pandora growled. Your logic has thwarted me again. I will get you one of these days.

  She started to cackle like a mad scientist and Katie had to turn away from the others and hold back her laugh.

  At least Pandora had a sense of humor.

  The general watched from the next room as Katie, Calvin, and Korbin borrowed a car and headed toward the town. He couldn’t quite figure out what they would want in town, but then again he really didn’t care. He’d stayed behind to have a couple of words with the two contractors. He knew they weren’t going to be as helpful as they had seemed in the meeting.

  “Guys!” the general called, stepping into the lobby.

  “General,” the two men returned, nodding.

  “May I have a word with you for just a moment?”

  “Sure,” they responded and followed him back into the room.

  General Brushwood closed the doors behind him and looked both of them up and down. The smile faded from his face and he pulled a fresh cigar out of his pocket and stuck the end in his mouth. The guys looked at each other, then back at the general.

  “I want to make something clear to you gentlemen,” he told them. “I am not in any way trying to get you to learn everything Katie’s people can do so you can steal it.”

  “We know…”

  “If that lady…” the general interrupted and pointed to the west. “If she so much as believes that you are trying to steal her stuff? I can promise you that you will be very sorry. Imagine what would happen if she grew a nail six inches long and stuck it up your ass?”

  They looked at the general with wide eyes and then at each other, swallowing hard.

  “So,” the general continued, “if your bosses suggest you need to do some spying, tell them to stop that shit right there. If you find that they don’t want to stop, get me involved. If you don’t and your lives are snuffed out in some horrible fashion, expect nothing more than an unmarked grave out in the desert. And guess what?” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You will already be out in the desert, so they won’t have to go very far to dump your bodies.”

  “Everything is coming together perfectly,” T’Chezz announced as he paced around Moloch’s office. “I didn’t realize it was possible to fight fire with fire. They went in there and showed those Damned assholes who was boss. They may not have killed all of them like I wanted them to, but they sent the message that I will not back d
own. I will not run because they have some silly little weapons that hurt. We are fucking demons, for Lucifer’s sake. We will show them who is stronger and smarter, and we are not afraid to die.”

  Moloch watched as T’Chezz wandered back and forth, his thoughts reeling with exquisite battle scenes.

  Never mind that he was giving no credit to Moloch and his people; the ones who actually did the killing.

  Instead, T’Chezz was getting a larger and larger ego, and had now shifted his attention to how to make his effort more expansive.

  “We could train so many like this,” T’Chezz continued, his arms wide. “We could build an army, and they would wipe out these bastards so fast the humans wouldn’t even know what had hit them. I will be the master of that world. I will rain blood on their fragile little bodies, laughing all the way. I will take Earth over, and Lucifer will be more than happy to give me a seat at the level that I belong on.”

  Moloch lifted his naked and scaly black brow and let out a deep sigh, but he decided to just let him get it out of his system.

  Moloch could have squashed T’Chezz in a heartbeat, but at that moment the lesser demon was the perfect one to get him closer to winning on Earth. T’Chezz had already put in a lot of work, and he wasn’t going to stop there. Moloch just had to keep T’Chezz from doing something stupid.

  “We should invade Chicago,” T’Chezz blurted, nodding to himself.

  Like that.

  “You are quite the ambitious one,” Moloch exclaimed. “That is a quality all leaders have. You remind me of a younger version of myself. But I think that until we get a stronger army, we should stick to smaller towns—maybe a thousand humans to begin with. Something that is not close to any of the merc bases. Something off by itself.”

  “Yesss… You are right.” T’Chezz nodded. “Make sure that I am ready; it is better that way. Thank you, Moloch, for your guidance.”

  T’Chezz wasn’t even looking in Moloch’s direction.