Even Festus looked pale now as he locked eyes with me. “Because it was forged with the blood of the Princes of Hell. It carries an extension of their power.”

  “Shit,” I heard everyone mutter simultaneously.

  “And,” Festus said. “The demons who currently have it rented from the office downstairs, are here.”

  “Do you know what they’re planning to do with it?” I asked, quickly.

  Festus shook his head. “No, but I guarantee you they’re not planning on handing out high-fives.”

  I pulled the brochure out of my pocket and handed it to him. He glanced down at it and then looked at me, questioning. “I really don’t have time for sight-seeing.”

  I ignored him and flipped it open in his hands. I tapped the picture of the Murdock Orphanage. “A bunch of kids were killed there when a chimney flue closed and they died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Would that be of interest to any of these ‘hand-job’ demons?”

  I saw Festus’ fingers tighten their grip on the paper. “Possibly.” He shook his head. “If you could get me close enough, I could probably find out.”

  I looked around at the rest of the group. “Ok, let’s take as few vehicles as we can. We don’t want this to look like a parade.”

  “We get out there, and then what?” Stacks asked.

  I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. Shit plan time. “We need to scout, figure out where the demons are if they’re patrolling, entrances, and exits to the house, where the best cover is, all of that. And it’s daylight, so double-edged sword. We have to be careful about being seen, but we should be able to see what’s happening.”

  “Ok, so we get out there, stash the vehicles, and then scout around the property. Then what? Wait for dark and ambush?” Stacks asked.

  “Why wait for dark?” I said. “If we’re outnumbered, we figure out the best way to even the odds before we ambush. If we’re not outnumbered, blood and spatter, let’s get at ‘er.” I could still feel the itching agitation Jo had given me from Nancy, scratching around in my head. We had intel from Festus, we had a heading, we knew we were going up against demons. Now it was time to get it on.

  “I’ll leave my bike here,” Gabe said.

  “And Rosetta’s Caddie,” I said, glancing over at her. She glared at me and I shrugged. “Sorry Rosetta. It’s too memorable.”

  “What, and that yellow beast isn’t?” she asked, pointing at the Jeep.

  Mick shrugged. “If we’re going into the woods, at least it won’t get high-centered.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “And it looks like the kind of vehicle dudes who live in the woods might drive.”

  Mick paused and I could tell that he was trying to figure out if I’d just insulted him or if I was trying to be helpful. I left him with that mental conundrum and turned my attention to the rest of the crew.

  “So, Lucy and the Jeep. I’ve got Rosetta and Jo, in the cab with me. Where’s everyone else’s ass riding?”

  Five minutes later, Festus, Tags, and Gabe had climbed up and into the backseat of Vince, and Mick’s Jeep and Stacks and Noah were laying down in Lucy’s bed. “And away we go,” I said, backing out of my parking spot.

  “If the young hooligans in this town screw with my Caddie,” Rosetta said. “I”m holding you personally responsible.”

  I sighed. “Rosetta, it’s time for me to tell you. You remember the last time some town hooligans messed with your Caddie and threw a bag of KFC into the back? The baked beans exploded everywhere and there was mac and cheese stuck to your dashboard?”

  “Yeah,” Rosetta said, slowly.

  “That was me,” I said on a sigh. I was instantly thankful for Jo being a buffer between Rosetta and me. “I was drunk. I tripped on that root from the horse chestnut tree behind your house, and I threw my food into your Caddie. It was dark, so I just left it and…”

  “Passed out in my back yard,” Rosetta growled.

  “So don’t worry about your Caddie. No one is going to mess with it.” I sighed. “Man, it feels good to get that off my chest.”

  “See how you feel when it’s Big Joe’s barrel on your chest,” Rosetta muttered.

  Jo sighed. “I just love family vacations.”

  The Murdock Orphanage was five miles out of town. With the GPS on Jo’s phone and the rudimentary map from the brochure, we were able to lead the way without getting lost. We paused when we came up to the turn off for Murdock Road. It was a dirt road leading away from the two-lane pavement we’d been traveling. There was a real estate sign with a red SOLD marker on top with the Shady Lane Developments logo underneath it. Hanging below the Shady Lane Investment logo was a NO TRESPASSING sign.

  “Nice of them to leave out the welcome mat like that,” I said, making the turn and bumping us down the incline on the dirt road. We were met with densely overgrown forest on both sides as we moved further away from the pavement. Grass grew in the middle of the road but I could see tire tracks ahead of us in the dirt. We were definitely late to the party.

  The road suddenly widened and we were on the edge of a clearing. The old two-story house was in front of us and tucked away to our right. I hit the brakes and pumped them twice so behind us, Vince would see we were stopped. There was at least one black SUV parked in front of the house. It could already be too late for stealth if they had their demon antennae up and were keeping an eye out for visitors. But, just in case they were asleep at the wheel, it wouldn’t hurt to use any stealth we had. To my left, there were scattered trees that looked like the product of wind or bird shit, soft soil, and lots of Ohio rain and sunshine. Some grew almost on top of each other while there was a wide gap between a few of them. I turned off the road and bumped us over uneven ground as we wove between trees towards a stand of fir trees that looked like the remains of an old windbreak.

  I pulled behind them, leaving room next to us for the Jeep and I cut the engine. I kicked my door open just as the Jeep rounded the stand and came to stop next to us.

  “What the shit, Bane?” Stacks muttered. He was holding his head and Noah was rubbing his elbows.

  “Sorry, forgot you two were back here,” I said.

  “Sorry,” Stacks mimicked, “I forgot my head was up my ass.”

  “Well, as long as you always know where it is,” I said, slapping the side of Lucy’s bed. I ignored the muttering that followed and popped open Lucy’s toolbox. The others climbed out and we gathered around Lucy. “Ok, so I saw at least one black SUV,” I said, “which we know from previous encounters, is the demon ride of choice. I think we make scouting our first priority. We divide into two teams, and we scout one from either direction. Then, we meet back here to gear up for stage two. So, because we don’t know what kind of shit we’re going to have to climb over, crawl under, or otherwise, I suggest we travel as light as possible.”

  “Agreed,” Gabe said.

  I was still wearing the sword from our trip to the historical society and I decided that was probably good enough for a scouting trip. Rosetta took the stake out of her purse and stuffed it down her cleavage.

  I looked at Jo. “Do you want a weapon?”

  Jo raised an eyebrow and gestured down at herself. “Please.”

  I nodded. “Right. You are a weapon.”

  Vince, Mick, and Gabe were all sporting shoulder-holstered .45s, Tags was stuffing a 9mm down the back of his pants and Noah was digging around in the toolbox. He pulled out two more stakes and handed one to Stacks. I looked at Festus. “What about you?”

  He shook his head. “If we’re captured, I plan to act like I was your prisoner and they’ve freed me.”

  “Really?” I asked. “You think they’ll believe that?”

  “Depending on who they are, it might work. Not every demon in Hell knows that I’m your accountant,” Festus said.

  “And you’re sure that if we can get you close enough, you can tell us what these dinguses are up to?” I asked.

  Festus shrugged. “Reasonably sure.”

  I sighed. “Good enough.” I turned to look at the rest of them. “Ok, teams first. Jo and Festus are coming with me, and...”

  “Wait,” Mick said. “We’re not leaving both supernaturals in the same group without also having some protection in case they decide to change teams mid-battle.”

  “I’d be careful about those rocks I was throwing, if I were you,” Jo said, crossing her arms. “Cynocephali aren’t exactly normals.”

  Mick glared at her. Jo took a step toward him, her eyes beginning to glow blue. She wouldn’t be able to entrance him naturally, because of the animal part of Vince and Mick. Sirens couldn’t attract animals the way they could attract everything else. But she could still fuck with his emotions and piss him off.

  “Ok,” I said, holding a hand up. “Fine. Mick, Jo, Festus, and me.”

  “And me,” Rosetta said.

  I looked at her. “Really? You don’t want to be on the team with Tags?”

  “We’re not joined at the hip, Bane,” Rosetta said.

  “Alrighty,” I said. “So that means Noah, Stacks, Tags, Gabe and Vince are the other team. You all cut a path around to the back of the property from the east,” I pointed back towards the road. “And we’ll take west. When you get behind the house, turn and come back on the same path you took to get there. The goal is to observe and stay hidden. We’re going to try to get Festus close enough to a window or something so that he can figure out what they’re doing so we’ll have an idea of what we’re heading into in stage two. We meet back here in no more than an hour, got it?”

  Everyone nodded and we moved out. Mick was annoyingly close to Jo and I. I could almost feel him breathing down our necks as we moved between trees. Rosetta was out ahead of us, deciding the best way forward. Festus was bringing up the rear, muttering about his suit and how much he hated nature.

  “You know, Mick,” I muttered when we paused behind a couple of spruce trees, waiting for Rosetta to pick the best way forward, “between Jo and Festus, I’m much more certain that Festus will be the one to try to make a break for it or roll on us if we get caught. Do you mind keeping him in front of you and bringing up the rear?”

  Mick hesitated and I held my breath, cutting my eyes to meet Jo’s expression.

  “Fine,” he said after a minute. I heard him lumber off behind us and I closed my eyes for a moment in relief.

  “I honestly thought you were going to say ‘bring up the tail’ for a minute there,” Jo muttered. “And I was actually worried that he might lose his shit on you.”

  “Yeah, stopped myself just in time,” I said.

  We saw a pair of demons sitting in lawn chairs on the west side of the house. One of them appeared to be asleep and the other one was leafing through a magazine. So far, so good.

  Almost the instant I’d thought it, the demon reading the magazine looked up and stared into the woods, directly at where we were standing. “Shit. Freeze,” I whispered. Everyone around me stopped moving. The demon kept starring right at us. Then he reached up with one hand and swatted the back of his neck. “Fucking mosquitoes,” he muttered. He went back to his magazine and I went back to breathing. We could definitely handle two demons. My worry was that they’d sound the alarm and we’d be overrun. Or worse, they’d flee along with the wolf-hand thing. I had no real idea of what it was, but I wasn’t in love with the description of the damn thing that Festus had given us. The blood and power of Hell’s Princes. It sounded ridiculous, but having seen what one of their Dukes could do, I wasn’t looking forward to meeting anyone higher up.

  Rosetta’s floral dress was almost dark enough to read like a bizarre form of camouflage. I could see it moving through the trees ahead of us as she picked her way around a stump. We were getting close to the house now and I could see holes where windows used to be along the backside. I reached behind me and snagged Festus by an arm.

  “Get up here. It’s almost showtime for you,” I said.

  Festus groaned, but he let me pull him up in front. Jo dropped back behind me, giving up her spot on the path to Festus.

  “Now when we get right behind the house,” I whispered, “we’re going to drop down and-”

  Something hit me in the head, knocking me into Festus. We both toppled face-first to the ground. I heard a startled cry from Jo and then a strangled growl from Mick. As fast as I could, I crawled off of Festus and turned around, reaching back for the hilt of my sword.

  There was a huge demon in a suit, not one of the two we’d seen in the lawn chairs. He had a bowie knife to Mick’s throat, his eyes were glowing a bright red, but he seemed frozen in place. I looked at Jo who had her hand out, palm raised against him. Her eyes were glowing blue.

  “Bane, now would be a good time for that sword of yours. He’s fighting me pretty hard,” Jo said through gritted teeth.

  I drew the sword and Mick was able to pull the knife out of the demon’s hand. I swung the blade and took the demon’s head off.

  I looked at Jo. “Did he have anything useful to tell us?”

  She shook her head, frowning. “No, he’s a peon. He doesn’t even know exactly what he’s doing here.”

  “That sounds like your standard demon grunt,” Festus said. I turned to see him slapping at the dust and dirt on his suit pants. “All demons look down on the demons under their rank. My guess is that he was told to patrol and kill anyone he finds.”

  “Well, glad we could make his enlistment dreams come true,” I muttered. Rosetta had hurried back to join us, but seeing that we were fine, she started moving forward again. I shoved Festus ahead of me and I heard Mick clear his throat behind me.

  “Thanks,” Mick muttered. “You could have let him kill me.”

  “Why let an enemy die when you could save a friend?” Jo asked. Her tone was the light hopefulness that I’d known when I first met her. She’d been a lonely girl too, just searching for something to hold onto. But we were polar opposites. As powerful as Jo was, she almost always opted for kindness. Well, unless you were a douchebag. Then, she preferred “just desserts”.

  “I’m sorry,” Mick said. “It’s just...I don’t usually...with supernaturals, you know?”

  “Join the club,” I said to Mick over my shoulder. “But you can’t lump Jo in with the rest of them.”

  We got behind the house and we were about to start working through a plan to pick our way down the hill out of the wooded area when we heard the sound of car engines catching. I motioned to Mick to go back the way we had come.

  “Go see who’s leaving,” I whispered. He nodded and crept back down the path. I shaded my eyes and looked around. From this view, I couldn’t see any demons. Where did they all go? Were there more in the house?

  Mick was creeping back towards us now. I looked at him and held my hands out to ask him “what was up”.

  “They’re gone,” Mick said. “All of them. Even the two that were sitting on the side of the house. Three SUVs just pulled away and headed back towards the main road.” He grinned. “It’s a good thing we hid our trucks.”

  I wished I could feel as relieved as Mick looked. This was worrisome. I had a fucking soul stone in my pocket. A demon beacon. And a demon in tow. And I had the siren they’d tried to take hostage and use as a conduit for an occlusion spell. How much more did I need to bait the hook? Honestly, I’d expected us to get ambushed, not to have the demons all drive away.

  “Ahhhh!” A yell that sounded a hell of a lot like Gabe broke the ambient wood sounds around us as the sound of the SUVs engines faded in the distance.

  “Let’s go!” I said. I took off in the direction I’d heard the yell coming from, feeling confident I was going the right way when I heard another scream that sounded like it had come from either Stacks or Noah. I passed Rosetta who yelled at me to slow down before I blew our cover for any demons that had been left behind.

  At that moment, I didn’t care if they all saw us and started chasing us. The yells had stopped and my heart was now taking their place, pounding inside my head. Had they been silenced? Had they been killed? The hillside crested ahead and I could see the other side was much lower and a deep trough split the hill. I skidded to a stop at the edge and looked down when I heard,

  “Fuck you, Stacks. This is your fault.”

  I paused to evaluate what I was looking at.

  Tags, Vince, Stacks, Mick, and Gabe were up to their chests in a gully, filled with what looked like quicksand.

  “How’s it going?” I called down to them. I looked around at the other side of the hill. No demons that I could see. I glanced back towards the house. No demons storming up the hill, ready to ambush us.

  “How the fuck do you think it’s going?” Tags muttered.

  Rosetta came to a stop next to me. “You heard him cuss, Rosetta. Get him!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Falling on your ass in quicksand, especially at our age, is one instance I’ll give cussing a pass.” She sighed. “Let’s go pull their sorry asses out of there before Hell’s entourage gets back.”

  24

  “How did this even happen?” I asked, shoving the board we’d found towards Gabe. He was the last one to get out of the muck. We’d left him for last because he’d been in quicksand before.

  “Well,” Gabe said, “it started with me saying to Vince, ‘don’t go too close to the edge, it’s a sharp drop-off’ and ended with Vince going too close to the edge, losing his footing and grabbing me. Of course, I instinctively grabbed what was in front of me, which happened to be Stacks. He grabbed Noah and Noah grabbed Tags. Unfortunately, because the two heaviest party members were at the back, we all went over the edge.”

  “Yeah,” Noah muttered. “And Tags’ gun almost gave me a second belly button.”

  “Honestly,” I said. “I’m just sorry I missed seeing that.”

  When they were all out, we stood on the edge of the gully, hands-on-hips, staring at the quicksand.

  “So, why is there quicksand in northern Ohio?” Noah asked. “I thought this crap only happened in deserts.”

  Rosetta snorted. “Quicksand can happen anywhere if the conditions are right.”

 

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