He scowled. “I know that! I don’t care. Who are these people to me? It’s just…what if Charise had been caught by these guys. It would have been nice to have a heads-up.”
“Oh, excuse me,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Let’s certainly not get Charise of all people consumed by undead Vikings.”
“Hey, bitch.” Charise pointed her talon of a finger in Shabiri’s face. “Shut your damned mouth.”
Shabiri blinked slowly before darting her hand out around Charise’s neck and lifting her up. Charise scrabbled at Shabiri’s hand with everything she had, but Shabiri easily raised her higher, one-handed, as Charise choked and kicked her feet uselessly.
“Put her down, Shabiri,” said Doug in a stern tone.
“Doug, tell your side-thing that she needs to treat me with a tad more respect.”
“Put her down.”
Shabiri turned toward him, her eyes beginning to glow a bright green. When she smiled, her mouth was far wider than it should have been with more teeth that were sharp like a shark’s. “You can only order me around so much, dear Doug, before I snap!” She shook Charise, whose face was turning blue.
“Please, Shabiri…” he said.
The demon seemed to relent and slowly lowered her before letting her go. Charise fell to the ground, grabbing at her neck and gasping.
Doug was too busy facing off with Shabiri to notice Bob on his knees, with his arm around Charise, wiping away her tears.
“That’s not how this works,” said Doug, eyes narrow, fists trembling at his sides.
“Are you sure?” Shabiri wasn’t winded. Of course not. She was a demon. “Are you sure you know anything, Doug?”
He marched to the kitchen, grabbed the salt shaker, and heaved it at her. She vanished with a curl of black smoke. The shaker hit the front door and shattered.
Doug ran a hand over his mouth and beard, before pivoting to stare at Ed.
“Well,” he said after a time, “it looks like we have a difference of opinion. How do I know that these Draugr are out there doing what you say they are?”
Ed and I gave him withering looks. Kind of hard to answer, Doug, when our mouths are taped up.
He must have realized it, too, because he stepped forward and tore off Ed’s tape.
“You hit me, you son of a bitch. I’m charging you with assault on an officer.”
“Blah, blah, blah.” Doug mimed a talking puppet with his fingers. “Later, I’m sure. What are Draugr?”
“Kylie knows more.”
“I’m not taking off the gag. She might call her demon.”
Ed looked at me then. And I could see the swirl of emotions in his eyes. Her demon. He took a deep breath. “I saw them. I fought them. They’re…really undead. Walking corpses. Zombies. They have swords and axes, and they aren’t easy to stop. And they’re still out there. They go for anything with gold. Anything. They bit off the fingers of the Warrens to get at their wedding rings.”
Charise gasped and reached for the cache of gold necklaces at her throat.
“Yeah,” said Ed. “Anything. But if they get their hoard back, maybe they’ll stop and…go back to wherever they came from.”
“They could be from Kylie’s book.”
“They aren’t. And what is she saying about Baphomet? Did you really summon him?”
Doug looked defensive. “Look, maybe we got a little ahead of ourselves with him. We thought he was doing things for us. Turns out it was really Shabiri. I guess…she kind of goaded us into summoning him. We didn’t know…” He rubbed at his beard.
“Did you hear the sirens last night? That was your pal Baphomet. He wiped out the Harrisons, the Norrises, and the Greeleys. Their whole families, all in one go. That’s your fault, Doug. You summoned him. God knows how many others he’ll kill.”
“What? You’re lying.”
“He killed them all! Blew them up. Their houses are nothing but cinders. Chris Norris was the only survivor, and over sixty percent of his body is burned. He’s gonna wish he didn’t make it.”
Doug wore an expression of shock and terror. “We just want the book,” he said distantly.
I hoped he saw me roll my eyes with all the disdain I could muster.
“I’m pretty sure Kylie must have told you that the book is attached to her…with all the problems that come with it.”
“I can’t believe she told you.”
“She kind of had to when the assassin demon showed up right in front of me.”
“What assassin demon?”
“Seriously? You might as well confess to that, too. Because when I get out of this, I am going to kick your ass so hard, you’d be lucky if there’s anything left of you to throw in jail.”
Something hardened in Doug’s eyes, all the empathy seeming to wash away. “Then maybe we shouldn’t let you go.”
“You haven’t got the balls.”
“Oh, yeah? You know, you’ve been a thorn in my side all my life. I wouldn’t mind if you just disappeared.”
“And what would you tell Mom and Pop? You are a piece of work, Doug. Oh, it’s all very biblical, but I repeat: you don’t have the balls.”
I screamed behind my tape and rocked my chair violently back and forth. Ed, you are such an idiot! Don’t bait him!
They both stared at me like I was crazy!
“So these zombies,” said Doug, back to business. “What about them? Are they out there right now?”
Ed shook his head. “They come out at night. They rise when the sun sets and disappear when the sun rises.”
“Fine. So, if we put the two of you outside, maybe with a little gold chain on you, they’ll come?”
Ed gritted his teeth. “Don’t even try it.”
Doug clapped his hands together. “Sounds like a plan to me!”
I threw my head back on my shoulders. Great. Just great. I fall into the middle of sibling rivalry and get eaten by zombies because these two can’t shut the hell up. I scowled as hard as I could at Ed who suddenly refused to look at me.
We sat taped to our chairs while the Fantastic Four played video games and drank beer all afternoon. The scintillating conversation was just about killing me with boredom. And I was achy and sore and hungry. I wondered if Jeff would worry about me being gone so long. Or Erasmus. But I was with Ed so I was safe, right?
Ed turned to me and said quietly, “I’m sorry about this. I didn’t think Doug would…I’m sorry.”
So much I wanted to ask. Especially about Charise. What did Ed ever see in her? Maybe it was just what happened in small towns where there weren’t enough girls to go around.
“Looks like the sun’s going down.” Doug rose and stretched. Something I longed to do. “And there’s a mist rising. Let’s see what happens when we put the bait out for the zombies. Take ‘em, boys.”
Dean and Bob managed to grab Ed, chair and all, and drag him outside, knocking him down each stair as they went. Doug and Charise lifted me, Charise’s nails biting into my arm, the be-yotch.
They placed us right outside the mobile home in full view of Doug’s big living room window.
“Oh, and we’ll need this.” Doug snatched the necklaces off of Charise’s neck. She yowled her unhappiness. “Shut up, Charise. I’ll buy you better ones.” He dropped them over my head and crouched in front of me. “You know, that spear you stole from me, Gáe Bulg, the Spear of Mortal Pain? It won’t seem to come to me anymore. That wasn’t cool, girl. Not cool at all. If you get out of this alive, we’ll have to discuss this further.”
They left us there in the cold as the sky darkened and mist slithered over the gravel drive.
I kept pushing on the duct tape with my tongue, trying to dislodge it, while Ed concentrated on struggling with his bonds. I tried to communicate with my eyes and through muffled sounds. If only he would call out for Erasmus, maybe he’d come. But I supposed that was the last thing he’d ever do.
I glanced toward the picture window; the gang was
all there, snug inside while we began to freeze. We both had coats on, but they did little to protect against the wind. Night was falling, and the shadows in the woods around us seemed to be growing denser with the dark. But it was that persistent mist creeping toward us that was making me most nervous.
When the sun abruptly dropped behind the hills, all was cast in gray. Did the Ordo really mean to kill us? Had Ed unwittingly goaded them to the next level?
I tried to move my arms in earnest, but they were taped tight to the chair. I glanced at the window. Charise was smiling. Dean’s face was bright in anticipation. I guess he wanted to see zombies in the flesh or only half-believed in them. Bob looked vaguely interested in the proceedings. But Doug’s expression was the most inscrutable. Maybe he hated Ed as much as Ed seemed to hate him. How could it have gotten so bad between brothers?
A movement at the edge of the woods caught my attention and I stilled, straining my eyes to discern what it was in the falling light. Maybe a deer. A squirrel. It didn’t move again, which made me think it might have been my imagination until something else in a different part of the woods drew my eye. There was definitely something moving over there.
I screamed at Ed through my tape.
He turned and saw it too, then struggled hard and glared up at the window. “This isn’t funny anymore, Doug. Something is coming!”
Doug moved closer to the window and looked where we were looking. Charise pressed her nose to the glass, leaving greasy smears.
I heard branches and twigs snapping. Something was coming out of the shadowy mist. Oh, God. They were coming out of the trees.
“Goddammit, Doug!” cried Ed. “I’m not kidding!”
But Doug and company just stood at the window, watching it all unfold.
The forest seemed to tremble as they stepped closer. And then the first one breached the dense growth. I saw the boot step on the grass at the edge…and drag a large battle axe over the sharp line of dark and light.
I had to get free of this damned chair. The only way to do that was to break it, which was definitely going to hurt. I set my feet firmly to the ground and shoved back. Since my legs were also taped to the chair legs, it wasn’t easy. I pushed down hard on the balls of my feet until the chair teetered back.
Come on, Chosen Host skills, I urged in my head.
I rocked forward again, and this time, when I shoved back, I planned to give it more momentum. Ed saw what I was doing and mirrored me.
One big shove and I was careening over. The chair smacked hard on the ground, which hurt my lower back but didn’t manage to break me free. Dammit! Now what?
The Draugr with the battle axe was drawing closer. The axe blade dragged along the ground and over the gravel, making a scraping sound. More were coming out of the forest, all heading straight for us.
Even Charise, pressed to the window, had lost her smile. And Doug seemed shocked. I guess he hadn’t quite believed it either. He signaled to the Ordo; they left the window and came out onto the front porch.
I struggled, trying to roll the chair and loosen its joints. Anything to dislodge the tape. I smacked into a big rock in his front garden—a place of weeds and dead shrubs marked off by a row of rocks of all sizes. One of the chair legs cracked. I heaved back and did it again. The leg broke off, freeing my leg. I snatched a glance over my shoulder and spotted the Draugr lumbering toward me, slowly raising his axe.
Chapter Fifteen
I only had one leg free. Not as good as an arm. But with a leg I could at least maneuver the chair back toward the rock. I slammed it back, trapping my upper arm in the process. Did that ever hurt like a son of a bitch! But I thought I heard it crack…or was it my bone? Hopefully not. I needed my arm free. I rolled on my back, further cracking the chair so I could begin to loosen my arm.
Something made me turn just as the axe come down toward me. I ducked my head and rolled right at the Viking, taking his legs out from under him. My nose filled with the stench of rotted flesh. I wasn’t quite free, though, and so I rolled away, trying to slam myself back again to crack the chair completely.
My arm was suddenly free. It snapped up without my telling it to, grabbing the axe handle I hadn’t noticed whooshing toward me. My Chosen Host strength held the weapon at bay, while the Draugr breathed his foul breath right in my face. I stared up into his empty eyes—just open, gooey sockets—and gritted my teeth as I pushed the axe back and away. He looked slightly perplexed that I had been able to do that, but was winding up to strike again when his head blew off.
Bits of Draugr covered me. I swiveled. Doug was standing on the porch, smoke coming from Ed’s rifle in his hand.
I reached up and tore the duct tape off of my mouth. “Erasmus!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
Suddenly, a dark shape moved with lightning speed between the Vikings, cutting their legs out from under them. They fell like bowling pins. Doug fired again, aiming for their heads—maybe he watched a lot of zombie movies—and felled several, which was good since the ones Erasmus had stopped were already getting up again.
I was able to tear the rest of the tape off my body and jump to my feet. Ed was still struggling with his chair on the ground. He’d been doing the same thing I had done to try and get free. I stopped him and ripped off the rest of his tape. He kicked his chair aside and reached for his gun in his holster, since the Ordo hadn’t bothered taking it.
Ed was aiming straight-armed at the zombie heads, too, backing away toward the porch. “Come on, Kylie,” he urged. “In the house!”
Doug was still shooting as we shoved our way through the Ordo back inside.
My phone buzzed. I automatically grabbed it, worried some other thing had befallen the coven. When I saw it was Jeff, I put it to my ear.
“Jeff, is everyone all right?”
“Where are you? Everyone’s here at your grandpa’s.”
“We ran into a little trouble with the Ordo.”
“The who?”
“The guys who beat you up?”
“I’ll tell Doc, then. You want our help?”
“Oh, shit!” A battle axe came swooping down at me. I feinted to the right and kicked out with my left foot. The zombie went down. Someone fired their gun right near my head. Now my ear was ringing.
“Kylie? What the hell’s going on? Was that a gunshot?”
I pushed the headless zombie off of me. Eww. “Just a little problem with the Draugr. The Ordo is sort of helping.”
“Kylie, I can wolf out and come help you.”
“No! Just stay where you are. Stay!”
“That isn’t funny.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I’ll tell Doc.” And then he hung up.
Doug shot a few more rounds, then slid back through the door, locking it and shoving a chair against it.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “I guess I didn’t believe you.”
I punched his arm. “You son of a bitch! You could have gotten us killed!”
“Not with your super powers, sweetheart.”
I glanced out the window to my chair. It was splintered to pieces. “I did that?”
“And like super-fast.”
But it hadn’t been fast at all. Did my perception of time slow in Chosen Host mode? Weird.
Charise was suddenly in my face, hand out. “I want them back.”
Her necklaces. I disentangled them from the amulet and threw them at her feet. “Take them. I don’t want them.”
Out of the corner of my eye I could tell she was winding up to punch me, but without even looking I stopped her fist in my hand. I tightened my grip and turned to her. Her dark red lips twisted with a wince. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” When I tossed her hand away, she nearly fell over.
“And as for the rest of you,” I said, spearing them all with my glare, “do you believe us now? That those monsters out there are here because of you? They’ve killed…because of you!”
The Ordo exchanged glances.
“But�
��but Shabiri said…” Bob began.
Dean shook his head. “I think we listen too much to Shabiri.”
I blew my hair off my forehead. “The first smart thing you’ve ever said.”
“Shabiri has done a lot for us,” said Doug.
Ed shot forward and grabbed his rifle out of Doug’s hand. And then he decked Doug right onto his smelly, avocado-green shag carpet. “I can’t even begin to add up the counts against you.”
I straightened my jacket, still watching Erasmus kick Draugr butt, only to have the Vikings continue to get up again. “If the Ordo helps us now, that will go a long way toward forgiving the charges.”
“No, it won’t!” Ed was staring at me incredulously.
“We have bigger fish to fry, Ed. Draugr, Baphomet, Andras?”
Doug straightened, rubbing his bearded jaw. “Who’s this Andras?”
“He’s the assassin you sent to get me.”
“We never sent an assassin. We figured our Lord Baphomet would do his will.”
“Don’t say his name,” I muttered absently, thinking.
“Doug, are you really telling the truth this time?” asked Ed, gripping the rifle tightly.
Doug stayed on the ground, resting his arm on his upraised knee. “Yeah, I’m really telling the truth. I don’t know this Andras dude.”
If Doug hadn’t conjured him, then that put it back on Ruth.
I watched out the window as the Draugr suddenly seemed to lose interest in Erasmus and the fight. They all turned away at the same time and trudged back into the woods. But now I worried about some other hapless farmhouse. Would another family end up like the Warrens?
Erasmus stood alone in the yard, shoulders heaving as he watched them depart. Then he turned toward the window. His eyes zeroed in on mine.
One minute he was out there, the next standing in front of me. He took me by the shoulders, hauled me in, and kissed me fiercely.
After a moment, Erasmus let me go…and Doug burst out laughing. “Oh bro! No wonder you’re so butthurt and angry. Girlfriend’s gone demon on you.”
Shadows in the Mist Page 15
