Dan's Inferno, Book IV: Vengeance

by Jan Stryvant

  "Daniel!" Takett came over and shook hands, a rather stunning doe under his arm. "I didn't see you come in!"

  "Just got here," Dan said with a smile and took a drink of his beer.

  "Yeah, I heard you thanking everybody. So when do we go after that Wiles asshole?"

  "Soon," Dan said. "I want to give him the chance to just pick up and go."

  "I don't know, Dan. He doesn't strike me as the type to give up and move on."

  "Maybe Friday, then? It'd be a good excuse for a long party over the weekend."

  Takett smiled and gave the doe he had his arm around a little squeeze. "You know, that sounds like a plan. I'll let the boys over there," he nodded towards the back of the bar, "know to keep Friday open. I gotta tell ya, today took balls and brains. That was slick, real slick. I knew I picked a winner!"

  "Thanks, Takett."

  "Shit, Dan, call me Josh! You've sure as hell earned that right! Night, Boss!"

  "Night!" Dan said and saluted him with the mug as Takett went back to the table he'd been sitting at in the back. Fawn came over and hugged him from behind.

  "They really do like him," Fawn said with a chuckle. "And they definitely like you.

  "You know," Fawn continued in a whisper as she leaned down and put her lips by his ear, "Tig is rather taken with you as well."

  "Yeah, I think I might ask her to come back with us," Dan whispered back. "She is kinda cute, but…"

  "But?" Fawn asked with a giggle.

  "She's gonna have to wait until I've dealt with the five of you."

  "Are you gonna make her watch?"

  "That would be cruel," Dan whispered back with a snicker.

  "So, that's a yes?"

  Pushback

  Dan opened his eyes slowly and stared at the ceiling as he stretched in bed. He wondered what time it was. Hell, he wondered what day it was! He and the girls had had quite the party when they got back to the house last night, or whenever that was.

  Sitting up slowly, he looked around. None of the girls were in bed with him. Tig, however, was passed out on the padded bench at the foot of the bed. Which was odd because he didn't remember having sex with her at all.

  Getting out of bed, he snagged a pair of sweatpants and decided to head down to the kitchen and get something to drink. Rubbing his belly, he noticed that Weson was almost completely gone. He wondered how much of his magical abilities he'd gained? He still felt stronger after eating that idiot back at Fawn's home, so hopefully he'd gained a lot, and it wouldn't wear off.

  He still had Godfrey to deal with, after all.

  Heading downstairs he heard voices from the playroom as he made his way to the kitchen.

  "Afternoon!" Marion said cheerfully. "Can I cook you something?"

  "Right now I need a large glass of something to drink," Dan said, and gave her a hug.

  "Sure! Oh, Boris asked me to tell you he's okay with the situation, and he's got a couple of names for you, when you've got a few minutes free," she said, pulling out a pitcher filling a large plastic cup from it.

  Dan nodded and took the cup when she handed it to him, drained half of it, then held it out for a refill as she smiled.

  "There you go!"

  "Thanks," he said, smiling back at her. Turning, he made his way down to the playroom.

  "Hey, what's up with Tig?" he asked as he stepped into the room, yawning. "She's all passed out, and I never even touched her." He noticed George and Sheila in the room and smiled. "Hey, you two, nice to see ya."

  "Tig's passed out because she's a rakshasa," Lofn said.

  "And that matters why?" Dan asked and took a drink from his cup.

  "Rakshasa feed off emotions, and last night she tapped into all of us," Lofn said with a smile.

  "We overwhelmed her," Olivia said with a smirk. "Though I daresay when she comes to, you're going to be getting a lot of attention from her!"

  Dan rolled his eyes. "What time is it? And is it Wednesday? I seem to have lost track."

  The girls all snickered.

  "It's a little after four," George said.

  "Ah, okay. Sorry to ignore you like that; someone should have woken me up and told me you were here," Dan said, taking another drink.

  "Eh, not like I got anyplace else to go right now," George said with a heavy sigh.

  Dan stopped drinking and lowered the cup, looking at George.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Dad's on the warpath," George said, and Dan couldn't miss the hug Sheila gave him.

  "His father starting calling at six this morning, wanting to know where George was," Fawn said with a frown. "I told him to call him himself, but apparently somebody wasn't answering his phone."

  George looked a little embarrassed. "I sent him a text telling him I was busy, and I'd talk to him later, and I guess he figured out who I was busy with." George turned and smiled at Sheila, and she smiled back.

  "Anyway," George continued. "I'm not looking forward to the fireworks when I get home."

  "You haven't talked to him?" Dan asked.

  "I called him back this morning, around eight…"

  "After I begged him to, because his father was calling like every fifteen fucking minutes," Fawn grumbled.

  "Anyway, there was a lot of yelling involved, and I told him I was tired, and I didn't recall him getting this upset when I was spending the night with Cynthia, and he said, 'Well, she wasn't a demon!'"

  "More like he screamed it," Sheila said with a heavy sigh.

  "So yeah, not looking forward to the epic fight that's waiting back home."

  "Damn, that sucks, dude," Dan said, sitting on the couch between Wrath and Olivia. "You're free to hang out here, but you're gonna have to face him sooner or later."

  "Yeah, I know. Listen, is it okay if Sheila stays here? I sure as hell don't want my father to see her, and this is a lot closer than Dogtown."

  Dan nodded and yawned while stretching a little. "Not a problem. Mi casa, su casa; you know that, George."

  "Thanks, Dan. I just don't know what his problem is. Yeah, sure, Sheila's a cerberus! It's not like I'm dating a vampire or a succubus, or something, no offense, Lofn."

  "None taken!" Lofn said with a warm smile. "I know we have a bit of a rep."

  "Wait, did I hear the word 'dating' there?" Dan asked and noticed that both of them blushed a little and nodded.

  "Yeah, we didn't just spend the night screwing," Sheila said, and this time George did blush a little more.

  "She reads the same manga I do," George admitted with a shy grin.

  "And we both play Star Citizen," Sheila said, blushing more as well.

  "Demons are into sci-fi games?" Dan asked with a chuckle. "That's just…different."

  "I'm a bit of a nerd," Sheila admitted.

  "So yeah, we're dating, and I honestly don't give a damn what she is. She's my girlfriend, and that's all that matters," George said fiercely.

  "Do you need to learn any defensive spells before you go home?" Lofn asked.

  George shook his head. "I don't think he'd do anything like that to me…" George stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment.

  "What is it?" Dan asked.

  "Last night before we split from the Zoo, Takett took me aside and taught me a protection from mental domination spell. Said it was 'just to be safe—-seeing as you're running off with a demon.' Suddenly I'm wondering if that's the real reason he showed it to me."

  "Well, I'd suggest you use it before you head on over," Lofn said.

  "Yeah, but what do I tell my dad if he asks about it?"

  "Tell him you did it because you wanted to be sure no one was influencing you, of course," Lofn said with a smile.

  "Yeah, then ask him why he's trying to!" Wrath growled.

  George nodded and got up off of the loveseat he and Shelia were sitting on, and Sheila stood up as well.

  "I guess I need to go face the music. But I just wanted to check with you before I did," George said.

  "Don't worry, I
'll ride to the rescue if things get bad enough we can hear it from here," Dan joked.

  "Damn, I hope it doesn't get that bad."

  "Just be careful, okay?" Sheila said, hugging him.

  George kissed her, and Dan was impressed at how she pressed into him. He'd picked up enough about cerberus body language from Olivia to know that she was obviously into his friend.

  "I will," George said, smiling at her, then he waved to the rest of them and went out the back door.

  "Fawn, call Herman right now and let him know we're meeting at six to discuss the situation with Wiles. Then call the others and get us a reservation."

  Fawn pulled out her cellphone and started dialing.

  "What's the rush?" Olivia asked.

  "It'll put Herman off balance when George shows up. It'll also limit how long he can scream at him."

  "You don't think he's going to do something to George, do you?" Sheila asked, looking worried.

  "I don't think Herman's capable of that kind of thing," Dan said with a shake of his head, "but George is my friend, and I've got his back in this."

  They listened as Fawn got Herman on the phone; they could hear he wasn't happy about the sudden meeting, but he agreed to it. They also knew when George showed up, as he said he had to go and hung up the phone.

  "Well, it's out of our hands now," Fawn said and called the others.

  "What are we going to do about Godfrey?" Aella asked.

  "I'm not sure yet," Dan admitted. "I'd rather just push him out than have to kill him, if only because it'll save us the effort of having to launch an attack."

  "Takett doesn't think he's going to go willingly," Aella pointed out.

  "And Takett is a lot more perceptive than we've given him credit for," Lofn said.

  "You think he knows about Dan?" Olivia asked.

  "I'm sure he suspects, but I'm not sure he really cares. Maybe if Daniel was a full demon, he might care, but even then?" She shrugged.

  "We're getting off track here," Wrath said. "The question is, what do we do about Godfrey?"

  "I think we need to find out exactly how much Estaca knows about him, his people, his organization, all that," Aella said. "She's told us she's been watching him."

  "Okay, I guess we'll talk to her tonight or tomorrow," Dan said. "What else?"

  "This might be a good time to ask them for advice," Lofn said.

  Wrath nodded. "Yeah, that's part of why they're there, right?"

  "It would also show them that you're interested in what they have to say and make them feel more invested in you."

  "Okay, they'll all be there," Fawn said putting her phone away. "I invited Layton, too."

  "I thought we weren't going to make him an advisor?" Olivia said.

  "I figured any mage who's willing to go to the Zoo and buy his people a round of drinks is someone we want to get to know better," Fawn said with a grin.

  "Such an uppity little ewe," Olivia said with a dramatic sigh.

  "Still, she has a point you know," Dan said.

  "She always does," the others said, and then grinned at Fawn as she preened a little.

  "Whatever we do, I don't think the movie thing is going to work for us again," Wrath said. "I pretty much used up a lot of my blackmail material doing that, and I don't think our Daniel here is going to like me going out and getting anymore."

  "Maybe we should have tried to grab Yvette, too," Dan mused.

  "We could always tell Miss Delight she has to do it for us as a part of her tithe for living here," Aella suggested.

  "Hey, did anybody hear whether or not Yvette died?" Fawn asked suddenly.

  "I've been in bed doing better things," Dan said with a wink.

  "Why wouldn't she? Weson's dead."

  "She was the only one not in the building other than Mika, wasn't she?"

  "That reminds me," Wrath said. "You need to make sure whoever we hire to clean up that mess works for us. Otherwise somebody's going to say something about all the bones inside."

  "Oh! Shit!" Fawn jumped up. "I'm on it! I'll be in my office!" she called back as she ran out of the room.

  "Let's all get cleaned up and dressed. It's a bit of a ride to Claim Jumpers. Sheila, you're welcome to stay; I'll make sure Marion tells Boris that you're a guest so he doesn't bother you."

  Sheila nodded.

  "Dan! I didn't expect to hear from you for another day at least!" Takett said, entering the room. Dan had opted to get there first, mainly because he was hungry. Lofn and Fawn were playing security tonight out in the main part of the restaurant, Lofn more because of her ability to detect strong emotions than wanting to put the others at ease.

  "Have a seat, Josh, and honestly, I wanted to get the ball rolling on this. The sooner I consolidate my position, the sooner we can bring some stability back to the area."

  "Good point," he agreed.

  Layton and Royce showed up shortly thereafter.

  "Wonder what's taking Stidham so long?" Royce asked after a few minutes.

  "Apparently his son hooked up with a cerberus, and he's not happy about it," Olivia said with a snicker.

  "Ouch," Royce said and winced.

  "I don't know, she sure looked like a little hottie to me," Takett said with a grin.

  "Not everyone has the same freewheeling approach to life that you do, Takett," Royce said with a laugh.

  "You know he's going to blame you," Takett said, looking over at Dan.

  "Why's that? Because he's my best friend and I have five demon wives? Or because I made him part of yesterday's fight and had him working with them all day?"

  "Yes," Takett said and grinned.

  Dan shook his head and was about to say something when Herman walked in.

  "Sorry I'm late," he huffed. "Family issues."

  "Right," Dan said. "Have a seat and let's get started. First, thanks for your help yesterday; we got in and out nice and quick with no loss of life on our part."

  "Weson is dead, right?" Layton asked.

  Dan nodded. "Killed him myself, along with his right hand man Dave. I know Miles was in the building, so he's gone as well. Yvette wasn't, though she somehow survived, but I haven't looked into that at all."

  "What about the other three, Mika, Rafferty, and that new guy, the businessman?" Royce asked.

  "I decided to help Mika out, and he's working for me now," Dan said. "I haven't heard anything on the other two. They might have been in the building, they might not. Weson never expected us to attack in broad daylight, so a lot of his crew wasn't there."

  "Didn't Weson have some sort of cursed ring that would kill them if he died?" Herman asked.

  Dan nodded. "Yup. I'm pretty familiar with it—my father stole one of them from him, and I ended up with it. I was able to free Mika from it before it killed him, which is why he's working for me now. As to the rest of them?" Dan shrugged. "Again, it might have to do with the way I killed Weson."

  "Which was?"

  "Slowly," Dan said with a smile.

  Herman frowned at that. "That sounds like something a demon would do!"

  Dan snorted. "After the way he tortured my mother and father to death, you have the nerve to say that? I labored under that curse for months before I managed to break it. Weson deserved what he got. He tortured a lot of people, including one of my wives.

  "Now, let's move on to why we're here: Godfrey Wiles. I'm still considering meeting with him and giving him a chance to clear out peacefully."

  "Not going to ask him to work for you?" Royce asked.

  Dan shook his head. "I don't think he's the kind of man I want working for me. I also don't think he's the type who'd be willing to take the job."

  "I think we should just kill him and be done with it," Takett said. "I don't think he'll take kindly to Dan telling him to shove off. All he's going to see is a kid and figure he can beat him."

  Layton snorted. "That's stupid."

  "Why's that stupid?" Herman asked.

  "Because he couldn't b
eat Weson in three years, and our boss there got rid of him in a single afternoon," Takett said. "Jesus, Stidham, you've known Dan his whole life, surely you've realized he's no longer a kid, he's someone to reckon with."

  "I'm not sure I approve of his alliances with all these demons," Herman said.

  "Ah, you're just upset because your son spent the night banging some cerberus!" Takett snickered, causing Herman to get very red in the face.

  "Gentlemen!" Dan said, rapping his knuckles loudly on the table. "You're getting off point. We're here to talk about Godfrey, not trade barbs."

  "Sorry, boss," Takett said with a chuckle.

  Herman didn't say anything, just giving a snort.

  "I think Takett's right about Wiles," Layton said. "I've done some research on him. He's originally from the Isle of Man, worked for the guy running that, and eventually ended up running for his life when he tried to double cross his boss and take over. He's very much from the 'kill your way to the top' school of things."

  "So not very trustworthy," Royce said.

  "Yeah, he even killed his own son. Not sure what happened to his wife and daughter, but they're obviously not with him anymore."

  Dan sighed. "Great, just what we don't need. I want stability, not constant warfare. I think we've had enough of that."

  Dan looked around the table. "I'm open to any and all ideas and suggestions you've got. If you've got something now, let me hear it; otherwise, go home, think about it, and give me whatever you have tomorrow."

  "How soon are you going after him?" Royce asked.

  "Friday would be great. Saturday is okay. Nothing later than Sunday," Dan told them.

  "That's pretty ambitious," Herman said with a frown.

  "So was what we did with Weson, and notice that it worked," Wrath said. "Now, ideas?"

  Dan listened as Royce, Takett, and Layton bandied ideas back and forth, but nobody had anything solid.

  "Okay," Dan said and held up his hand. "I'm going to spend the rest of the night getting some more intelligence on Godfrey and his situation. I'll send it to you when I'm done, then tomorrow we'll see what we've all come up with. Okay?"

  Everyone nodded, though Herman was maybe a little slower than the others.