by Ren Hamilton
But he was an open wound to the responsibility he felt for these recent tragedies. It was Michaels who’d taken matters into his own hands and chosen the risky endeavor to open the Cripulet, yet he’d since taken the stance that this was all somehow Litner’s fault. Litner agreed with Michaels on some level. He never should have told his boss about the Cripulet at all—and certainly not in trade for that piece of shit Joey Duvaine, regardless of Patrick’s request. Therefore, he did feel it was his personal responsibility if another of those followers died.
Finally Shep stepped back into the room, holding a briefcase. He frowned at Litner where he sat on the floor, disheveled from running his fingers anxiously through his short white hair. Shep glanced at his desk, then his eyes darted around the room. “You didn’t even go through my stuff? I’m stunned.”
Agent Litner stood. “What took you so long? People are dying out there, you brought this upon us all, you could at least take it seriously!”
Shep placed a hand on his chest. “I brought this upon us? I wasn’t the one in the cave playing ring the doorbell and run with the Cripulet. That was your crew. Now come on, let’s go.”
He turned and walked toward the door, Litner following. “Where are we going?”
When they stepped back out into the hall under the chandelier, Margol was there with a blindfold. “Put it on him,” Shep said, and Litner allowed the creepy redheaded brother to wrap the thing around his eyes. “We’re heading down to Beantown, Agent. And we have to move fast.”
****
Shep hadn’t been kidding about moving fast. After stumbling blind through corridors and up several sets of stairs, Litner felt a cold blast of air hit him, and the deafening rumble of an engine. By the time Shep removed his blindfold they were flying high over the peaks of green mountains in a small passenger airplane. Stunned, he turned around in his seat, and saw Margol and Klee in the back of the plane, sitting across from each other, engaged in a game of cards. Juris lay flat on his back along another row of seats, sucking languidly on a lollypop, his white curls hanging over into the aisle.
Directly opposite Litner at the front, Joey and Shep huddled over a map, speaking softly to each other, Shep’s pretty face folded in a scowl. Glancing at the cockpit door, Litner asked, “Who’s flying this thing?”
Shep’s eyes lifted. “Henry, an employee of mine. Why?”
Shuffling over to the aisle seat, he leaned toward Shep. “Is he a pilot?”
“No, he’s a dance instructor. Of course he’s a fucking pilot. What’s your problem?”
Litner glanced back at the brothers, then at Joey, who scribbled on the map with a red marker. “Is the pilot in danger from this thing we’re hunting?”
Shep’s face relaxed and he went back to looking over Joey’s shoulder. “Oh. No, he’s just a guy that likes my money. We haven’t enchanted any new followers if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Litner let out a breath. “Great. Then we only have to worry about the fifty-odd leftover from your last grab for omnipotence.”
Joey’s blue eyes flicked to Litner, then Shep. “He gonna talk the whole way? He’s so annoying. You guys have only been with him a little while, I spent all morning with this fucker.”
While Shep had been almost cordial thus far—for Shep, that is—Joey was vigilant in reminding Litner he was still an enemy here. The unrelenting hostility from the former cult leader was unnerving, but Litner met his gaze without flinching. He’d interrogated plenty of terrorists, psychopaths, and monsters in his time, and there was no way he’d be intimidated by a spoiled asshole like Duvaine, celestial blood powers or not. Refusing to show an inkling of discomfort, he moved across the aisle and climbed into the seat in front of them, leaning over and looking down at the map. “Have you come up with a plan?”
Shep nodded. “More or less.”
“You suck!” Margol shouted from the back of the plane, and Klee giggled as his brother tossed his hand of cards at him. “Rematch.”
“And everyone had to come along for this?” Litner asked, eyeing the brothers.
“I need my brothers’ help to deal with this thing, and I need Joey’s brain. Plus Joey’s in danger from that thing; I’m not letting him out of my sight.”
“Aw,” Joey said. “You wuvs me.”
“Are you going to fill me in anytime soon about what you know?” Litner asked, struggling not to raise his voice. In his job and in his life, he was privy to being in control. Flying umpteen thousand feet through the air with four unearthly beings and a megalomaniac messiah was about as out of control as it got.
Shep leaned back against the window, drumming his fingers on his stomach, his sandy curls tied back with a red bandana. “That thing on your recording is a former colleague of mine. From the old place. When I took my crew and headed here fifty years ago, our post was left open. Powers from another sector had to defend against an outside attack. Their leader is called Preet. He’s the one killing the followers.”
Litner shook his head. “It’s a Power? But it doesn’t...” He glanced at the brothers in the back. “It doesn’t look anything like the rest of you.”
“What, the glowy bit? He’s different than when I knew him. He’s been enhanced. But incidentally, we don’t all look alike. You should see the Powers assigned to some of the other worlds. Weird alien looking motherfuckers, you’d be amazed.”
“I’m concerned about this world at the moment,” Litner said. “What do you mean by enhanced?”
“I learned from sources over the years that he was injured in the attack, but because he defended the sector under unprecedented circumstances, he was promoted. He’s been infused with The Light and made an assassin.”
“And who exactly does he assassinate?”
“Anyone or anything that threatens The Light.”
Litner frowned. “Don’t you Powers do that anyway?”
“We push threats out and let enemies know what we can do to them if they don’t back off. That usually does the trick; we don’t kill unless there’s no choice. If a threat is unrelenting, it goes to an assassin, a celestial with the power to destroy almost any lifeform. With their enhancements and infusion of The Light, they can adjust their physical configuration to customize their defenses. For instance, that beam sword thing he’s using to cause heart attacks in human beings. He’s likely configured that for this mission specifically; he certainly doesn’t confront any flesh and blood beings in the byways. This is how I know he came here specifically to kill people.”
“How do we stop him?”
Shep tightened his lips and sighed through his nose. “It won’t be easy. This isn’t some mindless killing tool; he’s got it out for me and I’m sure he’s got it in his head that destroying my work here is a noble pursuit. Assassins have never, ever attacked humans though. It’s just not done. So I sincerely doubt this is an official mission. Preet is not following orders. He’s more than likely doing this on his own steam.”
“Does it make a difference why he’s doing it?” Litner asked.
Shep laughed, a quick squeak. “Um, yeah, you want to hope he’s doing this on his own, otherwise we may expect more of his kind once we neutralize him. But one problem at a time. Regardless, he can’t be killed in the state he’s in, so we’ll have to weaken him.”
“How?”
Shep smiled. “Let’s just say I plan to utilize the home field advantage. But first we have to find him. Joey? Dazzle us with your genius.”
Joey turned in his seat, spreading the map out. “Here’s Pearl Chasm, where he came through,” he said, tapping the pen on a red circle he’d drawn. “After that he went straight to Worcester and killed Carlos. Makes sense, he was right in his path. However, he then skipped over Debbie Tallman and Tyler Macdonald who live here,” he tapped a red dot on the map, “in Northborough. Which I thought was weird, they were right in his path after Carlos, he should have gotten to them next. Instead, he moved straight past them and got Brin-Marie in Frami
ngham.”
Litner studied the map. “Why did he skip those other followers?”
“Well,” Joey said, “he then kept heading east and took out Max, here, in Newton, skipped another follower, Isaac, who lived in the same town, and went straight for Devin over here in Weston. So I started thinking about his choices.” Joey lifted his head and looked at Litner. “All the followers were blood infected, but my enchantment enhanced them each differently, depending on how much contact we had. Carlos and Devin were both part time bodyguards for me, I spent a lot of time with them. Brin-Marie was Shep’s assistant, she was with us all the time. And Max was my running partner. I knew Debbie and Tyler and Isaac of course, but didn’t spend personal time with them. So it would seem that Shep’s buddy Preet is seeking out the most infected followers first. The ones most tainted with my essence.”
Litner looked at the map. “Okay.”
“But,” Joey continued, “these dots here indicate the followers who’ve moved out of Massachusetts since the Forest Bluffs raid. We’ve got Kim Stahl living in Rhode Island now, but she hasn’t been touched, even though it would have taken no time to reach her from Pearl Chasm. And she’s more tainted than any of them. Which would indicate it’s sticking to one state at a time. Hell, if we’d been still living in Mass it probably would have gone after us first.”
“Why is this Kim in Rhode Island more tainted than the others?” Litner asked.
“Because,” Shep said, “Joey was a naughty little messiah and made out with her on several occasions behind my back.”
“Not this again. Come on Shep, it’s not like I fucked her.”
“Nooo,” Shep said. “But you did play tonsil tennis with her, getting lots of your magical spit in her mouth. You saw what happened to Kelinda, we’re lucky Kim didn’t become a problem too.”
Joey dropped the map and raised his hands. “Can we reprimand me about this later, please? I mean,” he gestured to the map, “trying to save your ass here.”
Shep grunted, then waved a hand for him to continue.
Joey looked at Litner. “So its last stop was in Weston. We can now safely assume it’s heading for Boston.” He smacked the map with his pen.
Agent Litner stiffened. “Patrick and Kelinda.”
“Yes,” Joey said. “And we all know the two of them are about as tainted with my essence as it gets. Broken bond or not, my essence is still within them. It would have been a tough call to narrow down who the assassin would go after first. Kelinda got totally dosed by sleeping with me, but Patrick, as my former Shield, had direct blood connection after our bonding ceremony.”
“However,” Shep said, “after investigating, which we were doing while you waited in my suite throwing a fit, we learned that two weeks ago, one Kelinda Wade moved to Connecticut with her new, doctor boyfriend.”
“Oh man,” Joey said, grinning. “Do you think Kelinda’s new boyfriend is someone she met at the mental institution? How messed up would that be?”
“Guy was probably banging her while she was still in the rubber room,” Juris offered from the back.
Klee broke into high-pitched giggles.
Litner looked at Joey, then Shep. “It’s Patrick then.”
Shep’s eyes grew serious. “Yes. He’ll be going after Patrick next.”
“We have to warn him,” Litner said, pulling his phone out.
Shep raised a hand. “We will, we will. But I don’t want Obrien taking off; we need to use him as bait if we’re gonna stop this thing, and I don’t want to hear any whining about it, Litner, it’s the only way. So far Preet’s struck at night. I read your reports; everyone was in their bed. We have some time. Patrick needs to stay at home tonight. We’ll all be there with him, waiting.”
“Won’t this Preet sense your presence there?” Litner asked.
“He’ll have Patrick in his sights already.” Shep shrugged. “If we’re all in the same place, he’ll probably just assume Patrick’s taint is that strong, I doubt he’ll be able to discern. But if he does, he’ll still go straight for that location to get me. Either way we’ll trap him.”
Litner’s brow furrowed. “How?”
“When the time comes, my brothers and I will do our thing. Preet is powerful, very powerful in his current state. But he’s not supposed to visit the physical realm, and he’s unaccustomed to the physical world. He’s arrogant, and surely thinks nothing in this realm can touch him. I plan to take advantage of that.”
“That tells me basically nothing,” Litner said.
“You’re gonna have to trust me.” Shep widened his eyes. “We can stop him from killing anyone else. Does it really matter to you how we do it? And no one, and I mean no one, Agent Litner, is to interfere. Frankly I’d like it if you weren’t even there.”
He shook his head. “Patrick won’t let you in without me. He’s going to be beyond unhappy to see you as it is.”
“I know,” he said, waving fingers at Litner. “I realize that. I’m leaving it up to you to brief him, and make sure his crybaby ass understands what’s at stake here.”
Litner frowned at his phone. Patrick was holding a slight grudge that Litner hadn’t helped him find Robin, but they still saw each other on occasion. Mainly because Patrick had few friends now and Litner lured him over to his house with pizza and beer. He hoped it wouldn’t be a problem convincing him to let a gaggle of his arch enemies into his apartment. But being speared through the heart with a celestial sword was definitely a worse alternative.
“Once Preet sees me, I guarantee his focus will be off Patrick, at least long enough for us to do our thing,” Shep said. “Understand, Litner, this isn’t just about being instructed to clean up my mess, in fact I doubt that’s it at all. This being hates me. He hated me in the old place, before I ever left. He hated that I was so much better than everyone else. It drove him nuts, made him really competitive.”
“Well,” Litner huffed. “At least he couldn’t compete with your ego.”
Shep grinned. “Ooh, the spook’s gotten mouthy since last we saw him, hasn’t he, boys?”
“Yeah,” Joey said. “Next time he mouths off, let me melt his shoes.”
“No,” Shep said. “You’re not ready.”
“The fuck I’m not! I melted shit with my mind all afternoon yesterday, don’t tell me I’m not ready, Shepherd. Juris, tell him!”
Shep whapped him lightly in the back of the head. “Can we please not discuss our personal shit in front of outsiders? Joseph? Dumbass?”
Joey pulled back from Shep, scowling. “I figured out where to find your assassin friend, I’m not a dumbass.”
“Dumbass,” Margol muttered from the back.
“Hey fuck you, Margol!” Joey shouted, twisting his body and peering over the seats. “Don’t start with me today, I swear—”
“Dumbass,” Margol repeated, and Shep grabbed Joey as he tried to climb over the seat.
Something from Patrick Obrien’s report came back to haunt Litner now. When this strange group got together, they devolved into a bickering, abusive, dysfunctional family. They were nearly unendurable. The only thing that kept his anxiety from overflowing was Joey’s skill in pinpointing their enemy. It was the first time he’d seen Duvaine use his intelligence for something other than deceit. He hoped that frightening intellect of his paid off.
Moving back across the aisle to his original seat, he found Patrick’s number in his phone. Looking across at Shep and Joey, he held a hand up. “I need to tell Patrick the bad news. It will probably go easier if he doesn’t hear any of you in the background. Think you can manage that?”
“Manage this, asshole,” Juris said, raising his middle finger as he chewed the last of his lollypop.
“Juris!” Shep said. “Shut up. Everyone be quiet while he’s on the phone or you’re gonna get the back of my hand.”
The cabin quieted, save for Juris’s candy chewing and the hum of engines. After a last glance around, he dialed Patrick and brought the phone to his
ear.
Chapter Five
They’d gotten settled and across town later than anticipated, and it was already dark when they got to Patrick’s Boston apartment. They arrived at the rear entrance, and he opened the door looking flushed in khakis and a white button-down shirt that flattered his muscular physique, short reddish blond hair stiffened with gel. His jaw fell as he looked past Litner to Shep, then he let out a puff of air as his eyes found the others. “Are you kidding me with this? I mean are you kidding me, Litner? You had to bring all of them?”
Shep pushed past Litner into the apartment, Patrick’s stare following him. “Why are you still in your work clothes?” Shep asked. “Better change into jammies, Obrien, it’s almost bedtime.”
The rest of them trailed in after Shep, Joey giving Patrick an elbow shove as he went by. Agent Litner put a hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “Let’s just get through this, okay?”
Patrick grimaced, then waved him in, closing the door.
Shep circled the living room, eyeing the furniture. “We should move this sofa back against the wall,” he said. Margol and Klee immediately went to work on it. “Get rid of the coffee table too, I want a clear space in the center of the room.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Patrick shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I thought you were briefed?” Joey said.
Patrick sneered at him. “Yeah, I was briefed, Joey, not that I’ve had time to process that some monster is coming to kill me. Shep, why are you moving my furniture?”
Margol and Klee finished moving the sofa, chairs, and coffee table to the perimeters. Juris crept up behind Patrick and poked the back of his neck with a finger. Patrick whirled around.
“Boo,” Juris said.
