by Lane Mason
Agent Dark: Vegas
DARK PROTECTOR BOOK 2
Copyright
Agent Dark© copyright 2019 Lane Mason
Published: June 2019
Publisher: Magicblood Media Corp
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
End | Author notes
1
Kat
A truckdriver screamed at Kat as she walked down the road. “Why don’t you watch where the fuck you are going? You crazy bitch. Get off the road!”
Kat looked around. She’d been caught up in her own thoughts and had wandered onto the side of the road. She wasn’t really on it, but close enough to get the attention of drivers. Boston was a wonderful town, but the drivers were aggressive and didn’t take kindly to dumb pedestrians. Probably too many tourists taking pictures and not paying attention to where they are walking, Kat thought.
She wasn’t taking pictures, and she’d been living in Boston for a couple months, long enough now to not feel like a tourist, but she was preoccupied. For the last couple nights, she’d been hunting a demon, and the little prick kept getting away. Although little probably wasn’t the right word. The demon looked more like a mutant gorilla than anything human. But for as big as the demon was physically, it had the faintest scent from any demon she’d tracked since figuring out her ability to smell demons. It just went to show, when it came to certain things, size doesn’t matter.
Another driver honked at Kat. Her brow furrowed as she looked around. She was back on the sidewalk. What was his problem? She stared at him as he drove by. He winked at her.
She rolled her eyes. It didn’t matter what city you were in. A large portion of the male population were total douche patrol. Kat gave the driver a single-finger salute, and watched in amusement as his smarmy grin turned into a frown. Pompous dweeb probably thought she was impressed by his car.
And if there was thing that didn’t impress her, it was overpriced, underperforming luxury cars.
Since joining the MBI, Kat had been spoiled when it came to transportation. Her first vehicle had been a sexy little Ducati sports bike which, while amazing, had proven to be less than practical when a gang had attacked her and murdered the poor Ducati.
Her current ride was like a hybrid between a sports car and a tank. The Dodge Demon was incredible, but now that she was making some real money, she wanted her own car, not one that the MBI would take from her if she ever quit. She wanted something special and unique, and she had a plan.
Her thoughts about the car project were interrupted when she caught a whiff of brimstone. She’d found her missing demon.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Kat could follow the scent. Her magic made the odor almost visible. The trail of demon odor was coming from the roof of a nearby building.
She spotted a steel ladder that went all the way to the roof. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to go up the fire escape of the apartments to reach the roof. People tended to have weird opinions of strangers climbing up their fire escapes in the dark. She walked across the road to the ladder and looked around to see if anyone was watching. There was no one walking on the street, and the nearest car was still far enough away that its headlights hadn’t hit her yet. She scampered her way up the ladder.
The scent of demon was still annoyingly weak. She’d have to do some more research into different demon scents. Why this one was so hard to track, she didn’t know, but she planned to kill him tonight. Twice she’d been chasing him only to lose him. Besides being the size of a gorilla, the demon moved like... well, like a demon. A really fast one.
Kat sighed as she reached the top of the ladder. Her high school English teacher wouldn’t be impressed by her description. The demon moved like a demon? She might as well have said the rabbit humped like a rabbit. It was a damn good thing she was a demon hunter and not a writer.
Peering over the edge of the roof, Kat couldn’t see the demon, but it was close. She climbed up until she was standing on the roof. She started to follow the scent again, but it was tricky. The demon had been walking circles on top of the building, zigzagging back and forth as if waiting for someone, or something. Finally, she found the scent.
The demon had jumped over onto the next rooftop.
Kat looked over the edge of the building. It was a good fifteen feet over to the next rooftop. “Goddamn it, demon. You are really starting to be a pain in my ass.” She took a few steps back and then sprinted forward as fast as she could. She jumped across the gap between buildings. She was totally going to make it! Then gravity smiled and said I don’t think so.
She threw her arms out and her fingertips caught on the edge of the rooftop. She dug her fingertips into it and pulled herself up. As she did, she looked up into the ugly face of the demon. “Shit,” she said before the demon grabbed her by the neck.
Once the demon started to lift her, Kat was able to release her grip on the edge of the building. She was going to just pull her gun and shoot the demon full of holy water bullets, but not until she was safely above the roof and not dangling twelve stories above the ground.
Her plan seemed solid until the demon choke-slammed her into the roof. She could hear the roof flex and crack as she crunched into it. Besides the pain of having her body slammed around, the demon was still squeezing her neck like it was wringing the last few drops of juice out of a lemon.
The demon lifted her again so that he could try to slam her through the roof once more, but Kat reached out and poked it in the eyes. Nobody likes being poked in the eyes, not even a demon. It released its grip on her neck and Kat landed back on her feet.
She coughed a couple of times as she forced air back into her lungs, and then she attacked.
She kicked the demon in the leg and then landed a flurry of punches. The demon was barely fazed by her attacks. “You’re a strong bastard,” Kat said.
The demon snarled, a sound more like a dog’s growl than human or gorilla, as she thought of him. It ducked under her roundhouse right and knocked her back towards the edge of the building. She stumbled as one foot went over the edge. She leaned forward and found her balance once more. She saved herself from falling over the edge, but the demon had taken that time to start running again.
“Oh no you don’t,” Kat said as she chased after the demon. He was heading towards the opposite edge of the roof and looked like he planned on jumping across to the next building. While she’d made the first leap of faith, there was zero chance she was jumping onto the next roof, as it looked to be twice as far apart as the last one, which she’d barely survived.
Perhaps she could use her magic. She’d been working on her restraint magic, but had never tried it on a demon. She imagined the demon freezing and waved her hand at it, all while running towards him. The result was unexpected, to say the least. From her hand, magic shot out at the demon and struck him.
Kat stopped.
The demon stopped.
She looked at the web of magic. It looked like a cross between a spider’s web and a lattice of ice. It wasn’t what she’d been trying to do at all. But it had worked. There was a strand of magical ice webbing from the ground to the demon.
The demon struggled for a moment. She’d only hit him on the arm, but he couldn’t free it from the webbin
g. He roared in frustration and started to pull on the webbing, trying to break free, but the webbing held.
Kat started to move forward, drawing her gun.
The demon tugged once more, unable to free itself, then, in a move of completely gross desperation, the demon bit its own arm off.
Kat couldn’t believe her eyes as the one-armed demon jumped off the roof. She lifted her gun and got a shot off as he flew through the air, but before she could get another one off, the demon crashed through a window and was gone from her sight.
Kat walked to the edge of the building and looked across to where the demon had disappeared. It looked like it was still under construction. Hopefully no one was in the building. Although she suspected the demon would disappear again. She turned her attention back to the limb the demon had chewed off. She took out her phone and took a picture. She just got a picture before the arm burst into flames and the webbing disappeared.
Kat shook her head. What a shitshow.
2
Vesper
“Aldo, where are your pants?” Vesper asked.
Aldo looked down and frowned. “I wear pants when I work in the store. I don’t want them getting dirty.”
Vesper sighed. Hiring Aldo had been the best decision she’d ever made. It had also been the worst.
Ever since Kat had sprung her from the evil grasp of Johnny Law, she’d been busier than ever. It seemed that being falsely accused of summoning demons gave her a certain degree of street cred. The shop was busier than ever, and she simply didn’t have time to run the shop by herself. Her first hire had lasted a day. A sweet old lady who didn’t really believe magic was real. She’d fled the moment a werewolf came in complaining that his tail hadn’t fully morphed back. She’d thought it a joke until the werewolf pulled down his pants.
The next hire had been a real witch, but she’d nearly suffered a heart attack when a couple of thugs tried to rob the place.
She and Kat had talked it over. They needed someone who understood magic and could defend themselves, but also wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. And if there was anyone who knew anything about recruiting paranormals, it was Dexter Duvane. She’d called him and explained what she was looking for. The next day, Aldo had shown up. She wasn’t sure how Dexter had come up with someone so quickly, but Kat had mentioned something about Dexter having a side business, but she’d never paid attention before.
When Aldo started working, several things became apparent. First, he wasn’t the friendliest of beings—his personality could aptly be described as dour. Second, while he understood magic, he was horrid at making potions. A mix-up reading labels had almost turned a harmless charm potion into a bomb. After that, she kept him out of the workshop and strictly in the storefront.
However, Aldo was a dwarf. Like an actual one from Unreha, not just a vertically challenged human. He was also the Bob Ross of tile. A genius with a rock cutter. Basically, he was a godsend for the house renovations. And he really liked doing it. No cajoling necessary. Kat had her pet projects that she liked and was good at, but her general carpentry skills were lacking.
Of course, the fact that Aldo seemed to like working half naked was a little strange, but strange she could handle, as long as he didn’t go full Monty. She wasn’t ready for a dwarven anatomy lesson just yet.
“You know what, Aldo? You’re right. Pants are overrated when we’re not at the shop. Now, how can I help you get this done?”
Aldo looked at the bathroom wall and then at Vesper. “Have you considered what carpet you want in the bedroom?”
Vesper nodded. “Right. I’ll go look at that.” Sometimes she didn’t understand her new employee, but one thing she did understand was the piss off, I’m trying to work here look he was giving her.
Instead of heading to the bedroom as Aldo had suggested, she instead headed downstairs. She could use a drink after spending too much time with the dwarf. He sucked the joy right out of working with someone else. No witty banter, no crude suggestive jokes, not even an unintentional innuendo. Basically, no fun.
As she was pouring herself a glass of wine, Kat arrived. Vesper took one look at her friend and grabbed a second glass. She poured Kat a full glass. “You look like you got dragged through a briar patch and then was ran over with a lawn mower.”
Kat accepted the wine. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a herd of buffalo, and then ran over with the lawn mower.”
Vesper frowned. “I don’t think that makes sense. A herd of buffalo followed by a lawn mower? Where are you going to find a herd of buffalo anyway?”
Kat took a long drink before replying. “Says the woman who put a lawn mower with a briar patch.”
Vesper ignored the remark. Kat was obviously jealous she hadn’t thought of it. “So, what happened?”
“I got my ass handed to me. Stupid demon jumping off rooftops like a damn gorilla. I thought if he could do it, I could do it.”
“I’m gathering it didn’t work out like that,” Vesper said between sips of her wine. Kat wasn’t really a complainer, but she always felt better after a good vent. The key was to keep asking her questions until she got to the real issue.
“No. I barely made it to the second rooftop. I was hanging there, holding on by the tips of my fingers, and who pops up but the damn gorilla.”
“There was a gorilla?”
“Demon that looked like a gorilla,” Kat said with a glare.
Vesper nodded. “I see.”
“So the damn gorilla... damn demon grabbed me by the neck and tried to flatten me into the roof. I swore the whole building was going to come down.”
“What happened then?”
“I gave him the three stooges,” Kat said.
Vesper grinned. The stooges were a classic. She pretended to poke someone in the eyes. “Boink! Then you kicked his ass, right?”
“And then I tried to, but he was tough. He could take a punch better than Whitney Houston.”
Vesper’s brow furrowed. “That’s low, Kat, even for you.”
“Fine, the damn gorilla demon could take a punch better than George Foreman. And he probably made a better sandwich.”
“Don’t be silly. You don’t get your own grill without being able to make a great sandwich. Anyway, the big gorilla demon was really tough. Did you just end up shooting him?”
“He started to run, so I started chasing after him. And then it happened.”
Vesper nodded. They were finally getting to whatever was really bugging Kat.
“I wanted to do a restraint spell, but I was running, and instead of freezing him, I ended up casting a frozen web that stuck his arm to the ground. He couldn’t break free at all—well, until he chewed his own arm off and then jumped to the next roof.”
“That’s gross. The demon really chewed its own arm off?” Vesper knew that what was bugging Kat wasn’t a demon doing something gross to escape. No, the second she’d said “web,” Vesper had known what was wrong. Kat hated the S word.
Kat shivered. “Damn it, Vesper, this isn’t funny. You know how I feel about spiders. What if my magical powers mean I have some sort of weird spider genetics? I DO NOT want to be a web slinger.”
“Why not? You can’t be worse than Toby Maguire. Besides, don’t think of it as webbing. That was probably just your imagination at work. Why don’t you try it now and we’ll see what it really is?”
Kat’s face scrunched up. “Do we have to?”
Vesper nodded. “Kat, your draia powers are growing, and the Council said you’d have some unique abilities. If this is it, you really need to understand them.”
Kat sighed. “Fine. But you have to clean up the mess. I am not cleaning freaky magic spider webs, even if I made them.”
“This time,” Vesper said.
Kat focused on one of the kitchen table’s chairs. She waved her hand, and there was a momentary magical glow around the chair, but no magic spider webs. Kat cursed in an entirely unladylike way that impressed Vesper before trying aga
in. The second attempt also failed. She walked over and inspected the chair. “Well, I don’t know how useful a restraint spell is against a chair, but I can’t do it.”
Vesper smiled. “Maybe it didn’t work because you’re all stressed out by the spider thing. Perhaps we can try again tomorrow. Maybe you should contact Bern Mevdi and ask if any of the draia families have weird spider web powers.”
Kat frowned. “I could do that, but I got the impression that the whole ‘which family you belong to’ thing meant a lot to the Council. I think maybe I’ll keep that on the low until we’ve figured out exactly what it is. I wouldn’t mind doing a little research on the draia families before revealing any special powers. Learning who my real family is might not be a good thing.”
“That’s logical. Perhaps Dexter can help us with that.”
“Ya, I’ll call him tomorrow. What were you working on today? Can I help?”
Vesper poured more wine into Kat’s glass. “Actually, I was working on the bathroom reno. But Aldo wanted some space to work his magic, so technically we are doing our job by keeping ourselves otherwise occupied. I’m thinking the best thing we can do right now is drink more wine.”
Kat sipped her wine. “I can work with that.”
3
Kat
Determined not to let the previous night’s incident bother her, Kat focused on the task at hand. There was still a creepy gorilla demon out there, and she needed to find it.
Seeing how she was having trouble with tracking its scent, she would have to do things the old-fashioned way: call a tech wizard.
“Henry speaking.”
“Hey, Henry, it’s Kat. I need some help.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I’m trying to track a demon. He’s proving to be very elusive.”
“Was that you last night? There were witnesses of a woman climbing a fire escape, and the construction company called the cops this morning. Apparently, someone jumped through the window of the building. Although they can’t figure out how it happened. You didn’t throw a demon off a rooftop, did you?”
