by J. C. Diem
“They won’t want to tell me,” she said reluctantly. I’d spent some time with her every day, showing her how to mask her power so she wouldn’t draw unwanted attention. Harley still had to wear his ring, but she was getting better at masking her allure. She’d shown far less improvement at utilizing the other aspects of her talents. I sensed she was reluctant to use her ability to talk to the trees and to command plants to do her bidding. The horror of using them to kill the men who had attacked her a decade ago still haunted her.
“They’ll have to,” Pru said briskly, rallying herself. Using so much magic in such a short space of time was helping her to build her strength. She would never rival Ari in power, but she was becoming far more adept at casting enchantments. She’d grown used to the added boost the brooch gave her and wore it far more often now. The only time she took it off was when she slept or when she was in the shower.
“We need to lure the trolls here before they return and start eating the townsfolk again,” Rudy added.
“You can convince them, Asha,” Harley said confidently. “You know what’s at stake here.”
She looked at Leroy, waiting for his input. “I’m looking forward to Jake unleashing me on our enemies,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I’m going to tear those trolls to pieces.”
“Have faith in yourself, darlin’,” I urged. “We’ve been brought together for a reason. We’re meant to protect the humans who can’t protect themselves.”
“Will you come with me?” she asked in a small voice.
“We’ll all go,” Harley said. His protective urge still hadn’t gone away and she sent him a grateful smile. So far, he wasn’t aware of her crush on him. He was used to working with an all-male team and working with women was new to him. His old unit had been more like a military team and we were far more casual. I would step in if he became aware that the dryad was attracted to him. Until she specified otherwise, I was going to steer everyone away from urging her to begin dating.
Skirting around what Rudy jokingly called the killing field where Pru had laid our traps, we headed for the oak tree at the front of the house. The leaves began to rustle even before we reached it. I could sense its anticipation and knew it had news for Asha.
“Go ahead,” Pru urged her gently, as if she sensed the vegetation’s rising tension.
The dryad placed her hands on the oak and closed her eyes. Her shoulders hunched when she let down her guard. “They’re agitated,” she said in a low voice. “They say danger is coming.” She listened to the whispers no one else could hear, then gasped and took her hands away from the trunk. “The trolls are nearly here,” she said, eyes snapping open in panic. “There’s a lot more than just one now and they’ll be here two days from now.”
“What a surprise,” Rudy said with a total lack of amazement. “It’ll be the first night of the full moon by then.”
“Did the tree show you where their lair is?” I asked.
“No. They don’t want me anywhere it.”
“You don’t have to go anywhere near it,” I told her. “The boys and I will be the bait. You and Pru can wait here where you’ll be safe.” The leaves rustled again as if the oak had heard me. From the information they were able to gather and pass on to each other, it was highly probable that it had.
Placing her hands on the trunk again, Asha addressed the tree. “Show me where the trolls’ lair is,” she commanded. Its branches swayed in agitation, but it obeyed. “It’s showing me a cave about four miles to the west of the abandoned barn where the bodies were left,” she reported. “The entrance is hidden behind a large boulder. You’ll know you’re getting close when you see the markers the troll left behind.”
“What markers?” Leroy asked.
“Human and animal heads on stakes,” she replied with a shudder.
“Eww,” Pru complained and wrinkled her nose. “I’m suddenly glad I won’t be going on this mission.”
“Let’s get a move on,” I said to the boys. “It’s going to take us all afternoon and night to set a trail for them to follow back here.”
“There’s no way I’ll be able to keep up with you,” Rudy pointed out.
“Don’t worry, my little friend,” I said with a grin. “Harley and I will take it in turns carrying you.”
“You know I hate it when you call me little,” he said grumpily, but he didn’t protest. His legs were far too short for him to be able to keep up with us once we started running.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We would have to stay on foot for the trolls to be able to track us without losing our scents. This was a different mission to anything I’d performed before. Usually, I killed the creatures as they were munching on their prey, or followed the monsters back to their lair and put an end to them. This time, we would be leading them to our deadly snares. If the information Brandon Cooper had given us was correct, the trolls wouldn’t be able to resist their rage. They would be compelled to hunt us down and kill us as soon as they had our trail.
Returning to the house, Harley and I grabbed backpacks that had various weapons and ammo stored inside. The young hunter didn’t have my fae strength, so he made sure his backpack wasn’t so heavy that it would slow him down. I had a shotgun in my pack and enough shells to take down an elephant. It was doubtful that we would run into anything that required heavy firepower, but it paid to be prepared.
“Ready?” I said to the boys when we gathered in the living room.
“Be careful and make sure you stay away from populated areas,” Pru said. I didn’t take offense at her bossy tone. I knew she was just worried about us.
“They’ll be okay,” Asha said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself rather than us. “The trees would have told me if there was anything dangerous in the woods.”
“I’m going with you, aren’t I, boss honky?” Leroy asked. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
“While I’m wearing this, you’ll be going everywhere I go,” I reminded him, showing him the ring.
“Then let’s get this party started,” he said impatiently. “Do your thing and take us to the monsters’ lair,” he said next, flapping his hands at Rudy.
“It doesn’t work like that,” the leprechaun replied with an eye roll. “I can’t pinpoint a random cave just based on the general description the trees gave us.”
“Take us to the abandoned barn,” I instructed. “We should be able to find the cave if we keep heading west.”
“My phone has a compass built into it which should keep us on track,” Harley added, patting his pocket where his phone was stashed.
“Do you have food and water?” Pru asked.
“Aye, Mamma,” Rudy replied cheekily. He’d adopted Leroy’s nickname for her. “We’re all set.” He’d watched us check our backpacks and the pockets of our pants to make sure we had everything we needed. I tended to change into cargo pants rather than jeans when I was on a mission that would require me to carry more equipment than usual, or if I had to do a lot of running. If we ran out of anything, he could easily pilfer more for us. He could apparently teleport items from anywhere he’d been before. He knew Devil’s Peak well enough to know where the cafés, diners and gun stores were. Being Texas, there were almost as many gun stores to choose from as there were eating establishments.
Rudy clicked his fingers and we were transported to the abandoned barn where the troll’s first victims had been discovered. It was mid-afternoon now and we were going to have a long night ahead of us.
Harley checked his phone and pointed to the west. I had a decent sense of direction, but it was a good idea to be certain we were heading the right way. “My phone can track the distance we travel,” he said, glancing at the barn. The crime scene tape was gone and there was little evidence that several murders had taken place here now. I caught a faint whiff of old blood and worse before the breeze carried it away.
“Do you want me to scout ahead, boss?” Leroy asked, leaving off the insult fo
r once.
“Good idea,” I replied, glad he was getting in the spirit of the hunt. “Let me know if you sense anything supernatural in the woods.”
“I’m on it,” he said, then zoomed through the trees.
“He didn’t add ‘honky’ to your title that time,” Harley said in amazement as he settled his backpack into place on his shoulders. I did the same, then scooped Rudy up. He let out a resigned sigh at being carried like a ragdoll, but he made no complaint. He didn’t weigh much, so he wouldn’t slow me down at all.
I let Harley set the pace, knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep up with me for long if I sprinted. My fae genes made me far stronger and more durable than a human. We kept our senses alert as we made our way to the west. Four miles wasn’t a great distance, but dodging around the trees and veering around bushes cut down on our speed drastically.
After a couple of miles, I motioned for Harley to slow down and handed Rudy over to him. The leprechaun muttered beneath his breath, expression grumpy as the kid positioned him beneath his left arm. “Your gun is digging into my side,” he complained.
“Live with it,” Harley replied with a grin.
Wriggling in annoyance, Rudy slipped a hand free and snapped his fingers. The gun and harness disappeared. “Don’t worry,” he said when the kid opened his mouth to berate him. “I’ll bring it back if you need to shoot something.” Shaking his head, Harley saved his breath and we continued on. The leprechaun held onto his hat so he didn’t lose it.
I knew we were getting close when the trees rustled despite the lack of wind. It was almost as if they were trying to warn us of danger. Leroy appeared, finding me with the ring he was bound to. “You’d better brace yourselves, boys,” he said, looking almost grave. “There’s some bad juju just ahead.” He snorted out a laugh at his choice of words. “Ahead,” he repeated. “That’s funny.”
He led us along a faint trail that had been made by animals long ago, then swept a hand at the first troll marker as it came into view. “It’s a head,” Harley said, panting for air.
“Now you see why it was funny,” the ghost said, soundlessly slapping his thigh at his joke. We all stared at the human head that had been mounted on a stake. It was a grisly sight and I didn’t find anything amusing about it. Rudy grimaced and Harley had gone slightly pale. “Sheesh, it’s like none of you honkies has ever seen a severed head before,” Leroy said when none of us laughed with him.
“You’ve seen severed heads yourself before, have you?” Harley asked, swallowing down bile.
“I’ve seen a couple,” Leroy said nonchalantly. “None of them were mounted on stakes, though. That’s new.”
“Where did you see severed heads?” I asked, unable to resist my curiosity.
“I lived in Chicago before I moved to Texas,” he reminded me. “I saw all sorts of nasty things there.” I knew he’d had dealings with a mob boss, so maybe he wasn’t exaggerating his experience with dismembered people.
“We’re getting close,” Harley said, checking his phone. “The cave should be about half a mile away now.”
“Put me down,” Rudy requested, squirming to be set free. “I can walk the rest of the way.” Once he was on his feet, he brought the kid’s gun and holster back.
Harley settled his weapon into place and rolled his shoulders. He didn’t look fatigued yet, which was a good sign that he had stamina and endurance. He would need both before this night was over.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I knew we were closing in on the trolls’ lair even before we saw the next marker. The stench of rotting flesh was unmistakable. Rudy grimaced and muttered curses beneath his breath when we trooped past the head on the stake. It was a gruesome sight, but we kept going. From the advanced state of decay, the heads had belonged to the victims from the abandoned barn. Flies buzzed around them and maggots and other insects were feasting on their flesh.
Harley checked his phone to make sure we were still on track, but I didn’t need his guidance now. I could feel malevolence like a physical barrier near a mound of boulders just ahead. “The cave is right there,” I said and pointed at the rocks. More heads on stakes had been stationed around a clearing near the boulders. Some had come from animals, mostly coyotes and a couple of bears.
“How can you tell?” Leroy asked as he floated just ahead. He’d been searching for the cave, but hadn’t found it yet.
“I can sense evil emanating from it,” I told him.
“Is that a new talent, lad?” Rudy asked. He was puffing from hurrying to keep up with us.
“Maybe,” I replied with a shrug. “Are you telling me you can’t feel it?”
“I feel a sense of oppressiveness,” he said.
“Didn’t the werewolf say that all supernatural creatures will feel doom coming?” Harley reminded me. “Is this the first time you’ve felt it?”
“Nope,” I said. “I started feeling it even before the bodies were found in the abandoned barn. It’s a lot stronger now that we’re so close to their lair.” Only one of the trolls had made the cave its home so far, but we knew a bunch more of them were on their way here.
“Do you want me to take a look inside the cave, honky?” Leroy asked. After several decades of being trapped in the farmhouse, he was eager for action.
“Go ahead,” I replied. “Make sure there’s nothing lurking in there.” My senses told me we were the only living things in the immediate area. All animals and birds had fled. They’d picked up on the danger of the new inhabitant of the cave even though the troll wasn’t currently in residence.
We rounded the boulders and Rudy pointed at the dense shadows behind the largest rock. “The entrance is almost invisible,” he said. “We would never have found it if the oak tree hadn’t told Asha where it was.”
“The trees have been way more helpful than I’d expected,” Harley agreed. He scanned the forest, ready to pull his gun and begin shooting. He’d armed himself with his Glock and had left his assault rifle behind. He didn’t need to be burdened with a heavy gun during this early part of our mission.
Leroy zoomed back through the boulders to report in. “I’m glad I don’t have a sense of smell, because I’m pretty sure it’s gonna stink in there,” he warned us. “There’s a few bodies piled up in a corner and it ain’t pretty.”
“What’s the plan, boss?” Harley asked.
“We’ll all go inside,” I decided. “Having three people invade their lair should drive them nuts.” It was doubtful the trolls would sense that a ghost had also been here.
Harley took his backpack off long enough to grab a flashlight before donning it again. The rest of us didn’t bother since we could see in the dark.
I led the way and approached the boulder that was blocking the cave entrance. A gigantic footprint that was vaguely humanoid sat squarely in a patch of dirt behind the obstruction. It was easily five times the size of mine. From the tufts of gray-green fur that clung to the boulder and wall of the cave, the troll must have had to force itself inside. There was more than enough room for me to enter.
Harley took photos with his camera, then plucked some of the fur from the boulder and stuffed it into a small plastic bag. “Habit,” he said with a shrug when I raised an eyebrow. “The Alpha Team documented all of our kills and took samples when coming across something new.”
“Are you going to start your own database on our missions?” I asked.
“Someone should,” he replied, stuffing the plastic bag into his pocket. “The information could come in handy for other hunters.” I couldn’t argue with that sentiment.
Leroy wasn’t wrong about the smell that he’d predicted. The combination of rotting flesh and wet dog was nearly enough to make my stomach clench. A narrow passage led downwards once we were inside. I had to duck so my head wouldn’t scrape on the ceiling. My shoulders were almost too wide to fit. More tufts of fur clung to the sides and ceiling of the tunnel.
It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the
darkness when the floor leveled out. I swept my gaze around the interior of the cave and spotted the pile of bodies the ghost had warned us about. They were all jumbled together and only a couple of them had been partially munched on. The rest must be a housewarming present for the troll’s pack.
“Ugh,” Rudy complained when he reached my side. “Remind me never to get a troll to decorate my house.”
Leroy snorted out a laugh. “You have a house, mini honky?” he asked. “I thought leprechauns lived in tree stumps.”
“Just because we’re small doesn’t mean we live like gnomes,” Rudy snarled.
“Gnomes live in tree stumps?” Harley asked as he swept his flashlight around. It came to a stop on the macabre pile of corpses. They were all missing their heads.
“Some of them do,” the leprechaun replied.
Apart from the bodies, there wasn’t much to see. The troll had scooped out a shallow pit and had filled it with leaves and moss. I was guessing that was its version of a bed. There was enough room for twenty of the creatures to live in here, based on the size of the bed.
“These trolls are even bigger than I’d expected,” the kid said, shifting the flashlight to the bed to gauge its size. It was a good ten feet long and three feet wide.
“What now?” my bearded sidekick asked.
“I’m thinking we should do something that will really push them over the edge,” I replied and pointed at the stash of food that was waiting for them. “Can you make the bodies disappear?”
Rudy grinned when he realized what I intended. “I like how you think. The trolls will be apoplectic when they return and see that not only has their lair been invaded, but that their pantry has been raided as well.”
“Are you sure you want to rile these monsters up that much?” Leroy asked skeptically.
“Jake Everett doesn’t do things by halves,” Rudy said. Focusing on the pile of corpses, he began sending them somewhere else. One by one, they disappeared to another location.
