Demon Night (The Resurrection Chronicles Book 6)

by M. J. Haag

  Garrett and I shared a look.

  “You’re right,” Cassie said. “The kids are already sleeping. We put them down early, hoping that they wouldn’t hear the hounds tonight. We soundproofed their rooms as best we could, too.”

  “We’ll keep the kids safe. Go calm down Drav before he kicks everyone out of Tolerance.”

  I wasn’t so sure the news we had would have the desired effect.

  Outside, the wind had picked up, and I huddled a little deeper into my jacket.

  “You all right?” Garrett asked as we followed Kerr and Cassie.

  “Yep. Just hoping that Shax doesn’t freak out when he comes home and I’m not there.”

  Kerr glanced back at me, his gaze meeting mine before dropping to my belly and back up again.

  “He will freak out.”

  Cassie elbowed him.

  “That’s not what you tell a pregnant woman. They’re supposed to avoid stressful situations.”

  “Then, she shouldn’t have left the house.”

  “But I was hungry, remember?” I added.

  He grunted, and Cassie glanced back.

  “Shax will understand.”

  Kerr made a new grunt noise that sounded like it fell into the I-doubt-it category. Ignoring him, I studied the golden glow of the approaching sunset and hoped that Cassie and her family would manage a good night’s sleep once we were done dealing with these new problems.

  When we arrived at Mya and Drav’s place, there was a crowd on the snow-covered front lawn just as Julie had said. Like before, they were yelling stuff that would make a sane person roll her eyes.

  “While you’re in there making babies, we’re starving.”

  “Where are the supplies hidden?”

  “We have rights, too.”

  I snorted at that remark. The survivors from Whiteman had the right to go outside the wall and find their own supplies. They didn’t like that right, though.

  The people at the back of the crowd noticed us, thanks to the sound I’d made, and elbowed their fellow protestors until we had the majority of their attention.

  “Contagious my ass,” someone yelled.

  “I have never claimed to have medical expertise,” Cassie said. “Feel free to stop coming to me when something hurts.”

  That shut the crowd up quickly. People made room for Kerr as he continued forward, splitting the group. Cassie and I followed closely behind with Garrett bringing up the tail. Although the people around us were visibly angry, no one tried to stop us as we moved through their numbers.

  When we broke through the crowd, I saw there weren’t any fey standing outside this time. I wondered if Drav’s roar the last time had actually gotten through to the people gathered that they shouldn’t push him too far.

  Kerr knocked briefly on the front door then let himself in. Heat enveloped me as I crossed the threshold.

  Several other humans and fey already had crowded into the living room. Before I could catch more than the tone of the heated discussion our arrival had interrupted, Drav turned to Cassie.

  “Mya is not listening,” he said angrily.

  “Mya is right here,” Mya said. “And you need to stop overreacting.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s concerning you, Drav?” Cassie said as Kerr helped her from her jacket.

  “You said Mya needs rest and food for the baby to grow. She will not eat or rest.”

  “It’s kind of hard to eat when I don’t feel well, and I’m not able to rest with all the yelling going on.”

  “Then let me kill them,” he said, his frustration evident.

  Mya gave Cassie a look.

  “Do you see what I’m dealing with here?”

  Drav’s eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to say more.

  “Excuse me,” I said, sticking out my hand and purposely interrupting him.

  “I’m Angel. I don’t think we’ve officially met. I just wanted to say, thank you for letting me stay here.”

  Drav’s hand closed around mine.

  “All females are welcome,” he said.

  I gave my most angelic smile as I continued to hold his hand and let my gaze drift around the room.

  “I don’t know everyone here. Will you introduce me?”

  He blinked slowly at me then turned to look at Mya.

  “It’s polite to introduce new people,” she said.

  He grunted and went around the room.

  “This is Jessie and Byllo, Cassie and Kerr, and Eden and Ghua. Those are Tor, Gyrik, Brog, Thallirin, and Merdon.”

  While I learned names, the distraction helped lower some of the tension in the room. I winked at Mya when she mouthed “thank you” in my direction.

  “Are you hungry, now?” Drav asked Mya as soon as he finished the introductions.

  “No. We need to stay focused on the immediate problem. The hounds. We were drawing in infected before the hounds because of the lights at night. With the hounds howling for hours on end, more infected are being drawn in. And it’s not just here. Tenacity’s construction is now moving more slowly than planned because of the constant arrival of new infected.”

  “We cannot destroy the hearts without Molev,” Drav said.

  Thallirin and Merdon said nothing from their positions near the kitchen.

  “The immediate problem is not the hounds but the humans,” Drav said. “They are loud and preventing you from resting.”

  “This isn’t just about me, Drav. Look around. Kerr and Cassie are exhausted. So are Jessie and Byllo. Why do you think that is?”

  “The hounds keep the children awake at night,” Kerr said. “Each howl fills them with fear. Even Caden, who is too young to know what a hound is.”

  “Children are smart. They can pick up on the fear of others. That’s how Caden knows to be afraid even when he doesn’t know what the creature is,” Cassie said to Kerr. “He remembers the sound of it from his time trapped in the attic and from Dawnn’s reaction to it.”

  Kerr frowned, and Cassie looked at Drav.

  “And while Mya is right that the hounds are an immediate problem—” she looked at Mya “—Drav is right that the survivors from Whiteman need to be addressed, too. And not only because of their noise.”

  Cassie glanced at me.

  “Someone broke into Shax’s house and took all the food,” I said. Given Drav’s current level of aggression at the survivors, I didn’t mention the destruction of property.

  “It should be easy to find who did it,” he said. “We will search every house.”

  “We can’t,” I said firmly. “It’ll only increase the tension here.

  “Someone stole food. We can’t allow it to continue,” Mya said, agreeing with Drav.

  “You won’t,” I said. “The wall at Tenacity is almost done, right? When everyone goes there, the problem will be solved. Doing something now will only damage the already fragile co-existence we have going on between the fey and the humans.” I looked at Drav. “You need women. And, no matter how pig-headed some people are acting, the remaining humans need you. Searching houses will look like an act of aggression.”

  “How do you propose we deal with this then?” Mya asked.

  There was no condescension in her tone, just an open willingness to hear someone else’s idea.

  “There’s a group of people out there focused on the fey as being the big bad evil. Let them know what happened.”

  “And if they turn on each other, we’ll be caught in the crossfire,” Jessie said.

  “So, don’t turn them on each other. Give them rules and consequences. Food was stolen from a house. Anyone caught taking food from a house that is not their own will be immediately removed from Tolerance,” I said.

  “And I think we can confidently say that the rule will apply in Tenacity, too,” Cassie said. “Matt won’t abide by stealing.”

  I agreed with her.

  “Along with the rule, we need to give them something,” I said.

  Mya made
a face.

  “We’ve given them plenty, and they’ve taken more beyond that. I’m not inclined to give even more.”

  “I know. But the people who took the food did so because of the same problems we’re discussing,” I said. “The hounds are drawing in more infected, making it harder for people to safely go out for their own supplies.”

  “With less fey accompanying us, it’s getting hairy out there,” Garrett said, speaking up for the first time. “I’m willing to pull my own weight and even the weight of a few of the freeloaders. But, I’m not suicidal, and I’d need to be able to keep going out like I have been.”

  “You see the catch, right? Without anyone going out for supplies, the people will only get more desperate. Telling them they’ll get kicked out if they steal while leaving them no option but to face death to get their own food…well, it’s the same thing. The hounds need to die.”

  As soon as I said it, the first howl rang through the air. I glanced at the curtained window, noticing the lack of light around the edges for the first time.

  Outside, the shouting got louder. Mya sighed and looked at Drav.

  “I know you want to help them, Drav. I do too. But Angel is right. We have to look at the bigger picture. Molev put that rule in place for a reason, just like we’re considering putting a rule in place now. But sometimes, circumstances force exceptions to the rule.”

  “For example, if Mya’s hungry and wants to come into my house and help herself to some food, should she be kicked out?” Cassie asked.

  “No,” Drav and half the fey said immediately. “She is growing a baby and needs food.”

  “Exactly. Mya's circumstance necessitates an exception to our ‘no taking food from someone else’s house’ rule.”

  “And our current circumstance necessitates an exception to Molev’s rule. With his absence, this group should have the power to witness the destruction of the hearts in his place.”

  Drav’s gaze swept the room then he turned to face Thallirin and Merdon.

  “Destroy them.”

  Thallirin reached for the bag he had slung over his shoulder.

  “I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep,” Jessie said quietly from the other side of the room. “I think I’ve picked up a bug or something, feeling this run down.”

  Byllo’s eyes grew big.

  “She means we are more likely to get sick when we’re exhausted and underfed because our immune systems are weaker,” Cassie said before the fey could freak out that a bug was living inside his woman.

  Several grunts sounded around the room, and I knew Byllo hadn’t been the only fey ready to freak out.

  Thallirin withdrew a jagged black rock the size of his palm from the bag and handed it to Merdon. Something about the rock made me feel wrong. Not sick exactly, but not well either. The stone pulsed with a negative light, a darkness that made me think of deep-seated hate and even deeper fear.

  The big fey’s scarred fingers closed around the stone, masking some of its darkness. Merdon squeezed hard, his muscles bulging with effort. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then, the rock just disintegrated into black dust. Outside, a howl cut off mid-crescendo.

  “Do not dump that on my floor,” Mya said.

  Drav got Merdon a bag for the dust while Thallirin pulled out the other two hearts. This time, they destroyed them together.

  The hounds silenced. The people on the lawn seemed to notice because they quieted, too.

  Eden stood suddenly and rushed for the bathroom. Ghua hurried after her with Cassie close behind. In the hush, I heard every choking gag.

  “It must be something going around,” Jessie said, standing. “I felt like that when I woke up from my nap. A quiet night and a solid eight hours should help everyone.”

  Byllo helped her with her jacket, and as she lifted her arm, her shirt lifted a little, showing a bruise. I cringed, and she caught my expression as she turned.

  She smiled slightly. “I know it looks bad, but it doesn’t hurt at all. For the life of me, I can’t even remember doing anything that would cause it.” She lifted her shirt again to look at it. “I’ve been so tired lately, though, who knows what I’ve run into.”

  Cassie came out of the bathroom and caught sight of the bruise before Jessie lowered her shirt.

  “Can I see that again?” she asked.

  She gently touched the discolored area.

  “Does any of this hurt?”

  “Nope.”

  Cassie glanced at Mya.

  “There’s no tone of purple or yellow. I don’t think it’s a bruise.”

  “You think…?” Mya looked at Jessie with wide eyes.

  “Do you have any grey spots?” Cassie asked Eden.

  “I’ve seen every inch of Eden,” Ghua said. “Just an hour ago, and there are no grey patches.”

  “Given both Eden and Jessie’s nausea and now this, I think some more tests are in order.”

  “Tests?” Jessie asked. “What kinds of tests?”

  “The pee kind,” Mya said.

  “Oh, hell no!” Eden called from the bathroom.

  “I’ll be right back,” Cassie said, grabbing her jacket.

  “Wait,” Garrett said. “Everyone is still relatively quiet outside. If they see you leave and come back with something, they’ll think you have hidden supplies somewhere. I think we should talk to the people outside, now, while they’re quiet and more likely to listen.”

  “He’s right,” Mya said. “Would you be willing to speak with them, Garrett? They would be more likely to listen to one of their own. Drav can go with you to back up what you say.”

  The room became a lot less crowded after that. Jessie and Byllo went to speak with Eden and Ghua. Drav and Garrett went out the front door while Cassie and Kerr snuck out the back.

  Tor, Gyrik, Brog, Thallirin, and Merdon quietly watched me sit near Mya.

  “I regret ever thinking this place was boring,” I said.

  Mya snorted.

  “Bet you won’t make that mistake again.”

  “Nope.”

  “Mya,” Tor said. “What is a pee test for?”

  “There’s several different kinds of tests that require urine. The one Cassie is getting is to test for pregnancy.”

  Three grunts came at the same time.

  “More babies?” Brog asked.

  “Maybe. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “I want babies,” Tor said. “Can I listen to your baby, Mya?”

  She gave me a flat stare. “Drav discovered he can hear the heartbeat if he puts his ear to my stomach.” She turned her head to look at Tor. “But like I told you before, it was really quiet when he did that, and he had to plug his other ear, and he stayed like that for a long time before he heard anything.”

  “Okay,” Tor said, stepping forward.

  “That wasn’t an invitation. It was a nicely worded refusal.”

  Tor’s expression changed to one of disappointment.

  The back door opened, and Kerr set Cassie on her feet.

  “Got the tests,” she said.

  She hurried toward the bathroom and kicked Byllo and Ghua out before closing the door.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “THAT ACTUALLY WENT BETTER than I expected,” Garrett said, shutting the front door behind himself.

  Drav strode across the room and looked over Mya as if expecting something to have changed in the ten minutes they’d been outside.

  “I’m fine, Drav,” she said. She shifted her gaze to Garrett. “Did you think any of the protestors looked or acted guilty?”

  “More than half. I don’t think they’ve stolen anything, though, based on the expressions on their faces. But, I’m betting they were thinking of it. Hearing that someone took supplies that I’d gone outside the wall to gather seemed to upset a good number of them. And when I told them the punishment for stealing from here on out, there was barely a grumble. Especially now that a few of the braver folks know they can go out t
omorrow and hunt for supplies.”

  “Good. One set of problems dealt with.”

  “There’s another?” he asked.

  “Eden and Jessie might be pregnant,” I said.

  Garrett’s expression grew more serious.

  “Pregnancy is good,” Drav said. “It means more babies. That is not a problem.”

  “Spoken like a man,” Jessie said, emerging from the bathroom. “And, you’re not the one who has to carry the baby for nine months, deal with all the aches and pains and worries, or deliver the baby at the end. There’s plenty of problems being pregnant, especially now.”

  She glanced at Mya.

  “Sorry, Mya, I didn’t mean…”

  “No. You’re right. All I’m doing is worrying.”

  “Pregnant women are supposed to avoid stressful situations,” Kerr said.

  Mya caught me smothering my grin with my hand but didn’t say anything.

  “We’re not pregnant, by the way,” Jessie said.

  There were several disappointed faces about the room.

  “I know that babies represent the future,” Mya said. “But we’re not ready for a boatload of babies. Do you really think we can care for them when we can’t even care for the adults? Adults are way more independent, and you see the level of self-reliance going on out there. Almost none.

  “We’re scavenging for supplies. What happens when those run out? We’re not self-sufficient. We have no sustainable food force. Everything about being pregnant in this world is stressful. That doesn’t mean I’m not happy about the baby. It just means we have a lot of work to do, and instead of focusing on trying to make more babies, we need to figure out long-term care for the people who are here.”

  The room was quiet for several long moments.

  “The radishes Angel planted are sprouting,” Garrett said. “Maybe the people who have nothing to do can start marking yards for gardens.”

  “And I heard a bird this morning,” I said. “Maybe the animals are returning.”

  Ignoring us, Mya watched Drav as he squatted down before her and reached out to stroke her cheek.

  “You saw how we lived. We know how to hunt, how to fish, how to farm. Your seasons are new to us, but we will be self-sufficient when the snow melts. There is nothing for you to worry about. You only need to think of eating and resting.”