Luc checked a torn blue jean leg, split almost perfectly along the seam. “Definitely not Master Schmidt or Turgen. Mikhail, I believe.”
God damn it. A cold pang stabbed Matt’s chest, like an icicle sliding between his ribs. He’s just a kid. ”How?”
“Someone put the masks on them.” Pocketing the broken ring, Malcolm picked up a black snub-nose from the floor and opened the cylinder. “All five shot.” He looked around. “We need to find the others.”
Matt checked the compass. The moving bead pointed in the direction of the left hall. He gestured the direction and stood when a roar echoed down the passageway.
A mustard-yellow animal with a shaggy dark mane stepped into the hall. Its shoulders stood just above the silver handles of the hall doors. Curved white fangs jutted outward from the creature’s mouth. It growled, and then charged.
Matt raised Dämoren and fired. The bullet hit the demon lion’s shoulder, jolting it, but the beast didn’t slow. He cocked and fired again, hitting the beast’s head. It staggered, then roared. Blood poured from a strip of exposed bone above its brow.
Dämoren empty, Matt back pedaled, holding the revolver ready to slash with its blade.
The devilish lion crouched, about to leap when Luc charged forward, his mace high. The demon sprung, but Luc dropped, smashing Velnepo into the creature’s side. Bones cracked as the demon’s body folded around the mace like a deer hit by a truck. It slammed into the wall, bringing down shards of broken mirror with the impact.
Spectral green fire ignited from the wound, quickly spreading over the monster’s broken body.
Matt let out a breath and nodded to Luc. “Thanks.”
The huge hunter looked at the burning corpse. “I always hated those masks.”
“Where’s the other one?” Luiza asked.
Matt checked the compass. He pointed in the bead’s direction. “Back of the house somewhere.”
“Then let’s find it,” Malcolm said. “Be careful. Whoever released them might still be here.”
Weapons ready, the hunters moved deeper into the dark chateau.
“Cameras are still working,” Matt said, noting the red lights still glowing from the upper corners.
“Nick had them set with backup batteries,” Malcolm said, scanning through an open doorway. “Said any attackers would cut the power first and he didn’t want us blind.”
He was right.
They checked rooms as they passed, finding them tossed. Cabinets and cases stood open, their contents spilled out on the floors. Carpets were peeled back and paintings knocked from the walls.
“This isn’t random,” Matt said, working his way through the smashed dining room. “They were looking for something.”
“The orphan weapons,” Luiza said.
Matt’s eyes widened. “We need to check on them.”
Malcolm stepped over a fallen chair. “We are. They’re the same direction from us as the demon.”
The rear dining room door stood open, the dark wood splintered at the hinges. A mangled and bloody corpse lay on the ground. Its legs were gone, and stomach torn open. Pink tubes of gnawed intestine splayed out from the hole like fleshy roots.
“Who is it?” Matt coughed, his stomach lurching at the stink.
Malcolm glanced at the half-eaten corpse and quickly looked away. “Colin.”
“Oh God,” Luiza said, closing her eyes.
Matt checked the compass and pointed past the edge of the house. “That way.”
“I know where we’re going,” Malcolm growled, marching forward, his jaw set.
The hunters turned around the side of the building to see the long, cinderblock firing range at the base of the hill. The second lion-like demon paced back and forth before the battered and mutilated steel door. A black-clad corpse lie sprawled face down a few feet away.
“Hey!” Malcolm yelled.
The demon’s head snapped around. Black lips curled back from its jagged fangs.
“Come on, you ugly fucker!”
The beast snarled and charged up the hill toward them. Matt squeezed Dämoren’s ivory grip.
Malcolm stepped forward to meet the demon, but the beast dodged, circling around with incredible speed. Luiza lunged, thrusting her katana. The creature sprung to the side, then back as Luc moved in with his mace.
The demon growled, its green eyes moving over its attackers.
Matt circled around behind it, boxing it in.
The demon lunged toward Luiza. She dodged the claws, slicing a wound in the beast’s shoulder. It yowled but swiped again.
Malcolm dove forward, ramming his blade deep into the monster’s side. It staggered, but didn’t fall. It wheeled around to face him, when Matt stepped in chopping Dämoren’s blade down into the demon’s exposed back. Blood sprayed and its back legs crumpled. Luiza and Luc closed in from the sides, finishing it off.
Green fire erupted from the beast’s wounds, and Matt yanked Dämoren’s blade free.
“Good work,” Malcolm panted.
Matt checked the compass. The demons were gone. Taking a moment, he knelt and slid his fingers into the burning gash. He gasped, exhaustion and blood loss swept away in a sudden rush. He paused, suddenly realizing that he’d known the man whose blood now healed him. It’s demon blood, he corrected, not theirs. It didn’t comfort him.
The hunters continued down the hill toward the black clad body. Its right leg was twisted and broken, pants torn from where the demon had gnawed it. The rest of the body seemed undamaged, except for the three bullet wounds curling out from its back. A black polymer pistol rested on the grass beside it.
“Who is it?” Malcolm asked.
Luiza knelt and rolled the body over.
Matt found himself looking at a young man with dark hair. “That’s the prisoner from the museum.”
“Looks like someone else got him,” Luiza said, noting a bloodied cloth cinched around his lower thigh.
“Curious they didn’t burn him,” Luc rumbled. “Maybe he was alone.”
“Then where is Jean’s car?” Malcolm asked. “Anya obviously got him here, but it wasn’t out front.”
Metal squeaked from the range’s battered door. Matt spun to see a black rifle barrel jutting out from the opened crack, trained on him.
Luiza drew her pistol.
“Hold!” The door opened, and Max Schmidt, his sparse hair tousled and eyes ringed with dark circles, stepped out, holding a high-power hunting rifle.
“Schmidt!” Malcolm cried.
“Thank God you made it” Schmidt slung the rifle over his shoulder. “We could see you on the cameras, but that monster had us trapped.”
The door opened further. Riku came out behind him, holding a pump shotgun. His dark eyes searched the hunters.
“What happened?” Luiza asked.
“Anya,” Turgen said, pushing his way past Riku. His cane jammed into the ground with each step. “They got to her somehow.”
“Got to her?” Malcolm asked. “How?”
“We don’t know.” Turgen eyed the hunters, his gaze focusing on the katana in Luiza’s hand. “Where are the rest of you?”
Malcolm’s smile vanished. “We were ambushed. Kazuo’s dead.” He looked at Schmidt. “And Jean.”
Schmidt’s face paled. He staggered back, looking as if he might fall.
“We saved Lukrasus,” Malcolm continued. “She still lives.”
Schmidt gave a half-hearted nod. He pressed a fist to his lips and looked away.
“I’m sorry,” Malcolm muttered.
“Susumu is hurt,” Luiza said.
“Hurt?” Riku blurted.
“Stabbed,” Luiza answered. “Allan’s been taking care of him, but we need get him into the clinic.”
Turgen frowned. He turned to Schmidt. “Max?”
Schmidt looked up, his lips tight and colorless.
“We need you right now,” Turgen said, his voice calm, but pleading.
Schmidt nodded. “
Take me to him.”
#
The chateau’s lights all came on at once, followed by the hum of climate control. Matt followed Allan and Luiza to the kitchen, having left Susumu in Schmidt’s care as Riku paced around outside the clinic’s door, unwilling to leave. Schmidt had started Susumu on an IV and antibiotics for infection. The old man’s reaction to hearing that they had given him Matt’s blood was surprisingly indifferent. Matt had expected anger or reprimand. Even a questioning look would have been something, but Schmidt remained composed, even robotic as he started his work. He complimented Allan’s dressings, then curtly ordered everyone out.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Allan said to the air. “How did they get Anya?”
“If a demon bit her, it could have taken her over very fast,” Matt said. “Trust me.”
Allan shook his head. “But she wasn’t bit.”
Matt shrugged. “Not that we saw. Besides, not all demon-marks are bites.”
“All right,” Allan said. “Then how did she approach the demon masks?”
“Maybe they didn’t work,” Luiza said.
“No.” Allan pushed open the dining room door and stepped inside. A platter of crackers and cheese sat on one of the tables. “There’s two dozen confirmed reports that they do work. Besides, Malcolm should have sensed it if she was possessed.”
“He had no reason to check her,” Luiza said. “He was a little preoccupied at the time.”
“Anya wasn’t possessed,” Turgen said coming out from the kitchen. He set a plate of sandwiches on the table and gestured for them to sit.
“How do you know?” Allan asked.
The old knight lowered himself into one of the chairs. “Because whatever virus crashed the computer network was done before you left. The mask cases were also unlocked and their alarms disabled before she arrived at the chateau.”
“How do you know?” Matt asked.
Turgen pointed his cane at a black security camera up in one of the room’s corners. “We had a few hours to watch the videos while trapped in the bunker. She simply opened them, and no alarms sounded, meaning they were done beforehand.”
Matt helped himself to one of the sandwiches. “So what happened?”
Turgen sighed. “We should wait for the others. Luiza, could you help me with the coffee machine? I can never get that contraption to work.”
“Of course,” she said, rising from her seat.
“Thank you. I imagine everyone would need some.” He turned to Allan. “How is Susumu?”
“Schmidt is optimistic,” Allan said. “Time will tell.”
Turgen sighed. “Time, I fear, is one thing we have too little of.”
The broken back door creaked opened. Malcolm and Luc walked inside.
“Everything looks clear,” Malcolm said. He set his sawed-off on the table and helped himself to some of the food. “So what happened?”
“Anya called to let us know she was almost here,” Turgen said. “She told Max it would be half an hour and had him start readying the clinic for Mister Varghese. I was in my office on the phone with Louis about the break-in at the time. Ten minutes later she pulled into the drive. Mikhail went out to meet her and she and her accomplice took him by surprise. They then brought Mister Varghese and Mikhail inside.”
Luiza stepped into the kitchen door to listen, while the coffee machine whirred and beeped behind her.
“Once through the door,” Turgen continued, “Anya put on a medallion and held it before one of the demon masks. She then removed it and placed it on Mister Varghese ‘s face. She had started on the second mask when Mikhail unholstered a pistol at his back and fired several shots, even wounding her accomplice before Anya wrestled the mask onto him. Those shots were what alerted us.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, by the time we could respond, Mikhail and Ben had transformed. With only one knight, we fled to the bunker. Colin tried to hold them off while the rest of us could get safely away. It was then we realized they’d set fire to the library.”
Allan rubbed a hand across his mouth nervously, but didn’t speak.
“Tom ran off to deal with the fire. Colin ordered him to the bunker, but he didn’t listen. He...” Turgen swallowed. “He was so desperate to be useful that he just charged up there with no concern for himself. He managed to get the fire out, but...” The old man drew a breath and held it. “Colin tried to fight the demons back, but Anya shot him. The beasts took him. They started coming for us at that point. Max managed to kill her accomplice before the demons forced us inside.”
“Didn’t you have anything that could kill them?” Matt asked.
Turgen shook his head. “Nothing we knew of. By that time, the database was down. We thought jade might work but all the jade ammunition was gone.”
Matt looked away, remembering how much of the jade he’d taken anticipating the oni. Not just him, but everyone. Not that there had been that much to begin with.
“The bunker is extremely secure and with the death of her accomplice and us trapped inside, Anya proceeded to search the house. After two hours she left with Ben and Colin’s swords.”
“What about the other weapons?” Luc asked.
Turgen shared a look with Malcolm and Luiza. “God’s weapons are still safe. Anya never knew we kept them in the armory.”
Of course, Matt thought. No wonder Nick was so paranoid. Always changing the combinations. Luiza had only opened one of the safes. Matt had assumed they only held more guns.
“It still doesn’t make sense,” Allan said. “How could she be one of them? She’s been a knight for over three years. She’s bonded to Baroovda for Christ’s sake.”
“Has anyone ever seen her actually kill a demon?” Luc asked.
The hunters remained quiet.
“When we found her in Rome,” Luc said, “there were demon sightings followed by reports of a man killed by a sword. Then the sightings stopped. That’s what told us there was a hunter involved. But no one ever saw her do it.”
“She shot the succubus at the museum,” Malcolm said. “She did the same thing in Gothenburg last year.”
“She killed an itwan in Germany,” Allan said. “But none of us actually saw her do it. Just the body after.”
A guilty dread wormed in Matt’s gut. “Maybe she wasn’t actually bonded to Baroovda,” he said carefully.
“Why do you say that?” Luc asked.
Matt licked his lips. “One night I woke up. Needed to go to the bathroom, so I snuck out of my room. I took a wrong turn and found Mikhail standing outside Anya’s door holding this journal. Just standing there, soaked with sweat. I guess he was sleepwalking, because he didn’t hear me. I touched his shoulder and startled him. He ran away, but dropped his journal.” He fidgeted with the table edge. “It was full of pictures of Anya’s sword. Hundreds of them, just page after page. I think it was calling to him.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone?” Malcolm demanded.
“I wasn’t supposed to be out of my room, remember. I didn’t think it was any big deal. I bonded with Dämoren years before I inherited her.”
“Yeah,” Allan said. “And I told you that was unusual.”
“Not for me. I figured if Mikhail had it too, then maybe I wasn’t so...unusual.”
“What did you do with the book?” Turgen asked. Unlike the others his manner remained calm.
“I slid it under his door. My way of telling him that I wouldn’t tell anyone about him if he didn’t about me.”
Malcolm scowled. “You realize that if you’d told us then none of this would have fucking happened!”
“Now, Doctor Romero,” Turgen said, raising a hand. “None of us can say that. We never had any reason to suspect Anya. Our knowing of Mikhail’s obsession could have been explained as something else. We wouldn’t have wanted to believe one of our own was a traitor. I suspect that if Mister Hollis had said something the suspicions would have been on him.”
Malcolm clenched his jaw, but remained quiet.
>
Luiza carried in a pot of coffee and several small cups. She set them down on the table, then poured three cups. She gave one to Turgen and took a seat beside Matt, giving him the other cup.
“Spain,” Allan blurted, closing his eyes. “She’s the one who found the lead. Ramón was researching demon cults, so she sent him there. She set it up.”
“She wanted you to go, too,” Luc said, pouring a cup. “Remember, she argued with Master Schmidt that you go on the rescue mission instead of her.”
Allan balled a fist. “Fucking bitch. That would have left her as the last Librarian left, except...” He turned to Turgen. “Sonu!”
Turgen waived his hand. “I have already contacted our knights in India. They are safe, though Anya’s virus disabled their computers, as well.”
Allan’s face went slack “The records?”
Turgen nodded.
“They’re gone?” Allan asked.
“He hopes he can recover part of them,” Turgen said.
Allan looked sick. “Years, centuries of research. That’s why files kept going missing or never saved. It wasn’t the system. She was changing them.”
“She did her work well,” Turgen said.
“I’ll fucking kill her,” Malcolm grumbled.
Luc and Luiza nodded in agreement.
Matt sipped his coffee. Luiza had remembered exactly how he liked it. Then it dawned on him. “The ifrit. It wasn’t me.”
The others gave him a quizzical look.
“In Spain,” Matt said. “Anya was behind me. It was looking at her. She wasn’t supposed to be there.” He pointed to Luc. “They expected Allan to go. That’s why they backed off. If they attacked they’d lose her as a spy. Even if she came back with some story of being the only survivor it might raise suspicion, so they retreated.”
“And threw the blame on you,” Malcolm said.
Matt nodded. “Yeah.”
Malcolm shook his head bitterly. “I think I owe you an apology.”
#
“Fucking hell,” Allan said as he and Matt stepped into the charred and wrecked library. Toppled shelves and burned books littered the floor. Blackened and soot-stained paintings lay strewn amidst broken glass, all dusted in white powder like snow.
Damoren Page 23
