Protected by the Damned BoxedSet 1

by Michael Todd

  Deal…

  Weekly! Pandora added.

  You can’t negotiate after I agree! Katie argued as she waved to the ladies in the shop and let herself out.

  I never said how long my agreement was for. It’s for a week, and you should have clarified. Be thankful I didn’t say an hour! Fuck me, she spat. I should have said an hour!

  One donut per week, Katie agreed.

  I never said how many donuts! Pandora huffed when Katie stipulated that.

  You should have clarified. Be thankful I didn’t say one donut hole.

  Chapter Eighteen

  T’Chezz sat back in his chair and stared out the window. He was lost in his thoughts, and oblivious to the world around him. His plan seemed to be failing at every turn, which was more than enraging.

  The last kill plan had hit its target, but none of the demons had gotten away.

  They’d tried to make it look like the Killers hadn’t been there, but they didn’t realize that when they killed the demons they came right back down to T’Chezz. He knew his sister had helped the human girl kill six demons on her own, and he knew she was making her stronger for a reason: to kill him. To fight him, and have any chance of surviving.

  Knowing that, though, everything now made more sense to him. She was using the girl to protect herself, which was the sister he knew.

  She was selfish and self-serving, and didn’t really give two shits about anything. The only thing he couldn’t understand was why she was allowing the girl to get in the way of the main plan.

  T’Chezz looked down at the table in front of him, wondering when the politician would be back. T’Chezz had gotten confidential information from an informant on Earth.

  He had said it was information on one of the teams, information that T’Chezz would definitely want to have. He had been searching for the teams, but more importantly for the weapons they were creating.

  He needed those weapons, and he needed whoever was behind making them. He couldn’t allow them to get in the way of his plans.

  He hated that he had been diverted. He was having to think about something other than his plan, but finding the weapons and their maker was necessary in order to keep his demons topside. None of them were surviving very long, and it was all because of that special metal.

  T’Chezz was tired of the failures and wanted to take things into his own hands, but he knew it wasn’t yet the right time.

  Going to Earth at that point could have created a huge problem, and could have easily turned into the end of his plans for at least a couple of centuries. He was tired of sitting around and waiting for things to happen.

  So he sent the politician to meet with the informant and bring back the information. T’Chezz wasn’t exactly fond of the informant’s work recently, but he knew that the man was pretty much the only choice he had at this point. He needed the information and fast, before the Killers took out the rest of his army.

  So, after he had summoned the politician and sent him on his way again, T’Chezz sat back and waited for the signal that he was to return.

  He had never been very patient, even though one would think that after so many centuries he would deal with waiting a little better. Instead, though, he was struggling to refrain from getting even angrier than he was now.

  There was nothing stopping the politician from running off, but T’Chezz knew that his fear was greater than his bravery—and that fear would get T’Chezz everything he would need.

  Just as the irritation began to swell again, he got the message from the politician that he was ready to return. T’Chezz closed his eyes and whispered an enchantment in Latin.

  “Huius addis daemonium in inferno, ab inferno ex solo in mea potestate.”

  When T’Chezz opened his eyes the politician was standing nervously in front of him, his human form a little strained from the trip. T’Chezz threw him a piece of cloth to wipe the blood from his nose and stood up, walking over to the window. The man cleaned himself up and caught his breath, and turned toward the demon lord.

  “That is always hard on me, coming through the realms,” the politician admitted.

  “What have you found out?” T’Chezz asked impatiently. “Was the trip worth our time?”

  “Yes,” the politician told him. “The informant has located the Killers, including your sister. They are in a compound near Las Vegas. The base itself is out in the open, but there is nothing around it for miles, just empty desert. You can see the Strip from the base, but finding the base from the Strip is nearly impossible; it blends right into the desert. That is where they live and train, and most likely where you will find these weapons.”

  “Yes,” he said, stroking his chin. “If I know my sister, she will not want to be too far from those weapons—if for no other reason than to save her own damn skin. She doesn’t like surprises, so she has always kept her enemies closer than anyone else.”

  “That is the saying on Earth,” the politician said.

  “What?” T’Chezz asked, turning toward him.

  “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” the politician replied.

  “I like that.” T’Chezz smiled. “Sometimes you humans are smarter than I originally imagined. But you then do stupid things like kill each other over the colors of your skins, and I realize you are an ignorant and barbaric culture that is destined to make the same mistakes over and over.”

  “That we are,” the politician agreed.

  “Now, my question is, are you sure this information is true?” he asked. “We all know you didn’t do such an admirable job last time.”

  “I did the best I could under the circumstances,” the politician said with irritation. “It’s harder up there than you think to not get caught. I have had to sacrifice everything to fulfill your wishes.”

  “Sacrifice?” T’Chezz growled loudly, stepping toward the politician. “I am the one who must sacrifice! I’m stuck down here in this hell, constantly staring at the same walls and the same demons with nothing to do but oversee. I want to play again. To broaden my reach. I have waited all this time patiently.”

  “You are right,” the politician agreed, bowing his head and backing up on shaking legs. “My apologies.”

  T’Chezz took a deep breath and turned back to the window. “So?”

  “So? Oh, the information,” the politician answered nervously. “Yes, I believe the information to be completely accurate.”

  “And how did you come to this conclusion?”

  “Well, I drove past the base—not knowing what it was, but seeing it in the distance—when I went to Las Vegas,” the politician explained. “It is right where the informant said it would be, with all of the same attributes: color, etc.”

  “So you’ve seen it with your own eyes.” T’Chezz rubbed his chin. “Goooood. very good.”

  “Is there anything else, my lord?” the politician asked.

  “Yes,” T’Chezz replied. “Go back, stay calm, and act as if nothing is different. Surely if we have found them, they can find us. Start quietly rousing the troops. Let them know something big is coming, and give them my order to be ready for anything.”

  “I will,” the politician assured him, bowing.

  T’Chezz grumbled, “That was the last time these Killers will get one over on me.”

  “How did she do the other day?” Korbin asked.

  “She did well,” Damian admitted. “Though I wasn’t with her the whole time, I saw about six piles of dust on the ground floor, most of them in the kitchen or nearby. I am pretty sure she took the brunt of it on her own.”

  “What about this new training she has been doing?” Korbin asked. “I’m not sure where she is getting the details, but she is getting really good with that staff.”

  Damian smiled. “She is, and I can’t tell you where she is learning it either—but I’m not going to complain.”

  “Things are definitely changing,” Korbin mused. “I just hope we have not unleashed a monster that we c
an’t control.”

  “Katie isn’t a monster.” Damian looked at Korbin with granite eyes.

  “No, but the demon inside her is.” He sighed. “Anyway, so the reporter gave us some news on the politician. Apparently he is going to be at this fancy elite VIP fundraising party in the city.”

  “Our city?” Damian asked.

  “Yes, here in Vegas,” Korbin affirmed. “It’s being held at one of the casinos near Center City. They have several ballrooms and several VIP areas, so they can accommodate a party like this while still staying open to the public. The thing is supposed to be black tie and very elite, and the politician will be there.”

  “Is he planning something at this event?” Damian asked.

  “We don’t know,” Korbin admitted. “I searched the intel database for the organization but came back with no hits, so we are going off the information from Charlotte. She tracked him down and watched him meet with some demons in suits, and picked up the invite off the table when they had left.”

  “Are we sending her in?” Damian asked.

  “No, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Korbin replied. “She is brash, and her face is known to many people in the underground. I don’t think she could pull off something like this. They need to be sure she is rich and famous; that she belongs with the VIP’s. Charlotte—even dressed up—is a little out there, and I can see it backfiring on her. I don’t want to put her in any more danger than I already have.”

  “What about Katie?” Damian asked. “No one knows her face, she is young, beautiful, cleans up nicely, and is capable of black ops like this with no problem. She could infiltrate the party easily, and once inside her demon would be able to point out not only the politician, but any other demon in the room.”

  “Do you think we can trust her not to make a scene?” Korbin asked.

  “She can restrain her demon,” Damian stated. “Especially if we point out the importance of staying undercover throughout this thing. Of course, if she has to engage she has to, but she knows that starting a war like that in the middle of a Las Vegas casino could be a complete and total nightmare.”

  “That is an understatement.” Korbin laughed, leaning back in his chair. “We would lose many innocent lives, much less bringing national attention to what is going on. The less the innocents know, the safer they will be. They tend to turn on each other in times of strife; we have seen that pattern repeated throughout history.”

  “Absolutely,” Damian agreed. “Honestly, I think she is the best person for the job. There aren’t many other people who have that kind of intel at the tips of their fingers. If she trusts her demon in this, then we should trust her judgment.”

  “It’s not that I don’t have faith in Katie,” Korbin replied. “It’s that I don’t have faith in her demon. I worry that she has been bamboozled, and sending her into a place like this could be a complete and total trap. We want her to stay safe, but at the same time figure out what is going on.”

  “And you are concerned that her demon might give her away,” Damian said. “It is definitely a risk, I won’t lie.”

  “But is it an unnecessary risk?” Korbin asked.

  “Personally, I believe the risk is smaller than you think,” Damian said. “This demon seems to want to stay here on this plane. Surely something that powerful knows that if Katie dies, she goes back to hell. I think that the demon will do anything it needs to do to keep her safe. I stand by the idea that if Katie trusts it, I trust Katie’s judgment. She has saved multiple lives since she got here, including mine and those of other members of this team. I think I owe it to her to have confidence in her choices. Ultimately, though, it is a risk, and in the end it is your call. I will stand by whatever choice you make.”

  “This mission is close. So close that if we needed to, we could get there very quickly.” Korbin spoke aloud, more to himself than Damian.

  “And we have the cooperation of the Feds,” Damian said. “They could stand by in case they were needed.”

  “They could,” Korbin said, rising and walking over to the window.

  He looked down into the training area, thinking about the other day when Katie was completely entranced for hours, moving through the motions with her staff. She didn’t waiver; just stayed the course, learning a new skill, trying to fight harder, faster, and more expertly than anyone else.

  She truly wanted to be able to face anything that came her way.

  She had been like that when she first got there, but at this point she had become a power house—a vital part of their team. Korbin couldn’t ignore that fact.

  Being the leader was exhausting, trying to juggle what was best for the innocent with what was best for his team. In the end he would always pick the innocent, which was why they were there in the first place.

  Still, he couldn’t help but worry about sending Katie into a situation that could get her killed without warning. If she found herself in a room filled with demons and her own demon betrayed her she would stand no chance, and there was no way that they could get there quickly enough to help her.

  He would be sending the girl into the snake pit, not to mention forcing himself to have faith in a demon. It wasn’t what he wanted for her, or for anyone else. Korbin turned back to Damian and sighed, shaking his head.

  Damian smiled. “It’s like being a father to your team but the caretaker of the world. You have to take care of the world, but you struggle to allow your children to run head-first into a burning building.”

  “Yes,” Korbin agreed. “But unfortunately I can’t just sit by idly. I have to make a choice. We will send her in, and hope to God nothing terrible happens.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Katie was sitting at the kitchen table, scanning through the different sections of the paper, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. She did that every day, tracking strange killings, possible demon sightings, and interesting news about the rich and famous, who seemed to get richer by the day.

  It was her own little reconnaissance. Something to keep her busy connecting different dots, and ultimately she hoped it would help clarify the bigger picture in some way, shape, or form.

  She knew Derek had the website and Korbin had tons of informants as well as getting information from the higher-ups, but she couldn’t just stand by like a weapon they pointed in the correct direction at need, then patted her on the back when it was over.

  She was more than that, and she wanted to make sure that when the time came Korbin saw that.

  She could find things. She could do detective work; she showed that when she’d helped Calvin track Charlotte down. She wanted that to continue, so he would give her assignments beyond incursions.

  She understood Korbin had reservations about her, and that he was nervous taking a chance on her demon in an uncontrolled situation. She wanted to make him feel comfortable in the fact that she had everything on track and under control.

  Without missions other than ass-kickings, though, she was never going to convince him that her demon was not going to cause a huge problem—at least not with the other demons.

  I don’t know why you care, Pandora wondered.

  Ugh, get out of my thoughts, Katie grumped.

  The fact that you could beat the pants off any demon or man should be enough for him to let it go, Pandora told her.

  It would be just like you to say I should rule by fear, Katie chided. I don’t want my team to be afraid of me. I want them to trust me a hundred percent.

  And most of them do, Pandora replied. So what is so important about Korbin?

  He’s the leader of this group and the one who has to make the hard decisions, and I don’t want him to ever have to make that decision when it comes to me, Katie explained, looking down at her buzzing phone. He’s calling right now.

  Pandora sighed. All right, answer away.

  She put the phone to her ear. “Yes, boss?”

  “Hey, are you busy?” Korbin asked.

 
“Nope,” Katie said, closing the paper.

  “Will you come to my office? I have something to ask of you,” Korbin said.

  “Sure, be right down,” she replied, pressing End.

  Katie tidied her notes and headed downstairs, curious what Korbin wanted to talk to her about.

  She hadn’t made any waves recently. No random clawed hands, no crazy moves in training, no new cars, and there hadn’t been any incursions that she knew of.

  Part of it made her nervous, like one day she would go down there and he would tell her that she was being transferred to research—or that he had to make the hard decision.

  She didn’t want to become another statistic, so she had to keep her cool and keep Pandora locked down and on the same page with her.

  “Hey there!” Korbin stood as she walked in. “Please take a seat.”

  “Okay.” Katie smiled. “What can I do for you?”

  “We got that intel from Charlotte we were looking for,” he started. “We know where the politician will be tonight.”

  “That’s great.” Katie nodded, blowing out her breath. “Should we put a team together to snag him?”

  “Actually, no. We know where he is going to be, and we don’t want to make this any more public than it has already become. We would like you to go in undercover and find out if the politician is a real problem or just someone in our way. There is a possibility that he is just a diversion, put there to lead us down the wrong path. We can’t take any chances, though, not when it comes to so many people. He will be attending a VIP party tonight, and we want you to go in like you belong and get the information from him discreetly but quickly. We don’t want to find out the hard way that there is something perched outside, just waiting to come in and do some real damage.”

  “Right,” Katie agreed. “And what information are you looking for?”

  “When the next attack will be, who is behind all this, and where he stands in the order of things,” Korbin listed.