“I looked like a dunce,” Navarone said. “Your weaving back to our lines with me on your shoulder amidst gunfire will cement you as an instant hero, Rawlins. You needed it too, because they included the demise of Santiago. It appears to clear you of any wrongdoing, but it’s graphic. Tina Kinsler’s happiness and bonding with your dog in the woods will make for good TV. I was lucky to only get a reprimand. Anyway, maybe Jack and Manny are right. Easing the populace into the idea of an inter-dimensional war might be a good idea, especially with the warning and explanation. I’ll call Stossle when I have the tanker so he can get in on the delivery system design. Unless you want to call the local police, we’ll have to leave the kids with you.”
“We can deal with them,” Mike said. “Thank you for coming. I hope we can get the people in authority on board after we initiate an attack. The worst part of this is finding out how easily one of these portals can be opened. We thought it was a fluke with the first. After two more in quick succession, we know it’s not nearly as hard as we thought.”
“Your crew is impressive.” Tobian shook hands with Mike and Denny. Ruiz and Navarone followed his lead, although Navarone hesitated to shake Mike’s hand.
“I came over here with the express purpose of arresting all of you,” Navarone admitted. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”
“The right thing, Agent Navarone,” Mike said. “I’m hoping we can work together and stop this invasion. We really don’t have a choice… do we?”
“We’ll be in touch, kid. Great demo,” Ruiz said, turning toward the door. “C’mon Al, I’ll buy you and Jack a beer.”
“Be right there, Manny,” Tobian replied as Navarone followed Ruiz out. He turned to Mike after they moved out of earshot. “Navarone’s right, Mike. She was going postal until you grabbed her. Is there something you’re not telling us about?”
“Can we keep that on a need to know basis, Agent Tobian?”
Tobian grinned. “Yeah… okay kid. I get it. I think it’s going to be great working with you. I wish it wasn’t under world saving circumstances though.”
“That makes two of us. Thanks for your understanding.”
Tobian turned on the way out. “Hey Mike, don’t be too hard on those kids.”
“Never.” Mike crossed his heart with his right hand and held it up in the boy-scout salute.
Tobian laughed and left, shaking his head. Mike turned back around to face his crew. “Great night boys and girls… and D. The earth lives another day. Any suggestions on what to do with our prisoners? The FBI has left their fate in our capable hands.”
“It’s late, Mike,” Stan said. “Can we leave this in your capable hands? You don’t have class tomorrow… or football practice.”
“Oh crap! Sorry, guys. Take off. I’ll say goodbye to our devil cult. I drove over with D. Did you all leave your cars at Demon Inc?”
“Yeah, Mike,” Jerry replied. “We’ll drop Denny off and then take the van back over to the bat cave. Hey Moby, you can blow out of there now.”
“Oh… very funny,” Laura growled. “Moby… signing off.”
“C’mon Toad brothers,” Janis called out on the way to the door. “I’m getting the hell out of this rig. Aunty Em… Aunty Em… we’re going. Bye Mike. Bye Fluffy.”
Demon growled.
Connie hugged Mike and stroked Demon’s head. “Great time, Mike, and we’re all still alive. I have to go before the diva makes our lives miserable.”
“Bye, Con,” Mike said. “I’ll let you all know what’s happening as soon as I know.”
“Denny told us you’re the mascot for the football team, Mikey,” Stan said. “Do you have to wear one of those chicken outfits?”
“Dinner tomorrow at Brennan’s on Demon Inc, at 7PM. We’ll know more about everything by then. I wish I could practice for you guys tomorrow.”
“Liar!” Jerry grabbed Denny’s arm, dragging him toward the door. “C’mon, Frodo, no last minute meetings with CD. HG? You ridin’ with us?”
“I’ll ride with Mike, Jer.”
Denny waved at Mike as Stan grabbed his other arm for a dual drag.
Mike turned to his seven anxious detainees. “Well, what have we learned tonight, boys and girls? Please tell me all of you understand how dangerous what you did tonight was.”
“We know, Mike,” Loza said. “God… we owe you our lives. We’ll never do this shit again… ever.”
“Let’s cut to the chase, Mike.” Gail walked over to where Clarissa and Sandy were standing together with bored expressions. “I can tell right now, even certain death hasn’t made an impression on these two mental midgets.”
Mike nodded. “The rest of you come over here behind me.”
The other teens hurried over behind Mike.
“Here’s the deal. Let me show you what happens if you make Demon happy by never conjuring hell on earth.”
On cue, Demon ran over to Clarissa and Sandy, panting happily with tail wagging.
“And here’s the Demon you will get one late night in the dark of your own bedroom when you piss him off.”
The transformation elicited screams even from the teens behind Mike. Sixty pounds of raging, snarling fury ran over the screeching Clarissa and Sandy, sending them to the floor in two heaps. They curled into a fetal position pleadingly as Demon rushed at each one’s face, his fangs and claws narrowly missing them, again and again. After three passes, Demon returned to Mike’s side. The only sounds in the room were the sobbing cries from the two teens on the floor. The rest of the group behind Mike stared at the now placid Demon in fear and awe.
Gail walked over and nudged Sandy. “Hey, Sandy, you little tool… any questions?”
“No… no! Keep… keep him away. Honest to God… I’m done… I’ll never do it again.”
“Honest to God. Really?” Gail shook her head. “This from the devil worshiper. How about you, Clarissa? I saw that bored, I’m getting away with it look on your face. What do you think now, girlfriend?”
Clarissa remained on her knees, hunched over with her hands over her head, chest heaving. She peeked out when she heard Gail. “Please… don’t send him at me again.”
“Just remember,” Mike said. “Demon can get to you anywhere. Your next sighting of him will be your last. Get out of here now, all of you. Leave your spell books and spirit boards. Drive carefully. See you all in school. Keep your mouths shut!”
Aaron Loza and Ed Brandt passed Mike and shook hands with him.
“We’re not scared, Mike,” Aaron said. “Me and Ed were just stupid.”
“Yeah,” Ed spoke up, “we thought it was all bunk and-”
“You figured chants, and naked chicks,” Mike finished for him with a grin. “I hear you. Can you let me know of any rumor with someone in school trying this crap again?”
“You bet!” Aaron replied with Ed nodding vigorously in agreement. “We’ll talk to the girls too. They’re a little more screwy with the supernatural angle, but after seeing Demon in action, and what actually comes out of these portals, they’ll come around.”
“Let’s hope so. Go on and get out of here. Make sure everyone gets home safe, even the mental midgets.”
“Will do.” Ed gestured to the girls listening intently to their conversation. “C’mon, let’s go.”
Mike, Demon, and Gail watched them leave. The three exchanged amused glances. Mike gathered the debris left by the other teens while Demon sniffed around for any hint of something missed. Gail took off her pack tiredly.
“I’m glad my Dad didn’t come tonight. He hasn’t been sleeping too well lately. Besides, Denny has the video editing down to a science. I doubt he would have gotten any better shots. That one where he had to resupply us in the midst of the Haunts really screwed him up.” Gail giggled. “He stalks me now on my cell-phone. If I don’t check in with him hourly, he’s texting me nonsense to try and get a response.”
Mike came over to her with an armful of books and boards. “Your Dad’s a
great guy. What he’s done with editing and organizing our operations is nothing short of incredible. I thought he looked a little bleak after the close call on the teachers’ portal battles. He loves you. Coming so close to losing you kicked him into a higher gear. Enjoy it. Having people who care about us makes all these Haunt battles bearable.”
“By the way,” Gail said, bending down to hug the returning Demon, “you were awesome, D. That demo you gave those idiots Clarissa and Sandy left no doubt in my mind they’ll never go down the devil worship trail again.”
Demon leaned his head into Gail. “I like this one, CD. You have an empty house and no one around. I’ll go out back and let you two kids consummate the mission.”
Mike dropped one of the spirit boards, caught off guard by Demon’s suggestion. Gail laughed and picked up the board.
“D nailed me somehow, right? C’mon, spill it, Captain Darkness. I can take it.”
Mike headed for the door. “It was nothing like that. D wanted to step out back while we consummated the mission.”
Gail gasped. She ran and jumped Mike, arms and legs wrapped around him. She noted her attack did not even jar a book or board loose, nor did he lose his balance. He felt to her like hardened steel. She hugged him, her head to the side of his shoulder.
“I’m suddenly not tired anymore,” Gail turned to whisper in his ear.
Mike’s mind ran a kaleidoscope of images spanning his earlier birth partner episode with Laura, Gail’s Dad’s face, and his absolute knowing it would be a bad idea. The last thought he had as he carefully turned to disengage Gail from her restraining position around him was he should have sent her away with his friends. He felt Gail fighting him as he gripped her in such a way as to slowly remove her from his back and shift her inexorably into a position facing him. Their resulting kiss and moaning surrender from Gail sent a snorting Demon out the back sliding glass door.
* * *
“Where the hell have you been?” Laura met Mike and Demon at the Rawlins’ house door. “It’s nearly 3AM. I almost woke your parents. Jan texted me they were back home hours ago.”
Demon growled in a manner not highly threatening, but definitely revealing of his displeasure at Laura’s greeting. It surprised Laura. She glanced from the silent Mike to Demon in confused retreat as she stumbled back a couple steps. “Did…did something bad happen?”
“No. Demon and I come and go as we please. He was expressing his displeasure at you assuming to be in charge of our curfew.”
“I was worried.”
“We appreciate your concern. Now go to bed, Laura. You need to get your rest like they told you in class tonight. Stress isn’t healthy, and your continuing at Demon Inc during pregnancy is about as far as you can stretch the stress thing.”
Laura started to respond a couple of times, but then shrugged instead. “Okay… sorry guys. I’ll see you in the morning if you’re up. I have a class at ten. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Mike replied. “Want a double shot and beer nightcap, D?”
“If you have to ask that, CD, the Holy Grail must have erased your memory banks tonight,” Demon replied, padding toward the kitchen.
Mike grinned and followed a moment later.
Chapter Ten
Media Manipulation
Jenny gave Mike a wave as her son walked into the kitchen. She paused from her cleaning chores at the sink. “I’ll bet you’re glad there’s no school today. Is Laura up?”
“I think she’s in the shower. Did Dad say whether he needed me at the shop today?”
“He said to take the day off. If he gets slammed, he told me he’d call. I’m surprised you’re ready this early. What’d you get, about four hours sleep?”
Mike glanced at the kitchen clock, noting it was nearly 9AM. He poured a cup of coffee for himself and sat down at the kitchen table. His Mom knew he hated eating breakfast, and had given up trying to force it on him. “Closer to five. D’s still zonked in my bedroom. I gave him a nightcap.”
“How about you?”
“Not last night or I mean early morning. We came in too late. I appreciate you and Dad trusting me on the booze thing.”
Jenny sat down opposite Mike with her own coffee. “If having a shot after fighting inter-dimensional war helps, then I think it would be stupid not to trust you. Your Dad and I always were honest with you about our own experiments. Toking up is an ambition killer. We dropped that loser way back in our college days. Most everything else hooks you and deteriorates your body, just like overindulging in booze. You have more ambition than ten kids. We figured with all you have going on, the last thing you’d ever do is mess with drugs, and overindulge the booze that blunts your inner drive.”
“I hate to say it, but the Haunt upgrade has been largely beneficial so far, which is kind of creepy. I haven’t had a chance to tell you and Dad about some of the effects. Even with the small amount of Colloidal Silver, my power of suggestion is increasing, and my control over touch is to the point I may be able to stop taking the Silver one day soon.”
Jenny’s brow furrowed slightly as she considered Mike’s new information. “That is a pretty dangerous upgrade combined with your strength enhancements. Did you use them last night?”
“I had to on Agent Navarone. She arrived ready to throw us all in prison. I willed her to allow us to show her what evicting a Haunt looks like up close and personal. She was on our side after that. She even volunteered to get a tanker for our try at taking the battle into Haunt land.”
“You saved that bitch’s life and she was still going to arrest you?”
“Forget the lifesaving, Mom. We need the FBI on board with this invasion. It’s one thing for a bunch of teens and a dog to evict mean spirited ghosts in a reality TV setting. It’s a whole other deal to have those same teens and dog as the only front line of defense against an invasion of monsters from another dimension.”
“Well yeah… when you blurt it all out like that,” Jenny joked.
“Good morning.” Laura walked into the kitchen dressed in her more fancy maternity clothes for school. Patches the cat followed her and ran over to chow down on the food Jenny had already placed on the floor for her. “The cat’s been sleeping on my head every night.”
Jenny laughed and Mike returned her greeting. Jenny went to the refrigerator for the orange juice and milk. “Juice and cereal, hon?”
Laura nodded, taking down a bowl and glass from the cupboard. She half filled the bowl with Cheerios before sitting at the table next to Jenny. “It’s about all I can stand to take in the morning still.”
“Yep, I was the same way.” Jenny poured Laura’s juice and handed her the milk to add herself. “The bad time’s coming during this last trimester when you get cravings to eat everything but the kitchen sink. You have to watch it if you don’t want to be as big as a house.”
“I better go get the paper before the neighbors turn their dog loose.” Jenny headed for the front door.
“How’s classes been for you at the college?”
“Good, Mike. I’m more focused than I ever was before. I don’t have all those goofy teen thoughts running around in my head like drugs, sex, and rock and roll.”
Mike chuckled. “Yeah, I guess having a baby while participating in open warfare with inter-dimensional monsters changes your perception of school, huh?”
“Studying is not the drag I once thought it was. How’s school going for you with all the crap you keep piling on yourself?”
“Pretty well. I was just talkin’ to Mom about the Haunt upgrade being pretty much a benefit so far. My comprehensive ability has shot up. I do schoolwork in half the time.”
“That was a close one when you decided to hold onto that Haunt with your hand to impress Navarone. It sliced the hell out of your Kevlar.”
“She had to see the real deal until she was convinced. That did it,” Mike replied. “Besides, D left it with stumps in about two seconds flat.”
“Mike!” Jenny rushed over
with the morning paper. “Check this out.”
The headline described the entire weekend in intricate detail, from the time Mike exorcized the Haunts in his MMA opponent and girlfriend to carrying Navarone on his shoulder to safety under heavy gunfire. It included a picture obviously extracted from one of Demon Inc’s videos of the event.
“Oh God, Mike,” Laura remarked, staring at the article over his shoulder. “Only someone from inside could have done this.
“Bullshit!” Mike threw the paper aside. “No one from Demon Inc did this. I can tell from the tenor of the article they’re working two angles – making me a lone hero, and denigrating the rest of Demon Inc, including its main ingredient: Demon. No way I allow this crap to become the public perception of Demon Inc.”
“We’ll work this out, Mike… oh hell… I have to leave for class,” Laura finished her cereal and stood up. “I didn’t do this.”
Mike waved her off. “I know that, Laura. You concentrate on your class. I would never have blamed you for this. This headline reads setup in every way, shape, and form, and not from anyone in Demon Inc. Go to school. Denny and I will work this out. They’re trying to split us… I can feel it.”
“I’ll be home as soon as classes finish. Would you rather I go to Demon Inc instead of coming back here?”
“No, you go to school, and then come back here and get some rest. No matter what Denny finds out in the meantime, we won’t be acting on it. You’d better get going or you’ll be late.”
“I’ll text everyone and let them know we’re being played,” Laura replied, heading for the door, with Mike walking along with her. “They are mistaken thinking anyone in Demon Inc would believe you’d use them to get some kind of star status.”
Mike grabbed hold of her hand. “I know that beyond anything else in this world. You all are like my brothers and sisters. We put our lives on the line for each other without a second thought.” Mike’s face twisted into a mask of anger as he released Laura’s hand. “I’d twist the head off anyone who faced me with an accusation like that. You go on now. I’ll have the story for you later when Denny and I figure it out. You tell everyone we’re bein’ screwed with and not to worry, I ain’t letting this go until I find out who. We’re getting together later at Brennan’s. I should have some answers by then.”
Demon at War (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 3) Page 14
