Away from the workbench was a bookcase. I looked through the volumes there. Various translations of the Bible and a number of books about extremist Christian theology. I took one off the shelf and started flipping through the pages.
“This is odd…” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Most demon worshippers are more into grimoires and forbidden texts. Books dealing with the summoning and service of demons.” I slid the book back onto the shelf. “But this is pure 700 Club stuff. It’s a little odd.”
“He tried to make us think we were serving Heaven, had us read these books over and over again. Maybe that was a way to keep up appearances? Kind of a false prophet thing?”
“Maybe…” I wasn’t convinced, though. Something didn’t feel right about this. I’d seen nothing so far consistent with the level of demonic worship this Minister would have to engage in. Attracting the favor of an archdemon requires serious commitment and sacrifice to the dark arts. I wasn’t so sure I’d seen any evidence of that.
The floor and walls were completely bereft of any of the mystic sigils typically used in demonic magic. Overall, the cellar didn’t seem to hold anything of great interest, and that left only the barn, the place where Darlene died and Dakota was impregnated.
There was an exterior exit to the cellar and I climbed the steps leading up to it. I punched through the old wood and light spilled into the cellar, the orb vanishing as soon as it was touched by the rays of the sun.
“Barn’s next,” I told her.
I climbed out the cellar and offered a hand to help her. She accepted it, climbing out after me and stepping into the light. Overall, this did seem like a waste of time. Should’ve insisted we go see Tessa first, but there was nothing to be done about that now.
The barn was locked, same as the other rooms. I grabbed hold of the padlock and broke it off, then unfastened the latch and pulled the door open. At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual in here, either. Wooden floorboards, scattered hay in the corners, an old workbench with some farming tools stacked up beside it, and that was about it.
I turned around and faced Dakota, giving her a shrug. “Doesn’t look like we’ll find anything he—”
The sound of wood breaking, and then something grabbed hold of my leg. Dakota screamed, and I looked down to see a rotted hand wrapped around my ankle. There was a mumbled growl and I could see, through the broken floorboards, a walking corpse snarling, with clouded eyes.
Zombies. I hated zombies.
I drew the revolver and fired at the zombie’s arm, but it tried to hold on. A few more shots and I managed to split the forearm in two and yanked my foot away. While I bent down to pry the now-severed hand from my ankle, I heard more wood breaking. Other zombies were bursting through the floor and pulling themselves up through the fresh holes.
“Did you know he had zombies buried under the barn?” I asked Dakota as I backed up towards her.
“Of course not! You think I would’ve come back here if I knew there were zombies?”
I took aim and pulled the trigger, firing a round into a zombie head. Its brains blew out the back of its skull and it fell, lifeless, to the ground. But there were others lining up behind it. Just under a dozen or so by my count. I’d already fired four shots, and the gun only held six rounds.
“The salt circle around the house—go wait in it. It’ll protect you and I’ll draw them away.”
“Maybe I can tap into the baby’s power again! Like what happened with Donley?”
I fired again, tagging a zombie in the chest, and it fell. “You outta your goddamn mind, woman? You do that, you might kill me, too! Now get inside the damn circle!”
Dakota ran towards the house, crossing over the salt line. I took the final shot, hitting a zombie in the leg, and turn and ran for the car. The zombies pursued me and I opened the revolver’s chamber, allowing the empty shell casings to spill out on the grass. Once they were all gone, I reached inside my pockets for a speedloader with six fresh bullets.
The car was ahead. I jumped, sliding over the hood to the other side, and landed on the ground. There, I inserted the rounds into the chamber and turned the knob on the speedloader to release them before slamming the chamber shut.
I could hear their snarls getting louder. I sprang from the spot and fired two rounds right off the bat, taking out one zombie but only grazing the ear of another. That only made it angrier.
The zombies circled around the car and I backed away, holding the revolver in one hand while reaching for the dagger with the other. I relieved the blade of its sheath and thrust forward, slashing across a zombie’s chest.
Zombies tend not to care much about pain, so the wound didn’t deter it. I fired again, the bullet going right through its throat. Already three rounds down and I didn’t have another speedloader on me.
These zombies must’ve been placed here as a security measure, to take out anyone who came snooping around. The thing I didn’t understand was why. Far as I could tell, the Minister had nothing of note around here, other than some old books that didn’t tell much.
One of the zombies lunged for me. I fired a round into his brain. There were still a handful left, but now they were turning away. Couldn’t figure out why, though. They were mindless, they had no sense of fear. But now they were turning away and—
Oh, no, Dakota!
I ran after the zombies, firing into the back of one and dropping it. Three left. Dakota ran back up the front porch. She was okay; the salt line would protect her. That thought provided little comfort as I watched the first of the three cross the line.
Dammit—it must’ve been broken somehow. Could’ve been the wind, could’ve been either Dakota or myself accidentally hitting it without realizing.
I fired my last bullet and took out the zombie closest to me. “Run!”
She continued her retreat, running back inside the house. Yeah, that was a smart idea. Put yourself in a confined space.
I tackled the second to last zombie, dropping it just before it could reach the porch steps. The butt of the revolver slammed against its skull, breaking into it—and unfortunately splattering rotted flesh all over my hand and trench coat.
Without wasting another second, I stood and went inside the house. I went right, where I heard the snarl of the final zombie and Dakota’s scream come from. She was in the corner of the living room, standing behind one of the chairs as the zombie moved in closer.
My steps were deliberate, quiet. Didn’t want to alert the zombie until it was too late. I moved in closer, gripping the dagger in preparation. Once I came within arm’s reach, I grabbed the zombie by its straggly hair and yanked it back. It snarled, its hands trying to grab my wrist. I pulled it within range and drove the blade beneath its chin.
At that point, the zombie stopped moving.
I retracted the blade and the zombie slumped to the ground. The knife was now coated in chunks of decayed flesh and a sort of yellowish goo I had no desire to learn more about. First thing I did was walk over to the couch and wipe the blade on its surface while Dakota stared back at me, still cowering behind the chair.
With the blade sheathed, I sighed and pulled out my cigarette case. I took one from the case and lit it, slowly inhaling the smoke and allowing the adrenaline racing through my body to subside. The cigarette helped me relax, and after a few moments, I felt the bloodlust inside me start to subside.
“Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with zombies in a barn,” I said.
Dakota just blinked in disbelief. That brought a chuckle from my lips. She continued to stare. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.” I took shallower drags on the cigarette now that I’d calmed down.
“If those zombies were always there, how come I never knew about them before?” she asked.
“It’s a kind of necromancer security system,” I said. “Someone trespasses, they have to deal with bodies. Not usual
ly common unless you don’t plan on ever returning. Cleaning up after zombies is messy business, after all.”
“You’re telling me.” Dakota stared at the zombie on the ground when she said that. “But you said there wasn’t anything worth finding here? So why use zombies anyway?”
“Could be he’s trying to get rid of anyone who might come after him. Could be there’s something we missed while looking around the place. Or it could be that he set the trap up a while ago and just forgot about it.”
“So, what do we do? Keep looking around here?”
I slowly drew on the cigarette. Wasn’t a bad question. But I doubted we’d be able to find anything here right now. If the Minister was hiding something, I didn’t know what it was. Nothing stood out, but something felt wrong. I still had to have Tessa take a look at Dakota. Then there was the matter of confronting Asmodeus about why he was sending demons after me.
“Get in the car,” I said. “We’ll head back to Chicago, talk to Tessa, and figure out our next move from there.”
16
I had my left hand on the steering wheel, while my right kept flicking open and shutting the lid on my Zippo lighter. After the horror show at the farm, I wanted to smoke every single cigarette I had on me, then stop at the nearest gas station and pick up another carton. But I didn’t want to smoke with Dakota in the car beside me. Last thing I needed was her baby to think the smoke was a threat and burn up my soul.
Demons are inherently agents of chaos, so whenever something chaotic happens, that side of myself gets really hyped up. I can control it for the most part, keep the demon suppressed. Sometimes, the action was a relief.
But there was something different now. The demon inside me was on edge, more so than usual. As if it sensed a threat nearby. I thought it would subside in time after I killed the last of the Minister’s zombies, but it only grew stronger.
My eyes drifted to the side to look at Dakota. She was asleep in the passenger seat. After what she just saw, I didn’t blame her for wanting to shut out the world. I didn’t have that option, unfortunately.
Why did I feel that this girl and her baby were a threat to me? Demons are territorial, so maybe that’s why I had the sense I was in danger. A primal fear that this new cambion would take what’s mine.
I tried to push it out of my mind and focus on the road. Dropping the lighter on the center console, I then moved my hand to my docked phone and hit shuffle on the music app. A second later, I was listening to Van Morrison croon about how his mama told him there’d be days like this.
My speed down the highway increased. I had the desire to get Dakota to Tessa’s place in Logan Square as fast as possible, though I wasn’t sure if it was for Dakota’s safety or my own. They could get things set up while I took care of some other needs and dug around for a few answers.
The drive took about an hour or so before we pulled into a parking spot in the trendy neighborhood of Logan Square, right in front of a strip of shops. As soon as the car came to a stop, Dakota stirred and opened her eyes.
“Where are we?” she asked while yawning, slightly obscuring her voice.
“Logan Square,” I said. “Time for you to meet Tessa.”
Dakota rubbed her eyes and nodded. We both unbuckled our seatbelts and climbed out of the car. I took a business card from my wallet and set it on the dashboard. With my hand held over it, I spoke the word, “Praestigia.”
“What’s that do?”
I closed my door. “See for yourself.”
Dakota circled around to my side of the car and looked at the business card. She blinked at what she saw and I smiled.
“What’s it say?” I asked.
“It’s a valid parking slip,” she said.
I chuckled and stepped onto the sidewalk, with Dakota following behind.
“So you can cast illusions and you do it to avoid paying for parking?”
“I make it a rule to never pay for anything unless I have to,” I said. “It’s a temporary glamor, won’t last more than half an hour or so. But more than enough time to make introductions.”
We stopped in front of a store with posters of superheroes in the window, and Dakota looked up at the sign above the shop—THE SANCTUM. I pulled the handle and held the door open for her, gesturing inside.
“After you.”
“A comic book store?” asked Dakota as she walked inside.
I followed after her. Music was playing on the speakers, the Awesome Mixtape soundtrack from Guardians of the Galaxy, if I wasn’t mistaken. One of Tessa’s favorites. On the right-hand side of the shop were racks of new comic book releases. A few tables in the center displaying T-shirts, hoodies, and toys. On the left was a series of glass display cases showcasing rare cards and statues, ending at a register. Behind the counter were racks of more comics, albeit the higher-priced collector’s items.
There were a few people milling about the store, flipping through comics. I slid my hands into my pants pockets and moved slowly through The Sanctum, casting an occasional glance from side to side.
“Hey, look at this,” said Dakota. I turned in her direction and saw she was standing at the counter. On its surface were several business card holders. The card Dakota held was my own.
“Tessa tosses me the occasional client,” I said.
“Where is she?”
As if on cue, an Asian woman stepped out from the back area. She wore tight black jeans and a fitted white T-shirt with HARLEY QUINN FOR PRESIDENT on the front. Her ears were lined with rings, and her hair was dyed bright red, cut short in a jagged style. With a smile on her lips, she ran up to me and threw her arms around my neck.
“Good to see you again, big guy,” she said and then planted a kiss on my cheek.
“You too, Tess.” I returned the hug and then indicated Dakota with my hand. “Dakota Reed, meet Tessa Kang.”
“Hi, nice to—” Tessa’s face changed before she finished her greeting, going from her happy, good-natured expression to one of surprise and fear. She reached a hand out and placed it on Dakota’s stomach. “Oh my gods…”
“Now you see why we came to you,” I said.
Tessa gave furtive nods of understanding. “Yeah, absolutely. Do you know…what it is?”
“Smart money’s on a cambion, and a powerful one at that,” I said. “Could use your help to find out more.”
“I’m sorry, I’m a little confused here,” said Dakota. “Why are we here?”
I put my arm around Tessa’s shoulders. “Tess here just happens to be one of the finest witches in the tri-state area.”
“In the Midwest, really, but who’s counting…” said Tessa.
“She’s also modest,” I said.
“Did she pick that up from you?” asked Dakota.
Tessa chortled and pulled away from me, placing her arm around Dakota. “Oh, I like her!”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure you do. So, can you help us or not?”
“I’ll have to make some preparations, but yeah, we can do it in the basement,” said Tessa.
“Good, you get started on that. Dakota, I want you to stay here until I get back and we do this thing. You’ll be safe here; Tessa’s got pretty powerful warding magic on this place to keep out the undesirables.”
“Wait, where are you going?” asked Dakota.
“I’ve got some other business to take care of first. I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Tonight?” asked Dakota. “What am I supposed to do until then?”
I shrugged and looked around the store. “You’ve got a ton of reading material."
* * *
Leaving Dakota in Tessa’s care wasn’t something I counted on, but it was something I felt I had to do. She’d be safe in The Sanctum, and almost as soon as I’d left, my demonic side felt calmer. Still pretty worked up, though, but it confirmed what I’d suspected—Dakota’s unborn baby was setting my instincts on edge.
Before I went to my next destination, I had to get rid
of some of this tension. That meant visiting someone who could help me relax and get my head straight. If I went in while in this state, I might actually end up making things worse.
That’s why I made the drive from Logan Square to Lincoln Park and parked in the garage of a condominium near the lakefront. I went to the elevator, where a young couple had already pushed the call button and were waiting. I kept my distance from them.
My body felt warm. I tugged at my tie to loosen it and unbuttoned the collar, silently cursing the NO SMOKING sign taunting me from its wall mount. The wife cast a side look at me, her eyes lingering for a minute. I wanted to tell her to take a picture, say it would last longer, but I didn’t. Still, she pushed herself closer to her husband in a nervous motion. That drew his attention to me and as soon as he saw my face, he averted his eyes.
The demon whispered to me, telling me to snap their necks. I ignored it, waiting for the elevator to arrive. When it finally did, the couple entered first and held the door open for me.
“Going up?” the husband asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll take the next one.”
He didn’t hesitate to push the door close button. I waited a few seconds before pressing the call button. I wanted to get up there, but standing in the elevator with them might have tempted the demonic urges even more.
Finally, another elevator arrived, this one empty. I rushed in and hit the button for the fifteenth floor, then furiously pressed the door close button. I sighed as the elevator rode up in silence, watching the numbers tick by on the display panel.
The doors opened on fifteen and I ran down the hall, looking for the right room. Once I discovered it, I pounded my fist on the wooden door. A few of the neighbors poked their heads out of their condos, staring at me in annoyance and fear.
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