Give the Devil His Due

by Blackwell, Rob

  He pictured it in his mind as he had held it in the mortal world. When he opened his eyes, there was nothing there.

  “You can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, sugar,” Carol said with a wry look on her face. “For this, you need full concentration.”

  Quinn waved for Janus to keep going ahead while he and Carol stopped. He saw Buzz and Parker saunter by. They seemed engrossed in conversation. Quinn was idly curious what they were talking about. He loved Buzz, but he had always found him quite intense. Then again, maybe Parker was the perfect companion. With his eight eyes and legs and his serious talk of destiny, he was a lot to handle as well.

  “Focus,” Carol said.

  Quinn focused. He forgot about the fortress in the distance, the red grass at his feet and the purple sky above. He closed his eyes. Not surprisingly, his first thought was of Kate. He pictured her on their last night together, her blond hair falling in her face as she kissed him. He thought about how her lips felt on his, how her body…

  He suddenly felt a sharp jab in his shoulder.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter, for God’s sake,” Carol said.

  Quinn opened his eyes in alarm.

  “You could see what I was thinking?” he asked.

  “I’m still a psychic,” she said. “I had enough of a mental picture — and it wasn’t rated PG.”

  “Sorry,” he said, looking chagrined.

  “Daylight’s wasting, sugar,” Carol said. “Figure this out quickly.”

  Quinn closed his eyes again. Instead of Kate, he pictured himself as the Headless Horseman, paying attention to every detail. He thought of the ragged and torn cloak, the decaying military uniform, and most especially the scabbard at his side. He remembered what the sword felt like in his hand, how it was an extension of him. He hadn’t learned to fight with it. When he was the Horseman, it was as easy as moving an arm or a leg.

  When he opened his eyes, the sword lay in the grass. If Quinn couldn’t be the Horseman, at least he had the next best thing.

  He bent down and picked it up. It felt perfect, like it had always been with him. He was unsurprised to find a scabbard and belt on him as well. He sheathed the blade and grinned at Carol.

  “Not bad, eh?” he said.

  Carol nodded.

  “Just don’t get too many ideas,” she said. “That’s a mental projection, just like the flashlights were. They’ll work — you can fight with the sword — but don’t think you can conjure a dozen of them. The first one takes little effort, but the more you try to produce…”

  “The weaker it gets,” Quinn said.

  “And you,” Carol added. “You aren’t a battery with unlimited energy. Try to remember that.”

  Quinn saw that Janus had stopped in the distance.

  “Let’s get going,” he said.

  Carol put a hand on his arm as he turned to go.

  “There’s one more thing,” she said.

  She was quiet as she spoke to him, even though there was nobody else within earshot.

  “I could be wrong,” she said, “but Sanheim knew we were headed over that mountain.”

  “Dub and Dother said as much.”

  “How did he know?” Carol asked.

  “Lucky guess?” Quinn asked.

  “He knows what we’re up to, Quinn,” Carol said. “And he knew exactly where we were going.”

  “Well, who told you about it?” Quinn asked. “How do you know Crowley is even there?”

  “I don’t,” Carol said.

  “That’s reassuring, seeing as how we’re betting our lives on finding him.”

  “What I mean is it was just something I pieced together,” Carol said. “When I first arrived, I was more prepared than most. So I started collecting as much information as possible.”

  “You couldn’t have been here much longer than me,” Quinn said.

  Carol shook her head.

  “No, I think you got held up or something,” she said. “I might have died close to when you did in the mortal world, but I’ve been here awhile. At any rate, I came across a few people who talked about this fort, even a couple who had been in there. They described all manner of creatures — but only one human. They said he was old, and given to chanting a strange rhyme.”

  “Fifty men went up a hill…” Quinn recited.

  “Yep,” Carol replied. “I don’t know what he’s doing there or why he’s still alive. I don’t even know for sure that it’s him, but it’s the best guess I’ve got.”

  “Which brings us back to how Sanheim knew we were heading there,” Quinn said.

  “Exactly,” Carol said. “How many people knew our plan? Buzz and I didn’t tell any of the scarecrows what we were up to. Only the five of us knew.”

  “Parker figured it out,” Quinn added.

  “From following us,” Carol said.

  “It’s possible Sanheim had someone do the same,” Quinn said.

  “Or it’s possible that he has a spy in our midst,” Carol said.

  Quinn’s eyes inadvertently drifted to watch Elyssa as she waited ahead of them, gazing off at the fort in the distance.

  “You think Elyssa?” Quinn asked.

  “Who else?”

  “She has no love for Sanheim.”

  “Or you,” Carol said.

  “I saved her life,” Quinn said. “That scarecrow was going to kill her.”

  “Do you know that for certain?” Carol asked.

  “Can’t you read her mind?”

  “Not that clearly,” Carol said. “I just see occasional images, like I did with you. I see things with her, but mostly it’s pictures of Sawyer. I think she broods on him a lot.”

  “How would she even tell Sanheim anything?” Quinn asked. “It’s not like anyone has gone scurrying off.”

  “We all have to sleep sometime,” Carol replied. “Didn’t you see Sanheim in a dream?”

  “But you don’t know she’s betrayed us,” Quinn said. “Not for sure.”

  “No,” Carol said. “But if we have a traitor among us, it’s not hard to guess who it is. I would be very careful the next time you spell out a plan, Quinn. You don’t know who she might be sharing it with.”

  Chapter 27

  Tim Anderson opened his eyes and started screaming.

  Standing by his bed was a hideous creature — a phantom of a woman in a white dress with hollow eye sockets and skin that barely covered her skull.

  In a flash of light, the banshee disappeared and Kate Tassel stood there instead.

  “Good God, you startled me,” he said.

  Kate looked at him apologetically.

  “Sorry,” she said.

  But a moment later she turned back into the banshee and disappeared into the wall. A nurse walked into the room.

  “Mr. Anderson, are you okay?” the nurse asked.

  Tim stared at the wall and then looked back at the nurse.

  “I, uh, had a nightmare,” he said. “I’m fine.”

  The nurse looked at him strangely, then shrugged and turned around. When she was gone, the banshee floated out of the wall again.

  “Could you change back, please?” Tim asked. “You look awful.”

  The phantom once again morphed into Kate.

  “You know just what to tell a girl,” she said, and smiled.

  “I wasn’t expecting you. I thought I’d died and gone to hell for a moment there.”

  “Sorry,” Kate said again. “I forget what I look like. Quinn reacted the same way last year when I first appeared in this form.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Tim said.

  He put his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes for a moment.

  “You don’t look so good yourself,” she said. “I tried to race back ahead of her. I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner.”

  “My fault,” Tim said, sitting up. Kate took some pillows and helped prop him up. “I should have known bullets wouldn’t work on a thing like that.”

  “M
ight have,” Kate said. “You don’t know.”

  “But I gather you fought her off?”

  “Kieran did actually,” Kate said. “As far as I can tell, she’s impervious to most everything in my arsenal. My troops weren’t able to do her any damage. My scream hurt her a little, but it takes so much energy to use that, and it’s only truly effective at close range.”

  “Is she coming back?” Tim asked.

  “Probably,” Kate said. “But I haven’t seen her in a couple of days. She definitely didn’t like the shield Kieran gave me. It seemed to spook her. But I have no doubt she’ll return at some stage.”

  Kate sat down in one of the chairs. It was stiff and uncomfortable, but for a moment, Kate looked like she would nod off.

  “You need to rest,” Tim said. He looked at her with concern.

  “You remind me of my dad,” she said.

  “A good man,” Tim said. “He came by many times when you were in the asylum.”

  “Did he?” Kate asked. “I don’t… I don’t remember. I don’t remember much to be honest. Just the voices in my head, constantly bickering. I barely remember Kieran showing up.”

  “That might be for the best,” Tim said.

  “I don’t think so,” Kate said. “If there’s one thing this experience has proved, it’s that I’m not as strong as I think I am. Quinn died and… I let it destroy me. I convinced myself of all sorts of things that weren’t true. I let you down; I let my dad down. If I find Quinn again, how could he possibly accept me after what I’ve done? I killed all those moidin on the field, hunted down those criminals, and assaulted a police station.”

  “If there’s one thing you can be sure of in this world, Kate, it’s that Quinn would love you if you wiped out half of North America,” Tim said. “I remember how he looked at you. You don’t need to worry about him.”

  “What if I fail?” Kate asked. “That’s the fear that haunts me. What if Kieran is wrong, or he lied to us?”

  “He’s definitely lying to us,” Tim said. “He has some agenda. But he’s not working for Sanheim.”

  “You’re sure?” Kate asked.

  “That woman who attacked him wasn’t doing it for show,” Tim replied. “Oh, he pitched her some story about secretly spying on us, but even I could tell it was a lie. I heard what she told him. She said Lord Sanheim wanted him dead and I believed her. But that doesn’t mean you should trust him.”

  “Even if he’s telling the truth, this might not work,” Kate said.

  “It might not,” Tim agreed. “For one thing, whoever attacked you…”

  “Carman,” Kate interjected. “She calls herself Carman.”

  “Carman is still out there,” Tim continued. “You have to get to Ireland and somehow open a way through. We know Sanheim will be waiting for you. Then you have to find Quinn — if he’s even there — and somehow bring him back out.”

  “Well, gee, when you put it like that, why am I even worried?” Kate asked and rolled her eyes at him.

  “I’m a realist,” Tim said. “All the odds are stacked against you. You are quite literally trying to raise the dead. No one said it would be easy.”

  “If you think I’ll fail, why have you been helping me?” Kate asked.

  “I didn’t say I think you’ll fail. I listed obstacles. In fact, I think you’ll pull it off. It’s insane, but I’ve seen you in action.”

  “As the banshee or the Headless Horseman?”

  “As a reporter,” he said. “What’s the most essential quality to being a good reporter?”

  Kate paused for a moment. She hadn’t thought about journalism in a long time, but wasn’t surprised to realize she missed it. She’d been a good reporter before her life became a bizarre nightmare.

  A reporter needed a range of skills: the ability to write well, good rapport with sources, quick analytical thinking and a lot of luck. But there was one factor that trumped all of them.

  “Persistence,” she said.

  Tim smiled.

  “Exactly. A good reporter will see a wall and find a way past it. Climb over it, dig under it, go around it or smash it down. A good reporter will always find a way through. And you, Kate, aren’t a good reporter. You’re the best I’ve ever seen. If anyone can get through the gates of hell, it will be you.”

  Kate wiped tears away from her eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said. “That’s… that was exactly what I needed to hear.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Tim smiled. “It’s what editors are here for. We prod, we push, we demand and — every so often — we inspire.”

  Kate stood up.

  “You’ve got that last part down,” she said. She leaned over and hugged him, careful to avoid the IV and other medical equipment nearby. She had asked her army of ghosts to stay away because she was worried if she hadn’t, the entire power grid around the hospital would fail.

  “You’ve come here to say good-bye?” Tim asked.

  Kate nodded.

  “We can’t wait anymore,” she said. “As long as I stay here, Carman could come back at any moment. I need to take what troops I have and make a break for it.”

  Tim nodded.

  “I’m sorry I can’t come with you,” he said. “I want to see how the story ends.”

  “If I can, I’ll try to find a way to tell you when it’s over,” Kate said. “You deserve to know.”

  “That would be most appreciated.”

  “Could you do me a favor?” Kate asked.

  “Anything,” he said.

  “Tell my father…” she trailed off. She had no idea what to say to the man who had lost his wife and now his daughter. “Just tell my father I love him. That I’m trying to put right some of the mistakes I made.”

  “I’ll let him know,” Tim said. “You have my word.”

  Kate stepped toward the wall and paused.

  “You might want to turn away,” she said. “I need to change form if I’m going to walk through walls.”

  “I have my reporter hat on now,” Tim said. “I won’t look away.”

  Kate changed forms and stood there, her white dress billowing out against an invisible wind. She raised her hand in a small wave.

  “Good-bye, Kate Tassel,” Tim said. “Good luck.”

  The banshee stepped into the wall and vanished. Tim tried to smile, to feel a little optimism. But in his heart, he knew it was the last time he would see her again.

  *****

  Once outside, Kate moved quickly under the bright moon until she came to an old decrepit house in a rural area of woods. She hated the history of the house. It had once been the home of a man named Charles Holober, a schizophrenic who the Loudoun police had wrongfully concluded was Lord Halloween. In an ironic twist, Kyle Thompson later used the house as a hideout, in part because he knew the police would never think to look there. Kate stared at the spot in the dirt where Kyle had died, killed by Quinn’s hand.

  After Kyle’s death, the house had been used briefly by Sawyer and Elyssa to lay a trap for Summer Mandaville, Quinn’s longtime journalistic rival. Just a few hundred yards from here, Elyssa had torn Summer to pieces.

  The stink of death permeated everything around the house. Kate knew that places could take on a quality based on people’s actions, and this house had become evil.

  She hated it here. She had only come out of desperation, knowing it was so deserted that it was the best place to rally the tens of thousands of spirits who now followed her. It was also out of the way in case Carman attacked again. She didn’t want to be responsible for any more innocent deaths if she could help it.

  Kate stopped outside the house. She couldn’t bring herself to go inside.

  “Kieran,” she shouted.

  He came outside with a small backpack slung over one shoulder, as well as the sword and shield. He came down the steps and handed the latter two items to Kate.

  “I brought some supplies,” he said. “Your army doesn’t need to eat, but you and I do.”


  “We aren’t planning to walk there, Kieran,” she said. “This trip will be quicker than you think.”

  “Well, I was kinda assuming we were going to fly,” Kieran said. “Although I’m still not sure how you’re getting out of the country.”

  Kate smiled at him, but it wasn’t a particularly pleasant expression.

  “I don’t like the look of that one bit,” Kieran said, staring at her.

  “I did a little research,” Kate said. “It turns out the banshee has quite a history.”

  “Bloody hell, I was afraid of this,” Kieran said. “You saw ‘Darby O’Gill and the Little People,’ didn’t you? That movie scared the hell out of me.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “It had a banshee in it and… er…”

  “A carriage?” she asked. “The banshee often travels in a carriage. Sometimes she pulls it, other times it’s drawn by horses or even…”

  “The Headless Horseman,” Kieran interrupted. “Yeah, I’m familiar with that.”

  Kate closed her eyes and felt the leaves swirl around her. She felt, rather than saw, the restless dead around her begin to respond. She tapped into their energy and conjured the image she held in her mind.

  When she opened her eyes, a 19th century carriage covered in black mourning decorations stood in front of them. Several horses that looked a lot like the Headless Horseman’s steed were hitched to it.

  “How do you have the power for this?” Kieran asked. “It’s not even Halloween yet.”

  “They give me power,” Kate said, gesturing to the spirits who had begun to appear around her. “Last year, I spent all my energy just to summon a few of them. But I never realized how they could empower me in return.”

  The carriage seemed to absorb the moonlight coming from above them. Kate opened the door, but Kieran appeared reluctant to step inside.

  “This is it?” he asked. “We’re leaving now?”