Daemon Uprising

by Mariah Ankenman

  “So will we,” Hyde said.

  Tabitha turned to her fellow Enforcer. “I know, but at least we’ll have the upper hand. They’ll be caught completely off guard and with luck still asleep in their beds.”

  “Don’t they have any day guards or staff keeping an eye on the place?”

  “Sure, but Tabby Cat here already made friends with the nice day guy,” Kiernan retorted.

  Tabitha shot him a look that could freeze fire. “He’s just one guy. We can handle him easily.”

  “When do you suggest executing this surprise attack?” Hyde asked.

  “Tomorrow morning. The sooner we get these guys off the killing market the better.”

  “What if they’ve upped their security?” Celia, who normally remained quiet at these meetings, asked.

  Tabitha shifted her attention to the Witch, a puzzled look on her face. “What do you mean?”

  “They know the Enforcers are after them now, right? And they know you’re aware of their location. What if they upped their security or moved now that they realize we know what they’re doing?”

  “Good point, Celia.” The first words Racine had spoken since Tabitha revealed her plan. “We should do more recon and reevaluate the situation.”

  ****

  Anger ate a hole in Tabitha’s gut. They didn’t have time for more recon. They needed to get these murdering scumbags off the street now. Which was exactly what she told Racine.

  “I know you want to get these bastards, Tabitha, we all do, but we can’t go in blind. Plus, we need more help. With the amount of strength these new Kakos possess and the presence of mind they maintain, it’s harder to kill them when they outnumber us.”

  Boy, didn’t she know it.

  “I’ve got another team coming back from the Northwest in two days. Damien also offered a few members of his Enforcer team to help us out.”

  Damien ran the region eight council. Several councils existed around the world, each with their own team of Enforcers. Region six, seven, and eight were in the United States, East Coast, West Coast, and Northwest. They mostly worked individually, but if someone needed help, reinforcements were sent whenever possible.

  “Kiernan and Tabitha, stake out the club tomorrow and see if they have extra security or have moved. Hyde, you’re their backup. Celia, I want you to get familiar with that language until you can speak it.”

  Celia had a keen talent that led her to a proficiency in languages. She spoke over thirty-seven languages, some of them dead for many centuries. If anyone could learn this Kako language in a day, Celia could. But they didn’t have time for all this. They needed to attack now.

  “We’ll reconvene tomorrow night to get your reports.” With a wave of his hand, Racine dismissed everyone.

  Tabitha approached her boss’s desk as the others filed out the door. Without looking up from the open folder lying on his desk, he acknowledged her.

  “Yes, Tabitha?”

  “I don’t think we should wait. We need to get Stryden and his gang off the streets.”

  Racine sighed heavily. “I realize it’s imperative we get these monsters off the street, but it’s not the right time.”

  Tamping down on the anger rising inside her, she tried to keep her voice calm. “When is the right time, Racine? After they’ve killed another person? Five more people? When?”

  Kiernan, who stayed in the room, grabbed her arm gently. “Tabitha…”

  She shook him off. Her eyes bore into Racine’s head until her boss, mentor, and friend looked up at her. His dark obsidian eyes held a spark of warning, a warning she chose to ignore.

  “We can’t just sit here on our asses while they’re out killing innocent people.”

  “Tabitha,” Racine said calmly.

  But she was in no mood for calm. After all that had happened the past few days, she had reached her breaking point and her confrontation with her father the proverbial straw breaking the camel’s back.

  “We’ve already let enough time slip by. We should have gone back last night and taken care of them. We’re wasting time doing nothing.”

  “Enough, Tabitha!”

  Racine rarely raised his voice. When he did, it reminded everyone of just how much power the Euadaemon held. No one quite knew Racine’s past, but rumors swirled only his father was a Daemon. No one knew his mother’s identity. They only knew she had strange powers, powers she passed on to her son. When Racine lost his temper, it was wise to be far, far away.

  Tabitha closed her mouth, clamping down on her tongue so as to hold it. The dark fire in his eyes was a warning of the Daemon’s last nerve being worn down. At least she wasn’t the only one stressed by this situation.

  “I know you’re frustrated. We all are. I would like nothing more than to go down to that club and rip out every one of those Kakos’ evil putrid hearts, but if we attacked now, they would undoubtedly kill us all. They’re stronger than us, Tabitha, and they retain their intelligence. We need a different strategy to deal with this new breed of Kakos. Until we know their weaknesses, we have to use every advantage given to us, and right now that’s time. Give it a day, and we’ll have more bodies, more strength than them. Then we can take them out. Trust me, Tabitha.”

  Still frustrated—but seeing his point—she nodded. “I do trust you, Racine.”

  “Good. Go to bed. Get some rest, and then go with Kiernan tomorrow afternoon to check out the club. See if they have new security and if they are still there.”

  She nodded briskly, then turned and headed out the door.

  Kiernan had stayed behind her listening to her conversation with Racine. She brushed by him hurriedly. He started after her, down the hallway.

  “Tabitha—” he said, but she turned on him and cut him off.

  “What was in the note?”

  “What note?”

  Placing a hand on her hip, she shot him an anger-filled glare. Not fair really. He wasn’t the person she was pissed at, but he was here and convenient. “The note Celia put in your folder of the Kako language.”

  His gaze narrowed.

  “I saw it. A small slip of paper with something written on it. You shoved it in your pocket without even looking at it. What’s on it?”

  Gripping the aforementioned folder tightly in his hand, his jaw locked. His words ground out, harsh and low between his teeth. “Since I put it in my pocket without even looking at it, how the hell would I know?”

  Her gaze ventured down Kiernan’s body resting on his pocket. When she started to reach toward him, he snapped his hand out first, grabbing her hand before it came into contact with his pants. If she weren’t so pissed off, she’d laugh. Kiernan stopping her from getting into his pants. Wasn’t that just the opposite of everything he’d been working toward for years? Talk about ironic.

  “I want to know what’s on the note, Kiernan.”

  “No,” he said speaking calmly as one might to a vicious dog. “You just want to take out your anger on someone. Since I’m here and always a handy target, you decided to find an excuse to pour that anger on me.”

  Shame filled her. Right on the money with that statement. Anger consumed her whole being at the moment. Life was so unfair. Why did innocent people have to be punished for wicked men’s deeds?

  “It’s all right to be angry, Tabby Cat. I wish we could go get all those sons of bitches right away, too. It kills me to think they could attack another innocent person tonight, but the truth of the matter is they have the upper hand right now. If we try to attack too soon, they will kill us for certain. It’s better to wait until we know if they’ve changed anything since they discovered we’re onto them. Also, a few reinforcements couldn’t hurt.”

  Understanding and defeat burned away the rage filling her. He was right, dammit. She hated when he was right. And she hated this situation. Her body sagged as her rigid pose relaxed.

  “I know. And stop calling me Tabby Cat.”

  The force behind that command sounded emptier and em
ptier each time she said it.

  “We’ll get them. I promise.”

  “I know. It’s just frustrating.”

  He rubbed her arms in a soothing gesture and started down the hall toward his room, pausing when she called out to him.

  “Kiernan, I’m sorry…about the note thing.” She fidgeted with her hands, hating to admit she was wrong. He would just gloat about it later. “I don’t really care what’s on it.”

  He flashed his trademark smirk. “Yes, you do, but don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find it out somehow sooner or later. Night, Tabby Cat.”

  She watched as he disappeared behind his door. She knew he and Racine were right. They had to wait. Waiting would be the smart thing to do, and Tabitha had always done the smart thing. She wondered just what exactly doing the smart thing had gotten her in life. Perhaps, it was time for a change.

  With that thought, she slipped into her room and made preparations. She would have to leave before sun up and be back before midday when everyone woke and looked for her. She could do it. All she needed was a plan and a little luck.

  By four in the morning, everyone in the house was asleep. The darkness and silence of the house made it easy for her to slip out, unnoticed. Since she still had not retrieved her car from her apartment, she borrowed one of the Jeeps in the garage. She held her breath as the car started. When no one rushed from the house to see who was leaving, she pulled out of the driveway. So far so good. Hopefully, her luck held and she would be back before anyone noticed her absence.

  A thrill of adrenaline shot through her. Look at her, breaking the rules. A small spark of guilt burned in the back of her mind, but she pushed it away. She wasn’t breaking the rules, really, just…bending them. Like Kiernan always did. The Euadaemon was a bad influence on her. He’d probably be thrilled to know that. He wouldn’t be happy to know what she was doing, however. Which was why she didn’t tell him. She couldn’t stand by and wait when she knew where the bad guys were. When she joined the Enforcers, she made a promise to herself to never let another human suffer at the hands of a supernatural if she could help it. She could help now, and she would. Time to go kill some sleeping Kakos.

  She’d take their head before the bastards even woke from their beds.

  Chapter 20

  Kiernan woke with a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. He showered and dressed all the while feeling something off. As he headed down to the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls hit his nostrils. The nagging feeling in his stomach was replaced with hunger.

  As he entered the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight of Bucky, bending over to take a steaming tray of cinnamon rolls from the oven. He sat at the kitchen island and dipped his finger in the bowl full of homemade icing. His reward was a sharp smack to his knuckles from a wooden spatula.

  “Ow!”

  The old woman eyed him as she shifted the rolls from the hot tray to a waiting plate.

  “That’s what you get for sticking your fingers in my icing. That icing is for the rolls, one of which you may have, if you behave and stop acting like a four year old by sticking your dirty fingers in my buttercream icing.”

  “Aw, come on, Bucky,” Kiernan said laying on his best charm. “My fingers aren’t dirty. I just got out of the shower.”

  “It’s still unsanitary.” The old woman finished putting the last roll on the large plate.

  “If I help you ice them, can I have two?”

  Bucky laughed softly. “If you help ice them, they’ll be no icing on any, but the two you eat.”

  “Can I help it if your icing is so good I want to eat it all myself?”

  The kitchen door swung open as Hyde stepped in sniffing the air. “Is that Bucky’s famous cinnamon rolls I smell? Are they iced yet?”

  “Down you two,” Bucky commanded. “I swear, when it comes to their stomachs, men don’t progress past adolescence. Even when they are centuries old.”

  She gave the two Euadaemons a sharp glare. Kiernan plastered a look of innocence on his face while Hyde just looked famished. Bucky’s rolls were definitely worth begging for. Which both men were fully prepared to do.

  “Oh, wipe those puppy-dog looks off your faces and help me ice these rolls. Then after you have iced all of them”—she gave him a pointed look—“you can both have two.”

  The men broke out in smiles bigger than eager children on Christmas morning and started icing rolls. Halfway through eating their second roll, they discussed strategy. Much easier to think when Bucky’s warm cinnamon rolls filled your belly.

  “We could use more help, that’s for sure,” Kiernan said around a mouthful of sinfully delicious roll.

  Hyde licked some icing from his fingers. “Yeah, it took three of us just to take down this one Kako out on the coast. Tabitha’s right about going in first thing in the morning. It will catch them off guard. We’ll be weaker, but so will they, and we’ll have the advantage of knowing what we’re going into.”

  He grunted in approval, not willing to open his mouth and let the scrumptious aroma escape. But Hyde’s statement made him notice something. “Speaking of Tabitha, where is she?”

  Hyde shrugged, finishing off his roll and eyeing the plate forlornly. “Haven’t seen her yet. Maybe she’s still asleep.”

  Kiernan glanced up at the clock. Just after two in the afternoon. She could still be asleep. She kept Daemon hours, being an Enforcer, but that nagging feeling rumbled again. Pushing away from the table, he stood and headed out the kitchen to Tabitha’s room.

  He had a very, very bad feeling his little by-the-books partner had suddenly decided to bend the rules. Why did it have to be now? On this mission? Perhaps he was a bad influence. Or maybe she had just slept in a little. Yeah, and maybe Stryden would realize the error of his ways and give himself up.

  When he got to her door, Kiernan’s heart beat a million miles a minute. He felt like it would burst out of his chest at any moment. He knocked. No answer.

  “Tabby Cat?”

  Silence.

  “Tabitha?”

  Nothing.

  Not good. He turned the knob. The door opened, and his pounding heart stopped. He let out a foul curse. His stupid little Tabby Cat was gone. Fear and anger welled inside him as he raced for the front door. Kiernan knew exactly where she had gone. Time to kick some Kako ass, and then kick Tabitha’s.

  Chapter 21

  Well, this idea turned out to be one of her stupider ones. Tabitha grunted as she squeezed through the small window in the back alley of the club. She arrived just after dawn. The club was locked down tight. No security guards in sight, but the door impregnable. Even with her special skills, Tabitha could not unlock the back or front door of the club.

  Finally, she found an unlocked window in the back. She squeezed through the small opening, thanking her lucky stars she had inherited her mother’s petite stature instead of her father’s huge build.

  She dropped to the floor without a sound. The club was dark; the only light emanating from the exit signs cast an eerie green glow. Tabitha silently crept across the floor, headed toward the back hallway. From the maps she and Kiernan had studied—the ones acquired from city hall—she knew the back hallway led to a storage room where, she assumed, Stryden and his Kako cronies slept.

  Showtime.

  She pulled the sword out of her bag, pushing the button to extract the blade. Nifty little weapon Celia had devised for the Enforcers a few decades back. Since a Daemon could heal from a bullet wound, it made guns useless.

  Other supernatural beings were also indifferent to guns and modern weaponry. Nothing, however, lived without its head. And most creatures died instantly if stabbed in the heart, but since walking around with a giant claymore strapped to your back drew unwanted attention, the scientists at council headquarters had to invent a concealable weapon strong enough to stab through a chest and whack off a head. Hence the retractable sword, a handy little weapon that went from two and a half feet to six inches i
n under ten seconds. Small enough to hide in a purse or bag, yet strong enough to slice through flesh and most other substances as well.

  The dark club was silent as a church as she crept down the hallway. Keeping her eyes focused but her senses alert, Tabitha made her way toward the storage room. She reached the door and pressed her ear against it. Not a sound from the other side. Holding her breath—and sending out a prayer for luck—Tabitha slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open.

  Shit!

  Nothing but an empty room. No beds, no clothing, no Kakos. There wasn’t even any junk in the storage room. Just a twelve by twelve empty room. What the hell? She was sure Stryden and his cronies lived and worked in The Basement. So where did they sleep?

  She entered the room and poked around, four walls and a door, that was all. Even in darkness with her stellar night vision, Tabitha saw nothing in the room. The walls were plain, no pictures, and no windows. The cement floor was so cold she felt a chill even through her thick-soled boots.

  Tabitha moved to leave when something in the corner caught her eye. It looked like a small pile of rubble. She moved closer to inspect it. Up close, she saw a pile of dirt—no, not dirt, cement. It looked like someone tried to dig up the floor. Or…Damn!

  Her blood ran as hot as the floor was cold.

  A secret entrance!

  A hidden door in the floor leading down to a secret room. That had to be it.

  Six large cement block sections patterned the floor. Obviously, there was some way to trip one of them and open it. Placing her sword behind her, Tabitha ran her hands over the cold floor, searching for the trip mechanism. Her hands grazed over the small pile of cement debris, finding nothing.

  It has to be here.

  Fearing time was short—Kiernan and the others would be up soon and wondering where she had gone—she stood. She couldn’t find the switch anywhere, but she was on the right trail. Another option remained, of course. One she could use since she was alone.