“True enough, Inquisitor,” she nodded sagely. “My kind was there at the creation of our realm and we will be there until the end times, but simply existing doesn’t mean anything.” She shrugged and began petting the stuffed animal on her lap. “My hunter is in possession of something that could imprison my essence in this realm. Spending the rest of eternity sealed in a jar does not appeal to me in the least.” She looked at me, seeming to study the indifference on my face. “You wonder if that wouldn’t be a good thing, don’t you? Well, let me settle your thoughts on the matter. If he succeeds in tearing me from my vessel, she will die in the process. Does that make your decision to protect me easier to bear?”
I grimaced, but said nothing. There was a sudden thump from the trunk of the car. The whole vehicle seemed to lurch as something rattled around in the back.
“Do you have someone tied up in the trunk, Uncle Frank?”
Grumbling under my breath, I pulled the car on to the shoulder, shut it off, and got out. Lily followed suit. The highway was still sparse; full night was still to descend, the moon yet to rise, and with it the true denizens of the Second City. A handful of cars passed us swiftly, not sparing us a second look. Standing to the side we looked on as a bulge suddenly appeared in the quarter-panel.
“What do you have back there?” Lily asked.
“Just a spare tire and a jack.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” I asked.
“I think I missed one.”
The metal covering the rear compartment suddenly bent inward tearing off the hinges. Folding upward, the metal crumpled and was slowly sucked down to the accompanying sounds of something eating.
“It’s eating my car,” I said, watching in numb fascination as the last visible piece of metal was sucked down into the bottomless pit that was my trunk.
“That’s what they do. They eat and they grow…incessantly.”
A rotund pink body the size of a large dog lifted clear and settled itself onto the edge of the bumper. It looked at us with its eyeless face and somehow knew we were there. A hole opened at the end of the leech’s body that I was assuming was the head revealing a circular maw filled with row upon row of teeth that seemed to go all the way down the creature’s throat. It hissed and screamed, sounding like a dozen cats in a blender.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” I asked Lily. “Get rid of it before it decides we look tastier than the car.”
“I can’t,” Lily said, shrugging. “If I use my power now my hunter will know where I am and all that running will have been for nothing. You’re going to have to kill it, Uncle.”
“Stop calling me that,” I growled as I pulled my gun free and walked towards the car. Behind me I could sense a growing commotion. People were pulling over to watch the spectacle. Only in the Second City could you bear witness to the roadside execution of a hell-spawned garden slug.
The writhing mass of teeth and undulating throat muscles tracked my movements as I moved to a position roughly ten feet away that would allow me a clear shot that wouldn’t end up with a stray bullet ending up in one of the houses on the other side of the thin spattering of trees that lined the highway.
Only minutes ago the thing was only as big as my finger, but it seemed to be growing right before my eyes. It raised itself up and back, muscle and blubber quivering beneath its pink skin, drawing away from my gun as if it knew what was coming. I sighted on the mouth and put pressure on the trigger.
The leech lunged forward with unimaginable speed, its mouth closing squarely on the barrel of the gun. Another couple of inches and it would have had me up to the wrist. As the teeth ground into the metal, I saw that the leech hadn’t actually jumped from its position on the car, but instead had simply elongated itself. The body, moments ago as fat as a pig and just as long, had stretched the ten feet between us and become as thin as my forearm, its rear end still securely seated in the trunk of my car.
I pulled the trigger to no effect. The slide was jammed.
Refusing to relinquish my weapon, I pulled on it viciously, trying to dislodge it from the thing’s mouth, but it was latched on good. With my left hand I grabbed at the knife on my belt. The wooden handle felt slippery in my hand from sweat. I plunged the knife deep into the spongy mass of the creature until I saw the point emerge from its underside. Black fluid poured from the wound and puddled at my feet. The mouth released its grip and howled its pain into the air. The leech recoiled back into itself, smashing out the back window with its convulsions, finally stopping to huddle in the trunk and bleed all over itself.
The gun was a mess. Razor-sharp teeth had scored dozens of marks along the barrel. I holstered it and went over to the car. Above the incessant keening of the wounded leech I could hear faint cheering. The fans that had pulled over to watch. Ah, to be famous.
The leech had extended its head and folded back on itself in an attempt to bite the handle of the knife to pull it loose. “Oh no you don’t,” I said, and jumped into the exposed bed of the trunk. Adrenaline buzzed in my veins, making things sharper and, at the same time, less real. I kicked the thing in the side. Its head whipped and slapped into the side, silencing its cries for a moment. Cheering exploded from across the street. Reaching down, I grabbed a hold of the knife, pulled first one way and then the other, until finally the segment that held the mouth came off and fell to the ground. Black bile spilled from the jagged hole and across my shoes. The blade was covered in the foul tar. I did my best to clean it by wiping it on the upholstery of the ruined car.
Lily came up to me then, a sweet smile spread across her angelic face. “Mr. Bear was right about you.”
The people across the street were waving and high-fiving each other as if this was their favorite sporting event. I suddenly felt an inexplicable surge of sadness, not for what I had done so much as how I had enjoyed it. It hadn’t been the drug-fuelled elation of destroying the ghouls in the cemetery, or the cold calculated satisfaction of destroying the two zombies, but something else entirely. It was the warm sensation of blood-lust, I knew, and it had snuck past any pretense of detachment I had, reveling in my use of the knife on something demonic. I pushed the thought to the back where all things that I didn’t want to think about went.
Sheathing my knife and hopping down, I hauled the carcass out and tossed it onto the grass. Leaning forward, I sniffed at the now lidless trunk. “God that stuff stinks. I wonder if it will come out, or would it just be better to get a new car?”
“You seek to dismiss what just happened by talking of trivialities?” Lily asked. “Fine. I think the more pertinent question is whether this car will still function properly.”
“It’ll be fine,” I answered, getting back into the driver’s seat. Lily lifted herself gingerly into the passenger’s seat a moment later. “It didn’t have a chance to chew through the floor and into the undercarriage, so barring a flat tire we’ll be fine.”
“I thought you said you had a spare.”
“I did. It ate it…and the jack.”
“Hmm,” Lily mused, “well at least we caught a bit of luck that it decided to eat up through the lid instead of down through the wheels.”
Pulling out into traffic, a gust of wind came in through the back where only shards remained of the back window, carrying with it the stench of leech blood and viscera.
Yeah, great luck indeed.
17
“So, do you have a destination in mind,” Lily asked, “or are we simply going to drive around in circles all night?”
I had driven out to the edge of the merge, and then, in an attempt to make sure we had left the other Demon behind, I had followed the unofficial border with the human areas before cutting back in towards the heart of the Second City. It was a circuitous route in the extreme, but I wanted to make sure we had lost him. Lily and I had been driving for thirty minutes now, and her constant humming of what I believed to be funeral dirges was grating on my nerves. The question was actually a welcome relief to
her oddly melodic singing, to which she made the stuffed bear caper and dance.
“We’re going to see a couple of friends of mine. Shouldn’t be long now.” Thank God, I added silently.
“The witch and wizard?”
“No, we’ll meet up with them later.”
“So what manner of half-breeds are you taking me to now, Inquisitor?” she asked with a sigh.
“Half-breeds?” I asked, frowning. “Are you trying to insult me now? I thought your kind would be better at it than resorting to name calling.”
She stuck her tongue between her lips and blew loudly, a sullen look on her small face. “I was simply stating a fact. What you mortals call paras are all half human, half something else, something not natural to this realm. At least that’s how it started.” Suddenly she grinned up at me. “If you prefer I could refer to vampires as you did. How did you put it? “Corpses that don’t know enough to stay down.” Yes, that’s much better I think, and accurate, too.” Seeing my frown, she quickly added, “Don’t worry, Champion, I won’t mention your social slip. Anything said between us stays there. Consider me your…what do you call them…therapist. Yes, that’s it. I will be the shoulder that you can lean on and confess everything to. Won’t that be fun?” She patted my knee and laughed when I jerked away from her.
“Lily, why do you keep calling me ‘Champion’? Does it have some significance? Because I don’t want anything more to do with your kind than I already do.”
“You’ve made that quite clear, and yes it holds meaning, but only in my realm. You protect me, and that is the job of my Champion.”
“That’s it?” I asked, suspicion tingeing my words.
“That’s it,” she replied. “You no doubt expected something more sinister.”
“Well, yes actually.”
She fluttered her hand dismissively at me. “Despite what you might have heard, I am not here to steal your soul; or the soul of this girl for that matter. That’s not what I do.” With a mutter, she added, “Like we would want your souls polluting our home anyway.”
“Are you pouting?” I asked, smirking at the childishness of her expression.
“I don’t pout.”
“Of course not. You are immortal after all, and it would be beneath you to express such mortal emotions.”
She fixed me with an iron-hard stare and I wondered if I had pushed too far. “Careful, Inquisitor, I do not suffer fools for long.” After a long moment in which I found myself holding my breath and praying for the bindings the wizards had placed on her to be sufficient, she looked out the window. “Seven Veils, are we ever going to be out of this leech-stinking car?”
A minute later we pulled up to Larry’s apartment complex. A three-quarter moon had revealed itself, casting silvered reflections on the sparse gathering of cars in the lot. Lily and I got out, and I motioned her to wait as I pulled out my cell phone and called Lou.
After four rings he answered. “Oakland STS, this is Captain James.”
“Lou, you sound old.”
“Frank!” he yelled into the phone. “Jesus Christ, I’m glad to hear your voice for a change. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Is everyone else okay? Was anyone hurt?”
“Some various bumps and bruises, but nothing serious. Just our pride that’s hurt, I suppose. Over fifty rounds fired and what do we have to show for it? A bunch of holes in the damn walls, that’s what.” He hesitated for a moment, and then continued. “Whatever it was ignored us and went straight for your office, which took a hell of a hit by the way. You’ve got a much bigger window than you did yesterday. But I must say the view’s tremendous.”
“I always wanted an office with a sliding glass door. Can you put in a requisition for a patio?”
He grunted a laugh. “Not with our budget.” He sighed. “What was that thing, Frank? That wasn’t some uber-zombie was it, ‘cause I don’t think I want to hear that.”
“Demon assassin,” I answered tonelessly.
He laughed, and then subsided when he noticed I wasn’t joining him in the mirth. “You’re serious aren’t you?”
“Afraid so.” Looking at Lily, I added, “Apparently I had something it wanted. Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever it is Captain’s do. See you later, Lou.”
“Wait, don’t hang up yet,” he said quickly. “I heard something about your niece being in with you when it attacked. Since when have you had a niece? Did she have something to do with that thing showing up?”
“Uh, sorry Lou, I’m heading through a tunnel.”
“Don’t you dare—!”
I flipped the phone shut and let out a long sigh. I didn’t think Lou would be that quick putting the pieces together. With all the mayhem that was no doubt still happening there I thought he would have been too preoccupied with damage control to think about anything he had heard about me and my unexpected guest. Having worked with him for so long I should have known better than to underestimate him, yet I still did occasionally. Sometimes I forgot that one doesn’t need paranormal abilities to be a good police officer. And Lou was definitely that.
“Shall we go meet your half-breed friends, then?” Lily asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes for effect.
Not bothering to rise to the bait, I simply walked away, angling for the entrance. Perched on the power lines above us were dozens of crows, their shiny black eyes like polished marbles following as we entered the building.
I tried not to consider it an omen.
A group had formed at the base of the stairs leading up to Larry’s floor. Four vampires and two Nimak demons from the tribes, all joking and jostling each other as they prepared for a night out on the town. As Lily and I approached, their laughter trailed off then died completely. The two Nimaks towered over us, each of them just a shade under seven feet tall, standing to either side of the staircase. The demons were reptilian bipeds, and unlike most of the other tribes tended to stay close to large bodies of water. Green scales glistened with natural oils; dark, chipped talons tipped fingers that had too many joints; vertical slits of black pupils narrowed in yellow eyes, and small horns topped their heads indicating that they were young males. Wearing custom-tailored, overly large pants and jackets to accommodate their impressive bulk, and huge steel chains around what passed for their necks, they affected the look of street thugs. Six sets of eyes roved over me, gauging, challenging. Maybe they knew who I was and maybe they didn’t, or maybe they wouldn’t care either way.
Two forked tongues flicked out to taste the air. Two sets of demon eyes swiveled quickly to settle on Lily.
She gave them a big smile and held out her bear to them.
They hissed and took two steps back, the one on the right stumbling into the wall. The vampires looked on with confusion at their friend’s reactions. Forked tongues flapped wildly, panicked, as the two giant demons seemed to wither beneath Lily’s regard.
“Mr. Bear is upset with you, deserter,” Lily said, and moved towards the demon on the right. His talons dug into the drywall as he sought escape. A foul odor like that of rotting fish filled the air. I suppressed the urge to gag with an effort.
“Enough of this,” I said, choking and grabbing Lily by the shoulder and pushing through the two vamps who still blocked the stairwell. “Out of my way.”
Behind us the door swung open as the two Nimaks beat a hasty retreat, their friends calling after them to explain what just happened.
It wasn’t until I was standing at Larry’s door knocking impatiently that I realized I still had a hold of Lily’s shoulder. I snatched my hand back as if I had been burned.
Larry opened the door looking as hale and fit as the day he died. He had cut and styled his hair to mimic Simon’s slicked back look. He was even wearing khaki pants and a button-down shirt, making him look more like a college student than the slacker I knew him to be. I could hear Simon on the phone somewhere in the apartment beyond.
He sniffed the air and frowned. “Did someon
e die out here?” He leaned out into the hall and looked both ways.
“The Nimak demon’s terror reflex,” Lily offered. “When they get scared they emit a toxin through their scales.”
“Is it dangerous?” I asked.
“Only to the touch. It may smell awful but it is harmless to inhale.”
“You scared them that much, huh?” He said to me, and laughed. I didn’t correct him that it was actually Lily who had done the scaring. “Awesome. Damn lizards. Everything about them smells like low tide, know what I mean? But there’s something else…” His eyes landed on Lily. “What is that doing here?” he asked, pointing at the small humming girl in the green dress. He pulled me aside and whispered, “Are you crazy? You can’t bring her here. Selena barely tolerates me as it is, if she finds out I had a Demon here she’ll skin me alive, and I’m being literal here, Frank.” Simon came up behind him, nodded to me over his shoulder, and flipped his cell phone shut.
“Don’t worry, Larry,” Simon said as he placed a hand on Larry’s shoulder and slipped past him out into the hall. Lily and I followed, the Demon-girl running her hand along the wall in a curiously gentle caress. I imagined she was drinking in the accumulated years of blood spilling in this place. “We’re leaving. Thank you for the hospitality. And for showing me that there is far more vampire porn out there than I had ever dared imagine.”
Larry’s fraught expression gave way to a smile. “It was my pleasure. Now screw off.” With that, he slammed the door in our faces.
18
A short time later, Simon, Lily, and I arrived at my house. It was a painful decision to bring her here; to actually allow a Demon, no matter how seemingly innocuous into my home tore at my sense of self-preservation. But there were few other choices. Terri had offered the use of her house, but Ben and I both vetoed that idea. And none of the other places would welcome the spell that Ben and Terri intended to implement. A spell designed to track a necromancer’s familiar was inviting the wrath of said necromancer. I had silently reconciled myself with the likelihood that I would be spending some quality time in hotels if the spell went wrong. Even if it didn’t I might have decided to move after inviting Lily in. The feeling of safety in one’s own home is paramount; if the illusion is exposed for what it really is you’ll never feel safe anywhere. No matter how many wards you raise or protection spells you emplace, something bigger and badder will come along to show you what a farce your precautions really are. I’d be damned if I was going to expose Terri to that particular truth.
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