Crisis Alert (Divine Justice, 3)

by Mary Abshire

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kneeling next to a young woman, Anna finished chanting. The demon’s essence floated above for several seconds before it disintegrated into fine particles. After the woman stopped shaking, Anna closed her glassy eyes. The woman would rest like the others. When they would wake up, they’d have a memory of passing out at a big party and nothing more. Every human would be free to live their life as they wanted, good or bad, and a demon could never possess them again.

  A few feet away from her, Kurt spoke the Latin words to release a demon in a young man. The human’s lids were open and his body twitched. Black matter drifted up like smoke. Kurt repeated the phrase. Seconds later, the young man ceased his movements and the demon disappeared. Another human saved.

  She stood and surveyed the room. Bodies were laying everywhere on the floor. Some had collapsed on top of others. She hadn’t been too far off on her estimate of three hundred. If seventy-five percent were possessed, it would take several hours to exorcise them. She hoped they could free every human from evil before dawn, but she had doubts. Of the eleven she’d checked so far, four had been non-possessed. Anna and her team had plenty of work to do.

  The strong energy in the warehouse gave her an uplifting sense of well-being. Every vampire worked to save humans and send evil back to Hell. Although the words spoken by her team were not in unison, their voices created a slight hum. Pride and hope filled her soul. Good would prevail and life would go on. The inspiring moment reminded her how much she loved her job.

  While they were making great strides, Anna had yet to find a master. The seven she’d exorcised had been normal. There was no way to determine a master from the eyes or while the human was unconscious. If any masters were among the crowd, she wouldn’t know until the exorcism started. A black fluid would ooze out of the human’s eyes and nose while the evil essence would form a large cloud instead of the usual vapor. Even though they hadn’t found one, she held onto hope she or one of the other agents would. Once the agent performed the ritual on the master, every demon it had brought to Earth would go back to Hell.

  Anna moved closer to a man wearing a maroon polo shirt tucked inside his beige pants. A woman with long brown hair lay on his torso. She’d fallen on top of him, except they were holding hands. Maybe they were demons. Maybe they weren’t. But they still cared for each other.

  The show of affection brought thoughts of Zale to the surface of her mind. He seemed like a very loving man. The kiss had been a pleasant surprise. She wouldn’t mind more.

  Refocusing on her task at hand, she knelt beside the two humans. As she reached to move the woman onto her back, Anna heard barking outside. She veered her attention to the door. The yap was loud and aggressive. The guard yelled.

  Anna shot up and headed for the doors. When they’d arrived earlier, she hadn’t heard a single dog in the area. It seemed too odd for one to show up now. Stranger yet, the animal was irritating the guard posted at the entrance.

  The vampire outside continued to shout while the barks grew fiercer. The animal’s growl sounded deep and throaty, not the usual snarls from a dog. Suspecting a werewolf had showed up, Anna jogged to the doors. Reaching them, she shoved one open.

  The werewolf with dark hair looked all too familiar, as she’d seen it the night before. Zale stopped barking and directed his snout to the alley. She stepped outside and couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  “The damn beast wouldn’t shut up,” the vamp said.

  “Terry?” she asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “That’s Zale. He’s a werewolf. He wouldn’t be here unless it was important.”

  “Oh.”

  Zale yapped and jumped in a circle. He trotted away and then stopped, closer to the alley. He turned to look back at her and yelped again.

  Anna listened for sounds since she didn’t see anything unusual. As she strode toward the werewolf, she heard a plethora of heartbeats, but she suspected they were coming from the warehouse.

  “You’re not supposed to be here, even in wolf form. It’s not safe,” she said when she approached him.

  He stayed ahead of her and rounded the corner. She jogged to catch up with him. After she’d turned down the alley, she found him stopped halfway up. He turned his snout in the opposite direction of her and growled. Before she reached him, he darted toward the end of the building.

  “I really wish you could speak English,” she said, jogging after him.

  The heartbeats sounded louder. Footsteps were approaching. There were too many for her to count.

  She stopped next to him near the sidewalk. A short male vampire appeared on her other side, startling her.

  “Do you hear footsteps?” he asked, his gaze pointing in the same direction as Zale’s.

  Anna shifted her gaze down the small street with parked cars on one side. A man with a rifle hanging from his shoulder rounded the corner a block away. Then two more appeared and they were carrying guns. Two seconds later, ten other people emerged. More and more women and men with black eyes headed in their direction. They all had weapons. Some of them were bigger than the average firearms.

  Zale growled while Anna’s eyes enlarged.

  She spun to the vampire. “We have to warn everyone. We have to leave now!”

  She followed him as he took off for the back entrance. Zale ran beside her. The vamp yanked the door open, nearly breaking it off the frame. She glanced back at the crowd before she went inside. They flooded the street and were heading toward the warehouse.

  “Shit!” She darted inside after Zale. “We have to leave now. Everyone go out the front! Get out of here now!”

  The vampires rushed toward the front of the warehouse. Panic flooded Anna. She’d never seen such a large group of demons before. And she’d never seen a group carrying such heavy weaponry.

  Zale yapped at her and she looked down. He’d been right. The gathering had been a trap.

  Kurt waited for her to catch up with him. “Can we shoot?”

  “Yes.” She pushed him to go.

  Given the low odds of their survival, they were going to have to use weapons.

  A vampire held the door as everyone ran out. Before she reached it she heard a squeal from the back. Shots echoed in the warehouse and hit the walls. Zale squeezed in front of Kurt and she followed the two outside.

  Members of her team ran up the street and sidewalk to get away from the horde of demons. Before she started running, she spotted demons trickling from the alley and giving chase.

  Multiple pops sounding similar to fireworks ended the silence of the night. Bullets whizzed by, pinged off cars, and shattered windows. Shots hit her backside too, but she kept running. She had to if she wanted to survive.

  Her team ran as fast as they could. Many vamps had turned the corner four blocks ahead. Since they’d advanced quickly, the odds of them making it to the vans were good. Jack and a few others stopped and fired past Anna and Kurt.

  “Go! Go!” She yelled and waved her arm forward. “Get out of here!”

  They obeyed her command and took off with the others. Their survival mattered the most since they had a better chance than she did. If her time had come to leave her body, then she was ready to accept her fate.

  Zale stopped at the intersection where the vamps were turning. At least he’d make it back safe too. If he hadn’t warned them, the demons would have destroyed all of them.

  Kurt limped as he ran beside her. She smelled blood drifting from his body. She could make it to the corner, but she refused to leave anyone from her team behind.

  The sting of bullets continued to increase. She’d been hit in numerous places. With each new shot, she winced and ground her teeth from the pain.

  A rifle went off. A split second later, Kurt groaned and stumbled. She grabbed his arm and kept him from falling. They’d slowed their pace, but the demons hadn’t. They sprayed more bullets toward Anna and Kurt. The more that
hit her, the more blood she lost. She was growing weaker by the second.

  She held onto Kurt and continued toward the intersection. They had a block to go, yet it seemed like a mile. A van sped past the building and braked so hard in the middle of the street that the tires screeched.

  “We’re almost there,” she said.

  The rifle went off again. When the bullet hit Kurt’s calf, he collapsed. She tugged on his arm, trying to help him up. Blood soaked his clothes, which were riddled with holes. Behind them, she heard dull clunks followed by whizzing noises. Smoke trailed the canisters flying over their heads. Two more clunks followed. All the cans landed in front of the van. The gas wouldn’t affect them, but it would act as a screen to prevent anyone from seeing what the demons planned to do.

  “Get up!” She growled as she pulled on Kurt’s arm.

  He managed to rise on one knee. When another bullet hit his back, he fell to the side. She held onto him, keeping him upright, until a shot hit the back of her leg and sliced through her bone. She screamed and let go of him before she hit the ground.

  With her hands covered with the red fluid her body craved, she tried to push up. Kurt fell beside her. His hands shook and blood poured from his mouth. The pops lessened while footsteps approached.

  Her body burned from all her wounds. Every move brought her agony. She was so weak and so thirsty. The strong sent of blood filled her nose. In front of her, white smoke blocked her view of the van and rest of the street. She hoped her team would make it back safely. She hoped Zale would help them find the masters.

  Shoes tapped on the pavement beside her. She turned her head and found two pairs of legs standing close by. Slowly, she lifted her gaze. One man was taller than the other. Both had black eyes and held cloths over their nose and mouths.

  The tall one mumbled something to his friend. After the short one nodded, the tall man thrust his foot at her face. Sharp pain burst in her head before she blacked out.

  Chapter Twenty

  Zale came to a halt at the intersection. Two blocks away, one of the DS vans shot from around the corner. The engine roared as the van sped closer, heading toward Zale and the others. The driver braked and the van skidded to the middle of the empty cross street.

  Clanks behind Zale jolted him and he spun. Smoke drifted up from four canisters on the ground. The few vampires remaining ran through the cloud. Bullets flew by. They pinged when they hit the parked cars on the side of the street and the van. The smell of blood carried in the wind. Zale estimated shots had hit some of the vamps too. He watched for Anna to run through the smoke, but she never did.

  He trotted as close as he could to the gas. It wouldn’t do anything to the vamps, but it would knock him out if he inhaled too much of the fumes. The cloud grew thicker and the wind pushed it his way. He backed up, whining. He needed to find Anna.

  He jogged toward the building to get away from the smoke. Staying low he peered around the corner. As the clouds lifted he tried to see past them. Cars blocked most of his view. Holding his breath and keeping his muzzle shut, he moved behind a vehicle. From his new spot he caught glimpses of Anna trying to help Kurt. He was on one knee. Then something hit her and she fell forward.

  Zale barked fiercely and growled. The vampires in the van and the few about to climb inside looked at him. Two stood with their backs to the vehicle and held their weapons up. They were ready to shoot at anything that stepped past the cloudy barrier, but he doubted anyone would. He had a hunch the cloud’s purpose was to act as a screen.

  He tried to search for Anna again while more bullets dinged the cars and van. The chemical odor created an ache in his head, so he jogged to the side of the building for cleaner air. He couldn’t afford to pass out when his favorite woman was in danger.

  Worry gnawed at him worse than a piranha. He couldn’t see her through the smoke. She’d been injured and probably needed help, but all of the vampires except one were in the van.

  Jaw closed and holding his breath again, Zale returned to the spot behind the car. Through the gaps of clouds he saw both Anna and Kurt face down on the ground. Two men stood near Anna. They held cloths to their faces. One of them kicked Anna in her face.

  Zale growled and yelped while the pain in his head grew stronger. More bullets hit cars near him. Feeling a bit dizzy, he backed away and then returned to the side of the building.

  The vampire with his gun raised looked at Zale and said, “Come on.” A bullet hit the van next to his shoulder. “Shit.”

  Dread filled Zale. Anna wouldn’t make it out. Would they destroy her now or take her somewhere else? If they knew she was an agent, which they probably did, they could try to torture her for information.

  He shot to the parked car again and peered around it. Staying as low as he could to the ground, he saw Anna and Kurt’s bodies being dragged away.

  “Come on,” the vamp yelled.

  Zale barked at him. Instead of the vamp moving forward, he lowered his weapon and jumped into the back of the vehicle. Zale continued to yap. Clearly the vamp didn’t understand him since he’d closed one of the doors.

  “Get in!” the vamp said.

  Zale backpedaled away from the van. His instinct wanted him to follow the demons, but he couldn’t go through the gas. He’d already breathed enough for it to effect him. Anna needed him, but he had no idea how to help her.

  He circled on the sidewalk next to the building, thinking of what he could do. Everything had happened so fast and now the demons had Anna. He had to find her. But how? What would Anna do?

  He lifted his head with the answer. She wanted the masters. He’d been assigned as her partner to help her track them. Without any doubt, the masters had planned the gathering and the trap. To find Anna, he needed to locate the masters. And he had a good idea where to start.

  Two DS vans rounded the corner. Zale shot forward on the sidewalk. In order to save her, he had to get to his car. And to do that, he needed his pants with his keys. He didn’t have time to change and explain everything to the vamps, so he passed them and then turned the corner. Four legs would get him to his destination quicker than two anyway.

  He cut down an alley and headed away from the demons. At his fast pace, no one could catch him. Still, he wanted to avoid any of the possessed, especially since they had weapons.

  Zale knew how to find the masters. The bag of clothes and a file Anna had given him were in the backseat of his SUV. The previous night had been so crazy he’d forgotten about them and had left them in the car. The file had the names and addresses of the people she’d been searching for. All he had to do was get to his car, look at the information, and go after the masters. He hoped demons hadn’t picked up his clothes.

  Panting, he circled a block and kept running. The breeze felt good against his fur, but did little to ease the sharp ache in his head from the gas. He focused on Anna. She needed him and he was her best chance of survival.

  He turned at an alley and then shot down it. He’d gone an extra block away from the demons to avoid them. As he neared the area where he’d changed, he slowed to listen to heartbeats. Several thudded in the vicinity. They were too close for his comfort. He’d have to grab his pants and run.

  Without stopping, he crossed a street. The familiar odor of urine and garbage filled his nose as he approached the dumpster. He slowed his pace before he reached the spot where his shoes and clothes waited.

  Winded and woozy from the run, he stared at his pants and tried to recall where he’d put things. He remembered one pocket contained the radio and the other held his phone, keys, and necklace. If he had to drop something, he’d rather it be the radio. Using his teeth, he gripped the waistband of his jeans. Hearing the clink of the keys, he determined which side needed to stay away from the ground. He started to drag his pants until he heard footsteps drawing near. He spit the jeans from his mouth and spun.

  “Well, hello wolfie,” a man with black eyes said. His voice sounde
d a bit garbled. The demon’s bangs hung on the sides of his head while dark and white hairs covered the lower half of his face. Thin in build, he wore dirty khakis and an oversized t-shirt. He smelled worse than the garbage and the gas Zale had inhaled.

  Zale growled at him. His vision blurred, so he blinked repeatedly. The gas had affected his senses and had caused the throbbing ache in his head. The quick run hadn’t helped either. Although he felt tired, he wouldn’t back down or run away.

  “Oh now, there’s no reason to be like that,” the demon said.

  Zale continued to snarl and show his canines to the man. Barking would attract more attention, so he avoided making too much noise.

  “The master would like you,” the demon said. “We’ll be coming for your kind next.”

  Zale growled and kept his yelps low while he glared at the demon. The man took one slow step after another. When he started to reach into the pocket of his pants, Zale feared the demon might pull out a weapon. He needed to act fast to avoid getting shot.

  He charged and then leaped. He hit the demon hard enough to cause him to fall back. The man hit the pavement with a thud. Zale wasted no time and clawed at the man. The demon tried to throw Zale off. Zale nipped at his hands. Catching one, he bit it hard. The man screamed while his disgusting blood spilled onto Zale’s tongue. Zale let go and the demon tried to punch his neck. Zale swiftly moved out of the way.

  The demon put up a good fight, but not good enough. Zale chomped on the demon’s forearm. The man wailed again. Zale raked his claws down the man’s chest while he maintained his firm grip as if he were chewing on a bone. Since he didn’t want to kill the human, all he could do was incapacitate him.

  The roar of an engine approached the adjoining street. Zale released the demon before he jumped off. A large truck halted at the end of the alley. Zale lowered his muzzle and growled. Although dizzy, he managed to stand stiff and prepared to fight more demons. But if there were too many, he might have to consider taking off.