Prom Knight

by Ben Reeder

“What?” I said, trying to sound surly instead of scared. He picked the trash can up, hefted it a couple of times, then set it down and pulled the liner up to look underneath it. “Lose something?” I asked with a half smirk.

  “Shut up, punk,” the guy said. He pulled the jacket aside to reveal the butt of a pistol under his arm.

  “Sure,” I said. He poked around a little more, then gestured toward the door.

  “Go take out the trash,” he chuckled. I walked past him and pushed the barrel toward the dumpster. Once I got there, I went around to the far side and waited for Dr. C. A couple of minutes later, he walked past and gestured to follow him. His Range Rover was waiting in a shadowy section of the parking lot well away from the hotel. I stripped off the smock and tossed it aside, then turned back to face the hotel.

  “One last thing before we go,” I said. Dr. C raised an eyebrow at me. I extended my left hand and concentrated on the connection between the Maxilla and myself. I could feel it, but it seemed...muted, weak. I tried to draw it to me, but nothing happened.

  “Something wrong?” Dr. C asked.

  “My connection to the Maxilla,” I said, feeling almost as lost as I had without my magick. “I can barely feel it.”

  “Almost as if someone is blocking it, too?” he asked with a smile.

  “This isn’t funny,” I said.

  “It is if you’re me,” Dr. C chuckled. “If you’re me, it’s funny as Hell.”

  “Glad this is a joke to you. Care to share the punchline?”

  He looked at his watch and appeared to be deep in thought for a moment. “Wait for it…,” he said almost absently. “Wait for it…”

  The lights in the hotel dimmed, then a loud whooping noise came from inside, and strobes of light flashed against the windows. I stared across the hood of the Range Rover at him, my eyes wide.

  “How did you do that?” I demanded. “I thought we couldn’t use magick inside the hotel.”

  “I didn’t use magick. I used physics. Nothing more than a roll of toilet paper against the iron in your room to trigger the fire alarm, and the fire sprinklers.”

  “What good does that do?”

  “Try to call the sword again,” he said.

  “I told you, it’s blocked.”

  “Humor me. Try anyway.”

  I sighed and reached for the connection again, bracing myself for disappointment. I opened my eyes when I felt the presence of the Maxilla as strong as I’d ever experienced it. I put my hand out and pulled at the sword mentally. Air was displaced around it as the blade appeared in my hand. It hit hard enough to make me take a step back.

  “I don’t get it,” I said. “What did the fire system have to do with breaking the barrier between the sword and me?” Dr. C handed me my phone. The screen showed the photo of the Maxilla in the circle.

  “Look at the circle,” he said. “It’s made with powder.”

  “The water disrupted it,” I said.

  “Just like Kim wanted it to,” he said, his voice sounding a little sad. “Come on, let’s get you home. Your mom’s worried sick about you. And I’m really not happy with you over dealing with Dulka, either.”

  “I didn’t make a deal with him,” I said as I pulled the hair net off. “I convinced him not to fight for the wrong side.” I got in the Range Rover and pulled the door shut.

  “How did you do that?” Dr. C asked when he got in.

  “I showed him an option that was more profitable. One that didn’t get him killed.”

  “Did you ever think he’d use your bargaining chip to betray us?” he asked.

  “Kinda counting on him being a backstabbing son of a bitch,” I said. Dr. C looked over at me with a wide eyed stare. “But I also gave him an option he couldn’t refuse. Of all the demons in Hell, only Dulka’s come face to face with his own mortality recently. He’s not going to face the Maxilla again.”

  “You had better be right. Only the fact that you didn’t summon him is keeping you out of deep shit with the Conclave. If Polter ever finds out you even talked to Dulka, he’ll want your head on a pike...literally.”

  “Polter wants my head on a pike because I’m breathing,” I grumbled. “And Draeden just wants me around to do the things he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty with.” He didn’t have anything to say about that.

  “Tell me about her,” he said a few minutes later. “Does she...is she okay?”

  “She’s mentioned you every time she’s talked to me,” I said. “She still calls you her beloved. And she’s as beautiful as you remember. Maybe even more beautiful.”

  “How many times have you talked to her?” he asked.

  “Counting tonight...I’ve seen her three times,” I confessed. “The first time was the day we left the Franklin Academy. She...made me promise not to tell you I’d seen her. And she said she’d make it right. I told her you still loved her.”

  “What did she say?” he asked, his voice barely carrying to me. “What were her exact words?”

  “She said ‘And I, him.’ She called you her Trevor, sir. I’ve been wishing I could tell you that part for months.” The truck slowed and slid to the right, coming to stop on the shoulder of the road. Dr. Corwin lowered his head, but I could hear his hands clench on the wheel.

  “Tell me the rest,” he said. “Tell me what she said tonight.”

  “She said she knew you’d find me, and that you’d come for me. And that I reminded her of you a little.” I stopped, wondering if I’d crossed a line by keeping my promise to Kim. Just the memory of how much he loved her was making my heart hurt, and I could only guess how the bombshells I was dropping were affecting him.

  “How did she know?” he finally asked. “To make you promise not to tell me.”

  “The way I said her name,” I said. “She said only one man had ever said her name the way I did. That’s when she told me I couldn’t let you know I’d seen her. Maybe I should have told you but I just…”

  “You couldn’t tell her no.”

  “Right. It’s like I’m in love with her a little myself,” I said. I shook my head, then a thought hit me. “She’s up to something,” I said.

  “When is she not?” Dr. C said without lifting his head.

  “She could have killed Steve and me both, and taken the sword. Or even left it where it was. But she made sure you could rescue me. She knew Lucas and I were there the other night, too. But she didn’t say anything. And she went out of her way to make the point that the Horde was going to show up no matter what we did. And she knew who had Monica.”

  “She did?” he asked, his head coming up. “How?”

  “She had Vortigern’s contract.”

  “And she was betting the Council would send me to look into it once the theft came to light.” He laughed softly. “That woman is brilliant. Vexing but brilliant.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “While you were at the Franklin Academy last semester, Lucas found a book that had been stolen from the Honorable Sheng’s library, and the Council sent me to return it and find out who stole it.”

  “Honorable Sheng...the dragon in San Francisco?” I asked.

  “The same,” he answered. “I found out Vortigern’s contract had been stolen, and I’d connected that to the Yakuza, but not Kim. She’s been working this angle for longer than anyone, I think.”

  “So, we’re playing her game,” I said.

  “Pretty much everyone is,” Dr. C said. “To paraphrase a great general from a galaxy far, far away, she let us go.”

  “I guess it is the only reason for the ease of our escape,” I finished the quote.

  “You call that easy?” Dr. C said. His tone was almost light hearted, but I could hear the tension, too. He pulled back onto the road, but his attention was only half on driving.

  “It’s never easy,” I said after a minute or two. “Being in love, I mean.”

  “It isn’t supposed to be,” Dr. C said. “But I never thought it would be this h
ard.”

  Chapter 15

  ~ Nothing else in the world is real/ when you’re in my arms, when we dance ~ “When We Dance” by Love’N’Chains

  Saturday morning dawned long before I woke up. Noon was a pretty recent memory by the time I pulled up at Dr. Corwin’s place. I got out of the Mustang to see Lucas’s Barracuda and Wanda’s yellow VW Beetle parked in front of me. Detective Collin’s blue Neon was there, as well as Cross’s and Steve’s bikes and T-Bone’s Torino. Several other cars I didn’t recognize were parked along the street, and I had a sneaking suspicion Dr. C had called in some people of his own. I couldn’t blame him. I’d done plenty of stuff without telling him. I looked up and down the street, then looked out front for Shade’s bike or her silver Mustang, but didn’t see either one. I felt a little hollow not seeing her there.

  The door to the basement was open when I let myself into the kitchen, and I heard voices from Dr. C’s office. I poked my head into the office to see him standing behind his desk with Detective Collins and T-Bone on either side. They had a map open and were bent over it.

  “Hey, where’s Lucas?” I asked.

  “In the Sanctum. I’d like your help first, though,” he said, gesturing for me to come in. I stepped in and headed for the desk.

  “Okay, what can I do?”

  “We’re trying to figure out where to position ourselves to be closest when the Rending starts. If we’re too far away, we won’t be able to contain them. But we don’t want to be too spread out or we’ll get slaughtered. You’ve been working with me on this. What’s your take on where these cults might do their thing.” I looked at the map, and noticed that he had remote places circled. I looked at a few spots, then put my finger down near the outskirts of New Essex, where Interstate 44 ran south of town.

  “Here,” I said.

  “That’s gonna put us a long way from everything,” T-Bone said.

  “Average response time to that part of town is at least twenty minutes from central New Essex,” Collins agreed.

  “That’s where they’re going to be pointing Mammon’s Horde,” I said.

  “How can you be so sure?” T-Bone asked.

  “Because that is where Kennedy High School’s junior senior prom is going to be,” Dr. C said, his voice grim. “Since they can’t get the blood of the Half-Caste Childe, they’re going to rampage, and there’s no bigger gathering of innocents that night to slaughter than a high school prom. As bad as some of the kids are, most of them are still innocents.”

  “We still need to know where they’re going to show up,” T-Bone said. “Because if there’s anyone in their way, they’re gonna mow through them.”

  “The Occult Crimes Task Force has a database on a lot of the larger groups operating in the county,” Collins said. “I can check that and see-”

  “I know where the Horde is going to show up,” I said. “And I think I know who is going to summon it.” That got everyone’s attention.

  “Who?” Dr. C asked.

  “That’s need to know information,” I said.

  “I’d say we need to fuckin’ know, kid,” T-Bone said.

  “No, you don’t,” I said. “And the people who do aren’t here.”

  “Why the fu-”

  “Demons can read minds!” I snapped. “And they don’t give a damn about consent or the Laws. The last time I checked, there is only one person in this house who can stop a demonic mind probe cold, and if you weren’t apprenticed to a demon, it ain’t you.” The room was silent for a moment, then T-Bone stepped back and looked to Dr. C.

  “He’s right about that,” Dr. C said. “He can stop a Horus Gaze, and there are only a handful of mages who can do that. But, he’s not going to be on the field tonight. As much trouble as you’re in, it’s ironic that the only place I want you to be is at your prom.”

  “Sir, I need to be-”

  “At prom. You, Lucas and Wanda and Shade are the last line of defense,” he cut me off. “And face it, the safest place for Monica is going to be behind our line, and close to you.”

  “On the sidelines,” I said.

  “Safe,” Dr. C countered. “Where I’m not worrying about you.”

  “I’m good in a fight,” I said. “You know that. Look at the things I’ve dealt with over the past two years.”

  Dr. C stepped around the desk and put a hand on my shoulder. “One on one, I’d never bet against you. But you’re like the kid from the Home Alone movies. If you have time to prepare, you’re scary as Hell. But a straight up combat? You don’t have the tools for it. Not yet. You’ll get there, I know it. But until then…”

  “I know the drill,” I said. “I’m going to go talk to Lucas...and get ready for prom.” I turned and started for the door.

  “Chance,” Dr. C said as I reached the doorway. I stopped and looked back at him. “I’m sure Shade is still going to prom with you.”

  “I wish I was,” I said. As I trudged up the stairs to the Sanctum, I tried not to think about spending the night without Shade. By the time I made it to the second floor, I’d managed to kick that, but my brain started conjuring images of what she might be doing instead. That wasn’t any better.

  “You look like Hell,” Lucas greeted me when I shuffled into the Sanctum. He was working at the bench on the right as I walked in, with Monica by his side. Sunlight streamed in through the windows on the west side, making columns of dust motes in the air, giving the whole room a sacred feel.

  “Yeah,” I said, not feeling real witty at the moment. “How’s the Third Eye?”

  “Mostly closed,” he said. “It’s only fuzzy images at the corner of my eye now.”

  “What are you working on?”

  “A little surprise for the bad guys,” he said, holding up a white shotgun shell. “Father Jacob got me some lead from the roof of an old church in Rome. Makes for sanctified buckshot. If we’re fighting demons tonight, they’re going to feel it.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “That’s a big ‘if.’ Dr. C wants to sideline us. Last line of defense for the kids at the dance, keep Monica safe, the whole works.”

  “Code for you’re a distraction, right? Are we going to actually listen?”

  “Do you think we’d make a difference?” I asked. “Stack us up against T-Bone and Cross, Dr. C, or even any given Sentinel. How do we compare?”

  “That’s never stopped you before,” Lucas said.

  “And it won’t stop me completely,” I said. “But for the big fight...we’re not frontline material. Not in a fight like this.”

  “Maybe not, but we can make a difference. And we have to keep you safe,” he said, turning to Monica. She reached out and took his hand.

  “You never stop amazing me,” she said before she put her arms around him. “No one’s done...any of the things you have for me. You so deserve everything I’m going to do for you tonight.” Lucas pulled back a little bit and looked at her, clearly not wanting to break contact with her.

  “Monica, you don’t have to do anything for me,” he said. “I mean...you don’t think… well, it’s just that I’m not the guy that girls as pretty and...everything… as you, really notice. I’ve always been the skinny kid that guy tends to make fun of. So, I’m just… am I really…”

  Monica smiled at him and kissed him. “Sexy? Oh, you’re hella hot.. Especially right now. Right now, you’re all awkward and sweet,” she reached up and touched his face for a moment. Her eyes strayed to the workbench, and she smiled when her eyes came back to him. “But in a little while, I know you’re going to pick up that bag of stuff and put on that big coat, and be Midnight, the guy I finally got to meet last October. You’re a badass, Lucas Kale. And you’re the only guy who has ever looked me in the eye, instead of just staring at my tits.”

  “Oh, I stare at them, too,” Lucas said with a smile.

  “Good,” Monica said before turning her attention to me. “And as far as you’re concerned, the only safe place for me is at prom, dancing with my boyfrien
d.”

  “About that,” I said. “I have an idea. And I think you’re going to like it.”

  An hour later, everyone was gathered down in the basement. Lucas and I were in our tuxedos. Wanda wore a black skirt the came to her knees, with a red silk blouse and a black silk scarf. Monica looked devastating in a shimmering black dress that looked like liquid on her skin, silver accents emphasizing her figure. Around us, everyone else was probably feeling more than a little underdressed. Most of the gathered group were Sentinels, but a bunch of blue cloaks were hanging in the hallway. This was strictly what they would call ‘night work,’ strictly off the books. The cloaks, however, were the only parts of the uniforms that they'd be leaving behind. Their tactical vests, guns and paramiir staves were all still on. Cross, T-Bone and Steve stood among them, all three in civilian clothes. Cross and Donovan wore their swords slung over their shoulders, though I knew from watching them practice that that was just for transport. T-Bone wore four pistols that I could see, a revolver under each arm and a pair of automatics in drop leg holsters on each leg. Collins was carrying a submachine gun, the MP5 that the Essex County Sheriff’s Department favored, and a tactical vest with magazines and a pistol on the front. Finally, there was Dr. Corwin, looking as badass as anyone else in the room. He had his paired tactical holsters on, with the big H&K Mark 23 on the left leg and his Colt Dragoon on the right. He carried his staff, but dangling around his neck was something new: the big silver ankh of a paramiir. I knew he’d been a Sentinel once upon a time, but seeing the ankh around his neck brought home just how powerful my mentor really was.

  “Listen up people,” Dr. C said, and all heads in the room turned his way. “This is the last chance to walk away. I’d say you could leave now and there would be no shame in it, but we all know that’s bullshit.” A low murmur of laughter rippled through the room. “Tonight is big. It’s also probably going to get a lot of us in trouble, if it doesn’t get you killed. The Council hasn’t given sanction for this, though I have it on good authority that the Council is going to be a little too busy tonight looking in a hundred other directions to be sparing much attention on us. We need every hand we can get, and nothing less than the fate of the world is at stake here. I need everyone on their A game tonight. We might have some help. If you see werewolves on the field, their almost one hundred percent likely to be on our side.”