War of the Damned Boxed Set

by Michael Todd

  I’m beyond excited to see happens to our Damned crew throughout the rest of the summer and this fall. We have some awesome stuff heading your way.

  On another note, we’re in Chicago! We’ve started traveling again, and we stopped by Minnesota, which was awesome, and headed to Lake Michigan next. Mackinac Island is a treat and a blast from the past, and Traverse City was filled with cherries, shops, and great food.

  I didn’t realize you could eat cherries in two billion dishes, but apparently, you can. And now we’re in the Windy City. I love it here already: big buildings, food, music, food, people, food, culture, and did I mention food?

  Right. I’m thinking this is going to be great for the tongue and terrible for the hips. #storyofmylife

  Outside of traveling and taking up Mike’s time with new horrific and yet hilarious ideas, I’ve been working on my mystery suspense line a lot this year. It’s a gruesome, not funny at all, serial killer series. I know. I have issues. Writing romance by morning, murder mystery in the afternoons, and romance at night.

  Most people take medicine for what I have. I just write. A lot.

  My WL Knightly line has been a great, albeit difficult, creative outlet. Just wanted to try my hand at something complex and brain-achingly painful (at times). Shake your head at me. You should at this point. So, a thirteen-book murder mystery series where I can to bob and weave for a lot of pages and far too many words to keep my readers guessing whodunit.

  It’s been a blast, too, and we’re headed into a big promo season on that series at the end of the month. Throw in a few bikers, billionaires, a secret baby, a demon-exorcising priest, Satan’s sexy wife, some donuts, a chicken nugget or two for good measure, and a shit-ton (that’s a word – right?) and you have my month!

  Be lucky you’re you and not me today! And above all that jazz up there… THANK YOU for spending your dollars on our stories. I cannot tell you how much Mike and I appreciate your support of our art. It means the world to us.

  Slave to Many Stories,

  Laurie Starkey

  Dim Glows The Horizon

  War of the Damned Book Four

  Chapter One

  Moloch took a sip from the ornate chalice and grimaced at the unexpected texture. He ran the tip of his claw over the top of the liquid within to remove the offending strand of hair, then snapped his fingers to summon the servant.

  “Send this back to the kitchen, and tell them if they don’t strain the hair out of the next one, they won’t live long enough to regret being lax a third time.”

  “Of course, Master.” The bound soul shook as he bowed, causing his chains to rattle.

  Moloch rolled his eyes at Baal. “I swear, finding good help even in a sea of souls is like finding fried rabbit on Easter.”

  Baal looked at Moloch quizzically.

  “Everyone is always sold out, thanks to the humans and their ridiculous whims. Why they choose to make our food their pets, I don’t know.”

  Baal groaned. “I heard some of them keep chickens as pets. They don’t eat them.”

  Moloch shrugged. “Personally, I was never fond of the feathers. They always get stuck in my teeth. I did love chasing them when I was just a spawn. It was a very good time, and Lucifer always laughed at the game when he passed.”

  “I forgot your father worked for Lucifer before you. It feels as if you have been with us forever.”

  Moloch chuckled. “Centuries pass, and we don’t notice. When I came of age, I just sent my father to the deep recesses and locked him away. It was his time.”

  Baal laughed. “Is that why you haven’t claimed any of your snot-nosed bastards as your own? Don’t want to take your place next to your father when the time comes?”

  Moloch inclined his head with a wry smile. “That…and I just hate children. I would end up eating any I claimed before it had a chance to grow up.”

  Baal raised his chalice to Moloch. “Eat them while they’re young. That way they’re at least a little tender.”

  The demons laughed loudly, spilling blood on the already red tablecloth as they tapped their chalices together. Moloch put his down, his humor fading in an instant.

  Baal swallowed hard.

  Moloch sat straight and steepled his claws on the table in front of him. “Baal, I asked you to take care of Lilith and her meatsack, but yet again she has thwarted my plans. You are dear to me, which is why I have not summoned you until I could be certain of keeping my cool. However, it is time to answer for your failures in France.”

  Baal held his head in his claws. “I know I failed,” he admitted. “My apologies, Moloch. Things didn’t quite go as I had planned. The IRS was supposed to have detained Katie before she got wind of the incursion, but they failed to cover their tracks. My contact had her served but didn’t change the file to reflect why. One quick search by one of her minions and the general was all over them like flies on shit. The IRS never even had a chance to get close to her.”

  Moloch pursed his lips. “And Mexico?”

  “They didn’t even have to fight.” Baal scoffed. “It was pathetic.”

  “What? I thought that the drug lord was a sure thing. He’d had that demon in him for close to a decade!”

  “Yes, well, he apparently liked to relax as well. They snuck right through the grounds and into his house and yanked the demon right out of him. They didn’t even kill anyone.”

  Moloch slammed his hand on the table and shook his head. “You didn’t heed my warning about her, Baal.”

  “You are right. I have to admit, I underestimated the human…and Lilith. She is much more powerful than I imagined. I wasn’t prepared for her. I honestly figured the other two demons would be better than her.”

  “Well, it’s done with now,” Moloch growled. “We will have to come up with some new angle. Something creative, since our simpler efforts have failed.”

  “I agree,” Baal replied as the servant set down a bowl of fried hairy gerbils and chocolate-covered human heads.

  Moloch reached over and grabbed a human head by a small tuft of hair sticking through the chocolate. He popped it in his mouth and crunched down, then wiped the blood and chocolate from the corner of his mouth. Baal hovered over the bowl for a moment before he selected a gerbil and bit down a little halfheartedly.

  Moloch raised an eyebrow. “You aren’t eating like you usually do.”

  Baal shrugged and rubbed his slightly diminished stomach with his free hand. “All the stress is getting to me.”

  “Understandable,” Moloch replied.

  “Oh, I did hear some encouraging news from above.”

  “Oh, yes? Do tell.”

  “When what the humans call Incursion Day hit, those loyal to the cause went into hiding. Most of the demons that spawned were from you and the portals. However, there has been a rise in random demon spawning on Earth. In fact, it has gone up about fifty percent since the dip.”

  “Yesss,” Moloch hissed and rubbed his hands together. “That means the infected are starting to come out of the woodwork. I thought it would take some time. I didn’t assume it would happen so soon after the failure in France.”

  “The cities are crawling again, and we are getting numerous requests for larger, more powerful demons. The infected are getting a little wild with their ideas.” Baal grinned, thinking of the chaos that granting some of those requests was going to cause.

  Moloch chuckled darkly. “That’s good. Very good. They will begin wreaking havoc on Earth—stealing, murdering, and fighting for the cause like our own little group of rebels. I like it. The more we have, the better, and those with a little more human sense are ten times more useful than the idiot demons we send in during wars.” He tapped his claws on the table as he turned over the possibilities presented by the new information. “We need to up that number. Get those requests filled as fast as possible. We need the distraction as much for Lilith as the human armies. I want them to be too absorbed with the chaos among their people to pay attention
as we continue to create a new plan of attack.”

  Baal smiled and grabbed a handful of gerbils, popping them in his mouth. “And look at that…my appetite is suddenly back.”

  Moloch grinned. “Mine too, Baal. My appetite for blood.”

  Katie smoothed her hair back into a ponytail and removed a smudge of eyeliner under her right eye. She pulled her tight black t-shirt down and looked at herself in the mirror. She figured she looked good enough to go get her next assignment. After all, it was her work that spoke for her. The outfit was just window dressing. She went to her closet and pushed the built-in drawer with her French lace bras closed.

  Pandora sighed. That drawer is far too empty.

  I know, I know. I’ve had other things on my mind, is all. Besides, half of what we have is at the cleaners. I’m just trying to get caught up on everything now that I’m back in New York.

  Well, taking on more side jobs isn’t going to help you find that time.

  Katie rolled her eyes. We’ve talked about this. We need untraceable money. I’m tired of the government watching my every move. We’ll use the money in the accounts they’re monitoring for the everyday purchases.

  Like condos and furniture? Pandora snarked.

  Exactly like that, though I think everything here is about complete.

  Too bad. I liked having hot men bring furniture in on a regular basis. Reminded me of when I was in Rome during the heyday. Caesar had hot men attend me with large fans and hand-feed me with peeled grapes during my visits. She sighed wistfully. Don’t even get me started about the time I was there for Bacchanalia…

  I’m not even going to ask.

  To be honest, I see that a lot of the less-attractive Roman attitudes made it through to modern times. People have a hard time stepping back and looking at history. Civilizations rise and fall, and there have been no exceptions so far.

  Hopefully, we will be sitting on a beach in the tropics sipping Mai Tais when that happens.

  Preach it, sister.

  Katie smiled, slipped a weapon into the holster on her hip, and pulled her lightweight jacket on. She headed out of the condo and grabbed a cab to take her over to speak to Mason about her next assignment.

  When she arrived, his men walked her back to his office and nodded as they closed the door behind them.

  The bookie stood up behind his desk and held out a hand for her to shake. “Katie, it’s good to see you back.”

  She shook the outstretched hand and took the seat he indicated. “Thank you, it’s good to be back. So, what do you have for me?”

  Mason made a face and shook his head. “Unfortunately, finding you a gig has been more than a little challenging since you went public with your wings. The mobs and such don’t want to touch you, and our infected clients want nothing to do with you after the stunt you pulled on the last job.”

  Katie rolled her eyes. “Of course, that would have gotten out.”

  Mason shrugged, his face making it clear that he’d warned her about the consequences of not following instructions. “However, I do know there is a consignment of high-value goods being moved between New York and Washington, DC. There are no ethical issues connected to this one, so your wings will not be not a problem.”

  Katie nodded. She had started to think she should lean toward gigs that didn’t make her skin crawl, anyway. Besides, she had a public presence now, and a duty to live up to the image of hope she presented to the world. Or some shit like that.

  Either way, she wasn’t going to take the shadier jobs.

  Good grief, get off of it, Pandora grumbled.

  What? I told you that things would be different, and this is a good change.

  Whatever. You are harshing my sugar buzz with all this bullshit over ethics. Just do the jobs and take the money.

  How about you leave the logistics to me?

  Fine, fine, but don’t come crying to me when all you get are jobs babysitting preschoolers.

  “So, what would my role be?” Katie asked the bookie.

  “Simple stuff. You would join the existing security team. You will be their go-to if anything happens. You make sure the load gets from New York to DC without any problems. Once the valuables are secured in the vault, you get paid and come home.”

  Katie nodded. “That seems simple enough.”

  “Yes, and paid very well, though I have to warn you that these valuables aren’t just Grandma’s china. They are historical artifacts, paintings, sculptures; things people would be interested in stealing and selling to make a pretty penny. You are probably looking at human thieves rather than your normal demon foes.”

  “I wouldn’t say that too soon.” Katie chuckled. “You would be surprised how many major criminals throughout history were demon-powered.”

  Mason’s eyes widened when the sense of Katie’s revelation sank in. “Well, let’s just hope you don’t have to deal with any of them on this job.”

  Katie lifted an unconcerned shoulder. “It would just be a standard day for me if I did. When is this happening?”

  “The transport will leave tonight, so you have a few hours to take care of anything personal. The file in front of you has the address and information to memorize as usual. The details are in there as well. Report in, report out, and we will be all set.”

  “That is perfect,” Katie replied. “I’ll make sure to let my contacts know I will be out of touch for a while.”

  She stood up and shook the bookie’s hand, then grabbed the file and opened it. She read through the details and repeated the address aloud for Pandora to remember, then shut the file and slid it over to him, nodding before walking from the room.

  It was about time she had an easy job. She was starting to think she would never have something simple to take care of. She loved action, but after France, she wouldn’t mind a simple open-and-shut gig.

  I know a simple open-and-shut gig you could have...

  Katie groaned internally. Not now, Pandora.

  “You would think that after all this preparation the others would at least attempt to be on time,” a short man wearing long black robes grumbled.

  “They are kidnapping someone. I’d rather they be thorough than lead the cops back here.”

  Just then the door flew open and six people in similar black robes, their hoods over their heads, walked in, carrying a bound and gagged man. The guy was terrified, and blood was coming from his nose. His eyes were wide with fear. They set him down in the middle of a chalk circle in the center of the room, which was ringed by arcane symbols and surrounded by dozens of wildly-flickering candles. The wax dripped and created a puddle on the floor, but the abandoned apartment complex was dank enough for no one to ever notice.

  “It would have been so much easier to knock him out,” a woman complained. “He was a fucking fighter.”

  The leader dismissed her complaints. “The first rule of summoning is that the vessel has to be awake. I haven’t spent my whole adult life preparing to summon this demon only for us to screw this up because the sacrifice was unconscious. Now, circle around the altar. We need to get this going.”

  Everyone joined hands around the altar. The leader walked around the outside, holding a small dagger aloft as he chanted. He reached the end of the incantation and sliced his palm. He allowed the blood to pool and smeared a little of it on each acolyte’s lips as he passed.

  The acolytes swayed, losing themselves to the rhythm of their chant as the leader intoned the Latin incantation.

  “Lucifer invocaverimus te. Moloch invocaverimus te. Tui pessimi mitte nos, mitte nos in Judas Maccabeus, et Dominus faciet in nomine eius heros.”

  Thunder echoed outside and the walls shook, sending plumes of dust down over them. They continued to chant, their eyes closed and the blood on their mouths. The leader put both hands in the air and rolled his head on his neck.

  “Principum mortuorum patrocinium nobis miseris. Ut faciam super te vocamus in tremore vestram demonly operis hic in terris.”

/>   Thunder clapped again, and the altar in front of them was replaced by a swirling black portal. The acolytes’ hoods were blown back from by hot wind that emerged from the opening. Many opened their eyes, reveling in the spiritual ritual they had been preparing for since Incursion Day.

  The leader took a step back, and the others opened their circle wider as a large insubstantial demon hand grasped the edge of the portal. They heard heavy breathing as it lifted its head out, then pulled itself from the portal. It growled and snarled, weak from being on Earth without a vessel. It wasn’t ready to fulfill its purpose yet. It needed to incubate inside the human long enough to gather its strength.

  The group dropped their hands and moved back, giving the demon room. It looked at the man, who was whimpering and struggling on the floor. A dark grin moved over the huge demon’s lips as it headed toward the sacrifice, cracking the floor beneath it with its mass.

  The man on the floor struggled wildly against his bonds. When he saw the demon, his mouth opened in a silent scream and he worked his legs frantically to push himself away until his back hit the wall.

  The demon roared and twisted its body, diving through the chest of the human.

  The leader ran over, pulling a syringe from the pocket of his robes before the demon took hold completely. He pushed the needle into the vessel’s neck and administered the drugs. Almost instantly, the man fell unconscious and slumped to his side. The leader tossed the syringe to the floor. “That should hold the demon until we are ready for him to emerge.”

  “Why not let the demon feed off the man’s waking fears?”

  “The demon is strong; stronger than any of ours. The damn thing will burst out of that human as soon as it smells a tasty treat. We want to make sure it’s the right time and place for that to happen. We don’t want to become collateral damage. The whole point of this is to have the demon take care of the ones we need gone. We are strong, but not strong enough to handle so many men while we’re in a moving vehicle. Besides, this demon will make headlines and garner even more fear of the demon crisis. We’ll kill two birds with one stone.”