Bad Company

by D V Wolfe

  “Yeah?”

  “That’s what I like about you,” Nya said. “You don’t waste time on the little things, like greetings. You’re always ‘to the point’ which means I don’t have to screw around with greetings either.”

  “Well in that case,” I said. “Hello Nya, how are you? How’s the family? How’s the weather where you are?”

  Ignoring me, Nya said. “Where are you?”

  “Clear Rapids, Iowa,” I said.

  “What, pray tell, has taken you to Iowa of all places?”

  “Sight-seeing,” I said. “Well, and werewolves, but mostly sight-seeing. You know Iowa has the biggest popcorn ball…”

  “Bantering pause,” Nya said. “I have a lead on the super with the sword.”

  “Really?” I asked, sitting up straighter behind the wheel. “Where?”

  Nya hesitated, “That’s the tricky part. There are a couple of...possibilities.”

  “How many possibilities?” I asked.

  “Three.”

  “Ok,” I said, deciding to give Nya more time to explain her brilliant plan.

  “Denver, Kansas City and uh….Station, Wyoming,” Nya said.

  “Well,” I said. “One of these is not like the other.”

  “I know. Once I knew what the thing was, I was able to track it, but I can only see where it’s been in the last seven days. I found out it was an incubus and from there, I learned that there’s a spell where you can follow its…”

  “Rapey...jet stream?” I asked.

  “Pretty much,” Nya said. “I can’t tell where it is, because, being an incubus it’s able to confuse a pendulum. I can tell that it’s an incubus that’s been in these three places but…”

  “How do you know you’re tracking the right one, then?” I asked. “I mean, surely there are a shit ton of incubuses or incubi or whatever, out there.”

  “Apparently,” Nya said. “The sword leaves an energy behind too. So one incubus with the sword was pretty easy to track.”

  “Why didn’t you just try to track the sword in the first place?” I asked.

  “Because the sword by itself, doesn’t give off the signature. It’s an angel-forged sword. The source that told me about it says it has a symbiotic relationship with whoever carries it and it only has a signature when it’s being held by a supernatural. Something about its power bouncing off of theirs gives off the signature. And before this incubus got his hands on it, it was dormant,” Nya said, a note of annoyance in her voice.

  “Ok,” I said. “What’s the plan?”

  Nya blew out a sigh. “Well, I think our best bet is one of the bigger cities. It might have made a pitstop in Station, but incubi are urban, usually. More choice for their...you know.”

  I nodded. “So which one should I check first?”

  “You’re not doing this alone,” Nya said. “Bane, we’re in this together.” I thought about protesting. After almost losing Tiff, I didn’t want to risk anyone else that I cared about.

  “Since you’re already in Iowa,” Nya said. “Why don’t you take Kansas City. I’ll take Denver and call you as soon as I hit town to see if you turned anything up.”

  I was trying to figure out how to tell her that I didn’t want her to get involved with this any more than she already was, but she interrupted my speech preparations with, “Bane, just slap whatever part of your brain is about to argue with me and listen. I’m not leaving you to deal with these demons on your own. I love you, get over it. We’re going to take down these assholes together. If you want to do whatever you can to make this safer, easier, less dangerous, etc, then I need you to go check out K.C. and not fall into any more traps that the demon monkey-grinders might be cooking up, ok?”

  I sighed. “Ok.”

  “Perfect,” Nya said, back to her all-business voice. “I’m heading for Colorado. I’ll call you in about...twelve hours.”

  “Be careful,” I said.

  “Same to you.”

  I hung up and set the phone on the dashboard. I made it back to the motel in record time, unloaded everything, and set everyone up with cereal, Oreos, and a cocktail. Some of the cocktails were the over-the-counter meds and some were just alcohol. Tiff had moved from the bed and was sitting at the little table, checking emails on her phone. Vince and Mick were arguing over what they were watching on TV and Noah looked ready to pull his hair out or run screaming out the front door.

  I handed Tiff two fingers of Tequila in one of the water glasses and she threw it back, before smiling at me and mouthing, ‘thank you’. I gave her a grin and shook the bottle, asking if she wanted more. She shook her head but pointed to the table next to her and I set it down.

  “Ok,” I said to the room at large. “I just heard from Nya, who has been tracking the demons who may or may not have been pulling the pack’s strings. She needs me,” I glanced at Noah. “And Noah, to go check some things out.” I looked at Mick and Vince. “You two need another day or two of rest,” I said. Vince was propped up in bed but Mick was flat on his back, two rags draped over his face.

  “Bane, we’ll be...” Vince started.

  “Dead. Because I’ll shoot you if you two don’t take it easy for at least another day,” I said. I hoped that their flu haze wouldn’t point out to them that I couldn’t actually enforce this as I was planning to head out as soon as everything was settled. “Therefore,” I said. “I’m paying for the room for three more nights, including tonight. You both have provisions for three days,” I said, looking at the grocery bags stacked up on the dresser beside the TV. I picked up the phone book off the small table and set it on the nightstand between the beds. “And if you get sick of the stuff I bought, you can always order yourselves some delivery.” Vince wiped at his nose with a Kleenex and nodded. Good sign. He must really be feeling shitty to agree with my terms. I took a breath and then focused on Vince and Mick. “Guys, I cannot thank you two enough for your help in this mess. You both took bites for us and we would have been werewolf skid marks, without the two of you.”

  “Werewolf skid marks,” Vince said. “No offense, Bane, but your heartfelt ‘thanks’ speeches could use some editing.”

  “Well, I’m all out of warm fuzzies now,” I said. I looked at the two huge men, crammed into the queen-sized bed. “I understand that with your flu symptoms, you’re probably more cozy together, but if one of you starts irritating the shit out of the other, there is a second bed.”

  Noah was moving around me, dumping stuff back into my black duffle and zipping his backpack up. He slung the backpack over one shoulder and dragged the duffle bag over to me. He paused and looked at my neck and then threw the strap over his head and picked it up. Tiff went to say her thanks and goodbyes to Vince and Mick and I grabbed the duffle by the straps and lifted it off of Noah’s shoulder when I saw him struggling under the weight. I went to the main office and paid for the extra nights and we had just got everything packed back into Lucy when Tiff came out to join us, her black leather bag over her shoulder. We all climbed in and headed down the road without saying a word. Noah looked relieved and exhausted, sitting between us on the seat. Tiff was deep in thought and I was already thinking about Kansas City and trying to remember where I had put the general lore book Stacks had given me. I’d never hunted an incubus before, but considering what they did, it was definitely on my bucket list.

  12

  “Bane,” Tiff said softly, as we headed down 35 South. I looked over at her and saw she was studying my face.

  “What?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I know that look.”

  “What look?” I asked.

  “Your ‘the world is on fire and if I drive a little faster, if I hunt a little more, in less time, if I can just save all of them…”

  “That’s not this look. This is my ‘contemplation’ look,” I said.

  Tiff sighed. “What exactly are you contemplating?”

  “Whether I can drive one-handed while drawing a dick on Noah’s f
ace while he’s asleep.”

  Tiff shook her head. “You can’t. You’re left-handed. It would end up looking like an upside-down muppet.”

  I shrugged. “That might still be fun.”

  Tiff sighed. “You have to stop putting so much on yourself.”

  “I get what you’re saying, Tiff. And...thank you. But, the truth is, time is running short. I only have through October to wrap this up.” Another chill ran down my spine as an echoed memory of the screams of Hell, the shock of lightning in the darkness, and the feeling of searing skin and emptiness washed over me. And that was only the first circle of Hell. What went on in the basement where I was headed? I gave myself a little shake and tried to come back to the moment.

  “I know,” Tiff said. Then she shook her head. “No, I don’t know.” Tiff was crying now, tears streaming down her beautiful face as she looked out at the road. She wasn’t sobbing, but her voice wobbled as she turned back to me and asked. “Are you scared?”

  Was I scared? No. I was terrified. I had nightmares, visions, and visits from Hell and its citizens. Daily reminders of what was waiting for me. Tiff’s hand reached my shoulder behind Noah’s lolling head and she gave it a squeeze. Thankfully, it was my good shoulder. I took my left hand off the wheel and covered hers. We stayed like that for a few miles. Neither of us knowing what to say. There was a good chance this was going to be the last time we saw each other. How do you say goodbye to a friend, forever?

  Tiff cleared her throat and I moved my hand off of hers. She wiped her face with both hands and then looked at me. “So you’re off again. Nya gave you some intel?”

  I nodded, not missing the tone in Tiff’s voice. Nya was rootless, like a dandelion seed or a tornado that just blew from one place to another. I think Nya would see herself as a dandelion seed; poetic and beautiful. But, she picked bar fights, didn’t take crap from anyone and if a rule in any place she happened to be (town, state, bar, library) didn’t agree with her, she’d break it. She was actually more of a tornado. Still beautiful, but definitely a force to be reckoned with. Tiff was steady. She was a guardian and she had grown roots in Dearag. She wasn’t a hunter anymore. She just protected her territory and lent a hand to anyone she felt protective of, whenever they needed it.

  “Nya has been tracking these demons on my ass from day one,” I said. “And she found out about this sword that can kill them.”

  “A sword,” Tiff said, raising an eyebrow. “that can kill demons.”

  I nodded. “I know, it sounds like a long shot but these days, those are all I’ve got.”

  Tiff nodded. “Fair enough. If you aren’t able to kill it?”

  I sighed. “If I don’t get it before it gets me, I’d say there’s about a one hundred percent chance that this will be my final hoorah. The last time I went downstairs for an Empty House, it took three years of topside time before I got a new one, and I don’t have three years to spare. Shoot, I don’t have three days to spare.”

  Tiff shook her head. “You know, between the innocents fighting this worldwide virus and all the baddies that snack on them, it really just doesn’t seem fair. They really got the short end of the...” She paused and we looked at each other and then we burst out laughing. “Sorry,” Tiff said. “I spoke before I thought through what I was saying. I love pointing out the obvious, don’t I?”

  When we’d started laughing, Noah had woken up and was half-asleep listening to us for another fifty miles, throwing in a snide comment here or there. He fell back asleep about thirty minutes outside of Dearag.

  “Circling back to the obvious,” Tiff said, her smile twisted into an evil grin. I definitely didn’t like where she was going with this.

  “What?” I asked.

  “What about Gabe Helsin? The golden boy? I heard you two were…”

  “Well, you heard wrong,” I said. Immediately I knew it had come out more bitter than I’d meant for it to sound. Don’t get me wrong, the bitterness was there. Fresh and painful like lemon juice in an open wound.

  “Bane,” Tiff said. “You are allowed to love somebody. There’s no rule against it on this mission.”

  I had loved. I had loved Jo, Andi, and Joel. I loved Rosetta, Tiff, Tags, Stacks, and Noah in my own way. And I did love Gabe. Deeply. But I couldn’t show it. I couldn’t show weakness and longing because even if Gabe felt the same way, what was going to happen at the end of October when this all ended? It would have a very short expiration date and nothing to look forward to but pain because then we would have known what was possible. I shook my head as if I was trying to shake out the image of that beard, those blue eyes, and the smell of leather.

  “Tiff,” I said, deciding to turn the conversation back on her. “What about you? Are you still looking for a mate?”

  Tiff rolled her eyes. “Not much point in Dearag, Missouri. The odds of another Faoladh traipsing through is somewhere between never and not happening.”

  I grinned. “You all don’t have something for Faoladhs like Timber? Or whatever?”

  Tiff laughed. “Do you mean Tindr? And where the hell did you learn about that?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, I heard some hunters at Pitch’s talking about Timber or Tinder or whatever it’s called. So there isn’t something like that out there for you all?” Tiff shook her head. “Well,” I said, having lured her into my trap without her seeing it. “You know Tiff, you are allowed to love somebody. There’s no rule against it in being a Faoladh. You could just be with a nice innocent.”

  “And tell them what,” Tiff asked. “That every seven years, I take a meditation journey for seven months?”

  I shrugged. “Why not? And if you’re with them for seven years, you can probably tell them your secret anyway. I mean, hunters weren’t born this way. Hunters were all innocents until they fucked up or were fucked over, right?”

  Tiff shook her head. “But I’m not a hunter, Bane. I was born this way. I’m a super, not an innocent.”

  “So is Jo,” I said, thinking of her sarongs and sitting on her balcony, her head in my lap. “And she dates. The point is, you and Rosetta are pushing me and Gabe together and I have even less time than the two of you do, but you’re both too scared to just take a leap and experience it yourselves.”

  “Maybe that’s why we do it,” Tiff said. “Because you have so little time left and because we’re scared to do it ourselves.” Tiff was quiet for a moment and then she nodded slowly and a shy smile crept up her face. “There are these really cute twins in my yoga class who keep asking me out for coffee.”

  I cut my eyes to her. “Make sure and call to tell me how that all shakes out. Oh and,” I tapped my right wrist with my left index finger where a watch would be if I wore one. “My time is ticking so you better get on that. I’ll come and haunt your ass if I don’t hear about the twins before my trip downstairs.”

  “You got it,” Tiff said, her voice was soft again and I looked at her, her eyes glassy. “We’ve been through some shit together, haven’t we?” Tiff asked. She was right. She had been my only fae-knowledgeable contact until I’d met Kess and she had been my friend, calling to talk to me whenever I needed it the most. Somehow, Tiff had always known when I was mentally falling apart at the seams. Damn Faoladh. She probably saw me, at least subconsciously, as some dumb sheep that kept getting its head stuck in the fence.

  Tiff directed me through Dearag to her ranch-style house at the end of a cul de sac. I pulled up to the curb and the three of us climbed out. I held Tiff in the longest hug either of us could stand with our injuries and I whispered, “Twins,” just before releasing her.

  She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek before she whispered. “Gabe”. We broke apart and she laughed at the annoyed expression on my face.

  “You first,” I said to her and she rolled her eyes, but nodded. We both turned to look at Noah who looked thoroughly confused.

  “Did I miss something?” He asked us.

  I shrugged and Tiff shook her head. “Na
h, just girl talk.”

  “I have to stop falling asleep in the truck,” Noah said.

  “It’s my fault,” I said. “I dose the seats. You wear shorts so it just gets absorbed into your…”

  Noah was staring at me in horror, both eyes dialed up to owl-on-opium.

  “I’m kidding, Noah,” I said.

  We both hugged Tiff one more time.

  “Tiff,” I said. “I can’t thank you enough for all your help.”

  Tiff nodded. “It was my pleasure. I’m sorry I couldn’t get more information out of them.” She looked at Noah. “And thank you, Dr. Noah, for taking such excellent care of your patients. And I was talking to Vince, you’re not a bad shot, it sounds like.”

  Noah’s ears were starting to smoke. His face was the reddest I’d ever seen. Tiff’s expression was a mixture of surprise and worry. I reached into the truck cab, grabbed Noah’s Big Gulp cup full of water-downed Dr. Pepper, and poured half of it on his head. He jumped away and turned to glare at me but his ears weren’t smoking anymore.

  “Just got a little over-heated,” I said, trying to play it off. Tiff looked like she wanted to ask but her gaze slid to me. “It’s a long story,” I said. “For another time.”

  Tiff nodded and looked at a very embarrassed Noah who was dripping on the concrete, his head down. “I’m so glad Bane has you with her, Noah. She needed someone like you to get the job done.”

  I nodded. “Can’t argue with that.” Noah’s goofy grin was back. “And speaking of,” I said, scratching the back of my neck. “We have some road to cover between here and there and we better get after it.”

  Tiff nodded and with one more round of hugs, an awkward hug for Noah since he was sticky and wet, she headed inside and we climbed back into the truck.

  13

  “Sorry about the drink,” I said as we headed out of Dearag.

  “Yeah, what the hell,” Noah said. “You embarrassed me in front of Tiffany. I mean, she and I…”