A Grim Situation

by Whit McClendon

  Avery thought about being a smart-ass, but decided that she could learn more by watching. And since Tanya seemed to love talking about herself, she might be able to learn more that way. She nodded her agreement.

  Satisfied, Tanya turned to walk across the circle of stones, dropping the bag near the middle as she passed through on her way to the trunk.

  She bent over and reached inside. When she stood upright, she held something that looked like a three-legged, wooden stool, save that it was far too small to sit on, and had a slender metal spike sticking out of it. Moving back to the circle, she knelt next to the bag and set the stool on the ground just inside the circle’s boundary. The spike glinted in the torchlight, sticking straight up about six inches from the wooden disk. Then she unzipped the bag, reached inside, and produced an object that made Avery’s blood run cold.

  “Don’t act so shocked,” Tanya said, her tone mocking. She smoothed the hair away from her mother’s face to reveal her wide, staring eyes and a gaping mouth. Turning the severed head slightly in her hands, she traced one finger along the cold skin of its cheekbone, then pushed the chin upwards so the lips came together. “This kind of thing is just part of the deal when you treat with the spirits that I do. And the reward is well worth the price.” She jammed the head down onto the spike and arranged the stool so that it faced outwards. “There…facing north, just as required,” she said, sitting back on her heels.

  “What in the hell are you doing?” Avery could keep silent no longer. She’d been a cop for years, had seen things that would turn most people’s hair white, but seeing Diana’s head impaled so callously on a spike both shocked and disgusted her. “She was your mother! How could you do something like that?”

  Tanya stood and wiped her hands on her pants, leaving faint crimson smears on the denim fabric. As she walked back over to the chest, she replied, “I must say, it was harder than I’d thought, sending the demon over to kill her like that. She had her good points. But we’d long since had a falling out anyway, and she’d cut me out of her life completely. When I found this path, I knew she’d be the perfect sacrifice. I used my talents to get her will amended, so now all that was once hers, is mine. And with her death, I’ll gain SO much power…” Tanya’s voice had a faraway sound as her ambitions and dreams swelled to the fore. Then she shook herself and continued to root around in the chest as her voice returned to normal. “You see, little detective, I’m going to be a Skinwalker. I’ve done all that’s required over the years, and the death of my mother and this ritual were all that remained.” She began to pick up items from inside the chest, and when she had an armful, she walked back into the circle to lay them in their proper places. Avery discerned pieces of several different animals: the pelt of a wolf, feathers from a crow, the paws of a bear, and the head of a mountain lion were easiest to identify, while others were a mystery to her.

  “What’s a Skinwalker?” Avery was puzzled. She’d heard the term, but it had been long ago, and she had no idea.

  “It means that I can change my shape into anything I wish. An animal, a bird, anything. With enough practice, I can even look like another person. Glamours and illusions are one thing, but this,” she shook her head slowly, “this is several orders of magnitude above that. Along with the ability to shapeshift, I’ll also be granted power far beyond my current magickal skills. Spells and workings that are beyond me right now will become easy. I’ll be able to destroy my enemies at my whim, melting their internal organs while they scream for mercy.” She looked over at Avery and smiled. Her madness glinted in her too-wide eyes, and it chilled Avery to the bone. “Won’t that be fun?”

  Chapter 23

  Riding a Wyvern is a pretty sketchy endeavor. It’s not like riding a motorcycle, which I rarely do, but thoroughly enjoy. For one thing, they fly, so there’s that whole falling out of the sky possibility. And since Wyverns are basically enormous snakes with huge bat-like wings and powerful back legs, they don’t fly smoothly at all. Their bodies undulate somewhat as they move, and it takes getting used to. Not only that, the flapping of their wings also gives them a sharp up and down motion. All of this wiggling around makes staying on board difficult without anything to hold onto, and it’s not like you can buy a Wyvern saddle in your local tack shop. I mean, I know a guy, but he’s never available when you need him. The whole thing is a challenge, but it beats walking, and the speed…ok, I totally dig that.

  The strap I’d cut from the cargo area of the helicopter worked well as a rudimentary bridle and reins, so holding those helped me stay upright, but seated right behind me as she was, Ariana had nothing to hold on to but me. I don’t think she enjoyed the flight the way I did. She hadn’t complained once, but her grip was tighter than you’d think. If I were human, I’d probably have bruises. I smiled as I guided the reptilian beast through the night sky and away from where Edge was still working on the helicopter.

  Edge said we should go due west, Ariana’s voice echoed in my mind. I’m guessing towards those lights over there. She released her iron grip on my midsection just long enough to point towards the tiny island of bright spots in the otherwise dark vista that spread out beneath us, then she clutched me again. That woman, Tanya, has the money to build a spread out here, that’s for sure. I’m guessing whatever she’s up to requires a high degree of privacy.

  It's never helpful to be disturbed when summoning demons and whatnot, I agreed, it causes trouble.

  We drew closer to the lights, and I saw a cluster of small adobe buildings situated around a central, larger one, all surrounded by a solid wall. The compound sat in a wide valley, and the land rose gently away from it on all sides save the north. Less than a mile from the wall, a small mountain loomed, its sides nearly vertical. It radiated a sense of dread, a foul and oily pressure that would have turned my stomach had I not been used to such things. This was an old power, but still vibrant and strong. I knew that bad things had happened in, on, and under that giant fist of stone. Of course, as a practitioner of evil magick, Tanya would have sought out such a place for her home away from home. I sighed. Whatever she was doing was pretty high level, and if she was using the power I felt from whatever was inside the mountain, it told me that she was even more dangerous than I’d thought.

  Hey, what’s that down there? A guard? He doesn’t look right. Ariana’s mental voice pulled my attention from the mountain for the time being. She was pointing again, and I looked where she indicated. Sure enough, a lone figure, a man, appeared to be stumbling in our direction. He was on foot and appeared unarmed. He also looked familiar. Even with my Fae sight, I needed to be a bit closer, so I pulled on the reins and applied pressure with my knees, guiding the Wyvern into a wide, sweeping turn so we could come in a bit lower. Although Ariana had spotted the shambling figure, I could see much better than she in the darkness. I nudged the Wyvern and sent a mental image of a glide, and the beast complied, catching the wind beneath its membranous wings and smoothing out our ride. As we approached, the figure stumbled and fell face first onto the hard, uneven ground, then stayed there, unmoving.

  I had the Wyvern touch down several yards away from the prone figure, as quietly as possible. A glance towards the compound showed no activity whatsoever, and I felt reasonably sure we’d see any trouble in time to escape if necessary. Ariana practically fell off the Wyvern’s back, then scrambled to her feet, embarrassed. I slid down somewhat more gracefully and patted the huge reptile’s neck. It gurgled at me, then stepped away, sat down, and folded its wings and tail around itself to wait. I looked at the downed figure and finally recognized his clothes and the top of his balding head.

  “It’s that detective,” I informed Ariana, “Jim, I think.” As a precaution, I cast a dimness over the Wyvern so that it wouldn’t spook the detective, and we approached the prone man.

  Ariana had already drawn one of her handguns and had it pointed at him as she crept closer. Unwilling to risk a light so close to the compound, she squinted into the darkness,
watching closely for signs of movement. “Detective?” she called softly. “Are you all right? What are you doing out here? It’s me, Ariana.”

  When no answer was forthcoming, she holstered her weapon and knelt beside the man’s body, gently touching his throat with her fingers. She looked up at me with relief. “He’s alive! Help me roll him over.”

  I complied and we turned him over on his back. He looked worn and dirty, but otherwise unharmed. His eyes were closed, but his breathing was steady. I knelt next to him, Ariana opposite. Not wanting to waste too much time, I reached over and slapped him smartly across the face.

  “Hey!” Ariana gasped in surprise.

  I shrugged. “Why waste time? Gotta wake him up so we can figure out what to do with him. And maybe he can tell us something.”

  That’s when his left hand shot up and almost grabbed Ariana by the throat. Almost. Mine shot out and intercepted his, grabbing him by the wrist before he could close his grip. Ariana lurched backwards, and fell on her butt, drawing one of her sidearms on the way. I quickly shifted my knee to pin his body down and grabbed his other wrist to keep him from attacking me with that hand. When I looked down into his face, I knew what I’d see, but even so, it pissed me off.

  Jim’s eyes, now wide demon’s eyes, had snapped open, and his lips were skinned back to reveal far too many teeth. He struggled, but I’d been more prepared for this one. I could hold him down all day like this. As long as he didn’t know Jiu Jitsu, which would just make it more difficult for me. Fortunately, neither Jim nor the demon had a clue, and they continued to flail about ineffectively.

  “What the hell?” Ariana bellowed as she jumped to her feet, her gun pointed at the detective’s head. “Is that what they look like when they go all demonized?”

  “Yup,” I replied. “Do you have that stuff we put together?” Demon-Jim struggled and grunted, but otherwise stayed silent. Ariana blinked at me, then holstered her gun and whipped her backpack off her back and proceeded to dig into it. It only looked half-full, as always, but I knew that she probably had a kitchen sink in there amongst all her other toys. She’d cast one hell of a spell on it years ago, and its capacity was impressive, even to me.

  “You think you can banish me, GrimFaerieeee?” The demon that rode inside Jim’s body finally spoke in a grating hiss. “I’m too strong for that!”

  I ignored his comment and focused on keeping him securely pinned. Ariana produced a wide-mouthed jar and laid her backpack on the ground. She unscrewed the lid and dipped her fingers inside, coming out with a dollop of clear gel. Without direction from me, she leaned in, slapped the goo on Jim’s face, and smeared it around, being careful to avoid his snapping teeth.

  “What’s that?” Jim’s demon hissed in alarm. “What’re you…GAAAHH!” He suddenly screamed as if we’d set him on fire. I shifted to pin his left arm with my other leg, then clamped my free hand over his mouth. The desert air was still, and I knew the sound would travel. He yowled and screeched beneath my hand, struggling in vain to escape. After thrashing ferociously for a few seconds, his body convulsed and arched beneath me. A fiery glow blossomed in his body, an ugly reddish-orange light that shone from within, then quickly extinguished. Jim’s body fell back to the stony soil, limp and quiet, his eyes closed. I waited half a minute, then removed my hand from his mouth, taking time to wipe it clean of Ariana’s demon-expunging goo on Jim’s shirt. I figured he wouldn’t mind.

  “Wow, that looked like it worked!” Ariana whispered, her eyes wide with excitement. “Awesome!”

  I didn’t respond, keeping my attention on the detective. He remained quiet for a few moments, then heaved in a huge breath of air that he let out with a low moan. His eyelids fluttered open and he scowled up into the night sky. “Ow,” he wheezed. “Ow. Hey, what happened?” He focused on me, kneeling as I was on his midsection, and grimaced, “Can…can you get off me, please?”

  His eyes had returned to normal. “Sorry, Detective,” I offered, “but you’d been possessed by a demon. We had to restrain you until we could get it out.” I stood up, and he heaved a relieved sigh as my weight left his body. I helped him to his feet, which took some time. He moved stiffly, still unsteady after whatever the demon had put his body through, and he favored his left leg. I let him compose himself, then urged him gently, “Tell us what happened.”

  Jim pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Ariana’s anti-demon gunk from his face. When he was done, he was about to put the cloth square back in his pocket, but then hesitated, looking at it with disgust. Ariana stepped forward, palm out.

  “I’ll take that. I can still use some of it, I think.”

  “Um…thanks,” Jim said, gingerly handing the sodden cloth over. “What was that stuff, anyway?”

  Ariana wrapped his handkerchief in another cloth from her backpack before depositing it inside. “It’s kind of an instant-exorcism gel,” she smiled proudly in the darkness as she donned her backpack again. “It’s just aloe vera with a whole bunch of other stuff thrown in, then imbued with magick. Tough to make, but with Kane’s help, we pulled it off. We weren’t sure it would work, but it certainly did the trick.”

  Jim frowned. “That was…wow…am I hearing you correctly? I was possessed? By a demon?”

  “Yes,” I affirmed, “that woman, Tanya, is a sorceress. She’s the one who hired Raymond to make those pills. Anyone who takes them opens themselves instantly to a particular type of demon, kind of a soldier. You took one of the pills?”

  Jim nodded, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Not by choice, but yes. When we broke back into the Thornwall house and saw…whatever that was standing over Diana’s body, Avery shot at it.” His eyes flicked to Ariana and narrowed in suspicion. “And you. She shot you!”

  “She did, yes. My vest kept me safe. Look, we didn’t kill Diana. A demon did that. It vanished afterwards, just like the snake-thing at Raymond’s, moments before you two came in. I swear, we were there to talk to Diana, that’s all. The trail led straight to her, as I’m sure you discovered as well.”

  Jim stared at her, assessing, then turned to look at me and tensed as he put it together. He saw me as I usually presented myself: an average guy with unruly dark hair and a forgettable face. My glamour was meant to keep me under most people’s radar, as they say. Nothing memorable about me. And now, Jim was trying to reconcile that with the monster that he had seen standing over Diana’s body. My true self. That had scared him. I raised my hands slowly, carefully, to show him I meant no harm.

  “Yes, that was me,” I admitted. “I’m a GrimFaerie. I’m one of the good guys. The demon killed Diana, and I killed the demon, just like at Raymond’s place. I’m on your side, Detective. My oath on it.”

  He stared at me, then seemed to come to a decision and finally relaxed. “All right. I don’t know what a GrimFaerie is, but you did save us from that snake-thing. And I can’t say that you’ve tried to hurt us.” Then he cut his eyes to Ariana, “Although you did knee me in the balls.”

  “Hey, we didn’t know each other yet!” Ariana protested. “I gave your gun back and everything, didn’t I?”

  Jim nodded reluctantly at that, and I cut in, “What happened after Avery shot at us?”

  “You two vanished, Tanya locked the door behind us, and then we went lights out. I woke up locked in a room in the big house over there, I’m guessing.” He waved a hand towards the complex in the distance. “Everything after that is pretty fuzzy, but I remember Tanya and her goons jammed a pill in my mouth not long after I woke up.” Suddenly, his eyes opened wide. “Avery! They must still have Avery in there somewhere!” He reached inside his coat for the gun that wasn’t there as he took a lurching step towards the complex. My hand on his chest stopped him.

  “Hey,” I said quietly, “you need to let us handle this.”

  “Like hell, I will!” He tried to slap my hand away, but nearly fell when his injured leg gave out on him. He ended up clutching my arm to stay on his feet. />
  Ariana came and put a calming hand on his arm. In his way, he was fierce. I sent a gentle touch of reassuring magick into him. When my power touched him this time, I felt his strong affection for his partner. In a blink, I knew there was nothing romantic between them, but even so, he would willingly die for her. It took more energy than I’d expected to finally soothe him.

  “You’re injured,” Ariana stated simply, “and you’re only going to slow us down. We’re ready for this. We’re heavily armed and have experience with this kind of thing.” He tried to protest, but she caught his gaze with her own and held it. Emotions warred on his face as he battled his urge to go to Avery’s aid, but Ariana’s eyes held a promise, and he finally clung to it. She added softly, “We’ll get her.”

  “We have a man over the ridge,” I kept my voice quiet, but firm. “Edge is fixing the helicopter. He’ll patch you up and wait for us to return.”

  Jim looked in that direction, still uncertain, then spoke barely above a whisper, “You have to get her. She’s my friend. I…”

  Ariana squeezed his arm in reassurance, “We know. We’ll get her back, I promise.”

  I frowned at her and sent, We might not be able to keep that promise, you know that.

  Without shifting her gaze away from Jim, she replied, Up yours, Kane. We’ll get her.

  I sighed. Oh, well. I do enjoy a challenge.

  Chapter 24

  Blood from Avery’s chafed wrists crawled down her forearms. The pain from the cold steel manacles had faded to a dull ache as she’d become accustomed to it. Her shoulders burned unbearably from the strain, but she ignored that agony as best she could. Instead, she focused her anger on the woman who had captured her. Her gray-green eyes observed everything, taking it all in, even though she struggled to make sense of what she was seeing.