The Complete Protected by the Damned Series

by Michael Todd

  “You got it,” Stephanie agreed as Eric and Damian headed toward the armory.

  Eric caught up with Damian. “So, is it my turn for a ‘date’ like the one you took Katie on?” He laughed. “She mentions it from time to time, so I fully expect the same good time.”

  “Right,” Damian grumped, walking into the armory. He shoved a pistol into Eric’s hand. “Suit up.”

  “You have to promise to be gentle with me.” Eric waggled his eyebrows and chuckled as he put on his gear. “This is my first time. Of course, if this is the kind of date I’ve heard about, I know I’m in the best hands.”

  Damian ignored him as they headed toward the elevator. They rode it to ground level and went over to the garage. Damian got in the driver’s seat and waited for Eric to climb into the passenger side.

  “Buckle up,” Damian ordered, putting the car in drive and pulling quickly onto the road that led to the gate.

  “You are in a hurry.” Eric smiled. “I’m offended that you didn’t buy me flowers first.”

  Damian stopped at the gate and glanced at Eric, who was chuckling to himself.

  “You can hope it’s not like that date,” Damian grumbled. “Since if it’s just you and me and that happens again? We will both probably be dead.”

  Damian hit the gas and they surged through the open gate toward the highway. Eric’s smile slowly faded and he cleared his throat, suddenly looking nervous.

  Damian smirked slightly, thankful that his teammate had finally shut up.

  Once through the scanners and outside security checks, Katie, Korbin, and Calvin followed the general, the colonel, and the two men in black into the interior of a building where the four military officials walked straight through the metal detector.

  Korbin stepped forward and froze when the buzzers and sirens went off around him. He chuckled and stepped back. General Brushwood simply raised an eyebrow.

  Korbin laughed as he pulled his pistols out of their holsters and handed them over to the guard.

  He then removed a short sword from the sheath on his back, and about fifty-seven cents’ worth of change from his pocket. Katie giggled as the guard looked down at the change and waved a wand over Korbin.

  He was clear and proceeded through the detector. He stopped beside the general as Calvin stepped forward with a not-so-very happy look on his face. None of them liked to be unarmed, that was for damn sure, but Calvin knew not to make a fuss.

  Calvin handed over his pistol and held the knife just out of the soldier’s reach.

  His voice was firm. “I want this knife back. Not any other knife, but this knife.” He stared at the guard.

  The guard nodded and Calvin handed him the knife, straightened his shirt indignantly, and walked through the metal detector. Apparently, Calvin didn’t carry change in his pocket like Korbin did.

  They all looked at Katie, who stood there staring at them. Korbin immediately let out a sigh, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

  The rest of them just assumed she was going to hand over her weapons and the guard reached toward her, but she slapped his hand away with an irritated red glare. Slowly she turned to the group on the far side of the alarm.

  She eyed them all. “Now, why the fuck would any of you think for one second I am going to give up my weapons?”

  Calvin covered his mouth to stifle his laugh.

  He snorted instead, and the colonel threw him an irritated glance.

  Calvin knew Katie wasn’t going to fall for that shit, and she was pretty much the only one who could make a scene without starting an argument. The general stood quietly for a moment, then stepped forward.

  “This is a military facility.” He eyed her calmly. “We have weapons regulations, or to say it another way, we all give up our weapons to ensure safety throughout the entire base. It is not just for you, it’s for everyone—including me.”

  “Riiight.” Katie smiled. “But suppose I have weapons that I can’t physically leave behind…something much more dangerous than my knives?”

  The general tilted his head and lifted an eyebrow, not exactly sure what she meant. He had seen her in action, sure, but his mind ran down a list of weapons she could possibly be talking about.

  Finally she sighed and shook her head. “Okay, do we have any volunteers?”

  Calvin looked at the assembled military types, who all wore looks of uncertainty mixed with a tiny bit of fear, smiles plastered on their faces. His eyes fell on Korbin, who shrugged and shook his head.

  “All right, bitches, I’ll be the damned volunteer of death.” Calvin chuckled. “Seriously, I thought you folks were fearless. What the hell happened to that? You’ll face down Vietnam, but you won’t walk over to this lovely lady?”

  “Right.” Korbin scoffed under his breath.

  Calvin sauntered back through the metal detector and winked at Katie. “Okay, honey, what are you going to show us? I bruise easily, though, so go easy on me unless it’s one of those nights. But I’ve got to tell you in advance that I didn’t bring any rope.”

  Katie rolled her eyes.

  I like him, Pandora growled. Can I play with him?

  Ewww, no! Because that would be like me playing with my brother in ways that just aren’t right.

  He’s not your brother, in case you couldn’t tell. Calvin’s scrumptious dark meat and Korbin is a white breast…Damn, now I want chicken nuggets.

  I’ll remember that some other time. Remember, you aren’t my sister, but that’s how I think about you, Katie replied.

  Pandora went quiet.

  Katie grabbed Calvin’s shoulders and turned him around next to her. He stood straight and looked at the general, who watched with curiosity.

  The guard by the metal detector looked nervous and kept one hand on the butt of his pistol. Katie cleared her throat, lifted her hand to Calvin’s face, and put one finger on his cheek.

  Everybody froze for a second. They didn’t understand what she was doing, but when her finger went from perfect and pretty to a two-inch demon claw they all took a step back, leaving Korbin in front of them.

  He just rubbed his chin and chuckled.

  “Does anyone believe he’s going to take away all our weapons?” she asked. “You might as well give everybody weapons if you want them on an even footing while there are Damned in the house.” She looked around. “Not a threat, just an observation.”

  Calvin looked down. “What, did I pee? I don’t feel anything warm.” He looked at the closest guard. “Hey, not trying to get weird, but there isn’t a wet spot, is there?” The guard’s eyes flicked down, then up to Calvin's face and he shook his head. “Oh, thank God!”

  Colonel Jehovivich clenched her fists. She was angry as hell and stepped forward and opened her mouth to protest. The general put his hand up to stop the words and stepped up next to Korbin.

  He lifted one eyebrow and smiled as he shook his head.

  He could argue with her all day, but when it came down to it she was absolutely right. The rules hadn’t been made with the Damned in mind, and anytime the humans were unarmed—no matter what actual weapons the infected were or were not carrying—they were at a disadvantage.

  “At least she’s honest,” the general said to Korbin, then looked at Katie. “All right, bring your weapons. I don’t care. I either trust you…”

  He turned but looked back over his shoulder. “Or I don’t.”

  The others looked at the general, then at Katie, then back at the general before following him down the hall. Calvin patted her on the arm and followed Korbin. Katie smiled, feeling as if she had finally won one small battle. When she walked through security the alarms went off, but the guards waved her through…although they stood back slightly.

  “Go on, go on,” they griped. “It’s not like we didn’t expect that to happen.”

  After the group left, one leaned toward the other. “Did you happen to get a look at her hot…weapons?”

  The other guard looked down. “I do
n’t have a wet spot, do I?”

  Eric looked out the window as they drove through a nice neighborhood in the north section of Las Vegas.

  The houses were big, and the neighborhood didn’t look to be any older than maybe three years. The trees were still pretty small, and most of the front yards were xeriscaped.

  Eric was pretty shocked that they were in such a nice place. He had expected to go to the rough side of town, or maybe one of the poorer neighborhoods. Then again, he had heard all the stories from Stephanie and Katie about demons taking over the rich, so maybe this was the same kind of case.

  When they pulled up in front of the house Eric whistled.

  It looked like something out of a magazine. Everything was perfectly placed, from the hidden trashcans to the birdbath strategically centered in a precisely planted and manicured row of flowering bushes. He got out of the SUV and stood next to Damian, who pulled out his bible and holy water. “Where do they get the water?”

  Eric smiled. “Wrong water.”

  Damian smirked but otherwise ignored his banter as Eric continued, “What we have here on our tour of the rich and famous is the perfect family home,” he announced in a newscaster's voice. “This two-story four to five-bedroom house has perfect siding, a brand-new roof, and grass never touched by human feet because from what I can tell it’s AstroTurf. The home is perfect for your two-and-a-half children, dog named Spot, and your husband wearing a BBQ Dad apron.” He looked around, “I wonder if it comes with a trophy wife?”

  Damian groaned, shot him an annoyed look, and pushed a bag of gear into his chest. Eric grunted and chuckled as he followed the priest to the front door.

  The three ghost hunters from the possession with Katie opened the door. The main guy stuck out his hand, but Damian just raised an eyebrow, then pulled out his light and flashed it into everyone’s eyes.

  He wasn’t messing around with them this time, and would not go in if they had been possessed again.

  “Relax.” The leader laughed. “We aren’t possessed this time. We actually took a minute before you came to double-check each other. You know, just to make sure we weren’t going to trap you again.”

  “I appreciate that,” Damian said quietly. “All right, so what do we have going on today?”

  The leader stood to the side as Damian and Eric walked into the house. “Well, we have a teenage girl—parents called us earlier—who has been acting very strange since she got back from another girl’s pajama party Saturday night.”

  “Great, a gaggle of teenage girls! What could possibly go wrong?” Damian groaned.

  “Yeah.” The leader scoffed. “These girls could have summoned any sort of nonsense by looking up some funny spell on the internet.”

  Eric spoke in a spooky voice. “Maybe they are obsessed with the dark side.”

  Damian shot him a glare and he immediately shut up, glancing around the room awkwardly. As they begin to climb the stairs they all stopped, feeling about a ten-degree drop in temperature.

  Eric zipped up his jacket and looked at Damian. “That’s not scary or anything,” he whispered.

  “That’s right!” the ghost hunter to the left exclaimed. “We’ve got the real deal this time.” He nodded in excitement. “There is no questioning that.”

  Eric looked at him funny, not sure why anyone would be so happy to be messing around with dark spirits. Then again, these guys had probably been doing this for years and rarely got even a glimpse of anything truly connected to spirits.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” The guy stared at Eric. “This the real thing here, and now we just need to get proof.”

  “We should already have proof,” the second hunter said, rolling her eyes. “Of course, the last time we had something this certain somebody came along and destroyed all the evidence before we collected it. Maybe you could stay away from the videos this time, Damian?”

  “Can’t make any promises,” Damian replied as he opened the door to the girl’s room. “How old is she?”

  “Fifteen, I think,” the leader told him as he walked in carefully beside him.

  The room was a typical teenager’s, with posters, old stuffed animals, makeup, and clothes everywhere, and pictures of her and her friends in the mirror frame. Eric shook his head as he walked over to a pile of clothes by the closet, then tripped and fell into Damian’s back.

  He straightened, shaking his head. “Sorry, I—”

  Damian put his finger to his lips and looked at the girl. Lying on the bed was a young woman of around fifteen, curled into a ball. She was drooling, her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was frizzy and wild.

  Eric swallowed hard and shook his head.

  “Quomodo audes huc venisti fucking adici debent. Et deprecari in oculis tuis caput et ex illis manducare prandium,” the girl intoned in a deep and malevolent voice.

  “What did she say?” Eric asked, his voice quivering.

  “Oh, you know, the usual,” Damian replied, opening his bible. “How she wants to eat my eyeballs for breakfast.” Damian smiled but swallowed his joke. Lord forgive me. “Or your balls, I get audes huc mixed up sometimes.”

  “Oh,” Eric squeaked. “I have to say, that is fucking terrifying.”

  Chapter 4

  Katie looked around the base hallway as she followed the others into a large room.

  Gray; lots and lots of gray paint. How about sprucing it up with white every once in a while?

  Where are the tittie posters? Pandora asked.

  I think they went out with the last generation—or they hide them when demon-possessed women get near.

  Why? Pandora asked. I’m good with women being naked. Hell, I have to check out the competition. Sometimes they trip me up…like, I’ve noticed everyone is shaving down there. What’s up with that? Are guys turned on by young stuff?

  They probably just don’t want you to figure out what turns them on.

  Oh… Yeah, I get that. Although, I have to say this one girl I saw had shaved an inverted triangle that pointed down. Considering some of the class-one idiots I’ve done in the past, that was a genius move. If they can’t follow directions as clear as that, it’s probably better you leave sooner rather than later. Especially if you think there isn’t enough lube in…

  NO! Katie yelled. Please, for the love of—

  NO! Pandora interrupted quickly and vociferously. You don’t say his name and I won’t say “anal sex.”

  OH MY GOD! Katie shrieked.

  YOU JUST SAID HIS NAME!

  You said “anal sex” first! Katie argued.

  I did not! Pandora argued, then settled down. I just… Oh, fuck, I did. Okay, can we call a truce for now?

  Okay, truce for now. Let me get through this meeting, okay?

  Mmmhmmm, Pandora replied.

  Katie wasn’t sure if that was agreement or just good enough for now, but she walked into the meeting room.

  She shut the door behind them and went to the large round table, which had twenty chairs around it.

  The seven of them took seats: Korbin, Calvin, and Katie on one side, the military four facing them.

  There was silence for a few moments and the two men in suits just sat there. Finally they took off their sunglasses, but their stares were no better.

  Katie put her hands on the table and twiddled her thumbs, pursed her lips, and looked at the large projection screen to the right of them.

  She assumed that the video chat had been done in a similar room located wherever Brushwood had been at that moment.

  She absolutely hated the idea of being a suit, forced to sit around tables like this all the time and listen to stuffed-shirt politicians bitch about their pockets while swindling the rest of the country out of what little they had left.

  Being Damned didn’t seem so bad compared to that.

  After a few moments, though, she became restless. She sighed and looked at the general and the suited men.

  “Okay,” she said, slapping her hands o
n the table. “Have we finished the dick-measuring yet? Because if not, I gotta say,” she quipped, “I can’t compete.”

  Calvin started to snicker but broke it off when Korbin snapped his head around and gave him stink-eye.

  He looked at Katie as well but she just shrugged her shoulders, unaffected by his visual threat. She was tired of playing along. Korbin didn’t blame her, but at the same time, he needed her to behave.

  He sighed. That was something he had no control over.

  “What?” she asked. “It happens all the time. You’ll never understand. You will never get how totally inadequate I feel when you guys do this. I mean,” she pointed to the general’s side, “it’s not just you guys. It’s all men, but come on!” She pointed to herself. “I’m right here.”

  You’ve probably got a bigger dick than any of these guys. Pandora snickered. Except for the black guy. We all know he’s packin’.

  Katie didn’t reply. Their agreement had lasted one minute and thirty-seven seconds.

  New world record.

  I mean, if you really want to find out I can muster one up and you can try it on for size, Pandora said. It might take a little bit to get used to, but hell…you could slap the shit out of a demon with it.

  Katie wanted to yell at her, but she knew now wasn’t the time or place. She just continued to ignore her instead, waiting for the party to start.

  Korbin shook his head, rubbed his face, and groaned. Katie looked at the general, who had maintained a straight face for a moment but now finally let go and started to laugh.

  The other guys followed suit, but the colonel just sat there staring at Katie in annoyance.

  When Brushwood finally settled down, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Okay, point taken, Miss Maddison. These two gentlemen are here from military support and infrastructure. They are civilian contractors who work solely for the government and have passed rigorous security checks. Charles Butler comes to us from a major ammunition manufacturer, and Travis Novack is from the advanced metallurgical arena. They have both been thoroughly briefed on not only the demon incursions, the latest intel, and what we do versus what you do, but also they have been given the basic information on what your company does. They are here to help; to help you specifically, which in turn will help us as well as the other mercenary teams. Obviously, weapons are very important right now, and if we need to assist you to keep a steady flow coming then that is what we will do. Since the military is technically not allowed to help mercenaries in this manner, we looked to our civilian contractors.”