Demon Hunt (28 page)

The old Bible Rhi had left on the dashboard slid onto the floor. Pam had been amazed when Rhi produced the book and explained the relevance of the picture. She crawled over the console into the passenger seat. “Don’t drop the thing; it might decide to pop out at us. And the back of this truck is filled with
explosives.”
She gingerly picked up the Bible and flipped open the front cover to examine the enchanted picture of the skull and dragon. “Is this thing
humming
?”

“
The skull won’t pop out, Pam, I have to let it go,” Rhi said. “And, yes, it’s humming. It also glows from time to time, kind a reminder that it’s in there for me.”

“
Weird. How do you let it out?”

“
My other self will tell me what to do if I need to, like she sent the book to me in the first place. I don’t plan to let it out. The book cannot be destroyed but maybe I can hide it a long way from here first.”

“
Where’d you hide the book at the house? You didn’t seem bothered about someone finding it.”

The headache crawled down the back of her neck, into her back. Ignoring the pain, Rhi worked up a stiff grin. “I put the Bible in a freezer bag and duct taped it to the inside roof of Ellie Mae’s doghouse. Me, myself and I subconsciously decided it was a great idea since Ellie’s breed was bred to hunt demons the opposing side called up to fight in the Crusades. The little bastards are terrified of her.”

Pam stared at her friend in awe. “You know, for such a small individual, there are an awful lot of people in your teeny body. How about instead of channeling all of this mystical stuff from a past life, you channel a nuclear physicist to build a really big bomb for us?”

“
Because it would kill everyone but the demons, who would bask in the glow. They are from
Hell
,” she replied bitterly, wincing as Ellie Mae again placed her gigantic head on her left shoulder. “Besides, there’s also the possibility a big conflict might upset the balance between good and evil, bringing on the
final
battle. Armageddon. You know the routine - we show up with troops and big bombs, which gives them an excuse to show up with more troops and bigger bombs. Right now Satan is sitting on the sidelines, watching with interest. If we show up at his doors with a huge force, he might decide to get into the fray.”

“
Whaa?”

Rhi grinned through her pain. “Something my other self whispered in my ear. Don’t think a thing about it. This might be a good time in your life to consider becoming blissfully ignorant of the world around you, like the rest of the general population.”

“
Sure, no problem. I’ll think myself stupid. I’ll forget your first husband’s merry men are responsible for keeping us teetering on the edge of infinity. Personally, I don’t feel that they’re doing a very bang up job.”

Ellie Mae whined. Her sad expression, the typical hallmark of a bloodhound’s face, was worse than usual. The dog had whined the entire trip, with periodic fits of scratching at the window of the truck, the thick winter coat of fur on her back on end. Maybe Ellie Mae’s head hurt too. “My head is killing me and her head is killing my shoulder.” Blackthorne was nearby. She could feel his presence. And why did she feel such flaming heat?

* * * *

Blackthorne and Pearl observed the two trucks make their way down the giant rift in the Front Range of the Rockies known as Ute Pass. The pair stood on a red sandstone cliff that was dotted with stunted trees and dead grasses. The stone formation jutted into the dark morning sky about eighty feet straight above the road. A wispy fog flowed around them, hiding the warriors from other eyes patrolling the pass.

“
I haven’t decided if I need to kill you or not, Jack,” Pearl told him in a conversational tone that was pierced by a graceful drip of fury on the last consonant.

The madam was dressed much as she had been before, in immaculate fatigues and a plethora of cashmere and concealing scarves. The only difference was her short glittering sword, drawn and at her side. An old-fashioned pistol was belted around her waist, contrasting vividly with the submachine gun slung over her shoulder. Pearl’s gaze glittered as she tracked the vehicles’ descent. “It was time to release him? That’s all? You had to let him get out and stretch his legs a bit early?”

Blackthorne wore full battle fatigues and bulletproof vest. He carried his broadsword openly, unconcealed by a coat or glamour. The blade was housed in a surprisingly modern heavy-duty sheath across his back, formed of black molded plastic and leather. The positioning of the sword forced him to reach over his shoulder to draw it, but Blackthorne needed access to the other weapons he carried as well.

“
If we had waited, he would have had gathered up a huge reservoir of power. We don’t know how he managed to do it but I could sense the moment he began to pull power into his prison and I knew better than to try to explain everything to you,” Blackthorne replied, his frosted gaze never leaving the SUV. “I’ve learned the hard way to obey my orders, no matter how distasteful. You haven’t learned that. And, being a woman, I doubt you ever will.”

He didn’t give a damn about Pearl’s opinion. Or Rhi now, for that matter. “He would have broken free of his own accord, probably result of the negative energy generated by the gaming in town, and on his own terms if we hadn’t set it up. Look at how many demons he’s raised through the cracks of Hell he has access to - can you imagine what he’ll do with an opened gate? And you know we can’t warn anyone.”

Pearl waved him off. “Yes, I know, knight. In giving mankind knowledge of the gates and the objects and powers of the ancients, we tip the balance between good and evil.” She recited the rule in a mocking, singsong voice. “I think this is a crock. Practicing diplomatic niceties with the Prince of Darkness.”

“
Believe me, I’d love to bring in some troops from Fort Carson,” he replied grimly. “But whatever members of the Brotherhood who are not fighting their own battles and we two are all of the help we’re gonna have. It’s time to move, she’s getting out of sight.”

“
There might be more backup in
my
town than you realize, Blackie.”

“
Been bending the rules, Pearl?”

Changing the subject, Pearl examined the outline of his face in the dawn light pityingly. “Do you think she’ll be able to get away? Will she be able to run?”

He didn’t bother to answer. They both knew the truth. They could only wait.

* * * *

The headache overwhelmed Rhi like a wave of thick, red tide. They had left the mountains, crossed the labyrinth of streets of the city of Colorado Springs and headed east, towards the prairie, where Pam’s family homestead lay nestled in the rolling hills of dead winter grass and dried cattle droppings.

“
It’s going to be cloudy today. We might be in for more snow,” Pam noted. “I hate that I can’t see the sun this morning.”

Another life hit Rhi like a falling boulder. The pain in her head blossomed into fire and blood and a white clapboard farmhouse.

“
Dear God!”

Without thinking, she forced the truck off the road, almost landing the truck in a ditch. Ellie Mae and Pam squawked in the backseat after falling together, a mass of long legs, both human and canine. Pam pushed the dog off of her in time to see Rhi fling open the truck door and stagger out to stand in the knee high grass lining the road.

“
Rhi!”

Houston managed to whip his pick-up in back of the SUV and scrambled from behind the steering wheel. Both vehicles were stopped on the side of the lonely road winding through the rolling prairie east of Colorado Springs.

Rhi slammed to her knees in the half frozen mud of the ditch and buried her face in her icy palms. A deep, body-wrenching cough welled up and Rhi pulled her hands away from her face to stare at the blood covering her fingers.

Pam and Houston ran to where she knelt in the gravel, snow and road cinders. Bobby Wayne jumped up into the back of the pickup with an M-16 half-heartedly disguised by a black gym bag, on alert.

“
Rhi, what? What’s wrong? Do we need to take you home?” Pam’s concerned face hovered overhead as Rhi descended into a pit.

“
Baby,” Houston’s voice was soothing. “We’ve to get you out of this open space. It isn’t safe.”

“
Blood - mud and gold mixed with blood. It’s like I’m being crushed. I can feel Manius’ hands on me and hear his voice. I can hear him in my head.” Rhi curled into herself and rocked back and forth. “He says I’ll do whatever he says to do, like I did before.” She screamed, tearing at her face and hair, trying to get the voice out of her head and out of her body.

* * * *

“
Folks, we need to go!” Bobby Wayne announced as he rotated clockwise in the truck bed, surveying the empty prairie with a practiced eye. The wind whipped past, stinging skin and the anticipation of something terrible whispered to them all.

Pam grabbed Rhi’s hands. She winced as she restrained the smaller woman, who lay on the ground, her eyes rolled back in their sockets, seeing and feeling the enormity of the past.

Then the present hit and Rhi’s body stiffened as an electric current of horror and remorse ran through her.

* * * *

Beyond the gathered group, Blackthorne and Pearl stood unnoticed on a nearby hillock. The wind carried each of Rhi’s shrieks their way, and Blackthorne’s hands twitched.

“
Jack, you can’t go to her,” cautioned Pearl, laying a small, gloved hand on his arm. “This is something to do with the return of the key. Let her call us.”

Mutely, the man nodded and turned to the madam, his best friend and confidant for the last 100 years. Any other time he would have laughed at the fierce expression on Pearl’s face.

“
Knights be damned, sister, I’ll take you as a sidekick any day of the week,” Blackthorne remarked as he reached back to release his sword. The call would come soon.

Pearl filled her hands with her sword and the familiar shape of her gun. “Screw you, Jack. You can be
my
sidekick, though, if you like.”

* * * *

Rhi took deep breaths and concentrated on each spoonful of air until her breathing slowed. She clawed herself into a sitting position, pushing Pam away. Her companions stood frozen to one side of the deserted road, silently watching her struggle.

She rose to her feet, knee-deep in the filthy snow and raised a hand to point at a sliver of smoke rising in the air from behind the barren hills. Her mind reached to find what force formed the ominous black ribbon in the sky.

How could she have not guessed? How could she have been so stupid? She screamed at them to run, blistering her throat with the words. “He’s at the ranch, Pam. He’s going after Katie!”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

When the call came, it wasn’t what they expected.

“
Katie!” Rhi roared from the side of the road where she knelt. Blackthorne and Pearl looked at each other in horror for a moment before taking to the air, discarding the spell concealing them from prying eyes. The pair blazed past the group on the side of the road, straight towards the Douglas Ranch, a mile to the east where Katie Douglas waited for her mother.

* * * *

Pam stood paralyzed in stupefied silence, listening to her daughter’s name echo as Rhi pushed herself to her feet.

The vision faded for Rhi. She forced her body to move and dragged Pam up. She wiped the blood off her chin and barked at Houston, who sprinted for his truck. “Get your gear out! They’re at the Douglas house.”

White-faced with anger, the man jumped in the cab. Bobby Wayne stayed in the truck’s bed, frantically digging through packs and boxes.

The vehicles tore down the asphalt road, spaying snow and gravel in their wake. Rhi gritted her teeth and prayed she didn’t roll the top-heavy vehicle by running it at more than ninety miles an hour. She managed a quick glance at Pam, who sat in silence, staring at her hands.

Calm. She could speak calmly, even though she was covered in blood and mud after inhaling another life and was burdened with the knowledge that she might have killed her best friend’s child. “Pam, get some weapons, everything you can get your hands on that you know how to use, okay?” No time for blame. Only time to gun the engine, chase the horizon and pray they weren’t too late.

Dazed, the other woman crawled towards the back seat.

Ellie Mae had been left in the truck during Rhi’s roadside outburst, frantically barking and trying to break through the cargo bay window. The animal now stood in the bay by the box, her entire body stiff with adrenaline and her huge eyes focused on the horizon.

“
We’re going to go get my baby?” Pam’s voice was uncharacteristically low and Rhi could barely hear her question.

The tires on the big vehicle squealed in protest as Rhi swung through a curve at high speed in a turn a sports car would have had a hard time cornering.