Demon Hunt (31 page)

“
I’m truly sorry about Houston and Pam’s daughter,” Blackthorne told her. Then his face turned grim. “But the next time you decide to take enough demon infected blood into yourself to change an army, prepare to be down for the count. You’re lucky you’re alive. You realize the Brotherhood has no idea whether we are damned for taking the blood or not, don’t you? When we die or choose to die is when we get to find out.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t know if I was Heaven bound before. Why should I get to know now? How long have I been out?” He rose to help her sit up. Every movement was agony. Her body had been turned inside out and back again.

“
It’s 9 p.m. You’ve been out all day.” He tentatively put an arm around her waist to support her. For a blissful second, she rested her head on his shoulder, and then straightened.

“
I hurt,” she stated.

“
The process of becoming a Changeling has killed many seasoned warriors,” he replied, removing the arm. “You
should
hurt. I was amazed that it didn’t kill Pearl and even more amazed it didn’t kill you.”

“
Childbirth.”

“
What?”

“
Women are born with a built in tolerance for pain because they have to go through childbirth.” Rhi examined her bare legs, which didn’t have a scratch on them. She noticed she was wearing nothing but her underwear and a gigantic t-shirt. Blackthorne’s, she was sure. “We’re probably better suited to the Change than you are. Now could you get me a robe or something? And where’s Pam? Where’s my Bible?”

“
What?”

At that moment the door burst open and Pam hustled through in full military dress, followed by the biggest, most tattooed biker Rhi had ever seen. The man was at least six foot eight and, although lean as a wolf, had shoulders big enough to bench press a barge. He was dressed in jeans, and a Notre Dame sweatshirt. His features were those of either a saint or a madman, and the long gray/brown hair and beard gave him the appearance of a body building Jesus.

Red-faced with effort, she managed to stand and shuffle a few steps towards Pam, her hand outstretched. Blackthorne didn’t try to help her this time.

“
Rhi, lie back down,” Pam barked.

“
I can’t.”

“
Look, it isn’t game time until moonrise tomorrow night. You’re the quarterback and you’ve got to be ready to play - I didn’t drive back up the hill with you lying in the back seat screaming like a banshee to let you croak on me now. At least, not before you save my daughter.” A muscle in the other woman’s face twitched. “You
will
lie down and you
will
listen to me.” Pam waved towards her companion. “And you stay out of this, Molay! This is a No Templars allowed room, so take your little buddy,” she indicated Blackthorne, “… and get out.”

Rhi was too tired to be shocked. A Templar. She had never bothered to ask what order of crusading knights Blackthorne had been a member of when he was still human. Of course he belonged to the ultimate cliché of knightly orders. “Jacques de Molay? No offense, but aren’t you dead? And since the Catholic Church is responsible for burning you at the stake, don’t you think a t-shirt advertising one of their colleges is in poor taste?”

The last grand master of the Templar Knights, functioning head of the Brotherhood of the Gate, who had been burned at the stake in 1314, raised an eyebrow in Rhi’s direction. “And I thought that
this
was the spunky one. You sure can pick’em, Blackie.” He addressed Rhi directly. “I’ve never stopped being a Catholic and, aside from the unfortunate burning incident, have always gotten along well with the Church. But the extermination of the Templars who were still human convinced the rest of us that we needed to go underground. People get nasty when they realize you’re going to live a much longer time than they are.” His slight French accent was startling, coming out of such a big, bikeresque physique. He stared into her pale face sternly. “Since you insisted upon taking the blood without asking, you might want to remember that. You aren’t a member of the Brotherhood and haven’t taken the vows of secrecy.”

She returned his gaze with scorn. “Yeah, those vows worked well with the Blackthorne brothers. One becomes a demon worshipper and the other gets married. I can’t wait to take them myself.”

“
Who said that you would be asked?”

“
Don’t have to do me any favors, sweet cheeks.”

“
You already know who he is?” Pam had the grace to look shocked for a moment before regaining her icy resolve. “Of course. You’re the bookworm from hell.”

“
Not only in this life but in the last life as well, I think,” Rhi replied as she eased her body back down on the bed beside Blackthorne, who was having a problem meeting her friend’s gaze. “Houston?”

A hint of moisture appeared in Pam’s red-rimmed eyes and her lips tightened. “We’ve got him laid out at the morgue. Pearl tried to give him the Gift before he died this morning but the stubborn little bastard wouldn’t take it. Said he wanted his next life so he could come back taller.”

Rhi stood silent for a moment, reaching for the pain of loss but something kept it from her. If she were lucky, there’d be time to cry for her friend later. If she were lucky, Houston would be the only one to shed tears over.

“
Oh, for Christ’s sake, Blackthorne, for the last time, I don’t blame you!” Pam plunked tiredly into the nearby chair and ran a hand through her frizzy hair, succeeding in making it stand on end even more. “At least not now. I need you too badly to kill you. Yet.” She then proceeded to report to Rhi, in a deadly, monotone voice that raised chill bumps on Rhi’s neck.

“
Bobby Wayne and I burned down most of the farm to cover up the battle, with Dad setting half the fires. The old man’s amazing. He believed everything we told him and why it must kept under wraps. He’s hobbling around Bobby Wayne’s at this moment, sorting through guns. Mom’s in shock, I think, and we have her drugged to the gills up at my house with Melon watching over her. She hasn’t spoken three words since we left the farm. Pearl put a hoodoo on the cops and firemen who showed up for the fire. They didn’t notice things like how beat up we were. And they accepted the story of the housekeeper and my cousin dying in the fire.” Her composure showed a hairline crack for a split second before she recovered and continued her report.

The town had been emptied as well as could be managed. Skeleton crews manned the casinos. On Pearl’s direction, management ordered the remainder of the town’s work force to stay home due to the weather forecast. A huge blizzard, the worst in a hundred years, was on its way and most locals were either battened down in their homes or down the hill in the Springs. Winterfest had been cancelled. Chief Boyd had rounded up local reinforcements in case anything made its way into town.

Pam ended her monologue with a startling statement. “Did you know that Nicholas Boyd is Pearl’s great grandson?”

“
Whaa?”

“
Yes, that’s what I said. Pearl had a son before she ever became a changeling. The kid lived with his father in St. Louis. He was a teenager when she was turned and when she worked up the nerve to contact him, he moved here. But he never would take the blood from her and neither would his son or the son after, etc. They have this religious objection to it.” Pam reached over to pull the Bible from the pile of Rhi’s clothes near the bed. “And don’t you have something to get out of this thing? I need to know when you’re gonna do it, because all hell will break loose when you do. By the way, Pearl told me where the gate is and I have to say - weird.”

The two men stared at the book warily. Blackthorne’s face was the face of a man who had eaten a suspicious tasting oyster. Molay’s mouth opened and shut several times. Pam had left the Bible in the pile of clothes like the book was a half read romance novel. They ignored or hadn’t heard Pam’s reference to the gate.

The location of the gate was, to say the least, insensitive. “Yes, Pam, my husband buried me on the threshold of Hell. Raven’s mausoleum leads back into the hill under the graveyard and to the gate itself.” Rhi’s retrieval of her other self had been very informative.

“
It’s a very nice monument and I could check on the Gate and visit her grave at the same time,” muttered Blackthorne.

“
Well, we wouldn’t want you to have to spend extra time visiting the Gate
and
my grave, now would we?” Rhi waved a hand at him.

Her knight decided to save himself by looking outraged. “How long have you had this,” he demanded, pointing at the Bible.

“
For a while, Blackthorne. How insensitive of me not to tell you I’ve had the book all the time,” Rhi retorted as she considered her options for a moment. The toughest path would be the one they had to take. If Pam didn’t shoot her for asking her to wait to save her child. “Not tonight, Pam. I have to wait until the last possible moment before I let this thing loose. In the morning, we’ll get set up to fight whatever pops up tomorrow night, working in daylight. He hasn’t done anything to Katie and won’t before tomorrow night. The Earth itself would cry out to me if he had touched her.” Rhi got up and placed a shaky restraining hand on her friend’s arm.

Pam’s face crumpled for a moment and then hardened. “You aren’t shy about asking a lot, are you? What’s to keep me from walking out the door and going after her myself?”

The two women stood toe to toe, eyeballing each other. Rhi had to crane her head back to meet the taller woman’s glare but didn’t shrink away.

Molay stepped around them to examine Rhi, who was dressed in a gigantic t-shirt and a scowl. He crossed his huge arms over his chest thoughtfully. “It’s true. He’s done nothing to the child, I am certain, because Rhi would have felt it, as would I. That worries me more than anything else - why has he not at least terrorized the child? It’s the kind of thing he would be entertained by.”

“
Maybe he knows what he’s in for if he does,” Rhi replied, knowing better. Manius did nothing without a motive and she had a crawling suspicion she knew what this motive was.

“
Manius was able to block the sunlight this morning at the farm,” Pam pointed out. “I’m not the most patient of women. The sooner I cut his gonads off, the better.”

“
We’ve got to be ready.” Rhi’s voice turned pleading, begging Pam for time the other woman had no reason to give. “I know what he’s up to, Pam, and we have a better chance of getting Katie back in one piece if we wait.” She laid a trembling hand on her friend’s arm. “Go get some rest. Katie is going to need you in top form.”

The other woman nodded at her friend and left the room, Rhi knew, not to sleep but to sit up, prepare and stare out the window into the mountains, wondering about the fate of her child.

“
That’s where it is? After all of these years?” Blackthorne reached out to touch the cracked leather of the book. Rhi snatched it away, holding the Bible tightly to her chest. He stepped back from her, holding his hands up in supplication. “I couldn’t take it from you if I wanted to, Rhi.”

The Bible hummed as a green light, tinged with red streaks, escaped from the pages. Rhi thumped it irritably. “Oh, shut up. Whoops, not you guys. Sorry.”

The book gave a little hiccup and shut down. Rhi placed it in the drawer of the nightstand to shut. “It’s sleeping now.”

Molay’s expression was horrified. “You’re not thinking about bringing the thing anywhere near the gate tomorrow night?”

“
Didn’t your own sages, truth-sayers or whatever the heck, say I’ll destroy the gate with the help of the skull on the date of the original creation of this particular gate?”

He nodded and dread colored his features.

“
Tomorrow night’s the night. I’m going to get Pam’s daughter back in one piece and I am going to make sure the town never has to deal with this again, got it? We’re going to do this my way, period. And I’ll tell you what you need to know when you need to know. You haven’t been forthcoming with me so I don’t feel that I need to be very forthcoming with you.” Rhi turned and limped towards the bed. “Now if someone could get me a pail? I have to dry heave for a while. Then I’ll need to feed. I’ll need an accommodating human for an aura check.”

Blackthorne ushered his boss to the door, not answering until he had shut the door behind him. He crossed the room to lift her off her feet and carry her back to the bed. His face was full of questions but none were voiced in his next words.

“
The strongest aura you can feed on is mine,” he told her huskily as he leaned her head back on the pillows and arranged the length of her hair over her shoulders, his big, scarred fingers snagging on a black strand here and there.

She reached out her arms to wrap them around his neck and pull him down to kiss his face, inhaling the glow of blue aura she, in her hunger, could see dance around his body. Tentatively, she inhaled a mouthful of the blue light. A small tear escaped and ran down the side of her face as she drank him in. She sensed her body begin to relax and heal with the influx of his spirit.