Medium Rare: (Intermix) (26 page)

One of the spider’s front legs slid closer. Evan could see the stiff black hairs on the side, the brutally efficient hook at the tip. He had a sudden graphic image of what that hook could do if it plunged into his body.

He shuddered, then took another deep breath. “The demon used the calling ghost on Brenda. And on Alana. And he tried to use it on your mom. Skag told me he recognized the method when you described the way Brenda died.”

The hook moved slowly around his feet, drawing thin lines in the dust. Evan stayed very still. He could swear the spider had grinned at him.

“Rose can you picture me talking to this Skag?” the spider implored. His voice echoed obscenely in the vastness of the room. “I don’t believe in that stuff. You know that. But I’m willing to try for your sake. I’m only here because of you. Because I care about you. Because I need you, Rose.”

The spider’s voice had a slight quaver, as if he were struggling with strong emotion. Its fangs gleamed.

“The SOB is right about that. I do need you, Rosie. We both do. But I prefer you alive. He needs you because of your power and because of your link with the Riordans. Without you blocking him, the demon can move in and start taking souls.”

The spider moved closer still. Stiff hairs brushed against Evan’s leg, and he felt his throat close. He took another deep breath, forcing his muscles to unclench.

Rose’s back stiffened against him. Her fingers trembled. “I guess the demon’s sort of out of the loop on this. Apparently he doesn’t realize you know it was Skag in your dreams.” Her fingers tightened. “It’s really you, isn’t it, holding onto my fingers?”

“Oh, yeah,” he murmured. “It’s definitely me.”

“Rose,” the spider cried, fangs dripping.

“Go away.” She blew out a breath. “You can call my name all you want. I’m not looking at you. Your time’s up.”

Evan watched the spider pause in front of him, as if considering its next move. It raised its two front legs again so that the hooks were even with his face. Evan licked his lips, his hand tightening on his walking stick. The corona of eyes flashed dangerously. The mouth opened wider, and suddenly the head darted toward him.

He swung the walking stick up, aiming for the nearest eye, ducking to avoid the hooks that swung toward his face. The spider jerked back out of his range and he jabbed at it again, catching the side of its body. Its mouth opened, revealing the fangs as it lunged at him. Evan swung the staff in front of him, hearing it strike the spider’s eyes with a satisfying thwack.

And the spider disappeared.

Evan whirled around where he stood, trying to see where the monster had gone, finding nothing but dimness and empty space.

Rosie stood frozen in place, shoulders trembling. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. It’s gone. I hit it and it . . . it just disappeared.”

She raised her head cautiously. “Maybe you killed it.”

“Maybe.” He peered into the darkness again, holding the staff in front of him, waiting for the thing to attack from its hiding place.

“Whether it’s gone or not, we should move on,” she said softly. “This may be our best chance.”

“Right.” He grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her toward the door in front of them.

“What did it look like?”

Evan sighed. “Never mind. Let’s just get out of here.”

Chapter 28

The door loomed in front of them, and Evan stepped away from Rose, motioning for her to wait. She blew out an irritated breath and moved up beside him. “You don’t need to shield me, Evan. We’re in this together.”

He shook his head, peering through the open door. “I don’t see anybody.”

Rose closed her eyes for a moment.
Save me from heroic hunks.
She took his hand as he edged through the door.

Another room stretched in front of them, lighted with iron chandeliers. The gray walls were spread with jewel-colored tapestries that moved slightly in the faint breeze. At the far end of the room, a fire blazed in an immense fireplace, blending the faint spice of wood smoke with the perfume of potpourri.

It looked like something out of a picture book about the Middle Ages. It also looked vaguely familiar. She took a few moments to survey the contents. A few heavy wooden chairs and tables were placed along the walls leading to a raised dais at the end with a large chair that might have been a throne.

“Okay, this isn’t from one of my dreams, unlike everything that’s jumped us so far.” He shuddered slightly. “Do you recognize it?”

She shrugged. “It looks like a picture from a fairy tale book I had when I was a kid.”

“Were there any monsters lurking around in that fairy tale? Griffins, say, or maybe dragons? Possibly Grendel?” He glanced again at the shadows dancing at the edges of the room.

She shook her head. “That’s not the kind of fairy tales my mom read to me. It looks more like a feasting hall. Maybe Sleeping Beauty.”

“You’d know better than I would. Here’s hoping they don’t plan to feast on us.”

She peered at the walls again. The tapestries showed nymphs and satyrs and the occasional goat, but no dragons. “Seems harmless.”

He sighed. “Don’t start feeling safe. That’s when he’ll come after us.”

“Can we at least take a minute to breathe?” She pulled back one of the chairs at the nearest table. “Just sit down and rest for a minute. It’ll give us a chance to try to figure out what to do next.”

He looked like he might protest, but then he settled somewhat heavily into the chair beside her.

She studied the hall again. She still didn’t see anything moving. On the other hand, she also couldn’t see any doors except the one they’d just walked through.
Shit.
Going back was absolutely not an option. “Do you think you killed the demon’s vessel back there? Are we done now?”

He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “I don’t know. Maybe. On the other hand, it didn’t look like I killed it. It just went
poof
.”

“
Poof
as in it exploded?”

“More like
poof
as in it made a strategic retreat. Of course, it was never real to begin with. I think the whole idea was to scare me into leaving you so that he could grab you for himself.”

Rose shivered. “So it wasn’t entirely an illusion.”

He shook his head. “They’re all real when it comes to hurting us. The calling-ghost part of it was definitely real. But I think he didn’t want to take the chance of me getting in a lucky shot in a fight and doing some real damage. He may be running out of vessels, and once the last vessel is destroyed, he’s history.”

“My hero,” she murmured and brushed her lips across his cheek.

Somewhere in the depths of the room, there was a faint creaking. Like long-closed hinges opening again. They pushed themselves to their feet quickly.

As Rose turned to stare, a square of light appeared on the far wall, dazzling her for a moment. Then she saw a man’s silhouette.

“Evan?” a voice called, hesitantly.

Rose grabbed Evan’s shoulders, turning his back to the shape in the door. “Don’t look.”

“Don’t worry.” He grasped her hands, his gaze fastened on her face.

She peered over his shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of the figure in the doorway. It was muffled in what looked like a long black cloak of some kind, with a hood that covered the head completely. The face was lost in darkness. Sort of like Alana, but . . . not.

“Who is it?” Evan asked. She could feel the tension in his arms.

“I think it’s a man, based on the voice, but I can’t see his face. He’s got a long black cape on, with a hood over his face.”

Evan’s eyes widened. “A cape? With a hood?”

“Evan?” the man called again. “Is that you?”

Evan sucked in a breath, his face rigid. “Christ.”

The man stepped farther into the room. His cape swirled around his black shoes.

“Evan!” He pushed back his hood. “My God, Evan. I didn’t believe it when they told me you were here.”

He was shorter than she’d thought at first, shorter than Evan, anyway. His dark hair had receded slightly, leaving a broad forehead, and she could see the faint suggestion of a paunch underneath the cape. He smiled at her, looking about as threatening as Santa Claus. The nose, at least, was unmistakable.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. I’d shake hands, but of course I can’t since I’m dead and all.” His smile turned a little sheepish. “Excuse the outfit—it was my stage getup. I’m Owen Delwin, the Great Dell.”

***

Evan closed his eyes, his jaw taut. “Christ,” he whispered again. But he knew who it was, or anyway who it was supposed to be. The voice, the phrasing, everything. His father. Dead for twenty-plus years, and now back again. Or a close facsimile.

“Evan?” He heard a rustling behind him, maybe the Great Dell flipping back the cape as he’d always done at the beginning of the act. He’d have a tuxedo on underneath, along with a crisp white pleated shirt with the onyx cuff links. “It’s okay, son. You’re out of it now. You’re safe. He’s gone. Nice work with that spider, by the way. I don’t think I could have done that even when I was your age.”

Rose’s hands tensed. “A spider,” she whispered. “Oh, Evan.”

He heard footsteps behind his back. The Great Dell was apparently moving toward them.

“Stay back!” Rose snapped. “Don’t touch him!”

“How can you think I’d hurt my son? I raised him. From the time he was eight.” The Great Dell sounded slightly miffed.

A flicker of doubt crossed her face, but Evan shook his head. “Vessel,” he whispered. “Just a vessel.”

There was a smile in his father’s voice. “I would never hurt Evan. He’s all I had.”

“Just stay where you are.” Rose tightened her hold on his hands.

“You don’t understand,” the Great Dell was back to being aggrieved again. “Nobody ever understood, did they, son? We were everything to each other, Evan and me. He was like my shadow. My other half.”

“Until you got careless,” Evan muttered in spite of himself. Talking to his father’s doppelgänger was not a good idea.

The Great Dell sighed. “Yes, until I got careless. Not entirely my fault, though, Evan. I wasn’t a young man anymore. I should have been smart enough to know I couldn’t pull off the bullet catch the way they wanted to set it up. But I really thought I had the safety measures worked out so it couldn’t fail.” He sighed again. “And the money was too good to turn down. It would have taken care of us. I wouldn’t have had to travel so much.”

Evan grimaced. “The bullet catch. The world’s most dangerous magic trick. But you were going to be different. You were going to do it right. So you added your name to the list of people who died doing the same idiotic gag.”

“It was a freak accident, Evan. Not my fault. The squib that exploded the glass had too much powder. I got hit by a shard. There was no way I could have foreseen that. At least it was quick.”

Evan closed his eyes tight, his hands trembling against Rose’s.
Too much. Hurts too much. Make it stop.

“It’s the demon, Evan,” she whispered. “It’s not your dad.”

“You’re wrong about that.” The Great Dell sounded infinitely reasonable. “He’s gone. Evan won. All of that’s over now. I’ve come to guide you out of here.”

“Can you afford to take that chance, Evan? Can you afford to believe him?” Rose kept her gaze on his face, staring into his eyes.

“Oh, I like her, Evan. She’s someone who really cares about you.”

Evan took a shaky breath, then gritted his teeth again. “Go away, whoever you are. Whatever you are. I don’t want to talk to you.”

He heard the Great Dell take a couple of steps closer. “I . . . I guess I can understand why you feel that way. I guess you think I left you.”

“You did leave me,” Evan snarled.

“I know.” He blew out a breath. “I loved you, son. You were my whole life. Why do you think I took that last job? The money was so we could have a future, you and me, the two of us. And then it went bad.”

Evan closed his eyes again. “That’s one way of putting it.”

“Evan, son, I’m sorry.” The voice trembled. “I just wanted to say that. I’m sorry I left you. I never meant for you to be alone.”

Evan swallowed hard. Tears pricked at the edges of his eyes. Every muscle in his body was flexed tight. “Stop it.”

“All these years.” The Great Dell’s voice rose. “All these years I’ve thought about you, tried to reach you. Those mediums, Evan, I tried to get them to tell you how much I missed you.”

Evan could feel the tears spilling down his cheeks now. His chest felt too tight to breathe.
Shut up, shut up, shut up!
“Don’t,” he whispered.

“Please,” the Great Dell pleaded. “Please, Evan. Please look at me.”

“Get back!” Rose snapped. “Leave him alone.”

“I never . . .” The Great Dell’s voice came closer. “I never got the chance to say goodbye, Evan. Your face was the last thought I had before it all went dark, but I couldn’t . . . I just want to say it now. Please, son. Let me say it. Look at me, Evan. Let me tell you goodbye this time.”

Evan’s body trembled with the effort not to look, not to turn toward that gently cajoling voice. That voice that carried death beneath it.

“Evan,” Rose murmured, “if you turn around now, it will kill us both. He’ll come after me after he’s taken your soul. You know who that really is. Please, Evan.”

“Please, son.”

Evan closed his eyes.
Oh God, what do I do now?

***

Rose stared up at the Great Dell. Deep in his eyes she saw a glittering malevolent light.
Demon.
Whatever else the Great Dell might be, a demon lived in his soul.

Evan’s jaw clenched convulsively, his hands grasping hers so tightly it was painful.

“Don’t let him do this to you,” she pleaded. “He’s not your father—I can see the demon in his eyes. Don’t look back, Evan, just don’t look back.”

“Just goodbye, Evan. That’s all. Just what I wanted to say before and couldn’t.” The Great Dell raised his clenched fists in front of his chest. “Please, Evan.”

She moved her hands to the sides of Evan’s face, forcing him to look down at her. “I don’t want to die, Evan. And I don’t want you to die. I want to live. I want to be with you. The future, not the past. I love you, Evan.”

She reached up on tiptoe, brushing her lips across his. “Let me love you. Please. Don’t let him take that away from us. Don’t let him separate us now.”

“Son? Evan?” The Great Dell’s voice broke. He took another staggering step forward.

Evan closed his eyes again, his hands trembling against hers. “Do it,” he whispered. “You’ve got to do it. I can’t.”

Rose stared at his face.
Do it? Do what?

“Do it now, Rosie, please.” He opened his eyes again, staring down at her, anguish twisting his face. “Please. I can’t take much more.”

Rose dropped his hands, fumbling along her waistband. Behind Evan, the Great Dell’s face warped suddenly, like an interrupted transmission, flickering like Skag on a bad night. His eyes narrowed as his mouth twisted with hatred. Then the mask snapped back in place, false tears glittering on his cheeks.

Her hand closed over the gun. She pulled it from her waistband, resting it on Evan’s shoulder.
Holy crap, I’m going to have to shoot this thing!

“Is she more important than I am?” The man in the tuxedo and cape—whatever he was—bared jagged yellow teeth at her, the demon showing through again. “Does she matter more than your father? The only person who ever cared about you?”

Evan took a great shuddering breath, placing his hands on Rose’s shoulders. She felt the warmth of his fingers, the rough surface of his palms, still trembling. “Yes,” he said. “She does. She matters more than anything. Do it now, Rose.”

“No, Evan,” the Great Dell screamed. “No, no, not again. Don’t let her shoot me again. That’s how I died. Please don’t! Help me! Save me!” He extended his hands in front of him, palms up, as if he were trying to ward her off.

Evan’s body jerked beneath her hands. “Please, Rose. Hurry!”

She took a deep breath and trying to aim and to remember everything she’d ever heard about firing a gun. Did you aim straight or up or down or what? Should she try for the chest or aim lower? Her hands shook almost as much as Evan’s.
Get a grip, Rose, get a grip. You may only have one chance at this.

The demon raised his head, yellow fangs gleaming, and leaped forward. Rose yelped and squeezed the trigger almost automatically.

The recoil of the pistol drove her back so that she staggered away from Evan. She watched his shoulders start to turn, as if they were pulled by some kind of magnetic force. “No, don’t!” she screamed, grasping his hand again.

Behind him, the Great Dell’s eyes widened as a red blossom seemed to bloom on his starched white shirt front. One hand clawed at his chest as he stared down in disbelief. Then he looked back up at her again, his eyes burning with malice.

“Damn you. Damn you both,” the whispering voice echoed through the hall as the demon shuddered and flickered again. His face became fuller, darker, long hair pulled back, moustache and goatee. Augie Garcia stared back at her. Then it changed again, longer, narrower, pronounced jaw. William Bradford. And then something out of a nightmare—a corona of eyes, bright green, fangs dripping venom, horns. Rose bit her lip to keep from screaming, holding tight to Evan’s hand.

Then slowly, slowly, the thing began to dissolve, his feet disappearing first, then legs, then chest, leaving his burning eyes until the end, and then they, too, were gone in the darkness.