Hell Fire

“No.” My voice sounded thick.

But damn near, closer than I wanted to think about. I wasn’t bulletproof.

“Where the hell is he?” Chance demanded.

“It came from over there,” Jesse said. “Not sure how far. Visibility’s not good.”

And the night got darker. The demon might not be able to attack Cooper as part of the terms of its binding, but it could shroud him in darkness.

But the hunter didn’t panic. Besides weather and forest noises, I heard only silence. If he sat still and quiet, we’d have to come looking for him, and the odds were good he’d get one or two of us at close range. Shit.

I pushed into a kneeling position and met Shannon’s gaze. “I don’t want you going any farther,” I told her quietly. “Jesse, would you stay with her? I don’t want to give this guy a body count.”

Though I didn’t say so, he shouldn’t wade into a fight wounded. If I could, I’d make Chance stay behind too, but I knew he wouldn’t do it. Plus, I couldn’t kill Cooper. I knew that. I needed Chance. At this point, he was the strongest and fastest. He’d have to finish it for me. And then I’d call us even for everything I went through in Laredo.

“I think it sucks,” Jesse bit out, “but I see your point. We’ll wait here. If he tries to circle around behind you, we’ll take him out.”

I knew he wouldn’t have conceded except for Shannon. Jesse Saldana could always be counted on to safeguard the innocent. The girl glared at me, but she didn’t argue.

“Meet us back at the Forester in an hour. If we don’t show . . .” I trailed off. “Well, give us fifteen minutes leeway and then get the hell out of here.”

Nobody said it out loud, but they knew. If we weren’t out in seventy minutes, we weren’t coming back. Shannon hugged me fiercely around the neck. I patted her back, feeling the rain ease up, no longer stinging the skin as it came through the bare trees.

Stepping back, I pulled my hood up, and the black cloth helped camouflage me. My face was already liberally smeared with mud, so I went with it, covering every inch of pale skin. Chance did the same, and then we slid away into the dark.

He went first, slow and quiet as he listened. Maybe he imagined he could hear the other man’s breathing. In this demon-dark soup, our one advantage was that Cooper couldn’t see us any more than we could see him. It would come down to reflexes, and Chance had those in spades.

I don’t know what warned me—it wasn’t quite a sound, but as we went past a tangle of bushes—I spun. Instead of catching me to the left of the spine for a clean kill, the knife went into my side. The pain was agonizing. I fell back as Chance lashed out, snagging Cooper’s wrist and hauling him forward.

My knees crumpled as they fought. I felt my hands wrap around the hilt of the blade still lodged in me, but I retained enough presence of mind not to yank it out. I might bleed out before we could find help.

Chance was fast, so fast. I could see his training in the way he lashed out again and again. Cooper blocked, then kicked. He connected with a brutality and strength that sent Chance reeling back. They didn’t speak. With the strange distance in my head, it was almost like watching a movie.

But I didn’t see the big finish. The rain blinded me. Pain broke me. I fell forward into the mud and woke up somewhere else.

Before my eyes focused, I recognized the rank smell of dying vegetation. Maury. Shit, I didn’t have any reserves left to fight a demon. I didn’t have any tools with which to banish him. If he meant to kill me now, I was utterly defenseless.

“Did we win?” I asked.

Maybe I’d died. Maybe this was hell.

“It’s not hell,” he told me. “And yes, you did. Well, Chance did. After you passed out, he broke Cooper’s neck.”

“I thought I dreamed you.” Well, part of me had. “Am I dreaming now?”

He didn’t reply directly. But when did demons ever give a straight answer?

“You’re used to this face,” he said. “What are dreams but a way for your brain to say, ‘Hi, here’s something you need to know’?”

“So you need to tell me something?” I shook all over, both from cold and nerves, and I was covered in mud. I could feel the stab wound like a phantom pain, but when I looked down at my midriff, I saw nothing. This wasn’t the real world, then.

“You set me free, so you get to ask a boon before I go.”

For obvious reasons, I didn’t trust demon favors. I had to think quickly, something that wouldn’t backfire. There was a lesson to be learned from that whole monkey paw deal. Then it occurred to me: I could ask it to shield me from the ill effects of Chance’s luck.

I couldn’t breathe for wanting it.

“Will there be side effects? Catches? Hidden faults that the human brain can’t conceive until it’s far too late?”

Maury grinned. “What do you think?”

I exhaled slowly. “Then I guess I’d better go with a selfless wish. I’d like you to mark all the bodies of the innocent people who died out here, and then provide me with a map. I want to give their loved ones closure.”

His eyes opened wide, brows shooting up into his busy hair. “Seriously? Nothing for you? Not fame, fortune?”

“Trying to cut down on the infamy. And I have enough money to get by. At this point, I just want to go home. Now, you heard my wish. Make it so.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You won’t live to see it done.”

That hit me hard. “I won’t?”

“Cooper caught you in an artery.” The demon sounded genuinely regretful. “The minute anyone pulls out the knife, you’ll start hemorrhaging. Sure you don’t want to change your favor? You could wish for eternal life.”

Ah, Jesus. I recognized the certainty of its words. Sometimes demons needed only to tell the truth to torment you best. Well, the people of Kilmer—those who were innocent of this madness—would still appreciate finding their loved ones. I squared my shoulders.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then handed me a folded sheaf of paper. “Done. There’s your map.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Before you go, before you send me back . . . could you . . . would you tell me what happened here? What was this all about?”

“In a nutshell? Well, the original twelve wanted to keep Kilmer safe and clean, uncontaminated from the outside world. They wanted to pick and choose what technologies were acceptable. They wanted to shield their kids from unwholesome influences.”

I blinked at that. “So they summoned a demon?”

“Yours truly. What better way to safeguard the town than to put a demon of entropy and decay on the job?”

“And they paid you in sacrifices.” I got it now. The pain from my body came in a raw, red wave. I wouldn’t remain here in this half dreamworld much longer.

He agreed with a nod. “I prefer the Gifted ones. Tastes great, more filling. Ironically, I think my presence here made Kilmer something of a hot spot. Once they summoned me, you Gifted started being born like there was something in the water supply.”

“Martha Vernon, Holly Jarrett, Timothy Sparks, David Prentice—”

“And their families. It was a package deal, remember. When you ran to me and hid during the fire, you broke the terms of the pact. Since you didn’t die, I didn’t get my sacrifice that year, and that was a deal breaker. Every year thereafter my bonds weakened a bit more, and I could roam a bit farther and cause a little more trouble closer to town. When you came back, I guess they thought they could fix things by killing you now, but it wouldn’t have helped. And with the twelve dead, I’m free now.”

Ah, damn. I could have lived without knowing that.

“Uh, you’re welcome. I guess.”