I ran my eyes around the table, seeking distraction, and finding instead the faces of five of the people who most cared about me in the world. Maybe I
“Bergman?” He jumped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, it wasn’t you.” He pulled a thin metal box out of his pocket and gave it to me. It fit snugly in my hand, its only feature a screen that currently showed blank. “The timer went off,” Bergman explained. “I mean”—he held up his wrist—“the one on my watch that tells me we need to start paying attention to this.”
He nodded to the item, which led directly to my second question. “What’s it do?”
“It monitors the bug Cole left on Ruvin. As soon as the screen lights up, that means he’s at the airport, which is when I start recording. If we find out through the conversation which one of the team is the carrier, I can activate the minibot inside the bug. At which time it will crawl off Ruvin and move itself to the coordinates the satellite has sent to it.”
“Won’t they see it moving?” Cole asked.
“It won’t matter if they do,” Bergman said. “It looks like an ant.” I set the box on the table and we all stared at it in admiration. “I wish I had more money, Bergman,” Cole said. “I’d join up with you in a second.”
“Thanks.” Only a brainiac like Miles would sound surprised to be receiving such a compliment.
“Perhaps while you all wait for your mission to develop, we can discuss the demon,” said Raoul.
Stone silence as we all realized we couldn’t avoid the subject any longer. On top of the fear that shadowed us I saw frustration too. Our odds seemed so hopeless, nobody much appreciated Raoul rubbing our noses in the fact that we only had a few hours left to enjoy our lives. I looked into my friends’
eyes and thought about how many people go to their deaths pretending everything’s just fine while knowing how utterly wrong they are.
I slapped my hands on the arms of my chair. “How many allies do you figure she’ll bring, Raoul?”
“One for each combatant she had to fight this evening and another to confront those who stood inside the circle,” Raoul guessed.
“So if you count Jack”—which I kinda thought she would—“five altogether?”
“That would be my estimate.”
“Why not more?” asked Bergman. “I figured she’d bring a whole army of demons to overwhelm us.” Raoul shook his head. “The Eldhayr would never allow that kind of massing to occur without reprisal.
But they might overlook a movement of five.”
“Would your people deal with her before she reaches us?” asked Vayl.
Raoul shook his head. “If Cassandra were an innocent I might say yes. But because a contract exists, the other Eldhayr are constrained. As I said before, it could be that the only reason I’m allowed here is to make sure Jaz survives the coming night.”
“Well, that’s comforting,” said Bergman.
Cole spat his gum into the yard and plunked both elbows on the table. “We are so screwed.” CHAPTERELEVEN
One of the greatest traits of any living creature is the desire to survive and the belief, somewhere in the most idealistic part of the mind, that we can take positive steps to ensure that whatever wants to stop us from living gets derailed. Repeatedly, if necessary. Which was why our mutual depression lasted for all of twelve seconds.
At which point Cole banged his fist against the patio table and said, “I know! We attach our souls to our bodies with duct tape. They’ll never be able to take off with them then. Hey, don’t look so skeptical. My dad uses it for everything. It’s held the headboard of his bed together for fifteen years now.”
“Even better,” Bergman joined in. “Coat our souls with Vaseline. That way nothing can get a grip and you’ve pulled off a great gag at the same time.”
And they were off. Even Cassandra had a suggestion, though how we were supposed to snag a hundred hand buzzers this late in the game I had no idea. In the end we sobered up enough to decide the only way we could win was by guerilla warfare, using weapons Raoul offered to provide.
The idea was to lure Kyphas and the other demons away from the house, into a plane where we could defeat them. It would take some time to set up, but my Spirit Guide agreed to set his other projects aside until we’d pulled this one off.
“I’ll take Cole with me to help, if you don’t mind,” he said as he stood.
Vayl and I traded startled looks. We’d been expecting to use our third’s sharpshooting skills in our primary mission. But considering Cassandra’s straits, maybe we could adjust that plan as well. “Can he go everywhere you need to?” I asked Raoul.
“He is a Sensitive,” Raoul reminded me. “That means he can travel on any plane without incurring permanent damage.” He turned to me. “Have you seen the portal I came through? The one just south of the house?”
I nodded. The others gaped a little. I didn’t tend to mention the gate that seemed to follow me wherever I went. Too
