“We?” David asked. “You know, I really don’t like the idea of you—”
“Mind your own business. Either help me or hang up the phone.”
“I can’t tell you where it’s at. It’s hard to find. I’ll have to show you.”
“Meet me at the place in an hour. You know where I mean. Make sure you ditch your phone just in case Shane put a tracker in it.”
Jace hung up the phone without another word—David would be there.
After Jace thoroughly chewed out the valet for slamming on the brakes too hard when he pulled the H3 up to the hotel doorway, they drove toward the edge of the city. He ordered Francesca to check the rearview mirror every couple of minutes to ensure they weren’t being followed. He’d checked his ride religiously for tracking devices, and while nothing electronic had been attached, there was no arguing with the fact that an H3 stood out.
“I don’t see anything,” Francesca said. He could tell from her quiet demeanor that her nerves were just as on-edge as his. The last thing they needed was to be tracked down by his fellow hunters again.
When they reached Honeoye Falls, Jace took the back way to the Lucky Bastard. The bar was usually dead early on a Tuesday night, and tonight was no different. With the tiny lot nearly empty, he parked the car and surveyed their surroundings. David’s black 2011 Harley Super Glide, one of his many motorcycles, was parked at the side of the lot. Two nondescript cars, which Jace recognized as the bartenders’, were parked across the blacktop.
Francesca stared at the sticker on the bar’s front door.
Four hookers who tried to hit him up for free on a regular basis, the three bars where his dad had drunk himself into fits of uncontrollable rage, and the one graveyard where his mother was buried. Yeah, welcome to Honeoye Falls all right.
With one last look over his shoulder, Jace strolled inside.
The dark cherry wood of the bar shimmered in the dim lighting. Francesca stood next to an old jukebox that only played well-known Garth Brooks and Johnny Cash songs, flipping through the selections with a blank look on her face. David sat at the bar sipping a craft beer as he watched Francesca with a wary eye.
Jace sat down at the bar next to David and watched as the bartender cleaned a tall beer mug a few feet away.
“Hey, John. You want the usual?”
It took Jace a moment to respond to the bartender’s question. He spent a lot of time here, even now that he’d moved deeper into the city, but only the owner, Jimmy, knew his real name.
“Yeah, slip me a couple bottles of Bushmills, will you? I need to restock.”
“Coming right up.”
He watched the bartender walk away before he turned to David again. “So where were these bodies at? I need to map where the attacks took place and check out the scene. There has to be some sort of pattern to what this psycho is doing, and if there isn’t, there’s a reason it’s random.”
“I can’t concern myself with this for too long, J.” David sipped his beer, then set his glass on the bar top, staring blankly at the liquor shelf. “I’ve got a Chinese baby downtown who’s been possessed by that demon that’s been giving me shit, and she doesn’t have much more time. If I don’t rip that thing out of her soon, she’ll be dead and the demon will move on to its next host.” David turned toward him. “Have you ever seen a possessed baby? It’s horrifying. I can’t have baby blood on my hands.”
“I promise I won’t keep you too long, David. Just show us the spot and then you can go save some Chinese babies.”
“They’re not
“No argument there.”
Francesca walked up to the bar. “As much as I’d love to stay here and listen to Johnny Cash all day, if you guys are done making drunken small talk, I think we have more important business to attend to.”
David set down his glass. “It’s not that simple.”
“What do you mean, ‘It’s not that simple’?” Francesca crossed her arms over her chest.
“The bodies were found in Manhattan Square Park, on top of that big metal piece of shit. You know, that little structure thing.”
“Okay, yeah, I know what you’re talking about, but I thought you said it was somewhere hard to find,” Jace said.
“I didn’t want to say much over the phone. You know how good Shane is with anything electronic. They could’ve hacked into both our phones. I’ve got a disposable cell now. I can’t give you the number, but I can call you and then throw out the phone, if needed.” He stared at his drink for a moment. “The site is easy to find, but there
The bartender returned and pushed three bottles of Bushmills toward Jace, who slapped some large bills on the counter in return. He turned back to David. “Fine, I needed to restock my liquor, anyway. Finish your drink and then meet us there.”
COLD, DREARY AND downright sketchy, Manhattan Square Park was the last place Frankie wanted to spend her night—not that she currently had many other options. She walked next to Jace along the park’s dim pathways. Even though her natural high body heat warmed her, she wrapped her arms around her chest and pulled her jacket closer. How many times had her parents told her to stay away from here at night when she was a teen? The thought of being mugged gave her the heebie-jeebies, even though she could easily hold her own in a fight.
She scanned the surrounding darkness, thankful for her heightened night vision. Nothing, as far as she could see. They continued on for several more minutes. Just as her shoulders started to relax, Jace reached for his gun. She heard it, too. Footsteps. He pulled his weapon just as David stepped into the dim glow of the moonlight.
“I don’t think it’d be a good idea to blow my head off.” David grinned. “You wouldn’t get your clues, and the city of Rochester might start to have a demon infestation problem. Follow me.”
Without a word, Frankie and Jace trailed behind him until they reached the metal structure. David climbed the aluminum steps two at a time, and they stayed on his heels. When they reached the top, he crouched down and pointed at the ground.
“This is where they were found. Right out here in the open. But as a precaution, I scanned the place. Watch this.”
David reached inside his leather and removed a copy of the Old Testament. He flipped to a page written entirely in Hebrew. He dug inside his pocket, then scattered rock salt across the platform as he continued to read. As his voice rose, obviously leading to the climax of his chant, he pulled a lighter from inside his coat. He stood and raised it high above his head before he knelt down again, pressing the flame to the cold metal. A trail of fire ignited, and a large symbol appeared—a perfect circle with two wavy lines perpendicular to each other running through the middle.
“What the hell is that?” Frankie asked. For a brief second an image flashed through her mind: a blonde woman with a long sword battling an enormous man wearing wolf skins. What the hell? She pushed the thought aside, but the image was so vivid and clear. Where was her imagination going?
David stared at the burning flames. “I’m not sure. A circle is one of the universal conduits, like water. It can give you full access to the beyond—usually a one-way ticket to hell.” He looked at Jace with a grim anger behind his eyes. “I don’t think you’re dealing with a regular werewolf. I think you’ve got a shape-shifting demon on your hands, and one I’ve never encountered.”
“I have to say, I’ve been called a lot of things, but shape-shifting demon is a first,” a deep voice said from behind them.
A chill shot down Frankie’s spine. The silhouette of a man hidden within the shadows loomed over them. She dropped into a defensive stance, bared her canines and growled. The small hairs on the backs of her neck
