“You saved the world?” I tried not to let my voice drip with incredulity. I probably failed.
“I did. What? You think you’re the first or only person who’s ever done that? Different type of threat than yours, but this shit happens all the time. Join the fucking club. We have a newsletter. Only when I did it, it left my body ruined. It turned me into this, a husk of the man I once was, while your lucky ass got a tune-up from the Old Ones, which is pretty unfair if you ask me. But that’s neither here nor there. I got started down this path because there were things that needed doing, but far too often the men in charge have the spine of a pool noodle. If we wait around for the powers that be to solve the problem, we’re all doomed. Asag might not be as big and flashy as what we’ve seen before, but he’s far more clever, willing to play the long game, and that makes him far more of a threat.”
I couldn’t actually disagree with that take but agreeing with the likes of Stricken about anything made me feel icky, so I looked at the wall clock. “You’ve got a few minutes left. Get to the point.”
“The point is, I never stopped doing what needed doing. Sometimes that means taking risks, which leads to unfortunate accidents like the aforementioned demonic super soldiers. Whoops. My bad. Can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.”
He was so flippant about that incident, I was a little surprised Franks didn’t walk in and strangle him to death. “That’s one hell of an omelet.”
“My action hero days are in the distant past, but I was smart. I could see things coming that nobody else could. Eventually I ended up in charge of the Task Force, which for someone like me, was Christmas morning. All those wonderful toys.” For a moment, Stricken seemed positively gleeful reminiscing about his old job. “Running STFU was awesome. Though some unfortunate decisions were made and I lost my job, I’ve still kept doing what needed doing.”
“What’s that exactly?”
“Preparing the way for you Chosen folks to get the job done when the time comes. I’ve been gathering intel, laying the groundwork for future operations, stockpiling the special weapons mankind will need in order to beat this chaotic fuckstick, and most importantly of all, building alliances.”
I had to admit, my curiosity was piqued. “Where are these weapons?”
“Someplace safe.”
“What kind of alliances?”
“Asag eventually wants to tear apart the entire universe down to the molecular level, which is generally frowned upon by everything that lives here. You’d be surprised some of the groups that are willing to fight him, or maybe not. You’ve met a few of them.”
I thought back to some of the things Julie had told me about her rescue mission to Europe. “Susan . . . ”
“Among others. Your mother-in-law is kind of a badass.”
I bolted to my feet, reached across the table, grabbed him by the lapels, and jerked him out of his seat. “If you had anything to do with my son’s kidnapping—”
Someone immediately started banging on the other side of the mirror.
“Easy there, big fella. I had nothing to do with that.”
The door flew open and MCB agents rushed inside, ready to shoot me for endangering their prize. It wasn’t the first time Feds had pointed their guns at me, and let’s be honest, it probably wouldn’t be the last. “We were just talking.” I let go of Stricken and he slunk back down into his chair.
Mr. Coslow was standing behind the agents. “I do not have patience for foolishness, Mr. Pitt. Get me my signature. The clock is ticking, Mr. Stricken.” Then they closed the door and left.
Stricken adjusted his wrinkled jacket and continued like I hadn’t been about to body-slam him through the foundation. “Asag offered your kid to get Susan to work for him, instead of working with me. She’s a bit of a psycho grandma. But before you get all in a huff . . . you’ve fought against her: would you rather have her with us or against us during the final battle for the fate of the world?”
“Trick question. I’d prefer her dead before we get there. Keep talking.”
“Glad to. It’s not often I get to wax poetic about my life’s work. I’m rather proud of it. But wait, there’s more.” He said that like he was a infomercial pitchman. “Even better than having the second most dangerous master vampire in the world on our side, how about the Fey?”
“I’m not convinced there is an our side, but you expect me to believe the trickiest bastards in existence would help us? Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. I’ve got some courts on my side, and more I’m working on. And there’s others. Those are just the tip of the iceberg of what I can bring to the table. We’re going to need a real big tent by the time I get done.”
His alliances sounded like a darker version of what MHI had been trying to do with other groups of Hunters. So what Stricken was saying sounded plausible. Insane, but plausible.
“For proof that you should believe the words coming out of my mouth, I give you exhibit A.” He reached out and patted the stack of paper again. “In here, all my multitude of sins are forgiven, I get full immunity, and will be given a positively obscene amount of money to become a special consultant for the United States government. When the people with access to all the juiciest secret intel in the world believe in me enough to offer me this sweetheart deal in
