“So… boom, headshot.”
“If you like. They do feel pain, and they know fear, but… they aren’t allowed to react to it. For the controlling force, they are tools, nothing more. Expendable. Don’t expect mercy from them. Don’t expect to reason with them.”
They were still there, sitting silently in the bushes. It seemed, without my proximity to react to, they were simply left, waiting. I was reminded eerily of empty dolls, abandoned by some careless child. I shivered. “He’s the controlling force. The Yeti. Yes?”
“The Yeti?” That got a laugh from him. “That’s priceless. I’m going to have to call him that from now on. Yes, they’re his. They only respond to him, because he made them.”
“Made them how? What are they?” I honestly expected him to dodge that one. I mean, how to kill them was a pretty valuable piece of information and he’d just handed it over. Asking for more was just being greedy.
You can understand my surprise when he kept talking. “You all look alike to us. Did you know that? If you and your brother stood silently side by side, I don’t know that I could honestly pick you out.” He gave me a small, sly smile. “It’s the voices that tell you apart. The voice is what calls us out of the darkness. That is what we follow into the light. Your voice is the doorway to your soul.”
“That’s real poetic, Axel. You should write that shit down.”
He rolled his eyes at me and pointed out into the night. “They make no sound. They have no voices of their own. Think about why.”
“Am I going to be quizzed on this later?”
“Maybe.” Dropping his arm to his side, he sighed heavily. “Nasty business, those things. Not done very often. It’s one of those things I wish we could unlearn.”
I caught a hint of disgust in his voice, and I wondered at it. “Do you have any? Your own little army of creepy spider-monkey people?”
“No.” The answer was short, clipped. “Whatever you think of me, there are things that even I won’t do, Jesse. And that is one of them.”
Well, holy crap. Who knew Axel had morals? “So what do you want in return for all this? You don’t ever give me anything for free. And I’m fresh out of sticks.”
He turned to face me again, his eyes flaring red for just a moment. “Never think this is a selfless act on my part, Jesse. These events work toward my agenda. All I ask from you at this time is to do what is true to your nature. And I’ll do what is true to mine.”
“That’s not exactly comforting.”
“It wasn’t intended to be. Unfortunately for you, you’re caught up in something you don’t understand. You’re the piece of straw being whipped around by the tornado.”
I winced. “You had to say tornado?” After my close call with one last spring, I was more than a bit paranoid about even uttering the word. “So Cam was telling the truth? About a war in Hell?”
Axel smirked again. Or still. Really, it was kinda his permanent expression. “You should get back inside before they come looking for you.”
Ah, there it was. His limit. “And what about you?”
“Me?” He shrugged his lanky shoulders. “I’ll be around if you think of any more good questions.”
Great. My personal demon was gonna be playing Peeping Tom. There was one more thing that I really needed to know, if he’d tell me. “Cam says it’s a hit. That you’re all out to get us.”
In the doorway, Axel stopped, glancing back at me. “Don’t trust the priest. He’s carrying around more secrets than you can possibly imagine.” Between one step and the next, he vanished. There was no scent of sulfur, proving that he wasn’t truly gone, just unseen.
I gave it a moment longer, then went back inside myself. I suppose someone might have laughed at my dilemma. Should I trust the priest, who had already lied to everyone I knew, or the demon who fully admitted to having his own agenda? Yup, that was a corker.
The guys had managed to draw up a couple of buckets of water, and Cole was looking over our food supplies when I passed through the kitchen. “How are we set, little brother?”
“We were planning on a week, so we’ve got food. Water. Our real issue is going to be Zane.” We both glanced toward the big living room. I could see the Quinns sitting quietly with Cameron, three hands clasped together. Praying, maybe?
Cam had his glass of water with him and I watched with interest as he dipped his fingers into it, tracing invisible symbols on Zane’s injured arm, paying special attention to the darkening flesh of his hand. The boy grimaced a little, as if it hurt, and the priest asked him something, to which he nodded. I lost whatever they were saying in Cole’s next comment. “At least those things can’t get close.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was only a temporary reprieve. Hopefully, we’d be long gone before Cam’s spell broke.
After a bit of discussion, it was decided that sleep was the first order of business for everyone but Cameron. We’d each take a turn at watch, and take a turn at keeping him awake too. I, of course, intended to stay up and keep watch (I can sleep when I’m dead) whether they agreed to it or not. Marty opted to go first, and stood in front of the window, watching the clearing in front of the cabin. I elbowed him lightly as I passed. “You can sleep if you want, man. I got this.” He grunted in response, but really didn’t move.
Duke’s massive form lay sprawled at the foot of the stairs, and he opened one eye when I bent down to scratch his ears. “Good boy, Duke. Very good boy.” Poor dog. I could only wonder what he thought of this whole situation.
The big mastiff enjoyed the scratching for a few moments, his doggy sigh coming in somewhere between a moan and a growl. I knew how he felt.
I settled near the dog, propping myself up against the stair rail, and we turned the lanterns down as low as we were comfortable with. Total darkness was not a happy thought.
I lost track of time. Maybe even dozed a little. But when Duke moved, I came alert. The big dog raised his head, ears pricked, and whined softly in the back of his throat.
At almost the same moment, Marty said, “Do you hear that?”
I couldn’t hear a thing at first. Duke whined again and heaved himself up to his massive feet, padding to the door. He cocked his head and raised his paw like he might want out, then dropped it. His tail was tucked firmly between his legs, and his hackles rippled up across his muscled shoulders.
Cole and Marty both got up, moving to the window again. “It sounds like… voices?” Once he said that, I could hear it.
“Don’t… don’t go outside…” Cameron’s voice was faint, distant. Drowned out by the plaintive call from the darkness.
Outside, someone was calling. It sounded like a man. I grabbed my sword-I wasn’t letting that out of arm’s reach again-and stood up, moving to take hold of the dog’s collar. Together, we opened the front door and stepped out on the porch, despite Cam’s continued protests. Duke seemed content to press tightly against my leg, torn between whining and growling.
“Is someone out there?” Marty and Cole joined me, both looking to me like I should have all the answers. I was getting a bit tired of that look.
The strange man’s voice called out of the night. “Order now before time runs out!”
We all exchanged looks, and the call came again. “Just jump, I’ll catch you!”
“What the hell is that?”
The man’s voice was joined by another, and then a third, both calling out nonsensical phrases. “The rain looks like it should hold off the evening.” “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
Soon, a woman was calling out from the distant forest, too, and I just knew it was her, the handless one. “If you don’t clean your room, you’re both grounded!”
Cole snorted a small laugh at that one, but it was mostly to drive off the growing sense of unease we were all feeling. It was gibberish, nonsense phrases taken out of context, but it made my stomach churn.
“Has anyone seen my hammer?”
“Dad, your phone is ringing.”
“Ninety-nine cent burgers after four o’clock!”
There was… a pull to it. Something under the voices…
