things together. It was good to be among friends again. Other Hunters approached in the distance, drawn to the commotion and the sight of the massive plane. A lone figure, dressed from head to toe in black, watched from near the hangar. He waved awkwardly when he saw me, then slunk back into the building as the Feds disembarked. Skippy did not like crowds, or most people for that matter, but especially hated anyone from the government. The Feds clustered around the ramp, bunched up, checking out the compound, a few of the experienced ones no doubt taking stock for the day when the political winds changed and they finally got the order to shut us down by any means necessary.
The plane's engines died and the runway was suddenly very quiet. The two groups stood separated, like the freshmen boys and girls at a high school dance. Finally Myers and Franks broke away and crossed the divide. Myers' imitation-silk tie flapped over his shoulder in the wind. The two stopped in front of Earl. Nobody offered to shake hands.
'Earl…' Myers said.
'Well, if it isn't Special Agent Dwayne Myers,' Earl responded, just oozing contempt. Myers' first name was Dwayne? I learned something new every day. 'And his faithful sidekick, Mongo.' The quiet brute nodded slightly. I did not think Franks actually liked anyone, but he did seem to slightly respect those who might present a challenge in a physical confrontation. Now, Harbinger versus Franks? I would pay serious money to watch that one because I didn't care how tough the Fed was, I'm pretty sure if he caught Earl in a bad mood, they would have to scrape Franks up and carry him out in a couple trash bags.
'I'm guessing you got the call?' the senior agent queried. Myers' voice and attitude was cold. I knew that he despised Harbinger, as Myers used to work for him, and though I did not know the specifics, I certainly knew that there was some bad history between the two.
'I did. And I don't like it one bit. Are all these'-Harbinger gestured contemptuously toward the Feds-'the ‘protective detail'? Because if you're going for subtle, that ain't it.'
'No. I'm leaving four handpicked agents. They'll shadow Pitt and try to look like your people… so sloppy… and unprofessional. The rest of us will be on standby. We'll be staging out of Montgomery until this is resolved. I'm expecting MHI's full assistance. The legality of continued private Monster Hunting is coming under congressional review next session and you wouldn't want me to testify that you didn't want to cooperate.'
'Oh, we're the spirit of cooperation… So now why don't you take your goons and get the hell off my land?'
'Believe me, I can't wait. But take this. You should at least know what you're up against.' Myers held out a manila folder. 'I don't think you realize the magnitude of the threat that's coming for you.'
It was hard to believe that Myers had once been one of us. The very thought made me cringe. I reached for the folder, and as I did so my fingertips touched the agent's thumb. Black lightning crashed behind my eyes.
I was sitting on a wooden bench. The delicious smell of sizzling beef drifted from the nearby barbeque. It was nearing sundown, and the heat had broken under the soft Alabama breeze. Fireflies danced in the nearby forest.
'Dwayne, how do you want your burger?'
'Medium,' I answered without hesitation.
'Gotcha…' Big Ray Shackleford answered as he squished the patties with a spatula. 'Honey?' The flames hissed as the grease dripped through the grill.
'Rare. No, super rare.' Susan Shackleford was sitting on a lawn chair to my right. She sighed as she tried to get comfortable. She was eight months' pregnant and having a hard time. I tried not to stare at Susan. Even heavy with child, she was still the best-looking woman I had ever known, but she was also my best friend's wife. 'On second thought… How about you just kind of warm up the outside?'
'Can do.' Ray took a second to wipe his meaty hands on his apron and then took a long pull from his beer. He set it down with a satisfied grunt. Ray cut an imposing figure, big, muscular, confident, pretty much everything that I wasn't. 'Earl? Dorcas?'
'Rare.' Harbinger was sitting at the picnic table. I was still intimidated by my boss, but now that he had picked me to be on his team and had let me in on the family secret, I felt much more comfortable in his presence.
'Medium, Ray. And I mean medium. Not all black and crispy. Don't screw it up again. Damn boy, but I ain't never known nobody to burn up a good piece of meat like you.'
Dorcas was also at the picnic table, busy cleaning her. 45 Long Colt on top of a piece of newspaper. She was kind of like our mother figure. A bitter crone of a mother figure for sure, but I knew that she loved us in her own demented redneck way. 'Damn, idiot. Should have let me cook.'
'Yes, ma'am,' Ray responded automatically. I don't think that I will ever get used to these Southerners and their incessant politeness to their elders. 'Hood?'
'Well done, please.' The voice came from behind me. Hood was the youngest member of the team, and supposedly I was his trainer. In actuality he was so on the ball that sometimes it was like he was teaching me. I had even overheard Harbinger talking about how he had never met somebody with a better gift for Monster Hunting. Not bad for a fat kid from Birmingham.
'Since you're the Newbie, you're lucky if you get grill scrapings.' Ray laughed hard and drained the rest of his beer. 'Julie! Get daddy another beer!'
'Okay!' the little girl shouted. She leapt gracefully off the nearby tire swing and ran for the house, her ponytail whipping behind her. She was only eight, but already I could tell that she was going to be the spitting image of her mom and sharp as her dad. That one was going to be a heartbreaker. She disappeared into the massive old plantation house with a slam of the screen door.
I glanced around at the other Monster Hunters. Grandpa Shackleford was engaged in an animated conversation with some other Hunters about how Ronald Reagan was the most pro-Monster Hunting president we'd had since Eisenhower. He kept swinging his hook for emphasis. That red-headed teenager that Earl had saved in Idaho recently, Milo, was doodling on some scrap of paper, probably about some other weird invention that he had come up with. A few others were drifting up, summoned by the smell of the barbeque, and Ray began to shout questions at each of them. The MHI staff were in a good mood, and rightly so. The case that we had just cracked had been a tough one, and we were feeling invincible.
'Yo, Myers,' Ray said.
'Yeah, buddy?'
'We kicked some ass today, didn't we?'
I leaned back on the bench and stretched my bad arm. A vampire had wrecked my rotator cuff and ruined my shot at ever pitching in the majors, but if I hadn't had that encounter all those years ago, then I would never have gotten to become a part of this. I looked at the patch sewn on my sleeve as I turned my arm, just a little green happy face with horns. It wasn't much, but it meant a lot to me.
'We sure did, Ray. We sure did.'
These people were my family.
'What are you staring at?' Myers asked me belligerently.
Reality came crashing back. Glancing around, runway, big airplane, my friends, and a bunch of scowling Feds, I was at the compound, out on the tarmac, but I had just been at a barbeque… at Julie's house, only it had been a long time ago… and I had been… Agent Myers? What the hell? 'Nothing…'
Myers shook his head and released the folder, probably thinking that I was a complete moron. I must have been out of it for just a few seconds. 'Like I was saying, you need to know what you're up against. Do you have someplace where we could talk in private?'
Harbinger nodded. 'Let's go.' He motioned to the main building. All of the Feds began to follow and he raised his hand. 'No, just the protective detail. The rest of you assholes can stay on the plane.' My boss didn't wait for any sort of disagreement, he just spun on his heel and led the way. I did note, however, that he was grinding his teeth together rather violently.
Still reeling from what had just happened, I reached out and grabbed Julie's hand. Nothing happened. No flash of black lightning, no visions. She looked at me strangely.
'Z, are you okay?' Holly asked me. 'You look kind of flushed.'
I shook my head. I couldn't say anything in front of the Feds, but the last time I had lived someone else's memories, Lord Machado's to be precise, it had been powered by the same artifact that Susan had just exposed me
