Hell Fire

Destination Darkness

The radio stopped working.

Shannon fiddled with it, but try as she might, she couldn’t get a response. Finally, she glanced at me, brow furrowed. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

I shrugged. “It could be that killing England gave the spirits closure and now they’re gone. But we still have Cooper to deal with.”

“And that’s not going to be easy,” Saldana predicted.

Chance stared beyond us into the dark tangle of trees. The wind wailed through their skeletal limbs, giving no hint of human movement. “What do you know about him?”

“He’s a hunter,” Shannon answered.

That meant he wouldn’t have panicked, wouldn’t have broken beneath the mental strain. He’d probably hunkered down somewhere until the smoke settled. Now he’d be clearheaded and rested, ready to stalk his prey. A shiver ran through me.

My voice sounded thin. “So what do we do?”

“Get off the path,” Saldana said at once.

Chance led the way into the undergrowth. I couldn’t help the prickling sensation that we were being watched, but that might be the demon, though I couldn’t smell the dank, decaying vegetation that marked his presence. Shannon stuck close to my side, and I ached for her. Though she might seem cool, soon it would hit her that her mom was dead—and how Sandra died couldn’t help but scar her. I could still see the shadows swarming as she fell, as if feeding on her despair.

“Here are the problems as I see them,” Chance said quietly. “One, this is Cooper’s home ground, and he’s had ample time to lay in snares for us. Two, he’s an expert tracker and hunter. Three, we’re tired and shaken, not at the top of our game anymore. Four, I lost my luck tablet back there, so we can’t expect things to swing our way in this fight.”

Summed up that way, it sounded worse than I’d realized. Stillness and silence seemed to offer some protection, so we didn’t move as we tried to hammer out a plan in nearly inaudible whispers. As if to exacerbate our situation, the rain shifted from drizzle to downpour, inhibiting visibility further. Between the dark, the trees, and the weather, we’d be lucky to make it out of these woods.

“We could make for the SUV,” I murmured. “Try to avoid Cooper. And then get the hell out of town.”

At my suggestion, the earth trembled with outrage. The wind whipped up, tearing at our clothing. Two tree limbs cracked and fell, crashing to earth nearby. I, for one, took that as a threat.

Shannon leaped backward. “I don’t think that’s an option, Corine. If we leave, Cooper will just recruit eleven more. Missy England will take her dad’s place. I have cousins. This will never end, and Kilmer will never be free, unless we finish it here, now.”

“She’s right,” Chance said softly.

“I wish Butch were here,” I muttered. “He might be able to track him.”

Everyone regarded me dubiously. Who ever heard of a Chihuahua being used as a bloodhound? But Butch wasn’t your average purse dog.

Jesse stilled. “I might be able to too.”

Shannon and Chance looked puzzled. After a moment, I remembered how he’d sensed Butch, homing in on his location. Tapping into the emotions of someone like Cooper might drive Jesse crazy. It was his call, though.

“How?” the girl asked.

“I’m an empath,” he explained. “I can scan, pick up all emotional states within a certain radius. Takes a lot out of me, hurts like hell, but I can do it.”

Based on what I’d seen previously, that was an understatement.

“Go for it,” I said, before I could change my mind.

Jesse closed his eyes. I studied him in the half-light, watching his face go vacant. We stood motionless for a good two minutes before he jerked and staggered. He would have fallen if I hadn’t caught him around the waist. Jesse twitched and Shannon came to his other side, her big eyes round with worry.

“West,” he rasped out. “Lying in wait. He’s the only thing left alive out here besides us. But Jesus. Jesus . . .” Jesse fought free of me and bent at the waist, wracked with endless waves of dry heaves. “I’ve never felt anything like him.”

“Inhuman?” Chance asked.

“I . . . don’t know,” Saldana answered at length.

After a couple of minutes, he managed to straighten up and put on his game face. His skull probably felt like it was splitting in two, but I didn’t step close as I’d done before and let him put his head in my hands. I didn’t want to hurt Chance, nor was I ready to declare myself open to a relationship with Jesse. It didn’t seem like the time. I needed to get back to the pawnshop; needed some time to mourn and move on.

“Can you walk?” I asked.

Jesse gave a curt nod, but he let Chance take the lead. Shannon kept a hand on Saldana’s arm, as if she thought she could steady him. Even if I thought it was fruitless, it was still sweet. And maybe she was stronger than she looked.

There was no path. We pushed west, forcing our way through underbrush and dead wood, avoiding sinkholes and tangled vines. I could sense the demon lingering nearby, but it didn’t interfere with us, nor did it try to communicate. The rain spilled down my hoodie, soaking me to the skin. I doubted the others fared any better, but nobody complained.

“The ground’s softer up ahead,” Jesse said. “Watch your—”

Chance dove wide as a bed of leaves gave way. I skidded downward, grasping in vain at slick roots that gave no purchase. Someone snagged the back of my sweatshirt, and I tried to scramble backward, heels digging into the slick soil.

Stomach churning, I shuddered as my gaze dropped and I saw that I was hanging above a pit trap full of spikes. Jesus. I whimpered as my shirt began to slip upward. I tried to raise my arms, but the movement made Chance swear.

“Be still,” he begged. “If we’re not careful, we’ll both end up down there.” I couldn’t see what was going on behind him, but he added to the others, “No, don’t come up here. The extra weight might crumble the edge. I’ve got her—you hold my feet.”

I don’t know how long I hung there, feeling my shirt slip, and then tear. A sob shook me. I found myself dependent on Chance’s strength. He cursed low and virulent in Korean as he worked me upward. His arms had to be burning, but he never faltered until he had his arms all the way around me.

Then we wriggled backward inch by inch until I felt the solid ground beneath my back. It seemed safe, so I began to use my heels to push upward until we fell back onto Jesse and Shannon. She looked pale as milk, rain slipping down her cheeks like tears.

“Everyone okay?” the girl asked shakily.

“More or less. Did you tear your wound?” Chance checked Saldana’s shoulder and found blood trickling down his biceps.

Jesse waved a hand. “It’s nothing. Let’s move before he has time to leave us any more surprises.”

Chance took the lead again, but this time he tested the path with dead limbs and heavy bark. He chucked them as we walked, triggering the traps Cooper had left for us. We found two snares and a trip wire that way as we pushed west. I stood watching the blades dance on the line, silvered with rain. Though that trap might not have killed us, it would have sliced us up, weakened us for the final confrontation.

“This is one sick son of a bitch,” Chance said softly.

A cold chill ran through me. I’d nearly been impaled. I’d have nightmares about falling now, but at least it would be a change from the fire. In my mind’s eye, I could see the spike piercing my guts, and I imagined the way blood would burst from my mouth as I died.

“Stop,” Jesse whispered. “We need you here with us. He didn’t get you, and he’s not going to. I promise.”

As if in answer, a shot rang out. If not for the darkness, wind, and rain, it would have drilled through my skull instead of into the tree beside me. Splinters and bits of bark sprayed my face, and I hit the ground.

Shannon crouched next to me, hand on my back. “Did he get you?”

“No.” My voice sounded thick.

But damn near, closer than I wanted to think about. I wasn’t bulletproof.

“Where the hell is he?” Chance demanded.

“It came from over there,” Jesse said. “Not sure how far. Visibility’s not good.”

And the night got darker. The demon might not be able to attack Cooper as part of the terms of its binding, but it could shroud him in darkness.

But the hunter didn’t panic. Besides weather and forest noises, I heard only silence. If he sat still and quiet, we’d have to come looking for him, and the odds were good he’d get one or two of us at close range. Shit.

I pushed into a kneeling position and met Shannon’s gaze. “I don’t want you going any farther,” I told her quietly. “Jesse, would you stay with her? I don’t want to give this guy a body count.”

Though I didn’t say so, he shouldn’t wade into a fight wounded. If I could, I’d make Chance stay behind too, but I knew he wouldn’t do it. Plus, I couldn’t kill Cooper. I knew that. I needed Chance. At this point, he was the strongest and fastest. He’d have to finish it for me. And then I’d call us even for everything I went through in Laredo.

“I think it sucks,” Jesse bit out, “but I see your point. We’ll wait here. If he tries to circle around behind you, we’ll take him out.”

I knew he wouldn’t have conceded except for Shannon. Jesse Saldana could always be counted on to safeguard the innocent. The girl glared at me, but she didn’t argue.

“Meet us back at the Forester in an hour. If we don’t show . . .” I trailed off. “Well, give us fifteen minutes leeway and then get the hell out of here.”

Nobody said it out loud, but they knew. If we weren’t out in seventy minutes, we weren’t coming back. Shannon hugged me fiercely around the neck. I patted her back, feeling the rain ease up, no longer stinging the skin as it came through the bare trees.

Stepping back, I pulled my hood up, and the black cloth helped camouflage me. My face was already liberally smeared with mud, so I went with it, covering every inch of pale skin. Chance did the same, and then we slid away into the dark.

He went first, slow and quiet as he listened. Maybe he imagined he could hear the other man’s breathing. In this demon-dark soup, our one advantage was that Cooper couldn’t see us any more than we could see him. It would come down to reflexes, and Chance had those in spades.

I don’t know what warned me—it wasn’t quite a sound, but as we went past a tangle of bushes—I spun. Instead of catching me to the left of the spine for a clean kill, the knife went into my side. The pain was agonizing. I fell back as Chance lashed out, snagging Cooper’s wrist and hauling him forward.

My knees crumpled as they fought. I felt my hands wrap around the hilt of the blade still lodged in me, but I retained enough presence of mind not to yank it out. I might bleed out before we could find help.

Chance was fast, so fast. I could see his training in the way he lashed out again and again. Cooper blocked, then kicked. He connected with a brutality and strength that sent Chance reeling back. They didn’t speak. With the strange distance in my head, it was almost like watching a movie.

But I didn’t see the big finish. The rain blinded me. Pain broke me. I fell forward into the mud and woke up somewhere else.

Before my eyes focused, I recognized the rank smell of dying vegetation. Maury. Shit, I didn’t have any reserves left to fight a demon. I didn’t have any tools with which to banish him. If he meant to kill me now, I was utterly defenseless.

“Did we win?” I asked.

Maybe I’d died. Maybe this was hell.

“It’s not hell,” he told me. “And yes, you did. Well, Chance did. After you passed out, he broke Cooper’s neck.”

“I thought I dreamed you.” Well, part of me had. “Am I dreaming now?”

He didn’t reply directly. But when did demons ever give a straight answer?

“You’re used to this face,” he said. “What are dreams but a way for your brain to say, ‘Hi, here’s something you need to know’?”

“So you need to tell me something?” I shook all over, both from cold and nerves, and I was covered in mud. I could feel the stab wound like a phantom pain, but when I looked down at my midriff, I saw nothing. This wasn’t the real world, then.

“You set me free, so you get to ask a boon before I go.”

For obvious reasons, I didn’t trust demon favors. I had to think quickly, something that wouldn’t backfire. There was a lesson to be learned from that whole monkey paw deal. Then it occurred to me: I could ask it to shield me from the ill effects of Chance’s luck.

I couldn’t breathe for wanting it.

“Will there be side effects? Catches? Hidden faults that the human brain can’t conceive until it’s far too late?”

Maury grinned. “What do you think?”

I exhaled slowly. “Then I guess I’d better go with a selfless wish. I’d like you to mark all the bodies of the innocent people who died out here, and then provide me with a map. I want to give their loved ones closure.”

His eyes opened wide, brows shooting up into his busy hair. “Seriously? Nothing for you? Not fame, fortune?”

“Trying to cut down on the infamy. And I have enough money to get by. At this point, I just want to go home. Now, you heard my wish. Make it so.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You won’t live to see it done.”

That hit me hard. “I won’t?”

“Cooper caught you in an artery.” The demon sounded genuinely regretful. “The minute anyone pulls out the knife, you’ll start hemorrhaging. Sure you don’t want to change your favor? You could wish for eternal life.”

Ah, Jesus. I recognized the certainty of its words. Sometimes demons needed only to tell the truth to torment you best. Well, the people of Kilmer—those who were innocent of this madness—would still appreciate finding their loved ones. I squared my shoulders.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then handed me a folded sheaf of paper. “Done. There’s your map.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Before you go, before you send me back . . . could you . . . would you tell me what happened here? What was this all about?”

“In a nutshell? Well, the original twelve wanted to keep Kilmer safe and clean, uncontaminated from the outside world. They wanted to pick and choose what technologies were acceptable. They wanted to shield their kids from unwholesome influences.”

I blinked at that. “So they summoned a demon?”

“Yours truly. What better way to safeguard the town than to put a demon of entropy and decay on the job?”

“And they paid you in sacrifices.” I got it now. The pain from my body came in a raw, red wave. I wouldn’t remain here in this half dreamworld much longer.

He agreed with a nod. “I prefer the Gifted ones. Tastes great, more filling. Ironically, I think my presence here made Kilmer something of a hot spot. Once they summoned me, you Gifted started being born like there was something in the water supply.”

“Martha Vernon, Holly Jarrett, Timothy Sparks, David Prentice—”

“And their families. It was a package deal, remember. When you ran to me and hid during the fire, you broke the terms of the pact. Since you didn’t die, I didn’t get my sacrifice that year, and that was a deal breaker. Every year thereafter my bonds weakened a bit more, and I could roam a bit farther and cause a little more trouble closer to town. When you came back, I guess they thought they could fix things by killing you now, but it wouldn’t have helped. And with the twelve dead, I’m free now.”

Ah, damn. I could have lived without knowing that.

“Uh, you’re welcome. I guess.”

His expression became grave. “I never wanted your mother, Corine. She was one of the truly good souls. They started using my price to purge the town of those they considered undesirable. But I didn’t take her, even when they performed the ritual around her body. Her death was clean. I don’t know where she is now.”

“I guess it’s time for me to go,” I said.

“I won’t see you again,” Maury answered with finality. “Unless . . .” His expression became crafty. “Oh yeah, I like that idea. I like it a lot.”

Before I could ask, I spun outward, hurtling back toward my injured body at breakneck speed. With a strangled cry, I struggled upright to find myself in Chance’s arms. He ran full out, carrying me. I felt every jolt, every rough patch. I moaned, both hands going to the knife in my side. I’d gotten what I wanted; they were all gone.

Why didn’t I feel better about it? I should have felt vindicated. The twelve had to be stopped; their ancestors had done a terrible thing to this town, and their descendants had been carrying on their work.

Instead I only felt sick. We’d loosed a demon on the world, even if we hadn’t conjured the thing in the first place. Then it got worse.