Sharon Ashwood - Unchained

Gary nodded, taking them all in with a grave stare. “You rock.”

“We try,” Ashe said. “Now go, grasshopper.”

He went, striding up to a couple of the picture takers to send them on their way.

Good. Ashe glanced at the others. “Anyone see a demon lair?”

“Not yet,” Holly said.

“Then we start looking. Split up or stay together?”

“Stay together,” Alessandro said, looking at Holly. “If there are still shoppers coming and going, the demon does not control the entire mall yet. If we’re lucky, his influence will be localized.”

Ashe nodded, and they began to tour the mall as a group, walking slowly and checking out every store for signs of demonic possession. A small part of her brain flashed on high school and cutting classes with a gang of friends. Even some of the stores were still the same. Weird.

The demon hadn’t touched the stereo shop, the store that sold vitamins, or the career-woman boutiques. The toy store looked like it had been looted by Viking raiders. They followed a trail of toy knights and plush animals—one that looked like a cousin to the bunny Belenos had left with Lore—around the corner to a different arm of the mall. There, kitty-corner to where they stopped, they spotted the demon’s hoard.

“As shoppers go,” Holly said slowly, “I’d say he was pretty unfocused.”

“I’d say he was escalating,” Ashe said. “Maybe losing the bookstore tipped old Tony off the edge.”

She couldn’t help gaping. The demon had moved into one of the empty storefronts, breaking the gate open and turning on the lights. They glared down into a space devoid of fixtures or furniture, but not of stuff. A jumble of heaps and piles made it hard to recognize half of it. Gourmet cookware formed a precarious tower of gleaming copper and stainless steel. There were books and DVDs and toys, a lawn mower, ornately glazed outdoor pots for holding small trees, and a collection of fancy stepping-stones for the garden. The demon had apparently hit Sears’s gardening center. There was a sofa and matching love seat in white leather. A pair of matching end tables—very nice ones with a hand-rubbed walnut finish, and Ashe knew that because she’d had a moment of longing the other day for something besides bargain pine with dents—held faux Tiffany lamps. But what she saw most of was collections. A mountain of fashion dolls with their cars, houses, and bewildering wardrobes. Kitchen knives. Boxed sets of TV shows on DVD. Boxed sets of flatware and stemware and Royal Doulton dishes with gold trim.

“Where do you draw the line between collecting and hoarding?” Alessandro asked softly, as if speaking to himself.

“About fifty movie action figures ago,” Holly replied. “I’m surprised the thing didn’t go for a city lot full of storage lockers.”

“Display is half of its pleasure,” Reynard replied. “I have met this creature’s kind once or twice before.”

“Any insights we can use?” asked Holly. “How do the guardsmen deal with demons in the Castle?”

“They are not allowed in the general population. Certain areas of the Castle are sealed off for the demons, where they can do no harm.”

“What if one gets loose?”

“One or two guardsmen cannot manage a large demon like this. It takes at least a dozen, and then only within the Castle. If it were merely a matter of rounding up our friend under guard, Mac would have sent reinforcements. He can help only once the demon is inside the Castle walls.”

Holly gave him a surprised look. “What have you done in the past with cases like this?”

Reynard gave a resigned sigh. “We rely on the help of sorcerers and witches. The old guard used to have sorcerers in our number, but the years have taken their toll. I have some magic, but not enough for this.”

“I have the key Belenos was using,” Ashe said. “Is that any help?”

“The keys don’t work with fey or most demons,” Reynard replied. “They won’t pass through doorways made by the keys. There were safeguards put in place against the most dangerous species, and only additional sorcery can open a door for them. However, I can open a portal using guardsmen’s magic. It will pass through that well enough.”

Ashe cursed. “So we treat this like we did the rabbit: You open a portal, and the rest of us get old Tony into Mac’s loving care?”

Reynard nodded. Holly and Alessandro exchanged glances and agreed.

“Shouldn’t we look for the urn while slime-boy isn’t around?” Ashe suggested.

“I’d rather know where the demon is first,” said Holly. “That could be a trap.”

“You’re quite right,” Reynard agreed. “I had best let Mac know we are ready to proceed. He needs to alert his men to be standing by.”

“Why not open a portal now?” Holly asked. “I mean, to me that’s the hard part. Get it over with.”

“I don’t want to alert our friend that there is a guardsman in the house. Surprise is an advantage.” He turned to Ashe. “May I borrow your cell phone?”

Ashe fished in her pocket. “They get cell reception in the Castle?”

“No. We relay messages through the hounds guarding the gate.”

Reynard took the phone, opened it carefully, and began deliberately punching numbers. He held it up to his ear. Ashe took it away, hit send, and gave it back with a smile. He gave a sheepish grin. She loved a man who wasn’t afraid to laugh at himself. She didn’t have to walk on eggshells.

As Reynard made the call, she took a few steps away from her friends. We’ve found the demon’s treasure, but where is the demon? She looked down the gloomy corridor at the largely empty mall. She’d spent so much time there over the years, she felt protective of the place. She searched out each display window, checking to see which ones were still okay. The watch store and the florist looked okay. So did the bridal shop.

She took a few steps toward Louise’s Weddings, running her eyes over the gown in the front window. With a thrill of relief, she saw her favorite dress was still unslimed. It was a long, strapless white sheath, plain but classic. She’d had a quickie civil ceremony, over before the ink on the paperwork was dry. She didn’t like fuss, but that dress made her think a little might be nice. Champagne, photographs, a honeymoon . . . sirens.

She could hear sirens approaching. Distant, but moving fast.

She started toward the mall door to see what was coming. Had somebody figured out the slime wasn’t a maintenance issue and called the cops? Maybe the gas company, mistaking the bad smell for a leak?

More humans on site meant bad news. Casualties would be blamed on the supernatural community as a whole, and the nonhumans were barely tolerated anyway. All the more reason to wrap this up, fast.

“We’ve got company,” she said to the others. “Emergency vehicles are on the way.”

“Look at this.” Alessandro pointed. Halfway down the aisle was the Easter Bunny’s throne, where kiddies sat on the Bun’s knee and wished for bushels of chocolate eggs.

Given her current feelings about rabbits, Ashe was glad His Floppiness was off that day. “What about it?” Ashe asked. Why is this important?

The throne was surrounded by displays of fuzzy chicks, jelly beans, and cardboard lambs in unlikely pastel colors. The nearby card shop replicated the scene in their window, with the addition of a tiny Easter-themed village complete with moving train. As Ashe drew closer, she heard a small, asthmatic wheeze meant to be its whistle.

She felt Alessandro walking beside her; the vampire made no noise. “The card store sells this Easter village,” he said. “The individual pieces are collectible and expensive.”

Ashe suddenly understood where he was going with this. She drew the Colt she was carrying at the small of her back. “The store has only one of the churches. That piece costs hundreds of dollars.”