Cat Adams - To Dance with the Devil

“Ha, ha, ha.” I hated that I was dangerous to my friends and allies, that my death curse tended to increase the odds that someone I knew would be hurt or killed.

“Now, what exactly did you have in mind for your dynamic duo back there?” John asked. “I need to know how to fit them into my plans.”

“I want them as close to the center of the action as we can get them. Their only job is going to be to protect the four of you and keep me advised of what’s happening.”

He opened his mouth, as if to protest, question my choice, but I cut him off.

“They’re good people, John. The best. You want them watching your back.”

He sighed. “Fine. Look, we both need to get going.” He smiled for real then, and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me good-bye. But the moment passed. Instead, he said, “Be careful.”

“You, too.” My throat was tight. I turned away so that he wouldn’t see that my eyes had filled with tears. I squared my shoulders and said to Bubba and Talia, “Go with the nice man. Make sure he and the other three involved in the working stay safe. I’m off to guard the client.”

“Good luck!” Bubba called.

“You, too.” We’d all need it.

My ride was waiting on the opposite end of the tarmac, the cargo door propped open. Same chopper, same pilot. Even similar boxes. Evidently the equipment had all been replaced. Good. But oh, Lord, I was not going to enjoy seeing that bill. Here’s hoping Abby paid up promptly.

Chris stood just inside the open doors. Dawna had looked grim, but Chris was expressionless, a blank slate, wearing desert camo, a sidearm, and an anti-siren charm prominently placed outside his shirt. His manner was one of utter professionalism. Frankly, I was surprised he hadn’t passed the job to someone else, all things considered. Unless the Company didn’t have a lot of medics, which would make it difficult to shift assignments like this one on short notice.

“What are the coordinates for our destination?” Chris asked.

I pulled a slip of paper from my jacket pocket and passed it to him. He took it to Rob, and I took my seat, strapping myself in for the ride without waiting to be told.

Chris came back, closing the cargo door as the chopper’s engines started up. Then he disappeared again into the flight cabin without saying a word.

I was fine with that.

I had to adjust the fit of the little bits of electronic equipment I’d be wearing to keep in touch with Bubba and Talia. Gilda had been the one wearing them last, and she’s a much smaller woman than I am. Still, it took only a couple of seconds to get everything comfortable, and I was able to listen to Creede’s briefing as Rob flew the chopper out to Kevin’s cabin.

“Listen up, people. To work this magic, we need to be where the node comes closest to the surface. So do our enemies. There are limited options and they’re not far apart. It’s very likely we’ll be working very close to the enemy. We’ll keep up a veil as long as we can, but once the node is tapped, the interference is going to take everything down. When that happens, you can expect things to get hairy. Under the cover of the veil, we’ll be building concentric walls of sandbags around the circle where the magic will be worked. Bubba and Talia here, are our last line of defense. Your goal is to make sure they have nothing to do. Once I’m inside the circle, Chuck is in charge.”

“Celia,” Chris said as if he’d already repeated my name a couple of times. Maybe he had. I’d been concentrating hard on Creede. “We’re here. We’ve landed.”

“Sorry. I was listening to John Creede. I left some people with him.”

Chris shook his head, a half smile on his face. For just a second a hint of our old friendship surfaced, but then his expression hardened, his eyes going dark. “You’d better go ahead to the house. I know Kevin’s expecting us, but I’d rather not startle him.”

Smart man. Startling a werewolf on the day of the full moon is not a healthy pastime. So I unfastened my safety harness and climbed out of the chopper.

Kevin’s place was on the edge of the desert, near Death Valley. I’d seen pictures when he’d bought the place just after the Needle had been built. The previous owners hadn’t been thrilled with the notion of having the most dangerous criminals in the world living that close to them—even with miles and miles of inhospitable desert between the cabin and the prison—so Kevin had gotten it for a song.

I remembered that when the house had first been built, it had been featured in Mother Earth News as a perfect example of a building designed using recycled tires. The seller had given a copy of the article to Kevin, who had proudly shown us all the photos. The cabin had a stucco surface, with a wide veranda shielding the windows from the sun on the south side. The north side had been built into an earthen berm. There were solar panels on the roof and a windmill elsewhere on the property. It was austere but beautiful, blending seamlessly into the sere beauty of the desert, like a jewel in a brooch. I suspected the place was completely off the grid.

Emma had told me Kevin had made some renovations in the last few years. I’m not sure what I had expected. New bathroom? New appliances? Not this.

The simple fence that had previously surrounded the property had been replaced by a wall that was at least seven feet tall, two to three feet thick, and covered in tan stucco. Access was through a steel gate as tall as the wall and just wide enough to let a single vehicle through. The gate’s controls looked similar to the ones at my place. A sign was attached to the gate, black with yellow block letters: TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT. SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN.

I stood outside the gate and bellowed, “ Yo, Kevin! It’s me! ” Not the most elegant of greetings, but effective. I saw the edge of one of the curtains flick aside. A moment later, Emma came out of the cabin and approached the gate. She had my Derringer in a holster on her belt and carried one of those big squirt guns with the extra tanks. I had no doubt that the reservoirs were filled with holy water. I also knew that Chris, Rob, and I were going to get a little wet if we wanted to get past Emma. It was the only way she and Kevin could be sure that the three of us were who we claimed to be.

“Em, what are you doing here?”

She sprayed me. When it was clear that I was, indeed, me, she answered. “Kevin was worried that if something went wrong and he needed to hunt before you guys got here, Michelle would be unprotected. So I left Paulie with Dad and came out here as backup.”

I hadn’t realized her dad was back. I was glad. I knew she and Kevin had both missed him badly, and this might just give me a chance to extend an olive branch, see if we could work out our differences.

Chris and the pilot came over, both carrying boxes of equipment and supplies. Emma sprayed them, and only when they had both passed inspection did she put her palm on the control pad and open the gate.

“Where do you want these?” Rob asked.

“Put them in the living room. We’ve cleared everything out to make room.”

“Right.”

True to her word, the large room was empty save for a single recliner. The curtains had been drawn on all of the windows so that it was dim. Michelle sat on the wide ledge of a stone fireplace. After greeting me, she sat quietly, watching Chris set up the equipment.

I couldn’t blame her for being afraid. A few days ago she’d been living a normal life. Now her mother had been murdered and she was being hunted by a mage who wanted her dead. And it looked like her only option was to put her life in the hands of people she’d only just met and attempt what sure sounded like a harebrained scheme with no guarantee of success.