Cat Adams - Demon Song

But she was more than beauty. She was mercy, too. I was completely sincere when I touched the glittering gold and pearl ring on her hand. “Thank you, Your Highness. I would never have expected the kindness you’ve shown me, and now my family. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

She smiled almost sadly and lifted my chin. “You have my brother Kalino’s eyes. How could I see them in pain and not help?” Her hand pulled away from mine and she turned, walking into the sea. She dived into the water without so much as a splash.

I sat there, feeling both happy and sad, happy I had an answer to the question about my mother and sad because she was suffering. I stood up and realized my muscles had stiffened; fleetingly I wondered if Lopaka was feeling the burn, too.

I grabbed the clothes I’d left folded on the rocks and hobbled slowly back to the guesthouse that had been my home for the past few years, feeling muscles pull that I hadn’t felt in months. I really needed to swim more often. I probably should drive back to Gran’s house—it would always be Gran’s house in my head, even though I now owned it and had been living there since Gran had moved out—but I honestly wasn’t positive I could work the clutch right now.

So I went into the house and checked the fridge. Nothing. Nothing in the freezer or cupboards, either. Well, hell. I was going to have to drive to town for an energy drink or walk up to the main house and beg for kitchen privileges. David and Inez certainly wouldn’t mind. We’d always been close. But I’d been working so much that I hadn’t seen much of them lately. Maybe I should call first?

Nobody answered. Well, I couldn’t expect them to be home every night of the week. They probably wouldn’t mind if I went up and used my key, but it felt … weird now that they owned the place. Vicki’s probate wasn’t done yet, but her former employees had a valid lease.

I was just going to have to stop whining and suck it up to drive back to town. At Birchwoods, I’d drunk the last of the shakes I was keeping in the car. So, after a few minutes of stretching, I forced my aching joints back into clothes, stowed my weapons, and gingerly duckwalked out to the car. I’d left my cell phone in its holster; it registered three missed calls, all from the same number and all in the last few minutes.

Alex.

That was a call I definitely wanted to return. I started the car and slowly pushed in the clutch to put it into gear. Ow. Sharp little shooting pains coursed up my thigh, bringing sparkles to my vision.

I was reaching for the phone when it rang. I answered immediately: “Celia. What’s up, Alex?”

“Oh, thank God!” Her voice was low and panicked and all of my senses went to high alert. The pain in my leg disappeared as if by magic. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing. “Celia, I did what I promised. I brought a priest out to the zoo. You’re right; something weird is going on. There have been reports of people going missing for weeks, but nobody’s followed up. I don’t know if it’s because of jurisdictional bullshit or if somebody’s suppressing the reports inside the department. But … shit! There’s screaming coming from inside now. They won’t let me in to check on Father Joseph. I’m going to go back and get help, but in case they follow me I want you to get the photos I’m about to send you from my cell phone back to my lieutenant. He’ll get the right people out there.”

In case they follow, my ass! “Don’t be a hero, Alex. I’m on my way.”

Now her voice went hissing and harsh: “Don’t you be an idiot, Celia. They’d be expecting you. I don’t plan to play hero. I’m driving away from the facility right now. I don’t like leaving the priest, but he’s a warrior class two. He can handle himself. Hopefully. But if you don’t hear from me by morning, get the files to Lieutenant Blanchard. He’ll know what to do.”

I didn’t know her lieutenant all that well and the thought of having to talk to him made me uncomfortable. We’d met, like, once. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. But Alex is as tough as I am, maybe more so. If she said “don’t come,” I had to respect that. “You call Vicki if bad things start to happen. Okay? Promise me you’ll call on Vicki.”

I didn’t doubt for a second that no matter how exhausted Vicki was, she would help Alex. There was a sigh of relief in her voice when she responded: “I don’t think I’ll need to. I just passed through the farthest perimeter barrier. I should be home free. But we need to talk in the morning. I’m headed back to the station to turn all this in and file an official request for investigation. Get some sleep, girlfriend. I’ll be okay.”

“How about I stay on the phone with you until I know you’re okay and back in the city? I’ve been ambushed out there before, and there’s nobody around to hear you scream. Vicki would haunt me forever if I let anything happen to you.”

There was a long pause; the only sounds were the crackling of static and the roar of wind past two cars. Finally she responded: “Okay. You’re right. That makes sense. Let me plug in the car charger and put the phone on hands free.”

So we talked. For the next twenty minutes we talked about the reports she’d discovered of guards going missing and escapes that had never made the news. “Then I dug deeper,” she explained. “I wanted to see if there were any workers’ compensation claims against the private corporation that runs the facility. If people were going missing, then getting hurt was the next step. There were almost a dozen claims in the last year. And though I couldn’t find any record of a budget increase, there seem to be more guards on duty than are on the payroll. I saw dozens of guards, but the facility’s website only shows a standard complement of fifteen for the overnight shift. If they’re secretly hiring more staff, there are definitely problems there.”

A hideous thought formed in my head. Did I dare tell her about the guard with the glowing eyes? He’d moved almost too … fluidly. Almost as though— “There may be another explanation, but you’re not going to like it.”

Her voice grew wary, with an edge of fear. “What?”

“When’s the last time anyone did a head count of prisoners ?” She didn’t respond, so I kept going. The red light gave me a chance to flip over to the Internet on the cell. I typed in demonic possession & werewolves . Six pages of results came up, including three from the major churches. “What if … and this is only an if … demons were possessing the prisoners as well as the administrators, but not the guards?”

She began to follow my reasoning while I scrolled through websites. But the light turned green, so I couldn’t spend much time reading. “There are too many guards and someone would raise a fuss if they all started acting weird,” Alex mused. “But one or two administrators could order the release of prisoners.…”

“Who could then come back as ‘new hires.’ There would be no paperwork because they wouldn’t be on the payroll. And nobody would be the wiser.” It was a conspiracy theory of the highest order and no small feat. But the demon who had tried to claim me was both patient and smart, and since the disk with the spell to bring him forth had gone missing during the fight with Eirene, I couldn’t guarantee that he wasn’t already in this realm.

“Yeah. We’ve got to get someone in there. Immediately. Okay, I’m just coming up on the QualMart at Terrance Drive. I should be fine from here. Thanks, Celia. Really. This gave me a chance to think and I really do feel better talking to you.”

We’d never been very close. It was more a matter of vying for Vicki’s time than any actual animosity. I’d always hoped we could be friends. I figured if my best friend loved Alex, then I should try to like her or at least get to know her. But we’d never managed to get beyond the superficial.