Rock Hard (35 page)

Dani-Lee was a woman of science. What she had just seen defied anything she’d been trained for. Tess figured the doctor’s logical mind had to accept what they said…for now.

“Tess?” Dani turned to where she was still sitting quietly on the couch. “You’re mortal, right?” she asked.

“Yes,” Tess agreed.

“If this little scenario means they’re telling the truth, then I have to believe that they’re gods and that there are more of them.” It was a statement. “How is it that you see them? How many are in the room?” The questions were tumbling out now.

“Nine invisible.” Tess pointed to various spots in the room.

“And you can see them…why?”

“Because I am a direct descendant of Enlil, and have enough god’s blood to make it possible.”

“Okay,” Dani said slowly. “So, I’ll never be able to…” The doctor stopped dead in her tracks. Tess groaned. Entering the room, clad only in a small white towel slung very low on his hips, was her magnificent brother. If she could judge correctly by Dani’s face, the doctor thought he was the best looking man in the room, and that included Enlil.

“…I think I see one,” she whispered.

Huxley, who had been toweling his hair, looked up from under disheveled bangs.

“Sorry,” he smiled, not in the least bit self-conscious. “I didn’t know we had company.”

It looked as if Dani-Lee suddenly didn’t care that all of them belonged in an asylum. She crossed the room to Huxley and put out her hand.

“Hi. My name’s Dani-Lee Whitehill, and I’m your new doctor!”

Disgruntled gods launched invisible pillows at Hux.

I knew we shouldn’t have let a mortal into the house,
Kulla complained.

Boo!
The gods cried in unison.
Unfair advantage.

Huxley looked tremendously confused as he took Dani-Lee’s hand. “What’s the fuss?” he asked. “Why do I feel like I’ve missed something?”

Tess began to explain, but there was no more time. Enlil, who appeared more than a little put out to have lost a potential conquest, called a halt to the love-fest.

“Go get dressed if you’re headed to Plymouth,” he told the human male. Bemused, Hux shrugged and reluctantly left the room, but by this time, Dani-Lee was securely on board.

Tess clapped her hands and hugged Marduk around the middle. They obviously had themselves a doctor, and they could sort out the god logistics later. Right now, they only had two hours before the meeting with Dagon. Huxley needed to leave right away, and she and Dani-Lee were going to need to put together a list of medical supplies she required. Time was of the essence.

Chapter Thirty-One

At one-thirty, Hux parked his bike far from the meeting spot. He sprinted into the woods carefully and quietly, just as he had taught himself all those years ago playing warrior games up in Maine. His breath came slowly despite his adrenaline pumping. This is what he’d been born to do. This is what he’d trained for his entire life. Everything felt right.

He came upon the first PP taking a leak on the base of a tree. Hux looked around. He knew it wasn’t in his job description to take anybody out, but this was way too easy. The guy was all alone. He inched up behind and brought both fists down on the man’s head. Dude dropped like a stone.

Hux wasted no time, but bound the man using the victims own shoelaces and stuffed a piece of his shirt in his mouth. One down, and now Huxley had his position. He crept a hundred yards to his left before he spotted another male. He went a hundred yards to his right and found another.

Moving silently forward, and keeping to a dense grove of scrub pines, Huxley saw two more pairs to his right and also to his left, then a klatch of three individuals in a huddle, straight ahead. One of those had to be Dagon, Huxley assumed, from the description he’d been given. He crept back to the fallen man’s position and took out his cell phone.

“Fourteen individuals confirmed,” Hux spoke in low tones to Marduk, and gave him exact coordinates. “I’m assuming there could be twice that, if the group in the center has covered their flank.”

“Group in the center?” Marduk questioned.

“Two males and a female. Looks like Dagon and maybe the woman Tess described as her abductor, as well as a tall light-haired guy with his right hand in a cast.”

“That’s the one that stuck me in the kidney.” Marduk also recalled that the man named Matthew had put his hands on Tess. He would savor his revenge against that one.

“Stay put,” Marduk ordered. “We’ll be there at three.” He tapped off his phone and turned to Tess and Dani-Lee. “I want you two to be very careful.” He wasn’t certain that the pair should make the trip to the hospital for medical supplies, but he knew the need might be greater than his fear, and the bad guys should all be busy in Plymouth. He ran a distracted hand across his jaw, making a decision.

“I’m sending Emesh with you.”
Emesh!
he called, and the god was instantly by Marduk’s side.

You rang, your supremeness?

Tess snickered and, at Dani’s puzzled look, she turned and whispered. “Nobody treats Marduk with what I’d call total respect.” Tess had already told the doctor that the group was an irreverent bunch. She hoped Dani would get the chance to see all these gods in the flesh one day.

“I want you to accompany the ladies to the hospital to, uh, borrow some supplies. Make sure a sizable donation gets tucked under the door of their HR department,” Marduk ordered.

A pout appeared on Emesh’s face.
But that means I’ll miss all the action in Plymouth! I was looking forward to a little intimidation, ghost-style.

Marduk commiserated. “Join us after you’re finished, but not before Tess and Dani are safely back at the compound.”

Emesh clapped his hands and bowed to Tess.
Genie-boy at your command,
he flourished grandly.
Let’s make this quick so I don’t miss the fun!

The three headed to Tess’s car. Emesh ghosting above as they took the nearest fire road.

“How are we going to get all the things we need out of the hospital without security all over us,” the doctor asked Tess once they were on their way.

“Remember how Marduk and Enlil showed you their ‘acquiring’ skills,” Tess replied. Dani nodded quickly.

“Emesh will be acquiring the things we need.” Tess laughed. “All you have to do is tell him what you want, and he does the rest.”

****

Back at the compound, forty minutes remained before the gods had to make their appearance. Marduk, now in non-physical form, had a map of Bloody Pond and the surrounding area spread out on the table in the meeting room. The group crowded around to get a better view.

“According to Huxley, we have confirmed humans in the places I’ve marked.” He pointed to the X’s.

“Dagon and his two sidekicks are here,” he continued as he pointed to marks he’d made in the center of a half circle. “And there are probably twice as many making up the rest of a complete circle at Dagon’s rear to surround our meeting point. I’m sure Dagon is counting on our not being able to see the humans, even though he’s aware we’ll be suspicious.”

Enlil, also non-corpus, at Marduk’s side offered, “I’ll take care of the mortals at Dagon’s back. That means I’ll remain far enough away from Hux that I don’t materialize. Lahar, Absu, Kulla—you’re with me.” He received three nods.

“Right,” Marduk agreed. “And while I’m confronting Dagon…”

“With me beside you,” Ishkur’s voice brooked no argument.

“And me,” Enten chimed in.

Marduk approved with another nod. “…Shamash, Ninurta, and Dumuzi will join Huxley.”

Archie’s tail thumped on the floor at the mention of his favorite god.

“That’s it then.” Marduk glanced at his cell phone. “We have half an hour to weapon up. I suggest a lot of throwing stars and small blades. Hux said he saw no guns. I’m sure Dagon doesn’t want the local humans to hear anything and come looking for trouble.”

As the group broke up to handle various tasks, they were taken aback when Emesh materialized in the doorway. One look and they knew it wasn’t good.

“They’ve got Tess.”

Fear flowed through every channel in Marduk’s being. His body didn’t morph slowly. He reached fully enraged proportions in seconds.

“What went wrong,” he demanded, and to Emesh’s credit the summer god didn’t flinch as he told the story.

“They must have been watching the hospital, maybe followed you there earlier when you went to look for the doctor.” Marduk was beyond impatient, waiting for the crux of things.

“Dani and Tess had put together a pile of supplies and, as I was acquiring the last bunch, the ladies preceded me out to the car. By the time I got there, Dani was on the ground and Tess was gone! There was nothing I could do for Dani except pull the fire alarm and hope somebody would come help her. She didn’t look badly hurt, just angry. Smart woman, she knew I had to be nearby and, before the humans came, she told me that the two guys who took Tess mentioned a meeting in Plymouth. I’m sure they plan to take her to Dagon.”

“Dagon couldn’t have been certain about being able to abduct Tess, but now that she’s in the mix,” Shamash voiced what everyone was thinking; Marduk would now be corporeal when he confronted Dagon. “It will change his plans.”

“Well, our plans don’t change.” Marduk’s voice was hard. “After we have incapacitated all of Dagon’s minions, I will deal with that bastard and bring Tess home.”

“Emesh.” Marduk knew the god must be blaming himself for Tess’s abduction. “It wasn’t your fault. Do you have the keys to Tess’s vehicle?”

“Still in the ignition.”

“Go acquire them and set them in front of Dani-Lee. When she sees them, she’ll remember that we need her here.” He swallowed convulsively. “Let’s hope that her skills aren’t needed more desperately than before.”

The clock had never moved more slowly. By the time three o’clock finally chimed, the gods were ready to jump out of their virtual skins.

Marduk emerged in the clearing, not having regained his body. Tess was not within 100 yards of the central arena.

“Where is she,” he fumed at Dagon, nearly consumed with anger.

“The girl wasn’t part of the deal, but—” Dagon’s voice grated on Marduk’s every nerve.

“Lenore,” he spoke to a curvaceous platinum blond. “Go retrieve Ms. Abelard and have her join us.” He indicated a spot in the distance that Marduk’s men hadn’t covered.

“That’s Lenore,” Dagon said, conversationally. “She’s my first in command and a very tough lady, although you wouldn’t know it to look at her.”

Marduk’s eyes followed Lenore and, just over a hundred yards away, Tess was being led forward into the woman’s hands from behind an enormous root ball. The male who accompanied his Chosen, was vilely familiar. Tess’s hands were once again bound, and a swath of tape covered her mouth. A few steps forward was all it took for Marduk to feel his body materialize around him and, in his severe state of agitation at seeing her restrained, he not only materialized but grew exponentially.

Dagon feigned a yawn behind his hand and continued with introductions.

“That is my vice president, Matthew.” Dagon’s voice held a slight edge. “Say hello, Matthew.”

The man mumbled something unintelligible to Marduk as he came within close proximity, eyes glued to the now towering god.

Marduk turned malevolent eyes to the one who’d abused Tess and stabbed him, noting that besides the broken wrist Matthew’s body had been quite thoroughly roughed up since he’d last seen him. Served the asshole right.

Dagon reclaimed his full attention.
Remember I agreed to swap my new toy for the information I wanted? Now it looks like I have a better bargaining chip
. Marduk wondered why Dagon didn’t say this out loud. Was he hiding something from his right…and left hands?

“I had thought to use this on you.” Dagon fingered his knife, now talking out loud. “I said I’d let you have it,” he smirked. “I just didn’t say how,” Dagon continued. “The only problem was that I knew you wouldn’t give me any information if you became incapacitated and were sent back to the Underworld.”

Marduk’s nostrils flared. The asshole dared to look disappointed.

The thunder god’s sensitive ears caught the sounds of bodies falling and knew that Dagon’s humans were seeing weapons materialize out of thin air just before being embedded in jugulars and wind pipes. Dagon heard it too.

“I sense we don’t have much time,” he sighed.
Let’s see how well you can keep your mouth shut as I carve up your little girlfriend.

Then, out loud again, so the woman could hear him, he commanded, “Lenore, bring the girl to me. Quickly.”

That was it. For some reason, Dagon didn’t want the female to know Tess was to be a victim. Marduk held his tongue. Perhaps it could be used to their advantage.

Lenore dragged Tess forward and stood next to Dagon, keeping Tess on her far side, her own dagger drawn.

Marduk’s men emerged from the woods, having dispatched their targets.

“Tell them to stand down.” Dagon spoke for all to hear, waving his lethal blade in a wide circle before continuing his private duologue with Marduk.
If they so much as move in our direction, I will kill her!

Marduk commanded his men to stay back, barely able to hold himself in check. If Dagon touched her with his blade, Marduk would not be responsible for the carnage that ensued.

“Remove the tape from her mouth,” Dagon ordered.

Lenore turned to Tess and gently began peeling back a corner.

“Oh for God’s sake!” It was clear Matthew was impatient and, reaching from behind, he ripped off the tape with one quick yank, sending Tess spinning and sinking to her knees in the process.

She screamed in fear, “Marduk!”

A bellow of rage tore from Marduk’s throat as thunder filled the sky, only to be drowned out by a far louder and more primitive sound emerging from the woods behind Dagon. They turned as one to behold a monstrous being—half man, half bull—rampaging through the trees toward them.

“Call him off, Marduk,” Dagon cried, recognition dawning. “Call Enlil off, or I kill the girl, now!” Dagon had forgotten to speak to Marduk on their private channel and, as his words emerged, Lenore looked like she’d been slapped. Clearly she’d not known that Dagon was prepared to kill Tess.