The End of the World As I Know It (The Ghosts & Demons Series Book 2) (12 page)

Victor stood slowly and cautiously, apparently testing his body for pain. “You’re no doubt alive because you hadn’t delivered your message yet, Iowa. If you’d spoken outright, the demon would have shot you, too.”

“Key said…the demon I fought at Castille, I mean, said…to tell my friends. I’ve got fewer and fewer friends all the time.”

I stared at Lynda. She wasn’t Lynda anymore. Her eyes were open but she saw nothing. Her blood spread as if reaching for me.

Trick sat up, held my hand and gave it a squeeze. “You okay?”

“I should be dead. That demon saw his chance and…that was
Sam’s
gun.”

Wil stared at me. “Iowa?”

I began to cry hard. “I already feel dead inside.”

Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris cried on film once each, I think. What chance do mere mortals have?
 

Chapter 21

The Keep had a portable X-ray machine and medics. The Keep’s chief doctor was a large man with the cataclysmically unfortunate name of Moosejaw. To make matters worse, he had a large jaw, too. He confirmed the break in my left radius bone.

“How long before I’m up and saving the world, Doctor?”

“Six to eight weeks,” he said, “so I hope D-Day doesn’t come that fast. Squeeze a tennis ball and flex your muscles in the cast I give you. Otherwise your muscles will atrophy and your arm will look like a little stick when I take the cast off.”

While he went off to get my cast ready, Victor came into my room and closed the door behind him. He paced for a while before he sat opposite me and drew his chair close. “Does it hurt very much?”

“Yes. It does.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. I’m sorry about Samantha. I tried to save her.”

“Of course, you did,” Victor said. “The Ra will do anything to get at me. Cut the head off the snake and all that.”

Lesson 128: In a war zone, there is no such thing as a civilian. Not everyone is a combatant, but everyone is a participant. Sam never wanted any part of the Choir Invisible but she may as well have been a sword singer. She might have had a chance if she’d joined up. Now her children would be motherless. Modern warfare conductors use misleading terms like surgical strikes and collateral damage, but the rule in any conflict is that the women and children suffer more casualties than soldiers do. It takes a lot of steel and armor to remain untouched. I wished Sam had armored up, too.

I looked into the old man’s kind eyes. I had no idea what I was in for when I met Victor Fuentes that day on a bench in a cemetery. He seemed to have all the answers then, so I asked another. “How did a demon take Lynda?”

He shrugged. “There’s some debate about that. It can be done by force if there is some weakness the demons can take advantage of. I hope it was force, or…I don’t know. There are several possibilities, none of them good. I’d like to say that Lynda must have been duped. Perhaps through some drug or spell or deception, she let the demon take over her body. I’ve rarely seen demon possession, but in the cases I know of, the human entered into the pact knowingly.”

“Pact?”

“A contract. Give them your body to move around in and they’ll do something for you.”

“Lynda was a loyal employee. She said she knew you for years.”

“True.”

“She was dying, What would possess her to — sorry, I didn’t mean to put it that way.”

Victor pursed his lips. “You may have answered your own question. She was dying. If I had to guess, and it’s only a guess, I would say the demon offered her a way to die quickly instead of by inches. Her last husband died of early onset Alzheimer’s. Her first husband died of Huntington’s disease. She had no children and I’ve been so busy with the Keep and the Choir, I haven’t had time to be a great friend to her. The demon might have tricked her, or — ”

“Or offered to rip off the band-aid instead of allowing her to suffer? She did say something about assisted suicide earlier today.”

“Maybe he offered to cure her. We’ll never know,” Victor said. “But if it was a quick death she bargained for, the demon delivered on his promise.”

“Wait.
Cure
her? Is that possible?”

“There are many possibilities. I only meant to say that, when we are old and the pain of death is made real to us, we want to meet our mortality painlessly. The closer you get to death, the better you’ll understand. At your age, that all seems very remote, I’m sure.”

That irritated me like sandpaper underwear. I’d already faced death that night, certain I’d die in horrible ways several times. I didn’t appreciate being treated like a child, but someone had already tried to kill Victor that night so I shut my mouth and resented the conductor silently. I resented him
hard
, but he was still a better father figure to me than Peter Smythe ever was.

“The Keep is still on high alert,” Victor said. “Tell me what happened tonight.”

I told him, message and all. My arm throbbed and I wanted to sleep, but Moosejaw wasn’t back yet and Victor pinned me to the chair with his anxious gaze. When I was done, the old man slumped in his chair, tears sliding down his cheeks.

“Poor Samantha,” he said. “She was so beautiful and smart. I never imagined she’d be in any danger at Castille. Who would have thought she would be in the line of fire while the Keep remains safe? I’m going to have to tell her family.”

“Don’t tell them the truth. Tell them she went quickly, in her sleep, not tied to a desk.”

He nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Did Peter Smythe know about you and Samantha?” I asked.

“Yes, he knew our private lives intimately. Your father was my friend.”

“That’s why the demons knew to find her at — ”

Victor shook his head and waved me off that sensitive topic. “About the message from Key — ”

“The one where we kill all the Magicals in the Keep and run away hoping the Ra will spare us?” I said. “Yeah, between you and me, I think we should keep that between you and me.”

Victor nodded. “They are trying to weaken our morale.”

“That message could start a panic. A lot of the Magicals are pretty high strung as it is.”

“And how’s your morale, Iowa?”

“Demolished,” I admitted. “Couldn’t save Sam or Clyde or the Lindas. I saw Peter Smythe and I couldn’t get to him.”

“Your father.”

“Don’t call him that.”

“He was my closest friend before we…fell out. What do you think makes him work with the Darkness Visible, Iowa?”

“I can’t imagine what would make someone a traitor.”

“I can,” Victor said. Despite the fact that we were alone, he leaned closer and whispered. “Some species of the Ra do not age as we do.”

“They’re a different species,” I said. “I’d be surprised if they did. Doesn’t every species have a different expected lifespan?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. They might be able to offer humans a longer and healthier life.”

“Not worth it,” I said. “I’ll just eat more kale and fewer hotdogs.”

“They have certain factors in their blood that we lack but are compatible. They’re stronger, and not just because of size. If they weren’t as strong as they are, they wouldn’t have survived the changes in their dimension’s atmosphere this long. They have adapted to their environment. The changes have killed many, but our information is that those who have survived…genetically, they are a superior breed. In their blood, there are secrets that could benefit us.”

“What are you saying?”

Victor looked at me in a new way, as if he was searching for lies. “Tam…did the monster…did Key say anything to you that you found persuasive?”

“What are you asking me?”

“Just tell me, did he offer you anything? A bargain for you personally, perhaps? Or maybe he just slid in some propaganda about how we can all share our planet and coexist peacefully?”

“He said we demonize them,” I said. “Again, no pun intended and no pleasure taken.”

“But did you believe him?”

“Of course not! With what they did to Sam and — ”

“Okay. I’m sorry. I had to ask. I have to know your reaction. Your father wasn’t so sure about our cause. He tried to talk to me about his misgivings, but I didn’t take him seriously.”

“Why? What did he say?”

“It doesn’t matter. He was wrong. We call them monsters for a reason.” He put a finger to his lips to silence me. “When the demons come, they won’t be riding on a mission of mercy. They are soulless killers. Have no illusions.”

“They don’t like holy objects and blessed swords kill them best. Pretty strong clues, Victor.”

“Good. Good.”

“But? ”

“No buts.”

“How do you know about the Ra’s biology, sir?”

He whispered so low I could barely hear him. “We’ve been examining the bodies of the Ra that fell during the incursion on the Keep. We’re looking for more ways to kill them. We’re learning, but slowly.”

“And?”

He hung his head. “There’s still so much we don’t understand. Aside from a researcher we’re consulting from the Vatican, there’s no intersection between science and magic. All we know is that what looks like magic now will eventually become science. We always figure it out eventually, and just like with every magic trick you’ve ever seen, the truth is simple and disappointing. It’s all smoke and mirrors. When we figure out the truth and solve the mystery, it becomes science again.”

“Sure, if D-Day doesn’t arrive first. It’ll be hard to figure out the truth when the Ra rampage through every university in the world breaking microscopes and eating cheerleaders, football players and the science department.”

Victor stood and straightened until he was stiff. I could tell he was about to get into the mode of slinging orders. He was the conductor of the Choir Invisible again. “Iowa, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the Keep. We’ll find something else for you to do, away from the battlefield.”

I pointed at my broken arm. “Sir! Really? It’s just
one
broken arm and you need every singer, broken wing or not.”

His eyebrows furrowed and I stood, eager to suggest a mission and a strategy instead of having a bad idea imposed on me. I followed the conductor’s orders, but he had always been collaborative and willing to hear his singers out before making up his mind. “How about I take some Magicals and go work on rebuilding the library database? If the Magicals aren’t at the Keep, maybe we can make them safe from invaders or more traitors like Lynda.”
Or my father,
I thought.

“What if the demons tell someone else about the bargain they want to strike? They’ve obviously been watching us,” I said. “Who knows where they’ll strike next? They burned Castille to the ground! What if they hit up one of the noobs with the same deal and somebody goes on a killing spree? If one Magical dies at the hands of a member of the Choir, it’ll tear the Keep apart before the Ra even get here.”

Victor shook his head. “I already have others working on the database and research. I’ll take steps to ensure the magic folk are safe in the Keep.”

“C’mon. Don’t bench me, coach. I’m injured, but I can help. I can lead if you give me the chance. You know I can still do that. The PTSD won’t kick in until after we’ve won D-Day, I promise.”

“That’s too big a promise, Iowa, and no, you can’t be here. I need you at your best.”

“Working second string rolling bandages and cooking hash in the mess while the front line sword singers attack on the vanguard — ”

“No,” he said firmly. “I have an important mission for you. You have done all you can here, but elsewhere, you may be able to turn the tide of this war.”

“No shit? You aren’t just blowing me off?”

He looked like he was about to lose patience. “Had you asked that question this morning, my answer would have been different. However, since the attack at Castille, it seems all bets are off. The Ra masked their intent. They are more devious than I expected. They somehow trapped Rory — we still have to figure that out. They made us think danger is everywhere. Perhaps it really is. I won’t underestimate them again. I pray you won’t, either.”

“What’s the mission?”

“Go home.”

“
What?
”

“Go home, Iowa. We need you in Medicament. That’s where you’ll unleash our secret weapon.”

Chapter 22

I still worried that Victor was trying to get me out of harm’s way until he told me I wouldn’t go on the super secret mission alone. “Take a couple of singers with you, just to be safe,” Victor said. “Who would you choose for an away mission?”

“Manhattan.”

“No, I can’t spare her. If D-day comes while you’re away, I need her here.”

“Makes sense,” I said, though I was disappointed. Manny was my best friend in the Choir Invisible. I always felt safer with her by my side.

“Wilmington and Trick were injured. I’ll take them.”

“Slightly injured,” Victor said. “I do hate to be without my bodyguard. Wilmington saved me today.”

“If there’s danger everywhere and you won’t let me have Manny with me, give me Wil.”

“And the new boy? What good is he to you?”

“Wil took a bullet for you and Trick took a bullet for me.”

“I see.”

“Besides, when D-day comes, I think standing in the way of flying spears is all he’ll be good for. He’s safer with me.”

“He’s supposed to be there to protect you and fulfill the mission.”

“And he proved he’s up for protecting me already.”

Victor paused a long moment before giving a slow nod. “Fine. If you think that’s best for the mission.”

Okay, I admit it. My motivations where Trick was concerned weren’t entirely pure and strategic. But if you got a chance to pick a hottie to be your lab partner in high school, you’d do it, too, even if it meant more homework for you. I still felt dead inside and I wanted Trick around to remind me of something good. I wanted to feel something good again. I wanted the blonde guy with the cool Irish accent by my side, when I was walking around and waking up in the morning.

Dr. Moosejaw returned, ready to put my forearm in a cast. Victor gave the medic a nod. “Please fix her up nicely, Doctor. I need Iowa back in the fight as soon as possible.”