Demon Hunt (33 page)

“
Yeah?”

“
Thanks.”

Rhi was taken aback. “For what? Getting people killed and your daughter snatched by an overdressed dark wizard wannabe?”

“
There is that. But when push came to shove, most would have headed for the nearest hole, jumped in and pulled it in behind them. Katie’s the only worthwhile thing I’ve produced in this life and I’ll take on Hell for her. I’m glad you’re going with me.” Pam gave her a weak grin.

Nearby, the two men with a demon in a bag were delving into a serious discussion about the possibility of having the creature’s head stuffed and mounted, much to the distress of the demon, which started to whimper.

Stephen, who stood nearby in awed silence, watching the bag jump on its own, suddenly regained his cheer.

“
Okay girls! Let’s get a picture while Pam is in her cammos and Rhi is in her - ski pants and hiking boots in a battle is so pedestrian, girl! You should at
least
be wearing leather!” He pulled out a digital camera to photograph the pair.

Blackthorne returned, carrying his sword in a sheath across his back, his gun over one shoulder. His crisp, black fatigues contrasted wildly with the rest of the motley crowd’s scratched together battle wear.

“
This is what I am talking about!
Look
at this guy! And what about
her
!” Stephen’s face took on the reverent glow he usually saved for discussions about aging actresses from the 70’s. Pearl obviously had arrived.

Blackthorne glowered and took his place to the right of Rhi.

“
Everyone’s moving into the respective locations,” he told her. “The locals will be holding back, hiding on the back streets until they get the signal to defend the town. A few groups will be in and around the houses near the cemetery to back us up with Bobby Wayne. Colonel Douglas will be in a truck in the driveway of one of the houses off of Teller One, ready to swoop in and get Katie as soon as we get our hands on her and get her out of there. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Rhi hadn’t told anyone but Pam the extent of her plans, after instructing her friend on the particulars of shielding her thoughts. But she had left one important element out from her explanation. “I can’t explain it all but keep whatever is up there busy once Hell breaks loose. Especially your brother. Shoot him, stab him, garrote him but keep him away from me and the gate once we get Katie away from him.”

Dressed in brown suede pants and a sheepskin-lined parka, Pearl worked the crowd like a diva. She glided through the hall with her grandson trailing behind her, greeting many of the locals by name. It was obvious that the majority of the long term residents were well aware of the identity of the woman.

“
So much for anonymity, huh? Why didn’t anyone in town share this stuff with me?” Pam complained.

Bobby Wayne jumped up on the hotel’s counter and whistled to get the attention of the assembled crowd. The man was in his element and enjoying himself. “Okay. We all know where we have to be and we all know what has to happen. The storm’s about to break so it will hopefully keep whoever is uninformed and stupid inside the casinos until this is over. We’ll not be able to see the moon rise because of the snowstorm, but be prepared for action at 0600. Until then, be in place by 0300. Any other locals or visitors you can convince to leave before then, please do so. This is not going to be a good place come nightfall.”

“
What about the graveyard, Bobby? Who’s covering the place where this shindig is gonna start?” One of the men struggling with the sack full of demon called.

Bobby Wayne’s face turned vicious. “These gentlemen from – err – a highly secretive government agency,” he waved a hand at the assembled Brotherhood knights, “and some of you, whom I have already put into my group, and Rhi and Pam will handle the graveyard. I might have a few other surprises in store for the varmints as well. Be sure of this: if they get past us into town, we will do our best to whittle them down before they get to you.”

A cheer rang through the room and the crowd dispersed. Batty Betty, on her way out the door, turned and grabbed Rhi’s arm in a talon-like hand. Blackthorne and Pam both moved as one towards the old woman but Rhi held up a hand for calm.

“
Is there something you wanted to say to me, Betty?”

The older woman smiled and her face suddenly revealed the remnants of what had been a great beauty in spite of the wrinkled skin and the yellowed teeth in her mouth that shone oddly in the gloom of the hall.

“
Don’t be afraid. Hell cannot hold the pure of heart, child.”

She turned and pirouetted away, leaving Rhi behind to stare at the retreating form. “I can’t believe anyone sold that woman a gun.”

“
You won’t be going anywhere near Hell so it won’t be a problem, will it Rhi?” Blackthorne towered over her, his face divided by worry and anger.

“
No, Blackie, I won’t be going near Hell,” Rhi replied in a whisper, for the first time using his nickname. A glimmer of hope burned for a moment and she firmly pushed the notion away.

Outside, storm clouds blackened the afternoon sky, and snowflakes as large as casino tokens started to fall.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The mausoleum in the back corner of the Mt. Pisgah graveyard was beautiful, Rhi decided as she examined the dead brush hiding the building in the summer. Built of imported, rose-colored marble, the neo-classical building was adorned with small Doric columns. Dug into the hillside, the building was scarcely visible to passersby on the road. She paused for a moment beside a recessed shelf holding the small bust of a slender, doe-eyed girl. She shook her head, hard. She could hear the collective breath of the group behind her being held, waiting to see when she would break, as brittle as a coffee mug microwaved one too many times.

“
Keys,” she asked Blackthorne without glancing into his face.

He handed her an old-fashioned iron key on a giant metal ring. She fumbled a bit with the lock, her hands shaking, and the lock on Raven Blackthorne’s crypt snapped open. Rhi turned to face the circle of knights who surrounded her. Pam, loaded down with packs, stood off to one side, a little closer than the men. Ellie Mae stood at her side. The dog and the woman were the only beings Rhi trusted at this moment.

“
It’s nowhere near time for sunset yet, even though we can’t see it through these clouds. I would like a few minutes alone, please. Except for Pam and Ellie.” Knowing how this would wound Blackthorne, Rhi fought the urge to reach a hand out to touch his arm. A bigger wound was in store for him later.

She’d been holding back the coming storm for most of the day, allowing the clouds to swell and grow above the town. When unleashed, the storm would be a weapon. The weather cover would be a valuable tool to whichever side had prepared properly, hopefully theirs. But she felt as though her mind held up the sky and the sky wasn’t too happy about it.

Blackthorne hovered nearby, ignoring her request. The other knights took up positions farther out from the gate. Out of the corner of her eye she tried catch a glimpse of Bobby Wayne and the men under his command. They were nowhere to be seen. But Rhi had the feeling the Mount Pisgah Cemetery was in for a hell of a fireworks show that evening. Bobby Wayne did love his demolitions training. The snow in several places near the site appeared to be too well groomed and flat.

“
Okay Rhi, I’ve followed your lead on this all day. It’s about time you trust me. What are you planning?” His eyes flashed with neon blue light, betraying his emotion. He towered over her as she stood by her most recent final resting place.

Tears streaked her face. Hardening her heart and her resolve, she picked the most hurtful thing to say, to drive him as far away as possible. Her love for him was the one thing that would make her hesitate. Love. Her stomach clenched. Yes, she loved him. She had loved him all of her life, somewhere deep in her soul. Every romance she had ever embarked upon, from her first crush in second grade to her failed marriage, came up short and she had never known why until this moment. Only one man in the universe fit her. And he would never allow her to do what she must to fight this war. She had no choice. “I don’t know how you guys sneak up on anyone when your eyes glow every time you’re pissed off. Trust you? Since when have you trusted me, Blackthorne? You’ve lied to me from the first day I met you. You trust me first, sweetheart.”

Pam strolled over, openly checking and rechecking her gun. “I think she said she needs some alone time.”

With a burning glance, he stalked away to lean near a Woodsmen-of-the-World tombstone. “Go ahead. Nobody’s stopping you. But I’d hold off on getting the thing out of that Bible until your hostage arrives - that’s just a suggestion to keep Pam’s daughter alive.”

“
Jerk.” Pam re-holstered her pistol and turned to where Rhi struggled with the huge iron door.

“
Let’s see how many nasty names we can call him later, okay? Never mind him, help me get this thing opened.” The first snowflake hit Rhi’s nose. She paused and took a deep breath, swallowing a sob. There was no time for sniffling. “I can’t hold back the storm much longer.”

On cue, the heavy door opened. Rhi fumbled for her flashlight as a musty mixture of scents, sulfur, dust and death, hit them. Three steps down, she stood for a moment and allowed her gaze to adjust to the gloom. A chill seeped through her heavy clothing as Ellie Mae padded past to inspect the dusty, not-quite empty room. The tomb was a perfect box, dimly lit in the daytime by a tiny row of windows near the ceiling. The dog cocked her head and trotted towards a coffin standing on a stone pedestal off to one side, which she inspected with her sensitive nose for a moment. Then, with a deep sigh, Ellie Mae did three turns before curling up at the foot of the pedestal.

Behind her, Pam turned on the battery-powered lamp in her hand and exposed the room to harsh electric light. Both women gasped in amazement.

“
Ok, this isn’t too bad,” Pam whispered as she examined the crypt. Off to one side stood the stone pedestal topped by what they could see was an elaborately carved sarcophagus. The lid was covered with carvings of runes, vines and flowers. A simple brass plaque on the side announced the name of the occupant, Raven Blackthorne.

Four huge iron torch holders lined each side wall while the back wall was dominated by the façade of a huge gate, outlined in gold and iron, covered in jewels, runes and pictographs telling the story of the Gates and the inevitable fate of those who dared tamper with the order of the universe in such a careless fashion.

“
I can’t believe no one’s ransacked this place in all of these years. The crap on that gate is worth more than the combined wealth of the entire town.” Pam lit the torches, bathing the room in a golden glow.

“
My tomb
has
been broken into,” Rhi remarked as she placed her backpack on the floor and dug into one of the other packs. Triumphant, she arose with a crowbar in hand and headed for the coffin. “Blackthorne would feel thieves breaking in and pop in to gut them. Their bones are probably scattered all over these mountains. But the picture on the wall is not the Gate, it’s the doorway into the hill to the tunnel that leads to the Gate.”

The other woman stared at her in horror. “That guy is beginning to freak me out, just so you know.
What
are you doing? There is no way you are opening your own coffin. This is so Freudian.”

Rhi was busily prying open the box.

An outraged expression on her long face, Ellie Mae got up grumbling and left to sit on her haunches nearby, facing the front door to the crypt.

“
Shut up and help me. Manius won’t let us carry anything resembling a weapon in when we make the exchange. I want this close and accessible. We might get lucky. He’d never believe I’d have the nerve to put anything in my own coffin and for that matter, neither will his brother. So the backpack goes in here. And my sword, your machete and how about a few guns? What do you think?”

“
I think it scares the crap out of me that Bobby Wayne got this so easily and he lives right down the road from me. Oh, stuff the thing full, your other self was teeny from what everyone says and she’s too dead to notice. There should be plenty of room.” Pam joined Rhi at the coffin to help lift the lid. “You open the gate, go
inside
and set the itty bitty nuke to close up the gate? How are you getting back out? And won’t we all get fried by this thing or at least glow a bit?”

Rhi didn’t meet her friend’s eyes. “I’m fairly powerful now, Pam. I’ll get back out before it blows. The gate’s invulnerable from the outside but from the inside – the thing will crumple like a napkin from a fast food restaurant. But from our side, there will be nothing. The gate will just disappear. And yes, it is scary Bobby Wayne got this kind of thingamabob on such short notice. Where did he get that kind of money and who the hell is he friends with? You might want to inspect his barn at some point in the near future.”

“
What if Manius kills my daughter because you stuffed this in here?”