Echoes of the Past (Demon Squad) (5 page)

“Only that they were sanctioned to defend the U.S. from supernatural threat.” I laughed. “Maybe we can take a vacation now that the
para
-cops are on the job.”

“Doubtful,” Rahim replied. “Sounds to me like they’ve an open-ended agenda; one that doesn’t exactly bode well for any of us. If they’re looking to police the supernatural realms, we can expect them to be involved in everything we do from here on out.” He growled as he looked back to the streets below, his voice sounding like his counterpart bear. “We don’t need this shit right now.”

Amen, brother. We had a hard enough time keeping the supernatural bullshit down and out sight as it was. Now with a government agency diving into the pool to muddy the waters, things were gonna get more difficult. Even better, since the U.S. formed a supernatural swat team, you could bet your ass the other major players in the world had enough information and motivation to do the same. Given the fluidity and hazy boundaries of the other realms, it was pretty damn likely we’d be stumbling all over these groups every time we stuck our big toe over the U.S. border or into another dimension.

“Go see what you can do to keep this quiet a little longer,” Rahim told Michael. The telepath nodded and walked off. After he was gone, Rahim pulled away from the ledge and waved me along. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slow. “I don’t know how to say this, Frank, so I’ll be direct and hope you understand it isn’t meant to be personal.”

With an introduction like that, how can it be bad? My shoulders sunk a little.

Rahim shuffled, looking at me but not really meeting my eyes. “DRAC is going through a rough time, not that I need to tell you that, but…Rachelle is taking Abraham’s death very hard.”

We all were, but I knew what he was getting at. Abraham died because I couldn’t save him, and I’d chosen to take the blame for our not telling Rachelle until after the battle. She needed Rahim way more than she needed me, so it only made sense. I knew there’d be backlash from the decision, but I wasn’t sure what it would be…until now.

“She doesn’t blame you—“

“Sure she doesn’t.”

“She’s just hurt, Frank,” he countered, his voice speeding up. “No matter how close any of us were to him, Rachelle had his heart. He was her life. It’s only natural for her to be angry. She’ll see things true once things calm down some.”

“What are you asking of me?” I had a pretty good idea. Despite it all, I could feel my cheeks warming. It was something I didn’t want to hear.

He swallowed hard. Always so confident, so certain, it worried me. “I think it best if maybe you took some time away from DRAC, let things settle a bit.”

There it was. My punishment for letting Abe die was banishment from the cool kids club. I started to argue, but clenched my teeth and bit back on the disappointment that threatened to spew out. For all her oddness, Rachelle had never been anything but kind to me, and I knew Rahim was right in asking for this. I certainly didn’t want to rub salt in the wound of Abe’s death. I’d be a constant reminder of what she’d lost, and that was simply cruel. Rachelle didn’t deserve that.

“Fine.”
I couldn’t bring myself to be more diplomatic.

Rahim winced and drew another hard breath. “If something comes up…” he motioned to the street.

I waved him off. “Yeah…yeah, I appreciate it.” I knew it was the right thing to do, for Rachelle and all of DRAC, but I’d lost Abe, too. They weren’t the only ones hurting, but I’d dug this grave and would have to lie in it. There wasn’t any turning back now. Responsibility was a motherfucker.

For just a second, I contemplated telling Rahim about the message I’d received from my uncle but thought better of it. They had enough on their plate with Abe gone and the DSI stepping up.
Hasstor
didn’t make it seem like the world would end tomorrow, so I figured I had a few weeks for shit to cool off before I dumped a steaming bowl of it on DRAC’s doorstep.

I wandered over to the ledge and looked at the scene below. I didn’t have a clue
who’d
sent the specter after me, or what they wanted, but given all the crap lately, I figured I could handle it on my own. It wasn’t like I didn’t have a few resources of my own.

“Tell Mike goodbye for me, yeah?” Rahim nodded as I walked away. I’d been caught off guard coming back from my powwow with
Hasstor
, but it looked like I’d been given a breather. It was time to shore up my defenses and make myself less of a target.

I was thinking I’d get a dog or two…hundred.

Chapter Six

Back at home, I tried to reactivate the protective wards, but wasn’t able to. They were beyond me in a technical sense. Not much more than a magical speed bump anyway, I wasn’t too worried about them, but it was an inconvenience. It served as a great early warning system. At least I’d arranged a few other surprises should someone feel the need to kick me while I was down. I also finally managed to put a call in to
Karra
to let her know I was back from my inter-dimensional jaunt, somewhat safe and sound. We hadn’t been off the phone for more than ten minutes when I felt the gate in my spare room triggered. Her essence filled my senses a moment later.

It was Heaven.

The proverbial Heaven, not the battle-scarred Heaven we’d just fought to free from the clutches of rebellious angels, just to clarify.

The bedroom door flung open and I heard her quick footsteps in the hall as she headed toward the living room. She popped in, and like a true romantic, she said the sweetest thing a man could ever hope to have his woman say to him:

“What smells like wet orangutan ass?”

Love; isn’t it grand? “It’s dread fiend.” I ran over and wrapped her in my arms, squeezing her tight. It’d been a long day, and I just wanted to feel
Karra
against me, to know she was still there even if no one else was. It was enough.

She collapsed into me without another word, kissing me fierce. I felt the heat of her as we ground together. Her tongue flicked against mine while her chest pressed against me, her arms pulling me in as close as we could possibly be. I felt her forehead nuzzled against the small of my back. The gentle vibration of her stuttered moans making my spine tingle.

Then I stiffened, and not in the way I would have liked. I pulled away in a panic, a cold chill spreading
goosebumps
across my flesh.

“
Hhhhiiiiyyyaaaaa
.”
Chatterbox’s rotten face grinned at me.

Another shiver rattled me as I settled my heart. I’m a freak and all, but there’s just something really gross about having a hard on in the presence of a severed zombie head.

“Hey, CB.
I missed
ya
, buddy, but not that much.” He chuckled and mentioned something about missing me, too, and porn. “She kept you on a tight leash, huh?” I snatched him up and set him the table next to my old recliner, and watched for a second as he tongued the remote to turn the TV on. While I was glad to have him back, I really wanted some time alone with
Karra
. He wasn’t the kind of head I was looking for.

The zombie distracted, I scooped up
Karra
and ran for the bedroom. She giggled like the young girl I remembered from Hell, and all was right with the world.

~

The sex more a sprint than a marathon, we lay in the bed under the cool sheet, our bodies entwined. Her fingers made little circles across my chest, tickling me as I caught my breath and luxuriated in the closeness of her. It struck me just how much I’d missed
Karra
, and not just since I’d left to meet
Hasstor
. I’d missed her since she left me behind in Hell. For all my relationships, to include my marriage to Veronica, this was the only one that made sense.
Karra
was who I was always meant to be with, however sappy or clichéd that might sound. There was a comfort to it, a passion borne of a first love that hadn’t been tempered by time or strife.

She snuggled in closer and I melted into her embrace. The smell of her perfume and the scent of our sex filled my nose.

“I was worried,” she told me, her voice muffled by her face pressed into my neck.

I had been too, but with more than enough bad news, I decided it best to not mention it. “All I could think of was getting back to you.”

Karra
leaned over and kissed my cheek, turning my face to hers. Her hazel eyes pierced mine. “What happened out there?”

I sighed. For all my desire to make the moment last, it was coming to an end. “You really want to know?”

She nodded. There’d be no seconds for me after this. I copped one last feel and rolled over so we were facing one another.

“It was all a setup so Lucifer could deliver a message without everyone knowing.”

Karra
stiffened at the mention of my uncle’s name, and I silently cursed him for what he’d done to her and her father…and to us. Though she didn’t say anything, I could see the fury in her eyes. It took her a moment to calm down. When she finally reined it in, she let out a quiet sigh.

“What does he want?” Her tone ended any fear of global warming.

“To warn me.”

She sat up in the bed, the sheet falling away. Unconsciously, my gaze was drawn to her breasts. I yanked it away like an errant puppy and forced myself to look at her face. Beautiful as it was, it wasn’t boobs.

“A warning about what? What could possibly concern him so much he would kidnap you from a world he tossed aside and left behind?”

“Uh, how about an inter-dimensional war he and God are fighting against a bunch of the other universes El
Jefe
Grande created long before he made ours, and that they’re afraid might spill over into our world?” I spilled it out in one long exhalation.

Karra
stared at me in silence. The look on her face told me she was waiting for the punch line. She was gonna be
so
disappointed.

“You’re serious?”

“As a rectal exam.”

Her shoulders slumped and she dropped back down beside me. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in close.

“It’s not a foregone conclusion the war will reach us, but Lucifer wanted someone to know…just in case.”

“So he chose you?” A hint of laughter colored her voice.

“Hey, now. What I lack in power and skill and knowledge and ability and interest, I make up for in powerful friends and lots of free time.” She hugged me close, burying her chuckling face in my ribs. “But yeah, I’m not really sure why he told me either. With DRAC and Heaven in shambles, and the demons of Hell scattered all over the planet, I don’t have a clue as to who I’m gonna muster in defense of the Earth.”

Karra
grinned and gave me a kiss. “I’ll fight with you.”

I kissed her back, tangling my fingers in her hair. When we broke away to take a breath, I couldn’t help but smile at her. “Us against the universe. What a poetic way to die.” Bitterness seeped into my voice.

She sat up again, the grin gone from her face. “That bad?”

I shrugged. “You felt
Xyx’s
power, right?”
Karra
nodded. “Well, it looks like he’s the runt of the litter. The demon I met with,
Hasstor
, was easily as powerful as the old Baalth, and then some.”

“Is that why you have dread fiends hidden around your house like rotten Easter eggs?”

“Hardly.” I started to hold back again but it felt natural just to tell her the truth. “They’re here due to a more mundane threat that popped up after I came back to Earth. As it turns out, the U.S. government thinks I’m the cause of the storms. They made it clear they’ve got their eye on me when they shot me in the head.”

Her face flushed red, in an instant, her eyes narrowing. “They did what?”

I reached out and grabbed her wrist, her hand clenched in a fist. “I’m okay. They were making a point. While I didn’t appreciate it, they’re the least of my concerns right now.”

“They shot you! How can that be the least of your problems?”

“It’s been a hectic day.” I soothed her fist open so I could hold her hand. She grasped mine tight, fury still evident in her grip. “The government guys, the DSI, dumped me downtown. Before I could call you, some jackass attacked me with a specter. You might have seen the results of that on the news.”

She nodded, wrapping her other hand around mine. “That was you? Did you kill him?”

I shook my head. “He-she-it got away, and I don’t have a clue as to who was behind the spirit. I picked up a trace of power, but it disappeared before I could sort anything out. It didn’t seem random, so at first I thought it might be the DSI folks flexing their muscles to keep me on my toes, but I just don’t know. It doesn’t make sense for them to attack me out in the open just after they had me locked up and shut down. That’s why I have the dread fiends scattered about, just in case this turns out to be more than the government trying to gauge my abilities. They’ll attack anyone I haven’t put on the do not kill list.”

“What now?”

“Well, I only had two thoughts on my way home.” I sat up and grabbed handfuls of
Karra’s
breasts. “We took care of the first thing, so that only leaves the second, unless you want to revisit the first. I suppose I could make time for that.”