Matt Archer: Legend (25 page)

This would be a long night.

* * *

A few hours later, Will’s eyes still looked like a pair of
green traffic signals glowing in the dim light of the command tent, which is
where we stowed him while we tried to decide what to do next. I was nearly dead
on my feet and all I knew about Uncle Mike’s condition was that Will had
dislocated his shoulder. Aunt Julie and her team were with him.

I really wished Tink would come back online, especially when
I had to endure Klimmett resetting my nose. It had hurt like hell.

Captain Johnson poked his head into the tent. “Archer, the
major wants to see you—he’s in Klimmett’s tent. I’ll help Lanningham and
Blakeney watch Will.”

“That’s not Will,” I said, dragging myself upright. I felt
like I’d been run over by a garbage truck, then backed over again, to ensure my
complete misery. “Make sure he doesn’t hurt himself, or try to make you hurt
him. I want to question the demon when I get back, because sunlight might make
it more compliant, so don’t let it convince you to do anything to Will.”

I slipped out of the tent, cringing when Will switched back
to English and shouted, “Your blade-spirits deserted you! Woe on the unguided
wielders!”

It was bad enough that he was speaking like a villain in
Shakespearian play, but the mention of the spirits really got me. I turned back
and asked, “What did you say?”

He laughed. “You’ve been deserted, boy.”

“Why?” I asked.

“They fled. They cannot withstand my mistress, and she
banished them from this place.”

“If that’s true, then why haven’t I been possessed?” I
walked over and pressed the tip of my knife blade against Will’s shoulder, done
with this demon. I’d planned to wait a while before releasing it, to see what
we could learn, but I’d had enough. “Tell me. Why take my friend, and not me?”

Will’s smile was so unlike him it gave me the creeps. “We
want this one dead.”

“And not me?”

“Oh, we want you dead, too. But not yet.” Will cocked his
head to one side. “Not yet.”

“Why not?”

Will clamped his mouth shut and hummed a nonsensical tune.

“Okay, then, have it your way,” I said. “Lanningham? Help me
drag him into the sunlight. Time for this thing to be on its way.”

Once we were outside, I made a small cut just above Will’s
collarbone, thinking the demon would ooze out of Will like it had with Dr.
Longtree.

Will just laughed, his green eyes blazing with hate.

Once we determined that Will’s demon wasn’t going anywhere
and figured out that the sun was blistering his skin at a rapid pace, we shoved
him back into the command tent. To make sure the demon didn’t have a chance to
spew anymore crap, I asked Lanningham to gag him with a bandana. Will looked
kind of pitiful, lying on a cot all tied up, but what could we do? I stepped
out into the early morning sunshine more than a little sick to my stomach. My
best friend was
possessed.
There was no way this ended well.

My shoulders drooped with exhaustion as I plodded to
Klimmett’s tent. The medic tent and command were the only ones that survived
the night. The rest of the tents had been shredded or trampled and most of the
guys not on duty were sleeping in the shade of the Humvees. Even with the
newness of morning, the air still smelled like smoke and death. Someone had
ordered the slain monsters dragged out into the desert to be burned and
everyone had been green from the stench. The scent had faded some, but not
enough.

The other dead bodies—those of our soldiers—were being taken
home.

Julie’s helicopter pilot, a guy with the Australian
military, had agreed to transport them to Perth, and Colonel Black would
arrange to have them brought back to the states. The pilot had removed his back
seats to accommodate our fallen, and said he’d be back with supplies. He gave
us his sat-phone, too, which made me feel less stranded. Plus now that Julie
had returned, our crew went from being an uneasy thirteen to seventeen. She’d
brought the CIA operative with her and that’s who I was going to meet. He
supposedly had information about the witches and a small coven not far from
here. I kind of hoped he knew how to perform exorcisms, too.

When I reached the tent, I paused. Uncle Mike was having a
heated discussion with someone and I didn’t want to interrupt.

“Major, those two boys looked near to killing each other.” I
didn’t recognize the voice, so it must be the CIA operative. He sounded
righteously pissed. “This situation is out of control!”

“And you don’t have the slightest clue what we’re up
against,” Mike growled.

“Oh? So dealing with
witches
for the last year isn’t
enough to give me a clue?” the man asked.

Aunt Julie broke in, sounding uncomfortable. “That’s why we
need your help. Captain Johnson says Cruessan is still possessed. If you can
help us find the coven, surely there will be someone who—”

“I said I’d help. My contact is still living with them, and
maybe she can do something for the kid. But I need some answers first, Captain,
seeing as how you failed mention
any
of this on the way in.”

“It wasn’t my place. You needed to speak with the major,”
Aunt Julie said firmly. I bet she was rocking her coldest glare, too.

“Fine. Major Tannen, you have some serious explaining to do,”
the man barked back.

Deciding it was time I broke this up, I parted the tent flap
and stepped inside.

Then froze.

The years had added a few lines to the man’s face, and his dark
brown hair was touched with gray at the temples. But I recognized the square
jaw, broad shoulders, lanky frame tied with lean muscle, and blue eyes.
Especially the blue eyes.

Archer-blue.

Every nerve I had shot
electricity to my limbs and I backed up slowly. The
CIA operative
…oh, my God.

Dumbstruck, I stood there
while the man stared and stared for the longest time. Then he turned back to
Mike, looking furious. “Major, you want to explain what the
fuck
my
seventeen-year-old son is doing on a live op in Australia with the
Green
Berets
?”

My dad was alive.

—THE END—

Other Books by Kendra C. Highley

The
Matt Archer
Series:

MATT ARCHER: MONSTER HUNTER (MA1)

MATT ARCHER: MONSTER SUMMER (MA1.5)

MATT ARCHER: BLADE’S EDGE (MA2)

MATT ARCHER: LEGEND (MA3)

Author’s Note:

There will be two more books in the Matt
Archer series. MA4 (Title TBA) will be released in early 2014. Additional
information, including publication announcements, can be found on
www.matt-archer.com
Subscribe to the newsletter or the Monsters and Mayhem blog to ensure
you don’t miss any of the news!

Also, feedback is always welcome in the
form of reviews or via the contact page on the website. Thanks for reading…and
beware of monsters!

There are some books that are a struggle to
get onto the page—
Legend
was one of them. I had a lot of help and
encouragement in completing this third installment of the Matt Archer series:

My editor, Cassandra Marshall, for her awesome editorial
skills and for helping me see the big picture in the manuscript.

My cover, webpage and interior layout designer, Glendon
Haddix and the Streetlight Graphics team, for a cover that delighted me from
the very first iteration.

My awesome critique partners: Lindsay Buroker, Crash
Froelich, Becca Andre, and J.R Hochman.

My beta readers: Ryan Highley, Arthur Stewart, Maria
McConnaughy and Kelly Crawley.

My children, Tanner (who grew so much during the drafting of
this novel that I started to wonder if
he
had a magic knife hidden away
somewhere), and Alexandra (who drew me beautiful artwork that always seemed to
show up when I needed a little extra boost).

My husband, Ryan, who read this manuscript three different
times, kept me talking until the plot worked itself out, and helped me maintain
my sanity.

Finally, to you, the readers, for joining Matt on his
adventures. Without you, Mr. Archer would be stuck in Billings, studying
chemistry. He’s very grateful you spared him from that cruel fate.

Kendra C. Highley lives in north Texas with her husband and
two children. She also serves as staff to two self-important and high-powered
cats. This, according to the cats, is her most crucial job. She believes
chocolate is a basic human right, running a 10k is harder than it sounds, and
that everyone should learn to drive a stick-shift. She loves monsters,
vacations, baking and listening to bad electronica.

More information about the Matt Archer universe, works in
progress and other stuff that goes bump in the night can be found at
www.matt-archer.com

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/kendrahighley

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/kchighley

Author Website:
www.kendrachighley.com