Not Just Another Fae (Vegas Fae Stories Book 4) (11 page)

****

"You think it was a mistake?" Browne asked,
disbelief evident in his voice. He was driving us back to my house first,
before continuing on with Michael.

"I do," I replied. "I think he was trying to
open up a gateway to Hell, all right. Just not the Hell he tapped into."

"He spent half his life at this for her?" Browne
asked. "I know she was a Fae, but still."

"Marissa's not just any Fae," I replied. "She's
a High Fae, and a master manipulator. She's also well versed in magic. I know
there's a lot more that we don’t know, but it makes sense."

"What about the boy's Demon? Where does that fit in?"

"Look," I replied. "When I fought her
followers before, they used some kind of spell to transport between places.
Symbols written in whatever language the spell needed, infused in elements of
the Earth, like stone. But what if you could modernize it? Create a
transportation spell electronically. If a powerful Mage can do it with incantations
and the right symbols and ingredients, why not electronically. An object is an
object, right?"

"It is possible," he said. "We have toyed
with similar magic before, and modern phones contain a multitude of rare
earths. But it is inherently unreliable and, unfortunately, the boy's phone was
too destroyed to make examination feasible."

"I agree," Michael said. "We have Mages that
can do something similar to a computer program. They're mostly used to protect
the contents of a file, or sometimes for surveillance, but when you get too
complicated; technology and magic, well... it's not something I'd want to bet
my life on."

"I'll pass it along to someone better versed in such a
thing," Browne said. "Perhaps they can figure out if he was doing
that from the other evidence we collect."

"I'll talk to Chris and see what he thinks as well,"
Michael said as we pulled in front of my house.

"Are we in agreement?" I asked Martin a few hours
later. There were several of us at my kitchen table, having spent the last half
hour going over my plans to confront the Demon later tonight.

"I would prefer another way," he said. "But I
will concede that we cannot face this Demon alone. But I still do not
understand why you feel the need to confront the creature first. It would be
wiser to just kill it and be done with it."

"Safer too," McDaniel agreed.

"You're right," I replied. "But I think it's
worth the risk. My sources say that this thing is intelligent. Maybe we can
learn something before we kill it."

My source was Alf, someone I'd neglected to mention to
McDaniel, or anyone from the government. He had insisted no one from the EAB
know that he was here. Martin knew, of course, as did a few of the others. I
wasn't sure what they had on him, but he'd helped save my life, so I owed him,
and I wasn't one to forget a debt. He'd also gone to a lot of trouble to find
out everything he could about the Demon, and it seemed worth the risk.

"If it does not kill you first," Martin said.

"There's always that," I said with a laugh. "But
then I'll die satisfied, knowing that you'll avenge my death by blowing the
bastard back to Hell."

"Roger that," McDaniel said. "But let's try
to avoid that, shall we? Do you know how much paperwork I'll be stuck with if a
Fae Lord gets killed on my watch?"

You gotta love cop humor, even if McDaniel was military. It
was always like this in the old days. Humor kept you sane, even if it was sick.
Especially when there was a good chance someone wouldn’t come back from an op.
It wasn't always pretty, and a lot of people don't understand it, but then most
folks have never spent their days facing opponents that wanted to kill them,
either.

"Ok, then," I said. "Let's do this. We don’t
have much time before sunset and we have a lot of things to put in place."

My plan was simple. Make the Demon come to me, see if I
could find out anything else, and then kill him. The execution, however, was as
complicated as one could expect. It involved a lot of coordination, not to
mention a little theatrics.

Since I wasn't trying to appease him, just get his
attention, I had decided that sacrificing a live goat or lamb was out of the
question. But a burnt offering, well... That was just a barbecue; so I was
doing that instead. Jay had called earlier, and after some discussion, we'd
located a Greek restaurant that specialized in that kind of thing. So here I
was, sitting in the middle of the desert, watching the sunset. I had my
makeshift altar prepared. It also doubled as the grill. Making a few
adjustments from one I'd seen at a pig roast, I had a slotted metal grate
propped up by cinderblocks on each side. A small pit held 50 pounds of
charcoal, already burning. Cecil B. DeMille I wasn't, but it'd do.

Several of Browne's people, with some help from our local
Fae contact at the LVMPD, had cordoned off the roadway between the Mt.
Charleston and upper Cold Creek access roads. The cover for the road delay was
a small plane crash. McDaniel was out here somewhere as well, carrying the next
best thing to a Hellfire missile, a S.M.A.W.

The Shoulder Launched Multi-Purpose Assault Weapon, or
S.M.A.W., had first been developed for the U.S. Marine Corps over thirty years
ago and had seen a number of improvements in design since then. McDaniel's hadn't
volunteered what kind of payload this model carried, but whatever it was, he
was convinced it would do the job. We'd already gone over the problems
associated with the back blast and blast radius, not to mention the concussive
force when it hit its target. I'd asked for a hammer and he'd brought the
biggest one he could find.

My six Fae archers were spaced
out around the area. Four of them were covering the corners, with the other two
roving to herd the Demon when it appeared, should it be necessary. The Weres
were roving as well. They were acting as bait and they knew it. Martin had
insisted, and they all agreed. They wouldn’t have it any other way. If they
couldn’t kill it themselves, they wanted to make damn sure they played their
part. As for my Fae, they were warriors and knew what was at stake. McDaniel
and I carried radios so we could coordinate his shot when it was time. With
everything in place, and Sendy watching from above, Charlie and I made our move
right after sunset.

After some discussion, and further information from Michael,
we'd come to the conclusion that it wasn't just the magic alone that drew the
Demon. The individual that possessed the most became its prey. Hoping that was
right, I had decided to let it know I was here.

Martin was already in Wolf form, waiting some 50 yards
behind me. Switching to my Fae persona, I willed my magic outward. I raised my
sword and sent a burst of lightning into the sky, letting every magical
creature within a hundred miles know I was here. At the same time, I threw the
dressed lamb on the grill. It soon began to smoke and the scent of searing meat
filled the air.

"It has come," Sendy said, appearing at my
shoulder a minute later. Then she disappeared again.

I let Martin know. Then there was nothing to do but wait.

I finally saw the Demon It was walking toward me from the
south, flickering in and out. Appearing and disappearing with every step. Each
time it was closer. One of the Fae must have caught its attention, because
suddenly it shifted right and appeared some 50 feet from where it had last been
walking. The Fae was batted aside like an insect. A Wolf leapt at it, but it
batted it with its hand as well, tossing it in the air. I thought I saw it get
up, limping away.

"Get him out of there," I called out to Sendy.

Jen was standing by at the house for casualties, along with Askel,
a Fae healer. Sendy had been tasked with getting in and out as fast as possible
to avoid the creature, while rescuing any that were still alive, if she could
do so safely.

Its next step was some 20 feet closer. I saw Sendy whisk in
and hug the injured Were before disappearing again. It didn’t seem to notice,
because two steps later, it was here. It stood and watched me for a moment,
then turned to Charlie. The huge bull styled head studied him for a moment.

"You... I... recognize...Ur-Gi," it said slowly,
as if testing the words before speaking. "Of... the... seven... you...
are... descended."

Now that was interesting. I'd spent a little time going over
Sumerian history and myths before we set up. It was said that the Goddess
Innana, also known as Ishtar, often traveled with seven hunting dogs. What had
interested me further was a reference to Demeter, as in some mythology, the two
were closely associated with each other.

"But... you... are... not... of ... the... people...,"
it said. "Nor... of... the... Gods... You... should... be ... dead..."
It swiveled its head, then eyed my sword. There was a shimmer and it flicked
out of sight momentarily. When it reappeared, its speech became normal. "You
carry a thunder sword. Who are you?"

"I am Robert of the Dryad," I replied. "Son
of Gabriele, daughter of Maria, heir to the Goddess Demeter. Who are you?"

"I know not of which Goddess you speak," it
replied. "I am Urbat. What have you done with the people?"

"I hate to be the one to break this to you, big guy,"
I said, using a huge BBQ fork to flip the lamb over. "But many years have
passed since your kind last roamed the earth. Thousands, actually. I'm afraid
you just don’t belong here anymore."

The Demon raised its head and began to laugh. It sounded
like a slowed down version of a hyena I might have heard on Wild Kingdom when I
was a kid. When it was done, its eyes returned their gaze to me.

"It matters not," it said, raising and sweeping
its huge, spiny arms around. "Think you that these petty beasts and lesser
beings can defeat me? You are less than nothing and I will drink your magic as
I have from thousands before you. When I am done, it will be upon your bones I
feast. Your offering is rejected." Then it disappeared and reappeared
behind me. Lunging at me, it roared when Charlie ran between its legs, nipping
at the barbed tail that had begun its swing toward where I was standing.

I turned around, my sword flashing, and took a swing at the
momentarily distracted beast. The electricity arced as I cut into the flesh where
its tail and body met. The Demon dissolved, reappearing a moment later, 20 feet
in front of me. I heard the arrows as they struck its hide. It didn't even
flinch. The bladed spear appeared in its hand and it swung out, cutting into a
Were that had been trying to stalk it.

I heard Martin growl as he and Charlie lunged toward the
thing. It swatted both of them aside as it stepped forward and grabbed the Were
that it had injured. Holding it by the throat, its tail lashed out and around,
the stinger burying itself in the Wolf's spine. The Demon then turned to
Martin, who was just getting back to his feet, and threw the carcass at him.

Sending a command out to Sendy, I ordered her to wait until
the Demon was gone before returning, not willing to risk her being injured
herself.

"You gotta get him to stand still," I heard
McDaniel say on the radio, the earpiece blaring.

"Hey, asshole!" I yelled. The Demon turned and
looked at me, then spun around and threw its bladed spear. One of my Fae went
down, then the spear returned to its hand.

I raised my sword and lashed out; willing electricity from
the blade in the form of lightning. It hit the Demon at its center, forcing him
up into the air and throwing him some 10 feet back. It was stunned, but only for
a moment.

"I tire of this,"
it said as it got back up. It threw its spear at me, the blade aimed at my
chest. I was just able to turn my body. I swung my sword, but missed. I felt
the blade slice my side as it went by. I twirled and fired another round of
lightning at the Demon. This time he was prepared for it, twisting aside as I
had, the beam just grazing him. But it was enough to throw him off balance and
make him angry, as if he wasn't mad enough already.

It picked itself up and summoned its spear. Raising it above
its head it began to chant. Clouds formed and swirled. Then I heard a voice in
the earpiece.

"Fire in...!" was all I heard as the rocket
ignited.

I had a brief glimpse of a
red dot on the Demon's chest, when a blazing plume of smoke and fire lit up the
sky from behind me. I could feel the intense heat as it passed. My clothes
ignited. There was a massive explosion as it hit the Demon. The concussive force
threw me backward. I landed a distance away and tried to sit up. My ears rang
and I saw smoke. Realizing it was me, I rolled, then patted at my smoking
clothes before ripping my shirt off.

"You ok?" I saw McDaniel mouth as he offered me
his hand. He'd told me about the risk of being too close when he fired, but I'd
said it didn't matter. He needed to take the shot when he could, once we
determined talking wasn’t productive.

"I've been better," I yelled, my ears still
ringing. "Did it work?" I didn’t hear his response. I bent over and
placed my hands on my head, willing the magic to heal it. A moment later, the
ringing was still present, but not as loud. "Did it work?" I asked
again.

"He won’t be getting up again," I heard McDaniel
say. It sounded miles away, but at least I could hear his voice. "You look
like shit."

"Thanks," I replied as he pulled me up. "That's
about how I feel." I looked over to where I'd been standing, not far from
the altar that had been blown aside like paper; the lamb and grate, lying in
the dirt down the way. "Oh, and I think I burned the lamb, too."
Looking down, I saw that my side had been burned as well, and the cut from the
bladed spear still bled. "What about Martin and Charlie? They were pretty
close too."

"Charlie just left. He went to check on the others after
he saw that you were alive. The Pack Master's a little singed," McDaniel
said. "He's being tended to. Your Faery already took him back. Charlie
wasn't even scratched. He's the one that pulled Martin out of the way. Oh, and Browne
will be here in a minute. They want to take custody of the body... for
research."

"They can have it," I replied, wiping my face and running
my fingers through hair. Damn, singed too. It's a good thing I was Fae. I'd
never be able to explain the burned eyebrows to anyone at the office. "Show
it to me."

I followed McDaniel to what was left of the Demon. There was
one more thing I wanted to do before the others got here. Looking over the
creature, I saw that its head had been crushed, and the rest of it looked like
it'd been through a shredder. Except for its size and still quivering tail, it
was barely recognizable. McDaniel's weapon had worked as advertised. This was
one Demon that wasn't going to be a problem anymore. Still, I needed to make
sure.

In addition to power in magic, there are other things that
were different between a High Fae and the others. One was the ability to know and
control their subjects. The old Gods had used that to their advantage;
influencing their followers to fight for them, as well as tricking them into
other things. But there was also the ability to search into someone's life,
even their entire line using their blood. As in humans, blood was life. But in
Fae, blood was also magic. The Demon might be dead, but it would take a few minutes
for the magic to fade away.

I knelt and readied myself, then reached down and placed my
hand in some of the Demon's blood. Everything slowed down, and then it began.
Images flooded in. I'd once thought of them as scenes from a movie. But that
wasn't exactly correct. It was more like you were in the movie itself. Scenes
flashed and I saw through the Demon's eyes. Being pulled out of darkness and
killing the Mage that had summoned it. Scattered scenes from the battle. I went
backward in time. There was a nothingness that seemed to last forever. Then a
different world, faint, but recognizable. Others of its kind were there.