Unearthed (22 page)

He climbed a little higher, stopping a couple steps shy of the top of staircase. “Hendricks, you awake?” He raised his voice. “Hendricks!”

He waited maybe ten seconds and then went to just outside the door of the room. He looked to his left and saw the wreckage of the master bedroom. The walls were all destroyed in there, the studs exposed and the floors completely covered in wrecked plaster, destroyed sub-flooring and pried-up boards. Arch knocked on the wall to Hendricks’s room again, insistently. “We’re having a meeting, cowboy. Bill’s here, and he’s got news.”

Still no answer.

Arch closed his eyes and sighed. He listened, but couldn’t hear anything other than Bill’s voice and Duncan arriving downstairs. He eased with his back to the frame and turned the corner, keeping his eyes closed and spoke into the room. “Hendricks?”

“Yes?” The answer came from inches in front of his face and he opened his eyes to see Hendricks right in front of him, grinning.

“Gah!” Arch said, and took an abrupt step back. “You could have said something sooner!”

“You could have come right up,” Hendricks said. “What, did you think I was jerking off?”

Arch adopted a wary air. “I’ve learned with you that it’s best not to assume anything.”

“Dude, I’d let you know if I was going to beat it. I’m not completely without courtesy.”

“You slept in a room with a lot of guys for a long while,” Arch said with a shrug, “I don’t know what you do with your private time and I don’t want to know.”

“You sure? We could talk about technique if you want—”

“No.” Arch was firm.

“Come on, then,” Hendricks said. “Time’s a wasting, and apparently I’ve got some whacking to do later.” He grinned again and headed down the staircase. “Man, I’d put up a fap flap for y’all. I have that much decency, you know.”

Arch followed, grimacing.

“What took you so long?” Alison asked as they crossed into the kitchen. She had the rifle almost back together, but then she was pretty fast with that.

“Arch had to watch me finish rubbing one out,” Hendricks said.

Bill’s eyes narrowed in concentration. “Somehow I question the veracity of your story. Or at least part of it.”

“Great, why don’t you tell yours, and we’ll start questioning it instead?” Hendricks asked, settling in a chair and scooting it next to the table. He nudged a thin cylinder of metal. “Is this your firing pin?”

Alison glanced at it, then back to her rifle. “Shit,” she said simply and started to break the weapon down again.

“What’s the word, Bill?” Arch asked, leaning against the cabinets near where the fridge had been before someone had carted it off.

“The word is ‘party,’” Bill said.

“You’re changing my opinion of the Army,” Hendricks said. “I thought you sad sack motherfuckers just sat around on your off time and tried to decide who got to whack who off.”

“Get laid already,” Alison said again.

“Stick your firing pin in your bolt assembly,” Hendricks said.

“Demon party,” Bill said. “Tomorrow night. Katlin Elizabeth is throwing it at her house.”

There was a moment of silence, like no one wanted to speak. Then, it seemed like everyone spoke at once.

“Guess we should go to that, huh?” Duncan asked.

“Probably ought to avoid that,” Hendricks said.

“Do we have a rocket launcher?” Alison asked. “Because we should shoot one in and leave.”

Duncan and Hendricks looked at each other, both wary. Arch wondered what was gonna happen next.

“I don’t want to fight you, OOC,” Hendricks said.

“We can go,” Duncan said. “We go, we strike at any demons that are misbehaving, and we avoid the hell out of starting shit with Kitty herself. It’s doable.”

“How do you know she’s going to have people there misbehaving?” Hendricks asked.

“It’s a demon party,” Duncan said. “There’s always misbehavior. Drugs for certain. Probably more finger foods like you saw at the last one.”

“You said she was good at covering her tracks, though,” Arch said. “What if she covers them this time, too? And you end up walking into some legitimate party and get in trouble with your office?”

“Then I’ll get in trouble with my office,” Duncan said.

“You make it sound like no big deal,” Hendricks said.

“Oh, it’s a big deal.” Duncan stood, unmoving, his suit rumpled like he’d been fighting in it. “But it won’t land for a little while if I play it cool. And if we can get her in the middle of a party, doing untoward things that I witness, I can swear out a warrant against her. She’ll be done in this town, at least, have to flee for the hills and await trial, keep her activities really down low until then.”

“Or what?” Hendricks asked.

“You don’t even want to know,” Duncan said. “And neither does she, trust me.”

“Wait a minute,” Alison said. “We’re talking about attending a demon party? Not knocking in the door and killing them, but actually going like we’re invited guests?”

“Well, technically I do have an invite,” Bill said. “My source was more than willing to yield his invitation to us, and it’s not as though they were very formal about the things.”

“Who is this source of yours?” Hendricks asked.

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” Bill said.

“You could try, Army, but—”

“Please stop your pissing contest, you’re getting us all wet,” Alison said. Arch grimaced, but saw the leer from Hendricks. “Don’t,” Alison said in response to his look.

“I didn’t say it.” Hendricks grinned, a twinkle in his eyes. “I was thinking it, but I didn’t say it.”

“Seriously, though,” Alison said. “We’re talking about attending a demon party. Actually going in among the bastards.” She cocked her head at Duncan. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Duncan said graciously.

“Isn’t that … dangerous?” Alison asked.

“Every day is dangerous,” Hendricks said.

“Won’t they know we’re not demons?” she asked.

“Probably not,” Hendricks said.

“I would,” Duncan said, “but none of them will have quite the same capacity for sniffing out human souls that I do. It’s a specialized thing that’s built into the shell of some OOCs. Normal demons don’t have it. If you give them long enough, some of them with a keen nose might be able to tell by scent, but …” He shrugged. “Odds are good that there’ll be enough humans at that party—dealers, food, whatever—no one’s gonna be able to pick you out as human.”

Arch felt his jawline harden. “You’re not going in anyway.” He tilted his head to look at Bill. “You either. You’re on overwatch.”

Alison’s face got grim. “Let’s not forget that the number one way you’ll be caught is because Kitty Elizabeth knows what the three of you look like. Forget sense of smell; her eyeballs would have to be a complete failure to have it escape her attention that you three were standing in front of her last night, posturing and preening. And she knows you by name, Duncan.”

Duncan looked a little uncomfortable at that. “I have to go in. This doesn’t work unless I do.”

“That’s gonna cause a problem or two,” Arch said.

“Fuck discretion,” Hendricks said, folding his arms. “I’m not letting you all go inside while I stay out. I’m good, but I can’t cover a hundred feet in an eyeblink if you end up neck-deep in shit. And I’m not exactly qualified on that equipment.” He gestured at Alison’s rifle, now reassembled. “If this thing is gonna go tits-up, I need to be in the mix.”

“I’m trying to figure out how to keep it from going … cock up,” Alison said, looking at him with blazing eyes. “You strolling into a party where the hostess knows your damned name is not going to get us anywhere good.”

“I’ll avoid her,” Hendricks said with a shrug.

“Leave the hat,” Arch said.

Hendricks’s face went serious and his hand went right to the top of the hat as if he were holding it down against a strong wind. “I can’t.”

“It’s not surgically attached to your head,” Alison said. “If you go in wearing it, you might as well carry a sign that says, ‘Lafayette Hendricks, Demon Hunter. Slay My Ass, Please.’”

“That’s true,” Bill said. “Demons around here know the hat and the coat. Might be that without ’em you could pass, but with them on it’s like a lighting a road flare and waving it around.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Arch asked.

“You’re an extremely tall black man,” Duncan said. “You’re gonna stick out in a way that extremely-average Hendricks won’t.”

“I’m well above average, fuck you very much,” Hendricks said.

“Then stop overcompensating,” Alison said.

“I’ll stick out because I’m black?” Arch felt his lips purse into a thin line.

“An overwhelming majority of U.S.-based demons are wearing shells that are white,” Duncan said, “because—well, because that was hands-down the color to wear before 1970 or so. It allowed the ones with aspiring mobility to climb, to get elected—” He stopped, shook his head. “Anyway, whatever. It’s not the black thing at this point, even though that’s going to narrow the odds and draw more attention. You’re going to stick out regardless because of the tall thing. You’re like a redwood tree. There aren’t many demons that have that height to them because they need to blend, and tall draws attention. You go in, you’ll draw attention.”

“So you expect me to sit outside?” Arch asked. “I’m a pretty good in-fighter, you know.”

“Without a doubt, Arch,” Bill said, and he could tell the older man was trying to soothe him. “But we got a mission to think about here.”

Arch felt himself bristle, but let it go. “All right, I’ll wait outside. I hope I get a reason to come in with my sword drawn, though.” He glanced at Hendricks. “And I can cover a hundred feet pretty darned fast.”

Hendricks gave him a nod of deference. “Faster than my busted up knees, no doubt. I prefer to walk.”

“So Hendricks and Duncan are going in,” Alison said, talking out loud to herself. “Duncan, you can’t wear that. You can’t wear any of your normal suits.”

Duncan looked down. Today he was wearing a suit that looked mostly grey. Mostly. Arch couldn’t tell what color the pinstripes were, but they didn’t exactly match. “Demons don’t wear suits to these sort of parties anyway,” Duncan said. Arch thought he sounded almost morose. “I’ll need something … uh … whimsical, probably.”

“I’ll need a gown, right?” Alison asked, and Arch felt himself snap back to attention, eyes wide.

“You’re not going in,” Arch said, staring at her, head swimming.

“Oh, I’m going in,” Alison said, her back straight as she sat in the chair. She smoothed the cloth she had down under her gun. “Unless you want to send these two yahoos into the fray without any cover at all.”

“Cover?” Duncan asked, and got a searing look from Alison in response. “Oh, uh, right. Cover. She makes a point. Hendricks and I walk in alone it might seem … strange. Make us look like OOCs.”

“Why?” Arch asked.

“Because OOCs were traditionally all white males,” Duncan said, “and they come in pairs.”

Arch felt his back teeth grind. “Are they still?”

“No,” Duncan said, “but the image persists for most demons. They see two white guys walk in together, it might not sink us for sure, but it’ll draw attention. Two guys and a girl, it’s a little less unusual.”

Arch could feel his teeth pressing together, and he sat there deciding how much of his spleen to vent. “This is starting to feel like a bad idea.”

“This is what we do, Arch,” Hendricks said, arms folded. “We get the bad guys. You wanted to work with Duncan, this is how we have to work with Duncan.” Arch could see the light of amusement flicker over the cowboy’s face. “Or we could just do what Alison suggested and launch a rocket inside—”

“La la la la,” Duncan said, fingers in his ears.

“Oh, knock it off,” Hendricks said. “We don’t have a rocket launcher, and you know it.”

“And I don’t have functional ears,” Duncan said, fingers still jammed in his ear canals. “The rules still remain. I can’t hear you plotting harm to Katlin Elizabeth, okay?”

“I’m not gonna harm her,” Hendricks said coolly, “I’m gonna help you find evidence that she’s a demonic rule breaker, so you can … do whatever it is you people are going to do to her. I hope it involves something pointed and blessed.”

Arch looked dead on at Hendricks. “Is this really worth it? Because of your ego or Starling’s say so?”

Hendricks shrugged, hesitating just a beat beforehand. “Leave those two aside: getting bad guys is always worth it.”

Arch stared at him evenly. “This isn’t how we do it. We don’t dangle ourselves over the pit like this. We plan. We cover each other. We don’t take stupid chances—” He stopped himself. “Well, you do, I guess, but I try to keep the rest of us from doing things like charging blindly into danger.”

“And those of us who aren’t think-with-the-groin-first Marines sure do appreciate it, Arch,” Bill said. “This lady sounds like some bad juju from what Duncan says. I wouldn’t be sad to see the back of her. Let’s get her out of town. We got enough to deal with without demon royalty dragging their mess all over our carpet.”

“Or threatening to make us munch hers,” Hendricks said darkly.

Arch let that kill the conversation for a moment, give it a chance to settle. “Are we all agreed on this, then? Because it sounds awfully risky—”

“I could go in alone,” Duncan said.

“And if you’re found out, you have zero help until we can breach and get inside,” Alison said. She snapped her attention to her father. “Where is this party?”

“Venus Plantation,” Bill said.

“Big windows everywhere,” Alison said. “You can cover us some, at least.”

Bill lowered his voice. “But if you get into trouble, daughter of mine, you’re going be on your own in the middle of a dance floor of demons, without a sword to call your own.”

“She can borrow my knife,” Hendricks said, pulling off his hat and shaking it until a metal switchblade fell out of the band and clattered to the table. “I’m not gonna be able to carry it anyway.”

“Where you gonna put your sword?” Bill asked.

“Down my leg,” Hendricks said. “I’ll just take the guard off and tape it, act like I’ve got a prosthesis—”

“Still overcompensating,” Alison said.