“How the hell did you get here? The ground is-”
“Consecrated? Yes, I know.” He made a face and spit. “Nasty business that. Hadn’t counted on that.”
“Counted on wh-…” It made sense, suddenly. “You were inside already. Upstairs. That’s what Duke was growling about.”
“Stupid mutt. At least he’s smart enough not to take me on.”
“But how’d you get out here? The wards…”
Axel snorted. “Your little priest friend should learn his limits. There’s barely enough power here to make me itch.” With a smirk, he demonstrated, hopping back and forth over the threshold of the open door. “I’m on the east side, I’m on the west side. I’m on the inside, I’m on the outside.”
“Wonderful. So the wards aren’t any good.” Just what we needed.
“Au contraire. They’ll work perfectly fine against anything that isn’t me.” He grinned, and it occurred to me that his injuries from earlier were gone. Only the faintest hint of a shadow showed where the worst of the bruising had been. Damn, demons healed fast. “I’m just that good.”
“What about the ones at my house?”
“Ah, now those are good wards. Your little priest could take some lessons from your wife.” Somehow, that made me feel better. If Mira’s wards would keep Axel out, surely they could keep out anything else Hell sent at her. Just until I could get home.
“So you’re… what? Lurking around here so you can offer to clue me in for… dun dun dun… a price?” I wasn’t up for playing games tonight.
The demon frowned at me. “Now there’s no need to get snarky. I am what I am.”
“Boy, don’t I know it.” I tried to move past him, and he barred the door with one arm.
“Jesse, in all seriousness. You need to talk to me.” Sometimes, when he got all serious in my voice like that, I could almost believe him. Almost.
“In exchange for what? I think I’m gonna be needing my soul soon, so I really can’t offer that up at the moment.”
He nodded. “Yes, you’re going to need it. Even if I tell you not to, you’ll do it. Maybe because I tell you not to. But that’s because you are what you are. Rather static creatures, aren’t we?”
“Same shit, different day.” Dammit. I needed information, and at this moment, I trusted the demon on the porch more than the priest upstairs. “All right. What info do you think I need, and what do you want for it?” There was this little voice in the back of my head screeching “Warning, warning!” but I ignored it.
He pursed his lips a bit, moving to gaze out into the darkening night. “Aren’t you even going to ask me what they are?”
“Would you tell me?”
“I might.” He grinned without looking at me, but I could hear it in his-my-voice. “If you ask the right question.”
“Can they be killed?” ’Cause really, that’s what it came down to. Whatever they were, wherever they came from, if I could kill them, I had options.
“Decent question. The answer is yes.” He looked at me, waiting.
I gritted my teeth. “ How can they be killed?”
“Ah, now that was a good question.” He nodded. “Destroy the neural pathways, and the body will cease to function.”
“So… boom, headshot.”
“If you like. They do feel pain, and they know fear, but… they aren’t allowed to react to it. For the controlling force, they are tools, nothing more. Expendable. Don’t expect mercy from them. Don’t expect to reason with them.”
They were still there, sitting silently in the bushes. It seemed, without my proximity to react to, they were simply left, waiting. I was reminded eerily of empty dolls, abandoned by some careless child. I shivered. “He’s the controlling force. The Yeti. Yes?”
“The Yeti?” That got a laugh from him. “That’s priceless. I’m going to have to call him that from now on. Yes, they’re his. They only respond to him, because he made them.”
“Made them how? What are they?” I honestly expected him to dodge that one. I mean, how to kill them was a pretty valuable piece of information and he’d just handed it over. Asking for more was just being greedy.
You can understand my surprise when he kept talking. “You all look alike to us. Did you know that? If you and your brother stood silently side by side, I don’t know that I could honestly pick you out.” He gave me a small, sly smile. “It’s the voices that tell you apart. The voice is what calls us out of the darkness. That is what we follow into the light. Your voice is the doorway to your soul.”
“That’s real poetic, Axel. You should write that shit down.”
He rolled his eyes at me and pointed out into the night. “They make no sound. They have no voices of their own. Think about why.”
“Am I going to be quizzed on this later?”
“Maybe.” Dropping his arm to his side, he sighed heavily. “Nasty business, those things. Not done very often. It’s one of those things I wish we could unlearn.”
I caught a hint of disgust in his voice, and I wondered at it. “Do you have any? Your own little army of creepy spider-monkey people?”
“No.” The answer was short, clipped. “Whatever you think of me, there are things that even I won’t do, Jesse. And that is one of them.”
Well, holy crap. Who knew Axel had morals? “So what do you want in return for all this? You don’t ever give me anything for free. And I’m fresh out of sticks.”
He turned to face me again, his eyes flaring red for just a moment. “Never think this is a selfless act on my part, Jesse. These events work toward my agenda. All I ask from you at this time is to do what is true to your nature. And I’ll do what is true to mine.”
“That’s not exactly comforting.”
“It wasn’t intended to be. Unfortunately for you, you’re caught up in something you don’t understand. You’re the piece of straw being whipped around by the tornado.”
I winced. “You had to say tornado?” After my close call with one last spring, I was more than a bit paranoid about even uttering the word. “So Cam was telling the truth? About a war in Hell?”
Axel smirked again. Or still. Really, it was kinda his permanent expression. “You should get back inside before they come looking for you.”
Ah, there it was. His limit. “And what about you?”
“Me?” He shrugged his lanky shoulders. “I’ll be around if you think of any more good questions.”
Great. My personal demon was gonna be playing Peeping Tom. There was one more thing that I really needed to know, if he’d tell me. “Cam says it’s a hit. That you’re all out to get us.”
In the doorway, Axel stopped, glancing back at me. “Don’t trust the priest. He’s carrying around more secrets than you can possibly imagine.” Between one step and the next, he vanished. There was no scent of sulfur, proving that he wasn’t truly gone, just unseen.
I gave it a moment longer, then went back inside myself. I suppose someone might have laughed at my dilemma. Should I trust the priest, who had already lied to everyone I knew, or the demon who fully admitted to having his own agenda? Yup, that was a corker.
The guys had managed to draw up a couple of buckets of water, and Cole was looking over our food supplies when I passed through the kitchen. “How are we set, little brother?”
“We were planning on a week, so we’ve got food. Water. Our real issue is going to be Zane.” We both glanced toward the big living room. I could see the Quinns sitting quietly with Cameron, three hands clasped together. Praying, maybe?
Cam had his glass of water with him and I watched with interest as he dipped his fingers into it, tracing invisible symbols on Zane’s injured arm, paying special attention to the darkening flesh of his hand. The boy grimaced a little, as if it hurt, and the priest asked him something, to which he nodded. I lost whatever they were saying in Cole’s next comment. “At least those things can’t get close.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was only a temporary reprieve. Hopefully, we’d be long gone before Cam’s spell broke.
After a bit of discussion, it was decided that sleep was the first order of business for everyone but Cameron. We’d each take a turn at watch, and take a turn at keeping him awake too. I, of course, intended to stay up and keep watch (I can sleep when I’m dead) whether they agreed to it or not. Marty opted to go first, and stood in front of the window, watching the clearing in front of the cabin. I elbowed him lightly as I passed. “You can sleep if you want, man. I got this.” He grunted in response, but really didn’t move.