Dagger

  Heinrich didn’t look up from the computer. “Not so fast.” His fingers flew over the keyboard. The screen was filled with the official blue and white seal of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. “One of our undercover assets has provided us with access to NESDIS.”

  My heart jammed up my throat. “NESDIS?”

  “National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, which manages the United States’operational environmental satellites.” He studied the readout. “In a few moments, we should have real-time surveillance of the coordinates provided on your disk.”

  Shit. Moment of truth time. I had one more chance to obtain what we’d come for. I nodded to Aristede, who pulled out a cigarette from the case, preparing to light it.

  Satellite images appeared on the computer screen.

  I walked over to Heinrich, hand outstretched in front of the screen. “Let me be the first to congratulate you on the success of your enterprise.” If he’d gotten any of the fluid on his fingers, the biometric scanners should be able to transmit its components back to base.

  He eyed my hand suspiciously, like I’d taken a piss and not washed afterwards. The ghul was no fool.

  C’mon. Shake it, asshole.

  He tentatively reached out his hand toward mine.

  The computer beeped. Damn it!

  Heinrich pulled his hand away and turned back to the monitor.

  Just in time to see the satellite images of the DUST security team, led by Tep, forming a perimeter at the coordinate site.

  The unmistakable sound of firearms being drawn sliced through the room.

  Aristede and I were covered with pinpricks of red laser light.

  There was nowhere to run.

  Chapter Six

  “You disappoint me, Mr. Matias,” Heinrich growled. “But then again, that’s not really your name, is it?” His eyes burned like flamethrowers.

  I shrugged. “Reinaldo, Ricardo, Raymundo. What’s in a name, right?”

  Before I could move, he pounced, twisting me around and pinning my left arm behind my back. My shoulder felt like it was about to pop from its socket. His lips pressed to my ear, jagged teeth grazing the tender flesh of my lobe. “I’ll give you one last chance to tell me who you really are before I’m forced to say Auf Wiedersehen.”

  My eyes met Aristede’s, shot to the cigarette in his hand, and then back to his face. He blinked. I returned the gesture.

  “Who … are … you …?” Heinrich grumbled, emphasizing every syllable with increased pressure on my throbbing arm.

  I tilted my head back, drowning in the aroma of Heinie’s foul breath. Blood and sauerkraut. Delish. “Herr Von Bueller, you can call me Baroness Elsa Schrader, and my partner here’s Maria Von Trapp, as in shut-your.”

  Heinrich roared. He practically broke my arm as he sank his teeth into the makeshift blood packet on my neck.

  I tensed, sensing his confusion. He spit out the phony blood, flecks landing on Buzz Cut’s sleeve. “I guess I’m not your type?” Tweedles Dead and Deader rubber-necked the scene, momentarily losing interest in Aristede.

  Big Mistake.

  Aristede moved in a blur, striking the cigarette flare against Deader’s gun.

  A flash of brilliant warm sunlight erupted like a mini-nova, bathing the bell tower in one short day. Shots rang out from all directions. But the blinding light threw off everyone’s aim. Good thing Aristede and I were wearing our infrared contact lenses.

  Heinrich released me, his sizzling hands flying to protect his eyes. The solar burst was just strong enough to cook the ghuls’ skin, like a skillet on low.

  “You scheming little whore,” he fumed. “I’ll rip out your entrails and force your friend to eat them while you watch.”

  “I’m thinking pass on that one.” I elbowed him in the gut. Nothing like kicking a ghul when he’s down. Prying one of his smoking arms from his face, I flipped him over me, sending him sprawling into his throne.

  Aristede was scuffling with Dead and Deader. He punched Dead in the face and then twirled around, landing a roundhouse kick right in Deader’s chest. Though both ghuls were blinded and roasting, they struck out like vicious animals, snarling and clawing. The three went spiraling to the ground in a tangle of pummeling fists and tearing teeth. A candelabra toppled over. The flames ignited the velvet drapes, which went up like a torch. The tethered Cerby let out a grating howl.

  The sunburst was fading fast, as was our advantage. We needed to get what we came for and get the hell out of here. I lunged for the elixir, but wasn’t quick enough. Faerie Man rose into the air and somersaulted forward. His boot connected with my groin.

  I doubled-over, crashing against the pedestal in agony. The impact dislodged the elixir from its perch. As if in slow-mo, the glass bottle toppled, end over end, toward the granite floor. Despite the pain searing through me, I leaned forward and reached out to grab it.

  Faerie Man collided into me, hand outstretched to seize the bottle for himself. I twisted his wrist. The elixir slipped from his grasp. It bounced down his arm, his body cushioning it from the impact. Then the precious bottle slid off him and onto the floor. It rolled toward a staggering Buzz Cut, whose hands were still pressed against his eyes like a drunken hide-and-seeker. I cringed. The bottle was headed straight for his boot. If he stepped just a few centimeters in the wrong direction …

  “Hans!” I shouted, using the name Heinrich had called him.

  Buzz Cut froze in his tracks, allowing the elixir to narrowly escape its crushing fate. It sailed safely past and out of view.

  My hands were pulled violently behind my back. I struggled in Faerie Man’s embrace but he had me firmly locked in his grasp. When in a bind, stall. “Wait a sec. Is that your magic wand or are you just happy to see me?”

  I looked up to see Tresses hovering over me like a murderous butterfly. Her carved scepter was poised, ready to stab me in the chest. Didn’t anyone carry wands these days? “Shouldn’t you Faeries be making-over some poor, emotionally abused chick that’s desperate to go meet a prince or something?”

  In response, Faerie Man applied more pressure to my aching arms. Tresses smirked. Her eyes glistened like blue ice. She drove the scepter down, straight for my heart.

  I shifted and kicked the weapon out of her hand. Her face registered momentary shock. “Sorry, hon. You have to take me out to dinner first if you’re gonna bone me.” I kicked her hard with my other leg, sending her careening over and behind me. Not giving Faerie Man a chance to react, I leaned my head forward and then slammed it back. Nothing like a good ole reverse head butt. I felt the crunch as the back of my skull connected with his nose. Ouch. I broke loose.

  Springing to my feet, I grabbed the scepter from the ground and whirled. Tresses zoomed toward me like a pesky gnat. I didn’t have the luxury of taking perfect aim. I hurled the pointed bone. It whizzed through the air and right through one of her wings. Impaled against one of the stone pillars, she looked like a thumb-tacked note. She screamed, cursing at me in German. Faerie Man lay unconscious just a few feet away, his nose a bloody mess. Two down.

  More shots rang out. I scrambled for cover behind another stone pillar. From across the room, Buzz Cut fired his weapon at me. Now that the effects of the flare had petered out, the ghuls were recovering. My eyes darted to Heinrich’s fallen throne. He wasn’t there. Not good.

  I scanned the room. Aristede and the Deaders were still engaged in their Death Match. Aristede’s clothes were torn and bloody. He looked exhausted. One of the ghuls grabbed Aristede’s leg and twisted it, bringing him to the ground. Without missing a beat, Aristede rolled around and shoved his other leg underneath his attacker’s. The ghul came crashing down beside him. The other ghul raised his gun, but Aristede grabbed it, and hurled it across the room to me.

  I scooped it off the floor, barely dodging more gunfire from Buzz Cut. I fired back at him. Bullets wouldn’t kill a ghul, but they hurt like hell and would definitely slow him down
until I could come up with something better. I ducked as shots hit the pillar just above my head, sending chips of ancient stone into my hair and face.

  Aristede couldn’t hold out much longer.

  “You will never be able to prevent the Age of the Sixth,” came a sinister voice from behind me.

  I spun to fire. Heinrich loomed, clutching a long spear in one hand. Before I could pull the trigger, the ghul’s lightning reflexes kicked in. The spear knocked the gun out of my hand.

  Heinrich grinned, wisps of smoke emanating from his recently-seared flesh. “Perhaps you’ve heard of the Spear of Longinus, often referred to as the Spear of Destiny?” He twirled the spear like a demonic majorette. The flicker of the growing flames highlighted the sharpness of its tip. “You are about to meet your destiny.”

  I backed away. “What say we skip the meet and greet?”

  Heinrich thrust the spear against my chest. “This is the legendary spear that pierced the side of Christ and contains a nail from the Cross. It is also the spear that the Roman emperor Maximilian and the Holy Roman emperors of Austria carried as a standard into battle.”

  I nodded. “Terrif. Now you go all History Channel on me.”

  Heinrich pressed the tip deeper, drawing a trickle of blood. His tongue darted across his lips. “It was rumored that Hitler himself believed that possession of this spear insured dominion over the earth.”

  “Uh, yeah. And we see how well that turned out for him.”

  Heinrich laughed. “Fitting this should be the last thing on this earth you shall ever see as the Army of the Sixth prepares for battle.”

  Beside me, the Cerby bayed, struggling to break free of its chains. Hot breath grazed my neck. I winced at the sound of snapping jaws. “You know, Heinie, I don’t mind your ramblings, considering your long in the tooth status, but I really haven’t got all day. Then again, being a ghul, neither do you.”

  I risked a sideways glance. The fire was spreading. Aristede and the Tweedles continued to pound each other through a veil of smoke.

  Click. A gun cocked behind me.

  I dove to the ground. The shot rang out. It missed me and blew a hole through Heinrich’s chest. Dark blood oozed from the wound directly where his heart would have been. If he’d had one.

  I looked up to see Buzz Cut holding the proverbial smoking gun. I didn’t know which was more priceless, the stunned look on Heinie’s face as he watched his guts spew, or the I just shot my boss and I’m in deep shit now look Buzz Cut was sporting.

  A gleam in the haze caught my eye. The bottle of elixir. It was only inches from being consumed by flames. Before I could make a run for it, I sensed something whizzing through the air at me. I rolled out of the way. The Spear of Vaginas, or whatever the hell it was called, embedded itself in the space my head had just vacated. I sprang and ripped it free. “Aristede. Move.” I hurled the spear at the ropes anchoring the huge bell above Aristede and his attackers.

  Aristede jumped free. The bell crashed with a deafening roar on top of Tweedles Dead and Deader, pinning them. They were engulfed in fire. Their shrieks pierced the crackling of the flames. They clawed at their roasting skin, tearing it away until they resembled living skeletons writhing in agony.

  I lunged for the elixir, sliding across the floor. Bullets rained from Buzz Cut’s gun, creating a trail of deep impressions in the stone floor behind me.

  “Ergreifen sie das elixier!” Heinrich barked, commanding Buzz Cut to grab the bottle.

  Buzz Cut abandoned his attempt at riddling me with bullet holes and raced forward. He snatched the bottle from the flames.

  A cloud of smoke obscured him from me. Now was my chance. I glanced at my timer. Only ten seconds left of the ring’s hallucinogen. Summoning the last of the ring’s power, I concentrated and assumed Heinrich’s visage.

  I stepped through the smoke, stifling a cough. “Werfen sie mich die flasche, Hans,” I said, ordering him to give me the elixir.

  Buzz Cutt hesitated. Could he see through the charade?

  Five seconds. Four. Three …

  “Werfen sie mich die flasche,” I repeated.

  Two. One.

  Buzz Cut tossed the elixir to me, just as the ring’s power expired, exposing me. He snarled.

  “Sie idiot!” Heinrich’s voice screeched behind me.

  I grasped the bottle in my hand for just a second, before the real Heinrich crashed into me, knocking it free once again. Hopefully that second had been long enough to transmit the analysis back to base.

  The ghul throttled my throat with his blood soaked hands. “Where is Il Evanidus? Tell me now and I will make your death less painful than you deserve.”

  I struggled to breathe. I never understood the deal with expecting someone to answer a question while they’re being choked. Duh. Heinie must have figured this out. He loosened his grip just enough for me to reply.

  Bite me wasn’t the best line to blurt out with a ghul straddling you. I settled for “Kiss. My. Ass.”

  He leered at me. “Sorry, dear boy. I haven’t got time for that.” Then his mouth flew open in a silent scream and he coughed dark blood into my face.

  Sheesh. Just kill me already. I’m not into this kinky shit. What was the deal with all the free distribution of bodily fluids? Weren’t ghuls familiar with no glove, no love? And what was that long thing doing sticking through his torso?

  Then Heinie slumped over and crumpled to the floor. I came out of my fog as air flowed through me once again. It was the spear. Someone had gored Heinie with it. A dark shadow loomed over me. Was it Buzz Cut about to finish me off? I tried to scramble out of the way. Two powerful hands seized me.

  “Relax, Greek Avenger. It’s me,” Aristede said. His smiling face came into focus. I could have planted one on him right there. He helped me to my feet. “We need to break radio silence.”

  I tapped the psychic comlink hidden in my ear and concentrated. Base Ops, this is Greek Avenger and Lumberjack requesting emergency extraction.

  Felanie’s voice rang in my head. We read you Greek Avenger. They’re on their way.

  A couple of shots struck by our feet. “Let’s move.”

  The smoke was getting dense. Buzz Cut stopped firing at us and ran toward the elevator. He turned and pulled a small round device from the panel by the doors. He smirked as he pressed it.

  Alarms blared. The hum of the elevator echoed through the room. He’d alerted the other agents. In a few seconds, this place would be crawling with DR operatives.

  Aristede trained his gun directly at the elevator doors.

  I looked around desperately for an alternate escape route. We were too high up to jump from a window. The howling Cerby caught my attention. Weren’t these creatures known for their ability to leap great heights? Time to test that rep.

  “I think I might have found us a ride,” I said.

  “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast!” Aristede called.

  I hurried over to the still squirming Heinrich. Poor guy. First shot, then skewered. He was quickly becoming the crash test dummy of the ghul world. Gripping the spear, I pulled it from his torso in a spray of crimson. It wouldn’t be long before his regenerative abilities kicked in. I needed him to verify Price’s intel on Phillipe.

  “What are you doing?” Aristede asked.

  “He’s coming with us.”

  The elevator doors wooshed open. A swarm of agents crowded through, weapons blazing.

  I coughed. “I feel like a smoke.”

  Aristede squinted at me, but didn’t ask any questions, just handed me the pack of cigarettes. Then he opened fire on the tangos. It wasn’t long before his ammo ran dry.

  I hurled all the remaining flares into the flames. They erupted into a brilliant sun. The sounds of piercing screams and stray bullets rebounded throughout the chamber.

  “Time to go!” I yelled.

  Aristede scooped up the smoking ghul and flung him over his shoulders.

  Approaching the howling Cerb
y, I wrapped its chain around its jaws. Then I hopped on its back. Using the spear tip, I cut the chain loose from the pillar and gripped it like a rein. The Cerby bucked, but I tugged sternly on the chain until it settled down. It wanted out of this inferno just as much as we did.

  Aristede, still holding Heinrich, hopped on behind me, sandwiching the ghul between us. Then he reattached his tether to me. I dug my heels hard into the Cerby’s sides. In seconds we were dodging fireballs and gunfire, bounding toward the huge stained glass window.

  I held the spear aloft like a medieval knight. The tip crashed through the glass. We sailed through, free-falling a hundred feet. My stomach somersaulted. Forget Busch Gardens. The ground loomed real close. I clenched my teeth, hoping the Cerby had good shocks.

  Wham!

  The creature absorbed most of the impact. We tumbled to the ground and landed in a heap by the stables, engulfed in the smells of fresh hay and horse manure.

  The Cerby lifted its head, as if it heard something we didn’t. Then it took off like a bat out of hell, literally.

  Aristede mussed my hair. “You okay?”

  “Been better.” I knelt down, grasping Heinrich by the lapels of his duster. I couldn’t wait until we’d transported him back to base for interrogation. He had the answers I needed. “What do you know about Phillipe Beaumont? What did the Dark Reich do to him? Tell me.”

  Heinrich coughed up another gout of blood. “Beaumont? His eyes penetrated mine with a glimmer of recognition. “I recognize you now, boy. You’re the other one.”

  My heart raced. “Phillipe Beaumont’s name was on a Reich list of disappearances. You experimented on him, didn’t you? Il Evanidus. He was a guinea pig, wasn’t he?”

  Heinrich managed a blood-stained smile. “Is that what your people told you? Interesting.”

  I punched him in the face. “I saw it with my own eyes, you bastard. We were camping. I was just a kid. The glow outside, the ghostly apparitions. I saw him levitate right out the tent. You kidnapped him. You destroyed my family.” I pummeled him, again and again, fighting back tears, desperate for the answers I’d been seeking for so long.