CHAPTER 24
I couldn’t see. It felt like the ground had disappeared from beneath my feet. I dropped. Panicked, flailing, only then it felt like gravity changed direction, and I was falling up. I suddenly hit the ground, only from an entirely unexpected direction, and bounced off it with my shoulder.
Facedown, I lay there, dizzy, trying to get my bearings and trying to blink the purple blotches from my vision. The world was spinning but beneath me was smooth concrete, so I held onto that bit of stability, even though I couldn’t understand how the forest had suddenly grown a concrete floor.
Last thing I’d known, the Drekavac had been about to attack, so I rolled over and shifted my gun in the direction that I thought he was in, except I still couldn’t see. Stricken must have used one hell of a flash-bang.
“Franks! Sonya!”
Sonya shouted from somewhere off to my side. “I lost the grenade!”
Fuck!
I couldn’t see a damned thing but I started smacking my hands around on the floor, desperately looking for the deadly little thing before it went off.
“Calm your tits,” Stricken said. “I’ve already taken care of it. If you’re going to be on my team, you’ve got to learn to handle your ordnance better.”
Focusing on his voice, I could sort of make out the shape of Stricken standing there. The surprising part about that was Franks hadn’t immediately shot him. Except when I craned my head in that direction, I saw that Franks was surrounded by several figures who all had guns on him. When I looked behind me, there were more men pointing rifles at me. I was still having a hard time focusing, but they looked like soldiers.
We were no longer outdoors. There was a roof overhead. We were in some big room . . . a garage. There were several trucks parked inside. The succubus extinguished her flaming whip and hopped up on a truck to sit on the hood. There was a really loud AC unit running and no windows on the cinder-block walls. There was no sign of the Drekavac. When I saw that we were all inside a big circular scorch mark burned into the floor, I realized what had happened. It was some variation of the portal rope magic I’d first seen used by the Sanctified Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition.
“You teleported us?” No wonder I was feeling motion sick.
“Well, it was either that or stand around there waiting for old Carver to try and murder everyone, and trust me, he still had plenty of horsepower. You wouldn’t have been able to shut him down in time. You can thank me later.” Stricken had Sonya’s grenade in one hand and the unscrewed fuse in the other. That must have been close. They only have a four or five second fuse. Stricken was faster than he looked. “Take care of that for me.” Stricken tossed the grenade to one of the soldiers, but luckily the surprised man caught it, though he fumbled it, wide-eyed and terrified, a few times before he got it under control.
Sonya threw up. I didn’t know if it was from her almost blowing herself up, or the nausea of falling through a portal to who knew where, but it was an understandable reaction to either event.
I slowly moved my hands away from Cazador so none of Stricken’s guards got the wrong idea. “Where’s the Drekavac?”
“Alabama, for the moment. Hopefully your buddies take his final body out. Otherwise he’ll be coming after us soon. How soon, I don’t know. I’m a little fuzzy on the details of how he travels long distance.” Stricken sighed. “What a waste. Silas is a real talent. I would’ve killed to have him on Unicorn. My backup-pick monster isn’t as impressive, though they’re probably equally as annoying.”
“I’m gonna kill you, Stricken,” Franks stated in a very matter-of-fact manner that was still convincing, despite the six dudes with assault rifles aimed at him.
“I know. You’re going to kill me. Which is why I should just take you out now and get it over with. It’s not like I need two Chosen.” Stricken picked up the shotgun that was supposedly loaded with the special Franks-killing slugs, except rather than aiming it at Franks, he rested it over one shoulder. “The fact that I haven’t popped you, even though I could, should indicate that this is way bigger than our little feud. You’re really going to want to hear me out, Franks. You can get back to hounding me to the ends of the Earth after we keep the Old Ones from tearing the planet a new asshole. You know I wouldn’t reach out to the likes of you for help if it wasn’t that serious.”
Franks made an angry hmmmm noise. Because there really was no way Stricken would turn to someone who wanted to end him that much unless something really bad was going to go down otherwise.
Now that I could mostly see, I slowly took in the details of the garage. There had been at least twenty men waiting outside the circle for us to arrive. They were dressed in woodland camo fatigues with mismatched load-bearing gear. Most of them seemed pretty freaked out about the portal magic they’d just seen, which meant they were new to this kind of thing. They were armed with a variety of weapons, including a couple I didn’t recognize, which was saying something because I’m a huge gun nut. Among the soldiers were a few gringos and black guys, but most of them were about as tan as I am, but they were on average a whole lot shorter.
“Where are we?”
“Brazil,” Stricken said.
Well, shit. I sure wasn’t going to get home by the time we’d told the babysitter. “Send us back.”
“Sorry. Only had the one rope. Those things are not cheap. You ever been here before?”
Only in other people’s nightmares, but I didn’t say that. I thought about what Gutterres had shown me. There was no way our new location was a coincidence. “This is about the thing in the jungle the Secret Guard have been fighting.”
“Well, it’s good you’re not a total idiot, Pitt. Yes. Now we’re going to finish what they started. Think of this as the forward operating base for our upcoming expedition.” He gestured around the garage. “Welcome to Rio. Sadly, I doubt any of us will have time to hit the beaches.”
“Rio is nowhere near that part of the Amazon,” I said.
“So you’re an expert on South American geography too?” Stricken said. “No shit. We’re over a thousand miles from the heart of the disturbance, but we’ve got an important meeting to attend here first. You’ll see.”
There were twice as many guns pointed at Franks as there were at me, which meant that Stricken had briefed them on which one of us was more dangerous. However, there were only two of them ready to shoot Sonya, which showed a real lack of judgment on their part. I was worried she might be thinking about trying something stupid, so I caught her eye and gave her a little negative head shake.
Only Sonya gave me one right back, and she tapped one finger to her chest. She wasn’t going anywhere until she could get that rock out of her. Fair enough.
Franks slowly stood up, and it was obvious the soldiers were scared to death of him, which was smart. Especially since Franks was still armed. He slowly and purposefully dusted himself off but left his rifle hang from its sling as he glared at Stricken menacingly. The soldiers looked so nervous and there were so many twitchy fingers resting on triggers that I was kind of surprised Franks didn’t get shot by accident.
“I’d order these guys to disarm you, but we both know that would be insulting and pointless. It’s not like the legendary Agent Franks needs a gun to kill anybody.” Then Stricken looked at me. “Hothead McChosen One, on the other hand, I should probably have them disarm you and pat you down, too, for good measure.”
There was no way I could do anything without getting shot, but I wasn’t about to give Stricken the satisfaction. “From my cold dead hands, motherfucker.”
“Well, they would be room temperature and dead if I have my men kill you, which is kind of the point, Pitt.”
“I’ll pat him down,” the succubus offered. “He’s a sturdy one.”
“Lana, you really need to quit creating a hostile work environment for the new recruits.”
She shrugged and went back to inspecting her claws. She’d painted them festive colors.
“In the spirit of cooperation, everybody can hold onto their guns, but let’s keep it polite. I didn’t bring you here to be prisoners, but rather partners. Besides, my Portuguese is kind of rough when it comes to giving instructions and I don’t want all these jumpy paramilitary types I hired to get the wrong message.”
I looked to the nearest soldier, who had an FAL pointed at my heart, and said in Portuguese, Whatever this asshole is paying you, I’ll double it. My Portuguese was archaic crap gleaned from a dead conquistador, and more recently beefed up with some Duo Lingo lessons, but I was pretty sure he got the message. He looked to Stricken.
And of course, Stricken was lying about his language skills, because his accent was so good he probably sounded like a native Brazilian when he told them, “Nao preste atencao a este doido. Ele fale mentiras e pobre demais,” which I was pretty sure translated to: Don’t listen to this idiot. He lies and is poor. Then Stricken looked at me. “We done?”
“We’re done.” I had nothing but loathing for the man, and the only reason I hadn’t shot him myself was all his goons, but . . . Gutterres’ memories had confirmed that the situation was dire, and all of Coslow’s mystic pronouncements had encouraged me to get involved. I walked over to Sonya and offered her a hand to help her up. She didn’t need it. I was just trying to keep my friends close. Not that friend wasn’t a questionable term in this case.
“Hey, what about me?” Sonya said to Stricken. “You said you could get this rock out of me? Let’s get to getting.”
Stricken chuckled. “I should clarify. I know someone who can. But don’t worry, we’re going to meet with them shortly. You’ll just have to wait until then.”
“You son of a bitch,” Sonya said. “You promised.”
“No. I made an offer, and then moved you to a different hemisphere in order to save your life even after you robbed me. Don’t mistake my recent benevolence for patience, because you’re the least necessary member of my new team, rookie. So we’ll get around to fixing your problem in due time. Don’t like it—”
“I walk?”
Stricken actually seemed surprised by how naïve that was. “No. We shoot you and throw your corpse in a ditch. You had your chance with squishy and benevolent MHI, but now you’re with me. Playtime is over. We’ve got shit to do. Screw with my timeline anymore, and I’ll just kill you.” Stricken could ooze menace when he wanted to. There was no doubt he’d have her capped in a heartbeat. “Understood?”
“Got it,” she said sullenly.
“Good. Then you can shut up and wait until we meet with the expert.”
“We wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t run off, princess,” I whispered to her.
“Don’t want to hear it.”
“So how about it, Pitt? Are you in or not?”
“I’m only interested in stopping that thing in the jungle.”
“Good. Because I’m the only one who knows how to finish the job. I need someone Chosen, like you or Franks. You need my knowledge.”
Until I could figure out how to handle it myself, or Gutterres seemed to think his friend who had stayed out there knew what to do, then I could arrange for Stricken to accidentally fall on some bullets. “I’ll work with you for now.”
“That’ll do.” Stricken nodded. “You hear that, Franks? I really only need one of you to cooperate.”
Franks grunted. “So I should shoot Pitt?”
“He’s joking. I think. But if you harm Franks, then you might as well kill me too. Then good luck scrounging up another Chosen in time.”
Stricken grinned and turned to Sonya. “See, kid? Now that’s how you bargain.”
“You mind if I call my wife to tell her where we all vanished to?” So that Julie could send in the cavalry.
“Aw, you two have such a wholesome and caring relationship, it makes me want to barf . . . but your phone won’t work in here. We’ve got a jammer on this site.”
“Mr. Stricken.” One of the white guys walked up next to his superior. His guns were newer and his kit was fancier. His accent suggested East Texas. “We’ve got a problem, sir.”
“What is it?”
“The VIPs still want to meet at sunrise, but we’ve spotted some tangos poking around the perimeter.”
“Cultists?”
“Looks like it.” That one had to be Unicorn alumnus who’d stayed loyal to the old boss, which meant he was either a human handler, or something else that could pass for human. “We don’t know if they’re with the Old Ones or Asag though.”
That made me perk right up. Both of those wanted me dead. “What’s this got to do with Asag?”
“Those factions hate each other more than they hate us. They’re at war. That’s what’s actually going on out in the jungle. That’s the main reason Asag has been too busy to step on you. If either of them win this particular battle, mankind loses.”
I glanced at Franks, but from the grim look on his big flat face, he was still trying to decide if he could kill Stricken before he was shot to pieces. Having seen Franks in action, the answer was more than likely yes, and the fact that he hadn’t done so yet meant that he was weighing Stricken’s words. Franks was big on never failing a mission and killing Stricken was a mission. However, protecting mankind from the forces of ultimate evil was also his mission. I figured saving a few million lives outranked ending one really odious one. But most importantly, the MCB’s primary mission was keeping monsters secret from most of mankind. It was their vaunted First Reason, because they truly believed that the more regular people know about the supernatural, the more powerful the supernatural would become, until our world was doomed. From what Coslow had said earlier, if this came to pass, it would be catastrophic enough that even the best bullshit artists at the MCB might not be able to cover it up.
Conflicting missions was probably going to confuse Franks, and a confused Franks was more dangerous than a regular Franks, so I said to him, “You cool with this, Franks?”
“Yeah,” he growled, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. Clearly, the men prepared to shoot him didn’t either.
The man from Texas wasn’t done with his warning. “We tried to bag one of the cultists for interrogation, but they disappeared back into the crowd. The way they knew this area, they’ve got to be locals.”
“Thank you, Mr. Curtis,” Stricken said. “So you think they know we’ve been hiding here?”
“We’ve tried to keep a low profile, but probably. Should we scratch the mission, sir?”
“No. Time isn’t on our side and I’ve already wasted too much as it is getting these clowns assembled. Don’t tell the VIPs’ security detail anything either. I don’t want to scare them off. If the cult makes a move against us, we’ll deal with them, but having their lives threatened will just demonstrate to them how much they need us . . . ” Stricken started walking away. “Alright, everybody, get freshened up so we look presentable when we meet the rest of our illustrious alliance.”
The succubus hopped off the truck hood and followed Stricken. She winked at Franks as she passed him. “You’re not going to want to miss this, Franks. Trust me.”
“Who’re we meeting?” Franks demanded.
“I’m not about to ruin the surprise,” Stricken said. “Our convoy leaves in ten.”
Sonya whispered to me, “This guy is a real piece of work.”
She had no idea.