Chapter 13 #2
I gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white. I prayed to any deity listening Annable was still in its box. I had no desire to fight an entity I knew I’d lose against, especially with Kris at stake. Too bad I was used to the universe fucking me over.
Kris stared at the side of my face like I’d announced I would like to go skinny dipping in a volcano. “Zhang fu, I have seen you take down Smoke Wolves and Raven Mockers in pitch-black mountains, while it rained, and think it a grand time. And you won’t go after this doll without backup?”
“Strange as that sounds, yeah. There’s a high-level demon in that doll. Makes it very hard to fight against. In fact, I’d take a pack of Smoke Wolves and Raven Mockers over Annabelle any day of the week.”
“Seconded,” Jo Jo grumbled.
Kris made this noise of mixed disbelief and horror. “Now I’m properly terrified.”
Seeing her fear, I felt the bond tug—hard—and I nearly swerved at the sudden spike of pain.
Dammit, not now! The bond hadn’t thrown this much of a fit since we’d accepted it.
I breathed through the surge of pain in my chest, mentally yelling at it to pipe the fuck down, all while it screamed at me to not separate from Kris during this nightmare.
If the bond wanted to act up while she sat right next to me, I was glad I’d made the call to bring her, even if her being anywhere near this demonic entity made me nauseous.
Any deity listening knew I’d prefer she stay home instead being open to attack.
But in the very likely event of a fight, I wouldn’t be able to fight Annabelle and the bond.
Kris must have sensed my distress or felt her own tug through the bond, because she reached over the center console to squeeze my knee. And damn if her contact didn’t soothe the bond by half. Which was great, but I couldn’t exactly hold her hand through a fight.
I swallowed the lump in my throat before giving more instruction.
“Please be very, very wary. In fact, do not engage with the doll whatsoever. If you see it, back up, do not look at it, and yell for me immediately. The only creature that can engage and come out on top is maybe the huodou, and I don’t want to tempt fate even with them. This demon is nasty with a capital N.”
Jo Jo leaned forward. “Kris, is that a silver cross you’re wearing?”
“Uh, yes?”
“Give it over. I’ll put a warding spell on it just in case.”
Kris lifted the cross over her head and handed it to him, a passing patch of sunlight glinting off the metal. I was grateful for Jo Jo’s quick thinking. I was all for anything to boost my wife’s protections.
Thinking past the remaining low simmer of pain, I decided to call my dad just in case. I punched in the contact on CarPlay, his number on Kris’s recent call history.
Dad picked up instantly, his southern drawl coming through the car speakers. “Yes, Daughter?”
“It’s actually me calling, Dad. We’ve got trouble at the airport. Did you know Annabelle is on tour in the US?”
He sat on that for a full second and then groaned. “If someone would call me and ask, I can tell them it’s a bad idea. Who’s fool idea was this?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to have words with them later. Anyway, it gets worse. The airport’s lost the doll.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY FUCKING LOST ANNABELLE?!” We all winced as his voice boomed throughout the car.
“It’s in lost luggage somewhere. Airport manager had the good sense to shut down the room and post security before calling me for help.”
“Thank Christ someone’s got good sense. You’re on your way there now?”
“I am. Kris and Jo Jo are with me.”
“I’m coming too. I’ll have your mother on standby to call in the cavalry if we get in trouble.”
“Please and thank you.”
Relief flooded me. I would never be too old to accept my father’s help.
He knew all sorts of tricks and was the best backup I could ask for in this situation.
Knowing more help was coming, my anxiety ebbed a hair.
Surprisingly, the bond also quieted further, my head clearing.
I was wary of how the bond would act when I separated from Kris, but this level I could manage just fine.
I hung up, as he had to focus on grabbing gear and getting to the airport. Jo Jo handed Kris back her necklace, and I mentally prayed Plan A was viable. I wanted Annabelle loose in my city about as much as I wanted to fuck an anthill. But I’d take fire ants over this situation any day.
We hit airport traffic, and I turned on emergency flashers to speed past anyone trying to get into line for pick up.
I managed to get around several vehicles and picked up a security car mad at me for cutting the line, yellow lights flashing, but he’d be thanking me in a minute. I called up the airport manager.
“Hernandez.” She sounded tense, but no longer close to tears like earlier.
“We’re here, at the door. Black Volvo, and I’m coming in hot.”
“Thank god. I’ll meet you.”
I screeched to a stop in the fire lane and spilled out. The pain in my chest briefly flared once more as I broke contact with Kris, but it was certainly not the near crippling attack from earlier. I could—had to—work through this. I rushed to the trunk to grab my gear.
The security car had also stopped and the guy was immediately on top of me, glaring as he barked out, “Hey, asshole! Are you crazy, speeding—”
“Hernandez said differently.” I cut him off, barely casting him a glance. “And move, we’re here to deal with the Annabelle situation.”
He sucked in a breath and choked out, “Oh! Oh shit, sorry. In that case, let me escort you in. Uh, how bad is it?”
“Bad. If you’re a praying man, I’d suggest starting now.”
He swallowed uncomfortably and didn’t know what to say in response.
A petite Hispanic woman in a cobalt blue business suit jogged toward us, hand outstretched. “I’m Marie Hernandez.”
“Zhen Barre.” I shook hands quickly, still moving. “This is my wife, Kris, and my colleague, Ramshaw. My father’s on his way to help us, so be on the lookout for him. Listen, this can go sideways very quickly in all the wrong ways, so let’s keep that area of the airport completely clear of people.”
She swallowed hard. “Anything else I can do?”
“If I say evacuate, I mean it. I’ve seen reports where this thing took on a priest, okay? And the priest lost. You do not want to mess with this doll.”
She audibly gulped and nodded nervously. “Got it. I’ll make sure to keep people clear.”
“Show me in first.”
She spun on a heel and we all jogged in after her. I didn’t for one second think either bullets or swords would hurt this doll, but I couldn’t go in unarmed. Contemplating such made my skin crawl.
“Where are the caretakers who were supposed to be with the doll?”
“In Los Angeles, caught the red-eye out of New York this morning,” she puffed out the answer, then winced. “Their baggage was mislabeled, so it went from New York to here instead of LA.”
People did that often, unfortunately, mixed up Los Angeles and Louisiana because they both have the acronym LA. I’d seen and read many a war story of lost luggage because of this problem. Undoubtedly, losing Annabelle would top the list.
“Are they catching a flight here?”
She sucked in breaths while trying to answer. “They’re not going to be…much help, unfortunately. It was basically…two people on tour duties, with them…using priests at each destination to…keep the doll in check, or so it was…explained to me. They’re not traveling…with a demon expert.”
Well, that was a stupid fucking decision.
The room in question was indeed close to Arrivals, since this was where people would normally get their luggage anyway.
We jogged past several luggage carousels, none of them moving.
No personnel were nearby except two security people standing guard outside a door marked Lost and Found.
They looked like they’d rather be literally anywhere else, eyes constantly shifting to the door behind them. Pretty obvious where we were heading.
Jo Jo muttered under his breath as we moved. “All this because one idiot decided touring a demon doll was a fabulous idea to make some money, and then a second idiot tagged a bag wrong. This is why you don’t leave tots in charge of your taters.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Kris came to an abrupt stop. Mostly because Guo had appeared out of a shadow and blocked her path with his large body, standing between her and the doorway.
He snarled at the door, hackles raised, looking demonic himself.
The smoke tendrils from his nostrils were especially telling of his attitude toward what lay beyond the door.
“Human That Feeds Us, it is not wise to go any further.”
“Lao po, I’m all for you waiting out here. Guide my dad in when he gets here.”
Kris eyed the door uneasily. “I really can’t help you much in there, unless it’s looking through suitcases. Zhen, are you okay?”
I shot her a tight smile. “I’ve had worse.”
Her lips compressed into a flat line, but she nodded. “Yell if you need me.”
“Sure.” I’d mostly brought her because I knew I’d be super stressed and I couldn’t afford for the bond to act up even more. Really, truly could not afford that. It had simmered down to something more manageable, but that could change at a moment’s notice.
“Hernandez?”
She glanced up from where she’d slumped, catching her breath. “Yes?”
“What kind of suitcase are we looking for?”
She looked a bit guilty as she answered, “Black hardtop.”
Cool. So the most common suitcase out there. Jo Jo’s groan echoed my own thoughts.
We left Kris with the huodou and approached the door. The security guys opened the door and then hastily shut it the very second we stepped inside.
It was organized, sort of, a large room with rows and rows of shelving, lost luggage of every color, shape, and size taking up every available space.
I didn’t like the idea of having to search through this room.
Especially with the prize being the boogeyman ready to leap out at me.
The flickering fluorescent lights overhead only added to the ominous feeling.
“Don’t you feel yourself drawing closer to God already?” Jo Jo asked me with mock cheer. “Defensively, perhaps, like an octopus trying to ooze itself into a crevice against the horrors of the ocean.”
“I couldn’t have put that better. You take right, I’ll take left?”
“Scream if you find it.”
“No problem.”