Chapter 16
Zhen
To the surprise of absolutely no one, I couldn’t sit still and wait for the cavalry to arrive.
I mean, normal sitting still was challenging, but sitting still while an enemy was on the loose?
Yeah, no, I was going to crawl out of my skin trying, especially when the bond gave off semi-frequent twinges.
At least it wasn’t actively painful anymore.
Besides, when the cavalry did arrive, I wanted to make sure we had a location for this bastard.
Kris opted to go to work today because she also felt antsy and needed something to keep her mind busy.
I felt better with her being at work anyway—lots of protections on my grandmother’s building.
The agency was arguably one of the safest ports in a storm in all of Demonbreun.
She and I had agreed, though, if the bond acted up she would come and ride with me.
Bond seemed to be holding for now, so I kept my fingers crossed.
I anticipated the fight ahead, knew I’d have to take Kris in with me because otherwise the bond would lose its pea-sized brain, and I couldn’t afford any distractions when fighting Annabelle.
Yet I loathed the idea of bringing Kris anywhere near the demon.
I felt so conflicted, but at the same time, what else could I do?
I’d keep her as far away from the fight as I could, though. On that point I was adamant.
Jo Jo hopped into the driver’s seat of my truck, I rode passenger princess, and we took off. I had gear in the back, a bucket of holy water right at my feet. I’d use it with prejudice.
“I still can’t believe we can’t get a Catholic priest over here.
” I’d called the local church after leaving the airport, who had gotten me in touch with the Vatican after several tries, but the clergy who could deal with a demon the caliber of Annabelle were all tied up in other matters and would have a hard time getting over here fast enough to do any good.
The ones not powerful enough or not trained in demonology refused to come anywhere near Demonbreun.
I was glad for some showing of common sense; I needed help, not cannon fodder.
“There’s not as many demonologists as you’d think.” Jo Jo sighed. “Which is why them taking the doll on a tour was such an incredibly bad decision. I thought I was a pro at bad decisions, but these guys make me look like an amateur.”
“Seriously. Their excuse was ‘Doll was safely sealed! How were we to know! Wah-wah.’ Now they’re hiring me to officially track it down. And only promising help after we’ve caught it.”
“What scares them is we couldn’t locate the sealed box. There’s nothing to stuff the demon back into.”
That scared the hell out of me, for that matter. Had Annabelle evaporated the box meant to seal it? We’d never found the suitcase it was supposed to be in, either. I had a feeling they might be ashes in the wind.
Jo Jo grumbled under his breath as he followed Guo, who was acting as a guide for us, right ahead.
The huodou had been Very Unhappy about something dangerous in their city and a threat to their human.
The pack was helping me track Annabelle, and I used one of the three spells I knew—trace—to assist in finding the doll.
“Really wish we knew what Annabelle was doing and what’s its end goal is,” Jo Jo muttered as he drove.
“What could an evil doll want to do, anyway, aside from finally get free of its box?”
“And what is its scheming levels? Am I looking at Pinky and the Brain or something more like Moriarty?”
“Great question, no clue, guess we’ll find out?”
“Likely the hard way, that seems to be our MO.”
I groaned, loud and long. “Dude, don’t jinx us!”
“Also, do I need to worry about speed limits?”
“Not in the truck. I’ve got the Barre logo on the sides for a reason. Cops will see it and go It’s an oh shit moment and let me go.”
“You got that arrangement with cops, too?”
“You do this at home?”
Jo Jo snorted. “Yeah, my family’s famous for the oh shit moments in our area. We should trademark the phrase at this point.”
“I feel that. Why are you worried about the speed limits, anyway?”
“Because while I do have the right to remain silent, boy do I lack the ability.”
I cackled. Jo Jo’s motor mouth was part of the reason why hunting with him was a treat. Free entertainment always at hand.
Jo Jo took another turn, conferring with the red line emitting from my hand, the one tracing our prey. The huodou still ran ahead of us, Guo taking point. “We’re definitely heading the right direction, and I’m kinda worried to be honest. Why is it heading due south?”
“I really don’t know, but there’s lots of problematic things that direction.”
“Yeah? Like?”
“Two ley lines and a river.”
We shared a speaking look. Rivers, or any body of water, seemed to be the collecting spot for all things demonic and supernatural.
Water was a very powerful moving force that seemed to act as a sort of amplifier for their abilities?
I didn’t know if anyone had ever figured out exactly why, but we did know Things That Go Bump in the Night and water should never, ever mix.
Besides, I hated fighting underwater. Hated it. Hard to fight, hold your breath, and swim all at the same time. My multi-tasking ability hadn’t leveled up yet, okay?
My phone rang. I glanced at it, saw Tiffany’s name, and groaned. “Please let this not be an emergency… Hey, Tiffy?”
Her soprano voice came through the speakers, sounding miffed. “Apologies, my good bitch, but what seems to be the fuck?”
“Excuseth?” Jo Jo shot back.
“Jo Jo, that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Wait, so both of you did this to me? I repeat, the fuck? I swear, you two are the definition of the last two brain cells right now. And they’re fighting for third place.”
“While I admit I can be an idiot with the best of them, I haven’t done anything recently to warrant this abuse!” I glared at the dash like Tiffany could see me.
“It’s what you didn’t do. Why didn’t you call me in?”
Uh-oh, I’d hurt her feelings.
Tiffany was the best crack shot I’d ever seen, but that wasn’t her real strength. She had Olympic-level reading skills, much like Kris, and for some reason her choice of reading was ancient, dusty tomes. She knew more about demons, ancient occult practices, and— Oh shit.
“Tiffy, first of all, I thought you were still sick from that bronchitis thing from hell?”
“Finally kicked it three days ago, I’m ready to rumble now. Doc cleared me.”
“Yay!” Jo Jo meant it sincerely and grinned. “That means you can come play with us! I did think of you, Tiffy, when I realized we were hunting Annabelle.”
Really? I’d forgotten completely in the heat of the moment. But hey, I could nod along and pretend I had. I was great at improvising. “And we sure could use your help now, as we do not understand where it’s going.”
“Brief me better, all I got was it escaped from the airport and is on the loose. What happened, exactly?”
I ran her through the story, which really didn’t take long, and Jo Jo switched from a main street to a side street. I wrapped up with “Some days I feel like somebody is playing Life with the dice from Jumanji.”
“Sure sounds it from where I’m sitting,” Tiffany agreed. “I admit I didn’t have this on my bingo card, either. So, where’s it going?”
“South.”
There was a pregnant pause. “Seriously, that’s all you can tell me?”
“Tiffy, that’s the best I got. We’re tracking it right now and it’s been heading south. How it’s heading south, I do not know.”
“Remember, it’s in a friendly doll form. It can get people to pick it up and carry it with minimal coercion. Probably why the demon went into the doll to begin with.”
“That could be why the movement’s so jerky and not straightforward.” That had been bothering me. “It’s been zigging and zagging back and forth but is steadily making its way south.”
“Ah-ha. Yeah, I bet that’s why. It can’t stay with one host very long, that becomes problematic. To avoid burning through people and leaving a trail of corpses in its wake—that’s too obvious a trail to follow—it’ll jump ship often.”
Jo Jo wore a light frown, head canted like a dog listening hard. “Tiffany, do I hear you packing as you’re talking?”
“You think you’re going to hunt Annabelle without me? I’m flying out in the next hour.”
“Shoot me your info necessary to book a flight, I can get you a free flight here,” I offered.
“I appreciate it, but Gramps is already packing too, he’s flying us in.”
“I hear a Hallelujah chorus.” I felt downright giddy, almost cackling.
Gramps was former Reverend William McDonald, one of the most well-respected members of the demon hunter community. He had solved more cases with wits alone than any other person could recount. He was semi-retired now, but he’d come out for major cases to help support us, and we all loved the man.
He had a private pilot’s license and owned a small plane, too, so he popped in whenever he needed to go somewhere.
Which meant these guys would be here pretty quickly.
“I’ve got two rooms at my house available, or you can grab one of the apartments at my grandmother’s house. Both are up for grabs right now.”
“Oh! I was going to search for hotels before flying in, but this saves us the trouble. Thanks.”
“You’re coming to help me, least I can do.”
“Gramps will want real-time updates on where the demon’s going, can you manage that?”
“I’ll do my best. Just, both of you remember we’ve got two major ley lines and a river southwest of my current location. Plus, Samhain’s in three weeks, with all the power surge for things beyond the veil that entails.”
Tiffany groaned, sounding like a dying cow. “I had forgotten the ley lines. Shit. Hang on.” I heard her put the phone down for a second and yell out to her grandfather. “He says, and I quote, ‘You better not let it anywhere near those three places. The consequence is you express shipped to Jesus.’”
“Trust me, I know.”