Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Faith and I have been discussing the most likely scenarios. There has to be at least one, and probably more, mages summoning the demons. While Faith’s talents are best used stopping the creatures before they can recover from their journey Between and spread out into the rest of our world, someone needs to work at stopping the mages. Faith may also be facing a lot more than she can handle at once if a lot of demons answer the summoning—and from the way her senses have been tingling, the event we’re facing looks to be a very big one. It’s very likely there will be more than just one mage involved, and they will be powerful. Alternatively, there could be many lesser strength mages, who will each need to be stopped and, best-case-scenario, taken out, so they can’t regroup to hassle us again at a later date. We should remember that this is an opportunity to disable or kill demon-summoning mages who have sworn allegiance to the Venifucus . We need to stop them with extreme prejudice.” Colt sent Faith a smile after a short pause. “Faith has first crack at the demons, but if there are too many of them, she will need our help. I’ve killed one. Gavin, from what I hear, has fought another alongside my brother, Billy. We can fight them.”

“Then, pardon me, ma’am.” One of the older men sent Faith an apologetic look before asking Colt, “Why are we putting Faith in the line of fire? If we can do it—”.

“We can, but Faith is the true expert where these creatures are concerned. She can dispatch them with less risk and more quickly than any of us,” Colt declared. He didn’t like it either, but he also couldn’t deny Faith the opportunity to do her duty, same as him. He respected her enough to let her be true to her nature. “This is her calling and her skill. It may seem strange to us, but Faith is a Priestess-in-training. The Mother of All has put her here, at this moment, with this set of skills for a reason. The way I see it, part of our job is to protect her while she does what she was born to do.”

The older man nodded. “Well, that makes more sense. Pardon me, ma’am. I meant no disrespect, but I’m of a generation that protects women and doesn’t like to see them in the direct line of fire.” He put his hand on the shoulder of one of the women warriors who was standing next to him. “My granddaughter here will tell you that I’m a bit of a chauvinist.”

“That’s okay, Gramps. I still love you anyway.” The woman turned and gave the older man a peck on the cheek, much to the amusement of everyone gathered around. Even Colt had to chuckle at the older warrior’s antics and was glad for the tension in the room to ratchet down a notch, even for that short amount of time. “So, how are we to battle mages who are summoning demons?” the woman asked, turning back to the matter at hand.

“I’m glad you asked that,” Colt said. “I believe we should sort ourselves out into platoons. Each tasked with a slightly different mission. Some should be stationed as support for Faith—dealing with any overflow of the demonic kind, if she gets rushed. Some should act as distraction for the mages, and some as a sneak attack squad.”

“One question,” Sam said, nodding as Colt outlined the bare bones of his plan. “I think everybody needs to hear more about how the demons respond to the summoning you mentioned earlier.”

“Sure,” Faith replied. “A mage does the summoning, but it could take time for something in one of the demonic realms to answer the call and make the journey Between, following the thread of the summoning that opens a temporary portal the demons use to come here. Without the summoning, there is no direct pathway for them to follow. Demons don’t easily come to our realm without help.” Faith paused, and Colt saw interested attention on all the faces gathered around the table. “Sometimes, if the mage is strong enough and the demons are cooperative, a summoning can be answered by more than one creature. The thing is, once the summoning makes the connection with a demonic realm, the pathway remains open until something comes through. Which means, the portal could bring in creature after creature with pauses between or all at once. There’s really no way to predict the flow. It depends in large part on what’s happening in the demonic realm the mage is summoning, and there’s no real way to know that. A bit of guesswork and luck is involved, though my mentor did say that very powerful mages can target specific kinds of demons if they have access to the ancient spells, which I have to assume Venifucus mages do. They were the masters of demonic summoning in the old days, and since we now know that the order didn’t disappear but went into hiding, it’s clear they have preserved their old knowledge.”

Silence greeted her troubling words. Then, the female warrior asked a question.

“You seemed to imply that there’s more than one realm where demons come from. Do you know how many there are?”

“At least nine major demonic realms,” Faith replied. “According to my mentor. We know the predominant types of creatures from each of those realms and their attributes, strengths and weaknesses, and usual response to being summoned from the ancient records of prior Demon Slayers and accounts from the last great war. That’s what I’ve been studying the past few years.”

“So, you really are our expert on demons,” the woman said, smiling a little as she nodded at Faith in new respect. “Good to have you on board, Priestess.”

The mission planning moved into high gear after that with the military men all conversing in operational terms. Squads were identified and assigned particular tasks in the battle plan, and Colt was glad to have so many experienced people on this team. The female warrior was going to lead up the platoon that would back up Faith and deal with any overflow monsters or corral them until Faith was free to deal with them personally.

Faith was a little overwhelmed with all the tactical lingo the others used so freely. It was clear they were all former military people—even the women. Faith was very impressed with the quality of the backup she was getting from the Kinkaid Clan. She just prayed nobody got seriously hurt trying to help her stop the demonic invasion.

Her blood began to reverberate with tension again as the planning wore on. They asked her to describe the various creatures and what to expect from each. Someone was taking notes and making a cheat sheet of sorts that displayed on one of the walls. Everybody was studying up on what they might have to face. She had allowed it because they really needed to know, and this was likely not going to be the only time demons were summoned in the coming days.

The demonic wars of old had lasted for years. Faith wasn’t foolish enough to believe that only the mages gathered here today were capable of summoning. The Venifucus probably had a lot more magic users in their number that could do the same. Although this was going to be the first big push—and perhaps they’d be lucky and get some of the most powerful of the demon-summoning mages today—it wasn’t going to be the last.

The time for sharing the secret knowledge about demons had come. Faith’s mentor had said she’d know when the time was right, and Faith knew in her heart, this was that time. So, she told them everything she could to prepare them for the fight ahead. And the battles to come.

“Something you should all know and be on the lookout for,” Faith told them, “are grimoires. Books of magic from ancient times that contain the spells for summoning demons.” She saw she had everyone’s attention. “My mentor told me about a case in recent years in the New York area where three ancient and very powerful books were found in the possession of a Venifucus mage. A werewolf woman was able to sniff them out even before the mage who was with her. They smelled evil to her senses somehow, from what I’ve heard. If you encounter anything like that, please let me know. Our side has been working for centuries to destroy such books when we find them. The three books that were found in New York were rare in the extreme, and one was thought to have been eradicated completely. Apparently not. The theory now is that select copies of these ancient and terrible books have survived within magical families, passing down from one generation to the next. If anyone finds anything like that, it has to be destroyed in a very specific way, so please let me or your local Priestess know, if you find one in the future.”

“As it happens, me and Gunnar know the people involved in the New York incident.” One of the older men stepped forward, nodding to the man at his side. “I’m Nathan, by the way. We’ll keep an eye out.” He nodded at her, as did the man beside him. They were leading a group of Kinkaids that felt a little more magical to Faith’s senses than the others. Maybe these were the fabled selkie Kinkaids she’d heard stories about, but she had no way of asking that wouldn’t be considered rude, so she said nothing more.

Food was served at some point, and they all sat around the big table eating while still planning. Then, finally, the planning session was over, and everybody had their assignments. Sam sent the others off to prepare their weapons and themselves for the coming action. They’d agreed to meet up again in small groups and head over to the targeted estate by various routes.

Nathan and Gunnar had given a detailed description of the property Faith had identified earlier, including plans of the structures on the grounds and topographical maps of the terrain and diagrams of the boundaries of the property. They’d identified ways onto the property that would be least likely to be noticed, and someone in their small group had even gone over there earlier and spied out cameras and sensors on the perimeter of the grounds, which were marked on the working map.

Again, Faith was impressed. These people obviously knew how to plan an assault. They were going to be subtle about their approach to the place. They would remain hidden until needed, and a unit would always be in reserve, if at all possible. Only Faith and Colt would be out front, going in first and staying for as long as the action lasted. It had to be that way. This was her mission, after all.

She was both glad and a little upset that Colt would be at her side throughout. She wanted him safe, but she also liked the idea that she could lean on his support.

She trusted him to be there for her. She also trusted his skills after seeing the way he’d dealt with that demon back at the rest stop. And first and foremost, she trusted his heart. He had the courage of his spirit animal and all the other intangible qualities that she most respected. Honor, loyalty, a sense of justice and duty. He was such a good man. She would trust him with her life any day of the week.

She just wished they weren’t going into such a dangerous situation. She liked him too much to see him at so much risk. Then again, he’d been saying things like that about her too, so she figured he was probably feeling some of the same things. Which was really sweet of him.

Dare she hope that he was feeling a bit more serious about her than she thought? After their nights together, she had to acknowledge that she was more than halfway in love with him.

Oh, heck . She might as well admit it to herself, if to no one else. She was totally in love with the guy. She wanted to keep him forever and share their lives for however long they both might live.

Which—if she didn’t start focusing on the mission a bit more—might be a lot less time than she hoped. She hunkered down to listen to Sam’s recap of the final battle plan and all the contingencies the Kinkaid warriors had mapped out, then thanked each of them before they all dispersed to finalize their preparations.

Most of the gathering left the house until only Faith, Colt, Liam, Sam and Gavin remained. Liam spoke to Colt while Gavin and Sam were seeing the others out.

“Your brothers and their mates send their regards,” Liam said. “Rich and Billy really wanted to come but—”

“But they’re newly mated, and their first priority has to be their mates,” Colt finished for him. “I know. And I understand. Truly,” he glanced at Faith, and her knees went weak at the intensity in his eyes, “I do.”

Was he saying that he felt the same way about her? Was he implying that they were mates? Holy Toledo!

“Well, they sent me instead, and I’m sorry if that’s a disappointment.” Liam’s smile negated his words. These lions apparently liked to tease each other, she was learning.

“I guess you’ll have to do,” Colt agreed with a mock serious face.

“And don’t forget my dad,” Liam reminded him. “He’s bringing some of the soldiers you worked with during the coven siege.”

“Hal’s men?” Colt asked, perking up a bit.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. Those guys are mostly confined to base except for exceptional circumstances. They’ve all got very high prices on their heads put there by foreign governments with extremely deep pockets who are steeped in magic.”

“Hal said at something like that,” Colt replied, shaking his head. “It’s a shame because human or not, I would have any of those guys at my back in any situation. They’re some of the best soldiers I’ve ever known.”

“I never met them before they came under my father’s command, but I’ve heard about how they were before. They’re even better now, after the change they went through. You wouldn’t believe some of the capabilities they have now.”

“Which you shouldn’t be talking about,” a new voice said as an older blond man walked into the room followed by Sam and Gavin.

“Dad!” Liam called out, smiling as he went to greet his father. “I didn’t realize you’d be here so quickly.”

“The Admiral pulled a few strings and got us on a faster transport,” the older man replied as Liam escorted him back to Colt and Faith.

“You remember Colt, and this is Faith Peabody,” Liam made the introductions. Lester shook Colt’s hand and smiled at Faith, offering a much more restrained handshake to her.

He was built a lot like his son. Tall, broad-shouldered, handsome and blond. Just a bit older. But the apple definitely hadn’t fallen far from the tree in Liam’s case.

“It’s good to meet you, ma’am,” Lester said.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Kinkaid. Thank you for coming to help with this situation,” Faith replied tightly as she felt the tensions coming from the direction of the estate ratchet up a bit. Dark things were definitely stirring over there. She sent Colt a pleading look. “I think we’re all going to have to be ready sooner rather than later,” she told him.

“Tell me,” Colt ordered softly as he turned his full attention on her.

“They’re gathering power. Dark power. I feel it flowing toward that house we spotted earlier. This is definitely going to happen today. Probably in the next hour or two. We need to tell everybody to be ready.”

“They are.” Sam’s voice came to her, soothing her nerves with his confident Alpha tones. “Many of them are headed to their starting positions right now, and we already have surveillance on the grounds of the estate. Have had all day since you identified the place,” he told her.

She nodded, swallowing hard. The feeling of dread was building. This was going to happen in the next few hours, and she felt powerless to stop it. All she could do was wait for it to happen and then stop the creatures before they could spread out.

“Liam and Sam are going to catch me up on the battle plan while we get my people settled,” Lester announced. “Don’t worry, ma’am. We’ve done a lot of stuff like this before.”

“You’ve fought demons?” She raised one eyebrow at him in challenge.

His blue eyes sparkled at her, meeting her head on. He seemed to like that she’d showed some spirit, and she was glad she had followed her instincts. She wanted these people to respect her, not just humor her. Especially if they were all going to be out in the middle of the first real battle of the Demon War with her.

“Maybe not demons, ma’am, but mages. We’ve dealt with our share of Venifucus scum and expect to end a lot more of them before this is all over.”

“Then, I’m glad you’re here. We can use all the help we can get if the horrible feeling gathering in the pit of my stomach is anything to go by.” She couldn’t help herself. She clutched at her abdomen. She’d felt this before, but never so strong. “Judging by the way I feel right now, this event is going to be a doozy.”

Lester frowned at her, and Colt put his arm around her shoulders, steering her toward a chair. He urged her to sit and then knelt in front of her while the other men looked on with varying expressions of concern. She needed to reassure them. And Colt too. He looked so worried.

“I’m okay,” she said, breathing a bit harshly as she got herself under control. “They just did something. I’m not sure what. The demons aren’t here yet, but I believe this feeling indicates that the first summoning has been issued. I already feel the energies gathering for another.”

“Should we be on the move?” Colt asked her.

“Not necessarily,” she replied. “Remember, the summoning will not be answered immediately. It could take a while. I’d say we have about an hour, so there’s time to get ourselves together and get over there.”

Sam turned away, his phone in his hand as he made a call. He walked out into the hallway to touch base with his people, Faith assumed. Good. It was time to get everybody in position and these warriors didn’t need her to tell them what to do. The Mother of All really had sent her excellent allies for Faith’s first big confrontation with the evil of other realms.