Chapter 9

Tadand the others were already at the office when Killian and I showed up. Hank was sorting out several weapons I had never seen—it wasn’t like we kept much in the way of weaponry at work. But we’d need them to go after the sluagh. On the way over, I’d informed Millie that we were going to take care of the creature and could they be ready if we needed them. Since bullets wouldn’t work against the sluagh, I didn’t want the officers going in expecting they could take it down that way.

Hank spread out what he had been able to gather. There were two crowbars, a couple of daggers, a crossbow and a quiver of bolts, and he held up what looked like a blowgun.

“A blowgun? Really?”

He nodded. “I know how to use it, and I’ve fit it with iron darts. I’ve added a tincture of iron to the needles, so that it will get into the creature’s bloodstream. The trouble with this is that I have to be at a certain distance. So I can’t be upfront to fight it. I’ll need to be back a ways.”

Killian shook his head. “I’m going with you in my wolf form. I can grapple it that way, and while it might be strong and dangerous, so am I when I let my full wolf out. You know wolf shifters are stronger than the animals we belong to.”

Tad nodded. “I always thought so. Then you can go in the lead. I’m not good for much fighting, not with a bum leg, but I can use the crossbow. I can shoot from a distance too.”

“I’ll go in my bobcat form,” Caitlin said. “I can leap from a tree limb and surprise it.”

“I wish we could just blow it up,” I said. “Millie will meet us there with the cops, but she can’t officially ask them to destroy it until it puts one of us in danger. So I’ll have to engage as much as I can. I’m glad you left Wren in the dark. She’d want to be here, and that wouldn’t be a good thing.” I worried my lip. “I guess I’ll take one of the crowbars. What magic I’ve got won’t work against the creature.”

“We’d better get going, then. I also have three daggers with iron blades,” Hank said. He handed one to me, one to Tad, and kept one for himself. “Let’s go. We definitely can’t let the sluagh breed.”

And with that, sans our usual gear, which would do no good at all, we headed for the van. Killian disrobed in the bathroom, as did Caitlin in the powder room, and I packed their clothes in two bags after they emerged in their wolf and bobcat forms.

“I guess we’re ready,” I said, not feeling ready at all. But I wanted this over and done with as soon as possible, and so we headed for the van. Tad drove, while the rest of us sat in pensive silence as we made our way to Devil’s Gulch.

* * *

Devil’s Gulch was a dark,foreboding part of the Mystic Wood. Near the southern edge of town, the surrounding neighborhood was weathered. While you couldn’t call it a slum by any sense of the word, the houses were definitely not affluent.

The gulch itself stretched the length of four city blocks, and the undergrowth in the deep ravine was thick and difficult to navigate. There were a few trails running through the gulch, but they, too, were overgrown and seldom touched. The city wouldn’t send workers out to clean up the gulch unless there was a reason, and that reason had to be important enough to convince the crews to enter the dark thicket.

Even when I was little, I remembered my mother forbidding me to walk through the gulch because there were too many dark spirits and deeds attached to it. There had been one incident where a child molester had managed to hide out there for two weeks before police caught him. They found the abducted child near him, inside a tent, but the young boy was dead and so the charges were upped to murder. But before he ever made it to court, the perv offed himself in jail.

My mother had muttered, “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” when she heard. But even though he had been caught, she cautioned me against going there anyway because of both the potential for spirits and the thought that if one freak had chosen to hide out there, another could easily do the same.

Tad pulled into the turnout that led down into one of the main trails winding through the ravine. “Here we are. The culvert isn’t far from here—about half a block to our north. We should have some sort of plan going in.”

“We use me as bait so Caitlin and Killian can distract it while you and Hank shoot it,” I said. “That’s the best idea I can think of.”

Killian raised his hackles and growled. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around his head, kissing him on the muzzle.

“I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it’s got to be,” I told him. “We have to draw it out and since I’m the most likely-looking potential victim, I’ll go in first. Just make sure you’re close enough to start shooting. I’ll try to get out of the way so do your best to avoid shooting me, please.” I stared down the sides of the ravine. “Crap, that’s not an easy hike. I’m glad I wore walking shoes and jeans.” I’d changed clothes before we headed out for the office.

“We’ll make sure you’re okay,” Hank said. He held my gaze and I realized that this was his chance to make amends to Tad and me, and he was counting on it.

“I trust you,” I said. “All right, let’s go in.”

I led the way over to the edge and after a moment to scan the sides, I picked out the easiest route downward. I set foot over the edge and, using my walking stick, began to ease my way down the sides.

The footing was slick, but manageable. The soil wasn’t dry yet. We still had so much spring moisture in the air, and the rain would return several more times before summer arrived, but at least it wasn’t a mudhole all the way down.

I slowly inched my way along the slope in a downward direction, angling myself so that I wasn’t trying to hike straight down toward the bottom. Moving sideways made the descent easier and I gnawed on my lip as I zigzagged my way toward the bottom. It took me more than ten minutes, though if I was better at the descent, I might have been at the bottom in just a few.

Finally, after slipping a few times and almost rolling down the hill, I managed to step off the slope and onto the shore next to the creek. I waited while the others followed me down. Killian was first, and was at my side within minutes, as was Caitlin, who came soon after. Hank took longer, because he was helping Tad. Finally, they made it down.

The walking space on either side of the creek was narrow, but it was wide enough for us to form a single-person line and file through the ferns and skunk cabbage that filled the cushioned floor. The water was running high, but the creek wasn’t all that wide. If I fell in the creek, I’d be fine. Wet and cold, but all right.

Another five minutes of steady walking brought the culvert into sight. It was on the other side of Devil’s Creek, and the open end overflowed with water pouring into the stream. The moment I saw it, I slowed and began to scan the area, looking for the sluagh. Although we had a description—several, in fact—having never laid on this creature in person put us at a disadvantage.

The sluagh was nowhere in sight, and my first thought was that it was probably wandering through the woods, looking for victims. I turned to the others and motioned to the culvert.

“I want to look inside to see what I might be able to find. It might have a nest in there, though with the water running through the culvert, that’s unlikely. But better to check it out and know for sure.”

Killian tried to tug on my sleeve, but I patted him on the head. “I know what I’m doing.”

A series of stones crossed the stream near the culvert that could be used as stepping stones. I set my foot on the first, and—using the walking stick to brace me against the slippery moss covering the stones and the water rushing over them—I began to pick my way across the creek. Killian followed behind me. I knew he was worried, but I had to check the culvert.

I stepped onto the opposite side of the creek, followed by Killian. Hank crossed next, then Caitlin. Tad wasn’t balanced enough, so he stayed where he was, prepping the crossbow.

I stared at the pipe jutting out over the stream. It was several feet off the ground—too high for me to pull myself up. I glanced at Hank, but he had his blowgun out and was messing with it. And I didn’t want to tie him up, just in case the sluagh was inside after all.

Looking around, I noticed a large chunk of wood. It was part of an old tree stump. I asked Hank to help me wrestle it over to the culvert and, once we had it in place, he stepped back while I balanced on top of it.

The culvert was a good five feet in diameter. The stump was high enough that I managed to drag myself up, bracing my hands on the sides of the pipe while kneeling in the flowing water. The force was almost enough to knock me into the stream, but I held tight long enough to turn on a flashlight. I placed the handle in my mouth, hoping I wouldn’t bite down and hurt my teeth. I looked ridiculous, but it was the only way I could think of to get a look inside.

The pipe went straight back into the dirt, and from what I could see, there was nothing inside except for piles of sodden leaves against the bottom, beneath the water. I waited for a moment, then managed to drop back down to the ground.

“Not in there, and I doubt it has been. The culvert goes into the hill, straight back as far as the light would reach, and there’s nothing to indicate that anything living has been in there.” I looked around. “I wonder where…”

I froze. Caitlin was staring at a spot in the undergrowth, and Killian suddenly went on the defensive, his hackles rising, and he growled, low and deep.

“What do we have here,” I said softly.

Hank immediate readied his blowgun as I began to walk slowly in the direction Killian and Caitlin were facing. The ferns were waist high in the undergrowth, and several huckleberry bushes rose to overcrowd the side of the ravine.

The next moment, all hell broke loose as the sluagh broke free from where it was hiding and came barreling in my direction. I screamed and, without a thought, brought up the crowbar, swinging it wildly. I missed as the sluagh darted to the side.

“Fuck!” Still startled, I stumbled back, catching my shoe on the side of the streambed. I flailed, trying to regain my balance, then went toppling backward into the water.

The sluagh followed suit, landing in the water with me. It was hideous—its torso blending directly into its head without any sign of a neck. Its huge, single eye was cold and black, and the body was an odd bluish color. It had arms and legs, but they were as spindly as the torso was thick.

I had lost the crowbar but I still had the dagger and I yanked it out of my belt as I managed to roll over and get on all fours. The rocks on the bottom of the streambed were slippery, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stand on them without losing my balance—the current was too swift and the sluagh, too close. Even though the stream wasn’t very high, I could still drown if the creature caught hold of me and pulled me under. I fumbled with the dagger, holding it out in front of me as the sluagh turned my way. It was growling, and the needle-sharp teeth looked dangerously sharp. Its single eye gleamed at me with a fetid light.

Hank shouted from the bank, but I couldn’t focus on what he was saying. All I could focus on was keeping track of where the sluagh was as it headed toward me, through the water.

There was a thudding sound as a large dart hit the sluagh in the side. It let out a gurgling scream, then sort of stretched and leapt in one motion, landing directly in front of me like a frog.

I tried to steady myself, holding out one arm as I raised the other, clutching my dagger. I brought it down toward the sluagh, but as I leaned forward, I slipped and landed in the water again, this time gashing my chin on a rock.

“Motherfu—” I started, but stopped as I realized the sluagh was face to face with me. I had visions of Ripley and the alien as the sluagh’s eyes lit up and it snapped at me. I jerked back, but it caught my shoulder and those razor-sharp teeth bit deep, plunging into my flesh.

The next moment, there was a wolf in the mix. Killian joined the fray, and he growled, howling loudly as he loped through the water to grab one of the sluagh’s feet in his teeth. His attack threw the creature off and it turned to see who had hold of it.

I took that moment to bring the dagger down against the sluagh’s shoulder. The blade bit, sliding into its flesh, and a hissing sound told me I’d hit paydirt. The sluagh screamed as the iron began to boil against it, and the flesh sizzled.

As it fell back away from me, taking the dagger with it, I frantically scrambled for the crowbar. Any port in the storm. Unfortunately, I’d dropped it when I first fell in the stream and it was nowhere in sight.

Killian yanked on the sluagh’s legs, biting so hard that the sluagh floundered, falling forward. Caitlin leapt on its back, raking at it with her claws.

I shouted for Hank and Tad to shoot as I pulled back. Both let loose—Tad with an arrow and Hank with his blowgun. And both hit. The arrow pierced the creature’s shoulder as the dart landed straight into its forehead. The iron sizzled as it pierced its skin.

Still, the sluagh fought on. It turned and landed one fist against Killian’s muzzle and the wolf let out a yelp, letting go of the creature’s leg. Caitlin began clawing furiously on the sluagh’s back and it twisted, trying to throw her off.

At that moment, Tad shot another arrow and this time, it found solid purchase, piercing cleanly into the sluagh’s side. Once again, the creature let out a terrible shriek and it bucked, throwing Caitlin off into the water. The bobcat loped across the stream and landed on the shore.

I was nearing the shore now, fighting the slippery rocks beneath my feet, when the sluagh suddenly made another beeline for me, fury in its dark eyes. Its mouth wide open, it aimed its rows of needle-sharp teeth directly at me. I jumped, landing on the shore, and tried to roll out of the way but the sluagh landed on top of me, the arrow still lodged in its side.

I grappled at the soaking wet creature, but it was far heavier than it looked and it had me pinned. It made a mad rush for my face and I turned my neck, whipping my head from side to side as I managed to miss being skewered by those teeth. As it reared back for another attempt, I grabbed hold of the arrow and tried to shove it in deeper.

Another second and there was another weight atop me when Killian landed on top of both of us. He dug his teeth deep into the sluagh’s shoulder. I winced as it shrieked and blood sprayed all over me from the wound. Killian held on, trying to drag it off me, as Caitlin joined in. She bit it on the top of the head as she helped Killian pull it away. They managed to drag it off me as Hank ran up, dagger in hand. As Killian and Caitlin held the thrashing sub-Fae to the ground, Hank brought the dagger down, digging deep into its torso.

I sat up, panting, aching everywhere. But the sluagh convulsed and, as the light faded from its eye, I realized we’d managed to take it down. It shivered again, then collapsed. Killian and Caitlin held tight to it until it ceased to move. Killian gave it another shake, but it was limp and lifeless. As he and Caitlin let go, I brought my knees up to my chest, breathing deeply. The sub-Fae was dead, and I was free from my debt.

The body of the sluagh began to bubble, melting into a pile of goo that soaked into the ground. It was over.