Part 11 (1/2)
Why did he even ask? ”All right, we're not totally helpless; I dusted the demon with the arm.”
”And got knocked on your a.s.s,” Leah reminded him. ”It's been what? Three and a half hours, and you're still too wiped to get it up again.”
”I could so...” Actually, no, he couldn't. Not even thinking of Lee in his motorcycle jacket and chaps got a response.
”That was a metaphor, Tony.”
Her expression suggested she knew what he'd been thinking. He could feel his ears go red. ”It doesn't matter. I've got time to recover... for another Powershot,” he added hurriedly as she grinned. ”It'll take him a while to get another minion through, right?
So we just have to stick with the original plan. We find out where the weak spot is, and you teach me how to close it down.”
”No.” ”Why not?”
”If Ryne Cyratane is sending demons through to kill me, my going anywhere near the weak spot would be like waving a steak outside a lion's cage. It might provide enough incentive for a breakout-resulting in a really bad time for the steak.”
Tony fought his way through this second metaphor-which was, at least, not about s.e.x. ”Fine, you don't have to go near the weak spot. You tell me where it is, teach me what to do, and I'll deal.”
”It's not that simple.”
He sighed. ”It never is. All right, what do we do? How do we stop your Demonlord from opening the gate?”
”We keep me alive.”
”Yeah, I got that.”
”Seriously, that's all we have to do.” She reached out and touched his arm. ”I teach you how to send the demons back without destroying yourself, and every time one shows up, you zap it.”
”That sounds simple. Or not,” he amended when her expression threatened bodily harm.
”One question: what'll the demon be doing while I'm zapping?”
”Trying to kill me.” Her expression added a clear and succinct You idiot.
”Or trying to kill me, and you can't stop it because, guess what-oh, yeah-it can kill you, too. I'm thinking we need some backup.” Leaning forward, he could just barely reach his jacket hung over the back of a kitchen chair. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, turned to Leah, and grinned. ”Who you gonna call?”
She looked confused. ”I'm not calling anyone.”
He sighed. ”No one watches the cla.s.sics anymore.”
”Nelson.”
”Nice phone manner, Victory. You always bark at your clients?”
”Good to hear you've regained consciousness, Tony.”
”I wasn't...”
”You weren't? Then you had another reason for not calling?”
”I was...”
”Busy? Hang on a sec.” Her voice faded slightly as she moved the phone from her mouth. ”Drop the pins and step away from the doll.”
”Vicki?”
”Yeah?” ”Are you working?” Victory Nelson had once been a much decorated Toronto cop, now she was a vampire P. I. -just like Raymond Dark only without the sidekick, the contrived plots, and the need to keep the violence under PG-13. Tony heard a couple of m.u.f.fled thuds and some moaning.
”It's no big. These guys are total wannabes. What can I do for you?”
”I have a friend with a bit of a problem.”
”Is this friend another wizard?”
Oh, c.r.a.p. She knew. He hadn't called because he hadn't known how to tell her and make it sound believable. ”How... ?”
”Henry told me, idiot.”
Right. Because Henry still considered Tony's life to be his. His Henry's, not his Tony's. G.o.d, he was too tired for this. ”No, she's not a wizard. She's a stuntwoman and an immortal Demongate.”
”Cool.”
”Not really.” He outlined the problem.
Vicki let him talk without interruption. ”Okay,” she said when he finished. ”Here's what you do... You listening?”
”Yeah. I'm listening.”
”Stop acting like an a.s.s and call Henry.”
”I'm not...”
”Bulls.h.i.+t. Look, I'm not saying he's not indulging in a bit of testosterone-fueled a.s.sness as well, but one, he's out there in Vancouver and I'm not. Two, he owns a grimoire. Maybe more than one. He understands the whole demon thing. And, three, he needs to know what's going on, unless you'd rather he found out that you were dealing with demons in his territory and didn't tell him.”
”I don't think...”
”I know.”
Tony waited and when she didn't say any more, he sighed. Of course she heard it, even three thousand miles away. She could hear the blood moving through the hand holding the phone.
”You know I'm right.”
He sighed again. ”I guess.”
”Tony...”
”Fine. You're right. Happy?”
”Ecstatic. Let me know how it turns out. Unless, of course, I find out on the news and then you needn't bother.”
”Because then I'll be dead.”