Part 50 (1/2)
Leah grabbed his arm. ”Hang on.” Dragging him around to face her, she licked the edge of a tissue and scrubbed at his upper lip.
”What the...”
”Supplement mustache. Sets a bad example for the troops.”
”We don't have any troops!”
”And the demons will laugh at you.” One final swipe. ”There.”
”Thank you.” It was as sarcastic an appreciation as he could manage. ”Do I look like I should be taken seriously now?” he demanded as they raced for the rear door.
”Not so much, no.”
Big surprise. Not. Maybe he should get a pointy hat. Or a big sword. Or his head examined.
Previous ContentsCharging down the center aisle, he jumped cables, dodged around equipment, stopped dead as he emerged out into the open area by Adam's desk. ”What the... ?” He whirled to glare at Leah. ”Did you know this was going to happen?”
She spread her hands. ”Hey, I'm as surprised as you are.”
”You mentioned troops!”
”I was being facetious.”
”They want to help,” CB explained, stepping forward, ”Help?” Tony moved his attention from Leah to his boss. ”What did you tell them?”
”That the battle would be joined tonight. Not as part of a general announcement, but to those who knew enough to ask.”
Zev, Amy, Lee-no surprise, although Tony would rather they were all somewhere safe, like New Zealand-Mouse, Peter...
”Sorge and Adam and Tina have kids,” Peter said, one thigh propped on Adam's desk next to a half-full box of flares last used in episode seven. ”Kids who actually live with them,” he amended. ”We sent them home.”
... Saleen, Pavin, and Kate.
They'd all been in the house last summer. They'd survived Creighton Caulfield and they'd heard about what had happened in the spring with the Shadowlord. They knew what Tony was, and they thought they knew what he could do.
”Your fan club seems to be growing,” Leah murmured, warm breath lifting the hair on the back of his neck.
Yeah, right. Kate had never liked him.
”Guys, there's half a dozen demons on their way. Demons. Just like in the most cliched screenplay; all claws and horns and tentacles and bad att.i.tude. Ask Zev, ask Amy, ask CB, they've all seen them. Well, one.” He frowned. ”Okay, I think CB saw a couple of them, but...”
”Shut up,” Kate snarled. ”We asked. We know.” She snapped the loops of yellow nylon rope between her hands. ”We need to knock them down and tie them up so you can send them back right? It's a physical fight-slam, bam, kick a little demonic a.s.s?”
”It's not that easy...”
”Did I say it was going to be easy? We get that they're big and strong. What we don't get is how you thought you could take them out with only the boss and a Mountie at your side.”
”Hey!” Amy protested. ”Lee and I were always staying!”
”Yeah, an actor and a receptionist, that'll make a lot of difference,” Saleen muttered. The grip slapped a length of steel pipe into his left hand. ”These things have no special powers, right?”
”Well, they...”
”No,” Leah interrupted. ”They're just big and strong.”
”And ugly,” Zev snorted, fingering the sleeve of his sweater.
”Then it's time we get some of our own back.”
”Some of your own back from what?” Tony demanded, wondering when he'd lost control of the situation. The words ”stupidly reckless” were repeating on a background loop in his head. ”The Shadowlord. Creighton Caulfield.” Mouse never said much, so the big cameraman's words carried a deliberate weight.
”They're not doing this for you, Tony.” Lee crossed to stand barely an arm's length away. ”They're fighting for themselves.
Because this time, they can.”
They're not? They? The next obvious question had to be What about you? or maybe Who writes your dialogue? But he knew the answer to the second and this wasn't the time to hear the answer to the first, and anyway, there were half a dozen demons making tracks to the studio. He took a deep breath and one step to the side so that the others could see him. Everyone accounted for but Mason, and Mason's absence was hardly sur...
”G.o.dd.a.m.ned thing got buried in the closet!” Clutching the double-handed broadsword from episode twelve and wearing the slightly squibbed camouflage jacket from episode sixteen, Mason rocked to a stop by CB's side. ”What did I miss?”
”Tony questioning our right to be here,” Kate deadpanned.
Mason snorted. ”Tony questioning? Who's the star of this show, him or me?”
”Heads up, people!” Jack charged into the group, glanced around, and obviously decided not to ask. ”I just got off the phone with Geetha. There're six kinds of h.e.l.l breaking lose and heading this way.”
”You've been waiting your whole career to say that, haven't you?” Amy asked, snickering.
He flashed her a broad smile. ”Pretty much, yeah.”
”Okay.” It wouldn't be in a few minutes, but right now it was. When they all turned to look at him, Tony said it again just because he liked the sound of it. ”Okay. Jack, help Leah and CB position the troops. Pavin, bring one of the Fresnos to the back. I'm going to try and stop a demon at the door.” He ran for the back without waiting for an answer. If they wanted to help, they could d.a.m.ned well be helpful.
He'd finished burning the first two runes by the time Pavin wrestled one of the small spotlights over from the office set. ”Does light hurt them?”
”No. Set up here. Aim the beam through that pattern and right out the door.”
”Blinding it?” Pavin asked, remarkably blase about bright blue squiggles just hanging in the air. He used the k.n.o.b on the back of the casing to adjust the beam. ”So it can't see what you wrote?”
Let's hear it for tech support. ”Yeah. That's the idea.” He stepped out into the parking lot and drew the third rune with his eyes nearly squinted shut. ”You'd better get back with the others.”
The light blazed out the open door, significantly brighter than the late afternoon sun and definitely blinding. He couldn't see the rune from any angle that would get him through the door. Hopefully, the demon didn't know how this world worked, so it wouldn't realize the light was too bright. If they were lucky, it might wonder about the sudden change in illumination and pause in the doorway giving him time to get the final rune in place. With a little more luck, it wouldn't be Ryne Cyratane's arjh who showed up, wasting a perfectly good trap or trapping one of their best chances of surviving this.
Good idea, Tony, use up all your luck before the fight even starts.
As he burned the fourth rune, he realized there was something not quite right about the ambient noise. The familiar background sounds of the city were less familiar than they should be. He'd nearly finished when those sounds separated into squealing tires and breaking gla.s.s. Less screaming than he'd expected, but there'd likely be time for that later.
Half a Honda Civic rolled past the edge of the building. Tony slapped the last curl on the fourth rune and dove behind the garbage can at the craft services truck, rune clutched in his left hand. The demon charged around the corner still holding the other half of the car.
What I'm holding beats what you're holding...
... unless you decide to throw the car at me. c.r.a.p!