“You can do that later,” I said. “Right now we have bigger problems. Come on.”
Without waiting for either of them to reply, I opened the door to Wet Dreams and stepped inside. A blast of noise hit me the instant I walked in – a mix of conversation, laughter, shouting, and music. The place was packed wall to wall, mostly with Incubi, but there was a scattering of humans in the crowd. It was hot as a blast furnace inside, and when I took a breath, it felt as if I were sucking in wet sand. I pulled my dream catcher badge from my jacket and held it high over my head.
“This is a raid!” I shouted.
Everyone got quiet.
“Seriously?” someone said.
“Not really,” I admitted. “I just need to get to the bar.”
With much grunting and complaining, people made a path for us. I put my badge away and charged forward, the others following after me, including Jack and Lizzie, who had put their weapons away – or in Jack’s case, extinguished his finger-flames – for the time being, at least.
Abe was in his usual seat at the bar, and I wondered if he’d gone home since the last time I’d seen him. Despite how crowded it was tonight, there were a number of empty seats at the bar, and I realized why when I saw Maggie sitting next to a tall, broad-shouldered figure garbed in a hooded black robe. Given how terrifying the Darkness can be in his Night Aspect, I was surprised that anyone was still in the bar. I figured Deacon must’ve been pouring the drinks extra-strong tonight.
Speaking of Deacon Booze, he was, as always, behind the bar. He was in his Night Aspect, which is truly a sight to behold. He’s a large humanoid garbed in his usual clothing, albeit several sizes larger to fit this Aspect’s frame. But while his body resembles a human’s, his head is that of an elephant with long ivory tusks. A
pink
elephant.
I don’t know what alcoholic dreamed up Deacon or how long ago it was, but every time I see him in his Night Aspect, it takes everything I’ve got not to burst out laughing. Don’t tell him, though. I don’t want to hurt his feelings. Or worse – piss him off so he won’t pass along info to Jinx and me anymore.
I moved to the empty spot near Maggie and the Darkness, and gestured for Deacon to come over. Jinx, Russell, Jack, and Lizzie gathered behind me.
“Hello, Audra,” Maggie said. “It’s good to see you again so soon!” She glanced at Russell. “I see you found the young man you were looking for. He fills out that pirate costume quite well, don’t you think?”
Deacon joined us. “Two nights in a row, Audra? It must be my lucky week.”
His trunk hung down slack on his chest, partially covering his mouth and muffling his voice. He stood several feet back from the bar’s edge to keep his tusks from spearing his customers.
I skipped the small talk. I drew my trancer, flicked the selector switch to the highest setting, and pointed the muzzle at a spot right between his eyes.
“Cut the master-of-the-house routine. I want you to tell me everything you know about the Lords’ plan – and don’t leave out a single detail.”
Deacon’s elephant eyes flashed with anger, but when he spoke, his voice remained calm.
“You know I don’t work that way, Audra.”
“I don’t care about your stupid rules. The Lords have abducted Sanderson – as you probably know by now – and they’ve got some kind of tech they’ve been using to create Incursions. I intend to get my boss back and shut down the Lords’ operation. And you’re going to help me do that, whether you like it or not.”
The anger in Deacon’s eyes blazed hotter, and his pink complexion edged toward crimson. When he spoke this time, while his tone remained calm on the surface, I could hear the tension beneath.
“Go ahead and shoot. I’ll recover much faster than you think. And in the meantime, you’ll have to deal with a lot of angry customers who are wondering why I’m not serving them.”
I’d been so focused on Deacon that I hadn’t noticed all conversation in the bar had ceased. I didn’t take my gaze off Deacon, but I could imagine Wet Dreams’ clientele all staring at me silently, trying to decide what, if anything, they should do. I might’ve been an officer of the Shadow Watch – which for a lot of people here was more than enough reason to hate me – but I was also a human. Incubi, especially those who are no longer bonded to an Ideator, didn’t appreciate a human giving orders to one of their kind. Especially when the Incubus being ordered is someone as beloved as Deacon Booze. Even with Jinx and Russell backing me up, I knew I wouldn’t stand a chance against everyone in the bar.
The tension in the air grew thicker by the second, and I knew that something was going to have to break soon.
When Maggie spoke next to me, I was so surprised, I nearly jumped.
“Now, dear, you really don’t want to shoot Deacon, do you?”
I didn’t answer and my gun hand didn’t waver.
Maggie looked at Deacon. “Yes, you’ll heal from a trancer blast, even one at full power. But doing so would be awfully inconvenient, wouldn’t it? Not to mention painful.”
Deacon didn’t respond to her, either.
Maggie turned around on her seat to face the rest of the bar. She raised her voice so everyone could hear her.
“And you’ve all been talking and fretting about the Incursions most of the night. I’ve heard the questions you’ve been asking one another. What’s causing them? Are they going to get worse? What will happen if they don’t stop? If Deacon knows anything that could help Audra stop the Incursions, don’t you think he should tell her?”
Deacon and I continued our staring contest, while his patrons murmured uncertainly among themselves. No one did anything for several moments, and then – without lifting his head or raising his voice – the Darkness said, “You should all listen to Maggie.”
His voice didn’t drip with menace, nor did it echo eerily throughout the bar. In fact, he didn’t sound much different than he did in his Day Aspect. But the effect of the Darkness’ voice was profound as it was instant. The Darkness was one of the most powerful types of Incubi – a fear-caster. And his ability to evoke terror in those around him worked on humans and Incubi alike. So when the Darkness spoke, everyone listened. I felt a surge of momentary panic wash over me like a cold wave, and I gritted my teeth and tensed my muscles until it passed.
I sighed and holstered my trancer. “We really need your help, Deacon.” I tried not to sound as desperate as I felt. “All of us do – Incubi and human, Earth and Nod.”
He continued to stare at me for another few seconds before the tension left his body and he relaxed.
“Very well, I’ll help. On the house, even. But don’t think you can take advantage of me like this in the future,” he warned.
“Noted,” I said, smiling with relief.
I turned to Jinx. Now that the threat of violence had ended, he looked like a kid who’d just been informed that Christmas was canceled this year.
“I’m not going to get to hurt
anyone?
” He made a pouty face.
“Cheer up,” I told him. “I have a feeling you’re going to get your chance to wreak maximum havoc soon.”
He grinned. “It’s about damn time.”
“Could you scoot over a little, please?” Abe asked.
Lizzie glared at him, but she did as he asked, although it wasn’t easy, given the way her legs were folded.
The Deathmobile might be larger in its Night Aspect compared to its day form, but it was still a tight fit for all of us. Jinx, Russell, and I sat in front with Connie. I sat on Russell’s lap – purely out of necessity, of course. Jack, Lizzie, Maggie, and Abe were jammed shoulder to shoulder in the backseat, and Bloodshedder – who’d been waiting for us in the alley – lay half on, half off the closed casket in the rear of the vehicle. I had no idea if there was something in the casket; up to that point, I hadn’t had the courage to ask Connie.
The Darkness wasn’t with us. As soon as we were on the street, he simply disappeared into the shadows.
“He’ll meet us there,” Maggie had explained.
I didn’t ask her how the Darkness traveled; I figured the less I knew about him, the better.
Connie drove at the Deathmobile’s top speed, and we were all pressed back against the seats – or in my case, against Russell – as the vehicle rocketed through the streets. I thanked the First Dreamer that it was so late; otherwise, the traffic would’ve been too thick even for the Deathmobile to maneuver at this speed.
I wasn’t comfortable that Maggie and Abe had insisted on joining the rest of us for our assault on Perchance to Dream. Maggie’s presence was a necessity because the Darkness wouldn’t have agreed to help us without her. But Abe didn’t have an Incubus – and probably never had – and he wasn’t trained for combat, at least as far as I knew. I was surprised when he insisted on accompanying us, and I’d almost told him he couldn’t, but then the Darkness had said, “Let him.” So, to keep the Darkness happy, I agreed.
Besides, Abe was probably holding, and while I’d gone without pharmaceutical help for half a day – not counting the headache pills I’d taken at the Rookery – there was a chance I might need a boost before this was all said and done. None of the Incubi seemed to care that Maggie and Abe were coming with us. They were used to doing crazy things.
“I’m still not clear on why we’re helping you instead of beating the holy living shit out of you,” Jack said. Smoke curled out of his mouth as he spoke.
Abe coughed and Maggie cracked open a window.
“Mayhem, remember?” Lizzie said. “Lots and lots of it.”
Jack smiled, revealing nicotine-stained teeth. “That’s right! Bring it on, baby!”
The stink of tobacco on his breath was fierce, but Jinx can produce some nasty smells of his own when he wants to, and Jack’s stink-breath was like roses in comparison.
As the Deathmobile raced toward our destination, I couldn’t help fearing that we’d be hit with another Incursion along the way, but removing the tiny metal sphere from Jinx seemed to have done the trick – because nothing happened.
Our grand plan? We didn’t really have one. Look, I’m a cop, not a military strategist. And it’s almost impossible to strategize when your enemy isn’t human and doesn’t always think rationally – or at least in ways humans recognize as rational. Plus, I kept hearing the voices in the void whispering for me to hurry, hurry, hurry. Regardless of whether those voices were real or imaginary, I couldn’t escape the feeling that it was more important that whatever we were going to do, we did it fast. And yes, it did occur to me that I wasn’t acting anymore rationally than an Incubus. So what?
After a bit, Abe spoke. “I wish Budgie were here. I’m sure he’d be a big help.”
“Budgie?” Russell said in my ear.
“His Incubus. It left him a long time ago.” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “At least, that’s what he likes to pretend.”
Abe whistled a trio of notes: one high, one low, one high. “That’s how I used to call him. He loved to fly. He was a bird, you know. He’d take off and sometimes I wouldn’t see him for hours. But he always came back when I whistled. Until one day he didn’t. I was afraid he’d gotten lost somehow, and I went all over town whistling for him. I kept searching for days, but I never found him. I hope nothing bad happened to him. I like to think that he fell in love with the freedom of flying so much that he couldn’t bring himself to be tied down by me. I hope that’s all it was. I hope I didn’t do anything to drive him away.”
I turned to look at Abe and saw Maggie patting his hand in sympathy. I wondered if she believed his story, and then I decided it wouldn’t matter to her if he was telling the truth or not. Either way, she would’ve comforted him. I turned back around, and we continued driving in silence.
It seemed to take only a few more moments for us to leave the city and enter the suburbs. As we turned onto the street where Perchance to Dream was located, Russell shifted beneath me, and I felt something hard poke my behind.
I looked at him. “I could make a joke and ask if that’s your rapier or if you’re just glad to see me – but I won’t.”
His cheeks colored a bit as he replied, “I appreciate your restraint.”
Despite our attempt to fool the Lords by giving the targeting device to Itchy, I had to assume they knew we were coming. There was an excellent chance that someone who’d been in the crowd at Wet Dreams was on their payroll, just as Shocktooth had been. Probably multiple someones. The moment we’d walked out of the bar, those someones had been on the phone to Perchance to Dream. And if that was the case, then the Lords would be ready and waiting.
As we approached the building, I said, “Get ready, everyone. And as Jinx always says…”
He grinned. “It’s showtime!”
Connie yanked the Deathmobile’s wheel to the left, its unearthly tires quite literally shrieked, and we shot into the parking lot. Fluorescent light from the streetlamps in the lot provided sufficient illumination, and we could see rows of parked cars. Parker Schulte had told us Perchance to Dream operated around the clock, which only made sense as it was staffed by Incubi who never needed to sleep.
Our plan was a simple one, so much so that it didn’t really deserve to be called a plan. More like a half-assed idea. We were going to drive right up the building’s entrance, get out, rush inside, and start fucking shit up. Like I said, not much of a plan, but when you’ve got powerful Incubi on your side, you don’t need much more. Or so I hoped.
But before we could make it halfway across the parking lot, the air outside the Deathmobile shimmered, and I experienced a too-familiar sensation of vertigo and nausea.
“They’re throwing an Incursion at us!” I shouted. “Be–”
My words were cut off as a dozen of the cars in the parking lot began to twist and reform, – their bodies, frames, engines, transmissions, tires, and interiors merging and rearranging in seconds to form a trio of mechanical monsters, each of which stood twenty feet tall. The makeshift creatures had multiple headlights for eyes, grills for mouths, engines for chests, and tires for hands and feet. The light glowing in their eyes was a roiling mix of colors, and I knew we were seeing the Maelstrom energy that animated them. The creatures looked exactly like what they were: nightmares made real.