“And if he’s slow to respond, Fonsi, reconnect with CNN, or try MCURY, or both. Let them know you have the answer to what’s been happening with the Afflicted. If there’s anyone who you can find to back up your claims, maybe another Guardián, that would be great. If not, put on the big-boy pants. You’re gonna have to come across as in the know andshare a message with the masses, let people know they’d better listen to what you have to say. We don’t have time.”
Fury ran through Linda’s veins. “It’s fuckin’ nuts—this thing has been right in front of our face the entire time. Cops and feds say they’ve been searching for a culprit, but what good were they?”
“I honestly don’t think the authorities fully understood what to look for,” Fonsi said. “Think of how there’s been such a proliferation of wards and charms meant to keep away evil spirits. It’s easy to miss.Wemissed it, Linda, and we’re far more in the know about this sort of thing.”
“Right. You’re right,” Linda admitted. “We need to get to Rayo. He may have more answers as to how we can make sure this thing is gone.” She took a deep, deep breath, ignored the pain and strain that it took to scooch herself over, lift the sheets, and move her legs to the side of the bed.
“The doctor believes you’ve been concussed,” Maxine said. “And they’re concerned you might’ve bruised a rib. Or two. You shouldn’t be moving.”
“There’s no time to wait. I don’t have any of my shit here.” Linda stood up and the room spun. She closed her eyes, felt Maxine’s and Fonsi’s arms supporting her. She took another deep breath and opened her eyes. “Thank you… thank you both for being here. For all your help. I’m sorry to have gotten you involved in this.”
“We’re just trying to be hard and heroic like you,” Fonsi said. His words were accented by what Linda had come to recognize as bashfulness. Maxine didn’t reply, just gave her boss the stare that said,Where else would I be?
“I appreciate it, really. And my clothes… my piece… my phone…” Linda glanced down, realized she’d felt chilly for their entire conversation because she was wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown. A bandage had been wrapped around her left forearm. Her torso had been wrapped in bandages as well. Two large Band-Aids covered both her knees.
Maxine ran over to a chair in the corner of the room and grabbed aduffel bag resting against its front legs. “Brought you a change of clothing. They cut off what you were wearing, which was pretty much ruined by the crash. As for your gun and phone, they’ve been squared away in the hospital’s safe. We’d need to get that from admin.”
Linda took a moment to digest the intel. Communicating with hospital staff would mean contending with bureaucracy, paperwork, and well-intentioned but annoying medical staff advising her to stay put, to fully recover before she checked out. Wasn’t going to happen. “I have my backup pistol and phone at agency,” she said. “Maxine, you’ll be point of contact with Elton and anyone else as we head back, give him updates as needed. First and foremost, we need to get everyone away from the amulets.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ELTON
Rayo Courant sat on a side bench against a stone wall. His legs were crossed, fingers in lotus position as if he were in a temple or ashram, not a holding cell. Nothing overtly dangerous about him. Still, even with the steel bars between them, something about the man made Elton want to run from the room.
He knew that he could lose his job over this, could potentially end up in jail himself if Rayo felt like retaliating. For Elton to call in a favor with DC’s second-district commander to have someone arrested for disturbing the peace? Charges that were clearly trumped-up? Career suicide. Still, it would buy them time, get Rayo out the picture if he was somehow connected to the Afflicted, which Linda seemed so sure of. Elton had been relieved when Maxine texted to say that Linda had woken up, that she’d be okay though she was banged up bad. And then he experienced a jolt of surprise over his relief. Wouldn’t his life be easier, a tad less complicated, if Linda Villanueva were no longer around?
The more pressing matter, to better understand this business about the amulets. He’d had to read Maxine’s explanation around the amulets’connection to the Afflicted several times before he could fully comprehend what she was talking about. That the amulets themselves were a conduit for a creature supposedly draining memory and life from its victims. That their physical symptoms were a side effect of the “feasting,” as she called it. None of the Afflicted were near their amulets now, even if they had been before being hospitalized. Some wouldn’t have been in contact with the objects for days. Didn’t seem to make a difference. Their condition wasn’t improving.
Elton had his people researching all of this business about the dorlis before they’d make any official proclamations that the amulet they’d confiscated from Rayo was dangerous. Elton had glimpsed the thing as it lay in a safe with Rayo’s other belongings. He had to admit he was frightened to get too close to the object, to peer at it for too long lest something suck away his soul.
He was bone-tired, about to drop. Hadn’t had a full night’s sleep… in how long? Hadn’t slept at all for the past thirty-six hours. Last night, two more demon eyes had died. Elton knew immediately what had occurred from the droop in Ty’s shoulders and how his eyes never left the floor after he’d entered their office. Charvi Tompkins and Kyle Sellers had perished, though thankfully, their deaths weren’t as gruesome or dramatic as Pastor Samuelson’s. Their bodies had just slowly morphed into burnt-out, desiccated husks, as if they could no longer endure whatever force had been ravaging their flesh. Several more staff had quit, in addition to those who’d resigned after Samuelson’s death. “I’m not being paid anywhere near enough to deal with this shit,” a nurse proclaimed. Elton didn’t ask anyone to stay. He understood.
He’d immediately notified his superiors late last night, was sure that the president overseas knew, callousness intact. Elton once again had no idea what to tell the families, how to explain what had transpired.He thought of Samuelson’s next of kin, how he’d notified his sister and a nephew himself, and how absolutely horrified they sounded. They refused to come to DC to claim the remains.
And that was the thing with all of this. There were no laws, nothing legally binding through which they could hold Rayo, even if they could prove he was behind the appearance of the creature. The fools in Congress had been moving at a snail’s pace when coming up with legislation to handle the supernatural before they’d broken up for recess.
This was simply too much.
Elton refocused on his detainee. He’d assumed Rayo would have contacted a lawyer by now, had already given instructions to the police to delay his attorney as much as possible when they reached the station. But Rayo hadn’t asked to make a call. He’d simply said, “I’m good,” when offered the option of court-appointed representation.
Rayo opened his eyes, apparently done with his meditations. “I know there’s no reason for you to be holding me,” he said to Elton. “That you’re probably shitting bricks for doing something like this. You could lose your job, no?”
There it was again, a defiant, condescending nonchalance. As if being held in a cell was nothing for the man. As if there hadn’t been mayhem just down the street from where he lived. Several Georgetown residents had reported an obsidian blob floating through the air, some proclaiming it had red eyes. A few put two and two together and linked its appearance to the Afflicted when speaking to police or reporters.
“Is there anything you’d like to share with us, Rayo?” Elton felt like a fool, unsure of what he was really asking.
Rayo raked Elton up and down with eyes full of contempt. He didn’t move an inch. “I have what I want. I know what my neighbors are saying. The dorlis has manifested. I’ve already been given what I’ve beenpromised.” He gestured to the concrete walls of the cell. “A space like this means nothing to me. I won’t be held for long.”
“I… I don’t understand,” Elton said as a shroud encircled his heart.
Rayo gave a calm, contained smile. “I’ve gotten what I was promised by my associates. I’m already free, and you don’t even know it. Pray for the citizens of this great city. The dorlis has manifest.”
THIRD INTERLUDE
The shadow hurt so much. It could not focus, could not find its form or words. Its manifestation had become corrupted. The woman who touched it, who tore it apart… she was an abomination. A mind witch. Did she dance with ghosts, like those who kept the entity at bay in times past? It remembered how they had cursed its name with incantations and prayers.
Vile dorlis… begone.
