287
“Hence my coming to you!” Henry pulled her into the room then closed the door, releasing the spell. When he opened it again, the club’s hallway was back, and they could hear muted shouting and crashing sounds. Sigrid was out the door and racing away before Henry could say anything. He turned around and saw the old Fae was smiling. Then he noticed she was no longer breathing. Henry touched her head then followed Sigrid up the stairs toward the sound of battle. There were dead bodies in a few rooms, and some were zip-tied, which told Henry the Demon was trying to cover his tracks, snuffing out witnesses. Henry stepped into a large open chamber where Sigrid was fighting with a man in an expensive suit. The Silver Soldiers were trying to help, but it was just hindering Sigrid.
“Sergeant, pull your people back! Sigrid needs room!” Henry yelled, and the soldiers were suddenly resting back against the wall on either side of him. They looked tired, which he could help with. “Join hands,” he yelled over the crash of weapons from the battle.
Henry could tell this Demon was highly skilled in battle as Sigrid’s grin was almost outshining her armor.
Seeing the soldiers were all linked, he reached out and grabbed the hands next to him as he looked inward to open his rift. He directed the torrent out through his hands and heard the gasps of the Silver People as he quick-charged them. He reduced the flow and released his grip. Yablonski made a noise of disappointment and received a scowl from the Sergeant before she turned to Henry.
“Thanks for the juice. It’s so much better when it’s filtered,” she said with a grin, and he returned it but kept his eyes on Sigrid. She was loving this.
Henry needed to find a computer. “Did you find the main office?” he asked.
“It’s at the end of the hall on the right,” Michelle called out over the din.
He saw the Demon glance his way in frustration after hearing the Sergeant. So, there was something to find in that office.
He looked to the Sergeant. “Leave him to Sigrid, but don’t let him leave this room.” She nodded.
Henry hustled down the hall and found the office with the Private sign on it. He examined the doorknob and saw a nasty little spell on it. Muttering a cleansing spell from Baba’s memory, the poisonous barbs fell from the knob and shriveled up on the floor. Safe once more, Henry opened the door and walked into the office. The office was beautifully decorated with a sophisticated style, making the EMP wires circling the doorway stand out like a sore thumb. They’d wipe any computers carried through the threshold. He tore them from the wall then walked over to the desk where he found the Demon’s ledgers and a laptop left on and not locked. Sloppy. Henry confirmed the machine contained the data for the ledger spreadsheets and the contact list. He also saw there were at least three other clubs.
He’d forgotten his cell, so Henry opened a small tear to Eden, then another below it to show the surface of his bureau at home. He collected his cell and let the tears close. He dialed Roy.
“Henry?”
“Hi, Roy. I found Kali and got her back to Mahati. She was held prisoner in a sex and torture club. Sigrid is currently battling the Demon running the place, and I have his computer with all his records. It looks like there are a few more clubs like this scattered around the world. The ledger only seems to go back five or so months.”
“Can you get that to me?” Roy asked.
“Yes, where are you?” Henry responded.
“In my office at work.”
“Is your door closed?”
Roy hesitated. “Yes.”
“Okay, hang on.”
Henry walked to the office’s bathroom door, opened a new Magic Door to Roy’s office, and knocked.
“Is that you?” Roy asked over the phone.
“Yes,” Henry said and watched Roy’s face as he opened the door. They hung up. Henry walked back to the desk and reset the laptop’s password to Duncan123! and ensured Roy saw this. Then he shut it down and handed it to the big redhead. He grabbed its AC adapter for Roy as well. The big man put them on his desk then returned to the office to begin going through the desk drawers and cabinets.
Sigrid appeared in the doorway, breathing hard but smiling. She seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she was only wearing a sweet little satin nightie, which, thankfully, had been spared being stained with demon blood. Her skin gleamed with sweat, and her deep breathing did things for Henry’s libido. She looked damn sexy, and he had to fight his body’s reaction to her.
“Damn! That was an epic battle! It was a senior level demon! I rarely get to fight them.” She walked into the office, followed by the soldiers who were watching her with awe.
“Any survivors on the main floor?” Henry asked.
Michelle broke out of her stunned state to look at Henry. “Unfortunately, no. The Demon killed his workers and the customers. He was too tough for us to stop. He was heading downstairs to you when she exploded out of the stairwell and knocked him back into the main hall.”
“There are three tied up customers in the basement who are desperate to confess, and six victims who need urgent care.” He looked to Roy. “Can you give General Crane a call and let him know about the other clubs and arrange raids on their locations.”
“If they’re also run by Demons, you need Valkyries on your strike teams. I can make some calls.”NôvelDrama.Org owns all © content.
Henry nodded and pointed down. “Would you like to get dressed first?”
“Shut up!” Yablonski groaned, and Michelle slapped the back of his head.
Sigrid smiled sexily, watching Henry as she ran her hands over the smooth fabric. “You don’t like it?”
He licked his lips nervously. “Ooo, I like it a little too much for current company.”
Her smile was deeply satisfied. “Then I suppose my job here is done. I can do the rest from home. If you could open a door for me, Henry?”
“Certainly.” He closed the bathroom door and released the spell to launch it once more for Sigrid’s bedroom. He opened the door to see her girly bed. Yablonski sighed.
Sigrid looked to Roy. “Call me once you’ve connected with the Brigadier-General.” He nodded, and she went inside, looking back as she bit her lip and waved sexily at Henry. She laughed delightedly at his hungry expression then closed the door. He released the spell.
Henry looked to Roy, who was pulling up the map on his cell for his current location. “Do you want me to set the door back to your office?”
“Hmm? Oh! No, I’ll have a clean-up team, and my squad come here. I’ll catch a ride back with them. We’ll get the others to a hospital,” he replied.
“So, I can leave the rest to you and Sigrid? I need to help Kali,” Henry said to Roy.
“Yes, and thanks,” Roy said absentmindedly.
Henry nodded and left the office with the soldiers following him.
When he got back to the main hallway leading to the front door, he stopped and looked back at them. “Uh, I’m just going back to my place. I don’t know where you guys were watching me from, but you can head back there if you like.”
“We’re sitting in the back of a van. It’s so dull!” Yablonski grumbled.
Henry stared at him in dismay while the Sergeant contemplated murdering the Corporal. She glanced at Henry in embarrassment as he turned his attention to her.
“Is that true?” She nodded. “That sucks! When do you get to hang out with your family- Oh! That was insensitive of me. Did any of you lose anyone during the Skyfall Event?”
They glanced at each other, and all shook their heads.
Michelle cleared her throat. “We, uh, assisted our families earlier to ease their transition.”
Henry grinned. “You made them into Silver People, too!”
They shifted from foot to foot uneasily, and he held up his hands. “It’s cool! I won’t say anything. I’m just glad you were able to protect them.” He sighed. “Still, it sucks you’re stuck in that van. I mean, I don’t know what you’re being asked to watch for. How often do you get to recharge?”
“We return weekly to the strike zone on the Mall in Washington, DC,” Michelle admitted.
Henry shook his head. “I don’t mind giving you guys a boost from time to time. Should you feel the need, please just let me know.” That got smiles from them.
“Your energy is so much better than the strike zone,” Yablonski sighed.
Henry walked to the front door, unlocked it, and linked it to a side door on his condo building. “This will take you back to the street outside my place.” He pushed the door open, and they filed through, and Michelle stopped at the entrance.
“Aren’t you coming?” she asked.
“I have to go back to Mahati’s. I’ll open a door to her place. Thanks for your help tonight.”
Michelle stepped through with a smile, and Henry closed the door.
Henry’s head was ringing as he found himself on the floor. A dark shape was swinging something at his head again, so he tilted his head to take the hit against his horns. That hurt much less, and he was able to focus on his assailant.
The man was a smaller version of the club owner, right down to the impeccable suit and expensive leather shoes. With the strength and speed, it was obviously a demon, too.
“You fucked up master’s operation. I had to kill our playthings. I’ll kill the one you stole-AAAAIIIEEE!”
Henry’s sharp kick against its shin had the desired effect as bones snapped and poked out. Then Henry tugged it down to the floor and rolled to pin it under him. He began beating on it with his fists, harder and harder as it screamed. He bared his teeth as he slammed his fists against its face until it began to distort and flatten out.
The demon was no longer futilely trying to block Henry’s strikes. Henry picked up the sound of Roy’s voice.
“Henry!”
He blinked as he turned his head to look at the shocked expression on the man’s face.
“It’s dead, lad. You can stop now.”
Henry was sucking in deep, shuddering gasps of breath. He nodded as he looked down at the paste he’d made of the demon. “It… it killed the… people downstairs.” He frowned as he tried to think how the monster could have moved through the building while avoiding being seen. How did it sneak up on him in the empty hallway? It suddenly came to him. “Secret passages,” he muttered. His eyes went to the ceiling. He imagined a security setup in the attic with cameras and secret passages to each level.