Demon at War (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Demon Series Book III:

  Demon at War

  by

  Bernard Lee DeLeo

  *****

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Bernard Lee DeLeo

  And

  RJ Parker Publishing

  Demon Series Book III: Demon At War

  Copyright © 2013 by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  *****

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. Please respect the author’s work. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real life persons, events, or places is purely coincidental.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by fines and federal imprisonment.

  Chapter One

  Frodo’s Date

  Mike steered in front of the Rawlins’ house, driving a limousine. Demon’s head hung out the passenger side, anxiously waiting for his human hosts’ reaction. After the incredible Haunt hunt the night before, both Mike and his otherworldly canine partner looked forward to driving Demon Inc’s weapons master, Denny Stossle on his group date. Escorting Mike’s sister Joanie, and her friends Mandy, Melissa, and Danielle, would mark Denny Stossle’s first date of any kind. Mike and Demon decided it had to be done right, especially since Demon Inc made a lot of money. It was time to spend a little.

  “Did we really have to do it this way, Mike?” Denny sat nervously in the huge back seat.

  “Tell Frodo to march his little hobbit butt to the door and escort Joanie out here,” Demon projected into Mike’s mind to be repeated immediately by a chuckling Mike.

  Denny sighed while opening the door. “Thanks D, I needed that. Be right back.”

  Demon watched again from the window. “He led an attack on a Haunt nest and portal to hell last night. Today, he’s nervous about going to a matinee and brunch with four gorgeous teenie girls. I think the Haunts may have made Denny mental.”

  “Ease up on him. He’s okay. This is his first date. Tutoring the same group with school work as an excuse is one thing. Being the male entertainment, surrounded by Joanie’s crew would give any guy second thoughts.”

  “He should have worn a tux and a fake beard like that guy on the commercials they call ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’. Denny’s done more things than that clown already at fifteen. A Dos Equis would taste pretty good right now though.”

  “It’s 10:30 in the morning you lush.”

  “It’s five PM somewhere. I’ll bet Joanie’s pretending not to be ready so she can keep the weapons master waitin’. She talks all the talk with Laura while I’m in their room watching ‘Family Guy’, forgetting I know the lingo. Your Sis doesn’t like sharing Frodo with the other girls.”

  “I noticed.” Mike leaned back. “I slept like a dead Haunt last night. I didn’t even realize Stan, Jerry, Connie, and Janis took off sometime in the early morning hours. Joanie thought they skipped out around 1 am. Talk about ‘Hell Week’. Between closing Haunt portals to hell, fights in front of the school, football practices, Friday’s football game, and a Saturday night MMA match with a guy piggybacking a Casper, I think I hit the endurance wall.”

  “You’re lucky I stayed awake and guarded the house all night.”

  Mike clucked derisively. “You passed out in your beer bowl, Farfel.”

  “I was resting my eyes.”

  “Yeah, until my Mom nudged your butt outside at 9:30 AM. You’re lucky I didn’t give you a wakeup call at eight when I got up. You were still snoring on the floor. I figured you deserved it after all you did this past week. I’m surprised you wanted in on this Denny venture. I thought you’d bond with Laura all day.”

  Demon glanced back at his human sidekick. “She’s too clingy. Besides, I think she was going out somewhere today. I hope she’s all okay and everything having Mamoud’s kid, but I’m not her birth partner like you, metro-man.”

  Mike’s head whipped over with an angry response, but Demon was already doing his snorting indication of amusement while eyeballing Mike for his reaction. Mike relaxed in his seat again. “Like I had a choice.”

  “I know she recruited you. You care about her. So do I. But my advice is use your superpower to get with Gail the Holy Grail, partner. She’s a hottie.”

  Mike chuckled. “Hottie? You watch too much TV. Don’t tag Gail with that Holy Grail nickname either. Thanks, by the way, for bailing me out Friday night when Gail grabbed my wrist. I’m glad your contact counteracted the pheromone I was putting out in my touch before Denny created the Colloidal Silver cure.”

  “I’m really sure cooling off the Holy Grail was super important from your selfish perspective. From my more logical view, adding it to the laser/holy water mix coming out of the Haunt weapons really rocked the Haunt world. With the silver content, Haunts and their portals are toast. Denny’s a genius. No question. Have you given anymore thought to you and me paying the Haunts a visit with the new weapon?”

  “Before I answer that, Farfel, giving me control of my pheromone curse is very important. I can still expel a Casper piggy-backing in a human, but I don’t have to worry about a handshake with a woman turning into a porno movie.”

  Demon growled. “You call me Farfel again and I’ll make you into a Haunt!”

  Mike laughed. “My Mom aced you with that one. Anyway, yeah, I’m thinking about an attack. I wish we could experiment with whether taking the delivery system through a Haunt portal, while leaving the storage unit behind, will work without tipping the Haunts off. Denny wants to use a fire-truck. Now that will be a bad day in Haunt land. I’ll just have to bring along a portable unit too. I was excited enough to phone Father Ramirez last night in the middle of our celebration. He said he’s at our service, anytime we need him. We have to keep it on the down-low because he told me the Church would come down on him hard if they find out.”

  Demon snorted. “If they had any brains the Pope would be here standing shoulder to shoulder with Ramirez. They bless things. It works. Guess what that would mean in recognizing there is good and evil?”

  “People have trouble believing in anything these days, D,” Mike admitted. “They see Haunt attacks on YouTube and laugh. Everything’s a video game, even war. The Church believes in an afterlife, along with good and evil, but they’ll fire Father Ramirez for helping us fight evil. We’re in a position where we can’t make enemies of the state, church, or any authority until we can get somebody high on the bureaucratic totem pole to believe. We killed two Haunts right in front of the crowd at my MMA match with Fenton, including an added bonus with me ejecting the damn Caspers right out of him and his girlfriend. It didn’t even make the news, other than there was a ‘disturbance’ at the MMA match in San Jose.”

  “At least they didn’t throw you in jail. We have the videos, and Denny already uploaded them to our YouTube Channel.”

  “Why do you think the Haunts took so long to make a move,
D? A long time passed between when we met two Halloweens ago, and when they tried to take over Alcatraz.”

  Demon looked out the window to see if there was any sign of Denny and Joanie. Not seeing anyone exiting the Rawlins’ house, he turned in the front seat. “I think some idiot conjured the Haunts during one of those idiotic séances those park rangers mentioned they do over there occasionally.”

  “But that would mean we have some piggybacking Caspers we don’t know about and other portals open somewhere.”

  “Not if they didn’t use the lethal combo of a Grimoire spell-book and Ouija Board like those goofball witch wannabes Kincaid and Ansel, or personally invite them inside with a Ouija Board like your MMA opponent Fenton and his girlfriend. I’d bet the ones responsible for the Alcatraz incursion did a general summoning, naming the spirits already haunting Alcatraz.”

  Mike smiled. “Damn, D, it must have been hell going all that time enduring my family and friends treating you like a smart dog.”

  Demon went through his snorting imitation of a laugh, shoulders shaking. “You took me along with you, fed me, and gave me a place to sleep. After where I was at, it was pure heaven. I knew I’d scare you into handing me over to the government if I’d acted like Brian in ‘Family Guy’. I went slow and steady until Denny came along. He was the missing piece we needed, so maybe I wouldn’t have to see all the rest of you die. After Alcatraz I suspected what had happened. Without Denny, the Hornet mission would have ended with all of you dead, and I’d have been alone again.”

  “When those Haunts dropped down on us from overhead on the Hornet, I was no longer thinking about saving the world with our little reality show gigs. I was praying to God not to let my folks watch me die right in front of their eyes along with all my friends.”

  “I knew that Haunt wound screwed with your inner workings the moment the holy water closed it too, leaving the scar behind,” Demon replied. “The one you got across your chest didn’t even leave a mark after the holy water healed it.”

  Mike had forgotten all about the wound. He pulled up on the black shirt top he was wearing. There was no sign of where the Haunt had raked him the prior evening after the fight. “Nothing… not even a red line.”

  “Yep, you’re getting like me. I’m thinking if you survive a couple more wounds and we hit Haunt world through a portal, the Haunts won’t be able to kill you. You’ll be impervious to them on this side. Everyone else I’ve ever known sickened and died after being wounded. The ones that healed with holy water were okay, but they were never the same. Crazy upgrades happened to the ones I saw too, like your pheromone touch, telepathic ability, speed, and strength additions. The extra power would increase in the victims same as they did in you. Most times, it did not end well. Something of the Haunt nature would stay with them, just like I’ve seen you fighting through. Don’t deny it either.”

  “It’s there,” Mike admitted. “It feels different this morning though. Damn, it’s nice talking this crap out with you. So, you really think I’ll be like you: Haunt Kryptonite?”

  “I think so, but don’t get killed testing it out.” Demon’s ears perked up. He spun around in his seat. “It’s the weapons master, Frodo, and the delectable sister Joanie.”

  “Crap! They’re not even holding hands. Joanie wore her jeans and who knows what under a black hoodie. That means she’s so torqued off about something, she doesn’t even care to compete for Frodo with the other girls.”

  “Don’t read anything into it, partner. Your sis can go from zero to whacko in five seconds flat. Denny must have mentioned Mandy’s name in telling Joanie about something on the itinerary for today, forgetting the mention of the lovely Mandy makes Joanie mental.”

  “I guess we’ll see,” Mike replied. “This group date thing is not showing promise at the moment for anyone.”

  Denny opened the rear door for Joanie. She slipped in and over against the opposite door. Denny got in and shut the door.

  “We’re going to pick up Mandy next!” Joanie said in a derisive falsetto voice.

  “Told you,” Demon flashed to Mike.

  “Oh for God’s sake, Sis, we are picking up Mandy next,” Mike said, turning to look back at Joanie in bewildered exasperation. “Can’t you just for once have a good time? We have a limo, reservations, and a movie ahead.”

  “It was the way he said it,” Joanie replied, her tone less animated as if she realized how silly she was acting.

  Instead of defending himself, Denny moved over to Joanie, took her in his arms and kissed her. She resisted at first, but with a slight moan, Joanie launched against Denny, her arms wrapping around him in desperate passion. In seconds, the prior week and teenage angst dissolved into an embrace that had Mike turning to the front with an uneasy smile.

  Demon did his humorous snort while watching the scene. “If you don’t clear your throat or something, I think Denny will be the next birth coach after you, Uncle Mike.”

  “Hey! Don’t make me have to run the garden hose out here and spray you two down,” Mike called out without turning. He then glanced back after a few seconds to see the two disengaging reluctantly. “Okay then, on to Mandy’s.”

  After picking up Mandy, Melissa, and Danielle, Mike headed for Brennan’s in Berkeley so the teens could get brunch. He’d already called ahead to reserve their Demon Inc meeting room. Jim DeLeo, one of Brennan’s managers another member of Demon Inc, Stan Brickwalter, knew well, had given them an open invitation to take the room anytime it was open. Jim had promised Mike over the phone to take the group back there as soon as they arrived and grabbed their food. The mood in the limousine passenger area lightened considerably with the other girls wanting to know the details behind the Haunt mission the night before. Mike grinned, watching his sister squirm as everyone in the group, including Denny, was dressed nicely.

  When they reached Brennan’s, Denny escorted the girls out of the limo, and gave Mike a small wave. “Are you coming in, Mike?”

  “No. we’ll kick back here in the limo. I don’t want to get our friend Jim in trouble by doing the blind man’s dog routine with D too often. Take your time. We’re comparing notes on our Haunt fest weekend.”

  “Okay, Mike.” Mandy yanked on Denny’s jacket to get him headed away from the car.

  “I think Frodo’s liking this gig now.”

  “Yep.” Mike watched the four nudging and laughing on their way walking. “Especially since Joanie finally cut him some slack. She needs to relax and pretend she knows fifteen isn’t thirty-five. D, is it the wounds you’ve suffered and healed from that makes it impossible for the Haunts to hurt you?”

  “I’m nearly invulnerable here from Haunts. On the other side I can be hurt if I get slashed enough. Crossing back and forth has made me stronger, just like you’re experiencing. I didn’t have anybody to dose me with holy water like you, sissy. You’ve already seen the Haunts who made it through have more power than I’ve seen before. It sucks they can be conjured by demon groupies with a spell book and a couple candles.”

  Mike chuckled. “I know you went through hell, partner. How old are you really?”

  “Older than you. I can’t tell you in your years, but I got a kick out of the vet thinking I was two. My species where I came from used to live as long as humans or longer, before the Haunts. We better get our game faces on quick, kid. Who knows what the damn things can do if they get conjured out of this area. Think of portals opened all over the world. We had one rift in my dimension, and they decimated us in months. I was so low down mean, I went through the rift into Haunt world to waste as many as I could get my teeth into.”

  “Brother, did I kill me some Haunts then. I snuck into one of their nesting areas one night and saw the rift that went into your world. I munched the Haunts trying to cross over and slipped through. I can sense them if they’re close. I heard the shrieks from Connie and investigated. There you all were inside your little circle. I ate the Haunt attacking your circle and you took me home. Man, did
those sandwiches and beer you gave me taste good. It was heaven. My passing through the rift closed it because it was gone when I looked back.”

  “Good Lord, if you hadn’t passed through and closed the rift, we’d already be toast on this side. It’s a good thing their portals don’t automatically seal when you pass through.” Mike looked up to see an approaching figure. “Hey, there’s Jim, the manager at Brennan’s. By the look on his face, he’s not coming out to say hi.”

  “He looks serious. By the way, the portals don’t close because they’re made from this side. I guess we better jump out and greet Jimbo so he keeps me in mind for a shot and beer later.”

  Mike opened the limo door to get out, shaking his head at the liquor comment. Demon leaped out over him and ran to greet the Brennan’s manager. “Suck up.”

  Jim was in the middle of a petting frenzy as Mike joined him. He shook hands with the delighted manager while Demon pranced around, nudging his mark. “Did you just come out to say hi?”

  The manager’s face tightened into a serious mask. “We have a problem. When I go into our liquor room I hear noises from above. When I go check, there’s nothing there, but the squeaks, rattles, and creaks keep going on. Then they stop until I think nothing’s happening, but when I turn to walk out they begin again. The owner thinks it’s nothing, but I remembered Demon sensed something. We watched the Demon Inc channel this morning on YouTube. That clip last night freaked us all the hell out. I’m wondering if things got worse, and Brennan’s has a Haunt now instead of just a ghost.”

  “So much for the Haunt free Sunday, partner. I’ll munch one for a shot and a beer.”

  Seeing Mike chuckle while looking down at Demon, Jim perceived correctly there had been communication. “You two think it’s nothing?”

  “Not exactly, Jim. D says he’ll go munch a Haunt for you if it’s there for a shot and a beer.” Mike reached into the limo and pulled his shoulder bag out to take with him.

  The Brennan’s manager started laughing while turning toward the restaurant. “C’mon, I’ll pay up even if there’s nothing there.”