Matt Archer: Bloodlines (Matt Archer #4) (7 page)

I reached for my knife, then stopped when Mike turned
around, frowning.

Only a drawing. It was only a drawing on the wall. Not the
real thing.

But it was so much like what I’d seen in my nightmares that
I was sure the person who drew it knew the Shadow Man well.

The image was more than seven feet tall, stretching from
floor to near the ceiling. A smeared man, made of swirling charcoal that seemed
to bleed from the edges of the drawing. Not real, but the very sight of it made
my knees tremble.

Clenching my teeth, I said, “Guess we’re in the right
place.”

“Never any doubt of that,” Uncle Mike answered. “But this
tells us something.”

“That Nocturna Maura worships the Shadow Man? Yeah.”

Surrounding the figure were dozens of pentagrams, with the
single point aimed at the floor. Just like the pentagrams in Africa, the ones
that depicted the dark brothers each wielder would face. These pentagrams were
as inky as the shadow they worshipped, and at his feet, humans knelt with their
foreheads pressed into the ground in adoration. The whole thing gave me a
serious case of the heebies.

Especially when I realized I’d seen something like it
before.

“Uncle Mike, does this remind you of anything?”

He squinted at the drawing, then nodded slowly.
“Afghanistan. The cave drawings where we found the Zoorastrian’s fallen god.”

“They had a picture of the Shadow Man rising out a fire,
holding a spear with a hooked tip. And the humans were worshipping the fallen
god, but…” It wouldn’t quite come together for me, what this meant. “Who knows,
maybe the fallen god and Shadow Man were friends or allies or something.”

“The fallen god is dead…and we decided it was the entity
associated with Air on Zenka’s pentagram,” Mike said. “If anything, it was a
servant of the Shadow Man. Just like the Gators, and Ga-Gorib in Africa.”

Air, Water and Earth. Only two points left unbroken—Fire and
Light. “There’s that fire-breathing lizard thing still out here somewhere.
And…” I waved at the drawing—
he’d
been one of the prime monsters on
Zenka’s list. “Do you think that’s what they were doing? Calling Fire for the
eclipse, using the Shadow Man’s image to bring something big?”

“God only knows. But they’d have to call it at some point,
right? We only have one more eclipse after this next one—and that’s on our side
of the world.” Mike froze. “You don’t think…you don’t think the Shadow Man will
go to Peru or Montana do you? If Fire’s coming here, then all we’ll have is the
final “point”—the darkness.”

A shudder ran through my middle. The Shadow Man, in Montana?
Everyone I cared about was there. I couldn’t let that happen. No matter what I
had to do to stop him.

With more confidence than I felt, I said, “No. He’ll come at
a time we don’t expect it. He’s building power through all this somehow, so he
can spring a trap.”

Mike looked relieved. I wished I could believe my crap as
easily as he did.

Unnerved, I backed out of the room. “We need to get going.
There’s nothing here that’ll help Will.”

“No, doesn’t seem like it.”

We left the building and from the slump of Mike’s shoulders,
I gathered he felt as defeated as I did. All we gained from this trip was a
vision of just how terrible these covens could be. Dorland and Blakeney came
behind, each carrying two of the kids. Elske’s smile was huge and she turned
her face up to the stars, like a flower needing nourishment. Little Mai cried
on Dorland’s shoulder, and Ayax looked shy and kind of scared of the soldiers.

Dat was broken.

I’d seen kids—and adults—like him before. Face enough
terrors, and soon some people just go numb. He slumped against Dorland, staring
at everything and nothing. Lanningham came over and offered the little guy
another protein bar. Dat didn’t seem to notice, but Ayax reached out for it,
his face lit up in a quick smile. Maybe if we found Ayax’s family, or a safe
place for him to live, he’d be okay. Dat, though…he was like me. He’d seen too
much and he’d never be able to forget. Too young to bottle up the fear to fuel
his anger, the pain had hollowed him out.

Me? I really wanted to lay waste to some monsters right now.

Dad appeared at my side. “Who’s this?”

“We found a cage full of kids in one of the outer buildings.
Potential sacrifices, I guess.”

His face turned to stone, something so strong and
unbreakable I pitied anyone who crossed him. “We found some skeletons buried in
a shallow grave at the edge of the compound.”

“Of what?” I asked.

Dad glanced at Elske. “More children. They’ve
been…experimenting out here.”

Tink growled in my head.
We have to stop them. They don’t
have any idea what they’ve done.

“What
have
they done?” I asked her, ignoring Dad’s
raised eyebrow.

Called things they cannot control. Opened the rift so
wide that things they never wished to see will come to this world.
She
seethed, her anger heating my blood and bringing sweat to my forehead.
They
escalated the war, Matt. And there will be no stopping it until he is ready.

“The Shadow Man.”

Yes. He waits for the right time.

I wanted to say something brave, like “we’ll be ready.” But
the words died in my throat and all I felt was fear. My nightmares would come
true: Mamie would scream in the dark, and I would be powerless to stop it.

No, I couldn’t go there. I had a job to do—that’s what I
needed to focus on. “Find anything else, Dad?”

He’d been watching me this whole time, and I had a feeling
my internal conversation had played across my face. His eyes bored into mine.
“A clue. Just one.”

My heart jolted. “We have a lead?”

His smile was hard, crafty. He held up a tiny piece of paper
that had been folded into almost nothing. “Carrie is still alive. And she wants
us to find her.”

Maybe there was hope for Will after all. “When can we
leave?”

“We need to go back to camp and check in,” Mike said, coming
up behind Dad. “Then we’ll put together a small team to lead the search.”

Right, we might need gas for the Humvee, food and water.
Either way, I was
done
with this place. “We ready for the bonfire,
then?”

“I found some kerosene in their pantry and hosed down the
main building,” Dad said. “All we need is a match.”

Dorland had handed his kids off to Lanningham and unpacked a
flame-thrower. Were they really going to let me use it? This was kind of sick
and wrong, but my stomach leapt at thought because Uncle Mike’s standing orders
were to keep Will and me away from anything with more punch than a basic rifle.

The incident with a can of Axe body spray had only convinced
him he was right.

Dorland settled the tank on my shoulders and showed me how
to light it up. “Aim careful,” he said. “Best place would be straight into the
door that leads to the main hallway. And don’t stand too close. Based on the
fumes, I think Officer Archer flooded the place with kerosene. Don’t want it to
flame back on you.”

My hands shook as I crossed the compound. Once I was even
with the doorway, I sent a silent word of apology to all the kids—and
adults—I’d failed over the last few years. Cleansing this place of whatever
hoodoo these witches brought would be for them.

I clicked off the safety and squeezed the igniter.

And I didn’t stop until the damned building’s roof caved in.

* * *

We arrived at camp an hour after dawn, beat down tired and
crammed into the Humvee like a pack of donuts in shrink wrap. Everyone in the
back had to hold a kid, and I wasn’t the only one ready for breakfast and a
rest. My clothes smelled scorched…or maybe those were my eyebrows. I’d gotten a
little carried away with the flamethrower.

Mike had taken one look at the raging blaze I’d started and
reinstated his ban on letting me use incendiary devices.

When we rolled up to the line of Humvees forming a barrier
at the edge of camp, I could tell there’d been trouble overnight. My heart in
my shoes, I handed Elske to Dad.

Over everyone’s protests, I had my door open and was out
running before the vehicle stopped. The command tent was in shreds and, based
on the footprints dug deep in the dirt, Dingoes had come for a visit. Nothing
else stirred. The team was nowhere to be seen.

 “Chief!” Uncle Mike barked. “Wait!”

He wanted to me to slow down, to check out the situation
first, but after last night, coming home to find Will, Aunt Julie and the
others dead might just crack me in two.

“Will!” I ran into the circle of Humvees. “Where are you?”

Nothing but a few blood stains on the ground.

I ran to the face of the bluff and clambered to the top. The
back side sloped down in a gentle hill that led to a long, flat plain below.
There, a group of soldiers were gathered, huddled together. I sank to my knees;
they were alive. All of them.

“Hey!” Johnson called, waving up at me. “You made it back.”

Will stood in the center of the ragged looking group.
Klimmett had a bloody bandage wrapped around his head. Captain Johnson didn’t
look hurt at first glance, but he was slow to turn and he limped as he walked
up the slope. Will was scratched all to hell on his arms and face and he had an
enormous black eye. Aunt Julie, strangely enough, didn’t have a mark on her.

By now, Lanningham and Dorland had crested the bluff and
hurried down to help the wounded back to camp. I took a second just to breathe
before standing. Sometimes you had to let your bones go to Jell-O for a while,
even if it made you look weak. Uncle Mike climbed up next to me and let out a
heavy sigh.

“They’re all here,” he murmured. “Thank God.”

“We earned a little luck, Major,” I said, pushing myself to
my feet. “Just once.”

Aunt Julie came to report in. “Sir, we were attacked by
Dingoes overnight.” She spared me a glance. “The four who ran away from
Archer.”

“Are they eliminated?” Mike asked.

“Yes, sir. Cruessan took them out before they could cause
too much damage.” She paused. “Blind, sir. He took them out blind. I…” Julie
swallowed—I’d never seen her rattled, so the scene must’ve been a freak show to
end all freak shows. “We didn’t even have to call out directions. He just
felt
where the monsters were somehow and cut them down.”

Pride swelled in my chest—probably a mix of both mine and
Tink’s. “Hell yes, he did!” Grinning in relief, I called over to Will, “Dude,
you
are a badass.”

He walked slowly our way, Johnson next to him to make sure
he didn’t fall. “Damn straight I am.” When he made it over to me, he leaned in
to whisper, “I have no idea how I did it. Don’t tell the others, though. It’s
good for them to think I’m this monster-killing machine, okay?”

“Deal.”

Aunt Julie squinted at the edge of the bluff. “Why do I hear
kids?”

“We had a long night ourselves,” Mike said. “Any chance you
got in touch with someone from General Richardson’s office? We need
reinforcements, transport, supplies…humanitarian aid.”

“And you’ll get it.” She checked her watch, then cocked her
ear to the west. “In about three minutes, if I had to guess.”

Faint, so faint I had to strain to hear it, the sound of
helicopter rotors thumped in the distance.

The helicopters landed in a cloud of red dust and small
rocks. The big, dual-rotor Chinooks were good at stirring up a strong wind.
Will and I went to meet the colonel as he stepped out of the nearest
helicopter.

Colonel Black took one look at us and frowned. Between the
stitches, the bruises, the dirt, and Will’s blind stare, we probably looked
pretty bad. “You two had a rough few days, huh?”

“Sir, yes, sir,” we answered.

“I brought some reinforcements to get your teams up and
running again. Radio silence is one thing; being cut off from everyone is
another, so I made sure to bring my best communications specialist.”

I groaned before he finished the sentence. “Sir, you
didn’t.”

The colonel chuckled, then called, “Sergeant Davis! Archer’s
here to welcome you!”

Davis trotted our way, glaring. “Why do I doubt that, sir?”

“Because you should,” I answered. Why did Colonel Black
bring him? The man was the most uptight, type-A tech weenie ever born. Yeah, we
needed better communications and he was the best at that, but he was a
ginormous pain in the ass in every other way.

Davis looked up at me. “Are you ever going to stop growing?”

“No idea. And how is it that your BDUs are perfectly creased
after two days of travel? Sergeant, we need your secret.”

Will smoothed the front of his jacket. It was ripped in
several places and covered with a mix of Dingo and human blood. “I don’t
know…the grime adds something to the camo, don’t you think?”

“You must be Cruessan,” Davis said.

Will stared at a spot to the left of his shoulder. “Um,
we’ve met. Afghanistan, remember?”

Davis shrugged. “Must not have made an impression.” Before I
could light into him for ragging on a blind guy—and a wielder, at that—he
asked, “Where’s camp? I need to set up my equipment.”

“Other side of the bluff,” I said.

“You’re backed up against a natural wall? You’re lucky the
enemy didn’t try to take you out from an elevated position.”

“Who says they didn’t?” Will muttered.

“Uh huh.” Davis’s tone conveyed his disapproval. And it
wasn’t just him.

By now a dozen soldiers in desert BDUs had hustled past
carrying large packs, and a few hauled crates between them. Every one of them
gave us condescending looks, matching the one Davis wore, like being in trouble
was all our fault and they were here to “rescue” us. The colonel directed them
to the edge of the bluff, where Dorland and Lanningham were helping lower
things down to our campsite.

“We didn’t have any choice in the matter at the time.
Besides, the colonel doesn’t seem too worried about it.” I turned away from
Davis and took Will’s arm to lead him back to camp. “We need to check in.”

As soon as we were out of earshot, Will said, “He’s worse
than I remember.”

“I don’t think he likes field work. But if Colonel Black’s
planning to stay on the ground with us, he’ll want Davis here, so we’re stuck
with him.” I rubbed my eyes; sand gritted between my lids, scratching my eyes.
Tired. I was so damn tired. “Come on, let’s go find some food. Since the
‘A-team’ brigade seems to think we’re a bunch of helpless noobs, they can sort
everything out while we rest.”

“Amen to that.”

By the time we made it through the crush of soldiers and
dropped down into camp with Lanningham’s help, three tents were already up, and
a team of new guys was digging a bigger latrine. Captain Johnson hobbled over
and pointed to the tent on the left. “Archer, that’s yours. Cruessan’s is the
one by the supply truck. We had them set up cots and there’s an MRE waiting for
you.”

“My C.O. is better than your C.O.,” Will said.

“My C.O. can kick your C.O.’s ass,” I answered.

Johnson gripped Will’s upper arm to help guide him. “Only if
I’m looking to avoid a court martial for striking a superior officer. Now go to
bed. It’ll all still be here when you wake up.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I muttered, but followed
directions and went straight to my tent after giving Will a quick whack on the
shoulder.

Changing out of my smoke tinged BDUs and crawling into bed
was like a tiny slice of heaven. I decided I’d rather sleep than eat and I left
the MRE container on the ground next to my cot. No matter how hard I tried,
though, I couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep and the dead boy’s face was
all I could see when I closed my eyes.

Desperate to forget, I said, “Tink, you’ll know I’m in bad
shape for asking, but could you knock me out?”

Of course,
she murmured. Her voice was kind and a
little melancholy. I never knew if those emotions were really hers or something
I projected onto her, but for the moment, I felt like she cared.
I sense
nothing at all, so we should be safe for a time. You rest.

Before the last word finished echoing in my head, I fell
asleep.

* * *

The whine of a helicopter spinning up startled me out of a
deep sleep. While I’d been out, three more cots had been shoved into the tent.
Blakeney was snoring softly, sprawled on one of them. The other two, presumably
for Lanningham and Dorland, were empty, but all their stuff was piled along the
walls. From the way the light fell against the canvas, it was late afternoon.
I’d slept like the dead, and for a long time.

I sat up slowly, wincing as the dozens of bruises, strained
muscles and scratches woke up with the movement. I’d been in worse shape after other
fights, so this pain was manageable and I turned to let my bare feet rest on
the ground.

I didn’t remember taking off my boots…but I had. For once,
I’d been comfortable enough to sleep without being ready to fight at the sound
of a Dingo’s howl. And for once, I actually felt rested while on assignment.

As I finished getting dressed, the helicopter’s rotors faded
into the distance. I stepped outside and shivered a little. The air had grown
cool while I slept. Two fires were going in the center of camp and a dozen guys
were sitting on portable stools around them, eating dinner. My stomach growled.
I ducked back into the tent for my MRE—glazed chicken, peas and applesauce—then
went looking for the command tent.

Soldiers watched me pass through camp. The new guys stared,
then huddled together to whisper. More than a few laughed. Derisively.

Not sure what that was about, I hurried on my way. Command
wasn’t hard to find. A shiny new private was guarding the front of only one
tent, which meant the colonel, and likely Uncle Mike, were inside. The private
eyed me as I approached but didn’t stop me from announcing myself and entering.

Inside, Mike and Colonel Black were speaking with Captain
Johnson and Badass Aunt Julie, who was looking especially cold and intimidating.

“It’s time to go back,” Mike was saying. “We have all the
information from the coven we’re going to get out here. There’s no reason for
your team to stay.”

“There are a number of tiny towns around here. My team could
canvass the area and do some interviews. See if there’s something we’re
missing.” She crossed her arms and aimed her glare at Mike. “Besides, Officer
Archer still needs to find his contact. You’d go faster with more boots on the
ground. If you want to send me home a few days before the eclipse, fine. But I
can still do some good out here.”

“Captain, we’re not questioning your abilities,” Colonel
Black said. “The situation has changed. This has become a hardcore combat
mission and we simply can’t let you stay. The general has ordered your return
to D.C. He wants you on point, coordinating all the intel coming in. There’s
been a huge increase in chatter—monsters are coming out of the cracks of the
earth all over the world it seems.”

Julie let out a short breath. “Sir, yes sir.” The colonel
met her glare head on, but Mike avoided looking at her. “I’ll prepare my team
to leave immediately.”

She paused next to me on her way out. “Take care of
yourself.”

After Julie flung the tent flap open and stalked away, Mike
sank down on a folding camp chair and let out a long breath. “I told you she
wouldn’t be happy, sir.”

“Happy or not, orders are orders. I can’t reverse General
Richardson’s commands just because she’s unhappy. She’ll have more resources in
D.C., too. We need everything she can give us, and being on the ground isn’t
feasible anymore.”

I doubted Aunt Julie would buy that line of reasoning—I sure
didn’t. There were still things we didn’t understand. “Why couldn’t she go to
Perth? Nocturna Maura’s leader lived there; surely some of her followers are
still in town.”

“We don’t want to rattle too many cages,” Uncle Mike said.
“They know we’re onto them and the CIA would prefer to handle the search
themselves.”

“But it’s a military matter now,” I said. “We need the intel
more than they do.”

The colonel tossed a notebook on the folding table that
must’ve materialized with the other supplies. “Archer, you are aware that our
operation is completely off the books, right? We can’t waste the manpower—or
draw any attention—by going after the coven leaders ourselves. Our mission is
simple: find monsters, eliminate them.”

“Sir, our mission is anything but simple,” I said.

“We’ve been arguing with Captain Tannen for the last twenty
minutes,” Uncle Mike said, rubbing at his eyes. “Think you could dial back the
indignation?”

“Sorry, sir.” I wasn’t, but I wasn’t getting anywhere, so
why bother? “I came in to ask where the kids are. I didn’t see them in camp.”

“I called out a Red Cross disaster relief team from Perth,”
Colonel Black said. “They took off a few minutes ago, to evac the children to a
more secure location while they try to find their families.”

I felt bad; I’d slept the afternoon away instead of looking
out for Elske and her little crew. I told myself they were better off far from
here, but I still felt bad. “Were they able to tell us anything?”

“Not much. Just that they remembered being grabbed, then
waking up in a dark vehicle. Elske said she remembered being very hot on the
way to the compound, which makes me think she arrived in the middle of summer.”

“They must have been here for weeks then.”

“Dat wouldn’t talk to us, but Nguyen spoke to Mai—they’re
Vietnamese, so he was able to converse with her—and from what he could piece
together, it sounded like they’d been here a few months at least.”

Months, at the hands of people who merely kept them fed so
they could kill them later. “I hope they’ll be okay.”

“Time will tell.” Colonel Black stood and stretched, and for
a second I felt small. He was a huge man and, despite the gray hair, I figured
he could still take me like the time he pounced on me during my first training
session at Fort Carson. “You up for giving me a full report on the last few
days?”

I nodded. “Should I go get Will?”

“No,” the colonel said. “We’ll take his statement later.
Considering he was possessed for a while, I wanted to hear it from you first.”

I didn’t like the feeling I got when he said that, as if
they couldn’t trust Will anymore. The possession wasn’t his fault. If he hadn’t
stood on that rock, he never would have…

The rock. I’d forgotten about it. There were never any
coincidences in this war and a strange new idea started forming, one I didn’t
like one bit.

“Colonel Black…have there been any weird deaths in Africa?”

His expression became guarded. “Maybe. Why?”

Oh, yeah, I was totally onto something. “Will didn’t get
possessed until he stood over a pentagram hidden under a rock at our old camp.
What if they were killing themselves to let a demon loose?”

Tink was the one who answered.
Hmm, I wouldn’t put it
past our dark brothers to have found a way…and coerced these people into
believing in them enough to sacrifice themselves for some sort of cause. Then
there’s the dead woman on the road…the marked one. She could’ve been enough to
call the darkness, so the other deaths could pull a demon into your world. The
taint was very strong on her.

“Interesting.” I cracked my knuckles while I mulled it over.
Something about the release of tension in my joints made it easier for me to
think. “What about Africa, Colonel?”

“Gentlemen, Archer and I need the room.”

He was kicking Mike and Johnson out? When did I rank a
confidential briefing?

Once they were gone—Mike had shot me a warning look before
the tent flap closed—the colonel motioned for me to take a seat. “Ramirez found
something in the Kalahari the day before your team landed here. That’s why I
arrived so quickly—I was already preparing to come over when the initial
distress call came in.”

Whatever Ramirez found out there had to be pretty bad, then.
“What was it?”

Colonel Black steepled his fingers and stared intently at
me. “A trio of dead women, but no children. They were found in a similar
formation to this group, with a small altar carved with the same symbols on the
altar here.”

That did it. Now I was completely creeped out. I shuddered.
“How long had the women been dead?”

“It took time to get an expert to do an autopsy, but I heard
from them while you were sleeping today. They estimated the women died in
October.”

October…about the time Brandt started reporting trouble in
Africa.
Before
the eclipse. “Called the darkness,” I whispered.

It makes sense,
Tink said.
I couldn’t understand
how those creatures were made without the power of the blood-red moon, both
here and in Africa. But if they’ve discovered a ritual to let them in, then
perhaps their deaths could achieve it.

“They were sending the monsters after us.” I dropped my chin
into my hand.

It doesn’t explain the child, though. Why the difference
in rituals?