***
McCoy took the exit into Shallow Springs a little faster than he should have, causing Amanda to take a sharp breath and grab the truck’s dash in an effort to steady herself.
“We won’t be much help if we’re dead,” she reminded him for what had to be the tenth time since they’d set out.
“Sorry. The steering’s not as tight as it used to be”
“The only thing holding this truck together is your stubborn love for it.”
“Then there’s a lot to be said for stubborn love.”
Amanda had no argument for that, but she was too nervous and excited to sit still and remain silent. She pulled out her phone to check the time and noticed something strange.
“That’s weird. I don’t remember any dead zones right through here,” she remarked.
“What do you mean?” McCoy asked.
“I don’t have any signal. I could’ve sworn it was always maxed out through here.”
McCoy slowed and dug his phone out of his pocket. He checked for a signal. Nothing.
“Maybe something’s wrong with the tower,” Amanda said.
“Well, if it is, it’s probably no accident.”
“The Fey, you mean?”
“The Sluagh, to be more specific. It just doesn’t make sense, though. They’ve never been this coordinated in their actions. Someone or something has to be leading them.”
“Do you think it’s the girl?”
“I think she has something to do with it. I’m just not sure what. I’m positive she’s not Fey, but I don’t see how a human could get in with the Sluagh without getting butchered, much less manage to become their leader.”
“Not even a theory?” Amanda asked.
McCoy shot her a glance. “Yeah, I’ve got a theory, but it would bend the rules of everything I know about the Sluagh, if not totally break them.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Okay, here goes. It’s possible the Sluagh kidnapped her when she was a young child. I think most of the abducted children are sent back through the portal, to wherever it is the Fey call home. I don’t know what happens to them once they get there, and I don’t think I want to. But for some reason, this child stayed behind and was actually assimilated into the Sluagh horde.”
Amanda wrinkled her nose as she considered the fate that befell those unlucky children. She also had no idea what had awaited them on the other side of the portal, but she was willing to bet money that death would have been preferable.
“As the child grew,” McCoy continued, “she would have started to dwarf the other members of the horde. Also, though the Slough are intelligent, she probably would have begun to outshine them in that area, too.”
“And her soul wouldn’t have been corrupted like those of the Sluagh.”
“There’s that, too. You catch on quick.”
“I’ve got a good teacher.”
They topped a hill and the lights of town came into view. McCoy slowed considerably, not wanting to run blindly into a felled tree or other trap set by the Sluagh. The road, however, was clear, and soon they turned onto Main Street. The town looked deserted, but that was to be expected at such an early hour. The town housed no factories or large businesses, and it was too early for the coal miners to be changing shifts.
“I’ve never seen the town at this hour,” Amanda said. “It looks creepy.”
“In this case, looks probably aren’t deceiving,” McCoy commented. “Let’s head for Lyle’s office and hope he’s there.”
“Let’s do. On both counts.”
McCoy pulled up to the traffic light at the town square. The light was red. He started to pull on through; there was no other traffic, and who was going to give him a ticket, anyway? But something caught his eye over near the park. That something was John Talbot, who was presently trying to hide his massive frame behind a short, skinny hedge. He wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
Talbot saw that McCoy had spotted him. He stood and motioned them over. McCoy wheeled Boo to the curb, and Talbot came up to the driver’s side window.
“Jeez. I’m glad you came,” the deputy said.
“Don’t mention it. I’d already seen all the infomercials on TV, anyway.”
“I might have spotted a couple more since we talked, but it’s hard to tell. They’re so damn quick.” His expression turned sheepish. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid.”
“You’re not. They’re here. I can feel them.”
Talbot looked at McCoy to see if he was being bullshitted, and decided he wasn’t. Then he looked past McCoy and noticed Amanda.
“This is Amanda Porter,” McCoy said. “She’s…with me.”
“Ma’am,” Talbot said, dipping his head. Amanda smiled in return.
“Have you brought Lyle up to speed?” McCoy asked.
“Yeah. As far as those ugly critters go, anyhow. I didn’t mention our conversation.”
“That’s good. We don’t need to be second-guessing each other. By the way, is your cell phone working?”
“No. I lost signal about ten minutes ago.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” McCoy said. “What about the radios in your cars?”
“We can talk around town to each other, but something must have happened to the repeater on Drover Mountain. Without that, we can’t talk to anyone more than five or six miles away.”
“Landline phones?”
“Out.”
“And you still think you’re being paranoid?”
“No,” Talbot shook his head. “I guess not. But it’ll be daylight in another three hours or so. If they were going to make a move, wouldn’t they have done it by now?”
As if on cue, there was a gunshot from somewhere nearby, followed by a man’s scream. Talbot drew his firearm, and McCoy grabbed one of the shotguns. They listened, trying to determine from which direction the sound had come.
“Sounded like it was a block over,” Talbot whispered. “Cherokee Street, maybe.”
“Are there other deputies out here?” McCoy asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t know who’s where. Lyle is supposed to be coordinating everything.”
“Then we need to get to Lyle, and he needs to pull everyone back in. Alone, everyone out here’s a sitting duck. We need to band together in groups.”
“I’ll hop in the back.” Talbot practically stepped over the side of the bed and squatted in the back. McCoy pulled out and headed for the sheriff’s office, his eyes scanning the shadows between the buildings. More than once he caught the scent of something, like a faint odor on the wind, but it was gone quickly.
They travelled the two blocks to the station without incident. McCoy pulled directly in front of the building, where the area was well-lit. Motioning for Amanda to stay in the truck, McCoy got out and jogged around to her side. Sensing the coast was clear, he opened her door and helped her out. Talbot hopped out of the bed, and they grabbed their things and went inside.
There was no one at the front desk. McCoy called out and received no answer. He looked questioningly at Talbot.
“I’ll go check Lyle’s office,” the deputy said. He walked down the hall and was gone for less than a minute before reappearing. He shook his head. “Doesn’t seem to be anyone here.”
“Was Lyle here when you last talked to him?” McCoy asked.
“I don’t know. I called his cell. I just assumed he was here.”
From somewhere outside, there was another burst of gunfire.
“Yeah, well we’d better find him, and fast,” McCoy said. “Where’s the radio?”
“Dispatch operates from that desk.” Talbot pointed to a desk near the back wall. There was a base radio sitting on it.
“Go see if you can contact anyone. Lyle would be best, but anyone will do. Anybody that answers, get them back here on the double.” He turned to Amanda. “Keep a check on the front door. Shoot anything that doesn’t look human. Don’t hesitate. Can you do that?”
“Piece
of cake. What are you going to do?”
“Right now? I’m going to take a leak. My bladder’s about to burst.”
“Sure you don’t need any help?”
McCoy gave Amanda the evil eye. He handed her one of the shotguns, then walked down the hallway to the restroom. The heavy wooden door took some effort to push open; he was glad it hadn’t been an emergency, or he may have wet himself before he got inside.
He was concentrating on getting his stream through one of the small holes in the bottom of the urinal when he sensed something. Something Fey. He looked toward the small window. It was just big enough for a Sluagh to slip through, but there was a metal grate covering it. He finished his business and turned his attention to the three stalls which sat along the opposite wall. The doors were all closed. He bent over and looked at the spaces under the doors. He could see no feet, but something might be crouching upon one of the toilets.
One by one, he kicked the stall doors open. Each was empty. He began to worry about Amanda. He shouldn’t have left her alone to guard the door. Talbot was there, too, but he would be concentrating on the radio. He needed to get back out there. He turned to the wooden door and found himself staring into a face.
“McCoy,” it said.
He jumped back in spite of himself. It was a good thing he’d just emptied his bladder.
The face on the door chuckled. “Getting old and jumpy?” it asked. It spoke in a male voice with a slight Scottish accent.
“Maybe older, but not dumber, “ McCoy said as he pulled his 9mm from under his shirt. It was also loaded with specially made iron rounds. “I was wondering when the rest of you would join the party, dryad.”
The dryad made a tsk sound and gave McCoy a look of disdain. “You would shoot the messenger bearing a white flag?”
McCoy laughed. “White flag? The Fey? You must think I’ve gone completely senile.”
“Not at all. I’ve been sent to offer you assistance.”
“And why would you want to do that? Your little munchkin fairies are attacking the town as we speak. I’d think the rest of you would want to sit back and enjoy the show, if not get actively involved.”
Another tsk. “I’m sure you’ve thought this through, McCoy. The Sluagh have gone rogue under that human bitch’s leadership. The Fey hierarchy has sanctioned none of this. What do we have to gain by our presence being exposed?”
“Okay,” McCoy said, “I’ve thought about that. But if you’re so concerned, why don’t you stop them yourselves? Why did you even let it go this far?”
“Because once blood was spilled, it was out of our hands. We cannot become actively involved.”
McCoy rolled his eyes and grunted. “Good God. You’re as bad as the demons, with all your stupid rules.” He narrowed his eyes at the dryad. “Since you can’t become ‘actively involved’, what’s to stop me from putting an iron slug through your ugly face?”
“We can offer some indirect aid,” the dryad said quickly, perhaps sensing that McCoy was plenty serious. “Your situation is dire, McCoy. In a few hours, this town will be overrun and everyone in it dead or dying, including you. I won’t lie to you and say that your demise wouldn’t please us, under other circumstances. But we have much to lose, more so than someone like you could comprehend. Therefore, it is in our greater interest that you prevail.”
McCoy tried to count the number of times he’d just been insulted, but gave up. “Okay, let’s say you’ve got an ace you can slip me under the table, and I manage to deflect the brunt of this. It’s still too big to cover up. People are going to see, and people are going to talk. One or two might get discounted as whackos, but half the town? I don’t see any way to keep this under wraps.”
“Do you know what happens to a Sluagh when it is killed?”
McCoy shrugged. “The soul is released, to hell or wherever, and the body reverts back to the image of the original person. How’s that going to help? If we make it through this, we’ll be up to our armpits with bodies of folks who have disappeared throughout the years.”
“Maybe they didn’t just disappear,” the dryad said slyly. “Perhaps they joined some cult, and they’ve been hiding in the woods all this time. Then, for some arcane reason known only to them , they attacked the town with murderous intent.”
“Oh my God,” McCoy said. “That’s the best you’ve got? No one will buy it.”
“But they will believe that fairies exist?” the dryad countered. “There will be no proof to contradict your story, other than accounts from a few traumatized citizens. If anyone comes looking, they will not find us. And you will have the town officials backing you up.”
McCoy felt dirty for even having this conversation. He had not actually spoken to a member of the Fey since he’d been a child, before he had realized their true nature. Now they were wanting him to jump into bed with them, after years of trying to kill him at every turn. To top it all off, the whole thing might be a ruse to make sure he did get his ticket punched.
On the other hand, what choice did he have? He didn’t know how many Sluagh there actually were, but the dryad seemed to think that there were more than enough to get the job done. He couldn’t hope to win out if they numbered into the hundreds. He would end up getting himself killed. He could handle that, but he couldn’t handle losing Amanda. He had brought her into this, fool that he was, and he was damned well going to get her out of it. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t any room for negotiation.
“A truce,” he said to the dryad.
“What?”
“That’s the price for my help. A truce between the Fey and this town. And between the Fey and me.”
“You’re hardly in a position to bargain,” the dryad snorted.
“Maybe. But maybe I comprehend more than you realize. If I don’t stop this, and if it doesn’t get covered up, the Fey’s time is up in this part of the world. As much as it would please me to see that happen, I can’t put the lives of all these people on the line. And if I can save them, what happens tomorrow? Business as usual? You start picking them off one by one again? I can’t live with that. I won’t.”
“I’m not authorized…” the dryad began.
“Then you’d better get authorized in a hurry,” McCoy said. “Otherwise, I’m going to go outside and start blasting away, and if by some chance I live through it, I’ll tell everyone you’re here. And I’ll have people backing me up. You want my help, those are the terms.”
He knew he was taking a risk, but if it worked, the payoff would be big. He just hoped the Fey were not good poker players.
“Very well,” the dryad said. It did not look happy. “If you come through on your end, no further harm shall come to the people of this town. Nor to you. Our business will be…forgotten.”
“Good decision,” McCoy said. “Now, about this ‘indirect’ help…”
“Find this man and bring him here at once. The Queen will halt the attack if she knows he’s here. She remembers him. She watches him walk the woods. You must make sure she knows.”
“What man?” McCoy asked, but the face was gone. In its place, a single word appeared in the wood. A name. It lingered but for a moment, and then it, too, was gone.
It was long enough for McCoy to read it. Moments later, he connected the pieces of the puzzle.
The fortune cookie had been right. Soon everything will make perfect sense.
McCoy busted through the door and ran for the lobby.
Chapter Nine