Page 62 of The Devil You Know
“We’ve got a complication,”Joe said. Evan and Johnny looked up from where they were checking their weapons and spell components. They had claimed one of the gambling rooms at the speakeasy for their own, where no one was going to disturb them.
“Yeah? Like what?” Johnny asked. Despite a bag of items to work magic, he made sure the clip in his gun was full.
“Officer Nelson is missing,” Joe replied. “I hacked into the internal police systems and set alerts for certain notifications,” he told Evan. “It’s a helpful way to know what’s going on.”
“You think Osborn did it? Took him?” Evan questioned.
Joe shrugged. “With Nelson’s sparkling personality, I’m sure plenty of people want to get rid of him. But I also found notes from an Internal Affairs investigation—turns out Nelson is one of the few honest cops in Cleveland.”
“He’s still a dick,” Johnny muttered.
“But he’s not dirty. Considering the number of public officials Osborn’s paid off over the years, that’s commendable,” Joe replied.
“Guess we’ve got to save him then.” Evan gave an exaggerated sigh. He’d been twitchy since they’d started to get ready for the night’s work. He really wanted to be part of the group headed for the old rehab hospital. Evan knew Jenna’s team was best-suited for the job and could deal with interference from the police.
But his heart told him to go after Seth and to hell with the consequences.
“Osborn’s desperate,” Johnny said. “He needs the drugs to function with his injuries, but it’s not enough anymore. He’s got to tap the energy of more distant descendants in between the big rituals. But when you and Seth came looking for him, that forced his hand. He can’t do without—and he’s afraid that the two of you might take away his most valuable power boost—Nelson.”
“Osborn likely had someone grab Nelson, gambling that sacrificing him earlier than his twelve-year cycle will still be a better recharge than what he could get from secondary descendants,” Evan finished. “And then he’ll deal with Seth and me.”
Johnny nodded. “That’s my theory—and I think it’s valid. Just remember—there’s nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal.”
Evan finished checking his weapons and wandered over to stare at an old framed Pernod poster from the 1920s. He knew he needed to get his jittery thoughts under control or else he’d be a liability for the night’s work.
Hang in there, Seth. We’re coming for you.
“I’m not worried about Osborn being a stronger witch than I am,” Johnny told Joe. “But he’s ruthless, and now he’s scared and feels backed into a corner. This is going to be a no-holds-barred fight. Just so you know.”
Joe shrugged and shoved the machete he’d been sharpening into a sheath on his belt. “Kinda figured that.”
Joe and Johnny combined their magic to open and then destroy Osborn’s anchor. The contents were a hodgepodge of items—bones, an antique apothecary’s measure, and some old charms that held dark resonance. The relative ease with which Joe and Johnny burned the items explained why keeping it hidden and bespelled had been so important to Osborn.
“The anchor’s destroyed—Osborn’s got to have felt that,” Evan said. “His power reserve is gone. We’ve just got to stop him before he levels up with another hit from Gremory.” He handed out the small cameras and earpieces Parker had created.
“Parker should be able to see the feed from all our cameras,” he told them. “If we get separated, he can talk us through it.” Evan held up another tiny camera mounted on a selfie stick. “We’ve also got this for looking around corners. It won’t work in the pitch dark, but it beats sticking our necks out.”
“I’m all for not making a target of ourselves. Let’s get moving.” Joe headed out the door with Evan right behind him and Johnny bringing up the rear.
When they reached the west trolley entrance, Johnny’s magic opened the padlock on the access door next to the blocked tunnel entrance, easing it open soundlessly.
Evan used the camera stick, relieved to find the emergency lights kept the tunnel from complete darkness.
“There’s a guard about twenty feet from your location,” Parker reported through the comm link. “He doesn’t seem to be paying a lot of attention.”
Joe led the way inside, sticking to the shadows. Since he was protected by his patron Krukis’s magic and unable to die by anything except the heat of a blast furnace, he’d “plow the road” and get rid of the guards.
Evan followed behind him, armed with a gun and a large knife. He didn’t have the level of special abilities that either of his companions did, but he’d get the sacrifice victim to safety. Johnny brought up the rear, primed to use his magic against Osborn and stop the witch disciple’s century-long murder spree.
The old subway’s emergency lighting barely pierced the darkness. Glitchy overhead fixtures flickered, giving the passage a horror movie vibe. Joe dropped the guard with a punch, a burly goon who never had the chance to pull his gun.
They had guessed that the control room was the most likely place for Osborn’s ritual. A man’s screams broke the silence and echoed down the tunnel, proving their assumption right. Light glowed from the doorway.
“Shit—something’s moving in the shadows,” Parker warned. “Whatever it is, it’s fast and weird.”
The darkness seemed to come alive, and too late Evan remembered that Osborn’s alliances weren’t limited to mortals.
Two men slipped out of the control room and onto the platform with mesmerizing grace, while another pair climbed down head-first from the ceiling. In the dim light, their skin looked too pale, their eyes too bright.
