Page 66 of Sinistram
“Thanks for the assist, but you stood as much to lose as the rest of us,” Brent reminded him. “I gave you a heads-up on self-preservation, for CHARON and the whole city. Protecting civilians from supernatural threats was the mission, at least the last time you tried to recruit me.”
Davis looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth. “That hasn’t changed. Who were your buddies with the fancy helicopter? CIA? FBI?”
“Vatican.” Brent took satisfaction from the surprise in the other man’s eyes. “Swiss Guard.”
Davis covered his shock quickly. “Just remember you asked for help, and we came when you called. You could still join us.”
“Stopping the End of Days doesn’t count as a personal favor, since the alternative is exterminating mankind,” Brent observed. “You had some skin in the game.”
“Remember what I said,” Davis replied, choosing to ignore the barb.
He turned away and headed toward where he and the other CHARON agents had presumably left their black SUVs, disappearing into the shadows.
“Kinda makes me sorry we didn’t blow up any of the wells where he parked,” Travis said in an off-handed tone that made Brent chuckle despite Davis’s high-handedness.
“We definitely missed an opportunity,” Brent replied.
“Hey. The guy is a douchebag. He’s probably pissed that the Apocalypse was going to happen, and he had no clue, had to hear it from you. That’s gotta sting,” Travis said.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Brent looked out over the moon-lit field that their allies had now cleared of bodies and arcane evidence. The witches had made good on their promise to keep mundane authorities away, but Brent knew that wouldn’t last forever.
“We should get going. I don’t want to end up downtown answering the cops’ questions.” Brent knew the witches gave them as much magical cover as possible, but it would be hard to miss the explosions.
“Now that we’ve shut down the elders, do you think the old ones and the other supernatural trouble they stirred up will go away?” Brent asked.
Travis shrugged. “No way to know. Probably, although no idea how fast. Might take a while. If the old ones have been here all along, then they’ve come and gone more than once over the centuries. But it should stop the attacks on hunters, and that counts for a lot.”
When they got back to Brent’s house, Travis insisted that they do a thorough check to ensure there were no lurking threats.
“I’m officially proclaiming us on vacation for a couple of weeks,” Brent told him. “Someone else can save the world. We deserve a break, at least, for a while.”
Travis chuckled. “I’m not sure it works that way, but I’m all for the idea. Get some sleep.”
Brent lightly thumped the roof of the Crown Vic in goodbye and walked into the house. Thanks to timers, the lights were on, and it didn’t seem quite so long since he had been home.
“Glad you’re back,” Brent said when he saw Danny’s ghost sitting on the couch. He wondered how long his brother hadwaited for him to return. Brent poured himself some whiskey and sat down across from Danny.
“I’m glad you’re safe. It was a good thing you weren’t with us at the park. That was…pretty bad.”
Danny looked at him with concern.
“I’m a little sore, but nothing dangerous. Got lucky.”
Danny put his hand over his heart, and Brent could guess his meaning.I love you. Be safe. Don’t be in a hurry to catch up to me.
“The ghosts were badass. They ran interference and helped keep the bad guys from doing even more damage. I hope they can rest easier now.” Brent had questions for Donnelly or Dr. Peters if he ever had a chance to talk with the necromancers. He was grateful for the help ghosts often lent them during battles, but he also hoped they weren’t harming the spirits by draining their energy or pulling them back into earthly conflicts.
Danny shot him the bratty smirk Brent missed so much. He knew Danny was telling him not to worry so much. Brent was surprised that, even after years separated by death, Danny still knew him better than anyone.
“I’ll try not to overthink it. Guess I never did have a poker face. The ghosts who showed up to help wanted to be there. Maybe they were working off unfinished business. Or maybe they just wanted to feel a little closer to the living.”
“We might have saved the world tonight. Or at least, a corner of it. I hope we can go back to busting bad witches, low-level demons, and poltergeists and leave the Apocalypse to those guys in the movies,” Brent told Danny.
Brent’s head throbbed, and now that the adrenaline high had worn off, he felt the fight in every joint and sinew. He didn’t expect the whiskey to do more than take the edge off, but even that was an improvement.
Danny mimed clasping his hands and swooning. Brent knew he meant “you’re still my hero.” Brent felt his cheeks heat in a way that had nothing to do with the whiskey. “Just doin’ my job.”
Brent knocked back the last of his drink. “Thanks for stopping in. Don’t be a stranger.”
