Cursed To Death

“Find her! How dark could they be if a state trooper said what sounds like two of her men came through a roadblock carrying what our boys said were biohazards! Holland, this bullshit came right to my door! The Paranormal Containment Unit is supposed to do just that-contain the threat, not have it spill out into the city streets of New Orleans in broad daylight in car chases and gunfights! This isn’t the Wild Wild West.”

“Sir, I assure you that-”

“State police called for us to send in backup, if we could, because they think we’re about to go to war with the Mexican drug cartel on our borders. They’re about to contact the White House, do you read me?” General Westford let out a hard breath. “Local law enforcement said one of our USMC guys told them that he was under my authority to transport biohazardous weaponry through the region on some secret mission. After the roof of the bar in the French Quarter blew up and a plantation in the high-rent district burned, they remembered that and called me, Holland! They wanted to be sure no viral threat was released in the explosions and are asking if they need to evacuate the area!”

Xavier Holland cringed, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. “Sir, we will fix this.”

“You’d better, because NOPD lost six good men in a firefight in the bayou-and from the way it sounds from what was left of them, it could have only been Werewolves involved! Tell me it wasn’t Werewolves and we can end this call right now.”

“Sir, we will have more intel and a full report when Captain Trudeau returns, but I hesitate to speculate-”

“Stop yanking my chain, Holland! Was it Werewolves or not that savaged those poor boys in the bayou?”

“We’re pretty sure it was that phylum of supernatural that attacked those i

“Jesus H. Christ in heaven, man, I’ve got local authorities with credible witnesses saying that they saw men jump off a fucking three-story building to land in the street like ninjas-and they were with a woman. A gray-eyed woman who sounded too suspiciously close to Captain Sasha Trudeau. Then they vanished. How is that going dark? That travesty happened in broad daylight, Holland! People on public transportation saw it, a news chopper got part of it! Later they recovered a military vehicle at the burned-out Montague mansion! Rocket-propelled grenades, military-issue C-4, M-16 rounds. I want answers!”

“The mansion was owned by a leading Vampire Cartel suspect, sir.”

Dead silence met Doc Holland’s response.

“What am I go

“No, sir, there are covens of Vampires… nests all over the world, just like there are federations of Werewolf clans-some friendly, some hostile. That’s what our captain went in to root out.”

“But PCU is only a handful of soldiers and some special subject matter experts.” The general’s voice had lost all its bluster and sounded like that of a bewildered child.

“Yes, sir,” Doc said, looking back at Clarissa, concerned about her worsening condition. “This is why we’re hamstrung.”

“We need more resources,” the general said quietly. “This wasn’t a few isolated incidents. With our small staff, how long will we be able to keep this from the general population? I need a full line item in the budget, to hell with bank bailouts. This is a cabinet-level conversation… We might need a new cabinet-level post, for all I know. I might really have to take this to our commander-in-chief after all, Xavier.”

“True, sir. But, our new president is progressive and forward thinking; he understands new technology… science… research… We might have to just tell him the truth and hope he’s willing to more than just diplomatically reach across the aisle, but to embrace the new supernatural reality, too.”

“When Trudeau returns, I want a meeting, stat.”

The call abruptly disco

“That man needs blood,” Sasha said between bursts of breath, pointing to Hunter as they laid him on the table. “It’s a gunshot wound and overexertion-I can heal him, but Clarissa doesn’t look good. Bear and Crow are all right. Woods and Fisher took the POW in with Shogun and his men; Seelie prison until trial later tonight.”

“Let me work with her,” Silver Hawk said, going to Clarissa to stroke her hair. “The young one has been under psychic attack.”

“How are her vitals?” Doc asked Bradley.

Bradley shook his head. “Silver Hawk came out of the trance and went into the shadows whole; she didn’t come out at all. She’s still under deep and her breathing isn’t right.”

“Get her on a table,” Doc said, as he grabbed a blood pressure cuff off the desk and yanked a stethoscope out of the drawer.

Sasha was at Hunter’s side, but her focus was divided. “Can we get Dr. Williams in here to assist with a transfusion, maybe get a saline drip to get some more fluids back into Hunter’s body?”

Winters and Bradley lifted Clarissa’s limp body and Silver Hawk came over to place his hands on either side of her head. As soon as she was situated, Winters was on the phone getting a support team of medical perso

“In the shadow lands,” Silver Hawk said quietly, causing everyone to look at him, “there is a thin veil between that safe passage and demon doors. This is why alpha warriors wear the protective amulets that always guide them into the right passageways within the shadows, lest they accidentally fall through the wrong portal into ultimate darkness. The caster of the dark magick ripped the veil, which should never be, and got through to the shadow lands. I saw pure evil in us attacking our men.”

Bradley stroked Clarissa’s hair away from her clammy forehead. “They had to have used spells from the Pseudo-monarchia Daemonum to call demons to attach to the sigils they’d already attached to everyone’s etheric bodies… Madame Cottrell said there was a backlash. I should have known…”

“We were prepared for the backlash,” Hunter murmured drowsily. “Sylphs… air elementals, attacked us at the attic sites. We were ready enough.”

“Lie back and rest,” Sasha said, slowly removing the duct tape from his arm. “That little bastard, Kiagehul, reinforced the spell when we lay siege to the baron’s lair. He knew we were coming for him, so he was trying to make it near impossible for us to break our bondage. You couldn’t have known about that, Bradley. It was all going down in real time.”

“Regardless… now she’s caught in a dark consciousness trap,” Bradley said, his voice strained.

Doc listened to her heart, checked her vitals, and removed the blood pressure cuff. “Her blood pressure is rising at the same time as her pulse is erratic.”

Bradley kissed her forehead. “My concern is that she could have a heart attack or a stroke… or that if her mind has been attacked, an embolism could be forming on her brain.” He looked up at Silver Hawk and Doc, his eyes pleading. “When demons attack the human physical body, they manifest illnesses that mask what it really is. Help her… please.”