The Night Beat

something nasty to banish.”

Chapter 17
     
    “We think the Prince came through a portal,” I told Martin.
    He nodded. “I’m not surprised to hear it.”
    I gave Martin the high-level version of our night. He was a great listener, all angels were, really. Another reason everyone liked them. The three escort angels listened as attentively as Martin. It was flattering, unless you knew it was just how they were. And then it was still flattering because, well, they were angels .
    I finished up and Martin nodded. “What happened to the dead bodies?”
    Jack answered. “Ken had Dirt Corps deal with them. He’d checked them all, only two were able to become undeads.”
    “Freddy and Sexy Cindy, yeah.” I got a bad feeling. “I need to call Monty.” Did the wrist-com thing. “Where did Dirt Corps dispose of the dead bodies from the fracas?”
    “Fracas, nice word. Good to see you expanding your vocabulary.”
    “Monty, I’m here with Martin, about to help with an exorcism. A little less levity.”
    “You need to learn to relax.”
    “Right. Where?”
    “They were humans, so Prosaic City National Cemetery. And, to anticipate your next question, the trails led right to where we put them. Oh, the gang’s all here, by the way.”
    “All five trails led there?”
    “Yes. I checked on Black Angel One. They’re still trailing our drug dealer. He’s still not doing anything suspicious. I mean, for us. He’s out dealing drugs, of course, but that’s not suspicious, in that sense.”
    Martin leaned over. “Montague, please ensure no one remotely suspicious comes near the bodies, either over or underground. We’ll need to exhume the bodies when I get back to you, and also perform a cleansing ritual wherever they were. We have traces.”
    “Got it.” Monty signed off.
    “Traces?” Jack asked.
    “Yes.” Martin was back to examining the body.
    “Traces of what?” Jack wasn’t going to let this one go.
    “Traces of Hell,” Martin said absently. His eyes narrowed. “But…interesting.” He motioned the other angels over. “Thoughts?”
    The four angels went into a huddle. Angels have the strongest psychic abilities, so I knew they were talking in their minds only. Which was fine with me. I wasn’t nearly as interested in this as Jack was. For him it was all new. For me it was routine. Scary routine, but still, routine.
    “Why wouldn’t Ken be able to spot what you did and Martin has?” Jack asked me quietly.
    “He was reading their souls, looking for those who wouldn’t become minions and who’d be able to adapt to the undead lifestyle. Every one of the bodies, dead or alive, reeked at the scene. But our senses of smell were numbed from fighting Slimy, the Ancient Icky One. The problem I have with our living victims here in the hospital is that they still smell like they just came out of Slimy’s tummy, with some extra added stink that wasn’t there in the alley. They’ve been cleaned, worked on, given fluids, everything. They should smell of antiseptic, if nothing else. And they don’t.”
    “No,” Martin agreed, coming out of the holy huddle. “They smell of the Prince. But….”
    “But?” I hated it when one of the big guys did that whole drag it out thing. It always boded, and never well.
    “But I don’t think the Prince is in them,” Martin said. “I’m not convinced he ever was.”
    “So, no exorcism?” Not a disappointment. I wanted to go to bed and exorcisms tended to be long and showy, though supposedly Martin could do it fast if he had to. He just didn’t like to, and you didn’t argue with an angel in his position unless you really felt you had to. And I currently didn’t feel I’d be able to work up the energy necessary to get him to go for an Exorcism Lite.
    Martin sighed. “No, we have to exorcise, just in case. But the odds are it’s a waste of time.”
    “Why go to the trouble?” Jack asked. “I mean, what’s the point? You can’t be the only exorcist.”
    “I’m not,” Martin agreed. “And while it would be a good guess that Victoria would call me in on this, I find it hard to come up with a reason for why.”
    “Diversion.” Everyone looked at me. Interesting. I wasn’t used to angels looking surprised. “What? We had five trails that led on a wild ghoul chase that all ended at the same spot in the cemetery. We have six people who we have to exorcise, just in case. Potentially an entire cemetery to cleanse, just to be safe. And while