River: The Suicide Forest Part 21

"And all this bulls.h.i.+t about being friends?" Steven asked. "You know I'm going to give it to you because you're holding my friends. I have little choice."

"I don't know how you found it," the man said, "but there's a couple of other objects I've lost over the years. Well, not lost really, I'm more careful than that. They were stolen from me. I'm hoping you might have a source for the others. I'd like them all back, if I can get them."

"I might have a source," Steven said. "What's to stop you from just tracking me to find them?"

"If they were in a place where I could get at them," the man said, "I'd have already recovered them. Sure, I'll track you. Why not. You're an interesting fellow. And those two, out there," he nodded towards the clearing where Roy and Eliza were still floating, "they're hoots, the old man especially."

"He's my father," Steven said.

"Whatever," the man said. "But wherever you got it, I couldn't get in. If you can locate my other objects and bring them to me, we'll be good friends."

"Hardly," Steven said. "It's still all by force."

"So there are more objects?" the man said. "More objects that you don't know anything about? What they do, who they belong to? Sounds like it."

Steven pressed his lips together, remaining silent.

"I'm going to let your friends go," the man said, "and I'm going to protect you from Vohuman so you can continue to return to me the items that are mine. That's a fair bargain."

"I've always heard that making deals with a demon is a bad idea," Steven said.

"People say all kinds of things," the man said. "I wonder how many of them are actually friends with a demon?"

"I do have a source," Steven said. "I don't know if your objects are there or not. I don't consider them mine. If you give me detailed descriptions of the items you're after, I'll look for them. If I find them, I'll give them to you." Steven handed the planchette to the man. "Provided that once I do so whether I have the items you want or not you'll leave me and my friends alone."

"Deal," the man said, taking the planchette, "provided you agree to keep the terms secret between the two of us." He turned the planchette over and looked through the gla.s.s at himself. "Ah," he said, closing his eyes. "I've missed that. I'm so glad we've met, Steven."

As Steven watched, the bodies of Roy and Eliza slowly moved towards them and then around their chairs and back into the tent. As they pa.s.sed, Steven could see that their eyes were still closed. I wonder if they heard any of this, he thought.

"No," the man said, "they didn't. And you won't be able to tell them about the deal you've made with the devil."

"Is that what you are?" Steven asked. "The devil?"

"I don't know," the man said, standing up. "What would you call someone who chops up little boys just for the pleasure of a chase?"

"If not the devil," Steven said, "you're pure evil."

"Don't forget our agreement," the man said, turning to walk towards the forest. "I'll expect you to live up to it."

"You'll have to give me descriptions," Steven said as the man walked away from him. "I want a complete list before I start looking."

"And you'll get it," the man said, his voice beginning to fade. "I know where you live."

Steven watched as the man entered the woods and disappeared. The sky was beginning to lighten sunrise was on its way. Steven remained seated in the camping chair, still angry from his interaction with Aka Manah. He racked his brain for options, for some way to get out of the deal he'd just made.

I don't know what ninety-nine percent of those items at Eximere do, anyway. They're useless to me. Returning a few to this demon is no skin off my back, especially if it keeps us safe.

But try as he might, he still felt wrong. The deal might not involve any more than a little of his time, but the idea of doing anything to help the monster that killed Robbie and June made him feel sick. And trapped.

Friends.h.i.+p indeed, he thought. I still feel f.u.c.ked.

The light began to increase. He expected to hear birds responding to it, then he remembered where he was.

Still a while before it's fully up, Steven thought. I'm not going to wake them. Let them sleep. I can explain all of this later. I'll start the coffee.

Chapter Fourteen.

"Judith," Steven said, "this is Eliza. Eliza, Judith."

"Nice to meet you," Eliza said.

"Yes, isn't it?" Judith said, eyeing Eliza from top to bottom.

"And here is the book I borrowed," Steven said, handing Varieties of Demonic Repression back to her. "There was a deposit."

"Oh, yes," she said. "That. I'd almost forgotten. How much was it?"

"A thousand," Steven said. "Cash."

"You'll have to take a check," Judith said, reaching into a handbag by her side. "We don't keep money like that around the house."

"Sure," Steven said.

"I trust you found it useful?" she asked as she looked for her checkbook and a pen within the handbag.

"I did," Steven said. "Very useful."

"And you were able to resolve your problems with the demon?" she asked.

"Yes," Steven said, "as resolved as they're going to be."

"If only life were like the movies," Judith said, opening her checkbook and beginning to write. "There would be a big explosion at the end and everyone would be fine. I'm guessing you cut a deal."

"I can't talk about it," Steven said.

"Typical demon request," Judith said, ripping the check off her checkbook and handing it to Steven. "I'm not surprised."

"We're grateful to you," Steven said. "We would never have made it through without your guidance. And the book. Although it was completely wrong about how to deal with it."

"You have to completely believe you're fighting against it to gain any kind of a bargaining advantage," Judith said. "They can read minds. If they know you're about to negotiate, you don't get much."

"So you really did us a favor with all the misdirection," Roy said. "The mirrors, the amplification, all of that were never going to work. It was about getting a better deal with the demon."

"And did you?" Judith asked Steven.

"Everyone's alive," Steven said. "I can't really discuss any more than that."

"And that is a good deal with an ancient demon!" Judith said. "Any deal that leaves you alive is a good deal. So I'll just say, you're welcome!"

"We'll be going," Steven said. "No need to call Clara, we know the way out."

"It was nice to meet you," Eliza said, following Steven.

"Tell Dixon h.e.l.lo for me," Judith said as they walked out of the sitting room. "Tell him to stop in next time he's in town."

"Will do," Steven answered.

As they marched down the stairs and into the entryway, Roy turned to Steven and said, "I can't imagine what Dixon might see in her."

"She did help us, Dad," Steven said. "Can you hold your comments until we're at least out of her house?"

Steven walked onto the back porch. Eliza was sitting in a rocking chair, looking out over the beautifully landscaped backyard and the giant banyan tree. Steven walked over to her and handed her a gla.s.s, then sat in a hanging bench next to her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking the drink.

"A mojito," Steven said. "I muddled the mint myself."

Eliza giggled. "I do like hanging out here with you and Roy," she said, sipping the drink through a straw. "And this place," she said, waving her arm in the direction of the banyan tree. "It seems I could never get tired of it. Isn't it marvelous how it tends itself? No need to mow or clip anything. Unser did it right."

Steven sighed and took a sip of his drink. She was right, the place was intoxicating.

"When do you want to go back?" he asked.

"Never," she said. "Can't I just stay here forever?" She turned to look at Steven and smiled, then laughed. "Maybe Troy can raise himself? Just pretend I don't live in California at all?"

"You can stay here as long as you want, as far as I'm concerned," he said. "It's your place as much as ours. None of ours, I guess, really. We're all just here as guests."

"I guess that's why it feels so wonderful," Eliza said. "It's like were guests at a fabulous hotel, and we can stay as long as we want. And no other guests around to ruin anything!"

"You're right," Steven said. "A hotel that's full of books and strange objects." He paused, thinking about the task he'd soon have to fulfill, once Aka Manah made his list of items known.

"You really can't talk about it, can you?" Eliza said.

"Nope," Steven said. "I agreed I wouldn't."

"I feel bad you and Roy had to schlep all that stuff out into the forest, given that it was never going to work."

"I think we all underestimated him," Steven said, "except Judith. She knew the best we'd be able to do was cut a deal. She made sure we got as good of a deal as we could get."

"And you can't tell me what the deal was?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"No," Steven said. "The terms of the deal are a secret between him and me."

"Don't you mean 'it' instead of 'him'?" Eliza said.

"No," Steven said, "I think it's a him. When we talked, he appeared as a man. But really, he's just evil. A completely evil being."

"And now you have to live with an arrangement you didn't want to make," she said. "Must be uncomfortable."

"Not as bad as it could be," Steven said. "I think I can honor my end of the deal."

"But can you trust him to honor his end?" Eliza asked.

"That's the trouble," Steven said. "That's where I feel I don't have a choice in the matter. I was forced into the whole thing. He holds all the cards."

"Do you think you'll have your end of the deal completed quickly?" Eliza asked.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Steven said. "I don't want to slip up and have something bad happen."

"Alright, I'll stop," Eliza said. "It's just so intriguing. I mean, I hate that you've been put over a barrel. That I can't know the details just makes me want to know all the more."

"I'm sure I'd feel the same way," Steven said.

"Has Roy asked about it?" Eliza asked.

"Not much," Steven said. "He's been a little jealous ever since my markings appeared. I suspect he's similarly jealous that I have some pact with an ent.i.ty that he can't know about, even if it is completely detrimental to him to know about it. We've always shared everything before this, and he's used to being in charge. It bothers him when he's not."

"He's a good man," Eliza said. "I'd trust him with my life. I do trust him with my life."

"Who do you trust?" Roy said, walking onto the porch with an old fas.h.i.+oned.

"You," Eliza said. "I'd trust you with my life."

"Well, thank you," Roy said. "And I'd trust you with mine." He held his gla.s.s out to her, and she clinked her gla.s.s against his.

"What about you, Steven?" she asked.

"I trust both of you," Steven said. "I hope you trust me, even though I can't talk about the deal."

"We trust you," Roy said. "We'll just have to work around the problems it'll cause."

"What problems?" Steven asked.

"There's always some problems that come up when there's secrets between people," Roy said. "You just say, 'it's part of my demon deal,' and I'll know to back off."

Steven laughed. "I wish it were funny."

"No," Roy said. "I know it's not. I've never had to make a deal like that, so I don't know. I hope I never have to. Since that plan for shocking the demon was bogus, I'm afraid we roped you into this whole thing unnecessarily, Eliza. We didn't need that ingredient at all."