Demon Singer (22 page)

His thoughts turned to the angry words of Joe, accusing him of not trying to know more about his protector.

"Cadence, who are you?"

The knife disappeared back to from wherever she'd summoned it.  She sighed and looked at him sadly.  He held her gaze, refusing to look away.  Finally, she shrugged.  

"Where were you before you found me?"

Cadence walked two fingers across an open palm.

"Walking?"

She nodded.

"From where?  Where did you start walking?"

She shrugged again.

"You don't know where you were?"

Nod.  

Lyric tried to think of simple yes or no questions that would give him some insight into the purposes of his self-appointed bodyguard.

"The first time I met you, you saved my life.  Were you following me?"

Cadence shook her head and held her hands up to her eyes as though looking through binoculars.

"You were looking for me?"

This time she nodded.

"Have we met before?"

She shook her head.  
No.

"Then why were you looking for me?"

Cadence looked at him thoughtfully then pantomimed taking a deep breath in and holding it.  Then she pointed at him.

"You want me to hold my breath?"

Nod.

Lyric took a deep breath and held it.  Cadence watched him patiently.  His lungs were in excellent shape and he was approaching the minute mark before he felt the strain.  After two minutes, he started wanting some air.  He was about to exhale when Cadence held up both hands in a stopping motion.  Lyric continued to hold his breath.  He was starving for oxygen and about to exhale anyway but Cadence motioned to keep holding.

Finally, his body overruled his brain and the air exploded from his lungs.  He sucked in oxygen as if he was being paid to do it.  

Cadence was making motions for him to stop breathing.

"I don't know what you're trying to communicate, but I
have
to breathe. If I don't I'll die."

Cadence pointed at him excitedly and put her finger on the tip of her nose.

"Are you saying you had to look for me or you would die?"

Cadence smiled sadly, then her eyes slid past his and over his shoulder.  The smile left her face and she sighed.  Smoothly she rose to her feet.  Far less gracefully, Lyric followed suit and turned to see Acheron approaching with the old man.  She had given up the wetsuit in favor of a pretty and demure sundress.  Lyric stared in shock.   He'd grown so accustomed to her scandalous wardrobe choices it was an amazing change.  She wasn't being sexy or slutty or a tease.  She was simply beautiful.  Heart wrenchingly so.  For a moment, he forgot what she was and longed to be closer to her, to know her more and just be near her.   Perhaps even to-

WHAT?!  Oh HELL no!!
 He shook himself mentally and gritted his teeth, irrationally angry with her for his confused and conflicting feelings.  Clenching his fists, he closed his eyes and forced himself to take deep calming breaths.  After he collected himself, he opened his eyes to see all three of them staring at him.  He suddenly realized that each of them was astute and observant enough to see his struggle.  Shame and humiliation colored his face crimson.

"Well,
that
was interesting."  Acheron walked over to stand by Cadence instead of her normal position by Lyric.  The Singer realized that while Cadence and the old man might guess at his distress, the demoness knew
exactly
what he felt,
and
that he blamed her for it.  Nowhere to escape his shame he turned stiffly and formally to the old man.

"I am grateful for your kindness and knowledge, sir.  Without you my companion would likely be in dire straits."

"Glad to know you care about your companion, boy." The old man pushed his hat back in his head and meet Lyric's eye.   "I find you petulant and off-putting, but Bea doesn't make many mistakes.  I may not trust you, but I trust her to the end.  I wish you luck and offer one parting thought to carry with you.  Learn to see things as they are, not as you assume them to be.  With what that young lady has told me about what lies ahead, you will need that skill to make the right decisions."

Lyric nodded curtly, still struggling to maintain his composure.  Without another word, he left the garden through the gate to the east and headed back to his car, not waiting to see if Acheron and Cadence followed.  

Unable to help himself he turned for one last look at the garden and found himself gazing upon an empty parking lot with weeds growing through the cracks in the asphalt.

20 THE FALSE PROPHET

Acheron decided it was time to hunt again. After threatening various creative tortures if Cadence didn't keep Lyric safe, she smoked out.  

Upon reaching the car, they got in and immediately Cadence wrinkled her nose in disgust.  Lyric registered the smell of scared dog at the same time and looked in the rear view mirror to see the Keylac sitting in the back.

"Now what?"  Lyric demanded testily

"Interesting past times you have, Lyric, burning down motels, killing werewolves.  Just a few minutes ago, you disappeared completely.  There one second, then
bloop!
completely off the radar.  Now how did you manage that?"  The Keylac gave him a toothy smile in the rearview mirror.

Lyric smiled back at the hellion, refusing to answer.  The Keylac rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.

"So much for pleasant conversation, here," he passed a bottle of wine forward over Lyric's shoulder.  "Your next payment.  It needs to be delivered to a man named Rondeaux in Price, Utah."

"Utah?  That's completely out of my way!" Lyric protested angrily.

"Hmmmm, perhaps not as much as you think.  Regardless, your payments were promised to be small and easy, not convenient.  Besides, your car should be running better than ever!"

"How are we going to find this man?" Lyric asked.

"You'll need to head to Flagstaff." The Keylac studied his immaculate nails.

What a douche
was all Lyric could think.  He throttled his irritation and forced himself to pay attention to the Keylac's instructions.  

"...gentleman by the name of Peter Falspoh.  He is your ticket to Rondeaux. Listen to his sales pitch, pretend to be interested, cheer with the crowd, all that fun stuff.  He'll take you in a heartbeat.  The only requirement for his employer is that you are in good shape and health, and that you are gullible enough to follow him willingly out to the middle of nowhere.  He will get you to Rondeaux."  The Keylac admired himself in the mirror.

"Why don't we cut out the waste of gas and time and you just tell me where Rondeaux is?"  Lyric suggested impatiently.

"It doesn't work that way," the Keylac smiled easily. "Even if I wanted to tell you I can't, he's shielded from us.  Doesn't even show up on the radar."  The Keylac looked pointedly at Lyric in the mirror.   "No clue how he does it.  Pretty damn impressive..." the Hellion leaned forward between the front seats, throwing an arm around each of them and spoke softly in Lyric's ear.  "It's curious, how two unrelated humans who know nothing about each other are able to escape my detection.  You wouldn't be trying to make a side deal that might annoy my employer, would you, Lyric?"

"I'm plenty involved in the deal I'm already stuck in, asshole.  Why would I take on more?"

"Falspoh will get you to Rondeaux.  Tell the lovely Acheron I'm almost sorry I missed her."  The Keylac vanished in a puff of scared mutt.

"Maybe from now on you can give me these assignments out in the open air!" Lyric yelled out the window.  He turned to look at Cadence. "So.... Flagstaff."

She shrugged, leaned her seat back and closed her eyes.

* * *

Five hours of driving brought them rolling into Flagstaff Arizona.  Since Lyric was beginning to suspect the complexity and reach of the Keylac's master was a bit beyond the scope of reason, he decided to do exactly as he was told.  Pulling into the first gas station he encountered he asked the attendant about Falspoh.  The man looked at him like he was growing a third arm out of his ear and slapped a newspaper on the counter.  On the front page was a kindly looking man, with short gray hair and a sharp suit.  The headline read:  Peter Falspoh to speak tonight in Buffalo Park.  Lyric shook his head; this had officially passed creepy and was encroaching on terrifying.  Everything that had been drilled into him over the last seven years told him that no hellion, not even Trytohn himself, was omniscient, nor could they read minds and they certainly could not predict the future.  He was starting to question these accepted truths.  Paying the man for the paper and a couple candy bars, he made his way back to the car.

Cadence politely declined her candy bar, so he handed her the paper and opened his.  She examined the picture carefully while he looked up Buffalo Park on his phone's navigation app.  Once located, he pulled back out onto the road and followed his phone's directions to meet this Falspoh character.

It wasn't long before they were pulling into the beautifully manicured park.  Lyric found a spot in the shade, killed the engine and accepted the paper back from Cadence.  Forcing his sleep-deprived eyes on the tiny print, he gleaned what he could about Peter Falspoh from the article.

Apparently, Falspoh allowed himself to be called a prophet of the Goddess Melody.  He, of course, would never claim such a title himself, but was "uncomfortable denying spiritual truths given to others by his goddess."  Lyric couldn't believe people actually took this guy seriously.  The article practically gushed about the man, calling him the most charming combination of mother Theresa, Ghandi and Benny Hinn.  He was described as "refreshing, honest, kind, charismatic, generous and possessed of an inner power that draws others to him almost magically".  Lyric forced himself to finish the article, not learning a great deal that was useful really, other than Falspoh was calling America to arms, "not to fight men, but to wage a holy war against the enemies of mankind, violence, hate, hunger, disease, ignorance and entitlement."  The article finished up with Falspoh's exhortation for Americans to take a stand with him and his goddess and fight for their families and their future."

Lyric tossed the paper in the back and reclined his seat.

"We should grab what sleep we can before we meet this guy."

Cadence got out of the car and sat on the hood.  Lyric realized she intended to keep watch while he slept.  He considered protesting but fatigue had already conquered the majority of his waking mind and refused to allow him to do anything more than close his eyes and feel grateful for his protector.

A hand on his shoulder called Lyric back to the world of the waking.  Sitting up he rubbed bleary eyes and looked out the windows at a swirling mass of movement in the dusky evening.  It took a moment to register what he was seeing.  A river of people was eddying around his car, all headed in the same direction. Cadence caught his eye and jerked her head to indicate they should follow.  Lyric got out of the car and stretched, watching the crowd as he did so.  It was a lively bunch, full of laughter and smiles and childlike enthusiasm.  He noticed there weren't many elderly and absolutely no children.  That seemed a bit strange to him in such a large gathering.  Cadence had come around the car to join him and they followed the flow of people.  Lyric felt an arm snake through his and looked down in surprise to see Acheron walking next to him.

"Hello Lover, what did I miss?"

"Keylac's next payment.  We have to meet this nutball Peter Falspoh so he will lead us to someone named Rondeaux.  We find him in Price, Utah and give him a bottle of wine."  Lyric carefully extracted his arm from hers, ignoring the twisting in his stomach that accompanied her touch.

"Hmmmm, so you're now hell's assassin.  That's an interesting twist."

"I'm no one's assassin, I'm simply paying off my debt."  Lyric said irritably.

"Dress it however you like, Lover, but hell doesn't deliver bottles of wine unless they're poisoned."

Lyric didn't answer for a moments he mulled this over.

"Maybe I'll follow it to the letter and deliver it to him but then I can break it before he drinks it.  Thus, payment made but murder averted."

"Afraid it doesn't work that way, Lyric."  Keylac's voice came from behind them.  Lyric stopped abruptly and rounded on the demonic messenger dog, causing an eddy in the current of humanity flowing around them.

"I won't kill someone, Keylac."  Lyric said angrily.  "This violates the terms of the agreement.  Widoc said none of the payments would harm me.  Being party to the murder of an innocent would definitely harm me."

The Keylac remained unruffled, though he did shoot a nervous glance toward Acheron.

"Don't worry so much, Lyric.  We know far better than you do the terms and boundaries of your contract.  We'd never make you knowingly responsible for the death of an innocent.  Your moral fiber is germane to our cause and not something we'd compromise.  First off, this is not a poison, it's a slow acting concoction tailored to Rondeaux alone.   Anyone else drinking it will simply enjoy an extremely rare and expensive glass of wine.  Rondeaux, however, will eventually be stripped of an ability we find immensely irritating.  Considering this ability is mind control and he has used it to orchestrate the deaths of thousands of simple-minded saps, I believe you will consider this to be in your best interests as well.  Especially once you learn just exactly who he is.  Now, I recommend you get on with your task before your window of opportunity closes and I'm forced to deliver you to the Nefarious Seven."  

"Save your threats, mongrel.  The only person scared here is you.

The Keylac finally looked at Acheron directly, "by the way my lovely lady, you will want to make yourself scarce.  Both Falspoh and Rondeaux have the second sight.  If you're recognized Lyric will never get near them, which makes his life forfeit, which in turn will lead to what I understand to be a very unpleasant experience for you."

Acheron took a step toward the Keylac, but he smiled and melted away into the crowd and began speaking with a woman passing by.

"Jessica Fairfield, I have a little message for you..." The demon's voice faded away as they moved with the crowd.

"Well, good luck cutie!" Acheron smacked him on the butt and vanished.  

Lyric looked around at the people around them, concerned about the demoness' disappearing act.  Oddly, no one seemed to notice.  He began walking with Cadence again and struck up a conversation with the man walking on his other side.

"What do you know about this Falspoh character?"

The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Prophet Falspoh is the voice of the Goddess Melody.  He has been blessing Flagstaff for the last three weeks. Where are you from?"

"Just came to town today, saw the front page of the paper and decided to come out of curiosity."

The man nodded.

"That's good, there's nothing wrong with curiosity.  As the Prophet says:  Curiosity is a gift of the Goddess, the drive that propels mankind to greatness.  We mustn't be afraid of what lies behind the veil of ignorance, only the lost and cowardly lack the desire to tear down that veil."

"Sounds like I'm in good company," Lyric smiled.

"Indeed, my friend, I pray that the Goddess opens your eyes tonight.  You'd be wonderfully fulfilled in joining us in the effort to bring down the veil.  Of course," the man chuckled, "the Goddess will do all the heavy lifting.  As she has promised, the veil will fall."

He clapped Lyric on the shoulder, the Singer smiled weakly as his insides turned at the phrase, and he recalled his conversation with Nit and the bodies spelling out the words.

What the hell was going on?  The Keylac said Falspoh would take them to Rondeaux, but according to cult member number one, Falspoh was a prophet for Melody, the delusional psychopath that had the Soul Singers Guild calling to arms.

The Keylac said that Utah wasn't necessarily out of the way.  Obviously Rondeaux and Melody were connected, but how?  Was Rondeaux the mysterious power that could kill Singers or vanish an entire town?  According to the prophecy, it would seem Melody was the deceptive song from the east.  But who or what was the desolation approaching from the west?  Rondeaux?

They reached the large open space where the sea of humanity had come to a turbulent rest, people milling about, laughing, singing, and praying.  It had the feel of a very warm, friendly and slightly creepy festival.

At the center the crowd, standing on top of a flatbed truck Lyric recognized the smiling face from the paper.  Falspoh was shaking hands and waving to people.  His expression was so genuinely pleasant, you'd swear he never met a person he didn't like.  Lyric grabbed Cadence's hand and they worked their way through the crowd to get closer to the prophet.

"Friends, listen closely!" Lyric was surprised at how well the little man's voice carried.  "I won't waste your time with a long boring speech meant to lull you into a stupor and cloud your mind.  Goddess Melody loves you, she cares for you!  Each one of you is here in this place at this moment for a purpose.  The goddess has guided you here to open your eyes and ears so that I might reveal that purpose to you.  There is a veil of ignorance that stands between you and glorious truth.  This world our goddess has created is full of wonders and magic that you have barely imagined.  She wants to help you tear down the veil of ignorance that sloth, apathy and wicked men have erected to isolate you from the fullness of life she intended for you.  

"Naturally the thought would occur to some of you 'if she's a goddess why doesn't she just remove the veil herself?'" Lyric smiled, those were exactly his thoughts.  "Understand that the Goddess Melody accepts those doubts without impatience or anger.  The fact is, were she to do it for you, you would be unprepared and overwhelmed by the wonders that await you.  Instead, just as every mother and child must struggle in the birthing process to usher new life into the world, you must put forth a difficult and sometimes painful effort to push through that veil yourself to find your greater purpose.  Glorious mysteries long to be revealed by those who prove themselves worthy in the struggle.