Wendigo Read online

  Risa suspected the other demons didn’t want to get close to her because of Win. He was hot and cold, but in the end, he didn’t seem to want to get close to her either. Needing something to focus on, she pulled up the information Brentwood had sent her. They had the requirements for test subjects for the robotics.

  Strong independent types preferred. They need to be muscular and strongly affected by the loss. These individuals will work harder to overcome setbacks. Subjects must also be extremely intelligent so they can apply the information they are given.

  It had struck her immediately how the requirements fit the demons exactly. That had made her wonder if they were aware she worked with demons, but how would they? She had filled out the application to use the robotics with three of her patients and she had to admit, they’d accepted her faster than she had ever expected. So much so, that she’d questioned her wonderful luck. They’d informed her right away that they had received a low number of applications due to the amount of paperwork required for the study.

  It was true people could be lazy, but this was such an amazing opportunity for any doctor and their patients. Risa had decided to stop questioning it before they changed their mind and took the opportunity away. Perhaps it was true that sometimes a doctor just got lucky. After all, someone had to. Why not her and the demons? Once she thought of things that way, she refused to question her luck anymore. It didn’t make her less watchful or careful and she was still detail oriented. Good doctors had to be.

  Chapter 6

  Cirrus

  Lu and Wendigo watched as Cirrus skillfully broke into Risa’s office and also got into her files. He tried to get in her safe, but couldn’t. What was he looking for? They didn’t know. According to the digging they’d done, Brentwood had been part of Origin, but broke off when the government started taking action against Origin holdings.

  The break was probably in name only. If Brentwood was receiving all the paperwork on the trials Risa was doing with the demons receiving robotics and Origin was still affiliated to Brentwood, why in the world did Cirrus need the paperwork his allies would soon be getting? It made no sense at all.

  “What do you think?” Lu asked.

  “The only thing that makes sense, is that they want to know who the parts are going on. Risa gave fake names and she’s kept everything away from Cirrus. She doesn’t trust him and clearly she’s right in not doing so.” Win speculated.

  “What difference does it make who has the robotics?”

  “None unless they want to use them in some way like capture them for their own use.”

  “That is entirely possible. We need to get her a location away from medical to use just for the robotics work. All information can be kept there. I suggest the secondary medical area on the bottom floor.”

  “What reason will we give her?” Win wondered.

  “That medical has the operating theater. Maybe we’ll tell her some of the other demons considering robotics want to see Troll’s surgery so it would be best to move it all downstairs.”

  “Good one. You are very sneaky.”

  “Thank you.” Lu said with a boyish grin.

  “I’ll have the demons downstairs clean it out. Several of them haven’t met her yet. They’ll enjoy spending time with a beautiful female.”

  “That won’t bother you?”

  “I’ll get over it. They need to socialize any time they can.” Win admitted.

  “What about you? Have you made any headway?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Risa and I get along fine, but there’s nothing romantic there.”

  “Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.” Lu said with a chuckle.

  “You mated and now you want everyone else to be.”

  “Everyone else also wants to be, only you are in denial.”

  “Whatever. I’m not going to discuss this anymore. I’m headed downstairs.”

  “Good luck.” Lu yelled after him. Win wasn’t sure if he meant with the demons downstairs or with Risa. Not that it mattered anyway.

  Win took the elevator to the sub/sub-basement. There were three levels total with the top level being where offices, the rooms for guests, rooms for the higher level demons like Lu and Win, medical and the staff housing, the kitchen, and such type of rooms were.

  The lowest level was for the demons that rarely saw the light of day. They were the most damaged, but he’d assessed Risa and he trusted her with them. They had their own gym, medical, and dining room below. There was a large elevator near the kitchen that went straight to the lowest level dining room to send food to them. The lowest level was only a half floor and held the most damaged demons and a handful of volunteers that stayed below to help if needed. The middle floor was strictly housing and held most of the demons.

  Eventually, the new buildings would be a resort that would be one income stream to help support them all. Although the band was popular right now, some fans could be fickle. Investments and businesses would back up their income just in case. Win felt good about where they were headed financially.

  As the elevator carried him down, he began to think about where the lower level demons were headed. Troll, Hob, and Urisk had made the greatest strides forward as far as mental and physical health went. He had to give some of the credit to Risa. She had championed those three and was giving them all the support they needed to get back to a normal life. Normal for a demon anyway.

  Stepping out of the elevator, Win noticed things were dark and dull down here. Maybe they needed a decorator. He headed to the rec room hoping most of the guys would be there. Troll was sleeping on the big overstuffed couch and Hob was watching a movie from one of the recliners.

  “Hey, Win. What up?” Hob asked trying to sound cool.

  “Just the usual shit. I need you guys to do something for me. Why is Troll sleeping?”

  “Risa has us on some strenuous exercise. Urisk and I are working our way through slowly, but Troll is going first and he’s gone overboard on the exercise. He’s wiped out. So, what can we do you for?”

  Clearly Hob was watching too much TV. “I need you guys to clean up the operating theater. It has to be sterile and all that.”

  “I’m not sure I understand where you’re going with this.” Hob resisted.

  “Normally, I’d just say do it and I know you would, but due to the nature of this situation, I feel like you deserve to know. Were you aware we had Cirrus here?”

  “I know that bastard. Why would you let him come here?”

  “I didn’t know you knew him. Before we brought him here, none of the demons we spoke to knew anything about him. Risa said we didn’t want him here, but we needed to bring him anyway. We’re watching him closely, but he doesn’t know it. There’s a hope that we can use him to get some of the higher ups.”

  “He’s pretty high himself. He’s also got a hard on for Risa. The guy always had. She’s gotta be upset.” Hob observed.

  “I didn’t know you knew her before.”

  “She always tried to help us when she could. I know they had something they were using against her. Risa wasn’t like most of the others. There were three of the lady doctors that helped us. One of them, Samantha, she got caught giving us food. They locked her up for a month. They starved and beat her. When she got out, she bought us food again. They sent her away and I never saw her again.”

  “Samantha Harrington?” Win asked.

  “Yes. That was her. She had balls the size of basketballs. So did the other two. They never stopped helping, they just tried to be careful.”

  “Who was the other one?”

  “Julia Gilverny. I never knew why she was there. She was a physicist. We called them the three musketeers. They were the only bright side in our lives.”

  Win was stunned. Julia and Samantha were both in the god’s custody. He could bring them here, one at a time once Cirrus was gone. He had an idea what the physicist had been brought in for. They’d needed one to help with the nanonets. The
y could keep her on site and she wouldn’t be able to quit.

  “What did Samantha do?” Win asked.

  “Genetics was her specialty, but she was a good doctor too. They used her for most injuries. She was awesome.” Hob admitted. “I used to get hurt just so I could see her. She always had candy bars on hand. If the patient behaved, they got one.”

  “Maybe when we are through with Cirrus, we can find her.”

  “That would be great. She’s a good doctor.”

  “Can you make sure the operating theater gets cleaned up?”

  “You told me about Cirrus, but you never said why you needed the theater cleaned up.”

  “Oh, you’re right. I didn’t. He’s been trying to break into Risa’s paperwork and we think for some reason he wants to know who she’s working with. If she’s down here when she meets with you, he won’t be able to find out anything. There’s something going on there and we can’t let him know anything.”

  “What excuse will you give her?”

  “We plan to tell her the other guys are curious and want to see what’s going on. I think she’ll accept that. She wants to help the other guys and some of them are hesitant. Cirrus also makes her nervous. Risa will be glad to get away from him.”

  “You’re probably right. He tried to force her and she told his boss that she drew the line there. The boss told Cirrus to leave her alone. He never got over it. That’s probably why he still wants her. He’s a real fucktard.”

  “I agree with you there. He’s sadistic, but I think we’ve got the best chance of getting the next highest person through him. The guy is over confident, he takes risks.”

  “I hope your right and it doesn’t get shoved up our collective asses.”

  “That’s exactly what I told Lu, but now that we’re committed, I’ll back him all the way.” Win admitted.

  “I’ll tell the guys and get them on it this afternoon. I think the place is full of boxes and who knows what.”

  “If you need help or you aren’t sure where to go with something, just give me a holler. Otherwise, I know you’ll get it done.”

  Troll had slept through the whole conversation and Win left without waking him. Risa must be a tough task master if Troll was doing this to impress her. Her results would be spectacular. He could hardly wait to see how Troll looked when it was all done.

  Stepping into the elevator, he went up to the middle floor. This was where most of the demons hung out when they weren’t working or eating. Going to the rec room on this floor, he saw it was packed and he stepped inside.

  Abe and Xap might live on the top floor, but when they weren’t busy, they were down here hanging out. Right now they were playing some enthusiastic ping pong. Had they been human, they would have been champions. They weren’t human so the world would never see them play.

  Zepar lounged nearby with some other demons ready to play the winner once the current match concluded. “Hello, Gentlemen.” Win said.

  “There’s no gentlemen here, Win. You have us confused with someone else.” Zepar observed.

  “I think Lu wants us to have a meeting before supper.”

  “What’s Cirrus done now?” Zepar guessed accurately.

  “Come to the meeting and find out.” Win teased.

  “When are we going to practice with Risa? I miss that sweet little thing.” Zepar said.

  “Whenever Lu decides to.” Win replied.

  “What do we have? Ten days?” Zepar asked.

  “A few more days, but they’ll go fast.” Win replied.

  “We’ll meet you in the War room an hour before supper.” Zepar suggested.

  “War room, only you call it that.” Win said.

  “You just did.” Zepar joked.

  Win went back to the elevator. He was glad the guys were relaxing and enjoying themselves. If only he could do the same. Once he got back upstairs, he headed to the War room. Lu and his little family were in there waiting for everyone else to arrive.

  “The guys will be here in an hour. Cirrus up to anything else?” Win asked.

  “Stef noticed he keeps playing with a stud in his ear while he talks. Maybe it’s some kind of tiny communication device. Let me play it back for you.” Lu suggested. He hit rewind and play.

  Cirrus stood there pressing on his ear right over an earring. He was talking low, but Lu adjusted with the volume and he could hear it. “I don’t know what she’s up to, but she’s on their side. Take action right away. She needs to be brought in line. This is what you get by siding with her.”

  “He’s talking about Risa, isn’t he?” Lu asked.

  “That would be my bet too. I also found out something new. Troll knew Risa and Cirrus from before. Cirrus wanted Risa, but she went to the boss who backed Cirrus off her. He must be talking to their old boss right now. That device is so tiny, no wonder he feels safe. I’ve seen tiny recorders, but a transmitter? We need some of those.”

  “What do we need that for? The gods do all the undercover work.”

  “We could supply them some. I just hate to not have the latest because you never know when you might need it.”

  “I like the idea of having it, but that would be expensive.”

  “Not if we tracked it back to the source and took all the ones they have. There’s no telling what else we’d find there. More equipment, money, some gods and demons hidden somewhere. We need to bring in some gods. They have specialists we don’t.”

  “I agree. We’ll discuss it with the guys, then we’ll have a chat with Zeus.” Lu decided.

  They chatted about some budget decisions and discussed the progress on the building being built for the resort. It seemed like no time before the other guys started dropping in one at a time. Lu called the meeting to order once the last demon arrived.

  “Last as usual, Xap. Lately anyway. We have a lot to discuss. First I’ll let Win explain what’s happened with Cirrus.” Lu suggested.

  “Okay, listen up guys.” Win explained all about the tiny transmitter and how he thought they needed experienced help.

  “Why can’t Abe do it? He’s a specialist with electronics like this.” Xap observed.

  “I did work with some listening devices while we still lived among the gods. But to call me a specialist? Huh. Cherish and her people are who you need. She’ll have someone who worked with the latest devices. My mind can’t even wraparound having all the necessary parts in something that small.” Abe explained.

  “Are we sure the damn thing even works properly?” Zepar questioned.

  “There’s no way to know that. We are blocking and trying to intercept his calls, but no luck so far.” Lu replied.

  “Whether it works or not, they have one that works or they wouldn’t have sent it here with confidence that it would. This is big, really big. We need to get on top of it and for that we need a specialist. One of our guys can work with him, but we need Cherish to send us the best she has.” Win insisted.

  “Agreed.” Lu said and he looked at the others one at a time and they nodded. “Who wants to work with whoever Cherish sends?”

  “I guess I will.” Abe said. “Maybe I’ll learn a little.”

  “We’re counting on that, communications expert.” Lu teased.

  Abe rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

  Win just shook his head. The guys liked to have their fun, but this could be a big break. If there was even the remotest possibility that they could find the top people running Origin and use them to track down missing gods, they needed to give it their best shot.

  “Let’s call Zeus now.” Lu said and Stef hit the button labeled Olympus on the phone. It rang and rang and rang one more time before a sleepy Sierra answered.

  “What’s going on guys?” Sierra asked.

  “Is Zeus around?” Lu asked.

  “Yeah, are you sure you want me to wake him? He was up late because of a recovery mission.”

  “A god?”

  “A baby god. The mother didn’t make it. We haven
’t tested paternity yet.” Sierra informed.

  “We have an issue with Cirrus.” Lu admitted.

  “The Origin supervisor? What is it?” Sierra wondered.

  “He has a transmitter the size of a dot. We haven’t been able to pick up his transmissions, but we think we have them blocked. We need an expert.” Lu said.

  “You need Cherish for that, not Zeus.” Sierra pointed out.

  “I usually make those arrangements through Zeus as you well know. He likes to be on top of things.” Lu observed.

  “I’ll get a hold of Cherish in the morning and she’ll get in touch once she has a plan.” Sierra said. “Anything else?”

  “Isn’t that enough?” Lu asked.

  “It certainly is.” She giggled. “I’ll catch you later.” She hung up.

  “That was interesting. What do you think is going on?” Xap asked.

  “Zeus is overloaded. He has several reclaimed facilities, a program to find the lost gods, managing money for everyone, a bunch of babies usually with mothers coming in and he helps us when we need it. It’s too much for any one male.” Lu answered.

  Everyone agreed. “It’s a good thing he has his mate to help.” Win mentioned.

  “We saw that today, didn’t we?” Lu agreed.

  “Mates are a wonderful thing. When are the rest of you going to start looking?” Stef teased.

  “I think it’s almost time to eat.” Xap observed.

  “I’m sure hungry.” Zepar added.

  “What are they fixing tonight? Anyone know?” Abe questioned.

  “We’ll know soon enough.” Win concluded.

  “Alright, guys. You’re dismissed. We’ll meet at the same time tomorrow and hopefully we’ll hear back from Cherish by then.” Lu hoped.

  They filed out and headed to the cafeteria. There was no special event going on tonight and they hadn’t practiced as a band in a week. Lu had a lot going on with the resort being built and Win was trying to keep an eye on Risa and Cirrus, but the other guys had little to do and were going a little stir crazy.

  Win thought Lu should put some of his work on their plates. He was as bad as Zeus about piling the work on his own shoulders. No dummy, Win knew the only reason he’d gotten the job with Risa was because Lu was playing match maker. There was something there, Win knew it, but he wasn’t ready to mate yet.