Page 100 of Cold Curses

No one had any, or at least no one wanted to raise any here.

“All right, then,” Gwen said, “time to climb aboard.”

* * *

Despite my unfortunate run-in with Chicago’s water system the night before, it was exhilarating to be out on the lake. (Or it was after I thought to pull back my hair after five minutes of it blinding me.) I didn’t often get the chance to see the skyline. Modern glass skyscrapers gleamed beside older, more stoic buildings. Lights twinkled and steam rose. It looked magical from this angle, and I could imagine the city was a sparkling fairyland.

We drew close to the cruise ship, a giant glass behemoth. The long row of windows on the top deck glowed with light, and music was audible across the water.

“You ever been on one of those?” Theo asked.

“Nope. You?”

“Once, for a wedding. It’s like being in a club, except the club moves.”

We were already running without lights, and the captain cut the engine as we neared the ship. Our momentum carried us to a spot where a man on deck signaled with a green flashlight. There were rungs along the side of the ship to the upper deck. And they rose and fell several feet as the swells moved beneath us.

“I’ll be here in the boat if you need me,” Theo whispered, lifting his casted arm.

“Sorry,” Gwen said. “I didn’t even think about how you’d get aboard.”

“No worries,” he said, giving her a soft smile. Then he shifted that smile to me. “Go get him, and let’s wake her up.”

I gave him the most confident nod I could manage, then turned my attention back to the ship. I gauged the time of the swells, and when the boat started to rise, I grabbed a rung on the ship and jumped over.

My boot slipped, sending my right knee hard against the rung, but I was buzzing with adrenaline and barely felt it. I hung on through another swell, got purchase on the rungs, and climbed. And thanked whatever gods might be listening that I wasn’t swimming again.

“I am not a demon,” I murmured to any leviathans that might have been listening.

Hand over hand, one rung at a time, I made my way to the boat’s open deck. A human hand reached out and helped me climb aboard. I moved out of the way, breathed out, got my bearings. And while the music of Dante’s party made the deck underfoot vibrate, I gave monster a reminder.

We need Lulu awake. He is the key to that.

I got nothing but a sullen metaphysical nod. I wasn’t sure if it had entered the adolescent phase or if it was truly resigned to the fact that we needed Lulu in order to move forward.

I wasn’t sure ifIwas resigned to that fact—to telling Lulu what lurked beneath my skin.

When we were all on deck, the man who’d helped us over leaned in.

“I’m Chuck,” he said quietly. He wore a polo shirt and a windbreaker with the ship’s name embroidered on the pocket. “I’m the second mate. The federal authorities have confirmed their transport is ready and waiting. So, you just have to get the demons to them.”

One of our cops, a nervous-looking sort, nodded vigorously, and I hoped this wasn’t his first op.

“We’ve got it,” Gwen said with a comforting air of authority. “Stairs?” She pointed to the right.

Chuck nodded. “Front of the ship is called the bow, and that’s the forestair,” he said, correctly assuming we were not up on maritime lingo. Then he pointed behind himself. “That’s the stern and the aft stair. They’re upstairs. Please don’t fuck up my ship.”

“We’ll do everything in our power to keep demons from doing that,” Gwen said, then nodded at us. “You know your assignments. Let’s go.”

And then we were moving. I headed right. I would go in with two cops at my back. Gwen and the others would go the other way and close off the demons’ means of escape.

Quietly, and as swiftly as I dared on a bobbing ship, we made our way toward the bow, then into the stairway that wound up to the next deck. And when we reached it, nearly ran into a waitress who stood there, tray in hand.

She opened her mouth to squeal in surprise, but I covered it with a hand. “We’re here to help,” I said quietly. “I think the captain told you about us.”

When she nodded, I moved my hand.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” she whispered, then gestured to the glass doors a few feet away. “They’re in there.”