I turned to Lanningham. "Could we try shooting at it? I don't think bullets will work, but maybe it'll get pissed and come out so we have room to fight."

When he went to tell the guys to fire at the tent, I muttered, "Tink, probably a good idea to spin me up now."

Nothing.

"Okay, I'll stop calling you Tinkawe need some help. Please?"

Not a peep. In fact, my knife wasn't vibrating or glowing or showing any indication it knew monsters were on the prowl. Will was whispering to his knife-spirit, too. From the look on his face, I gathered his wasn't talking, either.

This wasn't a case of Tink pouting in a corner. She wouldn't abandon me like this, no matter how mad she was.

I looked over at Uncle Mike to tell them to hold up so we could figure this outajust as Lanningham lit a floodlight. Blakeney immediately opened fire on the tent with the M240 mounted on the back of one of the Humvees. The monster screeched, a sound to rival a flock of angry bats, and the tent shuddered as it clawed its way out.

"Dude, I think we're in for it now," Will said. "What is that thing? Are those quills on its back?"

The monster cleared the tent and stumbled into the light. Standing upright, the creature resembled a giant, brown porcupine, with razor sharp spines jutting out of its body. Those quills were a good six inches long and it paws ended in cruel, hooked claws. The whole thing was a walking pincushion, ready to stab anyone who got too close.

Blakeney fired shot after shot at it, but it didn't slow down. Guys scattered, running for cover.

"Cease fire!" I yelled.

When the barrage stopped, Will and I chased after the monster. We'd closed half the distance when it stopped and spun around. I grabbed Will's arm and we skidded to a halt as it roared right in our faces. Will got his knife up in time to counter the giant arm that swung over our heads. Johnson and Mike were behind us, herding everyone together; I needed them to get clear so we'd have room to fight.

"Major!" I yelled. "Send everyone back toa""

A howl echoed behind us and the beast in front of us answered. Then it got down on all fours, puffing up its body so its quills stuck out in every direction, and laughed. I'd heard rusted fence gates that sounded less grating than this thing chucklinga"and it scared the hell out of me.

Two more howls rang out, coming from different locations just outside the floodlight's reach.

Will stood tense, staring Porcupine-man down. "You brought some friends to this party, huh?" He held up his knife. "Well, so did I."

Without waiting for me, he leapt at the monster. It rose up and they crashed to the ground in a pile. I couldn't tell if Will had been impaled on its quills or not, but with the way they were thrashing around, I had no clean way to jump in the middle.

A man screamed and I whirled around. Two new quill monsters had arrived, and one had slammed Greene into one of the Humvees with the back of its arm. When it pulled its arm free, Greene gave me a look of pained surprise, then collapsed with a dozen holes punctured through his chest.

Pissed, I ran at the new monsters, begging Tink to show up, but all I heard were spectral crickets. She was nowhere to be found.

Fine, I'd do this myself.

Both monsters had turned to face me with their arms out. Feinting right, I cut left and dropped to my knees. The beasts didn't have quills on their bellies, so that's where I aimed. I slashed the first one open at the pelvis and rolled away before it fell on top of me. The second one dived, but I kept rolling until I got my feet under me and stood. It turned, staying on all fours, and scuttled toward me. From this angle, the monster was all quills and no weak spot, so I jumped up onto the Humvee's hood. Muffled grunts came from the other side of camp where Will was wrestling with his monster, and gunfire started to my left. Uncle Mike shouted a command. Soon after, I heard the deep thump of a grenade being fired.

Without much time to come up with something smarter, I counted to three and leapt at the monster just as the grenade exploded in the air outside of camp.

Like I hoped, it jumped up onto two legs looking startled when it heard the explosion, giving me the opening I needed. I slammed my knife into its heart. We handed hard and the blade was driven further into its chest. The beast spasmed once then went limp. I lay sprawled on top of its belly, gasping for air like a beached fish. I'd gotten the wind knocked out of my lungs when we fell and now I was forced to pull in breaths of sewer-flavored monster stink.

Another grenade burst on the east side of camp, and the last creature snarled somewhere in the dark. I struggled to get up, but my head spun and I collapsed on top of the dead monster again. It's quills poked into my legs. Luckily, someone gripped my shoulders and hauled me to my feet.

I limped to the Humvee to prop myself up and gave Will a jerky nod. "Right on time, like usual."

He had scratches all over his face and arms, and his clothes were shredded. Still, he stood tall. "I got your back, man."

"I guess you killed yours, too."

"Took too long, but yeah." Will prodded my dead monster with his boot. "What'd you do to this one, hammer it with a pile driver?"

I looked at the body; its quills had been driven into the dirt from the force of our fall. "Yeah. Except I was the pile driver."

"Damn, that had to hurt." He glanced toward the pack of soldiers firing ordinance into the dark. "Doesn't sound like the grenades are doing much other than making that thing mad. Think you're up for one more?"

I took a few steps to see; I was a little wobbly but I could shake that off. "Let's go."

Chapter Thirty-Four.

Will and I stalked through the wreckage that used to be camp, eying the perimeter in case more Porcupines-of-Death were lurking in the dark. Nothing jumped from the shadows to shout boo or rip our heads from our shoulders, and we met up with Uncle Mike without any issues.

"We've been trying to keep this one busy for you," Mike said, pointing to a dark shadow moving amongst the shadows of scrub-brush on the plain. The moon wasn't out, and the thing was pretty hard to see, even with the floodlight glaring in the background.

"Is that the last one?" Will asked. "Because I'm wondering if this is just round one."

"We haven't seen any more," Mike said. He turned to Johnson. "Captain, any additional visuals?"

"No, sir," Johnson said. He rubbed his eyes. "This is the only one. We ready to send the wielders out there to kill it for us?"

"Only solution we have at this point," Uncle Mike answered. "Matt, think you can sneak out there and flank it if Will runs toward it as a diversion?"

"Great," Will muttered, "I'm bait again."

"Not this time," I said. "I'm fastera"I'll take it on the run. You just make sure you're in position, okay?"

Before I even finished the sentence, Will had disappeared into the shadows. Well, okay, he was ready.

Mike shook his head. "This whole night has been such a cluster."

"You're telling me," I said. "Those things caught our guards completely unaware. From now on, I'm sleeping in my boots, like a gunfighter, because that's what I am now."

I took a few breaths, getting ready to run. With Will out there, we couldn't fire any ordinance, and I worried the creature would wonder why the barrage had suddenly stopped and start exploring. "Okay, I'm going. If we can't kill it, haul ass to the Humvees and take offa"you can't stop this thing without us."

Gripping my knife and sending a silent plea to Tink, I let out a war whoop and barreled into the shadows toward the monster. Once I left the bit of light from camp, it took my eyes a moment to adjust, but I didn't miss the giant shadow form rising onto its back feet with its stubby arms outstretched to grab me and tear me to bits.

Another shadow broke free of the bushes behind it so I dropped to my hip and slid into the creature's legs. Quills cut into my thigh and hip, but I ignored the pain and stabbed at its shins. When I opened a good gash in its calf, it swiped at me with its claws, tearing the skin above my right eyebrow. Blood ran into my eye and, half-blind, I thrust the blade at it again but missed. The monster grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me off the ground, shaking me like a rag doll so that my teeth chattered together.

There was a weird thump, then the creature tensed and dropped me. I barely had time to crawl away before it teetered over and landed in a heap. Will stood over the dead monster.

"Thanks, man," I said, prodding at my eyebrow. It stung something fierce and jagged edges of flesh surrounded the wound. Yeah, that would make a beautiful scar to add to the collection.

Will gave me a hand up then headed back toward camp. "Let's get back. I don't like how exposed we are out here."

We limped back to Uncle Mike, who sent for Klimmett. "You two need about fifty stitches between you and probably a round of antibiotic shots. Go; we'll clean up and I'll come find you later."

It was a few hours before dawn by the time Klimmett finished sewing us up. I had stitches in my right eyebrow, the meaty part of my left shoulder, the front of my right thigh and in both calves. Will needed even more, to close all the holes where the quills had torn through his skin. While Klimmett wrapped everything in bandages, Johnson came in to tell us we'd lost another guy in the chaos, dropping our team from nineteen to thirteen. I'd lost Greene. Will had lost a new guy I didn't know, but he looked pretty gut punched about it. We'd also lost both our communication specialists, one of our drivers. and Klimmett's assistant medic.

"Bad night," I muttered. "Tink, where are you?"

No answer. I glanced over at Will, who looked completely miserable with cuts and bruises all over his face and a haunted look in his eyes. I decided not to ask him if his spirit had come back online; I could tell by his expression that he was barely hanging on. He'd been on operations where we had casualties, but this was the first time we'd lost guys on his watch as a wielder. I decided not to tell him it didn't get any easier, that you just got numb to it while you had work to do and that you raged later, when you could do it alone.

A few minutes later, the "whump, whump, whump" of helicopter blades broke through the silence of the desert. Uncle Mike stuck his head inside the tent. "Julie called earlier this evening to tell us she had news and that she was flying back. The monsters tore apart all our communications equipment, down to the last sat-phone, so I couldn't warn her about the attack. It's like they knew what to go for and wanted us cut off."

A little shiver shook me right down to my toes. When had monsters started caring about our equipment? I'd thought the carnage was the point, but what if there was more to it?

Uncle Mike caught my eye. "I hate to ask, but could one of you cover us when Julie's team lands? I don't think there's anything out there now, but we don't need two ambushes in one night."

I stood quickly; Will needed more time to recover from battle shock and I was less injured. "I'm on it."

Will shot me a "don't pity me, you rat bastard" look and pushed himself upright. "You need us both."

We pulled on our boots and followed Uncle Mike, Lanningham, Blakeney and Johnson to the edge of camp. Dorland was a dark shadow on top of the Humvee with the mounted grenade launcher, and Lieutenant Nguyen nodded at us from the firing seat of the other Humvee. The M-240 attached to the roof was pointed toward the area Mike had ordered cleared as a landing pad earlier in the day.

The thumping of the rotors grew louder. The helicopter passed overhead and set down, stirring up a dust cloud. Mike led us behind the equipment truck and had us take cover behind it, motioning for Lanningham and Blakeney to check for hostiles. They disappeared into the darkness, rifles at the ready. Despite the chill in the air, the back of my neck and my torso started to sweat. My pulse sped up, too. I closed my eyes, trying to decide if this was a warning, or just nerves.

Then Will groaned. My eyes popped open; Will had his arms wrapped around his middle and his jaw muscles were clenched tight.

"Man, you okay?" I asked.

He staggered away from us on wobbling legs without answering me. Uncle Mike shot me a tense look and I trotted over to his side and put a hand on Will's back. "What's wrong? You need a medic?"

"Getaawayafromame."

The voice wasn't Will's. It was deep, raw, clawing its way out his throata"definitely not something of this world. He moaned and stumbled a few more steps before sinking to his knees with both hands pressed to the sides of his head.

"We need a medic! Someone get Klimmett!" Moving slow, I eased up next to Will and knelt. "It's going to be okay. Just breathe."

Will turned his face toward me. His mouth was twisted in a wicked smirk and his eyesaoh, crap.

His eyes glowed jade green.

I scrambled away from him like a crab and Will laughed, a scratchy, ugly sound. Before I got my footing, Will launched himself at me, tackling me around the middle and slamming us to the ground.

My head hit the earth hard, and Will followed up with a Herculean punch to the jaw. Not enough to knock me out, but enough for me to see all the stars in the universe dancing around Will's sneering face. People started shouting, and I heard Aunt Julie in the mix, telling people to surround us. While I fought to wiggle myself free, Will straddled my chest, pinning my arms, and drew his knife.

The sound of safeties being disengaged from weapons filled the air.

"I can kill him before the first bullet clears," not-Will said. "Then you'll be down two wielders."

"Hold fire," Uncle Mike said somewhere behind me. "What do you want?"

Not-Will laughed again. "Everything. Nothing. This one's blood. Take your pick."

"Will," I rasped. I could barely breathe; he was sitting on my ribs with all his weight. "Fight it off."

The knife wavered a moment and the green light in his eyes dimmed. Then Will's head jerked back. He let out a jackal's howl before slamming the knife into the ground right next to my head.

His eyes glowed brighter than before. "I will kill you," he whispered, leaning over me like some pervert. "I'll taste your blood and laugh as they cry over your dead body."

"What the hell, dude? *Taste your blood?' Getting possessed was bad enough," I said, wriggling to get free without luck. "But did you have to get shoved over by a demon with a thing for melodrama?"

Will blinked and for another moment, his eyes were dark. "Why am Ia""

I kicked hard and threw him off of me before pulling his knife from the dirt and shoving it in my belt; it'd be better for both blades to be out of play because things were precarious enough. We were ringed by a circle of Green Berets, all of them pointing weapons at us. Aunt Julie had her sidearm trained on Will; at this range, I doubted she would miss. Uncle Mike was the only one unarmed, and he stood just inside the circle, tense and ready to give the order to cut Will down. I couldn't let that happen. It's what the other side wanteda"to kill Will. I was just collateral damage.

Will picked himself up, eyes glowing green yet again, and barreled at me. I didn't bother to draw my knife, because in his current state, I'd probably kill him even if I didn't want to. I dodged to one side and dived for his knees, flipping him over my back. He hit the ground with a thud and snarleda"actually snarled like a rabid doga"but rolled away from me. Before I closed the distance between us, he popped to his feet.

And grabbed Uncle Mike by the throat.

Aunt Julie took a step forward, her pistol aimed at Will's head. Her finger was taut on the trigger.

"No! Don't fire!" I jumped in between them, making sure no one had a clean shot. "Hey, carjackera"it's me you want. Let the man go and dance with me instead."

Will threw Uncle Mike to the ground with the force of a concussion grenade and I heard something crack. Will turned to face me. "I was done with him anyway."

The soldiers were tightening in on us as Klimmett and Lanningham dragged Uncle Mike out of the circle. I had no idea how badly he'd been hurt, but Aunt Julie would watch over him, and I wasn't going to lose Will, not now.

"This isn't you. Hear me, Will? This isn't you."

Will cocked his head to one side. "I could make them do it, you know."

I circled to keep him facing me. "Do what?"

"Kill us both."

I put a hand on my knife's handle. "Not tonight, you won't."

He rushed me again and this time I wasn't fast enough to dodge him. We went down in a tangle of limbs, each of us wrestling for dominance. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the soldiers moving back like they were giving us more room to fight. I managed to roll on top of Will and forced one of his hands down. I was reaching to grab the other arm when he reared up and head-butted me. My nose crunched under the blow and pain exploded in my head. I got thrown onto my back and I tensed up, waiting for him to land on me, but someone fired a warning shot. At least, I hoped it was just a warninga"I couldn't pry my eyes open to check.

Then Will laughed his grating laugh. Okay, demon boy was still alive and kicking. Wiping blood from my upper lip, I staggered upright. Opening my eyes hurt like hella"they were already swelling up.

"That was uncool, man. When you're back to normal, I'm punching you in the head."

Will, a blurry figure in camo, was pacing back and forth. He was waiting for me to engageawhy didn't he finish me off? Was Will fighting against whatever held him in thrall? Maybe I could knock the demon loose and give Will a chance if I tossed him a big enough trigger. Something that would remind Will of his purpose out here.

"So," I said, squinting my eyes to see him better, "Remember that time in the woods when you and I made our first kill?"