Prophecy: Tome of Embers

6. Burn All the Babies

Some time had passed since Austin had started staying with Toby, and in that lapse they'd all been hard at work. The dynamic of their little gang had begun to develop and change, adding more pressure to the hotheaded hybrid's continually rising irritation. He would've given anything to sleep for five more minutes when a steady knock woke him from his dreams, but he already knew his friends wouldn't be that accommodating, so he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and went to see who had come calling. It would be either Lorelei or Cliff, and he honestly wasn't sure which one would be more acceptable to him anymore. He was both relieved and irritated to see that it was the latter, and he opened the door to let him in.

"I don't have to be to work for two more hours, so why the hell are you waking me up?" Toby grumbled, condensing his blanket into a small ball in the corner of the sofa where he'd been resting in case his company wanted to sit down. Despite the annoyance he was feeling, Cliff was still a friend, and that counted for something.

"Sorry, I'm headed that way now, I thought I'd come by and offer you a cut for the job we did last night," Cliff handed him a wad of money, and Toby glanced over his shoulder towards the bedroom to see Austin still fast asleep in the bed. That was the last thing he wanted, for Austin to hear about the demons they'd been fighting. Sure, maybe he already knew, but it wasn't something to talk about outright, to burden him with when he was still trying to get back on his feet.

"Whatever." Toby took the money and tossed it on the table, knowing that Cliff hadn't kept anything for himself. Following his lead, the beefy cop looked into the bedroom too, understanding. It'd been close to a month since Austin had been discharged from the hospital, and in that time they'd been working together on a few casual demon problems. Austin just stayed in the room for the most part, but sometimes he stayed on the couch instead. Of course he'd tried to resist his host's urges for him to take the bed in the beginning, but Toby wasn't really the kind of person who would take no for an answer.

"I really didn't mean to wake you, I guess I'll let you get back to it then. I'll call you later?" Cliff smiled lightly as he turned to go, startled when he opened to door to find Myrna standing there. Only it wasn't Myrna, not exactly.

"There's no time to waste." The Keeper pushed into the room, finding Toby with his silver eyes.

"Where the hell have you been, we could've used you help." Toby didn't seem particularly moved to see him, and instead he just pulled his face into an expectant grimace.

"There's no time to waste, as you sit there uselessly she is already plotting her next move. Today. She will attack today." The Keeper warned, unblinking.

"Who are you talking about?" Now Toby reacted, sure of the answer though he asked anyway. Yet the prescient being offered no more clues, and instead disappeared as Myrna wavered and nearly fell, caught only by Cliff's arms. When she had erected herself again she looked around, puzzled.

"What am I doing here?" She asked. She pieced together well enough on her own that the Keeper had led her there, but she wondered for what purpose.

"What did he mean? She?" Cliff asked, even though he had already been told before that Myrna had no way of deciphering what the Keeper said.

"The Anchoress." Austin's voice was soft, and they all looked over to see him swaying uncertainly in the doorway as he readily confirmed what they all already knew. He still seemed like he might be half asleep, and he clutched the blanket that hung around him as he trembled from just the mention of her name.