Page 25 of Consumed
With a sigh, Con managed to get to his own feet—causing his hips and knees to chime in loudly, thanks very much. With his help, Isaac stood too, but he was swaying and unsteady.
“Here. Hold this.” Con gave him the flashlight, which Isaac took obediently enough, although he didn’t do a very good job at pointing it anywhere useful. For a moment Con considered applying pressure to Isaac’s wound, but the bleeding didn’t seem too heavy and getting him promptly to a hospital was a bigger priority.
Con grasped his cane, now somewhat battered, in his right hand and encouraged Isaac to lean on him. It was a damned awkward way to move, but they managed to get through the cemetery and back to the SUV without further mishap. After Con got Isaac settled in the passenger seat, he handed him a bottle of water so he could rinse out his mouth and have a few sips. Then Con fetched the first aid kit he’d packed in the back, and he did a quick disinfecting of the bite before slapping on a bandage. The bleeding had mostly stopped, but infection was a worry—God only knew what pathogens ghouls carried in their creepy mouths.
“You’re a real Boy Scout,” Isaac said as Con buckled in and started the engine. “Prepared for anything.”
“I wasn’t allowed to join the Scouts. Too worldly.”
“Me either. Too militaristic.”
They both chuckled.
Con pulled onto the main road, heading for Cottonwood. He drove faster than he should have, but since there were no other cars on the road this late, he just needed to make sure he didn’t send them over a cliff.
“What’s going on?” Isaac asked after a minute or two. He didn’t slur, which was probably a good sign.
“What do you remember?”
“I… I was talking to the guy in the lobby. Didhedo this? And how did I get… where was I?”
“The clerk is fine, and he didn’t bite you. You went to the cemetery in search of ghosts. You found a ghoul instead.”
Isaac gave a low curse. “And the ghoul bit— What’s wrong with my head? It hurts.” He started to rub the back of it, winced, and let his hand drop.
“You fell. Or it pushed you—I don’t know which. Got a concussion. Which is why we’re on the way to the hospital.”
“I hate hospitals.” Isaac sighed.
“Not my favorite places either.”
“Yeah.”
By now they’d reached the last of the switchbacks, and Con floored it. In the unlikely event he got pulled over, he could flash his Bureau badge. He knew a lot of agents took advantage of this even when they weren’t in an emergency situation, but he never had. Too bad he was too busy worrying right now to enjoy it.
“Con? What wereyoudoing in the cemetery?”
“Looking for you, of course.”
“And the ghoul…?”
Con shuddered. “I think I interrupted just as it was about to eat you for dinner. It’s dust now.”
Isaac was silent for a moment, and Con was driving too fast to risk a glance. Finally, in a quiet voice, Isaac said, “Ghouls are tough.”
“And nasty. This one reeked.” Which meant that Con also probably smelled like a recent grave, but he’d have to deal with that later.
“You killed it, though.”
“Inexpertly, but yes. Training materials say that a sword works. I didn’t have one so I used my cane.”
Isaac barked a laugh. “You killed a ghoul with your fuckingcane?”
Put like that, it did sound unlikely. And ridiculous. Con shrugged. “It was all I had. I dropped my knife.” Which was still in the cemetery somewhere. He didn’t feel eager to retrieve it. The Bureau could issue him a new one.
The lights of Cottonwood shone up ahead. Con remembered passing the hospital on the way to Walmart; it was right off the main road. He slowed down a little in case there was cross traffic along the way.
A near whisper came from the passenger seat. “You rescued me. You came searching for me and you saved me from a goddamn ghoul.”
