“You plan to use Azazel to disappear,” I said. I needed to keep him talking, and trust me, it wasn’t that hard.
“Not disappear, but hide in plain sight.” Baal laughed. His shape shifting had stopped, leaving him as the poor Senator Helms. “I’m going to become the good senator. Free to partake in this damnable ‘free will’ you humans tout.”
“And do what exactly?” Jake suddenly asked. “Live out your life and die an old man?”
Baal turned to him as if seeing the blind man for the first time. A look of disgust flashed over his face before he turned back to me.
“I could do whatever I wished. Can you imagine a man with the powers of Hell?” The demon laughed. “The world will bow at my feet.”
“I’m pretty sure Heaven wouldn’t think too kindly about that,” I told him.
“Don’t speak to me of Heaven,” Baal spat, anger ripping the smile from his face. “I was not one of those paltry fallen angels. I used to be a god, did you know that? Back before this martyr’s religion. The old ones worshipped me, and now look what I’ve become. Their changing belief has turned me into a slave of this ‘Heaven.’”
The anger came from the demon in waves, and I stepped back.
“But no more,” he said. “I will become a god once again when I rip Azazel’s secrets from his mind.”
“You have a naïve view of society,” I told him when he paused in his rant. “People don't believe anything they see these days. They'll think it's all special effects. You really think you can destroy an entire religion overnight?”
“That’s exactly what we think,” Baal said with a soft smile. I blinked. Did he just say “we?”
I didn't have time to think about it. “You’re so smug,” he added in a voice barely above a whisper. “So in control. You have a plan, don’t you? Some secret I don’t know about. Well, little monkey, two can play at that game.”
He waved a hand, and suddenly the air popped with the sound of popcorn in a microwave. A bubble appeared in front of me, little more than the size of a bowling ball. An image floated in the murk. A woman lay naked in a fetal position on a blackened rock floor. I swallowed hard when I recognized the pale skin and red hair.
“Cate?” I said softly.
“I like to stack the deck,” Baal told me. He gestured absently at the floating bubble. “I caught this little beauty as she was sifting through the senator’s house. It seems she linked the senator to me long before you did. And since she was cursed anyway, I managed to snatch her up.” The demon smiled. “Her pain has been delicious these last few days.”
The image of Cate cried out in silent agony.
“She’s dead,” I whispered. “This is all bullshit.”
“Do you know what Lucifer once told me?” Baal said, his sharp grin cutting across his face. “He said that he hardly ever lies. The truth is much more destructive.”
He waved a hand at the bubble again. “She faked her death, my dear little monkey. A couple of prostitutes died around her and she knew it was the only way to get you involved.
“She was a tough one to crack, in the beginning. She finally confessed all this to me after I fed her all her fingers. Those little vampires are so good at regeneration…they make interrogation so easy.”
Rage filled my being. I forgot about everyone in the room. I forgot about the plan. All that mattered was Cate, the demon, and me.
“The irony came to me when I realized you never would have gotten involved if it hadn’t been for Shabriri’s attack and Cate’s fake death,” Baal continued. “The Deceiver’s attack was my idea. I wanted to kill the legendary Sundancer before he interfered, when all along I should’ve done nothing. The woman and her daughter would’ve been dead and I could’ve continued my plan without interference.”
Baal finally walked forward and faced me. Thelma and Jake stepped closer to me as well.
“So I offer you this deal, little monkey,” Baal said. “Let me have Azazel. I will learn his secrets, and as a reward I will return your vampire to the land of the living. Defy me, and she will be lost to you forever.” He snapped his fingers and the bubble popped.
“You didn’t say you would return her to me,” I said softly.
Baal smiled. “Oh no, dear child. Your death was written the moment you killed my concubine Shabriri. But if you beg for mercy, I will let your friends and the vampire go. And I will give you a quick death. The choice is yours.”
Actually, it wasn’t. Throughout our conversation I had forgotten about the others. I had forgotten the plan. But one thing I’ve learned over the years is to never try and predict what others will do.
Adam was the first to step between the two of us. With one word, he sent out power that rocked the walls and sent the hairs on my arms straight up.
“No.”
Pressure built behind my ears. The lights in the room dimmed. The noise outside the coffee shop lowered to a dull roar. Adam was gone, leaving only Azazel behind. Just staring at the back of his head made me want to fall to my knees.
Baal simply smiled and backhanded the fallen angel as if swatting a fly. The power disappeared and Adam flew ten feet before flipping over the counter. He fell in a heap, his neck at an unnatural angle.
And all hell broke loose.
Thelma moved to the right and pulled her hand out of her purse. In it was the biggest handgun I had ever seen. It looked like something Dirty Harry would envy.
Meanwhile Jake moved left, and with a quick motion he flung the contents of his pocket right into Baal’s face.
A tiny vial shattered and droplets of blood splashed over the demon’s nice blue suit. A surprised look came over him as the blood ignited and flames encased his body.
With a snarl, the demon sprang at Jake, and Thelma managed to fire off two shots as loud as cannons. The bullets didn’t even slow the demon down.
By the time Baal got to Jake the flames had gone out, leaving a blackened mess behind. Jake turned to run, but the demon was too quick. Baal grabbed him by the neck and slammed him face first into the wall.
Thelma kept firing, and Baal snarled again. He turned to her and waved a hand. Smoke came from the gun, and Thelma yelled as the metal burned white hot. She dropped the weapon and collapsed, her blackened and charred hand clutched to her chest.
All of this happened within the span of seconds. I did nothing while my friends fought valiantly. My adrenaline spiked. It was pure agony watching my friends go down, but I couldn’t tip my hand, not yet. Baal would kill me before I could play my last card.
So I dropped down beside Thelma and held her as she cradled her mangled hand. My anger flared, and not just at Baal.
“Was that your secret weapon?” Baal mocked me as he approached. All the effects of the magic were gone, leaving a perfectly healthy senator behind. “A disgraced hero, wanting to find her place in the world, a blind wizard who wants to show others that he’s not worthless, and a fallen one whose power faded with each passing night in his prison. Is this your army?”
A form shifted in the corner. I smiled bitterly. “No,” I said with a nod behind Baal, “he is.”
Baal turned slowly and became still once more. “No,” he whispered.
“Oh yes, little god,” Michael said as he stepped out of the corner. In his hand he carried a slender long sword that blurred when I tried focusing on it.
“I saw you die,” Baal hissed in confusion. “You couldn’t have come back this quickly!”
Michael smiled without humor. “Alas, poor Sraosha. She knew the pain that would come, but she also knew her duty. Her loyalty runs deep.”
“And she’s a damn good actress,” I had to quip. “She had his mannerisms down pat, if you ask me, even if her ass needed a bigger stick.” I smiled savagely as Baal glared at me with black eyes. “I guess Michael didn’t share everything I told him on the phone.”
“No, I would’ve known‒” Baal whined.
“Enough, Baal,” Michael said sharply. “You have
confessed your intention to go rogue. Your summoner is dead and Azazel is found. You will go back to your source willingly, or I will send you there.” With that the archangel dropped the tip of his sword casually to the floor. A trail of smoke billowed up from where the tip touched the wood.
Baal suddenly became the old man with white hair. His body shook feebly and he nodded with his head down. But I saw it first. His eyes darted to the spear leaning against the wall.
“Oh, Baal,” Michael said softly.
The demon snarled and reached out his hand. The spear leaped from the wall and he snatched it out of the air. With a howl of fury, Baal leaped at the archangel. A sickly blood-red glow surrounded the tip of the hell-borne weapon.
Fire burst from Michael’s blade. The light hurt my eyes. The angel raised the sword and casually blocked Baal’s thrust. A deep, bone-numbing bass echoed as the two weapons hit.
Michael seemed almost bored as he parried each attack. Each time the weapons hit, my bones ached. The air pressure spiked and dropped in waves, leaving my brain with nothing to hold on to. It got to a point that I couldn’t look at the fight, so I simply focused on Thelma. We clutched each other like children staring out of our home as the bombs fell around us.
After a brief moment that stretched into painful eternity, the pressure eased, and after another moment I could think again. I looked up slowly and saw Baal impaled on the sword.
“I have only one equal in Hell, little god,” Michael said as the demon went to his knees, “and you are not he.”
The angel twisted the sword in the demon’s ribcage, and flames erupted again from the blade. Baal went up like a firecracker. Still wearing the good senator’s skin, Baal tried to stand and swing at Michael, but the angel simply stepped out of range. With a hiss of flames, Baal collapsed again.
As quickly as they came, the flames extinguished, leaving a blackened body behind. Michael blew out a breath and the form collapsed into ash.
The whole thing was over in less time than it takes to make a cup of coffee. I blinked, and even Thelma stared wide eyed.
Finally my wits returned. “What took you so long?” I said angrily. “He almost killed my friends.”
Michael took a deep breath, as if inhaling something on the wind. He then turned and frowned at me. “I was… waylaid briefly.” As he walked past Thelma and me, he waved a hand dismissively. She sucked in a breath and lifted her hand.
The flesh was healed.
“It’s time to go, Azazel,” Michael told him.
The fallen angel nodded submissively, but I whispered something to Thelma and stood up. She walked over to check on Jake, giving the angels a wide berth.
“What about Cate?” I asked.
Michael glanced at me. “What about her?”
“Was Baal telling the truth? Is she trapped in Hell?”
The archangel shrugged. “He had no reason to lie.”
“So what happens to her now?”
“I do not know,” he told me.
“That’s not good enough,” I said. “You owe me. I found Azazel, and I found out what Baal was doing. All of this was because of me. You will give me this.”
Michael turned, and for once sadness touched the glacial surface of his eyes. “You waste your anger on me. I have no sovereignty in Hell. Only the One Above or the One Below can bring her back now. I am… sorry for your loss, mortal.”
I stared at the archangel, and the kindness in his eyes did nothing to cool my rage. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to attack, even if it meant I’d perish right there in the coffee shop. But wanting something doesn’t make it happen, and I knew he was right.
Nothing prepared me for losing her twice.
“You still owe me,” I said softly. He couldn’t help me, but he could help someone else.
“Sadly, yes,” Michael said with a touch of bitterness.
“Then I have something you can do,” I said.
His eyebrows lifted in a question.
I smiled thinly “I’ll even pay for the cab.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
The cab pulled up to the u-shaped driveway that descended down to the one-story house below. There were no signs of the raid from the other night, but I knew the scars were there. The nasty looks the neighbors gave me as I got out of the cab reflected that. Beth probably wouldn’t be living there much longer, but I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the least of her worries.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come down?” I asked Thelma. Adam was on his way down the driveway and Jake sat in the cab. Adam had healed most of his bruises and broken nose, but the effort had left Jake weakened.
Thelma smiled and looked down at the house. “No, this is for Adam. You sure you don’t want us to wait around?”
I thought of what I had to do. This wasn’t the part of me I wanted Jake and Thelma to witness.
“No thanks. I think I’ll walk around a bit. There’s a lake about a mile up where I can collect my thoughts.”
She nodded. “I understand. I do need to get Jake home before his girlfriend kills me. I don’t know how he’s going to explain all the bruises.”
“The same way I always did,” I said with a shrug. “Say the cops did it after a long night of drinking. It’ll probably be easier to believe.”
I expected Thelma to laugh, but instead she stared at the house in sad contemplation. “Thelma,” I said to her, “about what Baal said earlier. About the fallen hero…”
“Later, Nick, please,” she said with a sad smile. “Too much, too soon. I like you a lot, but this world…your world, it’s going to take me some time to get used to.”
“Tell me when you get used to it,” I said. “Then you can tell me how.”
A cry of joy echoed up. Down below, a blond bundle of love tackled Adam when he opened the door. He flung the little girl up in the air, and I could feel his smile even up here.
“I’ll be in for coffee tomorrow,” I told Thelma. “So we’ll see what happens then. Maybe we’ll go for a walk over to the troll and say hello to him. He always gets lonely when he wakes up.”
“I’d like that,” she said as she pulled me into a hug. I stiffened at first, but then we clung to each other, the tension of the last few days finally getting a release.
We separated after what seemed like forever and yet was still too short. She wiped her eyes, took one last look below, and went around to the other side to get into the cab.
I leaned over Jake’s open window. “You take care of him, Thelma. God knows how much trouble he gets into without me.”
Jake snorted. “How much trouble without you? I’d be at home getting laid if it weren’t for you.”
I laughed. “On that vivid mental image I’ll let you two go.” I reached out my hand, and Jake shook it without having to search for it.
“One of these days I’ll have to ask you how you do that,” I told him.
“And one of these days I might tell you,” he said and smiled.
I laughed and stood up. I heard footsteps behind me as the cab drove away, and I turned to see Adam coming toward me. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dirty coat and hunched against the chilly wind. Probably out of habit because I’m pretty sure his kind didn’t need scarves.
“How are they?” I asked him.
“Coping,” he answered. “Beth doesn’t remember much, but she will over time. I do not envy her that. She wouldn’t look me in the eye, but she let me hold Amanda for one last time. But the woman is strong, and she must be even stronger for the child’s sake. She’ll survive. As for Amanda…her love will keep me warm when I am back in my prison. Although it seems odd, the things a child can love.”
“I’ll take a child’s judgment over a grownup’s any day. They know a good person when they see him.”
Adam looked at me, his face a stone mask. “Then you do not know me,” he whispered.
“We’ve been down this road,” I said with a smile of my own. “If you think you’re so e
vil, then tell me why you’re going back.”
“What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “Any demon worth his salt would’ve run as soon as he got his memory back. Why are you returning?”
He dropped his gaze. “I must repent for my sins. You do not understand the things I’ve done.”
“We’ve all done things we regret,” I said softly. “It’s what makes us human.”
“But I am not human.”
I shrugged again. “I don’t know. Michael said you were Azazel but not. Do you think the great archangel second guesses anything he does? Does Baal? I hate to tell you this, but regret is a human emotion.”
Adam looked at me, and a soft smile played on his lips. “Then we will have to agree to disagree. Not that it matters much where I’m going.”
“Yeah, about that…” I said as I shifted uncomfortably.
“You gave your word,” he said.
I sighed. “I know, it’s just…damn. Ann always used to say that I needed to be more responsible. I don’t think she meant this.”
Adam looked at Beth’s house one last time. “There is an abandoned house that way.” He pointed down the small street. “It is perfect for what we need.”
As we walked toward the final destination, I began to talk. I had to keep my mind off of what was about to happen.
“You never did tell me how you did it,” I said. “How did you manage to elude both Heaven and Hell for so long?”
“I do not know,” he told me as we walked. “One day I awoke in my eternal prison and found my chains broken. I do not know how or why, but it didn’t matter. After millennia of pain and suffering I fled into the desert.
“I traveled the world for years, always one step ahead of those hunting me, but I knew my time was limited. In London a woman took me in. She was like Beth in so many ways. So strong and yet so caring. We fell deeply in love, but a liaison between my kind and yours can only end one way.”
I nodded as Adam led the way up the front lawn of an old white house. Paint hung in long strips, and the lawn was a jungle of overgrown weeds. It probably gave the neighbors headaches when they looked out their nice manicured windows.
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