THE MEPHISTO COVENANT

by Trinity Faegen

  Moving close, he sat next to her, his thick thigh pressed against hers. “Sasha, you know you can trust me, so tell me, please, do you have the painting Eryx is looking for?”

  She didn’t answer, staring down at his boots. “Where’d you go to get so muddy?”

  “England. Phoenix wanted to visit Jane’s grave.”

  “Who’s Jane?”

  He looked down into her eyes and said softly, “She was his fiancée, an Anabo he found in London, over a hundred years ago.”

  “How did she die?”

  “Eryx killed her.”

  A shiver ran up her back. “And Phoenix still visits her grave?”

  “Not as often as in the beginning, but yes, he still visits, and grieves. In all this time, he’s never looked at another girl. We go out, my brothers and I, but Phoenix never does.”

  “How did Eryx find her? Did a Skia discover her and take her to him?”

  He shook his head, looking down at his muddy boots. “Are you sure you want to know?”

  “Of course I do, so maybe I can learn from it and not do whatever she did.”

  “She carried Phoenix’s mark, something that could help us find her anywhere in the world. It’s a protective thing. Like last night, if you had been marked, we could have found you, even if Reilly had taken you a thousand miles away. The thing is, we didn’t know Eryx can also sense the mark. He took her the night she and Phoenix were going to elope, and we went after her, but by the time we got there, it was too late.”

  “What a terrible, horrible story. On her wedding night.” She imagined it, a girl packing her bag, excited to run off and get married, then taken by a stranger and murdered. “What does that mean, she was marked? How? Where?”

  Surprising her, he leaned close and whispered, “If one of us has sex with an Anabo, she’s marked.”

  She blushed and hated herself for it.

  He grinned, and she knew she must be completely red, but she couldn’t look away from his eyes. They seemed a little different today, brighter or something. Good Lord, he was beautiful. She seriously considered sitting on her hands to keep from touching him.

  Instead, she made herself look away from him, and that’s when she noticed Brody had carried the desk chair to the window and was now standing on it, removing the ball finial from the end of the drapery rod, which was actually a section of PVC pipe covered in dusty, faded fabric. “What are you doing?” Panic made her sound shrill. “Get down from there! Oh my God, don’t do that!”

  She flew off the bed and ran at him, reaching for the rolled-up canvas when he pulled it from inside the rod, but he held it too high. “You can’t take it! You’ve got no right!” She’d taken it out of the protective white tube to make sure Melanie never found it, which turned out to be a smart move, because the white tube was gone. Now she was about to lose the painting anyway. She’d promised Mom to take care of it, and she was desperate to get it away from Brody. “Give it back! Jax, make him give it back.”

  Jax was there, reaching for the canvas. “You’ll get it back, I promise, but let us take it for a little while so we can figure out why Eryx wants it so much. There’s a Lumina on the Mephisto Mountain who’s an artist, who’s cleaned and restored our paintings for years. He’ll take a look, and I’ll return it to you in a few days, I promise.”

  “Where’s the Mephisto Mountain?”

  “You’ve been there. We live on the Mephisto Mountain. It’s surrounded by the same blue mist that hides Kyanos, a barrier that makes all of us and all the buildings invisible to the real world. And to Eryx. No one can breach the mists unless they’re Lumina or Mephisto, which is me and my brothers. The mists are what keep the Purgatories from escaping. So trust me, if this painting is on the mountain, no one can get it.”

  “Even me?”

  “You can pass through the mists, because you’re Anabo. And if you were marked, you’d be safe there, where Eryx couldn’t get to you.”

  So if she ever had sex with Jax, she’d be confined to living on a mountain behind some blue fog for the rest of her life. Looking up at his perfect face, the concern in his eyes, she wished that he wasn’t a dark angel, that he was just a regular guy. She’d already be crazy in love with him.

  But he wasn’t a regular guy. All these feelings she had were wrong. She had to stop staring at him. Stop wanting him.

  Swallowing, she looked away from his eyes and focused on the rolled-up canvas in his hand. “What about this artist? You said he’s a Lumina. What’s that?”

  “I’m a Lumina,” Brody said, stepping off the chair, then carrying it back to the desk. He looked at her and smiled that sweet, calm smile. “We’re ordinary people recruited by the Mephisto to live on the mountain and work for them. If we agree, we become immortal, and have certain abilities that help us do our job.”

  “Like what sort of jobs?”

  “Anything the Mephisto need to plan one of their takedowns. We have a whole group that does nothing but place records, so if someone needs to go out in the real world and prove they’re a real person, there’s paperwork to back them up. Jax has everything he needs to start school tomorrow because the records Luminas took care of it. He has a birth certificate on file at the courthouse, and a transcript in his student file at a boarding school in Dorset, England.”

  “What do you do?”

  Brody grinned. “Hack into computers, invent better tools for the Mephisto to use when they’re out in the field, and just generally be awesomely smart. I looked all over this room to figure out where you might hide a painting, and I caught your quick glance up at the curtain rod. Pretty smart, yeah?”

  “You’re humble, too.”

  He blinked at her from behind his nerdy glasses. “I’m not conceited, if that’s what you’re saying. But God gave me certain talents, and I’m all about using them to do my job better.”

  “You’re brilliant,” Jax said. “We all think so. Tell you what, why don’t you take the painting to Andres, and I’ll be along after a while. I’m going to help Sasha put things back together.”

  Brody took the canvas from Jax, then smiled at her again. “I’m glad to know you, Sasha. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He disappeared.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “He’s going to school with me. I’m hoping it will make me less scary.”

  “How? If he’s an immortal, like you, and lives with you and does what you do, how will he make you less scary?”

  “He’s the polar opposite of what I am. My brothers and I are the only ones who can take the lost souls to Hell on Earth. The Luminas are support people who take care of the details when we need them. We recruit the best people, who’re always happy and upbeat, and it’s really helpful if they have some special talent or skill that will help us with what we do. If they agree to join us, they leave the real world behind. Some marry, some don’t, but they’re always happy and extreme in their faith in God. Luminas are living angels, with all the characteristics of humans, except they don’t grow old or die.”

  “What happens to them when the end of the world comes?”

  “They go to Heaven. In fact, if they decide they’re tired of working, if they want to leave, they can ask and be sent anytime.”

  “Do many of them do that?”

  He smiled at her. “None. Ever. It’s a nice life on the mountain, Sasha. We build cottages for them, and they can have anything they want. About the only thing they can’t do is mingle among humans, but that’s mostly because we worry they’ll fall in love with someone and it could only lead to heartbreak. I’m taking a risk bringing Brody to school with me, but I can’t get anything accomplished if everyone’s scared to death of me.”

  “So they like working for you, helping plan how to take people to Hell on Earth?”

  “I think so. They see, all the time, what Eryx and his Skia do to humans, how it wrecks whole families and ruins lives. And they know that the more there are, the more there will be. The only hope is to keep the numbers down.”r />
  “Why couldn’t the Luminas be out among humans and maybe convince them not to pledge their soul?”

  “Because we can’t interfere with free will. People have to make their own choices, without any intrusion from Heaven or Hell, or from living angels, dark or otherwise.” Moving a pile of clothes with his boot, he frowned and changed the subject. “Did she destroy everything you own? Will you have something to wear to school tomorrow?”

  “What I have on.”

  He looked her up and down. “Nice, but you need other clothes, Sasha. Let me take you shopping. We’ll go anywhere you like and get anything you want.”

  “I don’t have much money.”

  “I’ll pay. No strings, I promise.”

  “I could tell Tim, and he’d buy me some new stuff. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be living on the street because Melanie would kick me out. She’s brutal, Jax. She told me this morning that the CIA thinks my mother is dead. I feel sorry for him, because he has to be married to her.”

  “Then don’t make him feel worse. Let me help you, and he won’t have to know what Melanie did.”

  She didn’t see that she had much of a choice. Telluride was superexpensive, and it wasn’t like she had any way of getting to another town, one with stores that real people could afford. Unless she wanted to wear the same clothes every single day, she had to accept Jax’s offer. Looking up into his black eyes, she was struck all over again by random, vivid, unfamiliar emotions, but somewhere in the depths of those eyes, she also saw sincerity … and genuine affection. “All right, Jax, but let’s call it a loan. Even if I’m never able to pay you back, it’d make me feel better about being a mooch.”

  “You’re not a mooch, and you can pretend you mean to pay me back if you want. I’ll even pretend that I’d accept.” He moved closer and slid his arms around her. “Where do you want to go?”

  She tried not to slip her arms beneath his trench coat, or spread her palms across his broad, muscular back, or inhale the delicious scent of him, or rest her cheek against his hard, warm chest. She tried. And failed. “San Francisco,” she finally said. “It’s where I know how to find things. Start at Macy’s in Union Square.”

  A moment later, they stood in the men’s department. Glancing around, astonished that no one appeared to notice they’d materialized out of nowhere, she said, “I was kinda thinking about jeans and sweaters, instead of a pinstripe suit.”

  “I need something to cover my eyes.” He dropped his arms and stepped back, then reached for a pair of sunglasses from a rotating display. Sliding them onto his face, he said, “What do you think?”

  They were dark wraparounds. In his black trench coat, with his black hair and dark stubble, he looked awesome. She resisted the urge to melt into a puddle at his feet. “They’ll do.”

  From behind her, someone said, “Hey, Sasha! What’s up, babe? Somebody told me you moved to Colorado.”

  With her heart in her throat, she turned just as Smith Hardwick swooped down to plant a kiss on her lips. It didn’t mean anything. He did it to every girl who ran with their group, because that’s just who he was.

  Before she could say a word, or decide whether or not to introduce Jax, or formulate some kind of lie about why she was in San Francisco, Smith was on his back, sliding across the slick wooden floor toward a rack of polos. Jax stood just next to her, looking like a demon from Hell, his hands clenched into fists.

  SEVEN

  HE DIDN’T PUNCH THE GUY. JUST MENTALLY SHOVED HIM as hard as he could to get him away from Sasha. He saw him kiss her and instinct took over, but the second he saw the guy hit the rack of shirts, he knew he’d gone way overboard. The look on Sasha’s face verified it. Man, was she pissed.

  She started to run to the guy, but he couldn’t let her do that. Too much explaining. She’d demand he apologize; many lies would follow. Best to make a clean break. So before she’d taken two steps, he hauled her back, erased the guy’s memory of them, and popped them to another part of the store.

  Jerking away as fast as she could, she turned on him and said in an angry whisper, “Why did you do that? Smith is a friend! A nice guy!”

  “He kissed you.”

  “So? It’s not like you own me! And it wasn’t a kiss. It’s just how he says hello.”

  “Are you in love with him?”

  Rolling her eyes, she turned to the display of socks next to them and said to a pair of argyles, “Jax, I’ve known him since I was four years old and started preschool at St. Michael’s. He’s like a brother or something. I would have liked to see him, to visit a little. Why’d you have to go and shove him like that?”

  “Too hard, huh?”

  “You shouldn’t have shoved him at all.”

  “But he kissed you.”

  She shot him a look, then said to the argyles, “When I start school tomorrow, if I meet somebody and he asks me out, if he touches me, are you going to be there shoving him across the floor?”

  Just the idea made his stomach hurt. “I hated that, Sasha. A lot.”

  Her sigh was heartfelt. She turned to face him and said in a really sad voice, “Don’t worry too much about it happening in Telluride. Guys don’t like me. I mean, I’ve always had guy friends, but none of them have ever liked me. Not liked me, liked me.”

  “You’re wrong. You have to be wrong. You’re so beautiful, such an incredible person, how did you not have a million boyfriends?”

  “I don’t know. It’s not as if I didn’t try. But it’s like I’m a nun or something. Like I’m untouchable.”

  “Maybe because you’re Anabo. Maybe human guys can sense it, and they know you’re never gonna be easy. I don’t know a whole lot about humans, but I do know guys, and they’re all about easy. You get what I’m saying?”

  “I get it. And I guess you’d know, Mr. Gets It in the Dark with Strangers.”

  “It’s not like that with you, Sasha.”

  “If you say it’s because I’m Anabo, or that you respect me too much, or something stupid like that, I’ll kick you in the nuts and laugh.”

  He said to the argyles, “You are Anabo, and I do respect you, but I’d still like to see you naked. In fact, I’d be working on it right now, if success didn’t mean you’d be forced to live on our mountain the rest of your life. Also, there’s that pesky problem that you think I’m repulsive.”

  “Not that way. I wish it wasn’t true, because I’m really not okay with who you are, but no way do I think you’re repulsive.”

  “So you’d like to have your way with me, even though you don’t respect me.”

  He was teasing her, but she didn’t realize it. She blushed, looked away, and said to the panty hose, “I just keep remembering what it was like to kiss you. I’ve never felt like that before.”

  He moved a little closer and touched her hair, so soft and silky. “It’s powerful stuff, Sasha. Don’t beat yourself up about it. You can feel like that and still think I’m creepy. It doesn’t make

  you less of a person.”

  “I don’t think you’re creepy.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “I … I don’t know. You’re immortal, for one thing. What happens if we stay together? I’d be an old lady, wearing these support hose, and you’d still be a hot eighteen-year-old.”

  “Maybe you’d become immortal, too.”

  Looking up quickly, she was clearly stunned. “Are you serious?”

  “Well, yeah. It could happen, if you wanted.”

  She stepped back, staring at him with wide eyes. “No, I wouldn’t want that! Live forever? It’s not right. It’s weird. And what would I do for all eternity? Sit around and wait for you to get home from killing people?”

  Jax was tired. She was never going to go for this, so why the hell did he try? “If you were immortal, you’d be with me when I go to … to …”

  “Kill people?”

  “Stop saying that! Why can’t you see them for what they are? It’s a bigger deal to ste
p on a bug. And what would you have me do, let guys like Kasamov and Bruno stick around to trick more people into losing their souls?”

  Great tears welled in her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I want you to do. I want you to be different. I want you to be normal and not from Hell. How can I do this? How can I be with you and still believe in God?”

  “Do you think I don’t believe in God?”

  “I know you believe there is a God, but you’re not about Heaven.”

  “Only because I can’t help it. I was born this way, and maybe Heaven’s not in the cards for me, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want it.”

  Swiping at her tears, she moved close and slid her arms around him. “I’m sorry, Jax. I wish it was different.”

  He circled her shoulders and dropped his cheek to her hair.

  “I’m not really in the mood to shop, after all. Let’s just go back to Telluride.”

  “You need some clothes, and we’re going to get some. We’ll just try to avoid anyone you know, deal?”

  She nodded against his chest. “Deal.”

  Shopping for clothes wasn’t something he did. Ever. All of their clothes were bought for them by the Luminas, or handmade by the Purgs. He’d shopped before, but always for things like books, or ski equipment, or liquor. Sometimes cigars. But shopping for clothes was a whole new thing, and hanging around in the girls’ department was an experience like no other. The scents were intriguing, the dyes and fibers from the clothes mingling with perfume and skin and assaulting his nose. Above it all, he never lost Sasha’s scent, even after she disappeared with an armload of clothes through a doorway to the dressing room and said she’d be right back.

  She didn’t come right back. She was in there forever, until he began to worry that something was wrong. Maybe she was choking on something, or had tripped and hit her head. When he couldn’t stand waiting any longer, he cloaked himself to invisible and popped to where her scent was strongest, which was inside a tiny cubicle with a mirror.