The Devil's Backbone (A Niki Slobodian Novel: Book Five)

by Murray, J. L.

  “I didn’t break him,” said Aki. “I told you he’s sleeping.”

  “Looks more like a coma.”

  “You could call it that. He won’t wake until I tell him to.” His face went cold and serious. “Wake him up,” I said. “Now.”

  I stared at him for a moment. He didn’t avert his eyes. And suddenly I knew.

  “You were going to kill him,” I said.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “But you were,” I said. “I can see your mind.”

  He frowned. “You can’t. No one can.”

  “But it’s there. You’re weak. You have no power here except over the minds of men and monsters. And sometimes you think that those two are not mutually exclusive. You’ve seen men that are worse than monsters, and monsters that a good deal more honorable than men. And you’re going to kill this one because, why? Because you can?” I frowned and concentrated. Aki seemed to be frozen in place. He couldn’t look away from me. “No. Because he’s mine. Isn’t that right, Aki? You want to hurt me.”

  “Stop it,” he said, breathless. “How are you doing this?”

  “Why do you want to hurt me?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  I pushed deeper. There was something black and sticky in Aki’s mind.

  “You can’t even see it there, can you?” I said.

  “How?” he said.

  “I don’t know how,” I said. “But you didn’t come here on your own. You didn’t follow the Yuki-onna, did you?”

  “I don’t remember,” he said, his voice hoarse.

  “They stranded you here,” I said. “With one task. Hobble Death.”

  “I don’t remember coming here,” he said. “I just woke up and I was in this building. And I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew it was you and I knew who you loved and how to hurt you.”

  “So killing Bobby was supposed to make me a helpless pile of sadness?” I said. “Whoever sent you really needs to do their research, Aki. That’s not really how I operate. When someone tries to hurt the people I love, I only react one way, and it’s not crumpled on the floor sobbing my little eyes out.”

  “Please, I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t even know who sent me here.”

  “Who is your god, Aki?”

  “What?”

  “Who is your god?” I said. “You changed, didn't you? Just decided to worship their god. The Grace. They made you believe it was your decision. What about your old god, though?”

  “We don't have a god,” said Aki, his voice weak and suddenly confused. “Not anymore. Our god left us.”

  “He left you?” I said. “When?”

  “I don’t know,” he whispered. “Maybe a month ago. We felt it happen. He was just gone.”

  “Who was He?”

  “He didn’t have a name,” said Aki. “But He was fearsome. To worship was to fear.”

  “How do you know He left?” I said.

  “Because,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid any longer. None of us were. And if He hadn’t gone, no one could have opened up the universe and let as weak a monster as a Yuki-onna through. This boy you speak of, this Matthew. If my god was alive, the boy would be dead.”

  “You think your god is dead?” I said.

  “What other explanation is there?”

  “Maybe He ran away.” I remembered my conversation with the Creator.

  “No,” said Aki. “It is not our way.”

  I turned to look at Gage. Without knowing why, I reached out my hand and placed my palm on his forehead.

  “You can’t wake him,” said Aki. “He’ll never wake. I broke him.”

  I felt a heat like fire burning my hand. I nearly pulled my arm back from the pain, but I forced myself to keep it there. I remembered the Creator putting Her hand on my forehead the same way. I put the thought out of my head and concentrated. I tried to look into Gage the way I’d looked into Aki. But it seemed to me that there were too many cracks. I frowned. He had broken him. Bobby's mind was in pieces. I put my other hand on his temple and felt my whole body catch fire. I opened my eyes, expecting flames to be consuming me, but there was nothing. But it felt like fire. Like when I burned to death, so long ago. A lifetime ago.

  I felt a piece shift in Bobby’s mind. Then another, fitting together like a puzzle. Another piece snapped into place. I screamed as the fire burned me, and I made one final push to gather the bits of his mind. I felt it when they slid into place and I fell back on the floor, gasping. I looked at my arms, but they were normal. Completely unscathed.

  “What the hell?” I breathed.

  “What are you?” said a voice from the doorway.

  I started, forgetting Aki was there, surprised he had stayed. His head hung as if he were a puppet held up by strings, and the string holding his head had snapped.

  “Why are you still here?”

  He raised his head slowly, like it pained him.

  “Please let me go.”

  “I’m not…” I frowned. “I don’t know how.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Please stop. You’re killing me.”

  I looked down at his feet to see that he was standing in something dark, like black smoke. It was dripping through his skin and settling down around his feet. I shook my head.

  “I don't know how. How do I stop?”

  “Niki?” I turned to see Gage sitting up in the bed.

  “Bobby,” I said, panic in my voice. “Do you trust me?”

  “What’s happening?” he said.

  “Bobby, do you trust me?”

  “Of course I trust you,” he said, standing up shakily from the bed. He stared when he saw Aki. He looked back at me. “I trust you, Nik. Always have.”

  “Then hang on to me,” I said. “And don’t let go, no matter what.”

  I concentrated, then grabbed onto the fabric of reality, ripping it apart. I felt Gage’s arms wrap awkwardly around my shoulders, his chest pressed against my back. I hoped he wasn’t too heavy. I looked back at Aki.

  “I’m doing this to save you,” I said.

  He nodded woodenly, his pale eyes rimmed in black smoke.

  I stepped through the tear in the world, pulling Gage with me, and we tumbled into the Unsung.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “You going to tell me just what the hell that was?” said Gage. He was trying to stay calm, but I could tell he was scared. Whether he was scared for me, or scared of me I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

  “No idea,” I said. My voice did not sound like my own. It sounded like someone weak, someone small. “I really don’t, Bobby. I don’t know what this is.” I met his eyes. “Why? Why is it always something? Why is it always me?”

  “You saved my life?” he said.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Bullshit, Niki. How?”

  I shook my head, a sharp twinge behind my eyes.

  “What’s happened?” he said. He was getting angry. Scared-angry. “Tell me.”

  I nodded. “Okay, Bobby. Sit down.” I sat on the shining black stone. We were standing on the top of Lucifer’s tower. I’d been able to get us here, but it felt as though it was a very close thing. As if, had it been ten seconds later, I would have lost both of us in the Unsung.

  Gage sat with his back to the tower, leaning against it, weakened by whatever Aki had done to him. And maybe by what I had done to him, too. I sat next to him.

  “I saw the Creator last night,” I said.

  “What?” said Gage. He turned to look at me.

  “He looked like a young girl, but it was Him. Or Her. Whatever. She said She was leaving.”

  “What do you mean leaving?”

  “God told me that there was nothing we could do,” I said. “She said the Yuki-onna was nothing compared to what was coming. And when I woke up I was in your apartment.”

  “What’s this big thing that’s coming?”r />
  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Niki, why is the Creator leaving?”

  “Because,” I said. “The Creator is afraid. Something is coming that even God is afraid of. It has something to do with the boy. Matthew. I think he’s going to let something out. Something big.”

  We sat in silence for a while. I leaned the back of my head against the cold stone. I needed Lucifer. He knew more about this stuff than I did.

  “What else?” said Gage, breaking the silence.

  “What do you mean?” I said, without looking at him.

  “There’s something else,” he said. “None of that explains what happened back there. Who was that guy?”

  “A shinigama. Monster hunter. Apparently.”

  “And?”

  “And I stopped him from breaking you.”

  “Stopped him, or fixed me?” said Gage.

  I didn’t answer.

  “Should I be worried about you, Nik?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I really think you should be.”

  “What’s happened to you?”

  I swallowed, trying to think back, trying to remember anything that might help me. “It was a gift,” I said, bitterness in my voice. “He did this. The Creator. He said He was going to become a human for good. I think…” My voice broke and I took a breath before continuing. “I think the Creator gave me His power, Bobby. But it’s not like last time. I’m not just carrying it.” I finally met Gage’s eyes. “I feel like it’s going to kill me.”

  Gage frowned. I saw his nostrils flare for a moment. His fists clenched.

  “Over my dead body,” he said.

  I almost laughed. “It just might be if you hang around me much longer.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” he said. “We always have. It’s what we do.”

  “Not this time,” I said. “I think this time is different. I think this might be the end. Of everything.”

  “It’s been the end before,” he said.

  “We can’t fix this,” I said.

  “That ain’t like you, Slobodian. Giving up? Before the fight’s even started? Has love made you soft?”

  I smiled. “Lucifer would know about this stuff. I don’t know what to do. Sam’s gone, the angels are who-knows-where. And Lucifer…”

  “Then I guess we’d better find him,” said Gage.

  “Just like that?”

  “Yeah,” Gage shrugged. “Just like that. You’re Niki goddamn Slobodian. Ain’t nothing you can’t do. You saved me. You can save anybody. The whole damn world if you put your mind to it.”

  “You have a lot of faith in me.”

  “It’s always worked for me before. So get your ass up and let’s go find this son of a bitch.”

  “It’s not going to be easy,” I said.

  “Now you’re just talking sweet to me,” said Gage, smiling. “Hey, thanks for saving me, Nik. Really.”

  “Do you remember when I died, Bobby?” I said.

  Gage busied himself with standing up, brushing himself off, looking out at Erebos. After a long time he finally answered.

  “I don’t like to think about it,” he said.

  “Remember how angry you were at Sam for bringing me back?” I said. “I was angry too. I was so angry that he would have sacrificed the world just because he wanted me around. I called him selfish for what he did.”

  “You have a point?” said Gage.

  “I’m no better than he is,” I said. “If it was between the people that I love, and every other human or demon or angel, or all of them, for that matter, I’d let them all burn. I’m no better than Sam. For you, for Lucifer. I’m going to save him if I have to kill every goddamn living thing that gets in my way.”

  “You’re not Sam,” said Gage. “Why are you saying this?”

  “This kid, Matthew. All this has something to do with him, right?”

  “That’s what you said,” said Gage.

  “If it comes down to a choice between your lives and Matthew’s life,” I said slowly, “I’ll always choose you and I’ll always choose Lucifer. And, if I have to…”

  “Don’t,” said Gage. “You don’t have to say it, Niki. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  I shook my head. “You have to accept the fact, Bobby. I might have to kill him.”

  “He’s just a kid,” said Gage. “We’ll find a way.” But he had gone white. He knew I was speaking the truth. And he knew that he might have to help me. After a time, he nodded.

  “End of the world,” he said weakly. “Ain’t that a bitch.”

  A shadow seemed to stretch over us and I looked up. Erebos was lit by very old Hellion magic. It never went dark. No matter the time of day or night, you could count on the red-orange sky being illuminated. But as I watched, the light over us dimmed to a dark orange, and then went out completely.

  “Niki?” said Gage. “Is that supposed to happen?”

  “Go inside,” I said, backing away. “Bobby, go inside right now.” I could feel something in my chest. A pressure, like there was something expanding there, something hot and bitter and dangerous. Something was coming. Even as I had the thought I felt an odd wind on my face. Hot and dry and reeking of smoke. A plume of red fire filled the sky, casting a shadow of something enormous in the sky. Something with wings that seemed to spread across the entire city.

  “What?” I said, pausing to stare at it. The fire dissipated and the shadow blended back into the pitch black of the sky.

  “Niki, come on!” Gage grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me inside. I looked at him, his eyes wide and afraid, gripping the railing on the spiral staircase for support. “What was that, exactly?”

  “It can’t be,” I said. “They’re not real.”

  “Just like the Yuki-onna wasn’t real?” said Gage.

  “Just like that,” I said. “But, Bobby, dragons? Seriously?”

  “I don’t make the rules here,” said Gage. “Maybe you’d better tell me more about the Grace. It’s them doing this, right?”

  “Yeah. They have Matthew. They must be getting him to open up…I don’t know. Portals? Aki said something about how all the monsters and gods were separated from us and put into little worlds of their own, where they couldn’t hurt anyone. The way I understand it, Matthew is letting them out. I don’t know how or why.”

  “This is the Abby kid?” said Gage.

  I nodded. “I don’t know much else. They’re old. As old as Erebos, maybe. And they use old magic. The thing is, though, they’re human. But everyone I’ve talked to is afraid of them. Oh, and also the Creator may have accidentally let them get their hands on Archangel magic.”

  “WHAT?”

  “Did I not mention that?” I said.

  “No,” said Gage. “You did not.”

  “Bobby, I need you to listen to me,” I said. “Go down and on the third landing down, go down the hall on the left. You’ll find the study of a demon called Ash. Tell him I sent you and that you need Casting books.”

  “I’m not leaving you here,” he said.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said. “Meet me outside as soon as you get the books. Okay?”

  “Niki—“

  “Bobby. Do as I say. Just this once. Lucifer is gone and I need to protect his city.”

  Finally Gage nodded. “Fine. I’ll hurry.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Do that.”

  “What are you going to do?” he said.

  I tried for a smile. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

  “Niki, this is insane.”

  I met his eyes. The tower shuddered, the smell of smoke wafting through the cracks.

  “I don’t have a choice, Bobby. I have to fight. It’s what I do now.”

  “It’s not your responsibility to die for some city full of demons.”

  “If it’s not my responsibility,” I said, “then whose is it? Besides, I won’t die.”

  “You can’t know that,” he said.

&
nbsp; “Do as I say,” I said. “Please. This is just the way it has to be. I can't run.”

  “I know,” he said. “But maybe you should.” He turned and hurried down the stairs. I watched him go. I closed my eyes and leaned against the rounded stone wall. It was hot against my back. I needed to do this. I was the only one who could. I remembered the demons I had seen in Erebos. Innocents. Families. Just as manipulated by the lords and politics as anyone else. I didn’t get to choose who lived and died, but it wasn’t in my nature to just stand by and let it happen. I took a deep breath and, opening my eyes, turned and flung open the door. I forced myself out before I had time to talk some sense into myself.

  Goddamn dragons. None of this made sense. But then, none of it ever had.

  * * *

  I stood on top of the tower, looking down over the city. Flames reached for the sky, everything that could burn now aflame. Smoke burned my eyes and nostrils and made it hard to see in the sudden darkness. I could hear high, thin screams in the distance. Tinny, like sound coming from a television in another room. I scanned the sky. I hadn’t been able to stop the Yuki-onna, but I couldn’t let this happen. Not again. I remembered the pile of frozen bodies, the Japanese ghost sobbing for her family, the people dead on the beach. I felt my insides grow hot.

  A movement overhead drew my attention and I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the smoke and darkness. There was a noise that seemed to echo all around me. A shrieking cry that almost echoed the screams below. But there was no fear in this scream. There was nothing at all. I remembered reaching into Aki, the feeling of nothing resonating back through my head, the emptiness of a creature void of a soul. But he had still felt fear when I was inadvertently killing him. I could smell burning flesh mingled with the smoke now. I wanted this creature to fear me, too. Just as Aki had. I would give these people justice.

  I felt the hot wind again and I stared straight into it. There was a shift, as though the darkness were moving, and then it was right above me, hovering, eyes like glowing green glass, its body barely more substantial than the smoke that choked the entire city.

  “You don’t belong here,” I said, my voice like a growl between my teeth.