by Jenny McKane
“What sort of monster are you?” His voice was fractured now, tempered with the pain and shock he was likely feeling. A small rush of excitement surged through Sunny, taking in how the mighty demon who wanted to rip her arm off was now in a puddle at her feet.
“The last Solomon,” she said with a little air of regality. “And if you try to hurt me again, I’ll rip your head off and stuff it down your neck.”
Honestly, she’d do no such thing—but she was on a roll and Sunny wanted to capitalize on the momentum she was gaining.
“Why did you summon me, Solomon?” Baal’s dragon head croaked as the demon’s body righted itself and stood. “I have no business with a Solomon and wish none, either.”
Sunny hadn’t really been expecting reluctance. Revenge was such an easy sell with Agares, who seemed to want a chunk out of Asmodeus’ hide, and with Zepar, who was probably mad at the world for being created so diminutive.
“I’ve been told that you’re not seeking revenge, which is easy enough to get when you’re finally free,” she began, her mind racing. She had to carefully tread with her words or he’d likely toss himself at her again. “But what if there was a chance to win your freedom and find what you’d searched for all those years?”
She was making the narrative up at this point—not really certain how long he’d searched for Lilith or whether he’d given up on her altogether before becoming one of Solomon’s slaves. She was really hoping and banking on the fact that he’d still held out a bit of hope that Lilith was alive.
The dragon head, which was a harsh gray stone, but moved with the fluidity of soft skin, had bright green jade gemstones for eyes that did not move, though Sunny was certain that he could see.
“She lives?”
There was a rawness to its voice as it spoke, and Sunny imagined she was witnessing vulnerability (as much as a stone dragon could be vulnerable) in that moment.
“Nobody in my group knows for certain,” Sunny said. “And they speak the truth. There is no record of her death, but there have been no signs of her for a long time.”
Without warning, as Sunny explained the year they were in and how much time had passed since Baal had been imprisoned, the dragon’s head rotated to the left. All the way to the left to the point she heard what sounded like bones in the demon’s neck breaking and contorting. She flinched as the dragon head broke past what would be considered a normal stretch and moved all the way to the back of the demon’s head.
The face that was before her now was human—which was a good thing. The last aspect of Baal she wanted to deal with right now was the serpent—she’d leave that part of his personality to Asmodeus.
This figure had grey stone skin as well, but the features were flatter against his face and very human. He wasn’t exactly handsome, but his lips were full and his nose strong—and from what Sunny could tell, covered in a dark green moss. What in the world?
All that aside, it was the human face’s eyes that gave Sunny pause. They were milky and opaque. Where jade had been now sat two perfectly round opals in the demon’s eye sockets.
“Blind,” she murmured. The human aspect of Baal couldn’t see.
“But still not harmless,” the demon’s voice said. It was more human than the dragon, though cracked and unsteady.
“I mean you no harm,” she said, thinking she was going to have to start again.
“I heard what you told my brother,” it interrupted. “What I want to know is why you are offering this opportunity to us? What do you need in return?”
Sunny held her breath. The moment of truth in any demon negotiation. Her price. She gave a brief rundown of what was happening—Death was rising, the nox were rising along with it, and the balance between Hell and the mortal realm was tipping.
Baal took a moment with her explanation and before she could process what was happening, his face rotated again—another round of sickening cracks and pops and suddenly she was looking into the eyes of a snake.
“Shit,” she muttered. “I don’t want to deal with you. Bring the human back.”
The snake laughed, a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a hiss.
“Wisssssse,” it said, darting a forked tongue between its lips. “You’ve been warned about me, yessssss?”
She looked over her shoulder beyond the salt line. Eli and Gideon had stopped trying to break the invisible shield down after the she’d regained her feet, but it was the tight expression on Asmodeus’ face that she noticed first. He didn’t look pleased. He’d warned her that she was in danger if she was facing the serpent so soon and on her own.
“I’ve been warned about you,” she agreed, nodding.
Shooting from the hip, Sunny decided to play to the creature’s vanity and ego—it seemed to revel in the fact that it was scary. Fine. She could play scared, despite the fact that with every other demon she’d dealt with so far, showing a lack of fear was what had been required. The snake was different. It wanted to feel powerful.
“You want our help, yessss?”
It was regurgitating the previous conversations she’d had and Sunny was getting impatient.
“Yes,” she said, putting her hands on her hip. “I want your help. And I want you to have the opportunity to find Lilith, if that’s what you want.”
It hissed loudly then, and its body jerked forward, towards her, but stopped as if hitting an invisible force. It’d tried to attack her, she realized.
“You wanted to hurt me just now, didn’t you?” she asked quietly, locking eyes with the serpent. Onyx. First jade, then opals, now onyx.
“Yesss,” it admitted. “You are not worthy of ssspeaking her name.”
Lilith.
“My apologies, then, Baal,” she said, using its own name and testing its temper. It didn’t seem bothered that she was using his own name. Interesting. “You gain your freedom to do…what you will. We can complete the cycle of the Solomon Seal and be done with it all.”
That part was also true—the link between the Guardians and the Solomon lineage was a real thing as long as the 72 demons were imprisoned. Once they’d earned their freedom and Sunny earned her own (from the Solomon link), all parties were freed from one another and from the history begun 3,000 years ago.
It took Asmodeus’ tutelage to make Sunny understand her own chains when it came to the ring.
“Your life is saturated with misfortune when you’re bound to the Seal,” he said simply, as though he were stating the weather or the temperature. “Think about your own life, of which I have no real knowledge. It hasn’t been easy, has it? It has likely been filled with loss and grief?”
Her parents. Her brother. Bad luck serving Michael. It was all true.
“Your debt was passed to the angels and by not fulfilling your servitude or by not breaking your bond, your life will continue to be a tragedy until its ended—likely prematurely.”
The thoughts echoed in her head when Asmodeus had first told her that while they were shopping for clothing and electronics for the archdemon back in St. Louis.
And the reason she’d been allowed to just walk away from Michael at the end? He’d allowed it.
“He could have ended your life on the spot for breach of contract if he’d so chosen,” Asmodeus had said.
So many pieces missing in the puzzle, though she was beginning to feel like they were all within reach. Somewhat.
Eyes back on the serpent, Sunny held her breath while it considered. Just as she expected it to answer her, it’s head darted out and it snapped its fangs within an inch of her face, causing her to shriek.
“What’s the matter with you?” she yelled, well and truly pissed at the stupid snake.
It gave what she assumed was a sly smile, as its expression moved more to a wince. Did snakes even smile?
“Just testing my boundaries,” it said, almost sheepishly.
“Do it again, and I’ll end you,” she gritted through her teeth. She found the snake to be the most annoying of the t
hree personalities of Baal. “Do us both favor and don’t show yourself around me again.”
She assumed it was going to launch itself at her again, but instead, it slid its head sideways. Two clicks, this time, bypassing the dragon who gave her an odd grin as it passed, all the way to the human.
“My brothers and I have agreed to the terms of the contract,” it said with finality, a light burning behind the opals. Sunny felt the ring singing on her hand, sending power up her arm. She shook her hand out of habit, waiting for the sting which never came.
“Would you be requiring our assistance at this point?” It sounded like an honest question and Sunny frowned.
“What for?”
Though it couldn’t see, it motioned with its head over her shoulder. She turned quickly and cursed, her stomach dropping.
Gabriel and Metatron were in their battle stance, their swords drawn. Gideon was on the ground, unconscious and bloody, and Eli stood with his sword at the ready. Asmodeus was nowhere to be found. Across from where her friends stood, she saw the reason for the chaos and for Gideon’s bloody state.
The Powers had found them.
Tesah squared off with Eli, her badass sword already gleaming and Eron held Sin in a vice grip from behind, a dagger at his neck.
“Damn it,” she cursed.
If the demon hadn’t put a giant windscreen around them, she might have been able to hear the Powers before they got the drop on Gideon.
“We could be of service—early and ahead of the specified contract, of course,” the human side of Baal said, sounding like some sort of business executive about to make a deal. “But it would cost you a boon.”
A boon? What the hell did that mean?
“What sort?” Sunny said in a clipped tone.
“To be determined at a later date, naturally,” the demon all but crooned, back in its natural element as the deal maker. “Think quickly, human. The archangels are no match for the Powers and the human and cambion will be dead soon.”
If Asmodeus had been pissed about giving Zepar the first-round draft pick when the time game, he would likely be murderous when he found out that Sunny had promised a boon. But they were caught in a tight spot—they wouldn’t defeat the Powers after being caught off guard and with Sin in such a precarious position.
She had no choice.
Reaching for her short swords behind her back, Sunny decided to make her decision and go with it.
“Fine,” she said, stepping across the salt line. “You have a deal.”
Chapter Thirty-five
It wasn’t that Sunny thought their luck would hold out forever so much as she just sort of hoped it would. Foolish, she knew, but as she stepped over to Gideon and checked for a pulse (that was thankfully there and strong), she stood up and faced what she’d been dreading the past 96 hours since learning the Powers were after her.
And instead of stark, numbing fear, Sunny found herself annoyed.
Fuck, she seethed to herself, if it wasn’t one damn thing on this quest it was another and instead of the Powers being the end-all-be-all nightmare for her, she happily realized they were just another obnoxious bump in the already-obnoxious road.
The thin stream of blood trickling from Eli’s neck, however, reminded her just how deadly these two particular obstacles were, of course.
The demon she’d just freed was nowhere in the vicinity, she realized with a sense of dread. To be truthful, neither were—as Asmodeus was absent as well.
She fought back the brief fear that she’d been double-crossed or betrayed and chose to focus on what was right in front of her.
“Let him go,” she said to Eron, stepping behind Eli who was squared off with Tesah. Now that she noticed, the two archangels had their attention on the female Power, too. Was Eron less of a threat somehow?
“Surrender your life to us and the archangels and the human may leave,” Tesah spoke, her voice flat and monotone. So like an angel, really.
“What about the half-demons?” She couldn’t help but ask. The Power had deliberately not mentioned them walking away with their heads still attached to their bodies, either.
“Worthless,” Tesah spat, not answering the question in the slightest.
She watched Tesah’s eyes go to her left, to Eron and gave him a slight nod. Sunny screamed, knowing she’d just basically given Eron the order to kill Sin.
“No!” She screamed, sounding hollow and far away, even to her own ears. “Please!”
But they weren’t listening. The knife pushed against Sin’s throat and just when Sunny realized she was about to witness the execution of her friend, Eron’s eyes went wide and he stiffened, suddenly immobile.
His arms and hands went rigid, the knife clattering to the ground as Sin tumbled forward, in shock, but able to scramble away.
Eron was frozen. His eyes twitched and he struggled to move his lips, but the rest of him was a statue.
Eli capitalized on the moment and rushed Tesah, who was distracted enough to be taken momentarily off guard. She was a master swordswoman, though, so Eli’s advantage didn’t last long.
Sunny knelt by Gideon and pressed her hand against the gash on his forehead, trying not to panic. Was it a blade wound or blunt force that had caused it? With all her might, she hoped it wasn’t the runed blade, which could spell disaster for the demon blood he had in his veins.
“Gideon,” she said, trying to keep an eye on the fighting so she wasn’t caught with her back exposed. She hadn’t noticed that Gabriel was bleeding before, either, and she watched as he staggered, clutching his side.
As a precaution, she pulled her blades closer while trying to keep her focus on Gideon, who wasn’t making a sound.
Checking his pulse, she allowed herself to relax a little when she felt its strength.
“Can you hear me? Gideon, stay with me,” she said, her voice strong, surprising herself. She’d grown more calm in battle, it seemed, thanks to the past few months.
He groaned and tried to open his eyes, but they only fluttered a bit before he closed them again, but in that short expanse of time, Sunny could have sworn they were red—demon red. Had something in the Tesah’s attack triggered the demon in him?
She looked down at his hands and caught her breath at the sight of his claws completely out—long, black, and razor sharp. Sunny also noticed that they were dripping with a metallic substance she had never seen before. Venom? Since when did Gideon have venom? She knew so much had changed after Alder’s hack-job on him, but had he always been able to call up venom from his claws?
The metallic clang of swords drew her attention back to the fight around her and the fact that it’d drawn the attention of the monks that lived inside the temple. They’d come to the boundary behind her to see what was going on and likely instantly recognized that angels were fighting each other—and that demons were present as well, because she caught the backs of them in their bright robes as they ran back to the temple and hunkered down inside.
Watching the fighting once more, and moving ever so slightly away from the claws in case Gideon inadvertently swiped out at her in his delirium, Sunny winced as Tesah delivered a solid kick right to Metatron’s sternum, sending him backwards into the stack of stones. The structure wobbled and Sunny worried that it would topple on his head—could an archangel survive being crushed by giant summoning stones?
She didn’t have to find out, as Metatron rolled to the left and landed back on his feet, only a little bit worse for the wear. Tesah had moved to Eron and was touching his face.
“Where are you, Guardian? Show yourself, coward!” Tesah’s voice, normally so emotionless and monotone, was pitchy and sharp, the sight of her brother/love/whatever pushing her past her normal façade.
The Guardian? Was it Baal who’d incapacitated Eron? Where was he?
Sin had managed to crawl his way to Sunny, the wound on his neck bleeding, but after a quick inspection, not looking too terribly deep. Sin’s dark eyes were wide with adrenal
ine as he picked up one of Sunny’s blades and leaned against her back to catch his breath.
Despite being outnumbered two to five (possibly six?) the Powers seemed to have done a lot of damage to their little team. Sunny considered the fact that they might not make it out alive from Japan. She ripped a piece of Gideon’s t-shirt and balled it up as she lightly pushed it on the wound and inched away from him. When she glanced over at Sin, she noticed he was staring at Gideon’s hands.
“What the hell are those?” he asked, pointing to the claws, dripping with metallic venom.
“Upgrades from the Shadow Realm, I think,” Sunny muttered. “It’s the first time I’ve seen them like this.”
Sin had ripped his own t-shirt after cutting it with Sunny’s blade and wrapped the thin strip around his neck, a makeshift bandage that looked like some garbage chic choker necklace.
“What happened to the dude angel?” Sin asked, looking up at a still-immobile Eron.
“I have no idea, but it might have something to do with the demon I just freed,” she said. “Asmodeus mentioned he can go invisible during battle. I’m hoping its him.”
“Me too,” was all Sin said.
Gideon made a gurgling sound behind her, causing Sunny to turn back to check on him. When Sin let out a cry of surprise, the world seemed to shift into slow motion as Sunny watched her death driving toward her, fury in its angelic eyes.
Somehow, Eron had managed to free himself from whatever thrall he’d been in. He had his runed blade held high above his head, and he was charging at them.
His eyes were lit from behind with a bright white light, not unlike the way she witnessed demons’ eyes glowing red when they were enraged.
Eron was making a noise that Sunny had never heard before, either. A battle cry, perhaps? It was a terrifyingly melodic sound that reminded her of a war cry, only more achingly beautiful and distracting. Was it a weapon of the Powers?
She didn’t have time to consider the answer, as Eron was upon them with blazing speed that she hadn’t accounted for (but certainly should have) with a blazing sword above his head, aiming straight for Sunny.
