A Sacred Pact

by Michael Todd

  Korbin furrowed his brow. “How can that be? That’s strange. When I talked to Katie, she said it was a ghost town. Besides that church in the middle of town, there were no bodies. All the demons had been killed. Anyone who could get away did. Anyone who hadn’t disappeared into the lava or was ripped apart by demons.”

  Timothy pulled up a split screen and brought up two different maps. “This one on the right was what Incursion Day looked like, or would have looked like. The one on the left is that town in Romania. It’s showing a deeper and stronger concentration of energy than we had on Incursion Day. That’s bad news bears, but not a whisper of any demons or even Damned running around.”

  Korbin took the iPad from Timothy and squinted at the screen. “And it’s been like this the whole time?”

  Timothy nodded. “Yep. Ever since the incursion. Do you think maybe it’s the lava because it came from hell? Maybe it’s made up of some detectable heat sources they didn’t tell us about?”

  Korbin stared at the screen. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea. But you better believe I’m going to find out.”

  Baal pounded his fist on the round wooden door to Beelzebub’s cave dwelling. The door slowly creaked open on its own, and Baal marched in. He wasn’t going to allow himself to fear Beelzebub or his stinky cave. He entered the dimly lit living room and looked around. “Come on out. I know you’re here.”

  Beelzebub stepped out from the shadows, swallowing the tail end of a baby black bear. “What can I do for my dear friend Baal?”

  Baal snarled. “There is something really sneaky going on, and it has your name written all over it. I want to know what exactly you are doing to Earth and the meatsack inhabitants.”

  Beelzebub smirked. He wanted to toy with the other demon, but he knew that he had to tell Baal what was going on. He had been too active. Baal would find out sooner or later. The last thing he wanted was for Baal to go to Lucifer before he had a chance to take care of the situation. He picked up a glass of Scotch and swirled it, then took a sip.

  Baal crossed his arms. “Well? Start talking.”

  “Oh, my dear Baal, it’s really very simple. I was the one who opened the lava over that small Romanian town.”

  Baal whirled his hand. “Yes, yes, we know that. But why?”

  Beelzebub walked to his fireplace and looked down at the dying flame. “Because now that the molten hell is all over the town, I can create an outpost with it.”

  Baal lifted an eyebrow. “An outpost? Excuse me? It sounds to me like you are trying to station some sort of demon army there, but that would be ridiculous, right? Because you have no control over the demon armies.”

  “You can make an army out of anyone, Baal. I just needed the little rogue idiots to follow me. I’ve been sending droves of demons there. A small batch at a time, of course. They are hiding in the town, avoiding the soldiers. Once the military is gone, they will be able to take over.”

  Baal didn’t understand. “Yes, but why are you doing all this?”

  Beelzebub smiled at Baal. “Why, to have a little bit of hell on Earth. Wouldn’t it be nice? I want to claim my section of the planet, and I think this is the best time for it. Once I have raised my demon army, I will spread them across Europe. I will own a vast amount of Earth. Don’t worry, there will still be room for you.”

  Baal narrowed his eyes. “If you think you will succeed, you’re insane.”

  “I have a vision. I have ambition, and the means to achieve my goals.”

  “If Lucifer finds out, your vision won’t last long. He’ll rip your eyes out.”

  Beelzebub shook his head. “He’ll reward me for doing what Moloch could not.”

  “And Lilith?”

  “In time. I’m keeping her busy while I build my army.”

  “That sounds to me like you don’t have a plan for her. I promise you, if you don’t take care of Lilith first, any plan you have will be absolutely and undeniably fucked.”

  19

  Katie landed on the ice next to Pandora. It was cracked and covered with ash. Pandora put her hands on her hips. “Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  The ground shook, and a loud clap echoed through the stadium. A portal flashed open, melting the ice beneath their feet. In no time they were up to their calves in water. Katie pulled out her guns, aiming at the portal.

  Pandora sniffed the air and began to back up as well. “Oh, balls.”

  A stream of the strangest demons Katie had ever seen came galloping out of the portal. The first looked like a black-scaled rhino with seven horns and jagged red streaks running down its black hide. Its eyes were beet-red, and fire shot from its nostrils as it charged Katie. “Holy fucking hell, what is that?”

  Pandora called down her angelic armor and was suddenly encased in black and silver. She spread her wings. “Jump, bitch!”

  Katie and Pandora leaped just as the rhino plowed through where they had been and slammed into the wall behind her. It slashed its many horns and made a low wailing sound. Strange sounds came from the portal and a shaggy beast slowly emerged. Its long black fur shimmered under the flickering lights, and its teeth dripped black ooze. Its long fur-covered claws dragged in the water as it roared three times as loud as a lion. Glass broke all over the stadium. Katie rose to Juntto’s eye level.

  Pandora flew up to join them. “Well, who said this was supposed to be easy? I’ll take the right, Pandora the left, and Juntto, you blast everything you can. Just watch your shots.”

  Juntto nodded and pulled his gun around as the two flew off. The demonic rhino slammed into him, and Juntto groaned as the gun slipped from his hand. The rhino turned quickly and charged again. His solid hooves smashed the weapon to pieces. Juntto howled with rage and pulled the spear from his back. “No one smashes my Juntto-sized weapons!”

  He pulled his arm back and launched the spear, and it flew through the air and slammed into the rhino, the point bursting through the rhino’s other flank. The beast thrashed for a moment before falling into the water. Juntto reached down and yanked the spear out. “I hate zoos, especially the ones in hell.”

  The rhino tried to pick its head up, but it fell back down, wailing. It finally collapsed and turned to dust. The demonic lion snarled and charged toward Juntto. Juntto snarled back. “Come and get some, pussy.”

  Juntto ran at the beast. The whole stadium shook as his massive feet hit the floor, and the two monsters slammed together in the middle of the rink. Juntto grabbed the lion by its mane and held it off the ground, dodging the swipes of the demon’s long, sharp claws. He grabbed the great beast’s head with both hands and twisted, breaking its neck. The lion went limp and burst into a cloud of dust and fur.

  Pandora raised her sword and sneered at a scaly three-headed gorilla. Its fangs were sharp, and each head’s features were twisted with rage as the monstrosity beat its chest. It charged, and she reared back and kicked it in the chest hard. It flew back and slid through the water. She waved her sword at the thing and crouched, ready for action. “Come on, King Kong. Let’s get some of this.”

  The beast growled and charged again. Pandora waited patiently, and when the beast was close, she spun in a circle, the blade of her angelic sword cutting off all three heads. The creatures behind it backed up, then squealed and ran off, preferring to leap back through the portal rather than face the vicious red-scaled angel in front of them. Pandora chuckled and straightened up. “That’s right. You mess with the bull…”

  “Fuck!” Katie screamed as a flying demon slashed at her with razor-sharp claws.

  As she chopped off one of its legs, a larger demon with a bright red mohawk slammed its foot into her chest. She flew back and hit the glass partition, the air leaving her lungs. She was covered in cuts and bruises. Katie was getting beat to hell and didn’t have Pandora to heal her.

  Pandora watched Katie struggle to stand. “Aw, goddamn it. Fuck this shit.”

  She sheathed her sword and shook off the enchanted angelic armor.
The black and silver armor slipped off her body and dissolved. Pandora ran at full speed and dove back into Katie. Hold on, chica, I’ll get you back up. Just keep swinging!

  Katie growled, forcing herself back up on her wobbly knees. The shimmer of her armor was slowly fading with every blow she took. She gripped her sword tightly and swung wide, killing the mohawked demon with a brutal slash to the chest. Above her, Juntto’s great spear skewered the flying demon. She jumped out of the way as it slammed into the ground and burst into dust. Juntto stomped over and picked up the spear.

  Katie nodded her thanks. “Thanks. I’m struggling.”

  “I will finish these. You close the portal.”

  Katie pulled a special metal grenade from her bag and stumbled toward the portal behind Juntto. He slashed and stabbed with his spear, clearing the way. She pulled the pin of the grenade and held down the lever, narrowing her eyes at the gateway to hell. “I think you forgot who you were fucking with.”

  She threw the grenade hard, but at the last second a jabbering demon jumped up and knocked it to the ground.

  Pandora gasped. That knob-gobbler blocked the grenade!

  Fuck that.

  Katie took off. She leaped over the demon and kicked the grenade. As it passed through the edges of the portal, it exploded. The debris went inward, but the shock wave of the blast blew Katie off her feet.

  She slammed into the wall and slid down. Her eyes were a faded red. The rest of the demons made a run for the portal. Juntto slashed at those he could reach but finally gave up as the last of them flew back into the portal, and it snapped shut behind them. Juntto stomped over to Katie, scooped her out of the water, and carried her into the stands. He carefully set her down on a bench.

  Katie’s eyes were shut, but she could hear Juntto’s gentle, deep voice. “Katie. Are you all right?”

  She groaned, and her eyes fluttered. “I think so. Pandora is on it.”

  Juntto shrank down to human size and sat next to her.

  Her cheek was black and blue, and her lip was busted. Blood trickled down her chin. Her face was covered in soot, and there were several slashes across her back. Her angelic armor faded and she let out a deep breath, putting her hand to her stomach. How bad is it?

  Pandora sniffed. Not terrible. You’ll feel better in no time. I think Juntto will carry you back.

  Katie nodded. For now, I’ll just sit here.

  Juntto and Katie sat quietly as Pandora worked her magic, healing anything that might be deadly to Katie in the long run. When she was done, she stepped out of Katie and gave Juntto a high five. “Good work, big man.”

  Juntto nodded, but he was concerned for Katie.

  Katie winced as she sat up. “Not having a demon fucking sucks.”

  Pandora snorted. “Being a demon is pretty fucking cool.”

  “It looks as if things are changing,” a voice said from their left.

  Gabriel ambled toward them, his robes trailing behind him. Pandora rolled her eyes. “Oh, great, this cock-holster. You sure do have good timing. You couldn’t have stepped in, oh, I don’t know, fifteen minutes ago when the deadly fucking rhino was trying to kill us?”

  Gabriel smiled kindly. “You know how things are, Pandora.” He inclined his head toward Katie. “It will heal. Even without Pandora’s demon powers, the angelic ones will take care of your wounds.”

  Pandora snorted. “Yeah, at a fucking glacial pace. It’s like angel powers are 1980 Atari, while demon powers are the newest Xbox.”

  Juntto nodded. “Yes.”

  Pandora laughed. “I figured you would understand that analogy. Juntto, have you met this shitbag? This is Gabriel, God’s greatest warrior. The guy who likes riddles and never helps with anything.”

  Juntto studied Gabriel, who gazed back at him with bright blue eyes. Flashes of wars of the past ran through Juntto’s mind. He remembered a time those eyes had stared at him from the other end of a sword. “We’ve met, but it was a very long time ago. Not sure we parted on great terms.”

  The chopper picked Calvin and Sofia up from the airport and carried them on a forty-minute trip over the ocean. It landed on the wide, empty beach and Sofia and Calvin grabbed their things. Calvin nodded at the pilot, who handed him a card. “You need anything, give me a call. Only a flight away. Katie said it’s all on her.”

  Calvin gave the guy a mini-salute and stepped out of the chopper. They ducked as they hurried away from the blades and covered their eyes as the sand whipped around them wildly. The chopper lifted off, leaving them alone on the private beach. Sofia set her bags down and walked across the white sands, her long pink bathing suit cover-up flapping in the breeze. Up on the hill was a beach house, and just visible from the beach was a shimmering blue infinity pool.

  Calvin had some trouble in the sand with his cane, but he walked up beside Sofia and kissed her shoulder. “Alone at last. What a beautiful place.”

  Sofia took off her sunglasses and turned to Calvin. “Could have been the slums of New York as long as I’m with you. I do have to admit, though, this is much better.”

  Calvin chuckled and kissed his bride. He pulled back, and the two looked out over the ocean as the sun began to move toward the horizon. Sofia put her head on Calvin’s shoulder and sighed. “I wonder how everyone is doing?”

  Calvin shrugged. “Probably fine.” Together they stared at the vibrant colors in the sky. “But let’s not think about that for a while.”

  Gabriel walked toward Pandora with his hands clasped in front of him. “I have not seen this before. Your angelic abilities are conflicting with your demonic powers. You are changing. Certain abilities will develop over time, but you will need to adapt.”

  Pandora raised an eyebrow. “What exactly does that mean, O Great One?”

  “Your demonic energies are fading.” Gabriel shrugged. “I’m not sure what that means, to be honest.”

  “Of course, you aren’t. That would be too convenient. What’s going to happen to me, you pompous jerk?”

  Gabriel smiled and turned away. “Only time will tell, Pandora.”

  Pandora, Juntto, and Katie looked at one another for a moment. Katie turned to speak to the angel, but he was gone.

  She looked around, but Gabriel had disappeared once again. Pandora slapped her hands on her legs. “Seriously, I think the guy was just hired by the Big Man to play Jedi mind tricks on people. It’s like he gets a kick out of fucking with us.”

  Katie smirked. “He probably does get a kick out of fucking with you. If I were him, I definitely would take advantage of that whole right-hand-of-God thing.”

  Pandora opened her mouth, but Juntto raised a hand to silence her. “I have thoughts.”

  Pandora tried to stifle a laugh. “Can we help you? Does it hurt?”

  Juntto ignored Pandora’s snide comment. “All this talk about demonic energy and powers got me thinking about Brock and the guys. The biggest question has been how they were stripped of their demons, right? And how they were drained of all their energy? They were found on the brink of death.”

  Katie nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly it. That purple bitch had something to do with it.”

  “Yeah, she sucked me dry, and it wasn’t as fun as it sounds.”

  Juntto morphed into Channing Tatum. “I have seen something like this before, or at least I saw the victims and heard the stories. It is very much like the vampire queen. She sucks the energy out of living creatures. She mostly feeds on demonic energy, but she will take any life she can.”

  Katie’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, you mean to tell me there are vampires too? I thought demons were just demons.”

  Juntto tilted his head. “Yes and no. She does not live off blood. She lives off energy. The more emotional you feel, the stronger your energy. Demons are always angry, which is why she prefers them. She holds on tightly in the heat of the kill to absorb that emotion. She feels the ecstasy of your emotional energy.”

  Katie furrowed her brow. “She is a demo
n, though?”

  Juntto shook his head. “No, she is the enemy of the demons. She is the enemy of all. If I am right about this, this spiderwoman sounds very much like the Leviathan Teyollucuani. Her stories are old, and she has not been seen in centuries. Even in my prime, she was a legend. It was thought that she had been killed. Others say she retreated to a cocoon of her own making and took a long sleep.”

  Katie nodded. “Like you.”

  Juntto shook his head. “No, I was forced into the snows, and my body went into hibernation to survive. She chose this. She had enough energy to sleep for a millennium.”

  Pandora was listening quietly to the side, her arms folded across her chest.

  Katie glanced at her, noticing that she was focused on this information. “Do you think this Leviathan was awakened to cause problems? I just don’t know why demons would bring her back, especially if her food of choice is, well, them.”

  Juntto shrugged. “She is one of the last beings the demons would summon. It would have to be a real emergency.”

  Pandora tapped her foot and shook her head. “She told me she was Teyollucuani, but I thought she was some hot vampire bitch, so I ignored her. You know, the kind with big tits, perfect skin, and only two arms and two legs?”

  Juntto shook his head. “She’s a Leviathan. Her blood is actually energy. That’s how she feeds.”

  Pandora took a deep breath and began to pace. “I didn’t expect a purple eight-legged spider thing, but then again I didn’t know what to expect. I suppose I never put a lot of thought into it because she wasn’t there in front of me. I know a little bit about her, though.”

  Katie sat up excited. “You do? Like what? Anything that can help the guys heal faster?”

  Pandora pursed her lips. “Not really. I know that she can feed off humans, angels, and even Leviathan. However, her favorite food is the sweet, sweet demon energy nectar. She craves it and looks for it. It consumes her at every pass. Her hunger is insatiable, which explains the mounds and mounds of bodies in the church. She got what she could from the humans until the demons started to show up. She built up her energy to be unstoppable.”