by Jenny McKane
Whatever. It still hurt like she was trying to kill Sunny, she grumbled as she rubbed the back of her head. A goose egg was forming, Sunny thought miserably.
“And what? She poofed out of existence?”
“I have no idea,” Eli said. “I was watching you when you fell and the demon passed right over you and out into the desert somewhere. Everyone else is chasing her.”
Fantastic.
“You good to walk?” Eli asked her after giving her a moment, and a bottle of water, to compose herself.
“Peachy keen,” she grumbled miserably. Eli kept his hand on her elbow as they walked, slowly at first but gaining a little speed as Sunny’s fog lifted.
“Did you get a look at her?” She asked a few moments into the trek over red sand and rocks. “Was she gigantic? A monster?”
In Sunny’s mind, that’s the only version of Beleth that would do. A giant, terrifying ogress.
Eli smirked a little as he shrugged, definitely not telling Sunny the whole truth. She could read it in his face.
“It all happened so fast,” he said, clearly lying. “I couldn’t really see.”
Sunny let it drop as they continued to walk, not seeing the team anywhere.
“How the hell did they get so far so fast?” Sunny asked. “Was I out long?”
Eli’s hand had moved from her arm and he was now holding her hand in his own. It felt strange to Sunny—oddly intimate and something he’d never done before. Before she could think too much into it, he answered her questions.
“She was moving pretty quickly, so I imagine they’re all using their supernatural abilities to chase her,” he said as they continued walking. “And you were out less than a minute. You were awake and talking some serious shit, but you weren’t making any sense.”
Clearly, she thought, the tang of the salt she’d likely inhaled when she fell still in her nose and mouth. She took another sip of the water Eli had given her, feeling more clear headed the more they walked.
“The more I think about it, the more pissed off I’m getting,” she said, mostly to herself as they marched on. “And how the hell do you know which way to go? How are we not getting ourselves lost out here?”
Eli grinned as he looked back at her.
“No faith in me, Rosie?”
The smile sent an odd zing of emotion to her stomach. Was he flirting? And how did that make Sunny feel? She pushed the notion aside.
“I have faith in you,” she said. “But I also know we’re the only two humans on the team and we’re lacking quite a few magical abilities they all have. I’m just curious how you know where to go.”
They’d crested a small hill as they spoke and Eli came to a stop, scanning the horizon.
“First, I keep my eyes open and my mouth shut most of the time—something those supernaturals can’t seem to figure out,” he said, his dark eyes twinkling. “Second, I studied a map of the area last night and talked to Gabriel before we set out this morning just in case something like this happened. I know where the thing is likely going to try to hide and when she took off, she went in that direction.”
“Nice,” was all Sunny could manage, wishing she could be fractionally as competent as Eli was on most days. Why couldn’t he be the leader of their posse? He was built for leadership.
“We’re almost there,” he said as they started again.
“Was there any way for me to have stopped what happened back there?”
The fact that a demon had gotten the jump on Sunny so easily rankled her. Was she off her game? The first three generals hadn’t kicked her ass as soundly as Beleth had.
Eli shook his head.
“She knew what she was doing,” he replied. “She materialized behind you and shoved you hard. If anything, we probably should have warned you to keep your back against the ward so that there was no space for her. But none of us were counting on her being ready for you. That was the strange part.”
Maybe not too strange, Sunny thought. Their imprisonments were different. Asmodeus, as the leader of the 72, suffered the harshest punishment and had not been able to leave captivity at all in the past 3,000 years. The generals, while suffering more deeply than the legions, had been given more occasional reprieve than Asmodeus. Perhaps Beleth had used a little of her “shore leave” to gather some intel, to know what to expect.
“I probably should have had the other three here with me,” she muttered, thinking maybe Agares, Baal and Zepar might have helped.
“Maybe not,” Eli said. “We still don’t know where we all stand in these little agreements. It’s probably better that you deal with the generals one on one until you get a handle on everything.”
“Like that’s ever going to happen,” she said with a laugh.
Eli’s face fell and he stopped, causing Sunny to nearly crash into his broad chest.
“It’s happening, Sunshine. Little by little, the leader in you is coming through,” he said, his voice softer than it had been. “I see it and so does everyone else. The longer you deny it, the more you put us all at risk. Nothing’s going to click into place until your resolve and your confidence do.”
He didn’t give her a chance to reply and was walking again in the direction of a rather large outcropping of large, flat rocks that sat about two stories high.
They were still a good distance away—maybe a third of a mile from what Sunny could estimate, but it sure seemed like that was where they were headed.
The path went down into a valley as they neared the outcropping and the small scrub brush and trees that dotted the landscape grew larger. They were deeper into the forest now and it wasn’t until they’d walked nearly the entire way that she was able to get a good look at the mesas.
Up close, they looked to be more about three stories high. They were broad and smooth and striated with layers of red, pink, and orange sandstone. Beautiful, really. Sunny was taking her time, admiring the beauty of the rocks when her eyes fell on a figure perched on the top of them.
It was hard to get a detailed look at the creature, but her gut told her she was staring at Beleth. Her lips thinned as she took in as much as she could of the demoness, committing to memory the demon’s coloring and movements.
When they finally arrived at the base of the rocks, she found the archangels and the archdemon looking at the flat face of the rock in front of them. It took Sunny a moment to realize they were watching Sin attempt to climb up the face of the mesa.
“Making much progress?” Eli asked Gabriel as they got closer.
Gabriel shook his head with a sigh.
“None,” he said, and swept his hand toward Sin. “And this idiot has fallen four times already.”
“You can’t get up there?” Sunny asked, wondering about their supernatural abilities, Hell, she was pretty certain all three of them—Gabriel, Metatron and Asmodeus had wings tucked away somewhere.
“Nope,” Gabriel answered as he shielded his eyes to look up at the demoness. “All of us have tried and all of us have failed. If we get close to the wards she set up, we get knocked right back the ground. Hurts like a bastard, too.”
Sunny watched as Sin’s footing on a small outcropping failed and he tumbled a good ten feet to the ground. She winced as he hit the ground.
“The only good thing is that she’s basically warded herself up there, too,” Asmodeus supplied as he walked toward them. “She can’t leave or she would have already. She’s either got one hell of a ward she trapped herself in or she’s tethered to you somehow, Sunshine.”
Ick. Sunny wasn’t thrilled with the whole tether thing as long as the demoness was acting like a complete asshole.
“We’re just going to have to wait her out?” Sunny asked as she watched Sin pathetically dust himself off and start to place his hands on the wall once again. “And can you please tell him to stop? He’s going to kill himself trying to impress you and none of us want to drag his broken body out of here.”
Asmodeus gave Sunny a look that said
he hadn’t missed the bossy tone in her words, but turned and ordered Sin off the rock wall nonetheless.
“Enough, cambion,” he called as Sin turned to look at him. “Your athletic prowess has been duly noted, but will not get you up a warded wall, unfortunately.”
Turning back to Sunny, Asmodeus continued.
“And as for now, all we can do is wait. Beleth cannot go anywhere and we can’t leave without her being bound to an agreement.”
Not exactly the good time Sunny was hoping for. Rubbing her temples against her aching head, she felt herself starting to crack under the pressure just a little bit. She needed that wildcat of a demon down quickly—there wasn’t time to play games with a giant toddler of a guardian and she and the team needed to be back at the house focusing on their next move.
Up ahead, Metatron gave a shout—a sound that was half surprise, half warning, before Sunny realized they had guests.
Two large figures, obviously demons, had appeared in between where Sunny stood with Asmodeus and Eli and where Metatron, Gabriel, and Sin had gathered.
They were taller than the assembled group with dark, grayish skin and animal pelts on their bodies. Their faces were painted with black and white designs obscuring their features and both wore an animal head as a covering. One was a coyote, the other wore a mountain lion on his head.
“Oh, for the love of Hades,” Asmodeus cursed as he took the new arrivals in, clearly not happy. “Skinwalkers.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Archdemon,” the creature closest to Sunny spoke.
She looked at Asmodeus. “You know them?”
He shook his head. “By reputation only, I assure you,” he replied a little tersely.
Plaxo was behind her and even had a growl coming from his mouth.
“I’m Talos and this is Coyote.” The demon with the mountain pelt did the introducing.
He had a long gray ponytail, had an older, softer body than his counterpart—he was clearly the elder. He also held an impressive walking staff—carved dark wood with grotesque faces carved all the way from the tip to the top.
“I’m Sunshine,” Sunny said, assuming they were introducing themselves to her, as they already knew Asmodeus, it appeared.
“Well met,” Talos said. He glanced over his shoulder at Beleth, perched on top of the rock, taking in the meeting. She’d stopped screeching and making obscene gestures and was concentrating hard on what they were doing. “I see you’ve loosed a Guardian on sacred lands. Not a good idea, but it’s probably what saved your hides.”
Sunny had no idea what the Skinwalker was talking about and must have had an expression on her face that said as much.
Talos motioned the area around them.
“Tribal lands. Sacred and warded,” he explained.
“Your tribe?” Sunny asked.
“No, all tribes own the land,” he said. “The wards are strong enough to keep that one from disappearing on you. But conjuring a demon like that is also an act of war. There are treaties and agreements in place between shamans and the angels that forbid this.”
Sunny chewed her lip, a rise of panic starting to swell in her stomach.
“I had no idea,” she said, and looked to her team. “And I’m sure the rest of us didn’t, either.”
Talos looked back over his shoulder at Gabriel a moment. “I’d wager that one knew,” he said, but didn’t elaborate.
Despite Gabriel’s earlier bluster with Asmodeus, he stayed quiet when the Skinwalker spoke.
Had Gabriel known they were acting way out of line? Likely. He was a smart archangel and with Metatron, they had access to a lot of information and backstory that Sunny and Eli and Sin didn’t have.
“Again, I’m sorry,” she said, unclear of what she should be doing right now.
Nobody else was stepping in to take over the talks and she felt like she was drowning a little bit. Would they attack? She hadn’t been allowed to bring her obsidian blade and these demons looked every part the warrior.
Talos was taking in Sunny just as much as she was assessing him. He leaned heavily on the staff he carried while Coyote was behind him, keeping an eye on the archangels near the base of the mesa.
“You’ll never get her down,” Talos said, motioning behind him toward Beleth.
“We’re working on it,” she said with a shrug, trying to act casual.
She could feel some sort of proposal coming and didn’t want to give away too much yet. She didn’t want them to know just how ridiculously out of options they were when it came to getting Beleth to submit.
“Why do you want her?” Coyote, the younger Skinwalker, asked. He’d moved forward closer to Sunny and Eli stiffened, moving closer.
Sunny ignored Eli’s nonverbal warning and held up her hand, showing them the Solomon ring.
“I’m not sure if you know what this is,” she began but was interrupted.
“We know,” Talos said. “The enslaver’s ring.”
Shit. They weren’t exactly fans, either, and held the same stance that the tengu had.
“I’m not enslaving anything or anyone,” Sunny said, motioning to Beleth. “She’s already imprisoned and I need her help. In exchange, she’ll have her freedom and I can take this ring off.”
Talos looked to his companion and neither spoke, though Sunny had the feeling that plenty was being said.
“We’ll help you get the demon down,” Talos said. “But on a condition.”
“Of course,” Asmodeus said, finding his voice. “Demons can never just be altruistic, can we?”
Talos didn’t acknowledge the archdemon’s words and Sunny held still, worried that the Skinwalker was going to ask for something she couldn’t deliver. She was already in debt to Zepar, the general of the south and that had nearly caused Asmodeus to blow a gasket.
“When the fight is over, and we know one is coming from the drums we hear growing louder every day,” Talos began and Sunny’s stomach tightened at the mention of the drums, “you must destroy the ring.”
Destroy it?
She hadn’t really considered what would happen to the thing when and if they were done, to be honest. But she wasn’t a fan of the power it held over the Guardians and she wasn’t planning on making a keepsake out of it.
“Done.”
Asmodeus whipped his head toward her and for a brief moment, she swore she saw anger flashing in his demon eyes. Whatever she’d seen was soon gone, though, and he just shook his head.
“What did I tell you about making deals with demons?”
“To not,” she shot back, a little more than shook up at his eyes flashing demon so violently.
“And yet here we are,” he ground between clenched teeth.
“Anytime you’d like to take over, Asmodeus,” she began, her own anger bubbling up. “Any moment you think you can handle this better than I can and are willing to shoulder a little of the responsibility and odds as well, be my guest.”
He held her stare in a challenge a few seconds longer than necessary, but soon enough he snorted his frustration and whipped his head away, shutting her out for the rest of the conversation.
Sunny wasn’t trying to make enemies out of her allies, but they all had the wrong idea if they thought this was some sort of logical, common sense adventure they were on right now. Nothing made sense and the players and the rules were constantly changing on Sunny. If any of them thought they’d make a better decision maker, they were welcome to try and to take the ring and put it on their own right hand while they were at it.
“Fine,” she snapped at Talos. “I’ll destroy the ring when we’re done with our mission and the guardians are freed.”
Talos said nothing and didn’t move as he studied Sunny. Just as she was worried she’d been tricked into something, he cracked an eerie smile that made his black and white war paint even more intimidating.
“Done.”
With a nod to Coyote, Talos turned and walked to the base of the mesa before giving C
oyote the go ahead.
In a blink, a literal blink, Coyote went from standing two feet in front of Sunny to standing behind Beleth on the mesa three stories above. Sunny watched as the demoness realized she was no longer alone on the rock and before she could turn around to lash out, Coyote gave her a massive shove with his large hands that sent her plummeting off the edge.
Sunny sucked in a breath at the move, despite having been assaulted by the demoness not a half hour before. The push had been violent and merciless and Sunny now wondered if she was going to watch a demon fall to her death. Could they even die from a fall like that?
A split second before she hit the ground, Talos held the top end of his staff in the air and said a word that Sunny missed, halting Beleth’s descent completely and leaving her suspended in the air, frozen and unable to move.
Talos motioned for Sunny to come closer.
“Make your bargain with her before I let her go,” he said, his eyes on Beleth. “And be careful with your words, Solomon, this one is angry and powerful.”
Sunny swallowed hard, both impressed at the ability of the Skinwalker to completely incapacitate Beleth and a little bit terrified. As she took slow, measured steps toward them she found her voice.
“How did you do this to her? She’s one of the most powerful Guardians in existence.”
Talos gave a shrug. “Like I told you earlier, Solomon, the rules change when you’re on sacred ground,” he said. “We’re far more powerful here than any other demon. It’s your lucky day if you look at it this way—50 miles to the east and you would have been on your own and likely would have a hard time catching her.”
Sunny nodded.
“Beleth,” she said the demon’s name and her dark eyes jerked toward Sunny, who was a little taken aback by the hatred she saw there. “I’m here to offer you a chance to break your bondage. Help me defeat Death and your debt to the Seal of Solomon will be nullified.”
She hoped it sounded right—her voice was shaking and she was pretty certain her knees were, too.
“Die,” the demon hissed.
