Then there was the troubling matter of the theft that led to his Knighthood being stripped from him. Polly saw being a Knight of Hell as an honor and a privilege. In her mind, J. D. had sullied that honor and it disappointed her because she had once trusted him. She had actually believed he was someone worthy of her trust and respect, and that was something that didn't happen often.
The fact that he stole from Hell really angered her, but it hurt worse that he'd betrayed her trust. She supposed there was a small part of her that still trusted him, slightly. That was why she had spoken to Lucy on his behalf and got her to agree to allow J. D. to keep his hellfire. It afforded him strength and many powers he would have lost otherwise.
As much as she wanted to trust him, Polly was more concerned about having to waste valuable time chasing down a bum lead. She was becoming increasingly annoyed that she had to deal with meeting him in a human establishment. She walked into the club and made a beeline for the bar. Bartenders were always good sources of information, and he'd no doubt be able to tell her if J. D. was already there.
As she moved toward the bar, she couldn't help noticing how the red neon flames that were bolted to the wall were interspersed with metal pitchforks. Polly rolled her eyes at the whole cliché and quickly glanced around taking in all the tacky sights and sounds.
The bar sat in the center of the main room with the dance floor surrounding it. Back behind the circular bar was a decent sized room, where the pool tables and dart boards were. It was there she decided her meeting with J. D. would have to take place. It was one of the best spots for keeping an eye out on the rest of the club as well as the quietest place in the bar.
She wondered if the bartender would know something as to where J. D. was, whether or not he was actually at the club. This place was exactly the sort of seedy gin mill he'd enjoy on a regular basis. Guys like him—with more power than sense—always did. They seemed drawn to the cheap, easy women and the forgetfulness that came with the power of alcohol.
People moved out of her way as she walked, which she was used to. Even if they didn't believe in demons, it was as if they instinctively knew she was dangerous. Very few ever stood in Apollyon's way, and those few who did had a short shelf life. Mostly, folks avoided her like the plague.
As she approached to speak with the man behind the bar, she got no farther than the second row of illuminated tiles that made up the dance floor when a short fellow in a Tommy Bahama shirt and khaki pants stood in her path.
"You're pretty," the little man slurred at Polly.
"Excuse me?"
"I'd like to climb you, Mount Amazon. Get it? It's a double entendre, see, Mount Amazon, 'cos I want to mount you." The drunk fellow began to move forward as if to give Polly a hug. She put a hand on his balding head and pushed.
"Shove off, cretin," Polly said as the man hit the floor giggling.
"She touched me!" he shouted back to his group of nerdy office jockeys, and they cheered their friend on. Polly rolled her eyes, stepped over the vermin, and continued on her way to the bartender.
"Nice moves you pulled on poor Patrick there. What can I get you?" The man tending bar grinned at her, and Polly had a feeling Patrick and his friends had been giving the bartender trouble all night. She looked the man up and down and noticed he had long, thick, dark black hair and was clad in leather chaps and little else.
"I'm looking for someone."
"Aren't we all?" The bartender grinned a little wider.
"No, I mean I'm meeting someone here. Dark skin, tall, silver hair. He been in here?"
"Sounds like he'd be hard to miss. I haven't seen anyone like that." As he spoke, he took orders and made drinks for the people around them.
"Well, when he arrives, if he inquires about someone named Polly, tell him I'll be back by the pool tables," she said as she slipped him a fifty dollar bill.
"Hey, lady, I'm not your messenger," the bartender called. His slipping the bill in his pocket as Polly turned and walked away told her he would do as she asked.
Polly moved toward an unused table and began to rack the balls. Before long, there was a group of guys watching her with smiles on their faces. They expected that because she was a woman, she would have no clue how to play the game. Polly decided she'd be happy to take their money while she waited. After she won the third game and the two men who had teamed up to "kick her tall, pale, gorgeous ass" were walking off scowling, J. D. showed up.
He caught her eye and moved right to where she stood, bypassing the bartender completely. Polly reached for the balls on the table and began racking them again, making sure it was a tight fit. "You up for a game?"
"No, thanks, Polly. I have some information for you on the souls. It's not much, but I figure that a little bit is better than nothing," the tall demon said coolly.
"I'm not in a patient mood, J. D. Just spill what you've got," Polly barked as she broke. Balls hit the pockets as if they were afraid not to. When they stopped rolling, only five were left on the table. Polly picked off every last one. J. D. watched, amusement causing a smile that reached his eyes as she sank each shot expertly.
"You've still got it, P."
"Like I could ever lose it?" Polly winked at him and continued, "It's good to see you, J. D. How have you been?"
"Oh, good days and bad, you know how it goes."
"So, what have you learned?"
"There's been some rumbling in the lesser demon communities." His grin faded and a cold indifference replaced it as if he suddenly recalled that he was supposed to be mad at her.
"What sort of rumbling?"
"They're tired of being known as lesser demons. Some are talking uprising. The djinn have been stirring up several factions, or at least they were before they started busting their pals out of lockup."
"Uprising? That's impossible. They'd have no way to harvest or collect the souls. Plus, let's be honest here, Heaven isn't just going to let a demon walk right in and take some souls. I know for a fact there is nobody up there with access to our souls."
"Except Charon." J. D.'s words made Polly pause.
She explored her thoughts for a moment. Lucy had questioned Charon herself.
There was no way Lucy could overlook something that huge, could she? No, it just didn't seem possible that the Queen of Hell would question the soul thief and not know it.
Polly shrugged those thoughts off and decided it was time to move on." What else do you have for me?" she asked her old compadre.
"I got a girl that can help you with information gathering."
"Spill."
"One of my mares is part succubus. Inexperienced, but talented nonetheless. With the right prompting, she might be able to access information that we can't. She can also smell emotions and psychic residue—trust me, she'll be a good little tracking dog for you. She'll need some guidance, but I've found that a smack or two usually helps."
Hiding the look of disgust on her face at the disrespect J. D. showed the beings in his care, Polly began to rack the balls again. She hated that she had to hide her feelings, but she needed J. D. friendly and talking. This girl of his seemed like just the ticket to her. She hesitated for a moment, then relented. "Okay, bring her to me."
"Now?"
"Soon would be good. I've kind of got a lot of shit to do here. Waiting for you wasn't exactly on my agenda." She turned to him and let some hellfire flash through her eyes to let him know how serious she was. He backed up a step to show respect. Only Knights of Hell (and certain former Knights that had been allowed to keep their power) could harness hellfire that way.
As it shone through a demon's eyes, it also amped up the ability to connect with everything in the universe. Though she had fallen, Apollyon was still an angel, and God didn't take away the gift of communion with everything. The hellfire allowed them to see a being's soul and to tell if they had the seal of Hell upon them. If there was, then the demon was free to approach, and they could also look and see what the person had done to
earn the mark.
The seal meant the person had done something bad enough that Hell owned, or was close to owning, his or her soul. Any time betwixt incarnations would be terribly rough. The reprieves for a new life, and another chance at Heaven, were few and far between. Reincarnation happened when the assigned higher demon felt as though the soul they were tormenting had reached a sort of enlightenment, an understanding of how wrong they had been in their previous lives. Hellfire allowed all that, and it also gave her strength well beyond anything possessed by upper demons.
When she told Lenny she could burn with it, she hadn't been lying. It took a lot of energy and power from her to do it, but hellfire could be harnessed in the same way a laser or flamethrower could. Polly didn't like to use it. She preferred more hands-on methods when dispatching enemies.
If J. D. felt this girl had some power and could help, that meant one of two things: She was loyal to him and he could get information out of her later that he could use against Polly, or she was really that good and he hoped Polly would appreciate his aid and give him some form of payment. The latter she could deal with.
"Okay, I'll go get her. You don't have to be such a hard ass. You could lighten up a little, you'd enjoy life more, ya know."
"Hey, J.D?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not buying the good Samaritan act. What's in this for you?" Like Lucy, Polly wasn't much for games. Instead of plotting around her adversary's next move, she preferred to call them out.
"I was hoping when my girl finds your guy that maybe you'd remember it was because of me and give me a little something." His grin was toothpaste ad worthy.
"If she's any good to us, we will see. You're forgetting that you owe me a favor. Lucy didn't allow you to keep your hellfire because she is merciful, you know."
"So, are you the one who talked her into letting me keep it?" J. D. looked shocked.
"Of course I did. You didn't actually think Lucy would let you keep it out of the goodness of her heart, did you? I encouraged her to allow you to keep your power because I was hoping that one day you'd help me, too. If this isn't that day, I'm sure we can scrape up some sort of bone for you. Now, go fetch." Polly tossed the cue on the table and began walking for the door.
"That shit isn't cool, Apollyon. I've been a loyal friend to you since—"
"Loyal?" Hellfire flashed in Polly's eyes, cutting J.D. off. "You call yourself loyal? What about when Rafael tried to kill Lucifer and smuggled a freaking angelite bomb into Hell because you gave him information on our back door? What about when you stole from us?"
"Hey, I had no idea he was planning to kill Lucy. I actually thought there was some horizontal limbo action happening and they didn't want anyone to know. As for the stealing, I did what I had to do to help myself out. I don't expect you to understand or forgive me, but I never would have hurt you or Lucy for anything." J. D. shrugged as he reached the door first and held it open for Polly to walk through. As she began to step through, Polly noticed a swarthy dark haired man on his cell phone. He was speaking and gesturing frantically all the while looking at her and J. D. intently.
Polly pushed J. D. back into the club and shut the door. She took a quick look outside through the window next to the door and noticed a white van idling in the parking lot. Anger swelled, and she stalked over to the man at the bar.
"You. What are you playing at?" Polly hissed.
"N-nothing." Fear made the man's voice a pitch too high, his eyes a little too wide, and sweat began to appear on his upper lip. In that moment, Polly was certain he had information she wanted.
"What the hell is going on? Why'd you push me back into the bar, P?" J. D. looked a mixture of puzzled and pissed.
"This gentleman here is setting us up for something. I'd like to know what."
"I ... I…. Look, I ain't setting you up, really. I was just letting some folks who wanted to follow you know that you were leaving the bar." The man's face blanched and Polly thought his black hair and dark brown eyes made a nice contrast to his terrified and quite pale face.
"Who is out there?" she growled, an unspoken threat hung heavy in the tone of her voice.
"There's this church I belong to, and they just want to know a bit more about you. I met them through my parole officer. They have a soup kitchen I volunteer at for community service. I have to do it for another offense I was charged with before I went to jail. They're good folks, and they told me that you broke into their church and tried to kidnap someone. All they were going to do was follow you, honest." Polly could tell that the man wasn't lying. He really believed all these church members would do is follow her.
"I don't want to be followed. Do you understand what I am saying here?"
"That they shouldn't follow you?"
Polly closed her eyes a second as she tried not to lose her composure. She took a deep breath and said, "That would be smart, yes."
"Okay, I'll call them."
"How about you wait right here and I'll tell them myself?"
"Oh, it's really probably better if I tell them." The man's face went whiter as he continued, "They won't like that you spotted me."
"Leave this matter alone. You called to let them know we were leaving. Your job is done." Polly allowed a little hellfire to come into her eyes as she checked out the man's soul. There was a seal, but it was faint and he actually had the chance to remove it if he led a good and virtuous life. He wasn't a bad guy, and Polly wondered if she could play fast and loose with the rules. Technically, the seal of Hell was on him, so she could approach and make a deal, but morally she preferred not to bring souls to Lucy for torture if they didn't need to be.
"Okay." The guy backed up against the bar when Polly's eyes turned red. As the scent of his raw terror hit her nostrils, she smiled. The bartender started to walk over and Polly waved him off. He nodded and returned to his conversation with a young college-aged girl at the other end of the bar.
"Good man," Polly said to the church's informer. "You realize you still have a chance to turn your life around, right? I suggest you take it. I hate torturing souls that could have gone to Heaven if they'd turned things around." Polly turned and made her way back to the door with a bewildered J. D. following behind her.
"What church is this, man? Drew said something about a couple dudes trying to take her to a church earlier. I wonder if it is the same one."
"Good question. I assume Drew is your … mare?" At J. D.'s nod, she continued, "When we leave this building, they're either going to try and fight us or they're going to try and follow us like the little stool pigeon believes. I'm fairly certain they mean to kidnap or kill us. I don't know about you, old friend, but I'll be damned if I let any church take me. That said, it would do us some good to find out what the hell their game is. I mean, Jesus, do these religious nutters have shitty timing or what?"
"You can say that again. Just rest assured that I've got your back."
"Hey, J. D.?"
"Yeah, Polly?"
"Good luck." Polly grinned as she opened the door and stepped out.
A small group of lesser demons stood in the parking lot. She had been expecting humans, and to see djinn out there showing such little respect to her, the First Knight, pissed her off. They smirked at her, and at their insolence, Polly's eyes began glowing red. She held her ground as they rushed at her and J. D. She conjured a blade made of brimstone and steel, held it up, and screamed a battle cry that was almost older than time.
Snarling her anger at their disrespect, Polly rushed at the lesser demons and began to carve her way through. The first one fell when Polly's fist, clutching the blade, crashed down on his skull.
He fell to the ground, unconscious.
A female djinn, or djinniri as they preferred to be called, rushed her thinking she had a chance.
Polly put her blade through the djinn's belly and sliced upward toward her chin with all her strength. Her eyes, flooded with hellfire, were the same color as the blood that flew around them w
hile she disemboweled the djinniri. They both looked down for a moment as the djinn's intestines fell onto her feet. Polly thrust her hand into the hole in the djinn's chest and pulled her heart out with a wet sucking sound. The woman looked into Polly's eyes for a brief moment before she crumpled to the ground atop her intestines.
As she crushed the djinniri's heart into pulp, Polly said, "That oughta keep her dead. Man you guys are like cockroaches, hard to kill and annoying as hell."
Then, awaiting another attack, she moved into a defensive position, but the remaining two djinn ran for the van, shouting at each other.
"Fuck! He said this would be easy, but now Naomi is dead and Joshua might as well be. Get us the hell out of here, Celia!" the male djinn screamed as he and the remaining djinniri took off in their van, tires squealing in the night air.
J. D. stood near the door of the bar and clicked his tongue, "I was hoping to have a go myself. Too bad they were so cowardly."
"Yeah, because you were right there with me when they struck," Polly said sarcastically.
"Hey, you didn't need me backing you up there, She-Ra."
"She-Ra?"
"It's a human thing, never mind."
"Do you like the humans, J. D.?"
"They're not that bad, P, if you give them a chance."
"It's not humans I object to. It's the fact they took precedence over us to Him. It was as if we angels no longer mattered. As if we were nothing more to Him than janitors created to clean up after these beings, which was what upset me the most. Look at what He has done to us for daring to request the love of our Father, J. D. He makes us demons! You know what? I don't want to get into this right now. All it ever amounts to is justifiable anger." Polly sighed and wiped blood off her face.
She shrugged and grabbed both the corpse of the djinn she had gutted and its unconscious friend.
"Hey, you should try to have fun with your role sometime, Polly. If you do, maybe you'll see things in a different light." J. D. blew her a kiss.
She rolled her eyes at him just before she popped into Hell without saying so much as a goodbye. She set the corpse in cold storage and took the unconscious lackey to a torture cell. She would get the information out of him as soon as he woke up.
Cast In Blood: Revelations Series Book 1: Page 9
