Happy End of the World (Demon-Hearted Book 3)

by Ambrose Ibsen

Gadreel was.

  The demon had seized control of my body, slipped right into it without invitation. It was like a switch had been flipped. I can't remember the last time he'd rushed onto the scene this way. Usually, I went about cutting his leash, mentally. Normally, I extended a hand and brought him out to the fore. That was how it was supposed to work. This time however, he just surfaced reflexively.

  Gadreel reached out with my right hand and plucked the slug out of the air. Then, he dropped it into his mouth like a lead-flavored M&M. He began to chew.

  His gut rising and falling with every breath, the shopkeep took the hint and doubled-back towards the counter.

  “I guess that means I'm free to go?” asked Gadreel, spitting out the slug and making his way over to the front door. The shop owner didn't move to stop us, didn't utter a goddamn word.

  As the daylight washed over us, I found myself back in the driver's seat. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to my being reinstated. I just was. It was pretty clear to me right then that there'd been a fundamental change in our relationship. These scars I wore had made this body Gadreel's every bit as much as it was mine. Up until this point, I'd had ways to reign him in, ways to call the shots. He'd been compartmentalized, except during new moons. Now, it didn't matter what phase of the moon we were in.

  He was one side of the coin.

  I remembered busting out of the hospital shortly after receiving the demonic transplant. Gadreel had taken me over completely, had snuffed out my mind and put me into a kind of hibernation. He'd run riot in my body then, wreaking havoc, and upon waking I hadn't been able to recall anything that'd transpired. Things were different now, though. I was right there with him, living in the moment.

  There were two minds actively competing to call the shots now.

  Germaine looked up at me worriedly as I studied the sky. “Was that what I think it was? Did Gadreel just pop out to say hello, uninvited?”

  I nodded. “Yeah... looks like he's got more control, all right. I didn't get any warning. He was just there one minute and gone the next.”

  The spider groaned. “Dude, I told you this was an awful idea. You really are gonna be a loose cannon now. If you aren't the one holding its leash, then how can you hope to control it?”

  While I tried to think of a thoughtful answer, Gadreel came round again, smirking. He looked down at Germaine with my eyes and winked. “You of all people should know that a prince of demons was never meant to wear a leash, spider.”

  Germaine popped back into my pocket, shuddering. “Y-you're gonna have to work on that delivery, guys. Cuz this split personality shit you're doing is gonna raise a lot of eyebrows.”

  I lowered my gaze and started down the sidewalk. “We're not going to worry about that right now,” I said. “We're heading to HQ. We need to see what's up with the Manticore.”

  The demon agreed. “Yes, let's,” came his voice in my ear.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  33

  “What are you gonna tell him?” asked Germaine as we came up on Veiled Order HQ.

  “Just shut up. I'll handle it.” Kubo was going to ask me where the hell I'd been all night, and I was already brewing up some lies to feed him. I'd tell him I'd gone to check on my dad. Or that I'd lost my phone and decided to go look for it at home, where I'd accidentally fallen asleep.

  No, that one wasn't going to work. I looked too shitty and unrested to pull that one off.

  Maybe I'd tell him I'd been attacked by Whiro one-on-one and that I'd only just barely escaped with my life. Or that I'd been separated from the group and had decided to lay low until morning, when the Manticore would no longer be a threat.

  The city looked pretty good, considering what we'd been through the night before. There'd been a few dinged up buildings and abandoned cars along the way, but I wasn't sure whether those were due to the Manticore or if it was just the norm. I mean, come on. This is Detroit we're talking about. It doesn't get a whole lot more picturesque than this.

  I scaled the gate and started for the main entrance slowly.

  “Why you draggin' your feet, Lucy? Hurry it up!” said Germaine.

  He knew damn well why I was dragging my feet. This wasn't something I was looking forward to. The others had probably been up all night formulating a plan, coming up with a way to shut this monster down, and they would give me a lot of shit for not being there. Never one to enjoy being lectured, I was mentally steeling myself for a barrage of insults from the Chief, or Arson, who'd use this absence as evidence of my irresponsibility.

  I buried my left hand in my coat pocket to keep the black serpentine scar out of view. Eventually, they were going to find out about what I'd done. No way around it. Now wasn't the best time, though.

  I entered the complex, walked through the lobby and passed the attendant without a word. Crossing into the elevator bank, I was in the process of trying to figure out where the Chief might be when I found someone else instead.

  “What's this? Decided to show up for work today? Where the hell have you been, demon?” asked Arson. He'd just stepped out of a conference room, and his youthful face was looking pretty rough around the edges. I'll admit; the thought of this guy losing sleep, of his having to put in long hours, of his being inconvenienced by my absence, gave me a chub.

  “I don't want to talk about it,” I replied, frowning. Germaine was still in my pocket, standing still as a stone as though he didn't want to be discovered.

  Grabbing my arm, he pushed me towards the open door of the conference room. “Get in there. Everyone is discussing the day's plans.” The boss must have been hurting for a cup of coffee or something because he walked away after that.

  Of all the shit he might've given me for peacing out the night previous, that'd been a pretty light scolding. “I'll take a win where I can get it,” I muttered.

  The conference room was full of the usual suspects. Kubo, Percy and Malcolm

  “Lucy,” said Percy, pulling out a chair for me. “Where have you been, man?”

  The Chief sighed and cut me off preemptively. “I don't even want to hear it. I have no interest in learning how you fucked around all night, Lucy.”

  Ouch. OK, so he was disappointed in me. Great. I'm not gonna lie; his tone hurt my feelings. I dropped down into the chair and kept my mouth shut as per his wishes, though. Maybe I could have explained myself, but then spoiling the ace that was—quite literally—up my sleeve, would have only complicated things. Better to let him think I was just an irresponsible turd than to tip my hand.

  Germaine jumped out onto the table and gave everyone a little wave. “So, how goes it?”

  Malcolm had his mud-caked heels up on the table and shot the spider a glance with one eye. “Long and short of it is we're layin' us another trap.”

  “Oh, cool. That worked pretty good last time, didn't it?” replied Germaine. “We got, uh... any new leads? Anything new to hit him with?”

  “It's not like last time. We're going to hit him before he has a chance to get moving,” replied Percy. “See, we've been waiting nightly for the Manticore to reveal itself, have been monitoring its nightly habits. Going after it during the day is something we haven't tried, though. And that's where we hope to make a breakthrough. See, early this morning, during a fly-by, some of our guys found what we think may be the creature's den. They used thermal imaging tech and picked up something big and warm. It's gotta be the beast. We're going to strike it during the day, see if we can't put it down before it crawls out of bed, get it?”

  “And this time, Kubo's going to pull off the spell,” added Malcolm “Once the Chief has hogtied it, we're going to fuck it good and proper.”

  Kubo was pissed off at me, but even so, the mention of the deadly binding spell was enough to make him visibly uncomfortable. “I've made some preparations and feel I have a good handle on it,” he said not a little unconvincingly.

  “OK, that all sounds good. When do we move
out?” I asked.

  Kubo looked to Malcolm “In about two hours. We're gathering resources.”

  I stood up. “Chief, I lost my phone last night. Do you have another I can use?”

  He looked at me like I'd just slapped his mother in the face. “You just lost it?”

  Well, no, I hadn't just lost the thing. I'd thrown it into a sewer the night before to keep from being tracked. I wasn't going to bother with specifics, though. “Yeah, sorry. It was an accident,” I said. Now it was my turn to come across as unconvincing. Hands in my pockets, I leaned in the doorway. “But seriously, if you've got another one, I'd appreciate it.”

  Kubo left the room in a huff, returning several minutes later with a replacement for me. He shoved it into my grasp and paused to stare me down like he wanted to know why I was being so difficult. I was careful to accept the phone with my right hand, keeping my scarified left buried in my coat pocket.

  “Thanks.” I motioned to Germaine. “Come on, let's go.”

  “Now, where in the hell are you going?” demanded Kubo, slapping the table with an open hand. “The city's still on lockdown, remember? We need you close-by. This is no time for--”

  “Gimme a call when the time comes.” I was out the door, walking down the hall, before he could finish. Sorry, Chief, I thought. There's something I need to do before this goes down. Someone I need to see.

  “You know, kid, if you want to convince these guys that you're not an irresponsible jackass then you're doing a poor job of it,” said Germaine. As we passed the front desk, he extended a spidery limb and plucked an after-dinner mint from the bowl on the counter, before quickly scampering back up onto my shoulder. “Quick lunch. The way I see it, you're trying to starve my ass. If I don't eat this I'm going to waste away before the first punch is thrown.”

  I tuned him out and stepped into the parking lot.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  34

  When we got to Mona's and found Joe still laying out across the table, I admit my voice caught in my throat just a little. He was still in one piece, still had a dash of color to his cheeks. His dark brown hair was looking messy and his clothes were still bloodstained. Near the table was a chair, and on the back of it was draped his leather jacket. I tucked his Zippo into the right breast pocket.

  I wasn't looking to get sentimental and so I immediately called over to Mona, who was doing some reading in books that, by all appearances, were older than my entire family line. “How's he doing, Mona? Any updates?”

  Germaine crawled over Joe and poked at his face a little. “Still with us, big guy?”

  The old witch set down her tome and slithered over to Joe's side, running a hand against his wrist, and then touching his forehead. “There's been no improvement, just as I feared. He is still alive, yes. Just as I promised he would be. But, Lucian... I can't in good conscience keep him going too much longer. He almost certainly will not make a recovery from this, and on the slim chance that he's suffering in there, I almost think that the most merciful thing would be--”

  “Hold up,” I replied. “Don't pull the plug just yet. We're moving on the Manticore today. When I've put it down, I'll bring a whole bucket of the thing's blood for Joe to drink. When that's done, he'll be back to his old self.”

  Mona sighed. “As you wish, Lucian. However... have you considered what might happen if you cannot defeat the creature? Not only to Joe here, but...” She glanced at Germaine and I both. “The world is at stake, and the odds are very poor. This is a monstrosity that was never meant to exist on Earth, a thing of such power that even the whole of the Veiled Order's membership cannot hope to conquer it. I wish you the best of luck, however I wonder if this isn't a fool's errand. Perhaps you and Takeshi should round up as many people as you can, lead them to some place safe.”

  Without realizing it, I'd pulled my left hand out of my coat and had balled up my fist. The new scar was eye-catching and I didn't doubt it'd attracted Mona's gaze. “And do what? Lead 'em on an Exodus into the Beyond, where other supernatural horrors will destroy them? No, Mona. I'm going to save Earth and all of the people on it. But I'm going to do it by curb-stomping that big, stupid animal.”

  Mona took me by the hand, her atrophied digits teasing the scars on the back of my palm. “I don't know what you plan to do... how it is you think you will defeat this beast, however the legends make it clear that it is virtually impossible to kill. You have great strength, but...”

  I pulled my hand away and tucked it back into my pocket. “I'm sorry, but I didn't come here to get your opinion on the matter. I just wanted to make sure Joe was still OK.” Grabbing up the spider by a few legs, I dropped him into my other pocket and then gave Mona a nod. “I'll see you around, Mona. Take good care of him.”

  She followed me all the way to the door. “No, wait... Where are you going? Lucian... you and Takeshi are throwing away your lives! What are you going to do against the thing?”

  I eased open her front door. “I'm going to attempt the impossible, I guess. Same as always.”

  * * * * *

  With the title bout on the horizon, there was just no way I could stay still. I felt like walking, and as the streets were nearly empty, the people of the city too frightened to leave their homes even during the day, I did so without much trouble. The cop cars were out in force, and I even glimpsed one or two heavy-duty things painted olive green patrolling the streets. The Veiled Order had gone all the way in faking this terrorist attack in order to distract from the Manticore fiasco. I had to give them credit; they'd co-opted the city government, had pulled their National Guard strings again and it all looked thoroughly convincing. Thankfully, no one gave me any shit for walking around and I just kept my head low.

  “Lucy, man, we shouldn't have gone to visit Joe. It ain't good for your morale, you know? I'm worried about him too, but if you're really gonna go through with this, then you should probably head back to HQ and chill for a bit. You could really use some sleep. Maybe a quick bite.” He sniffed the air a bit. “A shower, too.”

  In my ear, Gadreel replied, “The spider's right.”

  Fuck off, I thought. Much as I'd love the full spa treatment, this isn't really a great time to worry about personal hygiene.

  The demon continued. “I wasn't talking about the shower, you idiot. Concern for your friend is clouding your mind, making it difficult for you to focus on what needs done. That young punk is the least of your concerns right now. Do your job and he'll be saved. If we fail however, then we stand to lose much more.”

  I guess you're right, I thought. If we don't pull off a win, then the whole world is fucked.

  Gadreel sighed in my ear and I wanted to tell him to cut the sass. “Again, you're putting words in my mouth. I don't much care about your world. I care about a job well done. A successful battle. I won't lose to the Manticore again.” The demon gave a low chuckle. “Perhaps we should turn around, pay your comatose friend another visit? I could make you carve out his heart, slit his throat so that the witch could never patch him up. Would you like that? Would you like me to get rid of all the distractions so that we can truly focus on the challenge at hand?”

  “Fuck off!” I shouted. I wasn't thinking it anymore, and my words echoed off of a nearby building.

  “The fuck's the matter with you, Lucy?” asked Germaine. “Who you talkin' to?”

  I shook my head. “No, it's... it's nothing. The demon's just being a prick, that's all.”

  My heart lurched, and I thought I heard Gadreel laughing somewhere in the background but the boom of my pulse made it difficult to know for sure.

  I liked it a whole lot better when I didn't have to listen to his shit.

  “Yeah, well don't go all Schizophrenic on me now. People are gonna think you're off your meds, man.” The spider drummed on my balled fist with his arms. “You ready to go back to HQ yet? They're waiting for us.”

  Something about our surroundings caught my eye. I stop
ped on the sidewalk and had a look around, trying to pinpoint just what it was that jumped out at me. One of the houses on my left, a shabby little thing, looked familiar to me. I knew that porch, that screen door. I knew the inside of that house, too. The only reason I hadn't recognized it sooner was for the lack of a perennial fixture lounging on the stoop.

  Joe.

  It was his mom's place.

  I froze in front of it, looked up into the windows, and fought the urge to walk up to the door. His mom was probably inside, worrying her ass off with all of these patrols going on in the city. For all she knew, World War Three was starting and her son was unaccounted for. I wanted to pop in and say hello, see a familiar face, but realized I wouldn't have anything to tell her.

  If she asked me where Joe was, what could I possibly say? That he was laid out on a table in some other world, barely breathing?

  That would have gone over real well, I'm sure.

  I bolted. I didn't want her peeking out her windows and finding me out there like a prowler.

  “We're heading to HQ all right,” I said. “And this time things are going to go different.”

  I broke into a jog, rounding the nearest corner and starting for the highway. There were so few people out that I didn't think twice about really letting loose. I took off down the road at inhuman speed, my surroundings melting into a pool of blurry grey. I'd have kept it up all the way to HQ if my phone hadn't begun to ring right then. Digging my heels in, I just about left the soles of my Chuck Taylors glued to the asphalt.

  I opened the clamshell and leaned against the brick wall of a post office. “How's this thing even working?” I answered. “I thought the cell towers were all down.”

  “It's satellite,” replied the Chief. “Never mind that. We've found something.” There was a nervous excitement in Kubo's voice that didn't really belong there. Whatever it was they'd found, it was big. And that meant that the big fight was imminent.

  “What is it?”