by P. K. Tyler
That's our son, Adel whispered in his mind.
Not any longer, the demon thought. That boy is our leader, our reason for being. We will be mother, father, lover, protector. Whatever he desires it will be our duty to become.
The dog howled and hunched down, his fur stood up on end and he bared his sharp canine teeth.
In response, Belial let loose a low rumbling sound, barely audible to human ears, but Asmodeus' demon senses recognized the hunting cry for what it was.
As did the dog.
The canine whined, and backed away, tucking its tail between its legs and laying its ears down flat against its head.
The boy lunged forward, his arms extended as his nails elongated into the sharp claws of his adult form. He reached for the animal and grabbed it, slicing his nails through the tough flesh of its side. He brought it to his mouth and, before the animal had time to scream in pain, bit into its neck, using his strong jaws and newly pointed teeth to rip out the animal’s throat.
Belial raised the dog high and turned its body so the blood gushing from its side could rain down into his mouth. The liquid ran rivulets down his bare chest. When the flow slowed, he plunged his hands into the dog's chest and cracked its ribs apart, pulling the heart out and licking his lips.
Asmodeus approached, gently rubbing the tense muscles of Belial's shoulders. "We need to keep moving, just a little further. Can you still feel it? That low vibration that aches in your bones? That's the presence of angels nearby."
"Can they sense us too?"
"Yes."
"So why haven't they come after me? I feel the danger of having them nearby, the need to run far from them. I don't understand why, exactly, but I know they would kill me if given the chance."
"That isn't going to happen." He stopped massaging Belial's shoulders and turned him around. "Look at me, I'm not gonna let that happen."
Belial still looked afraid, like he didn't quite believe Asmodeus’ reassurance. "Can you stop them? They're angels."
Asmodeus smiled, genuinely at ease. "Don't worry. I'm a―general with an army at my disposal. We'll be fine. We just need to get somewhere safe while the angels are still indisposed. Just a little bit further."
Belial munched on the warm meat of the dog’s heart as they made their way through the trailer park and back into the woods on the other side.
The foliage was sparse, their path easily visible under the light of the full moon. Leaves crunched underfoot and faint sounds of sirens from the distant city, destruction and discord, soothed Asmodeus. His calm seemed to reassure Belial as well.
When they cleared the trees, finally reaching a point far enough from the angels to avoid detection, they found themselves in the midst of a bunch of rail cars, rusted and quiet.
A single street lamp lit a dilapidated platform and the desolate looking station behind it. The light only reached the foyer of the ticket booth, but it was enough to see the front door hanging off its hinges, the glass windows shattered.
They could hide here until Belial was strong enough for battle, and, in the meantime, Asmodeus could summon help. If there was more than one angel in that gypsy camp, he'd need it.
CHAPTER NINE
Zeph stepped into the tiny house. Nik's leather jacket lay over the back of the couch. He was definitely here.
"Hello?" he called into the emptiness and waited a moment. "Hello? Is Nikolai Grekh here? Vai?"
The priest walked further inside, not knowing what to do. His sister sat in the car outside with God-knows-what his young nun had birthed into the world and, on the phone, Nik had promised him answers and help. What had he gotten himself involved in?
This was far from the solitary, quiet life he had made for himself. Ever since Nik had returned to his life, his center had been harder to find, his peace further beneath the undertow. He ran a hand through his annoyingly shaggy hair and closed his eyes. He felt like swearing, or kicking something, or, shit, he didn't even know.
He took a deep, steadying breath and prayed. Heavenly Father, guide me to your will. I've resisted the temptation placed back in my path and tried to follow you in all things. Please, help me find the strength to help Nik with the battle he's found himself in, help me know what you want of me. The world has gone insane around me and I see the evil you have charged me to fight, but I'm ill-equipped and weak. Show me the right thing to do. I believe in your wisdom, Lord. I believe in your Word. Let me be your Hand on Earth. Amen.
When he opened his eyes, the room seemed brighter but still empty. He turned to return to Adel and wait until someone arrived to tell them where Nik had gone, but before he took a step, a door banged open and Nik's deep voice screamed.
He ran toward the sound, weaving around scattered furniture, and down a hall. "Nik?" he called out. At the end of the hallway, he saw two old women dragging first Nik and then another smaller person out of a room.
"Nik? What's going on?" As he approached, he saw that the other slumped body belonged to Vai.
One of the old women looked toward him and met his gaze with eyes so cold and yellow, he thought he might freeze in place. Time stopped as she studied him, reading the truths from his very soul. "Come, Priest, we require your assistance."
"Who are you? What's going on here?"
An older woman with a white braid hanging down her back laid Nik down on the ground, "Heal him. We need his strength back to full capacity."
"What?" he asked, still held in place by the first woman's frigid gaze.
"He's uninitiated," she said to the other, releasing him from her hold.
"He's of no use to us then."
With that, the two women picked up their burdens without difficulty and stormed forward. They pushed him aside as they passed, leaving him to follow.
Nik moaned and his eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Zeph?"
"I'm here, Nik. What happened?"
"He tried to fight something he couldn't defeat. His confidence almost got him and the girl killed."
"Not a girl," Vai moaned. "If you're going to insult me, Anahita, use my name."
The woman carrying her chuckled and carried her off into another room.
The old woman with long, silver hair, the one holding Nik, laid him down on the couch. "He is brave. Too brave for his skill level, but his heart is in the right place."
"Vai's okay?" Nik asked, his voice low and scratchy.
"She will survive, we will tend to her wounds. Worry not about your comrade in arms, but focus on healing your own body. There is a war coming, that demon was only the beginning."
The woman turned and narrowed her gaze on Zeph. Again he felt trapped in place, unable to move or resist her.
"What am I supposed to do?" Zeph asked.
"Heal him, priest. You have the power within you." She left without another word.
"What happened?" He knelt down next to the couch and pushed Nik's hair out of his face. He didn't think about what the touch could mean or about what anyone might think. In that moment, all that mattered was the man lying before him.
"Demon. Big. Dragon thing. Fucking brutal." Nik tried to sit up but fell back into the careworn couch.
"How badly are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Nik said.
"Nikolai..."
"Don't call me that, you aren't my mother."
"Well, at least I know you aren't dying." Zeph chuckled and his posture relaxed. Nik giving him shit was always a good sign. "How about some easier questions? Who were those women? They look like they're in their seventies at least, and they were carrying you like a loaf of bread."
"Angels."
"Angels?"
"Yes, fucking Angels," Nik practically growled.
"Please, Nik. I'm trying to understand." Zeph ran his hand through his hair and clenched his eyes closed. This was all so over his head. He felt like he was swimming upstream.
"Sorry." Nik turned his head and looked Zeph in the eyes. "I know you are. I'm glad you're here."
Zeph looked down, unsettled by the depth of Nik's blue eyes. Why did this man get under his skin? "All right, well, I'm here. How can I help?"
"I don't know." Nik closed his eyes and seemed, for a moment, to be slipping into sleep.
"Nik?"
"What?"
"Adel's in the car, and I brought that... that thing I told you about."
"Oh shit!" Nik sat straight up and winced with a muttered curse. "Get Anahita, she has to know it's here."
"What is it?"
"Get her. She'll explain everything."
Zeph stood and headed out of the room to find the older women but turned back. "Nik?"
"Mmmmhmm."
"Don't die on me, okay?"
"Fuck off, Zeph." Nik chucked and then coughed in pain.
In the back room, Zeph found the two older women standing stoically next to Vai. Blood covered the sheet beneath her and she wrapped her arms around her middle as she rocked on a bed.
"We need to get her an ambulance!" Zeph charged toward the coroner he'd only met once.
"She will be fine." The older of the two women said, her ice blue eyes sharp and alert.
"She's bleeding to death."
"She is healing."
"It's getting better," Vai said from her place on the bed. "See?" She unwrapped her arms and pulled up her shirt. Her stomach was coated in blood but when she wiped it away with the edge of the sheet, Zeph couldn't see a wound, only the greenish purple of developing bruises.
"How did you do that?"
The angels stared at him and didn't say a word.
"How did you do that?!" Fear rushed through him, pushing him forward until he had one of the women by the shoulders.
"Step back, priest, or I will no longer hold you in accord with our law."
"What does that even mean?" he shook the old woman, determined to get answers.
"Zeph–" Vai struggled to sit on the edge of the bed. "Let her go."
"Nik said they're angels. Angels! Is that why they can heal you?" He released his hold on the woman and stepped back. He ran a hand over his face and began pacing in the small room. He pulled at the collar of white ringing his neck, feeling trapped and overheated. "I'm about to have a complete nervous breakdown here if someone doesn't start explaining things to me. Nik is halfway to dead out there, you're miraculously healed, you two are angels, and there's a baby in the back seat of my car outside who is almost as tall as my sister even though he was born about three hours ago!"
"You brought it here?!" The younger angel roared and stormed out of the room, the other close behind.
"Now where are you going?" Zeph cried in the most petulant voice he'd heard come out of his mouth in years.
"It's okay, Zeph. They're just like that. Help me to the living room. I'll try to fill in the blanks for you." Vai stood and placed a shaky hand on Zeph's shoulder.
He made his way back out to the main room with one arm around Vai's waist. She walked with a heavy limp and had a nasty bruise sprouting up on her cheek, but no longer seemed like she was going to actually die. After he settled her into the chair, he returned to Nik.
"Hey," Nik said in the softest voice Zeph thought he'd ever heard. It broke his heart to see how broken his childhood friend seemed. Just yesterday he'd been so strong and sure. Completely capable of taking on the world and all the evil in it.
"I'm right here." He took Nik's hand and knelt next to him, rubbing his thumb over the wounded man's knuckle. "Now tell me what's going on."
Vai leaned forward in her chair and nodded in the direction the old women had gone. "Those two were my family. They sacrificed themselves so they could be vessels for angels. The angels can't come to Earth in physical form, they have to basically possess someone, exactly like demons, but they need consent. Whatever we're fighting, the demon we just faced and the baby you brought up here, it's all connected and none of it's good. Those two know more than they’re telling us. They knew about the baby before Nik even called you, but we needed their help."
"What were their names?" Zeph asked and Vai winced. He hadn't meant to hurt her, he just wondered about who the people were who had done such a selfless thing.
"I knew them as Ma and Dika," Nik said. "But they're gone now and they aren't coming back."
Vai nodded and sniffed before wiping the back of a still blood-stained hand over her eyes. "We wouldn't have survived tonight if they weren't here."
The angels strode into the room, their presence more like that of warriors than old women. Now that Zeph knew what they were, he could see their strength and determination for what it was. These creatures were God’s warriors. They were defenders of the word. He bowed his head in deference.
The older woman acknowledged him with a slight smile. “I am Elemiah,” she gestured to an angry looking younger woman with hair a darker shade of gray. “This is Anahita.”
"The creature has fled. There is no sign of the woman or the baby, but we found this." The older angel dropped a dog's head on the living room floor. It looked like it had been removed by the gnawing of a small animal. Bile rose in Zeph's throat and he dropped Nik's hand to cover his mouth.
"Please take that outside," Vai said.
The younger of the two women picked it up without ceremony and tossed it out the open door before closing it again.
"Where is my sister?" Zeph demanded.
"The woman with the child is gone as well, from her scent, she appears to have been fully possessed."
"No, I was just with her for a two hour car ride."
"Whatever you were with was not your sister."
"I am sorry, priest. We are never wrong about these things. A blackness hovers over your car from the evil which had been within. It's a blackness which has slithered its way into the woman you traveled with and has stolen away the child. If what you have told us is true, the baby you saw born today was Lucifer's own son, Belial."
Zeph began laughing, an uncontrollable hysterical giggle that bubbled up from deep inside him. "I said... I said it was the damn Anti-Christ! I knew it. I said it and Adel... Adel, she said..."
Nik reached out and took his hand back into his own. "I'm so sorry about Adel."
"Why?"
"If she’s been fully possessed—"
"She's not possessed!" Zeph shook loose Nik's touch. "This is insane. Angels dressed like old women and babies that grow years in a matter of minutes? This doesn't happen! It can't happen!"
"It has happened. I'm sorry." Nik's broken voice called to Zeph as he stormed past the angels and out the front door.
Outside, he looked at his car, the back door still hanging open. In the mud, he could see the impressions of his sister's heels and smaller bare footprints next to hers. He followed their tracks to the tree line where the trail disappeared into the darkness.
"What have you done?" he whispered into the night. His sister had left with that monstrosity, that impossible baby who angels, angels, said was the son of Lucifer. Zeph sunk his hands into his hair and pulled on the strands.
"Priest?"
Zeph turned to find the older woman, Elemiah, standing before him.
"It’s Zeph. And can I please just have a moment?"
"Of course, but know this, we will find your sister, and, if she is with the beast, we will kill her."
He turned toward the angel with fists clenched and tried to find his center. "Why would you come out here to tell me that? Why? Just to be cruel?"
"It is never our intent to be cruel, only to be truthful. I meant it as a comfort. Should your sister truly be possessed, we will free her of this evil, even if it means killing her body in order to free her soul."
He took a deep breath and relaxed his hands. "I understand. I do. But I don't believe she's that far gone yet. I was just with her."
"The minions of evil can be quite convincing when it serves their purpose."
"I know," Zeph replied. "I mean, I know it on a parable level, I know of the serpent's deceits, but in the real world, w
ith my own family, I'm struggling." He looked up to the old woman searching for understanding or compassion, but all he found was cold, logical truth.
"We need you to come back inside. You aren't safe out here alone. The creature is gone, we cannot track it beyond the compound and we need to stay here with Nikolai and Vai until they are well enough to fight again. They would be vulnerable to attack if we searched too far."
Zeph nodded, understanding, but hating the need to choose Nik and Vai over his own sister. He followed the angel back into the house and was surprised to find them all in the exact same position he had left them in.
"Good, you’re back. Sit down.” The younger angel gestured to the sofa and stood so he could sit. “There is something you need to know if you’re to be of any use to the Sin Eater. You are his other." Anahita stated.
"Other what?"
"Other half. Every person is born with a twin soul. Finding their twin soul is especially important for Sin Eaters. The women who possessed these bodies were connected in the same way you and Nikolai are. You are the balance to his chaos. He is reason in the face of your fury."
"No, there's some mistake. Nik and I aren't connected," Zeph stammered, but in the back of his mind, it made a certain sense. No matter where they were, no matter what they did, Nik was always close to him. The other man never left his mind for long and when he thought of him, he felt a kind of peace. He'd always mistaken that for a love lost, a missed opportunity, a mistake never made right, and a burden he simply needed to bear.
"You are," Anahita confirmed. "Vai knows the truth of this as well. She has been searching for her twin soul all her life, until she finds him or her, she will never be as strong as she needs to be.”
"I'm plenty strong," Vai mumbled, looking at her hands in her lap.
"Indeed, you are one of the strongest we have ever known," Elemiah inserted.
Anahita continued, "But you will never be strong enough without the one you're searching for."
Zeph turned to Nik, anger and betrayal in his heart. “You knew about this?”
