by Diem, J. C.
The diner was small, cozy and clean. Red leather booths that could seat six people lined the walls to the left and right of the door. A gleaming stainless steel counter sat across from us. A large window that displayed the kitchen was behind the counter. We turned right and took a seat in the back away from the windows.
A waitress came to take our order. She was the same woman who had served us the last time, but she didn’t seem to recognize us. It was almost lunchtime, so I ordered a burger and fries. Knowing Reynolds would want to eat as well, Sophia ordered the same for him and tea for herself. Elijah also asked for the same meal. Nathan was the only one who didn’t order anything.
I sat with my back to the growing crowd, but Elijah sat in plain view of anyone entering the door. Our enemies didn’t realize we had a minister on our team yet. He looked about as dangerous as a kitten, but we didn’t need him for his fighting abilities. His talents lay elsewhere.
At just after twelve, Reynolds stepped inside. Elijah lifted a hand to draw the cop’s attention. A wide smile appeared on Reynolds’ face. “We’ve already ordered for you,” Elijah said when the detective slid onto the seat next to Sophia. Nathan sat across from me so he could watch the other customers and to make sure no one was paying undue attention to us.
“Thanks,” Reynolds said. “I’m starving.” Turning his attention to me, he leaned forward and examined my face. “You look like crap,” he told me bluntly. Dom and Jed’s purge was already wearing off, apparently. “But I’m glad to see you’re back. You were both gone for far too long.” He looked at Nathan next. “How are you holding up?” Sophia must have told him about my guardian’s missing grace.
“I will be fine once I retrieve what was taken from me,” Nathan replied.
“You mean once I retrieve it for you,” I corrected him.
Reynolds’ brows rose in reaction. “From what Sophia told me, your former allies have the item. You’d have to be crazy to go after it. We barely managed to break him free last time.” He nodded at Nathan, referring to the team of criminals who’d broken him out.
“I don’t have a choice,” I said quietly. The last thing we needed was for our conversation to be overheard. People would think we were crazy if they figured out what we were talking about.
Our waitress appeared and smiled brilliantly when she saw Reynolds. She was around his age. Her hair was dark brown, which made her pale skin seem even whiter. She was pretty and had a pleasantly plump figure. “It’s nice to see you back,” she said as she placed three plates of burgers and fries down. She might not remember the rest of us, but he’d clearly stood out to her.
“It’s good to be back,” he replied flirtatiously. Sophia met my eyes and I rolled mine. She looked away before she could smile and offend the waitress. “Could I grab a cup of coffee to go with this?” Reynolds asked.
“Of course,” she replied. “I’ll bring it straight over.” Her eyes lingered on him for longer than was necessary before she walked away.
Reynolds turned to watch her until Sophia pointedly elbowed him in the side. “What?” he asked too innocently.
“You know what,” I replied. “Just ask her out already. You know you want to.”
“We’ve already had this discussion,” he said briskly. “The world could be about to end any day now. What’s the point of asking her out when we could all be running for our lives from demons soon?”
“Son, you just answered your own question,” Elijah said kindly. “Life is too short and precious to squander. If you like this woman, you should ask her out to dinner. Make the most of what you have before it’s taken away from you.”
I looked across the table to see Nathan watching me. His expression was intent and thoughtful. The priest’s words had impacted on us all in various ways. I looked away before he could read the longing in my eyes. What I wanted from him was taboo. God himself had forbidden our union.
“I’ll think about it,” Reynolds said then dug into his burger.
₪₪₪
Chapter Five
Sophia gave us a few minutes to concentrate on eating before she brought up the reason why we’d called Reynolds here. “Violet believes that being purged with holy fire by Hagith and her cronies is the only way she can be cured of the toxin,” she said.
Almost choking on a mouthful of fries, the detective pounded his chest to dislodge it. “Are you crazy?” he exclaimed and leaned forward to glare at me. “They could kill you!”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “But I’m going to die if I don’t take drastic action soon.”
Examining my pale face and the dark shadows beneath my eyes again, he shook his head. “If you allow yourself to be captured by them, how the hell are we going to get you and Leo out afterwards? They won’t fall for the same trick again with using illusions of demons for decoys. I’ve already used up all my favors to have Nathan rescued.”
“I haven’t figured out that part yet,” I confessed. “I’m going to have to trust that Fate will show me the way.”
His stare was incredulous as I took another bite of my burger. My sense of taste and smell were already beginning to fade. I’d need another blast of holy fire sooner than I’d expected. It was obvious to everyone that I couldn’t go on this way.
The worst part was I wasn’t the only one being affected by the purges. The house that I’d built for the legion in my mind was showing signs of decay from the barrages of holy fire. I wasn’t sure how much longer it could last before it would disintegrate entirely. Without that protection, the demons would be vulnerable. The weakest ones would be sure to perish if the purges continued.
“We would not be contemplating this plan if there was any other way,” Nathan told him. “Violet will not last much longer unless the taint is removed from her system.”
Heaving a heavy sigh, Reynolds looked resigned. “What do you need me to do?”
“We need to fake a rescue attempt to free Leo so I can let myself be spotted,” I replied. Already full after eating just half of my meal, I pushed my plate away.
“I’m sure I can come up with something,” he said. “Let me think about it for a few minutes.” He subsided into silence as he finished off his meal. When he glanced at my plate, I dutifully pushed it over to him. In his mid-thirties, he kept in shape. African-American, he kept his hair cropped short. He was a grownup version of what I imagined Sam would have become. As always, pain lanced through me when I thought of my closest friend. I’d failed Sam in the worst kind of way. I’d never forgive myself for letting him die.
Our waitress returned when Reynolds finished eating. She’d been watching the detective, waiting for her opportunity to speak to him again. It was cute to see him trying not to stare at her. He ordered another coffee and Sophia, Elijah and I asked for tea. It would give us an excuse to linger in our booth for a while longer.
“I think we can pull this off,” Reynolds said when the waitress was gone. “It’ll take all of us and I’d advise wearing balaclavas to hide our faces.”
“Are we going to use the same tactics that the team of criminals used to break Nathan out?” I asked. Six men had broken into the warehouse to rescue Nathan. They’d all worn black clothing and balaclavas. They’d also killed two of the angels’ vessels, which had sent their essence to me.
Their approach had been quiet and stealthy and the angels hadn’t even known they were there. Dom’s distraction of a hundred illusions of demons had worked even better than we’d hoped to draw our enemies out.
“Nope,” Reynolds replied. “I think we should go in with more noise this time.”
“You intend to seem as though we are attacking them?” Nathan asked.
The detective nodded. “We can break into two teams. Elijah will ride with me and you and Sophia can work together. We’ll steal a couple of cars and come at them from two sides. We’ll throw some Molotov cocktails to draw their attention and Violet can allow herself to be seen. We’ll make a run for it while they chase after her.”
<
br /> “They could easily teleport inside the cars and catch us,” Sophia pointed out. “Then we will all join Violet in her captivity.”
“I’ll draw some runes in the cars to keep them out,” I said. “As long as you stay inside the cars, you’ll be safe.”
Nathan turned an assessing look on me. “That is a clever idea.”
“I’m not just a pretty face, you know,” I said wryly. “I’ve had to learn to think quickly when going up against the Demon Princes and their minions.”
I’d faced things that none of them had. The reminder made them all regard me differently. To them, I was just a kid. I might technically be an adult now that I was eighteen, but they were all far older than I was. Especially Nathan and Sophia. They’d both existed since before the world had been created.
“It’s still hard to believe the entire planet is counting on a teenage girl to save it,” Reynolds said and shook his head.
My response was dry. “Tell me about it.”
Elijah was the one to get us back on track. “Now that we have a plan, when will we execute it?”
I wished he’d chosen any other word than ‘execute’. It was all too possible that Hagith and her sidekick, Orifiel, wouldn’t bother to lock me up this time. They might order their lackeys to kill me instead. Once again, I had to trust Fate not to let that happen. She needed me to be whole and sound so I could save humanity.
“The sooner the better,” I replied. “I’d like to get this done tonight. I don’t want the toxin to spread through me any further.”
“How can you be sure Hagith will order her followers to purge you with holy fire?” Sophia asked.
“I know how to push her buttons,” I said confidently. “She’ll be so annoyed with me by the time I’m done that she’ll probably zap me herself.”
“Just do not push her so far that she will endanger your life,” Nathan cautioned me.
“I’m pretty sure Orifice won’t let her kill me. He still wants me to save the world, even if she doesn’t.” He didn’t seem particularly mollified and shifted restlessly in his seat. I knew he was worried about me. Without his grace, he must be feeling impotent.
“There is one detail about the plan that I’m not on board with,” Elijah said. “Must we steal cars? Can’t we use our own?”
“The angels have an alliance with the demons,” I reminded him. “A lot of demons have taken possession of police officers. They’ll be sure to pass the information on to Vepar after you guys attack their base. She’s now the captain of the cops in this city. They’ll be able to trace your license plates back to you.”
Reynolds nodded in agreement. “Don’t worry, Reverend. The cars we’ll be borrowing belong to drug dealers. Nathan and I will head to Queens when my shift ends. We’ll boost a couple of cars and pick the rest of you up.” He looked at my guardian to see if he agreed to the plan. “This is assuming you can drive.”
“I can,” Nathan confirmed. “I guess having my grace stolen is not a complete disaster. I will be able to leave Manhattan to assist you.”
For a second, the detective looked confused, then his expression cleared. “I forgot about the wards that are keeping angels and demons here,” he said. “I’ll be glad to have you watching my back.”
Nathan gave him a pained smile. “I am not sure how much use I will be. I have never stolen a car before and I have no idea how to go about it.”
“I’ll hotwire them. You can be the muscle if we run into any problems. You can follow me back to Manhattan in the second car.”
I wished I could go with them, but the wards had bound me to the city even before I’d started ingesting demonic souls. It was a mystery why they held me captive even though my essence had been taken. Maybe a trace of it remained inside me and it was enough to stop me from being able to get past the barrier.
Reynolds drank his coffee and checked his watch to see how much time he had left. “Do any of you know how to make Molotov cocktails?” he asked.
“I do,” Elijah confirmed. “How many should we make?”
“Six should be plenty. That’ll give us three per car. We just want to get their attention, not set fire to the entire neighborhood.” He turned to speak to Nathan again. “I’ll call Violet when my shift ends and come and pick you up.”
“I will be ready and waiting,” Nathan replied. He wasn’t even gone yet and I was already worried about him. He’d been a warrior for a very long time and I knew he could handle himself, but he was vulnerable now. It was going to be hard to just sit around and wait for them to return.
₪₪₪
Chapter Six
Elijah stopped at a liquor store on our way home. He returned with a six pack of beer. I waited for him to climb behind the wheel before I spoke. “I didn’t realize priests were allowed to drink beer.”
“I have no intention of drinking it,” he replied and handed the bottles to Sophia. “They’re going to become firebombs.”
I turned to Nathan for more information. “Molotov cocktails are bottles with alcohol in them,” he explained. “A piece of cloth is used as a wick. The wick is set alight then the bottle is thrown at a target. The alcohol catches on fire, spreading flames over the surface of everything it touches.”
“Ah,” I said in understanding. I’d seen plenty of movies where they used firebombs like that, but I hadn’t known what they were called. “They sound dangerous.”
“That’s why we’ll be carrying a small number of them,” Elijah told me. Again, he pulled out into traffic recklessly and waved cheerily when a taxi driver honked his horn. “I hope Calvin intends to do the throwing,” he added. “My aim isn’t what it used to be.”
“From the way I’ve seen you drive, you’re probably going to be more of an asset behind the wheel,” I said dryly. There was too much traffic to allow him to speed right now, but we’d be going in at night when traffic would be less frequent.
“You have a point,” he said with a grin. “I was something of a speed demon in my youth.”
“Will you be doing the throwing, or the driving?” I asked Sophia.
“I do not know how to drive,” she replied. “It is not a skill that I ever required.”
“How good are you at throwing?”
“My vessel played softball when she was in high school. She was good enough to help her team to win a championship. With her abilities and my strength, I do not think I will have too many troubles throwing these.” She indicated the bottles cradled on her lap.
“Where are we going to get balaclavas from?” I asked next. “Is there a balaclava store we can stop at?”
“I will make some,” Sophia replied.
“Does your vessel have mad sewing skills, too?”
“Yes, actually,” she said with a smile. “From time to time, I get the craving to make something. It is my vessel’s wishes, and I appease her as best as I can.” I knew her vessel was just a faint murmur at the back of her head, but it was nice to know she didn’t ignore her. “I should have enough black fabric to make enough balaclavas for the four of us.”
Our whole plan was designed to make sure I was caught, so I wouldn’t need one. The tricky part would be to make my capture seem believable. I’d never taken an acting lesson in my life, but I was going to have to put on the performance of a lifetime tonight.
Elijah parked in the lot behind Sophia’s store again. Nathan checked to make sure the way was clear before we trooped back into the kitchen. We avoided using the main entrance. Sooner or later, Vepar was bound to let the angels know that I was back in town. They’d worked together to capture me once and they’d be sure to do so again.
Hearing a sound in the front room, Nathan snatched a carving knife out of a drawer in the kitchen. I bent to retrieve my dagger from the sheath in my boot. I was right behind him when he strode through the door.
A slender person with short curly blond hair was bent over, writing something on the table. “Leo?” I said, partly in hope and partly in disbelief
. I realized my mistake when our visitor looked up and I saw her face.
“Where have you been?” Brie said angrily. “Leo has been held in a cell for almost seven months!”
“Is he being tortured?” I asked in trepidation then sagged in relief when she shook her head.
“He is in good health. I am able to visit him every now and then on the pretext of bringing him around to our cause.”
“What are you doing here?” Nathan asked as Sophia and Elijah joined us.
“I have only a few minutes before I will be missed,” Brie replied. “I was just leaving a note asking when you are going to get off your backsides and rescue Leo.”
“Nathan and I only returned from hell yesterday,” I told her tartly. “We haven’t exactly been on a vacation, you know.” She sent Nathan a shamed look, as if she’d momentarily forgotten that his grace had been harvested.
“To answer your question,” Sophia said before we could escalate into an argument, “Violet is planning on being caught tonight.”
“What is your strategy?” the teen asked. She and Leo’s vessels were twins and were nearly identical. Frozen at the age of fourteen while they were being possessed, the human bodies they were using wouldn’t age until after the angels left them.
“We’re going to throw firebombs at the warehouse to draw the angels out,” I told her. “I’m going to make sure I’m seen so they’ll grab me.” She waited for more information, but I didn’t have any for her.
“Then what?” she asked impatiently.
“Then I’m going to insult Hag until she uses holy fire to purge me of the toxin. Hopefully, it will drive out the Wraith Warrior that’s squatting inside me.”
She blinked a few times. “Will being purged with holy fire kill it?”
“It hasn’t so far,” I replied. “I know it hurts him, though. The three angels inside me have agreed to zap me when they feel me being burned with holy fire again. If that isn’t enough to get rid of him, I don’t think anything will work.”
