Murmur had put it all on the table, hoping Gangrene wanted to hear his plan and didn’t just stomp off. He was having a hard time reading Gangrene’s expression.
“Fine. Let’s hear it.”
“We can preemptively attack Nightmare and Astaroth. Even with the four of us, we’ll need the element of surprise. Their armies are huge. Once we kill them, we have the Dragon make the three of you officially major demons when he returns.”
“That puts me as the odd man out again. Jess and Aim worked for you as middle demons for a long time. They’ll do whatever you say. What’s to stop the three of you from turning on me?”
Jess looked confused.
“Why would we? You aren’t the enemy here. Nightmare and Astaroth picked this fight.”
“I know Murmur’s history. Shadow and Leech both told me how he became a major demon. Does a middle demon named Tannin ring any bells?”
“He embarrassed me. What I did to him was retribution. I deserved Leviathan’s spot.”
“So you still think you didn’t do anything wrong. How can I work with you? If I go over to Nightmare and Astaroth, we could crush the three of you for sure. Aim doesn’t even have a scythe yet.”
Murmur put his hand back on his scythe but Jess touched his arm and shook her head.
“You’d be in the exact same position after you won only it would be worse. Nightmare hates Shadow and Leech. They’d kill you the moment you had served your purpose.”
“So what you’re saying is I should take my army to Earth and find Shadow and Lilith. That way you dumbasses can work all this shit out for yourselves and I don’t have to be a part of it.”
“Don’t be like that, Gangrene. We’re friends of Shadow and Lilith. We wouldn’t turn on you.”
“Based on what? I still don’t see why I should trust you. I may have his scythe, but I’m not Leech. I’m not Shadow. I’m stuck in a really shitty situation down here and it’s making me want to go to Earth.”
“What can we do to make you stay? How can we earn your trust?”
Gangrene got up from his seat.
“I’m not sure right now. I’ll get back to you.”
Gangrene walked out and headed towards Lilith’s house. Raven had claimed it as her own until her sister returned.
Aim walked slowly with his arms behind his back as he watched his sniper team train. They were able to hit their targets with a kill shot about half the time. They were getting better. He no longer thought of them as a disaster. He saw his sister approaching and walked in her direction.
“Well? How did it go?”
“Not great. He said he might even go to Earth. You need to be ready to take him out if he attempts to leave.”
“And you’re ok with that?”
“Bare minimum we need his scythe. If he leaves, Nightmare and Astaroth will crush us without it. I’d say shoot to injure but if we can’t take him alive…”
“War is a bitch. I know it sucks but it has to be done. Murmur is right. He needs to help us one way or another.”
Jess hesitated, but then nodded.
“I know. It would be a good idea to watch him 24/7 from now on. We can’t let him sneak up to Earth.”
Aim nodded and called his sniper team over to him.
“Guys, we have a mission. Get the rest of the army and then follow me.”
CHAPTER 28
“I’m not going back!”
Sarah pointed Azazel’s heavenly sword at Gabriel. She liked the feel of it, it was a powerful weapon. Gabriel brushed it aside and looked disappointed.
“You’re being disrespectful. I’ve let you run around down here with Shadow long enough. Raphael nearly killed all three of you.”
“No he didn’t. He never found me when I ran off, Muan never even fought him and I still believe Shadow could have killed him.”
“This is not up for debate, young lady. I have to protect you. You’re coming with me.”
Gabriel tried to grab Sarah’s arm but Shadow got in the way.
“As long as I’m here, this is up for debate. All three of us are fine. Sarah only called you down here so I wouldn’t kill an Archangel. I appreciate your help. Wiping his memory was a good idea. I don’t think the alternative would have been so bad though. Raphael is an absolute asshole.”
Shadow almost continued with “reminds me of all the Archangels,” but decided not to say that out loud. Gabriel looked like he was losing his patience.
“I know you’re trying to do a good thing down here, Shadow, but I have to protect my granddaughter. You even know why now. If anyone else finds out she’s a nephilim…”
“I’ll kill them. Problem solved.”
“I’m sorry, but this is still not up for debate.”
Shadow knew he couldn’t convince Gabriel that he would protect her unless he told a lie. Fortunately, he was very good at lying.
“You’re right. It isn’t up for debate because she’s carrying my child. She’s staying with me.”
Muan’s jaw dropped open and stayed there. Sarah’s eyes went wide with shock. Gabriel looked angrier than Shadow had ever seen him.
“I’m going to give you one chance to take that back. Tell me you’re lying.”
Sarah walked up next to Shadow and locked her fingers with his. She put a hand on her stomach.
“I had hoped you would be happy for us, Grandpa. You’ll have another great-grandchild. An extremely powerful one. It kicks up a storm.”
Gabriel drew his sword.
“I am going to kill you. There’s no stopping me this time.”
Shadow didn’t draw Damnation. He held up a hand and stood where he was.
“I understand that you’re angry.”
“You don’t know the half of it, boy.”
“Talk a minute to think about this. She can’t give birth to a nephilim in Heaven. Then her secret would be out for sure. I imagine our kid is going to look a little more like a demon than its mother. You have a safe way to explain that?”
Gabriel stopped.
“Then what do you propose? I have to get back to Heaven and watch Raphael. On the off chance Bumalin didn’t get everything, I need to be there to stop him from saying anything.”
“Sarah stays with me. Naturally she won’t fight anymore. Muan will be her permanent bodyguard and I will watch them both. I will give my life to stop anything from harming her. You have my word.”
Gabriel thought this over.
“Fine. Just know that I am NOT OK WITH THIS!”
Gabriel’s voice boomed and shook the Earth. Muan fell over backwards.
“Your have my word, Gabriel. She will be safe here with me. Maybe one day I can even call you ‘Grandpa.’”
Sarah squeezed Shadow’s hand tightly.
“Don’t push it. Now’s not the time for jokes.”
Gabriel turned his back on them and ascended back to Heaven without another word.
Muan approached Sarah with his head hanging in shame. He refused to look up.
“I am so sorry I made you take drugs. I was trying to save your life. I had no idea you were pregnant. Please forgive me.”
Muan kneeled at Sarah’s feet. Shadow burst out laughing and Sarah tried to hide the smile that crept across her face but ultimately couldn’t. Muan looked up.
“You guys are taking this way better than I thought you would. So she’s not pregnant, is she?”
“No, Muan, I’m not. Shadow took a gamble and told a lie. It was the only way to get Grandpa to go back to Heaven without me.”
“Fine. I want to be the bodyguard when you guys actually have a kid though. Deal?”
Shadow and Sarah exchanged an uncomfortable look. Muan laughed.
“Alright. Back to business. Muan I actually have a job for you. I’ve been sensing that Lilith is back on Earth. She’s getting further and further away from us. I don’t know where exactly she is but I know it’s somewhere cold. I’m guessing she can’t sense me as strongly. My powers are developing
faster. I need you to find her and get her here. I don’t know why she’s back on Earth but I want to make sure she’s safe. She actually has a kid that we need to protect.”
Muan nodded.
“No problem. I’ll find her.”
Before Muan could transform, Sarah put her hand on his shoulder.
“Muan, how do you keep tracking everyone down?”
“I… uh… I’m just a good tracker.”
“I’m sure that’s true, but you’re abnormally fast at finding people. Are you using that potion you showed us that lets you track angels and demons?”
Muan looked back at the ground.
“No…”
“Tell me the truth.”
“Ok fine. It’s been helpful, hasn’t it?”
“I don’t recall giving you anything to use to track me… so how have you been doing it?”
Muan turned into a crow and flew away. Shadow laughed.
“Uh oh. Little thieving Muan has been caught.”
“You’re ok with this?”
“I knew he stole something from me a while back and I knew what he was using for. Made him good at getting stuff back to me. Not a big problem. He probably doesn’t have anything of yours because you’ve been with me for a while now.”
Sarah looked like she wanted to ask something but she was silent.
“You want to talk about something else?”
“Yeah. How did that lie come to your head so quickly?”
“Does it matter? It worked. Gabriel bought it.”
“Do you want kids someday?”
“Fuck no. I’m going to be a target for the rest of my life. It’s bad enough that I have to protect you and a kid…”
“Woah. Hold on there, buddy. You don’t need to protect me. The fight with Scapegoat was a fluke. I was winning. I can protect myself.”
“I’m not saying you can’t… it’s just better if I…”
“If you what? I just told you that I don’t need your protection.”
“Did I strike a nerve when I said you were pregnant?”
Sarah didn’t respond. She turned away from Shadow and crossed her arms. Shadow thought for a minute about what he should say because the last few things he had said had not helped the situation.
“Look, I didn’t know you thought about stuff like that…”
“Oh shut up. Don’t flatter yourself. You’re just so infuriating sometimes. I want kids someday but I’m not having them with you so just forget about it. You’re an ass. Forget we ever had this conversation.”
Shadow knew joking around was probably a bad idea, but he didn’t see how he could make it any worse at this point.
“Changed my mind. I want to knock you up now. I can see it means a whole lot to you and…”
Sarah flipped him off.
“Come on… you know you want to be the mother of Shadow, Jr. It’ll be awesome. He’ll be running around all the time with ice in his hands and teleporting and…”
“Did I strike a nerve when I said I didn’t want to have kids with you?”
Shadow grinned and Sarah fought hard to stay mad at him. She walked away quickly so Shadow wouldn’t see her smile.
CHAPTER 29
Lilith had been trying to figure out how the angel’s hand had burst into flames for days. She still had no clue how it happened. As she returned from a small town, having collected a soul from a recently departed lawyer, she felt something warm on the back of her neck. She carried Lucia in a backpack, so she was immediately worried. She took the backpack off and saw that Lucia’s hands were on fire. The baby didn’t appear to be in pain and was actually giggling. Lilith clapped the fire out with an old rag and Lucia started crying. Lilith finally figured it out.
“Can you make fire without a spell?”
Lucia looked up at her mother. Lilith put the rag away. Lucia held out her hands and both of them erupted in white flames. She started giggling again.
“Well I guess you can start the fire at night from now on.”
Lucia clapped and the fire went away. She looked like she was about to cry but Lilith loaded the human soul into a bottle and gave it to Lucia. Lucia sucked contentedly on her lunch.
“Damn. Didn’t know she could do that. That’s really cool.”
Lilith had been following a feeling for days that a nephilim was nearby. She hoped it was Shadow but was prepared to be wrong. She had been brushing up on her attack skills and minor spells from the book Jess had given her. At this point, she knew she was close and could reach the nephilim within a day.
That night, before she went to sleep, Lilith saw something glowing in the moonlight. As she looked closer, she realized it was a set of eyes and they were moving closer. She reached for her whip but then she saw another pair of eyes and then another.
She grabbed Lucia, hopped on Keshi and rode as fast as she could away from the spot. The ground rattled, Keshi stumbled, and Lilith and the baby went flying into the air. Lilith was able to land with Lilith on her feet, but Keshi rolled before lying still on the ground.
“What kind of coward attacks a mother and her child at night?”
“Normally, I would be glad to kill you in the daylight. We’re pressed for time.”
Lucia lit a fire in her hands and Lilith recognized the Archangel, Uriel.
“I see. The angel kind of coward. Makes sense. A demon would at least have the balls to challenge me to a fair fight.”
“You know that’s a lie. A demon would have stabbed you in your sleep.”
“And you were about to…?”
Uriel laughed.
“Fair point. We don’t deal fairly with nephilim. You’re part of a plague that needs to be wiped from this Earth. My scout told me we were close. I’m glad I finally caught up to you.”
Lilith glanced at Keshi. The horse was still down. Uriel wasted no time. He drew his sword and moved in quickly for the kill. Lilith shielded her daughter and waited for the end. When Uriel struck, his blade was met by another blade. Something around the same size as Uriel struck at him and shoved him back. Lilith could also hear the angel army running around in panic. She saw what was happening, but didn’t quite understand it.
She recognized the two creatures attacking the angels but couldn’t remember their names or where she had seen them before. One of them was putting angels to sleep. The other was raising sleeping angels from their sleep and turning them against their fellow angels. A majority of the army turned and ran. Uriel saw his army retreating and gritted his teeth. He pointed his sword at the creature that had saved Lilith’s life.
“This isn’t over, Samael. We haven’t forgotten your treachery.”
Uriel disappeared. Samael helped Lilith to her feet.
“Are you ok?”
Lilith just stared at him.
“We’re not here to hurt you. In fact I’m…”
“You’re my father.”
Samael looked surprised.
“I was going to say I’m familiar with nephilim. I was going to wait until you knew me a little better before revealing that I was your father. How did you find out?”
“Does it matter? I know. You let my mother take me back to Hell and I had a slight angelic tint to my countenance so she threw me out. I was raised by a minor demon named Panic. I would say thanks for saving me, but I feel it’s you’re still in my debt, not the other way around.”
“I would agree… and I would like to make up for it. I’ve wanted to come meet you many times but being tied to me would only make you more of a target. I know you were looking for nephilim and I believe you were drawn towards my sons. They’re your half-brothers. Lilith, meet Hypnos and Thanatos.”
“Right. Now I remember. They saved me and said they were doing it as a favor to Shadow. I’m…”
Lilith looked at Thanatos.
“Maybe I took a hit to the head… but I’m pretty sure Leech killed you.”
Thanatos laughed.
“The nephilim of death does not die.
I laugh in the face of death.”
Thanatos pulled out a mirror and laughed at his own reflection. Lilith noticed Lucia yawn loudly. Hypnos nodded.
“I apologize. That was probably my fault. She’s just a baby nephilim and I tend to have that effect on lesser creatures. I’m Hypnos, the nephilim of sleep. In the past, I have pursued angels and demons that were pursuing you and your friends and put them down long enough for all of you to escape. You were even unaware that some of them were pursuing you.”
“Wrong. Shadow is aware of everything that’s going on.”
“I stand corrected. I don’t really understand the limits of Shadow’s powers. I’m not even sure that he does.”
Lilith looked back at Samael.
“Hypnos I’m ok with. He’s polite. Thanatos is weird and I don’t like you either.”
Hypnos tapped Lilith on her shoulder.
“Might I hold the young one? I don’t have any nieces… or I didn’t. I didn’t really have any nieces before… just now.”
“Alright, but just you. I don’t want the ‘whatever the hell of death’ over there touching her.”
Thanatos was oblivious. He was still holding a mirror in front of his face and chuckling at his reflection. Lilith handed Lucia over to Hypnos and she promptly fell asleep in his arms. He rocked her back and forth.
“Uncle Hypnos. So cool. Thanatos, can you believe we’re uncles?”
Thanatos looked over at Hypnos and put the mirror away.
“I want to hold her next.”
Lilith shook her head.
“Nope. Not happening. Now someone explain to me what’s going on here.”
Samael sighed.
“I’m sorry we had to finally meet like this… but we’re here to help. Not only you… but your friends as well. I believe in what Leech and Shadow were doing to put an end to Abaddon’s chaos.”
It dawned on Lilith that Samael was probably a powerful fallen angel. She removed Leech’s head from the sack and held it out to him.
Major Demons Page 12
