by M. R. Forbes
He spat the word like it was poison.
"When you destroyed the Beast and took his power, you didn't destroy my soul," he said. "It went back to Hell. Back to Lucifer. He tortured me for being a traitor. An eternity of torture in an instant of time here. When he had enough, he decided to send me back again, as a new kind of creature that he has been developing."
I liked the part about the torture. The part about a new kind of demon? Not so much. "A creature that can hide their demonic aura, and change shape?" Talk about evolution.
"Yes, that and more. I don't just change shape. I become the person. All of their memories, all of their knowledge. Everything. I can become any of them, so no one would ever know the difference."
His body changed. Back to Peter, to Cheryl, to the vagrant, cycling through dozens of forms.
"Enough," I shouted. It was Rose standing in front of me. No, not Rose. Anita.
He went back to being himself. "Except the design is imperfect. He said as much. I am the beta test. The first field trial. It isn't enough to drink the blood of mortals. To stay hidden, to be able to change, I need the true flesh of life." He shook his head sadly. "I have done horrible things and enjoyed them. Even I find that part distasteful."
"Lucifer has millions of souls he could have used for his experiment. Why you?"
"You think this is a boon?" He laughed. "It is part of my torture. Send me back to the world where I was once top of the food chain, as a creature so flawed that there would be no chance that I wouldn't draw your attention, or the attention of the seraphim. A creature so weak that I cannot win in a fight. That's right, diuscrucis. I ran from you, because I cannot defeat you." He pointed at the head. "I helped you, because I know there are no demons that can defeat them. How can I rise up again, if the balance is broken before I am dominant once more?"
This whole thing was getting shittier by the minute. He expected me to, what? Let him help me? "If you can't defeat me, then give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you right now. You've made it clear you intend to work your way back to where you were. I'm sure the runes you were drawing with the bodies has something to do with that."
He held out his hands. "I am what I am, diuscrucis. Neither you or I can change that. So, why try to be dishonest with you about my motivations? Yes, my path of feeding does have an ulterior motive, one that I was hoping to complete before I was discovered. One good reason that you shouldn't kill me? Because I am not the only demon who knows of it. I am not the only demon who might like to copy it. You need me, to keep it from happening."
"Keep what from happening?"
"It is a ritual. A summoning ritual."
"What does it summon?"
"Of course, I'm not going to tell you. Not today. I need... assurances."
"You're bargaining with me? I could kill you right now."
"Which is why I wish to bargain. I have something you want-"
"You claim to have something I want. You could be full of shit."
He laughed. "I am not, as you say, full of shit. Not with this. Why would I waste two years for something that had no value? For you? Please. I care only enough about you to hope to kill you myself."
Whatever it was, he wouldn't be summoning it unless he was going to have control over it. He wouldn't be summoning it unless it was enough to bring him back to power. If he was as weak as he claimed to be, which wasn't definite but seemed likely, it wasn't something I could just dismiss.
"So, I have something you want," he repeated. "And you have something we all want. Wherever that creature came from, it is obvious to me that you are the only one that can stop it."
"You destroyed it, not me. And, it almost killed me."
"Yes, it would have, if not for me." He gave me a smug smile. "In your defense, you were caught off-guard. You still weakened it. Otherwise, I would never have been able to get close. Even the largest fire demon will fall to one of those bolts. How they have gotten the full blessing on them is a terrifying wonder. No, there is no demon here that can stand up to something like this. Which if I am not wrong, and I rarely am, is the point."
"They were beta testing it, weren't they?" I said. "To see how it would do against me."
He nodded. "It seems likely."
"How did they know where to find me? I'm as hidden as you are without line of sight."
"Perhaps they have been following me? Or perhaps they knew where to follow you?"
Rose.
Could it be? Was she working with them?
"What do you say, diuscrucis? I will help you against the angels, and once they are stopped I will cease my activity in the summoning, tell you its purpose, and give you the names of the other demons here who know how to perform it. In exchange, you will allow me to live, you will not stop me from feeding as I must, and you will help me fight the angels until this business is done."
Gervais was smart. He was cunning. He couldn't be trusted. No demon could be trusted. I had a choice. I could still kill him now, and take my chances with the summoning. His new power did have its value though, and I had a feeling I could put it to good use. Keeping the balance meant putting personal shit aside. It meant shifting tides and strange alliances. The... thing whose head was at my feet almost killed me, and it was a prototype. It was the greatest threat I had seen since the Beast. Gervais was right about being a piss-ant. At least right now.
"I want a solid binding. The kind that will cripple you if you try to go against the bargain." Demons made deals by shaking bloody hands. It created an internal contract that could be broken more or less easily depending on the strength of the deal, and the strength of the other party. That strength was determined by volume. "Oh, and I want you to stay the hell away from Sarah. If I even think you're trying to get near her-"
"Yes, yes. Fine. I will leave her be. I'm not eager to find myself impaled on her wingtips again." He produced a small, cursed knife from somewhere on him, the same one that had cut open his victims. "Take what you want. I'll find another way eventually. I always do." He ran the blade along his wrist, so that it ran down into his palm.
"Both hands," I said.
He did the other without comment. I stepped forward, took the knife, and made the slightest cut in my own flesh. Just enough blood on my side to seal the deal. Then I clasped his hands.
We exchanged the terms of the deal. As we did, I could feel the weight of the binding growing on my soul. I could tell from the way Gervais' face paled that he felt his end much more heavily.
Would he regret the decision?
Or would I?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"Whatever you did, you need to undo it," I said.
Gervais and I were back in the Underground, standing in front of Rose. She was still contorted, her mouth open, eyes rolled back in her head.
"I cannot undo it. It is a toxin that overstimulates the pleasure center of the brain. It will wear off in an hour or two. Do not worry for her, diuscrucis. She cannot help but enjoy it."
"What about the way she threw herself at you? Was that her, or you?"
He smiled. "Pheromones. I passed them to her in the library. Normally, I make a date, I get them to bring me home, then I disable them with the toxin and do what I must. This was more convenient today, and the positioning was better than the dormitory."
"Convenient?"
"Yes. A question for you: how did you know I would choose her?"
"You've been predictable. Besides, you already took her twin sister. We had a feeling you'd go for someone similar."
He started laughing. "I killed her sister, and now you are going to what? Introduce us?" His cackling grated on me.
"Shut up." The craziness of it hadn't eluded me, I just didn't have much of a choice. If she was going to be with me she had to learn the rules, as lousy as they could be sometimes. If she couldn't... at least I'd know that now, before I invested more time with her.
Then there was the fact that she might be a plant.
Of cou
rse he didn't shut up. He kept laughing until the humor of it ran out. "What of this?" he asked, holding out the knight's head.
"I have a lead on that. A message from Valerix to come see her."
His eyes lit up. "Valerix? Really? You haven't done that saucy minx in yet? Now that will be an adventure."
"Can you go do something useful, like call a cab? We need to get her out of here."
"Of course, of course. Your wish is my command." He put the head on the floor and morphed into Peter. "I'll tell the guys I wore her out." He laughed again, and vanished from the room.
As soon as he was gone, I took a deep breath and tried to release some of the tension from my body. Dealing with the Beast was easier than this.
I found Rose's sweater on the floor. It was still disgusting with Gervais' sweat, so I slipped it over my arm and pushed the energy into it, watching it break apart and reorganize in the blink of an eye. Then I gently titled Rose's head so I could slip it back on her and cover her naked upper torso. She didn't react at all to my manipulation. It didn't seem she could react to anything. I could only imagine what it would be like to be trapped in a paralyzing orgasm. At what point did the inescapable aspect of the pleasure turn it into hellish pain?
Gervais returned a minute later, still looking like Peter, the drummer trailing behind.
"Oh shit, man," he said, seeing Rose sitting there. "What the heck did you do to her?" He looked up at me. "And who are you?"
"I'm her brother," I said.
He wasn't sure how to react, so he laughed. "Dude, are you serious? This is so screwed up."
"Just help us get her to the cab," Gervais said. "She's tripping pretty hard."
"Yeah, yeah, no problem, Pete. I'll take her legs. Man, she has a nice-"
"Do you mind?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, man." He took her legs, while Gervais took her arms. I picked up the head and guided them through the hallway, opening the doors ahead of them.
"That's a sweet rig," the drummer said as we walked, pointing at the head. "Must crank some massive sound."
I didn't know what he thought it was. "You bet your ass."
We waited a couple of minutes for the cab, keeping Rose propped up so she only looked drunk.
"I'm gonna make sure she gets home okay," Gervais said to the drummer after she was loaded in. "I'll see you guys tomorrow for class."
"Okay, Pete. Peace." He backed away from the car.
"Hey, is she okay?" the driver asked.
"She's fine. She just needs to get home to sleep it off," I said.
He looked concerned, but didn't argue. I gave him the address, and we were back at the apartment inside of ten minutes. Rose had loosened up a little by then, her head slumping forward and her limbs twitching.
"Now I know where you live," Gervais said, helping me get her out of the car. "Not even bourgeoisie. More like a sewer rat."
I looked back at him, holding my tongue against the surfacing anger.
I was going to have to move again when this was over.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
For the second time in as many days, there was someone waiting in my apartment.
He was sitting on my sofa, his feet up, his cane laid across his lap, the big ruby at the end sparkling despite an absence of direct light. He was wearing a suit, white with large blue pinstripes, and a matching bow tie. His hair was slicked back, his beard neatly trimmed.
"Signore!" Dante said, as I angled in through the door, holding Rose's top half.
Her silence had turned to mumbles, and her eyes had closed.
"Get out of the way," I replied, leaving the Lord of Purgatory to scramble. He planted his cane on the floor and vaulted over it, his athleticism betraying his aged appearance.
"Is that any way to greet me, when-"
He fell silent, his mouth hanging open.
Gervais had turned the corner.
"Ah, the poet," he said, on seeing Dante. "Still carousing with the rabble?"
We laid Rose down on the couch.
"I'll go and get the other package." Gervais glanced at Dante. "Maybe you'll be gone by the time I get back?" He walked out, closing the door behind him.
"Signore, a word."
I leaned down over Rose's face, brushing the hair away from it. "Rose?"
She mumbled and settled back.
"Signore." He tapped me on the shoulder with his cane.
I turned and got back to my feet. "Dante. You picked a strange time to make an appearance."
"My apologies. As you know, it has become increasingly difficult for me to track the movements of Heaven and Hell since I lost Mr. Ross. Alichino is proving to be less than an ideal replacement. Anyway, that is of little matter. How and what is that demon doing here?"
"You didn't always have your Collector. How did you manage then?"
"Things were simpler when everything had to be spoken in person, or sent by messenger. Technology... she has made my work all the more complex. You didn't answer my question. The archfiend... I believed him destroyed."
Rose groaned again. "Landon?"
I knelt down. "I'm here."
"Signore!" Dante cracked the cane across my back. "I asked you a question."
I closed my eyes, pushed out the pain, took a deep breath, and turned around again. "Mind your temper, Dante. I'm not in the mood."
He smiled weakly. "Yes. Again, my apologies. I am a bit... distraught, over your choice of accomplice."
"Landon." Her voice was groggy and dry.
Her hand reached up and grabbed mine.
"It's okay, Rose. We're back at the apartment."
"Did you kill him?"
"Signore."
"Rose, just give me one minute. Close your eyes and try to relax. You're safe."
"Who's there?"
"Signore, beyond your new... ally, I have news of great urgency to discuss with you."
"Dante, I haven't seen you in over a year. You finally decide to drop by, and you can't give me two minutes?"
"A year is nothing to you."
"That's not the point."
"Did you say Dante?" Rose said.
Gervais came back into the room, holding the severed head.
Dante saw the head, Rose saw Gervais. He wasn't broadcasting his aura, so I don't know how she knew who he was, but she did.
"Landon?" She started trying to get up, her body fighting her mind.
"Landon?" Dante was staring at the head, growing angry at who was holding it.
"Rose, wait. It's okay. He isn't going to hurt you. Dante, just give me a damn minute."
"This is bullshit," Rose said. She'd managed to get her hand to the knife I'd given her. She fell off the couch trying to get at Gervais.
"Was it as good for you as it could have been for me?" Gervais asked.
I threw out my energy, slamming it into him and driving him to the ground. "You shut the hell up."
He started laughing.
I helped Rose off the floor. She twisted and yanked herself away from me, spinning and slashing with the knife.
"You asshole. I trusted you. You're supposed to help me."
"I am helping you."
She was unsteady on her feet. "Are you kidding me?"
"Children, enough." Dante raised his hand, and Rose fell back to the couch, out cold.
I jabbed my finger at Dante. "If you can't help me with the important stuff, don't help me with this."
He already looked old, and somehow his face aged another fifty years.
"No, I suppose I can't help you, signore. I came to warn you about the angels. It appears my warning was too late."
His sad-old-dog look calmed my own temper. "You're too late to tell me that they're building robots. Do you have anything else?"
"They've recruited a mortal."
"Matthias Zheng."
He seemed surprised I knew the name. "Yes. Who told you?"
"Valerix, via Randolph Hearst. This is a problem for demons, too." I pointed a
t Gervais, who was sitting up on the floor. "Even this one."
"Especially this one," he said. "It should please you that I'm not what I used to be, poet. Not by any shot at all."
"Yes, I can see that. Alichino told me a new demon had been sent through a rift. If I had known it was you, that your soul had survived, I would have paid more attention to the news."
"I don't want to work with him either," I said. "The fact is he has some skills that may be useful, and he knows as much about fighting angels as anyone. This is kind of new ground for me." Ground I had been dreading having to traverse. As long as it remained a matter of busting up some machines, it wouldn't be a problem.
Gervais finished getting back to his feet. "You can be useful, too, my Lord." The last two words were sarcastic, mocking. "Someone needs to examine this. To see if it has any weaknesses. To determine what it is made of."
"I don't take orders from you," Dante said.
"Of course you don't, you old fool. You're probably so ignorant that you'd rather not do what I suggest just so you can not listen to me."
I could tell Dante was fuming. He remained silent while I took the head from Gervais and handed it to him. "Can you bring this back with you?"
He shook his head. "No, signore. I will have to bring Alichino back to examine it. I can carry it to his old workshop in Brazil and drop him there." He glared at Gervais. "Only because you are asking, and because it is the logical next step. Agents of Heaven that can attack without provocation, that are armored against demonic claws and teeth... This is an escalation that cannot be allowed to occur."
"It's more than that," I said. "This thing shot bolts at me. They've miniaturized the scripture or something. The entire blessing fits on a small projectile."
"It is worse than I realized. Let us not waste any more time on old wounds. The balance is of the utmost priority."
He vanished.
"Always a pleasure," Gervais called out. "Old windbag."
"How did you and Josette turn out so different?" I said it softly, not expecting the comment to be heard or answered.
