Devil's Shadow

by Percival Constantine

  “I thought all the history from that period was lost, that the only records were sketchy at best.”

  “We have the true accounts, but it’s believed too dangerous by those we serve.”

  “You mean the angels,” I said.

  Thomas nodded.

  “Is it only an account of the past?”

  “No, it also contains prophecies. Some of which have already come to pass, others which still remain a mystery.”

  Prophecies. I turned and looked at him. “Are any of those prophecies about me?”

  “They don’t mention you by name.”

  “You know what I mean. Could they describe me?”

  “There is one.”

  “Show me.”

  Thomas came closer and touched his finger to a small pad beneath the glass. The case opened, and he reached for the book, carefully picking it up. He thumbed through the pages until he found the passage he was looking for. He handed the book over to me and pointed to one passage in Enochian.

  “‘Of all the unholy unions, only one shall tip the scales. This child, born in darkness, raised in light, shall serve as the great equalizer. The child will grow to adulthood, where it shall face great trials that will determine whether its incredible powers shall be used for the benefit of Heaven or Hell.’”

  “What does that mean?” I asked. “That I could be on either side?”

  Thomas closed the book and placed it back inside the case. The top closed once more. “We don’t know for certain. All we know is that we tried our best to raise you in the light, in the event that you might be the cambion the prophecy speaks of.”

  “If you knew back then, why did you want to kill me?” I asked.

  “Because I didn’t want to take that risk.”

  “Did Alistair know?”

  Thomas nodded.

  Figured he did. That’s why he’d saved me all those years ago. Not out of pity or compassion, but because he thought I was going to be some kind of hero of this prophecy. And that made me wonder—were there others like me? Cambions raised by the Sons of Solomon?

  “Was I the only one?” I asked.

  “The only one that survived,” said Thomas.

  I grabbed his shoulders. “What do you mean by that? How did the others die? Did you kill them? Why?”

  Thomas stared blankly ahead, but then he started to blink. He closed his eyes and groaned. Shit, he was starting to come out of it. I had a choice to make. The Abraxas Stone or the book. And right now, I had to go with the Stone.

  Once Thomas opened his eyes, I stared into them again, pushing my power onto him. His eyes started to glaze over, but I could feel it was more difficult to get him this time. My control over him wouldn’t be as strong, so I had to move fast. Before something else went wrong.

  “The Abraxas Stone,” I said. “I need it.”

  “But—”

  “Thomas, do as I say!”

  He nodded, and I released his shoulders. Thomas ventured deeper into the archives and I followed. A few other artifacts and books caught my eye, but I couldn’t stand around to check any of them out. I had to get the stone and get back to Lilith.

  We stopped at a small, dark brown chest resting atop a pedestal covered in golden symbols designed to ward off any intrusion. Thomas set his hands on the box’s surface and started chanting in a mixture of Enochian and Latin. One by one, the symbols on the chest vanished until it was just a plain, old box. He raised the lid, and inside was a small stone, no bigger than a pendant. It looked like a crimson gem, and I could feel its power just by looking at it.

  “I found it,” I said to Lilith.

  “Good—get it and hurry back. We don’t know what other problems might be waiting for us.”

  I reached into the chest and wrapped my fingers around the stone. As soon as I picked it up, a rush of power went through me. It glowed in my hand. Something about this stone…it felt like it belonged to me. I just found myself staring at it for a few moments.

  “Luther! We don’t have time to waste!”

  I snapped out of the trance and moved my hand beneath the robe to drop the stone in my pocket. I looked at Thomas, staring him in the eyes and channeling my power once more time.

  “I’m sorry about this,” I said. “Now, you’re going to go back up to the library, you’re going to sit down with your book, and you’re going to forget I was ever here. Do you understand?”

  He nodded.

  “Good.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Despite all this, it actually was kinda good seeing you again, Tom. Take care of yourself.”

  I retreated back up the steps into the library. Things were going pretty smooth now. Might have been rocky for a minute there, but looked like everything was going to be okay.

  I backtracked to the delivery entrance and walked over to the gate. Just as before, I leapt over it and landed on the other side. My feet touched the ground and I began to walk back to where we had parked the van.

  I’d barely gotten a few feet away from the temple when I sensed a familiar presence. Or, rather, three familiar presences. I turned around and saw an odd grouping of people assembled. There was Celeste and her yeti bodyguard, Hem. And standing beside them was Wayne Cooper.

  “Strange seeing the three of you out in Rock Island in the middle of the night,” I said.

  “That’s funny, I was just about to say the same thing of you,” said Celeste.

  “Visiting some old friends.”

  Celeste glowered at me and her nostrils flared. “Don’t lie to me, Luther. You’ve been acting really weird for months. We had to go to Tessa to track you down. Now you’re either going to tell us—tell me—what’s going on, or this is about to get really ugly.”

  “Fine,” I said, throwing off the robe. “I’ll take the ugly option.”

  21

  Celeste’s eyes were a swirl of emotions. She was angry, but at the same time, saddened and maybe even happy to see me. It was clear she didn’t want to be standing on opposite sides against me, but she felt she had no choice.

  “Don’t do this, Luther,” she said. “We’re your friends, we’re trying to help you.”

  “Who says I need your help?” I asked.

  “I know about Lilith,” said Celeste. “I know something happened to you in Purgatory. If you just come with us, maybe we can figure something out, a way to get you back to normal.”

  I started to chuckle. “What makes you think I want to go back to the way I was before? That Luther didn’t know who he really was. Always fighting between the two worlds. Me, I’m becoming whole with who I am. Becoming complete. Why would I want to give that up?”

  “Because this isn’t who you really are,” said Wayne. “Listen to her, kid. Let us do something.”

  I scoffed and cocked an eyebrow as I looked at the detective. “Who invited you, anyway? You’ve got no part in this. You’re just some beat-up old cop who can’t solve a damn case by himself.”

  “Figured out it was you who killed those demons at the club. Had enough sense to know something didn’t smell right, which is why I went to Celeste.”

  Celeste cocked her head towards the temple. “That’s the Sons of Solomon temple, isn’t it? Why did you come all the way out here?”

  I reached into my pocket, and when I did, Celeste’s yeti bodyguard—Hem—took a step forward, getting ready to protect his mistress. I pulled out the Abraxas Stone, its glow illuminating the dimly-lit street.

  “What is that?” asked Celeste.

  “You asked why I was here—this is why,” I said. “And trust me when I say you don’t wanna get in my way while I’ve got hands on this.”

  That was a bluff. Even though I could feel the power the stone held, I didn’t know jack shit about how to unlock that power. Abraxas didn’t want just anyone to be able to use his toys. But maybe the threat alone would get them to back down.

  “You stole it from the Sons, didn’t you?” asked Celeste. “Did Lilith put you up to this?”

>   “Word to the wise, Celeste—mind your own fucking business. Just because I don’t want to hurt you doesn’t mean I won’t.”

  That was all it took to set Hem off. The yeti barreled forward, body-slamming into me. It was so fast, I didn’t have a chance to react. The force threw me into the air, soaring over the street, and then I fell right back down.

  I was okay, though. A parked sedan broke my fall.

  The windshield beneath me was cracked and there was an ugly-looking dent in the hood. I groaned and started to pull myself up when I heard a roar. I looked up and saw Hem falling towards me, his massive arms raised above his head.

  I quickly rolled away from the hood and onto the sidewalk just moments before Hem’s giant fists slammed into the hood, likely destroying what was left of the car’s engine. I got to my feet, but I had trouble standing. There wasn’t an inch of my body that wasn’t in pain. I drew the revolver and tried my best to aim it at the yeti.

  Hem pulled the remains of the hood from the car and used it as a shield to deflect my rounds. Once the gun was empty, he threw the hood at me and I dropped to the ground to avoid my head being taken off by it.

  I whispered in Latin, directing my magical energies to get to work on healing the damage already done. And I also tried to reach out to Lilith. “What’s taking you so long? You decide to stop for a drink or something? I’m gettin’ my ass kicked here!”

  Hem stepped closer to me, and I tried to throw a punch. He easily caught my fist in his gigantic hand and laughed. With his free hand, he grabbed my throat and started to squeeze. I slapped his arm, trying to get him to release me, but he wouldn’t. Just stared at me with his beady, red eyes and smiled.

  He and I had never really gotten on well. He was devoted to Celeste and he always thought my line of work posed a threat to her and her business. So right about now, he was obviously taking a lot of pleasure in crushing the life out of me—literally.

  “Hem, stop!”

  His head snapped in the direction of Celeste’s voice, who came running towards us. Hem looked back at me and huffed in annoyance, then slammed me against the building at the corner of the sidewalk. Hem released my throat and let me fall to the ground.

  When I looked up, I saw Celeste glaring at her bodyguard in anger, and he backed away and hung his head like a scolded puppy. Celeste knelt down beside me, now focusing her angry stare on my person.

  “You see what trouble you’re causing?” she asked. “Why can’t you just listen to reason and come along with us?”

  I spat blood on sidewalk right in front of her. “Don’t know how I can make myself any clearer, sweetheart. I. Don’t. Want. Your. Help.”

  “Then we’ll have to just take you along with us.” She stood and turned to Wayne. “Go get the car. We’ll take him to Cassandra—maybe she can help.”

  Wayne nodded and ran off.

  Celeste looked at Hem next. “Keep him restrained and put him into the backseat.”

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  “Gently, Hem.”

  He grumbled. “Yes, Mistress.”

  Hem bent over and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I heard a car engine growing louder and at first assumed it was Wayne. But it was going pretty fast and there didn’t seem to be a need for him to be in that much of a rush now that they had me incapacitated.

  I did my best to raise my head. The sound of the engine came from behind us, and I saw it swerve around the corner. It wasn’t Wayne’s car, it was a van. The same one Lilith had brought me here in. And she was driving right for us.

  By this point, Hem and Celeste must’ve heard it, too, because they both spun around. Celeste jumped out of the van’s path and an invisible force pulled me from Hem’s grip just as the van slammed into him. He tried to slow it down, but Lilith kept pushing and didn’t stop until Hem was sandwiched between the van’s front end and a parked car.

  I was lying face-down on the street and rolled over to my side, raising my head to see Lilith get out of the car. She came to my side and knelt down in front of me, placing her hand on my cheek. She bent forward and planted a kiss on my forehead. With every touch, I could feel the pain subsiding. I started to gain more mobility as my wounds began to close up.

  Then a hiss. Lilith and I both looked at the source and saw Celeste. She was in full vamp mode now, with her claws extended and her fangs bared. Lilith’s eyes burned yellow as she smiled at her new foe. The two of them began circling each other as I began to get to my feet.

  Normally, I’d be all for a catfight between these two, but we’d already caused quite a commotion already. I was actually surprised the cops hadn’t showed up yet and could only assume Wayne must’ve had something to do with that. But even worse was the possibility that the Sons would take notice and come out. Lilith and I had to get out of here before that particular can of worms was opened.

  Still, I couldn’t help being mesmerized when I watched the two of them go at it. I’d never seen Celeste as enraged as when she charged Lilith, attempting to eviscerate her with those razor-sharp talons. But Lilith moved like lightning, easily able to avoid Celeste’s attempts. And each time Celeste missed her target, it only drove her rage even further. Which, in turn, helped Lilith maintain the upper hand.

  Celeste was letting her anger cloud her judgment and Lilith knew just how to play the vampire. The demon was toying with her, like a cat batting around its prey before the kill. I looked at Hem and saw him still struggling to push the van away and free himself from the trap. Taking care of him was something I could do for now.

  I approached Hem, reaching into my pocket and taking out the small pouch of sleeping powder. I emptied the contents into the palm of my hand and walked up to him.

  Hem looked at me and growled. “If you ever cared about Celeste, you would get me out of here and let me stop that demon bitch before she kills her!”

  “I think you need to cool off a little, big guy.” I blew the dust into his face and Hem started coughing. While he was in the middle of the coughing fit, I held my hand out in front of him and said, “Dormio.”

  Hem growled, but it wasn’t as forceful as his others had been. His eyelids grew heavy and he struggled to keep them open. But then he collapsed on the hood of the van, snoring loudly.

  I heard another car coming. Wayne pulled up in the town car Hem usually drove Celeste around in. He stopped in front of us and got out of the car, looking at the scene before him with his mouth agape and eyes wide. He was fixated on the fight between Celeste and Lilith, so he didn’t notice me sneak up behind him with my knife until it was too late.

  “One wrong move and you start bleeding all over the street, Coop,” I said, holding the knife against his throat.

  Wayne raised his arms up. With my free hand, I found his gun and stuck it in the waistband of my pants. I gave him a quick pat-down and found no other weapons. Just his wallet and cell phone. I dropped the phone on the ground and stomped on it a few times until the screen cracked.

  “Look around you, Luther,” he said. “You’re siding with a demon over the woman you love. This isn’t you.”

  “You have no idea who I am anymore, Coop. So stop pretending like you do.”

  I was tempted to just cut his throat right then and there. Part of me wanted to. But something was holding me back, too. I spun him around so we were facing each other and I looked into his eyes, exerting my will over him.

  “Get out of my way.”

  Wayne dropped his arms to the side and, with a glazed-over look, moved away from me and the car. I drew his gun and fired a few shots into the air. The sound of the gunfire made Lilith and Celeste pause their fight. They looked over at me, but still maintained defensive stances.

  “Sorry about all the trouble, but we’re gonna have to get going,” I said. “It’s late and it’s a long drive back to Chicago.”

  Even though the van was pretty well wrecked, I still shot the tires out for good measure. Lilith delivered one final blow to Celeste, an u
ppercut that knocked her back. I got into the driver’s side of the town car and Lilith climbed into the passenger’s seat. I quickly shifted into gear and hit the gas, speeding away from the temple and towards the highway.

  “Did you get it?” asked Lilith.

  I reached into my pocket and held up the stone. Lilith took it from me with a grin on her face. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around me, kissing my cheek.

  “I knew I made the right call bringing you into this.” She sat back in her seat and held the stone up in front of her, admiring it. “Luther, you and I are about to have some fun.”

  22

  We ditched Celeste’s town car just outside of the city and stole another one to take us the rest of the way to Lust. Not sure why we bothered, really—if Celeste and the others could track us to Rock Island, they could certainly find us at Lust. And not like it was hard to imagine we’d return to the club Lilith now ran.

  One benefit Lust did have, though, was the army of demons loyal to Lilith. Anyone who came after us in the club would have to go through them first. That could buy us some time while we began to figure out our next move.

  When we returned to Lilith’s office on the top floor of the club, we didn’t settle in. Lilith walked over to the bar, and with a bit of magic, the wall vanished, revealing a hidden staircase. She beckoned me with her finger and I followed her up the stairs. They ended in a massive penthouse atop the club.

  I’d always wondered where Asmodeus hung his hat. Now it looked like I had my answer. He never had to leave Lust at all. I wasn’t sure if the decor was his or if Lilith had changed things around since she took over. The penthouse had a wide, open floor plan, with paintings hanging on the walls. Most of them were depictions of Paradise Lost or Inferno. Many of them were the works of Gustave Doré and William Blake.

  The walls and carpet were red. It’s an old wives’ tale that if you stay in a red room for too long, it’ll drive you insane. Looking around the penthouse, I wondered if Asmodeus ever put that theory to the test.