Then again, maybe he was just playing her, a way to screw with Heaven, and maybe Lilith was just trying to tug at my heartstrings and manipulate me. No way of really knowing for sure.
“Now, everything that was once his is going to be mine,” she said. “Not out of vengeance or anything like that. But I was his queen, and if anyone’s going to take over his realm, it’s not going to be some lesser demon like Iblis, nor will I stand by and let the other Hell Lords carve it up to share amongst themselves.”
I didn’t say anything as Lilith took the exit. We were now in Rock Island and not far from the Sons of Solomon. I was about to break into a secure facility and violate a man who had helped bring me up in order to hand over a powerful artifact to one of the most dangerous demons in history so she could take over part of Hell and become even more powerful.
I should’ve been a lot more hesitant about that than I was.
19
I directed Lilith how to get to the temple’s delivery entrance. We parked about a block away and got out of the car. There was a back gate that could only be opened from the inside, with an intercom for communicating. I pointed to a camera mounted at the top of the tall gate and Lilith nodded. She held up her hands and her eyes started to glow.
“Distorqueo,” she said.
Her eyes flashed with the word and then she nodded to me. I walked up to the gate and crouched, coiling my legs. I pushed off, jumping high enough to fly over the barbed wire atop the gate. Lilith followed a moment later and we approached the delivery entrance.
The door was locked from the inside. I placed my hand on the door’s metal surface and summoned my own power. “Aperio.” We heard the sound of tumblers turning and I pulled on the door. It opened without a problem.
I went into the storage room first, but when Lilith tried to enter, it was like she struck an invisible wall. She dropped to her knees and hissed, her eyes burning brighter than I’d seen.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s warded against demons,” she said.
“Shit!”
How could I have forgotten about that? It had been so long since I’d set foot in the temple, and the supernatural wards were always such a common thing that I’d never even considered it.
“Can you break the spell?” I asked.
Lilith gave me an annoyed look. “It’s a spell to ward off demons. Wouldn’t be very effective if a demon could just easily undo it.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked. “I can’t disable the cameras by myself.”
“The car,” she said. “I’ve got more supplies back there. I can work a spell to create a distortion field in a localized area. It’ll look like a power outage. But the catch is I can’t keep it going for long.”
“How long?”
She shrugged. “Ten minutes if we’re lucky, but realistically, more like five.”
“Won’t be enough time…but might be enough to let me find the security room. I’ll have to take out the guys on monitor duty.”
“Good, I’ll get set up.”
“Then as soon as the lights go out, I’ll know it’s go-time. Am I gonna know which artifact the Abraxas Stone is?”
“Step outside the door for a minute.”
I did as she said, and Lilith placed her hand behind my head. She pulled me down to her and hungrily pressed her lips against mine. I was surprised, but quickly fell into the kiss and returned it in kind. She was forceful, biting my lip before she pulled away.
“Now I can contact you and see through your eyes. I’ll be able to tell you where it is once you’re in position.” She had a playful smile on her face as she backed away from me, then turned and ran over to the wall.
I turned around and stepped back into the store room just as she leapt over the gate. After closing the door behind me, I started looking through some of the crates and boxes lining the walls, trying to find extra robes lying around in the boxes.
I finally found one and pulled it on over my clothes, pulling up the zipper on the black robe. I reached my hands back and pulled the hood over my head, then stepped closer to the door. Putting my hand on the surface, I closed my eyes and reached out with my senses.
My powers worked better on detecting the supernatural. It was all about the type of energy each soul gave off. Being supernatural myself made me more sensitive to that kind of soul energy. But I could also use them to feel the presence of humans, too, though it was much fainter, so I had to concentrate harder.
I didn’t sense anything, so I opened the door and entered the hallway. There weren’t many cameras around here and the ones that were would be easy to avoid, so I could get myself a little closer to the security room before Lilith worked her spell.
The security room was at the end of this corridor. I ducked into a room and closed the door behind me. This was one of the classrooms. The old chalkboard had now been replaced by a newer whiteboard and the desks looked like they were in better shape. Memories flashed in my head of sitting in a room like this when I was a kid, listening the other students whispering and laughing behind my back. One of the downsides to having supernatural hearing.
I took out my phone and checked the screen. Turning on the light would be too risky—someone passing by might see it under the door. So, I watched my phone, waiting for Lilith’s spell to kick in. A text message came in from her, saying she was about to start.
A few moments later, the screen went black. I pushed the power button, but nothing happened. Spell worked—now it was my turn. I opened the door and checked first, then started down the corridor, walking at a quiet but swift pace to get to the door.
Just as I was about to reach for the handle, the door opened.
I pushed up against the wall and slid into the corner, hiding behind the open door. All the guards in these temples were young, spry members of the Sons of Solomon, though they didn’t wear the robes when on duty. Instead, they dressed in loose-fitting black pants and tunics, not all that different from the uniforms worn by martial artists.
He started walking down the hall and I closed the door and snuck up behind him. Couldn’t run the risk of him raising any kind of alarm once he found out there was nothing wrong with the fuse box or back-up generator.
I moved closer and tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around and I brought him to the floor with a powerful right hook. Under most circumstances, I would’ve just used my powers to influence him. But Thomas had a strong will, so I’d need to be at full strength to take control of him.
I dragged the guard over to the door and opened it. The other guard sat in front of the monitor bay, banging against random keys on the keyboard to try and fix it, as if that would do anything.
“Don’t tell me you checked the fuse box alrea—”
He turned around and his eyes went wide with recognition. My arm dropped to my side and I looked at him. He smiled and stood from the chair. “Luther? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me. How are you…John?”
“Jeff, actually.”
“Right, Jeff.” I remembered you, all right. You were one of the little bastards who used to torment me when I was a kid.
“How have you been?” he asked. “What are you doing back here? I thought you left the Sons?”
“I did.” I threw a punch, but struck Jeff in the gut instead. He groaned, but didn’t go down. I grabbed his head and brought it down, slamming my knee into it, then delivered one more punch once Jeff had stumbled to knock him unconscious. “That was for the calling my mother a slut.”
I tied up both Jeff and the other guard. Reached into my bag and took out a small pouch filled with a special kind of sand. I poured some into the palm of my hand and blew it into both their faces.
“Dormio.”
It was a simple sleep spell. Just in case they might have recovered before the job was done, that spell would keep them slumbering for about eight hours. They’d wake up feeling refreshed.
The lights came back on and the monitors lit u
p. I climbed into one of the chairs and started disabling the cameras, one by one. Now I’d be able to move about freely in the halls. I left the security room and closed the door, then whispered, “Sero,” to lock the door.
Things were going pretty smooth so far. I backtracked from the security room and took another corridor further away from the rear entrance, leading me towards the center of the temple, where the library entrance would be found.
Once I came to the double doors, I placed my hand on the surface and concentrated, reaching out with my senses to see if I picked up any energy. Faint, but present. There was definitely a human inside. But one problem with the library was there was only one entrance. And if Thomas was facing the entrance, he’d definitely see me come in. Would make it harder to influence him that way.
No choice, though. I pushed the door open and quickly moved from the door behind a shelf. I peered over the tops of the books, looking through the shelf to see if I could spot Thomas. At first, I couldn’t see or hear anything. But then there were rapid footsteps, followed by a voice.
“Is someone there?”
I saw him, then. Still bald with a silver beard and glasses, though he had more wrinkles on his face than he’d had when I last saw him. Thomas went up to the front door and opened it, glancing outside. He came back in and continued to search for someone. I kept quiet and just watched. After a few minutes, he finally gave up and I watched him walk past the shelves.
I followed, hiding within the stacks and keeping pace with him. Thomas returned to a table in the back of the library and sat down before a large, open book. I stepped carefully and silently, coming closer and closer to him. Soon, I’d have to close the distance without the benefit of cover, and once he looked up at me, I’d hopefully be close enough to use my powers on him.
“You may as well come out, Luther.”
I froze when I heard my name. I peered through the stacks and saw Thomas look up from his book, his glasses perched on the edge of his nose and his blue eyes staring right at me.
“I raised you, son. Trained you,” he said. “Do you really think I can’t sense your presence?”
“What’s happening?”
The voice in my head. Lilith had made contact. And at the worst possible time. “Go quiet—I’ll explain later,” I replied.
I stepped out from the stacks and started to approach the table. Thomas perched his elbows on the surface and linked his hands together, smiling as I came closer.
“I never thought I’d see you in that robe again,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I never thought I’d see you again at all. Why are you sneaking around the temple at this time of night?”
“I need something,” I said. “It’s important, for a case.”
“A case. I see.” Thomas frowned. “Using your natural gifts and the lessons we taught you for personal profit?”
“Man’s gotta make a living somehow.”
Thomas’ brow furrowed. “Is something wrong with you, Luther?”
“Dunno what you mean.”
“I can sense it’s you, and yet…there’s something…different. Out of place.” Thomas narrowed his eyes. “Dark.”
“Or maybe you’re just paranoid in your old age,” I said.
“Perhaps. Tell me more about this case of yours, though. What do we have that you need? A book?”
“No, something more powerful than that,” I said. “Something down in the archives.”
“You know I can’t let you in there, son.” Thomas rose from his chair. “Access is restricted, even to active members of our order. Former members aren’t permitted at all.”
“Even if it’s a matter of life or death?” I asked.
“Yes, even then,” said Thomas. “But if you tell me what it is you’re looking for and why you need it, perhaps I can have one of our operatives take over this case.”
“That’s not gonna happen. Client will only work with me.”
“Then how does a partnership sound?”
“I prefer to work alone.”
“So, what other option do we have?”
I sighed. “The one where I have to do whatever it takes.”
I was just about to use my sight on him, but then Thomas held up his hand and I was frozen in place. With a simple wave, he threw me across the library and I struck one of the shelves, knocking it over.
“I apologize, Luther. I truly do,” said Thomas.
I pulled myself up and saw Thomas approaching. I shook my head. “I don’t want to fight you, Tom.”
“It’s not exactly how I’d planned to spend my night, either,” said Thomas. “But I’m afraid you leave me no choice.”
20
Thomas wasn’t someone anyone would consider a fighter. He was a bookworm, more suited to research and teaching than he was to any sort of combat, let alone against the supernatural. Naturally, anyone who rose through the ranks of the Sons of Solomon would need to have magical aptitude, so I knew he had skill.
Just hadn’t realized how much until now.
“This is bigger than you realize, Tom,” I said. “I need something from those archives, and you’re going to help me get it.”
“I think not.”
Tom stretched out his hand and my entire body froze. As he raised his arm, my feet left the floor. I could feel his invisible power pulling at each of my limps, stretching them to the limit. And in my head, I could hear Lilith’s voice.
“Luther! What’s happening?”
“Seems Thomas is a bit tougher than I realized. I’m in a bit of a bind—literally.”
Tom tilted his head to the side. “You’re talking to someone, aren’t you? I can’t eavesdrop or tell. Who are you working with?”
“That’s a bit personal. I mean, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, so I really think we’d be better served just talking about old times and working up to that point.”
Thomas shook his head. “I had such high hopes for you, Luther. Despite your obvious shortcomings, you showed incredible potential. You could have been one of our greatest warriors, surpassing even the likes of Alistair.”
“Maybe I just didn’t want to be your damn puppet and sign up for some destiny I wanted no part of.”
“And yet, now, you willingly become the puppet of others for money. All we ever asked you to do was to save humanity.”
“Oh, I’ll save them. But I’m gonna do it my way.”
“Luther, listen to me. I can’t do anything to help you from here, but Thomas is just a human sorcerer. You can overpower him; you just have to tap into your powers.”
“When Alistair first brought you to me, I said it would probably be best to kill you before you grew up to become a tool of Hell, or even worse, do something to violate the armistice. And now it’s my understanding that powerful forces are gathering and tensions are high. Does that have something to do with you?”
I didn’t say anything. Telling him about Lilith or Purgatory or the nephilim plot would only prove him right and make him choose the most violent route.
“Your silence suggests it does,” said Thomas. “I’m sorry, Luther, but it looks like Alistair was wrong. I should have killed you all those years ago. But you might have information, so I think, instead, I’ll just bind you until we can learn the truth.”
“You’re not binding shit, old man.”
The power started to well up inside me, building to a crescendo. But I had to be careful. Just use the bare minimum to break the spell, and after that, I’d still have to influence him to get into the archives. I felt the hellfire coursing through my veins, and then Thomas’ face went white with fear.
“My God…Luther, what have you done?”
There was a flash of light, and suddenly, I fell to the ground. I landed in a crouch and looked up at Thomas, who still seemed like he was about to piss himself. Didn’t know what he saw in my face, but it scared the shit out of him.
Good.
I reached my hand out and a rope of hellfire e
merged from my palm, snaking across the distance between us. It wrapped around Thomas’ throat and hefted him into the air, bringing him closer to me. I stared up at him, looking him in the eyes.
The scent of his fear was intoxicating. I felt it fill me up, give me strength. I wanted more, but then Lilith’s voice appeared in my head once again.
“Don’t get sucked in—you still have a job to do.”
She was right. I grabbed Thomas by the throat and the hellfire retreated. I stared at him, channeling my demonic energies into my power. The red glow of my eyes reflected off his skin and he stopped struggling. His fear gave way to compliance, and once I was sure he was mine to control, I set him on his feet.
“Now, you’re going to take me into the archives. You want to take me to the archives, don’t you?”
Thomas gave a slow nod. “Yes, I do. Follow me.”
I let go of his throat and Thomas turned around. He started walking towards the back of the library and I followed him. There was a bust of King Solomon, and Thomas tilted the head back. Once he did, I could see a glowing blue orb. A beam of light flashed over Thomas’ eyes and the bust and the dais it stood upon receded back into the wall, revealing a staircase leading into the basement.
Thomas entered first, and I followed. The staircase spiraled down a good way and ended at another door with a flat panel. Thomas placed his hand on the panel and it flashed before the door opened.
Once we entered the archives, overhead lights turned on. There were a number of books lining shelves along the walls. All around the center of the room were glass cases holding some types of artifacts or, in some cases, even weapons.
Thomas took a step back and looked at me. “Welcome to the archives, Luther. Is there anything you’d like me to show you?”
I was about to ask him where the Abraxas Stone was, but before I did, something caught my eye. I walked over to one of the cases and looked through it. Inside was an old grimoire. The words on the cover were written in Enochian. I tried to make out what they said, and before I could, I heard Thomas’ voice from behind me.
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