While Hem was busy with Wayne, I saw Lilith move into the room and step over to me. She looked down at the sigil I was ensnared in and her eyes glowed as she knelt down and slammed her fist on the circle. A crack formed in the floor, breaking the sigil and allowing her to enter freely. Lilith came around behind me and started to work on the locks.
“Regna terrae, cantata Deo, psallite Cernunnos. Regna terrae, cantata Dea psallite Aradia!”
I heard Lilith hiss, the shock of the opening words of the exorcism spell halting her progress on the locks. Craning my neck to look over my shoulder, I saw her rising up, staring past me and at Alistair. He held his hand out, a look of grim determination on his face as he continued to recite the exorcism spell.
“Caeli Deus, Deus terrae, Humiliter majestati gloriae tuae supplicamus Ut ab omni infernalium spirituum potestate, Laqueo, and deceptione nequitia, Omnis fallaciae, libera nos, dominates.”
Lilith stumbled to one knee, her eyes burning bright. I had to do something to help her out of this. Now that she’d broken the sigil, my magic was no longer blocked. I was still weak from it and the iron certainly wasn’t helping, but while Alistair’s attention was focused on Lilith and his spell, I could strike at him.
“Exorcizamus you omnis immundus spiritus Om—”
“Silentium!” I shouted.
Alistair’s lips continued to move, but no sound came out. With my limitations and Alistair’s strength, the spell wouldn’t last more than a few seconds. But it was at least long enough for Lilith to spring from where she stood and tackle the mage to the ground.
I looked over at the others. Celeste had managed to subdue Wayne with a sleeper hold and Hem now moved past me to assist Alistair against Lilith. With her concentration on them, that meant I had to get rid of these locks myself. I focused my power, trying to find each one. The iron kept interfering with my power, but I finally reached one of the locks.
“Aperio,” I whispered, and I heard one of the locks open and then clatter to the ground. The chains grew slack around me and I let them fall, feeling more of my strength return. I tried to find the second lock, focusing my power and then repeating the word.
I stood from the chair and let the chains fall to the ground. I had to help Lilith, and the two of us needed to get the hell out of dodge. Should’ve known that once things went sideways, the Sons would call in Alistair. Nothing could ever just be simple, could it?
“Luther…”
I sighed and turned around. Celeste stood in front of me, her fangs and claws bared.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Nope, things were never simple.
Celeste sprung at me and I barely slid to the side in time to avoid her claws tearing me to ribbons. She caught my jacket and I looked down at the tears in the leather, sighing. I’d liked that jacket. A lot.
We maintained the distance between each other. In a straight-up physical fight, Celeste would kick my ass, no question about it. Our strength was about equal, but Celeste was faster than me and had better reflexes. To top it all off, she’d been alive a lot longer than me and had done a lot of traveling all over the world. She’d definitely picked up some skills in that time.
In a situation like this, my magic and weapons would have evened the odds, but that wasn’t an option right now. Alistair had been smart to strip me of all my weapons before he brought me here. And as far as the magic went, I was still fighting off the residual effects of the binding spell and the iron chains. Combine that with the magic I’d used to briefly silence Alistair and release those locks, and I was shooting blanks.
Or in other words, I was about to get my ass kicked by my scorned, vampiric ex-girlfriend. Not what one would call an ideal situation. I only had one way to get through this—I had to keep her off-balance. And I knew just how to do it.
“My new girl came for me,” I said. “You gotta admire someone who’s got that kinda dedication to her man.”
“I know what you’re doing,” said Celeste.
“I’m sorry, babe, but you and me just wasn’t working anymore. Needed something new. Something challenging. And if I’m gonna be honest, you were starting to smother me.”
“Say whatever you want, it won’t make a difference,” she said. “I know you’re not Luther. You’re some twisted, corrupted version of him that’s come to the surface.”
I smiled. “It’d be real convenient for you if that were true, wouldn’t it? But I’m sorry to say, things don’t really work out that way. You can think of me as Luther’s evil twin if it makes you feel better, but let’s be real about something—you know it’s not that simple.”
“And how’s that?”
“Luther’s always had a dark side. It’s what drew the two of you together in the first place. This ain’t news, sweetheart—you’ve tasted his darkness. It’s in his blood.”
Celeste’s eyes betrayed her emotions. She knew there was something to what I was saying. A truth she didn’t want to acknowledge.
“The Luther you knew was no saint, no hero,” I continued. “He was a broken man haunted by the circumstances of his birth, running away from his destiny, using his powers for his own benefit more than any sort of altruistic desire to help others.”
I wasn’t lying to her, not even a little bit. She was fighting for the soul of a man she had deluded herself into thinking was good. But in reality, he had always been a bit of a bastard. And faced with that reality, Celeste was clearly struggling.
“Face it, honey, the man you’re looking for isn’t dead,” I said. “He never even existed.”
That pushed her. Celeste charged forward, her claws flailing wildly, hissing and growling as she moved. Like I said, she was fast. And getting her to lose control, that was my plan. But the downside to that plan was it required pushing her to cut off her own leash. So I had to take a few blows myself in order to get the upper hand.
The downside to losing control is you stop thinking clearly. Celeste was almost like a mad dog at that moment. She just wanted her pound of flesh and she’d do whatever necessary to get it. Me, I kept a level head, and that made it possible to plan a few steps ahead.
She swiped at me and I grabbed her wrist, holding her hand off to the side. Celeste attempted to strike with the other hand and I grabbed that wrist, too. She lunged for my neck, her jaw snapping to try and clamp down on it and sink her fangs into my flesh. I met her attempt with a headbutt.
When I released her wrists, Celeste stumbled back, shaken. I moved over to the bench where Alistair had kept his supplies and took something from the bag—a silver flask with a cross engraved on the front. I unscrewed the cap and threw some at Celeste.
The holy water caused her skin to burn and smoke. She screamed and pulled away. Her scream drew Hem’s attention, who immediately went to his mistress’ aid. Now it was just Alistair and Lilith, each attempting to overpower the other with their magic. I took a moment to admire Alistair’s skill. There was nothing supernatural about him at all—he was just a human who devoted his life to the study of magic. And yet here he was, holding his own against one of the most powerful demon sorceresses in history.
But even the most powerful human sorcerer is still just human. I saw Wayne’s discarded gun and picked it up, took careful aim, and fired. The bullet struck Alistair in the leg and he cried out as he fell to one knee. That was all Lilith needed to deliver a final blow and take him out of the fight. She grabbed his head and was about to twist.
“Stop,” I said.
“He’s too dangerous to keep around, Luther.”
“We’ve got more important things to worry about,” I said. “Let’s get the fuck out of here while we still can.”
Lilith hesitated, staring down at Alistair’s unconscious face. She scoffed and let him fall to the ground, then ran over beside me. Hem stood to follow us, and Lilith held up her hand, her eyes glowing bright yellow as she said, “Sepio.”
Hem struck an invisible barrier and started pounding in futility aga
inst it. It would hold until we were out of range, at which point it’d be too late for them to catch up to us. Lilith and I ran outside, climbed into Wayne’s car, and sped off into the night.
Another daring escape. And now we had to worry about Alistair Carraway working with Celeste. Things were definitely going south fast. I pushed my foot down harder on the gas.
“We’ve got to get this thing started,” I said. “If we don’t use the stone soon, my guess is things are about to get a lot worse.”
“What makes you say that?” she asked.
“Something’s going on with the angels, too,” I said. “I think I might’ve made an enemy among them. So right now, that stone gives me insurance against them.”
“Guess that means you’re onboard with my plan?”
“Guess so,” I said. “Is there anything else I should know?”
“Just get back to Lust. I’ll tell you everything once we’ve started.”
I nodded and drove faster, weaving in and out of traffic until we got to Rush Street. I pulled the car to a stop at the curb in front of Lust and got out. As I stepped onto the street and looked at the club, something felt wrong.
“Hold on,” I said.
“What is it?” asked Lilith.
“No line.” I pointed to the front of the club. “Usually, at this time of night, there’s a line around the block. But tonight, nothing. Not even a bouncer.”
Lilith closed her eyes and a moment later, she opened them again. “Oh…oh, shit… Drive around the block, now!”
“What?”
She got back into the car. “Do it!”
I climbed into the driver’s seat and did as she said. “You know what this is about?”
“You might say that…” Lilith looked at me with terror in her eyes. “Belial is in there.”
29
Belial. The name hung in the air after Lilith spoke it. The fear was written all over her face, and with good reason. Anyone who’d studied the Fall knew Belial’s name. One of Lucifer’s fiercest soldiers, responsible for slaying more angels than anyone—or anything—in the known universe.
“We have to get out of here,” said Lilith.
“What about the ritual? The stone?” I asked. “We’ve got the Sons of Solomon and my jilted ex on our asses. If we just keep running, who knows how long it’ll be before our luck runs out.”
“I get that, but you do not want to go in there, not with Belial inside,” said Lilith. “There’s only one reason Belial would be on Earth—Lucifer must have sent him. That means the Infernal Court knows I’ve escaped Hell and they want to drag me back down. Or worse.”
Great, so even the Devil himself was giving me headaches. That was just what I needed on top of everything else so far.
“Do you think he knows about the stone?” I asked.
Lilith hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t think so. I hid it pretty well, and as long as it’s not active, Belial shouldn’t be able to sense its power.”
“Okay, so that’s good news,” I said. “But we have to get in there and grab the stone. Can’t risk Belial accidentally stumbling on it and taking it back to his master.”
“You are aware you’re talking about a suicide mission, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but what other choice do we have?”
“Your magic’s burned out and you don’t have any weapons. How long do you really think you can last in there?”
I sighed. She was right, dammit. Fighting our way in was definitely out of the question. Even if I were at full-strength, no telling how many demons Belial had under his control. We might not get even a little close to our goal. No, we needed another plan.
“Don’t suppose Asmodeus installed a secret entrance to this place,” I said.
“I can open a portal to the apartment. Pretty sure Belial wouldn’t have known about that. But opening it from outside will take some time.”
I opened the door and stepped onto the street. “I’ll buy you some time.”
“What?” she asked. “Are you insane?”
“Apparently…” I muttered under my breath. “Start working on the portal. As soon as you’re in and you’ve got the stone, you let me know.”
Lilith slid over to the driver’s seat and went off on her own. I walked around the block and approached the front entrance. I placed both my hands on the double doors and pushed them open. They were unlocked, surprisingly. And inside was an interesting sight.
Normally, Lust was a place where humans were corrupted. But that night, all you could see was a sea of glowing, yellow eyes. There were some humans there, no mistaking that. But they weren’t really enjoying themselves. Demons ravaged them in a variety of twisted ways on the dance floor. Orgies went on right in full-view of the public, drugs and alcohol were served up on a platter, and the stench of death and corruption hung in the air.
Eyes fell on me as I moved through the crowd and towards the bar. And there, I saw someone I hadn’t expected to see. I sidled up beside the young man who was busy joking with some of his fellow demons over a few beers. He didn’t notice me at first, but his friends did, and their laughter quickly subsided. I reached out and tapped his shoulder and he turned to look at me.
“Shit!” he said, knocking his beer over and spilling it all over himself. “L-Luther, buddy!”
“Killian,” I said. “Been a while. How’re tricks?”
“Just doin’ what you wanted, big guy,” said Killian. “Keepin’ an eye on Lust and all…”
“I see.” I decided to summon what little power I had to make my eyes flare up. Just enough to keep the kid scared, even though I couldn’t back up the veiled threat. “And when were you going to tell me about the new management around here?”
Killian sighed. “Look, I’m just tryin’ to keep my head down, okay? If people here knew I was mixed up in your whole thing, how long do you think I’d survive?”
“Not long,” I said. “And I think I’ll use that to my advantage.”
“W-What do you mean?”
I slammed my hand on the counter a few times for attention. “Excuse me, barkeep!” I put my arm around Killian and pulled him closer to me. “A bottle of your finest scotch for my good buddy, Killian. On me.”
Killian’s eyes went wide with horror as the other demons all looked in his direction. I patted him on the shoulder and started to move away.
“You have fun with your friends. I’ve got some mingling to do.”
The demons were afraid to come after me, but Killian was a different story. And with them going for him, that gave me a chance to get upstairs without any trouble and have a sit-down with Belial. I quickly ascended the steps until I made it to the top floor. The private room that had once belonged to Asmodeus and then Lilith stood right before me. I stepped up to the two demons who guarded the door and looked them each square in the eye.
“I’m here to see the new boss,” I said.
“And why would he want to see you?”
“Because I’ve got information about Lilith.”
The guards exchanged glances and one of them entered the room. The other stepped in front of the door and stared me down. I didn’t flinch under his gaze, just stood calmly and lit a cigarette. I exhaled, the smoke engulfing his face. He also didn’t flinch, not even a cough or a blink.
“So, you possessing this poor bastard or you make this body yourself?” I asked.
“What’s it to you?”
I shrugged. “Just wondering. Because if I were to make my own host body, I’d certainly choose one a bit more handsome.”
He growled in response. But before he could say another word, the door opened. The first bouncer tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something to him. They both cleared a path for me.
“The boss will see you.”
I nodded thanks and entered the room. The door was shut behind me, and standing in front of the large window overlooking the club certainly wasn’t Belial. He turned to face me. Shor
t, dark hair, brown skin, and a white suit. He flashed a smile at me.
“Hello, Luther. Good to see you again.”
“Iblis?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I feel I should ask you the same question,” said Iblis. “You see, you and I had an arrangement. You were supposed to help me take over Asmodeus’ territory. But now I find that you’ve been working with the competition.”
The demon crossed the distance between us, stopping just a few feet in front of me. He clicked his tongue several times in rapid succession while shaking his head.
“That wasn’t very nice, Luther. I know you’re a mongrel half-breed, but I’d hoped your demon side would at least mean you could honor a very simple deal.”
“And what exactly are you doing here?” I asked. “How could you so quickly take this place over? It’s only been a day.”
“It’s amazing what one can accomplish when one greases the right palms.” Iblis looked over my shoulder.
I turned around and there was a flash, followed by a brief explosion of fire. No, not just fire—hellfire. It took the shape of a figure. First demonic, but slowly, it shifted into that of a man with a shaved head and dressed in slacks and a vest with a button-down shirt and the sleeves rolled up. He folded his arms across his chest and regarded me with a hard stare, yellow eyes burning.
Iblis circled around to the new arrival’s side. “Luther, I’d like to introduce you to Belial. The greatest warrior in all of Hell.”
“Hello, Luther,” said Belial. “I’m glad we’ve got an opportunity to chat.”
“So, how’s this work?” I asked. “This guy shows up and all of a sudden, the demons fall into line?”
“They know my reputation. They know only Lucifer himself commands me. So, if I tell them what to do, by extension, it’s the word of the Morningstar,” said Belial.
“That’s pretty impressive,” I said.
“I was tasked with bringing Lilith back to Hell and to destroy any in my way—with the exception of you,” said Belial. “It seems the Morningstar has taken an interest in you.”
Devil's Shadow (Luther Cross Book 3) Page 19
