by Jenny McKane
Concern marred Eli’s handsome face as he looked down at her. “What do you mean? What opposite events?”
She gave a shrug. “I have no idea and I’m pretty certain that Asmodeus doesn’t, either,” she said. “He just warned me that because I put on the seal and woke him, that whatever forces are pushing for an apocalypse just got a jolt of energy, too. So, I don’t think I could go back if I wanted to.”
Eli opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. He looked like he had dueling emotions warring inside him, but he didn’t tell Sunny what they were. Was he angry that they’d taken such a drastic risk? Was he worried about them all? Did he think Sunny wasn’t up to the task now that the stakes were likely much higher?
Whatever it was, he didn’t say and after they’d walked a few more feet, he let out a long exhale.
“It’s going to be fine,” he said. “We’ll get through this.”
“Was that for me? Or for you?” She laughed when she said it, teasing him.
“Both, probably,” he admitted with a small grin. “I just want you to know that I’ve got your back. I always have, and I always will, Sunny. Don’t worry when you’re up there with that demon—you’ve got this.”
She gave a short nod just as Asmodeus let out a whoop of victory.
“We’re here,” he yelled from just above the next hill. “Get over here, Solomon, and summon us a demon.”
With an anxious look at Eli, she pasted a false look of determination on and walked to the front as Asmodeus was creating a triangle with a bag of salt he’d brought.
“Salt?” Sunny raised a brow at this. It seemed very…wiccan.
“The blessed cord was the only thing that could have contained me,” he said as he finished the wide triangle. “Agares isn’t quite on my level.”
The smug satisfaction on his face was hard to miss as he humble-bragged about how much restraint he’d required when first summoned.
“Now, just like we talked about earlier, keep the demon’s focus on you,” Asmodeus said as Metatron and Gabriel neared the triangle. “I’m guessing that his attention is immediately going to jump to the archangels because he tended to get a little star struck, but you need to get him on task and get him to agree to help. Promise him the freedom you promised me and sweeten the deal with the assurance that he’ll get to roam around both realms while we summon up the rest of the demons. A bit of a working vacation before we need him—that’s crucial.”
Working vacation, Sunny nodded to herself. She got it.
“And do not, I repeat, do not promise him anything other than freedom from this punishment,” Asmodeus said pointedly. “He’s after something very specific and it’s better for all of us that he never finds it—and that he not take you down in a foolish promise with him.”
“What does he want to find?” she asked, not able to help herself.
“None of our business,” Asmodeus quipped mysteriously. “I’m serious. The less any of us know about their intentions outside of the coming battle, the better. None of us need to be drawn into the Guardian business. It’s bad for one’s mental health.”
More cryptic words that Sunny didn’t have time to unpack.
“Now, if you’re ready, Solomon,” Asmodeus bowed and swept his hand in the direction of the triangle. “Go get us a general.”
Her hands clenched and holding a breath, Sunny had to blink a few times to get her feet to work. She was so much more nervous now than she had been when she pulled Asmodeus from his prison back in Chicago. But why?
She glanced over her shoulder to Gideon who raised his eyebrows and smiled, showing no signs of fear or nervousness. He truly did believe in her 100 percent. Beside him, Metatron looked at peace, with his arms folded over his chest. Gabriel raised a single eyebrow at her when she met his eyes, almost as though he could read the hesitation she felt and was trying to encourage her to make her move.
Sin was staring at Asmodeus, as he was wont to do lately, and Eli had his hands jammed into his pockets and deep wrinkle creased into his brows. He needed to stop frowning so much, she mused to herself, or he was going to age that pretty face of his.
Her friends were there to help her, Sunny thought. And Asmodeus, as long as they were treading the same path together, would be there to instruct her if she was nearing a misstep.
She had this, Sunny reassured herself. This was going to be just fine.
Stepping across the salt line and putting her shoes firmly inside the large triangle, Sunny felt a rush of power zing through the silver ring on her right hand, as though the stones and the triangle were charging it up. This time, she’d memorized the words that would call forth Agares and she said them softly before she overthought things too much and hesitated. Asmodeus had warned her that waiting within the demon triangle would drain her lifeforce after too long. She had to be efficient, get the demon onboard, and get the hell out.
“Aperio. Aperio. Appareo. Asgarei,” she said, the Latin uneasy and awkward on her tongue.
The scent of dank, rich earth was the first sign the demon had surfaced, a telltale sign of where he’d been imprisoned. His form appeared slowly, and when it came into focus, Sunny found herself standing in front of the strangest sight she’d beheld in a long time.
Asgares, at least this version of him, was a short, paunchy old man with a giant bald head, wrinkled features, a massive, flowing white beard that nearly covered his large belly. He was wearing a plain linen tunic belted with a bit of rope and he stood before Sunny blinking his eyes, apparently adjusting to the light.
“Shit, man,” he cursed. “Did you summon me onto the surface of the sun itself?”
He cursed a few more times in a language that Sunny didn’t recognize before getting ahold of himself.
“Alright then, let me see, let me see,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands. “Let’s get a look at my summoner, shall we?”
Sunny felt like some sort of specimen being examined as the old man demon looked her up and down a time or two, silently measuring her worth.
“A chit, eh?” he said and Sunny frowned. “What use do you have with an old codger like me?”
His slang was definitely old fashioned, and Sunny remembered that the generals’ punishment was more severe than other 67 Guardians, but less so than Asmodeus. He’d gotten a few glimpses of freedom over the millennia he’d been imprisoned, and it probably accounted for his dated language.
Sunny tried to remember the script that Asmodeus had all but made her memorize.
“I’m the last Solomon and I’m here to offer you a chance at freedom from your punishment,” she said.
Asmodeus had insisted she punctuate that greeting with the word slave, but it didn’t feel right to Sunny so she omitted it.
“A Solomon, you say?” Agares said, leaning even closer to her. He could hardly see through the giant, bushy white eyebrows on his face. “You’re far too young to bear that burden, child. Come, where’s your father? Your grandfather? Let me speak to them about this task at hand.”
Behind her, she heard Gabriel smirk, knowing that the demon had just pushed her buttons.
“I’m the last of the Solomons, demon,” she said a little forcefully. She was pissed, she could admit it. She didn’t need some old demon trying to mansplain her quest to her or ignore her completely while ‘the men did some talking.’ “You’ve got a chance to earn your freedom—you can take it or not. It means nothing to me either way, but once I walk across that line, your opportunity walks with me.”
That seemed to get through to him and he put up his hands defensively.
“I meant no offense, dear,” he said and Sunny suddenly realized he was playing the charming old grandfather role to a T. He was trying to come across as non-threatening while he used the time he was stalling to get a read on his current situation.
“You want to know what you’re up against, Gramps, let me fill you in,” Sunny blurted out, surprised at her own moxie. “You’ve got the la
st Solomon with the Seal on her finger, activated and ready to go. You’ve got two archangels ready to go to war. Two demon hybrids and one human Hunter. Oh, and you have Asmodeus, too.”
At the name, rage settled on the old man’s placid face and his eyes burned red hot demon so bright that Sunny saw the demon inside staring out across the salt line at the archdemon.
“The last time I saw you, I promised that I’d watch you burn in the fires of hell for what you did to us, archdemon,” the old man’s wispy, scratchy voice was replaced by the deep, monotone sound that belonged to demons alone. “Have you come here to die today?”
The old man in front of her suddenly produced two long, wicked looking blades from his tunic and gave a battle cry, ready to charge across the line and plunge the metal into Asmodeus who, Sunny gathered, didn’t look the least bit worried.
What the hell had just happened?
Chapter Twenty-seven
The old demon in front of her was ready to launch himself (and his wicked looking ancient blades) right through her for a chance to get a piece of Asmodeus.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Sunny yelled as she held her hands up to slow him down, forcing herself off script. “Not the time, Agares, not the time! You can have all the chances in the world to settle the score with the archdemon, but you’ll need to be free from your punishment first, and I can help with that.”
The man’s chest was still heaving, but his furious eyes blinked up to hers. Sunny didn’t hesitate while she had his attention.
“I’m not sure what happened to you and I’m not sure I ever want to know,” she said, watching the elderly demon like he might spontaneously combust at any moment. “But I do know that we have an apocalypse brewing on our hands and Death itself is the one fanning the flames.”
That got Agares attention immediately.
“Who is Death this time around?”
Sunny gave a quick shrug. “We don’t know yet. We’re going off Gabriel’s visions, but we do know the nox are starting to rise in record numbers and Hell has been overrun,” she said quickly, trying to get the words out before he got all rage-happy again. “An unstable archangel is running Hell right now, pouring demons through crappy portals he’s having built, all while Death sends nox out to strengthen himself. Or herself. Again, we don’t know who we’re dealing with right now.”
Agares’ eyes went to Gabriel and he spoke.
“Who is Death this time around? Angel? Demon?”
Gabriel frowned. “Nothing certain, but we think Angel.”
As if forgetting his earlier anger, the demon’s eyes returned to Sunny.
“I can’t remember the last time I had a good rumble with the angelic types,” he said, almost giddy. He lost himself in thought for a moment before speaking again. “I need your help with one thing before I agree,” he began but Sunny was already on top of it.
“Absolutely not,” she said curtly, shaking her head, though she felt a little guilty. She sort of liked this little old man demon and thought he was sort of funny. She almost felt bad for yelling at him. “This is about fighting against the forces Death is rising and for your freedom from the Solomon curse. That’s it. Do we have a deal?”
Agares looked from face to face, his brow scrunching up when he looked at Asmodeus.
“You’re a shrewd bargainer, human,” the old demon said. “But I need my chance at revenge, so I agree. We’ll put an end to Death and go our separate ways.”
“I’ll contact you when I need you,” Sunny said. “Until then, enjoy a little time out of your prison and learn what you can about the world.”
“By any chance, has the Solomon met with the other generals yet?”
He was looking at Gabriel when he asked the question, so Gabriel replied.
“Not yet,” he said. “You are the first on our list.”
“Is that a fact?” Agares seemed amused at that response. “Well then, I wish you luck with the next three generals.”
It didn’t really sound like the old demon was wishing them well, as much of it sounded like a taunt, but Sunny didn’t say anything. Without another word, the elderly demon stepped across the line of salt as though it did not exist. He cast one more scowl in Asmodeus’s direction before walking away.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Asmodeus hollered after the demon.
Agares stopped where he was. He cast a look over his shoulder at Asmodeus and shook his head.
“As long as I’m walking away from you, I don’t care which direction I’m headed.”
*****
The group headed back to the hotel when they were finished summoning Agares. Everyone went in their own direction again, and Sunny returned to her room. It was well past lunch, almost approaching the dinner hour. They were going to assemble at the restaurant downstairs and make the next plan.
Sunny showered and had a snack, knowing that soon, most likely within the next day, they were going to be on the road again and headed towards the next general. Because of that, there was no certainty when their next shower or opportunity to have room service delivered would be, so Sunny took full advantage.
Showered and done with her snack, Sunny pulled out her laptop and opened it. She began researching what she could find about Agares and the legend that surrounded him. Sure enough, hailed as the Guardian of the West, the crude drawings she found from antiquity showed an old man with a wild beard. Unlike the drawings, however, her version of Agares was not riding on a crocodile with a hawk perched on his shoulder.
The grimoire that Sunny found stated that Agares was the demon of knowledge, with a little bit of rage mixed in. He was a famed leader in battle and was generally counted upon in times of need, by both human and demon alike. The Guardian demons, it appeared, were of a higher stature. They were not the stereotypical evil demon, and more like angels than anything else. Guardian demons, in short, guarded balance in the world. Agares was noted for being a master tactician in battle. Sunny made a mental note of that, knowing that it would come in handy in the future.
Later, at dinner, Sunny sat between Eli and Gideon and listened as Asmodeus and the two archangels worked out a plan.
“Zepar is the logical next step,” Metatron said, running his finger through his beard.
“He’s a big step for the Solomon,” Asmodeus countered.
“The Solomon is sitting right here,” Sunny said, irritated that they were talking about her and not with her. “Tell me the concerns you have and the Solomon will either agree or disagree.”
Gideon snickered and looked down at his food while beside her, Eli just shook his head. Gabriel was chatting away on his cell phone, likely to one of his angelic contacts, and Sin was paying rapt attention to Asmodeus. Fanboying, of course.
“Fine,” Asmodeus said, spreading his hands out in front of him. He smiled when he said it, but Sunny saw the tightness around his mouth when he did. He was annoyed. Good, so was she. “Zepar is one of the most accomplished lust demons ever forged in the fires of Hell.”
He was starting a tale, but Sunny stopped him first.
“Forged? I thought demons were mostly born,” she stated, looking for clarification.
“The common races are all born of demons and sometimes humans coupling with demons,” he said and Sunny couldn’t help but wince at the archaic word coupling. “But Guardians were forged and created for their roles. And if a Guardian falls, another is forged to replace it in most cases.”
Sunny took the information in and motioned for Asmodeus to continue.
“As I was saying, Zepar is a seducer. Men, women, kings, angels—it doesn’t matter,” Asmodeus said. “He seduces, and he bends peoples’ wills to his own. I’ve witnessed it myself on countless occasions and it’s a beautiful thing to behold when he’s on your side. But when he’s not? It’s terrifying. So, my reservations come from the fact that you’re untested and Zepar is not.”
Sunny thought for a moment. “But you think Baal or Beleth would be easier?”<
br />
She had heard the talks and done her own research. Baal wasn’t so much evil as disfigured and difficult, according to the grimoire, to look at. Something about multiple dragon heads or something that made her stop reading quickly. And Beleth, well, Beleth was the Guardian of the North and, from what Sunny had gathered, enjoyed her role as HBIC—head bitch in charge.
An ice demoness, Sunny was worried about her encounter with Beleth the most.
“No, I don’t,” Asmodeus said as he nodded in agreement with Sunny. “If I had my choice, we’d wait a few weeks until you were more prepared. But we don’t have that time, I don’t believe, so we’ll go with the Casanova himself.”
“Fine,” Sunny said just to feel like she had any say in the matter at all, which she really didn’t as Asmodeus was calling all the shots.
“Any chance you know of the nearest group of Southern summoning stones?” Gabriel was scrolling through his phone with Metatron peering over his shoulder.
Asmodeus whipped out his own device and, with lightning fast thumbs, brought up the answer.
“Just outside Mexico City,” he said and she heard Eli grumble. Asmodeus looked to him. “What?”
“That’s one hell of a long drive,” Eli replied.
The group concurred and started looking into booking flights, but Sin had no passport and Sunny’s was somewhere back in Austin, if she remembered correctly.
“No troubles,” Asmodeus said with a flick of his wrist. “It says here you can rent a private airplane. I’ll just do that.”
Eli frowned.
“We’re still going to need passports,” he said. “It’s still checked.”
“Pah,” Asmodeus said dismissively. “I’ll rent a private pilot who can finagle us past such annoyances.”
“Sure, but what if we get picked up by law enforcement,” Eli said, still heavily worried about very human things. “Sunny and I will get locked up for sure and I’m not sure if these two can escape easily.”
