by C L Walker
“You’re healing faster,” I said. Buddy’s wounds weren’t as bad as mine and he seemed to have some immunity to whatever had been on the demon’s claws, but it was still taking a long time for the bite marks to go away. The chunk of flesh he was missing from his arm would take a lot longer.
“You’re barely healing at all. What happened to the grand old warrior king?”
I laughed and it hurt, which made me tense up so it hurt more. I hadn’t been hurt this badly before and I didn’t like it.
“So why would Peter send one of the demons here to kill vampires?” I said. “I assume you have a theory.”
“He doesn’t want you to lead everyone out. He wants to do it himself. If you succeed then he thinks he’s failed, or he thinks the others will think so.”
“I didn’t know angels had egos.”
“Angels don’t, but hollow men do.” Buddy rubbed his arm and let his fingers linger over the exposed flesh. He’d been doing it every minute since we were told to wait in the room.
“Would the demon even do what he ordered it to? I can see the demon following Imp-thing’s orders, but Peter?”
“I know. It is troubling, and confusing. But I can’t think of a better explanation.”
“Maybe there are other factions you don’t know about,” I said.
“Maybe.”
We sat in silence and waited for Artem’s judgement. He’d been annoyed but Ashe had been furious. I wasn’t sure if I could face a room full of pissed off vampires just yet. If my torn up chest didn’t heal there was a chance I never would.
I needed to return to the HND; that was certain. I had to make them fear me or this sort of thing was going to happen again. Maybe not on the same scale, but enough little mistakes would do the same damage.
I wanted to call Bec and Roman but my phone wouldn’t work. They were stashed in one of the many apartments in the city she knew were empty, and they’d be worried about me. I’d only told her the bare minimum, but they weren’t stupid and they’d know something bad was happening.
Artem walked into the room, shadowed by Ashe. She closed the door and they took seats opposite us. Neither of them spoke at first. They just glared at us.
“This is fun,” I said. Ashe’s obvious dislike for me seemed to deepened. Her claws slid out enough for me to see, but she pulled them back before doing anything I’d regret.
“Is the demon one of yours?” Artem said.
“He is,” Buddy replied. “I followed him and called Agmundr when I realized what he was planning to do.”
“How did he know to come here?” Ashe said. “Did you tell him when you ordered him to kill us?”
I chuckled, then groaned at the fresh wave of pain.
“I’m about to collapse,” I said. “Or throw up, I’m not sure. If I had wanted you dead I would have come up with a better plan. Hell, I would have done it myself.”
“You overestimate your ability,” Ashe said.
“Would you like to test that theory?” I replied. I was kicking myself inside, though, because if she wanted to kill me she easily could have just then. One of their new-born vampires could have, if they’d wanted to.
“Let’s all calm down,” Artem said. “We awoke to find them helping us, Ashe. They had no reason to do that if they wanted us dead.”
“And we have no reason to want you dead,” Buddy said. “You’re going to help us.”
“That hasn’t been decided yet,” Ashe said.
I had been running all over the city, constantly busy with vampires and witches and gang members, and I hadn’t had the chance to focus on one thing. I should have been spending all my time with Artem, currying favor and making sure he’d help me out. Instead I was spread so thin I hadn’t done anything properly.
“You know what I want,” I said. “I’ve only ever wanted peace for you, and with you. I have never attacked you without being provoked, and I have never wanted to interfere in your politics. You know this.”
“Or you’re a really good deceiver,” Ashe said. Artem put his hand on her arm and she shook it off.
“If I wanted to kill you I could have done it before. I could have done it at any time, before I was wounded defending you.”
“I could have helped him,” Buddy said. He shut up when he saw the look on my face; I didn’t need his help.
“Something doesn’t smell right about this,” Ashe said. “You claw out of the ground again and things start going to shit. Chaos starts attacking on the streets and you’re meeting with the witches. A demon crawls in here and slaughters the elders.”
“Was it just the elders?” I asked.
“Why? You want to finish the job?”
“Ashe, I’m also trying to work out what’s happening, and I agree, something doesn’t smell right. Was it just the elders killed?”
Artem answered. “Except for Ashe and me, and a few who don’t live here, yes. The demon seemed to be searching out the oldest of us.”
He’d gone from room to room and killed only the oldest, most powerful vampires. He’d then moved on to try and kill Artem and Ashe, skipping all the easy targets scattered around the room.
“So it was targeted,” I said. “Whoever sent him knew how you organized yourselves down here and knew which ones to kill first. Who would know that information?”
“Other vampires?” Artem said. “But not you.”
“No,” I said. “But I already knew it wasn’t me. Who else?”
“The witches, perhaps, but I would be surprised. They deal with us on the streets and in meetings. They don’t sneak around underground.”
“And they couldn’t have sent the demon, anyway,” Buddy said. “I watched him leave the HND and come straight here. No witch has been through the gate, if they can even do so.”
“Somebody did,” I said. “There were fresh tracks when Bec and I were coming here, and Chaos people waiting for us on the earth side.”
“That is strange,” the angel said. “But Chaos wouldn’t know the layout down here, would they?”
“No,” Artem said. “They’ve scored some hits against us but none of our people have gone missing and none of them would choose to side with a human.”
“Which leaves us with nothing,” Ashe said angrily.
“It leaves us with pieces of a puzzle,” I said. “We can’t see the whole picture but the more pieces we have the more of it we can see.”
Ashe stood with vampire speed. Her chair smashed against the wall behind her. “I don’t care for puzzles. I don’t care for you. We were dealing with Chaos and the witches before you came here, and now things are spiraling out of control.”
“It isn’t his fault,” Artem said, again trying to put his hand on her arm. She shook him off.
“Maybe that’s what happened,” she said, stepping away from all of us. She pointed at Artem. “Maybe you told him the layout so he could send the demon and take care of any competition.”
“This again?” I said.
“Don’t try to ignore this,” Ashe snapped. “It is a viable explanation.”
She didn’t wait for another reply. She turned and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind her.
“She’s getting calmer,” I said.
Artem laughed. “She has her moments, but she will return when she has calmed down. She doesn’t believe I tried to have her killed.”
“I am sorry for what happened here tonight, Artem,” I said. “I will get to the bottom of it, I swear.”
“I believe you. You are a violent barbarian, but you are right when you say you have never attacked us without provocation.”
“Any news on the favor I asked about?” I said. I didn’t think we had anything else to discuss, and I wanted to leave and lick my wounds. And yell at some angels and demons.
“I believe we can accommodate you, dependent on your numbers. Bring me your requirements as soon as you can and I will let you know the details.” Artem relaxed back in his uncomfortable chair. “There ar
e those in my court who are against this move.”
“If we do this right everyone wins,” I said. “They are refugees, and they will fight to defend this city as soon as it has shown them its hospitality. This will strengthen the greater good.”
“I hope so.” Artem stood. “I can see you have places to be. I have a city to run.”
We left, walking through a crowd of angry vampires to the young night outside. The sky was blood red where the sun had been, and the last of the people playing in the park had left. We walked slowly to the road and hailed a taxi.
Ashe was right; something was off about my time on earth. Something was happening and I could see it because of how busy I had been. I needed to rest and examine it all with fresh eyes.
But first I had to deal with my people in the heaven next door. Whoever had sent the demon had to be there, or one of their proxies, and I needed to find them before they did something worse.
I cradled my torn flesh and closed my eyes, letting the city pass and catching as much rest as I could get before we got to the gate.
Chapter 17
The HND was as blasted as ever. The demon had moved a little way away and wasn’t standing over the settlement anymore, which made it look a little less bleak, but it still didn’t look like a good place to live.
Buddy had to help me walk the last few steps. He’d healed quickly upon returning to one of the heavens but I was getting worse. It was healing but pus had started seeping from the wounds now and I was feeling weaker than I should. I’d been attacked by demons before and seen how slowly their wounds could heal, but it hadn’t been as bad before. It was like the tattoos were having trouble, despite the extra power I’d received from the angel.
I had a haunting thought nagging at me as I collapsed into a chair in the small meeting shack and watched Buddy leave to call the others: what if one of the tattoos that had been removed by Invehl and Erindis had been something I now needed? What if I was never going to heal from the wound because the capacity to do so had been removed?
I needed to speak to Roman. With his knowledge of my curse he might have some idea what was going on. If not him then Nikolette. And if not her then…
I could see a future where I spent a year convalescing, waiting around for something that used to take minutes and that I had taken for granted.
Peter and Imp-thing entered, along with a handful of others; a hollow man and an actual angel, a lesser demon, and some lost souls.
I didn’t have the strength for what I had to do, but I knew it had to happen anyway. I could be weak afterward, when they’d received the rebuke they needed.
“What the hell is going on?” I said, my voice as stern as my weakness would allow. Sitting in the chair and bleeding everywhere wasn’t helping my act.
“Buddy told us,” Peter said. He moved closer, as if he was going to try and comfort me, but he thought better of it at the last moment.
“So who ordered him to attack the vampires?” I said. “We need them if you’re going to get what you want.”
“I issued no orders,” Peter said.
“I neither,” Imp-thing said, his voice a dull rasp as he tried to form words.
“None of us would,” the actual angel said. He looked like a normal peasant, with rough, patched clothes and a straw hat. He glowed though, bursting with life in the dead air of the HND. “Can I help with your wounds?”
I didn’t know who to trust, and an angel could do serious damage if it wanted to. He was surrounded by people I hoped would come to my aid if things went badly, though. And if they were all in on it then I was dead anyway.
I nodded and the angel moved beside me and laid his hand on my chest. I twitched, feeling vulnerable and wanting to lash out immediately. I held my position and fixed each of the people Buddy had brought to me in turn.
“I need you to find out what happened. Someone gave the demon orders and we need to know who that was. Someone here is trying to sabotage you.”
“Nobody here has any reason to do so,” Peter said. “I don’t like you suggesting that we would want to harm our chances of leaving this place.”
“And I don’t like being attacked by someone who was supposed to be on my side. I really don’t like having to come back here and find a traitor. And I hate thinking that this job I didn’t want is going badly because someone is trying to undermine me.”
“We vote you leader,” Imp-thing said. “We not vote you parent.”
“It would be best if you spoke more calmly,” Peter added.
I was about to start yelling when whatever the angel was doing took hold of me. Suddenly I was in agony as every nerve in my body spasmed at once, every muscle pulled tight, and I was thrown from the chair to lie in the dirt. I could feel their hands on me, could feel more energy being blasted into me in an attempt to help me, but all it did was hurt me more. I couldn’t think of anything but the need to scream, and I couldn’t even do that.
The pain felt endless, but slowly, as the minutes passed, so did the pain. It receded in waves from my entire body, with only my chest still crying out. Then even that was silenced.
I rolled onto my back and looked up at the metal roof. I had pins and needles everywhere and my eyes wouldn’t focus, but I wasn’t in agony anymore and for that I grateful. In truth, had I not been in a room full of people who might want me dead, I would have cried in relief.
Buddy helped me back into the chair and I looked down at my chest. The flesh there was pink and new, though the tattoos were already in place. My mind cleared as well and eventually I looked up at my people.
“So,” I said. I had to clear my throat before continuing. “Go find out who it was. And bring me the lists of requirements I asked you to get me.”
“You strange man,” Imp-thing said. “I like you.”
“I’m not sure yet,” Peter said.
They left, looking over their shoulders at me as they went. I grabbed the angel’s arm to thank him and he slipped out of my grasp before turning to nod his head.
“What was that?” Buddy said when we were alone. “I’ve seen you heal before and it didn’t look like that.”
“No idea. It was like my body was trying to reject the healing.”
“We should get someone to look at you.”
“My thoughts exactly, but I want to talk to someone first.”
I waved Buddy away when he tried to help me stand, and managed it on my own. I was shaky, and taking my first few steps was difficult, but by the time I reached the entrance I was more confident, and when I stepped out onto the plain I wasn’t showing any of the weakness I still felt.
I made my way to the demon, ignoring the looks of the people I was there to lead. They were scared, and the few times I did try to acknowledge them they hid their faces from me.
I left Buddy behind and told him to keep Imp-thing from following if he tried. I wanted to speak to the demon myself, without the proxy in the way to potentially confuse things.
“I am pleased to see you are well,” the demon said, his voice a booming sound that rattled the stones on the ground around me. “I worried that you might not make it.”
“I don’t have time to waste on pleasantries,” I said. “Did you send that demon? Did Imp-thing?”
“My vassal doesn’t like you calling him that. I think he sees it as derogatory.”
“Then he should have a name I can use, or get over it. Answer the question.”
The demon chuckled, or that’s what I thought he did. He could have been burping for all the difference it would have made.
“I didn’t send the lesser one to harm our potential allies. I was made aware of it at the same time as the others.”
The demon was sitting, though it still meant I had to crane my neck to meet his gaze. He seemed to be constantly sweating, though if anything it was cold on the blasted plain of the HND.
“Did you see who did?” I said. “You have a unique vantage point on the town.”
“No.
I am sorry, but I will not be able to help.” He shifted his weight, grunting as he moved his bulk from one enormous buttock to the other. “I appreciate you coming out to talk to me though. It is an honor.”
“How so?”
“I saw you defeat the envy god. You could have destroyed me when you did, but you chose not to.”
“I’ll be honest, it didn’t occur to me. It wasn’t altruism.”
“All the better.”
“Let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary. Please.”
The demon chuckled again. “Do you not trust your angel friend?”
I hadn’t decided if I trusted Buddy yet. He did everything he was supposed to and didn’t appear in any way suspicious, but that didn’t make him innocent.
“I just want to have multiple eyes on the situation,” I said. “I don’t want to believe anyone was involved.”
“Lesser demons do not think for themselves,” he said. “And they definitely do not scheme.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You have given me more pieces of the puzzle.”
I turned and walked away, heading back to the shanty town and its retched inhabitants. I was supposed to be their leader, helping them get somewhere they’d dreamed of. All I could think about was how much easier my life would be if I didn’t bother.
Buddy took me to see my master before I left. James didn’t notice me when I entered his shack. He kept playing with imaginary toys; he seemed to really think he had something in his hands as he play-acted a fight scene in the dirt.
“Is he well?” I asked.
“As well as he will ever be,” Buddy said. “Whatever he saw hurt him in his mind. He is simple, but healthy.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do for him.”
The tattoos didn’t make me help him, or try to force me to treat the little boy as anything more than what he appeared to be. They were happy with the arrangement, and I took the scraps of paper with the details I’d asked for and I left.
