"He probably thought he could with the help of the Fist," Alyx said. "Especially if he had managed to get you inside of it."
"Yes," Zifah agreed. "Or if you had put Abaddon into it for him."
I tripped a little bit on my next step, my Divine spider-sense going off at the comment.
"You know about that?"
Zifah could tell he had made me wary. He laughed it off. "I told you, Landon. I can go anywhere without being noticed. I heard you talking to Cain about it in the lab."
"You told me you found me in the dungeon, not that you followed me."
Zifah's laughter faded. "Okay, so I lied a little bit."
Alyx reached up, grabbing the demon in a suddenly larger, sharper hand so that only his head stuck out beyond her fingers.
"Why?" she asked. I could almost feel her protective instinct.
"I didn't want you to know that I knew. Oh, but I messed that up. I helped you beat Cain, doesn't that earn me any credit?"
"Not enough," I said, growing warier. "Are you working with Gervais?"
"Who?"
"Don't tell me you don't know Gervais. He isn't exactly an unknown quantity around here."
Zifah was silent until Alyx squeezed him a little tighter.
"I can smell your fear, little demon," she said.
"You're crushing me to death. Why wouldn't I be afraid? Fine. I know Gervais. And yes, I've seen him recently. He offered to bring me out of Hell if I helped him find a way to get the armor from Cain. I was the one who suggested sending you down here. But I didn't do it for him, I did it for me. I want out of this place; you know that. I don't want to work with him, though. There isn't a demon in the universe that trusts him."
"So you were using me?"
"We all use each other. That's how all this poop works. Especially down here."
He had a point. And I couldn't ignore the fact that he did help me escape, and he was the one who had killed Cain. Sure, he had ulterior motives. Didn't they always? The only thing that was bothering me was that Zifah knew Gervais. More than that, they had discussed the very thing I had just done before I ever knew about it.
Which meant the demon knew someone had been summoning Abaddon while he was still here in Hell.
"Who summoned Abaddon?" I asked.
"What?"
"You heard me, Zifah."
"Randolph Hearst. I'm sure you already knew that."
"I do. I also know he had help. What I don't know is who helped him?"
"Why do you think I know?"
"Because Gervais told you what was going down before it went down. Gervais said he doesn't know who the other player is, but he doesn't have your ability to sneak around down here where the action is. Summoning Abaddon from Hell without inside help? I don't buy it."
Zifah released a long, low sigh. "Okay. Yep. I know who his partner is. No, I'm not telling you until you bring me to your plane. If I do, I've got no leverage to prevent you from leaving me here."
"Does Gervais know this mystery demon?"
"No. Like you said, he doesn't have much clout down here. He's persona non grata since he sided with the Beast. That's why he keeps going back to you. Any demon with any self-respect doesn't want anything to do with him."
"So you're saying you have no self-respect?"
"I'm saying I'm desperate. I can't tell you how much I hate it here, and I've been stuck here for almost four hundred years."
"Are you saying I have no self-respect?"
"I'm not judging you, but if I were in your shoes, I would stick that sword of yours in his heart as soon as possible."
"I'd love to, but he's already indicated Lucifer will just send him back up. Do you know the saying, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer?' I'm better off knowing where and who he is."
"I can't argue that. So, are we good?"
"As good as we're going to be. I still don't trust you."
"I wouldn't expect you to. Say, can you let me go now?"
Alyx looked over at me, and I nodded. She opened her hand, and he landed gracefully on the floor. We were nearing the front doors of the palace, and I could see the Desolation spreading out beyond it.
"I hope you know how to get back to the train from here."
Twenty-Four
Zifah did know how to get back to the train. He explained the entire process while we walked, but I was tired and didn't pay much attention.
Alyx was kind enough to change to demon form once we had left the palace, and she carried everything on her back across the broken landscape without complaint. I took a position up near her head, stroking her fur and being affectionate. I had admitted to what I felt almost from the day we met, and it felt liberating.
Yeah, she was a monster. But she was my monster.
We arrived back at the train in plenty of time. Many of the demons who had fled the palace had wound up here, and they scattered once more at our approach. I used Zifah to tell them I wouldn't hurt them as long as they didn't try to hurt me, and we somehow wound up managing to blend into the mix by the time the transportation arrived. Sure, we looked strange carrying the Fist of God up onto the train, but none of the demons were about to comment on that. I was sure the word was spreading in a hurry about what I had done to Cain. I had earned their respect and fear, and I liked it.
The return trip to the Kitchen was going to take two hours. I decided to use the time to rest, putting my arm around Alyx while she nestled her head against my chest. Zifah wandered off at some point, leaving us alone with the FOG spread across the seat in front of us. We didn't need to talk. Not right now. It was enough to have her near.
I closed my eyes. Immediately, I saw Charis in my mind. We were back in the Box, and she was telling me how tired she was of being part of the war between Good and Evil. I could see it like it was still happening, and while I was tempted to release myself from the memory, I decided to remain. Old emotions swelled up again. It was love, but it was a different kind of love than I was feeling for Alyx. It felt old and comfortable, as though it had been pre-ordained. Maybe it had been. We were two of a kind, and shouldn't like attract like? To forgive a pun, Alyx was more of a youthful puppy love. An infectious love like we were a pair of newlyweds. It was different from what I had known, and I was drinking of it without reservation.
I had earned that much, hadn't I?
I held her close and told her I loved her. I brought her from the Box with me, and I released her to the stars. If you love something, you have to let it go. So I did. It was hard not to feel like I was betraying her to love someone else. I didn't want to, but there it was.
"Are you okay?" Alyx asked me, somehow noticing my distress. Was it my heartbeat? A smell of salty tears?
"I was thinking about Charis."
"Was she your mate?"
"Kind of. She had died before we were ever close like that, but I loved her, too."
"Why does that make you sad?"
"I feel guilty."
"Why? It is not improper for an alpha to have multiple mates. It is only natural that the strongest will produce the best offspring."
She wasn't human, so I understood why she didn't understand. Who was to say her perspective wasn't the better one? It would save me a lot of negative emotion.
"Maybe having you makes me miss her more."
"She must have been a fine mate."
I leaned down and kissed her head. "Yes, she was."
"I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her."
"Me, too," I said.
Strangely enough, I meant it.
Twenty-Five
It felt good to get back to the Kitchen though I was surprised to discover that an entire Earth day had passed since we had arrived in Hell.
Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.
Alyx carried the Fist of God while I walked alongside her with Zifah on my shoulder. The damned still crowded the city, but it seemed as though my new reputation had reached their subconscious as well. Instead of forc
ing us to navigate around them, they steered clear of us. The adulterers ran big circles to avoid us, while the sloths simply stopped moving, standing barefoot in the broken glass and waiting for us to pass.
We returned to the club to wait for Damien to open the rift and take us back. We still had another day before he showed up again. I could only hope nobody knew we were with him, and that he would make it back in one piece. I didn't know what his business in Hell was, other than retrieving artifacts to bring back to the mortal realm. He had done it plenty of times before without issue, so I knew I shouldn't have been too worried. Still, I was feeling pretty lucky to have beaten Cain and gotten the armor back.
It was only a matter of time before my luck ran out.
Zifah stayed at the front of the club. He said it was to give Alyx and me a little private time, but I wondered if he wanted to watch the action on stage. He was an odd demon; that was for certain. It wasn't only his diminutive size and green skin, but also his apparent refusal or inability to curse, and his overwhelming desire to leave Hell. It was understandable for fiends and former humans to want to go back. It was rare for a demon made in Hell, no matter what their circumstances were.
Alyx and I entered the small room where the Hell Rift was resting. It was too small for her demon-form in there, so I was carrying the Fist. I dropped it over in the corner and heaved a content sigh, happy to finally be able to put it down.
"What a day," I said, turning to face Alyx.
I wasn't even all the way around when her lips found mine and her body pressed into me, shoving me back against the wall. My heart jumped into my throat as I struggled to keep up with her sudden passion, my own kisses barely able to match hers. She was on fire. Ferocious. An animal. I could feel the heat of her, smell the desire on her skin and taste it in her mouth. I'd never experienced anything like it before.
"Alyx," I said, turning my head to speak. Her kisses continued, from my cheek to my ear, to my neck. Her hands ran over my chest. "Alyx."
"I want you," she said in reply.
"I know," I said. I wanted her, too. More than I had ever wanted anything.
That was the problem.
"Alyx. Please stop," I said. I wasn't sure how I got the words out. It was only the smallest sliver of my soul that wanted her to. The rest wanted to tear her clothes off, pull her to the ground, and... I stopped the thought before I finished it.
Alyx didn't wait for me to ask again. She took a step back, her eyes sad. "I thought you loved me?"
"I do. That's why we can't do this like this. Being here is bringing out the evil side of me. I don't know how, but I know it is. I don't know if you understand, but I've never been with anyone before. Not even Charis. I don't want the first time to be on the floor in Hell. You're special to me, and being with you deserves to be special. Not like the adulterers out there."
She stared at me for a few seconds, and I felt myself growing tense. Would she cry? Would she yell? Would she leave? I didn't want to hurt her feelings.
Finally, her sad eyes turned into the softest, most loving eyes I had ever seen. She did start to cry, but a smile spread across her face at the same time. "Thank you, Landon," she said. "Espanto never made anything special for me. He never treated me like I was special, other than in the ways I could hunt for him. You make me feel like more than a thing and more than a demon."
I moved forward, taking her in my arms. At the moment, she seemed so small. So defenseless. Hardly.
"We'll have time later. I promise."
"Okay."
"There is something else I can do for you before we go back. If Cabal did tip Espanto, they'll both be in for a surprise."
She tilted her head in confusion.
"You need to pull your pants down."
She laughed. "You just said-"
"I know. Not for that."
She grabbed the band of the light pants Cain had left her in, sliding them past her thighs. I looked down at her, fighting against my darker self to avoid the patch of hair in the center and focus on the spot next to it instead.
The spot where Espanto's brand was etched into her skin.
I put my hand on it. She twitched slightly at my touch and then remained still as I traced my finger along the brand. Izaak had been marked by Gervais, and he had managed to remove it by cutting it out of his flesh. We had tried that a couple of times already, and both times the runes had healed back with the skin. Whatever Espanto had done, however he had done it, he had made the brand permanent.
This time would be different. I was smarter now. I had learned something new. I didn't need to heal the brand. I could transform it.
"This might hurt," I said. "I don't know."
"It's okay. It will be worth it."
I closed my eyes, shifting my hand to rest across it. I could feel the heat of the demon's power in the runes. I focused on it, asking it to change. It burned against me, flaring up as if in anger at the effort. Alyx cried out in pain, leaning back against the wall, trying to pull herself away. I reached back and put my hand on her rear to keep her in place, holding her tight and at the same time working to remain calm. I couldn't force the energy to neutralize. I had to be passive. Delicate.
"Landon," Alyx said, her voice strained with hurt. The flames were burning her legs, moving in a direct line toward her genitals like some kind of crazy safety measure.
"It's okay," I said.
Was it? I wasn't sure. Every part of me was being tempted to push back, to fight fire with fire. I couldn't. I knew that was the wrong thing to do. I stayed the course, keeping pressure on the mark but not forcing any of my power into it. It was a crude, slow negotiation, and the flames continued to move their way downward. I could smell her burning pubic hair, and she whimpered and shook against my grip.
"Landon," she said again, growing panicked.
"It will be okay," I repeated, keeping my voice calm.
It would be. It had to be. I relaxed further, feeling the heat against my palm begin to cool, the power beginning to morph.
The flames lowered in intensity before reaching her sex. My hand was growing ever cooler, sucking every bit of demonic energy from the scar and turning it into something raw. Alyx began to relax in my grip, breathing heavily.
Within a minute, the flames were out. The brand on her skin would never heal, but the power held within it was gone.
She was free.
She leaned back against the wall, sobbing. I stood up, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight while she buried her head in my neck. There was such an odd contrast between this tiny, vulnerable thing in my arms and the creature she could become.
"It's okay now," I said, kissing her head.
"Yes," she replied. "I know. I'm not crying because I'm afraid or hurt. I'm crying because I'm happy. The last time I felt like this was the night before Espanto came and took me away, when I felt warm and safe in bed with my brothers and sisters."
"He can't take you away from me again," I said.
She moved back away from me, a feral smile creasing her lips. "I'd love to see him try."
I nodded, and then reached out and pulled her pants back up.
"Are you sure?" she asked playfully.
"Yes," I replied with a laugh. "We can sit together. We can talk. I'd love to hear more about your life before Espanto."
"Okay."
I was positioning myself to sit with my back to the wall when I heard a commotion from the club.
"What is it?" I asked, knowing Alyx could smell and hear whatever was happening out there.
"I'm not sure. I don't see how this can be possible."
"How can what be possible?"
She opened her mouth to respond. At the same time, a bruised and bloody Gervais swept into the room.
Twenty-Six
"Gervais?" I said, completely confused and off-guard. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Zifah appeared a moment later, racing along after the fiend.
"Landon," G
ervais said, his expression and voice more serious than I had ever seen it. "We have a problem."
That was the second or third time I had heard that in the last twenty-four hours. It didn't make me happy.
"Where is Elyse?" I asked.
"That is the problem. She's dead. So is your sweet flower by any other name."
I instantly lost all ability to move, or to think or to breathe. My entire body fell to mush, and I opened my mouth to try to express something, anything.
It was impossible.
"I don't believe you," I said. "This is just another one of your bullshit games."
My mind was reeling, my entire body was numb. I was too shocked to cry. I felt Alyx's hands on my shoulders, supporting me.
"I don't blame you for being doubtful diuscrucis. That doesn't make it any less true. Look at me. Not only am I here, but I am beaten and bloody. They killed me, too."
I heard the words like an echo across time. I tried to look at the demon, but my eyes refused to focus. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. It was a trick. Lucifer was having fun with me, hurting me in the most productive way he could.
"How?" I heard Alyx say behind me. Her voice was ice.
"Elyse followed me into the deli. She didn't think I saw her, but I did. I see everything, you know. She was shot in the head by the clerk. He had a pistol hidden behind his counter. Rose was with her. She killed the clerk, but then one of the shoppers attacked her and hit her over the head with a bottle. I tried to protect her. I knocked the shopper down, but before I knew it, I was jumped by a man who came into the deli from the street. He didn't say a word to me, just hopped on my back and dragged me down."
"You're telling me some unarmed mortal killed you?" I said, my voice angry. There was no part of this that was making sense. I knew the clerk at the deli. His name was Ahmed, and he had a wife and three kids. He knew Elyse, too. I had brought her in with me more than once.
"No. Not that one. I broke his neck. By the time I got to my feet, two vampires had grabbed me, and Randolph Hearst walked in. He said, 'I told Landon not to interfere. Does he think I'm stupid? Finding another way to steal Abaddon still counts as interfering.' Then he cut my throat with a cursed dagger, the son of a whore."
Execution (The Divine Book 6) Page 10
