We both knew that was true.
I took her vessel's hand in mine. "I'm sorry," I said, squeezing it.
"I'm not," she said, squeezing back.
It was a goodbye. We both knew the next time we met, however, it happened; we'd be trying to kill one another.
I wasn't going to wait that long.
Calmly, gently, I reached out toward her, the real her, with my power, using what I had learned in Hell. Immediately, I felt a sense of her at the edge of my energy, a mass of Divine power, unlike anything I had ever experienced.
I asked it to rest. To calm and sleep and give in to the universe. I didn't focus, I didn't force, I didn't push. I did the opposite, letting her power mingle with mine.
It began to change.
Her eyes widened in front of me, and she screamed in agony, wrenching her hand from mine. I stepped forward to grab her, to hold her and keep going until she was done with this existence.
I didn't get the chance. Her mortal vessel collapsed in a heap, and I didn't need Bradford to know she had fled it.
"She's gone," he said anyway. "What was that all about?"
"She's not as immune as she thought she was. Come on, we need to get back to my place. This is going to get ugly, fast."
Thirty-Four
We weren't that far from my apartment, and Joey's extra haste got us there inside of ten minutes. Bradford and I exited the cab, and I sent Joey back to tell Bianca to get ready for anything. Now that Rebecca knew that I could affect her existence, she was sure to at least be considering moving up her timetable.
And I still didn't know where Rose was.
We hurried up the steps and into my place. Alyx was standing near the door when we entered, and she threw her arms around me the moment I entered, planting her lips on mine. I returned her affection, giving her a quick hug.
"Landon," Gervais said. "You're back. It is about time."
He was on the couch watching television again. Zifah was sitting next to him, eating popcorn.
"The world is cracking at the seams, and you're eating popcorn?" I asked.
"They don't have this downstairs," Zifah said. "It's delicious." He eyed Bradford. "What? You've never seen a demon before?"
Bradford was staring. My guess was that he hadn't ever seen a demon before. At least, not one like Zifah.
"Bradford is Nicht Creidem," I said. "He's helping me find Rebecca. Actually, we already found Rebecca. I had a nice chat with her."
"You spoke to her?" Gervais asked. "What did she say?"
"She wants to hold the world hostage so that God will let her into Heaven."
Zifah's laugh was a rocky cackle. "She's out of her mind."
"Unfortunately. She's got Hearst under her thumb though I don't think he knows it yet. She's also absorbed some of Abaddon's power. She can possess Divine. Or at least, she says she can. Anyway, we need to find Rose and hopefully Dante, and then we need to grab Abaddon and stick him in the Fist. If we get a chance to take out Hearst or Rebecca in the meantime, even better. Zifah, have you made any progress?"
"I gave him one of Rose's bras," Alyx said.
I raised my eyebrow at that.
"It was a compromise," she added.
"Everything is ready to go," Zifah said. "We were waiting for you to come back."
"Let's not waste any time. Quick introductions. Bradford, this is Alyx, Gervais, and Zifah. You probably already know they're all demons, but that's how I roll."
Bradford laughed. "Yeah, dude. Not surprised. Nice to meet you all."
"You might not think so once you get to know us," Zifah said.
"Sorry to stare. I haven't seen a demon your size or color before."
"Get used to hearing that one," Gervais said.
"Shut up," Zifah snapped at the fiend. "Forget about it. Landon, everything is up on the rooftop."
We made our way to the window, out to the fire escape, and up to the roof. Zifah had laid out a circle of small stones there, each of them etched with demonic runes. Rose's bra was in the center, with more runes painted onto it in Zifah's blood.
"I hope I get to meet this friend of yours, bro," Bradford said, his eyes on the bra.
"Me too," I replied.
Zifah entered the circle and stood next to the bra. He held his hands out over it and whispered something. I could feel his Divine power rising out of him and pouring into the clothes. The runes on it began to burn, sending wisps of dark smoke into the night sky.
A few seconds later, he lowered his hands. "It's ready to go."
"You're sure?" I asked.
"Who do I look like, David Copperfield? This is real warlock poop, not a crap illusion."
"Toss it over to Alyx," I said. Zifah picked it up with both hands and threw it to her.
"What does it do?" Bradford asked.
"It's like a Divining Rod for big boobs," Zifah said. "It'll help you find Rose."
"You? Don't you mean us?" I asked.
"Nope. I'm staying here. It sounds like it's going to get dangerous, and I wasn't done with my popcorn."
I was tempted to argue with him and try to get him to come along. He would only vanish once things got hairy anyway.
"Suit yourself. Gervais, do you have anything to make yourself useful with? You can't even change form anymore."
Gervais glared at me, clearly unhappy with his currently weakened position. It was kind of fun having him around when he was so pathetic.
"Give me a blade, diuscrucis. I still know how to fight."
"Here, bro," Bradford said, producing a dagger. "You can take one of mine." He held it out, handle first.
Gervais walked over and took it, growing angrier as he did. "Thank you," he said through clenched teeth. Bradford seemed oblivious to it.
"Alyx, are you getting anything?"
She held the bra in her hand and turned in a full circle. After a full rotation, she started turning more slowly, stopping when she was facing roughly south.
"That way," she said.
"Then that's the way we're going," I replied.
"Good luck," Zifah said. "If you need me, you know where to find me."
We headed back to the fire escape, taking it down to the street. Alyx took point, leading us through the city on foot. It was slow going, and she had to pause often to recalibrate our bearings since we couldn't take a direct path. It would have been easier if any of us could fly.
"Hey, Landon," Bradford said, coming up next to me.
"What's up?" I asked.
"You and Alyx. Are you, you know? Together?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Ha. Don't get the wrong idea. I was just wondering, since she's a were, you know? What it's like?"
"Love is love."
"Nah, bro. I don't mean that either. I mean, what it's like."
He made a face that told me exactly what he was referring to. I could feel myself getting embarrassed.
"That's private, don't you think?"
He seemed confused by that. "Oh. I was just curious. I've always fantasized about it; you know what I mean? Yeah, I'm supposed to take demons out, not get excited about them, but it's just so kinky."
"She can hear you; you know," I said, hoping it would end the conversation.
It didn't. "Have you ever been to a comic-con?"
"No, why?"
"So, I went to this convention once. You know there's people out there that like to dress up as characters."
"I've heard of cosplay."
"Yeah, bro. It's something like that, but not quite. Some people like to dress up like animals and have sex with each other."
I wasn't sure what to say to that. I'd never heard of it. "Okay."
"Ha. Seriously, dude. I mean in full suits, you know, kind of like sports mascots, except with little cutouts for-"
"Is there a point to this story?" I asked.
"You know, I've never done it or anything, but it's kind of hot, and when you think about it, it's like a cheap version of the real thin
g, right?"
He shifted his head toward Alyx. I noticed Alyx glance back at me, a small smirk on the edge of her lips. She was enjoying the discourse a lot more than I was.
"I liked you better five minutes ago," I said.
The comment didn't dissuade him. It tended to be a problem when a person was too comfortable with who they were.
"Oh, come on, Landon. I'm just saying, bro. Maybe it's messed up, but I never said I was healthy. I did spend time in an institution, you know?"
"You haven't seen her change yet. It's not what you think."
"Then I guess I have something to look forward to."
He was silent for a few seconds before putting his attention on Gervais. The fiend was walking a few feet behind me, whistling softly and using the dagger to scratch the sides of cars as we passed. He just couldn't stop himself from being an asshole.
"So, what's your story?" Bradford asked.
Gervais stopped whistling. There was a long, silent pause. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah, dude."
"Then ask Landon." He sneered slightly and went back to whistling.
Bradford shrugged and came back my way. His mouth opened to speak, and I put up my hand.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay. Whatever, bro. Do you mind if I go talk to your girlfriend?"
"It's not my decision to make," I said.
He slapped me on the shoulder and approached Alyx. He had just reached her side when she grabbed him by the arm and threw him roughly to the ground.
"Alyx?" I said, confused.
She stood over the Nicht Creidem and shifted, only halfway through the process when the first of the vampires arrived.
Thirty-Five
It wasn't immediately clear how Alyx didn't smell them or hear them coming, or why the mortals around us didn't evacuate the area before the fighting began.
One second, we were walking along the sidewalk on our way across the city, and the next we were under full-scale attack.
The first of them hit Alyx hard mid-shift, knocking her back and away before she could get her legs under her. She slammed hard into a car, knocking it over and almost crushing a few pedestrians below it. They screamed at the sudden chaos and began scrambling away.
In that split-second, I wondered what they thought was happening.
A dozen more vampires followed behind the first. They were special ops types dressed in black and armed with swords. They knew who the most dangerous target was, and they headed right for her.
Or at least, they tried to. I threw my power out in front of them, using it as a wall. The bulk of them slammed against it, losing their momentum and hitting the ground. They were on their feet in seconds, but seconds were all Alyx needed.
She finished her change, reaching out with a monster claw to grab the original assailant. At the same time, Bradford had regained his feet, and he jumped on the back of one of the vamps, digging a blessed knife into its neck. It howled and collapsed under his weight.
"Well, don't just stand there," I said to Gervais, who was stationary beside me. I pushed myself forward, bringing the obsidian spatha to hand, ready to enter the fray.
Then I heard Alyx cry out. I looked over and saw the vampire had bit her hand, and it was turning black and dead as he held onto it. My stomach churned at the sight. I had seen something like it before, the way the skin shriveled and died beneath the bite.
That was Abaddon's power.
I tried to change direction and head her way to help. A sharp hiss to my left forced me to pause, and I ducked and brought my blade up just in time to avoid decapitation. The vampire bared his teeth at me, showing me dark fangs that oozed a black saliva. They had all been imbued with the demon's energy.
"Get off me, bro," I heard Bradford say. His fist bashed into one of the vampires, knocking it back with tattoo-enhanced strength. A second got its teeth onto his arm, and he used it to pull the surprised vampire into his dagger.
I sidestepped a claw-swipe from my opponent, noting the darkened fingernails with moisture at the tips, and then cast out my power at him, throwing him thirty feet and through a window. I turned back to Alyx, who had managed to dislodge the first of the vampires but was coming under attack by four more.
I glanced back at Gervais. He was still standing there, watching everything unfold. Because of course he was.
I charged toward Alyx, at the same time she leaped, getting herself out of the fracas. The four vampires turned to follow, and I hit them with my power, pushing them back and into the opposite wall. They bounced off and charged me, swords flashing under the streetlights.
I dropped into one of Josette's fighting stances, turning to keep them all in view as they organized themselves for the attack.
"All of that power and this is the best you can do?" I said, taunting them.
"Ask the were what the best we can do is," one of them said.
Ask the were? I glanced back to find Alyx. She had joined Bradford behind me and had pinned one of the vampires to the ground.
Her left arm dangled at her side, still useless. It hadn't healed.
"Oh no," I whispered, the anger exploding inside of me.
The vampires used the distraction to charge, and I pulled my power back in, wrapping it around me like a shield. As they reached it, I threw it back out as a wall of spikes, the energy piercing them and throwing them back once more. They grunted in pain that turned to laughter at my rage.
"Rebecca sends her regards," the same one said right before I cut his head off.
I threw myself toward Alyx even as their bodies collapsed and turned to ash. She and Bradford were holding their own, the Nicht Creidem's immunity giving him a firm advantage in the fight. As long as he avoided getting skewered, there was nothing the vampires could do to hurt him.
Gervais was still observing. No. He wasn't. He had disappeared.
I reached Bradford and Alyx, stabbing one of the vampires in the back. A second tried one more time to cut Bradford with its claws, and then it too was taken down by the blessed knife.
And then it was over. There were no more vampires to fight. Only piles of ash. I turned my attention to Alyx, who shifted back to human form. Her arm was still black and dead at her side.
"Landon," she said, upset at the wound.
I knelt down beside her and reached out for the arm. "Tell me if this hurts."
She nodded. I had never seen a great were so afraid of anything.
I lightly touched my fingertips to the wound. I immediately felt a wave of pain flow into them, and my fingernails began to turn black. I drew my hand away, more worried than I was before.
This was bad. Very bad.
I held my fingers up in front of my face. Whatever Abaddon's power had done when mingled with the vampires, it was contagious. I pushed my power into the wound, trying to heal it like I would any other. There was no effect.
"Landon?" Alyx said again, her voice small. She had tears in her eyes. It broke my heart to see her like that.
"Oh shit, bro," Bradford said.
"It'll be okay," I said.
To calm Alyx or me? I closed my eyes, letting my power flow forward and envelope the damage. I didn't push it, and instead, put my attention on relaxing. I felt a tingle in my fingers, and the wound began to heal.
I opened my eyes. The damage was gone.
"I can fix it," I said.
She smiled pensively. I reached for her arm again, keeping my hand slightly above the ruined flesh. I could feel the power below it, and I forced myself to calm while I worked to transform the poisonous demonic energy.
I smiled as the wound began to heal, the black skin fading and first turning pink, and then red, and then returning to the color of healthy flesh. It spread from her elbow down to her fingertips, until finally she was whole again. She wiggled her fingers and then dropped down to embrace me.
"Thank you, Master," she said, forgetting herself in the emotion of the moment. I was so ha
ppy that I forgot myself, too, bringing her lips to mine and kissing her intensely.
"Nice, bro," Bradford said behind us.
I broke off the kiss, stood up, and helped Alyx back to her feet. "I can fix it, but it isn't easy or fast. If these vampires start infecting other demons like this, or if they infect mortals, it's going to be an epic disaster."
"We have to find Abaddon," Alyx said. "We have to stop them before they can give any more of their number the same abilities."
"It might already be too late," I said. "Bradford, did you happen to see where Gervais went?"
"No. Sorry, dude. I was a little busy."
I scanned the street. I could hear sirens in the distance, drawing closer. They might not know what had occurred, but the damage was still done. Fortunately, we didn't hurt anybody.
"As soon as things go south, he disappears," Alyx said. "At least Zifah was honest about his cowardice."
"Hmph. Cowardice."
The fiend appeared behind the broken glass of the window I had thrown the vampire through. His face was coated in blood, his hair a mess.
"The things I do for you, diuscrucis."
For me? I doubted it. "What did you do?"
He reached down and lifted the vampire where I could see him. He was in one piece, which meant he was still alive. His pants were around his ankles, and his genitals were knitting back together as I watched. It was a disgusting display.
"I thought that didn't work on the Divine," I said.
"True. Very true. But then I remembered what you said about Rebecca, and how Abaddon's power allowed her to enter the Divine. So, I figured I would take a shot. He had Abaddon's power, and now I have eaten some of it. It is embarrassing and distasteful, but I do what I must."
The vampire began to come around. Gervais threw him at me with more force than he should have been able. Then the fiend changed shape, into an exact replica of the demon.
"It appears to work quite well. Surprisingly so. Perhaps no demon can wield the sheer volume of power Abaddon has except for Abaddon, but in smaller bites?" He laughed at his stupid pun. "It is effective."
"Wow," I heard Bradford say behind me.
That wasn't the word I would use. A Gervais who could feed on demons and take their form and their power?
Execution (The Divine Book 6) Page 14
