by N. P. Martin
Lucas takes his phone from his jacket pocket and dials Frank’s number. “It seems you were right about your friend, Leland Cunningham,” Lucas says. “For some reason he appears to be behind this city’s current meltdown, at least in part.”
“What do you mean?” Franks asks. “Who else is involved?”
“I’m still digging. Details are shady and well hidden.” Lucas pauses. “I am however, aware of one other who is involved.”
“Well don’t keep me in suspense, Lucas. Out with it.”
“A demon. Named Tolloch.”
“Tolloch?”
“I assume you’re aware of this demon’s reputation?”
“Is this the same Tolloch who likes to influence the country’s elite from the sidelines? Confidant to every sleazy CEO and politician in the country?”
“The very same.”
“What’s a Grand Duke of Hell doing getting involved with the head of the Watcher High Council?”
“Like I said, the details are hazy at this point,” Lucas says. “But my guess is that Tolloch’s plan to influence the elite into creating a new world order isn’t going fast enough. I think he is playing things a little more directly now.”
“Makes sense,” Frank says, sounding slightly on edge, like he is anticipating something, though Lucas doesn’t know what. “A new world order born out of the chaos, starting right here. Why not in Washington first then?”
“I think they may be testing things out here first, tweaking their methodologies before going global.”
“How do we find this Tolloch? I’m assuming he’s powerful enough to resist a summoning spell?”
Lucas laughs. “Tolloch is powerful enough to resist whatever you throw at him. Should you happen to come across him, be very careful.”
“Let me know when you hear anything else.” Frank lowers his voice. “Any news on the other thing?”
“Not yet,” Lucas lies, almost wincing at the desperation in Frank’s voice. “I’ll keep you informed.”
Lucas hangs up the phone and stands thinking for a moment about the conspiracy that threatens to change everything. If Watchers and demons are working together now to transform this world, where would that leave Lucas? He had no wish to live in some kind of Hell on Earth, nor in some slave-driven society with power mad Nephilim and crazy demons at the top, controlling everything. The freedom this world offers is why Lucas likes it. Almost anyone can come and go as they please, do as they please even. All that would stop if Tolloch succeeded in his plan for a new world order.
Lucas’ phone rings and he answers straight away. “Yes?”
“Thought you might like to know,” a female voice says down the phone, which Lucas recognizes immediately as belonging to one of his newly established contacts. This one is called Jane and she works at the Watcher Facility. Lucas approached her a while back, knowing he would need someone on the inside of the Facility at some point. Jane was hard to get at first. She even tried to kill him. But that was before Lucas invaded her mind and gently encouraged her to think that they were on the same side, which they were in a sense. A gift of money made sure he didn’t have to go too hard on her.
“What is it?” Lucas asks, somehow knowing whatever she is going to say would involve Frank.
“Your boy Frank and his friends just came into the grounds of the Temple. Any minute now, they are in for a shock.”
She is talking about the Masonic Temple. The Watcher Facility is hidden underneath. “Why?”
Jane says nothing as the unmistakable sound of gunfire goes off in the background.
“What’s going on?” Lucas demands.
“Your boy Frank is going to get killed, that’s what’s going on.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Lucas teleports immediately to the Masonic Temple. Most demons would normally not get within fifty feet of the Temple, thanks to the warding spell surrounding the underground Watcher Facility. But Lucas is not like most demons, knowing as he does more tricks than most, including how to bypass a warding spell, as powerful as said spell is. Most other demons could probably bypass most of these spells also, if only they did a little research and a lot of reading of the right texts, all of which Lucas did before he even became a demon. It is the reason why he has managed to survive for so long without ending up as a lower form of life in some forgotten sludge pool in Hell somewhere.
He teleports to the front of the Masonic Temple first, appearing by the ornately carved wooden front doors. Apparently the Temple itself is meant to be a sight to behold inside. A place of exquisite beauty. He hasn’t had a chance to check the place out yet, but he told himself that he would, appreciator of beauty that he is.
There is no beauty in the sound of the gunfire coming from the back of the Temple however. Most of it is automatic, the rest semi-automatic. It isn’t hard for Lucas to guess who the heavier gunfire belonged to. It sounds like Frank and his cohorts are in serious trouble, so Lucas teleports again, this time around the back of the Temple to the small cemetery there.
Immediately upon landing his nostrils are assailed by the smell of gunpowder which hangs thick in the still night air. Green laser sights coming from the outbuildings to the side of the Temple--and from the roof of the Temple itself--cut their way through the darkness, all pointing in one direction--towards two large tombstones at the edge of the cemetery, behind which Lucas sees three crouched figures, whom he assumes are Frank and his friends.
Before Lucas can teleport again, he feels a sharp pain in his upper left arm and looks down to see blood staining his gray suit. “Motherfucker,” he says, annoyed at the fact that his suit has just been ruined.
A man dressed in black military gear is standing not far from Lucas, pointing a gun at him. The man in black, obviously a lackey for Leland Cunningham, the head of the Watcher High Council, gets off another two shots that hit Lucas in the chest and abdomen. Lucas absorbs the impact of the bullets and glares at the man who shot him, noticing another man running up to join his team mate. In seconds, Lucas has invaded both men’s minds, and they scream and drop their guns, clutching at their heads in agony. A slight smile creases Lucas’ lips as the two men’s heads explode like a stick of dynamite has gone off in their skulls. “Fucking ruining my suits,” he says, then turns his attention back to the people he came to rescue from certain death.
One of Frank’s friends is crouched behind a rapidly disintegrating tombstone as bullets fly all around him. Another few seconds and those bullets will start to hit him instead of the tombstone, which has all but disappeared by the time Lucas teleports over and grabs the man’s arm before teleporting out of the cemetery and back to his office at the club, where he drops the shocked man off before vanishing back to the cemetery again to save Frank.
Lucas finds Frank lying on top of some woman on the grass in an effort to protect her from the hail of bullets flying all around them. Frank is hit it seems. So is the woman underneath him. The woman looks startled when she sees Lucas standing over them, bullets slamming into his back that are meant for the two on the ground. He leans over and puts a hand on each of them before teleporting Frank and the woman out of danger, landing back at the club again to join the other guy he just saved.
Frank and the woman land on the carpeted floor in the same position they were in back at the cemetery, with Frank on top of the woman. The woman has dark hair and intoxicating blue eyes that Lucas immediately likes the look of, but he is more concerned with Frank, who is bleeding out of his lower back and leg.
“What the fuck just happened?” asks the other guy, who Lucas sees is bald and Asian and covered in blood and dirt.
“I just saved you all,” Lucas says, more concerned with the bullets still lodged in his back at this point.
The Asian guy just collapses against the wall, obviously in shock. No doubt two seconds ago he thought he was going to die. Now here he is, alive and in a strange room with a demon. How confusing it must be for him, Lucas thinks.
Lucas looks down to find Frank blinking up at him in confusion. “Lucas?” Frank says, looking like he is still trying to work out what is happening. Much like his Asian friend, no doubt Frank thought he was going to die a few seconds ago as well. The Watcher is deathly pale from his blood loss. He looks down at the woman. “Eva? What-” He stops then as he slumps down unconscious on top of her.
“Oh Jesus, he’s been shot!” the woman says, sliding herself out from under Frank’s weight, glancing briefly at Lucas, still suspicious of him, Lucas being a demon and all.
“He’s been shot in the back,” Lucas says. “Away from the spine it seems. Thankfully. One in the leg also. He has lost a lot of blood.”
“You a doctor, demon?” Eva says sharply as she examines Frank’s prone body.
“No,” Lucas says, putting the woman Watcher’s tone down to the fact that she is still in shock herself. “But I know bodies quite well. Even Nephilim ones.”
“I’m sure you do,” Eva says, then looks around at the Asian guy still slumped in the corner. “Sam? You okay Sam? Where’re you hit?”
Sam shakes his head. “No, but I need hit over the fucking head for going to that place to begin with. Remind me never to listen to either of you motherfuckers again.”
Eva almost smiles like she can see her friend is okay, then she turns her attention back to Lucas. “Who are you, demon?”
“A friend of Frank’s,” Lucas said. “I’m helping him stop your rogue High Council friend, as well as saving you all from getting killed. I may have to get another body to possess now thanks to all the bullets in me. I liked this body as well.”
Eva stares back at Lucas and once again Lucas is taken by the Watcher’s eyes, by how big and smoky they look, even with all the blood and dirt on her fine boned face. “Frank never mentioned you before.”
“That’s okay,” Lucas says, taking his jacket of so he can examine the holes in his body better. If the damage isn’t too bad, he may just be able to patch the holes up. He isn’t worried about internal damage so much. He has spells that will heal most of that. Not that he needs most of the body’s functions anyway. As long as he can still breathe and fuck, that is all that matters. “I know it’s not usual for Watchers to be working with demons, but the rules seem to be changing, don’t they?”
Eva looks down at Frank again. “Can you help me get him to my house? I can heal him there.”
“Yes,” Lucas says. “I almost forgot that you Nephilim can heal yourselves. We wouldn’t want to bring him back a second time, now would we?” He winks at her.
“What? How?…”
“Nevermind. We’ll keep that one between us, don’t worry.” Lucas looks at Sam. “Your friend is passed out as well. Let me take you all home.”
Lucas teleports the three of them to Eva’s house, helping her set Frank up in a hospital bed in a makeshift medical room in the basement. Sam, whose injuries are less severe than they thought--with just a shoulder wound--is settled in one of the bedrooms. Lucas points to Eva’s shoulder. “You’ve been hit as well.”
“I’ll heal,” Eva says as she begins to plug IV drips into Frank’s arms.
“I have no doubt you will.” Lucas stands around for another moment, watching Eva work on Frank. She is obviously experienced in this sort of thing. “Are you and Frank close?”
Eva looks up at him as she hooks a plastic bag full of fluid onto the IV stand. “I’m not sure I trust you, demon-”
“Lucas. My name is Lucas.”
“Lucas then. We generally don’t work so closely with demons.”
“Well, I’m not like most demons. Would most demons save your ass like I did tonight?”
“No,” Eva says.
“There you go then. You will come to trust me, Eva, over time.”
“Don’t bank on it.”
Lucas smiles. “I can see you’re a tough woman, Eva. I like that. A lot actually.”
Eva shook her head. “You can go now…Lucas.”
“Alright. Tell Frank I’ll be in touch. There is still much work to do, I’m afraid to say.”
Lucas is about to teleport back to the club when Eva says, “And Lucas?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for saving us.”
“Any time,” he says before disappearing out of the room.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When Lucas goes back to his office at the club, Janice is there. Standing in her dark skirt suit, she has her back to him, still unaware that he is in the room with her. “Hello, Janice,” he says.
Janice cries out in shock, her hand going to her heart as she staggers back towards the desk. “What..? Where did..?”
Lucas thinks for a second about reaching into Janice’s mind and making her forget she ever saw him appear out of thin air like he just did, but then he thinks that it might be interesting to see how things will play out if he doesn’t do that. If the situation gets out of hand, he can always wipe her memory. “You don’t have to be afraid, Janice.”
Janice is leaning uncomfortably on the edge of the desk, her face a mask of confusion and fear, especially with all the blood on his shirt, not to mention on the carpeted floor. “What happened to you?” she asks.
“I got shot. Nothing to worry about. Would you like a drink?” Lucas walks past her and goes behind his desk, taking two glasses out of a drawer while Janice backs away slowly, pausing a few feet away. At least she hasn’t run from the room, that is something, Lucas thinks. He pours vodka into the two glasses and pushes one of the glasses across the desk towards her. Janice remains where she is while Lucas sits down in the chair behind the desk, wincing slightly as he does so. The bullet wounds sting like hell.
“What are you?” Janice asks quietly.
“I get it,” Lucas replies. “You see me appear out of thin air, I’m full of bullet holes and I’m still alive and breathing. You’re frightened, confused. But you don’t need to be, Janice. Have I ever harmed you in any way?”
Janice shakes her head. “No.”
“Do you think I would harm you?”
“I…don’t know.”
“I wouldn’t harm you, Janice, not unless you gave me a reason to harm you. That would be a sad day indeed, so let’s hope that never happens. But believe me when I say, you have nothing to fear from me. In fact, as long as you are with me, no one will ever harm you.”
Janice seems to relax a little and she walks forward and takes the glass of vodka from the desk, taking only one step back this time. “What are you?” she asks again after taking a sip of her vodka. “Is your name even Lucas?”
“Yes, my name is Lucas. I have never lied to you, Janice. Not once. I could have made you do whatever I wanted, like I did with Jake, but I didn’t. I respect you too much. You are a strong woman, Janice, and I admire strong women.”
“Tell me what you are, Lucas. You have god knows how many bullets in you and you don’t even look like you are in pain.”
“Surely, Janice, you couldn’t be that blind. You must know there are people in this world--in this city--that are not…human. You must know this as surely as you knew there was something different about me the first time we met. I saw it in your eyes.”
Janice sits down on the couch and cradles her glass in her lap, apparently disturbed by what Lucas just said. “I’ve seen stranger shit than most. In this business, you fucking betcha. I’m come across every weirdo, every psycho, every kind of person it’s possible to come across.” Her dark brown eyes shift from in front of her to Lucas. “Except you.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Lucas says. “I’ve always prided myself on being different.”
“Are you an angel, Lucas?”
He can’t help laughing. “My dear, Janice. No. I am not an angel. Quite the opposite in fact.”
“A demon?”
Lucas flashes his deep purple demon eyes at her for a second. Janice flinches, but doesn’t move from the couch.
“You are a demon.”
“I use
the term loosely when it comes to describing myself. I like to think I’ve evolved over the centuries into something…less demonic and more…me.”
“Centuries? How old are you?”
“Older than you could fathom.”
“Jesus.” She swallows the rest of her drink.
“Look,” Lucas says. “You don’t have to treat me any different. I certainly will not be treating you any different. You can still go places, Janice. You have an aptitude for business. You could go to business school if you wanted, be a big success. I’d be happy to help you do that.”
Janice’s eyes soften as the trust seems to come back in them again. “I can’t believe you’re a demon. I’ve been sleeping with a demon. My God…” She seems partially amused by this as she puts a hand to her mouth.
“You will have plenty of time to get used to the idea,” Lucas says. “In the meantime, could you do me a favor and help me get these bullets out of this body?”
“This body?” Janice says, standing up. “You mean you…possessed someone? Is he still in there?”
“A kind donor. Don’t worry about him. I made things comfortable for him. You’ve seen The Matrix, right? It’s kind of like that for him. He’s having the time of his life. He’s also lucky it was me who possessed him. A less considerate demon would have the poor soul trapped in misery every second of his existence. I’m over that kind of thing, thankfully. Unless it is required, of course.”
Janice shakes her head as she approaches the desk. Her normal seductive smile is back on her face, Lucas is glad to see. “Show me those eyes again,” she says, staring into his face.
Lucas lets his true demon eyes shine through.
Janice’s smile widens. “Why do I just want to fuck you even more now?”
Lucas can’t help but smile at that.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lucas is feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He is sitting at the bar in the Demon Ecstasy club, a glass of vodka beside him on the bar top. The club is completely empty, save for him. At nearly midnight, the club should be buzzing with people, but Lucas closed the doors after Janice did as he instructed and took all of the staff to the Caribbean. It is for their own safety. Lucas can’t have them being caught in the crossfire when Leonard inevitably shows up with his goons in tow. Many demons would have cared less about a bunch of human worker drones, but Lucas feels differently. A soul is a soul, and all souls count, even human ones.
