Heart of Stone: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Fallen Angel Book 1)

by Leo Romero

  “Just hand it over, Stone, and there won’t be any need for trouble.”

  I shook my head. “Hand what over? Samuel, what the hell is going on?”

  Samuel growled in frustration. “You had to stick your nose in, didn’tcha, Stone? But maybe I should be grateful, since that dumb bitch Ming managed to lose the Gauntlet instead of giving it to us like she was supposed to. You kindly brought it to me all gift wrapped. Beelzebub will be very happy. Very happy indeed.” He nodded his head in appreciation. “I have to hand it to you, Stone, all the other bounty hunters who went after him quickly met their demise. But you’re made of harder stuff.”

  Realization bombed into my mind and my eyes widened. “It was you!” I gasped.

  Samuel gave me a stern nod.

  “You’re in league with Beelzebub! You’re the one who raised him.”

  Samuel nodded again.

  “Holy moly! But why?”

  “Why?” Samuel sneered. “Cause I’ve had it with serving God, Stone. It sucks! Look around you at how sucky our existences are.”

  I rolled my head from side to side as I weighed it up. “Yeah, you got a point there.”

  “Satan’s been in direct contact with me,” he said, all haughty and proud. “Says he’ll give me a seat high up if I serve Him instead.”

  I felt my face scrunch up in incredulity at what this clown was saying. “You don’t believe him, do you?”

  Samuel’s eyes widened. “Oh, he can be very persuasive.”

  I crossed my hands over my chest. “Yeah, that’s why he’s known as the deceiver, you idiot!”

  “I’m not the idiot,” Samuel growled. “The idiots are the ones busting their asses for the guy who doesn’t give two shits about em.”

  I reluctantly nodded my head. “Well, I can’t say you’re wrong there, either.”

  “Think God’s gonna be saving your ass if you get sent to purgatory? Think again. We’re just pawns.”

  I puffed my cheeks. “Man, you are dropping truth bombs left and right, buddy!”

  “Come and join the winning team, Gabriel. Let’s give Satan what he wants and end this bullshit. He’ll let us into his kingdom and we’ll have everything we’ve ever wanted. What have we got to lose? We’re dead anyway.”

  I frowned. “I’ve got a daughter to lose, Samuel. I’m not just gonna stand by and watch the legions of Hell take their turns with her.”

  Samuel’s back straightened. “Well, that’s a damn shame, Stone. I’m sure He would’ve been a lot more appreciative of you than the pretender up there. But, if you want to spend the rest of your days being a lackey, that’s up to you. Now, give me the gauntlet!” He held out his hand.

  I glanced down at Hando. He was balled up into a trembling fist. As an Enforcer, Samuel’s light magic was much more powerful than mine. And that chain mace used to belong to a legendary orc warlord called Gaark Bloodletter. It was no joke. A couple of smacks from that light-imbued spiked ball would probably finish me off. Excalibur and Bam Bam were by my sides. Could I pull my weapons fast enough before Samuel took a swing? I doubted it. He had me cornered.

  “There isn’t much time, Stone. Just hand it over. Don’t make me kill you.”

  I gave him a smug grin. “You still need Aurora. And she’s gone AWOL.”

  Samuel chuckled. “Oh her. Beelzebub already bagged her right after she bailed on you.”

  My grin melted. “Lies.”

  “Oh really? You’ll see for yourself in good time. And it’s almost time. It’s gonna be so great. His reckoning is almost upon us. I can’t wait!”

  “You sound worse than a comic book fanboy.”

  “Just hand it over!” Samuel roared in irritation, that spiked ball swinging viciously on the air.

  He had me. Suddenly, all I could think of was Lucy and Aurora. Two girls I’d been charged with protecting and I’d let them both down. One was supposedly a prisoner of a Prince of Hell, while the other one was about to be exposed to Hell itself. Both cause of me and my failings. However, I was the only one who knew about Samuel’s plan. There was still time to stop him, even if it was a slim chance. And that meant I had to stay alive. And to stay alive right now meant to hand Hando over. With a hot sigh, I unclipped Hando from my belt and held him up. Hando waved on the air as if to say ‘no’.

  I shrugged at him. “He’s got me cornered,” I said, my voice laced with lament. Hando flopped over, resigned.

  “Give!” Samuel demanded.

  “The Big Kahuna ain’t the forgiving kind, Samuel,” I said as I held up Hando for him to take.

  “That’s why he’s an asshole!”

  I cringed. “Think you’ll end up regretting that one, Sammy.”

  “I don’t care. His days are numbered. Satan’s the new boss.” He jabbed out his free hand and took hold of Hando’s fingers. A big grin jumped onto his face, his attention focused solely on the Gauntlet of Agony.

  I seized the opportunity. I yanked on Hando, pulling Samuel into me, catching him by surprise. With my free hand I whipped out Bam Bam and aimed right at his face. I pulled the trigger, hoping to blow the SOB’s head clean off. A stream of magic-laced water squirted right into Samuel’s mug, getting up his nose and into his eyes.

  “Blah!” he blurted, shaking his head against the stream.

  I glared down at Bam Bam in bemusement. Then, I remembered I’d loaded her with aqua slugs. “Oh shit!” I gasped, realizing my mistake.

  Luckily, the shock of the water squirting up his nose inadvertently did the trick. He instinctively let go of Hando to wipe the water out of his eyes, staggering back against the stream at the same time. The slug eventually ran outta juice and slowed to a dribble. I immediately holstered Bam Bam and threw Hando over my fist. A burst of intense strength engulfed me.

  “Ooh, baby, now that’s what I’m talking about!” I said with a big shit-eating grin as I went into steroid-pumped bodybuilder mode. I advanced on Samuel with my fists raised like a heavyweight champ. Samuel shook the last of the water out of his eyes. The first thing he saw was Hando cutting across the air. I connected with the side of his head with a meaty thud. He was sent flying into the filing cabinets. I leaped straight into another attack, supreme strength flooding my muscles. I caught him in the ribs, knocking him back to the far end of the room.

  “You’re batting for the wrong team, Sammy, my man!” I said as I strode up to him, dukes up. He was all bent over, seeing stars. I grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up. His bleary eyes came into view. I lined up a killer blow, winding Hando back behind my shoulder. Samuel’s eyes flashed into life. As I swung, he managed to duck. My fist punched right through the wall behind him, sending a cloud of plaster dust into the air. It got in my face and eyes, stinging them. I shook it off, at the same time trying to pull my fist back out of the wall. Samuel grabbed the initiative. He stepped back and wound up his chain mace. As my eyes cleared, I saw that light-imbued spiked ball heading right for my face. I yelped and ducked. The thing slammed into my back, bringing with it a whole world of pain that would’ve been even worse if I hadn’t been overpowered by Hando. The blow sent me to the carpet, the momentum yanking my arm out of the wall again, widening the hole.

  I sprawled on my back, my gaze fixed on the ceiling. Just in time to watch Samuel stand astride me. “My team is the winning team, asshole!” he said, his eyes gleaming with insanity. He added more light magic to the spiked ball and grabbed the handle of his mace with both hands. He raised the weapon high into the air.

  I threw up Hando and screamed, “No!” as Samuel brought the mace down with all his might. I caught the glowing spike ball in Hando’s palm, the impact causing a mini-implosion of light that shook the filing cabinets. We both fought against the other for supremacy, Samuel trying to yank his spiked ball out of Hando’s vise-like grip.

  “You’ve lost! Let it go, Stone!” Samuel snarled through clenched teeth as he yanked.

  “Never!” I sneered back. But as I did, my energy was zapped
like I hadn’t slept for a month. My mind and muscles went limp as Hando’s second effect kicked in.

  Samuel took a deep breath and pulled with all his might, a maniacal roar bolting from his mouth. He literally tore Hando right off me. Hando flew up into the air, the spiked ball still clutched in his grip. The momentum sent Samuel reeling back. He hit the far wall and slumped to the ground. Immediately, the strength returned to my limbs, but a whole lot of achy pain came with it from all the blows I just took. I winced and groaned and writhed on the ground.

  “Ha ha!” came Samuel’s bad-guy laugh of triumph, stealing my attention. I tilted my head up. He was back on his feet, unsticking Hando from his weapon with a pull and a grunt. He held Hando up in the air and stared at him in delight. “At last I have you!”

  Hando gave him the middle finger in response. Thataboy, Hando!

  “Asshole hand!” Samuel said back to him. Hando balled up into a fist and shook right in Samuel’s face. “Bah!” Samuel sneered and lowered Hando by his side.

  I watched on in my groggy state as Samuel lifted his mace with menace. “I can’t say it’s been a pleasure, Stone. I always thought you were an asshole.”

  “Likewise,” I uttered through the pain.

  “Hope purgatory treats you better than last time.” He went to deliver the killer blow and my eyes widened.

  Somewhere behind me, the door to the room burst open and a voice shouted, “Get away from him, Samuel!” At the same time there was the crack of a whip, a flash of light. Samuel howled in pain and staggered back, his attack thwarted.

  “Lower the weapon, Samuel!” came Ramirez’s order. Boy was I glad to hear him.

  Samuel growled in frustration. “Your luck will run out someday, Stone.”

  “Don’t bet on it!” I retorted.

  Samuel whipped on Hando, his eyes rolling in ecstasy at the sudden surge of power. A stupid grin spread across his face. With a dumb chuckle, he spun away and began pummeling at the damaged wall, each thump with Hando making the hole I’d already made bigger. Plaster dust filled the room, obscuring the view. Within the cloud of dust, Samuel’s grunts and subsequent punches to the wall reverberated all around. I covered my eyes against the dust, the sound of Ramirez’s boots on the carpet thumping alongside my heart.

  By the time the dust cleared and I’d coughed it out of my throat, Ramirez was down by my side. “Are you okay?” he asked me.

  I shook my head. “No.” I got up on my elbows and stared despondently at the man-sized hole in the wall where Samuel had made his escape with Hando. “Bastard,” I muttered.

  “What was all that about?” Ramirez asked.

  I rubbed my head. “Samuel’s turned to the dark side.” I let out a hot sigh. “That fire demon on the loose is Beelzebub and Samuel’s working with him.”

  Ramirez’s eyes widened. “Holy shit!”

  “Go and get Jerome!” I said, coughing plaster dust out of my throat.

  Ramirez nodded. He scampered back out to fetch Jerome. I sat up and looked around. There was crap everywhere. My eyes fell on something yellow and I staggered over and snatched it up. A blank L45 form stared up at me. Without giving it a second thought, I grabbed a pen and began filling it in as fast as I could, scanning all the questions and relevant boxes at lightning speed. At the bottom I signed it off, faking Samuel’s signature.

  As I completed the scribble, the door flew open. I threw the pen to the side and whirled around to be faced with Ramirez and a concerned-looking Jerome. He stared at everything with wide eyes. “What happened here?”

  “Samuel,” I said, coughing. “He’s raised Beelzebub and is in cahoots with him to bring Hell to Earth.”

  Jerome’s jaw dropped. “No way.”

  “I saw him, Jerome,” Ramirez said. “He was about to kill Gabriel.”

  “Where is he now?” Jerome asked.

  I cocked a thumb at the damaged wall behind me. “He’s escaped. He’s gonna go and complete the ritual with Beelzebub that’ll open a perma-portal between Hell and Earth.”

  Jerome bounced on his heels. “We better get word to the Archangels.”

  “No!” I blurted, showing him my palm. I staggered over to him. “Listen to me, there’s someone else involved. This girl. Aurora. She’s the Dark Bearer. And she’s kinda working with me. If Heaven finds out about her and that I’m protecting her, they might do something bad to her as well as me. I can’t let them do that. Please, I can beat him. Samuel gave me this.” I held up the faked L45 form. “It’s the last mistake he’ll ever make.”

  Jerome glanced down at the form and my heart began racing. I prayed he didn’t spot the faked signature. I didn’t wanna give him the chance. I threw the form down by my thigh. “Look, Jerome, we don’t have much time. By the time word gets to the Archangels and they get down here, I could’ve taken out Samuel and Beelzebub and saved the day. I’ll take any flak from the Big Guy if anything goes wrong. It’s on my head. Just file this form for me. I gotta protect Aurora. Come on, Jerome. I need this,” I begged, giving him a pleading look.

  “I think you better give Stone this one,” Ramirez said.

  Jerome glanced at him, then lowered his head. “I never did like that bastard Samuel.”

  “Neither did I,” I said.

  Jerome sighed. “All right, Gabriel. But if you mess this up—”

  “I won’t. But if I do, you get the Archangels involved ASAP.”

  Jerome gave me a reluctant nod and held out his hand. I handed him the L45. He took it and gave it a quick check over. He frowned like he’d spotted something amiss. My heart began racing. My eyes widened.

  Jerome pointed at the form. “The idiot forgot to date this. Pass me a pen.”

  With a sigh of relief, I grabbed a pen and handed it to him. Jerome took the pen and went over to a filing cabinet to use it as a desk. I watched him with eager eyes as he checked the form over once more. Man, the bureaucracy around here was unbelievable. The apocalypse was about to go down and this guy had to fill in forms, check boxes, dot the ‘I’s and cross the T’s’. I shook my head in disbelief as he finally completed the form and blew on the ink to make it dry faster.

  I took a dep breath to contain the sense of relief flooding into me. I knew I was taking a risk going against protocol set out by Heaven itself. I was already in Heaven’s bad books, so circumventing their authority and keeping secrets from them wouldn’t go down well at all and could well see me end up in purgatory. Again. But, it was a risk I had to take. Aurora was depending on me.

  “Okay, Gabriel,” Jerome said. “All done. Let’s get you your wings.”

  “Thanks, Jerome. I mean it. I owe you one.”

  “Just don’t mess up, that’s all I ask.”

  “I won’t.”

  “You ready?”

  “I hope so!”

  He went over to the mirrors and the various mannequin heads propped on the counter where the strippers used to store their wigs. Sitting atop were crowns of olive leaves. He plucked one off and came over to me. I bowed my head and he placed the olive wreath on my head. Golden warmth spread down my body from my head and a calming pleasure shuddered through me.

  I bowed. Jerome rested his hand on my head and said, “By the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I grant you the power of Heaven.”

  The olive wreath burst into incandescent light. I rolled my eyes toward the mirror lining the wall. A halo now glowed around my head in a gorgeous corona. Jerome removed his hand and I lifted my head with pride. Hope and elation bloomed in my chest. My legs stiffened with might and strength. My arms became taut, as strong as steel. I inhaled deep and the air flooded through my veins like liquid, tingling my whole body in pleasant waves. All my aches and pains dissolved as if massaged away by loving hands.

  Somewhere in the distance of my subconscious, the victorious sound of Heaven’s trumpets spurred me into rapid self-belief. I was strong. Fear was an insignificant speck on a golden landscape of light. With each breath I to
ok, my body grew in strength. I was being elevated to the divine once more, shedding any remaining humanity to become something greater, more ethereal. I closed my eyes and appreciated the sensations, grateful for them, careful not to be consumed by them, not to be corrupted by the power of good flooding me.

  My back began to itch. I threw off my jacket and ripped off my shirt as the itch intensified into hot pain. There was an abrupt tear. I gritted my teeth against the flash of pain, as tiny wings burst from my back. I watched in the mirrors as they flapped and fluttered like the wings of baby birds. With each flap they grew larger, engorging with my blood, which nourished them, giving them strength. Feathers, the purest white, grew and hardened as the flaps became more deliberate, strong swooshing sounds now flowing all around us. The resulting wind picked up pieces of paper and threw them on the air where they danced to the sound of the trumpets, the music of triumph, of goodness, of holy victory. The sound elevated my mind to the planes beyond Earth, the planes of paradise and glory, of majestic beauty no human eye had seen.

  I could feel the good surging through my veins. It slipped through me like distilled water, strengthening my limbs, bringing with it a supreme confidence and faith in my abilities. Heavenly poise, the darkness of self-doubt and despair obliterated by ethereal divinity. I was a creature not of this world, but of a higher plane, a place of purity and bliss, where righteousness and virtue reigned, where the hordes of darkness fled in terror, burned alive in the light.

  I stared at my reflection. My eyes had flushed pure-white, causing my vision to alter. I gazed around me, rolling my head slow and deliberate, taking in every inch of the room. I could see every crack and mote, fleck of dust and tiny insect around me, large as life. Vivid colors flashed in my vision, flowing with a slick liquidity, a stunning spectrum of hues: azure, saffron, scarlet, vermillion, mocha, swirling and dancing with life. Despite the blur, I had intense clarity, my senses operating at an overclocked level. The pungent aromas of Earth played on my sinuses. Sweet flower juxtaposed with rotten sewer. Plaster dust was hot on my nostrils like I was stuck in a mine. I inhaled deep, that miasma of scents fizzing on my mind.