"So if the Duke attacks again, the three of us work together and possibly match him," I said. "Wonderful. And what if his mage has figured this out too?" Tink and Caleb both frowned. "Oh, so neither of you thought about that? Can't imagine what devastation a more advanced mage could perform with a Duke's ichor. All it takes is one fight for them to figure out what we're doing and try it out themselves. I wonder if they could open the Gates with that level of power alone? More to the point, I wonder if we could fight that?"
Caleb's eyes went wide and Tink's narrowed. "You're such a downer, demon," she snapped. "Always worried about getting your ass kicked."
"Any fight I can walk away from is a good fight. Showing them that sort of power is only going to get all three of us dead, and probably thousands more when they start experimenting with it. There's only one way to deal properly with this." I clenched my fist. "Kill them. One shot. No mercy."
Caleb started coughing. Tink frowned at me. "That isn't like you, demon."
"Do you really know me, Tink?" I asked. "Or are you just assuming that I'll let them keep walking over us? I don't enjoy having the threat of death hanging over my head. Now that we have something we can do about it, I'm all for doing it. But, realize we only get one shot at it, so we need to make that shot count. Are you too scared to do that?"
"Never," she snapped.
"But you'd be killing a demon," Caleb pointed out.
"A demon who's already tried to kill me," I said. "Who damn near well succeeded at killing my contract partner, who I am obligated to protect. I care not one bit. He can burn."
"Well, at least we're all finally on the same page here," Tink said. "I think that's all that needs to be said. We'll go demon hunting tomorrow."
"What?" Caleb and I glared at each other for speaking simultaneously.
"You heard me. We'll go hunt his ass down while he's wounded."
"How?" I asked.
She grinned. "First of all, we go back to that rest stop and recover my knife. It should have some of his blood on it. Second, I use a spell to track him down. Third, we kick some demon ass."
"I'll drive you over to the rest stop," Caleb said. "We might get there before they clean everything up. You'll be able to find the knife, right?"
"I should be able to."
"Get some rest," I said. "Come back here around eight."
"What for?" Tink demanded.
"You heard Becky. We need to have some drinks. What sorts of beer do you like, Caleb? I already know Tink drinks my Guinness."
The angel stared at me as if I was speaking in tongues. "Demon, you're inviting me to drink with you? I tried to kill you earlier this evening!"
"You were out of your head," I pointed out. "And getting you drunk might decrease the attempts on my life down the line, right? We're on the same side, at least for the moment. We have something to celebrate, so let's celebrate. Watch some movies, have some drinks, enjoy an evening of peace and quiet before we go ass-kicking. Deal?"
It seemed like Caleb smiled despite himself. "You're a unique sort of demon."
"Halfblood."
"Halfblood," he agreed. "I can deal with Guinness."
"Done," I said.
Tink was looking back and forth between us. "Am I hearing this right? Are you two actually starting to get friendly?"
"Don't get too excited over it," Caleb said. "Just don't tell Jase. He'd never let me hear the end of it. Let's get this over with, Anna. I'm already exhausted. Going to sleep all day."
"You and me both." They headed for the door and Tink looked back at me. "You get some rest today, demon," she commanded. "Tomorrow's going to be rough."
"Sure thing," I lied. I had my own plans for the day, and they didn't involve resting.
Chapter Nine
I grabbed a glass of water before getting to work. Drinking alcohol at three in the morning after burning huge amounts of blood and ichor? No thanks. I finished the water and leaned against the sink. "Hey, Kibs. You around?"
"You bet," the imp said. I turned around as he phased in to sit on the counter next to the sink. "What's up, Zay? Going to try and convince me to go watch the girl again? I already told you I won't go anywhere near that fucking Power. Dude's an asshole. Caught a glimpse of me once. The look in his eyes, man. The look."
"I'm not about to ask you to do that again. I had another favor in mind. Want a beer?"
Kibs narrowed his beady eyes. "Oh, this is new. Call in the imp, offer him a beer, and then try to get him killed again. I see how it is. What's the plan this time? Want me to strap on some explosives and go visit someone?"
I walked past him and opened the fridge. "Actually, I just wanted to bounce some ideas off you. Nothing dangerous."
"Your ideas are probably more dangerous," he grumbled, but he took both bottles I handed down to him all the same, biting the top off one. "So what's on your mind?"
"The characteristics of demons in their native form are distinctive, aren't they? You could identify a demon's House just by seeing them. I saw someone I didn't recognize the other day. Wanted to describe them to you and see what you thought. You deal with all seven Houses, right?"
"That's right," Kibs said around a mouthful of broken glass. He spat glass into the sink and started slurping from the remnants of the bottle. "Was she cute?"
"Was who what?"
"The demon you saw. Cute? Looking to get her name, right? Yeah, I'll hook you up with that. You need to get some, Zay. You've been too moody lately."
"Not quite like that."
"Whatever. Spill it already!"
"Tall, solid red eyes, black feathered wings that are unnaturally sharp," I said.
"Let's see. Tall doesn't help. Most of us have black wings, over half have feathers. A lot of family lines have red eyes, but they're most common in House Lucifer, House Amon, some lines in House Mammon, and the Balor sub-line of House Leviathan. That's a weird group, let me tell you. Leviathans are already touchy but those assholes take it to a completely new level. I think they have an institutional hatred of imps because we can still phase between layers. I try not to deal with them if I can avoid it. Much prefer dealing with House Asmodeus. Common interests." He leered at me over the bottle and slurped some more.
"So you can't identify the House based on that?" I pressed.
"I just told you how far I could narrow it down. Weren't you listening?"
I tapped my foot on the floor. "What if they laughed at a human for trying to resist them?"
"Who wouldn't?"
"What about a scream?" That was something distinctive, I was sure. "They were hurt, and their scream was enough to kill nearby humans."
Kibs put the bottle down with a clunk. "What the shit are you into now?"
"That's distinctive enough?"
"Fucking hell, yes. That's native to House Lucifer, and it's only powerful enough to kill humans if they're pretty damn high up." I could see the imp putting the pieces together, then he reared back and chucked the full bottle at me. "You son of a bitch! What are you trying to do to me? Get my head on the pike next to yours? I told you not to fuck with that Duke!"
"He tried to kill Tink," I said, catching the bottle. "Damn near did. I had to burn almost all of my ichor to save her, Kibs. She's involved, up to the hilt, and that means I am too. I'll take any steps necessary to save her reckless ass. Sorry. I know it puts you in danger, but it's my contract. You know what that means."
"Fuck, Zay!" He returned to the broken bottle and upended it. "You're a dick. All right. So now what? Are you going to track him down and ask him nicely to knock it off? Offer him a beer and some chocolate or some shit?"
"You imps know a lot of things that you don't reveal to the rest of us, right?"
"You could say that." He held his hands out. "Beer."
I handed the beer he had thrown at me back to him. "So, you know what happens when a human mage casts a spell powered by a demon's ichor?"
He dropped the bottle. I grabbed it before it hit the floor and handed i
t to him again. "I take that as a yes. It's some sort of amplification effect, isn't it? She blew Caleb through my front door and into a brick wall with just a couple drops worth of my ichor. Is it due to the blood or the contract?"
He bit the second bottle open. "You think that's going to be enough to take on a Duke?"
"As long as he doesn't know about the trick, we'll have a shot at it," I said. "Especially with the three of us working together."
"Then what?"
"Then he dies," I said. I had made up my mind about that, and I was going to stand by it. One shot. That's all we'd get, and that's all it would take.
"You're talking casus belli, Zay." Kibs looked up at me, uncharacteristically serious, or maybe just drunk. He bit the top off the second bottle and chewed. "He's a Duke, one of the top players in House Lucifer. You're a halfblood of House Asmodeus. They're not going to cover your ass, especially not against Lucifer, not with inter-House politics the way they are right now."
"It wouldn't be just me," I pointed out.
"Yeah, you, sweetcheeks, and a Power," he said. "What part of this idea doesn't strike you as fucking stupid? Bring an angel into this? That's treason. Bring a human in too? What would you do if it turned the cold war hot and involved humans?"
"I didn't think you'd care too much about that."
"Less human chicks to check out in the shower? I'd go nuts."
"You're a voyeur."
"Seriously, though. This is not something you want to get involved in. Why do you think the Duke didn't come swat you idiots dead right off the bat? They don't want you dead! You're a halfblood demon, she's contracted to a demon, so you're on the same side!" Kibs slurped more down, then stretched his wings out. "A few hundred thousand dead are an acceptable sacrifice in their eyes."
I rubbed my forehead. This wasn't good. Kibs was making sense. If it let the Host return to Hell, that'd save many more humans over time than the number that had died so far. A few hundred dying to save thousands more was reasonable. But that wasn't what he had said. "Wait. A few hundred thousand? Where'd the three extra orders of magnitude come from?"
"Forget that."
"Not a chance. Where's that come from?" I thought about it. The plan was to open the Gates of Purgatory. "Kibs, what's behind the Gates?"
"Purgatory."
"What's in Purgatory?"
"Five hundred years' worth of trapped souls?" His wings fluttered and he adjusted his lapels.
"What else?"
"What do you mean, what else-"
"What. Else."
Kibs stared at me, but I stared right back. "The Gates to Heaven and Hell. Which are guarded by the Horsemen. Zay, don't think too hard about this. You'll hurt yourself."
"Wait, so even if we open Purgatory, Heaven and Hell will still be sealed? That's why we're not going direct?" I rubbed my forehead. "This is getting more and more complicated. Just explain it in order."
"Give me another beer." I complied and he settled in, chewing more glass and spitting it into the sink. "There are three Gates. There's one blocking the way to Purgatory, one blocking the way to Heaven and Hell, and one blocking the way to each Throne. To get to Purgatory, you have to open the Gates. There's two ways to open them. First, sacrifice. What's going on now."
"And what happens when they open the Gates that way?"
"Project Purgatory absorbs too much power and overloads. Boom. Five hundred years' worth of souls ignite. They scatter through all the layers, burning like lit fuses. The effect here on Earth? Not pretty, even if just a few souls get to this layer itself. Even a near miss could make a nuke look like a firecracker. Not to mention that they'll wreck anything left in Heaven or Hell."
"Does this Duke know?" I asked. Kibs shook his head. "Why the hell not?"
"They assume all they need to do is blast the Gates open and walk right in. Do you really think House Lucifer is going to listen? They're sure they know everything that needs knowing about this plan."
"So you're saying that their entire House is in on this?"
Kibs looked as if he had just swallowed a lemon. "Too much beer. This is way over your pay grade. Forget all this shit."
Could Asmodeus contest this? I wasn't much up on the political scene, but last I knew, we were right in the middle of the pack, and we were friendly with Beelzebub and Mammon. House Lucifer, on the other hand, was on top and was tight with House Amon. Leviathan and Belphagor generally stayed aloof. "What am I missing with the home front?"
"Mammon's had some serious internal discord lately," Kibs told me. "They had a nasty skirmish with Amon. Now they're split into two camps, one that wants to leech off of House Lucifer for protection, and one that wants to stick with Asmodeus and Beelzebub."
"That doesn't seem like enough to tip the scales."
"It isn't, but then Belphagor aligned with Lucifer," Kibs said. "They don't move fast, but when they do, they move heavy. They're far stronger than anyone thought. They rolled over a Choir outpost in China recently, knocked off one of the Cherubim with minimal losses. Choir ain't happy."
"So the Choir's already pissed, and if I start an inter-House conflict, they'd be happy to take advantage of it. Wonderful. Any more good news?"
"That's it. So, unless you've got some new porn site for me, I'm going to go sleep off this booze." He fluttered to the floor, barely keeping his balance. "Don't fuck with this, I'm telling you. You're going to fuck things up real good."
"One more before you go," I said. "What's the other way to open the Gates?"
"Cooperation," he said. "Human, demon, and angel. There's a way to open the Gates if you all work together. It's in your blood. Night, Zay." He shimmered, then phased through the floor. Lucky little imp. There were so many more things I wanted to know, but I'd have to get him very drunk for another attempt at this. Still, he had told me enough.
It took about an hour to prepare my next move. My circle was a little the worse for wear with all the goings-on in my apartment recently, but it hadn't been broken. I cleaned it up and stood before it, knife in hand. All it took was a concerted effort of will, and a little ichor. I spoke his name. "Azriphel."
The circle darkened and shadow flowed from the center, spilling outwards until the floor within my circle was solid, impenetrable black. From that darkness, he rose up, yawning as he regarded me. At this hour of the morning, I had been expecting him in sleepwear. He showed up in a dress shirt and slacks, tie hanging loosely around his neck. "Rude and impertinent," he said. "But not unexpected."
"Sorry to interrupt you. I thought I'd be waking you up instead."
His eyebrows rose, immaculately groomed. He paid careful attention to his appearance. No surprises there. "Address me properly, halfbreed, before I chastise you. I am a Marquis of my House, after all."
"What address would you prefer?"
"You may address me as Lord Azriphel."
"In your dreams, Azzy."
He laughed. "Rude, impertinent, and fearless. You interest me. Why have you summoned me, Isaiah Bright? Surely this isn't just a social call at this hour?"
"Annabell Glass," I said, just to see his reaction.
His expression didn't shift a bit from his tiny smile. "Ah. You're curious, and so you want to hear the story from her doom, yes?"
Her doom? "You could say that."
"I have eliminated her lineage one by one, over many years. Hundreds, perhaps. I've lost track. It's no surprise that she despises me so. She will succeed at hunting me one day, halfbreed. And as she exults in the moment of her triumph, she shall die, as have generations of her family before her."
"You're a sick bastard," I said.
"I fail to hear a proper tone of respect for your betters."
"My betters don't torment a human family for shits and grins."
His eyes flickered red, just for a couple of seconds, before returning to their previous shade of blue. "Do you know why I've done this to them, halfbreed?"
"Of course not," I said. "Are you going to t
ell me, or are you just going to keep playing around at being some melodramatic villain here?"
He laughed again. "She comes from a family of hunters, dating back nearly to the end of the War. They've run across the world, hidden, changed identities, done everything they can to escape me. I'll never let them go. They killed my brother, when he was just a child. A child! Seven years old. Doesn't that disgust you? Enrage you?"
"Yeah, that rubs me wrong too," I said. "Killing a kid isn't right, there's no excuse for it. That doesn't give you the right to keep killing that family for hundreds of years. You've been letting them live long enough to have children and pass the bloodline on, haven't you? Just so you can keep killing them. That's sick, Azzy."
"And you wouldn't seek vengeance for the murder of those close to you?"
I would, I couldn't deny that. "That's not vengeance. That's just plain sick."
His eyes flickered again. "Sick? It's sick to avenge your family, halfbreed? He had done nothing wrong except be born. He was just coming into his powers. Just as they did to him, so I shall do to them. That is my justice, halfbreed."
I looked away. He chuckled. I liked to think that I was a decent sort of guy. If someone murdered someone close to me, I'd look for them, sure. Kill them? Maybe. That's what Tink was going through right now, regarding Vostok and her friends in her conclave. Maybe more. "You killed her family, didn't you? Thirteen years ago. Now I get it. That's why you go on a spree every twenty, thirty years, isn't it?"
"She was twelve at the time." Azriphel's tone was rich, as if he was remembering something wonderful. "I came to their house, a kind man in a suit, a friendly smile on my face. When her father opened the door, I plucked his heart from his chest. Oh, how she screamed at the sight. Her mother came running. Have you seen what hellfire does to a human body?"
"I have, yes."
"She roasted. The girl stood there and watched. She screamed. She kept screaming until I put my hand on her head and knelt down in front of her. I told her my name. I told her to come find me when she was older, or I'd come and find her, just like I found her parents. Do you know what she did then?"
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