The Demon Inside Me

by Christopher Nelson

"Nothing dirty about it," I said. "Just different."

  "You try explaining that to a devout blue-haired old lady."

  "Point taken."

  He sat across from me and chewed on his bagel, swallowed, then glowered at me. "Do we really have a chance?" he demanded.

  "A good chance," I assured him. He didn't respond, simply ate his bagel, then walked away to stare out the window.

  House Lucifer didn't appear during the service. The congregation left in spurts when it concluded, some of them hanging around long enough to find Julian and me. No one commented on our absence, though I did catch Tink glaring at me. That glare could be for half a hundred different things. I wasn't about to ask.

  Jase politely shooed the last blue-haired old lady out and joined us in the kitchen for lunch. Sweat beaded his forehead and he let out a sigh as he sat down. "Takes a bit out of you?" I asked.

  "It's never easy," he admitted. "Especially when you're expecting the worst."

  "So where are they, demon?" Tink demanded.

  "I could have been off," I said. "But it should happen today."

  Caleb shook his head and walked to the back door. He pulled it open to reveal two bruisers, probably the two who had been there since Friday when we arrived. "They've been here the entire time," he said. "You guys want something to eat or drink? Must be tough standing out there in the cold."

  Their response made Jase's face redden and Caleb slammed the door shut. I chuckled. "I guess we're just stuck waiting for Azzy to make his appearance."

  Halfway through lunch, we heard a booming knock, echoing throughout the entire building, rattling the windows. I got to my feet, left my lunch behind, and walked to the front doors. Caleb caught up with me at the doorway and nodded at me. Tink took up a position just out of sight and the rest of our group hung back. Together, Caleb and I opened the doors.

  In front of the church, a host of demons stood in ranks, surrounding a platform that hadn't been there when I had looked outside this morning. At the front of the ranks, Azriphel stood in his full demonic form. Even through the barrier of the sanctuary, I could smell sulfur and flame. Steam rose from the ranks as we appeared. "Halfbreed and pet," Azriphel greeted us. "I would speak with Pastor Pruitt. Is he available?"

  Jase pushed his way forward and shouldered the two of us out of the way, then stepped outside, through the doors. Caleb and I exchanged looks. We could pull him back in, but if they had something planned, he was going to take the brunt of it. I tensed. Caleb shook his head. Trust Jase, he mouthed.

  "I have little to say to you, Azriphel," Jase said. "But I will listen."

  "I have no quarrel with you, Pastor Pruitt," Azriphel declared. "Take this as proof of my good will. I allowed your congregation to come and go, safe passage through the siege, even though I knew that they brought supplies for those you harbor."

  "I thank you for that."

  "Pastor Pruitt, I ask you to surrender the halfbreed." Azriphel's red gaze fell upon me. "He will not be harmed. Simply revoke his sanctuary and the rest of you will be free, the siege lifted. You have my word."

  I heard Julian whispering something behind me. I suspected I knew what he was saying. It would be easier that way, wouldn't it? It wouldn't solve the problems we faced. It wouldn't stop them from breaching the Gates. I watched Jase. His shoulders slumped and he sighed. "You know my answer must be no."

  "You side with him?" Azriphel demanded.

  "I do," Jase said. "You haven't understood why Isaiah is trying to stop you yet, have you? It isn't because you're doing something fundamentally wrong. It's because you're deliberately ignoring what may happen if you succeed. The cost isn't just those you've already murdered in pursuit of your goal. The true cost is in those who you will kill, in that which you will destroy. I cannot allow you to do this."

  Azriphel snorted and cut the air with one clawed hand. "You continue to claim that opening the Gates will cause such massive destruction. I have seen no proof of this."

  I put a hand on Jase's shoulder before he could respond, then pulled him back inside and stepped out myself. "You're letting your pride blind you, Azzy," I said.

  "Halfbreed, you again fail to address me with the proper respect due my position."

  "Azzy, you again shame your position with your stubborn idiocy," I shot back. "You might not believe me, sure, but why don't you try asking an imp? Get some confirmation from an independent source?"

  "How could I trust such a source when you meet with them behind closed doors?"

  I boggled. He thought that the imps were on my side? I hadn't anticipated him being this paranoid. "They're the ones threatening to kill me if I reveal their secrets!"

  "Then why are you still alive?" Azriphel's voice reflected frustration. "Why haven't they killed you to protect their precious secret?"

  "Because they're not like you," I said. "They think more than one step ahead."

  For a moment, I thought he was going to go for me. His wings flexed and his eyes sparked. "Halfbreed, surrender yourself and save those you call friends. Surrender and give us the secret and I promise your friends will go free."

  "No."

  "I have no desire to continue this."

  "Then don't."

  "You force me to."

  "Give it up, Azriphel. I'm not responsible for your decisions."

  He shook his head. "I would prefer a cleaner method. Think of me what you will, but if there were another option available, I would take it. Less trouble. Less mess."

  I crossed my arms. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

  "Then your answer remains the same. A pity." He turned his head and snapped something. The order was clear moments later. Three figures in hoods were led onto the platform the demons had constructed, their hands chained together. A demon attended each of them, whipping the hoods off and attaching short lengths of chain from their wrists to hooks on the platform, holding them in place. One was Chrissy. Her eyes met mine and opened wide. Her lips moved, forming words that I couldn't recognize at this distance, but I could imagine what she was saying. Help me. Save me.

  Julian reacted as I had anticipated. He rushed the door and ran into Caleb. The angel grabbed the heavyset mage and pulled him to the side. The audience of demons focused on him. I smiled inwardly. "Is this truly what you want to do?" I asked Azriphel.

  "You force my hand," he replied.

  "Don't push it off on me. You make your own decisions," I repeated.

  He smiled and gestured wide. "Once again, I demand your surrender, halfbreed. Otherwise, you will watch as the ritual begins and their power becomes ours. Their blood will be on your hands."

  "On your hands, in a literal sense."

  "But on yours, metaphorically. At least you won't have to wash them."

  "You're so thoughtful."

  "What is your response?"

  Chrissy's eyes were wide with terror. I forced myself to look away. The other two humans on the platform stared at me as well. One of them was a young man, barely old enough to shave. The other was an older woman, her jaw set stubbornly. Both of them stared at me. I returned my gaze to Azriphel. "Not going to happen, Azriphel. Trust me, though, when I tell you that you're going to pay for every one of the deaths you cause. I'll make you a counter-offer. Cease your plans, let them go, and we'll allow you to live."

  He laughed and clicked his claws together. The ranks of demons parted, revealing someone in a hooded robe at the rear. The figure walked slowly to the platform and threw their hood back, revealing a long queue of brown hair. He sliced his arms with a silver knife, letting blood flow down to his fingertips, then traced circles and pentagrams around the three chained and immobile sacrifices. When he was done, he said something, too quiet for me to hear, but loud enough for Azriphel. "Third time is binding, halfbreed," the demon called to me. "I ask your surrender."

  "Consider another way, your Grace," I said. "I offer you the way out."

  "Do you refuse our offer?"

  I looked over my sho
ulder. Caleb had forced Julian back into the building, giving him to Becky. His gaze met mine. "Did you know?" he asked quietly.

  "Yes. Have Becky let him go at Tink's signal."

  He nodded slowly, but his gaze lingered. I ignored the look. I'd pay for my actions later, but now, it was time to end this. I turned back to face Azriphel and let my shoulders slump. "Please, your Grace. Stop this."

  "Is that a refusal?" he repeated.

  "Damn you!" I took a step forward. "There's been enough killing. Do I have your word, you'll let them all go free?"

  "You do."

  "Then I accept your terms. I'll give you what you want. The secret."

  "No!" Caleb jumped forward, but Tink slid out from hiding and planted her elbow in his side hard enough to stagger him, to the eyes of the onlookers. She stepped up beside me, her eyes fixed on Azriphel. "Don't give it out, demon!" Caleb called, an audible hitch in his voice.

  "I hope this works," Tink growled.

  "You and me both," I said.

  "The secret," Azriphel demanded.

  I took a deep breath. "You understand, of course, that human magic is far more versatile than we've been given to believe. Over the past five hundred years, we haven't investigated it too deeply, assuming that it was simply their inferior equivalent of our innate abilities. Like I showed you the other day, we can learn their magic, and fueled by our blood and hellfire, it's stronger than either is separately."

  "Get on with it."

  "That's one direction. But, what about the other direction? What if a human used our blood to cast their magic?" I kept an eye on the mage standing on the platform. He didn't even blink. Could he have already known? That had been a wild ass guess, but maybe it wasn't so far off, after all.

  "And that is the secret?" Azriphel demanded.

  "Part of it," I said. I held my left hand out to Tink. She laid it open with her knife, then sliced her own hand open. I forced ichor to the wound, mixing it with my human blood. She squeezed my hand, staining her palm with my ichor, mixing our blood together. "You see, Azriphel, human magic is all about symbolism. Blood is symbolically powerful. Demonic ichor is more symbolic, more powerful. So is angelic purity. With me so far?"

  "Don't condescend to me, halfbreed."

  I grinned. "My most sincere apologies, Duke Azzy."

  "I will enjoy making you pay for your impertinence."

  "I'm sure you will, some day. That's the great secret, though. A mage using ichor to fuel their spells is symbolically powerful. So simple, I wonder why no one ever figured it out before now." I squeezed Tink's hand, then let go. She drew her fingers across my palm and held her hand up for all to see. At that moment, Julian pulled free and rushed through the doors, bumping Caleb out of the way. The Lucifer split their attention, some of them watching Julian, some of them watching me.

  Azriphel kept his eyes on me. His mage started drawing something in the air, both hands flashing. I almost laughed. It was much too late for that.

  Tink sketched the force rune in the air. I held my bloody hand underneath and in front of the rune. Hellfire swirled to life in my palm. "Let's demonstrate, shall we?" I said.

  "Let's," she said, and slammed her palm into the rune hanging in midair.

  The mage had multiple shields up. He was good, quite good. Demons were moving, but slowly, distracted by Julian's mindless charge. Azriphel was turning, shouting something, instructions, commands, orders, it didn't matter. A few got between us and their mage, but not enough to make a difference.

  The hellfire imbued her spell with power beyond anything the House Lucifer demons had ever seen, beyond what we had shown them at the trial, beyond what we had done before to strip Duke Deshavin down to bones. Tink aimed it well, and even tightened her focus down to the diameter of a basketball.

  The beam flashed through every demon in its path, burning clean through them, the accelerated hellfire rupturing even the thickest hide. It took less time to reach the mage than it did to think about it, and the impact on the mage's shields was impressive, throwing sparks and light into the air, for the second it took for his defenses to collapse.

  There was no chance for a melodramatic death scene. The beam carved straight through him and continued on through their ranks. The lucky ones had dodged to the sides. More Lucifer goons lost limbs or lives to the beam. When it finally struck the ground a few dozen feet past the platform, a geyser of dirt and steam blew into the air, the impact shook the area like an earthquake. Tink clenched her fist, cutting the beam off. She staggered and I put my arm around her.

  Azriphel looked at where his mage used to be, at the trail of carnage we had just carved through his ranks, and then back at us. His fists clenched, and he threw his head back and roared. I put my hands over my ears, and so did Tink. That was our mistake. It wasn't the howl that would injure us. That was just a signal.

  Hellfire blazed to life throughout their ranks, sparks flicking into globes within moments. I grabbed Tink's arm to pull her back. That much firepower would bring the church sanctuary down. I heard Caleb's wings flap out and knew that he had stepped forward, a last ditch defense. He also managed to block our line of retreat, trapping us outside.

  "Kill them!" Azriphel commanded.

  "Duke Azriphel of House Lucifer!" An even more commanding voice echoed from above. The sky suddenly grew dark. I looked up to see a host, larger than I had ever hoped for, flapping wings and hanging in midair. At their forefront was Prince Opheran, hellfire blazing in each of his hands. "I command and require you to cease your assault on Isaiah Bright of House Asmodeus!"

  It wasn't just House Asmodeus. House Mammon crashed to the ground all around us, eyes sparkling, their long muzzles exposing razor teeth. A contingent from Beelzebub zipped overhead in an arrowhead formation, smaller arrows dropping to the flanks. The Lucifer forces dropped back into a square around the platform, defending themselves from all sides. I looked around the skies, looking for one particular figure.

  She was there. Halter top and shorts, even in the frosty winter air up here. She waved energetically at me when she noticed me watching. Way to go, Mom. "More than I had hoped for," I said, just loud enough for Tink and Caleb to hear.

  Caleb planted his sword point down and folded his hands on top of it. "Seems like they believed you," he said.

  Azriphel bounded to the platform and placed his claws to Chrissy's throat. "Halt!" he roared. I swore and took a step forward, but stopped as I saw blood trickle down her pale skin. "Their lives are forfeit, you forsworn bastard halfbreed!"

  "I'm not a bastard," I called back to him. "I know perfectly well who my parents are. And I'm not forsworn, I revealed the secret. Maybe it wasn't to your liking? Was that mage your buddy? I am so sorry for killing that murderous bastard, Azzy. Out of respect, you know what I'll do? I'll make you my third offer, binding and true. Give it up. Walk away."

  He flexed his claws, and then something shimmered across the edge of the platform. I tried to focus, but there was nothing there to focus on. It seemed similar to heat waves, but there simply wasn't anything there. "Do you see that?" I asked Tink.

  She was already walking down the stairs. "Reinforcements."

  Before she could explain, the rippling effect vanished. On the edge of the platform, above and behind the square formation of Lucifer, stood a dozen human mages, each holding a sword in one hand, a handgun in the other. Runic shields hung translucent around them. At the center, where Azriphel stood, three mages appeared with their swords pointed low, aimed at his gut. Their guns were aimed high at his face, all of them angled upwards, ensuring that no friendly fire incident would occur. One of them was Hikari. "Consider his offer, your Grace." Her voice was loud enough for all to hear. "It's your last best hope for survival."

  "They've been waiting ever since this morning for that opportunity, I bet," Tink said, grinning and waving at Hikari. "I was worried when she didn't show up at the service. They must have been waiting for the proper time."

  "One h
ell of an entrance," I agreed.

  "I can still slay this one," Azriphel snapped. "And all of you on this platform, in less time than it takes for you to scream. Don't presume too much, humans."

  "Azzy," I called out. "Don't annoy her. She gets mean. Trust me on that."

  He snarled something incoherent, then pulled his claws away from Chrissy's throat and held his hands up in the air. The three mages in the center continued to watch him, even while one of their people from the edge of the platform struck the chains binding Chrissy and the other two. As each was freed, they were brought to one of the runic shields for protection. Against concentrated hellfire, it wouldn't do much, but it was a nice gesture. They were still trapped in the middle of the Lucifer forces. If the situation devolved to violence, there was no way even an elite group of mages could survive that.

  "So, Azzy," I said. "I suspect you're pretty pissed off right about now, but I don't recall you actually accepting or refusing my terms. So, how about it? Back down from this stupid plan and you can walk away."

  He turned his head to gaze at me. For a moment, he stared at me, then the corners of his mouth turned up. His teeth gleamed red. "I invoke vendetta."

  "What?"

  He opened his clawed hands to the skies, ignoring the sudden tension of the trio of mages holding him at bay. "Witness my vendetta, Opheran! Binding, witnessed by a Prince of a House! For the murder of my contract partner in cold blood, I invoke vendetta against the halfbreed Isaiah Bright of House Asmodeus!"

  My mouth went dry. "Oops."

  "Is that actually going to work?" Tink asked.

  "Probably," I said. "It's a legitimate grievance. And since we did it right in front of a Prince, that's about as good as it gets."

  Opheran himself landed beside me with a thump. He towered over me, ram's horns curling down beside his cheeks in his demonic form. "Doesn't look good," he said.

  "No shit, my Prince."

  "I don't think he'll accept you naming a second for a duel to resolve it."

  "My thoughts as well."

  "And it's not like we can just kill him. That would be uncivilized."

  I sighed. "My Prince, you're not making me feel any better about this. Do you have any other ideas?"