The Demon Inside Me

by Christopher Nelson

  "Why not? There was an Enterprise a few blocks away. I just left it there with the key. They'll probably move it before long. They'll bill you, I guess."

  Becky chuckled. "Not a bad thought."

  Hikari came out of the bathroom. Her eyes were red, but she looked determined, her mouth set in a line. "What's the plan?"

  I pointed at the phone. "Call the Regional Conclave, figure out what's going on."

  She didn't hesitate. The call didn't take long. "They have no idea," she said, covering the mouthpiece with her hand. "But they're going to send a team out here."

  "Probably not a good idea," I said. "This isn't the same sort of situation as before."

  "You're right," she said. "I'll tell them to be on guard in case Lucifer goes after them next."

  After she finished the call, I looked to Caleb. "Call Jase?"

  The church didn't pick up, but the home number worked. The conversation was equally short. "I got him in the habit of calling the church before going there," Caleb said. "He did, the line was dead, so he didn't go. Assume the place is a trap. Good thing we didn't go there."

  I pointed at Tink next. "Local conclave members?"

  She tried a half dozen numbers, including Rashid's. No one picked up. "Shit," she said. "I hope the Lucifers didn't get to them."

  Becky was next. She called her dad and told him to spread a rumor that she had left the area for a vacation. Lionel had made it out, thankfully. Her dad didn't ask any questions, not even where she was. She didn't offer.

  I leaned against a wall and slid down to the floor as she hung up. "You have anyone to call, Bright?"

  I shook my head. "Thinking about it."

  "What about Prince Opheran?" Tink asked.

  "Thinking about it."

  "What's to think about?"

  "Like Becky said, be paranoid. I don't want anyone to get that line that we don't implicitly trust."

  "You don't trust your own House?" Caleb asked.

  "I trust them to do what's best for the House, not what's best for me."

  No one said anything to that. Hikari sat next to me, shoulder to shoulder. Tink glanced at us, then wandered toward the bathroom. Caleb turned the ancient TV on and flipped to a local news channel. Becky paced.

  The news, unsurprisingly, was showing the collapse of the apartment building. The fire department had contained it without letting it spread to any of the other buildings nearby, but had already voiced concerns about arson. The police weren't saying much. They rarely did that early on. I shivered as the TV showed sparks flying in the air. Moving wasn't such a bad thing as bad things went. This wasn't the first time I'd moved, of course, but being forced out was a new experience. I was used to having something with me, my computer, my couch, my clothes. This time, nothing.

  "Did you have renter's insurance?" Hikari asked.

  The sheer normality of the question made me laugh. I laughed until I couldn't breathe. Becky stared, Tink scowled as she walked out of the bathroom, but Caleb grinned. "Sorry. Yeah, but I don't think now is a good time to call a claim in."

  Hikari smiled. "Think of it this way. It gives you a reason to shop around."

  That set me off again. Tink mumbled something and walked toward the kitchen. The TV commentary touched on the possibility of terrorism, which was so profoundly stupid, it kept me laughing until I slumped over. "What on earth is so funny, Bright?" Becky finally asked.

  "They've got us running, scared, and homeless," I said. "They've got us right where we want them, right?"

  "What?"

  "This is what we call a target rich environment." I hiccupped.

  Becky and Caleb exchanged significant looks. He's crazy, their eyes said. He's lost it. They were probably right. "I think I understand what he means," Caleb finally said.

  Tink looked in from the kitchen. "We've got about a million cans of food here. Who's hungry?"

  The kitchen was stocked nicely with non-perishable goods and cooking supplies. The Silvatini family took their safehouse seriously. Tink dumped a few cans of stew in a pot and cooked it. Folding chairs were stacked in one room, with a couple of folding tables. We pressed them into service, sat around a table, and ate stew that was just a little overcooked. It was almost normal.

  My phone rang. I nearly fell out of my chair. Silence fell between the first and second rings, all eyes on me. The caller ID showed it as the emergency House line, meaning Opheran. I grimaced before answering. "My Prince."

  "You lived?"

  "Last time I checked."

  "Good." He sounded genuinely pleased and I relaxed, just a tiny amount. "What's your situation?"

  "Safe for the moment," I said. "We were attacked by Lucifer and Amon forces. We caused a number of casualties in the process of escaping. I don't think they had very many ranked demons there, maybe a Baron at most leading them."

  "Not surprised," Opheran said. "There's been some excitement."

  "No, really?"

  He ignored that bit of sarcasm. "Belphagor joined their protest of the Pact. I suspect this has been in the works for a long time, maybe since the beginning."

  "Not surprised." I echoed his words back to him.

  "It gets worse."

  "Still not surprised."

  "Mammon split over this. They've declared neutrality."

  "Great," I said. "So it's us and Beelzebub left. I don't think that's enough to maintain an honor guard to protect the Gates, to be honest with you."

  "No, really?" Opheran laughed. "With four out of the seven Houses declaring opposition, they've demanded action from the Consortium. The reason you didn't see nobility there was that most of the upper ranks have been negotiating over what to do. Needless to say, Beelzebub and Asmodeus delayed as long as possible, but the vote just didn't go our way."

  "And what are the imps doing?"

  "They don't have a choice, not when the majority of the Host is calling upon them to revoke the amendments to the Pact."

  "Which means I'm screwed, right?"

  "Maybe. The Choir's been quiet, but I'd guess they don't mind seeing this sort of thing happen. They jumped at the chance to even the odds, but I suspect they'd have no problem with striking the amendments to the Pact now."

  Something about that last exchange bothered me. I couldn't put a finger on it. "So what's the situation like in general? Did Lucifer declare on us?"

  "Yes and no," he said. "They haven't yet, but they've made it very clear that both Lucifer and Amon are ready to come down on us. I suspect Leviathan and Belphagor are prepared to jump in too."

  "They're ready to, but they haven't, not yet."

  "That's right."

  "Why not?"

  He paused. "They demand you and your contract partner be turned over."

  "And what did you tell them?"

  "You're part of this House." His tone was flat. "You're not going anywhere."

  "That's good to hear."

  "Where are you?"

  "I'm sorry?"

  "Where are you, Isaiah?" His tone was still flat. Commanding. "I'm ready to escort you to safety, personally. We'll keep you hidden until this blows over."

  "It's not going to blow over, my Prince," I said. "Lucifer and Amon. Pride and wrath. They aren't going to back down, not after I rubbed Lucifer's nose in their own shit. You should know that. You do know that."

  Another long pause. "I ask a third time, Isaiah Bright. Where are you?"

  I slapped my phone closed. "I'm safe, for now," I said to the air.

  "I assume the situation has taken a turn for the worse," Caleb said.

  "You assume correctly." I summarized the conversation. By the end, scowls broke out all around the table. "It's safe to assume that we're completely on our own now."

  "So what's the plan now?" Tink demanded. "We can't fight the entire Host."

  "I'm surprised you aren't asking me to try."

  "Yeah, me too."

  "The plan right now is to hole up here. If you could do something to mak
e it look like there's no one living here, that would help. But if we stay out of sight for a while, we've got a method of keeping tabs on the world at large that won't get us found out."

  "What, television?" Tink asked.

  "Nope. Better." I looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, Kibs!"

  The imp phased in and fluttered down to the kitchen floor. "Nice of you to finally call me in, Zay. Fucking Lucifers. I always knew they sucked enormous-"

  "Oh, no," Tink said.

  "Nice to see you too, sweetcheeks," Kibs said. "Dance for me again?"

  "Eat shit, Kibs."

  "Who's this lovely young lady?" Hikari flinched as Kibs fluttered in her direction. "Collecting a harem, Zay? What happened to that leggy red blonde girl?"

  "Azriphel happened," I said.

  "Fuck. Sorry."

  "And this is Hikari," I said. "Hikari, this is Kibs. He's a perverted asshole of an imp, but he's our ace in the hole."

  "Nice to meet you," she said politely.

  "Before you shoot your mouth off," I said to Kibs, "think of her this way. She's a mage and a ninja. She's faster than you, smarter than you, and meaner than you."

  Kibs closed his mouth and glared at me. "You're full of shit."

  Hikari just smiled.

  "So what do you want from me?"

  I grinned at Kibs. "I want you to let me know when Lucifer's forces go for the Gates."

  Chapter Nineteen

  The safehouse was small. Too small. Five people. Two bedrooms. One bathroom.

  Too damn small to spend ten days there.

  I sat bolt upright. My face collided with something. "The fuck, Zay?"

  "Kibs?"

  "Don't sit up like that when you wake up!"

  "Don't stand on my chest when you're trying to wake me up!" I had been having a wonderful dream involving Hikari in a certain state of undress. Her eyes had started burning yellow at the worst possible time. I blinked, rubbed my eyes. The imp's glowing eyes came into focus. "Wait. You're trying to wake me up?"

  "I just did, dumbass."

  I jumped up. "Let's do it. Get those messages out then meet us at the outskirts. You know the area?"

  "I can find it," he said, and phased out.

  No time to delay. I stepped over to Caleb and gave him a toe in the ribs. The angel grabbed my foot and pulled. I tried to kick free before he could knock me to the floor. "Don't do that, asshole, we have no time to lose!"

  "Uh?"

  "The Gates."

  He let go and I ran over to the bedrooms and knocked loudly on the doors. Something thumped against the door where Tink and Hikari were sleeping. Becky answered the door quickly, rubbing her eyes. "It's go time?" She didn't even wait for me to answer, just threw the other bedroom door open. It didn't take long before everyone was staggering out into the living room. I was already fully dressed and Caleb was just pulling his shirt on. Having worn the same clothes for the past ten days was not fun. We washed them as best we could, but we were still well on our way to pungent.

  "It's too damn early to be awake," Tink said, punctuating it with a yawn.

  "Lucifer's moving on the Gates."

  She performed a smooth reversal. "What the hell are we waiting for, demon?"

  We burst out into the early morning. As one, we all took a deep breath. The air was fresh and cool. The sun was just rising. I sucked in air like a bellows. "I didn't realize how badly that house stunk until now," Hikari said.

  "Don't worry," I said. "We'll be in a car soon enough. A nice small car with the windows rolled up."

  "Windows rolled all the way down," Tink snapped.

  "You know how to cheer a girl up, don't you?" Hikari added.

  I grinned and we walked away from the safehouse. Even if someone spotted us, it wasn't as if we'd be coming back. If I had my way, I'd never set foot in that house again. I'd rather see it burned down. We had spent ten days in there learning just what we hated the most about everyone else. Caleb babbled. Becky sulked. Hikari got shaky and weepy. Tink just got angrier than normal.

  Caleb led us to the car rental place, which was just opening. The kid behind the counter sneered as I walked up. I couldn't blame him for not wanting to serve a group that looked like they were two steps from being homeless. I suggested that he should rent us a car right away, or else. I had keys within seconds.

  I got behind the wheel. Tink took shotgun. Hikari pulled a face when she thought no one could see. We rolled out, heading for the outskirts of the city while I looked for the correct street. It took exactly two red lights before Tink started to bitch. "So where are we going, oh fearless leader?"

  "Purgatory," I said.

  "Right."

  "No, we go straight here," I said.

  "That's not what I meant."

  "I know. But I need to remember how to get there."

  "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said.

  I grunted. "Caleb can explain."

  He took on a lecturing tone. "You all know that we can't phase through the layers like imps or archons can. Back in the day, we had an extensive network of gateways and portals to get us between Heaven and Earth, Heaven and Hell, Heaven and Purgatory. The demons had the same. We kept them hidden."

  "We're heading for one of them," I said.

  "Obviously. Shut up and drive."

  Caleb continued. "Obviously we can't just drive right there. The portals are important strategic assets, after all. There are certain things we need to do in order to activate it. Passwords, sign and countersign, operational security, that sort of thing. At least, that's what the Choir is like. I assume the Host operates the same way, right?"

  I glanced sideways. Tink's mouth was hanging open. She caught my glance and scowled. "You explain it."

  "We're driving to a portal that will take us to Purgatory."

  "How?"

  "Downhill all the way."

  She punched my shoulder. "Seriously."

  I took the next left turn, heading further downtown. "I don't know what the hell Caleb's on about. Each House maintains its own network of portals. The Asmodeus network, obviously, is not an option. Had to call in a favor to use another House's portal, and I don't know exactly where the place is."

  "You mean you don't have them secured?" Caleb sounded horrified.

  The neighborhood was starting to get a little more rundown, a little less pleasant. People stared at us as we drove past. I kept going straight. "There are different levels of security. All I know is what I need to do to get to our own portals in case of emergency."

  "So you're lost."

  "I am not lost. I just haven't found the place yet."

  Hikari giggled. "He's totally lost."

  "Caleb's mostly right though," I added, ignoring the sniping. "We can't drive right to the Gates. It's a gate between layers, so all we need to do is slip to the closest layer to Purgatory, and that's it. The Gates are there."

  "You're sure," Tink said.

  "Mostly."

  "We're so screwed."

  I found the correct street a minute later and took a left, then pulled up in front of a bar. "Here we are," I said. "A house of ill repute, a tavern, a speakeasy, something along those lines. Too early for drinks, I'm afraid."

  "That's one ugly bar," Tink said. It was true. Lurid purple paint, neon signs cluttering the windows, and the sign over the door just said it all. "The Demon's Piss Pub?"

  "Subtle," Becky said. "Real subtle."

  I led them around to the rear of the bar, which was uglier than the front, if such a thing was possible. Knocking on the back door got a quick response. "Bright?" asked a muffled voice through the door.

  "And company," I said.

  The door cracked open. A man with sunken eyes peered around the edge. His breath smelled of cheap booze. When his gaze fixed on me, his pupils contracted, then flickered yellow for just a second. "You don't look much like an Asmo," he said, his voice hoarse.

  "And you look just like a Beelzebub," I said. "You're ok wi
th this?"

  "Get inside." Once we were all safely in the back room, he slammed the door shut. The stench had been noticeable outside. Inside, it was awe-inspiring. I hoped the actual bar didn't smell as terrible. "Yeah, I'm ok with this. Owe your mom a favor. This is fine. Cheap payback, honestly. You want something before the trip?"

  "If your drinks taste anything like how this place smells, I don't think so," Tink said.

  He snorted and gestured toward the basement. "It's down there. Hang on a second, Bright. Want a word."

  "Go on," I said. Caleb led them all down the stairs, not without a backwards glance at me. I turned back to the Beelzebub. "What's the story?"

  "I wanted to hear the story from you. Your mom didn't tell me much."

  I wasn't quite sure how far to trust him, but what the hell. "We're going to stop House Lucifer from blowing the Gates open."

  "You against Lucifer?" The demon chuckled and patted my back, pushing me gently toward the stairwell. "You've got guts, kid. Let me tell you something. You pull this off, you're going to be a name. Lots of us don't agree with those assholes. You do this for us. Got it, kid? Good luck."

  The door closed behind me and darkness settled. All I could hear as I slowly stepped down the stairs was breathing and people shuffling their feet. I cleared my throat and spoke the pass phrase. A dot of green fire blazed to life in the darkness and expanded to become a circle on the wall. Within that circle, the wall seemed to disappear, leaving only a gray mist behind. "That's it, right?" Tink took a step toward it.

  I grabbed her shoulder before she could reach it. "No, it isn't," I said. "That's the trap. Eyes on the flame, right? Caught your attention? Look over your shoulder."

  She did, and so did I. Behind us, hanging in midair, seemed to be an enormous mirror. It only seemed to be a mirror. The reflection seemed distorted somehow, faded, not precisely in tune with our movements. Every movement showed in the mirror, but noticeably delayed. I pointed at the mirror. After a moment, my reflection pointed back. "That's the edge of Purgatory," I said.

  "So we walk through that?" Tink started to step toward it. I grabbed her shoulder again. "Damn, what now? Don't tell me it's another trap."

  "It's not, but it's only open for the one who called it." I offered her my right hand. She frowned, but took my hand. Hikari claimed my left, and Becky claimed her side, while Caleb took Tink's free hand. "Just keep walking and don't stop, no matter what," I said.