The Demon Beside Me

by Nelson, Christopher

“Caleb? He’s a friend of mine,” I said. “He’s a handyman by day and night, deacon on Sundays, and a Power when the need occurs.”

  “A Power? You’re friends with a Choirboy?” Kalil’s tone was a little skeptical and a little disapproving. “That seems strange these days.”

  “My life has been nothing but strange for the better part of three years now,” I said. “You try being the most infamous halfblood in the Host for a few days and tell me how you like it.”

  Kalil’s eyes flicked to the rear view mirror. “It seems to come with a few perks.”

  “Trust me, they’re both perky, but quirky.”

  “I heard that, demon.”

  “But you’re not denying it.”

  We made it to the church a little faster than expected. Two expensive looking cars blocked access to the parking lot, so Kalil parked us on the shoulder nearby. The other vans in our little convoy were already in place. Quite a few well-dressed men were drifting toward the church. I joined the flow, Kalil and his group taking up positions around the two mages and me.

  As the first demons of House Asmodeus approached the church property, some of the serious-faced men drifted toward them from the parking lot. All of them stopped on some invisible line, and one of them drew an enormous silver sword out of the air, setting it point down on the ground in front of him. “That’s close enough,” he said.

  I walked toward him. His gaze snapped to me and I saw his eyes flash silver. “I have business with the pastor,” I said. “Respectfully, I request sanctuary.”

  “I do not have the authority to grant your request.”

  “Then I would like to speak with someone who does.”

  “I am the commanding officer of this detachment.”

  “I find it odd that the commanding officer doesn’t have the authority to grant that request. What is your name and rank?”

  His hands clenched his sword as if he’d like nothing better than to start swinging. “I am Ezekiel, Virtue commanding this detachment.”

  “Well, Zeke,” I said, “I am Isaiah Bright, Baronet of House Asmodeus, advisor to Prince Opheran, First Gatekeeper, and temporarily burdened with the title of Lord of Heaven. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  The angel’s hands tightened again and I saw several glances being driven my way. “I cannot say the pleasure is mutual.”

  “It was not my intention to cause strife between our people,” I said, keeping my hands in plain sight. “Well, at least I didn’t mean to cause more strife than already existed. I’ve been looking for a way to return the title to your people ever since I obtained it. Would you like it?”

  Ezekiel’s eyes widened and he took a deep breath before shaking his head. “That title is not one I’d care to hold.”

  “Then you know exactly how I feel.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far, demon.”

  “Halfblood,” I said with a smile. “Look, we have a situation on our hands here that involves both of our people. I was sent an urgent message just over thirty minutes ago that there was some sort of incident in progress here. May I ask if the pastor is in?”

  “He is.”

  “And his deacon?”

  “Which deacon?”

  I stared at him. “Why, the Power, of course. Caleb DeMarco. You may have heard of him.”

  The angel’s face turned impassive. “Power Caleb is inside.”

  “And are there other Choir members inside?”

  “There are Choir Internal Security forces inside.”

  I took a shot in the dark. “Would one of those be an Archangel by the name of Victor?”

  “I cannot confirm or deny the presence of a Choir security officer by that name.”

  “No?” I asked. “You can’t confirm or deny that psychopathic bastard’s presence? You can’t confirm or deny the presence of a man, and I use that word loosely, who was fully prepared to not merely kill me, but mutilated me, tortured me, and then bled on me with the full intention of killing anyone who attempted to render aid to the wounded?”

  “You caused the first reaction!”

  I smiled again, showing all of my teeth. “So, you do know of him. He is inside, isn’t he?”

  Ezekiel’s gaze snapped away from me. I felt the tension rising and I knew exactly why. Tink had drawn blood. Even the Choir knew better than to discount human magic these days. “If he’s inside, you will let us in,” she said. “Do you know why, angel? Because I declare vendetta under the rules of the Pact.”

  “You what?” I wasn’t sure who else had said it, but I wasn’t the only one.

  “Witness!” Tink snapped. “I call upon all those present to witness and acknowledge my vendetta against the Archangel Victor of the Angelic Choir. As you heard this demon say, he was mutilated, maimed, left for dead. Not only that, but he left his blood, his purity tainting the broken body in an attempt to claim more lives. That is an intolerable act.” Her tone dropped to a hoarse whisper. “I demand the right of vendetta to avenge the torture of my contracted partner, bound in blood. I demand the right to repay him cut for cut, wound for wound, blood for blood.”

  “Ah, shit,” I muttered. I could feel Hikari’s eyes on the back of my head.

  “I cannot speak to the veracity of this claim,” Ezekiel stammered.

  “I’m not asking you to verify it,” Tink snapped. “I’m demanding you witness it.”

  “But this is thoroughly irregular!”

  “I’m also not asking you to like it.”

  Ezekiel’s gaze flicked to me, and then back to the angry little fairy. He took a deep breath, then shook his head. “I apologize, but I must refer such an irregular claim to someone of higher rank.”

  “If you need someone of higher rank, then I should be acceptable.” Kalil stiffened to attention at the sound of that familiar voice. Ezekiel’s face turned pale. I turned my head to see Opheran striding toward us, House guards at his flanks. “I am fully aware of the circumstances surrounding this situation. If this young lady declares she has cause for vendetta, then I will formally witness and declare support. If you would like to contest it, Virtue, then I suggest you present a Choir member who holds rank enough to argue the point. A Throne should be sufficient. Present them. Now.”

  “Even if I do not contest the terms of this vendetta, I still cannot allow this church to be overrun by demons!”

  “There is no need to allow it to be overrun,” Opheran said. “I believe myself, the two humans, and the Lord of Heaven will be sufficient representation to bring declaration of this vendetta. Assuming, of course, that he is in fact inside.”

  “I cannot-“

  “Of course not. We will have to see for ourselves.” Opheran stepped forward, side by side with me, and gave Ezekiel a pleasant smile. The smile had plenty of fangs. “Step aside. Now.”

  Ezekiel stepped aside and barked orders. The four of us crossed the line and headed for the church doors, flanked by twice our number of angels. Ezekiel stood aside as we opened the doors. I reached out and patted his shoulder. “Don’t feel too bad,” I said as he recoiled. “You’re just doing your job. Nothing personal.”

  Opheran led the way into the church. Unlike every other time I had walked in, there was no sanctuary in place. The absence was jarring. A church was a place designed to feel safe, a place where one could find a place to rest. Now, as we opened the doors to the inner sanctuary, I couldn’t think of it as anything except a trap.

  Jase stood in front of the altar, Caleb standing directly in front of him. At least six angels stood in a semicircle around them. No weapons were visible, but from the way Caleb held himself, I could tell that his were close at hand. Opheran held an arm out before I could take a step forward. “Gentlemen, are we interrupting anything?”

  The angels half-turned to face us, but my eyes flicked to the one who appeared from a side room. “I see that proof of the charges has arrived,” Victor said. “Pastor Pruitt, what do you have to say about that?”

  “About what,
Victor?”

  “The fact, my dear man, that you consort with demons.”

  Jase’s gaze met mine. His eyes were clear and calm. “You will forgive me for saying that I’ve been treated far better by most demons than I have been by most angels, with the notable exception of my deacon. Demons have respected my church’s sanctuary, refrained from assaulting my members, protected me from attack, and otherwise treated me with civility and respect. Angels, on the other hand, have perverted my sanctuary, abused my hospitality, and now? Now you are attempting to claim that you have authority over my religion, and attempting to charge me with heresy?” His eyes tore away from mine, and he lifted a hand toward Victor. “You have no authority here.”

  Victor chuckled. “Your spiritual authority is derived from the Angelic Choir. It is our responsibility to investigate any abuses of that authority.”

  “I assume then that you investigated Barty,” I called out.

  The archangel’s head snapped around. “Ah,” he said quietly. “Reports of your survival were not exaggerated, I see.”

  “Unfortunate, isn’t it?”

  “Not at all. It simply means I’ll have a chance to correct my mistakes.”

  “I wouldn’t make that assumption, Victor,” Caleb said.

  “I wouldn’t attempt to speak, Caleb,” Victor said. “Your status is precarious as well. I cannot decide whether you are blameless in this matter or not.”

  “I’m missing something here,” I said quietly. “Caleb’s got rank on him. Why is Victor talking as if he’s got the upper hand?”

  Opheran shook his head. “Didn’t you hear what they were saying outside? He’s part of Choir Internal Security. It’s their job to make sure they never have another Betrayer.”

  “Shit,” I said. “It’s all been an act, then. He’s not as clumsy as we thought he was.”

  “I thought you would have figured that out when he almost killed you.”

  “What are we going to do, demon?” Tink whispered.

  “I don’t think we have anything to do at this point,” I said.

  Our attention snapped back to the front of the sanctuary as Caleb manifested his sword and shield. “No, that is not an option, Victor. Jase is as much a heretic as I am.”

  “That is yet to be determined as well.”

  “I was unaware that having cordial relations with humans and demons was heretical.”

  “Your relations are far more than cordial with demons, Caleb. Don’t insult my intelligence. You are as much a partner of that demon as the human mage.”

  “Halfblood,” I mumbled. I was determined to keep that fight going to the end.

  “Don’t insult my intelligence either, Victor. This isn’t about our friendship.”

  “I would expect an angel of your stature and history to know better.”

  “Do not bring my past into this.”

  Victor’s eyes shone brightly. Caleb had just made a significant mistake and that was going to bring the house down, so to speak. “My Prince, I apologize in advance.”

  Opheran looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

  “For what you’re about to hear.”

  “Your past, Caleb? You should be proud. You should be more than proud.” Victor stepped closer, Caleb snapping his sword up to a guard position. “You brought vengeance to our people. You, and the rest of the 37th Independent Choir!”

  The semicircle of angels seemed to all shrink back as one. Next to me, Opheran let out a long sigh that ended in a small growl. Caleb’s eyes flicked to me. I shrugged and shook my head. “I’m missing something here,” Hikari said, her first words in quite a few minutes. “Several things, actually, but I supposed we can address this one first.”

  “I don’t suppose Pact violations have much weight at this point,” I said.

  “The 37th Independent Choir was the unit that got all the way through Hell and killed Lucifer,” Tink said. “Don’t you know anything about the history of the Celestial War?”

  “I must not rate highly enough for that sort of knowledge.”

  While they traded barbs, a very large hand landed on my shoulder. I winced. “You knew about this, Isaiah?”

  “I did, my Prince.”

  “And you failed to bring it to our attention?”

  “I made a promise,” I said.

  “You hid the fact that we were harboring one of Lucifer’s slayers? I’ve met him many times now. I may even have started to like him.”

  “You also decked him with one punch a few months ago,” I pointed out.

  Opheran chuckled. “That I did.”

  “You seem to be taking this far more lightly than I thought you would.”

  “You seem to be under the impression I didn’t already know.” His voice was just loud enough to carry across the sanctuary. Angelic gazes turned our way. “Isaiah, you grossly underestimate our House’s intelligence network. You do not think for a moment that the one the angels call the Betrayer is the only one of their kind to turn, do you?”

  “I knew it,” Victor said.

  “I wasn’t talking about Caleb,” Opheran called out.

  “I wasn’t either.” Victor reached up into the air with both hands and pulled his scimitars out. Opheran’s hand, still on my shoulder, squeezed. “Still, one with his connections is suspect. I will have to detain you for questioning.”

  “That would be unwise,” Caleb said. “But you are welcome to try.”

  “So you do have something to hide.”

  “I suspect you have things to hide as well, Victor.” Caleb’s smile was frosty. “Such as whose orders you’re really under. Tell me, which one of the Cherubim gave you orders to apprehend me? Or was it a Seraph? Show me the writ.”

  “I am under no compunction to do so,” Victor snapped.

  “Our society has rules about such things,” Caleb snapped back. “Where is your writ, Victor? You don’t have one, do you? You’re acting without authorization. You’ve gone rogue, and you’ve convinced these men to follow you.”

  “I am acting in my capacity as an officer of Internal Security. I do not need authorization to detain you for reasonable suspicion of dissent.”

  “Where’s their right to free speech?” Tink asked.

  “The Choir doesn’t have many rights,” I said. “You have the right to sit down, shut up, and do whatever your superiors tell you to. I can’t imagine why some of them are interested in getting out.”

  “I have had enough of your commentary,” Victor said. One of his swords pointed toward us. “Mallory, summon Ezekiel and inform his forces to drive the enemy from this place. Paul, leave this house of sin and inform Cherub Bartholomew that a Prince of House Asmodeus is trapped within.”

  Opheran let out a long, rolling chuckle. “Do you assume that your handful of men can hold me here long enough for reinforcements to arrive? We have our own reinforcements on the way, Choirboy. I don’t think that they’ll be necessary.”

  The two angels that Victor had pointed out slipped out the side door. “Prince Opheran,” Victor said. “You will be a grand prize for the Choir, on the eve of the destruction of your race. You can’t possibly think that those forces you saw outside were the entirety of what I have available.”

  “You can’t possibly think that a Prince would fall so easily,” Opheran said. He shrugged and slowly began his transformation. Horns snapped out from his temples to curl down beside his cheeks. “But you’re welcome to try.”

  “Stop this!” Attention snapped to the pastor, who had unobtrusively retreated to behind his lectern. He slapped a palm flat against the wooden surface. “You will stop this. This is a house of worship. I will not have it profaned with blood!”

  “This is no longer a house of worship,” Victor said. “You have already profaned this house with the presence of demons.”

  “We are all children of God,” Jase said quietly. “I will not turn away the injured nor the helpless. I will not bar my doors to those who seek rest. I will n
ot refuse to feed the hungry. That is what I believe and what I stand for. I will not allow you to dictate my beliefs to me.”

  Victor cocked his head to the side, as if he was puzzled. I wasn’t. Jase had always had that strong, independent streak. He believed in ethics and morals, even though he knew the truth behind his religion. “Don’t you know,” the Archangel said, “that God is dead? We are the inheritors of his temporal power. We are the pinnacle of your church.”

  “Not this one.”

  “And so, you make your heresy known.” Victor jumped up to confront Jase. Caleb started to move, but the remaining four angels had weapons drawn and surrounded him. Behind us, the sanctuary doors crashed open. Lieutenant Kalil was nowhere in evidence. Instead, Ezekiel and a group of his men leveled their weapons at us. Victor reached one of his swords out to touch Jase’s chin. “You should know what the punishment for heresy is.”

  “I was unaware the Inquisition still existed in this day and age.”

  “Today’s been full of surprises for you, hasn’t it?” Victor smiled. “Do you have any last words, heretic? Confess your sins and I will grant you mercy.”

  Jase smiled. “Your sanctuary is revoked.”

  Victor threw his head back and laughed. In mid-laugh, he vanished. From outside, I heard a sudden scream of agony. The angels surrounding Caleb let their weapons sag as they turned to look at where Victor had been standing, and then they abruptly vanished as well. Ezekiel and his crew were next. The cacophony of screams sounded almost perfectly tuned to my ears.

  “I didn’t think that the sanctuary was in effect,” I said. “I didn’t feel it when I crossed the threshold.”

  Jase smiled down at us. “You did not ask for it. They did.”

  Opheran frowned as he lost his transformation. “Then why were we allowed to simply walk in like this?”

  “You were asked to come,” Jase said.

  Caleb smiled as he put his sword and shield away. “We anticipated this sort of situation.”

  “I’m glad you two were so prepared,” Opheran said. “And how are we supposed to escape, now?”

  “That would be up to the timing of the arrival of your reinforcements.”

  Opheran cleared his throat. “And what if there aren’t actually any reinforcements on the way?”