Lucifer swung the staff once more. A sharp pain exploded across my back and I feared I may never walk again. My hand reached out to Eliza’s as I crumpled to the floor.
* * * *
Detective Vincent DeTello
“What the hell, Vince?” Chief barked as he shoved past a nurse administering much needed drugs. “I’ve got calls from all over the city and you’re in here.”
“It was time for my yearly physical. You know, bend over, cough? Guy can’t miss that by even a day.”
“Stick a sucker in your mouth and get out there. I don’t know what’s going on, but you being here isn’t helping.”
“Chief Carlson, what’s going on?” Meegan called from behind the curtain.
It’s a strange thing to actually see a headache form. Chief’s eyes pinched tight as he dragged his hand down his face and let out an exasperated groan.
“Please say…” he began, and I laughed partly from the drugs.
“Oh…yeah. I saved Yappy’s life tonight.”
“Did you have to?”
A rattle and swoosh sound combined as Meegan pulled the curtain aside.
“Did you catch him?” she asked. “Is he the one running wild?” What’s happening? Is there a cover up?”
Chief, distracted by ninety-questions-a-minute Yappy, walked her back to her bed, pulling the curtain as he did. I took the time to pull out my IV, snag my shoes from beside my bed, and go in search of anything but a hospital gown to wear. Why did they have to cut off my clothes? I needed to check on Maddie. I was sure that’s where Esther would be. I was surprised when I woke that she wasn’t with me…then again demons were running around the city.
“Where ya going, Detective?” my nurse Cathy asked.
“Bathroom.”
“That why you pulled out your IV and are in our supply closet?”
“I don’t like hospitals.”
“Neither do I. It means I have to work and you’re messing with my performance review.”
“I needed pants and a shirt.”
“You’re hurt and I’m not even sure what you did to your shoulder.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Cathy pulled a pair of scrubs from a cart and tossed them at me. I quickly pulled the pants on, then removed my gown and added the top.
“What do you know about the poisoning?” she asked as I tied my shoes.
“Very little. I think an autopsy from one of the earlier victims might shed some light on the situation. Sadly the time it would take could cost the girl I brought in her life.”
“What about Dr. Pound?”
“I haven’t found her yet.”
“She’s upstairs. She was the first brought in.”
“What?”
“Yeah, a guy found her wandering. He hasn’t left her side.”
“What room?”
“ICU. They life-flighted Maddie out right away, but not Dr. Pound. It just didn’t make sense.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Every time we brought it up…the idea went away.”
I took off for the stairs. No reason to delay on an elevator in a two-story building. I burst through the door, scaring a nurse’s aide so badly a food tray flew up in the air with a shriek.
“I’m sorry, ICU?”
She pointed with a hand shaking so bad I feared she wouldn’t regain her ability to hold a knife for the next decade.
As I entered the room two men froze…well, one man froze and the other well-dressed man in a suit swung a long stick. The sound of shattering bones echoed in the small room. The second swing was aimed to hit his head when I got the brilliant idea I needed to stop it with my body. My hip to be exact. The pain shot through my entire body in less than a millisecond. I suddenly wished a bantling had bitten my ass instead.
“Lucifer,” an ethereal voice called from behind me.
“You couldn’t have gotten here a few seconds sooner, Gabe,” I gasped as I lay helpless on the floor. All I needed was a life alert button to complete the picture of a collapsed man.
“Gabriel, of the house of Ryeal,” Lucifer sneered. “The house of my family’s damnation.”
“We try to spread the love around.”
“You are to save this human?” He arched his eyebrow at Dr. Pound.
“I know not of her.”
“Then him,” he pointed to me.
“Not really, although since you’ve injured him I’ll need to at least look at him.”
Gabriel literally just looked at me, then continued on like I wasn’t in agony and drooling on the floor.
“One of yours?” Gabriel eyed the man next to me with a swollen knee and shattered back.
“Some days. Today he must have taken leave of his senses.”
“Not on your side?”
“He serves at the pleasure of me trying to become worthy to marry your niece.”
“Yet he sits vigil by a woman grasping at life and holds one of my most loyal souls hostage.”
“Is that what he was trying to attack me with? A Frozen’s soul? A stab with that knife would send the soulless creature straight to your gate. I am worth double points in your system, aren’t I?”
“You tip the scale.” Gabriel kneeled by my side and placed his hand on my hip.
Discovering new levels of pain seemed to be my latest pastime. I wondered, who was the real demon? Bones shattered in my hip began to shift and heal. The shifting of sharp bone pieces was not something I’d recommend to anyone with an intact nervous system and the ability to feel pain.
The dizzying sensation brought on by the pain helped me in the best way it knew how. My second favorite pastime, passing out. The last thing I saw before my eyes closed was a purple light glowing on the floor next to the demon with the broken knee.
Chapter 14
Esther Benson
“MY soul is in there and in question,” I screamed at Kiriana who stood guard in the room.
“Lucifer is in the room. The Lucifer. Next in line to rule the underworld. Let’s let Gabe handle this one.”
“Your soul is safe with Nye’s, being guarded by Nye. Mine…” My hyperventilating made me wonder what was going on. Had my soul been compromised? Was I being pulled into the great beyond…to Hell? Serving out a sentence that wasn’t truly mine. Not really. It was my father’s. He killed me as sure as if he’d pulled the trigger himself.
This needed to be handled. I needed to help out in the streets. Demons had emerged from a second hole. Not uncommon, but usually a few came through multiple holes, not one big one. And definitely not two large ones.
“Release Damarion,” I said as clarity set in. “It’s the only way.”
“To what? Get back your soul? The last thing Lucifer wants is for his sister’s lover…” Kiriana pushed past me, sending me into the arms of Nye.
Unsettled I watched as she stormed into the room. Vincent lay on the floor and Nye tightened his grip on my upper arms. Struggling against the hold I saw Kiriana play her last card.
“I’ll bring him to you,” she said. “Damarion. You want him for a wedding or to torture. I don’t care. He’s who you want, right?”
“Not really,” Lucifer scoffed. “You can keep him locked away until my sister loses her mind for all I care.”
“Then how about I release him to her custody?”
“How about I remove you from the discussion?” Lucifer reared back and Vincent stabbed him through the leg with my claustranima.
The groan from Vincent told of his agony and Lucifer’s rage exploded through the ceiling. Beams of light cut through the concrete and metal as dust particles fell. Pivane got up on one leg to cover Dr. Pound with his body. A demon protecting a human?
Lucifer’s pants caught fire and I saw my knife was still buried in his thigh. When I removed it he sent me flying into the wall. Even a wound from my claustranima wouldn’t kill him, not to hi
s leg. I’d need to stab him through the chest and there was no way I could do that.
“I could have saved her,” Lucifer crowed. “Your human, Pivane. I could have saved them all. Now I will wait to claim her soul as my own.”
Lucifer disappeared in a ball of flame.
“Return to the streets,” Gabriel ordered me. “You have your soul back, now fight to save this town. It’s been years since we’ve had to deal with a run like this.”
“But…” I looked at Vince with his eyes heavy as he tried to reach for me.
“Oh, my God,” Meegan cried out as she slid across the floor on her knees to Vincent’s side. She cradled his head on her lap. “Say you’re okay. Please say it.”
Vince tried to mouth words, but nothing came out.
“What is going on here?” Meegan looked up at the stars through the ceiling. “Is that…what happened?”
“Aren’t you being treated downstairs?” Kiriana asked.
“Return to the fight,” Gabriel ordered me again. This time I didn’t hesitate. “Then prepare for the move. This run will be over soon and then we’ll need you in Lagos next.”
“Lagos? That’s…” My eyes caught sight of Vincent struggling still with words as Meegan stroked his forehead. “Yes, my Lord, I will check in with Schmitty. He is the one coordinating, correct?”
“With Kiyoshi, whoever answers first.”
Free of the hospital I called Schmitty as tears streamed down my face. He didn’t answer. Neither did Kiyoshi. Zarmina was tech support. She’d be around and keeping a close eye on everything.
“Z, I need to be assigned an area?”
“Only if you ask nicely.”
“Zarmina, since when do you play games?”
“Zarmina isn’t much fun I have to agree, but the toys she has…” The princess chortled. “So inventive.”
“What did you do to her?” I snarled.
“Nothing yet.” The princess sighed. “I just have her pinned down.”
“You put pins in her?”
“No…but you have good ideas too.”
“Leave her alone,” I commanded.
“Can’t.” The princess had no tension or fear in her voice. It was as if she were ordering a pizza and couldn’t decide between pepperoni or sausage. “Not unless I get what I came for.”
“Damarion?”
“Yes, it seems my demons have your little buddies running around like crazy and wouldn’t you know…they aren’t able to help me.”
“Your brother’s here.”
The line went silent and I stood out in the cold realizing that if I were to save Zarmina I’d need a car and hopefully someone to drive it. Nye’s car was in a small parking lot. I went to it and found the door unlocked. In the center console was a set of keys. How hard could driving really be? I’d seen others do it.
Turning the engine over I pressed the gas and the engine revved. I looked at the gear shift and saw I was in P…P…Park. Right, so that means R means Road and D means Drive…N? N? What the heck does N mean? Now? Noon? Never?
The basic skill of driving was lost on me. What was I going to do? How can I do anything? My life was taken the moment I took a breath and was placed in my father’s arms.
Gabriel stood outside the door to the vehicle as I stared through the windshield without focus. The phone had gone dead minutes ago, but I still held it to my ear. Love can wash away sins, clean my soul, and now I felt more soulless than when Pivane had stolen it. Zarmina was going to be killed for a demon we’d used as a pawn. Vincent kept losing consciousness and I didn’t know why, but what did it matter when he had a woman—one he never mentioned. My father had killed not only himself, but those who trusted him most. And Lucifer was on the loose.
I turned to Gabriel and turned off the engine. Opening the door I slid out and down to my knees.
“Where did it all go wrong?” I cried.
“What now, child?” he asked as he leaned against the car behind him. “You are acting as if Kiriana’s misjudgments were your own. She chose to play with fire.”
“I went along with it. I always go along. A good little disciple unable to sway. Now the princess is in our compound holding Zarmina hostage.”
The wind that had been whipping through the parking lot stopped suddenly. It didn’t die down, it stopped all together. Standing up I looked up at a bird overhead that was still, which wouldn’t be odd if it wasn’t frozen in mid-flight.
“You need a moment that I can give you. We cannot allow Zarmina to be hurt, but at this time you need to halt your thought process.”
“But—”
He waved his hand, and I silenced.
“Esther, you were chosen to be a member of the Frozen on the day you were born. Your soul, marked for my collection should your life be ended by your own hand. Creation was granted to your parents when I thought it should not be, but I am not in charge of assigning souls. I can only save a few. Your redemption is one I have prayed for and I do not pray. You have made no errors in my eyes, but that is just the opinion of one servant of God to another.”
“You are far greater—”
Gabriel placed his finger on my lips.
“Hush, child. To him, you and I are equals. Do not tell the others.” He let out a long gust of air and the world moved again. “You must get home to save Zarmina.”
“Why don’t you just do it? You are…it is not your job.”
“No, retrieving your soul—that’s my job. Fighting your battles—not in the least.”
“How do I fight her? The princess…she has powers I can’t fight.”
“She also has weaknesses I think you finally understand.” He placed his hand on my head and I was transported to the middle of the foyer in the compound.
Steadying myself enough to get my bearings I took off for Zarmina’s workshop. When I got through the door I saw her plastered against her chair. Her arms were locked on the chair handles and lacked bindings, but I could see the fear in her eyes. The princess was examining a prototype of a new arrow.
“What makes this one special?” she asked, then noticed I’d arrived. “Ah…your savior or death is here. Again?” She waved the arrow.
“Why don’t you let Esther here test it out?” Zarmina offered and then gasped. I saw her stomach cave in more as if a vice had been given another turn.
“Real answer, please?”
“When plasma touches it the tip expands. Tripling in size.”
“Plasma? That’s in blood, am I not correct?”
“Yes.” Zarmina’s breath caught and she curled her fingers into a fist. “We shoot you with a tiny arrow, and as it passes through your body it expands. If it gets stuck inside, pulling it out will remove all tissue. If it breaks through the other side of the body, you’ll be cut practically in half.”
“You like the whole half thing, don’t you? So many of these weapons slice us in half.”
“It slows you down.” Zarmina smirked.
“A little bit I suppose.”
I joined the conversation. “You know how it is to not feel whole, don’t you? Like a part of you is missing and some days even breathing is hard.”
The princess swallowed hard.
“You said my brother was about. Did he come with you?”
“I have no idea where he is.” Visions of him tripped through my mind. “He may have exploded in a ball of fire, unless that is his method of travel.”
“He tends to have a flair for the dramatic.” The princess examined her long nails.
“And you? What do you have a flair for?” I crossed my arms. “What weapon is in your arsenal that he fears the most?”
“My womb,” she stated plainly. “Unlike him I still have the chance to birth a son. A legitimate one. Worthy in the eyes of all, especially our father. See, the crown goes to the youngest Lucifer when the king passes. Right now my brother holds that place, but if you would release Damarion I can f
ix that problem.”
“Then what happens? Your brother just acquiesces the throne to you? From our brief encounter I don’t see that happening.”
“So? With Damarion by my side, I can handle anything.” Her confidence and presence was infectious. “I did what you wanted. All of the members of the next Hell’s Mouth to be opened were killed. Once the zero hits there will only be eleven in the world from this day forward.”
“And when the next one closes?”
The princess raised her arm and her fingers made a claw. As her fingers curled in Zarmina began to choke.
“I’m tired of negotiations. I will start with this one, then move through the house and make you watch them all die.”
“Let her go. We need to get you Damarion,” I suggested.
Zarmina sputtered and gasped giant gulps of air. With her hands free she reached for a weapon on the desk, but I waved my hand slightly by my side.
Leading the princess to top of the stairs leading to Damaion, I was soon keying in the code to the first lock, the princess stood resolute by my side.
“There was no need for all this bother. If you Frozen would have simply resurrected him and given him to me I would have been on my way. But no, my dear cousin had to be so…”
“She wanted something. She thought she could get it. You have proved her wrong. Congratulations. You are the stronger member of the family.”
“I am, aren’t I?” LaDressa smiled.
“Yes. I’m sure your father will be proud of you.”
“My father is senile.” Her eyes appeared lost for a moment. “He probably doesn’t even realize my mother has passed.”
“Didn’t you kill her?”
“It seemed only fitting.” The absence of guilt in her voice was chilling. “She killed the previous queen to marry my father.”
“Family and traditions, what could be better? Gabriel has been teaching Kiriana all about the house of Ryeal. Are you not a member too?”
“Yes, I assume so, my mother…she did not…”
“I understand, I loved my mother so much. She never wanted me to know the bad things. Being obstructed must hurt. I was never worthy in my father’s eyes.”
I punched in the second code and flipped on the lights. They flickered to life.
Stolen Redemption Page 17
