Unable to take anymore of the broadcast, Izzy switched off the massive flat screen. “It’s getting bad out there, Raf. We’ve got to move.” As she spoke, she tugged a black t-shirt over her head.
“I know, Izzy. We just have to find the bastard. No one’s seen him at the Manhattan house, and the mobsters are nowhere to be found. Rather that is out of fear or because they’ve switched sides again, I’m not sure.”
“Capone’s going to fall in step with whoever has the upper hand, and now that Giovanni is dead, we’ve lost their loyalty.” The reminder that she’d lost a friend made her eyes pucker, but Izzy refused to cry again. “They’ve gone underground, but there has to be a way to find them. Ashur can hide out forever, and so can the other demons, but one of his lackeys is going to have to surface.”
Raf moved to her side, intending to offer comfort, but the knock at the door startled them both. Freezing, eyes wide and hearts pounding, they listened as the heavy rap of knuckles on the wood sounded again.
Grabbing his sword, Raf whispered, “Open the door and step to the left as you do. Stay back and stay low.”
Together, they crept through the kitchen as the rapid pounding grew louder with each knock. Raf positioned himself on the right, Damocles held at the ready, and Izzy jerked open the door, flattening herself against the wall.
A loud hiss shattered the quiet left in the wake of the pounding, and Raf swung. Moving fast, the demon leaped upward, its talons slicing through the drywall as it clawed its way upward to where it hovered near the ceiling.
“Ogwald!” Izzy screamed as Raf bounded forward, ready to destroy the creature who threatened his home.
“I come in peace, Iyzebel!” the demon growled, staring down at the angel with hate.
Grabbing Rafael’s arm, she pleaded, “Wait. At least see what he has to say.”
“This one is very old. I don’t trust him.”
“But he came alone, Raf. He came alone. If he’d wanted to hurt us, he would’ve brought the others.”
Dropping the sword, he stepped back, “Fine. You may enter, demon.”
Ogwald glared at him for a moment before he leaped down, landing very near Rafael. “I have a name.”
Raf snarled, “As do I.”
Edging between them, Izzy interrupted. “Very good, boys. You both have names.” Gesturing from one to the other, she purred, “You are Rafael and you are Ogwald. Now that we have that all cleared up, do you think we could take the pissing contest inside before someone happens to notice a demon ripping up the walls.”
Surprised by her instant spurt of sarcasm, both men followed her back into the apartment, glowering as if they were children and she’d taken their favorite toys.
“Sit!” Izzy ordered, pointing to the chair and the couch.
Without question, Ogwald took the chair and Rafael flopped down on the couch, his sword still clutched in his hand. With a shake of her head, Izzy glared at him until he laid it at his feet.
“Ogwald, what are you doing here?”
“I always knew that you would be the one to stop the harvesting. I only served him so that I could be of assistance to you.” Slowly rising from the chair, Ogwald closed his eyes, and the human camouflage melted away. Beneath the layers of glamour, a demon stared at her, but only for a moment. The air around him shimmered, and another layer pulled away, revealing something else altogether.
Both Izzy and Raf gasped in utter surprise.
“You’re an angel!” Confused excitement swirled around her head as she studied Ogwald’s true form.
Fluttering his wings, he smiled at her. “Yes, well, an angel in trouble that is. When the Fallen were cast out, I was sent to Earth in the guise of a demon as punishment for my misdeeds. Since, my digressions were not as terrible as the others, I was granted the opportunity to redeem myself. My mission was to be watchful of Ashur, to report his doings to the higher powers. I was unaware of Rafael’s presence and mission until recently. However, when Ashur brought you over, I knew you would be the one to save us all.”
Stunned into silence, Izzy leaned back on the couch and stared at the white wings and kindly face. The wrinkles he’d worn as a mask for humanity were gone, but the resemblance held in the young man’s face that she studied.
“You’re beautiful,” was all she could say.
Both Ogwald and Rafael chuckled, and Raf offered an apology. “I’m sorry for the way I greeted you. You must understand—”
“Not to worry. I expected worse. Forget about it, we have work to do. I can lead you to Ashur and the others.”
Rafael leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Where are they?”
“In the place that you would least expect. They’ve taken over Giovanni’s building. Anyone who survived is now under their sway, or being caged in the basement. They’ve made it a stronghold of demon power and mafia muscle.”
Izzy let out a string of curses, “How are we going to march into a building in the public sector, work are way up to the top floor, and destroy the demons and the men inside without it making national news? I am assuming, of course, that we are still trying to hide the truth from the stupid humans. I mean, if you ask me, they might deserve a dose of Heaven meets Hell.”
“Don’t let your old rage surface, Iyzebel. It has long plagued me why you hate the humans so much. You must understand by now that Ashur was behind your family abandoning you all those years ago. Forgiveness will be your savior, my dear. He needed you. He was in love with you, as much as a demon can love. Now, he is mad with power. With every soul that is fed into Hell, Lucifer grows in strength, and his praise of our former master has gone to the idiot’s head. He has no voice of reason now that all but one other member of the Voices of Hell has been killed and you are gone. He will sacrifice everything and destroy the balance if not stopped. ”
Ogwald’s words struck her like a hot iron on cold metal, an instant zinging impact that left her numb and without words.
Feeling her distress, Rafael took her hand, but his focus was on larger things than her childhood wounds. “What do they plan to do?”
“Ashur intends to rebuild the one-hundred souls that were wasted. He intends to open the gates and continue with the culling.”
Izzy jumped to her feet, “Well, we know where he is, and we’ve always known what he planned to do. Why are we just sitting here?
“Iyzebel, we need a plan. We can’t just go marching through the door and wage a war. There’s three of us, if Ogwald agrees to help. We have no idea how many men and demons Ashur has holed up with him.”
Tempted to rip her hair out, Izzy sneered, “Bomb the building. Level the damn thing and chop off their heads as they try to flee the rubble.”
“It’s not that simple, Iz. We have to think of the lives of the innocent. There may still be humans in the building, there may be people harmed by the collapse.”
She looked at Rafael with complete scorn. “What are a few dozen lives when millions are at stake? Sadly, my angel, causalities of war are a necessary evil.”
“Evil, child, is never necessary.” Ogwald reached into his suit jacket and drew out a decorative bottle of dark liquid. “However, I do have something that may allow us an advantage.”
Izzy studied the decorative and ancient flask for a moment, her eyebrow curving up questioningly. “You want to get drunk?”
Ogwald chuckled, and for a moment, she was lost in his handsome face. Remembering how he’d once frightened her with his unnatural smile and strange power, she realized it had been because of the double layers of skin he had worn to protect his true identity.
“No, Izzy. This is the blood of Christ.”
Rafael instantly bowed his head, a reverent prayer issuing from his lips. When he raised his eyes once more, he asked, “How in the name of Heaven, did you get that?”
“Michael and Gabriele gave me this bottle the day I was banished. They said the time would come when darkness and light united to put the spear into the heart of the
beast. As I look at the two of you together, I know this is that moment, or at least the path leading up to it.”
Izzy looked confused, her eyes studying the vial with interest. “So…. What does it do?”
Any object that has been blessed in the name of the Lord and anointed in the blood of Christ is a powerful weapon against demons. If the wielder of such a weapon can strike a killing blow, the soul of the victim will be obliterated, the particles shattering so far and wide that it will never come together again.”
“That’s amazing. Why has it not been used to destroy Lucifer and all the demons? Why not eradicate them from the world completely?”
Raf squeezed her fingers gently, “That is not the way of things, my sweet. The balance between light and dark is a difficult thing. Without one, there cannot be the other. The blood will not destroy a greater demon such as Ashur. The Fallen are the sons of our Lord, though they have turned away from him, his blood is still in their veins. To Lucifer, it would be no worse than a painful nuisance. It will only work on lesser and made-demons because they are diluted with humanity and evil.”
Nodding, Izzy thought on his words for a moment in silence. Cringing, she realized that she was just as vulnerable to the dark liquid as any other. “Well, it will get us through the majority of them, just don’t miss and hit me. I like this body in one piece.”
Raf leaned over to kiss her cheek, “As do I.” Turning his attention back to Ogwald, he added, “We need guns, knives, anything that we can bless and use.”
“I have everything we need in the trunk of my car. I have friends among the humans who are especially talented with the trade of deadly things.” The wicked smile that spread across his face left them all laughing as they rose to collect their arsenal.
Ogwald had come prepared for war. Hours passed as they planned the attack and blessed the bullets, knives, and guns that spread across Rafael’s kitchen table and counters. Iyzebel fidgeted with the tight leather gloves meant to protect her hands from the blessed weapons as she watched, unable to assist. With the moon high above the city, the trio loaded up holsters and clips, strapped on swords and knives, and prepared to go to war.
Weighted down by the mass of firepower, Izzy leaned against the wall, her nose scrunched in concentration. “Ogwald, could you give us a minute, please?”
The angel turned his lovely violet eyes to her, understanding shining within, and nodded. “I’ll load up the rest of the stuff into the car.” Placing his hand on her shoulder, he spoke in a quiet tone, “I will wait for you there.”
The door closed, and for a moment, Iyzebel and Rafael stared at each other. Neither could find the words they needed to say the things they felt, and in the end, they fell into each other’s arms. Their feelings poured out in the form of passionate kisses, the world forgotten in a moment of love.
Finally breaking apart, they exited the apartment hand in hand, and made their way to Ogwald’s car. Izzy commandeered the passenger seat, flipping through the radio stations until she found a song that she could lose herself in as they traveled quickly through the streets. Her fingers unconsciously drummed against her legs as she murmured the words to “Blood Like Crème” and stared out at the world with a frown on her lips.
Flipping the headlights off, Ogwald maneuvered the black sedan into the alley behind Giovanni’s building. As they hauled the duffle bags loaded with weapons from the trunk, Raf grabbed her and pulled her tight against his chest. Caught by surprise, Izzy melted into the embrace.
Whispering, “I love you,” he kissed the top of her head.
Izzy held him fiercely before going up on her toes and brushing her lips against his. “I love you, too.”
Keeping to the shadows of the building, the trio moved silently through the night until they reached the service entrance on the far side. Ogwald held his finger to his lips as he tried the door. To their surprise, the handle turned and the door swung open. Having expected to find it locked and guarded, they eased inside, the shock making them wary.
The large storage area was dark and quiet, and Izzy mumbled, “The quiet before the storm,” as she hefted the canvas tote bag full of deadly weapons. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that they were not alone even before the sound of scraping echoed around them.
Unable to tell what direction the noise had come from, they dropped the heavy bags and formed a triangle, backs together and weapons drawn. Straining her ears, Izzy heard nothing for a long moment except her own heavy breathing and racing heart. Just as she began to relax, guttural snarls erupted all around them out of the darkness, accompanied by the heavy beat of wings and snapping of sharp teeth. Bright light flooded the room, and she knew they were surrounded.
Trying to clear her vision from the florescent bulbs bursting to life, she blinked rapidly, the faces of her own kind leering back at her as they circled. From deep inside, her demon awakened, the excitement of battle bringing it forward in a flash of rage. Fighting the change, her body itched and burned. She needed human fingers to pull the trigger of her gun and demon speed to do it fast enough to make it count. Control became the only thing separating her from certain death.
“Don’t wait for them to attack. Aim to kill,” Ogwald cried as the first round of bullets from his gun burst through the air.
The snap and pop of gunfire, the whir of Rafael’s sword, and the cries of the dying filled the space in a bloody symphony of Hell. Izzy’s first round burst through a female demon’s head, and the creature shattered in a spray of gore and goo. She fired off another round, missing her target, and giving it time to leap into the air. Crouching she shot again and her aim landed true. As the bullet pierced the demon’s black heart, the body exploded, raining down on her.
Whirling to the right, she watched as Rafael cut the head from his victim and gutted another in one powerful spin. The light in his eyes as he shed the blood of demonkind frightened her, and she turned away just in time to see a large male charging for Ogwald’s back.
Firing in rapid bursts, she sent four bullets into the creature’s head and neck. It fell with a thump, its face turned toward her and its lips pulled back over enormous teeth in a brutal snarl. Struggling to drag its body forward, the demon gnashed its teeth together and howled. Looking down on it with dispassion, Izzy took aim, and pulled her trigger. The bullet hit between the demon’s blackened eyes, and the body combusted as if she’d thrown a grenade at it.
The battle lasted minutes, the made and lesser demons falling victim to an arsenal of blessed weapons. Panting and surveying the pond of blood and bits that covered the concrete floor, Izzy felt her stomach turn even as her demon cried out in triumph. The warring feelings of disgust and admiration for the mess they’d created felt strange. Realizing the bonding had not made her one with the creature as she thought it would, she was suddenly relieved.
As if he could read her thoughts, Rafael took her hand and led her away, whispering, “Compassion, even for the enemy, proves that you are not evil. You do what you must in the name of good, but you don’t glory in it. You are more than a demon, Izzy. Your humanity has survived.”
Comforted by his words, she snapped a fresh clip into her gun, and smiled. “It still feels good to punish these fuckers for all the shit I’ve been put through.”
Ogwald chuckled, mumbling, “That’s our girl,” as they approached the freight elevator that would take them up to the lobby.
Pointing to the right, Izzy whispered, “I can smell the humans. They are being held back there.” Her eyes shifted from the deep blue to ebony for a second and back again, as the hunger for souls came and passed.
“Leave them for now. They are safer there than running amok and drawing attention,” Ogwald instructed.
Stepping inside the elevator and pressing the button, they cringed at the grinding noise coming from the motor. “Well, if they didn’t know we were coming, they will now.”
As they moved out of the lift into a small storage area, Ogwald whispered, �
�From here, we will take the stairs upward. Ashur will have sentries posted on the elevators. By my count, there will be no more than twenty demons in that apartment, and most will be made. The mafia men will be stationed at the doors and the landings, because Ashur’s too arrogant to believe that anyone can get by the horde he left in the loading area.”
Stepping out onto the first floor, ready for another spurt of fighting, they quickly realized that it was void of life. The lobby doors had been barricaded and the windows had been boarded up from the inside. Bloody smears covered the walls, floors, and furniture, proving that Ashur had taken the fortress by unnecessary force.
With a sad look at the dark, sticky pool oozing out from behind the reception desk, Izzy thought of how Mr. I-Get-Paid-To-Look-Down-My-Nose-At-You must have screamed when the demons had come. Part of her wanted to laugh and enjoy the snobby man’s demise, but the softer side felt a bit of sadness for the man who she hadn’t bothered to learn his name. Suddenly, she wanted to revenge the stranger’s death.
“Screw this sneaking around shit. I say we hit the top floor—guns blazing.” Izzy drew her second Ruger SR45 from the holster at her side, her leather glad finger on the trigger. “The fight will draw the rest of them to us or send them running. No one else in this building matters, other than Ashur and Galia. They are the only members of the Voices of Hell left. They have the power to open the gates.”
Ogwald and Rafael shared a look, contemplation clear on their faces, and Izzy lost her patience. Spinning away, she headed for the elevator, “Do what you want. I’m tired of playing super spy. I am ready for war.”
Hurrying to catch her, both men shook their heads and drew their weapons. Grumbling aloud, they took their places at her side.
“You’re going to be the death of us, Iyzebel,” Ogwald muttered.
Voices of Hell Page 15
