The Demon Behind Me

by Christopher Nelson

  “Can we sit down first?” she asked. I led her into the living room where Tink was again transfixed by the TV. Grace had vanished into the kitchen, judging by the clinking of glasses and running water. “It’s not overly dangerous for me,” she said, holding her palm out. The tattooed sigil of House Leviathan was red against her pale skin, but even as I watched, the color faded, leaving smooth skin behind.

  “That’s a nice trick,” I said.

  “And just like you, I bleed red or green on command,” she said. “So it’ll take more than a vampire to find me out.”

  “Vampire?”

  “That’s what our House has taken to calling the Conclave’s blood testers. Where I’m from, they’re going house to house, and they don’t take no for an answer.” Her mouth twisted and she looked to Tink. “I hate to ask this, Zay, but do you trust her completely?”

  Before Tink could snarl, I nodded. “With all my heart and life, Kyla. She’s had every chance to betray and kill me. We’ve saved each other too many times. I trust her unconditionally.”

  Uncharacteristically, Tink didn’t say anything in response. I sat on the opposite side of the couch and Kyla sat on the edge of a chair, leaning forward toward me. “All right. I came here to say goodbye.”

  “Goodbye?”

  “This is formal notice. House Leviathan is withdrawing from our joint project to track House Lucifer, due to current events.”

  “Not surprising,” I said. “We put it on the back burner too.”

  “We’re going on the offensive,” Kyla said. “To channel our inner Lucifer, they’ve wounded our pride. Intolerable, as our Princes say. We’re going to strike back and teach them what it means to attack House Leviathan.”

  “You’re at war.” Tink finally spoke up. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re not teaching lessons here, you’re fighting for your survival. You’re part human, you know about magic, you know better than to underestimate us.”

  Kyla smiled at Tink. “They’re also underestimating us. We’re more resilient and resourceful than they think. That’ll be their undoing.”

  “Or yours because of your damn stubborn pride!” Tink drummed her fingers on her thigh. “Look, I don’t know shit about you or your House, but do you seriously think the Conclave would declare war without knowing they have the ability to win it?”

  “What they think they know,” Kyla said. The smile seemed frozen to her face now. “Please, Anna, we know they can’t know everything about us. We have advantages they can’t possibly match.”

  “And they have the ability to invisibly kill you from a distance,” Tink snapped. “I can think of a half dozen ways I could do it. Easiest one is just pop a blood vessel in your brain. Demons can have strokes too. A master can cast a spell in seconds. A grandmaster like Kane can cast it before you blink, like he did at the summit. You can’t focus healing if you can’t focus at all. Don’t be stupid.”

  Kyla’s smile finally dropped. “Don’t accuse us of stupidity. We didn’t start this, but we will make them pay.” She looked back to me. “Zay, we’re going to be picking targets to force the Conclave to commit some of their forces to defense.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “Strike things they value. Their public offices. Governmental offices of their strongest allies. Maybe their families.”

  Tink hissed and I shook my head. “I doubt they value any of those as much as you think, except maybe their families. I would strongly advise against escalating further, for the record.”

  “Fuck that.” I blinked. Kyla’s eyes burned purple as she stood up. “They’ve already escalated. Haven’t you heard? They’ve killed children. They’ve killed innocents. They murdered a branch of my extended family. I met them at the last reunion. My cousins, a couple of generations removed, slaughtered just because they were suspected of being entangled with demons decades ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Truly, Kyla, I’m sorry. But please, don’t stoop to their level and make it any worse. We need to coordinate between Houses. Let’s work together. House Asmodeus is making surgical strikes at confirmed mages. We’ll share our intelligence with you.”

  “It’s too late,” she said. “Our forces are already moving. I have my own orders. I just wanted to come and say goodbye to you, in case I never see you again.”

  “You’ll survive,” I said as sincerely as I could manage. “You’re too pretty to die.”

  She smiled again and her eyes returned to normal. “I wish we had met earlier in life,” she said. “It would have been nice.”

  “Quite possibly,” I agreed, ignoring Tink’s sudden scowl.

  Kyla leaned down and kissed me before I could stop her. “Goodbye, Zay,” she said as she broke away. “You take care of yourself. I’ll see myself out.”

  Tink didn’t say anything, just stared at me as Kyla left. Once the door shut behind her, she drew her knife and slid toward me. I slid as far away from her as I could. “Hold still, demon,” she said. “I need to see if she planted anything on you besides that kiss.”

  “Don’t be jealous.”

  “I am not jealous.”

  “You’re acting jealous.”

  “I am not!”

  I sighed and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. “I don’t like where any of this is going. I thought there’d be more pushback against genocide. The Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the African tribal wars, so many people fight against anything like that ever happening again. What about us? We don’t deserve the same consideration?”

  “You’re not human,” Tink said quietly. “I mean, I know you’re half human, but real demons aren’t human at all. I’ve heard some people call you aliens. They’re not completely wrong when you think about it. You’re from another world. Now they’ve learned you’ve been among us for millennia. The Conclave’s playing up the paranoia about how you’ve been controlling humanity from behind the scenes. The conspiracy theorists are having a field day. As far as the average guy on the street knows, they’re throwing off the chains of their conquerors.”

  I winced. “And in some cases, they’re not far off.”

  “So as unfair as it seems to you, think about what it means to us.”

  “I know. I’m hoping once the original outrage dies down, people will get more reasonable.”

  Tink flopped down on her couch and stretched out. “Not while people like Kane are fanning the flames. As long as the Conclave owns the media narrative, you’re fucked.”

  “He needs to die,” I said. She raised an eyebrow at me. “You know I’m right. If we can stop him from making the world want every non-human dead, there’s a chance to pull back and figure shit out.”

  “And what exactly are we going to do to make him dead?”

  “I’ll think of something.”

  “You could just let me kill you, claim his favor, rise up through the ranks to become his trusted lieutenant, then betray him when he least expects it.”

  “I’d like to be alive to see it all happen.”

  “Minor details.”

  My phone buzzed and I glanced down at it. Caleb DeMarco came up on the screen and I nearly dropped it. We hadn’t spoken much since the end of the Second War except on official business. He was busy, I was busy, and I had decimated his race. Literally. Twice. I couldn’t blame him. “Caleb, what’s up? Been a while.”

  Tink’s eyebrows went up and she mouthed a question at me. I tapped the speaker on as Caleb started to speak. “-need your help.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  His voice was shaky. Fear wasn’t something I associated with the angel. “I’m under attack and I can’t abandon them. You’re the only ones close enough.”

  “Abandon who? What’s going on?”

  “Slow down and tell us what’s up,” Tink added.

  “We’re gathering civilian families who have angelic blood to evacuate them to Heaven. I have children here. Reinforcement
s are on the way, but I don’t know how long I can last by myself.”

  “Address,” Tink snapped. She grabbed my free hand and bodily yanked me toward the front door. “We’re leaving now. How stealthy do we need to be?”

  “Not at all,” Caleb said. He rattled off an address I recognized as being relatively close to where First Rev had stood. “We fought back the first couple of mages, but they called in backup. How long will it take you to get here?”

  “Depends,” I said. “Sounds like about forty minutes to drive.”

  He said something in the angelic language and Tink snorted. “Not good enough. No portals?”

  “Not anywhere near there,” I said, reversing Tink’s grip to drag her toward the back door. “But it’s closer to twenty minutes as the crow, bat, or winged demon flies.”

  “That’s better. Make it faster if you can. I think they’re coming.”

  “Got it.” The line went dead and Tink turned to me with a scowl as we burst out into her back yard. Her privacy fence would make it a bit less likely someone would spot us. “So, as I recall, you’re not too scared of heights, right?”

  “Shut up and transform.”

  I laughed and forced ichor through my body. Horns snapped out from my temples, my tongue forked, and my skin turned leathery. My shirt ripped as I forced my wings out from my shoulder blades. An eight foot wingspan wasn’t anywhere near enough to provide enough mechanical lift for me to fly, but burning a touch of ichor would give me enough strength and magical advantage to fly wherever I wanted. I stepped behind Tink and scooped her up. She glared up at me and I let her see my fangs. “Don’t get feisty. Flying for twenty minutes is going to take enough out of me. I don’t need you putting a hole in my stomach.”

  “Are you going to be able to fight when we get there?”

  I shrugged and kicked off the ground. Her house fell away beneath us. “Hopefully. I’ll be running on a low tank for the first few minutes.”

  “Shit. Kibs, imps, anyone around?” Tink looked all over. No imp appeared, which was not usual. “I’m going to text Opheran.”

  “There’s no cell reception in Hell.”

  “Fuck!”

  I was high enough to skim over treetops now. People would see us if they happened to be looking up, but hopefully we’d be at our destination before anyone could intervene. “Text Grace and ask her to tell Kalil. He’ll be able to get the word out.”

  “Good thinking.” She tapped on her phone while I concentrated on the dual tasks of converting my human blood to ichor, and keeping enough ichor burning to keep us aloft. Based on my personal experience, I’d exhaust most of my human blood by the time we arrived, which would leave me in a very demonic state of mind. It wouldn’t be a bad state to be in when we were flying into a combat situation.

  My phone, nestled in my pocket, buzzed again. “I’m ringing,” I said. “Call Caleb and tell him we’re on the way, assuming that’s him. Or you can reach in my pants and grab whatever you find.”

  She snorted. “You wish, demon.” After a moment, she held her phone to her ear. “We’re on the way, Caleb, calm yourself. What? Shit. Yeah. We’ll try. Demon, step it up a notch.”

  I clenched my jaw and accelerated. “If he wants me able to fight when I get there, I can’t go much faster.”

  “Demon says he’s going to be tapped out when we get there if we go much faster. How badly are you going to need him in fighting condition?” She paused, then snorted again. “I agree, most of the time, but yeah. I got the word out to his people. If there’s anyone in the area, we’ll try to get them to you. All right. Don’t die before we get there.”

  “What did he say?” I asked, curving slightly to avoid a slightly taller tree in our path. I estimated we were cruising at slightly over sixty miles an hour. Buzzing a highway sounded like fun.

  “He said he needs me in fighting condition more than you, because I’m so much better in a fight.”

  “So I can just drop you off and go home, then?”

  “Like hell, demon. Plan is for me to support him while you recover. The longer we can hold up without you, the better.”

  “Works for me.” I pushed the speed up a little more. “Hear back from Kalil?”

  “Just got the text. Shit. No other demons in the area, though Kalil himself is on the way. Word’s out to Opheran, though.”

  “Good enough.”

  “How many people do you think have seen us so far?”

  “Too many. Hopefully none of our neighbors.”

  She grumbled as I dipped sideways again. “Worst turbulence of any flight I’ve ever had.”

  “I can fly fast or I can fly smooth. Pick one.”

  “I know. I’m just bitching.”

  “I know it’s your favorite pastime, but it’s really not helping here.”

  “It’s helping the time pass for me.” I sighed and tuned her out as we flew on.

  Chapter Seven

  I knew we had arrived when someone started shooting at me. After the first bullet zipped past me and before the shooter could correct their aim, I folded my wings and dropped fifty feet or so in the space of a couple of seconds. Tink shrieked. Before we hit the ground, I swept my wings wide again and let my legs take the shock of landing. If the shooter were an idiot, they’d think they scored a hit on me.

  “Did they get you?” Tink asked as I placed her on her feet.

  I suppressed a grin and reversed parts of my transformation, letting the wings and horns retract, but retaining the reinforced skin and bones. “Only an idiot would think they hit me.”

  “Don’t make me stab you right now,” she snapped. “We need you in shape to fight.”

  “I’m fine. Why are they shooting and not casting?”

  “Only an idiot would use a spell when a gun can do the job.”

  I bit back another comment and crouched. I was lightheaded and shaky and wanted nothing more than to prove to her I could fight. My demonic side wanted blood. My human side was cycling between exhaustion, terror, and indignation about someone actually shooting at me. “So, where’s Caleb?” I asked.

  She looked around, then down at her phone. “Think we’re a couple hundred feet away,” she said, pointing to a building in the distance. We had come down in someone’s back yard, and as I glanced at the house, I saw curtains being drawn from inside. We didn’t have long before police or military forces converged on us. “Can you sprint?”

  “Of course I can sprint.”

  “Can you sprint across the yard, over the road, and into cover on the other side?” she clarified.

  I grunted. “Probably. Can you?”

  “I’ll be fine. Magic. I’m just worried you’ll fall on your face in the middle of the road and get shot.”

  “I’m insulted. I’d at least make it across the road.”

  She walked toward the corner of the house. I followed her, staying low. “Fine. Give me one moment to try and trace the mages here and then we’ll run for it.” I took the moment to breathe deeply while she traced a bloody rune in the air, then swiped it away and drew another one. “Looks like they’re distracted. We should be good.”

  “So who shot at us then?” I asked.

  “Not sure, but I have a kinetic redirection spell up. If they shoot at me, they’re going to have a surprise.”

  “What about me?”

  “Don’t get hit.”

  I growled as she crouched and sprang forward into a sprint. Tink was tiny and looked like a strong gust would knock her head over ass, but the girl could run like the wind. Her golden hair whipped out behind her as she crossed the road.

  I didn’t have her grace, but I did have her speed and then some. I flushed ichor into my muscles and burst out of cover. I could practically feel the gaze of the hidden shooter snap to track me. Most standard caliber rounds would pierce demonic hide, but wouldn’t break a bone even with a direct hit. A high caliber round could snap even my reinforced bon
es, or worse yet, crack my skull. Headshots took a lot more force to get to the sweet, juicy center, but even a glancing hit there would be dangerous. I could regenerate any non-fatal injuries, but it’d take me out of the fight for a few minutes.

  An instinctive sense of danger warned me and instead of following Tink around the side of the house, I lifted my shoulder and made an ichor-infused leap through the front bay window. Glass shattered around me as I tripped over the sill and sprawled out on the carpet. I rolled onto my back just in time to see the opposite wall acquire two bullet-sized holes. “If anyone’s in here, get down!” I shouted. “On the floor, get in the basement if you have one, it’s not safe! Active shooter!”

  No one responded and I crawled across the glass-strewn floor toward the back of the house. Either no one was home, or they were smart enough to listen and not try anything stupid. When I crawled into the kitchen, I discovered I was wrong on both counts. The distinctive click of the action of a pump shotgun was enough to make me freeze before anyone asked. I slowly knelt and held my arms out from my sides, palms up. “Don’t shoot me, please.”

  “Who are you?”

  I carefully turned my head to see a young man aiming a shotgun directly at the base of my skull. By the looks of him, there was a fifty-fifty chance he wasn’t out of high school yet. “My name is Isaiah,” I said. “Sorry for breaking your window. I was trying to not get shot.”

  “You’re not human, are you?”

  “I’m half human.” The kid’s eyes widened slightly, but the gun barely wavered. I cursed my luck. Of course he knew how to handle firearms. Probably the only kid on this block who did. “My mom’s a demon of House Asmodeus. My dad’s a human.”

  Now the shotgun wavered. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

  “Why not?”

  “They say if a demon ever got a girl pregnant, the baby would be a demon, and it’d kill her on the way out. Like, claw through her.”

  “Sounds like a horror movie,” I said. “Definitely not the way it works, though. Besides, my mom’s the demon in this case, and she would have kicked the shit out of me if I clawed her on the way out.”