She winced. He was right. She wouldn’t kill Carter and wouldn’t call in another angel who might decide that one human life was worth it compared to taking out this demon. Carter Phelps was a good man — not without sin, but then again, who was? She wasn’t about to have his death on her soul.
Everything was banking on this priest — the one who’d felt whacking their victim over the head with a brass religious artifact was proper procedure. If Dar was here, he would have said she was so fucked.
* * *
“I know how this works. I’ll get you out of there if I have to bring in a pig from Indiana to do so.”
At the mention of swine, the genie’s eyes widened. Then he gathered his resolve and spat at her, hitting her lovely royal-blue silk shirt with a disgusting ball of phlegm.
“You wanna know what his third wish was?” The genie’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth thinned. “You. Not world domination. Not untold riches. Not the respect and fear of his peers. He wanted you to love him.”
Asta’s heart stuttered. Oh Aaru, had she led Carter on to do the very thing she’d urged him not to? If she hadn’t. . . . This was all her fault.
“I convinced him the way to your heart was this whole saving-the-world-with-his-software plan. Idiot. He rushed it, figuring no one would be smart enough to catch the weakness in the code. With all his skills at my fingertips, it was easy to program that hack and send it off.”
This would all be traced back to Carter and Genus Micro. It would all be blamed on him. Rubeus wouldn’t care, but Carter Phelps must be in agony thinking of how his good intentions were twisted into cyber terrorism.
“I’m going to kill him. Once I’m done with him, I’ll kill and Own his soul. He knew the risks when he opened that bottle, when he made his first wish. He accepted those risks, and now he’s mine.”
Not while she had wings to fly with. “Hope you’ve enjoyed your last day of freedom, Rubeus. Once this priest forces you out of that human body, I’m going to kill you. All your plans will be for nothing. You’ll be dead, taken down by an elderly human and a young angel.”
Rubeus eyed the waving censor, his hand gripping the sheets. “That human can’t do shit.”
“Ecce crucem Domini.” Father Athmor chanted as he sat down the censor and picked up one of his small glass bottles.
Rubeus howled. “You bitch! I’ll kill you for this. I’ll pin you to a wall and rip your wings off, one feather at a time.” The demon strained against his bonds, and Asta saw the edges of the sheets begin to fray.
“You won’t leave? Well, we’re going to make you leave.” She threw a handful of liquid on the restrained man. Father Athmor had said it was holy water, but it felt like normal liquid to her. Whatever it was, Rubeus didn’t like it one bit. He screamed, shaking his head from side to side.
“You can’t. I’m here to stay.”
“No! You will leave,” Father Athmor announced. The priest lay a hand on the man’s head. “Ecce crucem Domini.”
Rubeus went rigid, twisting his lips up into a sneer. The priest’s fingers moved feather-light downward before coming to rest on the genie’s closed eyelids.
“Manifestaturus es te ipsum.” The words forced Rubeus’s eyes open, and Asta saw fear as well as hate in the glowing green of the genie’s gaze.
“Sit nominis ti signo famulus tuus munitus.” Father Athmor continued to chant as he dabbed the oil on Carter’s forehead. “The demon known as Rubeus, I cast you out. I command you to leave this man’s body and not return.”
Asta waited expectantly, but the demon didn’t do as commanded. Instead, he retreated further into Carter Phelps’s body. As Rubeus faded into the background, the green vanished, and Asta found herself staring into Carter’s dark blue eyes.
They were pleading. His arms jerked against the restraints, as if he wanted to touch her. “I’m sorry. I never meant this to happen. I only wanted to help people.” A shadow flitted across his face. “And for them to realize I wasn’t dumb, that I was just as smart as my parents, as smart as Gran always told me.”
“Fight him, Carter,” she urged. “Fight the genie. We’re trying to get him out.”
“It was for the greater good, not this. I didn’t want this. Please believe me. I never wanted this.”
She did. He might not be dumb, but he was foolish enough to believe a demon’s lies. “I know. But you can make this all right. Just fight him. Once he’s out, you can fix this mess.”
“I got the respect, the riches. I helped people. But in the end, I was still alone. My last wish was to not be alone. I wanted you by my side, Asta, and this is how he said I could have you.”
Now wasn’t the time to discuss how supernatural intervention wasn’t the best way to secure a girlfriend. “It’s okay, Carter. I believe you. I understand. Please help us. The genie is hiding inside you. Help us get him out.”
“I can’t. He’s too strong.” The man’s lips trembled as he spoke. “You should just kill me. Kill me and that will right all the stupid wrongs I’ve done.”
“No, it won’t. You’ll live if it’s the last thing I do. I told you I’d take care of this demon, and I will, without you dying.”
Asta’s temper surged. She had contributed to this whole mess, but Carter Phelps was a weak fool. She needed him to be strong, to fight, and all he could do was whine about his intentions. She owed him, and that meant she wouldn’t let him take the easy way out. He needed to live, to clean up the storm of feces he’d created with his shortcuts and insecurities. If he died, the man he was deep down inside would never have a chance to show himself.
Father Athmor pushed her aside, flinging bits of water and waving incense so strong it made Asta’s eyes burn. “The demon known as Rubeus, I cast you out!” he shouted. “I command you to leave this human’s body and not return.”
With an inhuman scream, Phelps’s eyes glowed green again. Bedsheets tore, and before Asta could act, Rubeus had grabbed the censer from the priest and hit him in the head with it. She dove forward, trying to restrain the genie without causing Carter’s body too much damage. Father Athmor’s chant faltered, his blood splattering across the bed as he elbowed Asta aside and put a hand on the genie’s forehead.
Idiot. It’s not like she was a helpless female in need of protection by an eighty-year-old human. Now the priest was in between her and the thrashing demon. “I’ve got him,” she shouted. “Back up, before. . . .”
Too late. Rubeus had freed himself and spun the priest around, looping an arm around his neck. Father Athmor turned an alarming shade of red, his eyes bulging.
“It’s him or me, darling Asta.” Rubeus sneered. “Who will you choose?”
With a quick motion, his arms twisted, and the priest’s head snapped to the side. The elderly man slid to the floor in a heap of robes while the genie raced for the door. Other angels would have left the man to die. He was nearing the end of his life, and sometimes humans perished for the greater good. Catching Rubeus should have been her first priority.
It wasn’t. Kneeling beside the priest, she gently straightened him and poured the gold of her healing light forth. Bones knitted, neural pathways connected, blood vessels were made whole. The man’s eyes fluttered open.
“Worst demon I’ve ever encountered,” Father Athmor croaked. “Where is he?”
The priest looked frightened, as if he really didn’t want to know where Rubeus was. Asta realized that even if she managed to find the genie, she couldn’t ask this man to go through that again. There had to be some other way, some other option.
“He got away,” she said softly as she helped the priest to sit. “I’ll find him. I’ll get the demon to leave somehow. It’s okay.”
Liar. It wasn’t okay. It wasn’t okay at all.
Chapter 21
Dar ducked under the overhang, brushing the rain from his coat. The shopkeeper had a nice display of umbrellas right inside the door. Once this meeting was over, he’d have to steal one.
“Th
is city has the most dreadful weather imaginable.” Rubeus stepped in beside him, rubbing his wet hair then staring at his hand in distaste. “It doesn’t rain like this in Hel outside of the elven areas. I don’t understand why the humans don’t do something about this.”
“They’re not good at weather. In fact, they’re not good at much of anything.”
Rubeus shot him a wicked smile. “They’re good at this computer stuff, and computers seem to run just about everything here.”
True. “We figured you were dead. You can’t imagine how surprised I was when that mage said it was you in that bottle.”
The other demon snarled. “Some fucking bastard summoned me, trapped me in there, then promptly got executed for banging one of the Caliph’s wives. Six-hundred years I rotted in that damned thing, waiting for someone with the greed and balls to cash in the wishes.”
Dar grimaced. “I can’t imagine. I was a juvenile when you vanished. I hate to tell you, but your household is disbursed and all your belongings divvied up. You’ll need to knock some serious heads together when you get back to Hel.”
Rubeus watched the cars drive by. “Maybe I’ll stay. The weather sucks, but there’s plenty of opportunity for fun. No sense in rushing back to claw my way back to the top in Hel. That can wait.”
“I’ll agree things are fun here, but how long do you intend to hitch a ride inside that human? I’d figured a demon of your stature would be above such things.”
“Pride gets you killed.” The demon shook the water from his jacket. “I’d love to take over the world as a six-armed, horned monster. The screaming, the terror — trust me; I’m sorely tempted. Six-hundred years in a bottle teaches a demon many things.”
“Like hiding from the angels in a human’s body?”
Rubeus’s eyes glowed green as he turned to face Dar. Right. Like he was going to do much. Normally Dar would never bait a demon this old, but anyone possessing a human deserved some ribbing.
“That bitch of an angel knows I’m here but is too much of a pussy to do anything about it. No, the real advantage is Phelps’s reputation and connections — and his brain. I have no idea what the fuck is going on with this security stuff, but with his knowledge, I can bring down every government on the globe. Imagine the wars, the famine, the genocide — it’s going to be a hell of a decade.”
“So Own him. You can assume his form and have access to his memories without sharing a stupid, limiting body.”
“Idiot.” Rubeus shook his head. “His memories won’t do shit for me. I don’t know anything about these computers. When I got stuck in that bottle, people were still communicating by scrolls hand-carried over the miles. I want this now — not after months of trying to figure out how to buy something off eBay.”
“Makes sense. Of course, not all the angels are as reluctant to kill humans as this one. All she needs to do is call in the boss, and that bottle would start to look pretty damned nice.”
The demon scowled. “Would she? I got the feeling she prides herself on being able to handle these things herself. And how the fuck are you prancing around with her, anyway? She should have killed you, but instead she’s all over you.”
Dar shrugged, trying to keep the pride from his voice. “I’ve got immunity. I’m with the household of the Iblis.”
That clearly shocked the other demon. “There’s an Iblis? After two-and-a-half-million years, there’s an Iblis? Is it Ahriman? I always suspected that bastard would make a play for power, but I couldn’t see him sitting through Ruling Council meetings and filling out all that paperwork.”
“Nah. Ahriman’s dead. The Iblis killed him.”
And suddenly the other demon was looking at Dar with great respect. Although that respect would be short-lived if he found out the Iblis was an imp, not even a thousand years old. Ah well, let the guy wonder.
“Dragon’s balls! Ahriman’s dead? Well that explains a lot, although I still don’t see why you’re wasting time with that angel.”
“I thought she’d be fun to seduce. Mission accomplished, and now I’m looking for some other fun.”
Rubeus narrowed his eyes. “How about you and I kill her? That would be fun.”
Dar choked back a laugh. “Yeah, fun until I lose my immunity and get hunted. I’d never be able to leave Hel again if I killed an angel.”
“The angels are going to have their hands full in another week. You could easily hide from them, or blame it on someone else.”
“Like who?” Dar chuckled. “Outside of a nuclear blast, a demon is the only thing that can kill an angel.”
“There will be plenty of nuclear blasts. Tell you what, give me a hand taking her out, and I’ll ensure you have a convenient detonation here in Chicago to cover your tracks along with other compensation.”
“There are limits to what I can promise,” Dar warned. “This Iblis may be my sister, and the head of my household, but she’s very unpredictable. I could be called back to her side at any minute.”
Rubeus waved a dismissive hand. “No problem. If things go as I’ve planned, we can resolve all this by end of day tomorrow.”
“I’m intrigued. Go ahead.”
“This angel of yours has become a pain in my ass. Help me lure her somewhere and I’ll kill her. Then I’ll blow up the city and cover our tracks. In return, I’ll ensure both you and the Iblis get a cut of all profits I make — including your choice of humans to Own and play with.”
“What percentage of profits?”
“Ten.”
Dar snorted. “Sixty.”
Rubeus turned bright red. “Fifteen.”
The other demon narrowed his eyes. “Forty or I call the Iblis and have her negotiate with you one-on-one.”
The genie paled, no doubt thinking that any demon who took out Ahriman wasn’t one he wanted to be “negotiating” with. “Deal.” Reaching in his pocket, he passed a scrap of paper to the demon. “Have her here tomorrow morning before nine. Think you can manage that?”
Dar pocketed the paper then thought for a moment, watching as a taxi splashed a sheet of water from the road onto a passerby. “Yeah. I can manage that.”
Chapter 22
“Asian and European markets are in free fall after Genus Micro’s Ouroboros security software proved vulnerable to hackers. Prominent cyber-security expert, Donald Marshall states that the software contained a major flaw that left corporations and governments wide open to this attack, leading him to conjecture that the Ouroboros software was rushed to market before being adequately tested. Others suspect Genus Micro’s CEO, Carter Phelps, of orchestrating the attack as a means to profit from the siphoned funds. Is Carter Phelps just inept, or a high-tech embezzler?”
Asta turned from the TV, sipping her espresso with a twist — her last espresso with a twist. The enforcer taking over protection of Chicago was due here any minute for her to transition. She was going home.
She’d searched all night, but Phelps, or rather Rubeus, was nowhere to be found. Had he left the city? There was really no reason for him to stay now that his plan was in action.
Not that it mattered. This was about to become someone else’s problem. The thought nearly turned her stomach inside out. It wasn’t just that she’d failed to resolve this, failed to eliminate the threat before he acted, it was leaving her beloved city that hurt the most, all the humans she’d grown to care about — and Dar.
She hadn’t seen him since yesterday. He hadn’t even said goodbye. Maybe he was done with her after getting what he wanted. He’d tempted an angel to sin, and when she wasn’t ready to abandon work for fun, he ditched her.
Or maybe he just wasn’t good at goodbyes. She wasn’t sure she was either. What would she say to him? “Thanks for the macarons and the amazing sex. Have a good life. Try not to get dusted by an angel.” Or make love to one. The thought of him moving on to seduce another twisted her up with doubt and jealousy. Not that she would blame him. He was a demon, had a life to live while she’d be spending he
rs up in Aaru restoring her purity.
“Some guy left this for you with the hostess.” The waitress slid a note to her, a sly smile on her face. Asta felt the energy signature before she’d even noted the sigil. Dar.
I found Phelps. He’s at Richland Tech’s offices. 231 S LaSalle, suite 1904. And get a fucking cell phone.
She had to smile. By all of creation, she was going to miss that demon. He’d come through for her. He’d been hunting down the genie when she’d assumed he’d given up on her and moved on. Would he be there? Would she get to see him one last time before she left?
It was Saturday, six in the morning. There would be few people, if any, in the office in Chicago’s Loop business district. If she acted fast, she could catch Rubeus before the workaholic humans showed up, and then be back here before noon to transition the city to the new enforcer. And if she was very lucky, maybe have a chance to give Dar a proper goodbye.
Fluted Ionic columns topped with scrolled volutes lined the entrance to the office building. Casually dressed humans jogged in and out of the bank ATM vestibule on the lower floor, but Asta was the only one heading into the main lobby. At least, she planned to enter it if she could just manage to navigate the stupid revolving doors.
She knocked in vain on the locked side door, trying to get the attention of the dozing security guard whose feet were propped on the lobby desk. Standing helplessly outside didn’t seem to spur any chivalrous instincts in the passersby, so Asta stepped tentatively into the door space, alternating small pushes with a few steps forward.
It took forever. The back glass kept catching her heels, and she couldn’t quite get the door to turn properly. Finally there was enough of an opening for her to squeeze through.
Now the security guard notices me. Sure enough, the man looked up, yawned, and straightened his cap while pointing toward the logbook.
Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 49
