Devil's Paw

by Debra Dunbar

  He stared at me, astounded, but before I could comment further, my stomach seized and I spewed all over his feet, blacking out, facedown, on the rocky ledge.

  ~24~

  At least I didn’t feel cold, I thought as my mind fought its way up from the fog. I opened my eyes and saw that I was bundled up on a bed with a big blanket over me. The angel sat in a chair, facing me — an unreadable look on his face. This was the second time I’d been tucked in to sleep by an angel. What was next? Would he read me a bedtime story and bring me hot cocoa?

  “I think I should be calling you Mighty Cockroach,” he said, his voice tired. “That was some display out there.”

  “Yeah. I can projectile vomit with the best of them.”

  He laughed. The sound set my heart to racing. “It’s a good thing I don’t consume food or I’d be put off sushi for all eternity.”

  “Thanks for cleaning me up, by the way,” I told him, noting that I was squeaky clean of puke. I also noticed that I had a huge polo shirt on that hung down past my knees. It seemed his clothing manufacturing skills were rather limited. Humph. And he had the nerve to criticize me.

  “It was hard enough walking through town while carrying a partially naked, comatose woman, let alone one covered with half–digested bits of seal. Why seal? Of all the things to be eating; you must have gorged yourself silly on it.”

  “It’s soooo good,” I confessed, sitting up. Wincing, I felt around my head and found a lump on the back that seemed to be causing my splitting headache. I must have wacked myself when I passed out, although I had thought I went face down. I also felt the feather–shaped barrette, my Sword of the Iblis. Fucker. I could have used it on the mountain, but at least it was handy now, pressed right against that massive lump on my skull.

  A fleeting look of guilt crossed Gregory’s face. “Sorry. I flew us off the summit and I accidently hit your head on some ice.”

  Yeah, accident. I’ll bet he took advantage of my weakened state to get some licks in. Because he’d hardly have the courage to face me at full strength. I explored this fantasy a bit while rubbing the bump.

  His expression grew serious. “I nearly killed you.”

  I continued to massage my head. “Nah, it’s not that bad. Just a headache. Not like my brains are hanging out the back of my skull or anything.”

  Gregory walked closer, ignoring my deliberate attempt to change the topic and lighten things up.

  “You were gone. Nothing of you remained except a great black hole of need in a semi–human shell. That thing on the mountain wasn’t you anymore. I held the future of all life in my hands, and I chose death.”

  He was fretting over this; bothered that he’d made an irrational, emotional decision in the face of billions of years of careful actions in keeping with his convoluted morals and ethics. I, on the other hand, made these choices all the time — instinct over logic, throwing my future into the care of luck and fate. I knew it was a big deal to him, a life–changing moment, but to me it was business as usual.

  “Next time you can kill me,” I teased. “Don’t worry, you’ll get another chance to lop my head off.”

  In a flash I was off the bed, pinned against a wall. This was getting to be a habit with him. Any moment I expected him to start bashing me against the off–white plaster, but, instead, he gathered me in his arms, crushing the breath from my lungs.

  “Stop it. I know there will be a next time, and I don’t want to contemplate it.” Pulling back, he looked down at me. “No more devouring, little Cockroach. No more. Let this future be a million years away, not next week.”

  I nodded, wincing as my head throbbed with the motion. “Will you heal me?” I could easily fix myself, but I wanted him to do it, to reestablish our connection after the dramatic events on the mountain.

  A smile flitted across his face. “It will cost you a favor.”

  I hesitated. The loss of one soul for a kiss. It was a fair trade. “Done.”

  I released the soul he named, as he dipped his head and put his mouth on mine. The warm humming of his healing poured into me, and I held still, letting him determine the extent of physical sensation. My head now back to its usual pain–free state, I expected him to pull away and break contact, but, instead, he deepened the kiss, pressing me against the wall with his body and extending his spirit being to caress mine. I struggled to hold back, wanting to run my tongue around the inside of his mouth, to brush against the pointed, jagged teeth and the sharp hot needles in the tip of his tongue. I wanted so much more, but I held back. This was forbidden territory for him, and I knew it had to happen at his pace. We had time, a whole eternity to move this forward. I could practice a little patience for once in my life and let things progress as they may.

  By the time he pulled away, I was struggling to breathe. He seemed completely unaffected, but I knew better. His spirit self still stroked mine, and I could feel his need. We stood there, silent, for a few minutes, savoring the closeness and connection before returning to the business at hand.

  “He was dying,” I told Gregory as he reluctantly stepped away from me and turned to sort through some papers on a desk. “Raim. There were huge parts of him missing. Even if he did get back to Hel, he didn’t have long.”

  I don’t know why I didn’t tell him about the silver collar, the restraint marks on the other demons that hadn’t been on the dead angel. Did it have something to do with Raim’s injuries? Or was he just a devouring spirit and the collar was completely unrelated?

  “Even so, he could have done enormous damage before his demise. Were you aware of what he’d done to the area surrounding us? He could have destroyed entire planets in the time he had left.”

  I’d been aware. In some tiny part of myself, I’d been aware. I just hadn’t cared. Hadn’t cared about anything.

  Gregory looked up at me and shook his head. “What happened up there, little Cockroach? You were gone, ready to devour all of creation, but you stopped.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. It was the strangest sensation. I was completely beyond any emotional response. I don’t know what made me turn back.”

  He was still regarding me with a speculative look. “You could have just dumped all that raw energy and random particles all over the place, but you didn’t. You rebuilt the entire ridge and ice field, right down to the molecule. You even repaired the rent in the atmosphere to a detail. Very precise, very careful work.”

  It was strange. I hadn’t even known I could create on that scale, with that level of detail. And I’d done it all automatically, without any conscious thought.

  “I’d love to be the hero here, but I honestly didn’t have any burning desire to save the planet. I don’t even recycle. It was like I was on auto–pilot or something.”

  Condense, release. Condense, release. Like the beat of a heart.

  “Why?” he pressed, his eyes locked on mine. “You’re a devouring spirit. Why would you restore that ruined landscape?”

  I squirmed, not wanting to explore the answer to that particular question any further. “How could I allow a ridge named Devil’s Paw to be destroyed? Total sacrilege. It would be like defiling my own temple. Besides, who the fuck knows where else you’d put that gate to Hel. Probably the moon or something.”

  He didn’t look convinced, but thankfully he switched the topic. “You’ve killed the devouring spirit, repaired the major damage he’d done.”

  And now I’m going to Disneyland?

  “And now you need to finish those four–nine–five reports.”

  My heart sank. Stupid fucking reports. I’d rather go to Disneyland.

  “How did you get me the extension?” I wasn’t sure I’d like the answer.

  “I told the other members of the Ruling Council that I had some pressing business and would not have the time to punish you properly. They agreed, but insisted that the punishment be twice as long if you did not have the reports completed by the time I came to collect them.”

  Fuc
k. No, I really didn’t like that answer. “And when are you coming to collect them,” I asked, a feeling of dread lodged in my middle.

  He smiled, his eyes dancing with anticipation. “Seventy–two hours. Which should be plenty of time.”

  For an angel, maybe. For an imp, no. I sighed, realizing I’d probably be spending nearly three days holed up in Aaru. Wyatt, hot wings, horseback rides would all have to wait.

  He turned back to the desk. “I have your plane tickets. Hopefully you can enjoy yourself in Juneau today without turning the place on its head since the first flight I could get you was tomorrow morning. That plane will take you to Seattle, and you’ll have a direct flight from there to Baltimore.”

  I frowned. “You’re not coming with me?”

  “No, I have some personal, private things to do right now.”

  What was it with the personal, private things all of a sudden? What the fuck was he so busy with?

  “I booked you first class as a hopeful bribe that you won’t get into too much trouble. Can you please try to not blow anything up, or cause a riot on the plane, or get arrested by airport security as a belligerent suspected terrorist? Or anything similar to that?”

  I stared at him blankly, and he sighed at the futility of it all. “Okay, but I’m going to be too busy to swoop in and rescue you, so if you wind up in Guantanamo Bay or incinerated in a plane crash, you’ll have to call Wyatt.”

  He paused and rifled awkwardly through the travel itinerary, obviously not wanting to meet my eyes. “I will see you soon. Get those reports done, and try to stay out of trouble.” Not turning around to look at me or even say goodbye, he gated away.

  I changed out of the ridiculously huge polo shirt and into more suitable clothing then went downstairs. Gina was in the dining room, setting the green, milk–glass settings on the lace tablecloth.

  “I’ll grab you some food from breakfast. You must be starving.” she glanced up at me before darting off to, what I assumed, was the kitchen.

  My stomach growled in response and I collapsed into the nearest chair.

  “How long was I gone? It’s late morning, I assume?” I asked as she came back in, arms laden with trays of meats and cheeses.

  “You left yesterday morning and came back early this morning.” She put a tray of food in front of me and sat in the chair to my left, scooting it close. “I wasn’t sure what to think when that angel came banging through the front door with you half naked in his arms.”

  I nodded. “Thought he killed me, huh?” I mumbled, my mouth full of food.

  The werewolf leaned toward me. “No, it was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Like something on the cover of those novels Ahia is always reading.”

  I stared at her, food momentarily forgotten.

  “I never thought I’d see the day. Never. I grew up in LA and have seen plenty of demons meet their end. I never thought I’d see an angel come through my door cradling one like she was the love of his life.”

  I cleared my throat, my mouth suddenly very dry. “It’s weird, this thing we have between us.”

  Weird was a gross understatement. He was a total asshole, but he protected me, lied for me. He’d gone against his tightly held ethical principles for me. He should have killed me on that mountaintop, but he couldn’t do it. He shouldn’t be kissing me, but he had. Twice.

  Gina watched me intently. “He’s no lightweight. I thought it was just a random enforcer here, but he’s one of the Ruling Council, one of the archangels. His opinion carries great weight.”

  I nodded. “I’m on the Ruling Council too. I represent the demons in the governance of …stuff.” I wasn’t sure how to describe what we did. Fuck, I didn’t even understand what we did. Meetings, stacks of paperwork, debates over stupid finer points of nonsense.

  “How do you weigh in on the werewolves? On the existence contract? Are you of the opinion we’re Nephilim?”

  This wolf didn’t beat around the bush. She pushed a plate of salmon toward me, and I helped myself. As a demon, I was happy to take any bribes this lobbyist wanted to present me with.

  “I’m the Iblis. I present the opposing viewpoint and shake things up. That’s my role as the Adversary on the Council. What I say or how I feel has no impact on the outcome. There’s one of me, and six of them.”

  She nudged the slabs of applewood smoked bacon toward me. They were thick–cut and crispy, just how I liked them.

  “But you have a powerful angel at your feet. That’s two. And some people’s two is bigger than other people’s five.”

  I understood what she meant, but I wasn’t sure Gregory would support me in this. His bending the rules might only extend to his direct dealings with me. He’d not had any compunction about opposing me on other issues.

  “I think you’re underestimating the forces at play in Aaru. It’s a hotbed of Machiavellian intrigue.” I snorted. “They call us demons. You should see the backstabbing that goes on in that place.”

  “But you. Can we count on your support? When issues come up affecting the werewolves, will you stand by our side?”

  I hesitated. A vow was binding, and that was the direction she was clearly heading with this. Even so, I counted Candy as one of my best friends. She was devious, sneaky, and a brilliant planner. I’d do just about anything for that wolf. Still…

  “I can only vow to follow my own inclinations,” I told her cautiously. “In the past, I have acted in support of the werewolf race, and there are many things in heaven I don’t agree with. If I feel strongly about an issue regarding your kind, I won’t hesitate to act on it. I can’t give you any further promises than that.”

  She sighed, swapping out the empty plate of salmon with one stacked high with thinly sliced duck. “I left LA twenty years ago. I’d been petitioning to move to Montana for ten years, and realized my request would never be granted. The city is no place for a wolf. I was going crazy. I wasn’t able to bond with my pack; I had no peace in my heart. I didn’t belong there.”

  “You’re illegal,” I said softly. She nodded, brushing a quick hand over one eye.

  “I couldn’t go to the pack in Montana that I’d wanted to join. That’s the first place the angels would have looked. So I came here and hid in the parklands north of Anchorage for a few years, before making my way down to the southern coastline.”

  She drew a deep, shaky breath, and I resisted the urge to put my hand on top of hers. “You were a lone wolf?”

  “Yes. It’s not a good thing — especially for us females. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I made my presence known to the local pack. They nearly killed me. It wasn’t just that I was a stray wolf, an outsider in their territory; it was the risk I brought to the pack. There are many here living off the radar, so to speak. If the angels came looking for me, a runaway, the whole pack would be in danger.”

  They were right. And as ruthless as it sounded, the good of the pack would outweigh the needs of one lone wolf, a stranger to them.

  Gina looked up, a lopsided smile on her face. “A fifteen–year–old girl saved me. Can you believe it? She came forward and asked them to let me live, to bring me into the pack, and they did.”

  I stared at her, confused. Why would the pack jeopardize their entire group on the whim of a teenager? What sort of governance was that?

  Gina’s smile grew broader. “And, someday, if we’re not cleansed from the face of the earth, you’ll learn the secrets we keep.”

  With that, she stood up, collected the empty plates and vanished into the kitchen.

  ~25~

  I left the inn and headed toward the waterfront, relishing the warm sun that shone on Juneau. The pockets of wild gates danced like prisms and the air shimmered. It was perfect. We’d won, defeated the murderer before he could cause damage on a massive scale. I’d recreated the stretch of ice field and coastal mountain range he’d destroyed, and it was a rare sunny day. But I still couldn’t get the thought of that shining silver collar out of my mind.


  “Hi babe.” Wyatt’s voice was a welcome sound through my phone. “I was getting worried.”

  “Sorry. It took us a while to get to the gate, then I passed out after the battle and didn’t wake up until this morning.”

  “So? Bad guy dead, I take it, and you heading home soon?”

  Bad guy. I frowned. Raim had been an arrogant jerk, but I still couldn’t quite slap the label of bad guy on him. Behind all his nasty bravado, he’d seemed rather sympathetic, which was a ridiculous train of thought. He’d admitted to devouring demons. He’d devoured an angel. He’d eaten chunks of land in Seattle and by the seaplane base and destroyed miles of Alaska. He’d attacked both Gregory and I twice, with intent to kill. He was a bad guy. So why did I feel so guilty?

  “My flight heads out in the morning.” I hesitated, but of everyone I knew, Wyatt surely would understand. “I don’t feel right about this, Wyatt. He admitted that he killed all those demons, wasn’t at all remorseful about it. He admitted to killing the angel. He attacked us on the mountainside, was attempting to devour Gregory. If I hadn’t killed him …well, he’d already destroyed miles of land. I think half the continent would have been lost before he died.”

  Wyatt’s voice was soft and sympathetic. “Sounds like a bad guy to me. You did the right thing, Sam. If you hadn’t killed him, so many more innocent people would have died.”

  He was right, but it still didn’t sit well in my gut.

  “Raim was injured, Wyatt. Mortally wounded, and I can’t figure out why.”

  “Maybe the gate guardian in Seattle?” he suggested. “You said he went back and tried again to get through the gate. He looks pretty beat up in the airport video, and it looks recent, like he didn’t have a chance to fix himself.”

  “He couldn’t fix himself. It wasn’t just injuries to his physical form, he was dying. Whatever happened to him seriously damaged his spirit self. He couldn’t store energy, couldn’t repair his form. When we caught up to him on the mountain, he was beginning to dissolve. He didn’t have more than a few hours left before he would have come apart and died.”