God of Malice

by J. C. Diem

  “Why don’t you just kill him?” the girl with the black hair and the handgun asked.

  “That is beyond my capabilities,” he replied simply. “I overheard two faeries talking a short while ago. They said that only an undead creature has the power to destroy their leader.”

  The blond and black-haired girl looked at the brunette, who grimaced for some strange reason. “What sort of undead creature can kill him?” she asked in an aggrieved tone. “Ghoul, zombie, vampire, something else we’ve never heard of?”

  “I do not think it matters what type of undead creature it is,” he said. “I saw a news report of what appeared to be a badly burned vampire in New York. Since she appears to be the only walking corpse on this world, I suggest you locate her and engage her help.” Hearing the crowd of angry faeries drawing near, he turned towards the door. “Good luck, angels,” he said with a wink and used his magic to rapidly sprint away.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ~~~ Alpha World ~~~

  LEFT ALONE IN THE NEW apartment, Bianca searched the bedroom for clothes, but a lone man seemed to have lived here. The only item of female clothing she discovered in the closet was a thin, silky black robe. Her face flamed bright red at the thought of wearing it in front of Loki.

  She felt strangely lonely and whittled away the hours by watching TV. There was a recliner, or couch to choose from and she curled up on the couch. When it was time to sleep, she took a shower and changed into an oversized t-shirt.

  Sometime during the night, she woke to find Loki in bed beside her. He didn’t move away when she rolled over and pressed up against him. As usual, he wore boxer shorts and nothing else. Laying her head on his chest, she heard his heartbeat increase when she ran her fingertips from his chest down to his abdomen. In response, he stroked a hand down her back. A thrill of excitement filled her when his hand came to rest on her butt. Maybe he’d lied when he said he felt no sexual interest in her. Too afraid to make any further moves, she fell asleep with impossible hopes and desires swirling through her thoughts.

  She was alone when she woke up. Loki hadn’t thought to provide her with fresh clothing. The white dress was nice, but she couldn’t stand to wear it for another day. She raided the closet again and pulled on a pair of shorts that came down past her knees. They were far too loose, so she wrapped a belt around her waist to keep them up. The t-shirt was almost as long as the shorts. That was the price she had to pay for being so short. She shook her head at her reflection in the full-length bedroom mirror. “You look ridiculous,” she told herself. If Loki saw her in this, he’d probably laugh himself into a coma.

  After a quick breakfast, she tested the door to find it wasn’t locked with magic this time. Either it was an oversight, or Loki had deliberately left her with a way to escape. Their base had been located by soldiers twice now and it could easily happen again.

  Bianca took the elevator down to the ground floor. She checked that the street was empty before emerging from the building. A lone cat trotted past her with a cursory glance in her direction, then continued on with whatever it was doing. This section of the city had been cleared, so she hopefully wouldn’t be in danger of being captured.

  Memorizing the address of the apartment building, she did her best to hide in the shadows as she searched for a clothing store. After several blocks, she came across some expensive looking boutiques. The doors were unlocked and the stores were empty of customers and staff. She entered one of the stores and started searching through the racks of clothing. Without bothering to try on any of the dresses and underwear, she piled them over her arm and turned to find she wasn’t alone.

  A man in his early fifties was watching her from a few feet away. His stare was eerily devoid of emotion. Her eyes dropped to his hands and terror made her feel faint when she saw a bloody knife clutched in his right hand. For a few moments they stared at each other, then his upper lip drew back in a silent snarl and he lunged forward.

  Acting on instinct, Bianca leaped backwards and gasped in pain as he sliced her wrist open. Blood welled and stained some of the dresses as she tried to scurry around him. He caught her by the shoulder, spun her around and backhanded her. She tripped over her feet and went down. Her teeth clacked together and she almost bit the tip of her tongue off.

  The man took a step towards her, then halted. Feeling someone behind her, Bianca’s relief withered and died when she turned her head. It wasn’t Loki who had come to her rescue. It was a female in a tight black leather suit with a black mask hiding her upper face. They’d never met before, but she knew the woman was Fate.

  “This will not do,” Fate said as she took in the crazed male who had just attacked Bianca. “I suggest you leave immediately,” she said to him icily.

  “I’ll kill you!” he screamed in maniacal rage and flung himself at her.

  Catching him by the throat, Fate snatched the knife out of his hand and threw it at the wall. It sank in up to the hilt. Placing her hand on the man’s head, she delved into his thoughts and found that he was despicable and beyond redemption. Bianca wasn’t the first woman he’d attempted to kill. Five poor souls had died at his hands so far. He’d done unspeakable things to them before and after he’d taken their lives. “You are not fit to live on this world,” she said, sealing his doom.

  Bianca huddled on the floor and put her hands over her ears when the man began to scream in abject agony. She couldn’t tell what Fate was doing to him, but it was obviously painful. “What are you?” she asked in a frightened voice when the screams petered out and he finally expired.

  Dropping the corpse to the floor, Fate hunkered down beside the girl and examined her wound. “You could say that I am the opposite to Loki,” she replied enigmatically.

  “He’s the God of Mischief, so does that make you the Goddess of Order?”

  Fate smiled at the comparison. “I am not a Goddess,” she said, but she didn’t refute the rest of Bianca’s question.

  “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” Bianca said bleakly. “What have I done to deserve that?” She nodded at the rictus of pain on the dead man’s face.

  “You have done nothing to deserve such a destiny,” Fate said. “You are merely a tool.”

  Sitting still while the mysterious entity tore a strip off one of the dresses, a realization hit Bianca. “This isn’t about me at all, is it?” she said and Fate glanced at her sharply. “This is about Loki.”

  “You are astute, for a human,” Fate said with a wintry smile. “You are correct. Loki is my focus. You are the instrument that I am using to attempt to bring him to see reason.”

  Bianca laughed to hear that. “Boy, did you choose the wrong tool. I’m just a nobody.” She sounded forlorn even to herself.

  Wrapping the fabric around the girl’s wound, Fate tied it tightly, then put her finger beneath Bianca’s chin and tilted her face upwards.

  Bianca realized they were exactly the same size and shape. If they’d both had bare feet, she knew they would have been the same height. It was almost as if Fate was her twin. Only their hair and eyes differed.

  “You have already accomplished more than I’d ever hoped for,” Fate told her. “Loki was ready to allow me to drain his lifeforce before I told him that you were suffering greatly in the Viltaran cell.”

  “You were going to kill him?” The thought gave Bianca a surge of panic.

  “If he succeeds in his plans for domination, the entire universe will be adversely affected. It is my task to ensure that the balance between chaos and order is maintained.” She wasn’t allowed to kill Loki. She’d attempted to frighten him by draining his magic and it had worked, to some extent. Nearly losing Bianca had affected him even more deeply. She stared at the girl steadily, gauging her strength of will. “I require your assistance to achieve this.”

  “What can I do? I’m just a human.”

  “You must prove to him that even a being as ruthless and selfish as he is deserves to be loved.”

 
Bianca felt the weight of responsibility settle around her shoulders. It wasn’t the weight of just her world, but of all worlds. “If I can do this, will you let me live?”

  Fate’s strange eyes were chilling in their lack of emotion. It was impossible to tell what color they were behind her mask. “Perhaps,” she said at last. She didn’t sound particularly convincing.

  Bianca read between the lines and knew what she had to do. Faced with a burden she’d never asked for, but one she couldn’t walk away from, she nodded. “I’ll do what you ask.”

  Fate put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I expected no less.” With a small squeeze to show her support, she was gone.

  Discarding the dresses that had been stained with blood, Bianca stuffed the rest of the clothing into a bag. She didn’t bother to change her outfit. Her current clothes would be far less eye catching. She didn’t want to touch the bloodstained knife, but she also didn’t want to walk the streets unarmed. It took a lot of effort to pull the weapon free from the wall. A quick search at the back of the store found a bathroom. She rinsed the blood off the weapon and herself, then dried her hands and the knife with a hand towel.

  Armed and terrified, she made her way through the streets, stopping frequently to make sure she wasn’t being followed. At last, she entered the modest apartment building and took the elevator up to the fifth floor. She didn’t notice the robot that was trailing her from a distance.

  Loki was waiting for her when she stepped inside. His icy look of disapproval quickly changed to alarm when he saw the blood splattered clothes she was wearing and the makeshift bandage on her arm. “Foolish girl,” he chided her as she shut the door, then sank down to the ground in apparent exhaustion. He strode over, picked her up and deposited her on the worn couch. He took the knife away from her and set it on the coffee table. “What were you thinking, leaving the apartment without me?”

  “I was thinking that I didn’t want to wear this,” she said and gestured at her clothes.

  Loki’s lips twitched in brief amusement. The outfit was horrendous and he could see why she didn’t want to wear it any longer than was necessary. “Simply ask next time and I will procure suitable garments for you.”

  “Yes, oh Great Lord and Master,” she replied with only a hint of sarcasm.

  “How badly are you hurt?”

  “The cut stings, but I don’t think it’s very deep.”

  “Who attacked you? Does he still live?”

  His stare drilled into her and a lie formed. She couldn’t tell him the truth about who had saved her. If he knew she and Fate had banded together for a common cause, he would lose all trust in her. “He’s dead,” she said. “I pushed him away when he cut me and he fell and cracked his skull open.” Tears welled again and he pulled her into his arms.

  “Promise me that you will not leave this apartment without me again,” he said into her ear. His tone was almost seductive and an involuntary shiver worked its way down her spine.

  “I promise,” she said and pressed her lips against his cheek. Again, he was taken aback by her sign of affection. It saddened her to realize he wasn’t used to kindness from women. A wall of aloneness surrounded him and he was unwilling to allow anyone to breach it. Bianca knew she had to, or he would become lost. Eventually, he would become like the man who had just tried to kill her. While her world was already beyond help, she could still try to save the other planets that hadn’t yet been attacked. All she had to do was somehow gain the affection of a god.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  ~~~ Violet’s World ~~~

  FOLLOWING LOKI’S LEAD, Violet, Nat and Lexi took off before the mob of furious faeries could find them. Nat waited until they reached the dome before she spoke. “Is it just me, or have we somehow become Loki’s allies this time?” Again, they’d chosen a spot behind a house where their enemies couldn’t see what they were up to.

  “I wouldn’t say he counts us as his allies,” Lexi said with a frown while holding the container of blood for Violet. “I’m sure he’s just planning to use us to do his dirty work for him. Once this Nifirial guy is dead, he’ll turn on us.”

  “He has no idea you’re the crispy vampire he saw on TV,” Violet said to Nat. Her friend had finally healed completely and was back to her usual gorgeous self again.

  “Heh, he’ll get a hell of a shock if he learns the truth,” Nat agreed. “He thinks we’re all angels.”

  His erroneous assumption even made Lexi smile a little. He had no idea two of them were unholy monsters. If her inner vampire had been stronger in this dimension, she might have been able to kill the leader of the fae army herself. That task was going to be Nat’s, much to her envy.

  Finishing off the rune, Violet activated it and they stepped through to the other side of the dome. They waited for the doorway to dissipate to make sure the shamans didn’t discover it, then Violet whisked them back to her friends. Nathan immediately drew her into his arms, relieved to see her whole and unharmed.

  “What happened?” Elijah asked. All three women seemed excited. Nat’s swords were dripping with purple blood, which meant they’d clashed with the Grimgorg.

  “Let’s head back to our base and we’ll fill you in,” Violet said. Leo did the honors and teleported them home.

  Sophia made tea, coffee and sandwiches for those who were hungry. Nat took a short break to clean her swords. Lexi went upstairs to freshen up and to grab her backpack. Returning downstairs, she took her Berretta apart at lightning speed to clean it. She’d brought a cleaning kit along just in case. Her father had taught her how to shoot and how to take care of her weapons. It was automatic to clean them after each use.

  “How did you do that so fast?” Sam asked in fascination.

  “I’m a hybrid between a werewolf and a vampire,” she reminded him. “I have inhuman speed.”

  “So do I,” Nat boasted. “I bet I could take your gun apart just as fast if you showed me how.”

  Accepting the challenge, Lexi took her sniper rifle out. It was already in several pieces, but it was slightly more complicated to put together than her Berretta. Moving at a normal pace, she showed Nat how it went together, then handed it to her.

  “Piece of cake,” Nat said confidently. One of her many talents was picking up new techniques rapidly. She only needed to be shown something once to memorize it forever. Sadly, this only seemed to apply when it came to killing things.

  With everyone’s eyes on her, she went to work. Reversing the actions Lexi had shown her, she dismantled the rifle, then reassembled it in the space of a few moments. From the way Lexi’s eyes were bulging, she’d proven she was the fastest of them all.

  “Holy crap,” Violet said in admiration, ignoring the disapproving frown from Sophia at her language. “That was awesome!”

  “I know,” Nat replied without a shred of modesty. “Fate made sure I was an ultimate weapon. She might actually have gone a bit overboard.” Sam and Leo sniggered, just as she’d known they would.

  Picking up her rifle, Lexi checked it to see it had been assembled perfectly. Taking it apart again, she took the opportunity to clean it as well. Even weapons that weren’t used as often needed to be maintained.

  “Fill us in on what happened in Shale Falls,” Reynolds said, then pulled a plate of sandwiches over and started eating.

  In between bites of her sandwich, Violet explained their interaction with the lone faery, six Grimgorg and Loki. “Nat is apparently the only one who can kill Nifirial,” she finished up.

  They all turned to Nat, who wore a sour expression. She knew how Fate worked by now and this surely meant something horrible was going to happen to her again. “Why does it always have to be me?” she said forlornly.

  “Because Fate made sure you’re the ultimate weapon,” Lexi said in a wry tone. “You have abilities the rest of us don’t.”

  Scowling at having her words thrown back at her, Nat crossed her arms. “You’re part vampire. Why can’t you kill the faery?”<
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  “I’ve already faced one on my world,” she replied. “It’s your turn this time.”

  “So,” Reynolds said before the girls could begin squabbling, “Natalie will target the faery leader and take him out. From what you said about their reaction to one of their kin dying, losing him should cause some turmoil.”

  “Nifirial might have to be killed by Nat, but the other faeries can be killed by anyone,” Violet pointed out. “There’s doesn’t seem to be many of them, so we might be able to whittle them down.”

  “From what you’ve told us, King Rho is a coward,” Reynolds mused. “We need to find a way to frighten him off. If he runs and takes his shamans with him, the faeries might leave as well.”

  “While the three of us are strong and fast,” Violet said, indicating herself and her fellow warriors, “I don’t think we’re enough to scare away tens of thousands of Grimgorg.”

  “It’s a pity you don’t have any monsters on this world,” Nat said, then her eyes widened as something occurred to her. “Hang on, I’ve just thought of something.”

  “I hope you did not strain yourself too badly,” Brie muttered. Leo giggled, then sent the vampire an ashamed look when she glared at them both.

  “What is it?” Lexi asked. They needed all the help they could get and they were grasping at straws by now.

  “How many imps have left hell?” Nat queried.

  Her question threw everyone at first. Sam was the first to realize the implications. His smile grew into a grin. “Several thousand of my former kin have entered Earth. Most are still in their hideous forms.” Only a small fraction had managed to redeem themselves so far and had returned to their human guises.

  “You’re brilliant, Methuselah,” Violet said with a fierce grin.

  Knowing the teen was joking, Nat didn’t take offense to the nickname this time. “I have my moments,” she said in false modesty. “The good thing about being old is that I have more wisdom than you youngsters.”