by Jack Porter
19
The tumbling didn’t stop there. The nuggety little demon had momentum behind it, and it didn’t stop. Just a few minutes earlier, I’d been afraid of missing my target and falling thirty stories straight down.
It seemed I was going to have that experience thrust upon me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I tore at the smaller demon’s arms, wings, and back as we sailed over the edge. I cursed it out loud, and asked Azrael an angry question. “What the fuck is this thing?” I yelled as I tumbled through the air.
“Soldier demon,” Azrael almost sneered as he responded. “Not particularly powerful in many ways, but they have their uses. And they are tough in a fight.”
“No fucking kidding!” I said as I pounded the rabid beast in the face with my fists.
“If I were you, I’d start to use my wings about now,” Azrael offered.
Oh, yeah. Right. The two of us were plummeting toward the ground at a frightening speed, and while I didn’t really expect the impact to injure me, it would likely still hurt, and I could do without that sort of distraction just then.
So I kicked out with everything I had, dislodging the soldier demon with such force that it sailed away from me, and unfurled my wings just in time. Instead of crashing into the pavement, I beat my wings once, twice, and again, and then I was soaring back into the night.
But I wasn’t the only one with wings. The soldier demon had them as well, and used them to arrest its momentum and hurl itself after me like a Greyhound after a rabbit.
And it was quick!
The damnable creature latched onto one of my legs, and I turned in midflight to pound its face with my fists. But it was like punching a boulder, and I knew that I was losing this midair battle. Not because the soldier demon was more powerful than me, but because it simply didn’t care what I did to it, and its own lightning-fast efforts were having an impact.
The soldier demon raked at me with its claws and teeth. If my demon body hadn’t been so tough, they would have been more successful, but even as it was, the loathsome creature was starting to be more than a little irritating.
“I liked you a lot better as a dog,” I snarled as I flapped ungracefully through the sky, doing my best to grab hold of one of limbs so I could try to rip it off. “And I really didn’t like you as a dog,” I finished. The soldier demon had swarmed its way up my body, and I managed to catch it by its thick, muscular wrists. It didn’t seem to like that very much, and twisted and jerked about in a frenzy, all the while uttering a chattering noise that really got under my skin.
It’s foul, sulfur-stinking maw was close to my face. So, I dragged it closer still, and headbutted it straight in the face.
The chattering took on an expression of rage, but otherwise it appeared completely unhurt. Instead of continuing to try to escape, the squat little demon hurled all his strength at me, its slathering jaws snapping open and closed as it tried to bite off my face.
I was getting tired of this foul creature’s antics but couldn’t seem to deal it a decisive blow.
“How do I kill this fucking thing?” I demanded, noting as I did that we were once again high in the air, above Bianca’s penthouse.
“With difficulty,” came Azrael sardonic reply. “I would suggest removing its head from its body.”
Easier said than done, I thought, as the livewire creature worked its way around to my back and started to tear at my wings. I spun about, doing my best to dislodge it, but the creature was latched on like a limpet. I tried to reach around, tried to grab it, but it was hanging on where my wing attached to my shoulders.
“You fucking little prick!” I yelled at it, and changed tactic. I flapped hard, gaining additional height, then reversed my direction and hurled myself at the roof of the building I’d been on just a few minutes before. I aimed for one of the huge metal air conditioning units, and at the last moment, I turned around and smashed into it backward, doing my level best to crush the revenant beast in amongst a wreckage of metal.
I had the satisfaction of hearing the monster squeal, but it was tougher than tungsten. Already, it was kicking and scrabbling at me, trying to dig itself free, and I had no choice but to relent.
I hurled myself away from the wreckage I had made of the air conditioning unit, and watched with some disappointment as the soldier demon righted itself just after, and stood facing me on all fours, a growl of anger replacing the ongoing chattering noises.
Credit where it’s due, this demon was damned tough. The damage done to the air-conditioning unit was complete. It was no more than a mangled mass of metal, and I pitied the tech who would likely be called in the morning to see what was wrong.
“There has to be some way to kill this thing,” I grumbled out loud.
“You’re just not trying hard enough,” Azrael said. At the same time, my companion didn’t seem overly worried. It was as if he had more trust in this demonic form than I did.
Nor, really, was that trust misplaced. But there was a limit to how long I could wear this demon form. What would I do if I had failed to take care of the soldier demon when that limit was reached?
Sure, I was durable and strong as a human as well, but nothing like this.
The soldier demon would be able to tear me to pieces.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, determined to not let that happen. As the soldier demon launched itself at me once again, I would have given much for a crowbar, or any length of hard steel I could use to bat it out of the park. But there was little to use from the rooftop, and I didn’t have time to duck down to the street and pick up a handy streetlamp for the purpose. Instead, I drew back one of my fists, and using every last ounce of coordination and strength Azrael had given me in this demonic body, I swung that fist like a club, aiming to connect with the soldier demon’s face as it launched itself through the air.
It was the hardest I’d ever hit anything in my life. My whole massive demonic arm went numb from the shock of the impact, and I felt the vibration of it shudder right through me.
The soldier demon let out a yelp like a dog that had been hit by a car, and sailed away into the night. Yet even then, it wasn’t finished. It caught itself maybe a hundred yards away, opening its wings and arresting its momentum once more. And then, to my utter surprise, it came back, hurling itself toward me again, its jaw obviously broken, but no less enthusiastic for that.
But I was done playing nice. I knew what I had to do to beat this monster now, and I wasn’t going to hold back. My fist was clenched and ready again, and my feet were set on the roof. And I let all the rage and hate show on my face as the monster approached.
But at the last possible moment, caution or fear got the best of my opponent. Instead of hurling itself at my fist once again and chancing the outcome, the soldier demon swerved.
I’d already started my swing, and such was the effort put into it, I couldn’t stop. But I was quick enough to change that swing into something else.
As the little monster broke hard and tried to avoid me, I used the momentum in my swing to fling myself after. This time, instead of the soldier demon latching itself onto me, it was me latching myself onto it.
I caught it by one of its stunted back legs and reached out with my free hand to grasp one of its wings. Together, we crashed to the roof of the building, and I knew this fight was done.
The soldier demon seemed to disagree. It scrabbled about, doing its best to dislodge my grip and tear me to pieces at the same time, but I held onto it grimly. And then I picked it up, carried it bodily over to the ruined chunk of metal that had once been a functioning air-conditioning unit, and repeated the technique that had worked so well against the Agent.
I lifted the soldier demon high in the air and slammed it into the wreckage, taking care to aim for all the sharp edges I could find.
“I’ve had enough!” I shouted as I dumped it into the metal. “You are done!” I yelled, smashing it once again. “That you would even
dare!” Smash! “Go!” Smash!
I tried to articulate my rage, but it just came out as random words and half-threats. Yet I kept smashing the creature against the twisted mass of metal, enjoying the yelps and its attempts to scramble to get away. In the end, I didn’t even try to remain coherent, and devolved into the same sort of snarling and snapping that the soldier demon seemed to favor.
After long minutes, the soldier demon was broken. Dead. A sack of broken bits held together by nothing but flesh.
I looked at the broken mass in my fists and gave a satisfied nod. “That’ll teach you to fight with me!” I thought about casting it away, thought about trying to do as Azrael said and rip off its head. Instead, I figured I would keep it as a gift.
“How much time do we have?” I asked Azrael.
“Not long,” he replied. “But enough.”
That was all I needed to hear, and launched myself into the night sky once again.
This time, the traverse between buildings was simpler. Two flaps of my wings, and then I just glided down, not to the car, but to the balcony, which had been all but inaccessible to my human, wingless self.
I thought I would have to beat my way through the glass doors to regain my entrance, but to my surprise Bianca Gambetti had kept them open.
It seemed she was waiting for me. Standing in the entryway as if she had nothing to fear.
As well she might.
I landed in front of her without any attempt at grace, and dumped the broken mass of the soldier demon at her feet.
“Care to reconsider?” I asked her, my demon wrapping the simple question in all sorts of threats.
Bianca Gambetti was completely unfazed.
She shook her head. “Max, Brutus,” she said, and for the life of me, I had no idea what she was saying. Then two more Irish Wolfhounds appeared from somewhere within the penthouse and stood side-by-side, growling in my direction.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I said, and Bianca actually smiled.
“Yes,” she said. “Fido here is not my only demonic asset. Max and Brutus are soldier demons as well, and are at least as strong as Fido. Would you like to see them in action?”
I snarled at her, but didn’t say anything.
She nodded as if I had answered anyway. “Thought not. You see, there’s something you don’t seem to understand. The incubus you have bonded with is powerful. There can be no doubt. But he is also limited, and will never be what he was. So, you have a choice. You can leave now, or you can continue, and see if you are up to facing more than one soldier demon at once. And remember, it won’t take all that long for me to resurrect poor Fido as well.”
The formidable woman caught my expression of surprise. “You didn’t know? What did you think happens to demons when they are killed?”
But she didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she continued to speak. “The choice is yours. Leave now, or we will see exactly how limited your incubus is.”
I wanted to fling myself at her, to see if I could batter my way through whatever demonic protection she wore, soldier demons be damned. I knew I could handle them as well, at least one at a time.
But caution got the best of me, and something she said was eating at my mind. What did she mean, ‘limited?’
I shot the question at Azrael in silence, and could tell he didn’t want to answer. And all at once, that became far more important than a confrontation I wasn’t sure I could win.
I wanted to spit venom at this woman. Wanted to wade through the mansion, remodeling it into a style known as ‘ruins’ as I went. Instead, I did my best to muster a smile.
“You should have accepted my offer,” I said. “Because either way, at the end of this, you’re going to end up fucked.”
With that, I stalked back through her house as if I had a right to, and gathered up my ruined pants. I didn’t care about the pants themselves, but I did want to keep my phone and car keys. Then, with the Wolfhounds watching my every move, I returned to the entryway and launched myself into the sky.
I knew that this wasn’t a victory. It wasn’t quite a defeat either, but it certainly didn’t match how I had intended the night to go.
20
I flapped my wings twice to gain elevation and to put a little distance between me and Bianca Gambetti’s penthouse apartment. From where I ended up, I could see my black car parked just where I’d left it. I tilted my wings to an angle and let gravity do the rest of the work.
I was irritated. Disappointed that things hadn’t gone my way, and a little angry as well. I wasn’t keen on leaving things half done at the best of times, and knew full well that this thing between me and Bianca Gambetti wasn’t finished.
She was still my key to getting the BDA off my back. I needed the power and the access that came with being the head of the Gambetti Syndicate.
But all I had really accomplished was announcing my intention.
Yet, as I glided towards my target like Batman, the future difficulties with Bianca Gambetti wasn’t the main thing on my mind.
“What did she mean, ‘limitations?’” I growled at Azrael. “Answer me,” I demanded, aware that he had been conspicuously silent on that question.
Azrael was bonded to me in every conceivable way. I was him, and he was me, two minds in the same body. But we were not equal. Azrael had all the power, all the advantages that came with being divine.
But I, by virtue of the runes I had carved into my torso and the rituals I had performed, was the boss.
He had to answer me even if he didn’t want to.
“I am diminished,” he said grudgingly.
“Yeah, yeah, I know that already. I just need to seduce half the world and you’ll be back to your best. Do I not?”
“Unfortunately, it isn’t as straightforward as that,” Azrael replied.
Azrael’s answer caught me off guard to the extent that I stopped paying attention. Instead of controlling my glide, I faltered just enough that I went into a stall and crashed the last half dozen floors to the ground.
I tried to recover, beating my wings at the last moment, but couldn’t regain control. I hit the concrete hard, face-first, with an audible splat.
I learned then that concrete was hard, and my demon form didn’t bounce.
For long seconds, I lay there, cataloguing my various aches. Even though nothing was broken–I was much too tough for that–it didn’t mean I was immune to pain.
Although, I thought as I let out a groan, perhaps I could be. That was one attribute I hadn’t really considered. Maybe I should throw a few points that way, when I could spare the minimal effort needed for it.
I pushed myself first to my hands and knees, then back to my feet, noting with satisfaction that I still gripped my ruined pants in my hand.
“You had better explain that last comment,” I growled at Azrael, not liking the sound of his words. At the same time, I transitioned back to my human form and walked the last few yards to my car, getting in behind the steering wheel.
“I’m waiting,” I added for good measure.
“What Bianca said was correct,” Azrael said. “I am limited. Even if you were to, as you suggest, seduce half the world, I would still not return to my full strength.”
“Why the fuck not?” I asked. At the same time, I was thinking about all my plans. I had thought until then that it was just a matter of time before Azrael became this legendary demon, and I could use his power to stride across the whole world.
“You resurrected me from the greatest part of me that existed on this earth. The powdered remains of one of my horns,” he said.
I knew that already. “Get to the point,” I said.
“I told you that I once had the power to challenge Lucifer himself, did I not?” the demon asked in response. Apparently, he wanted to tell a story at his own pace.
“You did,” I said. “Get to the point!” I repeated.
“The point is that Lucifer took out an insurance policy, if you like, to ensure I w
ould never be able to come close to matching him again.”
I hadn’t started my car. Hadn’t done anything more than put the keys in the ignition. I just sat there, waiting for Azrael to drop the other shoe.
“Get. To. The. Point!” I said. “What insurance policy?”
“Demons don’t have true hearts. But we have something that does a similar job. It is an organ, a piece of our flesh that makes us who and what we are. Call it our core, for lack of a better term.”
Even then, I could sense Azrael’s unwillingness to continue, and felt an all-too-familiar sense of foreboding about what he was going to say. But, despite my repeated instructions, he once again lapsed into silence.
“Azrael, as your master, I am ordering you to get to the point!” I said. “Do it now!”
“Lucifer kept a part of my core for himself. He still has it.”
Azrael lapsed into silence. For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. What did he mean? What were the implications?
But this time, I didn’t have to ask him directly. Azrael hadn’t finished speaking.
“You resurrected an incomplete demon. You knew this, at least in part. It’s why you chose to bond with me, to give me your life so I could live once again. If you hadn’t, I would likely have expired within minutes of your resurrection attempt. Because Lucifer himself still possesses my core, or as much of it as he could take.” Azrael paused for a moment, then continued.
Out of a growing sense of frustration, and perhaps even outrage, I wanted to face Azrael directly. So I grabbed the rearview mirror and twisted it toward me, sneering at the too-handsome demon within the glass.
“Can you not just rebuild your core? Throw enough points at it?” I asked.
The demon in the mirror had the audacity to show a portion of contempt for my ignorance. As if it was my fault he was in that situation to begin with.
“It doesn’t work that way. I can enhance YOUR body, and those of our conquests. But not my own.”
I glared at him. I was unaccountably angry. As if I had been sold a bit of a lemon. Azrael looked all right from the outside. He seemed to have everything I could possibly need. And yet, when you popped the hood… that perception of perfection faded into oblivion.
