Devil's Descent (Luther Cross Book 2)

by Percival Constantine

  The door opened and she accepted his hand to help her out of the car. Raziel climbed out his door without assistance and straightened his tie. A trio of young men leaned against the front window of a liquor store, and they whistled when they saw the car and Celeste.

  “Hey, baby, you want me to take you for a ride?” asked one of them as they started to approach.

  Once they were within reach, Hem grabbed one of them, wrapping his hand around the man’s throat. The yeti flipped him onto the hood of the car and kept him pinned there. The other two shouted protests, but Hem stared at them and growled, his saber-like incisors descending from his gums.

  They quickly spun around and ran down the street in a panic. Hem turned his attention to the guy pinned on the hood. He leaned close and let loose a guttural growl inches from the man’s ears.

  Hem rose back up, staring at the man through his sunglasses. “You will apologize to the lady.” He pulled him off the hood and held him in front of Celeste.

  “I-I’m sorry, lady! Just get this freak show away from me!”

  “Put him down, Hem. I think he’s learned his lesson,” said Celeste.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to tear his face off for insulting you?”

  “You’re such a gentleman.” Celeste chuckled. “And as entertaining as that would be, might as well let him go. We’ve got more important things to do.”

  Hem nodded and dropped the man on the sidewalk. Before he even stood, he’d already turned and started scurrying away, tripping as he tried to rise to his feet and knocking into a parking meter.

  “Come on.” Celeste walked up to a bar on the corner. It had no sign on the outside, not even one indicating that it was open. Raziel and Hem followed her inside.

  Just past the door was a bouncer with a full beard and shaggy hair. He rose from his stool, almost as tall as Hem and just as broad, his muscles nearly bursting from the black T-shirt he wore. He sniffed and then scowled at Celeste, his canines descending.

  “Vampire bitch. What makes you think you can come in here?”

  Hem took a step forward to confront the bouncer, but Celeste held up her hand. “It’s okay, I got this.” She walked up to the bouncer, staring up at him, a look of intensity in her eyes. “I’d like to have a word with Odysseus Black.”

  “An’ what makes you think Mr. Black wants anything to do with you?”

  “Tell him Celeste King wants to talk to him about his friends. The ones she ran into at the Hyatt Regency.”

  “That supposed to mean somethin’ to me?”

  “To you? Not at all. But it will mean something to him.” Celeste waved him off. “Now run along, dog-breath. Or I’ll have my yeti show you what he does to lycan skulls.”

  The bouncer growled. “Wait here.” He turned and walked off towards the back, disappearing through a door.

  Celeste folded her arms across her chest and looked around the bar. There were a few tables along the walls, and the lights were dim. The clientele all stared at the three intruders, but none of them seemed willing to do anything more than glare. Smoke filled the air—seemed Odysseus didn’t care about the city ordinances. And no one would be dumb enough to challenge him on it.

  “Is antagonism wise?” asked Raziel.

  “You’re in my world now, halo. The only thing these creeps respond to is strength,” said Celeste. She met the gaze of everyone glaring at her and they faltered under her stare. They all knew what she was, and once they had heard the name Celeste King, they knew better than to screw with her. The presence of a shaved yeti standing by her side in a suit certainly helped.

  The bouncer returned from the back a few minutes later and he resumed his position on the stool. With a jerk of his head, he gestured to the door he came from. “Mr. Black will see you.”

  Celeste didn’t bother with a thanks, just started walking towards the door. When they stopped in front of it, she looked at Raziel before going through. “Like I told you, Black and I have history. So just let me do the talking, okay?”

  “As you said, I’m in your world now.”

  “Good answer. Think I’m starting to like you, halo.” She opened the door and walked through, both Raziel and Hem standing right behind her.

  There were two men standing across from the door, each occupying a corner of the office. Her sense of smell told her they were lycans, and they both bared their teeth at her, but made no other movement. Celeste did a quick scan of the room and saw bookshelves against each wall, filled with ancient grimoires.

  In the center of the room was a large desk with a skull sitting at one end. And seated behind the desk was a man in a burgundy suit, a cigar held between his lips. His skin was dark and his black beard had a streak of gray at his chin, his head shaved bald. Ring-adorned fingers removed the cigar from his mouth, and he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

  “My, my, my,” he said with a chuckle. “Celeste King. Now, you’re the last person I ever expected to see down here.”

  “Odysseus,” said Celeste. “It’s been a while.”

  “I recognize Hem over there. How you doin’, big guy?”

  Hem grunted.

  “Still a man of few words.” Odysseus’ eyes traveled to Raziel, scanning him up and down. “Now, what do we have here?”

  “He’s with me; that’s all you need to know,” said Celeste. “I wanted to talk about the pack you sent to kill me.”

  Odysseus shook his head. “I did no such thing. They were just there to ask you some questions. That’s all.”

  “Well, they’re dead, so you can ask me yourself,” said Celeste. “Or better yet, I can ask you—why are you looking for Cross?”

  Odysseus shrugged. “Sonnuva bitch owes me money. I was just tryin’ to collect. But from what I understand, he’s not exactly in a cell service area, is he?”

  “You know,” said Raziel, stepping forward. “Who sent you?”

  Celeste blocked his path, turning to glare at him. “I told you to be quiet.”

  “Now, now. Why can’t the man have his say?” asked Odysseus. “Raziel, isn’t it? I’ve heard about you.”

  “If you know who I am, then you know why I’m here,” said Raziel. “The angel who hired you. I want his name.”

  “Raz, shut up!” spat Celeste.

  “No time for games,” said Raziel.

  “Suppose not,” said Odysseus. “Go on, flyboy. Let’s see what you got.”

  Raziel held out his hand, his eyes flashing with bright blue energy. Soulfire pooled in his hand, beginning to take the shape of a sword, the blade surrounded by azure flames. He raised his arm, pointing the sword right at Odysseus’ head.

  But the sorcerer didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. He just kept a bored look on his face and rolled his eyes.

  “By the order of Heaven, I command you to tell me who hired you,” said Raziel.

  “Oh, shit…” muttered Celeste. “This isn’t gonna end well.”

  “I’d listen to the vamp if I were you, wings,” said Odysseus. “Trust me, you won’t like how this ends.”

  “You tell me what I came here to learn and this ends peacefully,” said Raziel.

  “Yeah…about that.” Odysseus raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A crimson glow suddenly appeared on the ceiling. The three looked up and saw a series of sigils up there, with Enochian script.

  Something about the sigils provoked fear in Raziel’s face. He looked down at his sword and saw that the soulfire was beginning to recede. “No…”

  Odysseus pointed at the ceiling. “Up there? That’s one hundred percent Grade A angel-proofing.” He laughed as he puffed on his cigar a few times. “You just fucked with the wrong sorcerer, choir boy.”

  19

  Tessa sat with her legs folded on the roof of an old store, resting in the middle of a sigil burned into the surface, courtesy of Asmodeus’ hellfire. Her eyes were shut and her face had a look of concentration on it, her hands resting on her thighs, palms facing upwards. Cain leaned against th
e rooftop entrance to the store, his arms folded over his chest as he kept a watchful eye on her.

  Occasionally, he would leave his post and walk to the edge of the roof, doing a quick recon of the street below and the sky above. After they had defeated the anansi, they’d discovered Luther was missing. Losing your way in Purgatory was very easy to do. The entire landscape was constantly shifting.

  Cain had advised Tessa against attempting to locate Luther with magic, but she was adamant. The girl was younger and nowhere near as powerful as some of the witches the immortal hunter had come across in his time, but she had fire in her spirit. He or Asmodeus could easily have overpowered her and forced her to forge on ahead. But Cain wasn’t willing to do that.

  Her spirit reminded him of someone he’d known once, long ago. Cain’s hand moved to his pocket and he took out a gold watch. He opened the watch, looking at the cracked glass and the stopped hands. The thing hadn’t worked in decades, but he kept it around anyway, as a reminder of what had once been within his grasp.

  Cain could hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. He stepped away from the door, drawing his revolver. The door opened and Asmodeus appeared, pausing as soon as he saw the weapon. There was a moment of hesitation before Cain holstered his gun. He didn’t trust the demon, but they were stuck here together now, and Cain knew they’d have to put aside any differences in order to get through this in one piece.

  “Took your time, cowboy,” said Asmodeus.

  “Me an’ demons…not exactly on the best of terms.”

  “If anyone in Hell learned what I was up to, I wager I wouldn’t be either.” Asmodeus looked at Tessa. “No luck?”

  “Damned if I know. She hasn’t moved since she started tryin’ her magic.”

  “Is there any way of knowing whether Cross is still alive or not?”

  Cain shook his head. “He could be dead, he could be webbed up somewhere in some damn anansi’s lair, or some other creature here could’ve gotten their hands on him.”

  “Or maybe he’s managed to hold his own down here.”

  “Maybe, though I wouldn’t stake anything on that,” said Cain. “Cambion or not, Purgatory’s got a way of screwin’ with you. Given how much time has passed since we lost him, he could have gone completely off his rocker by now.”

  “You don’t know Luther Cross.”

  Cain scoffed and pulled a case of hand-rolled cigarettes from his pants pocket. He placed one between his lips. Before he could search for his matches, Asmodeus held his fingers out in front of the immortal.

  “Allow me.” The demon snapped, and the tip of the cigarette suddenly sparked. Cain nodded his thanks and took a draw on the cigarette, slowly exhaling the smoke.

  “So, what is it about Cross, then?” he asked. “Why do you think he’s so special? Just ’cause he was raised by the Sons of Solomon?”

  “Training or no, Luther has certain advantages that other cambions do not.”

  “Whaddaya mean?”

  “You know not all angels and demons are created equal, right?”

  Cain nodded. “Yeah, I know. You got a whole tiered system goin’ on. The archangels and archdemons at the top, then they get weaker as you go down the chain.”

  “The same is true of their offspring,” said Asmodeus.

  Cain drew on the cigarette and removed it from his mouth, raising a questioning brow in Asmodeus’ direction. “You sayin’ Cross is, what, like demonic royalty or something?”

  A grin spread across Asmodeus’ face. “Or something.”

  “Y’know, I couldn’t quite figure it out before,” said Cain. “Why a demon would be pallin’ around with an angel an’ a cambion. Now I think I get it. Your side’s got plans for Cross, don’t you? You expectin’ him to live up to some grand destiny the Infernal Court’s planned for him?”

  Asmodeus rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic. I couldn’t care less what the Infernal Court’s plans are for him.”

  “Then why?”

  “I like Earth. I like humans. They make for very entertaining distractions. They’re just so deliciously…corruptible.”

  “What’s that got to do with Cross?”

  “Luther is a unique individual, and he’s on the cusp of becoming someone quite important to both sides of this eternal conflict,” said Asmodeus. “And when that time comes, I’d like to have some leverage to guarantee my own safety.”

  “So that’s what it’s all about—protection,” said Cain.

  Asmodeus nodded. “Indeed. But all of that is moot if he’s lost to Purgatory.” He turned his head and watched Tessa. “She’s not going to get anywhere with that spell of hers, is she?”

  Cain shook his head. “Nope. An’ I’m thinkin’ the longer we sit around here, the worse off we’re gonna be.”

  Asmodeus met Cain’s gaze. “You can track Luxton through Luther. Could you track Luther through Tessa?”

  “That’s the bitch of it,” said Cain. “Ever since we lost him, I’ve been tryin’ to catch his scent, for lack of a better word. But I can’t seem to zero in on him. I get brief whiffs every now an’ then, but they’re gone just as quick.”

  “Has that ever happened to you before?”

  “Never. Could be it has something to do with what you were sayin’ about him being unique,” said Cain. “Or it could be something worse.”

  “Worse in what way?”

  “Meaning he might’ve attracted the wrong kind of attention,” said Cain. “Bein’ an archdemon, you wouldn’t know about the real power behind Purgatory.”

  Asmodeus chuckled. “There is no ‘real’ power. Purgatory is simply chaos, nothing more.”

  “Not true; the truth’s just been kept well-hidden. There’s a guy who runs Purgatory. And if he knows that there’s someone here who doesn’t belong, he’ll see it as someone infringing on his territory. It won’t make him happy.”

  Asmodeus shook his head, continuing to snicker. “Cain, I’m not sure who’s filled your head with these fables—”

  “It ain’t no fable,” snapped Cain. “I’ve seen ’im.” He stared into the demon’s eyes with intensity. The steel of his resolve must have affected Asmodeus, because Cain watched as the Hell Lord’s grin slowly faded from his face. But he still shook his head in apparent disbelief.

  “Impossible,” said Asmodeus. “I was once one of Heaven’s warriors. I was there when Lucifer rebelled, and I watched as Purgatory was born out of the chaos of the Fall.”

  “Purgatory wasn’t some kind of cosmic fallout, Asmodeus. It was created. Intentionally.”

  “Then how would none of us have known?”

  “Because that’s how they wanted it to be.”

  “‘They?’” asked Asmodeus. “You mean the Divine Choir?”

  “Yup. The ruling power of Heaven. They got secrets you wouldn’t believe, my friend.”

  “And how did the first human to fall come about this knowledge?”

  “I’ve been around a long time. I’ve been in and out of Purgatory more times than I’d care to remember. And, like I said, I’ve come face to face with the guy who rules this place.”

  “Who?”

  Cain sighed and looked around. “I don’t know his name. No one dares to ever whisper it, not even his agents.”

  “And you say the Divine Choir created Purgatory? For what purpose?”

  “It happened back when the Earth was young. When angels and demons started matin’ with humans and producin’ offspring. The Choir knew time would come when things got outta hand. But they couldn’t put them in Hell. Nah…all that power, right within Lucifer’s grasp? It’d be suicide. And keepin’ ’em in Heaven was a non-starter, too—bastards would tear up the place.”

  “So Purgatory was created to be their prison.”

  “Right. And they put the baddest of the badasses in charge to make sure they never got out.”

  “How do you know all this when not even the Infernal Court does?” asked Asmodeus.

  Cai
n paused to smoke. He was trying to stall so he wouldn’t have to answer the demon’s question. Even telling Asmodeus that much was probably more than he should’ve done. Now, he knew he’d succeeded in arousing the demon’s curiosity, and that could mean trouble down the line.

  “Let’s just say I picked up a thing or two after my different stints down here,” he said.

  Asmodeus didn’t press the issue, but Cain could tell he wanted to. They were both keeping secrets from the others, and they both knew it. But neither was willing to push the issue too hard at this point, not if it meant tipping their hand. So, they’d remain locked in this stalemate for now.

  They both heard noise and looked to the center of the roof. Tessa’s eyes had opened and she looked despondent and exhausted. Cain flicked the cigarette over the edge of the roof and walked over to her. He knelt down beside her, offering his hand and helping her rise to her feet.

  “You look like you could use a break, girl,” he said.

  “Tessa, did you find Cross?” asked Asmodeus.

  Cain glared at the demon. “Give her a minute, okay? Can’t you see she’s worn out?”

  He helped her over to the rooftop entrance. They walked into the stairwell, and Tessa hesitated, keeping one arm around Cain’s shoulders while her other hand tightly gripped the railing.

  “Take it slow,” said Cain.

  She did, moving carefully down one step at a time. They finally reached the first floor, and Cain helped her sit on the counter at the front of the store. This place looked like it had once been a convenience store or a small grocer. There were aisles with empty shelves and coolers that no longer worked. Cobwebs everywhere, though Cain had done a sweep before they’d entered to make sure there were no anansi hiding around.

  “Well?” asked Asmodeus, leaning against the coolers. “Did you find Luther or not?”

  “I said—”

  “We don’t have time to coddle her, Cain,” said Asmodeus. “If what you told me is true, then Luther could be in grave danger.”

  “Didn’t know you cared so much about him,” said Tessa.

  “He doesn’t; just tryin’ to look out for himself,” said Cain.