Blood Drawn: A novel of The Demon Accords

by John Conroe

  “Yes, although not in every case. About one in twenty. The successful possessions appear to have occurred generally in people suffering from depression, disenfranchisement, and isolation.”

  “Hell’s gone high tech,” Declan said, lifting a pack of four demon possessed our way.

  “But Hell must have had help,” I said. “Either they sent a tech-savvy demon or a human helped them.”

  “Actually, it was a small firm in Arkansas,” Omega said. “A three-person software company specializing in online legal documents. I’ve shut down all their computers, cell phones, and tablets. I’ve also frozen all their accounts and have a trio of small drones following them. Local law enforcement is currently in the process of apprehending them now.”

  “How many people have clicked agree?” Stacia asked.

  “Thirteen hundred and seventy-two. Of those, three hundred and nine have stopped all online activity.”

  “Shit. Cleanup will take forever,” I said.

  “The number of Hellbourne here is the same as those in Canwich. Sixty-six.”

  “Is there something special about sixty-six?” Stacia asked.

  “Well, it’s part of six hundred and sixty-six, the mark of the beast,” I said.

  “Maybe the plan was to get six hundred and sixty-six Hellbourne in total in one place?” Declan said. “Maybe that many demons would be able to open a major gate or something?”

  I thought about that as I removed five more demon slugs. “We need guidance,” I said, looking at a church steeple that stuck up over the top of a row of shops and businesses across the road from us.

  It took another ten minutes to clear out the last Hellbourne, then thirty more to confer with Texas State Police. After that, we made our way to the church—River Gate Community Church, according to the sign out front. Come As You Are it said underneath the name, along with the words A Non-Denominational Worship Center.

  We stepped into the cool darkness of the church’s entry, the sanctuary ahead of us lit with sunlight streaming through beautiful stained-glass windows. We moved farther into the relative calm of the church. A man who seemed in charge, possibly the pastor, was consoling a group of people down near the altar. Somehow, none of them noticed us.

  “Isn’t it gorgeous?” Barbiel asked. He was just suddenly sitting in a pew to the right of us, looking very self-satisfied.

  “Yes… much nicer than the scene outside,” I said, pausing to take him in. He was wearing jeans, flip flops, and a t-shirt that read Angelic Light Orchestra and showed a picture of an all-kid choir.

  “What’s going on?”

  His smile of contentment disappeared. “Hell has chosen sides.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Heaven and Hell are supposed to be neutral in these things,” he said. “These conflicts are between God’s children.”

  “Is that a hard and fast rule or more of a guideline?” Declan asked.

  “It is part of the Accords, codified in an agreement unbroken for thousands of years,” the angel said, his eyes going hard in anger. “Hell has broken the Accords.”

  Chapter 6

  “What?”

  The question came from behind us. Tanya stood in the entrance to the sanctuary, looking simultaneously tired and alarmed. I had been so preoccupied by Barbiel’s stunning statement that I hadn’t heard her or felt her presence through our personal link. She had probably felt my intent to meet with him even while sun-stunned and decided it was important to join us.

  “Hell has breached the Accords. Demons have joined with the Vorsook,” Barbiel said.

  For a moment, no one said anything. “The Accords cover more than Earth, don’t they?” Tanya asked as she moved forward to join our little party. None of the other occupants of the church even noticed her.

  “The Accords cover all of God’s children, on whatever world they inhabit,” Barbiel said gravely.

  “All worlds—everywhere?” Stacia asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And Hell broke the deal, why? To take out Earth?” I asked.

  “So it would seem.”

  “How is this world that important… in all the possible worlds with life in the universe?” Stacia asked.

  “It is small, humans are very young as an intelligent species and, up until recently, lacking in advanced technology,” Barbiel said. “Yet you’ve hung on against both Hell and the Vorsook.”

  “Making us a bad example?” Stacia asked. I must have frowned at her because she explained her words. “We should have collapsed but didn’t. Therefore both forces want to squash us.”

  “Maybe in part,” Omega suddenly said from a small orb hovering over Declan’s shoulder. “At least as far as Hell is concerned. But this is just another example of the Vorsook seeking the cheapest possible way to conquer Earth.”

  “Omega is correct. The presence and success of you two,” Barbiel said, pointing to me and Tanya, “have thrown an ape wrench into the Accords.”

  “Monkey wrench,” Declan said. The angel looked at him with a quizzical expression. “The term is monkey wrench.”

  “Why?” Barbiel asked.

  “It’s a type of pipe wrench, once commonly used, and the idea of throwing one into the moving parts of a machine to sabotage it became a common usage of the phrase,” Stacia said, earning herself a look from both Tanya and me. “What? I know stuff,” she said defensively.

  “Oh. English is perhaps one of the craziest languages humans have yet concocted,” Barbiel said. “Anyway, having self-fallen angels working for God, here on this world, has been a source of contention for Hell. Lucifer Morningstar has contended that it is a violation of the Accords. He is perhaps worried that similar upgrades to Heaven’s warriors on other worlds might follow. This outbreak is Hell’s response.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “One of the Vorsook, call it a contestant in the battle to win Earth, went ahead and contacted Hell, or at least a demon lord of Hell, and convinced it to breach the Accords. Lucifer seems to have looked the other way.”

  “Plausible deniability,” Tanya said.

  “Yes. The Father of Lies claims it was done without his knowledge while arguing that Heaven already broke it by using you self-fallen,” Barbiel said. “The goal of the breach was to reach a certain number of demon possessed in one location.”

  “Six hundred and sixty-six?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said with a frown. “Numbers have power and that one would allow for a major breach of what you call reality.”

  “Letting Vorsook forces through?” Tanya guessed.

  “And more demons,” he said with a nod.

  “And this is happening all over the place?” I asked.

  “It was,” he said with a smirk. “My brothers… your brothers, have stopped it. We were allowed to act. It was… satisfying.”

  “When? When did you act?” I asked.

  “For you, in this reality… just now. You both likely don’t recall that time moves differently for the Heavenly Host. Once Omega discovered the contracts that humans were agreeing to and stopped them, we acted.”

  “You couldn’t have done it sooner?” I asked.

  “Not until the mechanism for those agreements was removed, no,” he said with a frown at me.

  “Well…thanks, I guess. I couldn’t begin to think of how to tackle outbreaks all over the planet.”

  “Does this mean Heaven is on our side now?” Tanya asked.

  “Heaven interceded in this instance,” the angel said. “We are not allowed to get further involved unless Hell continues to breach the Accords.”

  “What happened to the Vorsook who made a deal with Hell?” Declan asked.

  “The Vorsook are very old. This one understands what it is to deal with Hell. It offered the lives from one of its captured planets as payment.”

  “And God allowed that?”

  “Yes, just as he would have here on Earth. Free will. Atrocities are not just a h
uman thing.”

  “That is correct,” Omega said suddenly. “Each Vorsook attempts to gain status and power through the accumulation of subjugated worlds. They build portfolios of vanquished world holdings the way humans build portfolios of corporate stocks and businesses. As such, a powerful Vorsook is able to trade away the lives of its slaves.”

  “So we’re not the worst species in the universe?” Stacia asked.

  “No,” Barbiel said with a small smile. “But you are not the most morally sound, either.”

  “That’s a given,” the young Alpha wolf said. “But tell me, how do the really peaceful races fare against an empire like that of the Vorsook?”

  “There are races that have beaten back the Vorsook and achieved an armed truce. Some of those have much more stable and equitable societies than that of humans,” Omega said. “But they are few and far between—peaceful races don’t fare all that well.”

  “Kinda what I thought,” Stacia said.

  “They must have really significant weaponry,” Tanya commented.

  “They have learned to harness the energy at the fabric of the universe. Elemental energy,” Omega said.

  “Isn’t that what Declan and the Queens of Fairie do?” Stacia asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “Wait,” Tanya said, turning abruptly to Barbiel. “You said Heaven’s warriors on other worlds?”

  He smiled. “Yes, I did.”

  “There are more like me?” I asked.

  “More with the same calling as you,” the angel said. “I would hesitate to say there are more just like you. You two were the result of a long plan.”

  “We are an experiment on a lesser-known world to see if we would pan out,” Tanya said, speaking my own thoughts almost word for word.

  Barbiel frowned. “I feel like that statement carries emotional overtones of a potentially sensitive nature.”

  “I concur,” Omega added.

  “Because you are telling them that they are both test projects on a minor world in the scheme of things,” Stacia said, frowning with her arms crossed over her chest, “it diminishes their existence.”

  “Ah,” Barbiel said, eyes wide in realization. “To me, it was just a moment ago when you both chose to volunteer for our Father’s mission. I find it hard to reconcile that you experience time differently on this plane and that your memories of before are not accessible to you.”

  “You’ve never mentioned that there are other Warriors of God,” I said.

  He studied me, then Tanya, nodding slightly. “Let me recount for you the moment of your Choice. We, the army of Heaven, do not have free will. You did not have free will,” he said, pointing at both Tanya and me. “Father gifted you both with free will, allowing you each to make a decision—to Choose. At that moment, you both possessed all the knowledge of the Heavenly Host. You both knew the extent of the Children of God, knew the breadth of the Accords. And you both knew that there are no minor worlds of God’s Children.” He directed the last bit at Stacia.

  “Then why was Earth chosen for such a test?” Tanya asked.

  “There were many reasons, some known only to our Heavenly Father,” our angelic case officer replied. “Earth is a volatile place, humans a volatile species. The battle with Hell for the souls of Heaven’s Children are nowhere as prolific as they are here.”

  “You’re saying that despite our lack of status on the galactic stage, we’re a frontline war zone for Hell?” Declan asked.

  “Yes. I think that’s what I’m saying,” Barbiel said, frowning.

  “So the Accords have been breached and Heaven has intervened but now is backing off to observe Hell’s next move?” Stacia asked.

  “Yes.”

  “But what about our next move?” she asked.

  “What move?” he asked back, frowning.

  “Exactly,” she said, hands on hips, turning to look at each of us while the angel looked baffled.

  “Counterstrike?” Tanya asked her.

  “That’s what I’m thinking. Waiting for that Vorsook bastard to attack again is stupid,” Stacia said.

  “Ah, to clarify, the Vorsook isn’t a bastard,” Barbiel said, his frown deepening.

  “I would advise against utilizing literal meanings, especially when their emotions are high,” Omega said.

  “Oh,” Barbiel uttered, confusion still flooding his features.

  “Any ideas?” I asked Stacia.

  She shook her head but then smirked and turned to point at her witch. “No, but he usually is thinking something devious when he wears that expression.”

  Declan was staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused, brow furrowed. It took a second, but he suddenly came to the realization that we were staring at him.

  He looked at his wolf girl, then me, Tanya, and Barbiel, blinking.

  “You have an idea?” I asked.

  His blue eyes, lighter than Tanya’s, turned a little icy as he met my gaze. “Yeah, I think I do. Barbiel, are there any Hellbourne still available or were they all banished?”

  “All have been either banished by Chris or destroyed by us. The Host of God does not banish.”

  “Damn. Not a single one?” he asked.

  “Not Hellbourne, but there is perhaps something,” he said, trailing off.

  “Explain please,” Tanya requested.

  He did.

  “That’ll work,” Declan said. “And do we know the name of the Vorsook?”

  “It is nothing you could pronounce and I cannot give it to you, as true names carry power—which I know you know,” Barbiel said to him. “I can tell you it carries a title that translates to English as The Most Eminent Devourer of Worlds.”

  “Not as good as a name, but it might still suffice,” our witch said, an evil gleam in his eyes. “Here’s what I’m thinking.” And then he explained.

  “Oh, he is devious when he wears that expression,” Tanya said to Stacia with a little touch of awe that made me a teeny bit jealous.

  “Right?” the wolf girl said.

  My vampire gave me a pleased smile and I automatically smiled back even as a new emotion took over in my brain—worry.

  Chapter 7

  “That went well, I’d say,” Tanya said to the three of us when we were back outside the church, near the makeshift command and first aid area. She did not keep her voice down.

  “It did, didn’t it?” I agreed, matching her volume. “The Most Eminent Devourer held up its end of the bargain.”

  “I don’t know,” Declan said. “It could have fed us so many more demons.”

  “But look at it this way: By breaking the Accords, Hell allowed angels to intercede,” I said. “And they destroy demons, not banish them like I do. Do you know how tired I am of sending them back over and over again?”

  “Yeah, that’s counterproductive,” Stacia agreed. “Besides, Declan, we’ll just work another deal with that Devourer Vorsook and trick Hell into another breach.”

  “Personally, I’d rather work a deal with the demons to mess up the Vorsook,” Declan said with uncharacteristic fervor. “After all, they’re the ones attempting to conquer Earth.”

  I frowned. “No, we agreed to wait. The Vorsook held up its end of the bargain. We need to follow through, to give it time to calm Hell and then try again. Don’t be impatient, boy,” I snapped. “Plus, that’s your dumbest idea yet. You know how untrustworthy demons are!” I said, turning and moving away from them. Tanya followed me as we left them standing just outside the patient treatment tent that firefighters had set up. I focused my hearing on them as we got out of regular human earshot.

  “They’re too timid,” Declan said with almost a snarl. “And I’m not a boy!”

  I found myself frowning. The kid came up with great plans, but a professional actor he would never be.

  “I know you’re frustrated. I get it. They don’t give you even a quarter of the credit you deserve,” Stacia said to him in a soothing tone. She, on the other hand, was doing a fairly go
od job of being convincing. “Your time will come and soon, dear heart.”

  Dear heart? I exchanged a glance with Tanya, feeling her grimace even as I saw it. Yeah, that was a little over the top. Maybe she wasn’t so good after all. A rustling sound combined with the metallic tinkle of handcuffs came from inside the medical tent.

  “You still think I should make my own deal?” Declan asked his wolf.

  “More than ever, light of my life,” she said with sugar-sweet assurance.

  We couldn’t help it; we both snapped around to look at them. Stacia was staring our way with a shit-eating grin on her face. Declan was working hard not to laugh, which would have ruined the whole effect. After a moment, he wiped his expression clear, held out his hand for hers, and together they moved off in a different direction.

  Ten minutes later, we met up with them back by the Obliterator, which was suspended, motionless as a block of stone, three feet off the ground and well out of hearing distance of the medical tent.

  “Well?” Stacia asked.

  “Dear heart? Light of my life?” Tanya asked, pitching her voice into a pretty damn close copy of Stacia’s.

  “Relax,” Declan said. “Chris has said it himself, as has Barbiel—demons don’t understand love. That possessed guy won’t know the difference.”

  “They don’t understand love,” I said, “but they know everything about seduction. And that dude is still at least half human.”

  “It was an unnecessary ad lib, but it doesn’t seem to have caused any suspicion on the part of Mr. Patrick Hurley, the Satanist in the medical tent that Stacia injured,” Omega said from the Obliterator. “He is currently chanting under his breath in the demon-witch trading language.”

  “He knows that language?” Declan asked, surprised.

  “It would appear that he has been taught at least a few phrases. He is repeating a call for a particular demon lord to hear him.”

  “That’s a name you won’t repeat but now know, correct?” I asked, knowing that to say it would alert the demon in question.

  “Precisely.”

  “Is he on his way to becoming Hellbourne or what?” Tanya asked me.