by Karen Mead
After a few moments, he sighed. “You know, these people are mostly parasites; drinking and gambling and fornicating while the poor starve. I have no moral qualms about getting rid of a few of them,” he called, looking from side to side.
Cassie tried to calm her breathing, with little success. As a last resort, she could try to summon Sammael, but he couldn’t be trusted to take her side; he’d as much as told her so himself.
But what else can I do? I’m out of options.
Arrigio moved forward again, stepping around a woman wearing a very tiny bikini. Suddenly his entire body tensed, and Cassie realized he was reacting to something she couldn’t hear.
“You move at all, I will put a hole through you the size of a volleyball,” said Helen. “I may not be ranked above a two as far as Universal Casting Standards go, but I never leave the house without my charmed bullets; ask anyone.”
Arrigio grimaced. “It’s a surprise to see you defending anyone, Ms. Andrews—considering you delivered your own son to the Lords of Hell.”
Cassie poked her head out further from behind the island, and saw that Helen was standing about 20 feet behind Arrigio, pointing a gun at his heart. “I only delivered him to his father,” she said, her tone light and casual. “My husband will take care of the rest.”
Arrigio let out a hoarse laugh at that, though he was careful not to move; clearly, he didn’t think Helen was bluffing about shooting him. “And you believe he’s safe?”
“Not your business, is it?” said Helen. She motioned with her free hand. “Cassie, come over here.”
Relief making her body feel light, Cassie swam to the edge of the pool and pulled herself out. As she made her way towards Helen, she was careful to keep frozen bodies between herself and Arrigio, still not trusting him not to curse her. From what he had said, she thought it was possible he might risk it, even knowing that Helen would surely kill him the moment he sent off a curse.
“Just what do you plan to do? Keep me here at gunpoint indefinitely?” he asked in a mocking tone.
Helen smiled at that. “You’re not my son; how long can you bend time to your will, even in a small area like this? I’m betting your spell will fail long before my arms get tired. And once you’re surrounded by hundreds of witnesses, you won’t dare use magic.”
Arrigio grimaced again at that. Cassie passed him, giving him a wide berth, then she could no longer see his expression.
She paused just a few feet from Helen, puzzled. She had water in her ears from swimming, dulling her hearing, but she was sure she could hear something strange.
“Do you hear that?” she asked Helen, who raised an eyebrow.
It was the sound of tiny nails clattering on a tiled floor. As Cassie watched, the little rat came closer and closer, until it finally exploded into flesh at the edge of the pool and became John Golding. He collapsed to his knees, panting.
“A changeling?” Arrigio hissed with obvious surprise.
Cassie stared. He can change at will now? How did that happen?
“Listen,” he said, still struggling for air. “I heard—”
“Wrap a towel around your waist or something, I’m a married woman,” said Helen.
John ignored her. “I overheard some men talking. They must be the Seraph’s. Talking about…setting a bomb. I think they want to blow up The Laguna, with all of the demons inside it.”
“That can’t be,” Arrigio whispered. “There’s redundant magical safeguards.”
John seemed to recover his breath. “Perhaps the witch who made your magical safeguards in the first place is tired of being taken for granted,” he said with derision. “I know the feeling.”
“You’re lying,” said Arrigio, sounding panicked. “You’re just trying to distract me so I—”
“Oh, get over yourself,” said Helen, finally lowering her gun. “Obviously, we have bigger problems now than your vendetta against a little girl who doesn’t even exist yet.”
John struggled to his feet. “Do you think I WANT to be here?” he snarled at Arrigio. “I have no choice! I can’t leave until everyone is safe. Look into my mind if you don’t believe.”
As Cassie watched, all the defiance seemed to go out of Arrigio, like he was deflating. “I believe you,” he said quietly. “What do we do now? We can’t let them succeed.”
“Are you a simpleton? Go in and kill them all, then dispose of their bomb, of course,” said Helen. “Unfortunately, I’m a little too fragile to be helpful in that endeavor. But I’m not alone.” She took a deep breath, then yelled.
“BENNET! Get over here!”
To Cassie’s surprise, Bennet sprinted towards Helen within a few moments. “Ma’am!” he said.
Helen turned to him, still keeping her gun handy; she could point it at Arrigio in an instant. “Boy, there’s a bomb in the hotel. Be a dear and kill the terrorists and dispose of it, would you? The Chairman will help you.”
“I’ll help him?” said Arrigio with surprise, but Helen wasn’t paying attention to him.
“You, naked man, change back into a rat and run back towards the basement. If they want to take out the whole building, they’ll set the bomb low. Find them, overhear their plans, and then be sure to think whatever you learn very, very loudly. Bennet will be listening for you.”
John looked like he was about to object, then looked at Helen’s face and changed his mind. In an instant, he was a rat, scampering back towards the hotel with astonishing speed.
“How do we evacuate the building?” Cassie asked Helen. “We can’t just leave everybody in there.”
“You and I will handle that,” Helen said, finally tucking her gun into her waistband. “Boys, get going. There’s no time to waste. If you run into any demons you can trust, take them with you; otherwise, just go after the terrorists. No time to gather allies.”
Arrigio sighed, like he couldn’t believe he was listening to her, then waved his wrist, and the nightclub pulsed back to life around them. Bennet fixed his eyes on Cassie’s, and she realized what he needed; she held out her hand, which he took gently. An invisible barrier flickered to life around both himself and Arrigio, and then he released her.
“Be safe, okay?” he whispered to her. Then the two demons headed back towards The Laguna as quickly as they could through the thick crowd, while Helen grabbed Cassie’s hand and broke into a run.
“It would be better if he could keep time frozen while they look for the terrorists, but the poor fool’s probably overtaxed himself already,” she said as she ran. Cassie was mesmerized by how steadily Helen could run in three-inch heels. “I hope he’s strong enough not to get killed immediately. Bennet, at least, is battle-fresh.”
She had pulled Cassie out the front of the hotel, and soon they were on the Strip itself. Cassie’s bare feet were pounding on the pavement, sending shocks reverberating around her entire body as she and Helen weaved through countless people, but through the pain, she felt exhilarated too.
Can I be like her someday? I need to get myself a gun, ASAP. I think there’s a shooting range somewhere in Sodatown….
“My son, of course, could handle this without a sweat, but God forbid he ever be available to do specifically what I created him for. Demons are stupid, but I shouldn’t have to tell you, of all people.”
By a large fountain, which sent huge jets of water thirty feet in the air, Helen came to a sudden stop, nearly tripping Cassie. She grabbed a cell phone out of a man’s hand, and he began to shout in protest.
“Oh blow it out your ear, it’s an emergency,” said Helen, moving aside her blazer so the man could see the butt of the gun tucked into her skirt. The man suddenly decided he had somewhere else to be, and Helen began dialing the phone.
“Hello, is this The Laguna? Yes? I’d like to call in a bomb threat,” she said, then there was a pause. “No, I didn’t see the bomb, I planted it myself. I’m displeased about the situation in the Middle East, you see,” she said, then frowned. “What do you mean
‘what situation?’ Do you read? In any case, if you don’t want thousands of people turned to ash, you’d better start evacuating now. I’ll call back with my demands once I decide what country I want nuked.” At that, she hung up and tossed the phone into the fountain.
“The benefit of living in a terrorism-obsessed country; they’ll evacuate, no matter how flakey the threat,” Helen explained, then grabbed Cassie’s hand again. “Come on; there are many fine hotels here that aren’t in imminent danger of exploding. We should wait in one of them.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Whatever Sammael had done, Sam wasn’t sensing pulses of fear from Cassie anymore, but he doubted that whatever had scared her was done and over with. It also bothered him that he couldn’t sense Ethan at all; it was likely that the boy was simply asleep, but Sam had a feeling it wasn’t that simple.
He was also getting strange visions from John; mostly of the floor, oddly enough, but every once in a while he’d get a flash of something he couldn’t interpret. Frozen people, by the pool? The back of Arrigio’s head? Just what was going on up there?
I think I somehow made John my familiar by accident. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to hear it.
Meanwhile, it seemed that Asmodeus was reaching the limits of his patience. “So, are we all in agreement that we’re going to sterilize him, bind his powers, and send him back? Should we put it to a vote?”
“I think we should discuss the other obvious option before we go that route,” said Sammael, still sitting back with his feet on the table. “We could do absolutely nothing.”
“Come again?” said Asmodeus. He said it as though he was choking on a mouth full of rocks.
“That child…my granddaughter…think of what she’s done. Not only did she use an anomaly to send herself physically back in time, but it was the very same act that created the anomaly she used in the first place,” he said chuckling. “Someone who can do that can do anything, I think.”
Asmodeus was looking at Sammael like he wanted to bash the other demon’s head into the table. “Yes, and that’s the problem. What’s your point?”
Sammael dropped his feet from the table. “Anything. Think about it.”
Asmodeus’ looked as though he was about to yell in Sammael’s face, but all at once, his expression changed. “You don’t mean…she could break the curse?”
“Why not? After all,” he said, his lips curling into a smile that made Sam wish he could punch him, “the child will be the perfect fusion of angel and demon. Who’s to say what she could do?”
“Angel!?” cried another demon, sounding panicked. A murmur broke out from the other end of the table.
Several expressions warred for dominance on Asmodeus’ face; surprise, hope, and seething anger. “Sammael. You mean to tell us that the witch, your son’s familiar, is an angel? And you never saw fit to mention this?”
Sammael shrugged and spread his arms out. “No one asked! If anyone had ever taken the time to ask me ‘hey, seen any angels lately?’ of course I would have told all that I knew. But the fact of the matter is, it simply didn’t come up. You know how busy we all are these days.”
Asmodeus narrowed his eyes, and all the fireplaces seemed to explode with blue flame; Sam had to close his eyes for a moment to protect them from the assault of unnatural light. “Sammael, I swear, someday I will string you up. Someday I will pick out your organs one at a time and eat them, and when you recreate your form, I’ll do it again and again, until you have no power left to manifest. Then I’ll breathe in your very essence and piss you into the fire.”
“Look, everyone should have a dream, but we’re getting sidetracked,” said Sammael, still casual. “The fact is, allowing my son and his witch to continue on as they are will provide the best chance that we’ve ever had to break free of here. Do you want to throw that away due to some…momentary inconveniences?”
Sam was reeling at the possibility of all the demons of Realm being set free to walk the earth, when another vision from John took him by surprise. He could see several men, dressed all in black, talking softly over a bunch of wires and cables. Dead security guards littered the floor around them, and one of the men appeared to be programming something from some form of console.
Somehow, despite his restraints, Sam managed to jump to his feet. The demons looked at him in mild surprise. “They’re setting a bomb. Someone’s setting a bomb at the hotel, where the Western Court just met. All of your children are in danger.”
There was a pause, then soft laughter. “You expect us to get all excited? Our sons are merely tools,” said the gravelly-voiced demon. “Should they die, we can make more.”
“But Cassie’s there too,” Sam said. “If you lose her, you lose your chance at the miracle child that frees you.”
That got their attention. Asmodeus turned to the demon next to him and began talking quietly, while the other nodded. Sammael was looking in his direction, but he couldn’t read his father’s expression.
“Please, send me back. I can save them all.”
“Wouldn’t that be convenient for you,” said Asmodeus, steepling his fingers. “Just because we may have a use for your offspring doesn’t mean you’re off the hook, boy. Your behavior still calls for—”
“Let me go back, and then you can do whatever you want to me,” Sam said loudly, thinking fast. “Let me go, just for tonight, and then I’ll submit to whatever censure or punishment you all deem appropriate.”
Asmodeus turned to Sammael, a malicious grin on his face. “Now, this is just insulting. Does your spawn here think that we were all born yesterday?”
“I’ll make a contract!” Sam said, then took a deep breath. “I, Samuel Andrews, the Son of Sammael, do solemnly swear to all those present to return to the Demon Realm immediately upon completion of the task I have specified, or by the next dawn; whichever comes first,” he said.
His declaration seemed to take them by surprise, with even Asmodeus looking at him with a somewhat baffled expression. His father nodded enthusiastically.
“Well, there you go gentleman, it doesn’t get more airtight than that. He’ll protect the witch, as well as the others, and then we get him right back. What’s not to like?”
“I don’t like the fact that you like it,” snapped Asmodeus, “But I do want that witch in one piece, and there’s no way out of that contract.” He snapped his fingers and the manacles on Sam’s wrists disappeared. “Go, and be quick about it.”
Sam didn’t need to be told twice; within a second, he was back at the Dolphin Suite, nearly tripping over Khalil as he materialized. He looked around, puzzled to see everyone sleeping. Was it that late?
He began to shake Miri’s arm, only she was slow to stir; when she didn’t move immediately, he found himself growing impatient.
Wake up, ALL OF YOU!
He’d never tried to mentally address the entire entourage before, so he had no idea if it would work. However, soon he heard doors opening, and realized that he had indeed woken everyone from their slumber.
“Nnngh, what’s going on?” said Miri, rubbing her forehead like she had a bad headache.
“Where’s Cassie?” Sam asked. He could tell she wasn’t in the apartment.
Miri looked confused for a moment, then her eyes opened wide. “Oh my God,” she said, nearly bumping heads with Sam as she stood up quickly. “Someone put us to sleep. Someone must have put us to sleep so they could take her.”
“We’ll find her,” said Eugene, darting into the room with a quickness that looked strange coming from his unwieldy body.
Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he’d managed to get away, but what to do now?
He tried to reach out to Cassie with his mind so he could ask her where she was, but there was a problem; in Realm, he had ripped his mental channels wide open to try to let in as much information from the far away surface world as he could. Now that he was back in reality, they were still open, and Las Vegas was full of percolating, shri
eking minds.
Should never have brought the kids—
Seafood tonight, burgers tomorrow? What about—
Will she come back to my room with me if I—
Down to my last $50, but—
Dealer has to be cheating, there’s no way—
Oooooh yes!!!!!!
Slot machine has it in for me, two hours and not a single—
Another buffet? I’ll need to diet after—
Of course he wants to see the show, that’s why he came, but—
She thinks I’m a high roller, let’s see how long I can—
He clutched at his temples and grimaced, closing his mind off to all outside thoughts as thoroughly as he could. They were going to have to find Cassie the old-fashioned way, because using his mental abilities seemed to be an all-or-nothing proposition right now; he’d never had his channels opened so wide in his life.
Is this what it’s like for other demons who use telepathy a lot? How do they filter out all the horrible noise?
“I can’t find Hunter! Hunter’s not here!” called Ethan, running into the living room.
Great, just what we need. “Ethan, come here. I need you.”
Ethan gulped, but did as he was told. Sam put a hand on the boy’s head, only instead of taking the tiniest drop of his magic, as he usually did, he took all that he dared; without access to Cassie, he needed all the strength he could get. Within seconds, the boy’s knees buckled, and Sam caught him before he fell.
“Hey, watch it!” yelled Khalil. “Don’t forget, he’s a kid.”
Sam handed the boy, now unconscious, to Eugene, who took him protectively. “Someone’s rigging up some kind of bomb downstairs; I have to stop them. Get everyone out of here, then find Cassie and her brother.”
Eugene nodded gravely, then Sam bolted out of the suite and into the hallway. With Ethan’s magic, he might be able to jump out the window and use a gentle flow of air to break his fall; or, he might just break both his legs. Using the elevator seemed like a better bet.
