Monstrous- The Complete Collection

by Sawyer Black

  “This can’t be how it really is,” Aela said, her voice a choked whisper.

  Boothe tipped his head in apology. “We’re in a bit of a transition.”

  Henry swept his arm across the lobby. “Transitioning into what?”

  Aela pointed at the black velvet rope. “Should we wait our turn over there with … the rest?”

  Ramiel shook his head. “No, we won’t have to wait much longer.”

  Another lock echoed across the lobby as it unlatched. Henry looked at the door where the angels had already entered, but this was a different door. A tidy angel in a gray suit with black checks stepped out with an open leather binder crooked in his arm. He read from a paper and looked up with a bored expression. “Walden Boothe?”

  Boothe straightened his jacket and extended his arm. Maria laid her hand on his wrist, and he led her around the line toward the door.

  Henry mocked Boothe smoothing his jacket, and extended his arm, bowing over it in sarcastic enthusiasm. Aela fluttered her hands at her throat and ducked under his arm, draping it over her shoulders as though it were a mink.

  Henry had no perspective. If this was all the result of a bad trip, then he was on some very excellent shit.

  Ramiel’s stone face wasn’t enough to dampen his humor. Henry smiled as he followed Boothe and Maria deeper into Heaven.

  The angel led them down a carpeted hall. Dark wooden walls and formed plaster ceilings. Angels passing to the left, many with brass Antioch phones pressed to their cheeks. Sharp suits and neatly knotted ties. Sleek skirts and button-front shirts. At the end of the hall, a bright elevator invited them with open doors. Gold and mirrors. Walnut and marble. No buttons or numbers, just a clunking hiss as the doors closed, and a harp to fill the silence as they rose.

  Aela’s fingers dug into Henry’s ribs like claws.

  The elevator doors opened into a bright room filled with desks, each one with an angel bent over a pile of papers. An angel pushed a coffee cart between the rows, and another angel followed, handing out folders and papers with efficient repetition.

  Down the right-hand side and into another hallway. Same as the first. The angel who escorted them from the lobby kept a brisk pace, and at the end of the hall in front of a grand window, he stepped to the side of an open door and tipped his head toward the interior. Henry looked out the window over the angel’s shoulder as he passed. It looked down on a glorious campus filled with clouds and lights. A giant park surrounded by buildings that stretched into the distance. And the Tree in the center.

  I finally found out how tall the thing is, I guess.

  He was the last into the office, tearing his gaze from the gorgeous gardens and following the angel inside. Five chairs crammed into the corner in front of a desk covered with papers and files from one edge to the other. Henry really got a sense of his own size when he tried to wedge himself between Ramiel and Aela. He closed his legs and twisted one knee over the other, his coffee can hand dangling over his feet.

  The angel sat and laid his paperwork down, tracing words with a forefinger. A framed picture of a church under construction hung on the wall over his shoulder. Flowing script covered puffy clouds in the bottom corner. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”

  The angel flipped over a page and looked at the group with a sigh. “My name is Sariel, and I’ve been assigned to your case.”

  Henry looked down the line. Aela’s shocked face, pale and still. Boothe and Maria sitting nearly in each other’s laps. Ramiel’s polite boredom.

  Henry shrugged. “So, how’s it look?”

  Sariel tipped his head with a sigh. “After speaking with Mr. Boothe about your intentions, I have to be honest. It doesn’t look good.”

  “What, our chances?”

  Sariel chuckled. “No, Mr. Black. Your chances haven’t even entered into it.”

  “Then, I don’t understand.”

  “Adam and his father, the demon Baelzor, are being held pending a hearing. That hearing will find in management’s favor, and Baelzor will be sentenced to Hell as Receptorum.”

  “And Adam?”

  Sariel spread his hands. “He will be executed.”

  “How can you just say it like that?”

  “It’s the way it has to be. Without a champion, he is unrepresented.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “You can’t. You are already a champion to another, and you’ve been named Paladin. We haven't had a Paladin for over a thousand years.”

  “I don’t even know what that means.”

  Sariel leaned back in confusion. “How can you not know?”

  “It’s not like there’s a fucking manual. The last thing I did worth a shit was this bit about getting caught on the subway watching a video of two dogs fucking. Now, all the sudden, I’m a Paladin?”

  “But you were able to destroy a holy relic in defense of the Elioud.”

  Henry lifted the coffee can from his lap. “And I lost my fucking hand in the process.”

  Sariel tipped his head. “And if you’d like to file a formal complaint, I can help you with that. But Mr. Black, by virtue of your holy appointment, you are one of the most powerful beings in existence right now.”

  “Fine, then let the kid go.”

  “You’re not that powerful. There are rules.”

  “Maybe, but nobody seems able to tell me what they are. Look, if the boy is supposed to go to Hell to save his mother, just pull her out. Problem fucking solved.”

  Sariel sighed and leaned back, looking at the ceiling. “It’s not that easy.”

  “Then make me understand all this mess. Because if that won’t work, let me go to Hell to save her.”

  Sariel spread his hands. “He’s already in custody, Mr. Black. There are very few agents who can change that.”

  “Like who?”

  “Well, if a champion declared himself, maybe that agent could affect a change in the boy’s position, but allowing that there is nobody of sufficient power to do it, my hands are tied.”

  Henry took a breath to shout, but a voice from the doorway nearly stopped his heart. “I’ll be the boy’s champion.”

  Henry dropped off the edge of his seat to one knee. He craned his neck around to look into the hallway. He had always been taught that a modern man pushed everything down. Tamping the feelings deep into the most private recesses of his soul. But when he saw Mandyel leaning against the jamb with his hands in the pockets of his wool suit, his compressed rage and joy and regret and fear burst out of him in a wordless shout.

  He sprang from the floor and was in front of Mandyel in a single breath. He wrapped the angel in a smothering hug, shouting broken questions and words of relief in a jumble punctuated by Mandyel’s grunts and chuckles.

  Henry stepped back and wiped his tears away, the coffee can clanking off his horns. “What the fuck, man? You know I can’t take this shit.”

  Mandyel smiled and squeezed Henry’s shoulders. “I’m truly sorry, Henry. It was the only way.”

  “But how?”

  “Through a golem.”

  “The fuck is a golem?”

  “It’s a loophole, Dear Henry.”

  “I see now,” Sariel said. “I’m very sorry sir, but I wasn’t prepared to receive you.”

  Henry turned, and Sariel was looking at the floor at his side.

  Mandyel waved the angel’s concern away. “Don’t worry about it, pal. Your plate’s full enough.”

  “No, that’s not good enough.” Henry shook his head and pointed at Mandyel’s chest. “I want a straight answer.”

  Sariel gasped. “Mr. Black! You are addressing an archangel. Please, show him the respect he is due.” He looked up from the floor, lifting his scandalized eyes to Henry’s gaze. He whispered, “You touched him.”

  Mandyel strode in and stood next to Serial’s desk, turning with his arms crossed to face Henry and his companions. “We’re old friends, Sariel. Probably older than even Henry would believe.”r />
  Sariel looked back to the floor. “Such a thing …”

  Mandyel shrugged. “I’m not technically allowed on Earth. I created the golem to represent my interests outside my domain. When our friend Ramiel killed me, you only saw the destruction of my vessel. A construct built for the sole purpose of presenting options to those who might be … instrumental in my cause.”

  Henry caught Ramiel’s eye before the Tracker turned away with an expression of broad innocence. “You fucking knew?”

  Ramiel looked back with a sheepish nod. “I suspected.”

  Henry threw up his hands. “Well, that’s just fantastic.”

  Mandyel shook his head. “Henry, after so much, you still don’t understand. Starting with Boothe’s instructions, such as they were, all the way to joining my golem to get you closer to the boy, there was always one important thing.”

  Henry looked around. A normal looking office full of cabinets and files. His companions sitting with expectant faces. His friends?

  Maybe.

  Boothe, a being he once hated but decided to forgive.

  Ramiel. An angel he decided to free at the urging of a beautiful boy that reminded him of his daughter.

  Aela. A woman he decided to save.

  Maria. A woman he realized held no special power over him, but one he decided to allow into the privacy of his weird and terrifying life.

  Henry nodded. “I had to choose.”

  Mandyel grinned. “That is exactly right.”

  “Isn’t it supposed to be easy to choose the right thing, though?”

  “No, Henry. Sometimes, it’s the most difficult choice you can make.”

  Henry crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling.

  Either in his head or right beside him, Amélie yelled, “Don’t do it, Daddy!”

  Everything else in the universe, including every cell inside him, screamed for Henry to tear the fucker’s face from his skull.

  Patrick grinned.

  And in that grin, Henry’s life with his family flashed before his eyes. From the moment Samantha found out she was pregnant to the moment Amélie was born, to a hundred other tender moments. They all flew by even faster than they had in real life. Gone and never to happen again because Patrick Harrison and his stupid fucking cult had ended everything.

  Henry’s hand shook around Patrick’s throat, even as he squeezed tighter.

  “Tell me why. Why us?” he said.

  “Please, Daddy,” Amélie said, now standing beside him, tears streaming down her face. “Please, just come with me.”

  Patrick stared even as his face began to turn purple, staring at Amélie, and all Henry could do was remember that this was the last man who had touched his daughter. The man who had murdered her.

  He gritted his teeth and screamed, “Stop looking at her!”

  “Daddy!” Amélie cried out as Henry’s fingers shot through the bastard’s throat, killing him in an instant.

  Amélie screamed again. But her scream was cut short.

  Henry spun around. But his baby girl was gone.

  An easy decision in the end, but at such a cost …

  He looked at Sariel, ignoring Mandyel’s look of pride. “I choose not to kill that boy. I choose it.”

  His vision brightened with his red rage. Heat swirled from his mouth. A swelling of power rose in his chest. The weight of his words sweeping promise into reality, pressing against the demands of an absent God who didn’t want to kill the boy, either.

  This was all part of His plan.

  Mandyel turned to the desk, his eyes swirling with white light. The corner of his mouth curled into a smile. “Me and a couple of the boys are going down to Solitude. We’ll be taking Adam and his father with us.”

  Sariel looked up, squinting into the light. “But Hell will come for him.”

  Mandyel nodded. “I believe Lucifer will empty Hell for a chance at that boy.”

  “Then there will be war.”

  Mandyel bared his teeth. “I do so hope.”

  Henry stepped back in shock. “Oh, shit. That means we can save Adam’s mother.”

  Mandyel pulled back with shock of his own. Light swirling in his eyes reflected off of the unshed tears, like diamonds on velvet. “Henry, you have thought of another before thinking of yourself.”

  Henry shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  Mandyel gripped his shoulder, and heat drove out of the angel’s hand. “You will also be able to save your daughter.”

  Henry slumped into Mandyel’s touch.

  Finally.

  Sariel shook his head and slipped a pen from his inside pocket. “I have seen such things today.” He bent over his paperwork, scrawling on page after page. “The boy will be remanded to the custody of Archangel Mandyel. The demon Baelzor will be handed over to Paladin Henry Winston Black.”

  He snapped his portfolio closed and clicked the pen before sliding it back into his pocket. “Your intentions of entering Hell are not officially sanctioned, and no succor will be given. In the event of capture or failure, I suppose I won’t have to worry about my next review because this is likely the end of everything.”

  Mandyel straightened his tie and buttoned his jacket. “You’ve made an excellent decision, brother.”

  Henry threw his head back and roared laughter. He slapped Mandyel on the shoulder before walking out. “You’re certainly the one to know.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Henry stared at the clouds rolling away from the steps. Golden light rippling through like reflections from a pond.

  Boothe stepped into his periphery, buttoning his jacket with a flourish. “I’ve never been inside Solitude. I was never permitted through the mists.”

  Henry chuckled. “Nervous?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “You know where you’re going, right?”

  “I do. Ramiel gave me his memories of the place.”

  “That’s was nice of him.” Henry looked down at his feet, lost in the fluff swirling around his ankles. “When this is over, and I’ve saved Amélie … when we’re through with each other, are we gonna be done?”

  “I truly hope not, Henry.”

  “Yeah, me neither. Kind of.”

  Boothe reached out and traced a circle in the air. The path of his finger flared into bright white flames, and the image of the Dreaming Tree filled the portal.

  Aela’s fingers gripped his, and he stepped into Solitude with her at his side.

  Abraham stood to the side with his back to their arrival. Bent over a table surrounded by soldiers — men and women in mismatched armor.

  The Sisters of Solitude froze as Maria and Ramiel followed Henry through the portal. Abraham stood straight as Boothe stepped through and released the energy, the opening now closing with a rush of rolling flame.

  The nuns continued with a collective shrug. Abraham turned, leaning on his cane as if he actually needed it. A bloody bandage on his right hand wrapped his knuckles. His sunken cheeks and hollow eyes brightened when he saw Aela, and she let go of Henry's hand to throw herself into the old man’s arms.

  Henry stepped up behind her. Abraham pulled his face from the top of her hand and dropped a hand on Henry’s shoulder.

  Henry grabbed Abraham’s forearm, squeezing the same way he had Aela’s hand in his when they walked through the portal. “How goes the war effort?”

  “Surprisingly well, but there has been a development.”

  Henry felt Boothe come near then stepped back to indicate the angel with a wave. “This is Boothe and his wife, Maria.”

  Abraham’s eyes narrowed. “We met at the base of a different tree a long time ago.”

  Boothe nodded. “That’s correct.”

  “As I remember, I refused your offer.”

  “That is also correct.”

  Aela pulled herself away from Abraham’s embrace. Abraham looked down at her with a smile, then back up at Boothe. Henry recognized the old man’s polite amusement. “You are
welcome in my home.”

  Boothe bowed his head. “Thank you.”

  Abraham nodded and turned to Henry. “It would seem that you’ve come just in time to answer some questions.”

  A portal opened behind the old man’s back, and Mandyel’s light poured out.

  Henry pointed. “Maybe you should ask him.”

  Mandyel stepped through the glowing circle, pulling his wings in to clear the sides. Adam rested on his hip, his head leaning against the angel’s chest. Mandyel’s feet hit the stone of Solitude and his light dimmed. The boy jumped from his arms and launched across the floor.

  “Henry!”

  Henry dropped down to receive the little angel’s hug, closing his eyes and inhaling the boy’s scent. Adam broke free and turned to Aela. He shouted her name and jumped into her arms. Abraham got the same treatment. He finished with Ramiel, then back on the floor, the boy looked up at Maria with wide eyes. “Hello.”

  “Hello, little one.”

  “You’re beautiful.”

  Maria laughed, filling the room with her sultry voice. “That is a very sweet thing to say.”

  “I’m Adam.”

  “And I’m Maria.” She tipped her head toward Boothe. “I am his wife.”

  Adam’s eyes flicked over to Boothe, and his face scrunched in disgust. “I don’t like him.”

  She laughed again. “Sometimes, I don’t either, but he’s actually a very good husband.”

  Boothe dropped to one knee to meet the child’s eyes. “Adam, I’m very sorry for what I tried to get Henry to do. I’m going to try and save your mother to make up for it. Is that all right?”

  Adam narrowed his eyes and looked at Boothe down the length of his nose. “You mean it?”

  “I really do, yes.”

  Adam nodded. “I forgive you, Mr. Boothe.”

  Boothe rocked back and wavered to his feet as if to keep from falling over. “Thank you,” he whispered with a breathless rasp.

  Henry hid his smile as he looked back at Abraham and barely kept from cringing into a corner at the sight of twenty giant angels with hard faces standing behind Mandyel. Males and females covered in golden armor. Swords and shields. Flails and maces.