Lucifer's Pride

by G. P. Ching

  HORU blinked twice and did as he requested.

  Hope would never have noticed it at regular speed, but in slow motion and zoomed in, it was clear Finn’s tattoos weren’t just spinning; they were burning.

  “He used them as fuel,” Theodor said. “Look, they’re coming apart.”

  “Did you know he could do that?” Victoria asked.

  “No. I didn’t know it was possible,” Theodor said. He narrowed his eyes. “He’s saying something toward the camera.”

  Hope leaned forward, concentrating on Finn’s lips. At the moment he cast the spell to close the tear, he looked directly at HORU’s camera and said, “Trapdoor.”

  “Trapdoor?” Hope repeated. “What does that mean?”

  Theodor laughed and kept on laughing. He shook his head.

  “Somebody tell the blind man what’s going on,” Mike said.

  “Finn sent me a message to retrieve him, the same way I retrieved you, Michael,” Theodor said. The magician became serious again. “Although, he will be lucky if it is possible. Risky is an understatement. Lucifer wasn’t in Hell watching Mike and Wendy. He’s there now and I’d venture his interest in Finn has not waned yet.” Theodor walked quickly to the tree and reached for the trunk.

  “Whoa, isn’t that how this all started? ” Hope shifted nervously. “Is it safe for you to travel through that thing?”

  “Absolutely not,” Theodor said. He winked at her, touched the bark, and was gone.

  Finn couldn’t move. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been lying there next to the tree, but it was long enough to feel like a shriveled prune. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth, his eyes would no longer open, and his breathing had become uneven. He’d gone through stages of increasing hunger, but there was nothing to eat here and he dared not leave the tree. What if Theodor got his message and came back for him, only to not be able to find him?

  One thing Finn had learned about Nod from helping Theodor was that time was different here than on Earth. He needed to wait a little longer. Theodor would come. Unless he was dead. Or HORU’s drone had been destroyed. In that case, Finn was doomed. He didn’t think Hope or any of the other Soulkeepers would know where to look for him or even to look at all.

  “Isn’t this a sorry sight?” Theodor said.

  Was Finn hearing things? Feeling things? It felt like a man’s arm was beneath his neck and shoulders and that the edge of something wet was pressed against his lips.

  “I conjured this. It’s drinkable but, I will warn you, it isn’t Aquafina.” Liquid poured into Finn’s mouth and he coughed up as much as he swallowed. The water tasted of sulfur, but at that point, anything was welcome.

  “Keep your eyes closed. Don’t struggle. We’ll be home soon.”

  Finn was lifted into his mentor’s arms and then he became the tree again and his body was stretched like taffy into the next world. He didn’t have the strength to fight it. But when he heard the crunch of pebbles beneath Theodor’s feet and felt himself being lowered to the ground, he knew he was home.

  “Dear Lord,” he heard Mike say. “What happened to him?”

  “Time functions differently where he was, Michael. He is very ill. He needs food, water, and rest, and if I may make a suggestion, healing.”

  “Yeah, of course. Hey, I’ve only been able to see for like ten minutes anyway. What’s the bother?”

  “I’d do it but I need my strength for…” Damien said.

  Finn had no idea what Damien needed to conserve his energy for but Mike responded, “Yeah, yeah.”

  Finn felt two hands come to rest on either side of his neck.

  “Here. Give him this,” he heard Ms. D say.

  Cool, wet liquid coursed down his throat. Sweet. Sweet tea, he realized. Warmth spread from Mike’s hands, through his body. More tea. And then slowly, as if they were dragging two boulders, his eyelids cracked open. Hope and Damien were leaning over him, as were Ms. D, Theodor, and Mike. And there, between them all, was HORU and her drone.

  “Welcome back, Finn,” she said, wiggling her ears. “I did what you told me to do.”

  “Thanks, HORU,” he rasped. “Good job.”

  “All right, all right,” Ms. D said. “Let’s get you back to the bus. The others must be beside themselves with worry.”

  “You go,” Hope said. “We have unfinished business.” She looked toward the tree and gestured for Damien. Of course, they were going to close the portal. For a moment, Finn felt nothing but gratitude that everything had turned out as it did. He deserved death for what he’d done. Even though he knew God had already forgiven him, it would take time to forgive himself. Exhausted, he closed his eyes, and let his friends carry him home.

  Finn woke with no idea how long he’d been asleep. What he did know was that he was in his room on the bus and it was dark outside his window. He remembered bathing and eating until he couldn’t eat another bite. But that was hours ago and he was hungry again. He got up, got dressed and headed for the galley.

  All was quiet and dark in the hallway. Everyone must be sleeping. He checked the clock on the wall of the galley. 3:30 am.

  “You’re looking better,” Mike said. The big guy was sitting at one of the long tables, sipping a glass of milk.

  “What are you doing up?” Finn asked.

  “Couldn’t sleep. I keep having nightmares that Lucifer is back.”

  “Well, he’s gone and so are the demons.”

  Finn grabbed a roll from the basket leftover from dinner and sat down across from Mike. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why did you do it?” Finn examined his fingers. “You could have stayed on the island where you were safe. Why risk everything to try to save me? You must have known popping up at the center of Lucifer’s lair was a bad idea.

  “Why did you sacrifice yourself to carry Lucifer through that portal? You must have known the odds were against you. You might still be trapped in Hell if you weren’t the luckiest bastard who ever walked the Earth.”

  “I did it because I couldn’t bear living in a world where I was responsible for your death. You and the others.” He rubbed his eyes and tried to hide the way his voice cracked. “I feel so damn guilty thinking this, but I’m so glad Kirsa did what she did. I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself—”

  “Don’t waste your time on guilt,” Mike said. “ I forgave you… I forgive you. I knew you had no control.”

  Finn felt a wave of relief.

  Mike cleared his throat. “I knew I’d probably get caught. I came because… I always felt our friendship was stronger than evil.”

  With a snort Finn started to laugh and Mike joined in. “Stronger than evil,” Finn repeated, finding it funny once again.

  “Hilarious. Sappy. But true,” Mike said. “Friends like us, we stick together. I wasn’t going to let no Devil take my homeboy.” He reached across the table and pounded Finn’s hand with his fist.

  A lump formed in Finn’s throat. “So, uh, we’re okay, right?”

  Mike smiled and started laughing again. “Yeah. We’re okay.” They sat for a moment in silence before Mike stood. “Eat your damn roll. I’m not healing you again.”

  Finn did.

  36

  Ever After

  Weeks later, Finn sat in a pew at the back of a church, thankful that it was comfortably padded. He’d mostly recovered from his ordeal with Lucifer and Nod, but he was still underweight and lacking in energy. Every day was better than the last though, and now that he was living with his father at home again, he was eating more and moving less. He’d picked up where he’d left off, playing video games with Wyatt and attending Beaverton High School with Mike and Jayden. One thing was different though. Deviant Joe was dead. They’d deleted all the videos. The four of them agreed that pranks weren’t where they wanted to spend their time and energy anymore.

  As strange as it seemed, Kirsa’s death hadn’t been easy for any of the Soulkeepers. They’d all ha
ted her. She’d tortured Hope and contributed to Mike’s near drowning at Revelations. But in the end, she’d been a hero. And while it was true that her change had been due to Mike’s intervention with the blessed water, she’d still had free will. Finn remembered how she’d looked the day he’d signed over his soul to Lucifer. She wasn’t a monster. She was human. And he realized that what the water had done for her was make her feel part of something. It was sad she had to die to make that connection.

  They’d given her a Soulkeeper’s funeral and buried her in a cemetery in Virginia near the house where she’d grown up before moving to Revelations. Every single one of them had cried. Lucifer had said the obsidian blade didn’t just kill the body; it killed the soul. A lie, he hoped. Like the Soulkeeper gene, Finn didn’t believe the soul was something that could be taken from you. He liked to think that Kirsa was in a better place. He’d probably never know for sure, but he refused to imagine otherwise.

  “Theodor changed his suit,” Wendy said from beside him, squeezing his hand. He squeezed back.

  “I told him he had to. That uniform of his was starting to give me the creeps.” Finn smiled toward the front of the church where Theodor waited in a marvelous purple three-piece with an orchid pinned to the lapel.

  The organ started to play and everyone stood. Finn looked toward the doors at the top of the aisle.

  “Oh, she’s beautiful,” Wendy said.

  Finn had to agree. Ms. D was wearing a dress Finn thought belonged somewhere in the past. It was white lace with long sleeves that ended in a bell shape at her wrists. The material was form fitting and stretched all the way to the floor. This was not a Cinderella ball gown. It was sleek and sophisticated with a flair true to her eccentric personality. A purple top hat crowned her gray curls, and as she passed them, making her way to the front of the church with a bouquet of wildflowers in hand, Finn noticed a row of amethyst buttons that ran the length of her back.

  Everyone sat back down when the ceremony started. “I can’t believe they waited this long to get married,” Wendy whispered. “They’ve been dating for like sixty years.”

  “Ms. D says no one was allowed to get married on the island and they were never able to leave at the same time. Revelations owned them.”

  “Damien owned them. He owned the place and was pulling the strings.” Wendy frowned. “Back when he was… evil.”

  “Ravenguard and Applegate too.”

  “Hmm.” Wendy nudged him and pointed with her chin. “Do you think he’s truly in love with her?”

  Finn followed Wendy’s gaze to where Hope and Damien sat across the aisle and a few rows up. “Damien? It seems like it. He can leave anytime he wants to. He’s an angel. He could be in Heaven. He doesn’t go because he wants to be with her.”

  “She doesn’t seem to fully reciprocate. I mean, obviously they’re together. They’re always together,” Wendy whispered. “But it’s like she holds him at a distance. She’s holding something back.”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “I only thought, you know, because you guys are such good friends…”

  “That I’d give you the 411 on her relationship status?”

  Wendy did a double take. “Well… yes.”

  He snorted. “Sorry. I don’t know. And I don’t blame her for taking things slow. Those two have a long history. He may have changed, but she hasn’t and she remembers everything.”

  The elderly woman in front of them turned around and gave them the stink-eye. “Shhh!”

  “Sorry,” Finn said.

  Who is that? Wendy mouthed, pointing at the woman’s back.

  Finn shrugged.

  A woman at the front of the church broke into a traditional wedding ballad. Her voice was pristine and reminded Finn of Juliette. Once Lucifer was vanquished to Hell, his guitar became a normal guitar again. He wondered what happened to Juliette’s soul. He supposed he’d never know.

  “It was nice of Ms. D to pick Fuse to be her maid of honor, but I thought for sure Theodor would choose you for his best man.”

  “Orelon doesn’t have any living family left. They’re old friends. It makes more sense than you think.”

  “What about Amuke? I didn’t even see him when I came in. Is he here?”

  Finn shook his head. “He and Paul moved to Kenya.”

  “Kenya?”

  “Amuke has a great-granddaughter who lives there. They went so they could have a safe place to shift. Paul didn’t want to go home. I guess his home life wasn’t the best.”

  Wendy chewed her lip. “That’s too bad. I know how that goes.” She’d moved back home with her parents, but the relationship was strained. She’d mentioned she was looking forward to college.

  “Thanks for bringing me. This is beautiful.” She smiled sweetly. “I’m glad I could be here with you.”

  “Uh, Wendy,” he whispered.

  “Yeah?”

  “Will you go to prom with me?”

  She squeezed his hand again and flashed him a broad smile. “Yeah. I’ll go.”

  He smiled back. “Good.”

  The woman in front of them turned around again. “Shhhh!”

  “Sorry,” Finn and Wendy said at the same time. When she turned back around, they raised their eyebrows at each other.

  The rings were exchanged and the kiss was shared. Finn stood and clapped as the two walked hand in hand down the aisle and exited the chapel.

  “So, Victoria Duvall is now Victoria Florea. That’s unfortunate.” Wendy sighed.

  Finn chuckled.

  “Where are they going to live now?” Wendy asked.

  “Santa Fe. They’re considering opening a school for gifted children.”

  “They have plenty of experience. I suppose they can’t use Revelations anymore. None of the kids could make it through the gate. What will happen to the island?”

  “It’s still there. Mrs. Wilhelm and Orelon have decided to stay there as caretakers. I guess it will remain as is for as long as any Soulkeepers need it. But Hope says our powers will likely wane over time now that Lucifer is gone.”

  “Then, I should thank you for bringing me here. Airfare is expensive.” She grinned.

  Finn had traveled to Cincinnati using his Soulkeeper power and traveled back with her. He didn’t have a single symbol left in his skin and he’d destroyed his deck of cards. The ability to fold space and move from point A to point B was his own. It had always been his. And he planned to appreciate it for as long as he had it.

  He kissed her cheek. “You’re welcome.”

  37

  Paris High School

  Hope Laudner leaned against the wall of the gymnasium in a regrettable dress with a regrettable attitude. She hadn’t wanted to come to prom. In fact, she found the entire idea of a high school dance laughable after what had occurred only months ago. But her parents Jacob and Malini had insisted. They said she’d regret missing it. So she’d donned a strapless, puffy-pink princess dress she’d found at a vintage shop and thrown her hair into a bun. A few pictures and a glass or two of punch and she’d be home in her jammies with a book in no time at all, time served.

  “Can I have this dance?” a velvet smooth voice said from beside her.

  “I should have known you’d come.” Damien was never far away and was the closest thing to a boyfriend she’d ever had. He looked dapper tonight in a dark suit with his hair slicked back and her stomach did a funny little flip when she looked at him, as it always did. Before she could say another word, he produced a corsage and strapped it to her wrist.

  “I heard you were coming alone,” he said.

  “You heard that from me.”

  “I thought we agreed we were… together?”

  She smiled up at him, his golden stare doing wicked things to her. “We are. As I said before, I cannot think of a more torturous way for someone who has been around for thousands of years to spend an evening, than at my prom. I was thinking of you.” She gestured around herself at
the sad display of tables and decorations. The theme was Virtual Reality, and hologram discs at the center of each table worked with special glasses to change the décor for the viewer. One viewer could have an Old West theme while the next celebrated the age of grunge music. Participants could change their table’s choice on a whim. Without the glasses on, all Hope could see were the receptors, hanging silver discs that dangled from the ceiling all over the gym.

  He shrugged. “Doesn’t seem so terrible to me.”

  “I don’t want to dance.”

  As he opened his mouth to say something else, Melissa Winthrop, class gossip, inserted herself between them like the room was on fire and Damien was the only one with a fire extinguisher. “Hope, who’s your friend?”

  “None of your damn business—”

  “Damien.” He held out his hand to her, too formal for a senior in high school. Melissa took it, giggling like the idiot she was.

  Hope stepped in front of him. “He’s my boyfriend, and we were about to dance.” She took his hand and led him toward the dance floor.

  “I thought you didn’t want to dance,” he said through a smug grin.

  “I changed my mind.”

  She positioned herself at the center of the dance floor and looped her arms around his neck. “It isn’t that I don’t want you here. I was honestly being considerate. This can’t be fun for you.”

  He spread his fingers along the curve of her back. “Hope, being where you are is always fun for me. It doesn’t matter what we are doing.”

  “So, you’re just, like, going to hang around me until I send you away again?”

  He nodded. “Yes. I’ve decided you are the only one for me. I’ll be with you until you tire of me.”

  “What if you change your mind?”

  He chuckled. “I won’t. When an angel bonds with a human or another angel, it’s forever.”

  “Like my mother and father,” she said softly.