Erecting Barriers

by L. J. Vickery

  “I’m not saying that your contract with the human cannot be undone, but it’s going to take some moving of Heaven and Hell to do it.”

  “Who wants me to move Hell?” Nergal’s amused voice wafted through the door just before his big body. Marduk followed. “The thunder god and I were just talking about my realm.” He acknowledged Mamitu with a kiss on her hand.

  At her questioning glance, the king didn’t hesitate to fill them in. After all, there wasn’t much that he and the goddess hadn’t seen or heard before.

  “There seems to be a rogue soul loose below, conspiring with dear Beletseri to cause some unknown trouble. I’ve got my new secretary, Stave, looking into things for me.” He stared pointedly at Kulla, then to Obedience. “Now correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that the Underworld problem isn’t the only intrigue on the plate today.” He folded his arms across his massive chest and waited.

  Kulla looked at Marduk and raised a questioning brow.

  “Anything you say here will go no farther,” the thunder god assured.

  “Except maybe to your brother.” Kabta stood in the open doorway, all ears and clearly ready to hear what troubled Kulla on this day which should only have been an auspicious occasion.

  “Oh for the gods’ sakes.” Obedience rolled her eyes. “Why don’t we just put it in the Boston Globe and let everyone know what an idiot I am.” She shook her head to start her story again, watching the surrounding faces for any sign that her problem could be easily solved.

  Dorian’s original assessment held. The negation of the marriage agreement could be accomplished, but only after the witch council approved, the god council approved, and a proper course of action could be agreed upon. If human red-tape seemed difficult, it had nothing on that of immortals.

  “We’ll start things rolling while you’re Nergal’s guest in Hell,” Dorian told Kulla. “You just relax down there and enjoy.”

  “The glowies have a new spa,” Nergal piped up, reminding the architect about the benevolent and ambitious species Dagon had discovered. “I highly recommend that you try their full body mud scrub.”

  Dorian could see Bee-Dee’s mind working as a frown furrowed her brow, unhappy that Kulla would be getting pampered in the Underworld while she dealt with two councils and their so-called superior beings, but there was no help for it.

  “So are we…” Marduk got interrupted when the door to the outside opened yet again.

  “Oh. We didn’t know anybody had dibs on the office,” Jake apologized, but came in anyway, followed by Ken and Vesca.

  “What the hell? Wouldn’t it just save time if we held the dedication here?” Marduk groused. “Considering the number of people accumulating?” Once upon a time the office had been his private sanctum. Now, it seemed that everyone with a problem felt free to avail themselves of its hallowed walls, and the god didn’t look happy.

  “Ken asked for a private word.” Jake did not apologize for the intrusion. He waited, thinking in error that everyone would leave. Marduk mimicked Nergal’s pose from earlier, and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Your problems are our problems,” he proclaimed. “What’s on your mind, Ken?”

  Dorian nearly snorted. As if they all didn’t know.

  The recuperated agent reached for Vesca’s hand and turned to his immediate boss. “I’d like to request a leave of absence.” Not what anyone had expected to hear. “Vesca wants to take me to the Overworld for a visit.” He looked sheepish. “She wants me to meet her parents.”

  Jake looked bewildered, and Marduk’s face clouded over.

  Vesca spoke first, focusing on the thunder god’s disquiet, seeking to assuage the new Papa. “I’ve already cleared it with Tess,” she pacified him. “She and Girin have come to an understanding, and she feels confident she can do all the feedings for a few days.”

  Now what was up with Jake? Ken tipped his head and watched his boss. Dorian did too. Had nerves hit, rethinking all of his breakfast stealing now that Ken courted a goddess and might become a god? Payback could be a bitch.

  “Meet her parents?” Jake finally spit out, locating his tongue. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t most of you immortals thousands of years old?” He turned to a blushing Vesca. “Do you still have to ask parental approval for a boyfriend?”

  Ken jumped in to explain. “Not always, Jake, but it seems that Vesca’s, uh, very young,” he enlightened. This time he got a concerned look from Mamitu. Dorian knew just what the judge perceived, and she confirmed it by her immediate and stern reprimand.

  “Not under my watch will a minor be allowed to mate with a human, no matter your credentials,” she admonished, looking at Ken. “There are some things goddesses need years under their belts before deciding, and hooking up with an earthbound male is one of them.” She eyed Vesca up and down. “Just how old are you, my dear?”

  Vesca blushed. Ken and Jake groaned. “I’ll be two hundred and ten next month,” she answered, and Ken’s eyes went wide.

  Dorian wanted to laugh at the human. He had no idea he would be getting a very young bride if things worked out.

  “Hmph,” the reply came from the old goddess. “Barely old enough, but legal.” She pointed a finger at Vesca. “Just make sure you really love him,” she warned, turning to Obedience admonishingly. “Making commitments for frivolous reasons can end up biting you in the ass.”

  Bee-Dee’s face went red, and Dorian thought she did a fine job holding her tongue. He knew just what she’d assumed. That the marriage contract had been an act of kindness, albeit one that had gone wrong; and one that she needed Mamitu’s influence to get out of. Better not to piss the old goddess off.

  Kulla cut things short. “I hate to break this up, but now that we’ve got plans underway to solve everyone’s problems, I have a ziggurat to dedicate.”

  Dorian took Bee-Dee’s arm. “Good call, Kulla. I’ll help get everyone situated while you talk to your brother.” The warlock hadn’t missed the silent communication that had continued to take place between the two. “How does ten minutes sound?”

  Kulla nodded his head. “That will be fine. Thanks Dorian.”

  Without another thought to what anyone would think, the divine architect grabbed Obedience around the waist and kissed the hell out of her, before reluctantly raising his head. “I’ll be taken away as soon as Lahar spills his blood, but I promise I’ll be back in three days. Don’t go anywhere. Dorian will figure things out, then you and I have a date with a knife.”

  Bee-Dee had been witness to the last mating ceremony, and knew what to expect. Damned archaic if you asked Dorian…but effective.

  Dorian rose to the occasion, exited Marduk’s office, and showed everyone to their seats with the help of Candy and Charlie, the two non-pregnant, non-nursing goddesses. The gods of the household had all disappeared, ostensibly getting into their ritual finery. He took one last glance at Matthew who propped on a boulder outside of the sanctioned assemblage, watching with avid curiosity. There seemed more to that new god than met the eye, and Dorian filed it in his mind to keep a close watch on him.

  When the procession finally came down the aisle, little Maity preceded the gods, dancing gaily and strewing rose petals, her bright laughter filling the evening air. Kulla followed at the head of the immortal line-up, and the warlock’s mind turned completely to the event at hand. He had to admit that the oiled-up, loin-clothed gods, covered in gold as they walked barefoot toward the altar, were an impressive sight. He could almost imagine they were back in ancient Mesopotamia, amongst the kings and queens. The chanting hinted at the beginnings of time, and the incense did its job clouding the edges of reality until all that remained were the gods and the ziggurat.

  Kulla made a lovely speech, after which, one by one, each of the attending gods plucked an offering from the pile around the altar. They carried it to the top step of the structure, where with murmured words, they laid it down reverently.

  Last to come forward was Lah
ar, the god of farm animals, his chocolate brown skin glistening under the lights. He paused next to Kulla, and with a simple twist of his body, he became the ram, his alter-self. His god-like muscles still shone, and his large brown eyes still sparked with intelligence, but horns sprouted and curled from his head, and his snout elongated into a wary snarl. He followed Kulla to the top step, and bowed his head.

  Kulla chanted an ancient prayer, then drawing a knife from his loincloth, scored once, twice, three times across the ram’s massive chest. When the first drop of blood touched the stone, Kulla disappeared.

  Bee-Dee wasn’t the only one in the crowd to gasp. She’d been warned, but Dorian could see that it still came as a shock how quickly her mate evaporated. It being the first sanctification for some of the other goddesses, their faces mimicked his cousin’s. If only they knew. Lucky devil, Kulla. As a guest in the Underworld, he would be treated like a king.

  Dorian envied the god as the party got started and Absu laid out the food. The festivities would go on until nearly morning, and after that, there would be hours of clean-up. Some things even magic couldn’t make easier; recycling plastic cups to name one. It would prove to be a long night.

  Dorian looked to find Addie May talking to the oath-goddess Mamitu. The two had met fifty years ago when the judge had given her approval to their union. He hoped his old friend gave his once-wife a piece of her mind. It was no more than Addie deserved.

  He observed his witch closely. Things were moving along nicely. He wondered how long it would take Addie to notice.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Kulla’s missing.” Nergal’s words echoed over the yard in the early morning light as immortals filled green bags and cleaned up from the celebration. Everyone’s head stilled. Marduk’s voice rang out.

  “What do you mean he’s missing?” The thunder god’s question hung, ominously.

  Bee-Dee put a hand to her throat and waited along with everyone else for the king’s answer. It had been five hours since the royals had left the compound, and nobody had cause to think anything had gone wrong.

  “When Eresh and I got home, we went straight to bed.” Not an eye in the crowd blinked, and Nergal didn’t waste words. “When we awoke and asked our glowie chef to have Kulla join us for breakfast, he said he hadn’t seen him.”

  “We went immediately to the portal where visitors come in, and the two glowie guards were down. They’d been drugged.” Obedience had heard all about the glowies and knew that if any of the collective were killed, the rest would feel it and immediately rush to find the cause. Likewise, if a glowie had been hurt, the rest of the cooperative would feel it. Drugging happened as the only way to disconnect their common bond without repercussion.

  “They didn’t even know what hit them. I’m sorry, but at this point we have to assume that Beletseri’s demons, and her co-conspirator Sal have taken your architect. The only thing we can do is wait for word from my man Stave, to see where they’re holding him and what they want.”

  “They want to keep him prisoner until after the September deadline,” Obedience answered with a catch in her voice. “And they can’t have him. I’m going down to bring him back.”

  “Oh no you’re not,” Marduk answered her gently but firmly. “You’re an unmated Chosen,” he reminded her. “They want you, too.”

  “What difference does it make?” she cried. “If they have Kulla, there’ll be no mating. I’m going, and that’s that. I’m a witch. The demons can’t detect my energy. If any of you gods go down, you’ll be ‘seen’ immediately.”

  “She’s right.” Dorian stepped forward. “Your best bet is with witches. I’m going, too.” Addie May gasped. The warlock turned and gave her a twisted smile. “Ah. So now you’re going to miss me?” he taunted.

  “It’s too dangerous. For both of you,” the older witch argued, unbowed, looking him right in the eye “It isn’t your realm and you have no idea…”

  “But I do.” Dagon interrupted, stepping forward. “I’ve battled them all, and I know every cave and passageway, as well as each species weakness. I’ll go.”

  “No. Kulla’s my brother. It will be me.” Kabta had stayed on at the compound to wait for the reappearance of his sibling, and would not be left out.

  The clearing filled with voices, all demanding to go to Hell. Even the human agents were clamoring to take the trip, siting that they, too, were undetectable by the demons.

  Obedience waited, wringing her hands, while Marduk pondered. She needed to be one of those going. No way she could sit and wait.

  Not one of them expected Marduk to round on Nergal.

  “Okay Nergal, enough of this nonsense. You see what’s happening here. We all have to go, and we need that ore you hold so dear. That which is hidden away in your vault.”

  Bee-Dee knew that Bel and Matthew were cloaked from other gods with the ore they possessed, but she’d had no idea there was more.

  “We need to level the playing field so we can get to Kulla, undetected.” Marduk pinned Nergal with a hard stare. “We’ve played by your rules since all these problems evolved. Problems that you started if I might be so bold to remind you of that. We’ve shown you, again and again, that we operate in your best interests. It’s time for you to prove that our allegiance has not been misplaced. Give us enough ore to send a cloaked team to Hell so we can bring back our man.”

  Nergal spluttered and his face turned red. Obedience could see his internal struggle. Certainly the massive god rarely found himself in a position to be questioned, and Marduk had called him out in front of a very large group of not just gods, but witches and mortals. She could tell that everyone held their breath, waiting to see what the king would do.

  His words, when they emerged, were clipped. “You know why that ore is locked away,” he grunted, “and it’s certainly not so that Bel can have the advantage.” His shoulders dropped several inches and suddenly the king seemed all of his many thousands of years old. “Think what will happen to our worlds; this world, if a large quantity of the ore gets into the wrong hands. Look at the havoc Beletseri has been able to wreak with just a minuscule amount, and she’s only one woman.” His long chestnut hair hung loose and brushed his shoulders as he shook his head. “If I let you have some; even a small portion, and for some reason you fall, an army of beings from down below will become undetectable. That risk cannot be taken.”

  Marduk’s face darkened like the thunder clouds building up above. His anger begged to be unleashed. Bee-Dee and the others looked to Nergal for a sign that he would relent before the wrath of Marduk had a chance to descend.

  “Stop the tantrum, Marduk. I will make one small concession.” The king held up a powerful hand toward Marduk’s tempest, and the silent battle between the two created an electricity in the air that became palpable. “I will release enough ore to cloak a single god. That way, if you send your witches, you will have a nearly equal playing field with Beletseri, and the possibility that only one more enemy might gain access to the ore’s powers.” He released his hold on Marduk’s weather and waited. The impending storm slowly dissipated and Marduk gave a curt nod to his king.

  “Done.”

  “Good,” Nergal sighed. “I’ll be in Hell, waiting. Decide who is to come, I will make it possible for your faction to have passage. But don’t be long. Once Bel realizes she has a captive, she will not be taking it easy on our friend Kulla.” Nergal disappeared.

  Obedience recalled what the twisted bitch had done to Ken, and the thought of Kulla being tortured raised bile into her throat. She had to go to him. She would be part of the rescue team whether Marduk liked it or not.

  Waylon Blau, the king of the Lauernley whose blue men had been so useful, stepped forward once again. “My guards and I will be most invaluable to you in Hell,” he stated. “Regardless of who you send, we will be able to see the enemy at all times.”

  “But they will also be able to see you,” Marduk reminded him. The blue men weren’t off the imm
ortal energy grid.

  “If we can see them, we can fight them,” Waylon scoffed. “And also let your warriors know where the enemy lay.”

  “Fair enough,” Marduk agreed. He turned to Dorian. “If your offer still holds, it will be you, the Lauernley, and me wearing the ore.”

  Bee-Dee approached the thunder god, eyes sparking. “I will be going, as well. You’re not my boss and you can’t stop me.” She dared him to deny it. Her witchiness begged to be unleashed, and she’d singe back his ears before he knew what hit him.

  “And you have a wife and young son who need you.” Kabta, too, upbraided Marduk. “I’m the only god here who isn’t directly vested in your quest for Chosen. If I fail to return, the consequences are purely mine.”

  “He has a point, Marduk.” Enlil spoke up for the group. “Tess is connected to you, and if you die, she follows. It’s not a risk you can take.”

  As Marduk pondered the truth in that, Flick, from the DEA stepped forward. “I think I speak for all of the agents when I say that we should also be deployed.” He got chin nods from his group. “Even though demons can see us, they can’t feel us coming. Our energy isn’t detectable.”

  Obedience could see Marduk’s mind churning. He had everyone volunteering, and had to make a decision. It wouldn’t be easy.

  He moved away, beckoning to his second in command, Enlil, and the other god who’d most recently been to Hell; Dagon. They spoke in low tones for several minutes before Marduk broke away and approached the waiting group.

  “Okay. Here it is, and no arguments,” he cautioned. “Bee-Dee, you and Kulla have a visceral connection, and if Nergal’s spy, Stave, can’t tell us where Kulla is, you should be able to locate him. For that reason, you will go.”

  Obedience kept her mouth shut. She knew Marduk well enough to figure out more would come.

  “You will not, under any circumstances, join in with the fighting. When Kulla is extricated, the last thing we need is for you to be taken, or killed.”