Bitter Aries (The Zodiac Book 1)

by Paul Sating

  A few seconds passed with Aries sliding his half-full glass of ice water back and forth across the table.

  I still wasn't feeling animosity toward this ancient demon. This felt more like a mentoring session than an inquisition. Was he really an enemy of the Council and Lucifer? He seemed so … cordial.

  He held up a finger, asking me to wait, while a coughing fit wracked his thin frame. When Aries spoke again, his voice was softer, pained. "There's a lot that's wrong with the Overworld, so much that needs attention and assistance from creatures like us. Part of the reason I came here was to work on those injustices I've seen during my other trips. The injustices worrying about the Balance doesn't fix. I can't make much of a difference in the Underworld. Being here, amongst the humans, I can, and I have."

  "But you're just playing music." The comment sounded antagonistic and I wished I could have bitten it back.

  Those icy eyes found me, pulled me in. "Things are rarely what they seem, young one. You're too smart to make determinations based solely on what you observe. I sense that about you. But you need to grow stronger in that, and quickly, before you become a tool to someone else's means."

  Kelly stopped by with my meal, a plate of food that could have fed two full-sized demons—humans really need to cut back on portion sizes. I could feel my eyes growing larger and my stomach expanding just by looking at the mound of fries that wrapped themselves around a gigantic hamburger which took up a third of the plate.

  This drew a laugh from Aries. "Enjoy this experience. No telling how many of them you will have. We'll finish the serious conversation when you're done."

  And Aries held true to that promise. While I ate, he filled me in on the Overworld, talking about the city of Seattle and the greater region known as the Pacific Northwest. He told me I was fortunate to be here now, that the weather this time of year was always glorious. If I came back in October, I'd find a transformed world. For that half of the year, this area was gray and rainy. That sounded wonderful, like the most beautiful day in hell.

  I finished and pushed the empty plate aside with more than a healthy dose of shame. Emboldened by our bonding throughout the meal, I wanted to take charge of the conversation. We were beyond the reach of the Council, out in open around mortals as we were.

  "I just don't get it," I said tentatively. "If you're here to enjoy your time and even help the human's homeless, why is the Council so upset? Why are they in such a hurry to return you?"

  Aries clapped his hands once. "There it is."

  "There what is?"

  "I've been wondering how much time would pass before you showed me something," Aries said. He sounded fulfilled. "This is your mission yet you have been dancing around the purpose of why you're here, even though I'm staring you in the face from three feet away. I doubted you were up for this." He scooted his chair closer to the table, flaring his elbows. "Ask me anything on your mind, young one. And I'll give you the answers. You want to know why I'm important to them?"

  "Yes," I croaked.

  "I'm sure they filled you in on most of my situation," Aries said. "They must have also told you about the Balance and how my presence can upset it. And the thing is, they're right. I could upend hundreds of thousands of years of work. But that's not my mission. When I said I came here to serve the human's homeless population, I was being truthful. I consider it important, work that's been neglected by our kind for far too long. The angels aren't better. So I do what I can, help where I can. The music? Well, it's a passion, a love, and something I do for enjoyment. But it's not my purpose, though it helps me find those humans I can serve. I'm also very good at it."

  "Still doesn't make sense. If that's all you're doing, why is the Council so bothered? And if they are, why don't they just come to the Overworld and have this conversation with you and take you back if that's what they decide? Why send me and my two friends?" Ugh. I'd just called Ralrek my friend. For the record, I want to clear it up now, he's not. Ralrek is a real asshole.

  "The Balance, young one. It's all about the Balance. If one of the Council, like Beelzebub, came here to retrieve me, I could step out of a sanctuary such as your apartment and kick off something they wouldn't want. They must remain in those sanctuaries. Inside that space, the Council members can exist and have an influence on the Overworld. But they can't step outside that single place."

  "And if he does?" I pressed, a tidal wave of information inundating me. "I thought major demons could tip it?"

  Aries dipped his head, raising a shoulder. "If he does, that violates neutral territory, an inflammatory act that might cause the tipping. See, the Council is less than honest about a lot of things. This is only one of those. "

  "What does that mean?"

  "Our Council can't leave sanctuaries. The angels' Council can't leave sanctuaries. The rest of us? We can. Though I understand why both Councils would want to limit who is roaming around the Overworld. As far as what it means overall?" Aries let his sentence hang while he coughed into a fisted hand. It sounded wet. "War."

  "So why the big deal then? If they both agree to not come out of sanctuaries, but all other demons and angels can, why is there a problem? Why did they tell me you could basically be the catalyst to an apocalypse?"

  "They want you to complete their task and if I don't sound like the ultimate threat, then how motivated would demons be to come here," he gestured with a wide swing of his arm, "to the only place in reality where they could die? Those in power have to weave some incredible lies to get others to die for their cause."

  "So you can't kick off the apocalypse?"

  Aries tilted his head side to side as if he was deciding on which soda to drink. "I could," he answered, stretching out the last word. "But I would have to be a real jerk. Casting spells everywhere, altering the course of humankind by interfering with their free will, such that they have. Using magic here irresponsibly can lead to problems, but its use in and of itself is not problematic. Ha! The mortals would be an absolute mess if we hadn't used magic to correct their path over the past hundreds of thousands of years, millions of years, of their evolution. A little magic? Necessary. Too much reliance on our Abilities? Big problem?"

  "An apocalypse-sized problem?"

  "Bingo!" Aries slapped the table. None of the humans reacted. "We came close a few years ago with the Second World War. The nuclear age, too."

  "That was us?"

  Aries shook his head. "The angels. They're all about rushing the end times for some reason. Both sides ended up using our Abilities to dictate how that mess ended. It was very ugly for a long time. Lost a lot of good friends. If one of us or them had gone rogue … there is no telling how that would have ended."

  A war between Hell and Heaven because the two parties could not come to some agreement? That sounded ridiculous, but since when did politics between opposing forces ever not? For as old as our species and angels were, you would expect us to be sensible, at least enough to not push humanity to the cusp of extinction. I remembered that period well. Every day, it was the talk of the Fifth, but I had no idea it was so tenuous.

  "That's why you and your friends are doing their bidding. You are the mechanism through which the Council can influence events in the Overworld. And why they insist on using you to get to me, hoping that you have it within you to return me so the Balance remains."

  "They said I was immune to you," I said, sounding almost like I was offering an apology.

  "Really now?"

  "Yeah, I'm the Segregate."

  "I know."

  Aries answered too casually, too comfortably.

  "That doesn't bother you?"

  Aries smiled, sipped his water and cupped his hands around the glass after he set it down. "Not at all. The Underworld has never had a true Segregate before. We have come close a few times, but from everything I remember about you, you're the first. Almost like a first of your name."

  He chuckled. I didn't.

  Aries cleared his throat but, he still so
unded humored by his comment. "Sorry. This is a lot to put on you. Yes, I know you're likely immune to my spells, but I'm not really worried about that as I don't plan on using them on you. Yes, any using enough magic in the Overworld will register with the other side and possibly kick off the apocalypse. Yes, my presence here, should I decide to use my powers extensively, could tip the Balance. But none of that will happen. You have nothing to fear from me. My presence in the Overworld is for the good of humans."

  "This is stupid. I mean," I waved away the comment. "What you're doing for them, that's great. I'm talking about everything else."

  My comment drew a raucous laugh from the major demon. "It is, young one. It truly is. But in the same breath, it is necessary. We wouldn't want angels acting in their favor, so we need to respect it too. I can understand where the Council is coming from but that doesn't mean I find the resolution to be an amicable solution."

  "Aries … can I call you that?"

  "Of course."

  "What would really happen if you went back to Hell with me?" It was difficult to swallow.

  With a soft voice, Aries answered, "Lucifer would eradicate me."

  "He would kill you for helping humans?"

  The ancient answered with a single nod. "As you can see, once I made my decision to come to the Overworld, I wrote my death sentence. A fate written by only me. To write one's own fate is to truly be free."

  I feared the answer to my next question. "There's no way you're going back, is there?"

  Aries's shoulders slumped, his soft voice wavering. "I'll die before I go back."

  17 - Seattle

  "He said what?" Bilba's screech rang around the living room. On the couch, Ralrek grumbled an agreement.

  Kicking my feet up on the coffee table, I stretched out, placing my hands behind my head. The sun had set on the Overworld, my first official, glorious one. From our vantage point in the apartment, lights sparkled across the calm water of Elliott Bay. The peaks of mountains far off in the distance disappeared behind the blanket of black that shrouded the world. Calm restored; if I was about to float off the surface—look, it is silly; I realize that, but still—at least I would do it in the familiar comfort of darkness.

  "He said he wasn't coming back." I repeated the bad news about Aries's established position, a line he drew when escaping the Underworld, one he wouldn't cross again. "To be honest, guys, he's at peace with it."

  Lying on the couch, spread out in a vulgar display of confidence, Ralrek grumbled. "Fine, then we bring him back ourselves, at all costs."

  I stopped rubbing my head long enough to gawk. "You think we can force a major demon? Really?"

  "They selected us for a reason. We can get the job done." Ralrek sat up, talking more to Bilba than to me, his bruised face serving as a contradiction to his confidence. "The Council didn't put us on this because we're incapable."

  "No, they picked you because I needed magical backup and Bilba is my best friend, a trusted friend. You're just the eye candy."

  Ralrek's eyes narrowed. "They wouldn't waste their time and efforts, and they definitely wouldn't risk putting us in the Overworld if we couldn't carry out their objectives. The way I see it, if Aries doesn't want to come to the Underworld, yes, we force him."

  I cut off the chuckle building in my chest. This was the most ridiculous thing I'd heard today, but Ralrek was Bilba's idol, for some reason, and I wanted to spare antagonizing him.

  "What do you propose?" Bilba asked.

  "You can't seriously be entertaining him?" I blinked. Had he really just said that?

  My best friend shrugged with the look of someone devoid of answers. The lack of determination on his face burned like a pissed off ember cat. "We've got to do something. Aries had a chance to come with us peacefully, and he didn't. And now he won't go back at all. Our mission is to bring him home, and if he is adamant, what other choice do we have? I'm all ears if you have a recommendation, but I don't know what the heaven we do."

  Bilba was right, he was all ears. Big, flappy ones. "I would love to know how you think that'll happen."

  Ralrek stood, gesticulating like a hive of bees had just landed on his arms. "Zeke, sometimes I think you'd rather go back to the Underworld empty-handed."

  "It's Ezekial. I've told you that a thousand times," I said. I didn't care about antagonizing the jerk. He knew he antagonized me every time he used my nickname. That's why he did it. Ralrek loved putting others down to lift himself. He constantly treated Bilba like blazebull dung. A little tit-for-tat might knock him down a peg. "And yeah, I would prefer to go back. I want to go home, where we can't float off into the endless sky, where things are normal, the food tastes like burned wood, and where I can sleep in my own bed and eat my mother's terrible cooking and not be anywhere near you. I'd rather be there, not faced with the threat of battling a major demon because some idiot who's only been casting a thousand years thinks he's a badass."

  Ralrek stepped closer, his top lip pulling back in a sneer. "I'm definitely more of a badass than you, someone who can't even cast."

  "Knock it off guys," Bilba pleaded.

  I clapped my hands slowly. "Congratulations. You consider yourself more of a badass than the only demon in history with no Abilities. They must make you feel special."

  "I can't stand you, Sunstone. You know that?"

  Boy, did I ever. "I'll remember to care about that at some point. But for now, I'm more concerned with how you two think we can somehow force Aries to go back. No matter how much of a badass you think you are, Aries is a million times more badass. He would decimate you, and Bilba along with you. "

  Ralrek wagged a finger at me. "The thing that will get us killed is your inadequacies and that mouth of yours."

  Bilba moved closer. "Guys, come on. Let's calm down. We're not supposed to be fighting between ourselves."

  Surging testosterone muffled Bilba's next comment. My sole focus was on the idiot in front of me who was closing the distance between myself and him. "You don't get it. Aries could destroy you with a flick of his wrist and that doesn't look like it bothers you one bit. This isn't a game."

  Another step closer. I had to look up at him now.

  "This isn't a game," Ralrek said. "This is our destiny."

  "Destiny?" My laugh came out harsh and full of scathing humor. We were beyond protecting Bilba's sensitivities at this point.

  His chest swelled with bravado. "Are you laughing at me?"

  "It looks like I am." If there's one thing I wear well, it is sarcasm.

  "I should burn you to a crisp," Ralrek snarled.

  I pinched my mouth. "You could try."

  Bilba stepped in between us, arms extended to both sides. His voice shook as he tried to push us apart. "I mean it, knock it off."

  When Ralrek shoved him out of the way I knew I'd pushed the tall bully further than ever before. He moved within an arm's length, so I did what came naturally.

  I laughed.

  Then felt the first tingle of the scratching sensation all over my exposed skin that always preceded a fire caster using their Ability.

  Time slowed. Both Ralrek and Bilba were in my field of vision. A blackbird flew past the window outside. The program on the television—a fascinating report on a fossil discovery from the recent Middle Paleolithic period, a time my grandparents shared hundreds of memories of during family get-togethers—dulled to a muted rumble.

  My hackles raised as he conjured, disbelief slowing my reactions. He was ready to fight.

  As his fingers unfurled, the air crackled. The hair on my arms stood on end. Springing to the side, I sprinted around Bilba and was on Ralrek before a breath's moment passed. Whatever fire spell he was preparing, he didn't get the chance to cast.

  I drove myself into Ralrek, knocking him to the floor. Casters need to concentrate to use their Abilities and tackling him broke that. Now, he had to start his spell over, but struggling with me on the floor would make that difficult. I know it's not the most elabor
ate strategy in the history of strategies, but you have to give me some props for its effectiveness.

  "Knock it off guys!" Bilba stood over us, trying to pull us to our feet and failing epically.

  Ralrek tried to squirm away, but I had a firm grip around his waist, my hands locked in front of him on his stomach. He fought, he kicked, and I'm pretty sure he screamed at one point, but I ignored it all. My focus remained on not breaking my hold. If I did, he'd be able to scramble to his feet and begin casting again. No second chances to set my junk on fire.

  Even after getting his ass kicked by Aries's bodyguard, the tall demon still had fight in him. He threw an elbow and caught me square in the cheek. What was it with getting hit in the face today? I released my grip, only to re-establish it when I pinned his arm to his side. Down to a single arm, he was defeated. I squeezed. If he couldn't breathe, he'd be less interested in torching my ass, or any other part of me.

  "Are you implings done wrestling?" The distinct voice could belong to only one demon. Beelzebub was here.

  I released Ralrek and scrambled to my feet. I dusted off my pants, not sure they needed it, but I had to do something with the adrenaline coursing through my body.

  "What exactly did the two of you hope to accomplish?" Beelzebub took a seat in the chair I had occupied just seconds before. "You." He gestured at Bilba. "Get me something to drink."

  Bilba did as ordered without hesitation, leaving a panting Ralrek and me standing before one of the original demons. I think I forgot how to swallow.

  Beelzebub looked from me to Ralrek and back. "Well," he said, spreading his hands, "do either of you have an explanation? I prefer it be reasonable. I imagine you'll struggle with that, but entertain me."

  I would have loved to have come up with something witty and clever, but my energy was going toward keeping my cool. I'd let Ralrek get to me when we had more important things to do. My face flushed.

  "He was about to use his Abilities on me because I called him out."

  Beelzebub's nose flared. "If the three of you insist on acting like this, it doesn't bode well. For any of us. This is bigger than your stupid rivalry. Set it straight because, if you don't, it might mean us bringing in a new team to get the job done and abandoning you here."