Bitter Aries (The Zodiac Book 1)

by Paul Sating

  This human didn't know the first thing about crowded conditions. Give him a few hundred years in the Fifth Circle to see if his mind changed. I avoided that conversation.

  As we pulled around the corner to our destination, I wished the mortal well and he apologized another time as we exited, waiting for him to pull away before making our move. Down the street and off to our left was Aries's home.

  "Everyone know their duties?" Ralrek asked.

  I ground my teeth at his assumption of command, unrecognized as it was, but nodded.

  Bilba said, "Yup."

  The blabbermouth no more? What was his deal today? This required focus and Bilba was anything but right now. I bit back the rough comment I wanted to make about his attitude and headed in my predetermined direction, while they took up theirs.

  Even when we were detailing the plan in the morning, he had been acting strangely quiet and defensive of everything Ralrek proposed, shooting down my ideas like the way antisocial imps swatted fairies out of the sky.

  We were to spread out to minimize risks, but stay close enough to respond should something go wrong. And, most importantly, we agreed to only subdue the human bodyguards. That was the one point of concession they gave me, allowing me to handle the humans so they wouldn't be gravely injured by any wayward spells. The pair were confident they could subdue Aries long enough for me to finish the humans and then interfere with Aries's magic.

  Still, I wasn't crazy about the plan. Being outvoted sucks. Don't let the angels fool you into thinking Hell is not a democracy. That left me following through to ensure no one got hurt. Bilba and Ralrek acknowledged the risk, but they shared a joint confidence that we could pull this off. To me, it made sense to expect traps outside of the structure. Splitting up would reduce our vulnerabilities, but if even one of us was hurt, what could the other two do but drag them away from the scene with our tails between our legs?

  But, like a good little imp, I upheld my end of this travesty-in-waiting. I took the path to the left. Aries's house sat on a sloping hill, across which the neighboring houses were staggered along its uneven terrain. The closest house on the left was lower and set closer to the road. I volunteered for this route because any mistake here might set off an early warning. I could avoid curious neighbors much more easily than Ralrek, and it wasn't even debatable when it came to Bilba. That klutz would stumble and bumble right into Aries's hands.

  Again.

  As it was, I slipped through the gate to the backyard and navigated playground equipment and toys scattered across the small green expanse of thin grass. Slipping through the hedges forming the border between properties, I closed in on Aries's home without detection.

  From my vantage point, I couldn't see Bilba or Ralrek. The adrenaline shooting through me was making my hands shake.

  What Ralrek plotted, and we were executing, violated Aries's autonomy and I couldn't help but think what it would be like if someone did this to my mother. Sure, the Council violated my autonomy by forcing me to undertake this mission. But I could not look at myself as a victim when I was the one creeping along Aries's property. I saw that now. Aries was. He didn't want this. And I didn't want to deliver this. Yet here I was, lurking outside his abode, ready to subdue and return him to the clutches of the Council and, maybe worst of all, Beelzebub.

  I approached the abode, step by tentative step. Once I was within ten feet, the tingle was undeniable. My entire right side, from toe to the tip of my right ear, teased a slight sizzle. Magic was at work here. Complex magic, subtle and unnoticeable to most demons—Ralrek and Bilba needed to be warned.

  I paused, concentrating on extending my senses outward. The tingling was definitely only coming from my right side, forcing me to move to my left. I just hoped my hard work in avoiding traps wouldn't be rewarded by getting stuck at the wrong end of someone's dagger or, possibly worse, wrapped in one of the ancient demon's spells.

  I also didn't want to set off alarms because I wanted my options open.

  I inched along the wall of the domicile the same way we'd entered yesterday, giving me pause. It might be exactly what Aries wanted. My nerves frayed. We were making a huge mistake. My steps became strides as I pictured Bilba setting off a series of events that we wouldn't be able to recover from.

  Usually I'm proud when my intuition is validated. This wasn't one of those times.

  At the same time I worried Bilba might ruin this for all of us, the tingling sensation turned to a burning itch. Whatever spell formed the trap, it was now sprung. Our presence was no longer a secret, and we were officially out of time.

  Coming around the front of the house at a sprint, I didn't need to cover the sound of my footsteps any longer. I was freed of that obligation by the view of a bodyguard holding Bilba in a headlock. The human, a different one than the pair we defeated yesterday, was dragging him into the home. Captured again.

  Just behind a row of shrubs to the front of the house, Ralrek squatted.

  No more delays.

  I rushed for the door, getting there before the bearded man dragging Bilba inside succeeded. His eyes widened, and he loosened his hold on my best friend.

  Before Bilba fell to the ground, I leapt through the air and crashed into the ruffian. My momentum carried us into the open kitchen door. We slammed into the stove. Metal clanged against metal. The man grunted as we struggled. But I was on my feet too quickly for him, my boot pressed against his throat. Ralrek raced behind me, moving through the kitchen and into the next room. I knew the man under my foot wouldn't give up without a fight, so I did the practical thing. I slammed the stove door down on his head a few times until he stopped moving. That would take him out of commission for a while.

  I raced into the next room with Bilba following at a staggered gate.

  "Where is he?" Ralrek was screaming, drawing plenty of attention for anyone in the entire city of Seattle.

  As I rounded the corner, a voice drifted down from the second level. "If you're looking for me, I'm right here. Please keep your voice down. The Overworld is a quiet place. Respect them and me."

  Aries stood atop the landing on the upper floor, studying us. Dressed in a long, white robe that fell to his feet, Aries's appearance made me pull out of my sprint. Pale, dark circles painted his eyes. Bilba ran into me. He didn't apologize.

  Aries coughed, an age-spotted fist to his mouth. "What's the meaning of this intrusion?"

  "You know why we're here," Ralrek said with a snarl.

  Aries placed both hands on the railing, leaning forward. The corners of his mouth curled up in an unfriendly smile and he blinked his squinted eyes rapidly. "What could the three of you possibly need to see me about?"

  "Can we talk? I'd like to figure out how we all win in this situation. Please?" I said as I searched his face for hints of the kind and cordial major demon I'd had a meal with just yesterday.

  "It doesn't look like your friend wants to talk," Aries said, pointing at Ralrek with a shaky finger, his hand still gripping the railing. "If you ask me, he's here itching for a fight."

  I took a slow step forward, placing myself closer to Aries. I did so to appear as a non-threat. I did it more for Ralrek than Aries.

  "We just want to talk. We want to find a resolution to this … unfortunate situation."

  Ralrek stepped up beside me. "The time to talk is over. You had your chance, and you hid, leaving your meatheads to assault us. Let's end this. Come back peacefully and I'm sure the Council will forgive a lot of your transgressions."

  Aries whooped with a crackling wetness from deep in his chest. I stood by, reveling in the redness spreading across Ralrek's cheeks.

  "Transgressions," Aries said as he wiped his eyes. "That's rich. Transgressions against the Council. You're young still, but you'll learn one day, if anyone ever transgressed, it has been the Council. Without harm, there is nothing to be forgiven."

  Ralrek jabbed a finger in Aries's direction. "You are here, in the Overworld without permission. You
snuck away like a thief. Like a coward."

  The word hung in the air, my throat dried.

  "I'm too old to rile with hostile words. That's a young incubus's game and I," Aries spread his hands out to both sides, "am no young incubus, as you can see. If you're unwilling to having a rational discussion, there is no point in this. You're wasting my time and you're in my home." Aries looked over his shoulder and summoned with a wave. Two men moved into view beside the first of his name. I did not sense magic.

  "Can we please calm down?" I asked. "We're not here to make trouble, Aries."

  "I wish I could believe that, but your friend has made it abundantly clear he wants to test his fledgling magic. The three of you have done enough damage to my wonderful home. I don't plan on allowing you to do anymore and, as I told you yesterday, young one, I will never return. Now, this is your last chance to leave. Please don't escalate this."

  As Aries spoke, his two bodyguards descended the stairs with methodical steps. A lump formed in my throat when I recognized who one of them was; tank-top man. At least he dressed more formally this time—he was wearing a shirt that read SEA HAWKS, the two words on different lines. A thug he may be, but at least he was an ally of wildlife. Friend of animals or not, he looked pissed. As did the tall, muscular black man walking behind him, staring down at us like we were a meal he could not wait to bite into.

  I stepped back, partially to show that I meant what I said about ending this in an amicable fashion, and to distance myself from Ralrek and any of his stupid decisions. No matter what I did, I would come out on the wrong end, unable to live with the results, so it only made sense to be as passive as possible, even if that would get me in trouble.

  "Think carefully about what you're doing, young one," Aries said from his elevated position, looking at Ralrek, then me. I silently pleaded for him to stop.

  Aries never got the chance.

  With the bodyguards almost at the bottom of the stairs, Ralrek stepped forward. Even before he raised his arm, the familiar rough scratch of fire magic coursed over me.

  Then a thin residue of something like syrup spread across my skin to go along with the roughness. When I should have shouted for everyone to stop, I delayed, and before I realized the sticky sensation was Bilba, everything exploded.

  Once Ralrek's arm raised, Aries commanded his two men to cover. They dove in opposite directions just as Ralrek shot a single ball of fire, the diameter of a plate, toward the staircase. The two humans dove out of the way, each fortunate to have hidden behind obstacles. The staircase wasn't as fortunate. The five lower steps exploded, splinters of wood flying in all directions. Only a narrow strip of each step was left unscathed.

  I had done nothing.

  The outline of Bilba's snake appeared on the floor in front of him, quickly solidifying. This one was smaller than his normal boas, only about ten feet long. But thick. Bilba's boas were always thick. And I always hated them, but seeing a pure white boa was just downright heavenly. The newly transformed Sea Hawk-man ran around the couch while the snake went for his partner.

  "Look out," I shouted to my friend, who was too slow to do anything about what was happening.

  The human knocked Bilba over before the conjured snake could get to the other bodyguard, landing on top of him and rolling. The snake, already conjured, kept after its prey while its master was being pinned into submission by the bodyguard.

  I wanted no part of this. This was wrong.

  With another step back, the sensation of Aries's eyes on me grew stronger. Every time I glanced up at him, he was watching me instead of the individual struggles. What I would not give for him to know that I sincerely did not want any of this.

  "Help me!" Bilba said, panicking underneath the weight of his attacker. Half of me wanted to help him; the other half knew if he broke free, he would conjure again.

  It hurt to hear how frightened he sounded, but I would lose either way.

  Ralrek loosed another fireball. It struck the tall bodyguard. The fireball flung him against the wall which cracked against the force. The way the human screamed as he flailed made me flinch. The bottom of his shirt had caught fire and he was swatting at the flames.

  Ralrek released another fireball, but it stopped in mid-air and collapsed in on itself and fizzled into nothingness..

  "Enough!" Came the command from the upper level. Aries was looking at Ralrek. He flicked his hand. My skin chilled just before he flicked his hand. A waterspout doused his bodyguard and Bilba's snake in one smooth sweep. The fire and the boa blinked out just as Ralrek's fireball had. The spell had been conjured so quickly I barely recognized it before he'd cast.

  Aries rotated his hand and a swirl of gray smoke started at Ralrek's feet and curled up his legs. Another spell, within seconds of his last, conjured almost as instantly as a surprise sneeze. Aries's ancient power was impressive and frightening.

  The further the smoke tornado moved up his body, the quicker it became. Ralrek was so busy conjuring a new spell that the smoke reached his waist before he brushed at it. Behind the swirling wall of magic, his legs were pinned. Then his arms were sucked inside the vortex. He wobbled. Then Ralrek yelled, swore, cursed. But even that was cut off as the smoke tornado rose above his chest, to his neck.

  I stepped forward, disliking Ralrek as much as ever, but not interested in seeing his demise.

  "Don't move," Aries ordered, his voice even and almost soothing. "Stay where you are. Out of this."

  The smoke tornado wrapped around Ralrek's head. Just before it consumed him, his eyes rolled back. When it was rolled over his perfect hair, he fell to the floor in a heap.

  The man on Bilba threw a vicious elbow into the side of Bilba's head. Bilba grunted, blood flew, and a tooth might have accompanied it. My best friend was unconscious before he cast a second spell.

  Things under control, Aries descended the stairs.

  "Please," my voice croaked in my own ears, "don't hurt them. They don't know what they're doing."

  Aries was at the first floor now, ambling toward me. The bodyguard who Ralrek had set on fire got to his feet, his legs spread, but unsteady, looking at the hole left in his shift. Small scars had formed on his exposed—rippled, I might add—stomach. As I watched, they shrunk until I could not see them.

  Aries leaned in. "Are you okay?"

  The man nodded. The bottom of his shirt, which did not even reach his navel, sent up small tendrils of smoke.

  Sea Hawk stood straddling Bilba.

  The first of his name gestured with a downward pumping of his hand. "It's okay. It's all over."

  I looked at Bilba to Ralrek. "You won't hurt them, right?"

  "I didn't want any of this, young one. I'm not interested in extending it."

  "Then why?" I pointed at my friend and Ralrek.

  Aries walked around his white couch and took a seat, patting a nearby cushion. A coughing fit racked his frail body. When he caught his breath again, he said, "Come, join me."

  I did.

  "You know they wouldn't have stopped had we not forced them. It's an unfortunate reality with young demons doing the Council's bidding. Typically, operatives your age are your own worst enemies. But as you can see, they're safe. A little worse for the wear, but safe. And they'll remain so. In a bit, we'll return you to the apartment the Council set up for you. But there's something we must attend to first."

  I searched his face.

  "I'm very tired, Ezekial. The games the Council requires us to play have worn me down. Thousands of years of running around the Overworld, doing Lucifer's bidding, can defeat the strongest of our kind. And I fear I am at that point. The time has come for me to move on."

  "Okay." It made sense that the old demon would have to disappear to another part of the Overworld. Telling me where, though, would put him at continued risk. Why do it?

  Aries reached into the front pocket of his robe and pulled out a stick. It was a piece of dark wood—cherry, I think—four inches in circumference
and only a foot long, with a small rounded knob at one end. Aries stared at it with a hint of remorse in his eyes. I wondered what youthful memories the stick had for the ancient demon.

  Aries bobbed it against his palm.

  "Notice anything?"

  The stick didn't make a sound. "What is it?"

  Aries adjusted to square on me.

  "I'm so sorry about all of this," I said. "I tried to talk them out of it."

  Aries shook his head. "Apologies aren't necessary, young one. That's not what I seek."

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. "What—where do we go from here? I'm way out of my depth here."

  Aries laughed and nodded at the man hovering over Bilba. "Can you believe this, Rock? Even after all this, he still fears. This is the true evil of the Council. Look how they have you seeing the world, young one. You fear your shadow. You have no price to pay. No," he tapped that stick against his palm again. "It is not you who pays, but me."

  "Pay me? For what?"

  Aries glanced into his lap, his fingers lightly trailed over the surface of the stick like it was a dying pet. "To pay my penance."

  "I don't understand."

  He straightened, wincing and coughing as he did. Something cracked in his back. "Penance for all I've done throughout my life. To other demons and, especially, to these humans. It is time that I make right with them."

  Aries took in Bilba and Ralrek one more time. His expression lacked the taint of victory.

  "Your friends will recover soon enough, so we need to be quick. Let us finish our business and return you to the sanctuary." His ancient, ice-colored eyes locked on mine. "I'm not returning to Underworld, in any form or fashion. I believe I was very clear on that point last night. This is my place now. This." Aries paused and sniffed the air as if smelling the most succulent dinner from the other room. "This is where I found purpose and happiness, dare I say; all the happiness that never existed for me in that decrepit and corrupt place. No matter what your friends plot and scheme, they won't be successful, and my display here shows that. Convince them to go home. Explain to the Council, to the best of your abilities, that you weren't able to change my mind nor defeat the great Aries." He turned away and coughed. A wetness crackled in his chest with clear snaps at this intimate distance. When he recovered, he pressed his hand to his mouth. "Who knows? Maybe the Council will give up on this folly, though I doubt it. After a short punishment, they'll let you get back to your lives. Criminal that they even involved imps your age in this."