At The Gates ds-3

by Tim Marquitz

He smiled, the leather of his face seeming to crack. “Names are just names. It’s all the same to me.”

  I gave the angel a grateful nod, then my eyes went back to Rahim. Like Grawwl, he was nearly as big as a house. Though he wasn’t standing up straight, he looked to be several feet taller than Grumpy. His fur was a black so deep it shimmered blue when he moved. He had short swords for claws and his body was built for power.

  While he didn’t look like Rahim-he looked like a bear-there was a definite resemblance in the facial mannerisms and the way he carried himself. His old confidence was back, glistening in the shimmering red of his eyes. Seeing the fluidity of his motion, I had to ask.

  “The back?”

  A wicked grin spread across his face. “It’s perfect. The transformation healed it completely.”

  Returning the smile, I was glad he was still among us. I just wish I could say the same for Abraham. Reminded of the old psychic, my eyes teared up and I suddenly couldn’t look Rahim in the face.

  “Abraham’s dead.” I nearly choked on the words. Just saying them made me feel weak.

  Rahim gently set a reassuring paw on my shoulder. “I know.”

  “It’s my faul-”

  Rahim cut me off. “I don’t believe that, Frank. More so than any of us, he knew the risks associated with what we do.”

  “But if I had-”

  “We don’t have time for this.” The last word segued into a growl. “You can worry about pointing fingers later. We need to get you fixed up and get to Heaven. Any plans been made?”

  I took a second to compose myself before I answered. He was right. No matter what happened, I needed to focus. Abe would come back from the dead to kick my ass if I let him die in vain. “We should still have our key piece and we’ve agreed on a tentative assault plan. It’ll need some tweaking to adjust for Azrael’s mucking about, but with you and Akrasiel over there, I think we’re better off than we were before.”

  The old man shook his head, picked up my gun, and came over beside us, his leather face serious. “I’ve done all I can for now. You’ll have to do this without me.” He handed the swords to me, and then my pistol.

  I accepted them and slipped my gun into my waistline as I thanked him, glad to have them all back. No point in arguing with the angel, we just said our goodbyes. He disappeared in a golden flash.

  Once he was gone, I shrugged at Rahim. “I’ve recruited Alexander Poe to help us, Baalth’s mentalist, who just happens to have a little magical aptitude. It’s not much of an addition, but since we’re looking at a smash and grab, followed by a suicide run, I think we’re as ready as we can be.”

  Rahim groaned and rolled his eyes. “Sounds charming. Where is the key piece?”

  “It’s just outside one of the gates.” My insides feeling like an overripe tomato, I waved him on and headed for the portal room-or what was left of it. On the way, I laid out our plan of attack. Grim-faced, Rahim listened. As the gate powered up and we were whisked away, the wizard werebear sighed.

  “Suicide run it is.” He grumbled deep. “Seems a waste of a good disease.”

  Just a minute later, we exited the door into the alley. Well, I exited the door. Rahim kind of had to go through the wall because he wouldn’t fit. I could see a bunch of remodeling in DRAC’s future, if we made it through the day.

  Once the dust cleared, I pointed to the roof where I’d tossed the bag and groaned. Rahim’s eyes snapped upward.

  “Friends of yours?”

  Tired, hurt, sad, and sick and tired of getting my ass kicked, I snarled at Jonas Black and Ethan White. “What the Hell do you guys want?” With Rahim there, I knew we could take these guys easy. It’s easy to be confident when you have a bad ass to back up your smack talk.

  Black grinned like he was gonna sell me a used car and wiggled his reattached arm for me to see. “You got us good last time, Trigg. Sneaky.” He gave a shallow nod. “We still need you to come with us though.”

  White held my pillowcase up and shook it gently. While it sucked they had the bag, I was glad to see there weren’t any stains on it and I hadn’t heard the distressing jingle of broken glass. That meant the vials were still intact.

  “Seriously, guys, I don’t who you are or what you want, but I really don’t have time for this.”

  Rahim growled to reinforce my point, posturing up to his full height, red energy glistening at his paws. Courage warmed my heart as I saw he still had his magic.

  “Then I suggest you make time,” a cold, steely voice said, its source appearing beside Black, out of nowhere.

  My senses shrieked and I nearly fell, emanations of power washing off the figure like a nuclear detonation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rahim flinch and his stance became more defensive. His face drew back in a wary grimace, his eyes narrowing. The courage I had a second ago yipped away like a frightened Chihuahua.

  Dressed Jedi-like in a long, flowing black robe with its hood pulled up, the figure stared down at me through mercurial eyes. A black mask covered everything from his nose down, so there wasn’t much in the way of identifying features. The only thing I knew was that it was a he, the voice giving that away, and that he was super powerful. My shriveled nut-sack confirmed that.

  His point made, the stranger reined in his essence. It felt as though the sun had been ripped from the sky, the sudden release of pressure immediate. I looked to Rahim and his eyes told me we were screwed. Now, here I was without any lube.

  So, fighting out of the question, we’d have to reason with the guy. That meant Rahim would have to do it. I nudged him in his furry side. He glared at me, then looked back up, swallowing deep.

  “Who are you and what is it you want?” There was the slightest hint of a tremble in his voice.

  “This does not concern you, wizard. It is to the demon I wish to speak.” The glare of his silver eyes settled on me. “Come, Triggaltheron. I am Xyx. I have been sent to retrieve you and I will not fail my master.”

  Though I obviously couldn’t see my face, I figured it looked a lot like Rahim’s; slack-jawed and incredulous mixed with a little bit of holy shit. Having felt the guy’s power, to hear he answered to someone else, and that someone was looking for me, made my knees weak.

  No clue who this guy was, or his master, I couldn’t for the life of me think of what I’d done to get their attention. I thought I knew all the major players in the world, but I was drawing a big blank on this one. Unsure of what angle to play to get a rain check, I took a chance on the truth.

  “I have no idea what’s going on, but if you haven’t noticed, we’re having a bit of a world crisis here. The longer we’re delayed, the worse it’s gonna get for all of existence. I’m needed somewhere else right now.”

  “I care not for your problems.”

  “Does your master?” It was a long shot, seeing how the guy was coming off as a serious hard ass, but I had to try. I didn’t know where cloak boy came from, but for his boss to need me, for whatever reason, he probably had to have some kind of investment in the world I resided in. It made a weird sort of sense.

  Xyx’s eyes shimmered gold for a second, then returned to silver. He stared at me a moment before speaking.

  “My master offers you one opportunity to avail yourself to him of your own free will.” Before Xyx, a demonic contract appeared in the air. It fluttered down to me. “Agree to surrender to me three days hence and we will leave you until then to resolve your issue.”

  The contract in my hand, I looked it over and saw it had been marked by Xyx, not his master. It was your standard demonic contract. Signed in blood it meant a couple of things. The first one was, once I committed to it, I either had to follow its demands to the letter or I forfeited my soul to the contract holder. The second thing was that it confirmed Xyx was a demon, though certainly not one I ever met, or even heard of.

  That in itself was quite a surprise.

  I glanced at Rahim and there weren’t any answers in his expression. He was leaving
this one up to me. Great. That never worked out well.

  My thoughts on Abraham and how I’d let him down and couldn’t do it again, I bit my hand and made my mark in fresh blood. Once I finished, the contract drifted back up to Xyx. He glanced at it for confirmation, then it disappeared.

  “You have three days. I will come for you then, regardless.” He motioned with his hand and White tossed the bag down to me.

  Terrified I’d shatter the vials, I caught it as gentle as I could, grabbing it high and letting its momentum play out a little. Bag safely in hand, I looked back up and all three of them were gone.

  “Any idea what that was about,” Rahim asked, worry in his voice.

  My hand in the bag snatching up a vial, my eyes checking to make sure everything was still there, I shook my head. “No clue, but I guess I’ll find out in a few days. Of course, I could be dead by then.”

  I tried to make light of it, but the truth was I was more than a little worried. There weren’t any guarantees of success against Azrael and his fuzzball minions and their undead entourage, not to mention the Nephilim. Even if we did win out and manage to make our way into Heaven, we were only leaping from one deadly conflict to another. With no way to awaken Metatron, we were stuck killing ourselves on the front line or dying when the Tree of Life gave up the ghost.

  Bleak didn’t begin to describe our chances.

  Then, to top it all off, if by some miracle we did win out, I’d be stuck handing my ass over to who-knows-who for who-knows-what. It was like being told you were cured of cancer only to learn the world is gonna end in three days.

  Let’s face it, life is morbidly cruel.

  A couple of sips of Lucifer’s blood whizzing its way through my veins, I reminded Rahim that we needed to pick up Poe and we were on our way.

  He made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone about Abraham until it was all over, not even Rachelle. While I really didn’t think it was right, from a moral standpoint-if you can believe that-I knew it was for the best. That was the kind of news that got a person killed. They didn’t need the distraction.

  On the mend, but really not feeling any better, we hit the metaphorical road. I had zero expectations that it wouldn’t hit back.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You’re doing what?”

  “I’m comin’ with ya’ll,” McConnell told me, his hillbilly accent twanging on all the wrong nerves.

  My first thought was that he looked like shit. Not a doctor, though I’ve played one on many a closeted adventure, there wasn’t much of a medical legitimacy to my claim, but he didn’t look healthy to me.

  Normally close to three hundred pounds of solid muscle, McConnell had lost a good twenty to thirty pounds of his bulk. His cheeks looked gaunt, his usual resemblance to Santa Claus now veering dangerously close to homeless veteran chic. His full white beard was scraggly and seemed as lifeless as he did. He stared at me through sunken blue eyes, no hint of the old fire in them.

  Nearly eviscerated by Karra in her quest to resurrect her father, he had barely been patched up from that when Lilith stepped in. Like a puppet, she’d used him to spring a trap on me and her daughter, the ex-wife. It didn’t work out so well for poor Henry. His wound too much for Lilith’s magic to fix up, he popped a stitch or twelve trying to kill Veronica and I. Only a couple of weeks out from that, he couldn’t possibly be ready to use his magic, let alone go slugging it out with supernaturals.

  Not that I cared about his well being or anything-the damn redneck could go suck a saddle horn-I just plain didn’t trust him. Given the opportunity, and there would be plenty of them, McConnell wouldn’t hesitate to add me to the body count if he felt he could get away with it. My hands would be full enough without having to worry about not-so-friendly fire.

  That aside, even if he wasn’t looking for a chance to kill me before the world went boom, he was too beat up to be much of an asset. He couldn’t be relied on. Those things combined made him more of a liability than anything.

  “Look McConnell, I-”

  “Forget it, Trigg. You need me.”

  Need is a very subjective word. “No one is gonna have time to hold your hand, McConnell.”

  “This ain’t personal ‘tween us.” He stuck out a pale finger and poked me in the chest. “If this goes south, I wanna know everything possible was done to prevent it. Even beat to shit like I am, I can turn the tide if it’s there to be turned.”

  Rahim leaned over my shoulder and whispered, his grumbled voice vibrating my ear. “He’s right, you know. Let him come along.”

  Desperate for support, I looked to Poe. There wasn’t any to be found there. He shrugged and suddenly invested his attention in brushing the invisible lint from his sleeve.

  “Fine, cowboy, but you better remember whose side you’re on. One wayward fireball singes so much as a single ball hair and I’m crawling up inside your belly and kicking your ass from the inside. We clear?”

  He just laughed and I smiled right back, my thoughts on the magic-dampening manacles in my bag. I’d shut him down with them once, and I’d gladly do it again. This time, there wouldn’t be a reprieve.

  The verbal cock fight over, Rahim zipped us off to meet with Scarlett and Katon.

  Unannounced, we arrived just a little ways from where Katon and Scarlett were camped out, readying the troops. While I hadn’t expected wild cheers of adulation at our return, as much as they would have been appreciated, I certainly hadn’t expected a standing ovation.

  An angry hum filled the air as everyone jumped to their feet and stared at us through narrow eyes. A merciless symphony of chambered rounds followed. Not fond of McConnell myself, I didn’t think he’d warrant that negative a reaction, and then it hit me. It wasn’t The Gray they were freaking out about, but my Care Bear companion.

  “Whoa there, folks. It’s Rahim.” I gestured to the wizard turned werebear, stepping in front of him and raising my hands. His giant paws mimicked my motions behind me.

  Katon’s disbelieving glare lasted until he looked into Rahim’s eyes and heard his bellowed voice. The snarl dropped from his lips and he waved the men down as he went to Rahim. The wizard slipped past me and met him halfway. Scarlett wiped at her eyes as Michael looked on in awe.

  Rahim lowered his head and smiled broad, a gentle giant. “Good to see you, my friend.”

  Katon laughed like a pardoned death row inmate, his voice cracking as he wrapped his arms around Rahim’s furry neck. “I–I-”

  The wizard wrapped his arms around the enforcer and hefted him up into air like a doll, a rumbling chuckle bubbled from his ursine throat. “I thought so too. It was close, but it all worked out as you can see.” He set Katon down and posed, arching up to his full height.

  Katon gave him an approving shake of his head. “It suits you.” The shadow of a thought passed over his face, obscuring his smile. “Can you change forms or are we going to have to widen all of the doors?”

  “I believe I can revert to my old self, though I’ve yet to test it. Until then, it’s probably best for me to stay this way until I have the time to become comfortable with the lycanthropy. It’s not a field I’ve studied, certainly not this closely.”

  As the two friends chatted, Rachelle slipped from the back ranks of DRAC’s forces and sidled up to Rahim. Her smile lit her face. The wizard, bowed low to her and opened his arms. With a giggle, she fell into them, burying her face in his fur.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay. Abraham was heartbroken when you didn’t return, believing his vision had come true. He’ll be so pleased to see you.”

  A pang of guilt wormed its way down my spine at her words. Rahim looked to me, his eyes pleading. It was too much. Never much of an actor, Keanu Reeves a master thespian in comparison, I walked away to keep from breaking down. Scarlett saw me and came over.

  “You all right?”

  I didn’t turn to face her. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just getting a little mushy round here.” My voice quavered and I hoped she
didn’t notice.

  She put her hand on my shoulder and turned me around, her narrowed eyes meeting mine. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  What indeed. I got on my bullshit bike and started pedaling. “Azrael is working with the weres to tear down the Tree of Life.”

  The suspicion on her face turned to disgust, shades of disappointment mingled in.

  “He’s on his way to assault the Nephilim and claim the other key piece. After that, he threatened to come after DRAC; after you and Katon, Rachelle…” I left it at that.

  A feral snarl flickered across her lips. “Let him come.”

  Off the hook, I took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Don’t worry, cousin, we’re taking the fight to him.” Forcing a smile onto my face, I reached into my bag and drew out Everto Trucido. “I’ve got something that’ll help.”

  Her eyes lit up as she snatched the sword from me. “Thank God. Where did you find it?” Like a kid at Christmas, she spun the blade over and over in her hands, examining every inch of it.

  “Golden boy picked it up when he saved Rahim’s ass. It seems he’s one of the good guys after all.” For now, at least.

  She grinned as she slid the sword into its sheath, her hand remaining on the pommel. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “Let’s get everyone over here first.”

  She grumbled but called out for the group to come over. Rahim separated from Rachelle, grateful relief etched into his face. Without a doubt, he felt just as guilty as I was about keeping Abraham’s death a secret.

  Morbid as it was, I caught myself wishing Azrael would succeed, or maybe even McConnell would man up, and then our betrayal wouldn’t matter anymore. How pathetic is that?

  No time for self-flagellation, as fun as it is, I laid out the general plan of attack. “Azrael isn’t gonna be expecting us, so the idea is to lay low until we have a shot to snatch the key pieces. He’s gonna be super pissed when he sees us, so I want everyone to stay out of his way as best you can. I’ll draw him off and let you deal with whoever ends up winning the tug-o-war.”