Black City (A BLACK WINGS NOVEL)

by Christina Henry

  “Why can you not just help me?” I shouted in frustration.

  “If I did, then my enemies would descend on you like ravening wolves,” Lucifer said seriously. “You need to demonstrate that you are capable and strong, that you do not require my assistance.”

  “Haven’t I done that already, over and over and over again?” I said, my anger draining away and leaving exhaustion behind. “When do I get something out of this relationship besides misery?”

  “I have offered numerous times to make you my heir and you have refused,” Lucifer said.

  “Yeah, that doesn’t really seem like a gift to me,” I said.

  “But it is,” Lucifer said. “If you were my heir, you would also have the benefit of my protection. Those who seek to destroy you or your child would be subject to my retribution.”

  “So you’re saying that this blood relation confers all the disadvantages and none of the benefits unless I am recognized officially?” I said.

  “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

  It was tempting. Oh, so tempting. It would be a blessing to throw off the weight of responsibility, to live a day without feeling hunted. But on further examination, that apple Lucifer held out to me looked a lot more like a cage. Temptation was his first and best skill.

  “Thanks, but no thanks.”

  “I can wait,” Lucifer said easily. “I think my offer will appeal to you sooner or later.”

  “Keep dreaming.”

  Lucifer smiled in a way that made me nervous. “Now that we have answered your question, it is time for my request.”

  “You don’t make requests,” I said. “And I’m not feeling inclined to help you.”

  “Too bad you do not have a choice,” Lucifer said, and he didn’t sound as though it was too bad for me at all. He sounded like he was quite enjoying himself. “You can either carry out my task under your own power, or you can do it under the compulsion of the Hound of the Hunt. And believe me, you will not be able to resist that compulsion. If I order you, then you must obey.”

  Lucifer looked triumphant. He’d boxed me in again. A part of me had been expecting this ever since Lucifer had made me the Hound.

  “What is it that you want me to do?” I asked, knowing the answer, dreading the words.

  “I want you to fetch Evangeline and my son from the land of the dead and return them to me, of course.”

  15

  “NO,” I SAID AUTOMATICALLY. “NO, I WON’T DO THAT.”

  “I told you, you haven’t a choice,” Lucifer said silkily.

  “I don’t even know how to get to the land of the dead,” I said desperately.

  “You’re an Agent of Death,” Lucifer said. “The ways are within you, even if you are not aware of them.”

  “I’m not an Agent anymore,” I said.

  “Once an Agent, always an Agent,” Lucifer said. “The Agency can give nothing to you nor take anything. It is all within you.”

  “I don’t even have wings,” I said. “Why don’t you do it?”

  “I am not permitted,” Lucifer said.

  “I’m not, either. The Retrievers will come for me for sure,” I said.

  “You have more flexibility than I,” Lucifer said. “The one rule that neither I nor my brothers will break is this.”

  “But you are breaking it. You’re just sending me to do your dirty work.”

  “The letter of the law will be honored,” Lucifer said. “I will not leave my son in that dead place.”

  “You should have thought of that before you got busy with Evangeline,” I said. “You’re putting my child, Gabriel’s child, at risk.”

  “I will allow you the time you need to deal with the vampires,” Lucifer said. “And then you will go.”

  “No,” I said.

  “You will go, by my word or your own,” he said. “And I know you well enough that I think you would prefer not to be under the compulsion of the Hound.”

  “I hate you,” I said.

  “Of course you do,” he replied, and then he disappeared.

  I stood there on the empty street, fighting back tears, trying to pull myself together. There was no way I could tell anyone else about this.

  J.B. would never let me defy the Agency so openly. Despite everything that had happened between the Agency and myself, he still had a strong belief in the system. He still believed that there was an order to the universe that could not be undone. I had seen enough of Lucifer’s machinations to know that this wasn’t true.

  I sucked in a heaving breath and wiped my cheeks dry. Crying wasn’t going to solve my problems. I walked slowly back toward the house, dreading the moment when I’d have to explain to everyone else that I had no idea how we were going to get rid of the vampire infestation.

  “Madeline Black!”

  I turned around, surprised to hear someone calling my name. In the middle of the street were three teenage boys that I hadn’t noticed earlier. Had they been there while I was talking to Lucifer? They were all skinny and had scraggly pubescent beards. The boys carried a variety of weapons that looked like they might be handy for killing vampires—swords and crossbows and stakes. Where had they gotten all those things from?

  “Yeah?” I said.

  The boy in the center leveled a crossbow at me. He had a red bandanna tied around his head like he was a refugee from an ’80s action film. “You’re coming with us.”

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

  All three boys scowled at me.

  “We’re taking you to the Vampire Authority station,” Red Bandanna said. “Don’t make us hurt you.”

  I’d completely forgotten about Therion’s stupid message. Now these boys had somehow managed to find me and were intent on collecting the bounty on my head.

  “Listen, kid, you can’t take me anywhere I don’t want to go,” I said, trying not to be angry.

  They were just humans. Little humans who lived in a city that I had nearly killed myself trying to protect. If the ungrateful little shits knew what I had done for them, to protect them and their families and others like them, they wouldn’t be standing there threatening my life.

  One of the other boys also raised his crossbow in a menacing fashion. “You have three seconds to agree or else we shoot. One…”

  I blasted nightfire at his crossbow and the weapon burst into blue flames. The kid screamed and dropped the bow, holding on to his hand. The skin on his palm was blackened and peeling. I’d never seen the effects of nightfire on a human before. Was I really prepared to kill some boys whose only sin was stupidity? Maybe Beezle was right. Maybe I was going dark side.

  My anger drained out of me suddenly, leaving me exhausted. “Get out of here before I get mad,” I said.

  The other two stared at me with mouths agape while the third boy turned and ran.

  “Go,” I repeated.

  The other two followed, dropping their weapons on the ground in their haste to escape.

  I dragged myself down the street, up the stairs and into my apartment, anticipating the expectant glances of my friends.

  Instead, no one was there except Nathaniel. He looked grim. He held a piece of paper in one hand and he stared at it as if he hoped his gaze would set it on fire. He had removed his coat and shoes and rolled up his sleeves.

  “Where’s everyone else?” I said, putting my sword on the side table and taking off my wet boots.

  “Beezle, Samiel and Chloe are downstairs. I believe Samiel and Chloe are…reuniting,” Nathaniel said delicately. “The gargoyle said something about a video game. J.B. and Jude have gone to the Agency.”

  “To the Agency? Why? J.B. shouldn’t be going to the Agency. He should be recovering,” I said.

  “He went to deal with this,” Nathaniel said, thrusting the paper at me.

  It was an ordinary piece of printer paper with the Agency’s seal at the top. The message below was brief.

  Dear Ms. Black,

  It has come to our attention that at 2:29 p
m today you passed beyond the Door. This is your second offense. As a former Agent, you are well aware of the consequences should you continue to defy the Agency.

  This is your final warning.

  Sokolov

  I was so angry I could hardly see. I ripped the paper into a bunch of tiny pieces, threw them on the floor, jumped on them several times, picked up the pieces again, smashed them in a ball and then set them on fire in the palm of my hand. The paper went up in a whoosh of smoke and ash.

  “Madeline, calm yourself,” Nathaniel said.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down. There are people dying all over this city. Soon they’ll be dying all over the country. And all they care about is a violation of their precious rules,” I spat. “Sokolov doesn’t care that we’re in the middle of the goddamned apocalypse.”

  Deprived of the proxy of the Agency’s letter, I went to the hutch in the dining room and pulled out a wineglass. I threw it at the wall with all the force I could muster. It shattered into a very satisfying kajillion pieces, but I still didn’t feel better. I wanted to find Sokolov and pound his smug little face until his features were unrecognizable.

  I stomped away from the hutch, looking for something else to break. Nathaniel stepped in front of me.

  “Madeline, stop. Think,” Nathaniel said. “A temper tantrum is not productive.”

  “This is not a tantrum,” I said furiously.

  “It looks like one,” he said.

  I clenched my fists. I had so much anger inside, months of it, months of frustration and pain and fear mixing with fury until I felt like I would burst. I needed somewhere to put that anger. Either I could vent it on Sokolov, or I could take it out on whatever was closest.

  “You’ll do,” I said, and pulled Nathaniel’s head down to mine.

  I was truly in the grip of madness now. I sent my power and my anger coursing into him, pushing up against his magic. His own power met mine and we crashed against each other in a furious storm.

  He pulled my sweater off, tore the fastening of my bra. His hands replaced it, then his mouth. And then his mouth went lower, and my pants disappeared. I writhed under him, the power and the anger and the lust stretching my skin, making me burn.

  His mouth touched the core of me. I arched under him and the magic inside me surged as I peaked. I found the heart of his power, the true heart, the one that Puck had kept hidden from him his whole life, and I lit it on fire. When I did that, the secret source of my own magic was revealed, and I suddenly understood everything Lucifer had told me.

  I had never seen, never known, the depths of my magic. I could do anything. I could find the hidden paths of the universe. I could defy death. And no one would be able to stop me.

  Nathaniel reared back and away from me, his hands on his face, in the grip of the revelation of his legacy. He was surrounded by a halo of blue, and his hair was darkening, turning black before my eyes.

  The skin of my back tore away, and I screamed as my wings formed anew. I rolled to my stomach, panting, feeling the muscles stretching, the brush of feathers against my skin. Fine particles of silver floated in the air. The mad surge receded, leaving me spent. I put my head in my hands and covered my body with my wings.

  Nathaniel cried out once. I felt the pulse of magic in the air as it brushed over me. Then he was silent except for the sound of his breath, harsh in the silence of the room.

  Now that the insanity was over I felt embarrassed. Maybe we hadn’t officially done the deed but we’d come pretty damn close, and I was naked. But I couldn’t lie with my head in my hands forever. Sooner or later I would have to turn around and face him.

  I sat up, coiling my wings around me to keep my nudity covered. Nathaniel watched me in wonder.

  “Your wings,” he said, and reached out to touch the feathers. “They’re just as I saw in my dream.”

  I realized then that it was not my black Agent’s wings that had returned. The feathers were silver, and glittered even in the weak rays of the ceiling lightbulb.

  “You can destroy the vampires,” Nathaniel said. “I felt the strength inside you, at the end.”

  “Nathaniel,” I said, and took a deep breath. I needed to get this out quickly before mortification set in. “I’m sorry I did that. I’m sorry I used you.”

  “Sweet Madeline,” he said, and bent to kiss me again, gently, just for a moment. “Do not apologize. You have given me a gift. I know who I am now. My power is no longer hidden from me.”

  “It’s no gift to find out that you’re related to Lucifer, believe me,” I said. “Your hair has turned black. You look more like Puck than ever.”

  Nathaniel stood and looked at himself in the small mirror that hung over the side table. I saw him touch his hair in curiosity, and then his face.

  “It’s strange, is it not?” he said. “My face is still my own. It is only my coloring that mimics him now.”

  “You’re wearing his colors,” I said. “Literally. Everyone will know to whose house you belong.”

  “My father will be heartbroken,” Nathaniel murmured, and I saw a shadow cross his expression at the thought of Zerachiel. “I was his only son, his pride. Even when all believed I had participated in the rebellion against Lucifer, my father did not lose faith in me. Now he will know that I am not a son to him, that he has nothing, that he has been a cuckold.”

  “I wouldn’t go anywhere near the Grigori, if I were you,” I said. “You heard Puck. He and Lucifer don’t get along. If you showed up in court, or even went to see Zerachiel, Lucifer will probably find some excuse to have you killed.”

  I stood up awkwardly. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  I went into the bedroom to get dressed, and tried not to imagine that Nathaniel was watching my naked butt as I walked away.

  I put on some underwear and a pair of jeans, then took out a new bra and T-shirt. I soon discovered that it was a lot more difficult to get dressed when your wings didn’t recede into your back at will.

  “How the hell do I put this on?” I said.

  “You’ll need to cut slashes to accommodate your wings in all of your clothing,” Nathaniel said. “And then they will furl up small enough for you to dress. Once you have your top on, you can uncoil them again.”

  I turned around, holding the shirt to my bare chest. Nathaniel smiled.

  “Madeline, I have already seen it all,” he said. “There is no need for shame.”

  “Oh, yes, there is,” I said.

  Nathaniel approached me, pulled the shirt away from my fingers. I sucked in my breath. I guess I’d thought the electricity between us would go away once his power was revealed, but it felt like nothing had changed.

  His hands went to my breasts, and I closed my eyes.

  “I know you have not chosen,” Nathaniel said. “But don’t think you can pretend it did not happen. I will not let you forget that it happened.”

  I put my hands on his wrists so he would stop, so I could think again. “Help me get dressed,” I said raggedly.

  He chuckled, and went to get a pair of scissors.

  Once we had fixed up my shirt and my favorite sweater, I sat down on the bed to coil my hair into a braid. It had grown about another three inches during our interlude on the dining room floor.

  “If we keep this up, you can start calling me Rapunzel,” I said.

  “I don’t think any interactions we might have in the future will have the same effect,” Nathaniel said. “You have come fully into your power, and so have I.”

  Yeah, but we haven’t had a complete “interaction” yet, I thought. What if the full power of Puck and Lucifer were combined within us?

  It was a little scary to contemplate. I wrapped a rubber band around the bottom of my braid and stood up.

  “Time to get rid of this vampire problem,” I said.

  “Shall I gather our forces, then?”

  “No,” I said, going into the dining room and slinging my sword across my body. “Leave them be. You and
I can handle this.”

  Plus I didn’t feel like having a conference in which I was a) grilled about the sudden appearance of silver wings, and b) questioned about every decision I might make. There was something to be said for traveling light.

  We didn’t even bother going downstairs. I didn’t want the others to hear us on the stairs and come outside. I opened the kitchen window and flew out, Nathaniel following.

  I’d been without wings for only a short time, but I’d almost forgotten the wonderful feeling of freedom that came from flying. I wished I had time to enjoy it, to swoop and twirl and revel in the joy for a few moments.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt happy like that, happiness untempered by responsibility and fear and guilt and confusion. Even when I was with Gabriel there had always been a sense that our time was limited, that the bliss we felt couldn’t last.

  I hardly remembered being a child, much less a carefree one, although I suppose there must have been a time when I turned cartwheels and collected dandelions like other little girls.

  All my life, death had been a constant companion. Death was the reason my mother was never at home, the reason why my father was gone. After my mother died, death was my profession.

  And once I met Lucifer and Azazel, death become the instrument by which I exerted my will. There was a trail of bodies behind me, and my hands were soaked in blood. I should have been more troubled by this, but I wasn’t. Every choice I had made had been in defense of me and mine.

  The gray clouds over Lake Michigan were still swirling, and I could see a poison green fog rising above the surface.

  “Alerian rises,” Nathaniel said. “Can you not feel it?”

  I could feel it. I hadn’t been able to before my new wings and new powers had emerged, but now I sensed Alerian’s presence the same way I could sense Lucifer’s. He was still muted, though, like he hadn’t fully awoken yet.

  “Let’s worry about Alerian later,” I said. “I’ve got a checklist I’m working from here.”

  “Where should we go?” Nathaniel said.

  “We want all of the vampires to gather in one place,” I said. “So we need a place that will accommodate them, and then we need to call them to us.”