by Sasha White
“Good boy!”
Jack managed to turn into human form and spat Adlet’s totem into his hands. “How stupid are you?”
“I’m wondering that myself,” I heard Benny mutter behind me.
“Adlet, got a deal for you!”
“He’s dead,” Jack said, derision clear.
“Adlet, there are four werewolves who just don’t know what to do with themselves. They’re all connected to the one who bit you – and they’re also all connected to the being who caged you, Black Wolf. I wonder – if you drew their powers, could you break free of your bonds?”
“Vic, seriously, what are you doing?” Ralph hissed.
What I was doing now was praying. To Yahweh, to Usen, to all the Gods and Monsters. Because I could see Adlet’s totem – and it was moving on its own.
The totem wrenched out of Jack’s hand and floated in the air, high above Jack’s head. “Destroy it!” Lucifer thundered.
It was small, and the minions were quite large, but I’d judged Adlet right – he wanted the chance to get out of his cage.
There was another positive, of course. All the minions, major and minor, were now trying to catch or hit a small object that was, as near as I could tell, having fun being close to impossible to hit or catch.
I focused all my mental energy on one thought. Surely at least one of our angels was monitoring me, right? Jude, at least, should be. I also said it aloud, in that no-lips-moving undertone way, to save time. “Attack all but Lucifer now. Leave him to me.”
Ralph lunged silently at Jack. I didn’t think she heard me, but Sexy Cindy followed Ralph’s lead and took the chick combo of my mother and Susan. Freddy, showing real guts or real insanity, or both, joined the fray and slammed into the Adversary. Abaddon and Apollyon looked like they were going to get a free ride, but then Dirt Corps arrived, Monty in the lead. They swarmed over the Three A’s.
That was the frontal attack. The rear attack was everybody else.
Adlet was still bounding around in his cage, making things confusing and hard for the minions. Lucifer had given them a direct command, and that meant it was their prime objective. To make sure Lucifer couldn’t give them another, smarter objective, I turned to werewolf form and jumped him.
I knocked him down – a feint on his part I was sure, because he felt strong, stronger than the Adversary. We rolled around on the ground, but I didn’t bite. We were in a rather intimate position when he reared up and locked eyes with mine. Make it real. Try to kill me. I must try to kill you. Or we both die, and everything else with us. He’d said it in my head, in a way I was pretty sure no other angel could have heard.
I reminded myself that, in the grand scheme of things, Lucifer was technically my superior officer. So, I chose to follow two centuries of training and do what the boss-man said. I lunged up and bit his throat. Hard.
As we flailed around, this time, fighting much harder and more realistically, I did get a glimpse of the rest of the activity. Mostly because Lucifer kicked me off him and it’s easy to take in the scene when you’re airborne.
Ralph and Jack were still going at it, though it looked like Ralph had the upper paw. I hoped this meant Adlet was taking my suggestion and draining the werewolf out of Jack. Sexy Cindy was beating the crap out of my mother, then Susan, then my mother. They kept changing on her, but they didn’t seem clear on the fact that no regular white chick has a prayer against a really pissed off street hooker.
Hansel finished off a fallen angel and leaped onto Jack to give Ralph an assist. Gretel did the same and joined Sexy Cindy. Ken, Amanda and Maurice focused on the Adversary. The three of them were in full Nosferatu mode and doing some damage. I really hoped this meant Adlet was doing the draining thing on not just Jack but the rest of my “extended family”.
There was a risk Adlet would try to drain me, too. But, as with any other choice, if it saved all the planes of existence, I’d find a way to deal with it later. I was the only other being at risk, though – Black Wolf’s were-line had been wiped out with the exception of me. And if it was going to go on, I didn’t want that to happen through the Prince’s minions.
I landed back on Lucifer – because he conveniently rolled in the way so I hit him, not street – and had to turn my attention back to survival. He hadn’t been joking – he was fighting for real. I got onto his back and tried to shred his wings.
The chanting was still going on – the humans weren’t getting into the physical fighting, other than some of the cops, and clearly some of our troops were spending their time keeping the Bard’s spell going.
A shriek worthy of any banshee cut through the air. But it had come from my mother. She dropped to the ground, moaning and rolling. I noted that the totem of Adlet was bigger. Not by a lot, but enough to notice.
It made sense, he’d drained the werewolf out of the newest and weakest option. Hopefully that meant Jack was next, because this had caused him to fight back harder than ever. Ralph went flying into the convergence chasm.
I didn’t hesitate. I leaped off of Lucifer and raced over. Ralph had caught the lip of the chasm with his paws, but paws weren’t great for holding onto something like this. I flung myself in a horizontal position and just managed to get my hands around his front legs as his grip slipped.
This was good, as Ralph wasn’t plummeting into the Depths. It was bad, however, because I wasn’t stronger or heavier than him, and we were now inching towards the Depths anyway.
“There’s nothing for me to get a toehold on,” Ralph panted. “Let go.”
“No way.”
“Vic, let go!” This was snarled.
Didn’t work. “Nice try, but still no.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Jack said. I felt his feet straddle me. “I’ll make her let go, how about that?”
“How about I show you what I do to guys who screw over my ex?” It wasn’t Ken’s voice, it was Jude’s.
I managed to look over my shoulder to see Jude, wings on full. He grabbed Jack’s head and yanked him backwards. This was nice, but Ralph and I were still sliding towards imminent doom.
“Vic, let me go.”
“No. I can keep this up for hours. No.”
I felt two hands grab my left ankle, then two more grab my right. “On three,” Amanda shouted. “One, two, three!”
My legs wanted to come out of their sockets, but we flew backwards. Literally. We were in the air – in an awkward position, but still, in the air. My right side was higher and steadier than my left. I risked a look. Sexy Cindy has the left side and while she was giving it her all, she still wasn’t all that adept at flying.
“Drop us on Lucifer!”
They let go. Conveniently, we were right above him. I wasn’t sure if they’d just been listening or lost their holds at the right time, but I didn’t have time to question.
Lucifer flipped us both off, but we landed on the ground. On our paws. Apparently cats weren’t the only beings that could land on their feet when it mattered.
I took a look around. We were doing some serious damage to the fallen angels and other lesser minions fighting. I noted Ishtrallum – he was standing behind Merc and L.K., chanting. The same thing the others on our side were chanting. I looked carefully – there were a lot of minor minions doing the same, hiding behind our side and lending a helping hand, claw, paw, talon, or vocal chord.
Jude had Jack and was doing some seriously nasty things to him. The totem of Adlet was hovering over them, twirling. I saw a dark mist drain from Jack into the totem. Adlet grew larger, Jack dropped like a stone. Jude was about to deliver what I knew was a deathblow when Jack disappeared.
I knew he wasn’t destroyed. The Adversary was still fighting and grew a little larger as well, now that Jack was back within it.
But it didn’t help. The totem of Adlet sailed over the Adversary’s head, spinning even faster. Dirt Corps and a variety of beings were in full on attack and occupying all the Adversary’s focus. A larger dark mist sailed fr
om the Adversary to the totem. Adlet was now about the size of the Maltese Falcon, though nowhere near as pretty.
Lucifer grabbed me. “Adlet! Come drain her and break free!”
Chapter 73
The totem of Adlet moved towards us. “Adlet,” I shouted. “Remember that deal? I never mentioned what you needed to do for me to give you the great idea.”
The totem hovered in front of me. It was definitely malleable because it shrugged what I charitably thought were its shoulders.
“Here’s the thing. The Adversary? It’s vulnerable to werewolves. That’s why you could drain them all so easily.” I talked fast. Who knew how long I had? “Think about it. You could destroy the Adversary and take his place. You know how the Prince works. You kill it, you can take its place.”
Adlet cocked his statue-head at me.
“Seriously, what are you waiting for? You don’t need me to break those bonds. You need the real power that’s sitting within the head of the Prince’s Army of the Damned.”
Adlet looked at Lucifer.
“No, not him. Really, he’s like the Prime Minister or something. The Adversary’s where your kind of power is. Besides, if you destroy the Adversary, the rest of the werewolves will have to follow you, right? We won’t have a choice. So, why not hurry up and kill two minions with one bottle of holy water? Or whatever the evil undead equivalent is.”
“I forbid you to do this,” Lucifer said imperiously.
Adlet was big enough that I could see his eyes narrow. He also bared his fangs. Clearly, this wasn’t the right thing to say to the being who the Prince’s side had left locked up in a tiny statue for hundreds of years.
Adlet nodded to me and flew straight at the Adversary. Dear Old Dad saw him coming, reached out, and yanked the Mom and Susan combo to him. They melded into one being. I gagged. Adlet sailed into them and was also absorbed.
The internal struggle started immediately. The Adversary was jerking and flinging itself all over the place, flailing and hitting out at anything.
“Retreat!” Jude shouted, and our side disengaged, fast.
Which was a good thing, since the Adversary hit Abaddon and Apollyon at the same time. Now the Three A’s were going at it, since the two fallen angels were still trying to follow Lucifer’s orders and destroy Adlet.
“Let me go, withdraw the rest of your troops, or I’ll give the order to attack again. Only this time, we’ll focus all our energy on you.”
Lucifer threw me to Jude, who caught me easily. “So be it. It’s not over. We will meet again.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Lucifer’s eyes locked with mine again. Thank you. Then he opened his mouth. Sound came out, but nothing like I’d ever heard before. It was loud, but not painful, and not in a language I understood.
The minions did, though. To a one they disengaged and flung themselves into the convergence chasm. Lucifer spread his wings and opened his arms. He tackled the Three A’s and they all tumbled into the chasm as well.
Lightning flashed down from the sky, hitting all parts of the chasm. Our side scrambled to get away, though Jude and I didn’t. The ground rumbled as the lightning struck and this time the sound was deafening. I and all the other animal-based undeads covered our ears but it still hurt.
And then, just like that, the chasm was gone. Along with all the minions, other than those already unliving on the human plane.
“Well done.” The voice came from the heavens. I’d only heard it a few times, in my mind, mostly.
Those beings who recognized the voice knelt or bowed their heads, and yanked those who didn’t recognize the voice into similar positions. Jude and I didn’t bow. We knew it wasn’t expected.
“Thanks, Yahweh. To protect and serve and all that.”
Lightning went around me, but it didn’t hurt. It was Yahweh’s way of hugging. He didn’t manifest in a physical body as a rule. But that was fine. I thought of him as lightning anyway, even though he was much more than that.
Then the lighting was gone, just like the chasm and the minions, and we were left standing on a street in the bad part of town. Just us, all of Prosaic City’s Night Beat cops, a handful of other humans, and hundreds of undeads.
“What’s your cleanup plan?” I asked Jude.
“The usual. Memory wipes for the human side, as appropriate. Strong lectures for those who need to retain the memories. Subtle ‘thanks for helping and here’s the spell you were supposedly under’ messages to the minor minions who like the status quo enough to have risked their unlives to help us tonight.”
“Routine.”
Jude kissed my forehead. “You were all anyone could have hoped for and more.” He sighed. “They’ll be back, you know. Either Adlet will win or the Adversary will. Or they’ll combine.”
“They can’t combine. That’s why the plan worked, all the way along. Because I’m the Child of the Adversary and a werewolf, my kind is poison to the Adversary. That’s why they want me with them in the Depths, to break that weakness. But it’ll never happen.”
He smiled. “I know.” Jude looked over my shoulder. “He’s not as jealous as your latest ex, but he’s not as cool about it as he’s going to pretend to be.”
“Ralph?”
“Yeah, your mate.”
“Am I making a mistake? I mean, undoubtedly not on the same level as the mistake with Jack, but still, I’d like some kind of clue. I think I deserve it.”
Jude chuckled. “While I’m not a prophet, he does rub off the more you’re around him.”
“So Magdalena and Miriam said.”
“I think, out of all your choices, this is the one most likely to be right for you. I wouldn’t expect it to be all smooth sailing, mind you, but I give it very good odds for success.”
“I’ll take it.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“I won’t be at the Sanctuary Center anymore.”
I shook my head. “You can be. You can let me know where you are, too. I can handle it now.”
“You’re sure?” He looked hopeful.
“Yeah, I am. It doesn’t…hurt…to see you anymore. Besides, Ken shouldn’t be the only ex I go whining to when I have a relationship problem.”
“Oh, good. Can’t wait. Maybe I’ll still hide.” Jude grinned. “He’s getting really impatient, and since patience is truly one of his virtues, I’d suggest you trot on over and reassure your mate that you’re still a monogamous wolf, and that I’m not the being you’re doing monogamy with any more.”
I kissed his cheek again and did as he said. I wasn’t stupid. Ralph was sitting on his haunches, and he had the worried and annoyed expression going. I figured I was going to see that a lot, too. “You okay?”
“Never better. I think we have another hospital overload situation, but I don’t think anyone on our side dusted.”
“Glad those prayers worked.”
The rest of our team gathered around us. I saw a variety of undeads and some humans being loaded into the available vehicles, heading for the hospitals without a doubt.
“I saw Bobby and the others,” Sexy Cindy said. “When all that lightning was going on. Because they tried to help us, they were forgiven. At least as far as I could tell.”
Freddy nodded. “They’d been resurrected to fight, but you wouldn’t have spotted them, Victoria, because they were focused on the humans. But they wouldn’t attack, and in fact tried to keep the fallen angels away from their families.”
“Even the hookers were protecting their pimp,” Sexy Cindy said. “Go figure.”
“Whatever works.” My wrist-com went live. “Yes?”
“Agent Wolfe, how goes it?”
“I think we won, Count. At least for right now.”
“Excellent news.”
There was something in the tone of his voice. “And that’s excellent news because?”
“Your police chief asked me to pass this along. We have a situation in Prosaic City’s religious qua
rter. Seems small and human-created, but one never knows, does one?”
I took a deep breath. “All available personnel who aren’t badly injured will head on out, Count.”
“Not necessary. I understand the Reverend Johnson has donated his car to the Prosaic City undercover unit. I’d suggest just a small team until events are known.”
“Gotcha. Over and out.” I looked around. “Who’s up for it?”
Sexy Cindy, Freddy, and Benny, still holding tight to the bag, all raised their hands. Ralph put up his paw.
“I think our vamps need some medical attention,” Sexy Cindy shared.
“Amanda and Ken do, though they’re waiting until they get all the humans taken care of,” Maurice said, landing behind Freddy. “But I’m in perfect shape. Fallen angels, ha! They’re not so tough.”
“Good to know. You’ll do aerial support?”
“Vicki, I unlive to serve.”
I shrugged. “Then, let’s roll out and do what we do best.”
“Drive in a terrifying manner?” Benny asked.
“Avert the end of the worlds?” Ralph suggested.
“Bring order out of chaos?” Freddy offered.
Sexy Cindy snorted. “Dudes, we kick icky butt and take unpronounceable names.”
I smiled. “Isn’t she the greatest? And, she’s right. Per the boss, duty shift’s not over. So, let’s head out to protect and serve.
Chapter 74
I was running, but not too fast. I didn’t want to get away, after all. But not too slowly, either – I didn’t get to frolic in wolf form all that often that I wanted it to end immediately.
After a few more minutes Ralph landed on my back and we rolled around. There was a lot of foliage, and the smells were nice, all earthy and natural. We were playing, wrestling, nipping, that sort of thing. Nothing too rough, nothing remotely threatening.
He rolled me onto my stomach. “Give up?” he growled in my ear. The sexy-growl. The one that made me pant for all the right reasons.
“Mmmm, maybe.” I stretched out and Ralph rolled onto his back next to me.
“It’s nice to be here, instead of the park.”