Twenty minutes later, I was starting to nod off when David pulled into the drive. He exited the car and opened my door. I looked up at the house, my sanctuary. I’d always felt safe here. My wards were strong enough to repel most threats, and yet, now when I looked at the house, it felt empty. I’d always told myself that I didn’t need anyone else in my life to make it complete, but now I wasn’t so sure. Rain had seen to that, and I‘d only known her for a few hours.
David must have noticed the slump in my shoulders because his face was etched with concern as he looked at me. “Let’s get you to bed. We can worry about my chest in the morning.”
I patted him on the shoulder and started to walk up the stairs. “We might as well take care of it now. The energy I use to heal you will only help me sleep.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re going to need much help with that,” he said, pushing past me to open the door.
“I plan on sleeping like the dead.” The dead didn’t dream, and tonight I wanted to be free from my thoughts. Pushing myself to exhaustion would only help to accomplish that goal.
David followed me into the lab. Setting my bag down, I let out a weary sigh. The windows were still broken, making my inner sanctum feel more like a rundown cottage from some cheesy horror flick. Hopefully, we could get the windows fixed soon; rain was never out of the forecast for long in Century, Oregon. That was part of why I loved this sleepy little town.
Some people hated the clouds and the rain, but for me, it was a perfect day. Sure, I hated getting my shoes wet as much as the next guy, but the rain and the gloom helped me think, and that was priceless in my kind of work.
“Steve is coming to fix the windows later today. Apparently, he had to custom make the panes, so it’s going to take a little longer,” David said as he stripped off the shirt Madam Figueroa had provided him earlier.
“I’ll feel a lot better once the house is in order. Now, come over here and let me get a look at you in the light.” I turned on the lamp on my desk and tilted it so the light shined directly on David’s chest.
The Mezzoloth hadn’t been messing around. If these wounds had been a little bit deeper, I’d be short one apprentice. It just reminded me how valuable David was to what I did, and how lucky I was to have him. Not everyone could think on their feet while suffering this kind of injury.
The claws had cut down to the bone, thankfully they hadn’t gone any further. It was hard to see all of the damage since David had cast a spell to cauterize it. The first step to properly healing it was going to be removing the scabs that built up from his efforts.
“This is going to hurt before it feels better.” I looked into his eyes to make sure he was ready.
David was already gritting his teeth. “Just do it already.”
“That was some quick thinking out there, today,” I said moving my fingers over the scabs and dried blood.
“Not quick enough, or I wouldn’t have you poking around at my chest.” David let out a hiss of pain as I prodded a sore spot.
“Oh, I thought maybe this was your secret plan to get me to run my hands over your chest.” David looked shocked at what I had said. That was just the reaction I needed. I sunk my fingers into the edge of the wound and ripped downwards as quickly as I could.
David screamed. Served the bastard right for the look in his eyes when I had reminded him of what I was doing. Blood was pouring freely from the wound, and I place my hand over it. I could feel his heart beating like a jackhammer. The blood coated my hand in seconds and was now dripping onto the floor.
Focusing on the wound, I called on my power to heal him. “Hoc sana vulnus.”
My hand heated to the point it was almost glowing with power. I poured all of that energy into David until my hand grew cool again. Taking my hand from his chest I bent down to pick up the shirt he discarded and used it to wipe away most of the blood first from my hand and then from his chest. The new skin underneath looked healthy. In fact, it looked better than I had expected. So much for getting a cool scar from his first Mezzoloth capture.
David looked down at his chest and then back towards me. “That was incredible. I’ve never felt anything like it.”
“I bet that’s what all the guys like to hear.”
David hit me on the shoulder. “Fuck off.” He started to walk out of the room.
“Just remember to get this mess cleaned up before Steve gets here. I don’t want him thinking we sacrifice chickens for dark rituals.”
There were enough rumors swirling around this sleepy little hamlet that I didn’t need another one started about drops of blood on the floors. David didn’t pause; he just kept walking.
A small smile twitched to life on my face, and I think I might have actually flustered him. Then I looked down at my hand still mostly covered in David’s drying blood. Then again, maybe he was just in a hurry to get cleaned up.
Your apprentice is unclean, a shower will not wash the taint off of his soul.
Well, this was different. Maybe the voice inside my head wasn’t my own. That made me wonder how my personal wards had been pierced. How had someone gained enough access to my mind to read my thoughts and the thoughts of those around me? Could I communicate back?
What do you mean by unclean? I questioned.
He lusts after men; his thoughts are impure.
So, you’re mad that he’s gay? David never forces his beliefs on anyone. He has one of the purest hearts that I’ve ever come in contact with, and in my line of work, that’s hard to come by. I was more than a little pissed off by the voice’s judgment of my apprentice. Especially given how much shit he’d had to deal with while helping with my fight against the demons.
A man will not sleep with another man as he would a woman, the voice countered.
I judge the people in my life based off the content of their character, not who they choose to sleep with. Who in the hell are you to tell David how to live his life?
I am an angel of the Lord.
Well, shit. I wasn’t expecting that. Too bad there was no way to verify it. I could have just been injected with some kind of radio receiver, and some asshole could be punking me.
Secondly, fuck that. David was more than my apprentice; he was my friend. I’d stand by his side no matter what. In reality, David was a hundred times the man I was. Before I could even think to judge others, I’d have to clean up my own life first, and I really didn’t want to. I kinda liked things how they were minus the whole condemning innocent people to hell thing.
You are not what I expected at all, Rain. You have a light inside of you that shines bright, but is also tainted by darkness.
Well, that explained it. This poor angel thought I was Rain. I’m not sure how since he damned well seemed to be able to read most of my thoughts. Fuck, now it was all starting to make sense. The broken demon’s trap, Rain’s burnt clothes, and that flash of light. I didn’t know whether to be honored that God heard my prayers and answered them or terrified that he did.
The angel must have come to burn the demonic energy out of Rain and been affected by the devil’s trap. I guess it could be worse for the poor bastard, he could have ended up in the so-called unclean vessel that was also in the room.
I decided to give the bad news to my new passenger. Hate to break it to you, bud, but I’m not Rain.
That is impossible. I was sent to save a soul, and it has been saved.
Sure it has, and let’s not forget who called upon you to save it. Yeah. Rain is fine and back to living her life. Not that this hasn’t been interesting, but I’d appreciate it if you got the fuck out of my head.
Do not presume to give me orders. The voice changed in tone to be more commanding.
Pain ripped through my body, sending me to my knees. It felt like I was burning alive from the inside out. If the angel thought he could cow me into submission this way, he was in for a nasty surprise. I was a fighter; I’d never give in. I’d spent my entire life fighting of the worst of hell, ready to di
e at any moment.
“Fuck you,” I managed to growl as I climbed back to my feet.
Kneel! it demanded.
I’m all done with spending time on my knees. I think it’s time you went back home.
I cut my finger open and touched it to my tattoo. The pain cut off almost instantly. It was still there—I could sense it, but it was a low thrum in the background, not something that needed to be dealt with right away.
You will do as I command!
It was difficult to hold back the smirk that was developing, but I managed just barely. Ask around; I’m not so good with following orders.
The thrum of pain started to push forward again, but I ignored it and started walking out of the room. I really did need to get cleaned up. I wondered if there was a way to wash the stink of angel off of me.
You’ve found yourself in the wrong host, so fly off back to heaven now before you run into more parts of my life that you don’t like. Maybe I should stop by the kitchen and grab a drink before hitting the shower. There was some rule about drinking to excess that would piss him off; I was almost certain of it.
Once an angel has merged with a soul, it is for life. For better or worse, we are one.
Now, that stopped me in my tracks. The last thing I needed was an angelic hijacker riding around in my head. “We’ll see about that,” I muttered as I continued towards the stairs.
The pain I had been feeling started to fade away as the angel receded. This was one hell of a mind fuck, screwed over by heaven and hell all in the same day. There was no way I was spending the rest of my life with that sanctimonious prick inside of my head.
Still, I had to try and play nice, at least for now.
What’s your name? I asked.
You may address me as Gideon, he responded in a much calmer voice, after losing our little game of tug-of-war.
I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure to meet you, Gideon, but I’m not sure how comfortable I feel lying to an angel.
Being untruthful is a sin.
I almost laughed, then mentally responded with,. Well, when you’re riding around in Bozley Green, you’re going to be party to quite a few sins. Lying is just the tip of the iceberg.
I’ve heard of you before, Bozley Green, he said, voice full of disdain. I’ve heard they have a spot reserved for you in the pit.
I couldn’t exactly say I was surprised. Well, you better buckle the fuck in, cause you’re in for one hell of a ride.
13
I woke up in the afternoon, spread out on top of the sheets. I still had all of my clothes on, so getting cleaned up before bed must have fallen to the wayside. There was something that tickled in the back of my mind from last night that I just couldn’t place.
Had I been talking to myself?
It was coming back to me, something about an angel named Gideon. That couldn’t have been real, could it? There was no way I was spending the rest of my life attached to some warrior of God. I liked drinking and breaking the rules a little bit too much for that to have any kind of happy ending.
I started stripping off my clothes on the way to the bathroom. Some of them clung to me where David’s blood had dried, and I couldn’t open the fingers on my right hand—nothing a little hot water wouldn’t be able to fix.
The shirt went in the hamper, quickly followed by my socks. It took me a few moments to empty my pockets using only my left hand, and then I realized I probably should have taken them off first to make things easier. Why was it that there wasn’t some kind of alarm clock that came with a freshly brewed shot of espresso?
The pants hit the hamper next, but I was still looking at the folded piece of paper the stripper Katerina had slipped into my pocket. I’d forgotten all about it in my rush out of The Golden Rhino and David’s revelation that the entire night had passed while I was inside. Following that up with a burst of magic and an argument with an angel and my thoughts were already turning towards crawling back in bed and never coming out.
The note continued to hold my gaze. I was curious now; strippers didn’t just hand out their digits, so this was something else, maybe even something important. Risking Balthazar’s wrath to get me whatever this was meant it was important, or it was a trap.
If I looked at the damn thing before my shower, chances were I’d never even get to take the shower I so badly needed. I couldn’t go out with a bloody lobster claw for a right hand, so I ignored the note for now, turned the water on hot, and stepped into the shower.
One thing I always failed to remember was that cleaning dried blood off was a real bitch. You kind of just expected it to melt away in the hot water. I mean, it was a liquid, so rehydrating it should just let it wash right off.
Well, that wasn’t the fucking case at all. You had to scrub at it to make any kind of real headway, and even then, it came off more in clumps or flakes than liquid. Next time, wash your damned hands before bed.
All I’d managed to do was make more work for Rosalita. She was going to be pissed when she saw the blood on my sheets. It was possible she might even swat me on the shoulder and curse in Spanish. I loved that lady to death, but she was fiery and not afraid to tell you how you stood with her.
Hopefully David managed to get things cleaned up before Steve showed up. There was a chance that I was worrying over nothing. David wasn’t real big on letting things slip through the cracks. Me, well, I just kind of wandered aimlessly around and hoped for the best. At least that is what it felt like recently. If I wasn’t out exorcising demons, I was researching better ways to do it. That and better ways to defend myself from their attacks.
Most of the information out on the darknet was just bullshit that crazy people posted, but every now and then you found a few hidden gems that made the hours locked behind the keyboard worth it. Maybe I should get a hobby like golf, but seriously, who had the time?
Today should be a pretty easy day, so I dressed more casual. Slipping into some jeans, I tossed a long-sleeved shirt over my shoulder and headed out of the room. Later, if I needed to class it up a little, I could always grab my coat. It was time to find out just what Katerina had said, so I made a beeline towards the bathroom sink and the note that was waiting there for me.
Just as I passed the door something caught my eye with a glint of silver. I’d never been one for wearing religious symbols around my neck; it tended to piss the demons off. That was a good thing when you were in control, but lately the demons had become more powerful, and it felt like I was never the one in control. Not that I really cared two shits about the demons’ feelings, but an angry demon could be harder to pull from someone’s body, so I tended to keep the religious iconography hidden unless completely necessary.
Pausing, I turned back towards the small case of talismans that I kept in my closet. I didn’t remember putting Sir Aaron’s cross in my closet. The cross was something that I normally kept in the lab. Something about it just felt right today. I put the cross around my neck and thanked Sir Aaron for the part he played in this war all those years ago.
I thought about shaving, but settled for brushing my teeth. After spitting out the last of my mouthwash, I looked into the mirror. Something was off; my body looked different. I’d never been what you would call fat, but I’d never been over muscled or skinny either. Now, my muscles were showing a definition I knew hadn’t been there yesterday, if ever.
Having the power of the heavenly host inside of you does provide some benefits.
“Sounds like a line from a shitty porno movie,” I mumbled.
Fuck, if the voice was still here then I was in trouble.
I’d tried to shrug it off as a dream, or maybe some blowback from all the magic that I had been using, but that wasn’t the case. Granted, that seemed just as plausible as having an angel inside of me. There had to be a way to remove Gideon and send him flapping happily back towards heaven. I needed an angel inside of me like I needed a tumor on my brain.
There is no way to separate us that doesn’
t result in your death.
Shit, could he hear me all the time now? “Well, I’m not quite ready to die yet, so we’ll be stuck together for a while.” I found myself still talking out loud to Gideon even though he could clearly ready my thoughts.
Our bond is growing stronger, soon it will be complete, Gideon stated sounding slightly happier than he had before.
At least it wasn’t complete yet, and that meant there might be a chance to make sure that didn’t happen. The idea of being bonded with an angel for the rest of my life didn’t fill me with an overwhelming sense of joy. In fact, it left me feeling a little betrayed.
Oh well, at least I had a new project for David today, find out all he could about angels and how to get rid of them. I wasn’t willing to just take Gideon’s word that removing him would kill me. I needed a verifiable source to tell me I was totally fucked before it would sink in. A little freaked out about the possibilities, I reached for the note on the counter.
They're coming after Rain, the note read.
All of the air seemed to rush out of my lungs at once, and my heart sped up to the point that it filled my ears with its heavy rhythm. Gideon was saying something, but I couldn’t make it out. My hands found the edge of the counter, and I forced myself to take deep breaths until the sense of panic faded.
Who were they, and why in the fuck did I wait so long to look at the note?
I knew that part of me had expected it to be the stripper’s number despite all of the evidence to the contrary. I’d never been blessed with that kind of luck, so I should have known better. You only called on Bozley Green when the shit had hit the fan. If Balthazar had hurt Rain in any way, I was going to kill him.
Yes. We should smite the demon for spewing his blasphemy into this world.
Now, for the first time Gideon and I were in total agreement on something. First, I needed to find out if Rain was ok, and I needed to get David working on the side project. I pulled on my shirt, grabbed what I needed from the counter and headed towards the lab. David would be there working on something, but really, he was keeping an eye on Steve to make sure he didn’t get into anything he shouldn’t.
Possessed (Bozley Green Chronicles Book 1) Page 12