by J. C. Diem
Sam was astounded by this news and dropped into his seat. He put his head in his hands and groaned. “Then there is no hope. Evil will soon spread across the land.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys,” I said with a glare at them all. “I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks and you’ve already decided that I’m going to lose.”
“Based on what we have seen from you so far, how could we come to any other conclusion?” Brie said with an icy glare.
“You know, if you weren’t an immortal being with supernatural powers, I’d totally kick your butt,” I said to her hotly.
“Bring it on,” she said and her sword appeared.
My dagger was in my hand without me consciously drawing it and I launched myself at her. Her eyes widened and she barely had time to parry. Slashing and hacking at her, I forced her backwards until she hit the wall. Feinting a strike at her face, I waited for her to attempt to counter it then slashed my dagger towards her throat. The blade nicked her skin then I was yanked backwards as Nathan pulled me back against him. He imprisoned me with one arm around my waist and knocked the dagger out of my hand. It landed on the carpet and the orange glow faded until the blade became silver again.
Pain radiated through my hand as I struggled to free myself from him. I might as well have been a kitten for all the good it did me. “Have you quite finished?” he asked me patiently.
Brie put a hand to her throat and stared at the blood incredulously. It was just a tiny wound and it was already healing, but the fact that I’d managed to hurt her shocked her.
“Nope,” I said. “I’m just getting started.”
Instead of being enraged, the teen looked almost pleased when she met my eyes. “Well, well. It would appear that you may not be completely useless after all.”
I stopped struggling in surprise and Nathan finally released me. I picked up my dagger and slid it back inside the sheath. My hand was throbbing, but I refused to let him know that he’d hurt me.
Leo was excited by what he’d just witnessed. “I knew you could not be as inept as you seemed!” he said with a grin.
“Gee, thanks,” I said dryly.
Sam ventured an opinion as I took my seat beside him. “Is it possible the demons that are inside you enabled you to fight like that?”
My hands shook as I took a sip of tea. I wasn’t sure if it was from shock or residual adrenalin. I’d done my best to kill Brie and no one seemed to be particularly put out by it. “I guess so. I wasn’t exactly given a manual on how to be the savior of mankind.”
“That would have been handy,” Leo said.
“If I have another dream about Fate, I’ll ask her for one.” We shared a grin that faded when Brie spoke.
“I doubt Fate will be amused by your impertinence.” At least she sounded slightly less hostile now that I’d shown some gumption.
“Then she probably shouldn’t have picked me for this gig. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a sarcastic, rebellious hellcat.” Several of my teachers had told me this on more than one occasion.
“Perhaps Fate chose you because of your flaws rather than in spite of them,” Sophia ventured. “This world needs someone with a backbone to stand up for its people.”
“I wouldn’t say they’re flaws,” I defended myself. “I prefer to call them quirks.”
Not surprisingly, Brie had an opinion about that. “Too many quirks can become a problem.”
“Would you rather I was a brainless bimbo who blindly follows orders and can’t think for herself?”
She pondered on the question then sighed. “I suppose not. We will not always be able to guide you every step of the way on your mission. You will be going to places where we cannot follow and you will be required to use your intelligence.”
In mid-sip of my tea, I almost spat it out in surprise. “What do you know that I don’t?” I asked suspiciously. All of a sudden, everyone was looking everywhere but at me. “Sophia?” I said, targeting the person who most likely had the information I needed.
She frowned at Brie for spilling the beans. “I have only seen a fragment of the trials that you will need to perform.”
“Trials? That doesn’t sound good.” Trials were usually set up to test people and I figured I’d already been tested enough. “What have you seen? And don’t sugarcoat it for me.”
Fiddling with her cup, she snatched glances at me before setting her shoulders and answering me. “I believe you will need to conquer a hellgate if you have any chance of winning this war.”
Sam trembled and pressed himself against my arm. Numb with shock, I looked at the others to see resignation on their faces. Apparently, they’d all known or had guessed that this would be part of the process.
“That sounds like fun,” I said sarcastically. “Even though only strong demons can conquer them, I’m sure it won’t be a problem for a puny mortal like me at all. Not to mention, the only way in or out of hell is apparently guarded by tens of thousands of demons.”
“That does present a problem,” Leo conceded. “Must she actually defeat a gate? Can she not just sneak in as Samuel snuck out?”
Sophia’s expression turned even more grave, if that was possible. “I am afraid that is not an option. This task will take time and Violet will need to be able to enter and exit hell at will. The demons in her dream did not lie. If she were to remain in the underworld for too long, she will become like Samuel.”
He shrank into himself as we all turned to look at him. The warning was enough to send a chill down my spine. He’d been human once. Being trapped in hell for several centuries had turned him into something that was close to a monster. His humanity wasn’t completely gone, but he looked far more like a demon than a person.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Six
Finishing my tea, I managed to calm myself down enough to ask a question. “Does anyone have any idea how I can defeat a hellgate?”
“I have heard rumors,” Nathan replied and sat down at the table. “Since you seek entry to hell from Earth, you must challenge a gate in the ninth realm. Several battles will be fought. If you are victorious, you will be able to pass through the gate whenever you wish.”
Sam raised his hand again, seeking permission to talk. “You don’t have to raise your hand,” I told him. “Just say whatever is on your mind.” He’d no doubt been conditioned to keep his mouth shut, but we could frankly use whatever insight he might have. He was the only person in our group who had actually lived in hell, after all.
He dropped his hand and laced his fingers together on the table. “Even if you do manage to conquer a gate, it would be very dangerous to use it more than once.”
“Why is that?” Leo asked.
“Because of the gargoyles.”
“What gargoyles?”
“The ones that watch over the gates to hell,” Sam said as if the answer was obvious. “They are linked to the gates and act as their eyes and ears. They are sometimes used as messengers by the Demon Princes.”
“It would seem that you were very lucky to have escaped without them noticing you,” Brie said with heavy suspicion. “How do we know that you were not sent here to spy on us?”
He goggled at that question. “Me? A spy?” Then he made a sound that I think was meant to be a laugh. “No demon would ever trust an imp to be their spy. They feel nothing but contempt for my kind.” He sounded so skeptical that it was impossible not to believe him.
“It sounds like there’s no way for me to get in or out of hell without an alarm being raised,” I said. Privately, I felt some hope that I wouldn’t have to enter hell at all. Surely there had to be another way to accomplish whatever it was that Fate had planned for me.
“There might be one way,” Sam said, to my disappointment. “I once overheard a Demon Lord talking about a master gate.”
“That sounds ominous,” I said. “What is a master gate?”
“It is the hellgate that rules all others. If you were to
defeat it, you would be able to control all of the gates.”
“What is the catch?” Leo asked through narrowed eyes.
“I heard the Demon Lord say that the master gate has never been defeated.”
“Where is this gate?” Brie queried skeptically.
He shrugged his bony shoulders. “He did not say.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “How the heck am I supposed to find it let alone defeat it?”
“Maybe you should try to absorb a Demon Lord,” Brie suggested wryly. “Perhaps they will be able to enlighten you with their memories.”
I didn’t want any more evil beings inside me, but I couldn’t dismiss her suggestion out of hand. “That’s not a bad idea. Do you think we can track one down?”
Everyone stared at me as if I’d gone crazy.
“The Lords of hell are not like the demons you have encountered so far,” Nathan told me. “Some of them are difficult for even me to defeat.”
“I didn’t say I was going to take him on,” I said. “You guys can tackle that job. I just need someone to stab him in the heart so I can steal his essence.”
“Then what?” Leo asked in exasperation. “Hope you have another dream so that he can tell you where the master gate is?”
“Do you have any better ideas?” I knew he was just worried about me, but I wished he didn’t have to sound quite so cranky about it.
“No,” he replied quietly after a moment of silence.
I looked around the table to see only dispirited faces. “Can anyone think of a better plan?” They shook their heads and I took a deep breath. “We all agree then. That’s a first. Now, how are we going to find a Demon Lord?”
“They have chosen Manhattan to be their center of operations,” Nathan said. “It should be easy enough to locate one. I imagine there are dozens of them spread throughout the city.”
“The trick will be to find one that is not surrounded by lackeys,” Bree added. “They all have an entourage of five lesser demons.”
“Maybe we can find a way to separate one from his minions,” I said.
“How?” Even when sitting, she still managed to look down her nose at me.
“By using me as bait.”
“I might be able to offer you some assistance,” Sam said tentatively.
“I doubt that,” Brie muttered.
“How?” I asked Sam, doing my best to ignore the surly teen.
“I can act as a decoy,” he replied.
“What do you mean?”
He opted to show me rather than try to explain. Reaching out, he touched me on the shoulder. His entire body shimmered and then I was looking at an exact double of myself. He’d copied me from my braided hair right down to my battered boots.
Nathan’s expression turned speculative, as if he was contemplating ways to use this talent. “That could definitely come in handy.”
“What if the demons catch you?” I said. “Won’t they take you back to hell and punish you for tricking them?”
“We will protect Samuel,” Leo promised. “If he can indeed assist us in this manner, then he will become an invaluable asset.”
Letting go of me, Sam returned to his usual form. He seemed pleased and even eager to help despite the danger he’d be putting himself in. I didn’t like it, but it was the best option we had.
Sophia went still and her eyes went distant as she saw something that the rest of us couldn’t. After a few seconds, she relaxed and smiled. “I believe this plan will work, but we will have to be very careful.” She turned to look at Brie. “First, we will need bracelets for Nathanael and Samuel.”
The teen scowled at having to craft a bracelet for the imp as well as Nathan, but she didn’t argue. “I do not have enough ingredients left for two spells. I will need to gather more supplies.”
Sophia lifted her eyebrow at Leo and he obediently rose and teleported after his twin. With demons crawling all over the city, it was too dangerous for any of us to go out alone.
“How long can you maintain your illusion?” Nathan asked Sam.
Cocking his head to the side, he was uncertain. “I am not sure. It is easy to change my appearance when I am in contact with the object that I am attempting to emulate. It becomes more difficult when I lose contact with it.”
“Try it and see,” I said. If he could only hold the illusion for a few seconds, we’d have to move fast to try to separate the Demon Lord from his lackeys.
Touching my arm again, he became my exact copy once more. He let me go and a look of fierce concentration came over him. Sophia timed him on her watch, but I was too mesmerized by seeing my identical twin to keep track of how much time was passing. Looking at my mirror image, I realized how much I resembled my mother. I’d never match her beauty, but the resemblance was still strong. Thinking about her made me sad, so I tried hard to put her out of my mind for now.
“Thirty-two seconds,” Sophia said when Sam’s form wavered and he resumed his normal appearance.
“That might not be long enough,” Nathan said. “You need to practice and increase the time as much as possible.”
I wasn’t concerned that Sam would fail. Sophia had been sent a vision that his plan would work. I was worried that he would exhaust himself, though. It took energy to maintain the illusion. Wearing himself out to the point where he couldn’t function wouldn’t help us much.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sam was reeling from exhaustion by the time the twins returned. He’d managed to increase his hold on the illusion for a full minute. It wasn’t exactly a long time, but it would have to do. Once he lost his grip on the mirage, he couldn’t regain it until he touched me again. Once we found a Demon Lord, we’d have one shot at separating him from his gang so we could cut his heart open and release his spirit.
“Good job,” I said and patted him on the shoulder. “I knew you could do it.”
“Did you really?” He was pathetically grateful for my faith in him.
“Of course. Fate wouldn’t have put you in our path if she thought you’d fail us.”
Brie paused in the act of putting her packages on the table. “You believe that Fate brought this creature into our lives?”
“Why not? She made sure you guys found me, didn’t she?”
This made her frown and she sent a reassessing look at Sam. “I suppose it is not completely outside the realm of possibility.” I managed not to roll my eyes, but only just.
At first, I’d been in too much shock from losing my mother to really take in the enormity of what I was being asked to do. The reality of what I’d been thrown into was finally beginning to dawn on me now. I’d been torn from my happy life and had been thrust into a world that I’d never known existed. Angels and demons weren’t just real, they were gearing towards war and mankind was in the firing line. With the gates of heaven locked, the angels that were currently on Earth were going to be wildly outnumbered if the demons broke free. Our small group were the only ones standing in their way.
Brie and Leo prepared the ingredients, then she performed the spell. Not one, but two bracelets were in the bowl when she was done. She handed the first one to Nathan and the second to Sam. Her expression was sour when she reluctantly dropped it into his inky palm.
“Go ahead and put it on,” I urged him. Nathan had already slipped his over his right hand. It had turned the gold color it was supposed to. Unlike my bracelet, none of theirs had any markings.
Closing his eyes and wincing in anticipation of pain, Sam slid the bracelet over his left hand. It magically adjusted to fit him, shrinking around his far too thin wrist. The color of mud to begin with, it gradually darkened until it became a dark, dingy gray. Opening one eye, he studied the bracelet then smiled. “I am relieved that it did not hurt me as I’d expected.” I couldn’t help but be disturbed that it had caused me pain, but it hadn’t affected him at all.
“I am not certain that it will work for you the way it is supposed to
,” Brie said. “I have never performed the spell for an imp before.”
“What is its purpose?” he asked.
“It makes us almost invisible to demons,” I explained. “We pretty much have to deliberately draw their attention before they’ll see us.”
He seemed awed and nodded at Brie. “Thank you for allowing me to wear your spell.”
She grudgingly inclined her head and checked her watch. It was late afternoon now and I wasn’t sure how much longer the sun would be up. The last thing I wanted to do was to go demon hunting in the dark. “When will we embark on our desperate plan?” she asked.
“In the morning,” Nathan replied. “Samuel has worn himself out practicing taking on Violet’s form. He needs rest if he is going to be able to assist us.”
While the imp couldn’t sleep, he could at least take a break. Speaking of which, my stomach rumbled, reminding me that I’d skipped lunch. The others might not require fuel, but I did. I left them to talk and headed into the kitchen to see what sort of supplies Sophia had purchased.
I sensed a presence and turned around to find Sam standing only inches away. “You need to learn the meaning of ‘personal space’,” I said, but without my usual snarky tone. He was still adjusting to his freedom and I was the anchor he’d chosen to cling to.
Taking a step back, he looked at me anxiously. “Is this better? I do not wish to incur your wrath as Brie did.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Was that a joke?” He smiled tentatively and nodded. “Nice one,” I grinned. “But it would take a lot for me to unleash my wrath on you.”
“It did not take much for you to lose your temper with the angel,” he pointed out.
I checked to make sure the teen wasn’t listening. Nathan had angled his chair so he could watch us without being obvious about it. “You have no idea what a pain in the butt that kid is,” I said in a bare whisper.
“She is an angel,” he said simply. “They all believe that they are superior to mere mortals.”