The dungeon fed out into a small chamber. My clothes were thrown in the corner, and I picked them up and put them on. Of course, the stone was missing from my pocket. It was safe to bet that Cain had claimed it.
"Where is the harem?" I asked.
"I can take you."
We made our way up a long staircase and out into the palace proper, where limestone and brimstone were exchanged for marble and gold. A fiend was coming out of a small room across from the exit as we were coming through.
I didn't have time to react before Zifah had leaped impossibly high, jabbing a small, dark needle in the demon's neck.
"Help me get him inside before he crumbles," Zifah said.
I used my power to shove the fiend back into the room.
"What did you stab him with?"
Zifah held up the needle. It was transparent now. He stuck it in his arm and withdrew some of his blood, turning it dark once more.
"My blood is poisonous to the Divine. All of the Divine. I'm one of the Father's experiments that didn't make the cut."
"Lucifer made you himself?"
"Yep. I'm the only one of my kind. It sounds like it shouldn't be a bad gig, but it is. Especially being so small. The only reason the others tolerate me at all is because they think I'm a joke."
"It's not easy being green," I said.
"Shut up," he replied. "I don't need you to mock me, too."
"I'm sorry, Zifah."
He nodded. "Don't worry about it. It has its perks."
"We need to hurry."
Zifah ran back to the door, scanning the hallway before dashing out. I followed behind him at a walk, easily keeping pace.
"Up the stairs," he said, pointing to a wide staircase. "Don't be seen."
He started his way across. He paused halfway, pressing himself against a red marble column. Immediately, his skin tone changed to match it. Whatever the other demons thought, that was no joke.
A pair of devils wandered across the hall without noticing Zifah. He finished the evasion, reaching the steps and then waving me forward. I crossed without incident, and we hurried up the stairs to the second level.
The palace was huge, but Zifah navigated it with ease, as though he had been here many times before. We crossed the length of the structure, staying hidden from passing demons and making our way toward the harem. Each step was leaving me more impatient and agitated. I wanted to get Alyx, get the FOG, and get the hell out of Hell.
"It's through there," Zifah said, pointing across one last open hallway to a pair of gold-plated doors. A large demon stood on either side of them, each resting a large ax between the floor and their elbows. "Those are Cain's personal guards. I can get past them, but you can't."
"You've done this before, haven't you?" I asked.
Zifah nodded enthusiastically. "A room full of damned female souls under Cain's control and the ability to blend in? I'm a demon; I'm not dead."
"Do you have any idea where Cain is?"
"Most likely in his lab. He hasn't spent much time in the harem in the last hundred years or so though his new addition may spark his libido again."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
I was worried enough about it that I didn't even consider being sly about getting past the guards. Instead, I started walking right toward them.
"What the heck are you doing?" Zifah asked, scampering along behind me and pulling at my pant leg. "Maybe you can beat them, but Cain will know something's up."
"Good," I said.
My patience was out, and the discovery of a third way of using my power had made me bold. Let Cain try me again. He wouldn't find me so weak the second time.
The guards caught sight of me a moment later. I spared a glance back at Zifah, who had changed color to blend in. Then I threw my hands out, bringing them back in and using my power as a pair of massive claws. It slammed into the sides of the two demons, picking them up and bashing them into one another. Bones shattered, and they fell to the ground, stunned.
Zifah was on the first in a flash, jamming his needle into an arm and bouncing away before the devil could grab him. I ran at the other one, meeting him as he rose to his feet. I put out my hands, leading with my power and shoving him back again. He went airborne before smashing into the gold doors with enough force to push them open.
The demon got back up, a snarl crossing his snout. I reached forward and then back, pulling him to me and hitting him hard in the gut with an extra-strong fist. He hit the wall to the left of me, cracking the marble and fell to the floor again. Zifah jumped on him, stabbing him with the needle.
"You're pretty handy with that thing," I said.
"It's the only defense I have. It ain't easy being green." His smile was sharp and crooked.
I turned back to the now open doors, hurrying inside. The harem was what I expected it to be. A room of pillows and mattresses, with a large bath in the center. The girls were arranged around it, lounging, bathing, sleeping, and in a few instances pleasing one another. I didn't know how much of their activity was under their own control and how much Cain was making them do. They looked pretty content in their chosen activity.
The other thing I noticed was that there were a lot more of them than I had expected. The souls who had taken Alyx away were only a small fraction of his concubines. There were at least a hundred of them here, all wearing the same gold bracelet.
"Alyx," I said, calling her name and picking through the obstacles in search of her.
"She won't respond to you even if she's here," Zifah said. "These souls are prisoners to Cain's whims."
If she wasn't here, that meant she was with Cain. I could feel my face burning at the rising tide of anger. "Where is his room?"
"Diuscrucis, it's one thing to bully a couple of devils. Cain is something else entirely. He's the son of Lucifer for jeebers sakes."
"The only way we get out of here is through him. Where is his room?"
Zifah didn't look happy as he pointed back the way we had come. "Follow me."
Twenty-Two
My heart was thundering, and my blood was boiling by the time we reached Cain's apartment on the top floor of the palace. I had already dispatched more demons than I could count on the way up, and to be honest, I was surprised that my activities hadn't drawn him out.
Was he that distracted by Alyx?
The thought made me sick.
I had told myself I didn't and couldn't love her. I had only known her for a few weeks, and there was still that twinge of guilt every time I thought that maybe there was potential there. What about Charis and Clara? What about those feelings? I knew she would never be mad at me for having an afterlife beyond her. We had settled our love when I set her free.
So what was the problem?
The biggest problem was the fact that she was a demon. In some other part of me it felt shameful to have an interest in one of Lucifer's creations over one of God's. But then, God had created Lucifer, so that still made her one of His, didn't it? And anyway, she had shown me her heart was innocent enough that she didn't have to be straight evil. Not that evil was always permanent. Mephistopheles had been full demon before he met Josette, and she had changed him.
The other problem was that she was a Great Were. There were positive qualities about it, like her extreme loyalty and protectiveness, as well as her incredible hearing and sense of smell. There were negatives, too. Like the need to feed on human flesh, and the fact that despite everything, I couldn't wonder about falling in love with a girl who could change into the big, bad, wolf.
On the flip side was the way she said, "I love you."
Who wouldn't fall for that?
So maybe I did love her? I didn't know. I wasn't sure. What I did know was that the idea of Cain touching her and forcing her to touch him was enough to drive me over the edge of reason. The thought of anyone or anything hurting her was a sharp knife in my gut. I didn't need to worry about it most times because she was more than able to take care of herse
lf.
Most times.
I wasn't going to let it happen. If it had already happened, I was going to make sure whoever did it regret the decision. It sounded corny and cliche, but it was true.
"Remember brute force?" Zifah said as I approached Cain's door.
I could hear a soft growl on the other side. It was Alyx for sure, in beast mode. She didn't sound happy.
"I remember," I said, gathering my power and throwing it out at the door. It exploded from the brute force, shattering into a thousand splinters.
I walked through the ruined door a man on fire, burning with anger and ready to throw down with Cain. I scanned his apartment. Beyond the door was a large living space with plush sofas and all of that garbage. Past that was a columned archway.
Alyx had fallen silent from the other side of it.
I kept moving, not too fast, not too slow. Zifah had disappeared. He was hiding from Cain, and I was okay with that.
I reached the second room. A massive bed sat in the center of it. Cain was sitting on it, propped up against some pillows and watching my grand entrance with a casual dismissal. Where was Alyx?
I turned my head. He had forced her to change and chained her to the wall. She was struggling against the bonds, as unable to break them as I had been. The gold bracelet was gone.
"Cain," I rumbled softly.
He answered with a half smile. "Now, how did you get out of my pit?"
"I'm resourceful like that," I replied.
"Ah, I bet you are, Landon. But no, someone released my shackles from you. Who was it?" He made a face like he was thinking, and then he shrugged. "No matter, I'll return you there shortly. Do you like what I've done with your companion. It's been so long since a Great Were came down to Hell, I decided I would rather have a trophy like this than another concubine."
I glanced over at Alyx again. Her eyes were morose, and it broke my heart.
"I'm going to end you," I said.
He laughed. "Still trying to be a champion for the underdog," he said, laughing harder. "Underdog. Get it, Landon?"
He flicked his wrist. I felt his power coming at me, and instead of pushing against it with my own, I relaxed, letting it wash over me. It burned against my skin, and I let it. I urged it to transform and be set free. The burning turned into a tingle, and the tingle of exhilaration.
Cain's eyes narrowed at the reaction, and he threw his hand out. A gout of hellfire spewed from it, heading right toward me, while a second force tried to hold me in place. I negated that force, stepping aside from the hellfire and knowing that it would melt the wall behind me to nothing.
"I learned a new trick, thanks to you," I said.
His pretty face twisted in rage, and he sprang from the bed. As he did, the black spatha appeared in his hand. I knew he had taken it.
I braced myself against him, catching his first sword strike with my power, pushing back and shoving him away. He threw his power at me again, and I balanced it once more, sidestepping a thrust and hitting him hard in the jaw with my fist. His head snapped to the side, and when he looked back at me his eyes were red, and small horns had grown from his forehead.
"You want to fight me, diuscrucis?" he said. "Fight the real me."
And then he grew. Ten feet. Twenty feet. His entire body muscled up while the horns on his head grew up and out. The spatha fell from his hand, too small to hold.
"Fight all of me," he shouted, his voice echoing across the Desolation as the palace vanished from below my feet. "I am the Son of the Morningstar. This is my world. You can't defeat me here."
I bent down and picked up the spatha from the scorched Earth. I guess he didn't feel like he needed it anymore. I looked back at Alyx. She was still chained to a steel girder that was embedded deep into the ground.
I wondered if Zifah's poison blood would work on Cain?
That was the last thought I had time for. The demon came for me with incredible speed, his large hands sweeping where I was standing, trying to scoop me up. I power-jumped backward, avoiding the grab, and then reversed course, rocketing at him and slipping the spatha against his leg.
It skidded uselessly off his mottled red skin.
I hated boss battles.
Cain charged again, one claw sweeping from the left, the other from the right. I pushed myself up, scaling over them both. Something big and heavy hit me hard in the chest, throwing me away. I hadn't seen that Cain had grown a tail.
I hit the girder above Alyx, leaving a dent, breaking half the bones in my body, and tumbling down. She caught me before I hit the ground, a moment of incredible tenderness as I frantically knitted myself back together.
"I love you," I said, trying it on for size. It felt crazy and good at the same time.
"I love you," she replied, her monster voice deeper but still carrying the same sweet innocence.
I kissed the side of her muzzle, at the same time putting my hand on her collar. It fell to dust.
"Now let's kick his ass," I said.
She snarled in agreement, and I held on while she pounced forward, her own form large enough to even the odds. She knocked his arms aside, digging her hinds into his chest and pushing him back, her jaws seeking his neck. Cain's power swirled around us, attempting to crush us into pulp. I kept my grip on Alyx's back and eased the demon's attack, preventing it from harming her.
"This is my realm," Cain said again, clearly on the defensive. He spun around, trying to shake Alyx loose. She kept her claws dug into him, holding tight.
"You should have made a deal," I said. I used my power to keep my balance, coming to a crouch on Alyx's back before sending myself forward in a leap. I reached up and grabbed one of Cain's horns, using it as leverage while I stabbed him in the eye.
He howled in pain, stumbling back and falling over. Alyx was relentless, her teeth tearing chunks of his throat away, her claws cutting his chest to ribbons. He was healing from those wounds, but the spatha was another story. His eye steamed and hissed, the angelic scripture active on his flesh.
"No," he shouted, gathering himself. He grabbed Alyx but the shoulders, lifting her and throwing her back. She flew through the air, landing hard on the ground, yelping as she did.
She didn't get up.
I rushed Cain as he tried to get back to his knees, his throat closing up, his body healing. I came at him with everything I had, using my power to knock him off balance while leaping back at him with the sword. I jammed it into his neck. Once. Twice. Three times. The wounds all steamed, but he was more powerful than that. He was in Hell, and he was able to overcome the poison.
"I've got this."
I had heard Zifah before I saw him. He appeared on top of Cain, right next to his ear, his tiny needle in hand.
"Maybe they'll stop laughing now," he said, jamming the small point of it into the demon's cheek.
"Zifah?" Cain said, even as his ear dissolved to nothing. "You?" His eyes grew wide with fear, his face beginning to crumble.
"My apologies, brother," Zifah said. "But you had this coming for a long time. You should have been more careful who you made enemies with. Or at least, who you refused to make friends with."
Cain tried to say something else, but his lips turned to dust. His head was gone a few seconds later, and I started running toward Alyx before I saw the rest of him die.
His power gone, the palace reappeared below my feet. Alyx was crumpled in the corner, having changed back to her human form.
"Alyx," I said, kneeling down next to her.
She was breathing shallow, but she was awake. "Did we win?" she asked.
"Yes."
She smiled. "Good. Did you mean what you said?"
I looked at her. I had never been happier than I was to see she was going to be okay. "Yes."
Her smile grew larger. "Does that mean we can mate now?"
"Not now. Maybe once we've saved the mortal world from Abaddon."
"Will you kiss me at least?"
I leaned in, puttin
g my lips to hers. She tasted of salt and sweat and blood. She returned the kiss eagerly.
"Ahem," Zifah said, appearing at my side. We both looked at him. "Got any of that action left for the one who actually destroyed Cain?"
"Come here," Alyx said.
I started to protest, but she put her hand to my lips. Then she leaned forward and kissed Zifah on the cheek.
"Thank you."
I had never seen a demon blush before.
"You called Cain, brother," I said.
"Yeah, because we have the same father. Beyond that, it's complicated. The point is that I never liked that asshole."
"What will happen to him?"
"Lucifer will give him a new form and he'll be bad as new in a few days. I recommend getting out of here."
"I couldn't agree with you more. Let's grab the FOG and go."
I reached out and helped Alyx to her feet. Then I returned to the pile of ash that was Cain and retrieved the pendant he had said could control the armor. We left the bedroom and headed for the laboratory.
The Fist was mine. Alyx was mine.
It had been a pretty good day.
Twenty-Three
We made our way from Cain's bedroom down to the laboratory. The demons had known the moment we destroyed Cain, and they scattered out of our way as we entered, abandoning the Fist of God.
I approached it with a measure of disgust. Adam's creation had caused more trouble in the last few weeks than I had been weighed down by in years.
Of course, it had also led me to Alyx, so it wasn't all bad.
I couldn't use my power on it directly. Instead, I enhanced my strength, climbing onto the table and lifting it from its hooks. I lowered myself gently, holding the large machine over my head. It had to weigh at least a thousand pounds. Probably more.
"Let's go," I said, taking the lead from the room.
I carried the FOG through the corridors and out to the large foyer. We only saw a few demons en route, and they were all fleeing from us as fast as they were able.
"Do you think Lucifer is going to be pissed at me?" I asked.
Zifah had taken a seat on Alyx's shoulder. He shook his head. "No. He probably thinks Cain deserved to be cut down a notch. He's been plotting to murder Lucifer for years."
Execution (The Divine Book 6) Page 9