"It's her right," I said.
"As long as she can defend it," Cabal said. "And I believe she can. As you know, I have served under Espanto for a number of years. I would be pleased to continue my service under the new mistress."
Alyx looked surprised and confused. "Me? Mistress? Landon, what should I do?"
"She accepts," I said. "She also demands a show of allegiance in the form of a gift."
Alyx and Cabal both looked at me with unknowing faces. I could hear Gervais snickering behind me.
"Well played, diuscrucis," he whispered.
I hadn't planned it that way, but it worked out.
"What kind of gift?" Cabal asked, growing uncomfortable.
Alyx glanced over at me, and then flashed a smile, finally catching on. "I'll take the sword," she said.
"What? But-"
"It's your choice, Cabal. The sword or your life. I'm sure I can put this operation to good use."
For a second, I thought he was going to give the attack order again. I knew he didn't want to. It was all to not look weak in the eyes of his subordinates.
Except they all looked weak in front of Alyx and me.
"Fine," he said at last, flipping the stone to Alyx. She caught it and tossed it back to me.
"I want you to go to Espanto's home in Spain," Alyx said to Cabal. "First, set all of his slaves free. Then figure out what his assets are and prepare a report. I expect it to be complete, and I will likely audit the results, so don't even think of cheating me."
"Yes, Mistress."
"Also, if you have any slaves of your own, they are to be freed at once."
Cabal's face blanched. "But, Mistress, I'll be ruined."
"Offer them pay for their work. Some will stay."
He bowed his head. "Yes, Mistress."
I was impressed. Alyx was taking to her new status like she was born for it. In the back of my mind, I hoped the power wouldn't go right to her head. She had been a Great Were for some time, and it hadn't, but this was her first true taste of freedom.
"Now, show us to the rift. We have business in New York. I'll return here when it is done to check on your progress." She held out her hand, allowing it to grow into a large claw. "Do not disappoint me, Cabal."
The fiend was shaking visibly. His lackeys had also shied away, trying to vanish in the dark corners.
"As you wish, Mistress."
Twenty-Nine
Cabal's rift transported us instantly to Central Park, to a small circle of stones hidden inside Belvedere Castle.
"We can throw the Fist in Turtle Pond," I said. "We can get it when we need it."
"A fine idea," Gervais said.
I focused my power, reaching out toward the armor to lift it from the ground.
"Diuscrucis!"
Abaddon's voice filled my head, a shout so loud I raised my hands to my head without thinking, groaning and stumbling.
It was Gervais who caught me this time, getting his arms under mine and holding me up.
"Where have you been?" Abaddon demanded.
"Hell," I replied. "Finding a way to stop this."
"They take my power. It is mine. Release me."
"I'm working on it. I told you-"
"You take too long, diuscrucis! I grow impatient. I grow weary. I will not wait much longer."
I could feel the blood running out of my nose and ears. I could taste it in my mouth.
"You're going to kill me," I said.
"A warning only, diuscrucis. I can kill you, and I will if you delay any longer."
"Then you'll never be free."
"Neither will you."
His power vanished from my soul as quickly as it came. I pushed myself away from Gervais and spat blood onto the ground.
"Landon?" Alyx asked, concerned.
"I'm okay, Allie. Abaddon is getting restless, thanks to the week it took me to get in and out of Hell. He said he won't wait much longer."
"What does that mean?" Zifah asked.
"It means he will break himself out of his prison, and he will eat the world," Gervais said.
"You think he can get out on his own?" I asked.
"By now? Yes. He is waiting."
"Why?"
"I do not know. Why don't you ask him?"
I wasn't about to invite him in again. Instead, I wrapped my power around the Fist and lifted it, carrying it out of the castle and dropping it over the center of the small pond. It was late, but there were still people in the park, and they turned to see what splashed in the water. They were too late to actually see it.
"Alyx, we need to find Rose. Can you pick up her scent?"
"I will try. We should go back to where she was last seen."
I looked at Gervais. "Lead the way, mop-top."
He made a face at me before taking off at an inhuman speed. Alyx shifted beside me, and I climbed onto her back while Zifah rode my shoulder. It reminded me of that homeless man I had seen that had a rat who rode a cat who rode a dog.
The universe was crazy that way.
We got back to my place with fifteen minutes. I dismounted from Alyx, and she returned to human form. Then we made our way over to the deli.
There was police tape across the entrance, and it had been shuttered and locked down. I broke the tape and pulled the metal gate away with my power, and we made our way inside.
"Anything?" I asked Alyx.
"So many smells," she replied. "She was here. She was afraid. Very afraid. She went this way."
We followed her through the store. There were broken bottles and cans laying on the floor, and the police had drawn a chalk outline around where Elyse had fallen. I stared at it as we passed, feeling a wave of sadness and regret wash over me. She was so young, and her involvement with me had gotten her killed.
It had gotten a lot of people killed.
We went to the storage room in the back of the location, through an emergency exit and out into the back of an alley. Alyx stopped when she reached it, shaking her head.
"I don't know. It's been too long."
I turned to Gervais. "How long ago did this happen?"
"Three days."
"What? Why didn't you tell me that beforehand?"
Gervais shrugged. "It slipped my mind, in the middle of being tortured and beaten by the demons in Hell."
Three days was forever right now.
Rose was gone.
"How are we going to find her?" Alyx asked.
"I don't know," I replied, feeling sick. "I just don't know."
"I can find her," Zifah said. "Do you have something that belongs to her?"
"Not here. I do back at my place. How are you going to find her with that?"
"A spell. A demonic spell. Witchcraft, actually. I can bind the object to her, and it will grow hotter the closer we get to her location."
"Will it work if she's dead?" I asked.
"Not unless she's in Hell. But that's the only way it won't work."
"Since when did you become a witch?" Gervais asked.
"The proper term for a male is Warlock," Zifah said.
"Since when did you become a witch?" Gervais repeated.
"I've had years to practice. Unlike yourself, who failed miserably at every scheme you concocted and wound up banished from Hell for it."
"Can both of you shut up?" I said, stopping them before they could get going. They both fell in line in an instant. "Alyx, can you take these two back to the apartment and give Zifah one of Rose's t-shirts?"
"Panties would be better," Zifah said.
"T-shirts," I said again. "If either of them give you any trouble, you have my permission to send them back to Hell."
"Of course," Alyx said. "What are you going to do?"
"The Nicht Creidem know how to see ghosts, and I don't. I need to change that." I stepped over to her and kissed her. "I'll be back soon."
She rubbed her face against my neck for a second, suggesting that her freedom hadn't changed her in any bad ways. "Be
careful."
"Don't worry," I said. "I'm too pissed to get killed."
Thirty
I had to hail a dozen cabs before I got the one that was being driven by Joey Lincoln. Half of them were plain old ordinary mortal driven while the rest were a mix of the Touched and the Turned. I didn't tell any of them who I was, and they had no idea on their own. They drove me the short distance I requested an dropped me off without any trouble. I wasn't looking for trouble from cabbies.
Only from Rebecca.
I still couldn't believe that she had done this. Well, there was a part of me that definitely could believe it. After all, I had fallen for her with little to no background information on who she was or what most demons were like. She just happened to be the first thing I had bumped into during my sojourn into defending humankind, and I had been an easy mark.
The ghost thing? That was something else entirely. She had been stabbed by the Redeemer. Her soul had been cleansed, and God had given her a second chance. She had done well to help save me, and to help save the universe, and yeah, maybe God should have given her a little more credit for that. But maybe He had also seen inside of her, to the true depths of her being where that resident evil still lurked. I wasn't pretending to be good while at the same time thinking evil. I wasn't pretending to be either. I had my strengths and my faults, my benefits and my vices. I got mad when I didn't get what I wanted, too, but I didn't plot the end of the world in retaliation.
"Joey," I said, sliding into the back seat.
He turned his head to look at me, surprised. "Do I know you?"
"Yes, but you wouldn't remember. My name is Landon."
He kept looking at me. It still wasn't registering. "Okay. What can I help you with, Landon?"
"I need to see your boss."
"What boss?"
I didn't have time to play the game. I decided to be blunt.
"You're Nicht Creidem. I'm the diuscrucis. Take me to your leader."
His eyes grew wide, and he stammered out an affirmation. "Uh... oh... okay."
We pulled away from the curb. He was a little erratic at first, struggling to contain his anxiety and keep the cab within the lines.
"Relax," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you. To be honest, I need your help."
"You do?"
"What do you know about ghosts?"
"You mean spirits? Or, like, Slimer?"
"More like spirits."
"Not much. I know they're real, but ninety-five percent of people who say they've seen one haven't."
"Have you ever seen one?"
He laughed. "Me? No. I heard there's one that's been spotted around the city a few times in the last couple of weeks." He paused. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this."
He had already told me enough. That ghost had to be Rebecca. "Who spotted it?"
He didn't say anything.
"Joey, I can either listen to you answer my questions, or I can kill you right now."
His face paled. "Don't you need me to take you to my boss?"
"I have other ways to find people. I thought this would be faster, and I'm in an awful hurry. This ghost that you said has been spotted? She killed one of my best friends three days ago."
"Are you kidding?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding? Have the Nicht Creidem figured out that Abaddon is back in play yet?"
"I had heard some rumors about something like that."
"They aren't rumors. He's here, right now, and the ghost knows where he is."
"Shit."
"You can say that again."
"Shit. I hope I don't get busted back to bicycle messenger for this. We've got a guy. His name is Bradford. He's got these sigils on his forehead. He calls them his third eye. Said he initially lifted it from a tattoo mag because he thought it looked cool, not because it let him see ghosts."
"Where is Bradford?"
"I'm taking you to him. He's not the boss man, but he's been a Nicht for a long time, and he's pretty badass. I'm sure Bianca will let you talk to him, once you tell her what you told me."
A tattoo on the forehead. Elyse had once had something similar, until her father burned it off her, along with all her hair.
"How long will it take to get there?"
"We have to head over to Jersey City. You're lucky it's late, or it would take forever."
"Just get us there as fast as you can, unless you want to watch everything in the city die."
"My city? No way." His foot dropped further on the accelerator, and we raced ahead.
"Hey, do you have a cell I can borrow?" I asked, pulling mine from my pocket. It hadn't survived Hell.
He leaned forward, opened the glove compartment, and pulled out an old candy bar cell. He tossed it back at me. "It's a prepaid. I keep it for situations just like this." He laughed. "Not like this, exactly. For normal riders who need to make a call and have a dead phone."
I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes, trying to remember Alichino's number. Once I had it, I gave him a call.
"Yeah, what do you want?" The checkered demon's voice was raspy and tired.
"Alichino. It's Landon."
"Who?"
"Landon Hamilton."
I waited a few seconds for the name to resonate. "Oh, hey Landon. It's been a long time since-" He paused. "No, wait. Just checked my log. It hasn't been that long. What can I do for you?"
"Is Dante there?"
"Nope. I haven't seen him in three days."
I felt a stream of cold rush through me. The timing couldn't be a coincidence.
"I have a feeling he might be in trouble," I said.
"Dante? How is that even possible?"
"I don't know. What were you two working on the last time you saw him?"
"He wanted me to see if I could find a way to destroy Abaddon. I guess he's back in town?"
"Unfortunately."
"Tell me about it. Yeah, so I've been doing a ton of research. I'm talking, comb the entire internet, hack into a few intranets, and scan the darknet research. Not specifically about Abaddon, but how to destroy the soul of a demon completely enough that it can never return."
"What did you find?"
"As far as I can tell, it can't be done. I mean, there was the Redeemer that could turn the demon good, but that's not the same thing."
"And the Redeemer is gone."
"There is that. I haven't found any other way."
It wasn't what I wanted to hear. At least I had the Fist to try to trap Abaddon.
"Alichino, do me a favor and see what you can dig up on ghosts. From what I've heard, they can't be destroyed, only banished. That's not good enough for me."
I didn't like the idea of ending Rebecca, even now. She wasn't leaving me with much of a choice.
"You all like to keep asking me to do the impossible, don't you?" the demon said. "Why don't you just ask me how to solve the freaking Hodge conjecture?" He hissed into the phone. "Fine. I'll see what I can do. You're going to find Dante, right?"
I had a feeling I knew where Dante was. The same place Rose was. Maybe the same place Rebecca and Abaddon were.
The question was whether he was a prisoner or not. He couldn't stay out of Purgatory long without losing his power, so I was very much hoping for not.
"I'm going to try," I said.
Thirty-One
Joey drove the cab through a roll-up and down a ramp, into a garage full of other cabs. The place was dingy and ugly and smelled like motor oil and urine. I was glad Alyx wasn't here. I could only imagine how she would react to the smell.
The hood on one of the other cabs was open, and someone in overalls was leaning in, working on something. Joey gave the horn a quick burst to get their attention, and they straightened up and looked our way.
A pixie-haired, narrow woman who could have been easily mistaken for a junkie or a bulimic stared through the windshield at us. Joey stopped the cab a few feet away from her.
"That's Bianca," he said.
&n
bsp; "She's the head of this Chapter?"
"Yes."
"And she's fixing cars?"
"She says it relaxes her."
I opened the door to the cab and climbed out. Getting a closer look at Bianca, I could see the slight resemblance to Elyse. The Nicht Creidem had spent hundreds of years building their immunity to the Divine, and limited inbreeding were only one of the ways they had achieved it.
"Joey," she said.She didn't look happy that he had brought a passenger. "What is this?"
"This is the diuscrucis," I said, walking toward her. "Landon Hamilton. It's a pleasure." I put out my hand. It was a flippant way to introduce myself, but I wanted to see how she would react.
She reacted by making a blessed dagger appear from somewhere and using it to slice a neat line across my outstretched palm.
"Ouch," I said, closing my hand to keep the blood from dripping on the floor. I healed the wound and opened my hand again. "I'm not a demon, and if I were an angel, I'd be able to attack you right now."
She dropped the dagger on the floor. "It really is you."
"Yes."
"Why are you here?"
"He wants to talk to Bradford," Joey said.
"Bradford?"
"I'm hunting a ghost," I said.
She nodded. "Funny. So are we."
Sometimes it was a good thing when my goals aligned with the Nicht Creidem's. Sometimes it wasn't.
"Why do you want her?"
"How do you know it's a female?" By her reaction, I would guess she hadn't.
"I know a lot of things. It's my job."
"It's my job, too," Bianca said. "And if the diuscrucis is involved, I want to know. Who is she?"
"You give me something, I give you something," I said.
"I figured as much." She picked up a rag sitting on the fender and wiped off her hands. Then she slammed the hood closed and gestured for me to follow her. "I'm sure you already know about Abaddon?"
"Yes."
"And you know Randolph Hearst is involved," She said it as a statement of fact.
"I made a deal with him not to interfere. Then I interfered. He didn't like that. He and the ghost killed my friend. You might have known her. She used to be one of yours. Joe's daughter, Elyse."
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