She nodded while she opened the door to the offices behind the garage. "I knew her. We met a couple of times while she was hunting for relics. I heard she got shot by a deli clerk. I was suspicious, but now it makes sense."
We moved past the offices, to a locked door in the back. She knocked a beat out on it, and it opened a moment later.
"It's okay, Rudy," she said as we walked past the guard, a big guy who reminded me of Obi. "He's with me."
We began to descend a stairwell.
"What's your play in this, diuscrucis?" she asked.
"The usual. Stop Hearst, get rid of Abaddon, avenge my friend. There have been a few complications, but I'm managing."
"Are you?"
I shrugged. "I'm trying to. That's why I'm here."
"You can't see ghosts, and you can't fight something you can't see."
"Exactly."
We kept going down for a hundred feet or so. There was another guard stationed at the bottom of the steps, and he knocked another pattern on the door to have a third guard open it.
"You've got a lot of security in here," I said. "Expecting trouble?"
"We're always expecting trouble."
I called her on it with a sidelong glance that told her I knew she was lying.
"Fine. We're worried about how Hearst is going to move. This is a power grab unlike anything I've seen before, and even HQ is worried about the fallout. Now you're telling me Hearst bought you off-"
"He didn't buy me off. I bought myself some time. At least, I thought I did." That move hadn't worked out. At all.
"Well, you knew what he was doing, and you didn't stop him-"
I interrupted her a second time. "You don't think I would have if I could? Like I said, there have been some complications."
We were in a long corridor with doors on either side. Bianca stopped at one of them and knocked.
"Now you're here because you need our help," she said. "And I'm inclined to help you because neither one of us wants the world to end. At least not if it isn't on our terms."
Nobody answered the door. She knocked again.
"Come on, Bradford," she shouted.
We waited another ten seconds. Finally, she took a step back and kicked the door. It bent off the hinges, collapsing inside.
"Whoa. Shit. What the hell?"
Bradford was in the room, laying on his bed, headphones over his ears and a comic book in his hand. He was naked, sort of. He had no hair and wasn't wearing any clothes, but he had so many tats and scars that there was no way to tell where the flesh was below it.
He shifted and sat up, pulling the headphones off. "Geez, B. You almost made me piss myself. And I was laying down, so that would have been messy." He grabbed a pair of boxers from the floor and slid them on. "What's so important you busted my door in?"
"The ghost we've been tracking," she said.
"What about it?" He looked at me and put out his hand. "Hey, Bradford Smith. How you doing, bro?"
I shook his hand. "I've been better."
"This is Landon Hamilton," Bianca said.
"No shit? I knew things were getting nasty out there, but to have you paying us a visit means it's worse than I thought."
"It is worse," I said. "I need you to teach me how to see ghosts."
He laughed. "You can't teach it, bro. It's all right here." He tapped his forehead. "The third eye. Only way you can do it."
"Then I need a third eye," I said.
"Hmmm, yeah, about that. I don't think it works on non-mortals. There are relics, though. Rings and pendants with the third eye on them. Those should work."
"Fine. I'll take it."
He laughed again. "Dude, we don't have any here. That's why I had to mark up my noggin."
Great. Rebecca was out there using mortals to kill people, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. Well, not nothing.
"I need to borrow him," I said to Bianca. "And I need you to teach me how to do an exorcism."
"What?" Bradford said. "Borrow? What do I look like, bro? A freaking sheep?"
"You look like my only chance to spot a ghost. Bianca, you just said you're worried. I'm trying to stop this, but I need your help. What do you say?"
"I have to contact HQ."
"There's no time," I said. "Hearst is getting ready for war. Oh, and if you didn't know this nugget already, Abaddon is just about ready to break out of his prison."
"How do you know that?" Bianca asked.
"The complication. I made a deal with Abaddon way back when, and now we've got a link between our souls. He can talk to me, and I can talk to him. Not that I want to, because it hurts like a bitch."
"That sounds like a shit deal," Bradford said.
"It is. Look, I told you my story. Is the Nicht Creidem in or out?"
"We're not supposed to work with you," Bianca said. "Especially after what happened with the Beast. I really should get in touch with the home base."
I bit my tongue. I wasn't going to start the argument about Elyse's father's plans to use the Box to create his own brand of Armageddon. All it would serve to do would be to drive them away, and right now I needed their help. Or at least, I needed Bradford's.
He seemed a little more empathetic and free-spirited than Bianca, so I targeted him directly.
"I already said, there's no time. I'm not asking for a lot. All you have to do is come with me and tell me if you spot her. You don't have to fight or get involved in any other way, and you could be saving the world."
Bradford bit his lip and glanced over at Bianca. He wanted to help. His body language made that obvious.
"B," he said, pleading.
She looked torn. She didn't want to get in trouble with the elders, and I understood that. They would be hard on her, as in death penalty hard, if things turned out badly.
"Nobody has to know," Bradford said. "Tell them I'm out on my usual hunt. If anything happens, it's on me."
She growled softly. "Fine. Go. Don't tell any of the others about this. Just forget I ever saw you, Landon."
"I won't forget you, but you'll forget me. I'll make sure of it."
"You can do that?"
"How else do you think I say anonymous when every angel, demon, and Nicht Creidem on the planet wants to keep tabs on me? Thirty seconds after I'm gone, you'll forget I was ever here. You'll remember Bradford left, but you'll just assume it was to go on the hunt. Of course, you won't remember me telling you this, either."
"That is one awesome superpower, bro," Bradford said.
"It comes in handy. It doesn't seem to work that well in Hell, though."
He laughed. "What? Are you serious?"
"Completely. Put on some pants, and let's go."
Thirty-Two
"So, what's it like, being the diuscrucis?" Bradford asked.
We were in Joey's cab, on our way back to my place. I was leaning against the window, staring out into the night. I was starting to get the feeling that I should never have come back after I defeated the Beast. My best intentions seemed to be getting me nowhere fast while the war between Heaven and Hell was escalating at an increasing pace.
"It kind of sucks most of the time," I said. "I thought by changing the rules a bit I could make it easier, and for a while it was. But when I evolved, everything seemed to evolve with me."
"I don't get what that means, but I still get you. I thought joining the Nicht Creidem would make things better, but in a lot of ways, they're worse than ever."
"What do you mean?"
"I could see them. The angels and the demons. My whole life."
"You were born Awake?" I had never, ever heard of that before.
"Yeah. Can you imagine that? When I was a kid, people thought I had this incredible imagination." He changed his voice, making it high-pitched and scratchy. "Oh, he's so cute the way he makes up stories. They're so vivid, too. He should become a screenwriter, or a novelist, or something." He shook his head. "Yeah, right. When I got older, and by older I mean t
en, I saw a vampire feeding. Then I saw a winged something or other tear someone's insides out. I had a breakdown. PTSD. My mom committed me. The Nicht Creidem got me out."
"The Nicht Creidem don't usually visit asylums to recruit inmates," I said. "Most Awake wind up homeless."
"I know. They found me, though. They said I was different. Whatever my lineage is, they told me I was immune to Divine power. Not resistant like they are. Completely immune."
The statement gave me pause. Matthias Zheng had been immune by being completely oblivious to the Divine; not only Sleeping, but Sleeping so strongly that nothing could wake him. Now here was Bradford as his polar opposite.
"Do you mind if I test something?" I asked.
"You want to hit me with your best shot?" he said. "Fire away."
I threw my power out at him. Not too hard, but hard enough.
"Did you do it yet?" he asked.
I stared at him in astonishment. My power wasn't like Heaven or Hell's. It seemed he was immune to everything. "Yeah. Did you feel anything?"
"Nope. I got bit by a vampire once. The teeth couldn't break my skin. Hey, what do you think of this one? The Nicht Creidem used me as a stud for ten years. I think I have like four hundred kids out there or something. I'm glad they don't make me pay child support." He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder like we were old friends.
"Did it work? Breeding you?"
"It worked for me," he said, still laughing. "I did three at one time once. Dude, I slept so good that night."
"I mean the kids."
"Ha-ha. Yeah, I think so. They said some of them were more resistant. None of them are immune. I think more than a few might have had impairments. Like you either get the gift, or you have problems."
"Do you have any contact with them?"
"No. Don't ask, don't tell, you know what I mean, bro?"
I wasn't going to be the one to tell him what the Nicht Creidem did to unhealthy offspring. At least not unless I needed leverage.
"So how come you aren't a stud anymore?" I asked. "And, what are you doing in New York? I would think you'd be a higher value somewhere else."
"I went sterile. I spent three months in the same cycle, and not one pregnancy. Don't know how or why, but it is what it is, you know what I mean? The reason I'm in the Big Apple should be pretty obvious."
"I've never seen you around."
"I've never seen you either. Your power doesn't work on me so I would remember. There's lots of people in this city, and while I stand out in a crowd, no offense, but you don't."
"That's the idea."
"I hear you, bro. But yeah, I'm a tracker. I find Divine, and then we call in the hunters to kill them. They never asked me to track you. I don't think they think it's worth the risk unless it's really important. The mucky-mucks don't like you, but I think you're cool. We're fighting the same fight; you know what I mean?"
"It's nice to know at least one of you gets it," I said.
"More than just me. There are others who are rooting for you."
"So, since I can't make you forget me, will you keep quiet to Bianca."
"Ha-ha. I'll tell her the truth if she asks."
Which she wouldn't.
"Thanks, Bradford."
"No problem, dude."
We chatted about normal mortal interests for the rest of the trip. The weather, the Yankees, stuff like that. It was nice to have a guy conversation for a change. I'd spent the last three weeks with three females, and while I was all for gender equality it wasn't quite the same. Obi had been overseas for a while, and I missed it.
"Yeah, I saw that one," Bradford said. "It was - Joey, stop the car!"
Joey slammed on the brakes while Bradford turned his head to look at a homeless woman who was wandering by.
"Shit, Landon. That's her."
Thirty-Three
I threw open the door to the cab, sliding out and looking back at the woman. She stopped walking, turning around slowly to face us.
There was no hint of Rebecca in the woman's appearance, but I could sense her in the posture, and in the way she stared at me.
Then she started walking toward us.
Bradford produced a knife, while Joey climbed out of the driver's side.
"Wait here," I said, pushing his knife hand down as I walked past.
I was calmer than I would have expected to be, my lingering anger over Elyse keeping me cold and focused.
I had never expected it to be this easy.
"Landon," she said, her voice the voice of the homeless woman, soft and weathered. "I figured it was only a matter of time before you caught up."
"What do you think you're doing, Rebecca?" I asked, my anger oozing out.
My venom knocked her off-guard. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Do you remember Elyse? You used her body for a while a couple of years ago to do something that wasn't completely selfish."
She pursed her lips, but didn't speak right away.
"Be good. Do you remember that? Do you even know what that means?"
She recovered in a hurry, her posture changing. She stepped toward me. "Don't you dare judge me, Landon. Don't even pretend to think that you can. You have no idea."
"Seriously? Are you kidding me?"
"I saved you from the Beast. I saved this entire miserable world from complete destruction. Damn it, Landon, I saved God. Did that get me anywhere? No."
"Bullshit. It would have gotten you there in time."
"In time? How much time? We're immortal. It could take centuries. Sorry, but I'm not spending centuries pulling kittens from trees to get a pass. Not after what I did."
"So the other alternative is to go back to evil? To kill someone who trusted you?"
"I'm not playing for Lucifer's team. I took a page from your story. I'm on my own side, working toward my own end."
"And what end is that?"
"I'm consolidating the power of the demons here on Earth. Once we're strong enough, I'm going to start the chaos and the killing. Not to end the world. To force Him into submission. To make Him take me. I didn't want to kill Elyse, but you forced my hand. I tried to keep you out of this, Landon. I wanted to skirt around you, to leave you be. I know my plans mean disrupting the balance, but it would only be temporary."
I stared at her, dumbfounded. Whatever she had been before, she had gone completely insane.
"You think God is going to negotiate with you? Have you lost your mind? He didn't do anything to stop the Beast."
"That's not true. The Inquisitors helped you. Adam helped you. Do you think they would have if He didn't want it to happen? He won't negotiate directly. Someone will come in His name. They'll listen to reason."
"Does Hearst know about this plan of yours? Don't you think he'll have a small problem with it?"
"Hearst is an idiot. He thinks he's in control of this operation, and I'm working for him to restore myself to the head of the Solen family. He's already forgotten how much I hated my father and my lineage."
"And you intend to overthrow him how? You're stuck in the bodies of mortals, and he has Abaddon's power."
She laughed at that comment. "I've got Abaddon's power, too."
That was news to me. It was supposed to be impossible.
"I can see you weren't expecting me to say that. That's right, Landon, I've absorbed some of the demon's power for myself. I'm not limited to mortals anymore. Abaddon's power allows me to break down the mental barriers of the Divine. If the mind is weak enough, I can take it. Trust me when I say that Hearst's mind is weak. I've already been inside of it a couple of times. I know exactly what he thinks of me, and of himself. I know what he thinks of you, too."
"So you're using him the way you used me with the Grail? You haven't changed at all. After everything you went through, you're the same selfish demon you always were. The world isn't your playground. It isn't yours to destroy so that you get what you want."
"You're wrong, Landon. I have changed. I know
better now than to expect anything to be given to me. Whatever I want, I have to take. And I will get what I want. I don't want to have to destroy you to do it. I still love you."
I had thought her other statements were crazy. That one blew me away.
"No, you don't," I said.
"I do," she insisted.
"Do you even hear yourself speak?"
"I paid my price. I earned my way. I'm only trying to get what I deserve."
"By killing thousands of people?"
"Millions if I have to. It is worth that much to me. I'll do anything. We'll see how much it's worth to Him to keep me out."
"I can't let you go through with this," I said.
"You can't stop me, Landon. I know you want to, and I know you'll try. It doesn't matter that you retrieved the Fist. It doesn't matter if you take Abaddon, or send him back to Hell. You're too late. The wheels are in motion, and all of your power isn't enough to stop them. That's why I stayed to talk to you. You can't hurt me. You can't even touch me." Her angry tirade faded, and her vessel's face softened. "Besides, I wanted to see you again with real eyes. I wanted to hear your voice again with real ears. It isn't the same as a spirit."
I stared at her, my own anger a bright ember in my soul. It was mixed with a crushing sadness. A lamentation for what could have been.
Even if I somehow managed to get Abaddon under control, one of us was going to destroy the other. For everything that had happened, I still didn't want it to come to that.
There was no other way.
"What about Rose?" I asked.
"Who?"
"Rose. My friend. She's this tall, brown hair, big chest."
"I saw her at the deli. She ran away. Is she missing? I didn't take her. It may have been Hearst's people."
There was no real reason to believe her, other than the fact that there was no reason for her to lie. That was good enough.
I reached a hand out toward her. She stared at it for a moment before reaching out as well. What did she have to be afraid of? I couldn't hurt her.
"It doesn't have to be this way," I said.
"Yes, it does," she replied.
Execution (The Divine Book 6) Page 13