Betrayal (The Divine, Book Two)

by Forbes, M. R.

  A hand touched my shoulder, and I whipped around, coming face to face with Izak. Where the hell had he been hiding? He greeted me with a feral grin, and then reached out and put his hand on the face of an incoming enemy. The vampire cried out as the flesh and bone rotted and collapsed below Izak’s touch, leaving a disintegrating, headless corpse behind.

  “An ambush of an ambush,” I said. “I love it.”

  The flight deck erupted with the sounds of growling, and hissing, and the clang of steel against steel. These weren’t the meat that had greeted us at the transport rift. These were the Beast’s true soldiers.

  “Landon, look out,” Charis cried.

  Izak and I both turned. The dagger cut deep into the fiend’s neck, and the follow up kick sent him tumbling away from me. I barely got my own sword up in time to block Cho’s attack.

  “She wanted you alive,” he said, his blade and claws almost too quick to follow. He reached past my defenses and dug into my side. “Forget that. I want you dead.”

  I twisted away, taking him on from the side to reduce the size of his target, following the muscle memories that I had inherited from Josette. Cho came at me, his assault a frenzy of steel and bone, his mouth wide in a toothy leer. Josette was the best, but he was an archvampire, and he was fast, insanely fast. I struggled to keep up, until I couldn’t anymore, and his blade sliced deep into my jaw, disabling one of my eyes and cutting off half my face.

  I jumped back, landing a dozen feet away, and focused, trying to keep an eye on him through the blood and pain. His approach was intercepted by a jet engine, slamming into him and throwing him away. I focused again, healing myself and enhancing my strength, leaping to him in one step and bringing the sword down. Somehow, he managed to wriggle just out of the path of the blade, and then the engine came up and hit me, sending me to the tarmac.

  “I’m not just some prissy vampire,” Cho said, getting back to his feet. I rolled and stood, facing off against him again. “I’ve been to Hell, just like Rebecca. I learned some things there too.” He held his palm out, and a jet of hellfire erupted towards me. I had fractions of a second to try to evade the flames, and fractions weren’t enough.

  “Ullie!”

  The cry came from my left, and I was shoved aside just in time, Lylyx’s massive form taking the hit. She howled in pain, her fur catching fire. Her screams were torture, and she dropped to the deck engulfed. She was ash within seconds.

  “Noooooo,” Ulnyx cried, his energy exploding with such strength that I couldn’t hold onto him. His power overwhelmed me, furious and feral and unstoppable. My body changed and grew as he pulled me into his Great Were form.

  “Josette, help me,” I said, trying to focus and regain control.

  “This one is mine,” Ulnyx growled, his voice dripping with rage. “Don’t you dare take this from me.”

  I felt Josette in my soul, ready to challenge the Were. I gave her pause with a thought. “Fine,” I said. “But you’d better win.”

  He roared, a massive sound that vibrated the steel we were standing on. Cho gazed at him, unconcerned. He crinkled his brow and put his hands forward, prepared to send another round of flame towards us.

  Ulnyx was ready for it. He rolled to the side, bunching his hinds and pouncing. The move was fast, but Cho was faster, skipping away with ease. At least, he would have, but I used the opportunity to pull some of the spilled blood below his feet. He slipped on it, teetering over and landing on his back.

  We turned on a dime and reached out, great claws raking the archvampire across the chest. He cursed his pain and shoved himself backward, sliding along the deck away from us. Ulnyx followed at a charge.

  “Ulnyx, wait,” I cried, guessing the move before it came. A wall of fire sprouted up right in front of us, too close to avoid. We tumbled through it, the hell-birthed flames scalding us with intense pain. I focused, trying to heal it, or at least reduce the pain. Ulnyx didn’t even seem to notice.

  We rolled back to our feet in time to catch Cho’s claws with our own, our strength wrenching his arm back with a loud snap. The follow up nearly caught his neck, but he got the dagger up to block, and jabbed it into our hand. I couldn’t hold back the scream when he kicked the burn on our chest and we flopped backwards.

  “I said you better win,” I shouted to the Were. The pain was making me dizzy, and I could feel my body dying.

  “Shut up,” Ulnyx replied, forcing me back to my feet. We were set for round three, but it never came.

  Charis landed between the archvampire and us, her sword alight in white flame, her body covered in blood. She was a blur of steel and flesh, stabbing, kicking, and spinning, launching her all out assault.

  “No! He’s mine, bitch,” Ulnyx cursed.

  I knew what he would do in his bloodlust. I focused inward, finding the strands of his power and taking hold of them, pulling him back. He fought me, and in his anger and despair he might have won, but Josette added her power to my own, and together we pulled the demon from control. My body shifted immediately, reducing me back to my human form and leaving me weak on the ground, a huge burn across my midriff. Between that and Ulnyx’s desperate efforts to regain my body, the pain was almost unbearable.

  “Landon.” Thomas was at my side. He rolled me onto my back and pulled a flask from the pocket of his pants. He spoke the beautiful language of the angels as he poured the holy water over the wound and the burn slowly began to heal. I wasn’t going to die, so I turned my attention to Charis.

  She and Cho were still locked in melee, but I could see the archvampire was losing. Even with the strength he had gained from my blood, even with his speed, he was struggling against the blinding light of the blessed sword. He cringed every time it came near, shying away from its brightness and losing the motion of the attack. He tried to defend himself with fire, spreading it across his body the way Reyzl had, giving Charis a small measure of pause.

  The sword was immune though, and she was relentless against his defenses, each failed deflection opening a wound on the demon that shined with white light. He had a dozen scores on his arms, and he screamed in anger and agony while she pounded against him. Then, it was over. The blade made it past his arms and claws, digging in and cutting him open from chest to pelvis. The white light was an infection spreading quickly across his body and reducing him to ash.

  “That was for Joseph,” I heard her whisper, standing over the pile of dust. She spit on it, and then waved her arm. A sudden gust of wind scattered it off the side of the ship and out over the water. The white flame on the blade expanded out and vanished.

  She rushed back over to where I lay, a satisfied smile creasing her face, her eyes moist. “Are you okay?” she asked me, leaning down and looking outward with a protective gaze.

  I pushed myself to a sitting position, feeling the last of the burns fade away below the holy water. My strength returning, I focused on Ulnyx, smothering him with my power, ensuring he would stay buried and promising myself to work it out with him later.

  “I will be, thanks to Thomas,” I said. I used my Sight, finding Izak, Obi, and Melody scattered on the other side of the deck. Where was Zeek? “Zeek?” I asked, feeling sick.

  Charis shook her head. “He didn’t make it,” she said, fighting further tears. “He saved my life.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “I’m sorry as well,” Thomas said.

  “That thing with the sword, what was that?” I asked.

  “The light of Heaven,” she replied. “This sword belonged to Malize. He traded with me long ago, but warned me not to use it except to fight against the Beast. He said the archangels would know if his blade had been used, and they would be watching. You already know what could happen if they were to decide to intervene here.”

  A strange idea, Heaven watching us from above. I wasn’t quite ready for them to come down and start Armageddon yet.

  “They’re all dead,” Obi reported. He and Melody approached together, the
angel helping him support his weight.

  “What happened to you?” I asked.

  “It’s just a scratch,” Obi replied. “It’ll heal. Mel already treated it.” Mel? He looked at her with a big smile. The angel blushed and looked away. “Bastards destroyed my Eagle though.”

  “I’m sure you can get another one. Izak!” I shouted the demon’s name when I saw him approach through the black smoke of the smoldering aircraft wreckage. His shirt was hanging in tatters, but he was otherwise unharmed. “So, will somebody explain what I missed?”

  Obi gently extracted himself from Melody. “Cho showed up at the Belmont, looking for you, I think. Or maybe just looking for your books - he didn’t bother to say. Thomas here had already gone through the trouble of memorizing all of the important text, and he had Mel do the same in case he didn’t make it.”

  “You can do that?” I asked him. He nodded. Impressive.

  “Yeah, so we burned all the stuff in case he wanted it for himself, and we took off. His demon friends were chasing us, and man, I didn’t think we were going to get away, but then Mephistopheles over there shows up with another big nasty furball in tow and lays hellish waste to them.”

  I tilted my head. “Whoa, hold up. What did you just call Izak?”

  Obi looked at the fiend, who nodded. “Man, you didn’t know that Izak is Mephistopheles? Did you actually read any of those books?”

  My head was spinning. I had only been interested in the mark. I hadn’t read the rest of the books.

  “You had a text from the 12th century that translates to ‘A History of Devils’”,Thomas explained. “There was a sketch in there of the demon Mephisto that had a pretty uncanny likeness.”

  “But isn’t Mephistopheles a direct servant of Lucifer?” Charis asked, looking at the fiend.

  “He was,” Thomas said. “A very powerful, intelligent, and sly agent of the First Fallen. If you’re familiar with Faust, you have a good idea of his position in Hell. It’s not wholly accurate, but its close enough.”

  I remembered the memory of Josette in her cell, with the fiend’s head resting in her lap. No wonder he reacted the way he did. He was an angel once, and couldn’t be redeemed by God. He had redeemed himself to me.

  “And me,” Josette said. “No matter what he once was, he is not that thing today.” I could feel her heart burning for him, wishing for an end to his suffering, and joyous at his salvation.

  “So, you returned to this world as an archfiend, until Gervais tricked you, and branded you?” I asked. He nodded. “He fell in love with Josette while she was being held captive, and then with Sarah. That’s why he’s here now, helping us. She saved him.”

  “Yeah well, he saved me,” Obi said. “Heck, he saved all of us. Like I was saying, Cho had us dead to rights until he came along. After that, I told him where I was going to tell you to meet, and he and Lylyx disappeared for a while. She said they’d gone to convince that little guy you work with to tell Cho where you would be. He and Lylyx made themselves scarce, and Cho came and collected us to use as bait. He never had a clue Yuli was double-crossing him.”

  “How much did you have to give him?” I asked the fiend.

  He put his palms out and pushed up. A lot. Of course.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re with us,” I said. “Who else knows who you really are?”

  He pointed at us.

  “Good. They know you’re a badass, but they don’t know how badass. We can use that to our advantage.” I held out my hand. “In any case, it’s nice to meet you, Mephistopheles.”

  Izak started to reach out for my hand, but then scowled and waved his hand. I could guess at the meaning.

  “You prefer Izak?” I asked. He nodded. I could understand why. Once it had been a curse, a name given to him by his captor. Now it was a blessing, the name spoken by his savior.

  “So, now what?” Charis asked. “We need to get the Bible and decrypt the message. Landon, you know who knows where it is.”

  I smiled. “I do, and it’s time I paid him a visit,” I said, closing my eyes. I focused on the energy flowing from Purgatory, taking hold of it and letting it pull me in.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  I found him sitting on a beach, the warm sun shining down on him, reflecting off his nearly bald head. He was wearing a pair of simple white linen pants rolled up to his knees, and he had his toes dug deep into the sand. His chest was bare, with a small patch of wispy white hair vibrating in the soft sea breeze.

  “Satan’s Bible?” I asked him as I approached. He didn’t move from his position, or acknowledge me at all. He just sat there, staring out at the ocean. I took a seat next to him. “Dante?” Nothing. “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? A history of the angels, written in Lucifer’s own hand?”

  He still didn’t move. He just stared out at the ocean. I leaned over so I could see his face more clearly. It was pained.

  “Damn it, Dante, talk to me,” I yelled. “I did everything you asked me to do. You owe me that much.”

  I watched his adam’s apple slide down and back up. He licked his lips. “Signore,” he said. “Mr. Ross has told me what is happening in your world. I have been sitting here for some time, waiting for you to return; trying to find some way to explain, and some way to repent. But God doesn’t hear me. Neither does Lucifer. Nobody hears me.”

  “I’m listening,” I said, releasing my anger. There was no point to it.

  He turned his head at last, but he wouldn’t look me in the eye. “I don’t know how familiar you are with the history of my life. There was a time when I was exiled from my home of Florence by the Black Guelphs. It was a very difficult time for me, and I spent many months fighting the injustice that had been done. In time, my goals brought me to the Tuscan city of Lucca. It was there that I met Gentucca.”

  He closed his eyes, remembering her. “As a mortal, I did not know it at the time, but she was a Turned. She had made a deal with a demon in exchange for great beauty in both the body and soul, and it was this beauty that lured me in. I fell in love with Gentucca, or at least I believed I had.

  “One night as I was writing, she brought me a scroll. It was an old scroll, made of papyrus, but somehow untarnished and in perfect condition despite its age. She taught me to read its language, the language of the angels. She said her master had taught her to read it. She showed me the mark.

  “She spoke to me of the injustice of the world. The suffering I had been through, and the suffering of others. I was a Godly man, and I argued against her words, refusing to believe in her twisted truths. That was the night that I left her.”

  He sighed deeply, picking up a handful of sand and letting it slide through his fingers, watching each grain trickle back to their place on the beach. “She planted a seed of doubt in my mind. I set upon learning all that I could about the Beast, and its servants. I travelled, seeking more proof, more texts, while at the same time desperately trying to restore my name and heritage and living a life of Godly piety.

  “Then, one night while I was at my desk, a man came to me. He did not tell me his name, but he asked me if I would like to go on the journey of a lifetime. It was this night that I learned the truth about the Divine, this night that I was touched by the caretaker of Purgatory.” He closed his eyes, thinking back on that moment. A moment he had described to me once before, under a completely different pretense. “It was this journey that became the foundation of my Comedy.” He chuckled lightly. “Of course, I took some poetic license, but I did meet God, or at the very least some part of Him. I asked Him about the mark, and about the Beast, but was denied.”

  “Who was the man?” I asked him. “Not Virgil.”

  He shook his head. “No, not Virgil. I do not know who he was, for he would give me no name. I have never seen or heard from him again. He was a powerful Divine, I know that for sure, to be able to travel to each of the realms.”

  I was curious, but it didn’t really matter. “So you came back to th
e mortal world inspired to write the Divine Comedy. How did you wind up in control of Satan’s Bible?”

  “That is simple, signore,” he said. “I stole it.”

  “What do you mean, you stole it?” I asked.

  “I did not know it was Lucifer’s Book when I took it,” he said. “The night I left Gentucca, I packed the scroll with my belongings and left with it. As I said, she planted a seed, and the seed began to grow.”

  “They didn’t come for you though,” I pointed out. “They let you keep it. They let you protect it.”

  “They did after my visit to Heaven. After He refused to answer my questions about the Beast. After I learned about the balance, and His intentions for mankind. I was angry with Him. I wrote a letter to Gentucca, and told her I wanted to become a servant. It was the worst mistake I’ve ever made.”

  “Not the worst mistake,” I said.

  “I did not know what Sarah was, signore. You never told me. I did not know they would use her to free the Beast. I was a servant, it is true. Even after I died and came to this place I was a servant. I tried to go back to God. I begged for entry, to speak to Him of the balance, and of the Beast. He rejected me, refusing to grant me an audience. Even His son rejected me. For many years I believed that He did not care. Not about me, not about mankind, not about anything. I wanted to see Him be forced to care, to fight, to possibly die or lose all that He had created. It was a blackness in my soul.

  “Yet the embers of that hatred cooled, and I no longer wished to see the Beast reborn. I focused my energies instead on protecting mankind, by searching for Charis, and then you, and by keeping the secret of the Bible locked with me here. You see, signore, if nobody could get the Bible, and nobody could get me, then the Beast could never be freed.”