Hugging her arms around herself, she asked, “What do you see? Is there something here? Bears?”
“Nah, not bears. They’re sleeping.” He shrugged. “I don’t think it’s anything. We just need to be alert. You never know.” Pointing at a clearing in front of them, he announced, “Okay, looks like this is it. Are you ready to check it out?”
“Absolutely! Let’s get this over with.”
Something was off about this place. His spidey senses were tingling, but he couldn’t see anything. No heat signatures jumped out of the trees. The forest was eerily silent, but that didn’t bother him. It was the middle of December, the forest was buried under three feet of snow, and there were very few people out in this area. The silence wasn’t an issue. He parked the SUV in front of the cabin and studied the woods around them one more time. Nothing. Rori perked up and looked around with excitement in her eyes. If she was nervous, she didn’t show it. She was curious, anxious, and maybe a little sad. Hopefully this wouldn’t be one big waste of time.
The rustic little building was craptastic. The brown wooden siding was faded and warped. The roof was missing a large swath of its metal sheeting, and the front deck was partially caved in on one end. On the upside, the two front windows were intact, filthy with years of dirt, but unbroken. There were no sheds or other buildings around. Just the cabin. The front door lock wasn’t a problem for his B&E skills. It turned easily with a wave of the hand. Taking the lead, he stepped into the front room with Rori right on his heels. She started to laugh at his little show of magic, but the sound died in her throat.
“Your mother and I used to come here before she died. You could say it was our little… love nest.”
The man stepped into the main room from what was probably the tiny kitchen. He wore baggy jeans and a NYU sweatshirt. White haired, with deep lines around his mouth and sallow skin, he was probably in his 70s. He looked like anyone’s grandfather. The mocking voice was at odds with the homey plastic spatula he held in front of him. The aroma of bacon and eggs drifted from his clothes.
Rori gasped and grabbed onto Dec’s jacket. “Father Joseph!”
Dec eased her back against the door, saying, “Stay put,” before drawing his Primani blade with one quick movement. “Not Father Joseph. Ikini. Isn’t that your real name, demon? You’re the soul broker for Azrael.”
The demon called Ikini tossed the spatula into the kitchen. Bowing at the waist, he shared his best priestly smile. Gentle, serene, it was designed to comfort distraught parishioners of all ages. “Guilty. But I do so prefer the name ‘Father Joseph’ after all these years of wearing him. Joseph Alexander: born in Brooklyn in 1939. Raised by sickeningly devout parents in a faded yellow duplex. Forced to attend all boys private school where he was teased for being too skinny and beaten by nuns so ugly even Christ wouldn’t touch them. Despite all of that, he heard the call of his God and marched off to the seminary to learn how to be a good priest. And he was a good priest… that’s what made him so useful.”
Sweeping a hand apologetically over his clothes, he commented with a wry smile, “You’ll have to forgive me for being out of uniform; I wasn’t expecting company. All that black becomes monotonous, and the collar was getting too tight.” He patted his rounded paunch. “The good father’s been eating too much. He’s put on some weight.” Pointedly ignoring Rori, he gave Dec the once over before adding, “But you’re not here to talk about an old priest’s fate, are you Primani?”
Leaning casually against the door, Dec didn’t bother to hide a feral smile. This couldn’t be more perfect. They’d come for answers and answers they would have. He’d get every answer they needed from this cocky prick. Inch by scaly friggin’ inch if that’s what it took. He had learned a few tricks over the years. They’d just have to play this out and hope he wouldn’t have to butcher the asshole before he talked.
“Actually we came to check out the property. Finding you here was a bonus, probably a sign that my karma’s in good shape. I’ve been looking for you for a long time. Today’s your lucky day. I’m in a good mood. If you cooperate, I’ll blow you up nice and fast. You won’t even feel it--much. If you want to be an asshole, I’ll take you apart piece by piece.” He shrugged, adding, “Your choice, really. Either way, you’re not leaving this place in that meat suit.”
In a lame attempt at dominant posturing, Ikini crossed his arms and straightened to his full height, several inches shorter than Dec. Over time, the old man’s eyes had clouded to a murky, olive green. They were bloodshot and runny now. Between the oversized sweatshirt and sickly eyes, he wasn’t really all that threatening. Still, he was a demon under all the geriatric window dressing. His shitty attitude came through loud and clear. It was almost too predictable.
“Playing the hero again? You Primani are always trying to save people--a ridiculous notion since most humans don’t deserve to be saved. They’re greedy and stupid. They all want more than they have and are happy to make a deal to get the dream life. Funny how they’re all so surprised when it’s time to pay the price. Everyone thinks they can get out of it.” He dropped his eyes to Rori and observed coldly, “And you’re entirely too late to save that one’s broken soul. She’s bought and paid for. She will pay her mother’s debt whether you intervene or not. You can kill me right now, but that doesn’t change her fate. She’s already lost.”
Rori lunged from behind Dec with a hiss of anger. Snatching her back, he wrapped his arm around her to keep her still. She snapped at Ikini, “You sonofabitch! You don’t own me! I’m not property.”
“No? You’re wrong, Rori Austin. You are property. You’ve been Azrael’s since before you were born. Your slut of a mother gave you to him just as easily as she gave herself to any creature with a cock. Angels, demons, priests, she wasn’t all that picky.” He smacked his lips and sighed. “I remember it like it was just yesterday. She came to me, crying about how she’d killed your father. She was positively distraught about the whole thing. Delusional too; she swore he was an angel, had a halo and magic powers. Crazy bitch… She thought confession would save her soul. As if I gave a shit about her guilty conscience!”
“She killed my father? You’re lying!” Her voice rose with a sudden rush of anger, but she didn’t lose control.
The only outward sign of her emotions were her nails gouging holes in the top of his forearm. He winced but didn’t move away. She was handling this better than he expected. Still, maybe it would help to calm her down a wee bit. With this thought in mind, he sent a trickle of saol to calm her down.
She jerked her arm away. “Stop that! I’m not losing it!”
“Just chill and let me handle this. I know what I’m doing.”
To Ikini, he said in a conversational tone, “Let’s back up. I hate to admit this, but I’m not exactly sure what a soul broker does. Want to enlighten me for future reference? Seriously, what’s so great that you’d let yourself be some other demon’s bitch? What’s in it for you?”
Booyah! He’d hit a nerve. Clearly he didn’t like the word ‘bitch’. He stared coldly at Rori until she dropped her eyes and sidled closer to Dec.
“Since you’re so curious, let’s use Rori’s mother as an example. She came to me in confession with this insane claim that she had sex with an angel. Even crazier, she was convinced she had killed him. She was inconsolable over it. She was terrified for the child. She was sure God would kill her and the baby as punishment for her crime.”
Shifting his eyes to Rori’s white face, he laughed softly before crowing, “Imagine my surprise! A human woman getting knocked up by an angel? If her story was true, it was oh so very rare. What an opportunity for me! Getting her to agree to give us the child was really too easy. I simply explained that she couldn’t possibly kill an angel. Real angels can’t be killed by weak little women. Of course, then she wanted to find the father. After all, he should know about his child. I humbly explained that I was a simple parish priest without the power to contact angels. Perhaps
we could pray together for a solution. And you both know the power of prayer, right? Within minutes, an angel came to help.”
“Your boss.”
He nodded patiently before continuing, “Yes, exactly. You’re not as stupid as you look. Azrael appeared in a glorious flash of light. He was magnificent! Bold, fearsome, and powerful! And those wings! Fully spread against the stained glass, he was the perfect avenging angel. She fell to her knees before him, head bowed like an obedient little Christian, weeping so piously. It was sweet, really.” He chuckled and sighed. “Azrael did the rest. He ranted and raved about how much trouble she was in. Humans and angels weren’t supposed to create children. She had committed a grievous sin and should be severely punished.” He stopped to scrub at the back of his head. His words lingered painfully in the space of a heartbeat before he finished his story.
“By this time, she was hysterical. Sobbing and begging him to help her. It was kind of pathetic. So the boss waited for her to get nice and worked up before reeling her in. He said he had spoken to God on her behalf. Since God was merciful, he wouldn’t kill them if she agreed to give her daughter to his messenger, Azrael, on her 25th birthday. He wanted her to experience human life so she could share the knowledge with his angels. Once her birthday came, he would welcome the angelic child into Heaven as was only right.”
“What’s the significance of 25?”
He shrugged. “Azrael likes patterns. Annalisa would be 25 when she had the kid, so that seemed like the appropriate age to take the kid. She’d suffer for 25 years, watching her daughter grow up, knowing she’d be taken in the prime of her life. You asked what I get for brokering the deal. I play with the ones who interest me most.”
Three months? She was going to die in three months? She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. The damn air was too thick too inhale; she couldn’t seem to get any of it into her lungs. Breathing deeper, she counted to ten. Don’t faint! Come on, come on. She was swaying on her feet, leaning into Dec’s side. Biting her lip hard, she steadied herself by sheer force of will. The demon’s story rang true, heartbreakingly so. Her poor mother! She had been so eager to do the right thing, and it had gone so horribly wrong for her, for both of them. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Now wasn’t the time to put this story under a microscope. No doubt she’d relive this conversation more times than mentally healthy over the next three months of her life. Dec and the demon were still talking, trading insults and barbs while Dec set him up. He was up to something. His expression was relaxed, almost amused as he bantered back and forth with the one demon he had to hate with a passion. This was the monster that had killed eight little boys, aside from the other atrocious things he’d done. He was on Dec and Sean’s list. They’d been hunting him for decades. He’d shared the history with her one night. Now he was so close to punishing this freak. The casual approach hid his true feelings. He was fiercely angry underneath that cool attitude. Yeah, he was up to something.
The clock was ticking in more ways than one. She might only have three months to live, but this horror would be dead in the next few minutes. Father Joseph, Ikini, or whatever he called himself, would be gone when Dec decided the time was right. There was no doubt in her mind about that. She’d seen him in action already. She watched Dec’s body language and relaxed a little more. His muscles were taut, fingers gripping that wicked-looking knife with deceptive ease. He killed demons for a living. So this one should be easy, right? He’s a rock star.
Even so, it was getting harder to ignore Ikini’s mocking voice. It chafed her nerves, dredging up memories better left buried. She could almost smell the mustiness of the basement, the stale water… the stench of his breath. He burst out laughing at something Dec said; the inappropriate sound jolted her into action.
“Shut up!”
Ikini aimed those filmy green eyes at her with such malice that she took a step back. While she struggled to find her voice again, the green eyes flicked to red.
He studied her like something stuck on the bottom of his shoe. The disgusted expression shifted to a feral smile that she remembered too well. It was intimate, knowing, hungry. The same expression he’d worn when she showed up for confession. She froze as the memories threatened to swamp her.
He took advantage of her hesitation and said, “Save your speech, bitch. I don’t care how you feel. If your feelings were any concern to me, I wouldn’t have chained you to a table and taught you all about pain. You should be thanking me for not taking your virginity. You’ll get over the rest.”
“I said shut up! Stop talking! You ruined my life!”
He raised his brows and replied, “Did I? It wasn’t me who came to you at night. Do you even realize he’s with you? He’s been softening you up for months. You’re almost ready for him now. The next time he comes to you, you’ll say yes. And then you’ll scream. You’ll howl in agony as the clock strikes midnight, and he rips your soul out. I promise you’ll beg for a death that won’t come; you’ll scream inside your head as you lose all control. Your body and soul will belong to Azrael. But cheer up; he doesn’t take very good care of his toys. They tend to have a short lifespan, even in Hell.”
“Stop it! I’m not afraid of you anymore! We’ll figure out how to fix this. I’m keeping my soul!”
“Too late, honey, your soul was broken the minute the deal was made. Think of it as a bomb. The timer’s running, and you can’t stop it. Your attempts to try will probably be amusing, though.”
With a slight incline of his head, he asked, “I trust you’re satisfied now? The big mystery’s solved? As much as I’ve enjoyed this little trip down Memory Lane, I really must be go--”
“Going? I don’t think so. Have a seat.” Dec’s tone changed in the space of a heartbeat. A minute ago, he’d been purposely conversational, keeping Ikini talking, keeping things calm so he could get information from the demon before he killed him. Now? Icy shivers crawled down her spine as his words sunk in.
Before she could blink, Ikini flew backwards into a chair, mouth hanging open in shock. She stared at Dec in surprise, too. She didn’t see him move. How on earth did he do that?
“What did you do to me? You can’t do this!”
Peeling himself away from the wall, he prowled closer. The cold look in his eye sent another shiver running down her back. Was this what Mica called soldier-mode? He wasn’t glowing… but he was definitely getting there. Every movement was controlled, purposeful, tight, yet he was clearly feeling the adrenaline. She felt a wave of heat, even from across the room. Things were about to get interesting.
He winked at the stunned demon and asked, “I can’t do what? Oh, you mean keep you from shimmering? Huh.”
He squatted a few feet in front of the chair with his chin on his fist. “Looks like I just did.”
Rori blinked, and Dec stood behind Ikini with the knife pressed against his throat. “So. What shall we talk about now that you’ve bragged all about your sick job as a soul broker?”
“You’ll never get away with this! Azrael will hunt you!”
The feral smile was back in place, his lips curled to show his canines. “So predictable. Every demon says the same thing. And yet, somehow, I always get away with it.” He rapped the knife against the top of his head. The demon winced but couldn’t move away. “Funny how that works. Must be all my clean living.”
“So here’s how this is going to work now. You’re going to sit nice and still while I drag your sorry slimy ass out of that priest. Then we’ll have a little chat about Gary Carmichael and the other kids you’ve killed.”
“You don’t have the power to compel me!”
Ignoring the demon’s protests, he continued without missing a beat. “Then I’ll do the whole fucking universe a service and put you down once and for all. One…”
“Go fuck yourself!”
“piece at a time.”
“Dec?”
Meeting her eyes over Ikini’s head, he ordered, “Go wait in the car.”
/>
“But--”
“Don’t argue! Wait in the car.” He softened his tone and amended, “Please.”
He waited until Rori closed the door before turning his attention back to the scumbag in the chair. Time to put some ghosts to rest. “How many were there?”
“I can’t count that high.”
Dec considered the abomination at his mercy while idly fingering the finely-etched runes that circled the haft of his knife. A hundred heartbeats passed before he trusted his voice. When he spoke again, his voice was deceptively soft.
“I remember you. You wore a different face, but it was you, wasn’t it?”
“I get bored. I travel. Sometimes I travel back in time… sometimes I explore the future. It’s entertaining.” He paused for a split second before sneering, “Your sister died quietly. Just bled out in the grass, those big blue eyes staring up at me. You shouldn’t have left her alone. It’s no wonder your mother hated you.”
Chapter 18: Scars on the Soul
SHE NEARLY BIT HER TONGUE OFF when Dec eventually tapped on the car window. She’d been staring into the trees, letting the stereo speakers drown out the screams… a quick glance at the dash clock showed only an hour had passed since he’d asked her to leave. It felt like decades. She swallowed the saliva pooling under her tongue and unlocked the doors. He’d survived; that was all that mattered.
“Is it over?” God, she hoped so. Her nerves were shot. Her stomach was sick. She wanted to puke and then curl up in bed and sleep for a week.
He didn’t try to smile. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes before finally saying, “If you want to search the cabin, now’s the time to do it. We can’t stay here much longer. It’s not safe.”
Broken Souls (Primani Book 4) Page 27