"I'm not a full demon," I said. "I'm a halfblood. My mom's a demon, dad's a human. Watch this." I wiped the normal blood away, then forced a drop of ichor to the wound, just enough to show the green ooze and steam. I didn't have enough to spare for the full effect. Becky blinked as it puffed sulfuric fumes into the air. "That's demonic blood."
"And this is angelic purity," Caleb said. Tink had handed him a knife and he pricked his finger for Becky's benefit. Instead of red blood, his purity was clear with just a hint of blue. The sweet smell overwhelmed the stench of my ichor.
Becky swung toward Tink. "So, those two bleed weird. What's next? You going to jump on a broomstick and play ball?"
Tink had already pricked her finger and drawn a tiny rune on her hand. "It's all in the blood," she said, getting Becky's attention. "In blood is power, and our magic is based on symbolism to direct that power. We draw a rune or pattern for the symbol. Like this one. It's a symbol for fire. Now, I invoke it, and bam." A flame popped up from her palm, burning bright yellow and orange. Becky dropped the drill. "Takes some time to learn, but most humans could learn to do it, if they put their minds to it."
"You're all batshit," Becky said.
"Welcome to my world," I said. "Life's been getting more and more batshit ever since she stabbed me a few months ago. I thought life might return to normal after she ran off with Caleb, but no, she had to come back half dead and turn my life even more upside down."
"You know you love the excitement I bring into your life."
"I wouldn't call it love. Maybe mild affection at best."
"All right. Assuming this is not complete bullshit, that I am not hallucinating or dreaming this entire thing, what are you doing here? I didn't think angels and demons would be sitting peacefully in the same room like this." Becky flopped down on my couch, making it creak. "What's the story?"
Tink perched on the arm of the couch. "Remember Vostok?"
"The murders at the construction site?" She leaned forward and turned to look at me. "Were you involved?"
I shook my head. Throw the concept of a demon into the mix and even your friends start suspecting you. "Hell no! We started looking into it. Vostok was one of Tink's mage buddies. Bet you never knew he was a demon hunter back in Mother Russia."
"Is that what mages are all about?" Becky asked.
"It's a pastime for some," Tink said. "Some mages have a live and let live philosophy. Others try to form contracts with angels or demons to tap their power and experience. Others try to kill them. Don't want them interfering with human society."
"So you're one who looks for contracts?"
"That was sort of an accident. I've been looking for a certain demon. I thought this idiot was the right one. He wasn't, but I thought he might be able to help out, so I formed a contract with him." She scowled at me. "I've been disappointed so far."
"You weren't too disappointed about me saving your life earlier," I pointed out.
"Mostly disappointed."
"Bitch."
"Coward."
"Children," Becky growled. "So you're looking into who killed Vostok?"
Tink summarized what we had found out, up through the attack on the conclave and the aftermath. I watched Caleb while she explained. The angel was listening to her with slightly narrowed eyes and arms crossed across his chest. I assumed that he had heard the entire story before, but he still seemed to be a little skeptical. Maybe it was due to my involvement. Maybe he was just paranoid.
"So, what happened after you left Zay at the church?" Becky asked.
"I'd like to know too. Did you ever track down Rashid?"
Tink paused, then looked at Caleb, then at me. "Took us a week to find him. He told us some interesting things. I don't know if we should talk about it with Becky here. Pact issues."
I glanced at Caleb and he nodded. I didn't want to bring Becky into this, and there was no real justification for telling her. "Becky, sorry, can't tell you more right now. There's some things we can't tell you about unless you're directly involved in the situation."
She nodded and stood up. "Yeah, I figured there'd be a need to know in there somewhere. No problem. I'm used to it. Dad doesn't tell me everything either. I'll be back for drinks later tonight, Bright." She paused at the door. "You coming to work?"
I looked at Tink. She shook her head. "Looks like I may need some time off," I said.
"I'll tell my dad." She opened the door. "Hey, look, I'm not saying I believe everything you told me. But, good luck. Sounds like you might need it. If you need a hand, Bright, all you need to do is ask. I'll be over around eight."
The door closed behind her and Tink flopped down onto the couch. "That girl's all right," she said. "Good sense of humor. Good taste in clothes. Don't you think so, Caleb?"
"Shut up, Anna." He was already stripping the pink frills off. "Demon, I hate to ask, but can I borrow something to wear?"
"Help yourself," I said. He stormed off toward my bedroom. "So, what's the deal with him, Tink? Why is he following you around?"
"Jase asked him to. I guess he does whatever Jase asks him."
I had called Jase every couple of weeks to see if he knew anything about their whereabouts. The pastor had always declined to give me any details, just told me that they were both fine. I had even dropped by a couple of times, hoping to catch them by surprise. "Jase stonewalled me. You didn't want me involved."
"Brilliant, Sherlock. Of course I didn't want you involved. You and Caleb can't even get along after you help save his life. Keeping you idiots away from each other's throats would have taken all my energy. Plus, we were dealing with mages whose conclave got torn apart by a demon. Do you really think they would have dealt with me if I was dragging you around with me?"
"Fair enough," I said. It was, but it still stung. "So you talked to Rashid. How many members of your conclave lived?"
"Seven, including me," she said. "Rashid's the most senior. The others are apprentices. They've been lying low ever since the massacre."
Caleb walked back into the living room, dressed in one of my t-shirts and an old pair of jeans. The clothes were all a little tight on him. We were close to the same height, but he had bulk. "Thanks," he said.
"Don't worry about it. The pink didn't suit you after all."
He glared at me before returning to leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Tink picked up the story where she had left off. "We caught up with him at a coffee shop on the other side of the state, out near Buffalo. He's been on the run, just in case, but the Duke didn't seem to be sniffing around. We didn't see that one again until recently, as I'm sure you guessed."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Caleb said.
"Rashid told us what that master had warned them about." She chuckled. "Did you know that the Pact's an open secret at that level? Senior adepts and up are all aware of the War, the aftermath, the cold war. They're also aware of various plots to open the Gates of Purgatory. It surprised me how deeply we were involved."
I didn't know how to respond. They knew more than I did about some things. My family had never told me about any plans to open the Gates. Of course, why would they tell a lowly halfblood? "So, what nefarious plot is it this time?"
"A lot of the plots of the past involved sacrificing humans," she said. "Caleb's told us about Lucifer's dying curse. That's an open secret too. At least, that part of it."
"It doesn't necessarily mean human sacrifice," he said. "It could also mean a human making a sacrifice of their self. One way to do that is to make a contract."
I looked at Tink. She looked away. That explained why Rashid had flipped his lid. "So, that Duke may have a contract with a mage. Why are they killing other mages?"
"Two reasons," Tink said. "First of all, it does take a sacrifice to open the Gates either way you look at it. Many sacrifices equal a lot of power. No way for us to tell, but I suspect that they've been collecting blood from each of their victims. The ritualistic murders are meant to heighten the
power inherent in the blood, and a mage's blood is even more symbolically powerful."
"Makes sense," I said.
"Second reason is to remove competition."
That made even more sense. Not only did they gain blood that was more potent, they also reduced the number of mages that could potentially stop them. Having a contract with a Duke would probably do that in and of itself, but whoever was doing this was playing it safe. One thing didn't mesh in my head quite yet, though. "What's in it for the mage?"
"No demon will sit the Throne of Hell, nor angel the Throne of Heaven," Caleb reminded me. "The mage restores the throne and his partner becomes a hero. The mage gets the power and the demon gets to be the power behind the Throne. Sweet deal for both."
I nodded. "So that's what this Duke and his partner are trying to do? How do we know this is what they're up to?"
"You think they started with Vostok?" Tink asked.
"They've been doing this for a while?"
She nodded. "Quite some time, actually. Three years of murders. All ritualistic, all involving at least one mage."
"How is this not a case that's gotten massive public media attention? Groups of people being murdered in ways that scream 'Satanic ritual!', why isn't this all over the news?"
"Do you remember the news about the murder at the construction site?" Tink asked.
I frowned and shook my head. "There wasn't any that I remember. We only heard about it from Becky by chance. Someone's covering it up."
"Think, demon!" Caleb said. "What did you just do a couple of hours ago?"
"See Tink naked?" He blinked and she flicked a knife toward me. I caught it and tapped the flat of the blade against my palm. "I made a suggestion for everyone to forget what had just happened when she tossed you through the door. A Duke would be able to do much more than that. Suppressing the media would be easy. I'm surprised he didn't wipe everyone's memories of the event, but I suppose even a Duke has limits."
"He most likely made a suggestion that made it seem unimportant to everyone," Caleb said. "That's much easier than forcing people to forget. We saw Becky's resistant to suggestion, probably because of you. Since she tipped you off, and you tipped the conclave off, they had to take action. How much did you hear about the mass murder at that lodge?"
I frowned. "It burned down. No mention of deaths."
"And you didn't think that was strange?"
"My mind was on other things at the time." I glared at Tink. She scowled right back, but stayed silent. "Seems I'm somewhat susceptible to it as well. So how many people have been killed? Is that what you two were trying to figure out after you spoke with Rashid?"
"Yes. We took a long trip to try to track down that mystery master mage who was warning people. Apparently, he was doing a sweep through the northeast, warning everyone he could. We used some of Rashid's contacts and tried to catch up to him. We found him about three days ago."
I winced. "Let me guess. You were on your way back home and the Duke found you."
"Don't spoil the story for yourself," Caleb said.
"He never gave us his name," Tink said. "But he was part of a conclave out west in Oregon. They were wiped out, like mine. He was the only survivor. They had heard about the murders and he had heard the rumor about how to open the Gates. He put two and two together and started crisscrossing the country to try and warn mages to be on guard. I'd guess he bought us a year, maybe more, but no one stepped up to stop the Duke and his partner. It's just about too late."
"Six hundred and sixty dead," Caleb said quietly.
"That's a lot of murders to go unreported. So you're assuming that he's looking to kill six more, right?"
"Bingo. And on the way back, he found us," she said, her tone quiet as well. "We were at a rest stop off the Thruway, just outside of the city. I was just coming out of the bathroom. Caleb was getting us something to eat. In the middle of the line, there was someone staring at me. Made me feel uncomfortable. He closed his eyes, as if he was blinking. When he opened his eyes, they were red. Glowing red. That's when people started screaming."
"He didn't worry about collateral damage," Caleb said.
"He transformed," Tink continued as if Caleb hadn't said anything. "Claws. Feathered wings, like Caleb's, but black. He spread them. They cut right through people as if they were razors. He shook the blood off and stepped toward me. I couldn't move. He was staring at me. I've never felt anything like that before."
I could see her shaking as her voice trailed off. I knew what she had felt. Caleb picked up where she had left off. "He hadn't noticed me yet, but he did right after. I drew my sword. Cut part of one of his wings off."
"He screamed," Tink whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. "It was the most horrific thing I've ever heard. Like the earth itself was scraping against a chalkboard. It shook the entire place. A few people were still nearby. They fell down. Bleeding from their ears, nose, eyes. They didn't get back up."
"I got his attention," Caleb said. "He turned to face me and as soon as he did, Anna got herself together."
She nodded once, sharply. "Gave me time to start thinking again. I pulled my knife, started to draw some runes. Defense against his presence, against his hellfire, against everything I could think of. They fought. I didn't do anything. I couldn't."
"She did enough to keep herself safe and non-threatening," Caleb said.
"Smart of her," I said. They were putting a good face on it, but she had buckled under pressure. I couldn't blame her. Facing a Duke like that would have gotten me twitchy. She had probably pissed herself, but she was still shaking. I held my tongue.
"So I fought the Duke. Tried to, at least." Caleb grinned, probably the most carefree expression I'd ever seen on his face. "It felt good to let it all out. I haven't been able to do that in hundreds of years. We trashed the place."
The Duke wasn't the only one unconcerned about collateral damage, it seemed. I looked at Tink. She had drawn her knees up to her chest and wasn't looking at me. "Once I had my defenses in place, I tried to help Caleb," she said.
"That's when things went wrong." Caleb's smile fell away. "He sensed her attack and dodged it. She hit me instead. I wasn't expecting it. Threw me off balance and he caught me with a hellfire spout, right at my feet. Only lasted for a couple of seconds before I could get out, but, well, you saw the results. I went down hard and he turned back to deal with Anna."
"I froze up again," she said. "I thought I was about to die for that mistake. He walked right up to the edge of my circle and towered over me, hissing down at me. I didn't know what to do. He ran one claw down the barrier and laughed at me. That broke something."
"Your barrier?"
"No, my fear," she said. "I didn't want to die to some asshole demon who thinks I'm just a joke. I took my knife and slammed it into his thigh. That was about as high as I could reach. His crotch was inches out of range. I slammed the knife in and tried to invoke the magic I had on it. Didn't work, but he was not happy. Not happy at all."
"And you had broken your circle doing that," I said.
She nodded. "I figured it out at the same time he did. Jumped backwards as he swiped. If I hadn't jumped he would have clawed through my head, not just scratched half my face off. I went tumbling backwards, half blind, and that's when Caleb got back up."
"I went for him with holy fire," Caleb said. "I was bleeding already, so I figured it was my last chance. I got lucky, he wasn't expecting me to be still in it. Burned him nearly as much as he had gotten me. He took cover to handle his wounds. I staggered over to Anna to check her condition. She was bleeding pretty badly, but she was still conscious. I tried to help her out of there, but I was too weak to make it out the front door. She managed to cast something that stopped her bleeding and give her enough energy to make it out the door."
"And as soon as we made it to the door, I saw something yellow and green reflecting in the glass," she said. "The Duke had tossed some hellfire at us as a parting gift. Caleb tr
ied to deflect it with his sword. He got some of it. Not all of it. It splattered off his sword and a little piece hit me in the ass, set my clothes on fire. I barely managed to cast something to extinguish the fire and numb the pain."
"Why didn't he finish you?" I asked.
"I threw holy fire back at him. I don't know how much of it hit him, but I heard him howl," Caleb said. "He's going to be some time recovering from that. I think they expect us to be quite some time recovering as well, but thanks to you, we've got the jump on them."
"So you managed to drive here in that condition? One-eyed, fractured foot, burned over a third of your body, and carrying Caleb part of the way?" I asked. Tink nodded. I was impressed. Even if she had used magic, she had used it effectively in a catastrophic situation. Even if she had frozen up at first, she had done well after. "That's pretty tough. You're a tough little cookie."
"Don't call me that," she said.
I rolled my eyes. "Again with rejecting compliments."
"Shove it."
"So what are you two expecting to do now?" I asked. "The Duke will take some time to heal, but we're looking at two days, tops, and that's only if he's taking his time to do a proper job of it, not a fast and dirty job like I did. After that, he's going to come looking for you, and that's assuming that the mage he's contracted with doesn't find you first?"
"You two can handle a mage," Tink said, uncurling from her ball. "I have no doubt of that. If he does come looking for us, he'll get an unpleasant surprise. They won't expect Caleb to be alive, much less fully healed."
"Fine, but what about the Duke?"
She smiled. "We have a secret weapon." She pointed at me.
I pointed at myself. "Me?"
"Your ichor."
"Used in your magic?"
"Amplification," Caleb said. He wasn't smiling. I wouldn't be either if I had been the one hit by that force magic she had unleashed. "Apparently, a human mage can use supernatural blood to amplify their magic. That spell she hit me with would have given the Duke something to think about, and I don't think she was using her full capacity."
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