"And you think Caleb would rat you out?"
"No, that's not what concerns me," I said. "A civil war between demons would be impossible to miss. What concerns me is that not only could the Angelic Choir take advantage of the situation, Caleb also knows about the amplification of human magic. It makes sense that a mage using angelic purity would get the same advantage. Even if we stop the Duke, we might have to stop the Choir from doing the same thing. That's going to be harder than stopping House Lucifer. I don't know if it's even possible. I know I can't do it alone. I don't think we could even do it together."
Her reaction wasn't what I expected. "So you want to back out, don't you? Terrified by the thought of facing the angels? Is that worth thousands of lives?"
"Hundreds of thousands," I said, not sure where she was going with this.
"Thousands, millions, what's the difference? You think your own life's worth more. You damned coward." She stomped past me before I could protest. I tried to say something, but she couldn't hear me through her own magical screen. Her changeover into bitch mode had been so sudden, I simply stood there and wondered what the hell I had said to set her off.
I threw off my surprise and rushed out of the kitchen just as she yanked the front door open, pushing Caleb ahead of her. "Tink, wait-"
"We're going to do the job," she snapped at me. "Stay here. Hide under your bed."
"You aren't listening!" I shouted at her.
She pushed Caleb out the door before looking back at me. Her expression showed only disgust. "See you around, demon."
The door slammed shut. The stupid girl thought I wanted to back out? She didn't have a chance without me. "Damn her," I said.
"What did I miss?" I jumped as Becky put a heavy hand on my shoulder.
"She thinks I want to back down. She's convinced I'm a coward, she won't listen to anything I have to say."
"Maybe you need to make her listen."
I took that in for a moment, then shrugged Becky's hand off and grabbed my shoes. "Maybe you're right."
"Maybe I should come with you."
I looked up as I tied my shoes. Becky's expression was serious, dead serious. "I appreciate the thought, Becky, but you shouldn't get involved. We're talking a very powerful demon. You don't have any magic to defend yourself."
She pulled the door open. "But I'm going whether you like it or not."
"Be my guest," I said, grabbing my keys. "I won't try and talk you out of it. It's possible you'll get hurt, maybe worse. This is going to be dangerous."
"Walking across the street is dangerous. Going to work is dangerous. Guess what else is dangerous, Bright." She tapped her chest. "Wait while I get something. If you leave without me, I will be upset with you. Very upset."
"Hurry up, then." I pulled my door closed and locked it. "We don't have a lot of time."
"Zay." I looked up. She had already walked halfway down the hall to her room, but had paused and looked back at me. "You're no coward. A coward wouldn't be going after her."
I forced a smile. Maybe she was right. Maybe not. "Thanks, Becky."
Chapter Eleven
I didn't ask what she had gone back to her room for, and she didn't tell me. I thought it was obvious. She did tell me that she was going to drive. I was thankful for that. I wouldn't be able to track Tink if I was driving. Splitting my concentration and ending up in a ditch would be mildly embarrassing, especially if she lived long enough for me to tell her about it.
On the other hand, Becky hadn't told me what sort of driver she was. Concentration wasn't easy to come by as my head hit the roof of the cab for the third time in the past five minutes. At least we were out of the city and there were less people around to terrify. "Are you trying to get enough speed for liftoff?"
Becky grinned. The speedometer read something well over sane. If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought it was broken. "We need to catch up, don't we?"
"In one piece!" We bounced off another dip in the road. This time, I hooked my fingers under the edge of the seat to hold myself down. "The fact that we haven't caught up with them yet scares the shit out of me!"
"Must be that Caleb driving," Becky said. "He seemed bored when I drove him around yesterday. Usually I get reactions like yours. Wonder what Tink would say?"
"She'd say get your eyes on the road!" We were getting close to an intersection. Uncomfortably close at high speeds. "Need to turn left!"
She stomped the brakes. We skidded to a stop, the truck vibrating all around me, then sedately turned left. As soon as we were safely out of the intersection, the engine roared again, I pressed back into my seat, and we rocketed down the road. Luckily, we hadn't seen more than a couple of cars out this way, or we'd probably have the cops called on us by now. I hoped that the cops would have better things to do than track down one insane driver.
We took the next turn and I felt the link strengthen. I closed my eyes and burned a drop of ichor, trying to get a visualization of where she was. It was still too far away, but the link echoed some of her senses back to me. I felt the shadow of wind brush my face, the distant thump of a car door slamming. "I think they've stopped. She just got out of the car."
"Some crazy sort of magic there, Bright."
"She'd be able to use it too, if she realized it was there."
"You didn't tell her?"
I smiled. "Insurance."
We roared down the road, straight through another intersection, blowing the stop sign. If we had turned right, it would have brought us to the First Revelation Church. I hoped that Jase was safely at home tonight. We didn't need to involve anyone else.
The link flickered. I felt warmth wash over me. Were they already attacking the Duke? "Idiots," I snarled.
"What's wrong?"
"No time. I'm going to have to go straight there," I said. "Stop the car."
"What?"
"Stop the car!"
She looked over at me, but slammed the brakes. As soon as we stopped, I unbuckled and jumped out. If we kept driving, it'd be another five minutes. I could cut across this field and be there in two. I trotted around the front of the truck and looked over my shoulder as Becky leaned out her window. "Thanks for the ride, Becky. Get to safety. I'll call once everything's over."
"Bright, wait!"
I ignored her and forced ichor to circulate through to every part of my body. My skin toughened, my bones hardened, my claws appeared. As I continued the transformation, I felt other uncomfortable sensations that I hadn't felt in years. My head throbbed as horns burst wide from my temples. My vision grew hazy, then sharpened, and I knew that my eyes were now solid green. My teeth felt sharp, my tongue forked, and I could smell sulfur and smoke in the distance, wherever Tink and Caleb were.
"Bright? My God, is that you?"
I glanced back at Becky. Her mouth was hanging open and I could see the heat in her face draining away, could smell a distinct flavor of fear. I smiled, keeping my mouth closed. Revealing my fangs would only make it worse. I forced one more aspect of my transformation. My back itched and grew warm. Bones grew, muscles shifted, leathery skin spread. My wings weren't anything like the Duke's, not sharp-edged blackened feathers, but simple bat-like wings, an eight foot wingspan, not enough to lift me in and of themselves. Ichor and magic would take care of that.
I turned my back on Becky and flexed the wings. I heard her gasp. "Get to cover," I said, my voice a deep growl. "Don't worry about me."
"How could I worry about you, when you look like that? What the hell could stand up to you like that?"
"Another demon," I said, and launched myself into the air.
Flying was one of the pleasures so often denied me. I couldn't simply sprout wings and fly around on a whim. The general populace would react poorly if they caught sight of me. Driving somewhere isolated and flying low and careful wasn't worth the effort. I hadn't been able to do anything like this for ages. I lifted myself a few feet higher then launched myself forward with one ichor-infused beat of
my wings. The ground raced past beneath me.
This area was more rural than I had expected, considering how close we were to the city. Large tracts of land with expensive looking houses were intermixed with small farms. As I grew closer to Tink, I could see a heat disturbance at one of the large houses, just barely visible in the distance. Hellfire, holy fire, fire magic? It didn't matter. I launched myself higher to get a better picture of the situation.
The house was a single story sprawl, the unnatural heat coming from the far end of the house. As I came closer, I looked for other signs of life. The heat gradient was consistent across the rest of the building, warmer than the surrounding environment. That bothered me. Had the owners been killed? Had they even been around when Tink and Caleb arrived? I couldn't see anyone reacting well if a tiny little girl and an unfriendly looking angel knocked on their door and demanded to kill the demon they were harboring.
The heat from the far end grew brighter and greener. Hellfire. I didn't have time to waste. I folded my wings and dove straight in. The owners were going to be pissed, but they'd be lucky to have a house after we were done here. I summoned a spark of hellfire as I dove and accelerated it ahead of me. The roof burst into flames and buckled, then I hit the weakened spot feet first and I was through.
The ceiling buckled and collapsed as I hit it, showering whoever was within with plaster and insulation. I heard a surprised curse as I landed, my wings flexing to keep my balance. Near the broken down door of the bedroom, Tink and Caleb stared at me, the latter in his own transformation, silver light glittering in his eyes. Next to the bed stood the Duke, only a few feet away from them, his eyes glowing red and his hands smoking with the residue of hellfire.
Caleb's sword flickered between us. "Another demon?" he snapped.
"You coward, calling in allies," Tink hissed.
The Duke didn't say anything, merely regarded me with narrowed eyes. His presence infused the area, but he hadn't set it as a trap. His wings were stubs and I could see burns that were still healing all over his chest. He hadn't expected us to come after him in just one day and hadn't pushed his regeneration as hard as he could have. I smiled, letting my teeth show. "Not a demon, I'm afraid. Just a halfblood."
"Isaiah?" Caleb said, at the same time Tink burst out, "You!"
Neither sounded happy to see me, just surprised. The Duke didn't sound happy either. "Isaiah Bright," he said in a voice that seemed to shake the ground. "Are you here to slay me, halfbreed? Have you rejected the generous offer that House Lucifer deigned to give you?"
I indicated Tink with a jerk of my head. "She rejected it. I'm not upset about that."
"And you're willing to accept the consequences of your actions?"
I stared at the Duke. His claws flexed and his wing stumps twitched. "I am."
"Young fool. Can't you see the folly of your actions?"
This wasn't what I expected. Was he trying to talk me down right here and now? I could play that game too. "I can, but you can't, can you? You're going to die if you try it."
The Duke was silent for a moment. "Even so."
"There are multiple Gates," I said. "Breaching the first won't accomplish your goal. Don't you get it? You're going to break the Gates open, you're going to die in the process, and you might even destroy the Project as well. You're going to make a horrible mistake, and it's going to kill thousands."
"What proof do you have?"
"I got the heads up from an imp," I said. "Who better would know?"
"An imp." The Duke sounded amused. "Of course. They would say anything to defend humans."
"You think he was lying?"
"I think he was exaggerating." I heard a grunt from my side and spared a glance for Caleb. He had dropped to one knee, clutching at his left shoulder. I hadn't even noticed his wound. The Duke didn't appear to notice, but I did see his red eyes brighten for a heartbeat. "The imps are not as neutral as you seem to believe, halfbreed. Their interests do not always lie with the Host. You're too young to know better. They are not completely trustworthy."
"But more trustworthy than you are." Empty bluster while I thought. The imps were supposed to be neutral, but if their interests were threatened, they'd react, wouldn't they? They were always interested in humans. Why was that?
"More trustworthy than you as well."
I didn't respond. Assuming that Kibs had been straight with me, the imps had an interest in the Project, and if they had an interest in that, they had an interest in human souls. Why? That would be an interesting question to ask. Both the Choir and the Pact were interested in human souls. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that the Consortium had an interest in them as well for similar reasons.
"Look, demon," I heard Tink speak up and turned my attention to her. For once, she wasn't addressing me. "I don't give a damn about why you're trying to open the Gates. I care that you're going to kill people in the process, and I care that you killed a lot of people I knew and liked to get to this point."
"Human," the Duke growled without taking his eyes off me, "be silent. This is beyond your simple concerns. Halfbreed, you understand what is at stake. This concerns all of us. The Host, the Choir, and the humans."
I looked over at Tink. Her scowl was as ugly as ever, but I saw a drop of sweat trickling down the side of her face. She knew that this was a bad situation. "I do understand that," I said. "And that's why I offer you the chance to stop this. Renounce your plans. If you drop it, we'll drop it too. We can all walk away from this. We can do this a different way."
Tink made a small sound in the back of her throat, but that was the only sound in the room for the next minute. I hoped that the Duke would see my point. His head drooped, just for a second, and then he looked at Caleb. His eyes flickered again, and at that point, I knew I had lost. "No," he growled. "You, halfbreed, will walk away, and we will allow you to live. If you do not, you will die here. Not only will you die, we will bring House Asmodeus down and grind them to dust. We will subjugate your family for your sins. Is that what you are looking for? Is that enough to force you from your path?"
I shook my head. I had one last card to play. I knew House Lucifer didn't want to weaken the Host by attacking House Asmodeus. All I needed here was a reason for them not to. "I'm not acting as a member of House Asmodeus, your Grace."
The Duke's eyes widened. His lips curled upwards in a tight grin. "Explain."
I pointed at Tink. She flinched. "This girl is my contract partner. I'm bound by blood."
"Then you oppose us on behalf of humanity, not your House?"
"Not exactly, your Grace. You killed her friends, her conclave. She has a legitimate grievance against House Lucifer. She has cause for vendetta."
"Has she declared in front of a witness?" the Duke demanded. Crafty bastard. He was taking this a little too far, but we had to do this right, or it wouldn't stand up later if challenged.
"Well, no, but-"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Tink snapped. "But I'm declaring it right now. You and me, Duke Asshole. I have a vendetta against you. You killed Vostok. You killed my conclave. You killed the man who was my mentor, you killed my friends, you killed people I cared about. You took them away from me, so I'm going to take your life away from you. Got it?"
"Fine words, but-"
"She needs a witness, doesn't she?" Caleb got to his feet. The wound seemed closed and he looked steadier. "Then it's witnessed."
The Duke looked between the three of us, then inclined his head to me. "Well played, halfbreed. But we are still at an impasse."
"It seems that way, your Grace."
"Then we shall settle this." Hellfire burst to life in his clawed hand and he flung it at Tink, fast and furious.
Not fast enough. I caught it in my hand, already burning with my own hellfire. It fed my own power and I flung it back, aiming low. He leaped over it, but the floor burst into flames where he had just been standing. Without his wings, he'd land right on it, or so I planned
.
No plan survives contact with the enemy, as they say. He had jumped backwards, against the wall, then pushed off and sprang for Tink, claws and fangs and terror. I was caught by surprise, but Caleb wasn't. He dove at Tink and slammed her to the ground, a heartbeat before the Duke's claws reached her. I heard him snarl something as claws raked his previously wounded shoulder. I didn't know that his language even included profanity.
The Duke's leap sent him through the broken door and I charged into the hallway after him. He had already landed and spun around, crouching on all four, a shadow in a dark hallway. "Stand aside, halfbreed," he said. "Even though you're half human, you are half demon as well. Don't force me to kill you."
I spread my arms wide. "Bound by blood in more ways than one, your Grace."
"Fool." He sprang at me. I was ready for him and fell backwards as he touched my shoulders. The lack of resistance must have caught him by surprise. As I hit the floor, I slammed my feet up into his chest as hard as I could. I heard bone creak, but it'd take more than that to break his ribs. Instead, he crashed into the ceiling and up into the attic, maybe even through the roof. The shower of plaster and insulation from above hid the results.
"Isaiah," said Caleb. I jumped to my feet. Purity was glistening on his shoulder. Dangerous if we had an accident. "Where'd he go?"
"I kicked him through the roof. You all right?"
"Already stopped the bleeding," he assured me. Tink was at his side, scowling at me, then yelped as he grabbed her shoulder. "Move!" he shouted, barreling at me.
I tried to fling myself backwards as Caleb slammed into me. His unhurt shoulder crunched into me and we ended up in a pile in the living room. Expensive furnishings, a glass case full of delicate crystal, a very large television mounted to a wall, a thick carpet, immaculately clean. From the hallway, hellfire fell like rain from above, the walls and floor igniting on contact. I could feel air whipping past us, trying to suck us back, as the fire grew. The Duke dropped into the middle of that conflagration, his shadowy skin soaking the infernal heat in like it was a pleasant summer day. That was an obscene amount of power. No way could I transform myself to the point where I could dance through a field of hellfire.
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