Double-Barreled Devilry

by D Michael Bartsch

  He handed me the bottle, and I immediately uncorked and guzzled a healthy amount, ignoring the pain everywhere in my body. I drank deeply.

  Standing next to Carl, Prufrock looked like a lawyer neither of us could afford.

  “I had a friend come in and stitch you up. Normally, we call a very talented woods witch in these situations, but your unique circumstances required more pedestrian means.”

  “Well, I appreciate the help. And the bottle.” I said.

  Prufrock gave his degrading smile and chuckled.

  “I'm sure you do, and with your windfall gone, I figured you may never get a chance to enjoy the finer things again.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said.

  Prufrock turned to Carl.

  “Mr. Rodriguez, would you please give us a moment? Mr. Cain and I need to discuss some rather delicate business.”

  Carl looked down at me. I could see the concern mingling with the fear and distrust in his eyes. Good, a healthy dose of paranoia would help him live longer. Of course, I couldn't help but feel bad that he was going to have to live with that fear for the rest of his life. He'd seen the shit show that is the other side and come out alive, but not necessarily okay.

  I nodded to him. He nodded back and walked to the door.

  “I'll be right outside if you need anything.” He said.

  I appreciated the thought. Of course, there was no way he was going to make it past Prufrock's lackeys.

  As soon as the door closed, Prufrock settled himself against the wall.

  “You could sit.” I said.

  He let out a single balk of a laugh.

  “This suit is worth more than the entire contents of this room.”

  “I would think you'd be able to buy another one. After all, money is nothing to Mephisto. Surely he just hands it out in fat stacks.”

  “Not quite.” He said. “Speaking of the Lord of Lies, I think we need to discuss the terms of the agreement.”

  “Why's that? I upheld my end.” I said.

  “Not as I see it.”

  Of course not.

  “How's that? You wanted to know what happened to Glyph's soul; I found out. You wanted Sartre dead, and he is.”

  “Monsieur Sartre is not dead.”

  Damn.

  “Mr. Kessler's soul hasn't found it's way below either.” He said.

  “That's because it's in a locket Sartre wore around his neck. I took it from him.”

  “And where is that locket, Mr. Cain?”

  “Well. I had it with me. Taking a knife to the back and pissing off an Elder Demon can be a little distracting. I'd say that it was misplaced. I'm sure it's still at the cemetery in the mud somewhere. It couldn't have been more than twenty feet away from where you found me.”

  Prufrock's eyes were cold as he looked at me. He did not look happy. There was something about him. I couldn't place it. The chilling demeanor, the casual confidence of someone who knows they are in control. It was a little terrifying, him looking at me with obvious displeasure.

  “If it was at the cemetery, the Venatori have it now. They arrived on scene shortly after my own people. They were barely able to get you and Mr. Reznik out before the area was closed off. There was no sign of Sartre.”

  “Balthazar made it out?”

  Prufrock nodded.

  “And Andrej?”

  “Mr. Lukic proved to be quite resilient. When my men arrived, he had slain two Ogres with that sword of his. Quite impressive.”

  No kidding. Andrej had always been a badass, but that was in a whole 'nother league. I'd have to remember to make sure not to piss him off too much from now on.

  “So the Venatori have the mirror, that's not my fault.”

  “You were contracted to return Kessler's soul and kill Sartre. Failing to produce either of those was to result in your identity being handed over to the Venatori and subsequently, return to the Void, Mr. Cain.”

  “Those were two separate contracts, and you know it.”

  I'd prepared for this. Knowing that there was a chance to make it out alive, and not much else, I'd made sure to review the terms of our agreement with my newly appointed attorney while I was waiting for Ajax to finish the tracker at the storage locker.

  I'd also made sure he put in a call to a certain shadowy group of Hellion hunters with the general location of a man who they would always come to find. It meant they knew I was out of Purgatory. It meant I needed to run again.

  “The initial deal was to find Glyph's soul and see it returned to Mephisto. I did find the soul, inside the mirror. I also acquired the mirror from Sartre but was unconscious when your boys picked me up. The fact of the matter is that the soul was a few feet away from them when they grabbed me, and they left it behind. That's not on me; that's on you.

  “Sartre's death was a second contract. The deal was one death for ten million dollars. There were no stipulations put in place should I fail to accomplish the return of his soul to Mephisto. I didn't kill him, so no money, but that doesn't mean that I violated the terms of our agreement.

  “Even if you want to pin the failure to grab the mirror on me, there was no timeline set into place, for either job. The contracts are both open-ended, and still very much active. Technically, I have up until my death to fulfill the obligations.”

  It was definitely a loophole, one that my fancy ass lawyer had thought of. I'd have to remember to send a thank you note to Balthazar, along with the bill.

  Prufrock actually seemed to smile.

  “I hadn't expected you to have reviewed the terms of the agreement in such detail.”

  “Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, I'll kill you.”

  He laughed.

  “Very well, Mr. Cain. For the failure to kill Monsieur Sartre, you have not fulfilled your contract. By confirming the location of Mr. Kessler's soul, but failing to return it to its rightful owner, you have only partially fulfilled our initial agreement. However, due to the extenuating circumstances, your identity will not be released to the Venatori. The money promised to you will also not be given due to your failure to fulfill either contract in its entirety.

  “Also, you should know that both you and Mr. Rodriguez have recently ended up on Venatori watch lists. Granted, Mr. Rodriguez has not found himself quite as high up on the list as yourself. It would be prudent to find another location to live for the time being.”

  Prufrock turned to leave.

  “You don't need to confirm any of this with Mephisto?”

  He stopped at the door.

  “I don't work for the Lord of Lies. The contracts you entered in to were with me and me alone. Mephisto and I have a previous relationship. I saw returning the soul as a chance to garner favor with him. I shall need to pursue other means of gaining it.”

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  He gave me one last devilish grin.

  “Another time, Mr. Cain.”

  With that he left. I knew that I wasn't done with Mr. Prufrock. Whoever he was, he was bad news, but I was also more than a little curious. Whoever he was, he had major pull. You don't get to just call the shots and make your own deals with an Elder Demon, not that I'd ever heard of anyway.

  Carl came back in. I took another heavy hit of scotch and corked the bottle. I wanted more, but I was dehydrated and in recovery. The booze would have to wait. It would be worth it.

  “Well?” He asked.

  Carl looked concerned.

  “We'll need to disappear, sooner rather than later.”

  He nodded. I could see sorrow in his eyes.

  “You can start a new church. Besides, I have a place in mind, and there's a boatload of sinners in need of saving there.

  “We're gonna need to find a car, though.” I said.

  “Your Mustang is out front.”

  He held up a set of keys. I recognized them as my own.

  “Some guy dropped it off this morning. Said his name was Ajax.”

  God bless the
little warlock. He'd made it out and managed to get me my car back. If I had the pope's number, I would have called and demanded a sainthood for him.

  “Well, I guess that solves the transportation problem.” I said.

  “Where did you have in mind?”

  “You ever been to Reno, Carl?”

  I laid my head back on the pillow, feeling the air leak out as my head sank further in. I closed my eyes and allowed every muscle in my body to release. The tension melted away.

  I had to leave everything I'd built behind. I needed to run more than ever before now that the Venatori knew I was out there. However, for the first time in a very long time, I wasn't alone. Something about that was strangely comforting. I may have inadvertently ruined Carl's life, but we were in it together now. For better or worse, I'd made myself a friend.

  Poor bastard.