“What are you doing?” Brian asked, resisting being forced out of his own station.
“Keeping you safe. Go!” She gave him a final push, and then placed her hands on Sean’s shoulders and whispered in his ear. “You’re the bait, Sean. Call him out.” With that, she scurried over to the front desk and jumped behind it, leaving Sean standing in the open and without a weapon.
Silence fell on the station, but Armen could hear human breath within the small offices surrounding the lobby, which meant Agares would hear it as well. She carefully crawled over to the edge of the large front desk and peered around the corner. Sean stood perfectly still; Terry pressed himself against the wall near the corner with the blade sitting just over his right shoulder, but she could see nothing in the hall past either of them. An eerie silence took over, the proverbial dead calm before the storm. Even the officers still inside the building held their breath for that moment in dreadful anticipation. Life stopped all around them.
Thunderous footsteps echoed in the hall, but there was no wind. Armen was thankful for that. Suddenly, the thought of Samyaza popped into her mind, and she slid back behind the desk. She nearly screamed when she discovered him sitting next to her, leaning casually against the desk, one leg stretched out with the other bent at the knee and his arm lazily draped over it. His blue eyes met hers and he winked.
“What on earth are you doing here?” she whispered.
He smirked, and then jacked his thumb backwards, in Agares’ direction. “He has gone a bit mad.”
“No, really,” she returned, her renowned sarcastic twang evident even in a whisper.
“He is hell-bent on killing you and the wrangler.” He grinned.
Armen glared at him. “Was that supposed to be funny?”
“It is to me,” he replied with a shrug.
“So you’re not here to help him?”
“Who, Agares?” When she nodded, he sighed. “Armaros, sweetie, what fun could we have if all realms fell into the Darkness?”
“A great deal, I imagine.”
He chuckled soundlessly. “I am certain you could imagine quite a bit.”
“Please, let’s not go into my past.”
He leaned toward her. “It is who you are.”
“It’s who I was.” She scooted over to the edge of the desk again, peering around the corner carefully. It was entirely too silent. Terry was still pressed against the wall, waiting for Agares to enter the lobby. Armen turned her eyes back to Samyaza.
“Is what they’re saying about me true, then?”
His head stopped in the midst of a nod and tilted to the side as he eyed her carefully. “I did not set them upon this task. It is of their own will.”
“Well, certainly, if you don’t wish this realm overcome by the Darkness,” she replied. “But they do, apparently.”
“Yes, they do.”
“You can’t stop them?” She turned her eyes on Terry and Sean once more.
“You and your plaything back there have stopped three of them already.” He grinned, awaiting her response, but she chose to not give him the satisfaction. “But I suppose I shall have to if you and your friends cannot stop Agares. He is a tough breed.”
Armen sat back on her feet and glared at him. “Samyaza, innocents are dying.”
“Better they die as innocents than as sinners, princess.”
She cringed upon the declaration of her status, but thought the rest an odd statement coming from one of the princes of the Darkness.
“Otherwise, they belong to him anyway, so what is the difference?”
“That’s not to say that none have sinned,” she said abruptly. “They are innocent of the situation.”
“True,” he said with a nod. “Do you wish me to stop it?”
“Oh, I know better than to ask anything of you.”
He smiled. “I do so miss you, Armaros.”
“No offense, but I really don’t feel the same.” She peered around the desk again. Agares stood just around the corner from Terry, waiting patiently for the right moment. “He knows Terry is there, doesn’t he?”
“Yes,” Samyaza replied.
There wasn’t anything she could do to attract Terry’s attention without also attracting Agares’ attention. She could only hope that he would look her way.
“A father’s eyes give the child away.”
She sat back again and looked at him. “Tell me something; am I the only one Father conceived?”
Samyaza beamed beyond what Armen could imagine possible. “No. There were two physically conceived.”
“Who’s the other one?”
“Not Jesus,” he replied with a snicker.
“So we have a Mother, don’t we?”
He nodded. “You heard Her voice.”
Armen dipped her brows. “Mother was created before him, wasn’t She?”
Samyaza nodded with delight, a quick motion, quite childish in nature. “Oh, yes. I see you are figuring it out, albeit a little late in the game.”
“Then he, the Angel of Light, was the first. Not the first to be created like the others, but the first of all created after Mother, and the first actually conceived.”
“And the first of our happy little family to fall,” he added. “Father was so distraught when you fell with us.” He watched her reaction, and she lowered her eyes to the floor. “And the guilt has consumed you ever since.”
Her eyes met his again. “Why have I not known of Her?”
“She died after giving birth to you.” Sorrow crept into his eyes, and it was the first time Armen had seen such an emotion stir within him.
“How?”
Samyaza shrugged. “She was not strong like you or him, or Father. She had a weakness.”
Armen couldn’t imagine her Mother having any sort of weakness, but then again, she couldn’t fathom her Mother dying, either. Not if She was created before all they who were immortal. “What weakness?”
He reached up, pinched her arm, and grinned. “Flesh.”
She pinched him in return. “You’re flesh right now.”
He nodded. “It is because of Her that a few of us can appear in this form. The others try to mimic it, but it never looks natural, does it?”
Armen shook her head, and then peered around the corner again. Everyone stood still. She frowned at the inactivity. “Did you stop time?”
“You know I do not have that ability. Big brother did, for the moment,” he replied with a nod. “I felt it best for our conversation.”
Such power frightened her, especially if it were to be used against her or the others. She sat back on her legs and looked at him. “Why did Her voice work on Agares?”
“They all have a small amount of Her in them,” he replied. “She is the Mother to All—angels, demons,monsters—though She did not physically give birth to all.”
Mother to all, repeated in Armen’s mind. Mother of all . . . . “How is that possible?”
“Father,” he said, and he held up his hand and brought his thumb and forefinger together until she could see only the tiniest of space between them. “A microscopic particle of Her was embedded in every angel ever created.”
“Before humans.”
He nodded.
“But He created many angels before I was born.”
“Yes, He did. Agares is one of them,” he replied. “But not in the same way you and the Angel of Light were created.” He leaned toward her again with the grin stretching across his face. “You were like a mid-life crisis child, Armaros.”
Her brow went up. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am,” he said with a chuckle. “You were the last of Her, you know, before He created humans.”
“Why?”
“She knew She was going to die, and since she had already birthed a male, she wanted to give birth to a female.”
“So Luc and I are Her and Father’s only true children?”
He gave a nod. “It is why you are Father’s favorite. Y
ou are Daddy’s little girl, Armaros. He holds you much higher than the rest.”
She closed her eyes as guilt and sorrow filled her. No wonder He was so devastated. “And that makes me the last of the Light, doesn’t it?”
Samyaza nodded. “Because Mother was the Light, and you are the last of Her. It is much different from when you fell. Then, you did not die; you only fell into Gehenna and into the Darkness. Now that you are flesh, if you die at the hands of one of the Fallen and your Life taken by a specific weapon, the Light will extinguish completely, and take all who have it within them, bringing about a new age.”
“Damn, that’s a lot of pressure to put on a girl.”
His lips stretched. “Not if you bear children.”
“They killed my last child,” she snapped.
“You disobeyed,” he responded rather bluntly.
“Excuse me, but whose idea was it to descend unto the mountain?”
He held his hands up quickly. “Not that I am against disobeying, and yes, I led us all down here. It was mostly my fault, for which I have taken full responsibility.”
“Mostly? We all know how you like to break the rules.”
He chuckled silently once more. “True. But other factors were at play when we descended, which we will discuss another time after I have learned more.”
She bit her lower lip, contemplating just what in the bloody hell could have been a factor in their dissension, and she planned to ride his ass about it later. Providing he wasn’t actually present to kill her like the others had been. “What was Her name?”
Samyaza laughed and let his head fall back against the desk’s cabinets. “Armaros, you know Her name.”
“Does She still exist somewhere?”
He shook his head, but stopped short. “Well, I suppose She does if you count yourself and every angel before you out there.”
“Seriously, Sam, stop beating around the bush.”
He frowned. “Do not call me that.”
She pushed herself to her feet and walked around the desk, heading over to Sean. Samyaza followed at a leisurely pace, content with the questions he’d brought forth in her mind, no doubt.
“Come on, Armaros, say Her name,” he pushed, draping an arm around Sean’s shoulders. He fiddled with the cross that rested against his shirt and smiled. “I love that they think these symbols work against us, but it is interesting that they work against the minions, do you not think?”
Armen turned on her heel to head over to Terry, who stood as still as a weird cop statue. It was creeping her out. Samyaza was quick to follow her, and he stood in front of Terry with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Really, what do you see in the man?” He raised his hand to his face, studying him more intently, as though he studied a sculpture at an art gallery.
She smiled. “He loves me for who I am . . . angel, demon, flesh.”
“Well, that is a plus, is it not?”
“You’re so not funny,” she said and walked up to Terry. “Do you think I can move him?”
His brow rose. “Where to?”
“Behind Agares.”
A sparkle glistened in Samyaza’s eye. “Well, are you not the sly little devil?”
“Shut up and help me.”
“Why would I help you?”
She smirked. “Because it’ll be fun to see the look on Agares’ face.”
He chuckled. “I must admit you have a good point there.”
“And I saved your life from Sean’s shillelagh,” she added.
He growled low. “After I saved yours.”
She shrugged and wrapped her arms around Terry’s waist, trying to lift him, but he was too heavy. Samyaza laughed aloud at her efforts before she turned to glare at him. He held up a hand, telling her to let him have a moment, shaking his head as he laughed quietly, keeping the laughter muffled only briefly before he barked it out.
She placed her hands on her hips. “I’m so glad you find this amusing.”
He gathered himself together. “All right, fine, I shall help you, but really, Armaros, you are going to hurt yourself if you do it that way.”
“Then what do you suggest?” She cocked a brow at him.
“Say Her name first.”
She blew out a frustrated breath and growled at him. “Fine, it’s Lilith.”
Samyaza clapped his hands together and grinned. “Very good. How did you know?”
“You had said Mother to All. Only one name in all of history goes with that title.”
He snapped his fingers and Terry disappeared from where he stood.
Armen jumped around Agares to find Terry standing behind him. “Nice. Now move Sean.”
“No. He must remain in order to deceive.”
“Oh, his eyes, right.” Armen walked back to Sean and forced his hand to take the shillelagh. “Okay, shall we go back to our places now?”
“Of course,” he replied and headed back to the desk.
Armen stopped and went back to Sean for a moment to rummage through his leather bag. Within it, she found a small shiny object and quickly pocketed it before returning to the desk. Once she reached the desk, she knelt on the floor next to Samyaza and sifted through the drawers.
“What are you looking for?”
“Don’t worry about it. Release time.”
He nodded once and peered over the top of the desk as Armen continued to rummage through the top drawer looking for anything to use as a discreet weapon. Soon, movement began and Armen heard Terry’s confusion. Sean yelled. She peeked over the top of the desk to find Agares, with Terry’s sword in his back, heading right for Sean. It concerned her for a moment until Agares stumbled. She resumed her search for specific items as Samyaza watched them. The shillelagh slammed to the floor. Lights around the building flickered, giving her pause. When she looked again, Terry pulled the sword from Agares’ back, who spun around, his own sword lancing through the air, and came down on Terry, who moved in time to block the demon’s attack. Agares’ momentum forced him to the floor. Armen squeaked with panic and moved to the other side of the desk to search more drawers. By the third drawer, she found a wide rubber band. Slingshot, it is.
“What are you doing, Armaros?”
“You just never mind,” she replied and took a pair of scissors from the pencil jar. She cut the rubber band in two and tested its length. Next, she grabbed two pens from the jar and tied each end of the rubber band to one of the pens.
“Is that a slingshot?”
“Hush,” she said, taping the two pens together in an X. “It worked on Goliath.”
“Do you intend to take him down like Goliath?”
“Just tell me what’s happening.” She sat back on her feet to tinker with the object.
Samyaza looked on and smiled. “Agares has your plaything trapped on the floor . . . no, wait, the wrangler has just hit him with his mighty stick.”
Armen shook her head and tried not to give him the satisfaction of a smile. It would only make his commentary worse. “Be serious, Sam.”
He growled at her, and then she heard Sean’s yell. Sam winced after something hit the floor nearby. “Agares has thrown the wrangler across the room. Nice hit. A homerun, I believe.” There was a brief pause. “The wrangler lies motionless and your plaything still duels with Agares.”
“Stop calling him that,” Armen said. “He has a name.”
Samyaza chuckled. “The Detective is down.”
“What?!” Armen jumped to her feet, and then quickly glared at Samyaza. “You’re such an ass.”
They were no longer hidden from the others, and Agares craned his head around to view them from the side. “Samyaza?”
Sam waved his hand in a motion to carry on, flitting it lightly, but without interest. Agares’ brows dipped in displeasure, and he attacked Terry ruthlessly with a growl and aggressive thrusts.
Armen sprinted over to Sean to check on him. After she found him breathing and checked his pulse, she snatched the sh
illelagh from him and ran toward Agares, the makeshift slingshot dangling from her back pocket. While in motion, she threw the shillelagh up in the air and grabbed the lower end of it. Then she swung it like a baseball bat with all her strength and hit Agares hard enough upside the head that it sent him careening to the floor some thirty feet away from Terry.
“Double play,” Samyaza shouted.
Terry grabbed her arm. “What’s that about?” He jerked his head toward Sam.
“Oh, he’s in baseball mode. Just ignore him. He doesn’t even know what he’s talking about.” She looked to Agares. “Go kill him, before it’s too late.”
“On it,” Terry said and ran to the demon.
Armen kept an eye on Sean and Samyaza, especially since Sean was on his list. It was a fairly exclusive list, and one had to have either sold their soul to her dear brother Lucifer or had to have killed an awful lot of his minions.
She was pretty certain Sean hadn’t sold his soul to the devil, but as much as she hated to admit it, the possibility did exist. Of course, then Sean wouldn’t be able to talk to her Father, so the minion-murdering theory seemed much more likely.
Terry struck Agares, plunging the sword into his chest, and the demon screeched when the blade seared through his flesh.
“Brother,” Agares shouted.
Samyaza only stood and watched, his hands set in a prayer-like pose, fingers closed together, the tips of his middle fingers touching his nose.
“Brother!”
Samyaza shook his head, the motion slow and guarded.
“Brother, please.” Agares choked on his words, his body reacting to the silver blade.
Terry withdrew the sword and in a swift motion, brought it down on his neck. The garbled screams stopped, and Samyaza closed his eyes for a brief moment.
He wasn’t the only one on guard. Armen stood poised and ready. She didn’t know her brother’s plans. Not helping Agares hadn’t surprised her. With Sam, one had to stand one’s own ground. Asking him for help was as big a no-no as one could commit.
Samyaza opened his eyes, looked at Armen, Terry, and then the wrangler lying on the floor nearest him. Within two supernatural steps, he stood at the wrangler’s side. The shillelagh hit the floor, but not by force this time. When Samyaza looked at Armen again, she held the makeshift slingshot in her hands, its contents aimed at him, the grin stretching his face as true as she’d ever seen.
Dusk of Death: an Armen Leza, Demon Hunter novel (Armageddon Trilogy Book 1) Page 26