The Demon Behind Me

by Christopher Nelson

  “Maybe they’re just more prepared,” I suggested.

  “Perhaps.” He plucked a leaf off the plant and lifted it for the wind to carry away. “But we are not, and I will not surrender. If we can’t restore Lucifer, I may renounce the Pact.”

  Renouncing the Pact would make our House anathema to all other Houses and the Choir, and even the Consortium and Syndicate. They’d have a contractual obligation to hunt us down. The Chairman would probably enjoy hunting me down personally. “I’d rather not.”

  “Amon implied they would consider it,” he said. “I would rather not as well, but I will offer our people the opportunity to die fighting rather than become slaves or starve. Other Houses will take in our refugees. House Asmodeus will be no more. We have had three High Princes, Asmodeus himself, Harax, and me. I did not think I would be the last, the one to oversee the destruction of our House.”

  “I’ll try not to let that happen,” I said.

  Opheran’s eyes fixed on mine. “It is strange to place my hope on a halfblood who I once hated for bringing us to the brink of war with Lucifer, and stranger yet to place more hope on Lucifer saving us. I should not take this gamble, but I feel this is our best chance.”

  “Plus I always come through in the end,” I said. “I mean, I get a lot of help in the process from the strangest places, but when have I actually fucked up?”

  A grin refreshed his face. “I trust you,” he said. “By Lucifer’s twisted testicles, I trust you.”

  Before I could respond, an imp phased into view between us. “Forgive me, High Prince, I bear a message for the Marquis.”

  Opheran nodded and I cleared my throat. “I’m listening.”

  “Kalil reports he has received intelligence from Houses Leviathan and Amon. He has investigated your House’s own records and with comparisons between all of the new data and publicly available information, he believes he can pinpoint the location of the prisoner by this evening.”

  “Bless the internet,” I said. “Tell him thanks and he’s earned a break. And thank you for the relay.”

  “My duty,” the imp said, his voice disdainful. He phased out and I let out a sigh. The Consortium was going to be a problem.

  “Kalil seems to be quite good at his job,” Opheran said.

  “He deserves a promotion, to be honest,” I said. “Or a title or something. I don’t think I’d be alive without him.”

  “So bestow one.”

  “I can do that?”

  Opheran nodded. “You’re a Marquis. You can bestow up to the title of Count on those you feel are worthy. If he believes in your leadership, he will accept the title and bind himself to you.”

  “It’s a weird thought, having demons follow me, instead of being the pawn. I was happier when I just got ordered around without knowing anything.”

  “Some pawns get promoted,” Opheran said. “And right now, you’re one of my strongest pieces on the board.”

  “Does that make me a queen? I’m not sure I like what you’re implying here.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “So we’re going to rescue the decent skankdemon? I’m ok with this, but if she tries to give you any type of reward in public, someone’s getting stabbed.” Tink wiped her knife down after pointing it in my direction. “When are we going?”

  “Today,” I said. “Once everyone else gets here.”

  “Everyone else?”

  “This is a big one,” I said. “We’re going to have Amon and Leviathan teams joining us. Everything’s under my command, mind you, so you have to follow my orders too.”

  “In your dreams, demon.”

  “I’ll settle for not undermining me.”

  “I suppose.” She stashed her knife and walked out of the kitchen. I followed her out. While I had been in Hell working with Opheran, she had found a new house and rented it. I couldn’t imagine the cost of getting all the paperwork done in two days, much less doing it through enough intermediaries to keep the Conclave from tracking us down right away, but she had enough money to go around. It wasn’t as nice or as large as her old home, but it’d do for now. She’d even spent some money on furnishings so we could sit on a couch and watch television instead of sitting on the floor staring at each other. Both of us remembered the safehouse and neither of us wanted to re-live that week.

  “Hey, Kalil,” I called as we entered the family room, which he had commandeered for his operations center. He turned in his chair to look at me. His sling was finally gone and he was back in what passed for fighting form with him. “I have something for you, if you’re willing to accept it.”

  “Sounds ominous. What is it?”

  I walked over to stand in front of him. “Kalil, by whatever powers are invested in me as a Marquis of House Asmodeus, in recognition of your pulling off all sorts of amazing shit, I hereby bestow the title of Count upon you with all the rights and responsibilities thereof.”

  He blinked and stared up at me for an uncomfortable span of seconds. He could decline if he didn’t want to be associated with me so closely. With only Tink as a witness, it wouldn’t be too embarrassing, but if it got out to the House at large, it could cause trouble. It could provoke challenges to my authority. “Are you sure?” he finally asked.

  “You’ve been invaluable,” I said. “I don’t have the authority to promote you within the Intelligence branch, but I can do this much. Besides, you’ve saved my life, and you saved Tink’s sister. A dinky little title like Count is barely enough to repay you.”

  “Marquis Isaiah Bright, I accept the honor you give to me, and I vow to serve you accordingly.” He stood up and bowed to me. I didn’t know the formal methods, so I just bowed back and then shook his hand.

  “So now what?” I asked.

  “I get back to work,” he said. “I’ll put this down in the House registry over your signature, unless you want to do it yourself.”

  “Go for it,” I said.

  Tink snorted from the other side of the room. “Demons are so fucking weird. You’re super casual, then formal, then casual again. Even Opheran pulls that sort of shit.”

  “We’re not angels,” Kalil said, and I nodded. There wasn’t much more to say.

  A knock sounded at the door and Tink wandered off to answer it. “You are fine with this, right?” I asked Kalil as she left earshot.

  “I would have refused if I wasn’t,” he replied without looking back at me. “When I was transferred to Intelligence, I lost my rank and seniority. Starting over hasn’t been easy. So, being the first demon to be formally recognized by you is a major coup.”

  “What?”

  “The Gatekeeper and the Lord of Heaven gave me a title. Your trust carries weight and respect. It’ll help me move back up to where I should be.”

  I sighed and held back my argument as Tink led a clump of people into the family room. “This is Jakob, leading House Amon’s group,” she announced, pointing at one of the demons with a characteristic set of facial scars. “And this is Venora, leading House Leviathan’s group.” She was tall like most Leviathans, but carried bulk like Becky. It wasn’t what I expected an intelligence agent to look like. “This is the guy you’re taking orders from,” Tink finished, jerking her thumb at me.

  “I’m Marquis Isaiah Bright,” I said, throwing a glare at her. The set of demons, four from each House, nodded to me. “This is Count Kalil of House Asmodeus Intelligence. He’s our intelligence advisor, coordinator, and all around ass-saver.” They all nodded again. “Let’s get something out of the way. I’m a halfblood and you all know it. My partner here is a human mage who’s on our side. We’re going to have an angel coming with us too. Do any of you have any problems with this situation?”

  Venora stepped forward and I turned to face her fully. “My Prince has ordered me to follow you. Thus, if you have no problems, I have no problems.”

  “Can we trust the human?” Jakob crossed his arms and the rest of the Amon conting
ent looked dour. “She could be a spy, playing the long game.”

  “Oh, she totally was at first,” I said. “She was supposed to get everything she could out of me and then kill me, but decided it was a bad idea. We’re cool now.”

  Jakob didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t argue the point any further. “And the angel?”

  “He’s a good one,” I said. “He hasn’t killed me yet either.”

  “Is it true he’s a member of the 37th?” Venora asked.

  “Yeah.” I heard the door open without a knock. “Sounds like he just arrived.”

  “Sounds like multiple people just arrived,” Tink said with a frown.

  Caleb strolled into the room as if he owned it, wearing his full Choir uniform with a prominent unit badge on his left arm. Three other angels followed him in, two with the hard-edged look of veterans. The crowd of demons shifted uneasily. “Morning, Zay,” he greeted me. “I thought it would be best if I brought some backup.”

  “You could have warned me,” I said.

  “Choirboys,” hissed some demon, and the tension ratcheted up. Angelic hands started twitching and someone else hissed in demonic.

  I put myself right between the demons and angels. “Knock it the fuck off. I know this is completely bizarre for everyone, but we’re working together today. Keep your shit together for the duration, or so help me, I will send you home in a matchbox.”

  Caleb let out a nearly silent chuckle. I turned to face him and poked him in the chest. “That goes for your men too,” I snarled. “No provocations. You didn’t tell me you were bringing a group, so I’m holding you personally responsible for whatever they do.”

  His eyes narrowed and all humor left his expression. “Of course.”

  I turned back to face the demons. “No provocations. I’m going to do my best to keep demons and angels from mixing just so there aren’t any accidents. We have a mission to do and the Choir is volunteering to help us out with no tangible benefit to them. Respect that.”

  “As you command,” Jakob said. Venora nodded.

  I turned back to Caleb and his angels. “Thank you for coming,” I said. “We are thankful for your assistance.”

  “The Seraphic Council would appreciate a copy of any data you recover,” Caleb said. His tone was light and I figured he had worded things a little more politely than the Seraphim.

  “All right,” I said. “Now, here’s the most difficult thing you’re going to have to do today. I want every one of you to introduce yourselves to each other, and everyone shake hands. We’re a team for today and I’ve always found myself a little less likely to want to kill someone whose hand I’ve shaken.”

  Caleb immediately approached the demons and I stepped back. Tink drifted to my side. “You really pissed him off,” she said quietly.

  “I’m a little tense. He made me look like I’m not in complete control, so I had to reassert myself. Leviathan is fine with me, but the Amon crew could get uppity.”

  “Just apologize to him later.”

  “Yeah.” I watched the two groups shake hands all around. No one drew blood but I was sure some demons were testing their grip strength against the angels. “Kalil, got a portal for us?”

  “Sure do,” he said. “In fact, the imps said they can open a portal on location. You’ll be able to get directly into the building.”

  “Excellent,” I said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll have a direct portal into the Conclave’s prison location. No infiltration, no sneaking around, no beating around the bush. We get in, do our thing, and get out.”

  “Good to hear,” Caleb said.

  “Yeah, you guys would stand out a little on the street,” I said. Even one of the angels smiled. “Kalil, can you give us everything you have about the place?”

  He brought up some pictures on his laptop and plugged it into a small projector, lighting up one of the walls. A squat three-story brick building showed up. “This is the facility,” he said. “It’s not actually a prison. It used to be a private school, but the Conclave bought the building a few years back and turned it into a training center. That’s the public story, and what we got from Leviathan confirms they actually do use it for training.”

  Another set of pictures came up, these from street view around the building. “We don’t have any pictures of the inside from after they bought it, but as far as we can tell, they converted the top floor to a dormitory. The second floor is where they hold their classes, and the first floor has offices, a kitchen, and a cafeteria. There’s a subfloor as well, a small gymnasium. We don’t think they made any drastic changes to the building layout, so the older floor plans should still be good enough.”

  “Wait one,” Caleb said. “Are the students adults? Or are they children?”

  Kalil shrugged. “Older teens. High school level.”

  Caleb frowned and I couldn’t blame him. It would be uncomfortable if the students decided to fight. “All right, command decision,” I said, drawing all eyes to me. “We’re not going to the dorms unless we absolutely have to. Anyone on the other floors who doesn’t immediately surrender is a combatant. That includes students, no matter what their age. Yeah, Caleb, I know it sucks, but we can’t take any risks with these mages.”

  He shook his head. “No argument here. I agree with your stance.”

  “A school seems very strange as a place to hold a prisoner,” Venora said. “Not secure at all.”

  “On the contrary, it is a very secure building,” Kalil said. “The entrances can’t be opened without magic, and the structure is magically reinforced as well. Even hellfire would take several minutes to burn a hole in, which is plenty of time to call for assistance.”

  “The training given there is probably combat training,” Venora added. “But we have a portal in, neatly bypassing their external security. And even without a portal, we have a mage ourselves, who could open the doors, yes?”

  Tink shrugged. “Yes, but it depends on how they warded the doors. If I needed to force their defensive wards, it might set off a bunch of alarms or countermeasures.”

  “This still doesn’t address why they have prisoners at this location,” Jakob said. “Perhaps it is a temporary location?”

  “Perhaps they are using prisoners for training exercises,” Caleb said quietly. Venora’s face blanched. “It’s not unheard of.”

  “How long have they been missing?” I asked, turning to Venora.

  “Well over a week.”

  I nodded. If I stepped into the Conclave’s boots, I would have spent a day or two wringing them for information, then use them one by one for demonstrations or target dummies. If they died, oh well. The Conclave didn’t consider us worthy of dignified treatment. They certainly wouldn’t be looking to exchange prisoners. “Where’s the portal come out?”

  “From what the imps report, it’s in their gym,” Kalil said.

  “All right,” I said. “We sweep the building fast before they can react. Once we clear the gym, I want Amon and Leviathan forces to sweep the first floor. Amon’s the combat team, Leviathan’s the intel team, so do your things. Caleb, your forces, plus Tink and I will head straight to the second floor. Take any opposition down quickly. First priority is to rescue any and all prisoners.” I looked Venora in the eye and she gave me a small nod. “Second priority is data. Recover whatever you can, however you can.”

  “We have an array of surprises,” Venora said, pointing out a small satchel on her shoulder. “We can crack passwords, copy data off their drives, sniff their network out, and maybe drop a virus or two on them.”

  “Don’t raise too many flags,” I said. “We want them to think the main reason we hit this place was to rescue prisoners. The longer we can access their network without them knowing, the better.”

  She nodded. “In that case, we can throw some keyloggers and backdoors on their systems. If I have enough time, I can wire something into the wall
to eavesdrop on any wireless network they use there.”

  “Good,” I said. “Don’t smash too much equipment up. We want them to keep using this place afterwards. Now, our third order of business is taking some prisoners back with us.”

  “What?” Several voices spoke up at the same time.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out an extra-large zip tie. “Tink and I spent some time on this last night,” I said. “She enchanted a bunch of these with a spell to knock out whoever gets it zipped on, long enough for us to get them out without worrying about them waking up and throwing some magic around. Remember, this is not our primary goal. If you can take a mage down without killing them, great, zip them and we’ll take them back with us. If not, too bad, they shouldn’t have declared war on us anyways. Only take them if they’ve surrendered or you can get the drop on them without risking any injury, not even a paper cut.” I looked at Jakob for emphasis. He nodded with a little bit of a smirk.

  “I have two or three for everyone,” Tink announced, holding up two handfuls of them. “The spell triggers when you complete the circuit by pulling it tight. You don’t need to cuff their hands or feet together, just get it around their wrist or ankle and yank. Don’t try them on each other, you’ll miss all the fun. It’ll keep a human down for a couple of hours at least.”

  While she passed them out, I turned back to Kalil. “Where can we get an entrance portal?”

  “Back yard,” he said. I raised my eyebrows. “No, really, the imps were as astounded as I was. Whatever conditions they need to open portals were good in both places.”

  “I hate it when things are too convenient,” I said. “I always think it’s a trap. Most of the time, it is.”

  “Maybe you’re just lucky this time.”

  I snorted. “That’ll be the day. Listen up everyone! We’re departing right now. By some amazing and terrifying stroke of luck, we have a portal ready in the back yard of this very house.” Faces lit up, except for Tink, who just scowled as usual. “Remember the plan. Caleb, your group goes in first, then Amon, then Leviathan plus Tink and I. Sweep and head back to the gym. Amon, Leviathan, leave one on guard each, cover the portal. Fifteen minutes. If you’re not back in fifteen minutes, you’ll be looking for your own way home, unless you can convince an imp to hang out a little longer. Good luck.”