Devil's Paw

by Debra Dunbar

  We were barely five feet out my door before I turned on her. “You are not to cross those gates into Hel. Do you hear me? I’ll chain you in my basement if you so much as step a toe in Columbia Mall.”

  “I love Columbia Mall. They’ve got a Sephora, and a Forever 21. Girl’s gotta have her shopping.”

  She was definitely part demon. I jumped in front of her, halting our progress and forcing her to meet my eyes.

  “I mean it. You’ll die. I don’t care how much Elvish you know, how many maps you’ve memorized, you’ll die.”

  Her face set in that familiar mulish expression. Maybe it wasn’t genetic after all.

  “They put a price on my head. They killed my mother. What do you expect me to do?”

  “I expect you not to throw your life away like an idiot. You’re not even twenty. That’s an infant in both demon and elf lifespans. Save revenge for a few centuries.”

  “I’m not going to be any more powerful no matter how long I wait,” she snarled, frustration in every word. “I can occasionally do lightning, that’s it. I haven’t been able to do anything else you’ve tried to teach me. Nothing. I can’t fix a paper cut, can’t change anything about my appearance. I suck as a demon; I suck as an elf, and I’m not human. I live in constant dread that I’ll run into the wrong person and I’ll be dead before I can even try to defend myself. At least this way my death will have meaning.”

  I pulled out all the stops. “Your mother gave her life to protect you. Would you denigrate her sacrifice by throwing your life away? She wanted you to live, and you’d go and commit suicide? She risked everything for you — her reputation as well as her life. Ungrateful child.”

  Amber’s eyes grew huge and filled with tears. Shuddering, she covered her face with delicate hands. “I don’t belong anywhere! I feel like I’m a fraud with Wyatt and Nyalla. I’m not their sister, not really. I don’t even have the power of a Low demon. The elves would kill me on sight. And now I find I’ll outlive every single person I care about? Watch them grow old and die right before my eyes? What kind of life is this?”

  I wrapped my arms around her and felt her shake with sobs; her tears wet my shoulder. “I know you’re afraid of outliving your family, of being alone. I feel the same way. Don’t you think that constantly goes through my mind too? That I’ll have to watch Wyatt grow old and die while I live for thousands of years more? I know you’re feeling alone, but I’m here. I won’t leave you, and if the fates allow, I’ll l be around far beyond even your long life expectancy.”

  Her sobs increased, and I rocked her slightly, holding her tight. “You’re part of my family now. Don’t throw your life away like this. The best revenge is to live well, and rub their noses in it when you’re old and powerful.”

  She pulled away, rubbing red, swollen eyes, so vulnerable and unattractive in her usually perfect face. “I’ll never be powerful. I’ll just be a freak. A beautiful freak, constantly afraid that I’m going to be killed.”

  “You’re just a baby,” I assured her. “I couldn’t do much more than lightning at your age either. Leethu formed you with great care. She speaks of you as her proudest creation. She’d never leave you defenseless.”

  Amber hiccupped and wiped her nose on a sleeve. “Will I ever meet her?”

  “Someday.” I smoothed her hair, gold and fine as a newborn’s. “And someday you’ll show the elves what a bunch of idiots they’ve been. Just be patient. Be patient and trust me to help you.”

  She smiled up at me, her eyes already beginning to lose their red puffiness. I hugged her once more and thought how twisted it was that I was advocating patience — the virtue I’d disdained when my angel had said those very words to me.

  “Come on, you beautiful freak, you. Let’s grab Wyatt’s X–box and take out our frustrations on hoards of undead. Loser runs out for donuts in the morning?”

  “That would be you, Sam.” She laughed. “I’ve never known anyone so bad at video games.”

  We walked arm–in–arm to Wyatt’s house and lugged the equipment back to mine. As Amber predicted, I lost terribly. Nyalla showed a surprising aptitude, coming in a close second to Wyatt. Video games led to movies, and by early morning, Amber was sprawled asleep on the floor, her hand half in a bowl of popcorn. Nyalla was huddled in a tiny ball at the end of a sofa, practically buried under a blanket.

  “Wanna sneak upstairs?” Wyatt asked as I turned off the TV.

  We were cuddled up on our own sofa, my head on his shoulder, my hand on his inner thigh, just mere inches from where I wished it was. I glanced over at the sleeping girls, longing to sneak upstairs to bed with my man.

  “Can I talk to you in the kitchen first?” I whispered.

  Wyatt followed me in, his eyebrows raised. “What’s up?”

  I took a deep breath. There was no easy way to say this. “I had a talk with Amber on the way to your house. She’s got some crazy thought of running over to Hel and avenging her mother’s death and her unfortunate circumstances.”

  Wyatt looked stunned. “But she seems fine. On spring break, when you were teaching her demon things, she was downright happy. Her grades are good, she’s applying for an internship. She goes clubbing with friends, and on dates. How long has this been going on?”

  “I don’t know.” I rubbed his arm soothingly. “I think her plan gained some immediacy after Nyalla arrived. Don’t beat yourself up over it. I didn’t realize what was going on either. Amber is very good at hiding what she’s feeling and putting on a cheerful face. I think it’s an elf thing.”

  “What can we do? I can’t watch her all the time. She’s a grown woman.”

  I thought for a moment. “I’ll let the gate guardian at Columbia Mall know to watch out for her, and I’ll have Dar keep his ears open, in case she slips through. Other than that, just let her know how much she’s needed here, how family is more than blood.”

  Wyatt pulled away and put his hands on either side of the sink, his head lowered.

  “I didn’t want to worry you with this, but I know you’d never forgive me if something happened and I’d kept it from you.”

  He looked up at me and nodded. “Thank you.” He sounded miserable.

  I went to him again, wrapping my arms around him. We stood there for a few moments before he turned and reciprocated the hug.

  “How did you find out?”

  “Nyalla. She may have been hopeless at magic, but she’s got great intuition.”

  “And she’s good at killing zombies too,” Wyatt commented in a lighter tone. “Maybe she has a future in special ops.”

  I chuckled and looked out of the kitchen, at the girl curled up under a blanket. “Or in intel.”

  “She sleeps better at your house.” Wyatt rubbed his face against my hair. “That’s no surprise; I sleep better at your house.”

  “Shall we go get some sleep then?” I ran a hand down his back and tucked it in the waistband of his pants.

  “How about we not sleep?”

  “Now, that’s a plan.” I tugged him toward the stairway.

  ~9~

  I’m not done yet. I’ve got twenty–four more hours,” I said, my voice rising in panic. Gregory had appeared quite unexpectedly in my living room, his face serious as a heart attack. All I could think of was those four–nine–five reports hanging over my head like a sword of Damocles. I hadn’t even started the damned things. Wyatt and I had enjoyed a sleepless night then I’d run out to get donuts while Nyalla proudly made coffee. I was planning a nice long nap, but from the look on the angel’s face, I wasn’t going to get it.

  “I’m not here about the reports. There’s another dead demon I need you to examine.”

  I was beginning to feel like a coroner.

  “Okay. So where’s the head?” He was usually dangling one by the hair when he arrived.

  “You said you wanted to see the intact body. I’m not able to transport it here, so we need to go to it.”

  I glanced between the angel and th
e enormous stack of paperwork on the kitchen bar. “It better be a short trip.”

  Yes, I realized it would be in my best interests to find this devouring spirit before I became even further implicated, and especially before he killed another angel. Still, those damned reports had a deadline, and a terrible penalty for tardiness.

  “I’ll persuade the Ruling Council to give you an extension,” he promised.

  I shrugged, pushing aside the reports and walking over to the angel. He looked stern, worried. My skin prickled. When a six–billion–year–old angel is troubled, it’s time to take notice.

  “So where is it?” It had to be somewhere close — Virginia or North Carolina maybe. Or Mexico.

  I stood in front of him, expecting the usual. He’d pull me to him, wrap his arms around me tightly and teleport us in a disorientating jolt. Instead, he stared down at me, his frown deepening.

  “Seattle.”

  Seattle. I’d used that angel gate a lot when coming from Hel. It was the gate I went through forty years ago when I began my very long stay with the humans. A wave of nostalgia hit me. Seattle was a favorite place.

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  I couldn’t understand his hesitation. He continued to frown down at me, absently rubbing his chin with his hand.

  “I can’t. Can your horse teleport you?”

  What the fuck was the problem? He was able to create inter–dimensional passageways; he could certainly pop us both at the other end of the continent.

  “I’ve only had Diablo teleport small distances — usually line of sight. He’s pretty unreliable, even then. There’s no saying he wouldn’t take off without me.”

  “Can you create your own gate there? Like the one you made into Aaru?”

  Stupid angels. “I told you I didn’t make that gate, or the one in Waynesboro. They’re wild gates. Naturally occurring.”

  His expression clearly conveyed disbelief. “Fine. Then go back to Hel through the gate in Columbia and come back in through Seattle.”

  “This is such bullshit. Just gate me there, already. I’m not haring halfway across Hel, through four hostile elven kingdoms, because you’ve got the lazy bone going on.”

  Gregory shook his head, chestnut curls dropping across his forehead. “I can’t. For that distance I’d need to jump you through Aaru, and you’re not allowed.”

  Even with the Sword of the Iblis, most of the angels didn’t recognize me as holding the title. And even the ones that did, didn’t want me in their precious homeland. That’s why we had to hold the Ruling Council meetings in a fricken Marriot. I did sneak into the forth circle every now and then through the wild gate and leave Gregory odd presents, but I think he exerted some influence to have those infractions overlooked.

  Still, I didn’t believe him. There was no reason to have to go through Aaru to get to the west coast. Why was he lying?

  “Well then, I guess we better start walking. Or we could always manifest wings and fly.”

  It would be a ridiculously long flight, but I’d do it just to catch a glimpse of his wings. I wondered what they looked like, if the scars from his battle with the previous Iblis were noticeable.

  His eyebrows shot up. I swear a light bulb appeared above his head.

  “We’ll fly. On a human airplane.”

  I stared, dumbstruck. Angels on a plane? It was like the beginning of a really bad movie. I’d flown commercial loads of times, but I was willing to bet Gregory would be the first angel to ever do so.

  “Right. Just gate us. Explain the detour through Aaru to the other five dwarves later.”

  “There is no need to involve dwarves in this matter,” he said, clearly not understanding my reference. “Book our flight, and we’ll leave straight away.”

  This was getting ridiculous.

  “Book your own flight. I’m not paying for two cross–country tickets because you don’t feel like transporting me. Besides, you need to learn to do these things for yourself.”

  I felt the wave of power scorch me as his face darkened with anger. Black irises bled out to encompass the whites. I was pretty sure under those grim lips hid sharp piranha teeth. Gregory could never hold his form when angry, and I’d evidently pissed him off by refusing to do his bidding.

  “Do you know who I am? I am not about to do these menial human things myself. You will do this.”

  The compulsion thudded into me, only to slide right off. You would have thought he would have learned by now that sort of thing didn’t work on me, bound to him or not.

  “Is that the sin of pride I hear?” I mocked. “Better take that massive ego down a notch because I’m not doing it. I’m not one of your peons to order around.”

  He started to glow. Yeah, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to egg him on like this, but I got a rush out of driving him to lose control. Gregory in a rage was even sexier than when he was seductive.

  “We have a short window here,” he hissed. “I don’t have time for your contrary behavior. Do it.”

  “Fuck off. If it’s that urgent, then just gate me there. Or get your pansy ass gate guardian to do it.”

  He hesitated, considering my words. “Would she know how?”

  I snorted. “Probably. She works all day in a mall. She’s probably got every tech gadget sold there at this point.”

  “Good.” He waved his hand at me. “Contact her, and have her make the arrangements.”

  I raised my eyes to the ceiling and shook my head. This angel had taken the art of delegation to an extreme. Still, I wasn’t going to do it.

  “No way. She works for you; call her yourself.” I dug in my pocket and hit a speed–dial number. “You can use my phone, since I’m sure you don’t have one.”

  He took it from me in astonishment. “She has a phone? You call each other?”

  I motioned for him to put it to his ear. “Of course. We do lunch pretty regularly. Sometimes we buy shoes.”

  I heard the guardian’s voice from the phone. Gregory put it up to his ear, looking as if he were afraid the phone might remove a section of his head.

  “Get me two plane tickets to Seattle on the next flight,” he ordered.

  There was silence then I heard a shriek of laughter from the receiver. The angel got that furious look again. I slapped a hand over my mouth to cover my grin.

  “Sam, knock it off. I’m wise to your pranks. You seriously owe me lunch for this one,” I heard the guardian say.

  “It’s me, you worthless dreg of ether. Get me the tickets. Now!”

  Well. That wasn’t very angelic of him. The guardian laughed again, and Gregory exploded in anger. I mean exploded. There was a flash of light and heat that obliterated his physical form and stabbed my eyes with pain. I heard a sizzle, and the smell of burnt electronics filled my nose. Before I could react, Gregory had spun me around and grabbed me in a tight embrace as everything tilted away.

  A second later, the world erupted into chaos. I heard screams and crashes. A voice in front of me wailed a frenzy of panicked apologies. I fixed my destroyed eyes and blinked, looking around to see where Gregory had taken me.

  We were in a store, facing the huge glass panes and wide entrances to the mall area. Racks of brightly colored children’s clothing lay before me, scattered to the side in a pile. A figure I recognized as the gate guardian groveled on the ground, screaming out for mercy and covering her head. The angel’s arms were still around me, tightly holding me against his chest.

  “What the fuck?” I struggled to break free from his arms, hearing the din of screaming voices behind us. They were so loud they drowned out the shrieks of the gate guardian. Normally, humans had a sort of bemused worshipful air about them when they saw Gregory. What the heck was going on?

  He released me. I stumbled forward a few steps before turning around. Then I gawked, my mouth open. Before me stood an angel. A furious angel with an indistinct humanoid form that glowed with the light of a million watts. My eyes watered and I had to squint to
properly focus. I heard humans screaming and crying from behind him, but I couldn’t see anyone. His wings completely blocked my view.

  Wings. Gorgeous, huge wings that reached from one wall of the store to the other. They were a sort of cream color, with a pattern of dove–grey across them and along the bottom edges of the feathers. And there were six of them. Three pairs. The main ones filled the store, but the other two sets appeared to be for embellishment rather than function. Two came from beneath the main wings in an elegant “S” shape that trailed along his legs to touch the floor. The other two were above the main wings, curling in an arch several feet above his head. They were beautiful, but so ridiculously frou–frou that I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Gregory was busy castigating the sniveling gate guardian as I took in his appearance. At my laughter, his wings beat in irritation, causing items of children’s clothing to fly about the room. He turned his glare on me, and his glow intensified.

  “Turn down the light,” I complained. “You already burned up my retinas once. I don’t want to have to keep fixing my eyes because you can’t keep your temper in check.”

  “What is so funny?” he hissed.

  “You and your pretty–boy wings.” I laughed again. “Why the fuck do you have six wings? A little ostentatious, isn’t it?”

  “They reflect my level, my status,” he snarled. “They are not ostentatious.”

  The gate guardian took this moment to crawl closer and rub her face against what should have been his feet. Sheesh. And I thought Eloa was a sycophant.

  “Well, put your non–ostentatious wings away. You’re trashing the place and scaring the humans behind you to death.”

  He turned to look at the panicked crowd trapped behind him. Unfortunately, his massive wings didn’t allow for much maneuverability in the store. One sent another rack of clothing flying, the other knocked the cash register and display items off the check–out counter. Blue poured from him, and the humans at the rear of the store went silent. Even the gate guardian was affected. She stopped shouting apologies and wrapped herself around his ankles. I wasn’t completely unaffected, either. The blue always calmed us demons, but when it came from him, it did more. I wanted to rub myself against him, fill myself with him in every way, rest forever in his embrace. It was hard enough to resist him without the blue stuff.