by N. P. Martin
"Assholes," Frank said as he put his gun away. "Just ignore them."
"Ignore them?" I shook my head. "They think I’m the enemy now, Frank."
"That’s just how they’ve been conditioned to think over the years. All demons are bad, and all demons need to be killed."
"I’m not really a demon," I said. "I’m something else, but we’ll discuss it later."
"Yes, we will. In the meantime, let’s go find Eva before this battered body of mine decides it isn’t going any further."
Frank continued to hold onto to me as he limped along. After five minutes of searching, we finally found Eva, who was on the ground, crouched over the prone form of Josh. When Eva saw us, she immediately went to Frank and hugged him. "You’re okay," she said.
"I’m fine," Frank said. "How’s Josh?"
I was already down on my knees, leaning over Josh and wondering why he wasn’t conscious. The sword wound in his chest seemed to have mostly healed, though.
"He needs further care," Eva said. "I can’t do it here. We’ll have to get him to my place where I can work on him."
"Will he be okay?" I asked her as I stared at Josh’s face.
"He should be. Now that Abigor is dead, most of his dark influence should now be gone. We’ll see when he wakes up."
"What about you, Leia?" Eva said, looking strangely at me. "Are you okay?"
"You saw what happened?"
"Some. You will have to explain it to me later."
"I can barely explain it to myself, but I’ll try."
As the maelstrom overhead began to die down, the rain stopped at last and the sky lightened up, lifting the gloom with it. Suddenly, there was the sound of helicopters and men shouting in the distance.
"Probably the D.O.D. and their off-the-books cover-up squad," Frank said. "We need to get out here."
"The government knows about this stuff?" I asked.
"You’d be surprised what the government knows. They’d just as soon cover us up as well, but they need us to do the dirty work. I can’t face their inevitable questions, though, so let’s just go."
"How?" Eva asked. "They clearly have the place surrounded already."
As Eva looked around for another exit, Frank helped me lift Josh onto my shoulders. It took every ounce of strength I had left to bear his dead weight, and I couldn’t help but wonder how long I’d be able to carry him for as my legs protested under the strain. But I soon almost forgot about my pain when I heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Anyone need a lift?"
I turned slowly, a smile spreading on my face as I saw Lucas standing a few feet away, looking strangely incongruous in his gleaming dark suit, considering everyone else was covered in blood and dirt.
"Lucas…" I said. "You’re all right."
Lucas smiled as he came toward me. "And so are you, I see."
I shook my head. "Barely."
"Lucas," Frank called. "Perfect timing as always."
"We have to stop meeting like this, Frank."
"Yeah, yeah…just get us to hell out of here, will you?"
Lucas smiled. "Whatever you say, Frank."
44
Despite the magnitude of everything that had happened, I hardly had time to think about it after Lucas teleported me, Frank, Eva and Josh to Eva’s house. Then him and Frank disappeared again, this time to extract the other Watcher’s left behind, as well as the remaining Nephilim who were once under Abigor’s command.
I found out later that the once demonized Nephilim, dozens of them apparently, were teleported by Lucas to a disused warehouse somewhere. There, Frank and a few of the other Watchers performed a ritual in order to cleanse the perplexed Nephilim of whatever darkness was left in them. According to Frank, the ritual was successful, and the young Nephilim returned to wherever they had come from before Abigor lured or took them away. Some of the demonized Nephilim couldn’t be saved they were so far gone, though, and turning them out into society as agents of darkness wasn’t really an option, according to Frank. When I asked what they did with the corrupted ones, Frank just shook his head as if he didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t push him on it. Of those Nephilim who appeared to be free of the darknesses’ grip, a fair number of those were placed under surveillance, as no one could be sure if they were completely cleansed or not. Only time would tell.
As for the Hell Gate, although it was now gone, a significant number of demon spirits had escaped through it. No one knew how many, or what kind of demons had escaped, but all agreed it was a serious problem in the making. The demons were out there now, and no one had any doubt they would raise their ugly heads soon enough, at which point, the Watchers would be waiting to take them down.
Josh remained unconscious for several hours as he lay in Eva’s basement. We both gave Josh a considerable amount of our grace (what was left of it anyway), which sealed up the wound in his chest; the wound that I caused, which I was reminded of every time I now looked at him. Another source for my seemingly bottomless guilt. It was a wonder to me that Josh was even breathing at all, considering the extent of his injuries. The only thing that saved him from the death powers of the Demon Blade was his hybrid nature and the grace which still flowed through him.
Speaking of grace, the stuff was a fucking miracle, there was no other way to put it, giving its miraculous healing properties, and despite all of Josh’s dark power, it was the power of the light that had ultimately saved him at the end of the day.
I was alone with him in the basement when he finally woke up, Eva having excused herself to go and get cleaned up. My smile was shaky as Josh sat up slowly, one hand going to his chest where the Demon Blade had punctured it.
"It’s okay," I said quietly. "You’re healed."
Josh looked at me for the first time, and it was all I could do to hold his gaze, such was the guilt I felt when I looked into his eyes. He said nothing for a long time, his former confident and cocky demeanor now diminished thanks to the absence of the darkness in him; or if not absent, then at least dulled. I doubted the darkness would ever be absent from his soul. Not anymore.
"So it’s over," he stated eventually, and I couldn’t tell if he was glad or disappointed by that.
"Yes. Abigor is gone."
Josh looked away and nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you okay? Stupid question, but you know what I mean. I just need to know if you’re okay, Josh, if we’re okay."
Josh took a deep breath before looking at me. "Right now, Leia, I really don’t know anymore, and that’s the truth. I don’t know anything anymore."
I frowned, his words compounding my guilt. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I need to get out of here, wherever here is."
"You’re in Eva’s house."
"Who’s Eva?" He shook his head. "Never mind. Where are my clothes?" He swung his legs off the bed, keeping the sheet across his waist.
I passed him his torn and bloody clothes, which he proceeded to put back on. "What are you doing, Josh? Where will you go?"
"I need time to think." He pulled his boots on, and then his torn jacket. "I’ll contact you when I’m ready to."
Tears stung my eyes. "When you’re ready?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
As he turned to leave the basement, I said in a rush of emotion, "I was trying to save you, Josh. You know that, right?"
His stare was blank. "Yeah, Sis…I know."
That word Sis was like a knife to my heart.
I couldn’t even speak as he walked away.
The following day, I drove into the city in Josh’s car. I had expected him to come and collect the Mustang at some point, but I hadn’t heard from him since he walked out of Eva’s, and something told me I wouldn’t be hearing from him for a while. Fair enough, if that’s the way things had to be. At least he was safe and no longer a demon, and that was all I cared about. Where he went from here, I couldn’t be sure, but my fears told me that he might choose to seek out the darkness once again thanks to i
ts seductive allure. During his time with Abigor, he'd no doubt made lasting connections to a dark underground that most likely existed within the shadows of the city. There he could possibly seek out a demon who could offer him a return to the darkness. Such was my fears. Time would tell if they were justified or not.
The city itself was getting back to normal. A lot of damage had been done, both by the freak events caused by Abigor’s breaking of the sacred seals, and also by the public when they went into full panic mode. The city took the brunt of the damage since it was where the Hell Gate was located. The media blamed terrorists for unleashing a chemical attack that not only effected people, but also the atmosphere, which explained the freak weather incidents. Nobody questioned the official story, and the word demon was never mentioned once anywhere, except from religious fanatics who thought demons were trying to bring about the apocalypse. I mean, come on, right? Who would believe that?
I drove to the New Market area in the east of the city where I knew there was a dog pound. The pound housed dozens of different dogs all in need of a home. It was heart-breaking really, seeing them all behind cages, their fates contingent upon the kindness of humans and how cute or adorable the dogs themselves happened to come across. I hated having to walk past the cages as the dogs barked for my attention. It was even worse because I knew what it was like not to have a home. Josh and I used to have to go through the same process as kids, hoping someone decent would take us in. Unfortunately, it was never anyone decent, at least not until Diane came along.
And look what happened there.
I shook my head to remove the thought from my mind, focusing instead on the dogs, until eventually I came across what I was looking for.
A black Labrador.
It was still a pup at just over six months old, once part of a large litter that had simply been abandoned by someone. The pup I was looking at was the last of the litter, but by no means the runt. He was big for his age, and thickly muscled. When he saw me coming, he immediately ran and jumped up to put his two front paws on the cage, his tail wagging furiously like he was out to impress. I broke into a wide smile as I crouched down to introduce myself. "Hey there, little one," I said, stroking his fur through the cage as he licked my hand.
"Well," the woman who worked there said. "What do you think?"
I stood and looked down at the dog. "I think he’ll be a worthy successor is what I think."
In the car, I put the pup on the floor of the passenger side, but he immediately jumped up onto the seat and sat like he had every right to be there. When I put my hand out to pet him, he gently started biting me.
"Those are some sharp teeth you have there. Maybe I should call you Fang. What do you think?"
The little dog yelped and bit my hand again, and I laughed. "Fang it is."
When I got Fang home, I found Frank sitting drinking on the back porch, the sun just beginning to sink behind the trees in front of him. He didn’t notice me at first as I came around the side, as he seemed to be too busy staring intently at nothing, his head full of dark thoughts no doubt. It was only when Fang barked that Frank looked around, a look that was part puzzlement and part delight coming over his face as he saw me holding Fang.
I put the pup down, and he immediately ran toward Frank, landing his front paws on Frank’s leg as he stared down at the pup slightly dumbfounded. "What is this?" he asked me.
"His name is Fang," I told him.
Frank put his drink on the ground and picked Fang up, holding him aloft as he examined him. "You got me a dog?"
"I figured it was the least I could do, considering what happened to Bane."
Frank placed Fang on his lap, a huge smile on his face now as he playfully ruffled Fang’s ears. When he finally looked at me again, I saw there was tears in his eyes. "Thank you."
I smiled back at him. "No," I said. "Thank you, Frank."
Frank held my gaze for another moment, then went back to playing with Fang.
As I walked away, I heard Frank say to Fang excitedly, "Hey, you like whiskey boy?"
I could only shake my head. At least he was happy.
A short while later, I decided to take a walk in the woods before darkness settled over everything. Not that I minded the dark, but the woods were nicer in daylight. I found calm amongst the gently swaying trees and the soft chorus of the birds.
I also sought the solitariness of the woods because I was trying to reconnect with my demon "sister", but for whatever reason, she was unreachable. I could still feel her presence in me, but it was faint, as if she were now lying dormant until the next time she was needed. To be honest, I sort of missed her. I missed being in that powerful body, and I missed the intermingling of light and dark power that formed the new power within me. I thought at the time that I would always have access to that new power, and to Demon Leia, but it was starting to seem more like a "pull in case of emergency" type deal, where I would only have access to my demon during a life or death situation. It was clear, after all, that Demon Leia was all about the violence and the bloodshed and the fighting. She was born out of a need for those things, so probably having her around all the time wouldn’t have been the best idea. At any rate, I was sure I would see her again soon enough, though perhaps not in this world, if things went the way I feared they would.
At that point, I began to think of my mother. The way I thought about her now was so different to how I used to think of her. Before, she was a virtual stranger to me, or at least the part of her that mattered. Now, after everything I’d been through and everything I’d done, I had a much better understanding of who she was. More importantly, I now better understood why she had to make certain difficult choices, such as selling her soul to save someone else. She just did what she had to do, and so did I. Because of this, I was becoming increasingly convinced that my mother had to be saved from Hell somehow, and that I and my demon sister were going to do it. I just didn’t know how yet, and I hoped as well that there was enough of her left to save after enduring the horrors of Hell for so long. Either way, I fully intended to find out one way or the other.
My thoughts became interrupted when I heard a branch snap nearby, as if someone had walked on it. My hand went immediately to my Watcher Knife, and I pulled it out of its sheath and spun around to face whoever was there.
I froze when I saw who it was.
"You…"
Mullin smiled as he stood with his hands clasped in front of him. "Hello, Leia," he said. "I’ve come to collect."
As Mullin’s smile widened, it became clear that I would perhaps be seeing my mother a little sooner than I thought.
Maybe a lot sooner.
In Hell.
**The story continues in the next book, Demon’s Legacy.**
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Sorcerer’s Creed Series
Sorcerer’s Creed is my other urban fantasy series, featuring the magically endowed August Creed. The series is dark and gritty, with a generous amount of snark. Check out the sample chapter below.
SPELL BLASTED
The sheer force of the magical energy that crackled through the air was so powerful it slammed me against a brick wall as surely as being punched in the chest by the Devil's fist. I slid down the wall to the stinking floor like I'd just taken a hard right hook to the jaw. The invasive magic took hold within me, initiating a chain reaction that I couldn't stop. The spell blew through my every defense: the talisman around my neck, the protective tattoos on my body, and the Druidic runes etched into my trench coat. I might as well have been a goddamn Sleepwalker with no protection at all.
What am I even doing here? Where am I?
The faint smell of decayed flesh mixed with sulfur hung thick in the air, signifying that black magic had just been used, which is never good. It’s like
turning up at a children's party to find Beelzebub tying balloon animals with a shit-eating grin on his face, from which nothing good can surely come. It’s the same with black magic; nothing good ever comes of it.
I sat dazed on the floor, blinking around me for a moment. My mind was fuzzy and partially frozen, the way it would be if I’d just woke from a nightmare. It appeared I was inside an abandoned office space, the expansive rectangular room lined with grimy, broken windows that let cold air in to draw me out of my daze somewhat. It was night, so darkness coated the room, the only real light coming from the moon outside as it beamed its pale, silvery light through the smashed skylights.
Confused and more than a little uneasy, I struggled back to my feet and blindly reached for the pistol inside my dark green trench coat, frowning when I realized the gun wasn’t there. Then I remembered it had gone flying out of my hand when the spell had hit. Looking around for a moment, I soon located the pistol lying on the floor several feet away, and I lurched over and grabbed it, slightly more secure now that the gun’s reassuring weight was back in my hand.
There were disturbing holes in my memory also. I vaguely recalled confronting someone after tracking them to where I was. But who?
Try as I might, I couldn’t get a clear image. The person was no more than a shadow figure in my mind. I didn’t even have a clue as to why I was following the mysterious person in the first place. Obviously, they had done something to get on my radar. The question was what, though?
The answer came a few seconds later when my eyes fell upon the dark shape in the middle of the room, and a deep sense of dread filled me immediately; a dread that was both familiar and sickening at the same time. Swallowing, I stared hard at the shape lying prone in the gloom. Then, over the sharp scent of rats piss and pigeon shit, a different smell hit my nostrils—the heavy, festering stench of blood.