by Diem, J. C.
I looked down at the shiny white tabletop and tried to control my sorrow. Sam put his arm around my shoulder. “Violet’s mother was the same as Sophia,” he explained. “She was a former angel as well.”
I looked up to see Reynolds staring at me with his mouth open. Before he could speak, a waitress appeared to take our orders. “I will have tea,” Sophia said. I ordered the same and a burger and fries. Sam asked for coffee and I wrinkled my nose. I hated the smell of the vile brew. Reynolds asked for coffee and the same meal that I was having. Neither Nathan nor Leo ordered anything.
When we were alone again, Reynolds rubbed a hand over his face. “I sometimes wonder if I’ve gone insane and if I’m trapped inside a strange dream.”
“Now you know how I feel,” I said in sympathy.
“Why me?”
I sniggered at his plaintive question. “I asked myself that a few times, too.”
Slumping against the wall, he shook his head. “I almost wish I didn’t know that angels and demons are real. Maybe I’d be better off if I was still as oblivious as the rest of humanity.”
“You’ve been chosen,” I told him. “I don’t know what part you’re going to play in all this, but Fate must have something in mind for you.” I flicked a glance at Sophia and caught her uneasy expression before she looked away. I would grill her about her vision when the detective was gone. She obviously didn’t want to talk about whatever it was that she’d seen while he was still here.
“I’m just a normal man,” he protested. “There’s nothing special about me. I don’t get why I’ve been selected for this…whatever it is that I’ll be doing.”
Leo laughed, but he sounded a bit sad. “This conversation sounds very familiar. It is pretty much what Violet said when we told her that she was Hellscourge.” That was back when Brie had been on our team and she hadn’t defected to the other side. He might miss her, but I was glad his snarky twin was gone.
“Why did you ask to see me?” I asked, getting us back on track.
“I overheard the Captain talking to one of his men,” Reynold replied. “He’s planning something and I thought you needed to know about it.”
He went silent when our waitress returned with our drinks. She was unaware that she’d interrupted a tense conversation. “Your meals will be ready in a few minutes,” she said with a lingering look at the cop. His dark blue suit was rumpled and his tie was uneven, but Reynolds was a handsome man. He was African-American and his skin was a rich, chocolate brown. He smiled in gratitude, either not realizing that she was flirting with him or ignoring it.
“Why don’t we have lunch first and then I’ll fill you in on what I heard?” he proposed.
I had the distinct feeling that what little appetite I had would disappear once he divulged Bob’s plan to us. “Okay,” I said and held in the weary sigh that wanted to escape.
₪₪₪
Chapter Five
Silence fell and I took a sip of tea. Sam picked up his mug of coffee and took a tentative taste. His look of surprise was almost comical. “This is not as awful as I expected, but it is a little bitter,” he said.
“Haven’t you ever had coffee before?” Reynolds asked.
“No. I was taken to the underworld by a captain of hell’s armies four centuries ago.”
His matter-of-fact answer stole the detective’s ability to speak for a few moments. “Why don’t you try putting some sugar in it?” he suggested and pushed a container across to Sam.
“Just put a bit in to start with,” I warned him.
Heeding my advice, he poured about a spoonful of sugar in and stirred the brew. Taking another sip, he added cream and another spoonful of sugar. To me, it still smelled horrible, but he seemed to enjoy it.
Our meals arrived and I offered Sam a French fry. He made a face and shook his head. I’d given him one of my fries several months ago and he hadn’t been impressed with the taste. If he was able to drink coffee now, that meant he would soon need to start eating. That put me in a quandary. I needed my best friend to help me with my missions to hell. Without him, my task would be a lot harder.
I only managed to eat half of my meal before I had to push my plate away. Reynolds had already polished his off. He lifted a brow in silent enquiry. “Go ahead,” I offered. “I’m done.”
“Thanks. I skipped breakfast this morning and I’m famished.” He swapped our plates over and finished off the rest of my fries.
Our waitress materialized just as he finished eating. “I love a man with a healthy appetite,” she said with a suggestive twinkle in her eyes. “Do you need anything else?” She batted her eyelashes at him and he seemed to see her for the first time. In her early thirties, she was around his age. Her hair was dark brown, which made her pale skin seem even whiter. She was pretty and had a pleasantly plump figure.
“Another cup of coffee would be great,” he replied and flashed his teeth at her in a charming grin.
“Does anyone else want anything?” she said when she remembered that he wasn’t alone. Sophia and I ordered more tea and Sam asked for another coffee.
“You should ask her out,” I suggested when the waitress walked away.
“I don’t have time to date,” Reynolds replied, but his gaze followed her swaying hips.
“Now that you have finished eating,” Nathan said, “perhaps you can tell us what you heard.”
Reynolds leaned in and lowered his voice so the people sitting behind me wouldn’t be able to listen in. “I overheard Captain Lancaster talking to one of his men,” he said. I had to strain to hear him even when I leaned forward as well. My friends didn’t need to lean in. Their hearing was far better than mine.
“What did he say?” I asked. Whatever his plan was, I knew that it would involve me and that it wouldn’t be pleasant. Bob didn’t like me very much. Maybe because I’d crashed his car, chopped his fingers off then stole his dagger and most of his money. In retaliation, he’d locked me in a cell after I’d been arrested. He’d intended to rape me repeatedly for several hours, before taking me to hell to turn me over to his master. He’d threatened to have Zach killed if I didn’t cooperate with him.
Thanks to Sam, I’d avoided that fate. He’d snuck into my cell using his camouflage abilities. He’d then stabbed the demon in the back to temporarily paralyze him. I’d made a deal with Bob while he’d been helpless. We’d agreed that he’d leave Zach alone and I wouldn’t track him down and cut his head off.
Apparently, being beheaded was a wound that hell spawn couldn’t easily heal. If their vessel received too much brain damage, they became difficult to control. It took too long to heal their host when they’d been beheaded. They became something like a zombie afterwards.
“He instructed his lackey to keep searching the city for you,” Reynolds told me. “He told him to bring you in by the service entrance. Instead of being taken to a cell, you’re to be locked up in a disused storage room in the basement.” Seeing me blanch at that news, he hesitated before speaking again. “It gets worse.”
“I’m sure it does. What else did he say?”
“He ordered his man to attach shackles to one of the walls.”
“Why would he need shackles?” Leo asked in confusion.
My lunch tried to come back up and I had to force it down. Sophia had experienced what Bob had planned for me and she was the one who answered him. “The shackles are to restrain Violet so that he can do despicable things to her.”
“He doesn’t want to give me a chance to defend myself this time,” I said. “It will be hard for me to chop his head off if my hands are shackled to the wall.”
Rage flared in Nathan’s cobalt eyes and he clenched his fists to control himself. “I will not allow the demon to lay his filthy hands on you again.” It sounded like a vow and my heart melted that he cared about me so much.
“Why is Bob so determined to recapture you?” Leo asked. “Has he not learned his lesson yet?” I’d put the demon through a lot of humi
liation so far. He wasn’t the brightest hell spawn to escape from the underworld.
“That’s the strange part,” Reynolds replied. “He said that his ‘master’ is growing impatient and that he will be punished if he doesn’t bring Violet to him soon.” He saw the disturbed glances that we exchanged. “Who is his master?”
“He’s the ruler of all demons and he’s the master of hell itself,” I said.
Understanding dawned and Reynolds seemed to shrink into himself. “Are you talking about Satan?”
I uttered a harsh laugh that made a few heads turn in our direction. “No. Satan has been overthrown. There’s a new Hellmaster now.”
“What sort of being would have the power to overthrow the Devil?” the detective asked.
I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer to that question. “We’re not sure. None of the demons know who he is. He sends his minions out to pass on his orders, but they either haven’t seen his face, or they’ve been sworn to secrecy.” I knew he sometimes used beasts and critters to send his instructions. The raven was one of his favorite spies. It could move freely between Earth and the underworld.
“Do you know how Satan was toppled from his throne?”
“Nope. All we know is that he’s gone and that there’s a new master in charge.”
“You told me that half of the cops you saw at our headquarters were demons. How am I supposed to know who I can trust?”
“Perhaps we can assist you with that,” Nathan said. “We can point out which of your colleagues are being possessed.”
“The cops who haven’t been taken over yet could still be possessed later,” I pointed out. If a demon entered Manhattan through one of the portals, they were instantly drawn to me and didn’t even get the chance to find a vessel. They’d found a way around that by kidnapping humans and taking them into the only portal that they hadn’t locked. The demons could take possession of the victims at roughly the halfway point between our dimension and the shadowlands.
Reynolds was horrified to hear that. “Are you saying I could be possessed by one of them at any time?”
Sophia put a calming hand on his arm. “You will not be in any danger of that.”
“Why not?”
“I received a vision when you shook my hand. No more demons will be entering the city through the portal at this time.”
He stared at her blankly. “You have visions?”
“She’s a clairvoyant,” I explained. “Sophia kept a small amount of her power when she lost her grace. She can see the future sometimes.”
While it was reassuring that the flood of demons had stopped entering the city, I wondered what else she’d seen. Whatever it had been had made her go pale, which meant it couldn’t be good.
₪₪₪
Chapter Six
Checking his watch, Reynolds frowned. “I’d better check in with Gomez. I don’t want her to think I’m deliberately avoiding her.”
“Who is Alice, by the way?” I asked, remembering the fake name he’d used when I’d called him.
“She’s an old girlfriend. My partner knows that we still keep in touch.” He voiced a question. “How much does the demon that is possessing Gomez know about her?” It had probably been weighing on him ever since he’d found out what had happened to her.
“She most likely knows every thought that has ever passed through your partner’s mind,” Sophia said. “If they intend to possess a vessel for an extended period of time, it is necessary for them to know their host thoroughly. Usually, demons do not bother with this type of subterfuge. The only reason they are resorting to it now is because they are poised to invade this dimension.”
From Reynolds’ sorrowful expression, he cared about his partner. “She’ll never be the same once this is all over, will she?”
We didn’t have the heart to tell him that Gomez would die along with the rest of humanity if we failed our mission. He took our silence to be agreement.
Reynolds and Sophia left money to pay for our meals then we all stood and made our way through the crowd to the door. Standing on the sidewalk, we huddled into a group. “Are you sure you can identify the cops who have been possessed?” the detective asked.
Nathan nodded. “We can easily detect our enemies. We can watch the building from concealment and advise you of who you can trust.”
“It’ll have to be when Gomez is busy,” he mused then turned to me. “How quickly could you get to me when I call you?”
“Nathan or Leo could teleport me to you in the blink of an eye,” I replied. “We three are the only ones who can identify demons.” Sam flicked me a silent look of reprimand for leaving him out. “Sam can sense their evil essence, but he has to be pretty close to them first,” I added to appease him.
Reynolds had my number now and I had to trust that he wouldn’t try to track me down through my phone. Even if he did locate our base, no one could get inside unless we wanted them to. It was as secure as a fortress now, or so I hoped.
“You’re still a wanted fugitive, so try to keep a low profile and watch your back.” After that warning, he climbed into his dark blue sedan. We waited for him to motor off before Nathan whisked us back to the store.
I’d barely had any exercise during our meeting with Reynolds, yet I was exhausted. “I’m going to take a nap,” I said and everyone looked at me in concern.
Sophia put her hand on my forehead. “You have a fever again,” she fretted. “I bought some aspirin for you. Maybe it will help. I will bring you some and a glass of water to wash it down.” She turned to Sam before I could tell her that aspirin would be useless. “Can you help Violet up to her bedroom?”
He nodded and put his arm through mine. Leo looked worried, but Nathan was taking my illness the hardest. He took a step after us, but Leo caught him by the arm. It was too risky for my guardian to infuse me with his grace. He’d almost given me too much several times now. I shuddered to think what would happen if I took more than he could afford to give me.
I moved slowly, feeling more like an old woman than a teenager as Sam helped me upstairs. We entered my room and he eased me down onto my bed. The room was almost small enough to trigger my claustrophobia, but I found it almost comforting rather than frightening now. This room had become my haven. I could also turn it into a fortress if I so chose.
Sam slipped out of my bedroom and crossed the hall to the living room. Sophia hurried upstairs a short while later. She placed two aspirin in my hand then gave me a glass of water. I knew she wouldn’t leave until I took them, so I swallowed them down along with several sips of water. “Thanks, Sophia,” I said.
She bent and placed a motherly kiss on my forehead that brought a lump to my throat. “Rest well. I am sure you will feel better soon.”
Waiting until her footsteps faded away, I quietly stood and shuffled over to the door. My favorite jacket hung from a hook. Taking it down, I reached inside and took my dagger out. Before my last trip to hell, I’d secretly constructed several of the runes that Sy had taught me. Leaving them mostly intact, I only had to make a small repair before they would be ready to be activated. I’d had a feeling I might need to use my bedroom for a temporary holding cell at some stage.
There were four runes in total. I’d had to mix my friends’ blood in with mine when I’d created the runes downstairs so they wouldn’t be affected by the spells. These runes only contained my blood and the spells would hopefully be contained to my bedroom. The first locked the door so only I could open it. Next was a spell to prevent anyone else from being able to teleport in or out of the room. The third had been designed specifically to target angels. It caused debilitating pain that would drop my enemies to their knees in the same way that Brie’s spell affects demons. The fourth one was a silence rune.
Making a tiny cut in my left palm, I dabbed my blood on the runes to complete them. I then pressed my bleeding hand on the symbols to activate them. One by one, they flared to life. A marching band could have stomped around in
my room making enough racket to wake the dead and no one else would be able to hear it now.
I didn’t know when I would find the next portal to hell, but it was obvious that I wasn’t going to be able to function in this condition. It would take drastic action to give me the energy that I needed. I knew several angels who despised me enough to be willing to cause me pain, but there was only one that I thought I might be able to trust.
A thought occurred to me and I pressed my ear to the door. I could faintly hear the TV from the living room just across the hall. Sam had turned the volume down so it wouldn’t bother me while I slept.
That answered my question about whether the runes were localized to just my room. The spells that I’d cast downstairs encompassed the entire building. Only the silence rune wasn’t in effect right now. The fact that I could hear the television reassured me that I could proceed with my plan and that no one would be the wiser.
I wasn’t even sure that my plan would work. I was working on a hunch, but I’d learned to follow my instincts. Somehow, I’d summoned Nathan to me with the sapphire stone that he’d carved a rune onto. I was hoping I could repeat the act with the bracelet that Brie had made for me.
Bright scarlet instead of the usual gold color, strange symbols had been magically carved onto the surface. Examining it now, I saw that more of the images had appeared. It was three-quarters full. Every time I killed a Demon Prince, more of the markings appeared. They were similar to the marks that were on the princes’ skin. They also resembled the images that were on the tarnished silver pieces of metal that I’d been tasked with finding. All three were connected, but I didn’t know how or why.
Shrugging off my curiosity, I concentrated on Brie. Moments later, she appeared beside me. The third demonic spell that I’d created kicked in before she could even register that she’d been teleported to me against her will. Crashing to her knees, she screamed in pain.