My eyes snapped open and I came back to myself, kneeling in Jeannie Lemore’s bedroom and staring into the eyes of her ghost. “You did it!” I said to the little girls. “I understand now, and I know how to stop it. I hope.”
The two little girl ghosts looked at each other, then they stood up from the bed, joined hands, and walked through the wall of the house. When they reached the wall, a portal opened up, and they vanished in a flash of purest white light. I fell backwards on my ass in the middle of the floor, then scrambled up and bolted toward the master bedroom.
“Flynn!” I yelled as I hit the hallway. “Flynn, where the fuck are you?!?”
She turned from her examination of the parents’ dresser drawers. “What is it, Harker? What do you want?”
I pulled her aside and said in as much of a whisper as I could manage, “I figured it out. You’ve got to come with me. Right now. We’re finishing this. Today.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Harker? What did you find? Who’s doing this? Where are we going?” She fired questions at my back as I dragged her down the hall and out the front of the house.
“You drive, my car sucks,” I said, yanking open the door to her unmarked car and reaching out to slap the magnetic bubble light onto the top of the car. “Haul ass, Flynn.”
We sat there.
“Well?” I said. “Let’s go!”
“Where, jackass?” Flynn asked. “You haven’t even thought it at me yet.”
“Fuck. Sorry. The church. We’ve got to go the church. The fathers are all being possessed, and I know how to stop it now.”
She put the car into gear and pulled out onto Queens Road, lights flashing. She turned right toward Third Street and then looked at me sideways. “I thought you’d checked the place for bad mojo and there was nothing there.”
“I did. There is no demonic possession at the church. It’s as sanctified a place as I’ve ever known.”
“Then what’s making these men murder their families? What are we going there to kill, Harker?”
“We’re going to church to kill an angel, Flynn. What else?”
Chapter 17
This time we walked into the church through the front doors. I stepped into the sanctuary and spotted a couple of little old ladies kneeling in prayer, the sweet kind of women who probably went in to pray for the souls of their dead husbands every day before volunteering in the daycare until it was time for cutthroat bingo in the fellowship hall in the afternoon, then dinner at Golden Corral before watching Pat & Vanna and going to bed at eight o’clock because there wasn’t anything worth staying up to watch on television since they took Dallas off the air.
“Get them out of here,” I said to Flynn. She peeled off and started hustling the ladies down to the church Family Life Center for cookies and milk or whatever. The priest I spoke to in the confessional was now standing at the communion railing, and he turned as I walked down the center aisle. He spun around, a wide smile on his face, resplendent in his black robe.
He was a young priest, almost certainly under forty. His hair was longer than I was used to on priests, long and wavy, curling just a little bit over his collar. His blue eyes and crisp jawline were guaranteed to make him a hit with the young women of the congregation, and the couple days’ stubble he sported made him approachable enough for the men not to hate on sight.
“Quincy Harker, so good to see you again,” he said, throwing his arms wide and giving me a huge smile.
“Padre,” I nodded. “Or is there another name I should use?”
“We don’t really do the whole ‘name’ thing,” he said. “But if you need to call me something, how about Dominus? I could live with that, I suppose.” He waved his hands and his entire body was enveloped in an otherworldly glow, and his eyes became orbs of pure lightning. Other than that, you couldn’t really tell him from a normal person.
“Not really in the mood for pizza right now, Domino’s. But if it’s an ass-whooping you’re looking for, just let me know. I’ve got one right here with your name on it.”
“Oh, Quincy, let’s not fight,” the angel/priest said. “I’m not here to destroy you. I’m here to recruit you.”
“Recruit me?” I said, honestly baffled. “For what?”
“There’s a purge coming, and I need a stronger vessel. My ethereal energy will burn this body out in a matter of days, weeks at the most. But your body is different.” Dom walked through the gap in the communion railing and sat down on the polished oak.
“Thanks for noticing, I’ve been working out.” I ran a hand over my abs, but the angel didn’t laugh or give me any indication that he was anything other than batshit crazy.
I decided on a different tactic. “What was that about a purge?” I slid sideways into a pew, as much for cover as support. “Like some kind of war? Don’t you remember what happened the last time there was a war in Heaven?” I didn’t, of course, since it happened a couple bajillion years ago.
“But this will not be a war in Heaven, nor anywhere. I have no interest in overthrowing the Father, or in taking over His domain. I just want to be rid of you cockroaches down here, and I want you to help me.”
“What cockroaches? Humans? And did you miss the part where I am a human?” I asked.
At least mostly human, Flynn’s thoughts echoed in my mind.
All the parts that matter, I sent back an image of me in my towel. Flynn blushed.
Quit flirting, we’ve got serious trouble, Flynn replied.
Yeah, no shit. A psychotic angel wants to recruit me to be a general in his war on humanity. You gotta get out of here. If he catches sight of you, he’ll either send you to Hell or just will you out of existence.
Flynn’s thoughts froze for a second, the psychic equivalent of her mouth dropping open. He can do that?
And worse. He’s a seraph, one of the Host. The big deal of angels. I can’t hope to beat him, just maybe get lucky and send him back to Heaven where he can do less harm. So get out of here.
I’m not leaving you to fight him alone.
You’re just going to get me killed if I have to watch out for you. Now get the fuck out of here!
Fine.
Flynn?
Yeah.
Pray for me.
I cut off the mental connection between me and Flynn and turned my attention back to Dominos.
“Girl problems?” the angel asked.
“I got 99 problems, dickhead, but she ain’t one,” I replied. He looked confused. I don’t know that I expected a seraph to be a Jay-Z fan, but I was reaching for any common ground here.
“Why do you want to destroy humanity?” I asked.
“You breed too fast, make too much noise, and have captured too much of the Father’s attention for too long,” he replied.
“Oh, so this is like a jealous big brother kind of thing. I get that. I had siblings. You hate them a lot of the time. They make Mom and Dad give them all the love, and you feel all ignored. But then one day, they’re gone, and you’re all alone, and you don’t want anything more than to be able to sit down with your shitty little brother and have a beer with him. So if humanity is your little brother, you could probably wipe them out, but you’d miss them eventually. I mean, the cosmos would be just way too quiet without them, right?”
He looked pensive for a moment, and I wondered if that bullshit spiel had actually worked. He lowered his head, as if overcome by emotions. I even saw his shoulders shake once, twice, then he looked back up at me.
“That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. And I was here when your kind first learned to use fire.”
We’re clear. Take this motherfucker down. Flynn sent an image of her and the old ladies sampling the communion wine in the church kitchen.
I’ll try. If I don’t make it out of here, feed my cat.
You don’t have a cat.
Well, if I get out of this, remind me to get a cat.
“Yeah, but I distracted you long enough for the civil
ians to get clear,” I said. I focused my will and said “clavum,” throwing my hand in his direction. A stream of spikes shot from my palm, streaking straight at the angel’s face.
He laughed and floated into the air, my spikes flashing under his feet to shatter against the pulpit. “You’ll have to do better than that, Harker,” he said. He held out both hands wide from his sides and cast bolts of white energy in my direction.
I dove behind the pew and covered my face in my hands as the wooden bench turned to splinters that cascaded down over me. I kept my face covered and scurried along the floor to the end of the row. I hopped up and shouted “Infierno!” at the angel, pointing my hands at him like I was throwing a basketball. A globe of fire materialized between my fingertips and streaked toward Dominus.
He laughed and took to the air, easily dodging my fireball, which struck the pulpit and spread fire across the front of the church. The carpet started to burn, and the communion rail was engulfed in seconds.
I jumped a couple of pews and dropped to the floor again as Dom threw another bolt of force at me. Another pew blew to splinters as I rolled forward along the stone floor. I hopped up and flung my hands at him again. I shouted “Ningor!” and the air over the angel coalesced into a roiling mass of white clouds, which immediately began to dump ice and snow upon the pissed-off seraph. It didn’t do much more than annoy the angel, but at least the sanctuary wasn’t on fire anymore.
Dom flew left, right, and sideways, but my little storm cloud followed his every move. Finally, after trying to dodge the blizzard I dropped on his head, Dom landed at the front of the church and directed his attention upward. As he focused his attention on dispelling the storm, I sprang over the pew in front of me and charged the distracted angel.
I’ve had worse ideas. I’m sure of it given the number of times I’ve ended up in hospitals in my life. So running straight at a demented angel who wants me to join his army might not be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but it definitely makes the top ten. He flicked out a hand, and I ran into a brick wall. An invisible brick wall made completely from the angel’s willpower, but nonetheless, I dropped straight back and flopped to the floor like a fish out of water.
“That’s your best shot, Harker? Just charging at me like a bull? Maybe I didn’t make it clear—I just need your body, and I don’t really need it to be alive when I’m in there. Frankly, it would be easier if I just killed you and took over right now.” He raised both hands over his head, and that white energy enveloped his fists, growing to a sparkling orb the size of a beach ball. Then he brought both hands down over his head like he was chopping wood and I was a reluctant hunk of oak. The ball of energy flew at me, promising to blow me to bits the second it hit. My life flashed before my eyes, and in my considered opinion, I hadn’t slept with nearly enough redheads. I closed my eyes, waiting for the bolt of angelic fire to hit me right between the eyes.
Chapter 18
Except it never hit. A streak of white flashed in from the ceiling of the church and hurled itself between me and the white-hot fireball half an eye blink before I was incinerated.
“Cutting it a little close, aren’t we?” I asked my guardian angel.
“Can we hold off the smartass comments until I’m maybe not on fire?” Glory replied as Dom’s power crackled along the shield of wings she surrounded me with. I smelled burning feathers and shouted “Aquos!” A thick cloud of steam erupted from Glory’s back as a hundred gallons of water materialized around the angel.
“Thanks,” she said.
“No problem,” I replied. “I assume you have a plan for how to deal with our flying friend up there?” I pointed to Dom, who had taken off and was now floating above the sanctuary.
“I do, but I don’t wand to spoil the surprise,” Glory said, then unfolded the cocoon of wings she’d saved me with, and flew up to face the psycho seraph.
“Hey, Domino’s, why don’t you pick on someone your own species!” Glory called.
“If there were anyone here with even an iota of my power, I would happily do battle with them. As it is, I have to settle for you.” He threw bolts of power at Glory, which she avoided without breaking a sweat.
“That the best you got? You’re gonna have to go back through Gabriel’s boot camp if you can’t take out one little guardian,” Glory taunted.
Dom threw more bolts of energy, and now Glory had to expend a little energy avoiding them. The whole time, I watched her left hand. When she dodged one particularly close blast, I stood up and shouted “Tempestus!”
Hurricane-force winds shot from my hands, buffeting Dom around the ceiling and providing the opening Glory needed. She charged the distracted seraph, landing a punch on his chin that knocked him into a midair flip, then she reversed course and hit him from above with both feet, driving Dom to the floor.
I charged the pulpit again, this time with no intention of tackling the angel. Instead, I veered to the right and the last minute and grabbed a hunk of sidewalk chalk from one jacket pocket. I knelt on the floor of the church and drew a shaky circle around the downed angel, then focused my will into the chalk and invoked the circle. A flash of blue-white energy pulsed along the lines, and the circle snapped to life around the shaken angel.
“What the heaven do you think you’re doing, mortal?” Dom asked, reaching out with a finger to touch the circle. The magical boundary crackled on his outstretched finger, and he snatched back the scorched appendage, sticking it into his mouth and sucking on it in a very human gesture.
“I think I’m locking you away until I figure out what to do with you,” I said.
“And I think I know exactly what to do with him,” Glory’s voice came from above me. She floated to the ground right beside me and glared at the imprisoned angel.
“Release me, Glory,” Dom said with a smile.
“Kiss my ass, Dom,” Glory replied, extending the middle finger of her right hand.
“Sorry about that, Dom,” I said. “I’m a bad influence on angels.”
“That’s the damn truth,” Glory said, and held up a fist. I bumped it, and we stared at Dom, who fumed inside the circle, then turned to Glory with rage in his eyes.
“Guardian, I order you to release me. As one of The Host, I command you.” He flared his wings out as far as he could in the circle and put enough of his power into the words to make his eyes glow white.
“There’s a problem with that, Dom,” Glory replied. “You’re no longer one of The Host.”
“What?” the imprisoned angel said.
“Huh?” I added, equally eloquent.
“I just came from Gabriel, you poor misguided bastard. He sent me down with a message, and Uriel loaned me something to deliver it with.” Glory stretched her arm into the air, and suddenly there was a flaming longsword in it. She swung the sword down, then up, then down again, slicing through my circle like it was nothing. She raised her arm again, opened her hand, and the sword vanished.
Dom’s eyes flickered, then the fire went out and his mouth opened wide in a howl of pain and rage that shook the windows in their frames. His wings, the pride of every angel, lay on the floor of the pulpit, trapped inside the circle with Dom, just a pile of useless feathers now. The suddenly former angel dropped to his knees, gathering the feathers to his body, but at his touch, they turned gray and melted into a fine dust that drifted away on the currents of air.
“What have you done to me?” Dom shrieked.
“I just carried out the sentence, Dominus,” Glory said, and her voice was heavy with sadness. “You did this to yourself the second you took the Father’s work onto yourself. We carry out the will of God, not the will of The Host. We don’t make decisions of life and death, Dominus. The second you did that, you abandoned The Host and all we stand for.”
“We? Who the heaven do you think you are, Guardian? You’ve no right to call yourself one of The Host.”
“I don’t?” Glory asked. “Do you not recognize me, Dominus? I know it’s b
een a few centuries, but have I changed all that much?” She spread her wings, and Glory was surrounded by a yellow-white light so bright I had to turn away and cover my face with my hands.
When the glow faded enough for me to turn back to her, she had folded her wings and was back to being Glory, my everyday, run-of-the-mill guardian angel. Dom, however, was on his knees in the circle staring up at her in adoration like she had just cured cancer or invented pizza.
“You,” he said, and the love in his voice was like the sum of every mother speaking to every newborn throughout history.
“Me,” Glory replied, and the sadness in her tone made me think of every single Tom Waits song ever, all being played at the same time. Glory raised her right hand, looked down at the kneeling former angel, and said, “I’m sorry, Dom. I don’t know where we failed you, but perhaps the Morningstar can heal you and make you fit for service again.”
Her hand flashed a blinding white, and Dom disappeared in an explosion of sulfur and red-tinged smoke. My pitiful little circle vanished from the wood in a blaze of burnt chalk, and there was no trace of our fight except for a lot of splintered pews and the stench of brimstone on the pulpit. Lying on the floor where Dom had been, blissfully unconscious, was the priest I had met the day before.
Hell Freezes Over - A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Novella Page 12