Once within reach, I wrapped my arm around his throat and held him so we were both facing Grant. As the bald guy took a step towards me, I held up the knife to remind him I still had it. Grant paused. The look on his face never changed, but his body language suggested he was worried about his partner.
“You want him to get out of this in one piece?” I asked. “Then you’ll do as I say.”
“Remember, Mr. Grant—we are expendable,” said Moore. I squeezed harder to keep him from saying anything else.
“One chance,” I said, holding the knife to Moore’s side. “You let us go, I leave him behind. You don’t, I carve him up like a Thanksgiving turkey. What’ll it be?”
“I’m afraid Mr. Moore is correct,” said Grant. “Do your worst, Mr. Cross. I will commence with your evisceration the instant my colleague’s body hits the floor.”
So much for small favors. Besides, I had been able to take out Moore, so how tough could Grant really be? At least he didn’t have any hair, so I wouldn’t have to deal with another beard attack.
I drove the blade into Moore’s body, burying it to the hilt. The sonnuva bitch just laughed as I did, so I twisted the knife. That cut the laughter and I let him drop to the ground. I stared across at Grant, whose hand went to his sunglasses.
“Don’t look into his eyes, Luther!” shouted Tessa.
Despite how weak she was, Tessa tried to draw on what little energy she had left. Electricity crackled around her fingertips and shot into Grant. The attack ended almost as soon as it began, Tessa’s magic completely spent.
But it was a distraction. I dropped to the ground and picked up the revolver. Raising it up, I pulled the trigger a few times. The rounds slammed into Grant’s torso, but didn’t deter him. He just kept coming towards me, like the freaking Terminator.
“You cannot stop me, Mr. Cross,” said Grant. “Mr. Moore was weakened due to the accursed spell your colleagues placed on him, but I have no such limitations. And once you see as I see, everything shall change for you as well.”
Grant raised his hand to his sunglasses and started to raise them. As soon as he did, I closed my eyes and raised my gun, opening fire. All I heard was laughter. I rolled across the ground, moving behind the couch.
I knew what I had to do. Except, as good a shot as I was, I still needed to look at what I was shooting. I took a deep breath and focused my power, visualizing an ethereal third eye on my forehead.
With my physical eyes closed, this gave me a better sense of the energy in the room, a different kind of sight. Couldn’t really get a sense of the layout of the room or see anyone in particular, but I could see auras. To my right, I saw a flickering purple aura, faint, but still holding on. That was Tessa. Just beyond the couch was an orange one; that must have been Cain. And coming towards me was the brightest one of all, burning yellow.
Grant.
I sprung up from behind the couch and targeted the top of the aura where the head would be. I pulled the trigger several times until the gun clicked on empty chambers. A moment passed, and then I heard a thump.
The yellow aura had faded. I opened my eyes and saw Grant lying on the ground, his eye sockets filled with blood. I took a breath and dropped the gun, then walked over to Tessa and offered her my hand. She accepted it and I pulled her up to her feet, leaning on me for support.
“Thanks for the advice,” I said. “How’d you find me?”
“Cain’s idea,” she said. “Did a spell to trap Moore and he brought us here. Then Grant turned up and everything went to hell. Whatever his eye thing was, it pretty much left me drained.”
“Yeah, I was gonna say you look like shit.”
Tessa scoffed and slapped my chest. She was still weak so it felt like barely a feather. I guided her to the couch and sat her down. With my finger, I traced a sigil on her forehead and whispered in Latin.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’re in no state to go on, and I need you sharp if you’re gonna be watching my back.”
“But how—?”
She was cut off as the invisible sigil I’d drawn on her forehead started to glow bright red. I drew in a deep breath as I felt some of my energy leaving my body and flowing into hers. Tessa’s eyes widened as the power entered her, and almost instantly, her appearance went from exhausted to fully rested.
“What happened to Cain?”
“Got his ass kicked,” said Tessa.
I scoffed. “Typical.” I moved around the couch and knelt down beside Cain. Just like with Tessa, I traced an invisible sigil on his head and muttered the Latin incantation. More of my power left my body, moving into him. As soon as it did, Cain drew a sharp breath, and his eyes opened wide. He looked confused and then surprised when he saw me.
“Cross…?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” I stood and offered my hand. Cain took it and I pulled him to his feet. “Heard you took a big risk to try and find me.”
“Yeah, well, we had a deal, remember?” Cain patted me on my shoulder. “And I’m a man of my word.”
Shit, the deal. Cain still didn’t know I had been lying through my teeth when I’d said I could help him die. And after everything he’d done to keep up his end of the bargain, it wasn’t likely he’d be happy once he found out I’d been using him this whole time. Would just have to play along and cross that bridge when I came to it. Or more like run across it and burn it down before he could follow.
“We’re missing someone,” I said. “Where’s Asmodeus?”
“He thought we were wasting time trying to find you,” said Tessa. “So, he decided to go after Luxton on his own.”
“So we’ve got a Lord of Hell runnin’ around Purgatory, looking for the guy we need to get our hands on?” I asked. “That’s not good. We gotta find a way to catch up to him before things get worse.”
“They’re about to get a lot worse.” Cain gestured at the bodies of Grant and Moore. “These two worked for Purgatory’s master. He’s not gonna be happy that you just offed them.”
“Grant said something about that,” said Tessa.
“What did he say?” asked Cain.
“Succumb to Purgatory…succumb to…” She paused and I could tell she was struggling to remember. “Sorry, it’s all a bit blurry. Felt like a bad acid trip.”
“Try to remember,” I said.
Her eyes perked up. “Thanatos. Succumb to Thanatos.”
I looked at Cain. “You ever hear that name before?”
The hunter shook his head. “I never knew the master’s name, and I was imprisoned here for a few centuries. No one ever mentioned it. I’m surprised he told you.”
“They said I showed potential,” said Tessa. “What did that mean?”
“Sounds like they were trying to turn you into one of them,” I said.
Tessa gagged. “That doesn’t sound like something I want to go through.”
“Good choice,” said Cain. “Anyway, we’re on the clock now. We killed two of his agents, so the master—Thanatos—he won’t be happy.”
“We gotta get back on the trail, then,” I said. “Find Luxton and meet up with Charon so we can get the hell out of here. All while trying to avoid Thanatos.”
“What about Asmodeus?” asked Tessa.
“Any chance he can find Luxton before you?” I asked Cain.
“Doubt he could do it faster, or navigate Purgatory easier than me,” said Cain. “Hell, with the agents now aware of us, they might be going after him. Thanatos may have already killed him.”
“How come no one told us about Thanatos? Not Raziel, not Asmodeus, nothing,” I said.
“I just assumed they knew,” said Cain. “But from the way Asmodeus was talkin’, seems no one except those at the highest levels knew that Purgatory had a master.”
“A secret big enough to keep from archangels and archdemons,” said Tessa. “Something tells me it means this Thanatos is bad news.”
“The worst,” said Cain.
I tuck
ed my shirt into my pants and donned my shoulder holster once more, followed by my suit jacket. I picked up my revolver and holstered it, followed by sheathing my dagger. Cain did the same, and once we were set, we both nodded to each other.
“I’m gonna move fast,” said Cain. “The path we’re taking, it’s more direct, but also a lot more dangerous. But with Thanatos onto us, we don’t have the luxury of being sneaky anymore.”
“You lead, we’ll follow,” I said.
30
Cain took the lead once we left the apartment, with Tessa and I following side-by-side. A few turns through some alleys and, suddenly, the image of the destroyed cityscape gave way to a mountainous region. It was a desert-like landscape, with canyons, mesas, and plateaus surrounding us. The sky maintained its reddish overcast, still no sun in sight.
“It changed,” I said.
“Yeah, it can do that,” said Cain. “As we get closer to the center, it’s mostly Thanatos’ vision that overrides the collective.”
We used the rocks as cover, moving from one shadow to the next. So far, we hadn’t encountered any real trouble since leaving the city, but I knew that wasn’t gonna last long. I patted down myself looking for cigarettes, but must’ve dropped them in the apartment. If there was one time when I could have used a cigarette…
“What happened back there?” asked Tessa, keeping her voice barely above a whisper.
“What do you mean?”
“You were dreamwalking, weren’t you? How’d it go?”
“Obviously not well, since you had to trap Moore to find me,” I said.
“No, I mean…what was it like?”
I didn’t really know how to answer that. Didn’t really know if I wanted to. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more trouble I was having remembering my time in the dreamscape. Every moment that passed, I remembered it less and less.
“It’s not important,” I said.
“You dreamwalked in Purgatory, it must’ve been different.”
“Maybe it was, but I can’t really remember.”
Tessa paused, and I continued walking forward, though still allowing Cain to stay ahead of me. I heard her call after me, and then the sound of her footsteps moving faster as she sped up to come back alongside me.
“What do you mean you can’t remember?” she asked. “Is that normal?”
“For some, it can be. Just like it’s difficult to remember a dream.”
“For some,” she repeated. “What about for you?”
I didn’t answer, but my silence made it pretty clear—it wasn’t. I’d dreamwalked many times before and I’d always remembered what had happened. This time was different, though. Something was getting in the way, and I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Luther?” asked Tessa.
I sighed, but before I could respond, we all heard a low rumble and felt the ground begin to shake. I looked at Tessa and then over at Cain, who had stopped and was staring back at us. The rumbling grew louder and the quakes became more violent, the entire ground shaking so much that it was powerful enough to knock us off our feet.
Up ahead, we could hear the sound of something shrieking and a flapping noise. A chorus of them, actually. I looked up and saw the reddish sky darkened by some kind of creatures with wings. I tried to focus, seeing bat-like wings and a scaly, crimson hides.
“Find some cover!” shouted Cain, drawing his revolver.
We ran, moving into a valley and hiding in the shade of the rocks. I could hear Cain’s gun going off and looked up, watching as those things flew overhead. When I finally got a good look at their heads, I could see they were lizard-like. One screeched and dove towards us, flying into the valley and landing right before us on two legs. It rose up on its legs, its total height around five feet or so, its wings stretching out as it shrieked, a sound like nails on a chalkboard.
“What is that thing, a dragon?” asked Tessa.
I drew my gun and opened fire on it. The beast pulled back and shrieked again before flapping its wings and flying off. Another shot hit it, bringing it down, though I didn’t fire that last one.
Cain dropped into the valley beside us, pointing ahead with his gun. “Hurry up. I saw a cave not far.”
He started running, and we followed. We ran around the curve of the hill and dropped into the darkened mouth of a cavern, going in deep but still able to see the light from outside.
We waited there, watching as the flapping of wings continued. The quakes seemed to subside for now, but it felt like they could come back at any moment. I looked at Cain, able to clearly see the concern on his face even in this darkness. A faint light suddenly appeared in the cave, courtesy of Tessa. Cain and myself, we could see in the dark. She wasn’t so lucky.
“What were those things?” I asked.
“Wyverns,” said Cain. “Think tiny dragons with an inferiority complex.”
“Giant spiders, baby dragons, and freaky guys in suits,” said Tessa. “I’ll be glad to get the hell out of this place.”
“We don’t have a lot of time,” said Cain. “Those quakes? Thanatos is catching up to us. He’ll find us soon, and when he does, it’s pretty much game over.”
“So how do we get to Luxton before that happens?” I asked.
Cain sighed and looked around. He moved deeper into the cave, and we followed. The path became narrower as it led us down.
“These tunnels run all throughout Purgatory. It’s how I was able to escape in the past,” he said. “With any luck, this might be a shortcut to take us where we need to go.”
He stopped at a wall and placed his hand on it. Cain closed his eyes and concentrated. I could feel the charge coming off him—he was using magic to try and sense something. When he opened his eyes, he looked at me and held out his hand.
“Give me your hand.”
I did, and then Cain drew his dagger and sliced into my palm. I tried to pull away, but Cain kept a firm grip on my wrist.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You and Luxton have a connection, remember?”
I sighed as Cain dipped his fingers in my bloody palm. He drew a sigil on the rock’s surface, whispering in Enochian as he worked his spell. When he finished, he took my hand and slapped it in the center of the sigil.
A bright red light filled the cavern, blinding me. I could feel the sigil’s power, like I was being pulled into it. Cain’s voice sounded distant, but I could make out his words. He was telling me not to fight it, to just let it take me.
I had to hope he knew what he was doing. I relented, allowing the strange force to pull me in. The light faded, and I wasn’t in the cavern anymore. I spun, and was relieved to see both Cain and Tessa had been pulled in with me. Then I took stock of our new surroundings.
“We’re in a church,” said Tessa.
“Not just any church,” I said. “I’ve been here before.”
When I was hunting down Luxton, I’d learned that he had once worked at a church in Evanston called St. John’s. I walked down the center aisle, remembering how I’d come to this exact same church looking for information on him. I felt a chill run down my spine. The last time I’d been in this church, I’d been attacked by Azrael.
The pews were full, but as I looked at each of their faces, I realized something. Not a one of them was a single, live person. They were all just mannequins, sitting quietly and staring lifelessly ahead.
“Okay, this is more than a little creepy…” said Tessa.
“Yeah, no shit,” I added.
I continued through the aisle, and up ahead, I could see a man walking up to the center podium on the dais. He was dressed in a ratty robe, his gray beard unkempt and his hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in days. He had heavy bags under bloodshot eyes, and when he looked out over the crowd, he seemed like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Every week, they come,” he said in a weak voice. “Every week, I preach. Every week, it makes no difference.”
“L
uxton,” I said, moving a bit slower down the aisle. My hand went behind my back, slowly drawing out the dagger and keeping it out of view.
“Once, that’s who I was,” said Luxton, staring down at the podium. “And now? What am I?”
“You remember me?” I asked.
He stared into my eyes, but there wasn’t any recognition. He couldn’t remember me. Purgatory was supposed to be a place where you came to terms with your sins, so losing your memory wasn’t something that was supposed to happen down here. Not for human souls, at least. “I don’t…I can’t…”
“Cain, what’s going on?” I asked.
“The guy you’re after, you said he put him down here to keep him hidden,” said Cain. “But if you atone for your sins in Purgatory, you get to leave. See the problem?”
“If he doesn’t remember, he can’t atone,” said Tessa.
“And if he can’t atone, then he’s stuck here,” I finished.
“Does that mean all of this was for nothing?” asked Tessa.
I shook my head and walked faster down the aisle. I climbed on the dais and pulled Luxton away from the pulpit. He yelped in response, but I didn’t care, dragging him from the dais and over to Cain and Tessa.
“I’m not giving it up that easy,” I said. “What he knows is buried somewhere inside him. Raziel will have a way to get it out.”
“You’re sure about that?” asked Cain.
“If the angel could scrub Luxton’s memory so thoroughly, he wouldn’t have to hide him in the first place,” I said. “As long as the soul’s intact, Raziel can learn the name of the angel who imbued Luxton with his power.”
“Who are you people?” asked Luxton. “Where am I?”
“We’re the ones getting you out of here,” I said.
Luxton grabbed my jacket’s lapel, looking up at me with wide eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered over and over again.
There weren’t words to express how much I wanted to stab him in the face. He was thanking me, after everything he’d done. The bastard wouldn’t be thanking me much longer. Once Raziel got what we needed from him, I was going to personally see to it that Luxton suffered for the rest of eternity. Didn’t care what sort of deals I had to cut, or if they had to be made with angels or demons. One way or another, he was going to suffer as much as possible.
Devil's Descent (Luther Cross Book 2) Page 20