“We’ve got what we came for; now it’s time to leave,” I told Cain. “You still know the way out, don’t you?”
“What about Asmodeus?” asked Tessa. “He’s still here somewhere, isn’t he?”
“He made his choice,” I said. Tessa stared at me with a mixture of surprise and anger. I had to admit I was a little pissed off at myself for saying that. The words didn’t even really sound like they were coming out of my mouth. I looked at Cain. “We’re gonna need that exit strategy fast. Who knows how long it’ll be before Thanatos finds us.”
Cain nodded and pulled the carpet away from the aisle. He knelt down and cut into his hand, drawing another blood sigil on the marble floor, muttering incantations the entire time. While he began to work, the ground started to rumble.
“Cain, think you’d better hurry it along,” said Tessa.
Cain’s hand moved faster, trying to work the sigil. I kept a firm grip on Luxton, and he kept whispering, “He’s coming…”
“Yeah, that’s not ominous at all…” I muttered.
Cain continued his incantation, the sigil beginning to glow. I heard him call out Charon’s name. And the rumbling increased, the ground shaking so violently it was tough to stay on my feet. Luxton fell, but I pulled him back up. Tessa leaned against the pews for support, and the sigil glowed brighter.
“Speed it up, Cain!” I shouted over the now-deafening rumble.
“He’s here!” shouted Luxton, staring up.
I looked up at the ceiling just as it was torn off. A giant creature towered over us, wyverns flying around in the crimson skies overhead. The head was like the skull of a ram, massive horns curling back. Blue flames burned in its eye sockets and smoke poured from its nostrils.
“Thanatos!” shouted Luxton. “He’s come!”
“Yeah, I can see that!” I drew my gun and started firing, even though I knew that probably wouldn’t do a damn thing. “Cain!”
Tessa tried to help me, using fire and lightning spells on it, but Thanatos just glared down at us. His hand reached into the church and the wyverns dove.
“Cain!” Tessa and I both shouted in unison as we tried to fight off the beasts.
And then, there was a crimson flash.
31
Teleportation always left me feeling disoriented. One minute you were in one spot and the next you were somewhere completely different. I’d done it a few times, but it never stopped making my stomach heave.
In Purgatory, it felt even worse. I thought I was going to throw up everything I’d ever eaten when Cain’s spell took us from Luxton’s church. As the nausea passed, I could see that we’d ended up back on Charon’s boat. The frail ferryman didn’t seem the least bit surprised by our sudden presence, his glowing white eyes remaining as blank as ever. Instead, he just began rowing as we got situated.
“Speed it up, Charon,” said Cain. “We got the big guy after us.”
I studied Charon as Cain spoke. If I had to guess, I’d say he wasn’t too happy that Thanatos knew what was going on.
I sat beside Luxton with Tessa sitting across from us. Luxton still look terrified after what had happened in the church back there. Tessa kept watching the darkened skies, waiting for some sign of Thanatos or his wyverns.
“Did we do it?” she asked. “Did we actually manage to escape Purgatory?”
“Not yet,” said Cain. “We still gotta get back to our world. And there’s bound to be some resistance between here an’ there.”
The waters became rougher. The boat flailed in the river, threatening to capsize each time a wave rose beneath us. Screams came from below us, and I looked over the edge of the boat and saw the lost souls trying to dig their fingers into the hull. I drew my revolver and started firing into them.
“They’re slowing us down!” I shouted.
Cain and Tessa both responded in kind. Like me, Cain used his gun to shoot them away and alternated with his knife to chop off any fingers the blade could reach. Tessa relied on magic to keep them off, zapping the souls with lightning or burning them with fire.
The souls continued their cacophony of wailing. If I concentrated on the sounds, I could make out their voices pleading for help. For some reason, that only made me angrier at them. At first, I was just trying to guarantee our survival. But with every plea I heard, I enjoyed firing into the souls just a little bit more.
Another sound grew louder than the wailing of the lost souls—a deep growl. First in the distance, and then slowly echoing all around us. The waters grew still and I looked over the edge of the boat to see the lost souls sinking below the dark water.
“That’s more ominous than I’d like,” I said.
“He’s coming,” said Cain.
“You ever faced Thanatos before now?” I asked.
Cain shook his head. “Far as I know, no one’s ever even seen him before now.”
“We must hurry,” said Charon, paddling even faster. With the lost souls no longer trying to hold us back, he could increase the boat’s speed, for all the good it would do.
Thunder boomed all around us and the skies lit up with lightning. The winds grew stronger and the boat was met with resistance. Charon tried to compensate for it, but we were back to being tossed around.
Up ahead, I saw things were about to get worse. The current of the water sped up, pulling into one direction, curving around a center. A whirlpool had formed, and we were being pulled right towards it. Charon frantically tried to steer us away from it, but the current was much stronger than him. Just as we were about to be sucked into it, something burst through the water. A wave threw our boat back and we all held onto the edge. The boat landed hard, tipping just a little, and then the unthinkable happened—I fell over.
My body sunk below the surface of the water. Down here, darkness was everywhere. Even with my night-vision, I couldn’t see a damn thing. But then, I felt something tug at my feet. I kicked free, but more hands kept grabbing my ankles.
The lost souls were trying to pull me down, trap me with them. I drew the dagger and bent over, slicing blindly, trying to get them to release me. Something had come out of the whirlpool right before we were thrown, and I knew Cain and Tessa would need my help.
But more than that, I really didn’t want to live out the rest of eternity trapped here with these poor souls. Maybe I’d made some mistakes in my life, but I wasn’t ready to just give in to despair and become part of this place like they had.
I managed to break free and swam up. My lungs felt like they were about to burst, and I couldn’t tell where the surface was. I didn’t even know if I was even swimming up. I had no sense of direction, but I kept kicking frantically, trying to get to the surface.
Just as I was almost done for, something burst into the water. It came so close to my face, I could briefly see it—a hand. I grabbed it and was pulled up. My head broke the surface and I took a deep breath, mingled with coughing.
I looked up and saw that Cain was the one who had saved me. The grizzled old man smiled down at me and pulled me back into the boat. Between coughing fits, I offered a quick thanks, but I knew it wasn’t enough. How many times had Cain saved my life now? First, he’d found me while I was lost in Purgatory. Then, he’d helped us escape Thanatos. And now, he’d saved me from the River Styx.
And all because I’d lied and told him I could give him what he wanted in exchange for his help. The man who invented murder, forever branded as a killer and forced to walk the Earth for all eternity, and he was more honorable than me. Once Cain learned I’d made that deal in bad faith, he would come after me.
He’d be completely justified, too.
“No time to relax, kid,” said Cain. “We got trouble.”
I saw what he meant. I got up to my feet, and where the whirlpool had once been was now a giant sea creature of some sort. It had octopus-like tentacles, but its head was what drew my attention the most. The ram-like skull head of Thanatos was where this thing’s head should be. Seemed Thanatos
had found us, and he could take whatever form he wanted in order to crush us.
“You think you can escape me?”
The voice bellowed, each syllable like a reverberating shockwave. Thanatos came closer to us, his tentacles reaching out for the boat. And the only thing I could think was that this was far above my pay grade. I fought demons and ghosts and monsters. Not godlike beings who ruled entire dimensions.
“Does anyone have a plan?” asked Tessa.
“Fight until we got no more fight left in us,” said Cain.
“That’s not very encouraging,” said Tessa.
“Sorry, darling, but that’s all I got.”
“Luther…?”
I heard Tessa’s question, and I heard her address me. But I was too busy staring in awe and horror at Thanatos’ massive form. It was as if Lovecraft and H.R. Giger’s worst nightmares had had a drunken one-night stand, and this was the result.
“Guess Cain’s right,” I said. “If Thanatos wants to take us down, then he’ll have to choke on us.”
The three of us opened fire, for all the good it did. Thanatos seemed pretty immune to the special rounds Cain and I used. Tessa’s magic fared a little better, but not by much. Thanatos just seemed to shrug off everything we threw at him.
One of his tentacles rose into the air and came crashing down. Charon paddled the boat away from it, and we barely avoided being crushed. But the wave threw us back again. Another tentacle reached for us and wrapped around Cain, pulling him from the boat.
To his credit, Cain wouldn’t give up. He drew his dagger and stabbed the tentacle, trying to get released. Tessa summoned whatever magic she could muster, trying to throw everything at Thanatos. It just wasn’t enough. There had to be another way.
I could hear the voice inside me. I thought I’d managed to keep the demon at bay, but there he was again. Whispering to me. Telling me to open the door and let him out. You know you want me to end this, Luther. I can push Thanatos back, give us a chance to escape.
No, I can’t risk it. Not again.
It’s the only way. You have to accept what you are, Luther. Accept what we are. Otherwise, you will die here. Tessa will die here. And if you both die, if Luxton stays in Purgatory, the angel will be free to bring about the end of the world. Is that a price you’re really willing to pay just to keep me locked up?
The devil you knew weighed against the one you didn’t. There really wasn’t any contest here. I’d manage to lock him back up in the past, but letting him out here in Purgatory was taking things further than I ever had before. The dreamwalk had already proved that the demon had gotten stronger in Purgatory. If I walked through this door, there might never be any going back.
But I no longer had the luxury of choice.
“Fine…” I whispered. “Do it.”
I heard laughter in the back of my head. And then, a rush of power flowed through my body. I wasn’t in control anymore; now, I was just a passenger. Like I was watching myself. When I looked at Tessa, she took a step back and gasped. I didn’t know what I looked like, but some change must have happened.
The rush drew Thanatos’ attention, too. The tentacle that held Cain grew slack and the immortal fell to the water. I moved to the front of the boat and sprung up as Cain paddled over to us.
“How is this possible?” asked Thanatos. His voice still threw out shockwaves, but there was a hint of fear in it now. Even the big, bad ruler of Purgatory was now scared of me. That gave me a rush, but it also frightened me.
There was pain at my back, something breaking free from my shoulder blades. And I hovered in mid-air, right before Thanatos. Did I have wings? How could I have wings?
My hands burned, hellfire forming in my palms. Thanatos swung his tentacles at me, but the demon easily maneuvered my body out of their reach. He flew around Thanatos, hurling orbs of hellfire at him. This wasn’t like the fire spells I usually conjured. This was different. Try as I might, I’d never once in my life been able to summon hellfire. Alistair and the Sons of Solomon had always warned against it; it was something they said was forbidden.
But not to the demon inside me. Now that he had control, he was able to do more with my powers than I’d been capable of in my wildest dreams. And with each strike, Thanatos backed off just a little bit more.
I looked back at the boat and saw that Charon was navigating past us. This distraction was working. I could keep Thanatos at bay just long enough for Charon to get the others back to Earth.
“He never told me what you are,” said Thanatos. “I never expected…”
“Who never told you?” I asked. “The angel?”
“I see it in you, Luther Cross,” said Thanatos. “The power…”
I growled and lashed out with more hellfire, pouring it on him. Thanatos screeched and began to retreat, moving deeper into the River Styx, his form shrinking as he did.
“What do you see in me? Who’s the angel?” I asked.
“We shall meet again, Luther Cross,” said Thanatos. “You truly are your father’s son…”
He sunk beneath the black water, disappearing completely into the inky darkness. I hurled more hellfire into the water, but it dissipated the instant it struck. There was no reaching Thanatos now; he’d retreated. And in the process, he’d left me with more questions.
I flew back to the boat, which had already begun to travel into the rolling fog. I landed on it and felt the wings retreat into my back once more. The demon was still fighting me, though, trying to stay on the outside.
“N-No…” I muttered, trying to fight him back. “You can’t…win…”
Let me stay out here, Luther. Think of all we could accomplish if the two of us work together. Think of all the fun we could have.
I closed my eyes and concentrated my energy on a visualization of the Seal of Solomon. It was powerful enough to control demons and keep them at bay, and by focusing on that, I hoped I could keep him down. I could feel the demon sinking back into me, but his laughter continued.
“What was that?” asked Tessa.
“L-Later…” I muttered. “Let’s get home first.”
But the demon’s voice still echoed in my head. I could hear his words, and they chilled me to the bone: You opened the door, Luther.
32
I’d never been so happy to see a Lake Michigan beach as I was when the mists parted and the moonlight reflected off the water. No one had spoken after I’d used the demon’s power to push Thanatos back, but I could feel Tessa’s eyes on me the whole time. She knew something was up, though she wouldn’t say anything about it yet.
For now, at least, it was over. There was some small measure of comfort in that. And at least we finally had our prize. I looked beside me and saw Luxton sitting there, still in a trance-like state. Raziel could read the imprint the angel left on his soul, which was good. Because if we had to rely on Luxton’s own words, I doubted we’d get much use out of him at all.
Once we came within range, Charon turned the boat so it was parallel with the shore. He raised his oar and a sand dune poked through the surface of the lake, creating a path for us. Charon had done the same thing when he’d first picked us up, and that felt like a lifetime ago now. A lot had happened to me in Purgatory since then.
Tessa gave her thanks to Charon and a small bow of her head, and was the first to disembark. I grabbed Luxton by the back of his shirt and pulled him to his feet, dragging him over to the ferryman.
“Thanks,” I said. “Couldn’t have gotten out of there without you.”
I was about to disembark, but Charon placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and he stared back with those glowing, emotionless white eyes. Didn’t say anything for a few moments, just stared. And then…
“Be careful, Mr. Cross.”
“Yeah…you, too,” I said, and pulled away. I didn’t want to have to look inside those eyes any longer than I had to. Nor did I really want to think about what I knew Charon referred to. The demon’s final words s
till echoed in my head, and Charon’s warning only made it sound like less of a parting taunt and more of a threat.
I stepped onto the dune and was partway down before I glanced over my shoulder. Cain was still on the boat, exchanging some final words with the ferryman. Then, he gave him a hug. I scoffed at that. Would’ve never figured the world’s first murderer for a hugger.
“My debt to you is paid, old friend,” I heard Charon say.
“Sure is, pal,” said Cain, patting Charon on the shoulder. He then turned and hopped from the boat onto the dune.
I waited until Cain came closer, because I just had to ask. “What debt?”
“Recommended him for a job,” said Cain with a smirk.
“You got the ferryman of the River Styx his job?”
“That was back when I still had some connections. They’ve dried up since then,” said Cain. “C’mon, let’s summon your angel buddy and get this show on the road.”
Cain walked ahead of me. I still kept my grip on Luxton’s collar, watching him go on ahead. Once we summoned Raziel, that would be the end of this all. Luxton would be taken away to find out who the angel was, and Cain would find out I’d lied to him.
“Is this…real?” asked Luxton. “Or am I still in a nightmare?”
“Both,” I said, and dragged him toward the shore. “But trust me, you deserve what’s coming and a whole lot worse.”
I made it to the shore and turned around to watch as the dune sunk back beneath the lake. Charon spun the boat and rowed back into the mist. As he disappeared into it, the mist rolled away from the shore until it faded completely. The ferryman was gone.
I shoved Luxton in Cain’s direction. “Watch him,” I said as Cain grabbed hold of him. I knelt down on the ground and started to draw a sigil in the sand. Within the circle were the Enochian characters for Raziel’s name. I muttered the summoning incantation and stepped back.
Devil's Descent (Luther Cross Book 2) Page 21