War of the Damned Boxed Set

by Michael Todd

  “I’m not hungry.” He pushed away the platter Baal offered and banged the table with a sulky fist. “If there was any worse way to fuck up a war, T’Chezz would have found it. What a fucktard that bastard was. I’m glad he got his stupid ass blown to the bottom of the pit. A few centuries there might teach him some things about being an actual demon.”

  “You haven’t heard?” Baal asked, pushing a recalcitrant kitten further back into his mouth before closing it.

  Moloch frowned at Baal. “Heard what?”

  Baal put down his napkin and stared at Moloch. “T’Chezz can’t be found. As far as Lucifer is aware, T’Chezz is really dead.”

  “I thought only angels could do that,” Moloch whispered to himself, continuing to pace.

  “Yes, well, you know his sister was no angel.” Baal pushed back from the table and stood up, rubbing his belly.

  Moloch nodded as Baal left the room. He followed him out and watched as he jumped across the flowing lava pits, put his claw in a writhing soul’s face, and pushed him back down into the bubbling magma.

  Moloch shook his head and went back into his castle. He meandered through the halls, thinking about everything that had happened during the Incursion.

  T’Chezz had driven him nuts, taking credit for work he didn’t do, being too scared to go out and lead his troops himself, and constantly whining to Moloch. He had used him to get the war started on Earth, but had ended up pushing him through a portal to land right at Katie and Pandora’s feet.

  Pandora taking over her human’s body like that had been a bit of a surprise, but once she was in the fight it hadn’t been shocking that she’d won. Pandora, better known in Hell as Lilith, was Lucifer’s wife.

  She was powerful, strong, and had a set of brass balls on her that didn’t quit. She had it out for T’Chezz since he was the one who had tricked her and sent her back to Earth.

  T’Chezz knew she was stronger than him but refused to admit it, and in the end it had gotten him killed. He had always been too full of himself anyway.

  Moloch had assumed he had gone where every other demon went when they were killed on Earth, to the deep levels of hell. It would take a demon hundreds of years to pull themselves out. There was, however, no hiding from Lucifer. If Lucifer couldn’t find you in his own playground, you weren’t there. Moloch found T’Chezz’s absence extremely perplexing.

  From the beginning of time, when the angels had fallen from heaven, it had been set up so that no one but an angel could kill a demon. That included Lucifer, since he was the original fallen angel.

  Angels, however, tended to stay away from demons unless a denizen of hell crossed a line. Moloch had watched the entire fight between Pandora and T’Chezz; no one else had interfered. The blade that had cut off his head had been in Pandora’s hand, or rather the hand of her human capsule.

  It just didn’t make any sense.

  He stomped back into the dining room and sat down, popping a kitten into his mouth and chewing. The servant scurried in and filled Moloch’s cup before running from the room, but Moloch didn’t even feel like torturing anyone that day.

  That was how distressed he was.

  “T’Chezz has turned me into a pansy,” he growled. “He ruined everything with his idiotic ideas and impatience. If he isn’t dead already, I’ll make sure he ends up that way.”

  Damian took one of the blacked-out SUVs into the city, glad to be driving instead of flying off somewhere in the chopper—not that they had ever gotten it fixed. At least Korbin was no longer pissed that the demons had taken it down on Incursion Day, since he could no longer remember the chopper or anything else about his former life.

  He had spent a hell of a lot of money on that helicopter, and it had been his baby.

  As Damian drove through the city, he noticed that the streets weren’t as packed as they usually were. People weren’t traveling, and they definitely weren’t going to high-traffic places where there was a better likelihood of getting caught in the middle of a fight.

  The world was a different place now. There was a war going on right on their doorsteps with an enemy none of them understood. The churches had been ecstatic that so many people had turned to them, but Damian knew most of the newly religious were just looking for answers.

  He turned the SUV down a side street and drove into the parking lot of a small white church surrounded by a very old (for Las Vegas) cemetery.

  He patted the cross in his pocket and scanned the area, something he had gotten in the habit of doing recently. He didn’t like to be caught off-guard, and that seemed to be the name of the game for the demons who had been coming Earth-side recently.

  He had made it too far and too long to be taken out by accident. If he had to go, he wanted it to be in a blaze of glory.

  Damian climbed out of the SUV and walked around the church to the back. When he went inside, to his right were several people cooking in the church kitchen, getting ready for their soup kitchen that night. To his left was a conference room with three priests around a table. Two of them were older, and Damian recognized both of them. The third was much younger and looked slightly nervous as he stared at Damian.

  They all stood when he came into the room.

  The Bishop held out a hand. “Damian, it’s good to see you.”

  “Bishop Ellsworth, so good to see you.” Damian ignored the proffered hand and hugged him tightly.

  “This is Bishop Carter,” he said pointing to the other older gentleman. “And Michael, one of our priests.”

  Both nodded at Damian, although Michael still looked afraid of him. The young priest was new to the knowledge of physical demons on Earth, and had only seen the damage and destruction they had caused.

  He had just learned of Damian and others like him who served with the mercenaries after being infected, and he wasn’t sure what to make of them or whether he could trust Damian.

  The bishops had told him it was just another way to fight Lucifer, but Michael had a hard time believing a man of God could take anyone’s life, demon or not.

  Bishop Ellsworth showed Damian to his seat before returning to his own. He smiled kindly at Damian, something the Damned priest hadn’t seen in a long time from a church representative. They had treated him as somewhat of a pariah since his infection, and he wasn’t sure even then if the smile was real or just a reflection of the bishop’s fear.

  Damian got the meeting moving. “How has the church been doing?”

  Bishop Ellsworth nodded. “Very well, Damian. Recovering from the incursions, but people are rolling through the doors to give their lives to Christ. Sunday is quite the spectacle here, standing room only. You should come and give a sermon sometime. It would be refreshing and uplifting for the people to know there are men of God strong enough to fight Lucifer’s demons.”

  “Of course, though I may be a bit rusty.”

  “I doubt that. You’ve never lacked for words.” Ellsworth smirked. “I’ve heard several of your sermons over the years. They have been extremely articulate and very well thought out.

  “And we are always impressed to see the neighborhood boys show up after a night out. I met a young man just the other day who said he had a beer with you and you turned him on to the church. Bravo!”

  Damian smiled, not used to hearing praise for his drinking or time at bars. He was proud that he had convinced some of the guys to start going to church.

  Sometimes he felt that since he was Damned he had developed a gift for talking to people about the Faith. It wasn’t what he had expected after having a demon inside of him, but he wasn’t going to complain.

  “So, what can I do for three of you today?”

  Ellsworth put his hands on the table in front of him and grinned. “You always know when the church is calling on you.”

  Damian nodded. “I’ve kind of developed a sixth sense over the years.”

  “Good, that means your eyes are open to serving. Now, to jump right into it, we are creating a new gr
oup of priests who will support local parishes with their presence and assistance in any way. We are doing this because of the War of the Damned. Many houses of God are in over their heads, and we need strong leadership from men like you. Every group has to build their own team, but the church desperately requires warriors, Damian. People with the experience to start a grassroots movement helping and teaching while doing God’s work.”

  “That is interesting, but I am Damned. I am supposed to provide the mercenaries with religious support until I am either demon-free or I die.”

  “True, those were the old rules, but we all have to change with the times. The old rules are dead; they are of no use to us today. In short, you can leave the mercenaries if you want to.”

  Damian’s eyebrows rose. “Really? That is sanctioned?”

  “All the way from the top,” Michael cut in. “Excuse me.”

  “No, please. It’s nice to have a fresh new face.” Damian smiled. “We old fogies tend to get stuck in the old days.”

  “Even the Pope of the Catholic Church has sanctioned breaking those rules. They can see that the need for outreach far outweighs keeping Damned priests away from the public. In fact, we see it as a positive thing—a strength in God, even with a demon inside you.”

  “I don’t expect you to answer right away,” Ellsworth replied. “I know you have been in the mercenaries for quite some time and you have made a life with them, but please say you will consider it?”

  “Of course, Bishop. I will pray about it. The Lord will show me the right path.”

  “Excellent,” Ellsworth exclaimed. “Now that the hard part is over let’s head upstairs. Communion awaits.”

  Damian nodded and waited until the three men had risen and walked toward the door. He stood up and looked at the cross on the wall.

  He loved being a mercenary, or at least he had brought himself to a place of acceptance since he hadn’t believed he would ever have another option. But offered the possibility, he couldn’t help but consider it. It was a request from his church and an opportunity to spread his knowledge to the community.

  He followed the others up the stairs with a feeling of hope in his chest for the first time in years.

  Katie’s eyes were clenched shut and her tangled hair was all over the pillow, some of it in the puddle of drool under her cheek. Angels were floating around in her dreams, watching her with curiosity.

  She could look beneath the ground and see the depths of hell and Lucifer sitting on his throne of bones. A chorus of the angels caroled serenely in her mind, bringing her a peace she hadn’t experienced since before she had been infected.

  Pandora sat quietly inside Katie, watching the clock on the nightstand. Her mind was all over the place, thinking about the other night, Moloch, the kidnapping, and the demons who had been close by without her even realizing until she was right on top of their scents.

  When the clock hit 8:30 Pandora made the sound of a trumpet in Katie’s head. Wakey, wakey, human. Time to get up.

  Katie groaned, pulling the covers up over her head. Why are you such a miserable bitch?

  It’s not the time for compliments, it’s time to get your lazy ass out of this bed. The damn donuts aren’t fresh anymore.

  Katie turned over on her back and angrily pulled the covers off her face. It’s a fucking vacation, wench! Let me sleep.

  Nope. Time to get up. You promised me donuts.

  Fine, but don’t go pretending you won. I have to pee anyway.

  Whatever gets you moving.

  Katie rolled out of the bed and shuffled into the bathroom. As she washed her hands, she looked at the dark circles under her eyes in the mirror. She was exhausted, and not just from being drugged last night and running after her abductor. It felt like the last almost two years had suddenly come down on her. She just wanted to climb back in bed.

  “But nooo,” she whined out loud. “I gotta get up early to feed the mighty Pandora. One day I’d like to sleep the fuck in.”

  You can sleep when you’re dead. Unless you go to hell. There’s no sleeping in hell.

  Yeah, well, since you came around my chances for an afterlife of fire and lava is twice as likely, so while I’m here you could at least let me get up on my own clock.

  I warned you last night I was getting you up early for donuts.

  Whatever. Let’s go. Katie was already dressed, such as it was, and she pulled on a pair of dark sunglasses. As they took the elevator down Katie leaned against the glass, hating her life. People got on and off, but she didn’t change her position or her facial expression. She exited into the lobby and walked up to the concierge desk.

  “How can I help you?”

  She sounded just as tired as she felt, if a bit more cross. “I was wondering if you could point me toward donuts?”

  “Ah, yes. My suggestion would be Trejo’s Donuts on Santa Monica Blvd right by Highland Ave. They have some of the best donuts in Las Angeles. Try the Lemon Papi, it’s amazing.”

  “Thank you.” Katie smiled, chuckling at his reaction. Look, a man as obsessed with donuts as you, P.

  If only he hadn’t been here since the Hollywood sign was built, we might make a pass.

  Jesus, he wasn’t that old, and you are one to talk. I am pretty sure you were out raising hell with the primitives in BC.

  You are mistaken. I am only twenty-three.

  Yeah, me too. No, wait! Katie replied groggily. I am definitely closer to twenty-three than you are.

  They caught a cab to Trejo’s and took a deep breath of the specialty donuts as they pushed through the door. Katie got a half a dozen, convincing Pandora that without a fridge in the room they would just go bad like the others.

  She eventually agreed, but not until after Katie told her she would bring her back before they left the city. They sat down at a table outside, eating and enjoying a cup of coffee. When Katie was done she thanked the people who worked there and headed out, donning her sunglasses again as she strolled down the street.

  On the corner was a shop, Broomsticks & Occultus, and Katie made a quick turn inside. The woman behind the counter was tall and probably somewhere around forty-five, and she was wearing a long green skirt and a tank top. Her hair flowed down her back, stopping just above her butt. She looked at Katie kindly.

  “Can I help you today?” she asked.

  Katie smiled. “Yes, actually. I need a book on angels.”

  No, you don’t. You don’t need that at all. Stop yanking the woman’s chain. Pandora was starting to get a bit nervous. Seriously, what would some human know about angels anyway? They are elusive creatures, keeping out of the mainstream on Earth.

  Katie ignored Pandora and followed the woman to the section on Angels. She picked out several books, and while she paid for them the woman stared at her slightly red eyes. She wasn’t scared, though; she remained completely calm. Katie took her books and headed back out. She was determined to figure out her dream and whatever secret was being kept from her.

  The angels were her first clue.

  Chapter Six

  Katie sat down in the living room of her suite and put her feet up on the ottoman.

  She let out a deep breath and smiled, putting her hands back behind her head. She had her new books to read, but she wanted to relax for a little while and take in the peace and quiet. After downing those six donuts and buying the books against Pandora’s tantrum of discouragement, the demon had been quiet, and Katie was okay with that.

  It was nice to have a clear mind for once on their trip. She had been drugged, kidnapped, killed a demon, found another dead, and sent a ghost to the next realm. That was more than enough excitement for her for one vacation.

  She felt for the woman from the fourteenth floor. It was obvious she wasn’t a cold-hearted murderer, but she had still killed two people. It had been a crime of passion where a broken heart had led her to pull the trigger on two people—three if she counted the suicide.

  She wondered if that woman would
go to heaven or hell, but she didn’t want to ask Pandora. Katie might have become a tough-as-nails warrior, but there were still some things about the afterlife that she wanted to keep a mystery.

  If the answer was hell she would feel bad for the woman, but if the answer was heaven she would question everything she knew about the place.

  Instead of obsessing over it, she grabbed the remote and turned on the television, flipping through the channels until she came to an old black and white movie. She loved those movies, or at least she used to.

  When she was an innocent young college student thinking volleyball was her biggest struggle, she’d had a romantic idea about the world. She craved a love like the ones in the old movies; simple, with no drama.

  There was passion behind the kisses and sparkles in their eyes, and it always ended on a happy note. She had since found out that was as far from the real world as you could get.

  The only guy she had gotten the least bit romantic with had died in a major incursion, and since then love had been the furthest thing from her mind.

  She was happy for people like Korbin and Stephanie who, with a little help from her and Pandora, got their happy ending. Katie didn’t think it was something that she would ever find, at least not in the life she was living now. Until she did, she was content to keep fighting demons and protecting innocent lives.

  If the universe had different ideas for her, she would find out eventually.

  We should go shopping.

  Katie groaned. I just want to sit here in the sunshine from the window and enjoy the silence. No growling demons, no angry humans, no fighting, no ghosts, just quiet.

  You are lame.

  Yeah, well, you need to chill out. I know you’re stuck in me and you want to do interesting things, but you are going to have to compromise this time. You won’t even let me sleep in when it’s obvious my body needs to.

  You are so human.

  Maybe, she responded quietly, looking at the book. The movie wasn’t holding her interest.