War of the Damned Boxed Set

by Michael Todd

  The general sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Then there are the churches. Many of the religious people want you.”

  Pandora cackled loudly. That’s it! That is the answer. You could deflower the hierarchy of the church and bring it down with just a few strokes.

  Lord, please don’t continue. I’m actually trying to have a conversation here, Pandora. I know you’re a demon, but if you could hold back on the church comments for just a few minutes, maybe I could get something accomplished.

  Pandora was off in her own little conniving world at that point. Yeah… I’m thinking you start at the bottom and work your way up to the Pope. By the time you’re done, you’ll be wearing the hat, standing on the balcony, and waving at the believers.

  Katie chuckled and wrinkled her nose. I have never looked good in hats.

  Then you can wear the robes and nothing else. It’ll be a new day for the Catholic Church.

  My grandmother is rolling over in her grave right now. Seriously, if there’s an afterlife, I’d rather burn in hell than face Grandma after this conversation.

  Meh, you’ll be fine.

  The general continued talking, not realizing Katie was having a conversation with Pandora in her head. “Then there are those who feel you’re going to become a danger to society.”

  Katie looked down, surprised at the general. “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to become a symbol. I mean, you already fly and kill demons when others can’t, and let’s face it—you aren’t unattractive.”

  Katie scowled and gritted her teeth, making a face like an angry child. “That’s Pandora!”

  “Who is also you, if you haven’t looked in the mirror lately.”

  Katie shook her head. “I don’t want this, General.”

  “Doesn’t matter what you want. You can’t command what others think, and if you could, it would just prove their point. You are officially the most powerful person in this country. The expectation is that you will become the most powerful person in the world in the next five years, give or take a few elected officials and the occasional despot.”

  “Don’t forget work. I could be dead next week.”

  The general grumped. “That would cause those people’s worries to go away.”

  Katie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Not how I expected you to react.”

  “What? You didn’t think I became a general without keeping my sense of humor, did you?”

  Katie flapped her wings a couple of times and stared at the mountains in the far distance. “I want them to know that I’m not trying to take over or use my power to rule the world or anything like that. I’m using it to save lives.”

  “Welcome to politics, where no good deed goes unpunished. If you’re more powerful than someone else, they try to act like your friend while they secretly make plans to stab you in the back. These people are afraid that the masses will follow you and leave all government behind.”

  Katie shook her head and wrinkled her face in anger. “That’s ridiculous. I’m just one person, and I’m no saint. I don’t hide that.”

  “Which makes you even more relatable. I’m not saying you should change who you are. What I’m saying is, you have to be careful. The more powers you have and the more people you save, the more people will come after you. Sure, some are just curious, but most of them want to control you in some way, shape, or form. And if they can’t do that, they’re going to want to be close to you so that when you reach power, or when they think you reach power, they will be right there beside you and not stuck back with everyone else.”

  Katie sighed and lowered her head. “Sometimes I think maybe I should just let the demons take us all. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a bunch of beauty in this world. Its safety has fallen into my hands, and I take that seriously. But sometimes it’s really difficult to remember why I fight so hard to save it.”

  The general returned her sigh, but with a sense of hope hidden beneath. “I know. Do you remember that fight where I picked up that little girl and ran full speed across the field full of demons?”

  Katie shifted the general in her arms, realizing they were getting tired. “Yeah, that was pretty much one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen!”

  “Well, remember her face? You need to. You need to remember that her mother was infected. That’s why we want to save humanity.”

  Katie nodded. “I suppose. Do you really think that nothing in my life is safe? I mean, are they listening to me and watching me at all times?”

  “I don’t know the whens or the wheres, but yes, I think we’re all being bugged. When we get back to Earth, I’ll give you some contacts, and they can help you clean up the bugs. You need a professional.”

  Katie shook her head. “I’ve got my own professional. I need to have somebody I trust do it. It’s not going to do much good if I send someone in to debug me, and they’re the ones that end up actually bugging me. I’ll just need to know that you think you’re clean, too. And if you don’t trust your people, let me know when I can send my person.”

  “Of course. There’s a private guy I completely and totally trust to do the service for me, but I’ll let you know if anything happens to him. I think you are best utilized doing what you do where you’re free to do it however you want. It’s hard enough being you, I’m sure. On top of that, you have to worry about what everybody thinks and feels, and who’s safe or not. Now you have to worry about people coming after you and listening to every single one of your conversations. I’m sure it’s not easy to just relax and let it go.”

  Katie narrowed her eyes and gazed at the horizon, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She had been fighting all of it, and she hadn’t even realized that she had been doing it until that moment. Outwardly, she looked like she was herself, but in reality, she was holding everything back. She was too worried about what other people would think, not realizing it was taking a huge toll on her. “General, I think I’m going to need to own who I am and revel in it to get some of these people to back down.”

  He sighed. “I have no idea what that means.”

  “I don’t have a damned clue, either, but I know who to ask if he would just show up. It’s not easy for me to ask for his help, and Pandora doesn’t make it any easier.”

  Katie could almost feel Pandora grow indignant as she shouted, Damn right, I’m not going to make it easy. You think he’s angelic, but that’s just because you have an English definition of the word. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen.

  Maybe not, but I do know he’s the only one that can help us right now. You’re just gonna have to suck it up.

  Pandora was silent, and Katie was thankful. She didn’t want to argue with her about Gabriel anymore. She glanced at the horizon one last time and then at the ground, finding a large open field where the helicopter could land to pick up the general. Slowly and carefully, she descended, and she bent her legs as her feet touched the grass.

  She set the general down. To his credit, he only stumbled momentarily. He cleared his throat, straightened his tie, and pulled down his jacket, then stood up straight and proud. Katie thought he looked like he had spent the afternoon in a boardroom, rather than flying thousands of feet though in the open air in her clutches. He regarded her seriously. “I’ve never regretted believing in you, Katie.”

  Katie studied him for a moment, only having felt the pull of a father figure once before in her life. It touched her, and she felt the emotion more strongly than she had ever thought she would. She reached up and wiped a single tear away from her cheek. She saw him watching, so she chuckled nervously and shook her head. “General, you’re one of the few men I respect who isn’t on my team. I want you to know that I’ll always have your back.”

  The general inclined his head slightly and patted her on the back, then performed a crisp about-face and headed toward the landing chopper. Katie stood there as the general climbed aboard, and he turned and waved at her. He favored her with one last smile before shutti
ng the door behind him. Katie covered her eyes and tilted her head down as the helo took off. It climbed briefly and then sped off into the distance.

  She breathed deeply, shaking her head as she turned to look around her.

  Pandora groaned. Well, this is just fucking great. Now we’re in the middle of a fucking field with not a taxi in sight, and there goes our ride.

  Katie took in her surroundings, ignoring Pandora’s irritation. She knew she was all alone in the field and that they would have to make it back to the city, but her mind was on something completely different. She was no longer worried about things like that. She was going to force herself to start being the person that she knew she was.

  Katie felt her shoulders raise and her spirits with them. I’m done acting like I’m the same as everyone else.

  Look, I’ve told you for a while now that you gotta be you. Wait, what are you gonna do?

  Switch with me. Take over my body, but let me be in your head.

  Pandora readied herself slowly, unsure where this was going. Okay.

  Katie held the air in her lungs and closed her eyes, feeling the heat of Pandora’s soul taking over her body. When she opened her eyes again, she could see what Pandora was seeing, but she was on the inside. For the first time in a while, she felt like she could actually relax.

  Okay. We’re going to work on you bringing out our wings and putting them back. Katie had opened herself up and was ready for it.

  I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing, but I’ll give it my best shot.

  Pandora centered herself and closed her eyes, imagining the wings on her back. Katie did the same, helping her along until the wings appeared. Pandora opened her eyes and looked back, flapping them strongly and laughing. “Well, this is damn cool. Hold on, let me try to put them back and bring them back out again.”

  Pandora concentrated hard and felt the tingle across her back as the wings folded in and then disappeared. She took a deep breath and popped them back out, smiling and clapping her hands as they flapped wildly behind her. Katie grinned at Pandora’s response, finding it humorous that suddenly she was so engrossed with the wings when she had hated them just a week before.

  Katie looked around through Pandora’s vision, seeing the edges of the wings flapping behind her. Okay, I want you to try to pull them out while I’m fighting you.

  Pandora put the wings away and closed her eyes, concentrating hard on pulling the wings out. Katie was concentrating harder, though. She did not want the wings to come out, and it was working. No matter how hard Pandora tried, the wings stayed inside.

  Katie panted, letting go of her concentration. So, we know now that you can’t use the wings without my permission.

  Oh, great—just what I need. Something else for you to control.

  Katie ignored her. She knew Pandora was going to enjoy what she had in store. Since the helicopter’s gone and we’re in the middle of nowhere, why don’t you give these wings a try?

  Hell, yeah!

  Now, your first time, you want to take it easy. Otherwise, you’re going to end up hurting yourself, and more importantly, me.

  Pfft, I got this.

  Katie sighed and let her have her way. She watched as Pandora took off across the field, flapping her wings. Her feet gently lifted off the ground, then settled back down. Pandora huffed and puffed, pumping her arms as she ran and straining her wings to try to get herself into the air. When she reached her top speed, she leaped and flapped even harder. She lifted for a brief, beautiful moment, then wobbled, and in another heartbeat, she fell back down.

  She grunted as she landed face-first in a mud puddle.

  Katie snickered. You want some donuts?

  Pandora exulted. Girl, I was playing word games to win since before your eldest grandmother knew what her fun box was for. I’m not eating a donut no matter how much you tempt me.

  Are you sure? All I can think about is when the Krispy Kreme donuts come out fresh, hot, and ready, with their slightly crispy outer shell and soft, airy insides. The glaze just drips off your fingers, and you can lick it right up. Oh! And I forgot to tell you, I heard that it’s Krispy Kreme’s anniversary, and if you buy a dozen donuts, you get the second dozen for just a dollar. That’s double the delicious, sweet perfection for half the price.

  Pandora gritted her teeth and shook her head, then pulled herself to her feet and set off at a run. She worked her wings furiously, and cut her eyes at Katie.

  “You know, you can be a real bitch sometimes.”

  Chapter Seven

  “You called for me?” Moloch grumbled as he stepped out of the portal. He looked down at the humans and flexed his large, hideous muscles.

  The two mercenary contacts that Moloch had been using to find the whereabouts of the weapons factory stood there shuddering in their shoes. They may be on his side, but they were absolutely terrified of him.

  One of the two stepped forward and nodded. “We…have some GPS coordinates for you to help you find the base.”

  Moloch growled, annoyed by this. “What demon uses GPS?”

  “Well, you can use them on more than just a GPS. You can find them on Google maps or whatever it is that you use to locate people,” the other mercenary sputtered.

  Moloch narrowed his eyes, not believing that he had found two people so stupid as to think that demons actually used human coordinates to find things. If that were the case, he could have easily done this legwork himself. He didn’t walk around glued to a cell phone like so many of the meatsacks he came upon. He found little use for technology unless it had to do with destroying humanity or bringing more souls to hell.

  Moloch showed the men his teeth. “I don’t use any of that. Have I been mistaken? Are you two idiots that stupid? If you are, I can promise you it’s not going to go over well with me. I can always use a couple of new souls in hell, but I try to make sure they’re at least somewhat intelligent.”

  One of the men gulped and pulled out his cell phone. He held it to Moloch with a shaking hand. “It’s an Android, I don’t like it anyway.”

  Moloch took the phone from him and stared at the thing with confusion. He was not even sure his large fingers could press the buttons.

  The other guy stepped to Moloch and carefully reached over the demon’s arm. He turned the phone on. Moloch breathed foul breath on him, but let the man work the device. He pulled up the map and entered the coordinates. “See, if you put in the coordinates here, it’ll show you exactly where you need to go. If you press maps, it will give you step-by-step directions how to get there from exactly where you are—though I’m assuming you are not going to be traveling by car.”

  Moloch growled again and shoved the phone back at the man. “No, you would be correct. I don’t drive around all over creation looking for weapons manufacturers. That was supposed to be your job!”

  Moloch stood up to his full height. He scratched his craggy chin with his scaled hand, annoyed with the technology and annoyed with the men that were standing in front of him. After some thought, he reached out and grabbed both men by throats. “Keep your phone. I’ll take your souls.”

  Both men yelled loudly as a portal ripped open behind them. Moloch roared laughter and pushed them through the opening, all the way down to hell. The demon landed, still clutching the men by their throats. He took in the look on their terrified faces.

  “Tell me, where does your GPS say you are now?”

  Katie looked out the window at swarms of people on the New York City street below. She was happy to be home. Her trip back to the city wasn’t all that bad, especially since Pandora was learning to fly. She definitely worked up an appetite. As soon as they got back to the city, they went straight to Little Italy to get their favorite foods.

  Okay, I’ll agree on starting out with just the ravioli and the cheese bread appetizer, but that doesn’t mean I agree to stop there.

  Katie chuckled. I’m not going to argue with you. You worked pretty hard out there, and you deserve a l
ittle reward—though I would appreciate it if every time we dropped back down you didn’t scream, “I am Batman.”

  Hey, until I get my own line, I’m using that one, but I guess I could tone it down just a bit. I’m pretty sure I scared the shit out of that farmer when I clipped his hat with your wings.

  Katie smirked, trying not to let anyone see she was having a conversation in her head. Yeah, I would say you did. The poor man is never going to be the same.

  Meh, he’ll just think he was abducted by aliens or something like that. No biggie.

  At least it will make for a fucking hilarious news report.

  The front door of the restaurant opened, and Detective Schultz and Detective Travers ambled in. They stopped at the hostess stand and spoke to the hostess quietly. She glanced nervously at Katie and then pointed the two detectives in her direction.

  Pandora was a little peeved. You would think that if they saw a girl eating at a table, they would give her a chance to finish the damn meal. I mean, seriously! When they get over here, don’t you stop eating.

  The detectives stared across the dining room and smiled at Katie. She ignored them and took a huge bite of her ravioli.

  Okay. But I’ve always been told it’s rude to talk with your mouthful.

  Hey, they walked into one of the exceptions. They have no idea just how many calories flying takes. I’m not even going to have to reroute these calories until we get to the third course.

  Katie swallowed hard, shaking her head. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about a third course?

  I told you I wasn’t done at ravioli.

  Yeah, but I thought you meant like maybe another couple slices of garlic bread and some tiramisu. I didn’t think that you are gonna go all out, like that first time we went to the Italian restaurant in Las Vegas.

  Pandora snorted laughter. Oh, that was priceless. That next morning when Damien knocked on the door, you scared the crap out of him. I think I replayed his face in my mind at least a hundred times. He wasn’t sure whether you were having an orgasm or your appendix had burst. Either way, he looked like he was about to fall to pieces.