by Michael Todd
Katie shook her head and pulled her short swords as the wave of demons met her.
Juntto fought hard and fast, smashing demons apart as they jumped at him. They stabbed their long talons into his skin, but he kept going, taking the blows in stride and giving them right back.
In the distance, Moloch had gotten to his feet. He had rallied his giant demons and was charging toward them at a damned fast pace—too fast for her liking. His eyes were gleaming red, and he was madder than fuck. He was staring right at Katie. She knew he was coming for her and Pandora. “Come and get it, you big fuck.”
Pandora cackled. Big fucking idiot, small fucking dick. I mean, even for his size, you can barely see it when he runs.
Katie wrinkled her nose. There you go again with the giant demon dicks. We talked about this.
Watch out!
Katie ducked as a demon sliced his claws at her. She stabbed one sword into his belly and then yanked up, cutting him completely in half. The demon screeched and burst into dust, which flowed into the cracks in the rocks at her feet. She swung her short swords right and left, taking several heads off and watching them roll toward the oncoming hordes.
Juntto was making his way back toward the team, falling to one knee as he flung demons off his back. He growled out and slammed his body upward with force, sending beasts flying all over the place. He gritted his teeth as he ran for the castle, blood pouring from a dozen wounds, and streaming from the corner of his mouth. They were all bleeding, all struggling, but Moloch was close. Their objective was almost complete.
In her mind, Katie could see that little girl’s blue eyes shining. She just had to push herself harder.
She had to make this work.
The whole world was watching, and she had to send the message that no one was going to mess with her people and get away with it.
Calvin tripped, cursed, and pulled himself to his feet, then turned quickly, shooting a demon in the face. He grabbed one of the last wounded soldiers and ran him to Brock, who took him up the stairs and through the portal. Calvin sighed and wiped the dust from the front of his mask.
He was more than ready to get the fuck out of hell.
He took a step forward and grunted, feeling a clawed hand around his arm. He tried to pull away, but the demon was strong and grabbed his other arm. Across the line Katie saw what was happening and slashed her swords, trying to get to him, but the crowd of demons had grown too thick.
Another demon jumped in front of Calvin and grabbed him around the neck, holding him still. Calvin twisted, staring the demon in the eyes while trying to get free.
Katie slashed her sword through the demons, only getting an inch closer to Calvin each time. He struggled to pull his short sword, but a huge demon wrapped him in a great bear hug, pinning his arms to his sides. Katie sliced wildly, trying to push through the crowd of demons. The fiend in front of Calvin pulled back one large claw, ready to strike him dead where he stood.
Calvin shut his eyes tightly and prayed. Katie screamed.
Juntto came forward, ripping the head off the demon behind Calvin. The demon fell to the ground. Juntto slammed a huge fist into another demon’s mouth, breaking his jaw and sending him sprawling. Free to move, Calvin pulled his gun and fired five shots into his attacker’s head and neck. Ash billowed around him a moment later.
Juntto put out his fist for a bump and Calvin chuckled, impressed. “Nice. Getting with the times, my man.”
“Time to get the fuck out of here,” Juntto whispered, grabbing Calvin by the waist and throwing him toward the portal.
“Thaaaanks, asshoolllle,” Calvin yelled as he soared through the portal and out of sight.
Katie laughed and mouthed, “Thank you” to Juntto as they stood there in the sea of demons. He gave her one of his big smiles, but it only lasted for a second. His body jolted as Moloch reached out and grabbed Juntto by the waist. He lifted the frost giant to his face. “Well, well, you aren’t dead after all. And we killed that poor Arnold guy, thinking he was the mystery fellow.”
Juntto gritted his teeth. “You killed the Terminator?”
Moloch tilted his large head back and laughed loudly, squeezing Juntto even tighter to keep him from growing.
Katie couldn’t just let Juntto die like that. Pandora, are all the rest out?
Pandora sniffed. Sure are. You thinking what I’m thinking?
Katie chuckled nervously. I don’t know, but it’s fucking nuts.
Good. It’s about damn time.
Katie swiped her hand toward the portal, and it slammed shut.
She was alone in hell.
Katie’s eyes blazed blue, and she ran to Moloch. She raised a hand and summoned her angel sword, casting a heavenly light in the dim glare of hell. She lashed out and stabbed Moloch in the leg. He grunted and kicked at her, knocking her to the ground. He threw Juntto down to look at the glowing wound on his ankle. “Fucking angels. How dare you come in here?”
He grabbed Juntto again before the Leviathan could get himself together. Katie stood up and held her sword in front of her, letting her giant wings unfold. The hordes of demons stopped and quickly backed up in fear. “I won’t let you hurt any more humans or their allies, you big ugly bastard.”
Katie’s knees began to buckle as the pressure of hell, and her angel powers wore her down. Fuck, I don’t have enough, Pandora. I just don’t.
Pandora pulled her strength inward. Don’t worry, sweetie. Momma’s got this one on lockdown.
Pandora leaped from Katie’s chest, immediately growing as tall as Moloch, who turned toward her in surprise. In her true form, Pandora was beautiful and nightmarish at the same time. She reared back, slapping him hard across the face. “That’s for calling me a bitch, you fucking dickwad.”
She snatched Juntto from Moloch and set him on the ground next to Katie. “Get her up top. I’ll be with you in just a second. I got a dear old friend to get reacquainted with.”
Juntto scooped Katie’s exhausted body into his arms and ran around the two giant demons, taking the stairs two at a time. He stopped with his back to the wall of the castle and covered Katie’s head with his arms to protect her. He had waited a very long time to see what he was about to see, and it wasn’t only because Pandora was about to fight butt-ass naked.
Pandora circled Moloch, her eyes narrowed. “How dare you come to my planet, pick on my friends, and think I wouldn’t come knocking on your fucking door?”
Moloch swung his club wildly and missed. “Oh, I knew you would come knocking. In fact, I was counting on it. I’m sure that your husband would love to take a look at you now. He’s got a torture cage all set up for you in his lair. You’ve been a bad girl, Lilith.”
She slapped the club out of his hand and grabbed his shoulders. “One, he’s my ex.”
She slammed her knee into his groin. “Two, I only like it when a sexy man tells me I’ve been bad. You just make it creepy.”
She reared back and slugged him hard across the face, sending him down on one knee. He rubbed his cheek and growled. With great effort, he pushed himself up and backhanded Pandora hard across the face. She stumbled back and shook the shock out of her vision. “Why does it not surprise me that you would hit a woman?”
Moloch laughed. “You’re not a woman. You are just a common fucking fallen-angel whore. In fact, I heard God actually threw a party with Gideon when you left. He no longer had to deal with a charity case.”
Pandora’s eyes shone bright red and she charged Moloch, slamming her fists on his shoulders, then kicked him in the stomach over and over until he fell to his knees. She stepped back and backhanded him across one cheek, then the other, then did it again. He looked up at her with black blood coming from his mouth, laughing loudly. “Don’t you understand, Lilith? You are no longer the queen. We no longer have to fear you. You are nothing but another dirty demon, infecting humans to get your kicks.”
Pandora screamed, grabbing a boulder and slamming it over Moloch’s
head. He rose to his feet, dusting the ashes from his shoulders. Pandora walked up to him and put her finger in his face. “You come to Earth again and I’ll come down here and cut the dick off every demon in this place, feed them to you, and then castrate you for the world to see.”
She kicked him hard between the legs and took off running, shrinking as she climbed up the stairs. She stopped in front of Juntto and looked down at Katie. “Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here. I’m ready to blow this dickhole to shreds. I’m starting to feel that hell might just be a little too goth for me.”
She opened a small portal and grabbed Juntto, pulling him and Katie through it and slamming it shut behind them. Juntto held on to Katie as Pandora ran naked across the hangar bay, everyone staring at her wildly.
Calvin gave her a glance and then looked at the monitor. Pandora took a deep breath. “It’s time.”
Calvin handed her the switch. “Oh, girl, this is your treat. I’m pretty sure you have the longest-running beef with that fool.”
Pandora watched the monitor. In hell, Moloch stood up laughing. “What, Lilith, are you weak? That wasn’t a portal. I’ll show you a portal from hell.”
Pandora shook her head. “Maybe next time, fuckface.”
She pressed the button, and the claymores began exploding all around him. The explosions came closer.
Moloch tried to leap away, but an explosion caught him in mid-air.
The bombs blew like fireworks, shaking and rattling the drones in the sky. The shockwave sent many of them spiraling to the ground. Only one continued operating. There was fire and smoke, then nothing. After a moment, a large chunk of meat came out of the smoke and stopped right in front of the drone.
It was Moloch’s giant fucking arm. The thing was surrounded by great heaps of ash and scores of severed limbs. The surviving demons retreated as fast as they could. They didn’t know if Moloch was dead, but not a single one of them waited to find out. If he wasn’t dead, he was going to take it out on anything he could find.
The whole hangar erupted in cheers and Calvin hugged Pandora tightly, lifting her into the air. Slowly he pulled back and put his hands up, signaling that he hadn’t touched anything he shouldn’t have. He had forgotten she was completely naked.
Pandora looked at him, surprised. “You weren’t exaggerating after all. I knew it all along. Didn’t doubt you for a second. Long Dong Silver—that’s your new name.”
Calvin narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? You know, keeping someone alive?”
Pandora followed his eyes to Katie. “Oh, shit, yeah. Bitch can’t survive without me…what can I say? I guess I can’t really survive without her, either, so I think we’re square.”
She ran across, all the guys watching her her body bounce like a porn version of Baywatch. As she dove back into Katie’s body, she flashed a smile to the guys and blew them a kiss. Calvin followed her and knelt next to Katie. She was breathing but unconscious. Juntto stood over them looking worried.
Calvin had seen it before. “Pandora has to heal her. Give her a minute. She will come back to us. You okay?”
Juntto shifted slightly, holding his breath. “Yeah, yeah, Juntto’s fine.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The base was absolutely silent. The halls were still. The soldiers, freshly returned from hell, did not joke or brag. The computers sat unused. Brock crossed his arms nervously on his chest and stood over Juntto. Katie’s body lay in Juntto’s lap, her eyes still closed. Turner and their teammates bunched together, unsure what to do at that point. No one could fathom the idea of Katie not waking up.
The captain held his phone in one hand. He had promised General Brushwood that he would call at the first sign of Katie moving. Those soldiers who were not wounded had finished taking the bodies of the fallen to the medical building and now came back, sitting silently on the floor and waiting. All anyone could do at that moment was wait.
Even Pandora didn’t make a sound or try to move. Inside Katie, she used all her powers to bring Katie back to a conscious state.
The clock ticked on the wall, the first time anyone had noticed it. The heat had dissipated from the room. Soldiers had long since hung up their atmospheric suits.
Calvin knelt next to Katie, patting her hand. “Come on, girl. Wake up. We’re all here waiting for you.”
Her hand twitched in his, and he looked up at Juntto. Juntto adjusted her head, and she let out a small groan. Her eyeballs moved under her eyelids, and they flickered open. She gripped Calvin’s hand and let out a deep breath as if she had been holding it all that time. Her eyes opened and she blinked, trying to focus them in the harsh light of the hangar.
“Hey, hey, take it easy. You’re right here with us,” Calvin whispered.
A small smile moved across her lips. Calvin grinned.
Pandora let out a sigh of relief. Holy hell, bitch. Seriously, I thought I was going to be stuck inside a damn vegetable for the rest of my life. Why would you freak a bitch out like that? You have got to learn how to be a better friend.
Did we get him?
Pandora chuckled. We blew the shit out of that fucker. Didn’t see his body. Well, except for his severed arm.
Nice.
She shifted her gaze to Juntto, who looked like he was in pain. He stared down at her with his eyes shifting colors. They turned a brilliant blue, then shifted to green, then yellow, and back again. His arms trembled beneath her, but he didn’t say a word. He forced a smile onto his lips and lifted her to a sitting position. “How are you feeling?”
Katie smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. He leaned in, whispering to her, “Don’t think I don’t know you could have left me. And don’t think you will be getting rid of me now.” He cleared his throat and raised a fist. “Not when I still need to learn how to kick ten-year-old asses on Xbox.”
He covered his mouth as he coughed, trying to hide the blood coming from his mouth. “I have been practicing Halo now for about a week, and I think I will be a champion soon. I decided, though, that emperoring isn’t really my thing. I just like to fight and kill bad guys. Or, at least kick villain’s asses. Or any ass, really, but in my current position, I’ll say villainous asses. I can kick anyone’s ass on a video game, though.”
Katie laughed and put her hand on his chest, straining her voice. “Good. Oh, and I think Angie is starting to miss you being there. She told me that while you were gone, she was going to get your Halo character a higher ranking so you would enjoy the game better when you got back.”
The thought nearly brought a tear to his eye. “She was a great choice. You did good with her. She is a badass, but human too. Don’t forget she’s human.”
Katie furrowed her brow. “You can tell her all that when we get back. She would love to hear that, even if she says differently.”
He smiled, and there was blood on his teeth. “Deal.”
Calvin helped Juntto to his feet. “Why don’t we get Katie to medical to get checked out? You should come too. You are pretty beat up, brother.”
Juntto shook his head. “I heal fast. I’ll be fine. Take care of Katie first. All these people depend on her. They need her to save the humans, right?”
Calvin chuckled. “That’s for damn sure.”
Calvin nodded at the medical team standing by. They rolled the cart down and helped Juntto and Calvin pick Katie up and carefully lay her on the gurney. She gripped Calvin’s hand tightly and smirked. “We stuck a bomb up Moloch’s ass.”
Calvin laughed. “I know. Motherfucker didn’t know what to do with himself. When you get better, you can watch the playback.”
Katie pointed at Calvin. “You better get a copy of that shit. We can watch it on family night.”
Calvin turned and towered over the medics. “You make her comfortable. No scratchy fucking blankets. Whatever she wants, you get it for her, and that includes donuts. Listen to her when she’s telling you something. Her demon is healing her. If you have a television, bring
that shit in, too. She likes the soaps.”
Katie giggled. “I’m not scary. Just ignore him. The way my demon works, I’ll be back in action in two hours. But I would get the donuts if I were you. She tends to get grumpy without them. Thanks, Calvin.”
The medics wheeled her up the ramp and into the building. Calvin let out a deep breath, putting his hand to his chest. “This job is going to kill me yet.”
Just then, Juntto fell to his knees, groaned, and collapsed on the floor. Calvin’s eyes went wide, and he dropped down next to him. “Just lie still, buddy. We’ll get you some help.”
Juntto shook his head, reaching up and taking Calvin’s hand. “I’m sure my body will heal. If it doesn’t, I have lived a life worth a million stories.” He coughed, blood splattering his palm. “Stories they would make songs about where I come from. Have I ever told you about my home, Calvin?”
Calvin sat down next to him, glancing up at Brock. “No, man. Tell me about it.”
Juntto smiled. “It’s fucking beautiful. Clear purple skies and deep blue oceans surrounded by lush green grassy hills. We have creatures that change colors depending on the temperature, and villages built for families. We were all family, caring for each other despite any blood relation. We had enemies, but that was how I became a warrior.”
Juntto’s voice faded, his eyes slipping shut. Calvin tightened his grip. “Tell me about your family.”
Juntto opened his eyes and smiled. Not a vicious smile, but a soft, wistful one. “They were wonderful. And then there was Lucivia. She was a beautiful girl who lived in the next village over. She had the bluest eyes and the brightest smile. She died when we were young adults, but she was my one love. Ha. Imagine me with a love, right?”
Calvin smiled. “Oh, man, we all gotta love someone.”
Juntto coughed again, barely shaking his head. He shut his eyes.