Paid In Full

by Rachel Rawlings

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Part of me wanted to pull away, wanted him to hurt as much as I had; to make him suffer a little. The other part, the part that wasn’t Elioud, won out. Instead of rejecting his touch, I leaned in to it.

  “I never do.” His fingers trailed along my hairline and along my jaw until he cupped my face in his hands.

  “Never is a long time, Sin Eater.”

  “So is forever, Demon Hunter, but that’s how long you’re stuck with me.” Before I could argue about the longevity of us or our situation, his lips found mine, ending further conversation with a kiss.

  Opening myself up to the kiss and to Dane made less room for the Elioud, a welcome side-effect of something I already enjoyed immensely. Hands roamed, his and mine, slipping beneath shirts in a heated rush to feel more skin. To connect with each other. Wrapping a leg around his waist, I pulled him in, pressed him against me.

  “Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”

  “Hello, Tobias.” Dane greeted the angel in clipped tones, reluctantly pulling away from the kiss that had quickly been leading to something more.

  “Sorry for the intrusion.” The angel wrung his hands, obviously distraught about whatever it was he’d come to say. “I have some new information.”

  “Why do I get the feeling it’s bad news?” Reluctantly pushing Dane away, I slid off the bar stool and walked around the island to the counter with the coffee pot. “Anybody else want coffee?”

  When no one answered, I grabbed one coffee pod from the box on the counter and waited a whole thirty seconds for my coffee to brew. Never more grateful for the invention of the Keurig, I pulled out the mug filled with French roast with just enough room for a shot, or two, of whiskey…which I added before taking a seat on the couch in the living room.

  Tobias and Dane were already seated, waiting for me to join them so the conversation could begin.

  “If it’s about the spear, we already talked to Maloney.” Taking a slow sip of my spiked coffee, I eyed Tobias over the rim of the mug. Something was off with him. Whatever he’d some to say had to be really bad if he was this unnerved.

  “Yes, I’m aware of that. More than one Principal thought you really were going to shoot Maloney. Nevertheless, permanently banishing Lazarus was an unexpected bonus.” Tobias’s gaze shifted to Dane, to the floor and then the ceiling. He looked everywhere but directly at me.

  “Did you know about him? About the spear?” Fingers wrapped around my mug, I leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Did you know he was going to betray us?”

  “Not really, no. The higher power just sort of lays it out for us to play it out. Free will and all that.” Fidgeting in his seat, Tobias gave his shoes more attention than me.

  “I thought only people had free will.” Cocking my head to the side, I leaned forward a little more in an attempt to make Tobias look at me.

  “Now, if that were true, could the Morning Star have fallen from grace only to become the Prince of Darkness?” Tobias slipped a hand into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a folded-up Rand McNally street map of Baltimore. “But let’s skip the history lesson for today, shall we, and focus on the task at hand. Retrieving the spear in whatever form it is now in.”

  He placed a brochure for the Baltimore Museum of Art on top of the map. Our eyes locked for a moment as he stood, and I didn’t like what I saw reflecting back at me. It resembled something along the lines of regret.

  “We have reason to believe the spear is in Baltimore. On display.” Clasping his hands behind his back, the angel walked to the large window overlooking the city below.

  “At the BMA?” Dane apparently shared my disbelief.

  “I’ve lived in Baltimore all my life. I know where the museum is. What’s with the map?” There was more, I could feel it.

  “The original objectives remain. The search for the spear doesn’t change that. I’ve marked several potential portal locations on the map.”

  “What aren’t you telling us, Tobias?” Emptying my mug in one large gulp, I set it on the coffee table and joined him at the window. “There’s something else, something the Principals don’t want us to know.”

  “He wants to turn you, Jax. He wants it more than anything.” Tobias met my gaze and held it for the first time since he’d arrived. “I fear it’s already begun. You must resist him. The closer you are to Heaven, the more tormented you are by Hell, but you must resist.”

  Before I could reply, Tobias disappeared as quickly and quietly as he’d arrived.

  “Well, that wasn’t foreboding or anything. What the hell was that about?” Trying to laugh it off and defer the questions I knew Dane would have, I went back to the table for the map and museum pamphlet.

  “What did he mean, it’s already begun?” Dane slammed his hand down on the brochure and map before I could grab them.

  “No clue.” With a shrug, I grabbed my mug instead of the papers and headed back to the kitchen for a refill.

  “Don’t fucking lie to me, Jax.”

  Gripping the counter with both hands, for both support and a distraction, I made my confession.

  “Letting him in was a mistake.”

  “I think that goes without saying.” Dane took my vacated seat at the counter.

  “Do you want me to tell you or not? I-told-you-sos are neither helpful nor appreciated.” Taking his silence as my cue to continue, I took a deep breath and started explaining again. “It was a mistake. More than that, it was a set up. Maloney was working for them in exchange for Lazarus, which you already know. What you don’t know is what the Devil got out of the deal. Two for the price of one. Fucking bastard.”

  Angry, bitter tears welled up but never fell. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, wouldn’t shed one more tear because of him. Dane needed to hear it, deserved to hear it. Turning around to face him, I forced myself to continue.

  “When I woke up, I wasn’t alone.”

  “That’s why Maloney said he marked you. I assumed he was talking in general terms – I mean, you’ve been marked pretty much since birth.” Dane’s eyes widened, realization written all over his face. “The Elioud. That’s what he woke, right?”

  Wrapping my arms around my middle, I nodded in confirmation. In what seemed like one fluid movement, Dane leapt from the stool and crushed me to his chest. Arms pinned between us, I couldn’t return the embrace, but Dane didn’t seem to care.

  “At first I just heard her, a whisper in the back of my mind. Demons follow you around long enough and you get used to hearing voices, so I ignored it. Blocked her out. But I can feel her, clawing around inside me like a caged animal.” The words came out in a half sob. Wrapped in his arms, in the illusion of safety, my emotions got the better of me. “They’re of the same ilk. He calls to her and she wants to answer. She would answer if I didn’t keep her locked up. I don’t know how long I can keep her, keep me, from going to him.”

  “So you keep her locked up.” Dane tucked my head beneath his chin, whispering the words into my hair while he stroked my back. “We’ll figure something out. We always do. With or without their help.”

  Dane didn’t have to say who they were. The Principles. The Heavenly Host and all the rules about free will. Free will didn’t exist, at least not for me. It was just a parlor trick, like everything else. One side or the other had been moving their pieces across the board my entire life, and I was the pawn, moving one step forward in the direction they shoved me. If I didn’t resist, if I was too far gone and let her out, the Principles would most likely abandon me. I had no doubt there was a back-up plan, something Dane and I weren’t privy to.

  “And then there’s this.” Pushing against his chest to break the embrace, I held out my palm to show him the physical mark Apollyon had given me during his visit to my dreams.

  The mark branded into my palm looked like crossed swords with two serpents ready to strike, and all but replaced the lines Maloney had
used to tell my fortune.

  “Chi, xi, sigma.” Dane gripped my hand in his left and traced the pattern with his right pointer finger.

  “You recognize the symbols? Stigma, like stigmata?” I asked, wincing as his finger slid across a deeper groove in the brand on my palm.

  “No, sigma, as in Greek numerals. Six hundred three score six.” With a sigh, he covered my hand with his, giving a little squeeze. “Six, six, six.”

  “Oh, he’s hilarious – a regular comedian. Ha, fucking ha, ha. Bet he’s really getting a kick out of this one.” Pulling from his grip, I curled my fingers into a ball and cradled my hand against my chest.

  Dane reached for my messenger bag at the end of the counter. After digging through its contents, he came up with an old pair of fingerless black leather gloves I’d tossed in when we’d first packed our supplies. Their form and function were pretty much useless in our line of work, but I’d never unpacked them. And so they resided in the bottom of my bag, keeping the gum wrappers and lint company. Until I needed them. With a sigh, I slipped them on, flexing and unflexing my fingers as I got used to the feel of them.

  “So, wanna go look at some art?” Grabbing a paper towel, I wiped away any evidence of the tears I’d let escape. Noticing some demon goop on the bottom of my jeans, I decided a change of clothes was in order and headed toward our room.

  “You know how much I love the Impressionists.” Dane grabbed my hand as I walked past him. “I mean it, Jax – we’ll figure this out. You and me.”

  “I know.” I didn’t really know anything for sure, but Dane wanted reassurance that I had faith in him. In us.

  With a squeeze, he released my hand and followed me to the bedroom.

  “And just where do you think you’re going?”

  “We’ve got time. The museum doesn’t open for at least an hour.” With that, the Sin Eater helped me off with my shirt, ravaging the exposed skin with kisses and caresses.

  Chapter Ten

  “Do they really think there’s a portal in the museum? It’s filled with locals and tourists all the time. There’s alarms everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. It would be kind of hard for a demon to be hiding out in there, don’t you think?” Dane took the steps to the museum entrance two at a time.

  “I didn’t see it marked on the map, but they obviously think there is one. Somewhere around here at least. Otherwise why send us? It’s not like they care if we’re cultured or not.” Taking the steps two at a time was harder with my shorter legs, so I rushed to catch up with his long strides when we reached the top.

  When we reached the entrance and went inside the lobby, it was immediately clear why Tobias and the Principles had sent us there. Banners and pennants hung from every available surface. “Experience a Bygone Era: Art of the Byzantine Empire.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Veering to the left, we followed the signs to the exhibit.

  “I’m sure at least one of them is laughing at our expense.” Dane stepped closer to one of the cases, examining the glazed ceramic bowl.

  An interesting chest, or reliquary as noted on the display’s sign, that could have been mistaken for the Arc of the Covenant if not for the fat little cherubs dancing around its sides, perched upon a pedestal in the center of the room.

  “They think the spear is here?” Careful to avoid being overheard by the multitude of people who’d come out to admire the different pieces on display despite the pocket fires and increased violence in the city, I kept my voice to a whisper.

  Dane pointed toward the end of the wing.

  “No effing way.”

  Lining the furthest wall was a row of paintings depicting saints and angels dressed in armor and armed for battle. Beneath and between each portrait was a sword or dagger encased in a glass shadow box and hung on the wall. Careful not to draw undue attention, we weaved in and out of the crowd toward the part of the exhibit Tobias obviously wanted us to see.

  “Do you see anything that looks like the spear?” Scanning the cases for anything that resembled our prize, Dane spared only a glance at me.

  “Maloney said it was a dagger. Look for something with a nail in the handle.” Moving to a different case, I trailed a finger along the glass, counting the different examples on display. “How did they manage to recover so many pieces? Being an archaeologist is probably kick-ass.”

  “Ma’am, don’t touch the glass.” The security guard barely stopped his rounds long enough to warn me to keep my hands to myself.

  “Sorry.” Waiting for him to pass, I noted the lack of gun and baton. Standard security guard, then, not off-duty police officer. Filing the information away for later, I brought my attention back to the cases.

  “Rent-a-cop.” Dane stepped over to the next case and continued the search. “It’s a dagger only if Maloney was telling the truth. And I seriously doubt he was. He’d have said anything to save his own ass.”

  “Yeah, well, good luck with that where Apollyon’s concerned. Let’s divide and conquer. You take the long cases with swords and spears. I’ll take the shorter ones with knives and daggers.”

  We split up. Dane went right as I went left, leaving no display case unturned. When that yielded zero results, we turned back and started looking at the full armor displays on the off chance the spear or dagger had been included. We came up with nothing. Again. We’d been running around in circles, chasing our tails, looking for the spear. My frustration reached new heights.

  Sitting on the steps outside the BMA, I waited for Dane to come back from the food truck with a soft pretzel and a cup of coffee. Mentally backtracking, I went over everything Maloney had said to me from the moment I’d stepped foot on his porch to the moment I’d turned my back on him and left him for Apollyon. Picking apart my conversations with Tobias didn’t help either. Neither did the sensation that I was being watched again. Everywhere we went, there was this feeling, this nudge that someone was watching me, just on the outskirts of my vision. Every time I looked in the direction it felt like it was coming from, there was no one was there. The Elioud was messing with my head and my demon Spidey sense.

  “Your order, ma’am.” Dane handed me the makeshift breakfast, holding back a cup of black coffee. “I’ll give you the coffee after you drink some of the water.”

  “There’s water in the coffee.” Desperate for the caffeine, I reluctantly chugged half the bottle of water and held out my hand for the coffee.

  Waving off the little mustard packet he offered, I went back to rubbing the salt off my pretzel and tried to figure out what we’d missed.

  “We’re overlooking something. We have to be. Why send us here if it’s just another dead end?” Watching the little white salt crystals bounce off the steps, I broke off a piece of the soft pretzel and shoved it in my mouth.

  “We can go back in, take another look around. Just to be sure.” He motioned for me to sit back down when I started to get up. “Finish that first. The exhibit isn’t going anywhere, and you haven’t been eating enough.”

  Bloated and uncomfortable from polishing off a pretzel, water and coffee in record time, I rubbed my belly, the bread sloshing around in my stomach while we perused the display cases again.

  As before, we examined every sword and spear as closely as we could with them behind glass. We read every plaque for some hidden clue and asked more than one curator if this was all the items in the exhibit. More than one sword had the right hilt, or the right blade, and there were spears with the right tip or pole, but not one with a design that contained both. And none with a nail encased within it.

  The spear – or dagger, whichever it was – wasn’t in the museum.

  “Now what?” Frustrated, I yanked my hair out of its ponytail and raked my fingers across my scalp, only to regret it when my hair snagged on my glove.

  “Tobias obviously had intel that led him to believe the spear was here, or he wouldn’t have sent us. But it looks like we’re back to square one.” Dane tossed the museum pamphlet i
n a trash can on our way out of the museum.

  “We’re just running in circles chasing our tails, and Apollyon knows it. He’s just biding his time.” Pulling off the glove that covered my mark, I rubbed the tender spot on my palm. “He’s just waiting for me to fall.”

  “You won’t.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  Dane’s reassurances felt false. I had no doubt he believed them, believed in me, but he didn’t have a monster caged inside him. Even as we walked back to the car, I could feel her pacing the walls of her cell inside my mind, testing the mental barriers. She wanted out, and I feared I couldn’t hold her back forever.

  “Yes, I do.” Reaching inside his messenger bag, Dane pulled out the map with our latest targets on it. “Want to go kick some demon ass? It’ll make you feel better.”

  Unable to resist cracking a smile, I snatched the map out of his hands and opened it up. He was right. Closing portals and kicking demon ass always made me feel better. We’d been distracted with Maloney, Beelzebub and another fruitless search for the spear. Banishing hellspawn was exactly what I needed.

  Closing my eyes, I drew a circle in the air with my pointer finger before dropping it onto the map.

  “This one.”

  Dane marked down which church I’d chosen in his notebook. He’d take down even more details when we arrived and before we cleaned up and left the scene. All the information he gathered would be compiled into a database he’d created on his computer, and the church would be marked with a red pin on a huge map stapled to a wall in our living room. Once new information was added, we reviewed it together to search for new patterns or irregularities, variations that might be worth a second look.

  Not only did we need to find the portals, we needed to stop them from opening. Dane and I were trying to do that before the demons reached our side. So far we hadn’t had much luck in that department.

  “That’s been an unusually quiet section of town the last few weeks. Definitely worth a look. Good choice.” Carefully folding the map, he tucked it safely back inside his bag and unlocked the car door.