Devil's Return

by Percival Constantine

  “You think you can scare me, Caruso? You’re nothing to a thing like me. Before I died, before I went to Hell, I was still the most bad-ass cambion around. I’ve wrestled with hellhounds, I’ve crossed swords with the Angel of Death, I even sat across from the Morningstar himself and didn’t once blink.”

  Caruso could feel the sweat beginning to bead on his forehead, despite the cold. Gooseflesh rose across his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He swallowed hard, the glow starting to fade from his eyes.

  “In…in the name of Heaven and the Holy Order of the Opus Dei, I-I command you, s-spirit!”

  Luther laughed and it caused Caruso to jump as chills ran up and down his spine.

  “I’m sorry, was that supposed to be intimidating? You really gotta work on this, buddy. As it stands, you couldn’t frighten a child.”

  Caruso’s throat seized up. He suddenly found it incredibly difficult to breathe. Every time he tried to take air into his lungs, he just gasped and coughed. His heart felt like it was encased in ice and he dropped to the ground, writing there.

  A ghostly figure flickered into existence, standing over him. It was Luther, his form semi-translucent, his glowing crimson eyes staring down at Caruso.

  “Didn’t want it to come to this, but you gave me no choice,” said Luther. “See, you fucked with the wrong ghost, asshole.”

  Morrison led Dakota and Shelly into a room located on the basement level. When he turned on the lights, they saw not only the weapons they’d had when the Opus Dei captured them, but also other weapons in the room.

  “What is this?” asked Shelly.

  “The Opus Dei does perform some…more violent work on occasion,” said Morrison. “Never been my department, though.”

  Shelly opened the bag their weapons were in and took out a pair of handguns. Dakota went in next and grabbed a gun for herself, then handed one over to Morrison. Shelly checked the magazines on each of her guns and nodded to the others.

  “Okay, so what—”

  She was cut off by a mysterious force that threw her up against the wall. Dakota turned and aimed at the doorway, where Valenti stood. His eyes glowed with blue energy and he made a gesture with his hand that forced Dakota’s arms to be pinned at her sides.

  “No harm will come to the holy mother,” he said, then glanced over at Morrison. “But the same can’t be said for you, traitor.”

  Morrison couldn’t even raise his weapon before he was thrown against the wall. Valenti approached Morrison and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off the ground. He started to squeeze and Morrison gasped for air.

  “I want to watch the life leave your body, you Judas,” whispered Valenti. “Tonight, your soul will be welcomed into Hell!”

  “Stop it!” shouted Dakota. “Let him go, he doesn’t deserve this!”

  Valenti looked over his shoulder at the young blond woman. “Do not speak of things you don’t understand, woman. Holy mother or not, you need to learn your place.”

  While Valenti was focused on Dakota and Morrison, his concentration had wavered slightly and Shelly could move her arms again. His angelic power wasn’t infinite, it was limited. And, she hoped, he wasn’t as tough as the other angels. But she’d need to break his concentration even further. Get something to draw his focus away even further. She saw the answer in the bag. If she could just reach it without him noticing.

  “Dakota,” said Shelly.

  When Dakota looked over at her, Shelly said something else, a sentence in her native Tagalog. To pass the time over the long months they were hiding out and waiting for the baby to come, Dakota had asked Shelly to teach her the language. Though she was far from fluent, Dakota had learned enough to manage basic conversations.

  What Shelly had told Dakota was, “Keep him distracted.” Dakota gave a nod in understanding and looked at Valenti again.

  “You don’t understand the mistake you’re making here, Father,” she said. “The angel lied to you. He’s not doing this on behalf of Heaven, he’s doing it for his own selfish reasons. If you keep going down this path, you’ll only end up damning yourself.”

  “The angel speaks for God,” said Valenti. “Can’t you see what your son is? He is Christ, reborn again on Earth.”

  “But doesn’t he teach forgiveness? Do you really want to violate his tenets?”

  “I have no choice,” said Valenti. “If I have to sin in order to ensure His will be done, then I shall.”

  With Valenti distracted, Shelly was able to get to the bag. She moved slowly, keeping her eyes on him as her hand moved inside. The item she removed was a silver orb with a pin in it. Shelly pulled the pin.

  “Valenti!” she shouted and his attention now turned to her. “If the holy mother is so important to your plans, then guess I’ll have to kill her!”

  Shelly tossed the grenade right in front of Dakota. Valenti wasted no time and jumped on it himself. He grabbed it in his hands and held it there just as it went off. Blue energy surrounded him as he tried to contain the force of the explosion and snuff it out, prevent it from harming Dakota.

  And that was exactly what Shelly had counted on. With his power dedicated to containing the explosion, he’d be defenseless. She raised both guns and opened fire. The bullets punctured his head and torso. Without the power to defend him, the bullets went right through his body and he fell to the ground.

  The explosion had been snuffed out and the energy dissipated. Valenti lay on the ground and stared up at the ceiling with lifeless eyes. Dakota breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Shelly.

  “What if he couldn’t contain the explosion?” she asked.

  Shelly smiled. “I guess I didn’t think of that.”

  Dakota scoffed. “Thanks a lot.”

  Just then, they felt a tremor as the foundation shook. Shelly, Morrison, and Dakota all exchanged quick looks of horror. They all knew at the same time what they had to do. Time was running short.

  “He’s coming,” said Dakota. “We have to find Malcolm and get out of here, now!”

  35

  The quakes started soon after I took care of Caruso. I sent feelers out with my senses, trying to determine just what was happening now. I could sense where the quakes were coming from. It wasn’t Ramsey and it wasn’t Pyriel.

  It was Malcolm. Just like in the Philippines, his innate power was affecting the world around him. Except then, it was just a fancy light show with some accompanying thunder. This time, Malcolm was causing tremors.

  My theory was his power emerged last time because he was afraid of Asmodeus. What could make him even more scared than that? There was only one thing that made sense to me—Pyriel was coming.

  I left Caruso’s body lying on the ground and locked on to Malcolm’s energy signature. I traveled through walls and floors, moving as fast as I could until finally, I was in the rectory. Ramsey was there as well and he held Malcolm in his arms. The poor kid was screaming his head off.

  “Put the kid down, Ramsey,” I said. “I don’t think he really likes you.”

  “Doesn’t matter, I have my orders,” said Ramsey. “This child is necessary to the future of humanity.”

  “You’re an idiot,” I said. “Pyriel doesn’t give a shit about humanity. I don’t know what set him off, but he hates all of us and once he’s done with Hell, you’ll be next.”

  Ramsey shook his head. “No, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “He knows more than you ever will.”

  A new voice from behind. I looked over my shoulder and saw Dakota, Shelly, and Morrison standing there, armed. Dakota raised her gun and pointed it at Ramsey.

  “We already took care of Valenti. You’ll get the same treatment unless you give me my son right fucking now.”

  I’d never seen this side of Dakota before, but I liked it. Made me feel like a proud big brother to watch her step into her own like this. She really had come a long way from the scared girl I met last year.

  “It’
s over, Ramsey,” I said. “I’ve got some angels on my side, too. They know all about Pyriel’s scheme and they’re going to take it apart. The one thing you can do now is just give up and maybe they’ll go easy on you.”

  “Fuck you, Luther!”

  Ramsey cradled Malcolm in one hand and with his other, he unleashed a burst of soulfire. The others ducked to try and avoid it. But me, I stood my ground, thinking that being a ghost, it couldn’t affect me.

  That was a stupid-ass move.

  The soulfire could and did affect me. I fell to my knees under the assault. Ramsey stepped closer, a smile on his face as the soulfire poured over my ghostly form. Malcolm’s cries grew louder and with that, the intensity of the tremors also increased.

  “No more!”

  I heard the voice from behind. I couldn’t see who it was, but suddenly, a figure jumped between me and the soulfire. The figure’s body shielded me as it took the brunt of the soulfire, defending me from Ramsey’s attack. I glanced behind once I was able to and saw who was remaining. Simple process of elimination told me who had saved me.

  “Chuck…?”

  There was a massive flash of blue light. I saw a body fly across the room and hit the floor, roll, and then rest up against the wall. The eyes were burnt out of the sockets and still smoking, the body completely lifeless.

  Charles Morrison had given his life to save my soul. And now, his body was an empty vessel. I wasn’t going to pretend that Chuck and I were long-lost brothers or anything like that. He was always a little irritating and then he betrayed the girls to Ramsey and got us into this mess in the first place. But he still sacrificed himself for me, and that meant something.

  I reached down into the depths of my soul and summoned whatever power I could. I held out my hand and crimson flames burst to life within my palm. They grew, forging themselves into a flaming sword. I hadn’t been able to summon hellfire since I reintegrated myself, but it was back now.

  “What…what is this?” asked Ramsey.

  “Put down the kid and let’s go a few rounds. Unless you’re okay with him being sliced up, too.”

  Ramsey looked down at Malcolm and then back at me. He held out his arm and the baby floated away from his grip and gently back down into the crib. Ramsey clasped his hands together and when he drew them apart, a flaming sword composed of soulfire appeared in his wake.

  “I’ll end the threat you pose to the world here and now, Hell Lord.”

  “Bring it, bitch.”

  Ramsey charged at me and I deflected his initial strike. I returned fire by thrusting forward and cut into his side, drawing first blood. The priest recoiled from the strike, looking down at his wound. There wasn’t any actual blood, nor a scar of any kind. But the cut had been inflicted on his soul, and he could feel it worse than any physical trauma.

  “I’m going to kill you!” he shouted as he leapt at me.

  “Been there, done that.”

  I raised my hellfire sword and blocked his strike. I forced him back and went completely incorporeal, flying right through him and ending up behind him. That’s when I concentrated on my sword and jammed it into his back.

  “What else you got?”

  Ramsey didn’t respond. His body went stiff. Once I pulled the flaming sword from his back, he slumped on the ground. He looked up at me, the blue fire in his eyes fizzling out and fading until it vanished completely.

  He was dead.

  I took a breath and the hellfire sword flared up into nothing. I looked down at the baby in the crib and Malcolm just stared back at me with those purple eyes. He’d stopped crying and now did nothing other than look into my eyes. I reached a hand for him, but it passed right through his head. That made him giggle. Guess I must’ve blown most of my energy on the fight.

  “Well, isn’t this…cozy.”

  I recognized that voice and I instantly snapped to attention. Dakota and Shelly detected my movements, because they seemed very confused by them. I tried to generate another hellfire sword, but it wasn’t working. Seemed I was completely useless right now.

  The roof of the rectory was suddenly torn off. And then all of us saw him, descending from the clouds. He appeared as a dark shadow against the backlighting provided by the afternoon sun, wings extended out to the sides. As he descended further, his face came into view—his hair cleanly swept back and the sinister smile on his face. He wasn’t wearing a suit, like I was used to seeing him in, but instead was clad in celestial armor with Enochian markings.

  “Pyriel,” I said.

  “Good to see you again, Luther. So now it seems you’ve learned the truth,” said Pyriel. “Such a shame that you’ll be eliminated from existence before you can tell anyone else.”

  “Oh, but others already know,” I said. “You go ahead and destroy me if you want. Others know what’s up. You’re fucked now, my friend.”

  “Hardly,” said Pyriel. “There’s more to this than you’re aware, mongrel.”

  “You wanna get to Dakota or that kid, you gotta go through me.”

  It was an impressive line. Would have been even more impressive if I could actually back it up with action. Or if a light hadn’t just flashed in front of my eyes. It blinded me and I couldn’t see anything.

  And then, I was on a beach.

  Epilogue

  I had no idea what the fuck was going on. A minute ago, my ghost-ass was about to square off against a psychotic angel. Now, I was standing on a sandy beach that stretched off as far as the eye could see. And for the first time since I’d died, I could actually feel something.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  “This is where I reside.”

  I hadn’t sensed anyone else there before. And even now, I still couldn’t But when I turned around, I saw him. He was dressed in leather with silver-black hair and beard, with thick-rimmed glasses.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “The name’s Death,” he said and offered his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  I gripped his hand and despite his fierce shaking, I barely returned it, just looked at him as if he’d just told me dolphins ruled the world.

  “Death. As in the Death?” I asked.

  “The one and only.” He grinned. “So here’s the deal, Luther. Your father—or surrogate father, I should say, just to avoid any confusion—he summoned me. Asked me to bring you back to life. And that’s what I’m here to do.”

  “Great!” I said. “So bring me back already. I’ve got an angel to kill and I can only do it if I’m restored to full power.”

  “What’s that?” Death looked confused for a moment and then he laughed. “Oh, you’re talking about that battle you were involved in. Yeah, you can forget all that.”

  “What? The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I can only resurrect you in the place where your body lies,” said Death. “So whatever you were involved in, sorry to tell you, but it’s lost now.”

  “You can’t do that,” I said. “Dakota and Shelly. The baby. They’re in the hands of Pyriel!”

  “Sorry about this, friend. But it’s really not my problem. I was asked to do a job and I’m doing it. Been a real pleasure meeting you, though.”

  ”Wait—!”

  But it didn’t matter what I said. Death had made up his mind. He snapped his fingers and the beach vanished, gave way to darkness. I was wrapped in something. I pulled, tearing the fabric away from my body and was greeted with a mouthful of dirt. I coughed and sputtered, then realized that I could actually feel it all. The dirt was cold against my skin. It tasted like shit. It clogged my nostrils, blurred my vision.

  It was real. I was real.

  I started digging furiously through the dirt, trying to get my way to the surface. It took some time, but eventually, I broke through. I breathed air for the first time in what felt like forever. I pulled myself up through the ground.

  “Where…” I coughed a few times, expelling the last of the dirt from my mouth. “Where am I?”
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  “You’re where you were left.”

  A light suddenly appeared behind me. I looked towards it and saw two winged figures hovering down to the surface. As soon as their feet touched the ground, the light dissipated and their wings retreated into their backs.

  “Gabriel,” I said, acknowledging the one on the left. And then I saw the one on the right. And I realized that Gabe had been successful. “Raz?”

  Raziel moved closer and extended an arm. I took his hand and he pulled me free from the earth, helping me to stand on my feet. I stared at his face in surprise. I knew he was alive, knew Gabe had gone to find him. But actually being there, in his presence…

  He smiled at me and said, “Hello, Luther. It’s been a long time.”

  “What’s going on here?” I asked. “Where is this?”

  “As I told you,” Gabriel began, “you’re where you were left.”

  “You mean…?” I looked around and suddenly, I remembered. This was where I’d died. Where they buried my body. “I’m in the Philippines?”

  Gabriel nodded.

  “Motherfucker…” I muttered. “Then that means we’re screwed!”

  Raziel tilted his head to the side. “What are you saying?”

  “My spirit, I was facing off against Pyriel. His agents on Earth found Dakota. I was trying to protect her. But now…”

  “Without any protection, Pyriel has both the mother and the nephilim,” said Raziel with a sigh.

  “Well at least I’m alive now,” I said. “So what do we do?”

  “Now we have to throw out the rulebook,” said Gabriel.

  Thank You!

  Thank you for taking the time to read Devil’s Return, the fifth in a series of urban fantasy novels starring Luther Cross.

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