Execution (The Divine Book 6) (20 page)

She laughed at that comment. "I've got Abaddon's power, too."

That was news to me. It was supposed to be impossible.

"I can see you weren't expecting me to say that. That's right, Landon, I've absorbed some of the demon's power for myself. I'm not limited to mortals anymore. Abaddon's power allows me to break down the mental barriers of the Divine. If the mind is weak enough, I can take it. Trust me when I say that Hearst's mind is weak. I've already been inside of it a couple of times. I know exactly what he thinks of me, and of himself. I know what he thinks of you, too."

"So you're using him the way you used me with the Grail? You haven't changed at all. After everything you went through, you're the same selfish demon you always were. The world isn't your playground. It isn't yours to destroy so that you get what you want."

"You're wrong, Landon. I have changed. I know better now than to expect anything to be given to me. Whatever I want, I have to take. And I will get what I want. I don't want to have to destroy you to do it. I still love you."

I had thought her other statements were crazy. That one blew me away.
 

"No, you don't," I said.

"I do," she insisted.

"Do you even hear yourself speak?"

"I paid my price. I earned my way. I'm only trying to get what I deserve."

"By killing thousands of people?"

"Millions if I have to. It is worth that much to me. I'll do anything. We'll see how much it's worth to Him to keep me out."

"I can't let you go through with this," I said.

"You can't stop me, Landon. I know you want to, and I know you'll try. It doesn't matter that you retrieved the Fist. It doesn't matter if you take Abaddon, or send him back to Hell. You're too late. The wheels are in motion, and all of your power isn't enough to stop them. That's why I stayed to talk to you. You can't hurt me. You can't even touch me." Her angry tirade faded, and her vessel's face softened. "Besides, I wanted to see you again with real eyes. I wanted to hear your voice again with real ears. It isn't the same as a spirit."

I stared at her, my own anger a bright ember in my soul. It was mixed with a crushing sadness. A lamentation for what could have been.
 

Even if I somehow managed to get Abaddon under control, one of us was going to destroy the other. For everything that had happened, I still didn't want it to come to that.

There was no other way.

"What about Rose?" I asked.

"Who?"

"Rose. My friend. She's this tall, brown hair, big chest."

"I saw her at the deli. She ran away. Is she missing? I didn't take her. It may have been Hearst's people."

There was no real reason to believe her, other than the fact that there was no reason for her to lie. That was good enough.
 

I reached a hand out toward her. She stared at it for a moment before reaching out as well. What did she have to be afraid of? I couldn't hurt her.

"It doesn't have to be this way," I said.
 

"Yes, it does," she replied.

We both knew that was true.

I took her vessel's hand in mine. "I'm sorry," I said, squeezing it.

"I'm not," she said, squeezing back.

It was a goodbye. We both knew the next time we met, however, it happened; we'd be trying to kill one another.

I wasn't going to wait that long.

Calmly, gently, I reached out toward her, the real her, with my power, using what I had learned in Hell. Immediately, I felt a sense of her at the edge of my energy, a mass of Divine power, unlike anything I had ever experienced.
 

I asked it to rest. To calm and sleep and give in to the universe. I didn't focus, I didn't force, I didn't push. I did the opposite, letting her power mingle with mine.

It began to change.
 

Her eyes widened in front of me, and she screamed in agony, wrenching her hand from mine. I stepped forward to grab her, to hold her and keep going until she was done with this existence.

I didn't get the chance. Her mortal vessel collapsed in a heap, and I didn't need Bradford to know she had fled it.
 

"She's gone," he said anyway. "What was that all about?"

"She's not as immune as she thought she was. Come on, we need to get back to my place. This is going to get ugly, fast."

We weren't that far from my apartment, and Joey's extra haste got us there inside of ten minutes. Bradford and I exited the cab, and I sent Joey back to tell Bianca to get ready for anything. Now that Rebecca knew that I could affect her existence, she was sure to at least be considering moving up her timetable.

And I still didn't know where Rose was.

We hurried up the steps and into my place. Alyx was standing near the door when we entered, and she threw her arms around me the moment I entered, planting her lips on mine. I returned her affection, giving her a quick hug.

"Landon," Gervais said. "You're back. It is about time."

He was on the couch watching television again. Zifah was sitting next to him, eating popcorn.

"The world is cracking at the seams, and you're eating popcorn?" I asked.

"They don't have this downstairs," Zifah said. "It's delicious." He eyed Bradford. "What? You've never seen a demon before?"

Bradford was staring. My guess was that he hadn't ever seen a demon before. At least, not one like Zifah.
 

"Bradford is Nicht Creidem," I said. "He's helping me find Rebecca. Actually, we already found Rebecca. I had a nice chat with her."

"You spoke to her?" Gervais asked. "What did she say?"

"She wants to hold the world hostage so that God will let her into Heaven."

Zifah's laugh was a rocky cackle. "She's out of her mind."

"Unfortunately. She's got Hearst under her thumb though I don't think he knows it yet. She's also absorbed some of Abaddon's power. She can possess Divine. Or at least, she says she can. Anyway, we need to find Rose and hopefully Dante, and then we need to grab Abaddon and stick him in the Fist. If we get a chance to take out Hearst or Rebecca in the meantime, even better. Zifah, have you made any progress?"

"I gave him one of Rose's bras," Alyx said.
 

I raised my eyebrow at that.

"It was a compromise," she added.

"Everything is ready to go," Zifah said. "We were waiting for you to come back."

"Let's not waste any time. Quick introductions. Bradford, this is Alyx, Gervais, and Zifah. You probably already know they're all demons, but that's how I roll."

Bradford laughed. "Yeah, dude. Not surprised. Nice to meet you all."

"You might not think so once you get to know us," Zifah said.
 

"Sorry to stare. I haven't seen a demon your size or color before."

"Get used to hearing that one," Gervais said.

"Shut up," Zifah snapped at the fiend. "Forget about it. Landon, everything is up on the rooftop."

We made our way to the window, out to the fire escape, and up to the roof. Zifah had laid out a circle of small stones there, each of them etched with demonic runes. Rose's bra was in the center, with more runes painted onto it in Zifah's blood.

"I hope I get to meet this friend of yours, bro," Bradford said, his eyes on the bra.

"Me too," I replied.

Zifah entered the circle and stood next to the bra. He held his hands out over it and whispered something. I could feel his Divine power rising out of him and pouring into the clothes. The runes on it began to burn, sending wisps of dark smoke into the night sky.

A few seconds later, he lowered his hands. "It's ready to go."

"You're sure?" I asked.

"Who do I look like, David Copperfield? This is real warlock poop, not a crap illusion."

"Toss it over to Alyx," I said. Zifah picked it up with both hands and threw it to her.
 

"What does it do?" Bradford asked.

"It's like a Divining Rod for big boobs," Zifah said. "It'll help you find Rose."

"You? Don't you mean us?" I asked.

"Nope. I'm staying here. It sounds like it's going to get dangerous, and I wasn't done with my popcorn."

I was tempted to argue with him and try to get him to come along. He would only vanish once things got hairy anyway.

"Suit yourself. Gervais, do you have anything to make yourself useful with? You can't even change form anymore."

Gervais glared at me, clearly unhappy with his currently weakened position. It was kind of fun having him around when he was so pathetic.

"Give me a blade, diuscrucis. I still know how to fight."

"Here, bro," Bradford said, producing a dagger. "You can take one of mine." He held it out, handle first.
 

Gervais walked over and took it, growing angrier as he did. "Thank you," he said through clenched teeth. Bradford seemed oblivious to it.

"Alyx, are you getting anything?"

She held the bra in her hand and turned in a full circle. After a full rotation, she started turning more slowly, stopping when she was facing roughly south.
 

"That way," she said.

"Then that's the way we're going," I replied.
 

"Good luck," Zifah said. "If you need me, you know where to find me."

We headed back to the fire escape, taking it down to the street. Alyx took point, leading us through the city on foot. It was slow going, and she had to pause often to recalibrate our bearings since we couldn't take a direct path. It would have been easier if any of us could fly.

"Hey, Landon," Bradford said, coming up next to me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You and Alyx. Are you, you know? Together?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Ha. Don't get the wrong idea. I was just wondering, since she's a were, you know? What it's like?"

"Love is love."

"Nah, bro. I don't mean that either. I mean, what it's like."

He made a face that told me exactly what he was referring to. I could feel myself getting embarrassed.

"That's private, don't you think?"

He seemed confused by that. "Oh. I was just curious. I've always fantasized about it; you know what I mean? Yeah, I'm supposed to take demons out, not get excited about them, but it's just so kinky."

"She can hear you; you know," I said, hoping it would end the conversation.

It didn't. "Have you ever been to a comic-con?"

"No, why?"

"So, I went to this convention once. You know there's people out there that like to dress up as characters."

"I've heard of cosplay."

"Yeah, bro. It's something like that, but not quite. Some people like to dress up like animals and have sex with each other."

I wasn't sure what to say to that. I'd never heard of it. "Okay."

"Ha. Seriously, dude. I mean in full suits, you know, kind of like sports mascots, except with little cutouts for-"

"Is there a point to this story?" I asked.

"You know, I've never done it or anything, but it's kind of hot, and when you think about it, it's like a cheap version of the real thing, right?"

He shifted his head toward Alyx. I noticed Alyx glance back at me, a small smirk on the edge of her lips. She was enjoying the discourse a lot more than I was.

"I liked you better five minutes ago," I said.

The comment didn't dissuade him. It tended to be a problem when a person was too comfortable with who they were.

"Oh, come on, Landon. I'm just saying, bro. Maybe it's messed up, but I never said I was healthy. I did spend time in an institution, you know?"

"You haven't seen her change yet. It's not what you think."

"Then I guess I have something to look forward to."
 

He was silent for a few seconds before putting his attention on Gervais. The fiend was walking a few feet behind me, whistling softly and using the dagger to scratch the sides of cars as we passed. He just couldn't stop himself from being an asshole.

"So, what's your story?" Bradford asked.

Gervais stopped whistling. There was a long, silent pause. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yeah, dude."

"Then ask Landon." He sneered slightly and went back to whistling.

Bradford shrugged and came back my way. His mouth opened to speak, and I put up my hand.
 

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. Whatever, bro. Do you mind if I go talk to your girlfriend?"

"It's not my decision to make," I said.

He slapped me on the shoulder and approached Alyx. He had just reached her side when she grabbed him by the arm and threw him roughly to the ground.

"Alyx?" I said, confused.

She stood over the Nicht Creidem and shifted, only halfway through the process when the first of the vampires arrived.