Firstborn (The Legacy Series) (13 page)

The angels looked at him. “It would take far more power than all of us present here put together.”

“So
, it’s God-like power?” It was Abigale who spoke for the first time.

“Your assimilation is not incorrect,” they replied.

“Oh, so that’s what we’re dealing with here?” I said. “An evil God who created seven super demons. So, why chase after her?” I pointed at Abi.

“We do not know.”

“Any idea what they want?”

“We do not know.”

This was getting irritating. “What do you know?”

“If the Sins are allowed to roam free, then this plane will no longer be in equilibrium. Evil will reign and this world will become a second Hell.”

“Hey, don’t knock it,” interjected my familiar.

“Under no circumstances i
s the balance to tip,” they continued. “We will send an envoy, a Virtue who may counter the Sin, in order to preserve balance.”

“An envoy?”

That didn’t sound right. Looked to me like they were trying to do us a favor − make us owe them. And these guys are sure to come collect.

That’s how invasions start.

“What if we reject this envoy?”

Everyone turned to look at me but I kept my eyes fixed on the angels.

“Then, the Sin of Lust will win and the world will be that much closer to ending. It is time to choose, Erik Ashendale, between your stubborn pride and the fate of the world.”

Ouch – schooled by an angel.

“That is all we can divulge.” They shimmered for a minute and then just froze. It was as if someone had pressed the reboot button on these guys.

“I don’t like this,” I said.

“Which part, brother?” asked Gil. “The unknown enemy or the waiting?”

“There must be something we are overlooking,” I continued. “The angels said the Sin needs a demon right?”

She nodded.

“Then
, it makes sense to have a demon compatible with the Sin.”

“Just like when creating a channel,” she said knowingly.

“Exactly,” I said. “So, we gotta figure out which demon is most compatible with lust. Kill the host, kill the Sin. Right?”

“Theoretically it makes sense.”

“Could it be another succubus?” suggested Abigale.

“Nah, I’d smell ‘er from a mile away,” said Amaymon.

“Yes. The demon will be ancient and powerful,” added Mephisto. “Something terribly powerful, even without the Sin’s power.”

“I can only think of one legend that fits that description,” said Gil. “Lilith.”

“The Mother of all Demons,” gasped Mephisto.

The two demons hissed and tensed up.

“Lilith?” I asked. “Anyone care to fill me in?”

“She is known as the Mother of all Demons. According to the legends, she ruled paradise and was cast down into the darkness when she became too lustful
and rebellious. She gave birth to Alphas, the ancestors of most of today’s demons. Legend says that all demons are related to Lilith and she, alone, populated Hell,” explained Gil.

“Is that true?” I asked Amaymon.

He nodded. “Before she came along, Hell wasn’t even the Hell you know. We were still forming it – it was a nascent plane. Then, she came along and her horde followed her.” He bared his fangs in a smile. “They were no match for us, but after a while, we learned to coexist. Hell was formed and the rest is history.”

“We also know her as the First,” added Mephisto.

“The first what?” I asked. He gave me a significant look.

“
The
First,” he stressed.

I understood him then. Lilith – the first person to walk the Earth. The first human
, or maybe one of our distant cousins. The first one to fall into the dark side. Lilith – God’s firstborn.

And judging by the stories told, the first woman ever scorned
.

“So
, we are up against the mother-load.” I sighed. “Quite literally.”

I slumped back down on my deck chair and found my beer. It had gone warm
by now.

“How do I beat her?”
I looked around, hoping that the combination of ancient demon who witnessed Lilith’s seed spreading and my genius twin sister would provide me with some tangible answer. That was all I needed now. I am a hunter through and through – show me a monster’s weakness and I’ll bring back a corpse.

Gil had withdrawn inside her head, probably recalling every minute detail she ever read on the subject. Mephisto’s expression was blank and cold like a sheet of ice. Amaymon
scratched his head absentmindedly, something he only does when genuinely worried.

That, more than anything
, sent me spiralling down. Amaymon was a rock, no pun intended. He never got nervous, never got worried about anything. He was just that powerful. If this bitch was worrying him, then my chances of surviving were slim to none.

“This ain’t you
r run-o-the-mill demon, Erik,” he said without his usual swagger.

“
I know,” I snapped. All this apprehension was doing nothing to dissipate fear. That’s how the enemy wins. “Just tell me. What is she?”

Mephisto cleared his throat. “It is unknown. But she is capable of magic, and creation. Perhaps an ancient, more pure form of human?”

“Or perhaps them people in chapter one of the holy books ain’t people after all,” suggested Amaymon, “but some sorta gods.” I smiled − my familiar was back to his usual self.

“That would explain the
God-like
power,” agreed Gil.

Let’s recap, shall we
? God-like woman gets thrown out of Heaven and populates Hell in revenge. Then, she gets her hands on the sin of Lust, or creates the damn thing, and schlepps over here to dominate us all.

Let me sum up how I feel about all this.

“Fuck.”

“Amen
, brother,” said Amaymon.

“Erik,” said Gil, “wait for the Virtue. Don’t do anything stupid by yourself.

It won’t be easy. Which is why you should wait for backup from the angels,”

“O
K,” I heard myself say.

I had abs
olutely no intention of doing that. This monster had to be repelled by Earth’s forces, not Heaven’s. We can’t be in their debt – that’s one check the world can never cash.

My sister and her squad of misfits left, leaving me to contend with my
own squad of sorry misfits.

“You do realize that there is no way I am letting some angel save the day?” I directed to the two. “If we owed them a favor, we’d be inviting them to take over.”

“Thought you might say that,” said Amaymon.

I sat back on my deck chair and let out
the longest sigh I could muster. Abi settled on the deck chair next to mine.

“I keep my promises,” I said.

I turned my head and met her eyes. “The cabin. I promised I won’t let you get hurt. I always keep my promises.”

“It’s a demon god, Erik.” Her tone sounded like someone who had given up.

“If there’s one thing I learned in this world,” I said, “it is that no one is invincible. And the higher they think they are, the wider the cracks in their armor.”

“So
, I’m assumin’ you got a game plan?” asked Amaymon.

“Not yet.” I got up. “Thought I might cool off for a while.”

“If you’re gonna drown yourself, water ain’t deep enough.”

“Funny.”

Abigale sat up. “Want some company?”

I shook my head. “I need some time to think.”

“That might take hours,” shot the demon.

I flipped him off and walked into the pool. I let the water surround me and I dove under, enjoying the alien sensation.

There, where I knew they couldn’t see me, I let all the fear inside me go and screamed my lungs out.

I don’t know how long I swam and dove and screamed – but I do know that once I had gone past the fear, my head started working again. And in that moment of clarity, a plan had formed.

I smiled.

T
he time for self-pity was over – I had a god to kill.

17

I didn’t just tell them the plan. You don’t just say a plan like that.

We spent the rest of the day following Abigale around as she flitted from one gift shop to another. Amaymon had finally dragged us to games room where we shot pixelated zombies with toy guns that responded badly to quick reflexes.

And all this time I ran the plan over and over in my head, working out the faults and possibilities.

Working out where it can go wrong and kill us all.

Finally
, we settled down in a restaurant and gorged ourselves. That’s when Amaymon popped the question –

“W
hat’s our next move?”

“We bait her,” I said as I carefully cut my steak.

“That’s it?” He never bothered to swallow or stop eating. “That’s all you got?”

Abigale remained quiet and just buried her face behind her glass.

“So, how do we go about doin’ that?” he continued.

I jabbed my fork at Abigale. “With her.”

“What?” she squealed. “Are you trying to get me killed?”

I put my cutlery down and held my hands up. “Just he
ar me out.” Both of them turned their attention towards me. “I don’t know why, but Lilith is after Abi, right? So, let’s give her just that – lets provide her with bait she can’t resist and then swoop in for the kill.”

Amaymon raised his eyebrows. “Y
ou think it’s gonna be that easy?”

“Why not?” I retorted. “It’s how we work, and I think we should play to our strengths.”

“And what if something goes wrong?” Abigale was right to be scared, I suppose. “What if she gets to me and you guys aren’t around?”

“That ain’t th
e problem,” said Amaymon. “We’re definitely gonna be there, and we will help you out. The only problem is that we don’t know bubkis about this demon – we don’t know if we can take her.”

“I thought you were all powerful,” I shot.

“I am,” he replied. “I just ain’t stupid. No creature hunts something that’s stronger than it is, Erik.”

That stilted the conversation.

“I just can’t accept that,” I said after a while.

“Y
ou might not have a choice.”

“NO!”

I didn’t mean to explode, but I guess the stress was starting to get to me, too. The familiar’s eyes widened – I never yelled at him before, not about a real issue like survival.

“This case,” I continued. “This case has something to do with the curse. I don’t know how or why, but I can feel it.”

I turned to him. “You know as well as I do that there are no coincidences. Everything in our world happens for a reason. And here’s what I know. A bunch of Lizardmen take a school hostage without harming anyone. A genetically mutated Lizardman shows up and decks me. Then, Gil comes along with a traitor and a busted mansion. Now, we’re in the middle of an apocalypse between Heaven and Hell. And out of thin air, the Seven Deadly Sins just take form and come hunting hybrids,” I said as I jabbed a finger at Abigale. “Can you spell conspiracy?”

Amaymon’s feline eyes narrowed. “Still doesn’t answer the question – can we take her?”

I let out a heavy breath. “You and I alone, probably not.” It tasted badly but that was the truth. Judging from the legends alone, this one was more than we could chew. “But you’re forgetting something − we are not alone. Gil, Mephisto, the angels, and whoever this Virtue is are all on our side, now. I think all of us together can stop her.”

Amaymon said nothing. I doubt he could believe me. I don’t blame him –
demons are largely instinctual monsters. If his instincts told him to avoid this demon, then I had to present one heck of an argument to convince him. But I’ll deal with that later. Besides, no matter what his instincts told him, his contract to me won’t allow him to just abandon me. The guy had two commands going against each other in his brain – I guess I could cut him some slack until he figured it out.

“So,” I said as I settled back. The steak had gone cold
, now. “We lure her out.”

“When?” asked the succubus.

I pointed to a poster in response. “There’s a welcoming dance tonight. Lots of people. Perfect for a predator to blend in.”

“So
, what am I supposed to do?” she asked.

I smiled. “Buy a sexy dress and be the center of attention.” Her eyebrows shot up.

“Now this I’m interested in,” said Amaymon with a devious grin.

“You go in, charm everyone you meet and when you feel in danger, just fight back,” I instructed. “The aura flaring should be a strong enough signal.”