Demon Squad 7: Exit Wounds (22 page)

Ilfaar was dumped onto the plateau behind us with a pained grunt, the last of the greenies piling around us pretty much guaranteeing we had nowhere to go.

“Now that we are all together, perhaps a few re-introductions should be made.” He raised a hand and waggled a finger.

From behind the press of greenies came one I recognized, the smirk on her face almost so bright as to eclipse the sun: Mia. She held a blade to Katon’s throat as she walked the bound enforcer through the crowd, nipples perky with excitement.

“You have met Mia so I have been told,” Judas went on. “And of course you know the
warrior
with her.” He stressed the word, making it clear he wanted us compliant. If he could take down Katon, he could take us all down was the warning.

“Bitch!” Karra growled. “I should have gutted you the first time we crossed swords.”

Mia grinned like a Cheshire cat and tightened her grip on the knife, her knuckles whitening with the effort, but she said nothing. Katon bared his teeth as the blade nicked skin and a dribble of crimson stained the ivory.

“You would be foolish to hurt him.” Rahim stepped forward as far as the greenies would allow.

Judas only smiled. “Despite appearances, I have no intention of harming anyone. Cooperate with me and no blood need be shed.”

Except, you know, the stuff leaking from Katon’s neck. “And we’re supposed to trust
you
?”

That only made Judas chuckle. “Have you a choice? You are a
guest
in my world. If you would rather I kill you and have it done with…”

He let the sentence hang.

“What is it you want?” Karra asked. Clearly she could see the testosterone building and was looking to head it off. Either that or she wanted a piece of the action. It was always hard to tell with her.

“The same as you, I would imagine.”

“World peace? A vagina for every hand?”

“Your tongue is like a serpent.” The greenies pressed forward with their weapons without so much as a gesture by Judas. “If you wish to keep its head, I suggest you bring it under rein.”

“How right you are.” Shaw let out a snort. “He’s sure got
your
number, Trigg.”

I cast a cold glance her direction. While it was no secret Judas was
persona non grata
given his history, I really couldn’t see him playing nice with Team Lucifer. He already had us by the short hairs, so I didn’t see much point in making things worse by dishing on my lineage.

Fortunately, Shaw didn’t seem to think outing me served a purpose either. She just grinned wider when Judas looked to her, but that was all she did. After a short moment, the betrayer of Christ turned away to meet the eyes of the rest of us, one by one until they settled on Rala.

“You are a strange one, child. What do they call you?”

She cast a furtive glance my direction, so I nodded. Knowing our names wasn’t gonna make a difference.

“Rala,” she answered meekly after a pregnant pause.

“The keeper of the tome.” Judas smiled at her as one of the greenies passed the book to him. He flipped it open carefully, almost reverently, and stared at the words inside. “You can read this then?”

“She can,” Mia added from where she restrained Katon. That scored her a frothy little snarl from Karra. “The girl used it to bring a guardian down upon us, like I told you.”

“A dragon who can summon other dragons. Most interesting.” Judas closed the book and handed it back to the greenie as though it were made of glass. “But I imagine it serves another purpose.” He turned to face Veronica. “How did you come to be here?”

She inched closer to Rala and glared. “We climbed the ladders you so kindly dropped for us. Was rather simple, actually.”

Judas laughed. “I can see I’ve yet to win your faith, and while I’m not surprised, rest assured I will, though.”

“You said you wanted the same as us,” Rahim cut in. “And that is?”

“To be free of this world, of course.” He raised his arms and gestured to the crowd around him. “I am the only true prisoner left in the realm, and even God knows I’ve served my penance and much, much more. It is time to put it behind us.”

Even I had to admit that two thousand years, give or take, was a hell of a long sentence given that Christ supposedly knew what the little backbiter had planned and let it happen, but that begged the question as to how Judas had even lived this long. Last I knew, though I had to admit my biblical knowledge was a little rusty, he was just a plain Jane human. “And God put you here?”

“Aye. So long ago that I’d thought there was naught but ash left of the world outside until my people stumbled across the others who use this realm as a way station.”

“I call bullshit.” Karra apparently did the math, too. “Given that your followers have evolved generations beyond their forbearers, how is it that you’re not dust alongside those long since gone?”

“The Almighty has a vengeful sense of humor, it would appear.” Judas rubbed at his scar again. “As the weight of what I’d done fell over me, I chose to end my part in it rather than watch its consequences.” He smiled. “God, however, had other plans. Like His son, I returned to life three days hence, swaying in the embrace of the rope I’d used to hang myself.”

“He brought you back just to keep hanging?”

Judas grinned. “Unable to die again, I remained there for a sevenday until I’d worn enough of the rope away on a branch that it would no longer support me. The ground welcomed me harshly, as did the angel who stood above me when I managed to raise my eyes from the earth. My suffering had only begun, he told me, and I was delivered here for all eternity.”

“So, you’re like herpes?”

His eyes narrowed at the reference he wouldn’t possibly get, but Rahim apparently didn’t want to risk my having to explain it.

“That seems an unfortunate condemnation, but I’m not sure I feel comfortable helping you return to Earth,” Rahim told him.

“Really?” If I could have, I would have kicked the wizard in his shin. I was fine antagonizing Judas, but if Rahim was gonna place the Old Man’s hurt feelings above our survival, I wasn’t down for that. “I don’t think God gives a damn anymore.”

“Perhaps not, but what—”

Spears shifted, silencing Rahim.

“I have been here for millennia longer than warranted, and I’ve committed far more grievous sins since my incarceration than I had to be sentenced here, so forgive me if I do not entertain this as a discussion,” Judas said, the first hint of anger coloring his cheeks. “We are not foes, you and I, unless you choose to stand against me, but one way or another, with your willing help or otherwise, I will leave this realm.” He motioned to Rala. “Separate her from the others.”

Before the greenies could even move, Shaw had her hand tightened around the little alien’s neck, claws ready to rip her throat out. Rala’s gasp came out as a choked whisper.

“Dare to touch her and she dies,” Shaw warned. Her expression and steady hand left no room for anyone to call her move a bluff.

“You would kill your own?” Judas asked.

“She’s not mine,” Shaw said with a grin. “And yes, if it means we don’t become so much collateral after you secure the only means of our escaping this world.”

My jaw throbbed from being clenched so hard, but I knew better than to intervene. Shaw would do just as she said she would, and Rala would die. I couldn’t have that, but deep down inside, a thorny seed of logic pricked at the balloon of my fury. Shaw knew there was another route out of Tenebrae. She was there when Ilfaar offered it to us so why would she—

My gaze shifted to the angel with a muted sigh, certain no one else would notice my inattention, only to see the barest gleam of a smile at his lips as he watched the proceedings. He was enjoying himself, and that’s when it really hit me.
What had he and Shaw concocted?
There was no telling how long she’d been in the alcove with him or what they’d arranged, but it was starting to look as if they had come to some sort of an agreement. Did they need the book or Rala to see us on our way or was all this just a ruse to distract Judas from their real plan? I had no way of knowing, so I swallowed my anger and glanced back to Shaw to see how things played out. I was along for the ride whether I liked it or not.

Judas loosed a quiet growl. “And if I simply order you killed?”

Shaw shrugged. “Then the girl dies and my journey is done, though you’ll still be trapped here. It might not be more than a moral victory to take to my grave, but it’ll have to suffice.”

A few quiet moments passed, with only the impatient shuffle of greenie feet sounding across the stony floor, the people awaiting their lord’s decision. Finally, a grin broke upon Judas’ lips, and he offered Shaw a shallow bow of concession.

“We are at an impasse, it would appear.” He waved his people back. “Stay your hand and let us join our causes. We will flee this realm together if that serves. You have my word on this.”

“So be it.” Shaw loosened her grip, though didn’t let it go. Rala sucked in a harsh breath. I did the same, adding yet another entry on the
Reasons I’m Going to Kill Her List
. “You’ll forgive me for remaining cautious, however, will you not?”

“I would expect no less.”

“And you’ll free him or you get nothing from us,” I said, pointing at Katon. “All for one and all that crap.”

“Certainly,” Judas turned to the enforcer, “as long as he abides our truce.” It was as much a question as it was a threat.

Katon nodded and almost looked as if he meant it. Mia pulled her blade from his neck and cut him free, shoving him our direction as soon as she was done. The enforcer was clearly ticked off, but he didn’t act on it. He simply joined the group, placing himself near Shaw’s side, opposite the big Nephilim ape, appraising both with feral eyes, making clear his thoughts on her maneuver. The standoff only lasted a moment before it was broken by an unexpected source.

The razored screech of a guardian split the air above and shattered any pretense of peace that had settled over us. Portal lights appeared in the sky, casting a hazy shimmer over our congregation.

“Inside with them, quickly,” Judas told his people, ”but be polite. I’ll brook no defiance of my wishes.”

The greenies did as he bid without complaint and nudged us toward a mass of brittle, brown foliage that covered the wall of the mountain. The first of the locals slipped through the bushes to disappear, and then it was our turn.

Twenty-Three

(Scarlett)

The battle was hardly what one might call competitive. Uriel and I met the first wave of lycanthropes head on, the rest stumbling into their backs. Steel and claws flashed between, blood following in great, gory clouds. The beasts fought harder than the dread fiends had, their attacks more creative but, ultimately, just as futile. The stragglers at the back toppled as easily as the first to charge.

As the last werehound was scythed aside by Uriel’s fury, I turned to watch Raguel draw his blade across the throat of a wolf, dumping its body to the asphalt with the others of its creed. All around him lay the carnage of the lycanthrope defeat. Dark pools colored the street and sidewalks, tufts of bloodied fur and severed limbs littered about. Once more I caught the prickly edges of his magic, his power unrestrained. And then there was a second flutter of mystical energy, and I spied the emerald portal split the seam of the dimensional wall.

“It’s back,” I heard Rachelle shout from the alley, her voice growing as she spoke, the patter of her footsteps echoing loudly while she ran toward us.

My gaze settled on the shimmering wisp of a portal, wishing it to grow wider and spill forth my friends—Katon most of all, though God forgive me my selfishness—but the gate remained little larger than my fist for all my desire.

“Can you capture it?” Uriel asked from where he searched through the bodies to ensure they were all dead.

“If I can only—” Her voice faltered, and she stumbled to a halt. All eyes went to her.

“What is it?” I shouted. “Are you hurt?”

Panic seared her expression while she shook her head in frantic denial. “There’s another gate,” she cried. “Behind you!”

At her shout, I spun about into a wake of brimstone and ire. There was no mistaking its source. The way between worlds cracked open and Hell leaked out. From its center came Azrael—garbed as my cousin—with murder in his eyes.

Raquel shifted his blade and made to turn, but he was too late.

Black steel burst from his mouth in an explosion of red. His hands flew to his face, fingers gnarled from pain, eyes wide, but he made no sound save for the wet
splat
of his life striking the ground at his feet. My stomach roiled at the sight, fear and loss and hate swirling together in the bitter taste of bile. Uriel’s scream set my ears alight.

Azrael yanked the sword free and whipped it about in a broad arc. It fell with cruel intent, taking Raguel’s head with it. My heart stilled as the archangel’s body slumped, his surprised face seared into my vision as his head rolled to a stop against a nearby curb.

“Did you think me so weak as to be caught unawares, my
brother
?” Azrael crowed while shaking the crimson loose of his sword. His smile gleamed. “Now I have reclaimed what is mine.”

Twenty-Four

Beyond the half-dead briar stood a narrow entrance carved into the mountainside. Its confines forced us to turn nearly sideways to slip through its serpentine darkness, squeezing us into a single line of squirming bodies with no room to flee or fight. If Judas wanted us dead, this would be the place to do it. He could hack his way through us one at a time until he reached the middle. I suspected the only thing keeping him from it was that Shaw had retained her hold upon Rala, leading the alien ahead of her, close enough to kill her should anyone make a move.

Just thinking that infuriated me, but there was nothing I could do. Several spaces ahead of them both, with Venai, her massive frame scraping the walls, and Karra between, I had no chance of stopping the wight from passing gas let alone killing Rala. I ground my teeth together at my uselessness and kept on. If Shaw’s posturing got us home in one piece, I could kill her then. If it didn’t work, then I was sadly resolved to the idea that we might well die here in God’s prison resort. If there was any comfort to be had from that thought, at least we’d die as a family, right?