Lord of Hell (Alex Holden) (14 page)

It wrapped around his neck, making him scream. He sliced at it with one of his blades, but the fire held. The curved blade hit it and bounced off. I moved back a few steps and pulled hard. His scream rose to a gurgle and the stink of burned flesh grew sharper. He opened his mouth, to say something or to scream again, I don’t know. He dropped both swords and clawed at the fire whip.

I could let him burn, keep pulling until the fire went all the way through, decapitating him. His huge yellow eyes bulged. I dropped the whip and it disappeared. At the same second I jumped, aiming Animus for his heart. She sank deep, her satisfaction vibrating up my arm. A tortured gurgle came from Valafar and he fell.

Right on top of me.

***

The rest of Valafar’s army fell apart soon after that and we surrounded them.

My body throbbed as it healed, and I watched the end of the battle from a chair on the tower balcony. “Ask them to surrender and take the rest of them alive,” I told Astaroth, who’d taken me back to the castle after pulling me out from under Valafar’s body.

“Yes, my lord.” He disappeared to give the order.

Holy shit, you stink,
Mew-Mew said. He’d wanted to fight, but I’d had him stay behind with a few hundred warriors to guard the Eternal Gardens. I was pretty sure no one could get in without permission, but I didn’t want to take the chance. He’d joined me on the balcony the moment he’d learned I was hurt.

I know.
I wondered how many showers it would take to get rid of the burning-flesh stench. The big demon landing on me hadn’t hurt quite as bad as I’d feared, but it had been far from painless.

The remaining rebels were rounded up. I created a jail and put them under guard, with strict orders that none of them were to be hurt. I had to figure out what to do with them.

First though, I needed a fucking shower.

The slice down my chest was a thick scar by the time I got home. My whole body ached as I scrubbed and scrubbed to get the smell out of my skin. I got most of it off me, but a bit of the stink still clung to me when I stepped out of the shower. I was exhausted and just wanted to lie down. I put on clean clothes and lay down on the couch. Within seconds, I fell into a fitful sleep.

Hours later I woke with Mew-Mew curled next to me. I was groggy, but physically fine. I checked my chest and there was no sign of damage. Sunlight streamed through the windows. I didn’t know what day it was or how long I’d been in Hell. I checked the time on my phone. Three in the afternoon. There were a few text messages from Hayley, asking how things were going and asking me to call her when I got back.

I tapped her number and she answered on the second ring. “Hi,” I said. “Sorry, I fell asleep when I got back.” It felt like I’d been gone for a couple of days, but it had only been seven or eight hours of Earth time.

“Busy day?” She tried to sound casual, but her voice wavered.

I opened my mouth to tell her, but it would be better to talk to her face-to-face. “I’m fine, so don’t worry. How about you come over and I can tell you all about it.” I needed to order pizza or something, too. I was fucking starving. I had to stop forgetting to eat.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Relax, I’m fine.”

“You’re fine
now.
That doesn’t mean nothing bad happened.”

I sighed. “Just don’t rush. I’d hate for you to get in an accident or something. Oh, do you want something to eat? I’m ordering food.”

By the time we hung up, she sounded calmer. I ordered pizza and hoped it would get there soon. My stomach growled and I raided the kitchen for chips. I’d managed to eat several handfuls by the time Hayley arrived.

She studied me as she stepped through the door, probably looking for injuries.

“I told you I’m fine,” I repeated.

“So what happened?”

Seeing her made me feel like I had an anchor, that there was a life beyond all the weird shit I was dealing with.

“Nothing much.” I ate another chip. “Just had a rebellion in Hell and led an army in battle to stop them.” I was trying to come off sarcastic, but it fell flat.

“What?” Hayley stared at me.

Mew-Mew stretched and hopped onto the table.
Just tell her.
He didn’t have to say “and quit fucking around.”

“Valafar got a few legions together and came to attack the castle.” While telling her the story, it all hit me. How much danger I’d really been in, that I could have died. I’ve been in plenty of life-threatening situations, and the delayed reaction was getting familiar. I might have cried a little. I made Hayley answer the door for the pizza guy because I didn’t want him to see my red, puffy eyes.

“God, that smells good,” I said as she set the boxes on the table. I grabbed a slice and took a few bites, settling down as the hot pizza revived me. “So now I have to figure out what to do with the rebels.”

“The safest thing to do is kill them.” She blew on the slice balanced on her hand.

“The safest thing to do is kill every last fucking demon in Hell. But I need an army to attack Heaven.”

“Don’t forget I’m coming with you.” Her eyes narrowed just a bit. It wasn’t “the look,” but it was heading that way.

“I haven’t. There’s a librarian in Hell and I asked him to look into how to get you powers.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Hell has a library?”

“Yeah, I was surprised, too. If there’s a way to get you superpowers, he has the best chance of finding it.”

After swallowing a bite of pizza, she said, “You tell me as soon as he
does
find something.”

“I will.”

We ate in silence for a while. I inhaled most of a pizza while Mew-Mew nibbled on a piece. He couldn’t really eat, but he could still taste and enjoy the food.

Hayley said, “Why don’t you tell them you’re planning to attack Heaven?”

“Huh?”

“Well, they think you’re weak and stuff, so maybe the demons will get behind you if you tell them.”

“I’m not ready for that.”

“Why not?”

“Because we need a plan first. I don’t want to get them all riled up.”

She wiped her hand with a napkin. “I think the rebellion already riled them up.”

“Dammit.” I leaned back. “Fine, I’ll think about it.” But would they get behind me? Several legions had followed me into battle against the rebels, but would they balk at another war in Heaven? The last time they’d been thrown into Hell and turned into demons. They might not be enthusiastic about trying again.

Chapter 17

“Kill the leaders and let the rest go,” Semiazas said.

I wrinkled my nose. Death in battle was one thing, but I didn’t like the idea of execution. Says the guy who killed a bunch of Satanists. I know, hypocrite much? “Would the rebels left over try to organize and make another attack?”

Semiazas shook his head. “You can break up the legions, spread the demons around to fill in for those lost among your loyal legions.”

“Good idea.” I leaned forward on my desk. “You’ve done this before?”

“I have wanted to, but I was never in a position to give such counsel.”

I crossed my arms and sighed. “Let me think about it.” I was still considering Hayley’s idea, too. I could do both, but then, which one first?

“Do not think too long. The consequences should be swift.”

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in.”

Ernaz shuffled in and shut the door behind him. “My lord, I have a… rather important piece of information.” He picked at one of his claws.

“What is it?”

He glanced at Semiazas. “I would rather tell you privately.”

“Anything you have to tell me, you can say in front of him,” I said.

He swallowed.

“I can go, Alex,” Semiazas said.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know. Think about what I said.” He left the office.

When the door clicked behind him, I asked Ernaz, “So what is it?”

His shoulders were so hunched his neck almost disappeared. “I have kept this from you, and I hope you will show me mercy…”

A little chill went up my spine. “What is it?”

“I was the one who lamed the sun horse last summer. And I let Fenrir loose, as well.”

“What? Why the fuck would you do that?” And as I said it, I knew. Of course, Satan had told him to. And when those two attempts hadn’t worked, he’d tried to cause the Apocalypse directly.

But what Ernaz said was, “Because Jehovah commanded me to.”

My stomach dropped. “What? Why would he do that?” Then I answered my own question. “Because he was trying to end the world. Ragnarok really does parallel the Apocalypse.”

Ernaz huddled in on himself. “Please forgive me.”

“But why would he command you to do it? And why would you listen?”

“Because I have desperately been trying to win his favor so I can get back into Heaven. I have missed it; it’s like I’ve had a hole in my being all these thousands of years. I want to go home.” It was almost a whimper.

“So why are you telling me this now?”

“I was acting under the direct orders of Jehovah when I lamed the sun horse and when I set Fenrir free. Jehovah interfered with another pantheon.”

My head spun at the implication. “He broke the Law. He tried to cause Ragnarok. Twice. Holy shit.” I had to talk to Odin again, tell him about this. It changed everything. But what if he didn’t believe me? He knew I was trying to get him involved in my war. “Wait, do you have any proof?”

“No proof, my lord, but you could ask Fenrir. I talked to him when I set him free. He saw me; he knew I was a demon.”

I shook my head. Ernaz hadn’t really answered my question. “But why are you telling me this now? You want to help, but why?”

“I want to get back into Heaven. I have been begging Jehovah for thousands of years. I did those two acts for him, and still he denies me. If you make war against him and you win, take over Heaven—”

“Then you get in.”

“When you win, will you allow me to return to Heaven?”

“Well, we need to worry about how to win first. But as of now, you’re joining my war council.”

I summoned the rest of the council and told them the news. Then I told them I was going straight to Asgard to talk to Odin.

Jehovah had broken the Law. Holy shit.

I couldn’t teleport into Asgard, but I could get to the shimmering rainbow of the Bifrost bridge. Heimdall, the guardian of the bridge, stopped me and asked my business. I told him I needed to speak with Odin on an urgent matter and he sent the message along. The king of the Norse gods arrived a few minutes later.

“Odin, we need to visit Fenrir. I need to ask him something, and you need to be there when he answers.”

“What is this all about?”

“I can’t give you details. I don’t want you to think there’s any trickery at all. I heard something, and I need to confirm it.”

He eyed me. “It is dangerous to go near the Fenrir wolf.”

“Yeah, I know. I fought him, remember?” I sighed. “Look, this is really important. It’ll only take a few minutes. I just need to ask him one question, that’s it.”

He studied me for another moment. “For your help in saving Asgard last summer, I will grant you this. Grasp my arm.” He held it out.

I grabbed hold, and with an inside-out lurch, we were in a huge cave. Tied with the magical fetter and chained by it to the wall of the cave was the giant wolf Fenrir. Within a second he spotted us, and he was none too happy. He lunged against the unbreakable bonds, slavering around the sword jammed through his muzzle.

“I need him to talk, so we’ll have to take that out.”

“Tyr lost an arm to those jaws,” Odin warned.

“I know.” After a few seconds, I said, “I’ll do it.”

I stepped up to the wolf, as close as I dared. He glared down at me, just as huge as I remembered him. “I need to ask you a question. It’s very important. Just one question, and I want you to tell the truth.” Without giving him too much time to think, I jumped up, landed on his nose, and yanked the sword out.

As it came free, the wolf yelped in pain. I used the momentum of his muzzle lifting to launch myself backward, out of range. I landed beyond the reach of his sharp teeth and gave him a moment to recover.

“Little fly, have you come back so I can eat you?” The anger coming off him was so strong I could almost feel it, like heat.

“I have a question. Who set you free last summer?”

“Why should I tell you?”

I glared. “Are you afraid I’ll hurt your friend?” Shit. I hadn’t counted on him not wanting to answer me.

“He did me a great favor, but he was no friend of mine.”

“Who was it?”

“Answer him, Fenrir, son of Loki. I command you to speak the truth,” Odin said.

The huge wolf growled and glared, but finally he said, “It was a demon, a Christian demon. He loosed my bonds and told me to run free and bring Asgard to its knees.” He finished with a lunge and a snap, but his jaws closed several feet from me. He couldn’t reach that far.

I couldn’t help a flinch, but it was a small one. I took a few slow steps back and turned to Odin.

His good eye was narrowed, his jaw clenched. “You were wise to let me hear it from Fenrir’s mouth. The wolf has little reason to lie about being set free. Rather, I would expect him to brag about breaking free by his own strength.”

“True, Odin One Eye,” Fenrir said. “I speak true. Will you now slay this demon for setting me free?”

“No,” I said before he could answer. “He was acting under orders,” I told Odin. “Jehovah’s orders.”

The god’s glare deepened. “Do you swear this to be true?”

“I swear that’s what he told me. He confessed he set Fenrir free by Jehovah’s order.”

“If he commanded this demon to set Fenrir free, then it is as if he set the great wolf free himself.”

“Exactly,” I said. “He broke the Law. He interfered with the Norse.”

Odin gave me a hard look. “You swear this is no trickery?”

I suppose it was possible this was a lie, but why? And why would both Ernaz and Fenrir lie? “Not that I know of. The demon came to me and confessed. If he’s lying, then Fenrir is lying too, and to what end?”

“Why would Jehovah want to set Fenrir free?” Odin asked.