Lord of Hell (Alex Holden) (18 page)

“Just as long as we’re clear on that.” She leaned in for a kiss.

Chapter 20

I’d avoided him for months, not answering his calls, not going to see him. But now the time had come and I had to make one last appeal. I went to Joshua’s house and knocked on the door.

“Hi, Alex.” From his expression, he at least had an idea of what I was here for.

“Oh, Alex.” His mom stepped up behind him in the doorway. “Do you want to come in?”

“Thanks, but I think maybe we should go in the backyard.”

“Alex and I need to talk alone.” Joshua turned to her and they exchanged a look.

“Okay.” She glanced between us and went back in the house.

Joshua led me around the side of the house and opened the fence gate. We stepped into the backyard, which gave us a bit of privacy.

“So I think you have an idea about why I’m here.”

“You talk about stopping God, we have an argument, and then you don’t talk to me for months. I’m thinking the worst.”

I had a hard time meeting his eyes. Quietly, I told him, “Tomorrow we’re going to war against Heaven.”

The color drained from his face. “Alex,
no
! You can’t.”

“I can and I will. Jehovah won’t stop trying to destroy the world, so I have to stop him.” I forced myself to look him straight in the eye. “Joshua, I want you to help us.”

“No.” He shook his head, stepping away from me.

“We could really use your help. You helped when Satan tried to destroy the world last year. You didn’t want the world to end then. It doesn’t matter who’s trying to end it—”

“Yes, it does. This is God’s will. I can’t go against God’s will, and neither can you.”

“If I don’t, then the world ends and everyone dies. I die.”

He dropped his gaze for a moment before looking back up. “I can ask my Father to spare you. You and Hayley, and your friends. You don’t have to die, or at least I can take you to the new world. The beautiful, peaceful world. I’ll rule for a thousand years, and you can be there with me. You and your friends. You can stop fighting. We can all be together. We can all be happy.”

I had to look away. It was tempting. I pictured it, a whole world that looked like the Eternal Gardens, where I wouldn’t have to worry about saving the world, or ruling over demons that wanted to kill me to take the throne. To just… stop fighting. Slowly, I shook my head. “But what about everyone else? The whole
world,
Joshua.”

“The world is broken, fallen. My Father will make a new, perfect world, without sin.”

“For God so loved the world…” I snorted. “He doesn’t love the world, he hates it. It’s just a toy to him, something he got tired of, so now he’s gonna toss it away and get himself a brand-new toy.”

“It’s not like that—”

“Yes, it is. He doesn’t think the world is worth saving.
You
don’t think it’s worth saving.” I clenched my fist. “But I do. I think the world is worth saving. It’s worth
fighting
for. It’s not perfect, far from it, but people deserve a chance to fix their mistakes. And it’s not broken and fallen and terrible. It’s
imperfect,
just like people are. There’s good in the world, too. Too much good to just throw away. To give up on.”

“But it’s not your choice.” His face was so sad. As mad as I was, it broke my heart.

“We all have a choice. Even you.”

“We have free will, but God is God. This is destiny, it’s mean to happen. God’s plan—”

“Jehovah is
wrong.
And I’m going to do whatever it takes to stop him. I’ll kill him if I have to.”

Joshua reeled back like I’d slapped him. “You can’t kill God.”

“Watch me.”

His eyes welled up. “Do you know who you sound like now?”

I clenched my jaw. “I’m not him.”

“He went against God, too, and he lost. He was cast out of Heaven.”

“And he was fighting for himself.”

“And what do you think you’re fighting for?” He glared, and it was one of the few times I’d seen him angry. A tear slipped from his eye.

“To save the world!” If he didn’t get it now, he never would. “So which one of us sounds more human? The one fighting to save the world or the one that’s gonna sit back while people suffer and die?”

“Alex—”

“No. Thanks for nothing.” I left.

***

I went home. “If he wants to be a good little daddy’s boy, then
fine
.” I rubbed at my wet eyes.

We don’t need him.
Mew-Mew hopped onto the back of the couch.
We have lots of allies.

“I know.” I went around and flopped onto the couch. “I was really hoping he’d be on our side.”

Mew-Mew sat on my chest.
He loves his dad. Did you really think he’d fight him?

I ran a hand through his fur. “I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but it still… hurts.”

He lay down and started purring.
I’ll always be on your side.

“I know.”

We lay together for a while until Hayley came over. She drove to my apartment and then teleported up. “It would be so much easier if I could just come straight here.”

“Yeah, and then your parents would wonder how you were getting around if you left the car at home,” I said. We’d had a long talk about keeping her powers hidden. If I could do it for months, so could she. Casey knew, but that was it. Not even our other friends knew about the deal we’d made.

Mew-Mew stretched and went over to greet her.
Hello.

She grinned. “Hi.” She could hear him now and the novelty hadn’t worn off. It still thrilled her every time. Hayley had gotten all my powers, except the ones that had come with taking over Hell. She bent down to give Mew-Mew a pat and scratch behind his ears.

Should I go now?
he asked me.

The plan was for me and Hayley to spend the evening together. Our last night before the war. “Not yet. Let’s all have dinner first.”

We ordered a ridiculous amount of Chinese food and sat around the living room table, stuffing our faces. After dinner we hung out for a bit, and then Mew-Mew left me and Hayley alone.

Near midnight, she drove home so she’d be back before her curfew. It was hard to say good-bye because tomorrow we’d go into battle and I had no idea what would happen.

I sat on the couch, flipping through channels. I was about to call for Mew-Mew and have him come back when I got a text from Hayley, saying she’d be back soon. Half an hour later, she showed up in her pajamas.

“My parents think I went to bed,” she told me. “I want to stay with you.”

I wrapped her in a hug and held her tight. “Good, because I think I need you to stay.”

***

In the middle of the night, I woke from an uneasy sleep. I ran to the bathroom and threw up all that Chinese food. War. I was going to war in the morning.

Hayley knocked on the door. “Alex? Are you okay?”

I rinsed my mouth with mouthwash. “Yeah. Give me a minute.” I looked at myself in the mirror. A scared, tired teenager looked a back at me. Lord of Hell. Leader of an army of demons and gods that would attack Heaven and try to bring down Jehovah. I’d just turned eighteen.

I came out of the bathroom and Hayley asked again, “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” I went to sit on the edge of the bed.

She sat next to me. “Worried about tomorrow?”

“Terrified.”

She wrapped an arm around me and leaned close. “Me, too.”

“This whole thing is fucking insane.”

“That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it?”

I looked at her.

“You saved the world three times, right? And you killed the devil, and you didn’t have any help for that.”

“Mew-Mew helped me.” It had cost him his life. The fact that he’d come back as a ghost didn’t take away from his sacrifice. Who would make a sacrifice this time? How many would die?

“He helped you escape, but you fought Satan by yourself. You killed him, you took over Hell. You kick demons’ asses on a regular basis.”

“But this is different. I’m attacking Jehovah and his entire host.”

“Do you want to give up?”

“I can’t give up. If I do, more people die, and things keep getting worse, and then the world ends.”

“Were you this worried the other times?”

“No.” I thought a moment, wondering why that was. “I guess I’ve had too much time to think about it. The other times it was a few days at most. This time I’ve had months to think about what was happening. And when I fought Satan, it wasn’t a plan. That was spontaneous.” I’d been too upset about him killing Mew-Mew, and by the end of the fight I hadn’t cared if I lived or died. That does a lot to take away your fear.

“But this time you have a whole army. A
trained
army. Demons and fucking
war gods
,” she said. “I’m worried, too. Worried I might die, worried you might die, but look at what we’ve got on our side. Jehovah is just
one
god with a bunch of angels.”

I sighed and forced a smile. “You’re right. And we aren’t outnumbered anymore with the gods and their people joining us. Or at least the armies are a lot closer in number. We have way more power with as many gods as we have. War gods, like you said. Shit, Jehovah won’t know what hit him.” My smile spread, then faded. “I’m still scared, though. What if we lose?”

Hayley squeezed my hand. “Then we go down fighting.”

That surprised a little laugh out of me. “Hey, that’s my line.”

She nudged me. “Then you should say it.”

“Then we go down fighting,” I said, smiling.

***

At dawn, Hayley slipped back into her room to go through the motions of getting ready for school. We wanted to put off her parents worrying for as long as we could. Once she got to school, she’d teleport to Hell. Casey had the task of stalling her parents as long as possible. We had no idea how long this would take, or if she’d have a chance to go back home between battles.

Casey was having a tough time of it. He wanted to come along, but he didn’t really want to fight. He just didn’t want to be left behind. If he were more the fighting type, I might have given him powers so he could join the army. But he wasn’t, so no matter how he begged, I still said no.

Emily and Colin had asked to join the army and after a lot of arguing, I let them. I put Emily with Set’s division and Colin with the Morrigan’s. If something happened to them, I wasn’t going to be the only one who had to answer to their parents.

Stefan was assigned to his father, and Odin was very pleased to have him.

I went down to my castle and dressed in my new armor. Black with red flame designs, to match Animus’s handle and sheath. I’d passed on a helmet because I couldn’t stand any of the ones I tried on. They were heavy and blocked my field of vision. The armor was little more than show, anyway. I wore it to look the part.

I strapped Animus on and she sang a low, sweet song. “Soon,” I whispered to her.

Hayley appeared, looking both determined and scared. Pretty much how I felt. I helped her into her armor. It was almost the same design as mine, but with blue flames instead of red. Her sword was a katana as well. I would’ve liked to get her a twin of Animus, but even as a favor to me, not as many had been willing to give up a tiny bit of their power to make it. Still, it was a powerful weapon, pulsing with a very different kind of energy than Animus.

When she was ready, Hayley checked herself in the mirror. “I look like a real warrior.”

“You are.” As much as I wanted her to be somewhere safe, she’d only resent me if I didn’t let her do this. I’m sure she felt the same way about me. She didn’t want me in danger any more than I wanted her to be. I’d given her as much of an advantage as I could—she was more powerful than most of my demons, and she was trained as well as they were. She had a knack for her new powers and a good relationship with her sword.

She tugged at the edge of her breastplate. “I guess I’m ready.”

“Time to go join the troops.” I gave her a long kiss. And another. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She gave me one more kiss and went to join the army amassing in the courtyard.

Mew-Mew joined me as I left the room and walked down the long hallway. He didn’t say anything, just offered silent companionship. I went out onto the balcony, the same one where I’d let everyone know about my plan to go to war.

I looked out over a vast sea of demons, gods, and other supernatural beings. They were armed and armored and eager to fight. “Today is the day.” Their energy rose up around me, and my fear faded away. I drew Animus, red flames lighting along her blade. “We go to war against Heaven. To stop Jehovah. To save the world.” The crowd roared. There were so many of them, stretching on forever. I’d had to make the courtyard bigger to fit them all. It was more like a flat plain surrounded with distant walls. Demons in all their forms, war gods from a dozen different pantheons with various supernatural troops behind them. “There’s never been an army like this. Holy shit, look at you.” I leaned on the bannister and smiled. “Heaven won’t know what hit it.” The crowd roared even louder, shaking the stones of the castle.

They were all looking at me, cheering for me. Ready to fight for me. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Animus’s power flowed into me; the energy of the assembled army flowed into me. “We’ll tear down the gates, flow over them like an unstoppable tide! We will not lose. Let’s go conquer Heaven and kick some angel ass!”

The cheer rose up again, and I gave the signal to teleport.

Chapter 21

The army appeared outside the gates. Saint Peter stared at us from behind his desk. “What is this?”

I pointed at him with Animus. With some surprise, I noticed she was still glowing red. I thought she’d be a lot weaker in Heaven. “Run and tell your master we’re here to stop him.” Why had I been so afraid before? This felt so good.

Saint Peter did just that, stumbling back from the desk. Wings sprouted from his back and he flew off toward the gleaming towers in the distance.

“Take down that gate,” I told the army.

A horde of demons rushed forward and attacked the golden bars with weapons or by slamming their bodies against it. Many of them hissed and backed off, stung by the holy power, but others kept attacking and more moved forward to help them. The gates of Heaven shuddered.