The Demon Beside Me (8 page)

“The Angelic Choir, arguing that a Pact violation has been made by Isaiah Bright, yes?”

The archon brightened, throwing strange purple light around the room. “Indeed, sir! Most horrible, the perpetration of excessive force, most horrible the results-”

“That Archangel is alive, isn’t he?”

“That is an undeniable fact, sir.”

“Then the results can’t be so horrible after all, can they?”

The archon dimmed. I smiled and leaned forward as Hikari got to her feet. “Would the representative of the Syndicate like some tea? Caleb, Anna?”

Three voices indicated assent. I blinked. “What about-”

“Get your own.”

I crumpled back down on the couch to sulk. Hikari emerged from the kitchen and handed out new cups, filled and refilled, gave me a sunny smile with lightning flashing in her eyes, and sat back down. Slurping noises came from the archon, but otherwise, there was silence.

The Chairman finally placed his cup down on the coffee table next to him. “Isaiah, you are authorized use of amplification in self-defense for the duration of your duties as Gatekeeper. Self-defense, and only self-defense. Is that understood?”

“I understand.”

He turned to the archon. “You may return to your Choir contact and advise them of my decision, and then immediately request that the Chairman of your Syndicate meet to discuss this.”

“At once, sir!” The archon placed its cup on the table and lifted off, pulsing with green light. Before leaving, it hovered in front of Hikari. “Thank you, kind human, for your refreshments.” The ball of light bowed, somehow, and then flew off through the ceiling and outwards.

“Kibs,” the Chairman said, “you are my liaison in this matter. You are to watch over the Gatekeeper to assure there is no misuse of his specially authorized powers. If there is unauthorized usage of the spell amplification, you may immediately execute him for violation of the Pact.”

“Understood.”

The imp stood up and brushed off his suit jacket, then sighed. “As for myself, I will report to the High Council and let them know that the war we have feared for decades is about to come to pass. Caleb DeMarco, I regret that this is likely the last time we will speak this way. The next time we meet, it may be as foes.”

“What?” Tink jumped to her feet. “Why do you think this is going to start the war?”

The Chairman turned his gaze on her. “Because the Choir will not accept that we have authorized a demon’s use of amplification. They will consider it a provocation. They will consider it unfair. They will be right. And then, they will reject the Pact, as it has been unfairly applied. They will consider the Consortium to favor the Host unfairly, and they will attack us.” He gave her a toothy smile. “Don’t feel too concerned about it. The Consortium will survive, just as we have for millennia. The Host, on the other hand, may be in trouble.”

“I’ll stand with them,” Tink snapped. “We’ll stand together, right, demon? We’ll fight until we’re both bled dry.”

I stared at her. There wasn’t any way we’d be able to stand up to the Choir, not even if we all stood together. If a war did break out, which seemed more and more likely with every passing second, we’d all die, and then the Horsemen would win by default. We needed to convince the Choir that a war would kill everyone, including them. I turned to Caleb, hoping that he’d have the solution.

He did not disappoint. “I have an idea,” he said.

Caleb left and didn’t come back that night, which was fine, as he’d have ended up on the floor somewhere. Tink slept on the couch, which was probably where I’d have ended up if she weren’t around. Instead, Hikari pointedly turned her back on me and stole all of the sheets.

I didn’t care. I was asleep within a minute of my head hitting the pillow.

Dawn broke with a phone call from Caleb. “The Cherub handling this situation has agreed to meet at First Revelation for negotiations,” were the first words from his mouth.

I grunted into the phone, my eyes still closed. “When?”

“Noon.”

Noon was hours away. I fell back asleep. Hikari woke me up, barely in time to shower and shave before leaving. Cops and curious bystanders were examining the damage to various cars and gawking at the crushed and torn remains of Tink’s car. Luckily, my car hadn't been blocked in by any of the police cruisers, so we were able to leave without being hassled.

We made it to First Revelation about ten minutes before noon. Caleb and Jase met us at the front doors. Jase was wearing a shirt and tie, while Caleb wore something I’d never seen him wear before, a Choir uniform. White with blue piping, golden insignia of rank at his lapels, the only thing missing was a slightly frayed patch where he had removed his unit insignia. That was a good idea. No other demon needed to know his background. His sword hung from a scabbard at his belt, fully manifested. I felt rather underdressed for the occasion. At least I wasn’t wearing sandals.

Minutes later, Kibs and the Chairman appeared. Both were wearing the typical Consortium suit and tie, but both of them looked to be even more fastidiously clean than usual. “The Host’s representative will be here shortly, Pastor Pruitt,” the Chairman rasped. “Are all of the preparations complete?”

“Yes, Chairman,” Jase said. “We’ve rearranged the sanctuary for the conference.”

The Chairman tilted his head. “Ah, Opheran of Asmodeus approaches.”

The Prince arrived in a rather unexpected manner. We could hear the sputter of a motorcycle in the distance, but none of us expected it to pull into the church’s parking lot. Opheran parked his bike, pulled his helmet off and rolled his shoulders. Like the imps, he was wearing a suit and tie.

“Does he think he’s James Bond?” Tink muttered.

“I think Bond would be jealous,” Hikari said.

He held his helmet under one arm and walked up to Jase, extending his hand. “Pastor Pruitt. Good to see you again, under less trying circumstances. Thank you for your efforts in setting this conference up.”

“You’re quite welcome, Prince Opheran. Please, be welcome inside, and peace be upon you.” Jase gestured to the front doors and we all walked into the foyer. The heavy pews had been pushed back toward the walls of the inner sanctuary, far enough to fit a sizable table in the center of the room. One side of the table was for the Choir, one side for the Host, and the head of the table for Jase as host and moderator. The foot of the table, naturally, belonged to me as the Gatekeeper.

No one sat, even as the clock ticked past noon. The imps floated near the ceiling, speaking in tones too low for even me to hear. Opheran chatted with Jase near the head of the table, Hikari and Tink disappeared, leaving just Caleb and myself in the foyer, waiting for the arrival of the other side. “Think this is a matter of being fashionably late?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “Absolutely not. It’s just a petty way of expressing dominance and contempt. This is typical for one of the Cherubim, even within the Choir. They’re in charge and they don’t let you forget it. Unless you’re a Seraph, in which case they are disgustingly subservient.”

“Aren’t cherubs usually portrayed at fat little winged angels, with a bow and arrow, like Cupid?”

Caleb snickered. “Humans. Don’t ever remind one of them about that. They’re typically a bit sensitive about it.”

“I’ll keep that in reserve,” I said. A thump from outside told me that someone had arrived. Caleb pushed the doors open and immediately stiffened to attention. I peeked out to see Victor acting as chauffeur, holding a car door open for another angel, who I assumed to be the Cherub orchestrating the attempts on my life. Victor wore a uniform like Caleb’s, with a unit insignia riding on each sleeve.

The Cherub wore a uniform like theirs, but with a gold-trimmed white cape and several rows of ribbons across the left side of his chest. He towered over Victor, who was not terribly short by any means. Blond hair hung loosely down to his shoulders, almost glowing in the noon sun. Like Caleb, an ornate sword hung at his belt. All in all, he looked the perfect image of the arrogant commander. I found it hard to stop from giggling.

“Zay. Stay in the church. Don’t step through the doorway.” Caleb managed to talk without moving his lips much.

“You think he’d just cut my throat on the way in?”

“It would be a simple solution.”

The two angels walked up the steps and the Cherub paused to look down on Caleb. “Power,” he said, his voice deep and resonant.

“Sir!” Caleb snapped. “Enter, and be at peace!”

The Cherub took a step through the doorway, then stopped dead. He turned his head slightly and looked down at me. His eyes narrowed and a very slight smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Gatekeeper,” he said, putting no emphasis on the title at all.

“Cherub,” I said.

“You’ve caused me some difficulty.”

I watched his fingers twitch and curl. Caleb was furiously shaking his head on the other side of the Cherub, imploring me to keep my big mouth shut. I smiled and shook my head. “It appears we have troubled each other. I hope this conference will resolve both of our troubles in a mutually beneficial way.”

Caleb blinked.

“Well said,” the Cherub murmured. “Power, Archangel, escort me to the table. Let us proceed with this conference.”

I watched them walk toward the inner sanctuary, flinching as Victor brushed past me. He paused, just for a moment, and gave me a toothy smile. Once he was in the sanctuary, I flinched again as a hand landed on my shoulder. “He wasn’t what you thought, Zay?”

I took Hikari’s hand and squeezed. “No, he’s worse.”

“Worse?”

“I troubled him, Hikari. Not just troubling the Choir, I troubled him, personally. If he’s making it personal, nothing good’s going to happen here.” I let go of her hand and looked her in the eye. “Be ready for anything.”

She nodded and gestured toward the inner sanctuary. I followed her and nodded to Jase as I took my place at the foot of the table. Opheran sat to my right, Tink at his left hand, Hikari at his right. On the opposite side, Caleb sat to the Cherub’s right, Victor at his left. The two imps floated in midair, either not to imbalance the proceedings, or just to stay separate. The Chairman caught my eye and frowned, shaking his head slightly. Another bad sign. I turned my head to look at Opheran, but he was expressionless, simply regarding his counterpart across the table.

Introductions went around the table, ending with the Cherub. “I am Bartholomew,” he said, making no mention of his rank or titles. “Let us proceed with this, Pastor Pruitt. A simple statement of our initial positions will be adequate to start from.”

“An excellent suggestion,” Jase said. “Perhaps Prince Opheran would like to make the first statement?”

Opheran nodded and rose to his feet. “While I do not represent the Host in total, I am authorized and empowered to speak for House Asmodeus. One of our minor nobles has ‘conquered’ the realm of Heaven through methods beyond our knowledge. The House did not authorize or aid this action. In the interests of maintaining peaceful relations with the Choir, even though their agents have previously acted in bad faith, we are prepared to cede our conquest in exchange for minor concessions.”

As he sat down, Bartholomew rose, without acknowledgement from Jase. “I speak for the Choir, in its totality. The realm of Heaven is ours, and we do not acknowledge its conquest. We demand the immediate release of all claims, and further demand the immediate extradition of the perpetrator to our custody for proper and fitting chastisement. Furthermore, while House Asmodeus may not have authorized this act, your House has tacitly approved and given this crime legitimacy. The Choir demands the cessation of all your activities on this world, and that House Asmodeus turn over all of its worldly assets to assigned agents of Choir within thirty days. Failure to do so will be considered an act of war.”

No one responded to his words for a long moment. I glanced at Caleb, whose expression could most accurately be considered horrified. Victor was obviously repressing a smile, while Jase was speechless. Opheran seemed frozen in place, but then slowly rose to his feet. “Your demands go beyond any semblance of reasonable negotiation, Cherub.”

“This is not a negotiation,” Bartholomew replied. “We have tolerated your blight upon this world for far too long. You will surrender your House to us, you will surrender that abominable halfbreed, and you will surrender any claims to our ancestral home. No more, no less.”

“Abominable halfbreed?” I was on my feet before Caleb or Tink could stop me. “I am the Gatekeeper. Do you understand what that means? I have the power to open the Gates of Ascension, the path that will allow you to return to Heaven and the Host to Hell. Do you even care if your Choir returns home? I have the power to open the Gates, but I do not have the obligation to do so.” I paused a moment to let that sink in. “We’ve already established that you don’t plan on negotiating in good faith, after you sent that inept Archangel after me again. Let me tell you exactly what my position is, Barty.”

“Barty?” One sculpted eyebrow rose.

“I have something you want. I don’t want it. You can have it back. No charges, no concessions, nothing in return except you leave me the hell alone.” I pointed at the table. “This entire charade’s unnecessary, especially if you’re asking for ridiculous things. Do you seriously think you’re going to get an entire House to surrender to you simply because of this? If I were in Opheran’s seat, I would have laughed in your face. You deserve nothing of the sort.”

The Cherub’s expression was stony. His eyes shone slightly from within as he regarded me. “You seek to hold the opening of the Gates of Ascension over us?”

“Just as you seek to hold the fate of my entire House over my actions,” I snapped.

“And you believe that you are holding something valuable,” he said.

“What?”

“Victor told me what was told to him. If one of ours took Hell from you, you would merely kill him and take it back, yes?” Bartholomew smiled. “Though it pains me to admit it, we are not so different, not in all things.”