Dark Wings Descending (29 page)

“He wouldn’t want you to be like this. He wouldn’t have wanted you to kill women because you were pissed off at me.”

“I thought they were you. I could see you everywhere. You wouldn’t leave me alone! So many glamours; all of them calling to me.” He tore at his hair and ripped a piece out. Ashley finally realized his madness went deeper than she had ever imagined. Demon dementia. His human DNA was at war with the demon blood in his veins.

“The women you killed weren’t me, though. They were innocents.”

“I made them into angels. I gave them wings of their own so they could fly away to heaven and be redeemed.”

“You painted wings in their blood that you had just butchered them in. You copied Dad’s painting to pose them. Why?”

He shrugged. “I thought Dad would see it and like it. I brought his picture to life. I made it real for him.”

“You killed innocents.”

“They were supposed to be you.”

“And what if they had been? What if one of the women you slaughtered had really been me, Lucas? What then? Would you have slit my throat as well to stop me from crying out to ask why my own brother wanted me dead?”

“I didn’t want you dead. I just want what you’ve always had. You got Dad’s angel wings when he fell to earth. I want them.”

“I got no such thing. I got the ability to shape-shift. That’s all I got from Dad.”

“I want the wings. I want Dad to see I have them now.”

“Dad got banished to hell. He hasn’t seen a thing you’ve done since the last second he laid eyes on you.”

“You
lie
!”

“He was sent to spend eternity in hell because he broke the rules. He gave up his angel status to come to earth. He fell from grace.”

“He ran off with another woman.”

“No, that’s what your mother thought. No one told her Dad was going to be punished for his sins. So knowing of his wandering eye, she figured he’d found someone new. He hadn’t. He didn’t leave you on purpose. The angels came for him.”

“You all took my father away!” He turned his head to the sky to bellow out his words. “I can get him back. If I have your wings, I can get him back.” He removed a long, lethal tipped blade from his jacket. “Now that I have the real you, I can end this.” He took a step toward her. “I promise this won’t hurt a bit. I’m a professional. I know how to put animals out of their misery.” He raised the blade. “You’re going to help me see my dad again.”

“Give him his wish.”

Eli’s voice echoed in Rafe’s head as she stood poised behind Lucas, the spear raised in her hands. She’d been in the garden a while and had been able to hear every word the deranged young man had said. Rafe had seen Ashley’s face lose some of its fear when the unmistakable light that Eli emitted had come into her view. Rafe remembered Ashley telling her that demons couldn’t see an angel’s light until the Spear of Light captured them and their eyes were opened.

What Ashley wasn’t expecting was to see Rafe step out of the light wielding her weapon. Bathed in the brilliance shining from Eli, Rafe hefted the heavy spear and slammed it down into Lucas’s shoulder. It slipped through his body as if it were weightless. Rafe almost fell forward on her face with the ease the spear cut through his torso. There was a satisfying thud as the spear dug into the ground and Lucas Thorpe was left pinned. He flailed his arm out, but Ashley was nowhere near the knife. His screams were earsplitting as he fought to get at her.

Rafe felt Eli remove himself from around her. It was a curious feeling and she was left oddly bereft. A cold chill shivered through her as the white light retreated. She stepped forward to Ashley and clutched her to her chest.

“You okay?”

Ashley buried her face in Rafe’s shoulder. “I am now. Since when do you get to play with angel toys?”

“Since Eli reckoned only you and I could bring this killer to justice.” She spared Lucas Thorpe a glance. “He really doesn’t look like anything special, does he?” She deliberately baited him, watching as his face grew into a form she was familiar with. “Oh, put your monster face away. I’ve faced uglier demons than you, and quite frankly, you are lacking in the horn department.”

He swung the knife out at her, furiously slashing at the air. His body twisted on the spear but he was effectively trapped. “You bitch. I’ll cut your heart out. Who the fuck are you anyway?”

“I’m your sister’s lover, and that makes me the scariest thing you’ll ever face, demon boy.”

He flipped the knife over in his hand with a swift move and was about to throw it when a hand appeared and very gently removed the weapon from him. Lucas looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening.

“You have wings,” he whispered.

“And they are not for the taking,” Eli told him as he carefully handed the knife over to Rafe for safekeeping. “Your time here is done.”

“But I need her.” Lucas stared at Eli, then whipped his head around to look accusingly at Ashley. “I always lose out to you.”

“No, Lucas. This time you win. You get to spend eternity with our father. Be sure to tell him hi from me.”

Eli restrained Lucas’s hands with his own and called Ashley forward. “Touch him. Draw forth his demon, then the angels can come and take care of him. Until they are certain he’s unredeemable they won’t interfere.”

Ashley slipped from Rafe’s hold and took a tentative step forward. “Could I heal him?”

“I fear he’s beyond what your power can do.”

Ashley placed her hand on Lucas’s chest and gasped as if burned. Rafe took a step forward, but was kept back by Eli’s silent command.

“What do you sense, Ashley?” Eli asked.

“That there’s very little human left inside him.”

“Then he’s ours for the taking. Only someone with a pure heart could have seen into the human soul and found it missing.”

Ashley stepped back and into Rafe’s arms, her body visibly shivering. Rafe held on to her tightly, sensing her pain at all that had transpired. Eli looked up and Rafe followed his line of sight. “Finally, backup,” she said gratefully.

“She has a pure heart?” Spit dripped from the sharp needle-pointed teeth that erupted from Lucas’s mouth. He snapped at her like an animal. “I should have ripped their fucking hearts out too!”

Two angels descended from the sky and took hold of Lucas’s arms. Being this close, Rafe got to witness Lucas’s demon soul being forcibly removed from his human body. It was as if the angels skinned him alive. A snarling, demonic creature was dragged free from the human form. Lucas now sported cloven feet and his eyes burned with the brightness of sulfur ablaze. His human body slumped to the ground intact and the Spear of Light clattered beside it. In a flash, the angels disappeared and Lucas was gone with them.

Rafe looked at the body on the ground. “So what is this we’re left with?”

“Lucas Thorpe’s human shell.” Eli retrieved the Spear from beside it. “I would suggest you leave now and expect a call much later. We’ll deal with this from here.”

Rafe held out a hand to still Eli’s activity. “You can’t make him disappear. The families of those women need closure. I want a killer caught.”

“And so you shall have it, Rafe,” Eli said. “He’ll leave a suicide note and everything to close this case to your satisfaction.”

“What about his mother?” Rafe was worried she would incriminate Ashley, and she wasn’t going to stand for that. She couldn’t have Ashley in any way implicated in her case.

“She’s being dealt with. The rerouting of the brain can be used for many things, Rafe Douglas. She won’t remember her son’s father or anything, or
anyone
for that matter, connected to him. She’ll be as much an innocent victim as the women her son killed.”

Rafe considered Eli closely. “You mean to tell me you could have wiped out memories while you were messing in my head?”

“I didn’t have cause to. I was merely turning down the lights for you.”

Rafe felt Ashley shift at her side. “I’m taking Ashley home with me. You know where to find her.”

“You’ll be called to a scene back here in the morning, Detective. I figure you could do with some rest before you bring this investigation to a close.” Eli held out his hand for the knife and Rafe grudgingly handed the murder weapon over.

“Don’t lose that,” she ordered. Eli favored her with a look that made her feel decidedly uncomfortable. Rafe tugged Ashley aside. “Come on. We need to get you home. You’ve had more than enough fun for tonight.” Ashley didn’t make a protest as she was guided out of the garden with Rafe’s hand on her arm.

“Oh, Rafe? You forgot this.” Eli held out the Spear of Light to her. He pressed the tiny button and it reverted back to its innocuous pen guise.

Rafe wouldn’t take it. “I don’t need it.”

“But there might come a day when you do.”

“I already have a job, Eli. I’m a cop, not a demon hunter.”

“But you could be both. You could help Ashley should the need arise again.”

“It won’t.” Rafe tried to ignore the soft laughter she could feel shaking Ashley’s body.

“This is Chicago, Detective, remember? Demon Central? You might want to take the gift offered you,” Ashley said. “They’re not given out lightly.”

“But I don’t want to fight any more demons. Haven’t I fulfilled my quota for this lifetime?” Rafe knew she was close to whining but didn’t really care.

Eli pushed the pen into her hand. “Just keep it beside you anyway. I’m sure it will make a nice writing implement if you choose to just keep it that way.” He shooed them out of the garden, leaving Rafe wondering just what he was going to set up where Lucas Thorpe’s body was concerned. She risked a look back over her shoulder. Ashley’s hand caught her chin and directed her eyes forward again.

“Let Eli sort it. Your job is done for now. Let’s go get some sleep before you’re called out again to deal with whatever he has set up.”

Rafe took Ashley back to her car, settled her in, and hurried around to get in herself. “Does Eli stage many crime scenes?”

Ashley laid her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. “Only the ones involving demons.”

“How do you feel?” Rafe could see the strain of the night’s events on Ashley’s face.

“I’ve just watched the last tangible link I had to family be ripped away from me. For the second time now, seeing as the first reports of his death were a little erroneous. You just don’t expect him to be killing in your name when you finally do meet up after all that.”

“It doesn’t seem fair he gets what he’s always wanted.”

“But he has to be in hell to get it. And something tells me Dad won’t be too happy to see his only son dropped into the pit to spend eternity with him labeled a murderer.”

“Will your dad know that Lucas tried to kill you?”

Ashley smiled humorlessly. “Oh believe me, he’ll know
exactly
what put Lucas in hell.”

Rafe pondered this a moment. “I can’t see it being a happy reunion for them. In fact, it does seem rather fitting, now that I think about it.”

“You should always be careful what you wish for. One man’s idea of heaven is another man’s hell.”

*

It was a call from Dean that finally roused Rafe from her sleep. She had been sprawled out on the couch with Ashley wrapped in her arms and Trinity curled around them. Dean wasted no time once Rafe answered her cell.

“The stakeout was a complete and utter bust, but we’ve just gotten a call in. A body has been found.”

Disoriented from her slumber, Rafe feared the worst and spoke before her brain kicked into gear. “Another woman?”

“No, it’s a male. They think it might be Thorpe. I’m on my way to pick you up.”

Rafe managed to untangle herself from Ashley’s hold without waking her. She covered her up with a blanket, tucking her in tenderly. Trinity moved to take up Rafe’s spot. “Watch over her, please.” Rafe fussed at the cat, who yawned, revealing sharp white teeth and a very pink tongue. The cat kneaded at the blanket, then managed to cover herself in it. Rafe could hear the steady purring start up again. “Make yourself comfy, why don’t you, Trin.”

Rafe grabbed her jacket and was out waiting on the sidewalk when Dean pulled up in his car. He handed her a coffee the second she got into the passenger seat.

“You’ll need this. It’s frosty this morning. I know the weather has been getting steadily cooler, but I swear I’ve seen snow in some places as I’ve driven through. That’s freaky even for us. There’s been no mention of a snowfall on the weather reports all week.”

Rafe sipped her coffee gratefully and rummaged in the paper sack Dean had dumped in her lap. “Coffee and doughnuts?”

“I figured you hadn’t eaten, and I’m still buzzing from all the caffeine I drank on the stakeout. I need something to soak it all up.”

“You said it’s a male body. What makes you think it’s Thorpe?”

“The lady who found it works at the Garden of Eden, the same place the last woman was found killed. She recognized Thorpe when she found the body this morning. According to her, he used to hang around the garden. She said he was creepy, kept saying something about how he was going to take the garden back for the snake.” Dean pulled away from the curb and turned onto the main road. “She reckoned he was just another drunk looking to bunk down on the bench in there. But seeing as he mostly kept out of her way, she didn’t feel the need to get the police involved. She found him this morning when she came to see what damage had been done to her patch with all our feet trampling through the scene. She figured if she came in early enough she could slip under the tape and just have a look. She found more than she bargained for.” He cast Rafe a critical look. “You don’t look any more rested.”