Firstborn (The Legacy Series) (23 page)

“Your sister –” he began.

“My sister’s decisions do not include me,” I shot back. “We may be twins, we may have the same inherited power, we may be two halves of a whole – but we ARE NOT the same person. Her decisions are hers and hers alone.”

Jehudiel’s wings flared an inch. Amaymon was instantly in human form, ready to pounce. I held my hand up, stopping him.

“I’m not saying I will not take the case,” I told the angel. He relaxed an inch. “But I’m doing it for people like her.” I pointed at Abigale, who was cowering on the couch. “People like her are my employers – folks who are scared out of their minds. Folks who are in danger and helpless against whatever is tormenting them.”

I took a breath to calm myself down. Don’t blow this now
, Erik. “If a Sin makes it to Earth and you guys want my help, then call me. Otherwise, go whine to my sister. If there are people in need, I will help – my way. But keep this plane away from your war, or I will become your enemy.”

I leaned in very close. “And we both know I am the last person you folks want as your enemy right now.”

That hit home.

Jehudiel’s wings flared and he bathed the office in light.

“I am Jehudiel, Archangel and Virtue. If you hinder our holy war you will be smitten.”

I remained unfaz
ed. I mean, come on, – I died, went to a pocket dimension, came back supercharged, died again and was saved, only to defeat a giant demonic progenitor using a unique combination of angelic and supercharged wizard magic of an unknown nature. If he wanted to intimidate me, he was going to have to up his game.

“And I am Erik Ashendale, Wizard and Owner of Demonic Cat,” I retorted. “I’m the only guy you assholes can
depend on. So how about we stop this charade?”

The angel calmed down.
We had a staring contest. A very stressful staring contest.

“You’d do well to remember, mortal,” he
finally said, “that while we do need you, you are not indispensable.”

His incandescent wings flapped once and the angel disappeared from sight. Nice way to get the last word in, I suppose.

“You have a nice day, too,” I yelled. “Asshole.”

“He can’t hear you
, Erik,” interjected Amaymon as he wolfed down two burgers at once.

“Whatever.” I grabbed some food. “Am I the only one who thinks he looks like a gay Legolas?”

“I know, right?” said Abi. “I was too scared to say anything to him, though. That guy was tough.”

“Nah,
I coulda probably taken ‘im,” said Amaymon.

“Sure
, you could,” I said condescendingly.

I stared to count the money Jehudiel made appear on the desk and found a small envelope on top of the pile. I tore it open and a sharp piece of iron, all too familiar, fell on my palm. Inside was half a torn Post-It note with a street address on it.

I sighed.

That angel knew all along that I would want to do things my way. He set up the whole thing so that I would assemble my own ragtag team.

But did I really want him as an ally? Then again, I wasn’t much different. I would have ended up like him if my mentor hadn’t found me. Guess it was my turn to show that kindness, now.

I walked to the front door.

“Going somewhere?” asked Abi.

“Yeah,” I said. I looked at the coat and decided against it. It was too hot anyway. Let people stare
− they can go all blow themselves for all I care. I was doing the right thing and that was all that mattered.

“I got a loose end to tie up.”

***
**

Jack the Elemental was flung from across the street into an alleyway. This wasn’t the most reputable part of town − no one came here unless they had to.

The angle’s direction led me here and all the confirmation I needed was to see the metal Elemental going airborne to know who I was looking for.
He landed on a pile of trash.

“Jack, Jack, Jack,” I said as I em
erged from behind a corner and helped him up. “Always in a pile of crap.”

He looked at me with doe eyes. “Aren’t you that wizard?”

“No, I'm the Tooth Fairy but I left my skirt at home.”

He rolled his eyes.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Them.” I followed his finger.

A trio of hulking thugs walked up carrying batons. “Three jokers with sticks?” I asked him. “That’s your trouble?”

“Hey
, you, nerd,” called out the first one. “Get away from that guy unless you wanna get pummeled.”

Electricity crackled threateningly from his baton.

“Oh. Cattleprods,” I said, completely ignoring them. “That would nullify your metal. Hey, that’s my trick.” I turned to them. “Get your own method.”

They had no idea what I was talking about, of course.

“So, let me guess,” I said. “You owe these jokers money.”

He nodded. “Their boss.”

“Figures. They look too dumb to count.”

I took out a roll of bills and chucked it at one of them. “Take that to your boss and disappear,” I said.

The lead gorilla’s eyes squinted. “We still wanna beat up the guy. He’s some kinda freak.”

I extracted Djinn. “Fuck off.”
I knew they weren’t going to fuck off. In fact they just charged at me.

One of them dove towards Jack and they struggled with each other. The other two whipped their prods at me. Here’s the thing
− I don’t use magic against plain people. That just isn’t fair. And having fought Asmodaii, demons, and all sorts of monsters, these guys weren’t even a quarter of the challenge.

My sword sliced through a cattle prod and I lashed out with my leg. I caught the guy squarely in the chest and he dropped like a stone, wheezing and hacking on the ground. The other grabbed my neck and drove his weapon in. I blocked, kicked his balls and smashed Djinn’s pommel on his head.

Game over.

Meanwhile
, the other two were still grabbling. I rolled my eyes. These guys were supposed to be thugs – at least have some knowledge of fighting, jeez.

I lifted my leg and brought the heel down on the thug’s shoulder. I heard a bone snap as the guy gasped and fell down, moaning and writhing. My boot felt funny. I saw shadows drifting off and the sole of the boot flapping.

Great – my power was going haywire again. I guess that’s the price you pay for superpowers these days. This meant I had to retrain myself from stage one again. Maybe that’s why the angel wanted me to get this guy under my wing. If I train him from scratch, I would be retraining myself in the basics.

I pulled Jack up again. “Come on. You owe me a new pair of boots by the way.”

30

Jack let out a whistle as we entered my office. “Damn, you got one hell of a cleaning crew.”

I headed straight for the kitchen. “Make yourself comfortable,” I called out as I looked for some soda. I returned with two cans of soda only to find him
at my drawer, toying around with something metallic.

“Were you ever going to use these again?” he asked. He held up a broken gun slide – the remains of one of the guns I had destroyed years ago. I didn’t have the heart to return all of the guns back to Bobby.

“Nah, those are busted,” I replied.

“No, they are easily repaired,” he said with a frown. “Here.” He rummaged inside the box and mumbled to himself. I felt him use trace amounts of his powers, manipulating the metal on a molecular level.

“There, it’s done.” He handed me a gun.

I put my soda can down and checked the weapon.
It was functional and all the nuts and bolts of it worked perfectly.

“How did you?”

“Figured it’s the least I can do after I busted up your office and all that.” He shrugged. “I’m good with metal. I guess this power I have is good for something.”

That gave me an idea. I motioned for him to sit down and offered him a can. “How would you like a job?”

“You want me to repair every gun you break?”

“No. But I know a guy who’s a blacksmith and he’s getting too old for it. He was whining about wanting an apprentice to carry on the shop. Sounds like something you would be good at.”

“As long as it’s metal, I’m good with it,” he replied. I believed him. I’ve seen his powers in action. He only lost because he didn’t know how to use his powers, and had the strategic mind of a duck. But with some training he could be something.

Jack nodded. “Anything to get off the streets. But I want to know more about myself. What my powers are, how to use them – that sort of thing. The stuff only you can help me with.”

I smiled. “Sure thing.”

We touched cans and sealed the deal.

“Hey, what about me?”

Abigale came down the stairs, followed by a cat Amaymon.

“Succubii don’t get magic,” I said.

She beamed at the cat. “Do you want to tell him or shall I?”

“Tell me what?” I asked.

Amaymon cleared his throat and sat on top of the banister so all of us had to look up to him. He must have loved that.

“A succubus does not have magic, this is true,” he said. “However, Abi is still a human, technically speaking. She had a Core, a hub of magic, which all humans have. When she becomes a succubus this Core dies out and its bye bye magic.”

He paused and looked at the three of us. “Usually it takes a strong magical boost or trauma to forcefully awaken someone’s Core. This happened to Abi when she was attacked. Lilith’s magic interlaced with Abi’s and forced her Core open.”

“But she’s already got the succubus DNA in her,” I said.

“That is true.
But Lilith stimulated her Core, her
human
Core, which means that now Abi can use magic. I’m not sure what is gonna happen next year when she becomes full succubus, if that happens at all.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Abi is the first ever witch-succubus hybrid,” replied the feline. “On one hand, she could lose her magic and become full succubus. However, and this is more likely, she may never become a full succubus. She would still have the hunger and the power − just not on that level. She most likely won’t need to kill. However, this possibility is only certain if Abi uses her magical powers, her
human
magical powers, as much as she can.”

Abi was actually vibrating as she beamed at me. “Which mean
s that I have to learn magic. And use it. Like, a lot.”

Jack sprang from his seat.

“Hi, I’m Jack,” he said beaming. Oh, the poor, smitten bastard.

Abi shook his hand. “You a wizard?”

“Elemental,” supplied Amaymon.

“I can manipulate metal,” said Jack.

“Oh, cool, show me.”

I grabbed Jack’s shoulder. “You guys can play with each other later.”

“Yeah. She’s way outta your league, bro,” said the cat. “Although you guys make for an interesting love triangle.”

“Shut up,
” I said.

The cat ignored me. “I mean I can see Erik and Abi humpin’ off but Jack must have one solid rod. Get it? C
ause he’s a metal Elemental.”

“Shut up
, Amaymon, or I’m getting a pet coyote.” I dragged Jack away.

“You were right,” I heard Abi whisper to the cat. “It is easy to mess with him.”

***
**

And that was that. Twice a week Jack would come over for basic training, along with Abi. The poor kid really was out of his league, but hey, she
was
a succubus. Driving men out of their mind with lust is what they do.

And speaking of driving men out of their mind
− Abi had managed to get herself a job as my secretary.

No, I don’t know how it happened.

Yes, Amaymon was involved.

As he had so tactfully pointed out, I have no idea how to do my accounts, and have the manners of a caveman. A
hot babe
would apparently make clients feel better. She was good for business – his words, not mine.

What’s more
, he offered her the spare bedroom upstairs just until she could get an apartment of her own. She wasn’t going back to college, settling instead for evening classes and online education. She wanted to focus on her powers first. That’s when the cat became very generous. Who are we kidding – that pervert is never letting the hot secretary leave.

There was some discussion over how competent a teacher I am.

“Don’t screw ‘em up,” Amaymon had said.

“I can teach them!” I had retorted.

“Sure, you can,” he replied condescendingly.

“Put a sock in it Captain Negative.”