From Hell with Love (33 page)

“A toast to Lucifer’s favorite,” Asmodeus said before lifting his glass, his brother grunting before taking a sip of wine.

“Did you
have
to do that?”

“No,” Asmodeus said before giving a mischievous smile and turning to Niccolo and winking, “but it felt appropriate.  So, Nico, where did you come from?”

“The Pestilence Quarter,” he responded, but Asmodeus just cocked his head to the side.

“Obviously, kid.  I’m talking about on Earth.  Where did you call home?” he asked, squaring up to Niccolo and crossing his arms, holding his wine glass with his left hand.  Niccolo forced himself not to shift his weight in his awkwardness, and tried to ignore the female demon who was staring at him.

“Firenze, in Italia.  I spent a few years in Napoli, but Firenze was where I was born and… died,” he said, drawing a nod from Asmodeus.

“Nice area, if I recall.  It’s been a while, though.”

“When were you ever in Italy?” Amdusias asked from his side, his voice filled with skepticism.  His brother turned and rolled his eyes dramatically.

“I got summoned there a few centuries back, remember?  I’ve
told
you this,” he said before looking at Niccolo with a shrug.  “His memory is a little off.”

“You…you’ve been back to Earth?” Niccolo asked, his stubbornness forgotten at the prospect of returning.  The twin demons just looked at him in confusion.

“Well, yeah, most of the kings have at some point.  A few humans got hold of some spells and rituals and found out that they can summon some
otherworldly
beings
.  Kinda rude when it happens, but it’s almost…nice,” Asmodeus said with a slight laugh.  “It’s a little sad, but we can see the world we were fighting for.”

“I didn’t know that we could get back there before the Apocalypse,” Niccolo muttered absent-mindedly, but Asmodeus put out his hand to stop him from his thoughts.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, kid.  Humans who are able to summon demons are few and far between, and they have to know the name of who they’re trying to summon.  Plus, we get sent back in a couple hours, max, and the whole time we’re basically, well, shades,” the demon king said before shrugging.  “It’s not worth thinking about.”

“Oh,” Niccolo said before looking down at the ground, but then he felt a warm, soft hand intertwining its fingers with the claws of his left arm.  He turned to find Paimon giving him a sad smile.

“Don’t worry, hon.  You’re a Horseman.  You’ll be up there soon enough,” she said reassuringly before turning to face the twins.  “Why did you have to do that?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Asmodeus started, but Amdusias breathed out heavily before glaring into her vacant eyes.

“What does it matter to us what a human feels?” he asked with annoyance, but almost immediately his brother slapped him on the shoulder.

“What should it matter to them how
we
feel, Ammy?  Treat others how you want to be treated, remember?” Asmodeus scolded, but Niccolo stepped forward and put out his hands in a show of mediation.

“It’s alright, really,” Niccolo started, first looking at Asmodeus and then turning to his twin.  “I don’t expect either of you to give me respect; I haven’t done anything to earn it.  Besides, there are more important issues to worry about.  I don’t know what you’ve heard,” Niccolo said before lowering his hands, wondering if he was doing the right thing, “but my feelings won’t be worth a damn if the Shroud has his way.”

Upon mention of the cloaked figure, both twins stood straight up and looked at the Horseman with alarm.  Even Paimon let out a small squeak as Niccolo laid all the cards on the proverbial table.  Amdusias was the first to break the silence, stepping forward and looking down at Niccolo’s face with his stern expression.

“You’ll have to forgive me, Horseman.  I’m not used to being shocked by what a human says,” he said before grunting.  “I can see why Lucifer has such a fondness for you.”

“Because I’m an idiot and stubborn,” Niccolo suggested, already tired of the constant criticism, but Amdusias shook his head at the comment.

“While that remains to be seen, I was actually referring to your…nature.  To say you remind me of our dear brother would be an understatement,” he said before stepping back and taking another sip from his glass.  “You could choose your words better, Niccolo, but your heart seems in the right place.”

“How much do you know?” Asmodeus asked, the smile absent from his face.  Niccolo turned to look at the demon king and shrugged.

“Not nearly as much as I would like to.  I know he’s turning demons feral, even the Fallen.  Cadmus and I had to kill Valefor and Räum yesterday, and what we’ve seen from their memories is not exactly comforting,” he explained, the twins taking in each statement with a small nod.

“Andras went feral during the night, as well, although he was just a human,” Paimon added, which made Niccolo bite his lip.

“That was
worse
, actually.  He was the one who led us to Astaroth, so that means the Shroud, whoever he is, knows that Cadmus and I are looking for him,” he admitted, which brought a long sigh from the white-haired demon.

“And now you’re talking to us,” Asmodeus said before adopting a fake smile and nodding toward a passing demon.  “How fantastic.”

“To be fair, I’ve been talking to a great deal of demons here today, so as long as we keep our voices down, we should be fine,” Niccolo suggested, which made Paimon purr in delight.

“
Oh
, he’s not as foolish as he looks,” she said before tracing her nails along his ruined arm.  Niccolo wondered why she was not bothered by the mutilated skin.  “You better talk to some random demons, then.”

“I plan to,” Niccolo said before looking at each of the kings, forgetting that he was a human in the midst of angels.  “Now, I need to get back to my friends…”

“Since when do you have friends?” a nasal voice broke through the din of court, its owner making himself visible just a few yards away from him.  Mammon proudly walked forward, a drink in each hand, and stopped in an empty space within their circle.  “News to me, Nico.”

“Hello, Mammon,” Paimon said, trying to keep a smile on her face, but the twins were not so hospitable, each of them crossing their arms.

“Hellborn,” Asmodeus spat out, his friendliness toward Niccolo completely absent when dealing with the short, yellow demon.

“Ugh, they invited
you
to this thing?  They should have known you’d be a party pooper,” Mammon said before lifting the glass in his left hand and draining it in one gulp.  “I’ll tell them for next time.”

“How about you go to the corner and pretend you don’t exist, Hellborn,” Amdusias added, looking down on Lucifer’s son.  “At least then we would be able to get on with our lives.”

“You’re so cruel, Frosty!” he shouted, throwing the empty glass to the floor and then pointing at the fallen angel.  “And to think you’d be so mean to the son of
the
Devil
.”  The statement brought a scoff from the demon in the white armor.

“You might have come from his seed, Hellborn, but you inherited none of him.  You’re a monster and would be better off dead.  This boy here,” he said before waving at Niccolo, “is more Lucifer’s son than you will ever be.”

Mammon’s smile disappeared at Amdusias’ insult and all of the demons around them stopped their conversations, turning to see what the Hellborn would do.  His eyes narrowing as much as they could, Mammon breathed in and out heavily for a moment, but then he brought up his full glass and took a sip of the red liquid, bringing it back down before sniffing loudly.

“Then Lucifer must be a terrible fighter.  I would have killed this guy yesterday if not for Eligos,” he said before letting a cruel smile stretch across his face.  “Remember that,
Nico
?  Remember when I held you above my seven heads and was about to swallow you whole?”  Niccolo’s mind was filled with fury and he was about to rush the little demon before Asmodeus surprised him.

“You have no
decency
,” the fallen said before stepping forward and standing over the yellow demon.  “Just a monster.  I can’t believe you came from my sister’s womb.”

“Why?  Am I not dead sexy?” Mammon asked, contorting his body into a pose extending his belly, but he was slapped for the effort.  Paimon had stepped forward and was breathing heavily, her lips pulled back to show pointed teeth and the nails of her left hand extending to knives.

“You insult the memory of Lilith
again
, Hellborn, and you will regret it. 
Leave us
,” she threatened, her eyes almost popping out of her skull.  In the moment, Niccolo almost forgot the gorgeous Paimon who had just been wrapped around his arm.  The statement had its necessary effect, as Mammon backed away from the demon kings before scrabbling up from the floor and dusting himself off.  In his retreat, Mammon regained some of his confidence, but most onlookers knew he was just saving face.

“Fine, you bitch.  I’ll leave.  But all of you,” he said before pointing his index finger at each fallen angel, “are on my shit list,” Mammon concluded before staring at Niccolo.  “You’re on my double shit list.  Because I feel like it,” he said before turning and walking through the crowd, which parted before him.

“So much for laying low,” Niccolo muttered as conversation resumed in each group of demons.  The three kings turned back to him and seemed shamed by the confrontation.

“I should have killed him,” Asmodeus said, but his brother grunted before setting his arm on the demon’s shoulder.

“He should never have been born, brother, but he’s the least of our worries.”

“That’s right,” Paimon said before turning back into her old self and looking at the Horseman.  “Find Sitri and Cadmus, Nico, we’ll do our kingly duties,” she urged before turning, but Niccolo realized he needed to ask them one more question.

“Wait,” he started, bringing the stares of three very powerful demons.  “There’s been this demon watching me and I don’t recognize him.  Maybe he came from one of your provinces?”

“What demon?” Amdusias asked, concern in his eyes.

“I don’t see him now,” Niccolo said as he looked over the shoulder of the nearby demons, “but he was pretty big and was covered in brown robes.  He also had this gold mask with a blue cross on it,” he continued, struggling to come up with more description, but it was unnecessary.

“The Leviathan,” Asmodeus muttered, worry playing through the lines of his face.

“Yeah, who is he?” Niccolo asked, which made each king pause as they considered his words.  Just that was enough for Niccolo to know it was not some normal demon.

“He’s,” Paimon started, “he’s old.  And we’re not…”

“Be
careful
with him,” Amdusias said, his voice low so that others would not hear, “he comes to these councils as a sort of precaution.”

“He’s here in case of any of us start a fight,” Asmodeus added while scratching the back of his neck with his claws, causing Niccolo to look at them in confusion.

“Wait, but you’re all kings,” he started, but Paimon bit her lip before interrupting him.

“And he makes
us
scared, Nico.  Just stay away from him,” she said before turning and walking toward another group of demons, exclaiming how wonderful it was to see them.  The twins stood in their place for a moment before walking in the other direction, silent after their conversation.  Suddenly Niccolo was alone in a room full of demons.

Niccolo stared after them, trying to consider this new information.  He had never heard of this Leviathan character, and now it seemed that he was a boogeyman.  As he remembered the demon’s blue eyes under the mask, he felt they were staring at him even now.  Niccolo shuddered at the thought, but eventually turned his attention to finding Cadmus and Sitri.  He needed to know what the hermaphrodite would say about the rest of the kings.

The Horsemen spent the next few minutes working his way through the crowd, greeting the demons he knew and trying to avoid eye contact with the ones he did not.  After their confrontation with Mammon, it was necessary for it to seem like Niccolo was just having random conversations with the demons at court.  He was almost grateful to be waylaid by a small demon who looked like a thrush, though he could not remember the creature’s name for the life of him. 

As the bird continued to have their one-sided conversation, Niccolo looked around the room for his friends and found something else entirely.  Beelzebub had apparently finished his negotiations with Purson and was talking to Amon in the center of the hall.  The only reason it grabbed the Horseman’s attention was that the raven was not looking at the Lord of Flies.  He was just staring at Niccolo the entire time.  It was unnerving, but after a few moments Amon turned back to Beelzebub, freeing Niccolo’s attention.

Unceremoniously, Niccolo excused himself from his tacit conversation and then started working through the crowd once more.  He wandered for a few more minutes before realizing that he might have an easier time spotting them from the corner.  As he made his way over to the nearest corner, Niccolo was finally able to spy the top of Cadmus’ scythe just a few yards away from him.  Breathing a sigh of relief, Niccolo started toward his friend but was interrupted by a hand with one too many fingers on his right shoulder.  When he turned to face its owner, it became difficult for him to keep his composure.

The massive gold mask with a blue cross dominated his field of vision, tilted slightly so the creature’s right eye was peering down on him.  He looked over the creature and realized it was still hunched over, its mask just a few inches above him. 

“You’re the new Horseman,” the creature said, two voices echoing against each other.  One was a high whisper and the other a deep rumble.  Niccolo wondered what kind of angel or demon would have chosen this form.

“Y-yeah, that’s right,” Niccolo responded, unable to stop himself from stammering.  He gathered his courage and tried to strand up as straight as possible.  “You’re the Leviathan, right?”  At the question, the creature reared back and then turned, beckoning for Niccolo to follow him with his left hand.  Or, at least, it seemed like his left hand.  Now that Niccolo could see the creature up close, he realized that it was not
just
a hand.  In fact, it seemed like something else entirely, what fingers it had were wrapped around each other.