Hell's Pawn (32 page)

“You have a choice,” a new voice said. “You always have a choice.” The god stood next to the coach, dwarfing it in size. He was much too large to fit into the already cramped hospital room, but somehow the ceiling made way for him. The large elephant ears wiggled in greeting, as did one of the four human arms. L ike all gods, he was wrapped in his own name, his history radiating out from him. This was Ganesh, the breaker of barriers, the destroyer of obstacles.

S imilar to the E gyptian gods, he had the head of an animal—an elephant with a trident ta oo above his deeply intelligent eyes. G anesh had the body of a man, aside from the four arms that blossomed like petals around the rotund belly. Despite his size, he carried himself gracefully, his movements delicate.

“Talk about an elephant in the room,” Dante murmured.

G anesh’s eyes remained on J ohn. “You are not yet at the pathway between reincarnations,” he said, “so you may not know me as you once did. You have worshipped many deities in your lifetimes, J ohn G rey, but more often than not you have found your way to me.”

J ohn hesitated. There was something familiar about G anesh, but it was the nature of the gods to be known when in their presence. “So you are my—”

“Friend,” G anesh said. “High caste or low, man or woman, I have always found you to be pleasant company. How amusing that I stand here before you as a stranger.

Would you care for a sweet?”

The god stepped forward and held out one of his arms. R esting in his hand was a bowl filled with small dumplings. They, like the elephant god, were very familiar.

“You’ve heard of taking candy from strangers, right?” Dante warned, but J ohn paid no heed.

He popped one of the dumplings into his mouth. They were sweet and tasted of coconut. M odak, that was what they were called. The dumpling melted in his mouth, memories accompanying the pleasing flavor. He remembered being an I ndian man who spent most of his time at the temple because he enjoyed the camaraderie so much. He remembered the joyful statue of G anesh that filled one wall of the rectangular room, always present as he talked and laughed with friends.

J ohn remembered another life too, as a housewife in North C arolina with six children. O h, how she had lived for those children! A neighbor had loaned her a book about E astern religions, and she had been instantly drawn to the black-and-white photograph of G anesh. S he had researched this strange god with a passion, even attempting to bake her own modak that ended up sticking to the pan.

He remembered even more lives, other connections to this god, but they faded as John swallowed the last of his treat.

“I know you!”

G anesh smiled and snatched up one of the treats with his long trunk. “W hat a unique time to meet again,” he said as he snacked. “A man who is living but walking among the dead. We all do occasionally in dreams, but as a distant audience member who can only make-believe their role in the play. These aren’t dreams, J ohn. You’ve set a great many events in motion.”

“Have I done wrong?” J ohn asked urgently. “I only wanted P urgatory to fall, but I fear for Heaven’s safety, even though I don’t belong there.”

“R arely is there ever a single place we belong,” G anesh said, “and even rarer is change for the worse. B ut you haven’t finished your task. You’ve merely pushed a boulder down a hill without yet chasing after to see where it rolls. You may even find the strength to guide its path.”

“Or?” John asked, knowing there were choices to be made.

“Or you may sleep again in your body until you reawaken to the real world.” J ohn turned to look at himself. The car wreck hadn’t been kind. There were cuts on his cheek and stitches on his forehead. Dark circles ringed his eyes; his lips colorless.

“If I stay out of my body, can I still come back to it when I’m done?” G anesh cocked his head, long eyelashes flu ering. “The body is not meant to be without a soul, not for so long a time as this. B ut if you act quickly and wisely, you might just make it back in time.”

John nodded. “Then I look forward to the day when we walk together again.” G anesh smiled. “No ma er what paths we choose, in the end we will all be together. Do not forget that. No choice you make will separate you from those you love.”

Headlights from the street cut through the room, and G anesh was gone. J ohn turned back to his body, the gateway to so much that he knew and loved. He wanted to see his family again, to sit in his mother’s kitchen while she baked and listen to the latest gossip. He wanted to call a friend and talk for hours, laughing about their latest misadventures. O r simply sit at his drafting desk in the morning, staring out the window and enjoying the morning light while nursing a tea. J ohn missed all of this and more, and before him was the chance to return to it all.

B ut behind him was an unresolved conflict, not just P urgatory but his emotions for Rimmon as well. He could run from that, or he could face it before returning here.

“We’re leaving,” John said.

“Yeah?” Dante stopped slouching and gave J ohn his full a ention. “You mean it?

Where are we going?”

John regarded the steam coach. “To Hell. And then we are going to war.”
Chapter Fifteen

A marble glowing with blue light. A lonely planet set not against space but countless swirling colors and shapes. P urgatory imitated E arth’s appearance from afar just as it had on street level, but the gentle blue glow didn’t come from azure skies. The glow came from souls, locked into stasis, sizzling with energy that numbed and paralyzed.

Like Earth, Purgatory only appeared a place of tranquility when seen from a distance.

J ohn was pensive, observing all of this from inside the steam coach, which had been chained to countless other vehicles. V iking ships, chariots, wagons stuffed full of soldiers—all manner of vessel and vehicle were bound together in one massive convoy. These were flanked and protected by innumerable beasts, all scale and wing, creatures from the deepest pits of the inferno.

Hell had its own army. O f course it did, but J ohn had never stopped to consider the possibility. Asmoday behaved as if Hell had li le power of its own, when really he was just adding to its already considerable resources. Among the numerous gods and wagons of terraco a soldiers were demons of more variety than J ohn had ever imagined. He had to admit he was impressed. At first he was angry, as if everything they had gone through to gain L iu W u’s army had been for nothing, but Asmoday assured him that the terraco a soldiers had the skill his brutal demon forces lacked.

J ohn considered these creatures, the bizarre number of eyes and appendages holding his attention only momentarily before he began searching their ranks for Rimmon.

J ohn knew the incubus had returned to Hell because the jade suit was in the coach next to him. A less-than-casual inquiry to Asmoday revealed that the goddess Amaterasu had transported R immon and the terraco a soldiers back to Hell, but the incubus hadn’t made any effort to seek him out, and J ohn had no idea where to find him.

He reached over to stroke B olo’s head. At least the dog had found him, almost instantly. J ohn thought of the countless animals they had seen trapped in P urgatory’s depths. I f they managed to free them today, then they too would run free across the realms as Bolo did.

“Looks like we were expected,” Dante said. “Think that’s some sort of weapon?” The massive structure floating ahead of them resembled a construction vehicle rather than a weapon. J ohn had seen plenty of excavators on construction sites for buildings he had designed, except they usually had only one arm. The monstrosity before them had four arms with spoon-shaped scoops. The strange device was facing away from them, nestled up against P urgatory’s dome. As they watched, one of the scoops dove into the surface, dislodging a handful of souls who soon disappeared, called away to whatever realm they belonged to.

“I’d say it’s on our side,” John said, “but I don’t remember it being part of the plan.” The excavator must have been at it for some time, for a notable dent had been made in the dome’s surface. As another scoop delved into this barrier, it penetrated deep enough to break through and create a hole. J ohn was about to cheer when insects started spilling out. The featureless P rops, transformed into their arachnid forms, hatched like spiders from a nest. Their numbers were incredible as they spread over the machine. An elderly voice carried across the distance, yelling in panic from inside the excavator’s cabin.

“Jacobi!” Dante exclaimed.

The old man must have been here the entire time, working on building a device that could free the other souls. J ohn felt a rush of affection for the man and his determination, but now Jacobi had gotten himself into serious trouble.

“Defend that vehicle!” John shouted out the coach window. “The pilot is our ally!” Help was already on the way, countless demons swooping in and pulling the spiders away. Not all of the demons were humanoid. S ome were strange mixes of animals; others resembled nothing remotely known to E arth, great balls of sinew and hair or creatures made entirely of vapor. “We are legion!” was their battle cry. One that resembled a loop of sharp teeth with neither head nor eyes flew past the coach door.

Fascinated, J ohn watched as it reached a spider and began spinning, tearing the creature to shreds.

S oon the entire scene was nothing but demons and spiders, the construction vehicle lost completely in the chaos. J ohn felt trapped and useless in the comfort of the coach.

He wanted to leave its safety, but was unsure of how he could help or even survive in the fray. He would be on his own, too. I f Dante tried to leave the coach he would be pulled back to Hell, just as he had been when they had first escaped from P urgatory.

O nly the specially trained demons had a chance out there. The rest of the troops were useless until they reached Purgatory’s surface.

They heard a thud on the roof of the coach. Dante and J ohn grabbed each other for comfort while B olo began to growl. S omething was up there, crawling around. They were being a acked from above! Then B olo ceased his growling and stood, his tail thumping enthusiastically. A red face appeared upside-down in the window closest to John, the features more handsome than monstrous.

“We need to talk,” Rimmon said.

The demon swung down from the coach roof, wings flapping. They were huge, segmented into four sections like a bu erfly’s but visually similar to the wings of a bat.

P urgatory’s blue light reflected off their black surface, shifting hypnotically as the wings pumped.

Rimmon opened the coach door and extended a hand. “Come.” J ohn took his hand and was pulled into R immon’s arms, but the incubus’s face was stern, not seductive. The wings pumped hard, and they flew upward with startling speed. The ba le below disappeared and soon even P urgatory was nothing more than a star, a distant pinprick of light. W hen they stopped, R immon held J ohn at arm’s length, his face no more friendly than it had been before.

“How can you be out here without being pulled back to Hell?” John asked.

The stony expression softened slightly. “Always the questions. You never change.” The hint of a smile showed when he realized that J ohn was waiting for an answer. “M y soul, like yours, is mostly in balance. R emember the test of O siris and the scales? And before you ask, I have wings when I need to have wings.”

“They’re beautiful,” John murmured.

R immon frowned. “I don’t know how to convince you that nothing will come of your attraction toward me.”

John swallowed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“I know, J ohn. I ’ve known since after the vampire a acked me. I felt the intensity of your emotion, and it healed me more than simple sex would have. I know that you love me, and I ’m sorry.” Now the demon’s voice was gentle. “I should have told you then, given us both time to talk it through rather than let you be hurt the way you were, but I suppose I was in mourning. I was so happy to find a friend in you and so sad to think that emotion would drive you away. And it did, but much sooner than I expected.”

“It’s not fair,” John said.

“No, it isn’t,” Rimmon agreed, “but then love rarely is.”

“No, I mean the reason is unfair. You don’t know why I love you, do you?” Rimmon shook his head.

“W hen O siris weighed your heart, I was stupid enough to touch it. B efore then I was reasonable and sane. S ure, I found you a ractive and cared about you, but the second I touched your heart, I knew you. You must think my feelings are superficial, considering how li le we know of each other, but they run much deeper than you might expect, and it’s not fair. I wish it could be undone, that there was some way for you to take these feelings back from me.”

“Do you?”

John sighed. “No. Not really. But I wish you felt the same way about me.”

“But you also wish I was different,” Rimmon said.

J ohn was momentarily confused. “You mean my reaction to the goddess? Yeah, I blew it. I wanted to play it cool, to show you that I could handle your occupation, but it’s hard to feel secure when you’ve never belonged to me.”

“To be fair, having my affection didn’t make my boyfriend feel any more secure than you do,” Rimmon said.

John rolled his eyes. “Him again? Can’t it be just about me and you for once?”

“I’m just as much a victim of my emotions as you are.”

At least some satisfaction could be found in that. R immon didn’t have the superior position here. B oth of them were heartbroken, unable to be with who they truly wanted.

“L ook,” J ohn said, “he’s going to love you no ma er what. As much as he might hate your profession, or your nature, or whatever you want to blame it on, he’ll still love you. I f you and I can’t change the way we feel, then neither can he. Find him again, Rimmon, and then for god’s sake, change.”

“Sorry?”

“C hange who you are. I know, everyone thinks that they should be loved for who they are, but that’s not how it works. E very relationship is dysfunctional, because no two people are a perfect fit. The ultimate expression of love is to come together as much as possible, to change for each other. You need to resist straying as much as possible, and he needs to find new ways to satisfy your needs. The love is already there between you two. You might as well make the best of it. Do anything you can, absolutely everything in your power, Rimmon, but never give up.”