Lucas: Origins Of A Demon (13 page)

“Do you think I would harm you?”

“I…don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t harm you, Janice, not unless you gave me a reason to harm you. That would be a sad day indeed, so let’s hope that never happens. But believe me when I say, you have nothing to fear from me. In fact, as long as you are with me,
no one
will ever harm you.”

Janice seems to relax a little and she walks forward and takes the glass of vodka from the desk, taking only one step back this time. “What are you?” she asks again after taking a sip of her vodka. “Is your name even Lucas?”

“Yes, my name is Lucas. I have never lied to you, Janice. Not once. I could have made you do whatever I wanted, like I did with Jake, but I didn’t. I respect you too much. You are a strong woman, Janice, and I admire strong women.”

“Tell me what you are, Lucas. You have god knows how many bullets in you and you don’t even look like you are in pain.”

“Surely, Janice, you couldn’t be that blind. You must know there are people in this world--in this city--that are not…human. You must know this as surely as you knew there was something different about me the first time we met. I saw it in your eyes.”

Janice sits down on the couch and cradles her glass in her lap, apparently disturbed by what Lucas just said. “I’ve seen stranger shit than most. In this business, you fucking betcha. I’m come across every weirdo, every psycho, every kind of person it’s possible to come across.” Her dark brown eyes shift from in front of her to Lucas. “Except you.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Lucas says. “I’ve always prided myself on being different.”

“Are you an angel, Lucas?”

He can’t help laughing. “My dear, Janice. No. I am not an angel. Quite the opposite in fact.”

“A demon?”

Lucas flashes his deep purple demon eyes at her for a second. Janice flinches, but doesn’t move from the couch.

“You
are
a demon.”

“I use the term loosely when it comes to describing myself. I like to think I’ve evolved over the centuries into something…less demonic and more…me.”

“Centuries? How old are you?”

“Older than you could fathom.”

“Jesus.” She swallows the rest of her drink.

“Look,” Lucas says. “You don’t have to treat me any different. I certainly will not be treating you any different. You can still go places, Janice. You have an aptitude for business. You could go to business school if you wanted, be a big success. I’d be happy to help you do that.”

Janice’s eyes soften as the trust seems to come back in them again. “I can’t believe you’re a demon. I’ve been sleeping with a demon. My God…” She seems partially amused by this as she puts a hand to her mouth.

“You will have plenty of time to get used to the idea,” Lucas says. “In the meantime, could you do me a favor and help me get these bullets out of this body?”

“This body?” Janice says, standing up. “You mean you…possessed someone? Is he still in there?”

“A kind donor. Don’t worry about him. I made things comfortable for him. You’ve seen The Matrix, right? It’s kind of like that for him. He’s having the time of his life. He’s also lucky it was me who possessed him. A less considerate demon would have the poor soul trapped in misery every second of his existence. I’m over that kind of thing, thankfully. Unless it is required, of course.”

Janice shakes her head as she approaches the desk. Her normal seductive smile is back on her face, Lucas is glad to see. “Show me those eyes again,” she says, staring into his face.

Lucas lets his true demon eyes shine through.

Janice’s smile widens. “Why do I just want to fuck you even more now?”

Lucas can’t help but smile at that.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Lucas is feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He is sitting at the bar in the Demon Ecstasy club, a glass of vodka beside him on the bar top. The club is completely empty, save for him. At nearly midnight, the club should be buzzing with people, but Lucas closed the doors after Janice did as he instructed and took all of the staff to the Caribbean. It is for their own safety. Lucas can’t have them being caught in the crossfire when Leonard inevitably shows up with his goons in tow. Many demons would have cared less about a bunch of human worker drones, but Lucas feels differently. A soul is a soul, and all souls count, even human ones.

Despite the magic Lucas is using to try and shield his presence, he knows it will not be long before a demon like Leonard counters that magic with his own. The only thing Lucas has going for him is the few tricks he picked up back in Egypt all those millennia ago, tricks that only he knew about. At the moment, he is invisible to Leonard’s goon squad, which is probably why Leonard is here in person, to help counter the magic that Lucas is using. Leonard will try every location spell under the sun first, and when none of them work, he will realize that in fact he needs to try a different tact. To precisely locate Lucas, Leonard will have to consult the Seer, who will be obliged to tell Leonard what he wants to know. But Leonard has to find the Seer first. Lucas has already told the Seer to expect a visit from Leonard. She will remain cloaked for as long as she can, but Leonard’s magic is powerful and he will find her soon enough.

There is also the fact Lucas hasn’t been able to contact Frank since he saved the watcher and his friends from certain death the day before. It would seem that Frank isn’t taking calls. Lucas can just picture him sitting in his mountain cabin, drinking and nursing his wounds, feeling sorry for himself, which maddens Lucas for he needs the Watcher now more than ever to get the feather from Krakus. Without the feather, Lucas will have little chance against Leonard, even with Dimitri’s help. Both Lucas and Dimitri would end up as slime in the Swamps of Feces. A fate worse than any death you can think of, especially when you still have full consciousness to enjoy every cursed second of your wretched existence.

Lucas drinks what is left in his glass before picking his cell phone up of the bar top and dialing Frank’s number for the umpteenth time. He nearly chokes when Frank actually answers.

“I’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday,” Lucas says, hearing only silence on the other end of the phone. “Frank?”

“What do you want, Lucas?” Frank says eventually, in a voice that makes him sound like he has given up all hope.

“That’s a nice way to greet someone who saved your ass the other night.”

“What do you want? A fucking medal?”

Lucas tightens his lips together for a second, tramps down the anger that wants to rise up in him. “I’m sorry about your friends, Frank.”

“You’re a fucking demon. How can you be sorry about anything?”

“Are you drinking, Frank?”

“Fuck off, Lucas.”

Silence descends as Frank hangs up the phone.

Lucas stares at the phone in his hand for a second. “Nephilim,” he says, shaking his head. “I swear to Set they are the most infuriating bunch I’ve ever come across.”

He redials Frank’s number. Frank answers straight away and says, “Didn’t I just tell you to fuck off?”

“Get a hold of yourself, Frank,” Lucas says. “I was only calling to tell you that I know the whereabouts of the demon who took your friend Rachel’s soul.”

Lucas of course found out the demon’s name when he spoke with the Seer. But the Seer contacted him again shortly after to impart more disturbing news about the woman Watcher’s fate. It isn’t good, but Frank doesn’t need to know about it yet. As long as he thinks Lucas is still playing ball and sticking to the deal, that’s all that matters.

“Where?” Frank asks after a short, intense silence.

“Not so fast, Frank. We had a deal, remember? And considering I also saved you and your friends from certain death, I’d say you owe me first before I give you anything. That’s just business.”

“I still don’t know where Krakus is.”

“You’ll find him at the same factory where you lost him last time, following Tolloch’s orders no doubt. Sticking to the plan, as they say.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve had people keep an eye on the factory. The latest batch of humans has been loaded in. The ritual will start soon.”

“Why can’t you just teleport in there and get the feather yourself?”

“I can’t risk Hell hearing about my interference, especially if the Generals are backing Tolloch’s activities here in the city.” That is the truth. Whatever conspiracy is happening between demons and Watchers, the powers that be in Hell surely know about it. Lucas didn’t exactly know if the ruling elite was backing Tolloch or not, but he isn’t about to be stupid and find out by interfering in things directly, and especially when Leonard is already looking for him.

“But you’ll have the feather,” Frank says. “They can’t touch you then.”

“They may not be able to take me back to Hell, but they can certainly make things difficult for me here.”

“Jesus Christ. So am I just supposed to waltz in there on my own, is that it? I’ll get fucking killed. Krakus had vampires backing him up last time.”

“You’re a smart guy, Frank. You’ll find a way. Let me know when it’s done. I’ll tell you what you want to know then.”

Lucas hangs up the phone and sets it on the bar top again, hopeful that Frank will get his act together and get him what he wants. What he
needs
. He can’t do another tour in Hell. It is unthinkable, going back to that abominable place. Earth is his home now, the only place he belongs in, the only place he wants to be. Without the feather, he will never be able to rest easy.

About to pour himself another drink, Lucas becomes aware of another presence nearby in the club. Every warning and fear signal he has goes off inside him like a series of timed explosions. He jumps of the bar stool and looks around. Sees no one. But he knows there is someone else here.

And he knows who that someone is.

“Lucas Ramses,” a man says as he steps out of the shadows at the back of the club.

Lucas looks at the man and feels sick for the first time in two centuries. “Leonard,” he says helplessly.

“Yes, my old friend,” Grand Duke Leonard says as he walks to the center of the club. “Long time no see.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

“I don’t think we were ever friends, Leonard,” Lucas says as he stands by the bar, forcing himself to remain calm, even though he knows he is in grave danger, especially with the other figures emerging from the shadows of the club. Maybe a dozen of them. Leonard’s personal guard.

“We might have been, had you not betrayed me,” Leonard says. He walks over and sits on a stool at the bar, gestures for Lucas to do the same. “Pour me a glass.”

Lucas glances at the personal guards that have all but surrounded the bar as they space themselves apart around the club, each of them armed with Soul Killers-large, hefty guns that fire black energy, the energy of the Adversary. Soul Killers, as the name suggests, are designed to do only one thing: to destroy the soul of the demon being fired upon. To wipe them out completely. Lucas figures he is quick enough to avoid the shots before they hit them, but he isn’t sure if he can avoid a dozen guns all firing at once. And it isn’t like he can teleport. He has already tried. The suppressor spell Leonard has cast is preventing him. To escape, Lucas will have to get out of the club first, which won’t be easy.

Lucas suppresses a sigh and sits down at the bar, two empty stools between him and the Grand Duke. He reaches over the bar and gets another glass, then fills it with vodka and slides it down the bar to Leonard, who stops the glass before it shoots past him. “Thank you,” he says, a slight smile on his face for some reason. It is strange for Lucas to see Leonard in the guise he is now in. Lucas is used to seeing the old man who stalked the shadows of Hell, rarely revealing his face. Obviously here on Earth, Leonard preferred a younger guise. His hair is past his shoulders, and jet black. His face is young, not even middle aged, with sharp blue eyes and a thin mustache. He is dressed immaculately in a black suit and long black overcoat.

“I see you dressed up for the occasion,” Lucas says, trying not to appear tense as he pours himself a drink.

“All my own creation. No meat suit here.”

“You must teach me how you do that.” Lucas is aware of the ridiculousness of that statement, but it just slips out. A part of him is always on the hunt for new knowledge, even when he is about to die it seems.

“Rest assured, Lucas. I will teach you plenty when we get back to Hell. How to create a vessel will not be one of those things.”

Lucas smiles, but says nothing. His mind is in a frenzy as he tries to come up with a way out of the situation he is in. If he had the feather, he wouldn’t be worrying right now. But he doesn’t have the feather, so there is no point thinking about it.

“I found it ironic, by the way,” Leonard says.

“What’s that?”

“The fact that you betrayed me to get the throne for yourself, and then the Adversary rejected you. Why did that happen? That still confounds me.”