Mercy for the Damned (20 page)

“Beats me, sweetcheeks, I’m making this up as I go since you took that swan dive.  I’d say lets focus on getting far away from the palace first before they… oh shit.”

“What?  What is it?”  Craning my neck, I looked back to see what commanded his complete attention.  The sky behind us darkened at an alarming rate, the clouds obscuring most of the horizon.  “What is that?  A storm?”

“Not a storm, my love,” Azazael replied.  “Raum sends his army after us.”

“His what?” I blinked, doing my best not to crash into Adam while I looked over my shoulder. 

“His army,” Adam’s face lost all trace of its usual amusement.  “Something tells me he’s not going to let us go without a fight.” 

I came to realize that wasn’t cloud cover behind us.  The sky was literally filled with winged demons, swarming and crashing together in their unruly pursuit.  “Holy Mary Mother of God…” I breathed, losing altitude as I lost all concentration on what I was doing, gripped by a suffocating panic. 

“Mercy,” Adam barked, drawing my attention.  “Stay with me now, I need you to focus.  We have to stick together if we’re gonna survive this.  All we need is a few seconds of peace and quiet to get the portal open again, that means we need to buy a little time, that’s all.  We don’t need to think about engaging them.”

“That’s if she opens the portal for us this time.  She didn’t do it right away before, remember?”

“There are caves to the south,” Nelo suggested.  “If you can but lead us to one of them, I can step us into the shadows, out of sight.”

“South then,” Adam nodded, shifting his hold on Ben to call forth his sword. 

“Set me free and I would stand with you, brother,” Azazael volunteered, but Adam just smacked him with the flat of his blade.

“Pipe down or I’ll knock you out myself.  I don’t need you complicating things right now.”

“What if I tried to get Hecate to open the portal up here and we could try to fly through it?” I suggested, those caves looked awfully far away. 

“No good.  We have to add more blood to the ring, remember?  No, it’s best to find a way to do it on solid ground.  It’s hard enough to swing the portal anyway.”

“There Mistress, I see one,” Nelo pointed, holding fast to me with his other arm. 

“I see it.  I hope it’s big enough to hold all of us,” I replied, following Adam’s lead, tucking my wings closer to my body to shoot through the air fast enough to make my head spin.  Trusting in my instincts to keep me alive, I focused on the small dark opening, not wanting to think about bugs on a windshield, should I miss my mark. 

To my great relief, once I unfurled my wings again, it was easy to slow with plenty of time to sail through the opening, the tips of my wings brushing against the cave mouth.  Adam was quick to join me, immediately turning to look back at the cloud of demons hot in pursuit. 

“We don’t have very long, let’s get this show on the road,” he muttered, unceremoniously dumping Ben in a heap on the ground and digging into his pocket for the little vial of virgin’s blood.  Keeping Nelo tucked against me, I pried open the jeweled cap of the ring, trying to hold my hand steady for him to pour it, my eyes on the horizon.  Blood dripped over my fingers as there wasn’t time for finesse, but the ring didn’t seem to mind; the stone turning once more from green to ruby red at the addition.  The ambient light at the mouth of the cave faded as the demons approached, blocking the view of Midian’s purple suns. 

“Goddess Hecate, please, please open the gate to get back home.  We need you now more than ever.”  The tingling in my hand increased, but no red sparks came.  Adam grabbed my hand, mingling his fingers in the spilled blood. 

“Hecate, I implore you, open the gate.  You wouldn’t want to see us die, would you?” he laughed nervously, eyes on the skies, heavy with the beating of a thousand dark wings.   

“Hecate please!  I beg of you.  I’ll do anything you say, just open the gate!” I yelled to be heard over the growing din of the demon army, their unearthly shrieks splitting my ears.  At once, the crack of red lightning appeared, splitting the air into a jagged tear, Sam’s living room visible on the other side. 

“Let’s go!” Adam shoved me towards the gate, grabbing up Ben and diving through as the first winged creatures reached the mouth of the cave.  I rolled out of the way as soon as I hit the other side, making room for Adam and Ben who came tumbling after me.  The portal snapped closed with an impressive crack of lightning, made more so by the fact that it neatly severed a screeching demon in half. 

Even half a demon was scary though, its clawed hands scrabbling against the hardwood floor as it dragged its torso in my direction, trailing black, goopy ichor in its wake.  Fast as lighting, Adam towered above it, neatly lopping of its head and staking it to the floor through the heart.  I fell back against the side of the wall, clutching Nelo to me as I fought to catch my breath, waiting to see what else popped out at us next. 

“What did you do?”  Adam whirled to face me, his face livid, and I recoiled from the fury there. 

“What do you mean?  I got the portal open.”

“You promised her you’d do anything she wanted.  You don’t promise a capricious goddess like Hecate something open ended like that.  What the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded.

“I didn’t know what else to do.  I made a split second decision and I don’t regret it.  We’re still alive, aren’t we?”

“I told you something like this would happen,” Adam glowered, pacing the length of the room like a caged animal. 

Did I say I wanted to hear his
I told you so’s
before?  I must have been delirious from the fall.  “Something like this?” I kicked at the demon’s head which made a squishing noise against the floor. “Or like this?” I rustled my wings, giving them a little shake as I wondered how to tuck them away again. 

“Don’t do that with me.  You know perfectly well what I’m talking about.  I told you we shouldn’t have split up.  I could have handled those bozos quickly and quietly, and we could have left with no one being the wiser.  But no, you had to go all independent on me and look what happened!”

“But we’re fine, we made it.  You’re okay, aren’t you, Nelo?”  I asked the little guy, who still huddled close to my body.  Nelo nodded slowly, and I set him down on his own two feet where he stared up at my wings in wonder.  “I know, right?” I grinned at him, more than a little taken with them myself.  Did I qualify as an actual angel now?  And how come they were white when his were black?  The look on Adam’s face kept me from asking.  Besides, he probably had no idea either.

“I’m perfectly fine,” Azazael called out cheerfully, still thankfully bound to Ben’s body. 

“You could have died,” Adam maintained, ignoring Azazael and the glory that was my wings equally. 

“But I’m fine,” I stepped into his path, reaching for his hands.  “Better than fine even.  We won.  We got Ben out, and now we can finally put things right.”

“And what makes you think Raum won’t send his army into the world to pay us back for that?” 

That brought me up short.  “He wouldn’t… can he do something like that?”  Somehow that seemed against the rules.  Otherwise, why weren’t there demons walking around openly all the time?  The only ones I’d seen were the ones who could pass for human. 

“He’s not supposed to, but he’s done it before.  Granted, it’s been about three thousand years since he allowed a full scale incursion, but I’d say we’re about due,” Adam replied sourly, going back to pacing again.

“But God won’t let that happen, will he?  He’ll have to respond if Raum breaches the rules so badly.”

“He will.”  Adam’s jaw tightened, his expression bleak.  “His armies will fill the skies to re-establish the balance between good and evil.  And when that happens… God save us all.” 

“That’s being a bit pessimistic, don’t you think?” Azazael snorted, trying to push himself up to a standing position awkwardly.  “Raum won’t risk out and out war, he knows he’s outmatched.  Unless Lucifer throws in with his lot and we all know that won’t happen.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.  Lucifer knows an opportunity when he sees one.  He might very well pledge his support to Raum and use the diversion to try and get back into Heaven.  Or take a larger slice of the pie up here, you never can tell what his agenda is,” Adam pointed out. 

“Lucifer?” My eyes widened a little, I’d forgotten about him, but here they were, talking about him as if he was a real person.  Of course they’d both know him, they were brothers of sorts.  “We have to worry about him too?”  I sat down on the arm of one of Sam’s easy chairs, the strength suddenly going out of my legs as the adrenaline wore off. 

“Mercy?” Adam immediately sank to his knees before me, worried as he searched my face.  “Are you alright?”

“Do you really think I started a war?” I whispered, hating the tremor in my voice.

“No,” he blew it off as if we hadn’t been talking about that very thing only moments before, his voice soothing.  “It’s not that big of a deal.  You’re right, Raum’s too smart to risk an all out war.”

“But he will attempt retribution, you can be certain of that,” Azazael added, smiling to himself once he’d gained his feet, only to topple over again when Adam kicked him squarely in the chest.

“Hey!  Don’t do that to Ben,” I scowled.  “Besides, he’s right.  Raum will definitely come after us again, your deal with him has got to be null and void after this.  Oh, poor Raziel… I hope he doesn’t take it out on him!  Maybe we should…”

“Not a chance,” Adam thundered.  “We are not going back there, I don’t care if they’ve got Mother Theresa, Ghandi and Justin Bieber strung up by their thumbs.  We’re staying out of Midian.  Period.”

“That sounds like the beginning of a great joke,” Azazael cackled to himself. 

“You are the only joke we have to concern ourselves with here,” Adam muttered, leaving me to loom over Ben’s body.  “Are you going to cooperate until we get the witches here, or do I have to render you unconscious again?” his eyes glittered dangerously. 

“I’m fairly certain you’ll want me in full possession of my faculties for the procedure,” Azazael responded sullenly. 

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.  I can always heal you in a pinch if necessary, but I’m more than happy to knock you out until then if need be.”

“Mercy, are you going to let him bully me in this fashion?” he pouted and I hauled myself to my feet, the shakes having thankfully passed. 

“After everything you’ve done?  Be thankful he doesn’t turn you over to me,” I laughed.  “I think we’d better get a move on though, the solstice is coming up fast.  I’ll give the witches a call, Adam, you get Sam back here.  Nelo, do you think you could do something about that?” I nodded in the direction of the still oozing demon corpse.  The smell was starting to turn my stomach.  With some hard work and a little luck, we’d have Ben back and in shape to return to work before the week was out.    

“Ah, Mercy?  Before you get anybody over here, you’d better do something about those,” Adam gestured over my shoulders to the white wings that still hung down my back.

“Oh, right.  Anybody know how to put these things away?”

“I’d be more than happy to show you,” Azazael popped up, only to get the threat of a backhand from Adam.

“I’ve got this one,” Adam tugged me away from him, Nelo already scurrying to find something to get rid of the demon’s body with.  “The wings are a natural extension of you, even more than the sword is, you just need practice to make them come and go whenever you need them to.”  He started to unbutton his shirt, more for the excuse to show off than for any real need, I suspected.  Once his torso was bare, he turned to show me his back, and I watched in fascination as his glossy, dark wings sprouted and retracted a few times. 

“I still don’t get how it works with the clothes,” I murmured, but a quick check showed there were no holes in his shirt. 

“Call it a divine gift.  Maybe the Big Guy didn’t want to get stuck with a lot of repair bills, who knows.  All I know is, it works, so why question it?” he shrugged.  “Now you try it.”

That was easier said than done though, I was still getting used to the idea that I could move the suckers on my own.  I spent a few moments doing just that, extending them and tucking them close to my body, enjoying the soft rush of air at the movement. 

“Anytime you’re done playing…” he prompted, and I closed my eyes, trying to shut him out so I could concentrate.  Focusing on the pull of the new muscles in my back, I
felt
my way through the process of tucking them away.  In a rush of air, the weight of the wings was gone, and popping my eyes open, I was both pleased and saddened to find them gone. 

“I did it!” I grinned, reaching back to assure myself there were no holes in my clothes either.  But could I bring them back?  Short of tossing myself out a window, I wasn’t sure how else to provoke the reaction, but the instant I tried to extend the wings again they unfurled in a snowy drape of feathers.  “That’s gotta come in handy,” I murmured, extending and retracting them a few times, to satisfy myself with how quickly I could do it. 

“Great, now you’ve got a new hobby.  Hey, remind me to try this again with you in the bedroom, I’m thinking we could work out a really interesting striptease…”

I
knew
Adam was trying to get a rise out of me, and instead of giving him that satisfaction, I extended my wings once more, drawing them around me protectively, almost coquettishly to obscure half my face like a lady with a fan.  “We might have to do that…” I lowered my voice seductively, gratified to see him swallow in surprise. 

Azazael let out a low whistle.  “Lord help us all.”

* * *

Parker showed up with Luz about a half an hour later to get a feel for the place, and I could tell something was wrong the instant she stepped over the threshold. 

“We can’t do the ritual here, this is all wrong,” Luz frowned, sniffing the air delicately.

“Well, this is where it’s gonna go down, so you’d better get used to it, sweetheart,” Adam drawled, not bothering to look up from the book spread open on his lap.