Natural Consequences (58 page)

“Turns out you get a lot of bonus points if someone you watch over is a hero. More if they die that way.”

Lorelei just stared. “There was a pattern?”

“Nobody ever gave it a second thought. It’s part of who Alex
is
, y’know? He’s a brave and unselfish soul. No bullshit about that. It’s why we love him. It’s why he loves a couple of freaks like us.” She paused. “But that’s not enough to explain why he died young in some sacrifice play every fucking time. Nobody ever gave it a second thought,” she repeated bitterly. “ ‘cause Donald’s an
angel
, right?”

“Where is Donald now?”

“I don’t know,” the angel shrugged.

“
Could he be with Alex?”

“He might be. I hope not. I told him not to go near him, but he obviously only gives a shit what I say if I’m about to fuck him up.”

“You must go to Alex now,” Lorelei hissed.

“Nuh-uh. No can do.”

“Rachel, he needs you.”

“You need me,” Rachel countered, looking at her firmly. “Fuckhead Donald might come back in here with his fuckhead mortal tool and that
rosary. Like I said, Hauser doesn’t have the juice to really work that thing. It’s just a cheap trinket. But if he’s got an angel channeling through it, they could kill you.”

“They must want more
here than me,” Lorelei argued. “Too much is at stake.”

“Lorelei—“

“He knows how to manipulate Alex. They both do, or I would not be here now in chains. What happens to him?”

“What happens to you if you die?” Rachel snapped. “I know what happens to Alex. He dies and we weep and then he goes to He
aven and I find him and we sort shit out. We lose him until either he comes back or we find a way to fix things for all three of us, and it hurts like a motherfucker but it’s not the end.

“If
you
die, what happens? Your soul returns to Hell and you, what, get regenerated in some lake of fire and crawl out into the welcoming arms of your bros down there? Who’s gonna foot the bill for your recovery, huh? Belial? Fuckin’ Lucifer? They all know you don’t play for their team anymore, babe. You go to Hell again, you aren’t gonna be a jailer this time. You’ll be an inmate. It’ll be full on damnation with a big fat helping of personal grudges on top.

“And if you die under
the sort of scouring Donald and Hauser are packin’ there, you’re
gone
, Lorelei.  Like for really reals. No reincarnation, no sliver of hope that maybe someday I can get you out of Hell somehow. You’ll just be gone forever. I won’t let that happen.”

Lorelei listened and bowed her head once more. She shut her eyes tightly. “I never thought…” She paused, trying to hold her voice steady rather than allow it to quiver even in such intimacy. She had nothing to hide from Rachel, but the cameras and microphones were another matter. Regardless of her language, she didn’t care to betray anything through tone. “The difficulty of loving more than one person is that one cannot always be there for both in all times. I never thought you would choose to be with me over Alex.”

Rachel’s face softened. She reached up to wipe away the tear on Lorelei’s cheek. “I said I love you and I meant it.”

Lorelei turned her head enough to kiss Rachel’s hand. “What of your post?”

“Fuck it,” Rachel shrugged. “I’ve done more in a month than Vincent did in a century. If a couple days is all it takes for this city to backslide deeper into the shitter than it was with him in charge, I guess I shouldn’t hold dominion, anyway.” She rose to her knees, placing her forehead against Lorelei’s. “I’ve got my priorities.”

Lorelei nodded, pausing for only a moment to bask in her lover’s touch. Then she turned her thoughts to the situation at hand. “My strength returns
slowly, but I do not know if I will be able to slip all of these bonds. I presume you cannot simply free me, or you would have done so already.”

“That’s the sort of thing that could get us into even bigger trouble than this,” came Rachel’s grim agreement. “I can ju
stify defending you from Donald, but the rest of this shit…” she shook her head. “It’s one thing to be here at your side. It’s another to intervene directly with mortal events. There are rules.”

“I know,” Lorelei whispered. “You bend them for me all the time. I am forever grateful.”

Mechanical noises broke into the quiet tone of their conversation as the locks on the door opened. Rachel stood and slipped around Lorelei. The angel leaned on the back of her lover’s chair as the demon sat up straight to face her captors.

Hauser entered first, with one hand held low while he clenched the bit of
holy symbolism that gave him such an advantage. Two more agents followed. He gruffly introduced them as they entered. “I’m Special Agent Hauser, FBI. These are agents Nguyen and Bridger.”

Two others followed them, though the mortals were unaware. Lorelei didn’t see them, either, but Rachel made plain that her captors were not alone. “Oh, good, you brought a witness,” she said. “Donald, you even
whisper
to that fucknut with the rosary and I’ll send you back to Heaven carrying your jaw in your hand.” Her eyes slid briefly to Sergio. “Quote me on that all you want.”

The angel beside Nguyen blinked. “We seek only to protect our charges.” He turned his eyes on Donald with obvious concern. “The
rosary is meant to counter her power.”

“Bullshit. Donald tried to use jack-off here to smear Lorelei into the carpet earlier. It’s not gonna happen again.”

Her answer only heightened Sergio’s expression of unease. Donald didn’t look at him. “I will not have this demon whore use her magics on these mortals!” he protested.

“She doesn’t need any magic against these guys,” Rachel said, placing her hands on Lorelei’s shoulders. “So I guess you get to just stand there and shut the fuck up.”

“Do we call you Lorelei?” asked Hauser, oblivious to the other conversation.

“That is my name,” replied Lorelei. She heard Rachel, but the other angels did not reveal themselves to her. Still, she trusted her lover to handle them. Lorelei had to focus on the mortals.

“Not the only one, though, right?” Hauser smirked. “I’m sure you’ve had other names over the years?”

“Lorelei is the most appropriate name.”

“You seem to have recovered quickly from what happened out in the hall,” observed Hauser, twirling his finger as if to indicate her face. “You didn’t look like that when we brought you in here.”

Lorelei took in a long breath and smiled faintly at his tone. “This is familiar,” she said. “You consider yourself a righteous man, and me a demon, and thus you use suspicion and disdain as your shield. I have met ‘good’ men such as you before. You have already condemned me in your eyes.”

“You did break into a Federal facility and put down my guys,” Hauser pointed out. “Seems some suspicion might be in order. And here you are trying to look like a glamour model again like that’s gonna sway me.”

“This is my natural state,” said Lorelei.

“Sans the wings and so forth? Seems more likely that what I saw earlier was the truth.”

“Truth is subjective. I owe you no explanations for my appearance.”

“Yeah? You owe one to Alex?”

“I would, of course, be glad to speak to Alex,” Lorelei replied evenly.

“Because you’re in love with him, is that it?”

“Yes.”

“And you came here to rescue him from me?”

“I did.”

“He thinks
he’s
saving Alex from
you
,” said Rachel into Lorelei’s ear. “Alex and the guys.” Her eyes slid irritably toward Donald. “Can’t imagine where he got that idea.”

“You—I can’t believe you!” burst Donald. “You threaten me if I aid my charge, but you counsel that demon right in front of us?”

Rachel gave him the finger and added for Lorelei, “That’s not Hauser’s main mission, but it’s on his list.”

“What’s your agenda with Alex?”

“What ‘agenda’ would lovers have?” Lorelei asked Hauser.  “Are you not familiar with the concept?”

“Right. And his friends, huh? The one’s you’d face anyone and commit any crime for?” Hauser paused for dramatic effect. “We picked up Jason Cohen and freed Amber a few minutes after our little altercation out in the hallway. So now that we’ve got you and all your boys
in—“

“You make a mistake in calling them ‘boys,’” Lorelei interrupted quietly.

“That’s what the inmates in Federal prison will call them,” Hauser snapped with no small trace of menace. “They’re all facing serious charges with serious penalties. I will goddamn guarantee convictions, and the judge that’ll preside over their cases isn’t the sort to go for the minimum sentences.

“You’re a savvy woman. I figure you know where I’m going with this. They’re in enough trouble to ruin their entire lives. You claim to care about them. You even claim you’re in love with one of ‘em. Presumably that means you don’t want any of them in prison until they’re old and grey, which is exactly what’s going to happen. So if you want to help them, you’ll have to help me and answer my questions.”

“And where do those questions and answers lead me?” asked Lorelei.

“You’re in your own heap of trouble, lady,” Hauser grunted. “Cooperate and it might not be so bad for you.
More importantly, those guys will all walk. The question is whether you care enough about them to take that deal.”

Lorelei arched
an eyebrow. “You can guarantee their freedom?”

“Sure. Four well-meaning, naïve guys practically just out of high school fall under the sway of a wealthy demon seductress? It’s not like they murdered innocent people. I can see the score there. You talk, they walk.”

“But if I do not cooperate, then those four well-meaning, naïve young men rot in prison for decades?” Her eyes flicked briefly to his companions. “One wonders why so many Americans do not trust people in your profession.”

“
If you don’t talk, I’ll do what it takes to uphold the law and safeguard the public. Now: Are you really a succubus?”

“To answer that, we would have to establish a common definition. I doubt you understand what a succubus is.”

“Are you a demon?”

“What is a demon, Agent Hauser?” asked Lorelei. “What power did you
employ in the hallway? Why did it work? Do you understand it? Does the sorcerer at your side?” she asked, tilting her head toward Bridger. “Do you understand the magic that he practices?”

“Do you want to help Alex and his buddies or not?”

“Of course,” Lorelei nodded calmly. “You haven’t told me what you want.”

“I want answers.” Hauser folded his arms across his chest, his scowl never wavering. “All those questions you just threw back at me?
You
answer them. I want to hear everything you know about all this supernatural bullshit. The vampires. The werewolves. Demons. Rachel. I want the truth. All of it.”

“Oh?” Lorelei asked, her lips almost slipping into a grin. “Is that all?”

Rachel’s eyes went wide. She glanced at Donald in shock, but the other angel looked on with his face set in stone. Rachel quickly clamped her hand over Lorelei’s mouth. “You can’t,” she hissed.

The agents didn’t see Rachel at all
. Their mortal minds ignored the momentary impression the invisible angel’s hand made on Lorelei’s skin. “Seriously, Lorelei, you fuckin’ can’t. I’m beggin’ you. I know you want to wreck this dude, but it’s his
soul
.”

Lorelei made no effort to reassure her companion. She simply waited for Rachel to remove her hand and then
explained, “I do not profess to know all there is to know of the lesser vermin, but I may possess knowledge valuable to you. We can barter for that information. Hunt the mongrels and corpses all you wish. I will be glad to see fewer of them.”

“And the rest?”

“Those answers would only weaken you.”

“How so?”

“Again, Agent Hauser, what power did you use upon me? How does it work? You cannot answer these questions, but you have faith—and you knew that faith would be enough, didn’t you? Consider the difference between knowledge and faith, and how the one might impact the other.”

She watched as Hauser’s eyes narrowed
. Rachel leaned in close. “Somebody’s been fucking with him,” the angel said. She looked at him intently. “He’s had a piss-poor success rate with his interrogations lately and it’s grating on him.”

“So
now you’re concerned with my success and my safety?” Hauser asked.

“You asked for my cooperation,” said Lorelei. “Your questions are far more complex and carry greater danger than you realize. Would you prefer that I simply lead you astray and let you suffer? That does not strike me as cooperation.”

“It’s the guys,” Rachel said. “Drew and Wade. They’ve been fucking with him.”

Hauser folded his arms across his chest. “What about Rachel?”

“She is quite beyond you,” Lorelei answered, shaking her head slightly. “Put her out of your mind.”