Redemption (A NOVEL OF THE SEVEN SIGNS) (45 page)

Zuul erupted into laughter.

Enraged, Japheth kicked for his balls. Zuul snickered, and vanished to ash. But Japheth was ready. He followed, their ashclouds fighting like rabid ghosts, and with a powerful fiery fist, he tore Zuul’s writhing body from the hell-dark ether and slammed it backwards into the ground.

The demon choked, winded, his eyes streaming. And Japheth landed atop him, and pinned his skinny wrists to the dirt. “Talk, hellshit,” he growled, “or I chew the filthy flesh from your bones strip by strip and eat it for breakfast.”

Zuul groaned in ghastly delight, his black eyes rolling in ecstasy. His broken skull bones knitted with an unholy squelch. “You’re dumber than I thought,” he wheezed. “You
really think that Michael looked into your heart and saw an evil blue-burning bastard with a hard-on for blood?”

“What else is there to see?”

“Oh, you sorry son of a whore.” Zuul gasped laughter. “Is this what people call
guilt
? This disease you’ve got? Because you can totally have that shit, I swear on Satan’s balls…”

Japheth slammed his head harder.

Zuul spat blood into the dust. “Think, dumbass. You’d just won a battle. Slaughtered thousands of my kind. You got accolades from Gabriel and the host and the fucking Lord himself that day, so I heard.”

“So what?” Japheth’s guts squirmed. He didn’t like this. Didn’t like the memories. “I refused them. Passed them to Michael, like I should’ve done.”

“Yeah.” A giggle. “I bet that went down a treat. Tell me, did Michael actually screw your brains out, or were you always this damn stupid?”

“That’s none of your—”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” Zuul fixed him in a gleeful stare. “You were his finest warrior. You killed a zillion demons. That, he could almost cope with. But you’re also young. Beautiful. Dedicated. Honorable, Christ, I’m working up a spew over here. How long since Michael had honor, Blondie?”

“What are you saying?” Japheth’s throat withered to a crisp.

“But that isn’t enough for you, is it? You’re also humble, curse your oily hide. Gabriel’s nice to you—which he hasn’t been to Michael since who the hell knows when, in case you hadn’t noticed—and you shrug it off. The Lord himself pats you on the back and you say, oh, it was nothing, all Michael’s doing. But Michael knew the truth.” Zuul grinned. “I bet he gritted his fucking teeth so hard they snapped. And what did you do then?”

“I went home…” But images of Esther smothered his mind in mud. The beach, that dazzling starry sky… “I kissed a
girl. So what? It was innocent!”

“You stupid baby.” Zuul shook his head sadly. “Kissed a girl, my ass. You found a friend who
loved
you! What did you expect would happen? Never hear of the tenth commandment?”

Disbelief struck Japheth blind.

Thou shalt not
…

“You had everything Michael ever wanted.” Zuul’s hiss smoked cruelly in his ear. “He tried every way he knew to corrupt you, and none of it worked.
You’re better than he is!
Why the hell do you think he slammed your face into the dirt?”

Thou shalt not covet!

Black flame roared in his ears. His stomach reeled sick. Dimly, he was aware that Zuul kicked him, flung him away. That he hit the ground, bones rattling. His wings crunched into gravel and bled. And a boot slammed down onto his neck.

His blood raged wild, scattering his senses to the wind. Wrath was a lethal sin. So was lust. Of those, he was guilty as any ugly-souled demon.

But so was envy.

His blackened heart howled. Michael had deceived him. Ruined him. Dragged him into the filth and let him condemn himself. And now, Japheth’s soul was lost for good.

Nothing to hold him back.

He fought to see, parting the choking black smoke of his rage. Zuul stood over him, a triumphant smile twisting his lips. The point of his demon blade tickled the vein in Japheth’s throat.

“Go on, then,” Japheth snarled. “Kill me. I’ve been dead fourteen hundred years anyway.”

But Zuul just dropped Japheth’s fiery dagger onto his chest.

It clanged on his armor, and bounced into the dust. Zuul crouched, leaning close. “If someone did that to me, Blondie?” Red flames flickered sweet seduction on the demon’s tongue. “I’d hunt the lying asshole down and chew his fucking heart out.” A dark chuckle. “But maybe that’s just me.”

And before Japheth could react, Zuul dissolved to ash.

For a black, silent moment, he lay in the dirt, still as death.

Then, with an ugly crack, his heart shattered.

Fourteen centuries of bloody anger erupted like a volcano.
Black-light fire engulfed his wings, and a ragged scream slashed his chest apart.

The sound crackled around the crater, echoing up into the pre-dawn sky on a fiery shockwave. Flames leaped afresh from the charred ruins. Jagged lightning knifed the air, and the ground quaked and split with a crack like thunder. And he howled, and shrieked, and laughed, until tears ran bloody down his face, and his nails gouged his skin raw, and no more sound remained in his exhausted body.

And then he coiled like a serpent into a black ball of stinging ash, and exploded into the dark ether, with vengeance gnashing hungry fangs in his heart.

*   *   *

Rose scrabbled at the door locks, frantic. No angelspells had survived. But still they wouldn’t open. The mirrored walls of Japheth’s apartment mocked her, throwing misshapen reflections like cruel monsters. Desperate, she fumbled, until at last the springs snapped back and she plunged out into the dim-lit lobby.

The stark walls threatened her. Cold sweat beaded inside her clothes. She ran to the elevator and slammed her palm on the button, over and again.
Don’t follow me. Don’t see me. Just let me be
…

Four or five eternities passed, but the elevator wouldn’t come. You needed a key, or a pass card.
Captain fucking Paranoid!
She stumbled for the fire stairs. The door creaked open, and clanged shut behind her. An alarm screeched. She didn’t care. The concrete steps thudded dully under her bare feet.
Must reach the bottom. Must get away
…but before she’d made it two floors down, her legs gave out.

She slumped against the steel railing, gulping for breath. The sick air strangled her. Her legs ached. Her body still sang from the delight of his caress, but the memory swamped bitter like bile.

The look in his eyes as she’d lied to him still tore her heart, a poisoned curseblade. So lost. So…broken. She had the feeling that image would haunt her dreams for endless nights to come.

She screamed, a vile eruption of rage and guilt that tore her ears and bloodied her throat raw.

It echoed once, and died.

Cold dry sobs wracked her chest. No one could hear her. Nothing to prove she existed, that anyone cared if she lived or died.

“Please.” A croak, painful. Barely audible. But it didn’t matter, right? “Help me.”

Silence, heavy and deafening.

You have to believe you’ll be forgiven
…

“I did it, okay?” She banged her head on the railing, once, again, gritting her teeth until her gums bled. “I broke your angel. I let myself be seduced. Bridie’s a monster because of me. It’s all my fault!”

Her throat swelled. “Your angel said I’d be forgiven. Japheth, that is. Do you remember him? I believed him, God, or heaven, or whoever you are. But that doesn’t matter now. Send me to hell forever, if that’s what you want.” Hot tears slid down her face, into her mouth. “I deserve it for what I’ve done. I won’t try to escape anymore. Just…” The tears filled her nose. She spluttered. “Just put things back the way they were! Make him whole again. He’s so beautiful inside, Lord. Just let him have his life. I’m… I’m begging you. Please. If you love him at all…”

But her pleas faded into empty silence.

No warmth. No light on her heart.

Nothing.

Her body shook, uncontrollable. They’d abandoned her. Left her alone to suffer for her wrongs.

Everything she’d feared was true.

God didn’t care. Heaven hated her. And they’d let her precious angel suffer, just to prove a point.

Well, screw that.

Rose sucked a stifling breath, and swallowed explosive tears. It hurt. She just swallowed harder. If God had left her to rot? Fine. But she wouldn’t abandon Bridie.

No, she most certainly would not.

Determination fired like molten steel in her blood. Might as well go down fighting. She could still feel the curse, coiling
deep inside her, whispering evil compulsions she longed to obey…but it meant she knew what Fluvium felt like, what he tasted like, how he smelled when he was exultant. And in just an hour or two, the demon moon would be full. Her powers would be at their bloody, wicked heights. She’d hunt down her vile demon prince, if it took her last breath. And Bridie with him.

Bridie wouldn’t live another night as a monster. Not if Rose had anything to say about it. Bridie was just a little girl. Surely, a little girl wouldn’t end in hell.

She had to believe that.

Rose licked bleeding lips, and crawled to her aching feet.
If I were Fluvium, and I’d just turned the whole of Babylon into a vampire coven…where would I go?

Inspiration flashed her nerves wild. Somewhere she could see, that’s where. Somewhere high. Like…

Warm laughter caressed her throat like a demon’s kiss. Yes, she’d find Fluvium, and Bridie, and she’d make the demon prince sorry for what he’d done. Oh, yes, she surely would.

And then, she’d kill him. And herself. And Bridie, too.

She leapt down the stairs, two at a time, her pulse racing, urgent and alive. Bridie was better off dead. And as for Fluvium…well, he was one dirty motherfucker who’d be sorry he’d ever laid his slippery fingers on her.

An evil grin slicked her lips as she ran.
Eternity in hell is a long time, demon.

And I’m gonna spend it making you miserable.

CHAPTER 41

Jadzia screamed, her pale hair alight, and stabbed the fire demon through its blazing heart.

Her sword electrified. Her muscles spasmed, jerking in fits. Her body whiplashed, excruciating, the white-hot agony stretching on and on…and she slammed face-first into the scorched bricks, smoke hissing from her hair.

She retched, spitting up burned blood, and dragged herself to her knees. Fumbled for her sword. Strained her ragged feathers for one more ounce of strength…

But the roar in her ears fell silent. The hellish red light was gone. And twelve stinking heaps of ash smoked like fat cowpats, motionless.

She’d killed four of Luuceat’s flame bodies. Michael had killed eight. They were all gone. Luuceat was dead.

She forced her exhausted body to its feet, elation surging in her blood. The vial was theirs. The world was saved.
Not bad, for a girl.

Michael helped her up, his big hand closing around hers. Surprised, she stumbled. Her burned wings were already healing, and she righted herself, her heart thudding now for a different reason.
He’ll smell Shax on me. He’ll know
…

But Michael just grinned, deadly. “Good job. Now go find the others. I’ll clean up this mess.”

Dimly, she realized the Guardian—Salome—still sprawled on the floor, crucified with hell-spelled steel. Her whimpers jabbed Jadzia’s teeth with cold needles. “Shouldn’t we—?”

“I’ll take care of it.” Michael’s cold eyes mesmerized her. “Go and get the others.” And he shoved her gently towards the stairs.

Dumbly, she obeyed. Her boots crunched on ash-strewn stones. The stairwell was dim, the air blessedly cool after the fire-scorched battle. God, she was tired, filthy, stained with disgusting demonslime. She wanted to go outside and roll in the pristine snow, let it cool her feathers, clean her hair, wipe those horrible sights from her mind…

But a tiny, eager fist yanked at her thoughts, tugging her to a halt.

She’d always wanted to see a vial of holy wrath.

She’d only ever come across an empty one, at Quuzaat’s sabbat. This one was still full. Was it already corrupted, by Luuceat’s evil magic? Or was it clean and fresh, the unsullied power of heaven? What would that look like? What would it feel like, zinging in the air? How would it smell?