The Night Beat, From the Necropolis Enforcement Files (23 page)

I waited for a few seconds, but he didn’t say anything else. “You’re wondering what, exactly?”

“If all those leads are there to prevent you from finding whoever’s masterminding on this plane.”

“Um, wouldn’t that be either Abaddon or Apollyon or, more likely and how fun for us, both of them?”

Jude shook his head. “I’ve spent time down in the Depths, remember. Those two are excellent at following a complex plan and ensuring maximum mayhem. But they aren’t the brains of any operation. And this seems like a complex plan that’s got a variety of offensives, foot soldiers, generals, feints and mythic misdirection.”

The base of my tail got a really bad feeling going. I could tell by Jude’s expression his wings were tingling. Interestingly, however, the person who spoke up next wasn’t him or me, it was Sexy Cindy.

“You know, I do know you.” She was staring hard at Jude. “Only…you’re nothing like I was taught, are you?”

He smiled. “Well, that’s open to debate.”

“No, it’s not.” I looked at Sexy Cindy’s expression. I had a feeling she’d truly figured out who Jude was. “He’s one of the best undercover agents Yahweh’s ever had.”

She nodded. “Yeah, guess so. Doesn’t it bother you, to be considered the most evil man in history?”

Jude shook his head. “The beings whose opinions matter to me know the truth. Besides, there have been plenty of people more evil than even my worst detractors could say I was.”

Sexy Cindy snorted. “Yeah, too true. Start with Hitler and work up or down, right?”

The bad feeling at the base of my tail slammed into my stomach as Jude and I looked at each other. “Oh, please, tell me you know where he is.”

Jude shut his eyes and spread his wings. I knew this meant he was accessing the angel collective. He didn’t open his eyes for a good long while, but when he finally did I knew for certain we’d moved from bad to beyond worse.

“No one knows where he is. Our agents in the Levels haven’t seen him for the last few days. But he hasn’t come through as far as anyone on any other plane has been able to tell.”

“Because he traded places with Anthony Tomio.” I tried to swallow the bile but couldn’t.

Jack cleared his throat. “Am I hearing this right? You two mean Adolph Hitler, most evil man of the twentieth century? He’s an undead?”

“Yes. Unsurprisingly, the moment he died, he went to the Prince. And because of his natural skills, he became a warlock of great power.” I wanted to kick myself.

“It didn’t occur to me, or Black Angel Two, or anyone else, either,” Jude said quietly. “But it means we have the most strategically minded of the Prince’s minions, along with his most rabid enforcers, on the human plane. And they’re only here for one thing.”

“What they’re always here for. I know.” I tried to think calmly. “How many of his generals do you think he brought with him?”

“You figured eighteen had the potential to pass, right?” Jude asked. I nodded. “Then figure all of them, and probably some others from history just as bad. They’re focused on the human plane, they’ll go with beings who were humans when they were alive, at least for the majority.”

Jack cleared his throat. “One of those eighteen ideas meant that the four of us were used. Is there any way to make sure we’re not…infected?”

“Should be.” Jude put his hands on the sides of my head. “Nothing unnatural.” I tried not to look relieved, but failed if Jude’s chuckle was any indication. “You’re hard to infect, Victoria. One of the hardest.”

“Good to know.”

He moved on to Sexy Cindy. “Impressive. I foresee a good career.” He looked at me. “Keep her with you.”

“I was planning on it.”

“Yeah, I know you can spot talent.” Jude moved on to Freddy. “Hmmm, another good one. I know they’ll want to keep him at the University, but like H.P. and Edgar, make sure you keep Frederick on call for active duty.”

Freddy and Sexy Cindy both looked surprised and pleased by these assessments. I had to remind myself they hadn’t been undead long. I could remember my first days and, like theirs, they were faster-paced than normal. Happily, they were holding up, like I had. I hoped they continued to do so -- we didn’t have time to deal with either one of them cracking under pressure.

Jude went to Jack now. He didn’t say anything for what seemed like a long time. When he did, he wasn’t speaking to me. “You’re the one at risk. You’ve been warned. The longer you ignore the warnings, the worse things are going to be.”

Chapter 34

Jack pulled away from Jude. “Look, I’m getting tired of all the angelic warnings. You’d think you’d be happy I could handle all of this and instead all I hear is a lot of vague crap about my soul. My soul’s just fine, thanks.”

Jude turned away. “If you say so.” He looked at me. “Remember -- you aren’t responsible for any soul but your own.”

This was getting to be an angelic litany, and it didn’t make me feel any better that it was going along with the general angelic consensus that Jack’s soul was in peril. A horrible thought occurred to me.

Jude shook his head. “No.”

“No what?” Jack snapped.

Jude looked over his shoulder. Even though he was in profile to me now, I could see the look of disdain. “No, her becoming romantically involved with you isn’t why your soul is in jeopardy.” He sighed and turned back to me. “He needs time with Edgar, and soon.”

“We’re sort of in the middle of saving the worlds. Kind of hard to get that one-on-one time with anyone. Besides, Edgar’s part of the team at this point.”

Jude rubbed his forehead. “You never could find the easy way.”

“You are such the one to talk.”

He laughed. “Too true. The hard way
is
more…challenging. And lasting.”

Jack looked ready to get into a fistfight with Jude. Sexy Cindy and Freddy were holding him back. Apparently Jack and I weren’t handling anger very well tonight. A different thought occurred.

“Probably,” Jude said with a wry grin.

“Stop it with the mind reading! I mean, you can do it, clearly you can’t stop it due to your assignment, but could you pretend that you aren’t?”

He chuckled. “Now, where’s the fun in that?”

I remembered why I’d fallen in love with him. He was maddening and attractive, mysterious and wise, all rolled into one. But…like Ken after him, he hadn’t been what I really wanted.

Jack relaxed, or Sexy Cindy and Freddy lost their hold on him, I wasn’t sure. He walked over to us. “We’re on a case. Tracking a variety of perps who are trying to pull the biggest job ever, right?” Jude nodded. “In which case, a little more cooperation and a whole lot less statements of doom would be appreciated. Unless you can pinpoint where all our quarries are so that we can just round them up and call it a night.”

Jude’s wry smile was back. “No, I can’t do that. If I could, I already would have. That is why I’m here, after all.” He sighed again. “And I’ve failed, in that sense. Of course, failure can become victory, in the long run.”

“And if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all,” Jack snapped. “Got it. Thanks a million. The Prosaic City Police appreciate your assistance.” He jerked his head. “Let’s go.”

Jack stormed out. Sexy Cindy shook her head. “Boy, he’s steamed. Guess he’s having some trouble in the measuring up department.”

Freddy nodded. “We’ll go stay with him. You won’t be long?”

How they knew I was going to stay to talk to Jude I didn’t know, but I had a feeling it was because they were looking at my face and body language. Meaning Jack had stormed out in part because he, too, had taken a look. Oh well, my life was all about the complexities. “Thanks. Shouldn’t be too long, no.”

They hustled out. The moment the door closed Jude pulled me into his arms. I would have resisted but I was in shock. He shook his head. “Not trying to rekindle the passions, though, I confess, if you were willing, I could be easily convinced. I need to protect you.”

He extended his wings and wrapped them around us. We started to spin, and as we did, he spoke a prayer. It was in ancient Hebrew, but I could pick up a word here and there. The basic “Yahweh protect us from horrible evil” kind of thing is what it seemed like. After what seemed like a long ride on the Spin-Out, Jude stopped praying and we stopped spinning, then he let me go and took a step back.

“Uh, that was, ah, different.” I didn’t ask why he’d never done that before, like when we were an extremely hot and heavy item.

“I never did it before because you didn’t need it.”

“And now I do?”

“And now you do.”

“Because of Jack?”

“Because of what’s to come, some of which will involve Jack, yes.”

I hugged myself and looked down. “Is he evil?” I tried not to dread the answer and couldn’t.

Jude put his hand under my chin and moved my face up until I was looking right into his eyes. “No. He’s human. And he no longer wants to be.”

“Miriam said the same thing. Is…why is that bad?”

“In and of itself? It’s not.” Jude half-laughed and half-sighed. “It’s almost similar to him wanting to convert to a different religion because it would make him closer to the one he loves.”

“He really loves me?”

Jude kissed my forehead. “Yes, he does.”

“Then I really don’t understand why any of this is bad or puts Jack’s soul in danger.”

“You will. In time. Sooner than later, I fear.” He walked me to the door. “I can’t leave to help you. If I do, they’ll be able to bring the armies through.”

“How can you be sure? I mean, they’re getting past us right and left.”

“My presence here is the main deterrent. And, I’m not quite as alone as it seems.”

The light dawned. “Oh. He’s here?”

“Yes. Keeping his usual low profile, but yes.”

“Does Magdalena know?”

Jude shook his head. “She needs her energies focused on fighting. We all do. He and I, we fight a little differently from everyone else.”

“I don’t want this to be the final battle.”

“No one on our side does. You’d be amazed -- many on the other side don’t, either.”

“Really?” I found this difficult to buy. The Prince’s minions were all about total domination. It was one of the main reasons they joined up at his myriad recruiting stations.

“I think our agent on the inside would know.”

“He doing okay?” It wasn’t wise to say his name aloud. As one of the few who knew what his real role in the grand scheme was, I also knew I was only safe thinking about Lucifer in this capacity because I was right next to an immensely powerful angel who could block my mind from others’.

“So far as the few messages through can confirm. However, we do know not all the minions want the great war. Some, like Ishtrallum down the block, are far happier with the status quo than they would ever be if the Prince were to achieve his goals.”

“If he says so, okay.”

“He does. He also says that, should any of us face him in battle, we have to treat him like an enemy.”

I considered this. Abaddon and Apollyon I would have no trouble killing. Well, I’d have trouble in that they were frighteningly more powerful than me, but none whatsoever with guilt or indecision. With Lucifer -- with someone who, by a long tail of comparison, was doing the same kind of job I was, albeit in far more dangerous circumstances -- it wouldn’t be so simple. I didn’t know him, of course. He’d been in deep cover so long that he’d never come to the human plane, never visited Necropolis.

I’d met Satan. Martin had introduced us. I rather liked Satan. I couldn’t kill him, but I wouldn’t be asked to. I wouldn’t be asked to take out any of those who actually worked for the gods.

But if the Prince was bringing out his biggest, baddest lieutenants, then Lucifer was going to be in the fray, some way, somehow. And I didn’t know if I would be able to treat him like an enemy, even though I’d never met him. “Can you block my mind so that no one else, other than you two, can tell if I’m thinking about him?” I’d never felt the need for this before, but the base of my tail said this was a good idea and that if Jude said no I should hurt him in some way.