Balance (The Divine, Book One) (40 page)

“Where
are we supposed to meet?” Obi asked. He had spent the entire trip marveling at
his newfound resistance to cold, and had removed his heavy wool pea coat in
response.

“I
don’t know,” I replied. “I just figured we’d know it when he showed up.”

“I
know where he is,” Rebecca said. “Follow me.”

We
made our way into the pedestal, back into the lobby, and then to my surprise
back to the storage closet where I had spent my first night returned to the
mortal world. Rebecca cast a sidelong glance in either direction to make sure
we weren’t being watched, then slipped a key into the door and swung it open
just wide enough for us to squeeze through. Once we were in, she slammed the
door shut and locked it again.

The
room was pitch black, but I was able to see without too much difficulty, my
world illuminated in grayscale. “Here?” I asked.

“You’ll
see,” Rebecca said. She motioned with her arm to move us even further together
against the back wall, pressing us up against the shelf that had been knocked
over when we had met. Judging by the way Josette and Obi were stumbling in the
darkness, they weren’t as fortunate with their sight.

Rebecca
knelt down and put her hand against the solid cement floor. Except it wasn’t
solid, it had just looked that way until she pulled up a simple brass handle
from beneath the glamour.
A glamour
I hadn’t even been
able to see through.

“This
passage was added in secret by a powerful demon named Silza,” Rebecca said.
“His goal was to provide a refuge for those who were looking to make the most
of the opportunity to subjugate this country, and in doing so bring them under
his control. He was killed by Reyzl.” She pointed at a messy scrawl of runes on
the underside of the door. “These runes hide this passageway from the eyes of
any who don’t know the command to enter. They also protect those inside from
being sensed. There are six beings in existence that know this place exists,
and we are four of them. Even the Demon Queen could not find us down here,
which is why Reyzl has chosen this place to meet us.”

It
was also her nest. Her home. I tried not to let it bother me that Reyzl knew
where she lived, especially after what she had said he wanted to do to her.
There was someone else who knew. Who?

“I
don’t have any lights,” she told me, holding the door open so we could climb
down.

Why
would she? She didn’t need them. I looked around the storage closet until I
found a can of turpentine. All I needed was something to ignite. I opened it
and focused, forcing the chemicals to combust, then pulled the flames out of
the can and wound them into a dancing ball of light. Josette and Obi looked
grateful to have their eyes back.

“Let’s
go,” I said, leading them down into the darkness, holding the light over the
back of my shoulder.

Rebecca
closed the door behind us as we descended a ladder about thirty feet down
through a small round tunnel. The entire length of the shaft was covered in the
same scrawled runes, and I could feel a pressure against my head while I
climbed downward.

“Angels
cannot enter this place,” Josette said. “I have seen runes like this before, in
a sewer below Paris. When I tried there was such pressure, I felt like I would
drown.”

“I
don’t feel anything,” Obi said.

My
feet touched down on an old, thick rug whose center had been worn away by the
many feet that had scraped against it on their way up or down over the years.
The passageway continued through a circular stone archway that traveled another
thirty feet before opening up into a larger space. I could just make out the
vague shape of a bed resting near the back end of the area. I could also hear
the faint sound of...singing?

The
voice was a smooth baritone, the melody old and unrecognizable to my modern
ears. Even from here I knew whose mouth was producing the sounds, whose breath
was being expelled into the air in the shape of the rough, sad notes. Rebecca
hopped off the ladder, cocked her head, and frowned.

“Looks
like you were right,” I said to her.

She
nodded, looking more fearful than I had believed she could look. I hadn’t
expected her to be apprehensive about the archfiend after she had already put a
dagger through his heart.

The
room was large, with a high arched ceiling and a mosaic floor. Against the back
wall was Rebecca’s bed, an intricately carved four-poster that in other
circumstances I might have spent hours pondering, wondering how it had come to
be in this location without anyone having seen
it.
Towards the southern wall a rack of blades of all shapes and sizes, thick
blocks of wood with plenty of nicks taken out of them, and a mat to separate
the training space. To the north a refrigerator whose contents needn’t be
guessed, and an antique-looking desk with a laptop sitting on it. Did she
really have Internet access down here?

Sectioned
off near the center of the room was a small sitting area with a leather sofa, a
couple of end tables, a rocking chair, and a large flat-screen television.
Reyzl was sitting in the rocking chair, his eyes closed, his legs pushing him
back and forth. He was wearing a simple pinstriped suit and a pair of wire rimmed
glasses, and he didn’t even bother to open his eyes when we entered. Being able
to examine him up close, I could see that his features were more akin to the
Egyptian sculpture I had seen in the Museum than they were to any of the
Indian’s I had come across around town.

“You’re
late,” he said, his voice holding a hint of a British-English accent. During
our first meeting he had seemed so powerful, so malevolent, so in control of
everything. Now, he didn’t even register as being evil.

“That
depends on your concept of time,” I replied. For someone who could wait
forever, there was no such thing as late.

Reyzl
opened his eyes and turned his head. I could only imagine the black orbs were
focused on me, looking me over for a second time. “You are a resourceful one,”
he said. “Your success against my angels was unforeseen, and most unfortunate.”

I
glanced over my shoulder, surprised to find Rebecca hiding behind me. Not
wanting to show them I was afraid, I walked over and sat down on the sofa,
turning to face the demon.

“It
was nothing personal,” I said.

Reyzl
laughed. “Personal,” he repeated. “No, it wasn’t, was it? Just as Ulnyx wasn’t
personal.” He smiled. “It is of no matter,” he said. “I will destroy you when
it suits me. Or perhaps you will come to work for me, as your predecessor once
did. Either way, you will fall under my dominion as all things are destined.”

He
turned his head to look back at where Rebecca, Josette, and Obi were still
standing, trying to keep as much distance between themselves and the demon as
possible.

“Rebecca,
will you not join us? And Josette? It is a pleasure to see you here. It tickles
me that after all these years you will be helping instead of hindering. You
have made excellent choices in friends, Landon.”

I
suspected his words were intended to intimidate. Instead, I found myself amused
by his self-importance. He was a powerful demon, but I had power too, and right
now I refused to let him get the best of me.

“You
do understand,” I said, trying to mimic his quiet bluster, “Time is important
in consideration of our endeavor.”

Reyzl’s
head whipped back to look at me, his blank expression showing signs of life as
he reacted to my mocking tone. Just as soon as it had appeared, it was gone,
replaced with his calm emptiness.

“Of
course,” he said.

He
rose to his feet and walked over to the exercise mat in the corner. He knelt
down on it and started scratching out runes in the vinyl, his finger cutting
through in precise, rigid lines. A minute later he had completed a circle with
the runes, and with a guttural exultation they began to burn.

“This
is a transport Rift,” he said. “It connects to an identical circle in the home
of the Demon Queen. You will step into this circle, and step out of that
circle. You will retrieve the Chalice and return. At that time, I will open a
second Rift to Hell through which my legions can travel through the circle and
launch the assault on the Demon Queen.”

I
walked over to the circle and looked right into Reyzl’s eyes. “I’ve got it,” I
said. I motioned to the others. “Let’s go.”

Reyzl’s
hand was a lightning bolt, lashing out and attaching itself to my shoulder, his
claws digging into my skin. “Just you,” he said, letting go before I could
retaliate.

Just
me? “We had a deal,” I said.

“A
deal that you would get the Chalice from the Demon Queen. Your companions are
my insurance that you will not sell me to her in exchange of your own life.
This Rift connects both locations. Should she come through the circle, my soul
would be forfeit.”

“What
if she kills me and then comes through?”

“I
will know if she kills you, and destroy my side before that can happen. If you
die, your companions will be executed as well. Consider it an added incentive.”
His head tilted downward towards my groin. “You must leave the weapon here,” he
said. “You cannot pass through the Rift while you are carrying it.”

By
myself, unarmed. This was getting better by the second. I should have known
that making a deal with a demon wouldn’t be a straightforward thing. I looked
over at Rebecca, her expression a mixture of anger, sadness, and fear. Josette
and Obi seemed to be hiding their emotions better, though neither looked very
comfortable with the situation.

“We
had a deal,” Reyzl reminded me.

I
could almost sense the hint of mirth in his voice. He had trapped me perfectly,
leaving me between a three thousand year old Egyptian rock and an even harder
place. Resigned, I nodded my understanding to the demon, slipped the dagger
from my belt and dropped it to the floor. I took a deep breath and stepped into
the Rift.

Traveling
through the Rift was identical to what I had experienced in Purgatory when Mr.
Ross had led me off of the beach. One moment I was one place, the next I was
someplace else. There was no wormhole, no weird wavy lines, no churned stomach
or headache. One step brought me into the Rift under the Statue of Liberty. The
next step brought me onto a stone floor.

The
first thing I noticed was that it was super bright. So bright that part of me
felt like it was shriveling under the intense glow. The second thing I noticed
was the Grail. It was sitting right in front of me, about forty feet away. It
was resting on a simple stone pedestal, looking as though it were still in the
Museum of Natural History, as though the entire thing had been a dream and I
was back to my actual life.

That
illusion didn’t stick long, because the third thing I noticed was that I wasn’t
alone. To the right of the Chalice were two simple white metal folding chairs,
the kind they use at outdoor weddings. She was sitting in one of them, smiling
at me.

“Landon,”
she said with a gentle voice not befitting the Queen of Demons. “I’ve been
waiting for you.”

So
many images passed through my mind in that moment as I relived every second of
my existence since the woman sitting so patiently in the chair across from me
had killed me.

I
should have been afraid, because the Demon Queen knew who I was, and was
waiting for me, and was going to destroy me once she had finished with whatever
conversation it seemed she wanted to have - there were two chairs after all.

I
should have been angry, because she had caused such wanton chaos and
destruction, had left such evil in her wake.

Instead,
my mind was distracted by how beautiful she was sitting there, her lustrous
long black hair falling over her right breast, her perfect white smile so
inviting, her feline yellow eyes sexy and dangerous in a way that Rebecca could
only dream of. A black collared coatdress with a deep neckline and low boots
rounded out the vision. What the heck was I thinking?

I
took a deep breath and swallowed, trying to get my stomach back down where it
belonged before I made a mess of her clean stone floor. I could see the source
of the light now, spotlights arranged around the perimeter of the room, casting
so much brightness and heat that any demon not wearing an amulet would be
hard-pressed to do much of anything caught in the trap. Yet there she was,
sitting bathed in the light, oblivious to the damage it should be doing to her.
I could see the plunge of her dress down into her cleavage. She wasn’t wearing
an amulet.

“Waiting
for me,” I stuttered, trying not to sound overwhelmed, and failing miserably.

“For
longer than you know,” she replied. “We have a lot to talk about.”

I
started walking towards her, my legs feeling shaky beneath me. Dante’s voice
echoed in my mind, describing to me how this woman had slaughtered the Knight
Templar who had defended the Chalice for over two thousand years, along with a
whole contingent of seraphs. What could I have that she wanted?

“I
need the Chalice,” I said, feeling stupid right after I said it.