Demon Evolution (22 page)

“But what mission?” Clifford asked.

“We will likely know soon what the real plan
was. Dionysus will want to flaunt his victory.”

T
he demons would
have known the nature of Dionysus’s true mission almost immediately
if not for the disarray that was caused by Andrew’s last act of
defiance.
Michael was gone.

Dionysus hoped that Andrew could be revived,
but the commitment with which the Archangel had taken his own life
was as stalwart as his dedication to his traitorous ways. While
Dionysus would greatly miss the opportunity to torture and kill the
spy himself, he would simply take it out on Andrew’s family, who
had apparently gone into hiding. But he wasn’t worried, they would
be found.

The strength of his pain at the loss of his
closest friend and ally was second only to the strength of his
desire for revenge. He had mourned Michael’s unexpected death for
ten excruciating minutes, succumbing to his emotions. Weeping,
wailing, and gnashing of teeth seemed like an appropriate
description of his torment.

But now, he was refocused on the task at
hand. He would dedicate the next year to Michael, although his
friend would never bear witness to the beautiful world that he
would create. A world of immortality, where angels lived forever
and claimed their rightful place of honor as rulers of the earth,
where demons had been eradicated like the vermin that they were,
and where humans were used as resources—to serve, to reproduce, and
to
harvest
.

These were his thoughts as he strode into the
holding area; he was flanked by Lucas, who was yammering on about
something meaningless. The kid was good, but didn’t know when to
shut up. When they reached the cell, Dionysus raised a hand to
silence him.

The holding area wasn’t particularly gloomy
or miserable, like the dungeon prison that Gabriel had been
confined to, but it was much more pleasant to conduct
interrogations in, and prisoners could be tortured just as easily.
The cell was stark white and brightly-lit, resembling the padded
rooms of a mental institution, but without the padding.

Typically angel prisoners would not be
awarded any light, as this would allow them to use their powers,
but in this case there was little risk of an eight-year-old and his
mom causing any serious damage. Plus, there was a five-foot thick
layer of titanium surrounding the cell, through which not even the
most powerful angel could escape even if given a hundred years. To
ensure her cooperation, all sorts of vile threats had been made on
the lives of Helena Knight’s husband and child.

“Wait here,” Dionysus ordered.

“But, sir, I—”

Dionysus again raised his arm and this time,
glared at the
child
beside him. Lucas obediently snapped his
mouth shut, tighter than a trap.

Dionysus opened the door and entered the
room. Closing the door behind him, he surveyed the occupants, who
were watching him with trepidation. The young boy, Peter he
remembered, shrank back from him, hiding behind his father.
Theodore Knight, who was known as Teddy, thrust an arm across each
of his family members, as if to protect them.

Dionysus smiled in amusement. “What are you
going to do, human rat? They have a better chance on their own than
with you.”

“What do you want from us?” Teddy asked.

“In time, all will be revealed. But first, I
just want to talk to you, that’s all.”

“Where is my son?” Helena asked.

“Which one: the traitor, or the dead
one?”

A look of horror crossed the parents’ faces.
“You killed David,” Helena said hollowly. It was a statement, not a
question.

“Well, not in the classic sense. But he might
as well be dead to you, because you will likely never see him
again. I will not have you brainwash him like you did Gabriel.”

“We never brainwashed anyone,” Teddy
declared.

“Ideas of rebellion can only be planted in
the home,” Dionysus instructed wearily, like he had taught this
lesson many times before. “It is your fault that your son is a
traitor and a fool.”

“Anything that he’s done, he must have had
very good reasons to do,” Gabriel’s father said fervently. There
was pride in his voice.

“Are you going to hurt David?” Helena
asked.

“Of course not. He is a very bright young
lad—there is great potential in him. We will merely shelter him
from your filthy influence. Allow him to realize his full
potential.”

“You’ll never get away with it, this is
kidnapping,” Helena said through clenched teeth.

“Now I know where Gabriel gets his fighting
spirit from, it’s surely not from his dad,” Dionysus said,
chuckling at his own joke. “But yes, we
will
get away with
it. Good will prevail.”

Dionysus reached into his pocket and
extracted a phone. They had searched Andrew’s apartment, but the
only evidence of treason they had found was the unauthorized “safe”
phone. There was only one number programmed into it. Dionysus knew
without a doubt whose number it was. Ignoring his
guests
, he
flipped open the phone and pressed the call button.

An urgent voice answered before the first
ring. “Andrew, you’re alive.”

“Andrew’s dead,” Dionysus sneered. He wasn’t
about to tell him that he had taken his own life or that he took
Michael with him.

“Who is this?” Clifford demanded.

“Take a wild guess.”

“You evil son of a—”

“Now, now, no need for name calling. Put
Gabriel on.”

“Why should I do anything that you say?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll kill his family,”
Dionysus said succinctly.

“You’re bluffing.”

Handing the phone to Helena, he ordered,
“State your name.”

“Helena Knight,” she said into the receiver.
Before she could utter another syllable, Dionysus yanked the phone
back from her.

“Proof enough?”

“I’ll get him,” Clifford said bitterly.

G
abriel was lying on
his bed with Taylor. She had been dozing off and on, but he wasn’t
able to turn his brain off. Some sixth sense told him that his
theory was true, that Andrew was probably dead, and that the angels
had another plan. As Sampson had said, protecting Taylor’s dad had
been easy—too easy. What was he missing?

While his mind churned through the events of
the last week, there was a forceful knock on the door. “Gabriel,
it’s Clifford!” a voice shouted.

Taylor awoke with a start, looking groggy.
“What was that?” she asked.

“Clifford’s at the door,” he replied. He
sprung out of bed and thrust open the door; he was naked from the
waist up and looked like he had just come from the gym, his muscles
tensed. He was anticipating bad news of some kind.

Clifford looked defeated. Gabriel braced
himself for the worst, but Clifford didn’t say a word. Instead, he
handed him a phone. Gabriel raised it to his mouth and ear and
said, “Hello?”

The voice on the other line was the voice
from his darkest dreams, one he hoped he would never have to hear
again. And the voice’s message was even worse. “Hello, Gabriel. I
have your mom. Oh, and your dad, too. And I figured what the heck,
so I grabbed your brothers as well.”

Rather than fear or sadness, only anger
entered his heart. “If you lay one finger on any of them, I swear
to God, I will kill you.”

“Temper, temper,” Dionysus clucked. “Don’t
you even want proof?”

Gabriel didn’t need proof; he knew that this
sicko was telling the absolute truth. Regardless, he wanted to hear
the voices of his loved ones, if only for a second to know that
they were safe. “Yes,” he replied simply.

“As you wish,” the devil croaked.

There was a moment of static on the line and
then, “Gabriel, is that you?”

Instantly recognizing the voice of the woman
who had brought him into the world, Gabriel replied, “Yes, Mother.
Are you alright?”

“More or less. That brat, Lucas, beat us up a
little. Your dad’s got a wicked bruise and my neck’s a little sore,
but other than that, we’re just fine. Don’t let him use us to—” Her
voice cut out.

Dionysus said, “I think that’s enough talking
for one day. Here’s what’s going to happen next. You will keep this
phone with you at all times. Trust me, Clifford’s not going to need
it anymore. Soon I will call you with further instructions about
how you can save your family. Goodbye, Gabriel.”

“Wait!” he roared, but it was too late, the
line was dead. He tried to call back on the same number, but the
line was busy.

During the conversation, Clifford had leaned
in, close enough to hear both sides. Taylor had listened curiously
to Gabriel’s side of the conversation from the bed. She evidently
figured it out from the context.

“They have your family,” Taylor stated.

“Yes,” Gabriel confirmed numbly.

“Damn angels. We were so worried about my
family that we never considered that yours could be in danger,
too.” Getting out of bed, Taylor tried to comfort him by wrapping
her arms around his torso. In a reversal of roles, he shook her
off.

“It’s not your fault. None of us considered
it. Not even me,” Gabriel said.

“What do they want?” Taylor asked, once again
trying to embrace him.

Allowing her to touch him this time, Gabriel
replied, “Me. They want me.”

“You can’t give yourself to them. They’re
psychopaths. They’ll kill you
and
your family.”

“I know, but I have to try.”

Previously willing to simply listen, Clifford
interrupted: “We will help you. Our full resources will be at your
disposal.”

Gabriel shook his head. “Thanks, but no
thanks, Clifford. If they see me coming with any company, they may
start killing people. I’m not willing to take that risk. I have to
do this on my own. I’ll keep you informed as to my whereabouts
through contact with Christopher. If the communications stop, then
you’ll know I’ve been taken or killed.”

“I’m coming with you,” Taylor said.

“Taylor, you know you can’t. If the angels
get you, it’s over.”

“But I can help. If you use my aura, you can
defeat them all. In the right hands, I can be a weapon for good,
right? That’s what you once told me.”

“Yes, Taylor. But not now, not this way. It
is too dangerous. I don’t want you with me.”

Taylor looked stung, like she’d been slapped
in the face. “Fine. Do what you want,” Taylor said coldly.

Gabriel knew she was pissed at him. But that
was better than putting her life in danger again. Afraid that any
delay might cause him to change his mind, Gabriel said, “I will
leave immediately. Please tell the rest of my friends what
happened, and send Sam to be with Taylor right away.”

Taylor said, “I don’t need a babysitter.”

Gabriel ignored her and looked at
Clifford.

“I will. Good luck,” Clifford said, putting a
hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “And be careful.”

Before leaving the room, Gabriel tried to hug
Taylor, but she shrank from him, avoiding contact. Gabriel winced,
but then said, “I will always love you, Taylor Kingston. And I will
come back.” His promise was a final lie that he expected to breed
hope. When she ignored him, he ran from the room, leaving her alone
with Clifford.

T
he boy sat on the
bed with his back to the wall, reading a comic book. His initial
excitement over having been chosen was wearing off. Now he was just
bored. When they had come for him, he was with his friends and he
thought they had more questions for him. Ever since his traitor
brother had been charged with treason and subsequently escaped,
they had asked him a lot of questions. About whether his brother
ever told him any secrets, what his mother had taught them as kids,
what kind of dad their father was, that sort of stuff. He was tired
of answering questions. He was tired of being the brother of the
traitor. He was
not
his brother. Not anymore. He hated
Gabriel for being a traitor, for being his idol, and for destroying
his reputation.

Thus, he was surprised and delighted when
Lucas came to speak to him. All the boys were talking about Lucas,
the angel that had replaced his brother as the top, young angel
talent. He was even more surprised to find out that he had been
chosen. Lucas had said, “David, there is talent in your blood and
even though your brother chose to use it for evil, we know you will
do the right thing.” He agreed completely and readily accepted the
apprenticeship. After all, he had earned it. Halfway through his
second year, he was the top angel in four out of the five mandatory
training courses he was enrolled in. For the coming year, he would
learn from Lucas, shadow him. Grow his talents.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime, but he
was learning that with every opportunity there are drawbacks. He
wasn’t allowed to see his friends or family while he was an
apprentice. And his freedom was limited now that he was confined to
the Archangels’ Quarters. No one could enter or leave the area
without proper security clearance. And he didn’t have the
clearance. Lucas would need to accompany him almost anywhere
outside of the Quarters. But it would be worth it to gain real life
experience. He hoped to be an angel in the Special Mission Corps,
like Lucas was and like Gabriel had been. So if he had to read a
couple of hundred comic books out of sheer boredom, he would do
it.

His eyes flicked up when he sensed a presence
in his doorway. His eyes widened in shock and he blinked a few
times to see if he was imagining things. There at his door was
Dionysus himself. “Do you mind if I come in, David?”