"Good to see you," rumbled Gabriel, and Danny and Rebekah came out. Favor, his eyes blazing, ran to the woman and hugged her, hard. He lifted her into his arms and took her outside. Sig and Danny went into the other two rooms, brought out equally disoriented and distraught females in varying stages of pregnancy.
The seven of them escaped up the stairs. Rose turned deeper into the building and Gabriel grabbed her arm, concerned at how thin her aura felt. She'd be running on adrenalin. He couldn't let her reach Satine, not now. He needed to get her to safety before she burned herself up. He drew her into his arms, careful his claws didn’t scratch her.
"No."
She pouted at him over her shoulder. "But why not?"
"No time. The kill must be up close, personal." He bared his teeth and appealed to her demon senses. "They deserve nothing less." He pulled her along up the stairs and to the street, one arm circling her shoulders, the contact soothing both of them. "Besides, we need to get you to Doc Cavanaugh. The rest of us will handle it."
Artlessly, she tipped her head, her fiery orange eyes holding curiosity. "But I want to do it. I want to kill them. They are bad."
"You can't kill." His heart froze at the thought of it.
"I can, too." They burst into the sun, to the almost empty parking lot. "I'm as powerful as you are. Maybe more. You just don't want me to be strong, do you? No one ever wants me to be strong. I'm not stupid, you know. I'm not weak."
Gabriel glanced at her. "I never said that you were."
The others had left, and Chazz lay dead on the ground, parts of him smoking but with no actual flame anywhere to be seen. The neighborhood dogs still howled.
She staggered as her feet touched the ground again. The tears fell, quenching the flames in her eyes. "No one wants me to be strong and powerful. But I am. And the day will come when I will be on top, I promise you that." Rose turned to Gabriel, her face fierce. "I will force you to respect me. Then I will save you."
She changed shape as she spoke, the flames subsiding as she shed her demon skin for her human one.
"I do respect you, you have all my respect. You are amazing, and handling this whole thing with a lot of grace." Gabriel shifted to human as well, gritting his teeth at the usual aching of his head. "But it's time to get to safety." Gabriel gripped her shoulders, her body growing cold under his hands. "Rose." He shook her gently, startled at the dullness in her eyes. "Rose, stay with me. Rose, damn it! Don't you leave me now."
“You need me, Gabriel. Let me in. Please.” She slumped into him. Gabriel swore under his breath and swung her up into his arms.
Sirens sounded in the distance. Swearing again, Gabriel took to the back alleyways on a demon-speed run. The last thing they needed at this point was to be stopped by the cops.
Rose pressed her face to the glass and watched her body in the hospital bed below. "Déjà vu all over again," she said, and sighed. Only this time, Gabriel Caine held her hand. This time, someone cared.
She clenched her fists against the glass. "Damn it, I don't want to die."
"Then don't."
Rose whirled, eyes wide, to see who had spoken.
He wasn't as tall as the demons she'd grown used to. Rather he was thin and wiry, barely six feet. His naked torso, a reddish brown, rippled with muscles that disappeared intriguingly into a pair of loose black pants. His black hair was short and spiky and his eyes flickered orange. She stared at him, strangely attracted.
"Who are you?"
He smiled. "Mephisto. The demon on your belly."
She absorbed the punch of his sex appeal even as she recoiled in disbelief. "What do you want with me?"
"You are my first Soul Chalice." He gestured to her stomach. "The spiral is my home."
"Why?"
He sent her a quizzical look. "Why what?"
"Why me, why here, why are you doing all of this? Or am I just going nuts? That's it. I must be going crazy. I must be dreaming."
"I'm just lending you my power. I'm not taking you over," he said. "Though I must admit it's proven to be much more entertaining than the last time I inhabited a human. Your innocent delight in what I take for granted is…refreshing."
"But why are we
here
?" Rose gestured around to the waiting area she recognized from her coma.
"It seemed to be the safest way to talk to you."
“So, I’m not about to die?”
“Not right now, no.”
Too many questions trembled on her tongue. He was the source of her powers. He gave her the gift of fire. "How do we separate, you and me? I mean, how will you eventually move on to the next girl?"
Regret flashed across his face. "Usually the host dies."
"Does the host have to die?" Fear pooled in her stomach.
"No. Not always. It takes a strong mind and a pure heart to survive, though." He sent her a smoldering smile again. "People like that are kind of hard to find."
"But not impossible," said Rose. Her mind worked at a rapid pace. "You have knowledge. I need some answers. I need to kill a vampire. How should I do it?"
The demon shrugged, strolled over to the window to look at the hospital scene below. "Cut off the head. Cut out the heart. Burn the two."
Rose flinched. "I'm not that good with knives. What if we just went with fire?"
Mephisto turned to face her. "You could burn yourself out trying to kill a vampire. Are you sure you want to take that risk?"
"You'll be with me. If I burn myself out, would that also kill you, since the spiral will also get burned?"
Uncertainty crossed the demon's face. "I don't know."
"So." Rose tapped her fingers on the window ledge. "You are on my body for the duration, meaning until I die. But before I die, I have to save Gabriel’s soul, and kill the vampire. If you don't want to die along with me, then I guess you'll either have to jump ship or help me kill the vampire." She looked at the demon. “What’s it going to be?”
“That's the other part that continues to surprise me. You are here to save Gabriel Caine, and the last time I possessed a woman I did my best to kill him.” He chuckled. "It's amusing, how the world turns."
“Why did you try to kill him before?”
Mephisto looked at her with surprise. “If attacked, will you not defend yourself?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“He attacked me. I responded. Simple.”
“Not simple. You killed his girlfriend.”
“No.” Mephisto frowned. “The past holds little interest for me, but I will tell you that ultimately it was Marianne who killed Marianne. Tell me why you want to end this vampire so badly.”
“I’m carrying a part of Gabriel’s soul for him, but I’ve got to get the rest. The stupid vampire stole it from him and he’s pissed off,” she confided.
“I can see why.” He shook his head. “So I am helping to save Gabriel Caine. Fate works in funny ways.”
“I want to kill the vampire, but I’m guessing I’ll need you to leave me first in order for you to help me. Two of us being stronger than one.”
His eyes sharpened on her. "If I leave you, there’s no guarantee I’ll help you, and you won't have my fire abilities to kill the vampire." He raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't sound like a good battle plan to me."
"Ah, but that's if I were trying to get rid of you. You don’t have to leave. I'd much rather you help me kill the vampire. Please?" Rose took a step forward, put her hand on his arm. “It means everything to me.”
Mephisto stared at his arm where her fingers rested. "That's a first. No one has ever said
please
to me before." He moved away from her as a tiny frown gathered between his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that you are going to be more trouble than I'd originally expected?"
Rose shrugged. "I haven't a clue," she said. "Tell me about Soul Chalices. What are they, what good are they? And can I stop being one if I want?"
* * *
Mephisto put aside his niggling doubts and crossed his legs, sitting on a cushion of air. "No, you can't stop being one. Soul Chalices are always paired with Soul Stealers. Sometimes the two are within the confines of a family, but they are always within the same continent. It's not unusual for them to target each other, if they figure it out."
"I was told the legends were lost in time. That no one remembers what a Soul Chalice or a Soul Stealer really is, other than tall tales for a stormy night."
Mephisto watched the pretty vessel. When he tried, he could see the partial soul of the one she loved. He searched for hers to no avail. The thought she might be missing her soul distracted him to the point he barely knew what he was saying. "A chalice is what?" If only he had his own soul. He'd been searching for millennia.
Rose pressed her lips together. "A chalice is a cup."
"Or to use an older word, a vessel. In your case, you are a vessel for needy souls. Sometimes the souls need a rest outside of their bodies; sometimes they need healing. At other times they need a hiding place while waiting for the right escort. You provide these functions. Soul Stealers, however, steal souls to gain power. They hang onto them until their own soul turns black. When a Soul Stealer dies, the souls they've collected just disappear. They don't go either to Hell or Heaven, or Purgatory. They are wiped away and can never be reincarnated. Unless a Soul Chalice, or another Soul Stealer, happens to be nearby."
"And when I die?"
Mephisto shook himself back to awareness. Rose's face was tight with panic. "When you die, the souls you may carry at the time all go to heaven, along with yours. Simple, really, the job you do. Except, my dear, your soul seems to be missing."
He watched as the knowledge acted like a punch to her heart. She gasped a little for breath, and took a couple staggered steps toward him. “My soul is missing?” She gripped his arm.
He shrugged apologetically. “It seems so.”
“Satine. Damn her.”
“I will tell you that if a Soul Stealer can steal a Soul Chalice’s soul, it takes divine intervention for the Soul Chalice to be able to harbor souls. And from the looks of it, you’ve had that divine intervention.” He patted her hand. “Soul Chalices cannot end up in Purgatory. I’m not entirely sure how you got there without a soul,” he mused.
"What do I get from the whole thing? I don’t understand.”
"You get wisdom, and time. Your lifespan grows longer with every soul you hold, no matter for how long. Which is good, since you're bound to the tribred down there," he added, chuckling.
"But why would living a long time matter? And what do you mean, bound to him?" Rose pushed the hair out of her eyes. "Explain it to me. But slowly, because I’m still panicked about Satine having my soul."
Mephisto looked at her, and a small part of him fell in love. She had so much potential. "It's called the tribred effect. Tribreds live a long time, longer than your average human. You, as a Soul Chalice, will also live a long life. You don’t have to have a soul to survive, but it makes life easier. That, by the way, was why you fell into drugs. You almost didn’t have a choice.
“As for you and Gabriel, the two of you are well matched and you are not for me, more's the pity." He did a back flip and landed on his feet. "And now it's time to rejoin the living. Shall we?" He crooked his arm to her, wanting her touch.