Demon Squad 6 The Best of Enemies (21 page)

“They still think I’m you, Triggaltheron. How interesting.”

Scarlett’s eyes snapped over to where I stood, as though seeing me for the first time. If there was recognition there, I didn’t have time to see it. Azrael slammed his palm into her chest. Scarlett flew like a ragdoll tossed from a car window doing ninety on the highway. Rahim released his magic so he could catch her, my cousin thumping into his furry mass, driving him back several feet across the street, his claws ripping up the asphalt. Azrael didn’t even give him time to set her down before he was on him.

A fist glistening with energy smashed into Rahim’s face. Teeth flew in an explosion of blood, and the wizard toppled back, still clinging to Scarlett. He hit the ground hard and slid until a nearby wall brought him to a painful halt. He roared from his back, but there was no hiding the pain that colored the sound.

“Leave them alone, Azrael,” I shouted, hoping to give DRAC a moment to recover.

“Now why would I do that?”

“It’s me you want,” I answered, moving toward Azrael. “Take your revenge but leave them be.”

“You truly are Lucifer’s child; so full of yourself.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Had my goal been only to make you suffer, I could well have done that without all the theatrics.”

“Then what do you want?” The longer I kept him talking, the more time DRAC had to live.

“
Everything.
”

The answer chilled me. Azrael had been
alive
inside my head since I’d made the deal with him in Limbo. He knew damn well where God and Lucifer were and how little they cared about the Earth. Azrael also knew Baalth and Longinus were dead, and I’d killed both of them for him, however indirectly. That only left Heaven to contend with, and they wouldn’t rush down to engage him despite the duke’s proclamation of Uriel’s mission. They would wait and watch before they made their move. That gave Azrael time to plot their overthrow.

If I had a working heart, it would have stopped right then, shame and guilt overburdening it. All of this was my fault. I’d given Azrael access to a host, a way to escape Limbo he would never have had if it weren’t for me. On top of that, I’d empowered him, the truth of what I’d done filling my head with the facts I’d missed before.

“You…you were
leading
me, influencing me.”

Azrael’s smile brightened the day. “Of course I was. While it was more difficult early on, your devilish genetics and natural resistance a hurdle I was not prepared for, the moment you inherited Longinus’ power, you made me a part of yourself.”

The soul transfer.
It suddenly made sense. All the sickness and rage had been Azrael’s, his efforts at manipulating me to do his bidding. And it had worked. After I killed Longinus, though, he hadn’t needed such subtlety. The transfer reconstructed my genetic sequencing from the ground up, making Longinus’ essence a part of my own. Since Azrael was floating around in the mix, he got sucked up and added to the recipe.

“I can see you are beginning to figure it out, Triggaltheron.”

“Stop calling me that,” I screamed, sickened by hearing my voice spit out that name.

Azrael raised his hands in mock surrender, laughing the entire time. “So sensitive you have become, child. I would never have—” His eyes darted to the side.

Mine followed to see Jorn barreling down on him. Fat boy slathered like a pit bull after a bone. Azrael only grinned wider. He spun as Jorn closed, and I felt the sudden swell of magic coming to life. Jorn kept coming. It would be the last stupid thing he ever did.

Azrael raised his hands, two brilliant beams of energy erupting from his palms. Like spears, the energy leapt forward and slid through Jorn’s meaty flesh as if it were butter. He screamed and scrambled to stop, but once you get six hundred pounds moving forward, there’s not much you can do to get it stopped. He impaled himself on Azrael’s magic, every step driving the points deeper until they burst from his back. Blood ran from the sharpened spikes as they held Jorn upright, not letting him fall. He howled, clasping at the mystical shafts that ran from Azrael’s hands, the skewers held in place.

“Did you truly believe a man of your size might sneak up on the Angel of Death?” Azrael asked. His arrogance was as sharp as the spears.

Jorn growled and took another step, his hands reaching for Azrael.

“Such determination,” Azrael said. “Such a waste of potential.”

The angel’s spears shimmered and change shaped in an instant, the roundness smoothed away to form what looked more like a scythe of reddened energy. Jorn shrieked as the magic changed, but his voice died in his throat as Azrael spread his arms, whipping them out to his side. His magic followed suit, and Jorn’s upper body slid loose from the body. It fell with a heavy boom, blood and guts erupting from his lower half like a gory volcano before it, too, toppled to the ground. Jorn blinked in surprise as crimson trickled from his mouth. His eyes went blank a moment later.

I heard Venai’s scream as it cut through the air. She stumbled forward, but Shaw clutched at her arm, doing her best to keep the big women from charging to her death. She barely managed to keep her restrained.

Azrael turned back to me. “This is only the beginning.”

The beginning of the end.

“Why?” I asked. “Why do all this?”

“I could lie and say it is simply because I can, but that would belittle the value I place on revenge.” The angel laughed. “Heaven betrayed me just as your father once did. When I was powerless and weak, you came to me and offered an opportunity I could not refuse,
Triggaltheron
.” He spoke my name with a sneer. “You gave me the means to exact my revenge, and all I needed to do was convince you there would be a pot of magic at the end of the rainbow. It was so easy.” Azrael laughed. “Greed, Triggaltheron. That is your downfall. The desire for power you had eschewed nearly your entire life became your downfall. Without your father to fight your battles, you are nothing.

“The reality is, you were never intended to be anything more, but I gave you hope, showed you how to achieve a life you would never have on your own. It is so much sweeter to rip that dream from you now that you have tasted it. I spit in your father’s face as I spit in yours. I will have my vengeance on him one day, now that I know where he resides these days, but it brings me great satisfaction to see you brought low first; you and this unrepentant planet God once loved so much.”

His words sank in, an anchor sinking into the sea of my defeat. He stretched a hand out and called to Veronica. “Come, and bring the girl.”

Veronica started forward without hesitation, dragging Rala along. I could see the reluctance in her eyes, but she was exactly what she’d always been; a slave to power. She couldn’t resist him if she tried. Azrael having resided in me, it was suddenly very clear why Veronica had done what she’d done. She didn’t have a choice. Azrael had used me to subdue her, and when she fought back, he’d beaten her with my fists. The bruises that were so obvious now had come from me in the moments when Azrael had slipped through to take charge.

Veronica cast a glance my direction as she walked past. I muttered an apology, for all the value it held. She turned away without response, but Rala’s eyes lingered on mine. Her head hung low, shoulders slumped, but I could see pity and sadness lacquered across her expression. From the looks of it, she had slipped Veronica’s leash or the ex-wife had let her loose. Either way, there was nothing she could do.

“Be smart,” I mouthed to her, hoping she wouldn’t do anything stupid.

Azrael nodded as Veronica and the alien came to stand alongside him. “Open a portal,” he told the girl. She sighed and peeled the pages apart, her voice starting up immediately.

Emerald green glistened in the air a few yards from where Rala stood clutching to the book, the alien language filling the air with its magical presence. A short distance beyond it, DRAC had reformed. They hovered, unsure of what to do. Venai still raged at the far end of the block but neither she nor Shaw had drawn any closer. They were starting to get it. Even together with DRAC, they had no chance of taking out Azrael. They still pictured him as me, which probably pissed in their Cheerios something fierce, but it didn’t matter. If they went after Azrael, he would kill them.

The portal shone as it opened wider and wider, wafts of Azrael’s power prickling my skin. He was using his magic to help Rala with the gateway, and it was working. The thing would be man-sized in moments.

I stumbled toward Azrael, flesh ripping at every step, but I ignored it. “Take me.”

The angel glanced over. “Oh, I intend to, have no fear of that, but killing you does nothing to assuage my discontent.” He gestured toward the opening portal with his chin. “I would have you suffer first; you and your ilk who dared to stand against me.”

He reached over and grabbed Veronica by her throat. She gasped before he cut her air off, her eyes going wide. Azrael lifted her up, her feet dangling a foot from the ground as she choked, clawing at his hand. Rala dropped to her butt and hid behind the book, still reading.

“Farewell, succubus. You served me well, but the demon’s taint sours your worth.” Without another word, he tossed Veronica into the portal. She disappeared with a shriek, her voice sliced in half as the portal swallowed her whole. “Now it is your turn, Triggaltheron.” He stepped forward. A wash of energy stopped him cold. His head snapped nearly sideways at the mystical touch, both of us recognizing it at the same time.

A rent in the dimensional fabric peeled open, and I spied Rachelle’s pale face peering out of it, the barrel of a gun poking out of the hole. Her expression drooped as she saw Azrael raise a hand, energy bristling. She slowly raised her weapon, shock spreading across her face. She thought he was me.

I screamed as Azrael released his bolt, and jumped in front of it. It was like diving into a pool of lava. Already torched, my skin lit up with agony, the world washed away in a torrent of furious orange and red. I vaguely recall hitting the ground below the portal, Rachelle’s terrified face vanishing before my eyes as she slammed her gate shut.

Azrael growled and started toward me, but Katon was on him first. A gleam of silver at the angel’s back drew a curse from him, splatters of blood trailing Katon’s blade. Azrael spun and drove a fist into Katon’s gut, doubling the enforcer up. He had no need to breathe but the sheer force of the blow could not be denied.

“I have had enough of you gnats,” Azrael screamed, grabbing ahold of Katon’s arm. He bent it backward in a quick movement, the sound of his elbow shattering echoed in the streets.

Katon clenched his teeth and stabbed Azrael in the side, sinking his blade into the meat a good six inches. It wasn’t enough. The angel twisted the enforcer’s arm again and drew the man up, the sword slipping free of Azrael’s flesh. Before Katon could attack again, he was flung at the portal. He reached out to grasp its edges but it had continued to grow, leaving him nothing but open space at his back. He flew through it and was gone.

Rahim and Scarlett were on him a heartbeat later. A blast of energy tore into Azrael, but he shunted it aside with his own magic. The wizard had clearly expected that. Scarlett appeared at Azrael’s other side, her sword flashing. Azrael screamed as the blade found a home between his ribs. Black blood bubbled from the wound as she pushed the sword in deeper, digging for the angel’s heart. He roared and slammed his fist into her face again. Her already broken nose exploded, but she held strong. Blood spilled red down her face, devouring her chin, as she fought on, driving a fist into Azrael’s opposite side as she hacked with Everto Trucido.

Rahim closed, bear claws imbued with mystical power ripping into Azrael’s lower back. The angel let out a furious shriek of rage and agony, and I found myself sickened by the look on his face. There was something profoundly disturbing about watching my body be shredded before me despite knowing someone else was piloting it.
What happened if DRAC won
, I thought, cold, lifeless bile welling up. It would be me they killed. The thought froze me where I stood, but Azrael had no intention of dying.

He put an elbow to Scarlett’s chin and turned, driving her backward. A lifetime of training took hold and she clutched her sword with a death grip. To lose your weapon was to lose your life. Azrael had counted on that. The sword slipped free of his side with a wet
squish
, and he rounded on Rahim. A cleaver of red energy enveloped the angel’s hand as the wizard pulled an arm back and slashed at him. Azrael met him halfway, the makeshift blade cleaving clean through his wrist. His bear paw spun away, the silver of his claws gleaming until it hit the ground. Rahim stumbled back with a pained roar, holding the stump with his other hand as blood spewed from the wound.

Shaw chose that moment to get brave. Ephemeral, her body as substantive as a ghost, she launched herself at Azrael. By the look on her face, there was no doubt she still thought the angel was me, which might have been a good thing. The sheer disgust on her face drove her forward. She turned solid for an instant and bolts of energy flew from her hand before she returned to her misty form.

Azrael raised a shield with ease and deflected her spells, batting them upward as he crouched and met her charge. A glowing fist caught her coming in. The resulting impact echoed in my head as the DSI boss dropped without complaint. She was unconscious before she hit the ground. Azrael just laughed as he scooped her up and tossed her through the portal to join Veronica and Katon. Scarlett gave him no time to gloat.

She danced in, sword drawing circles through the air with deadly grace. Azrael growled and stepped aside to avoid her. A gate opened at his back and the sound of a pistol roared before the portal stitched shut.

Azrael stumbled forward as the bullet collided with his skull, and Scarlett took full advantage, her blade cutting into Azrael’s thigh. He batted it loose and wheeled about only to be shot again from behind, Rachelle’s portal nothing more than a wavering streak of gold when he spun to face it. My cousin cut into him twice more, drawing great red lines across his chest and stomach. Yet another bullet plowed into him as he went to deal with Scarlett.