Extinction (The Divine Book 7) (17 page)

Then I was launching away from the demons, rocketing back toward Raguel. I caught a glimpse of Obi and Josette as I did, wading into the melee and clearing the field of the fallen. Obi's gauntlets hit the demons in flashes of blue light, pulling them easily off their feet and leaving them steaming with sulfur.

Raguel faced me, his hands shifting to block my incoming attack. I reached out with my power, pulling myself sideways as I neared him, throwing my sword arm out and slicing across his outstretched hand. A neat line opened up beneath it, and my body writhed as some of the former Archangel's power was absorbed. I landed on the ground in a ball, struggling to deal with the input. Had Uriel messed something up, or was it supposed to feel like that?

Either way, I barely had time to recover before Raguel was on me, his tail whipping out and trying to wrap around me. I rolled away on the ground before pulling myself to my feet and facing off with him once more.
 

He had shrunk at least a foot after my first attack, the reduction in his power causing a reduction in size. As my pain vanished, I could feel the increase in my overall strength, and I pushed it through me, bunching myself and launching toward the demon again.

He hissed as I launched a series of quick strikes, managing to duck back from them as I moved in, keeping himself out of range. He tried to get his tail in play again to knock me down, forcing me to pause the attack to avoid it and getting himself back on the offensive as I did. I barely got the blade up in time to deflect one set of claws, and then had to throw myself aside to keep from being bitten. I rolled to my feet, taking only a moment before deciding to go for the finish.

I gathered myself and sprang at him again, launching myself into the air toward his head. He was anticipating the move, since it was the third time I had done it, and he jerked aside accordingly.
 

Only I was anticipating his reaction, and I had already released Uriel's blade, using my power to throw it out to the right, directly into the space he was now occupying. I could see his eyes grow as he caught sight of the sword. Then it was sticking into one of those eyes, burying itself all the way to the hilt.
 

I landed unarmed on the other side of Raguel, turning and facing him. His body was shrinking, the sword crackling with his power. Whoever touched the hilt next would be able to claim it as their own.

One of the fallen angels saw it and turned to reach for it. Obi grabbed him a moment later, lifting him easily with the gauntlets and throwing him aside.
 

"I love these things," he said.

I moved toward Raguel. His body was almost back to human size, the sword sticking absurdly from his head. It clattered to the ground a few seconds later as the body vanished into ash.

I stood over it, looking down. I knew how much it was going to hurt to lift it and claim the power. It caused me to hesitate, and maybe that was the point. It shouldn't be easy or painless to destroy other souls. It should hurt. It should force you to think before you did it.

I reached for it slowly, trying to prepare myself for the hurt to come. I didn't want this, but I needed it. There was no other way to save human or Divine from what would otherwise come. There was no other way to match Sarah, whether I took her life or somehow saved it.

I put my hand on the hilt. The sigil flared, and the pain coursed through me. So did the power. I felt it acutely like I was winding a massive ball and had just added a few more layers.

Then it was done. I stood in the center of over one hundred angels, all of whom seemed to be breaking free of a spell. They stared at me in reverent silence, as though I was their savior and not the killer of their idol.

"Well done, my friend," Josette said, coming to stand beside me.
 

"Well done, indeed," Uriel said, approaching from the entrance to his home.
 

"Does that mean the war in Heaven is over?" I asked.

"Only time will tell us that, I'm afraid," Uriel replied. "But it is a good sign, a clear signal that God supports the Diuscrucis, and continues to watch over us and uphold His laws."

"You should have told me it was going to hurt," I said.

"You should have expected it," Uriel replied.

I nodded somberly. He was right.

"We need to return to the mortal realm," I said. "We seem to have lost our ride."

I was looking at Josette when I said it. Of course, I wanted her to come back with us.

"I'm sorry, Landon," she said. "I cannot. My vow is to remain with the Sisterhood."

"I understand," I replied. "Will I ever see you again?"

"I don't know. That depends on you, I suppose."

I knew what she meant. I nodded and then embraced her.

"I love you," I said, feeling my eyes moistening once more.
 

"I love you, too," she replied.

"If I can save Sarah, I will."

"I know."

"I will return you to your realm," Uriel said. "Is there anywhere in particular you would like to go?"

"Mexico," I said. "Home."

"Think of it, and it will be so."

He started reaching out, one hand for me and one for Obi.
 

"Goodbye, Josette," I said.

"Goodbye, Landon," she replied.

Then Uriel touched me, and I was home.

"Landon," Alichino said as Obi and I made our way into the control room of the underground lair. "Where have you been?"
 

The room was filled with former slaves of Espanto, Turned men and women who had chosen to remain with Alyx when she took control of the place. They monitored different data sources, tapping into phone calls, hacking computer systems, and otherwise working almost nonstop to keep the information flowing.
 

That was the true currency for the Divine on Earth. The difference between being master or slave. How much more you knew than anyone else, and what you could do with that knowledge. Espanto had gained the position he did more because of his ability to capture and parse information than anything else.

Of course, having Alyx to do his dirty work hadn't hurt.

"Heaven," I replied. "Have you heard from Dante recently?"

The demon ignored the first part as if I went to Heaven every day. "Yeah, he's been stopping by every few hours to see if you're back. I forgot where you told me you went last time I talked to you, but he knew. He made me write it all down." He took a piece of paper from his pocket and scanned it. "Oh yeah, now I remember. He sent you to find a way to Heaven. I guess you did?"

"I did."

"He'll be happy to hear that. We've got trouble, Landon. Big trouble."

I already knew that. Just because I had the sword didn't mean we were on the verge of victory. Far from it.

"Sarah?"

"Among other things."

"I felt the balance shift."

"Yeah. You need to see this."

He wandered over to one of the workstations. The Turned woman in front of it swiveled her chair to face us. She was young and attractive. All of Espanto's former servants were.
 

"Show him what you showed me," the demon said.

"Yes, my Lord," the woman said.
 

I glared at Alichino, whose leathery snout flushed. "I didn't tell her to call me that," he complained. "Did I?"

"You suggested that when Mistress Alyx is not present, we should refer to you as-"

"Well, it doesn't matter, does it?" Alichino said, interrupting nervously.

I continued staring at him. All of the Turned here had been abused by Espanto in one way or another, and subservient monikers weren't going to help them get past it. Alichino could be helpful most of the time, but he was still a demon.

"Fine," he said. "I just wanted to know what it was like for someone to call me Master."

"Now you know," I said. "If I hear someone call you that again-"

"Okay, okay. I get it. No need to get huffy about it." He pointed at the screen. "Let's stay focused, huh?"

I looked over at the screen. There were two satellite images displaying on it, side by side. The left side showed what looked like an old military bunker somewhere in the middle of a forest. The right side showed the same bunker, but the forest looked as if it had been burned away from it.

"I take it that isn't from a forest fire?"

"It's what's left of a demon army," he said. "That's why the area around the bunker is toast, and the rest of it is intact."

"Sarah?"
 

"Yeah. We got the report over the wire. The bunker belonged to a Fiend Warlord in Somalia. He had a whole militia of Turned soldiers hiding out there, along with a Hell rift that he could use to ferry demons up. He was about to launch an assault on a rival warlord. That never happened."

"Sarah killed them all on her own?" Obi asked.

"No, she wasn't alone. A fallen angel was with her. One with a sword for a hand."

"Adam. He's helping her kill angels and demons?"

"No," I said. "I don't think he knows what she did to the angels. I think I may have been wrong about him. Or mostly wrong. He hates me, sure, but maybe he still loves God despite his fall. Look at what happened to Raguel. His uncontrolled anger turned him into a monster. That hasn't happened to Adam. Plus, he was in contact with that blue-eyed angel from the Mass, and she saved Alfred from Sarah, and Sarah killed her. Not the kind of actions you would expect from someone who was in on it."

"True," Obi said. "So Adam is fallen, but he's helping Sarah kill demons. Do you think she told him she's fighting for the good guys? I don't see how he would buy that?"

"Help me kill demons, and maybe God will change his mind and reinstate you," I said. "If he were desperate enough, I could see how that might work."

"I just can't believe Sarah is capable of all of this," Obi said. "I never knew she was hurting so bad."

"Me neither, and that's my failure. My cross to bear. We have to take it where we are right now. The rest of it won't matter until we catch up to her." I looked at the satellite imagery again. "I felt the balance adjust. How many demons?"

"Three thousand?" Alichino guessed. "Give or take."

"What about the Turned? I don't see any bodies."

"I think they're all inside."

"Any ripple effect?"

"Of course," Alichino said. "The rival Warlord has claimed the territory. Other factions are gearing up to challenge. A lot more people are going to die because of this."

I shook my head, frustrated. "More innocent people caught up in the Divine war games. And we don't know where Sarah is, or what she's going to do next. Will she go after another group of Turned? Will she hit a seraph Sanctuary? Or will she go for more demons?"

"We need to find her before she can do either," Obi said.

"A good thought, but I don't know how we can," I replied.
 

"I'll see if I can dig anything else up. Maybe there's another clue on SamChan."

"Okay. Allie, can you get Obi set up with a workstation and access to everything?"

"Yeah, sure."

"What are you going to do?" Obi asked.

"Wait for Dante. I need to talk to him. After that?" I held up Uriel's sword. "Start killing Divine."

Not that I was eager to kill Divine.
 

For one thing, I didn't enjoy destroying anything. Ending Raguel was its own bitter pill. The Archangel had been a loyal servant of God for eons, and his fall had happened so fast and been so complete. In my mind, I had still killed an angel, not a demon. In my mind, his end was more directly my fault than any other. He had turned because I had failed.
 

Maybe that wasn't true, but it was hitting my conscience regardless. The thought of going out there and finding Divine to slaughter to increase my own power? That was like asking a nun for sex. I didn't want more power; I wanted less. Especially with the latest understanding that my very existence was part of the growing instability in our corner of the universe.

And then there was the fact that whatever I did, Sarah was going to do the opposite. If I killed demons, she would go after angels. The more power I absorbed, the more she would remove from the other end. She was still part-mortal, but she could feel the balance as well as I could. Probably better. She would know what I was doing. She would understand that part of my plan. Would she try to stop me, or was there a part of her that wanted me to win?