Atlas (The Atlas Series) (27 page)

Before she could think to move, Kala felt Asmodeus’s hand on her shoulder.

All Kala saw was a large beam of light pouring out of Talan’s eyes before her world shifted.

DAY FOUR

Chapter Twenty-Five

Kala slowly came to. She was in a hotel bed, Kala could tell by the uncomfortable blankets and the too tightly tucked-in sheets. Daylight poured in from the windows.

Last day
, Kala realized with a surge of panic.

“What in the hell was that?” Asmodeus’s voice sounded genuinely curious.

Kala looked outside.

“Are you kidding me? Los Angeles?” Kala was staring out the window of a luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Asmodeus shrugged. “I figured that, even if you escape, you probably can’t get back to D.C. in time from here. Now back to my question: what was that?”

Kala crawled out of bed and plopped down on a floral chaise. She looked at Asmodeus like he was an annoying cousin, “What was
what
?”

“That Malak. He was beaming light out of his eyes. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been around a long time.” Asmodeus leaned against a cherry wood desk set across from the chaise. Kala was surprised Asmodeus was there with her. She figured he’d kidnap her, drop her in a hole, and then leave. Since there was no sign of Talan, Kala knew that Asmodeus had shifted her DNA or whatever it was that supernatural creatures did to hide her.

“He wasn’t a Malak,” Kala said vaguely. She liked lording information over Asmodeus, it made her happy to watch him suffer.

Asmodeus had none of it. “Of course he was. I can tell the difference between an Angel and a Demon.”

“Oh, he’s an Angel all right.” Kala didn’t elaborate again. It was driving Asmodeus insane, she could tell. More happiness.

Asmodeus stared at Kala, waiting for her to continue. When she refused, he looked downright appalled. “I could torture it out of you.”

“But you won’t,” Kala said with a confidence she didn’t feel.

It was enough.

Asmodeus’s expression was filled with intrigue. He may be old, but he fell for the easiest “girl” manipulations on the planet.

“No, I won’t. I’m sad enough over having to kill you tomorrow.”

“Let’s worry about tomorrow
tomorrow
.” Kala changed the subject. Survive today, that was the only goal she cared about at the moment.

Speaking of which: Kala looked at the digital clock by the bedside.

0d 21h 55m 18s.

8:05 A.M.

Seeing the zero made Kala’s chest squeeze. Less than twenty-four hours. Being stuck in Los Angeles gave her a twinge of relief. It was home at least. A part of her wanted to see her foster parents Owen and Linda before…

Before the end of the world
? Her inner voice chided.

By not Killing Jack, she’d be killing Owen and Linda.

The thought created a giant lump in her throat. She couldn’t think of it that way.

Why not? It’s the truth
.

“Are you going to tell me about this Malak or what?” Asmodeus brought Kala out of her reverie.

Kala wasn’t surprised that Asmodeus hadn’t noticed she was upset. She shook herself out of the downward spiral of responsibility-misery that she felt.

Analyzing Asmodeus’s reaction very carefully, Kala hit him with, “He’s Grigori.”

Asmodeus looked startled. Kala knew he’d never show true fear, not in front of her, but the shock of this information threw him off guard. Kala felt a moment of pride. Talan was on her team and so far all the super-mojo-supernaturals were running scared. It was the first time she was actually happy about having a stalker.

“Liar,” Asmodeus hissed.

Kala felt the hairs on her neck raise. Asmodeus looked at her like he was going to kill her, but she kept her cool. “His name is Talan.”

Again, Asmodeus’s face revealed more than he probably wanted: both seething and frightened at the same time. “Talan,” he said his name like he was warding off bad spirits. “Is it just him?”

“Grigori? No, he said they were all back,” Kala lied. She liked scaring the bejeezus out of Asmodeus. It was fast becoming a favorite pastime.

“I have to warn the Elders.” Asmodeus looked…official. It was the only word Kala could think of to describe him. He wasn’t Mr. Playboy anymore, he was all business and official looking. She liked this side of him more than the other side though Kala guessed that an all-business King of Demons probably meant bad news for her.

“Elders?” Kala pried. “I thought you were king or something.” Kala remembered when she first met Atlas and he had said that Titans were
Elder gods
now it sounded like there were Demon Elders as well? Too many
Elders.

Asmodeus looked at Kala like he had just noticed she was there, he was so caught up in his thinking. “The Elders make Malaks and Demons look like humans compared to their power. But the Grigori…” Asmodeus showed a flash of fear again, but quickly hid it. “Let’s just say they were banished to the fifth heaven for a reason. The Elders used their combined power to do it.”

“If the world ends, what does it matter?” Kala was starting to wonder just how powerful Talan actually was. And seeing how this was rattling Asmodeus, she didn’t want to tell him that as far as she knew only a few Grigori had escaped the fifth heaven. Kala had seen this “heaven” first hand and had thought it was breathtaking for a prison. If the Elders were strong enough to send a bunch of Grigori to some kind of heaven jail, Kala wondered what chance
she
would have if she ever had to confront them.

“The world as we know would end,” Asmodeus corrected her. “What will be left will be chaos and mayhem for centuries. Hell on earth as they say, which is heaven for a Demon.” Asmodeus reached over to brush his hand on Kala’s arm.

She resisted the urge to slap his hand away. Pissing off Asmodeus would only hurt her cause. Kala needed him wrapped around her finger to get anything from the guy. She put on her pouty-seductive charm and said, “If there’s chaos for centuries, why do you have to kill me? Can’t you protect me instead?” Kala knew the answer was ‘no’ before Asmodeus could say it, but she hoped he would reveal a tidbit of information about the ceremony he wanted to perform on her. If she could find a way to trap Atlas then maybe she could force him to take his job back.

If Asmodeus knew Kala was faking her attraction he was too much of an egomaniac to notice. He sighed, “The only way to make sure the world never rights itself again is to kill Atlas. The only way to kill Atlas is to force him to make an appearance. The only way to force him to make an appearance is to kill you.”

“I see,” Kala tried to sound as sad as possible, but internally she felt energized by the information. Kala remembered a few years back, General Turner had given the whole team a shot of some kind of serum that had stopped their vitals so that they could be transported into enemy territory as corpses. Though they weren’t really dead, maybe it would be
dead enough
for Kala to contact Atlas.

Asmodeus looked at Kala with frustration. “Just when you were starting to like me.”

“Oh, I don’t like you,” Kala gave him the
you’re a leper
look. “I just need information from you and stroking your ego seems to be the only way to get it.” Kala wanted to smack herself. Why did she get so defensive when men claimed that she liked them? It was quite possibly the worst thing anyone could say to her. Kala couldn’t even tell Jack, the man she actually loved, that she loved him. But Asmodeus? A Demon she despised? She just couldn’t hide her dislike any longer.

“I don’t believe you.” Asmodeus wasn’t angry.
Yet
.

This was where Kala should have backed down to fool the guy into thinking that, in fact, she
did
like him. Nope, couldn’t do it. “I really don’t care what you believe. You may be a gagillion years old, but you can’t seem to take a hint.”

Asmodeus stood up angrily. “You are the most infuriating human I’ve ever met. I’m looking forward to killing you tomorrow.”

“No you’re not because if I die you’ll know that there was one girl in all of time that you couldn’t get. You couldn’t convince me to like you when you wiped my brain. If I die you’ll never know if you could have changed my mind or not.” Kala figured she was grasping at straws. What did a Demon care if one freaking human didn’t want him?

But by the way that Asmodeus stared at Kala, she could tell that he definitely cared. It was downright eating him alive. “I would have convinced you,” he said lamely.

“Dream on, buddy.” Kala crossed her arms and smiled at him a little too cruelly even for her.

Asmodeus was becoming more shocked than furious, but it was a close toss up. “The fact that I allow you to live after speaking to me like that astounds me. I should kill you right now. I’d have to wait another four days, but it might just be worth it.”

Kala stood up and faced him, all bravado, but her insides were shaking in fear. “No, I don’t think you would. I don’t think you
can
kill me. I think that if you could kill me, you would have done it already. Why wait four days on an unpredictable
human
that may or may not complete her mission when you can guarantee that
you
would let the four days pass so you can have your ‘
utter destruction
’.” Kala air-quoted that last part. She hated people that air-quoted, but it somehow felt extremely appropriate right then. Kala had no idea if her theory was correct, since she was making it up on the fly, but it was one of those arguments that felt right as it was coming out of her mouth. Like a part of her had been working it out since she first met Asmodeus.

Asmodeus lost all his anger as he raised his eyebrow in fascination of Kala. “Interesting theory. Care to bet your life on it?”

Go big or go home
…
or die
… “Absolutely,” Kala said without blinking an eye. She wished she were as confident as she sounded.

A good minute passed as the two of them stared each other down, each waiting for the other to blink.

Finally Asmodeus spoke, “I cannot confirm or deny your theory, but let’s just say it’s a bit more complicated than what you suggest.”

“I’m sure it is, but bottom line is: you’re not killing me, and I’m also willing to bet that no other Demon is either.”

Asmodeus didn’t speak. He looked genuinely baffled.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes. Now, do something useful and hand me that room service menu.” Kala whirled around before Asmodeus could decide she wasn’t worth the trouble and send her to some kind of torture cell. But she was relying on the fact that so far Asmodeus had acted like the quintessential male who loved a woman who played hard to get, and that he would appreciate Kala’s bossiness.

When she turned around and sat on the foot of the bed, Asmodeus handed her the menu with a smile. “You know this room is protected by Demon wards, right? So don’t even think about hopping a ride on the room service cart to get out of here.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Kala took the menu and pretended to thumb through it. That was
exactly
what she had hoped for, but at least she knew the place was rigged with
Demon wards
, whatever that meant. “You going to order something? Do Demons eat?” Kala examined the menu, feeling her stomach growl.

“Yeah, we eat. Let me see that.” Asmodeus plopped down next to Kala and if it weren’t for the fact that he was the King of Demons and generally the epitome of evil, it almost felt like two friends ordering room service.

“Burger sounds good,” Kala mused.

“Fifty bucks for a burger?” Asmodeus sounded appalled. His complaining about the cost of food made Kala feel normal for a second.

“Won’t be able to charge that tomorrow,” Kala joked.

Asmodeus laughed.

Kala chuckled back. It was actually a real moment between the two of them.

“Can I ask you a question?” Kala turned to Asmodeus seriously.

Asmodeus looked at Kala with thoughtful eyes. “Shoot.”

“Since I’m going to die tomorrow anyway, can I see my foster parents? They live here in L.A., you know.” Kala had the sudden urge to see Owen and Linda. If she couldn’t be with Jack, then spending her last hours with the only parents she’d ever known was the only thing she wanted to do.

“I can’t let you do that.” He didn’t say it in a cruel way; it was almost as if it were out of his hands.

“Why not?” Kala decided to be direct.

“Because, if you see them, it may change your mind about your mission.”

That had been a fleeting thought before, but when Asmodeus said it, it hit Kala hard. The only reason he would say that was because he knew they’d probably die tomorrow too and if Kala could stop that from happening, she would try.