Black Spring (18 page)

He closed his eyes, like he’d known I was going to say that.

I felt almost no confidence in this decision. I trusted Daharan, but I wasn’t certain he’d be able to fend off a truly determined Lucifer. Could I really risk my baby? Could I take this gamble?

Daharan’s eyes, though fierce with fire, told me that I could. The first time I’d met him I’d felt like I was coming home. I’d never had a father, not really. Not someone who would stand between me and the world, and keep me safe and warm in a way I’d never been.

He would keep my baby the same way. He would stand between my child and the world. He would protect him from those who would harm him.

“Beezle!” I called. I knew that no matter how fascinated he was with the baby, he wouldn’t be able to resist watching the show outside. My gargoyle is just about the nosiest thing going.

As expected, he immediately emerged from the front window of the house and landed on my shoulder.

“The kid’s crying,” he announced. “Samiel and I don’t have the right parts to make him stop.”

“Bring Adam out to me,” I said.

“Adam, huh?” Beezle said. “What made you decide that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seemed right all of a sudden.”

Puck snorted with laughter and we all looked at him. “Am I the only one who appreciates the irony here? You’re trying to keep the baby away from Lucifer and you name him after the guy in his most famous story.”

“He has a point,” Beezle said.

“His name is Adam,” I repeated. “And please ask Samiel to bring him outside.”

Beezle gave me a sideways look. “Are you sure about this? Weren’t we all distressed a half hour ago because we thought these three clowns were going to break a hole in the roof and take him away? It seems like bringing him outside plays right into their hands.”

“Daharan says it is necessary,” I said.

“‘Daharan says,’” Beezle said flatly. “And where has Daharan been all this time?”

“I’ll give you the recap later,” I said. “Just bring Adam to me.”

“I want to make sure my objections are on the record,” Beezle said. “I don’t trust Daharan.”

He flew toward the house, grumbling to himself. It bugged me, the way that he had pretended Daharan wasn’t there just like Nathaniel had.

“It does not injure my feelings,” Daharan said to me, responding to the worried look I’d given him. “Beezle and Nathaniel are only attempting to protect those they love.”

I half turned toward the house, watching for Samiel’s appearance. A few moments later I saw him behind the glass of the front door, cradling the baby and looking uncertain.

Just as he was about to open the door, Lucifer and Alerian both lunged for Daharan at the same time. Daharan opened his palm and the two of them slammed into an invisible wall, falling to the ground. Puck began laughing hysterically.

“You’re not really on their side at all, are you?” I asked him.

“Hell, no,” he said. “I’m on my own side.”

“I knew you would betray us,” Lucifer snarled. “You’re as changeable as the air itself. But the consequences will belong to all of us, so your attitude is of no matter.”

Puck shook his head, still amused. “I was always our mother’s favorite. Well, after Daharan. He is the firstborn and all that. Still, she never could stay angry with me for very long.”

Lucifer’s face twisted, and I could see the thoughts moving behind his eyes. He would get blamed for this, and Puck would walk free. Alerian said nothing. His expression never changed, although he seemed resigned to the fact that Daharan had won this round.

“And don’t think he’s on your side, either,” Puck said, jerking his thumb toward Alerian. “Did you really think he was going to let you lead the supernatural army he was assembling here? All that business with the mayor and the caging of magical creatures—that was his idea. He was working his own angle, too.”

Lucifer looked at Alerian, whose eyes did not flicker. “You would lead them against me.”

Alerian nodded once. “Of course. Just as you, too, had your own plans in all of this, separate from ours.”

“None of us are really reliable,” Puck said, looking at me. “Well, except for the white knight, here. Daharan always does what he’s supposed to do.”

Samiel poked his head out the door, looking unsure. I waved him out, signing that it was okay.

Still, he hesitated. I walked up to the porch so he would see that it was really me, and that I wasn’t under any kind of duress. Beezle was perched on his shoulder, looking grumpy. Adam was screaming, a red-faced bundle in Samiel’s arms. I reached out for my baby.

“It’s okay,” I said, making sure Samiel was looking at me so he could read my lips. “Daharan is going to do something to protect him from Lucifer.”

He snuggled Adam a little tighter, like he didn’t want to let the baby go.

“Samiel,” I said. “I am his mother. And I trust Daharan.”

He finally released Adam into my arms, and my son quieted immediately. I kissed his forehead under the cute little cap that kept his head warm, and hoped like hell I wasn’t making the biggest mistake of my life.

I walked back to the street, Samiel and Beezle following. Every person who had influenced my life for good or ill in the last several months was there, except Gabriel. And Gabriel’s spirit lived on in our son.

Lucifer looked desperate as I approached, his skin drawn tight and bloodless over the carved bones of his face. “Madeline, don’t do this. You could be a queen in my kingdom, the heir to all that I possess. Your son is far more important than you understand. Don’t let Daharan take that away.”

“I am not taking away his importance, only your ability to influence him. Or harm him,” Daharan said.

He held his hands out for Adam, and I had to decide. I trusted him. I passed him my little bundle.

Adam’s unfocused eyes searched for Daharan’s face. He made a little cooing noise, and Daharan smiled down at him.

“No,” Lucifer said again. “Please.”

“You’ve never taken my wishes into account,” I said, my voice cold. “Why should I consider yours?”

Daharan lifted Adam close to his face and closed his eyes as he placed his lips on the baby’s forehead. The air filled with light and heat, a glow that grew from the point of contact to surround the two of them in a shining aura. Whatever Daharan was doing, I could feel that it was a good thing.

Beezle’s mouth had dropped open. “Whoa.”

“Whoa what?” I asked.

“You were right about Daharan. It’s probably a first in the history of the world,” Beezle said.

“I’ve been right about a few things before,” I said.

“Your record is nothing compared to mine,” Beezle said.

“What is he doing, anyway?” I asked, not wanting to be drawn into yet another pointless argument. Pointless because Beezle never conceded anything, so it was just a waste of energy. Maybe I was getting more mature now that I was a mother.

“He’s infusing your son with his grace,” Lucifer said, answering before Beezle could. I had never seen him so angry and defeated. “This is what Michael did to protect the children of myself and Evangeline so many centuries ago. He removed all trace of my magic, and replaced it with his own. I could not find the children or influence them because they would no longer answer the call of my blood. Until you. Until you acknowledged my blood inside you.”

My heart surged in hope and happiness. “So we’re both free of you, then?”

“Yes,” Lucifer said. “You have gotten what you always wanted.”

“And because Daharan is putting his grace into Maddy’s child, he’ll watch over him; isn’t that right?” Beezle said.

“Yes,” Puck said, looking amused at Lucifer’s bitterness. “Your Adam will be protected by Daharan always. So the three of us would essentially be picking a fight with Daharan if we tried to threaten or manipulate you as we have done in the past.”

“We’re free,” I said. The word echoed in my head.
Free, free, free.

The glow in the air receded. Adam kicked his little legs from side to side as Daharan kissed his cheek and then handed him back to me. Daharan seemed larger somehow, more dragon-like, but still not scary to me. I’d never really been frightened of him. I’d always known, in my heart, that Daharan would be good to me.

“I will watch over you, and him, always,” he said. “Now I must take these three wayward children home.”

Lucifer appeared sullen. Alerian was calm and collected, as always. And Puck’s eyes danced with delight, almost as if he looked forward to the coming conflict.

“You needn’t worry about the supernatural camp,” Daharan said. “I have been to see the mayor and wielded my influence. His decree is being reversed as we speak, and everyone who was arrested is being returned to their homes.”

“Thanks,” I said. At least I didn’t have that crisis to deal with. Of course, changing people’s attitudes toward what was different from them was another problem. Maybe Jack could finally be useful on that front and spread some good propaganda for the preternatural among us.

“And now, Madeline, I bid you farewell,” Daharan said. “Do not fear for the future of your child.”

“Thank you,” I said again, and before our eyes he transformed into the dragon I’d first met.

He scooped up his three brothers in his claws, and disappeared into the sky.

“Well, that was an unusual ending to things,” Beezle said later. “You weren’t required to destroy a single piece of property.”

J.B. and Jack had returned to their homes. Jude and Samiel were downstairs in the spare apartment, moving Samiel’s things from Chloe’s place. My heart still hurt when I thought of Chloe, and the horrible way she’d been killed. It got me thinking that a lot of bad things had happened in this house, and maybe it was time for a change.

“Maybe we should buy a new house,” I said to Nathaniel. He was sitting in a chair by the fire, the baby in his lap, his eyes drowsy. I was across from them, watching. My heart had never been so full of love.

Beezle snorted. “First of all, you have no money.”

“I have this house. I could sell it.”

“Yeah, I wonder what the resale value is on a hundred-year-old house that’s been the site of two murders and assorted supernatural phenomena?” he said. “What you would get for this place wouldn’t pay for a brick on a new condo.”

“I have money,” Nathaniel said quietly.

“What was that?” Beezle said, his hand at his ear.

“I have money,” he repeated. “Lots of money, as a matter of fact. My father is wealthy and so am I.”

Beezle looked outraged. “And you let Maddy act like a poor mouse all this time?”

“Nathaniel’s always paid his fair share,” I said. “He even paid me rent when he lived in the downstairs apartment. But I didn’t know you were rich.”

He shifted in his seat, looking embarrassed. “I thought you would not like it if you knew. Your pride might have kept you from accepting my help if necessary.”

“It probably would have,” I admitted. “But if you’re going to be Adam’s dad, then I guess we’d better talk about these things.”

“
Am
I going to be his father?” he asked carefully, his eyes bright now, and no longer drowsy.

I took a deep breath. It was now or never. Beezle flew out of the room, muttering something about not wanting to get caught between two clueless people.

“Yes,” I said. “Because I love you. I want you to stay. I want you to stay with me, with us, to be a family. Maybe we won’t have a white picket fence and all that, but it will be ours. And Lucifer can’t harm us anymore. I can finally think of the future for the first time in my life.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at me again. “I have waited a long time to hear you say those words. You have made me very happy, Madeline.”

Nathaniel rose, and crossed to me, and placed the baby in my arms. Then he bent to kiss me, and there was heat and promise there that had never been before. He had been so careful of me since I’d returned from that other planet, since he thought I had died there. In many ways he’d been a very chaste lover, but now he was telling me that was going to change, and soon.

He pulled away, resting his forehead against mine. “You need not worry that I will press my affections just now. The gargoyle has informed me that it is not healthy for a woman to engage in relations so soon after childbirth.”

I choked, torn between laughter and annoyance. “I don’t know which is worse—that Beezle knows about such a thing or that he discussed it with you.”

“He apparently has been reading a child-care book. He has many ‘helpful’ things to tell us,” Nathaniel said, and smiled.

My cell phone began to ring, and Nathaniel went to fetch it from the dining room table.

“It’s J.B.,” I said as I clicked it open. “What’s up?”

“Sokolov was fired,” J.B. said. “Thought you would want to know.”

“How did that happen?” I asked. It seemed too good to be true. Everything was falling into place.

“Upper management got wind of that plan he had to get rid of you. He was working with one of Lucifer’s kids, that one that you told me to ask about,” J.B. said.

“Zaniel,” I said.

“Well, I guess somebody decided that was the last straw. Apparently he’s been off the reservation for a while, using up Agency resources in an attempt to take you down. The board decided that they had enough, so he’s out.”

“It sure is nice not to have to worry about being attacked from all sides for a change,” I said. “I might even get a full night’s sleep for the first time in six months.”

“I won’t,” J.B. said. “Puck is gone, so there’s a huge power vacuum in Faerie. There’s going to be a lot more infighting and a lot less posturing there for a while.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and meant it.

“You’re just lucky that Lucifer took you out of the running as heir to his kingdom. He’s got a lot of kids, and I bet it’s going to get messy over there. In the court of the Grigori, too,” he added.

I hadn’t thought about that. I could, I suppose, technically be still linked to the Grigori by my ties to Azazel. But it wasn’t my problem, really. Plenty of others would vie for the head of court, and I didn’t want any part of that mess.

“I just thought you’d want to know that you don’t have anything else to worry about from this quarter,” he said. “And I hope that you invite me to the wedding.”

“I love you,” I said, laughing.

“And I will always love you,” he said, although he meant it a little differently than me. Then he hung up before I could say anything else.

Nathaniel was watching me with a frown on his face. “I feel like I should be jealous, but I am not.”

“You don’t have anything to be jealous of,” I said. “J.B. and I—well, I guess you could say we were never meant to be. There was a time, I suppose, a window where if he’d only told me about his feelings, he could have had a chance.”

“But once Gabriel arrived, there was no one else,” Nathaniel said.

“Yes,” I said. “But now Gabriel is gone, and there is you. And there is no one for me but you.”

Nathaniel knelt at my side, and kissed me again. Adam wiggled in my lap between us.

“Maddy,” Beezle said, his voice breathless.

I broke away from Nathaniel at the urgency in Beezle’s voice.

“What is it?”

“The shapeshifter,” Beezle said. “He’s standing in the middle of the backyard. And so is Sokolov. And he’s asking to see Jude.”

“Sokolov?” I asked. “The shapeshifter? I thought Alerian was his master, that it was all part of the big Lucifer/Puck/Alerian scam. What does this have to do with Jude?”

Beezle shook his head. “I guess the shapeshifter wasn’t connected to that mess. And I don’t know what it’s got to do with Jude, but he and Samiel are going outside now.”

Nathaniel and I hurried after Beezle and down the back stairs. I stopped when we reached the back porch. Samiel stood there, watching Jude face off against Sokolov. The shapeshifter stood to one side, wearing the face of someone I’d never seen before.

“What’s happening?” I asked Samiel.

Remember how Daharan said that Jude’s problems came from his past? I guess that guy isn’t really Sokolov.

“No, he isn’t,” Beezle said, and his voice was full of wonder. “I never looked at him properly before, all the way down. I should have seen. I should have known.”

“Who is it?” I asked impatiently.

“Michael,” he said.

“Michael?” I said, looking at Sokolov’s fat little body and bald head. “Michael the archangel? All this time?”

No wonder Michael had seemed familiar to me when we had met. It wasn’t that his power had given birth to the Agency. It was because I’d seen him before, and had not known.

“Yes,” Sokolov said, and then he was not Sokolov. He was tall and golden and beautiful, and his eyes were made of flame. “All this time.”

“J.B. just told me you were fired from the Agency,” I said. “What were you doing there in the first place?”

“What do you think?” Michael snarled. “Keeping an eye on you, as I was told to do. Trapped in a human body, hiding my power. And the board has finally released me. They have always been suspicious of my connection with Lucifer. And once they discovered my other activities they let me go. All my centuries of devotion have been for naught.”

“The board? You mean, the board is . . .” I pointed my finger toward the sky.

“Yes,” Michael said. “They told me to watch you, to ensure you did not become a threat to humans. And I did what I was supposed to do.”

“You were
supposed
to torture J.B.? To set the Retrievers on me? To act like a petulant child at every turn?” I asked, feeling anger rising inside me. Adam made a little noise in my arms.

“You would act thus if you were more powerful than the sun and forced to submit to humans,” Michael said. “But all of my actions were approved and condoned by the board. All of them, except two. Working with Lucifer’s son, and working against Judas’s pack.”

Jude stared at him. “You killed my friends. My family. Why?”

Michael’s eyes narrowed, and it seemed the flame in them rose higher. “You were responsible for the death of the one we loved best.”

Jude growled. “You know very well that was not my fault. Lucifer tricked me.”

“It is by your actions that it occurred,” Michael said. “And I have been watching you for many centuries, waiting for an opportunity to hurt you most. When I discovered Alerian’s creature, I knew I had found a way.”

I shook my head, pulling Adam close to me. Nathaniel hovered protectively at my side, keeping an eye on the shapeshifter in case he decided to attack. But the shifter just stood there like a broken robot, its face blank.

“So everything that happened—the attacks on this house, the killing of Evangeline—that was all part of your plan to get back at me?” No wonder the shifter had been able to work its magic inside the house. Only Agents could cross the line of a domicile and use their power freely. Michael’s power had started the line of Agents in the first place.

“And Judas,” Michael said. “Do not forget that. It would hurt him if you were hurt, as it would hurt Lucifer to discover you killed his fiancée.”

“I hate to tell you this, but Lucifer never believed that farce in the first place,” I said. “He just wanted an excuse to lock me up and take my baby, and you gave him what he wanted.”

“And yet somehow you are standing here,” Michael said. “Despite all of my attempts and all of my machinations, you have managed to escape me over and over, and Lucifer’s heart is never harmed, and neither is Judas’s.”

“You won’t have to worry about Lucifer or his heart for a while,” I said. “He’s been called back to his mother, and I think there’s going to be a power void in the Grigori for a while. Oh, and Lucifer’s brother Daharan is watching over me and my kid, so don’t think that messing with us will affect the Morningstar anymore.”

“I no longer care about you,” Michael said. “I only want to kill this traitor, so that I can finally rest after all these years.”

“I told you, Lucifer tricked me,” Jude said. “I loved him as much as you did. You have no idea how I’ve suffered all these years, knowing I was responsible for his fate.”

“I do not care for your sufferings,” Michael said. “I only want it to be over.”

He lunged for Jude, his fingers twisting into claws, reaching for Jude’s throat. I thought Jude would change into a wolf and tear out Michael’s throat, but instead he defended himself as a human, with fists and teeth and the knife that he always kept in his boot.

For a moment I wondered why, because Jude would have a very clear advantage as a wolf. Then I realized that his guilt motivated him to do this, to give Michael a chance to kill him.

I wanted to shout at him, but I was afraid I would distract him and then Michael would move in for the kill.

In the dark it was hard to make out one from the other as limbs punched and kicked and blood splattered. There was just enough light to tell that the fighting was savage and bloodthirsty. Jude wasn’t going to just give in, and Michael was motivated by the contemplation of vengeance for more than two thousand years.

Suddenly it was over. I couldn’t really see how it happened, but Michael was on his back and Jude was at his throat with the knife. Jude’s face was visible in the glare of the streetlamp from the alley, and I saw him hesitate.

“It would be a mercy,” Michael said, and I realized something then. He’d been cast out by the board. He was no longer welcome home. He was just like Lucifer.

“I don’t see why I should be merciful to you,” Jude said, and he stood.

Michael rose to his feet, his white angel’s wings covered in blood. He was no longer powerful, no longer the first of the host. He was fallen. He looked at all of us, and I could see the flame in his eyes was dimming.

He said not another word, but took to the air, and disappeared in the night.

“He will go to the Grigori,” Nathaniel said.

“Fine with me,” I said. “They can have him.”

Jude’s face was impassive, half in shadow and half in light. “It is over, then. I must find Wade and tell him that the threat to the pack is gone.”

“I understand,” I said. “Go.”

He turned into a wolf and leapt over the fence, racing away. I think he needed not only to see Wade, but to run fast and free for as long as possible. He needed to outrun the grief in his heart.

Beezle sighed. “At least there isn’t another dead body to get rid of.”

I wondered whether Nathaniel kept tossing the bodies in the same place, and whether the police were going to start to wonder if there was a serial killer in our neighborhood. Then I realized that with all the other stuff that happened in our neighborhood, a serial killer was probably the least of their worries.

“What about the shapeshifter?” I asked Beezle. Adam was starting to fuss in my arms.

The shifter had stood perfectly still throughout the battle between Michael and Jude. He was still posed like a statue at the edge of the yard. I wanted to approach him, but not while I was holding Adam.

“I’ll take him,” Nathaniel said, lifting the baby away from me.

“I’ll go with you,” Beezle said, knowing what I was thinking.

“And what will you do if he attacks?” I asked skeptically.

“Slay him with my wit,” Beezle said. “Besides, I think he’s broken. He hasn’t moved at all.”

I cautiously approached the shifter. The shifter’s eyes registered my presence, but that was all.

This was the thing that had broken through the defenses of my house. It had taken my guise and committed more than one murder. And yet I felt sorry for it. The shifter had no will of its own. Its will came from his master, and now his master was gone.