Dead Harvest (17 page)

  "I take it you found Wai-Sun, then," Merihem said.

  "What,
this?
" I said, holding up the shard. "No, this I got at Yankee Stadium on Kill a Fucking Demon Day." I wiped it off on my shirt and dropped it into my pocket.

  "That the girl?"

  "I'm sorry, am
I
the one tied to the chair? How 'bout I ask the questions for now, and maybe later we can switch."

  "Cute, Sam – real cute. I'm going to kill you all, you know. I'll start with the little one," he said, nodding toward Pinch. "Then him," Merihem said, indicating Anders, "then you. I'll make the girl watch."

  "Yeah, that's nice," I said. "But before we do that, why don't you tell me why the fuck you set me up?"

  "It was nothing personal, Sam – you of all people should know that. It's just the girl's a hot commodity. Besides, I didn't have a choice – he got to me just after we met."

  "Who? Who got to you?"

  "His name is Beleth."

  "Never heard of him."

  "That's because he doesn't often deign to meddle in the affairs of Man." Then, addressing Kate: "You, missy, have attracted some serious attention – you should be flattered!"

  "Go fuck yourself," Kate replied.

  Black flames raged for a moment in Merihem's eyes. He blinked, and they disappeared. "Ooh, she's feisty – I can see why you like her so much, Sam. Maybe I'll take a go at her myself. I mean, she'll be kind of pretty once I tear that fucking ring out of her nose. Honestly, I've no idea what these kids today are thinking."

  Kate fingered the nose ring. I shot her a look, and she stopped.

  "So this Beleth," I said, "what's his interest in me?"

  "His
interest?
You're in the
way
, Sam, it's as simple as that. That the girl will be collected is a foregone conclusion. The only one who doesn't seem to know that is
you
. You've become an embarrassment – you're making our whole damn operation look like a bunch of bumbling amateurs. The folks you're crossing don't enjoy being made fools of."

  "Is Beleth the one who set Kate up?"

  "Get it through your head, Sam –
nobody
set her up. It's been all her, all along. Every blow. Every slice. Every agonized scream. All of it the result of the depraved little creature scowling so adorably beside you. You understand, dear, that I mean no offense – I'm actually quite a fan. It's just time for you to come home, is all."

  "Thanks for the invitation," Kate said, "but I'd really rather not."

  Merihem smiled, all teeth and ill intentions – the kind of smile you feel in the pit of your stomach. "Sweetheart, you make it sound as though you have a choice."

  I interrupted. "So this Beleth – what else can you tell us about him?"

  "I can tell you that he's a ways above my pay grade. Until Blondie here came into the picture, I'd never met him – I'd only heard the stories."

  "Stories? What kind of stories?"

  "They say he's a great monarch of the Depths. That he's most favored by the Adversary. That he's got a significant role to play in the great battle to come."

  "You mean Armageddon?"

  Merihem scoffed. "I sure as shit don't mean Survivor."

  "
Who
says?" I asked. "What kind of role?"

  "How the fuck should I know?
They
say, you know? This shit's all been foretold.
Beleth is a mighty and terrible king of the netherworld. His name shall bring forth the sounding of trumpets
. That sort of thing."

  "That's not a lot to go on."

  "Hey, they're
your
books, man. It's not my fault you people take lousy notes. I'll tell you this, though: if he had any fucking idea I was telling you this shit –"

  "He doesn't."

  "Not yet, maybe, but rest assured he will – and when he does, we're
both
gonna pay."

  "Merihem, Beleth is dead."

  At that last, his face dropped. Gone was the glimmer of fury in his eyes. For the first time, Merihem looked scared. "What the hell do you mean, dead?"

  "Just what I said."

  "Oh, fuck – the shards – I mean, I just figured you
escaped!"

  "I did. Right after I killed him."

  "Shit, Sam, do you even realize what you've done? Nobody's killed one of my kind since the last Great War! If word gets out that Beleth is dead, the Fallen are liable to get the wrong idea, figure he's a victim of the crackdown. That happens, we've got war in the fucking streets. Not to mention, it's gonna come out eventually what
really
happened, and that's gonna lead them all to the both of us. When that happens, this little girl is gonna be the least of your worries. Man, you've fucked us but good."

  "So what's the play, then?" I asked.

  "Sam, you
have
to let me go – it's the only way. I can make sure nobody catches wind of what we've done. Beleth's got to have some enemies in the demon-world – our only shot's to try and put this all on them. If it looks like he's been killed by one of his own, we can maybe avoid a war."

  "Avoid our asses in a sling, you mean," I said.

  "That, too. You're in no position to begrudge me my motives, Sam."

  "You forget, I'm already in a world of shit for taking the girl. Honestly, what's a little more heat?"

  "I'm not talking a
little
, Sam. You're a fucking gnat right now – an annoyance. Word gets out you killed Beleth, they're gonna think you're trying to jumpstart the End Days. That'd make you priority number one for both sides. We're all
happy
in our roles, Sam. Comfortable. Isn't anybody on either side that wants to see the balance disrupted."

  I fell silent a moment, mulling what he'd just told me. "If I let you go," I asked, "what assurance do I have you'll do as you say?"

  Kate balked. "Sam, you couldn't seriously be considering letting him go?"

  If Merihem heard her, though, he gave no indication. His eyes were locked on mine, his face betraying nothing. "You have my word," he said.

  "Your word," Anders said. "Some fucking use
that
is."

  "Yeah, Sam – let's finish this guy," Pinch chimed in.

  "His word is his bond," I said, quietly. The corners of Merihem's mouth turned upward ever so slightly, almost imperceptible in the flickering candlelight. Almost.

  "What?" Kate asked.

  "His word is his bond," I repeated. "He's obligated to honor it. It's the way of his kind." I didn't say the rest. That his kind is disinclined to make pacts that end well for the second party – witness my day job. I didn't mention it because the way I saw it, we were
both
desperate. We
both
stood to lose. And if letting him go bought me enough time to clear Kate's name, then the deal would have been worth it, and the consequences be damned.

  "So he'd
have
to help us?" Pinch asked.

  "We let you walk out of here, and you leave us be, you got me? You don't come after the girl, you don't
send
anyone after her – you don't let it slip you might know where she is. Same goes for any of them. These kids are untouchable."

  Merihem nodded. "All I'm worried about right now is my own ass. They tie me to Beleth's death, and it's all over. Far as I'm concerned, I never saw you."

  "Anders," I said, "set down the rope."

  "Are we really gonna do this?" he asked.

  "I don't see we have a choice."

  "This is ridiculous," Kate said.

  "Anders, the rope."

  Anders let go of the rope. It fell to the floor. I let out a breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding.

  "Sam," said Merihem, "you're making the right choice."

  I swear I never saw it coming. One minute, Kate stood fuming beside me, and the next, she'd closed the gap to Merihem. In one smooth motion, she kicked the chair out from beneath him. He teetered for a moment, his eyes wide with fear and surprise, and then he fell atop the shards. A horrid, guttural scream pierced the air and blew out windows the factory over. Candles guttered and died all around us. Anders crumpled to the floor, head in hands, and Pinch began to cry. But Kate never wavered, never flinched. As Merihem's writhing, fading form burst open, releasing the thousands of nameless scurrying things that passed for his soul, she spat on it, paying no heed to the terrible creatures that crawled, dragged, and scampered across her feet.

  And under her breath, nearly lost beneath the echoing screams, she said, "That's for my family, you evil son of a bitch."

 
 

Finally all was silent, and the mewling creatures gone. Anders was lying on the concrete floor, his eyes clenched shut, his face twisted in pain. He held his hands to his ears, a useless gesture. The sound he sought to keep out was in his mind: the anguished cries of those nameless, scurrying things that were once Merihem as they faded from existence. I knew, because I'd heard it twice now. Just two more things I wished I could unremember. Two among thousands.

  I shambled over to where Anders lay, my borrowed body trembling, my knees threatening to buckle. I told myself that it was just a natural response to what I'd just been witness to, but I knew that wasn't completely true. Merihem's death had rattled me in a way Beleth's had not. Merihem wasn't a friend – not exactly – but we had a history, he and I, and that's not something you can easily forget. Now he was dead. Dead because of me. And it was a senseless death, at that – no honor, no dignity, no reason at all it had to happen. Demon or not, I couldn't help but think Merihem deserved better than that.

  "Anders – are you all right?" He looked up at me and nodded. Anders was lying, of course, but that he was well enough to lie was a good sign. "We've got to get moving. Half of Staten Island must've heard those windows blow – we haven't got a lot of time."

  I felt terrible for the kid – lacking whatever filter prevented normal people from seeing the world as it really was, only to be branded a nutcase, by them and me at first as well. Of course, if any of those so-called normal people could see the things that Anders had seen, they'd be a little twitchy, too.

  I helped him to his feet, and nodded toward Pinch, who had retreated to a far corner of the room. Pinch sat with his back to the wall, rocking back and forth with his knees hugged tight to his chest. "Go help him," I said, "I'll take care of Kate."

  Kate, for her part, was nowhere to be seen. Not that
that
meant much – most of the candles were extinguished during Merihem's exit, and the few that remained did little to push back the encroaching darkness. I noticed a thin rectangle of paler darkness along the far wall – a door, standing slightly ajar and leading to the night beyond. No doubt that's where she'd gone. I gave chase, and prayed she hadn't gone too far.

  She hadn't. I found Kate standing with her back to me in the center of the abandoned, weed-strewn parking lot. She was shaking, I noticed, and she held her arms tight across her chest, hugging herself. It wasn't entirely from the cold, I thought. Demon or not, you couldn't just take a life and not have it rattle you a little. I once heard that it gets easier. I think they had it backwards. After a while, you just get harder.

  "You wanna tell me what the hell just happened back there?" I asked.

  She turned and looked at me, her eyes flashing with angry rebellion. "I ought to ask you the same thing. Did you think I was going to stand idly by as you let that bastard walk out of here?"

  "You're damn right that's what I thought! Letting Merihem go was the smart play. I don't know if you've noticed, Kate, but we're kinda short on allies right about now, and thanks to you, we've got one less."

  "You think he was an
ally?
I've got a newsflash for you, Sam – Merihem was a
demon
. As in evil. I did the world a favor, killing him."

  "The hell you did. You wanna do the world a favor? Try dropping this bullshit vengeance trip and get on board with the whole keeping-you-alive thing."

  "Bullshit?" Kate spat. "You think that this is
bullshit?
You said yourself they killed my
family
, Sam. This was just my way of trying to even the score."

  "I said that
one of them
killed your family. I never said that it was Merihem."

  "Does it matter? They're all the same."

  "No," I said, "they're not."

  "They're demons. End of story."

  "You know what separates a demon from an angel? Choice. Angels are beholden to the will of God. Not a bad gig if you can get it, I guess. No doubt. No pain. No fear. No free will, either, but most don't seem to mind. There were some, though, who did – some who thought free will was worth losing everything for. They turned their backs on who they were, which meant turning their back on God. They were cast out for their impudence, forced to live a twisted, perverted existence, forever obscured from the light of God's grace."

  "Why are you telling me this?"

  "Because you need to understand that whoever killed your family made a choice to do so. Because back there, you just did the same. Demons aren't the only ones with free will, Kate. Be sure you use yours wisely."

  "You think that Merihem was innocent," she said.

  "Of this, yes."

  "What makes you so sure?"

  "Merihem was a corrupter of souls, a bringer of pestilence. For his line of work, this world of yours is fertile ground. He had no more interest in seeing it end than you do."

  "That doesn't exactly make him sound like one of the good guys."

  "I never said he was. But this is bigger than you, Kate. Bigger than what happened to your family. If they succeed in collecting you, we're talking about the end of the world. I'll take my help wherever I can get it."