Echoes of the Past (Demon Squad) (25 page)

Once again not knowing
Mihheer’s
language was screwing us. I started to get mad when I remembered the scrap of flesh I had stashed in the God room. “If you had a key that translated some of the symbols, do you think you could work something out?”

Michael shrugged. “It certainly couldn’t hurt. If the symbols are less abstract than their presentation, we might be able to figure something out to help us find Scarlett.”

“If you’ve got something, Frank, let’s get it,” Katon said. His concern for Scarlett was etched clearly across his healing face.

“I’ll be right back,” I told them, waving off Katon’s offer of assistance. “Stick around and make sure the
weres
don’t come back for their buddy.” I was out the door and down the hall before he could argue.

Still recovering from the double whammy, I wanted a few minutes alone. I felt like I was hung over, and not just from any old party, but from the binge of the century. My head throbbed and my brain sloshed around as if it’d broken free of its mounts. It was hard to walk because my legs were trembling and weak, but I pushed on. This might be the only chance we were gonna get to find Scarlett, so I had to keep going. Despite the psychic trauma, I kept my senses purring away at full throttle. I had vague memories of some of the werewolves managing to get away before I went ballistic, so it was possible I’d run into them, and I really wasn’t feeling up to the rematch.

I moved along as quickly as I could and made it to the God-proof room after what seemed like forever. The first thing I saw was Chatterbox rocking back and forth and looking forlorn.

“Still no contact?” My stomach tightened.

He wobbled his head, the maggots in his eyes sloshing about. If he were capable of tears, he probably would have cried. I felt pretty much the same. Still unable to reach
Karra
, I was getting worried. It was bad enough not knowing where Scarlett was, but for
Karra
to be missing was driving me nuts. I wanted to reach out to Longinus to see if she was just giving me the cold shoulder, but we still needed to find Scarlett. She was the priority right now, I told myself.

“Keep trying, CB. I’ll be back to check in.” I collected the skin tablet and book.

Just as I started out of the room, I caught the tiniest flicker of a familiar presence. It was gone before I could I could even process it, but it was enough to give me a general direction of where it came from. Rather than dart out after it, I walked out like I hadn’t noticed anything. Thinking the presence was the person who’d been following me around Hell, I didn’t want to let them know I had spotted them.

I made my way down the corridors, moving in the general direction of where the DRAC guys were holding on to Mihheer, but not directly there. If I needed help, I wanted to be close, but I didn’t want to lead anyone back to the group unless I had to. With all the
weres
and vamps having a hit out on me, and Gorath aligning himself with them to make my life miserable, I didn’t want to risk dragging Katon into another ambush. Even with Rahim around to even the odds, they didn’t need the grief.

Doing my best to act like nothing was out of the ordinary, I took my time traipsing about the ghetto labyrinth as I looked for a good place to spring an ambush. I kept getting miniscule traces of my tailgater as I moved along. Whoever they were, they were good. They stayed right at the edge of my senses, which kept me from identifying them. The only problem was that it made it clear the person knew me…the old me. Since my power up by Baalth and the tiny boost of
Azrael’s
essence, my natural range had extended just a bit. The person following me felt they knew the limits of my power and were trying to stay outside of them, but they kept crossing the line. That was why I kept hitting on the familiar essence, but it wasn’t enough for recognition.

A minute later, I ducked behind a building and yanked my new shirt off. I used a fingernail to cut my arm and smeared blood all across the shirt. Certain I was out of sight of my follower, I balled the shirt up and tossed it as hard as I could in the direction I’d been traveling. The sudden burst of movement by my essence would make it look like I was running. It wouldn’t fool anyone long, but tracking a person by their spiritual energies is a bitch, even for those trained in it. My darting back in the direction of the tracker would further confuse the signal. I could only hope it threw them off long enough for me to get a glimpse of them.

It worked.

There was a scuff of boots around the corner followed by a shadow; followed by my fist. The
thud
of bone on flesh sounded loud in the corridor as the person dropped.

“Damn it, Frank. What the Hell?” I recognized the voice, the sound of it freezing me in place. My shoulders slumped.

Veronica.

There on the floor, dressed in an all-black tracksuit that covered every inch of her skin, there was no mistaking her figure. She was massaging her cheek where I’d punched her, her left eye fluttering. As much as I didn’t want to see her, I sighed and stuck my hand out. “Why are you following me?” She took my hand and I pulled her to her feet.

She rubbed at her face, her feet scuffing at the stone floor. “I, uh…damn, this is going to sound bad.”

“It’s you, Veronica. When doesn’t it?”

She groaned. “I was worried about you.” She looked away.

My brain slipped into overdrive and I felt my crotch begin to warm to the possibilities, but I shook my head to chase away the Technicolor porn film I was envisioning. I certainly didn’t need the hassles that came with Veronica, especially not with
Karra
around. As much fun as the ex-wife was when it came to sexual adventures, she was an addiction as bad as crack or meth; it only led to trouble and poor hygiene.

“Uh, look, that’s nice and all, but uh—“

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She growled. “I saw you with that
woman
earlier.” She snarled, but went on. “Baalth let it slip that you’d had a visit from Lucifer, and I wanted to be sure you were okay.”

Baalth didn’t let
anything
slip. If Veronica knew it was because Baalth wanted her to know and it served a purpose. The only question was
whose
? “So, you’re following me because you’re worried, huh?”

She shifted on her feet again. “Well, not
just
that.”

I laughed and motioned for her to continue.

She swallowed, and it took a moment for her to respond. “Baalth wanted to know what Lucifer told you.”

“Why? Was he afraid Lucifer might spill some grand secret?” I laughed again. “Like maybe that I’m his son and not his nephew?”

Veronica’s eyes shot wide.

“Damn it, you knew! Are you fucking kidding me?” My cheeks went nuclear and I stuffed my hands in my pockets to keep from throttling the life from her.

Her own cheeks turned pink as she stumbled over her words. “I-I-I just…shit, Frank. I just found out myself. Honest.”

I drew in a deep breath and paced in a circle. For all our history, Veronica was a loyal subject to Baalth since he freed her from Hell. She’d have kept the secret to her grave if Baalth had asked her to, but it pissed me off every time I was reminded of her priorities. We hadn’t had the best of marriages, but damn, a secret like me being the son of the Devil isn’t something you keep from your ex. It was just proof of the divide between us. Evil
Knievel
wouldn’t try to jump that shit.

“Well, Veronica, I’m fine. When Baalth gets back, if he ever does, you can tell him Lucifer didn’t tell me shit.”

She grabbed my arm. “What do you mean,
if
he gets back?”

I turned and met her eyes. There wasn’t a hint of deceit there. She didn’t know. Shit. This was the second time I’d had to break the bad news, and I didn’t like the job. “Baalth was hurt…hurt bad. He’s gone to Lucifer to see if God can piece him back together.”

Veronica stumbled and I caught her before she could fall. Her moist eyes rolled to meet mine. “He’s gone?”

“He’s a stubborn bastard, you know that. He’ll be fine.” I hoped she couldn’t see the doubt in my eyes. He’d looked like nuked
dogshit
, and I wasn’t sure he’d make it even halfway there. Then there was the whole thing about God having to be the one to heal him. Baalth had better hope the Big Guy was in a forgiving mood or he needed Baalth for the war effort, otherwise it’d be a long trip for nothing. “Poe on the other hand…” I’d tried to bite that last bit back to keep from piling on, but something deep down inside me didn’t think it was right. While I hated Marcus, he looked like a lost dog when I dropped Poe’s body off. I didn’t have time to help the guy with the DSI showing up, and all. He could use some support, and Veronica would be better at it than me.

“Dead?”

I just nodded. The tears in her eyes broke free and spilled down her cheeks.

“Marcus is gonna need someone, you know?”

Veronica squeezed my arm and pulled away, wiping at her face. “I better go.” She gave me a quick hug that lingered a little long, and then finally pulled away. After a quick peck on the cheek, she started down the hall only to stop after about ten steps. She turned back to me and whispered, “I’m…I’m sorry.”

I waved her apology off. “Don’t worry about it.” She stared at me for a moment, her eyes moist, and then left.

Once she was gone, my senses ringing blank, I went back to where Mihheer was being held. He was still out when I got there.

“You take the scenic route?” Katon asked, holding his hand out.

I passed him the skin key and shrugged. “Ran into trouble.”

Rahim and Katon stiffened but I waved it off. “It was just Veronica. It’s good.”

Katon shook his head and handed Michael the piece of skin. The mentalist took it in a tentative grip and rolled his eyes toward me. “You didn’t say it was written on a chunk of someone’s ass.”

“Asmoday’s, to be specific, but you didn’t ask.”

He grunted and stared at the tablet. “This is going to take some time.” He turned to Rahim. “Can you keep him out for a while?”

Rahim shrugged. “We can at headquarters. Out here, all I can do is imitate Frank and hope it doesn’t kill him.”

“Then let’s take him to DRAC and make sure he’s shut down. I want to find out where his master has taken Scarlett.” Katon’s fists were clenched as he inched closer to Mihheer. He wanted his turn, and only his concern for Scarlett was holding him back.

Rahim saw it, too. “Let’s go. You got everything you need, Frank?”

I thought about it for a second and decided it was best if I didn’t go with them. “You don’t need me there. I want to stir up the cavalry for Scarlett and check in on
Karra
. Chatterbox still can’t reach her. It’s starting to make me nervous.” I turned to Michael. “Leave a link open, please. I’m gonna need help if I want to make the trip quickly.” He nodded, and I looked at Rahim. “Can I hitch a ride out?”

The wizard nodded, and I told him where I wanted to go. After a round of goodbyes, we went our separate ways.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Back in Iran, I was starting to wonder how many more times I’d be able to pop up outside Eden before word got out that I was the son of Satan. I can’t imagine I’d be very welcome after that, not that I was now. Fortunately, this time, I’d
phoned
ahead for Duke Forcalor. I didn’t want to play pat-a-cake with
Uriel
. I think he already knew who I was, which was probably why he was so hostile. Can’t say I blame him.

As I stood on the hot desert sand waiting for the duke to drop down from Heaven, I picked up another familiar essence alongside him. Narrowing my eyes, I raised my hand to shield them from the sun and stared upward. Two golden trails spiraled down toward me, one a good distance ahead of the other.

My pulse raced as I watched them descend. I had to turn away as the first of the angels hit, dirt kicked up into my face. It didn’t matter. I knew who it was the instant she grabbed me by the back of my neck and pressed her sword against my throat. I was amused until I felt the point of her blade.

“Is that a sword at my neck, or are you just happy to see me?”

“What did you do, Frank?” Scarlett screamed.

She was alive. I took a tentative breath, doing my best not to help her slit my throat, and smiled. “Glad to see you’re alive, cousin. We’ve been worried you.” Forcalor landed behind her.

“I’ve been in Limbo, looking for Azrael.” She pressed a little harder against her blade. “Where is he, Frank?”

My first instinct was to plead innocent, seeing how she hadn’t asked if I’d killed him. His body should have been right where I left it. Since it obviously wasn’t, I didn’t see any reason to take credit for killing her prisoner. “I don’t know.”

It’s hard to think being bad isn’t inherited at this point. At least, technically, I didn’t lie to her.

Scarlett glared at me. “Don’t tell me you didn’t have anything to do with his disappearance. There was blood and a bunch of bullet shells, DA slayers to boot, all over the place.”

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, I matched stubborn silence with violence, but I don’t know where’s he’s gone.” That was the truth, if you don’t count the twinge of his essence I’d stolen after I shot him in the head. I certainly didn’t know where his body went. “I didn’t get the answers I was looking for and he wasn’t talking. We left it at that.”