Extinction (The Divine Book 7) (23 page)

"Landon, what kind of monster do you think I am?" Gervais said. "I wouldn't hurt my own daughter, even though she killed me and sent me back to Hell. No, I want her to rule at my side, as always."

"Nobody believes that," I said.

"But it is true. I am capable of telling the truth once in a while." He tightened the knife against Obi's neck, enough that a line of blood formed along the edge. "Come now. We already know what you are going to do. You will give me the sword because in your heart you believe that you will still succeed. You always have been stupid that way."

"I've always succeeded," I said.

"No, others have succeeded for you. There is no one, mon ami. No friends left to come to your aid. Elyse, Rose, even Rebecca and apparently Dante. They are all gone. Obi is all you have left, and if you don't save him, he will be gone, too."

I looked Obi in the eye. He wasn't afraid to die. He had seen Heaven already, and I had no doubt he would go there.

"Fine," I said, reaching a hand behind my back.

"Slowly," Zifah said.
 

I did as he asked, keeping my movements deliberate as I reached under my coat and found the mimic stone. I tapped it against the sword as I brought it back, feeling the form change in my hand. I was just like the real thing.

I brought it out and up. It was an identical replica, a perfect glamour. It weighed the same, balanced the same, glowed the same. I shoved it point-first into the ground and took a step back.
 

"There it is. Let him go."

Gervais smiled, and actually did as I asked, shoving Obi to me as he stepped forward and picked up the blade.

"You really are stupid, man," Obi said.

Gervais hefted the sword, clearly fooled by the glamour.
 

"Step aside, Landon," he said. "You're free to go. I don't need your power when there are so many other Divine to kill, and you can't hurt me anyway."

I moved out of his way, and he thrust the sword forward, into Srizyl's chest. Her eyes widened as she expected to be stabbed, only to find the attack ineffective.

"What?" Gervais said, caught by surprise. If I could have framed the look on his face and held it in my soul forever, I would have.

"It's showtime," I said.

I reached behind my back for the real sword, at the same time Gervais tried to stab Srizyl again, not quite believing what was happening.

"Attack," Srizyl shouted, putting out her hand toward the demon.
 

He barely escaped a short burst of hellfire from her, even as I got Uriel's blade free and chased after him with it.

Srizyl's demons didn't seem to know who to attack right away. They headed for me instead of the Fist, while dozens of her mortal slaves began pouring from the buildings, armed with standard issue guns.
 

Obi intercepted the demons, slamming into them with the power gloves, flinging them aside. The bullets started coming a moment later, digging up divots of the ground around us as their wielders tried to find their aim.

"Zifah," Gervais said, doing his best to get away from me. "Don't just stand there."

The Fist started to move, lurching toward me, a massive arm swinging out to him me in the chest. I ducked beneath it, bringing the sword up in a quick test of the armor's ability to withstand the special blade. It skidded off the scriptured metal without leaving a mark.

I had figured it would be impervious.
 

I stopped chasing Gervais, using my power to stop myself and reverse course, shooting up in a spray of earth and reaching for Zifah. The Fist vanished a moment later, and my hand wrapped around empty air.

"Landon," Obi said, his voice tense.
 

I rolled on the ground to my feet, throwing up my power and creating a wall between him and the shooters, watching as a dozen bullets froze in mid-air before they could slice him in half. I closed my eyes for an instant, reappearing beside him, grabbing him and teleporting again. I dropped him on the wall beside one of the shooters, and he took hold of the mortal and wrenched the gun from his hand.
 

"I don't want to kill these people," he said.

"We don't have a choice right now."

"Kill her, lose the mind control."

"I'll do my best."

He didn't look happy, but he turned on the other slaves and returned fire, bullets knocking them from their perches.
 

I teleported again, to where Gervais was desperately trying to defend himself from Srizyl. I was getting more used to the power with every use, finding it easier and quicker every time I jumped.
 

The archfiend sent another blast of hellfire at Gervais. He stepped aside, his form changing, his hands elongating into claws. He had already used his own gift to claim power from Randolph Heart's goons and make himself an uber-vampire, and now he used it, leaping at Srizyl and catching her off-guard.

I used my power to push him away from her, sending him sprawling. I wanted the Divine energy she could provide for myself.

I threw myself at her, bringing the blade up to strike.

The Fist appeared beside me. It's arm launched out, hitting me square in the side and sending me tumbling away. I hit the ground and rolled to a stop, pushing myself back to my feet. The Fist vanished again.

Uriel's blade rested a few feet away. I pulled it back to me and made a quick survey of the battle.
 

Gervais was going after Srizyl again, while Obi had managed to clear half of the shooters from the wall, and was pinned down in a firefight with the other half. Where was Zifah?

I closed my eyes, teleporting across the field, reappearing and looking back to see him materialize where I had just been standing. I had figured as much. I blinked out again, coming back to the world a few feet from Srizyl. She saw me and stopped. I grabbed her by the arm, throwing her aside, bringing the sword around as Gervais pounced. His eyes became saucers, and he rolled his body, landing awkwardly beside me and scrambling to get away. I turned to reach for him, only to sense the Fist as it appeared behind me.

I kicked backward, feeling my foot connect with the Fist's chest and knock it back. I used the momentum to throw myself forward, wrapping my arms around Srizyl and teleporting again, bringing us up to the top of the hill outside the compound.

"Diuscrucis," Srizyl said, her expression fearful.
 

"Let go of your slaves," I said.

"What?"

"Release them. Help me fight the Fist, and I'll let you live."

She nodded. The shooting stopped a moment later. "Very well."

I teleported her back to the fray, dropping her in front of Gervais. She put her hand out, hitting him with a blast of hellfire that singed the side of his face. He screamed and rolled away, calling out for Zifah.
 

The Fist appeared again, closing in on us. Srizyl turned toward it, sending a gout of hellfire from her hands, which bounced harmlessly off the scriptured metal. Zifah aimed the armor toward her, while I tried to circle around. He broke off the engagement, facing me instead, not worried about the archfiend.

"She can't hurt me, Landon," the demon said.

"No," I heard Obi say behind him. "But I can."

A gloved fist appeared behind the Fist's back, smashing hard into the diminutive hellspawn. The force sent him flying from the weapon's shoulder, screaming as he tumbled through the air, landing on the ground fifty feet away and steaming from the scripture on the blessed gloves. He got to his feet, shaking himself off, his aura growing around him as he reversed the damage. He was the son of Lucifer. He wouldn't be that easy to kill.

The important part was that we had knocked him away from the Fist, and broken the connection that allowed him to control it.

"Score one for the home... oof!"
 

Obi was thrown backward as the Fist continued to move, spinning and hitting him hard in the gut. He landed with a thud and didn't move again.

"Son of a bitch," I whispered, seeing him laying there. The Fist readjusted, coming about and marching toward me. I could hear Zifah's laughter at my back.

"Nice try, Landon," he said. "You almost got me. Riding the Fist is fun, not a necessity."

The Fist vanished.

I felt my teeth lock together in anger, and I threw myself at the small demon, desperate to stick him to the end of Uriel's sword. He jumped back in fear at my approach, pulling one of his needles and throwing it at me. I batted it aside easily, closing the gap between us in seconds.

The Fist reappeared in front of me. I slammed headlong into it with enough force to lift it up and back, knocking it over Zifah and landing on the other side. It grabbed me by the shoulders, the swords on its wrists extending and sticking into both sides of my chest, leaving me hanging from it.

Zifah climbed up beneath me, sticking his face in mine. "Sorry about your friend. Thanks for the sword."

He reached for my hand, dangling at my side and holding the blade.

I didn't say anything. I closed my eyes and teleported away, coming to rest on my hands and knees beside Obi.
 

"Diuscrucis," Srizyl said, rushing to us. "You can't leave me here with them."

"You're right," I said, looking up at her and raising Uriel's sword. "You have something I need."

She shrunk back in fear, her hands coming up to shoot hellfire at me. I threw my power out, pushing her hands aside, spreading her open so I could plant the blade in her gut. In my anger, I barely noticed the pain.
 

She turned to ash as I put my hand on Obi's shoulder and willed us both away.

I didn't go back to Mexico. That would have been stupid. Obi was hurt, and there was nothing I could do to save him. My power to heal didn't extend to others. Not anymore.
 

Instead, I came into existence at New York Presbyterian Hospital, right in the middle of the lobby. I quickly hid Uriel's blade back beneath my coat, and then called out for help at the same time I removed Obi's gloves from his hands. A nurse rushed over a moment later, oblivious to the fact that I had just appeared out of nowhere.

"What happened?" she asked, at the same time she motioned for help.

"He got hit by a car," I said. It was close enough to the truth. The Fist had a similar amount of force.

She looked back at him. "Detective Sampson?" she said, recognizing him. She looked at me again. "You found him like this?"

"No. I was with him. I'm a friend of his. Must have been a drunk or something, came around the corner and slammed right into him. He didn't even slow down."

"Did you get a plate?"

"Yeah, right. I carried him here as fast as I could. We were only a couple of blocks away."

"You shouldn't have moved him."

The orderlies brought a gurney. A doctor knelt next to him and checked him from the ground. "Let's get him loaded up and stabilized. He's alive but unconscious."

I felt a bit of relief at the fact that he was still alive. A seraph could heal him once he was stable.

"We'll take it from here," the nurse said. "Can you fill out some paperwork for us?"

"I can't. I have to run."

She moved to protest, but I closed my eyes and teleported away, coming to rest on the steps of St. Patrick's. I paused there for a moment, leaning over, my body exhausted. Increased power or not, I was using a lot of it in a hurry. I needed to slow down. I stumbled on the steps, coming to rest and putting my hands up to my face.
 

"Damn it," I shouted into them, muffling my scream.

Not only had Obi gotten hurt, but Zifah had shown his control of the Fist to be greater than I had realized. Worse, I still couldn't hurt the damn thing, and I needed to at least slow it down in order to reach the little asshole. The failed attempt left me angry and frustrated and more than a little overwhelmed. Sarah had beaten me. Zifah had beaten me. I was getting tired of losing.

I rubbed at my face, feeling weary. Maybe Sarah was right. Maybe things had already gone so far that they were beyond my ability to stop. Maybe I was more problem than solution.