Extinction (The Divine Book 7) (5 page)

End of days?

It sure was starting to feel like it.

Obi drove the five of us into the city. I had never been to Rouen before, and I was amazed by how the place maintained a middle-ages feel despite the passage of time and some of the modern conveniences that came with it. I remarked on it to Onyx, who only scoffed.

"The Cathedral is visible everywhere, which means the angels can see us wherever we try to hide."

What would the angels think of a car containing a fiend of Francois' power and a Great Were? I knew they wouldn't leave well enough alone if we lingered too long.

"Bring us to Gerard and we'll be out of here before they can figure out why we came," I said.

"Gladly," Onyx replied.
 

She had spoken only briefly with Alyx on the trip, and the warmth of their reunion had quickly turned cold in response to her sister's sudden faith. I couldn't really blame her. God was a tough pill for some people to swallow, let alone a demon, and I was pretty sure she blamed me for Alyx's attitude. My guess was that she was only helping me now because of an obligation to what she believed I was, not because she wanted to.
 

"Stop the car over there," Onyx said, pointing to one of the few spaces within the city that would accommodate a car the size of the Bentley. "There are no motor vehicles allowed on the streets where Gerard's shop lies."

Obi followed her instruction, pulling over to the side. We piled out of the car, and all of us save the former Marine looked to the sky as we did. I didn't see any angels, and by Onyx's reaction, I knew she didn't either.

"Let's hurry," she said. "We have a clean break."

She led us down a narrow street, then another narrow street, and through to a third. All of the buildings looked the same here; tightly packed and old. There were small storefronts at the ground level, selling everything from food to hats to musical instruments.
 

"Gerard owns a butcher shop three blocks that way," Onyx said, stopping suddenly. "Francois will take you the rest of the way."

"You aren't coming?" Alyx asked.
 

She seemed somewhat oblivious to her sister's disinterest. Maybe that was just how their kind was? I had never seen them interact as families before, but I had relived some of Ulnyx's memories. It hadn't seemed that way to me then.

"I need to return home. Good hunting to you, sister."
 

She turned to leave. As she did, I noticed the streets were empty.

Damn.

I scanned the sky in search of angels. When I didn't see any, I looked to Alyx. She shook her head.

"I don't smell anything," she said.

I gathered my power, preparing for Onyx or Francois to turn on us. What other option was there? Except they didn't. They were as confused as I was.

"What the hell?" Obi said.
 

Seconds passed while we waited for something to happen. I had never experienced anything like it before. The people left, the Divine came. The fighting started. It seemed almost comical when you thought about it too much, but that was how it was supposed to work.

It came from nowhere, literally materializing in front of us.
 

"Shit," I said.

The Fist of God pointed its right hand at Francois. Scripture-laced bolts fired from its wrists, the proximity sending them straight through the fiend's chest and out the other side. He fell over in a burst of sulfur and blood.

"No," Onyx said, changing as she did.
 

Alyx changed as well, while Obi grabbed a small knife from his left boot. It looked ridiculous next to the two weres, especially next to Alyx, but it was all he had.

The Fist vanished.

"Oh, come on," I said, reaching out with my power and wrapping it around us. "Where are you?" I shouted.

I waited for Gervais to answer. He didn't. The Fist re-appeared when it butted up against my shield. This time, Zifah was seated on its shoulder.

"Nice trick, isn't it, Landon?" he said.

Onyx charged the armor. It disappeared again, and she pounced on empty air.

"An invisible knight?" Obi said. "Man, I thought things couldn't get any weirder."

"You have no idea," I replied.

The Fist appeared behind Onyx; the other wrist pointed at the were's back.

"Landon," Alyx said.

The bolts fired. I threw my power at them, catching them before they could strike her, turning them back on the Fist. It turned to the side, letting them bounce off harmlessly.

Alex pounced, her claws reaching for the demon. The Fist vanished again, appearing a moment later on the other side of the street. Alex wrapped herself around nothing, sliding on the street, spinning around and growling.

"Really, Landon," Zifah said. "Save your energy. I didn't come here to fight."

"Then what did you come here for?" I asked. "You used me."

"I'm a demon. Using people is what demons do." He cackled. "Gervais sent me here to warn you to stay away from Sarah. He's taking care of things, and you need to stay out of the way."

"Taking care of things?"

Onyx had recovered from her pounce, and she charged again, coming hard and swiping at the Fist. It raised its arm, catching the blow and deflecting it with ease. Its other arm swung around, hitting the were in the gut and sending her through a nearby store window.
 

Zifah laughed at the outcome. "I know what you're thinking. Gervais wants Sarah's power. That's it exactly. When he finds her, he's going to take it."

"That's his daughter," I said. Not that it mattered to the demon. Josette was his sister, and that hadn't been enough to stop him.

"Yeah. That's what I said, but you know Gervais. Anyway, he wanted me to show off the Fist of Gervais to you, so you would know you can't win, and you should leave well enough alone. I messed up a couple of times, went to the wrong place, killed a couple of demons I probably shouldn't have." He laughed again. "You stand out like a sore thumb as long as you have Alyx with you." He looked at her. "Hey, sexy."

Alyx ignored him, keeping her eyes focused on the Fist. If Gervais wasn't attacking me outright, it meant he wanted or needed something from me. Even if it was just the opportunity to gloat.

What else was new?

"Rebecca, are you in there?" I said. "Can you hear me?"

The Fist didn't react. Zifah was amused.
 

"She can't hear you. She's barely even there."

I knew they needed some way to control the armor. Considering Zifah was sitting on the thing's shoulder, I was willing to bet he was doing it somehow.

"I'm surprised Gervais trusts you with his toy," I said.

"Why wouldn't he? We have a deal."

"A deal between demons?"

"Normally I would agree, but it goes like this: Gervais gets Earth, I get Hell. It works for me."

"What about Heaven?"

"Heaven gets destroyed."
 

"Then Hell comes to Earth, and you get nothing."

"I know the leftovers won't be much, but I'm small. I don't need much. I just want to see the look on my father's face when Gervais tears his head off."

"So you're good with being number two?" I asked.

"It's more than I ever got before."

"Maybe we can work something out?"

"A counteroffer?"

"Yeah."

"Like what?"

I thought about it for a few seconds. There was nothing I could offer him that trumped control of Hell, and Gervais knew it. That's why he trusted him with the Fist.

"I didn't think so," Zifah said. "No hard feelings, Landon, really. I like you. But I have to do what I have to do, you know?"

"Yeah," I replied. "So do I."

The smile vanished. "What does that mean?"

I reached out with my power, grabbing the knife from Obi's hand and flinging it toward the demon. It moved faster than any human-thrown object could. It almost moved fast enough.

Zifah screeched and climbed behind the armor, narrowly avoiding the blade. The Fist vanished again.
 

It didn't return.

"Was that smart?" Obi asked.

"Probably not, but I think he made the point he wanted to make."

As long as I was with Alyx, I could be tracked. I already knew that. More importantly, I had barely held my own against the Fists before, and now it seemed that Rebecca's power had given it the ability not only to disappear but to teleport as well.
 

Fantastic.

Gervais didn't need anything from me. He was gloating. Rubbing it in my face. He had tricked me, killed Rose, and won himself a prize I couldn't compete against, and in his arrogant assery he wanted to make sure I knew it. His hate for me ran that deep.

Son of a bitch.

Onyx climbed from the storefront, rushing over to the pile of ashes that were all that remained of Francois. She leaned over them and howled.

A shopkeeper appeared a moment later, followed by a few more mortals. They saw Onyx as a human, leaning over nothing and crying. They ignored her, returning to their business as if nothing had happened. All except the owner of the store that had been damaged, who pulled out his cellphone to report the vandalism.

Alyx approached Onyx, leaning down beside her and putting her arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry," she said.

Onyx glared at her for a second and then leaned into her, accepting the consolation. I bypassed them, walking over to where the bolts had fallen and picking them up.
 

"Gervais is going to be pissed at Zifah for losing these," I said, showing them to Obi.
 

He examined them. "Man, how did they get the scripture printed so small?"

"A laser etching machine and a computer program. It's all out of operation, which means these are irreplaceable."

He nodded. "I have an idea for this. Maybe when we have a few hours we can do a little engineering."

"Whatever you're thinking, I'm game."

Alyx helped Onyx to her feet. She looked at me, meeting my eyes. She didn't need me to speak to know what I was going to say.

"I'll take her back," she said, saving me from having to demean her and order her to stay.
 

I would have if that's what it took. I needed to get to Sarah before Gervais did, and now that I knew what I was up against, I knew I couldn't do that with her so close. Her aura was too powerful, and right now I needed to be inconspicuous.
 

"I'll find you when this is over," I said.

She stepped toward me, and I wrapped her in my arms.
 

"You know I want to come with you," she said. "It's against every instinct I have to let you go without me."

"Believe me; I want you to come. It's too much of a risk to Sarah."

"It is easy to be selfish," she said. "I don't want to be. This isn't easy."

"I'll be okay. I survived the Beast. I survived Hell. I always find a way."

"You better."
 

She leaned up, and I kissed her. Not like it was the last time. Not like it would be very long before I kissed her again. I had to believe that, even if I wasn't feeling it. Things were spinning further out of control, faster and faster with every minute. I didn't know if I could reign it in.
 

I didn't know if I could win this time.

She smiled her cute, deadly smile and returned to Onyx, taking her by the arm and leading her away. I watched them go until they turned the corner and then turned to Obi.

"Okay," I said. "Now I'm mad."

I didn't have that much time to be mad before the angels showed up.
 

I wasn't surprised when they entered the small avenue, one from each connecting street. There was no way they had missed the Fist, and there was no doubt they would be interested in it. I hadn't vanished from their radar, which meant one had been perched somewhere during the fight, watching events unfold.
 

Of course, they had also waited for Alyx to leave before closing in.
 

"It's just one thing to another with you, man," Obi said as the angels approached.