Good Intentions 3: Personal Demons (28 page)

“I will bring them through, master. Soon. I promise. Give me only a little time to set our puppets to the task. The one I groomed for summoning died tonight. You have his soul now as payment for these failures. But the others will suffice. I need only persuade them. We shall pave the road from Perdition to this city with the bodies of those who oppose us.”

“And what of my ally? Where is Sammael?”

“He left to deal with some of that opposition, master. I asked him to remain to speak with you, but he refused.”

“Does he seek to betray me?”

Evelyn let out a tense breath. Lying to her master required a greater exercise of will than she could manage frequently. She had to pick such battles. Besides, some questions had obvious answers. “Of course, master. I am not yet sure how.”

“And are you still loyal to me?”

There it was. The test of will. Evelyn’s hands trembled. Her voice did not. “Always, master.”

Silence followed. She hoped he would not ask again, or probe further. Thankfully, her wishes were granted. “Resistance remains? Skilled resistance?”

“Yes, master. The survivors may be frightened, and they are fewer in number now. Yet they have fought back and escaped death once already. They are not to be underestimated.” She paused. “Every servant I bring over will make it easier to crush that resistance. Each slain enemy will make the passage easier.”

“You know my will, Evelyn,” rumbled Azazel. “Open a passage. I care not where or how or who pays the price. My servants will claim that city for me. You will open the way.”

“Yes, master.”

As if suddenly cut off from air, the fire died out. Where smoke once billowed up from the hearth into the chimney, it now only trailed in a faint line. The cabin lay dark.

She didn’t have to wait long for her next visitor. The knock at her door came soon enough. Evelyn rose, igniting the numerous candles scattered around her cabin with a wave of her hand. “Enter,” she called.

Leon came in, glancing around quickly before closing the door behind him. “Thought you might have someone else in here,” he muttered.

“A divination,” she lied. “Nothing more. What brings you here?”

“What else?” Leon snorted. “I’m thinking about what to do next. Thinkin’ about the fight. It should’ve been the beginning and the end right there. What went wrong?”

“This began when you removed Elizabeth last year,” the demon reminded him. “She was the first obstacle. The Brotherhood was the next, and now they are gone. This was the proper time. As for what went wrong, ask yourself instead, ‘What went right?’”

Leon tilted his head thoughtfully. “We hurt them much worse than they hurt us. They had us outnumbered, but we had the element of surprise and we’re tougher. A few of ‘em were better in a fight than we expected, but everything we brought to the battle worked.”

“Yes. And we would have matched those numbers had we not lost the portal,” said Evelyn. “Those summoned to your aid fought on your behalf as expected. Had the portal remained open, it surely would have made the difference. There is no reason to abandon such a weapon.”

“Joe didn’t make it back,” noted Leon. “He was the only one of us who had the talent for that sort of magic. You said so yourself.”

“He alone had the natural talent for summoning under shifting conditions, yes. Any of you could conduct a more careful ritual under my guidance in a controlled environment. To conjure amid a battle was a risk. We knew that all along. We hoped to fuel and stabilize the portal with the blood of our enemies. That did not play out as we’d hoped. What if you tried it again under safer conditions?”

“You can show us how?”

“I can. The portal will be safer. Stable. You could assemble your forces and pick off your enemies at your leisure.”

“I’m not feelin’ a lot of leisure right now,” Leon grunted.

“Indeed. Your enemies will surely strike back. All the more reason to press your advantage. I can guide you, Leon, as I have all this time. The decision must be yours.”

“And the cost?”

“Yes,” the demon admitted. “All things come at a cost. Yet I’ve found there’s always someone else to pay the bill if you look hard enough.”

“Leon and his moron buddies had a bunch of crazy ideas to attain more power. Weird ritual schemes in places where magic is stronger. Soul-bonding bullshit that never works. Finding mystical artifacts. Stuff like that. They talked about reaching out to the ‘great beyond,’ too, and that’s when Elizabeth threw ‘em out on their asses.”

“Reaching out to the great beyond is bad?” asked Taylor. The crew sat around late night fast food in Lorelei’s living room, with Drew and the witches on one couch and the rest sitting on the other. “What does that actually mean? Like, contacting ghosts or something?”

“Ghosts, spirits, things people used to worship as gods,” Molly answered. “People do it, but it’s dumb. Once you start learning magic, you figure out real quick that you shouldn’t even mess with a Ouija board, let alone fuck around with the serious shit.”

Taylor tilted her head curiously. “What’s wrong with Ouija boards?”

“Nothing as long as somebody cheats, which is what usually happens,” Onyx scoffed. “Also, mass-produced crap like that doesn’t make for good ritual tools. But let’s say you overcome all that and get an answer from the board:
something
is answering your question. Do you really want to poke whatever’s on the other side of that connection just to ask who has a crush on you or where you misplaced your keys? Do you think the answers come without a price?”

The other young woman sank back against the couch. “Yikes.”

“I know, right?” said Onyx. “And it’s on every store shelf next to Life and Monopoly. Welcome to our world.”

“Seriously,” Jason grumbled. “All those old school board games suck. Their design is shit, the outcomes are totally random…what?” he asked as his friends stared at him.

“Focus, bro,” grunted Drew.

“Sorry, my bad,” Jason replied with a weary sigh. “Okay, so contacting the other side is crazypants, and…?”

Molly gave a tired shrug. “Like I said, some Practitioners do it. Most of the time, you’re only having a quick conversation with a spirit under controlled conditions. Some spirits are harmless. Some are stupid. The powerful ones are seriously dangerous, and that’s what Leon and the idiot brigade wanted to find. They wanted power. On the scale of things that’ll blow up in your face, that’s somewhere between taking out a loan from the mafia and self-medicating with crack. Nobody wants you around when you’re that desperate, right? So Elizabeth threw ‘em out and cut ‘em off her Christmas card list.”

“An’ that was four years ago?” asked Wade.

“About that, yeah. Far as I know, nobody heard from them since. Not until Kate invited them to tonight’s thing.”

“And now they’re running around with a demon,” said Onyx.

“Is that what happens when you call on the ‘great beyond’ for help?” Taylor asked. “You wind up in bed with…er…”

All eyes turned awkwardly to Lorelei. She sat in a plush chair facing the couches, having gently refused suggestions to lie down. Though she saw no need to hide her injuries from friends in private, she didn’t need to be coddled. For the first time since their fun in the casino, they saw her crack a smile, even if it was grim. “A fitting turn of phrase. Yes. It is a likely outcome of such foolishness. The line between ‘spirit’ and ‘demon’ is easily blurred.

“I only know Evelyn by reputation. She serves a powerful demon lord named Azazel. Evelyn works through sorcery and magic in much the same way a succubus like myself exploits carnal desires. She lures mortals into Hell’s control by playing upon their ambition, offering knowledge and techniques they could never learn on their own. She likely grants them some measure of raw infernal power, too. Naturally, this comes with a hidden price. If they are not wholly her puppets already, they are at least under her influence.”

“If she made ‘em so powerful, how come they didn’t take everyone out?” asked Drew.

“We had them outnumbered and they still did a pretty serious job,” noted Molly. “They also probably didn’t expect anyone to know how to fight demons. That clearly fucked up their plan. It would’ve been uglier if they stuck it out, too. I’m not calling that fight a win for our side.”

“They hit an’ they ran an’ got away with it,” said Wade. “Maybe they didn’ wipe everyone out, but it sounds like mission accomplished.”

“So that explains Evelyn,” said Taylor. “What about the other guy? Sammael? Is he on the same team she is?”

“The internet says he’s an angel, not a demon,” added Jason.

“He is a mixture of both,” Lorelei began. “Many demons are born of the Pit, while others are of mortal origin like myself. Some, like Sammael, were once angels. He is a special case in that he managed to retain much of his former power even after his fall from grace. I’m afraid I cannot tell the whole story. Karmic, metaphysical matters prevent that,” she added with a weary but teasing wink to Jason. “As a lord of the Pit, Sammael has only small holdings and few open followers. As an individual, though, he is certainly as powerful as the rest.”

“So not much of a following, but in a dark alley he’s as scary as any of the big boys?” Wade asked.

“A good way of putting it, yes. The other lords must contend with Sammael as an equal because of his raw power, and also because he is dangerously clever and resourceful. Sammael has won the secret loyalty of demons otherwise pledged to his rivals. He seduces, he subverts, he undermines. You saw his beauty. Imagine that, and his power, and then consider that his sweet words are equally compelling. Ultimately, only he knows how many demons are truly loyal to him rather than their masters.”

Lorelei paused. The faces looking back at her watched and listened with patience and without judgment. Somehow, that made it difficult to explain the rest. Gingerly, Lorelei stood and turned to the sliding glass door of the balcony. Directly ahead was an office building, yet to either side she could see the darkness of Elliott Bay.

If she didn’t care what these young mortals thought, it would have been easier.

“For most of my existence, I believed I was Sammael’s favorite. That may have even been true. While I served one master and then another, I stole time to be with him. I shared secrets. When I was caught by my masters, I endured their anger and punishment…and then I did it all over again.

“I was never so naïve as to believe demons might find love among their own kind. Yet after a few centuries of Sammael’s attention, I believed he and I were as close to it as one could hope. He told me that he would one day steal me away from my master, Baal. He made promises to me that are older than Christianity. Eventually, I was taken by another demon lord, Belial…and Sammael only repeated the same sweet words.

“Even as I grew disillusioned, he still provided more comfort and aid than I would have had without him. My hopes faded, but I played along as one might hedge a bet in case an opportunity arose. If nothing else, I knew he saw my value. That alone had to mean something.”

The others waited for her to continue. Instead, she stared at the reflection in the window. “He never tried, did he?” asked Taylor.

“No.” The question chased away her sadness. A soft, fond smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Someone else helped me escape. Entirely by accident, at first. Yet he made good on it, even in the face of the same dangers that were too much for Sammael. He did it with his—
our
friends. And here we are now.”

Her smile faded. She turned to face them again. “The iron crown of Baal remains unclaimed. Apparently none of the other lords have managed to seize it, nor have Baal’s servants. Many seem to believe I have the best claim. Sammael hasn’t suddenly turned up in my life again out of romantic interest. He wants me because he wants the crown. He believes I would rule Baal’s kingdom while he, in turn, rules me.”

“Given the fight y’all had, he prob’ly ain’t sold on that plan no more,” suggested Wade.

“One would think.”

“So what happened?” asked Onyx. “Did you think you could take him out?”

“I went with him because I did not want him to turn his attention on any of you,” Lorelei explained. “I needed to know his plans, and so I played along. Unfortunately, if he has any goals beyond winning me over and convincing me to claim the crown, he shared little of them. Evelyn is one of his friends, and possibly one of his converts. He says she is here on her own business for Azazel, and that he only joined her to search for me. Knowing Sammael, he would have told her as little as possible of his plans. She may be entirely unaware of my presence here.

“I also hoped my ambush would draw the attention of any nearby angels. In that, my plan succeeded. However, without Rachel here to tell us what happened, we must assume Sammael escaped.”

“How would he know you’d be there tonight?” asked Jason. “You guys can’t all magically find each other, right?”

“No, or my life would be far more complicated. It appears Sammael has Lydia in his pocket. She told him what happened here, including what little she remembered of Molly and Onyx, but that at least connected me to Practitioners in Seattle.”

“Sammael made sure to point Alex out to Evelyn when they first showed up,” said Onyx. “They didn’t say anything after that. No goofy villain monologue stuff. I’ll bet he showed up to see if we were there and then he left. Maybe Sammael was gunning for Alex from the start as leverage against you?”

“It seems likely,” said Lorelei. “Lydia knew of the bonds between myself and Alex, though exactly how much I am unsure. If Lydia told Sammael everything, he likely does see Alex as leverage, and as an impediment.”

“That would explain why Aaron tried to grab Alex,” said Molly. “But I’m still pretty sure that spell went wrong. They had to know where they were sending him ahead of time. Given that, they could’ve set up wards against scrying. That’s not too hard. Except when Onyx worked up that spell for Rachel to trace out your connection, she could see it without a problem. Wherever he landed, there’s nothing warding him from scrying.”

“I don’t think my spell gives Rachel an exact trace,” Onyx corrected. “That nail in his pocket works against me as much as anyone else. I’m only hoping the spell gets Rachel close enough to figure the rest out on her own. You’re right, though. If they could pull off teleporting a human being, they’ve gotta have the ability to block dowsing or tracing spells. The fact that they didn’t says something went all wrong.”

“Yet until we hear from Rachel or Alex, we cannot do much about it,” said Lorelei.

“So do you think Sammael set all this up to get to you?” Drew asked.

Lorelei frowned thoughtfully. “No. Kate and Jin initiated this gathering. They decided who to invite. I somehow doubt Sammael or Evelyn have strings on them, too. Sammael took advantage of Evelyn’s scheme, and therefore Azazel’s. He may have some interest in all that, but I believe I am his true objective here—myself and the crown.

“What troubles me most is what Azazel wants. Sammael said Seattle would not be pleasant much longer, and that we had created a power vacuum in the last few months. He’s right about that second point. The Brotherhood is gone, as are the vampires. The Light represent souls ripe for the taking, particularly by Evelyn, so his interest in them is natural. But her involvement in their aggression suggests much more than a harvesting of souls.”

“You don’t think it was all her idea?” asked Molly.

“It’s possible, but unlikely. I would expect Evelyn to merely encourage and help the Light along with their own worst ideas. Ultimately, she wants their souls for her master. The more evil they work, the deeper they fall into her grasp. The choice must still be theirs.”

“Why the fuck would they decide to do something like this on their own?” Molly pressed.

“Why wouldn’t they?” asked Onyx. “With the Brotherhood gone, we’re more powerful. There’s less of a drain on the magical energy around here. Same with the others who aren’t around anymore. I hate to say it, but it’s true. And with Elizabeth and the Brotherhood out of the way, who else does the Light have to worry about?”

“Everyone else in that room tonight,” said Jason. “Sounds like this was their Pearl Harbor.”

“Ugh, really?” Molly frowned. “It’s that simple?”

“We ain’t exactly talkin’ about the most rational folks in the world to start with,” said Wade. “Ah mean they’re shackin’ up in the mountains with canned food waitin’ for society to collapse, right? They ain’t subtle.”

Silence followed.

“So what do we do about it?” asked Drew. “We can guess all night what this Az-asshole guy wants, but we still gotta do somethin’. Let’s worry about the problem we understand, right?”

“Drew’s got a point,” said Wade. He turned to face the witches. “Y’all think your other buddies are fixin’ to do somethin’ about the attack tonight? Kate’s group or that Jin fella? At least some of the folks I saw in there looked like they can take care of business if’n they know trouble is comin’.”

“I don’t know,” said Molly. “Fact is, most Practitioners don’t specialize in being bad asses. They learn a thing or three to protect themselves, but that’s not the same as going to war. Faced with a problem like this, I don’t know what the other circles will do. I doubt most of them are up for another fight.”

“We can ask, right?” suggested Onyx. “It’s not like we can’t call a couple people tomorrow.”