Read Lord of Hell (Alex Holden) Online

Authors: Devin Harnois

Tags: #heaven, #gods, #demons, #Young Adult, #Supernatural, #hell

Lord of Hell (Alex Holden) (16 page)

BOOK: Lord of Hell (Alex Holden)
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I had to know how bad it was, so I teleported to the roof.

It was bad. Really fucking bad.

In the distance I could see it coming, a twisting black monster. Debris flew around it, and I wondered how many people were already injured. Dead. Californians were trained in earthquake safety, not tornado safety. The huge funnel was headed straight for the school and it looked like it would flatten everything in its path.

For a second I just watched in horror. I knew who was doing this, and that it was this particular town, headed for this particular school—that was no coincidence. I had to stop it, but how the fuck do you stop a tornado?

I called for Mew-Mew.

Alex, what?
Then he saw the tornado and stared.
Holy shit.

“Go get Semiazas and Naamah. Tell them to bring help, demons they can trust. I want them to go where the tornado passed and look for trapped and injured people. And try to find a god that can help me stop a tornado.” I was too scared and angry to think further than that, especially with that thing bearing down on the school.

Where Hayley and Casey were. And all my human friends.

Mew-Mew nodded and disappeared.

A power line snapped, sending up sparks that flashed around the twisting mass of wind. It was closer now and I heard it roar. I’d seen tornados before on TV and in clips on the Web, but never for real. The sight of it, the sound of it… it was like the end of the world.

That fucking bastard Jehovah.
I growled and put a hand on Animus’s hilt. Could I attack it? Cut it? With a wind that strong, would I even be able to get close enough to do damage, if I could do damage at all?

Wind… wind. Yes, a tornado was made of wind. Two systems of air colliding to create rotation. I pictured the diagram in my head, with colored arrows for airflow. A tornado was like a machine. A machine made of wind.

And I could talk to machines, make them turn on and off. I just had to figure out how to turn off the airflow, and the tornado would die.

I reached out, trying to feel the different systems in the atmosphere. The storm was supercharged, full of energy. No wonder that thing was so big. The air masses met, swirling together to form the tornado. I put my hands up toward the storm and closed my eyes. Warm air and cold air continued to pump in, making it stronger. I pulled, using my power to try to take the storm apart. A tiny shift, not enough, but a start.

I pulled harder as the roar of the tornado increased. Trying to go for both airflows was too hard. I focused on the warm air mass and yanked on it like it was a huge rope. “Come on!” I said through clenched teeth. Another slight budge.

I could call fire and dismiss it. I could talk to machines, make them do what I wanted. I could make it snow in the middle of a room. I could do this. It wasn’t any different, just bigger.

I put more power into it, sweat dripping from my temples as I pulled again. The air moved, but not enough. Damn it, I wasn’t going to let the tornado tear apart the school. My school, my friends.
Fuck you, Jehovah. You’re not going to win. You’re not going to hurt my friends!

I dug in, my claws coming out with the effort. I pulled as hard as I could and something came loose. I stumbled backward as a rush of warm air went past me. I opened my eyes in panic, fearing the tornado was already here, that I was too late. The wind blasted tears from my eyes and I rubbed them clear.

The tornado was no more than a half mile away now, but it was shrinking. I watched it draw back up into the clouds, dissipating as it went. For a few moments I waited, watching the clouds for any more signs of rotation. Nothing.

A footstep scraped on the cement of the roof. “So where’s this tornado you need help with?”

I turned to find Set standing there. Right. God of chaos, war, and storms. Of course.

“I uh… I took care of it.”

He arched an eyebrow on his odd animal face. “You dispelled a tornado?”

I shrugged. “It’s like a machine made of air, so I took away the source of its power.” Now there was a chill in the air and a few drops of rain splashed on the roof.

He chuckled, then looked up, sniffing the air. “This storm is not natural. Would you like me to get rid of it for you?”

“Yes, please.” I wiped sweat off my forehead.

He lifted a hand—he’s left-handed, like me—and flicked his fingers. The rain stopped and the clouds started to thin. “You’re a god now, with the powers of a god. I hope you’ll remember that when we go to war.” His eyes glowed red. “You aren’t pushing yourself hard enough.”

“What do you mean? In training?”

“Yes.”

I thought I’d been doing pretty good. “What do you think I should be doing?”

“Train with me. One-on-one. Train with Ares and Odin and the Morrigan, but not as one of your troops. You must be able to defeat us in training, or you have no hope of killing Jehovah.”

I nodded. “Tomorrow, then.” I fought against the sick churn of fear in my stomach. “Now I need to check on my friends. Could you stay and help with the rescue?” I was afraid to find out just how bad the tornado damage was.

Set considered it for a moment. “I am a god of chaos, not of healing.”

“But you can still help. Pull people out of collapsed houses, take them to paramedics. You don’t have to heal them yourself.”

Another pause. “I will send some of my servants to help.”

I supposed that had to be good enough. “Thanks.”

He left and I went inside to check on everyone. I found Miguel first, at the top of the stairs. “Alex! What’s going on?” All the kids nearby heard and turned to look. They all started asking the same thing.

“Everything’s okay. The tornado is gone.”

“Are you sure?” a girl asked.

“Yeah, totally gone. The storm is breaking up. Does anyone know where Hayley is?”

They all shook their heads and I went on, checking the crowded interior rooms. Some kids were glued to their phones, reading news information or Facebook updates to those around them.

I kept passing the message that everything was fine. Someone turned off the alarm and I sighed in relief as I stepped into another room. Hayley spotted me first, jumping up from where she’d been sitting and running to greet me with a tight hug. Casey came running right behind her. “Casey said he prayed to you and you came. What happened?”

“I stopped the tornado.” The image of it dissipating filled my mind. I could still hardly believe it.

“What?”

“I’ll explain later. Let’s tell everyone it’s safe to leave.” I recruited a few teachers to help me spread the word and the rooms and stairwells emptied in a few minutes.

I took Hayley and Casey and a few other friends aside and explained what had happened.

“Tornados aren’t supposed to happen here,” Casey said.

“You think Jehovah did this, like the other disasters?” Hayley asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, and it’s no coincidence that thing was headed straight for the school. He targeted you guys because you’re my friends.” I wanted to attack right now and take Jehovah out so he couldn’t go after them again, but Set was right. I needed more training. Sure I’d killed Satan, but maybe I’d gotten lucky. I needed every advantage I could get. So I had to find a way to keep my friends safe. I could give them demon bodyguards, but there weren’t that many I trusted for a job like that, and those I did trust needed to keep training to lead troops into battle.

Animals would certainly be willing, but they wouldn’t be able to do much protecting. They couldn’t even come get me if there was trouble. Maybe they could pray? Did that work with animals? Or I could ask ghosts to help. Would they be able to come to Hell to get me if there was trouble? I’d have to ask them and find out.

“You think he’ll try it again?”

The worry on Casey’s face made me angrier. “Probably,” I said. “But I’ll find a way to protect you guys. Don’t worry.”

“Have you made any progress in getting me superpowers?” Hayley asked.

She wasn’t letting it go. “Not yet, my librarian is still working on it.” I should ask the other gods about it, too. And the ghosts, maybe they knew something. Ghosts had brought Tyr’s sword to help us take on Fenrir, after all. They might know of a weapon or a spell or something that would give Hayley enough power to fight angels, at least temporarily.

I gave them more reassurances and told them to go join the others, to call their parents and see if they were all right. Then I went to go check on the rescue effort.

The demons had all been smart enough to take on human forms while they helped out scared and injured tornado victims. Naamah reported they’d helped several in the short time since they arrived, and I joined them. We found injured people, trapped people, and a few bodies. Sirens filled the area as rescue workers arrived. We brought them to the injured, helped them dig through rubble to reach people. It was like the earthquake all over again.

With every destroyed house, every damaged business, every bleeding person, and with every body, I got more and more pissed. Jehovah was going to pay. All of this was because he wanted to hurt me and he was making the mortal world suffer for it. He wanted to hurt my friends, my city.

My world.

When we’d found everybody and helped get every injured person off to the hospital, me and the demons returned to Hell. I went looking for Set and found him out on the empty plain that used to be the Swamp of Suicides.

“Let’s start right now,” I said, drawing Animus. “Show me how to kill a god.”

Chapter 19

The librarian stood and bowed when I entered. “Lord Alex.”

“Have anything for me yet?”

“I have a few possibilities… mentions of spells that grant power, certain weapons and artifacts. I am searching for secondary sources to confirm these possible leads.”

Hell, in case you haven’t guessed, doesn’t have Google or Wikipedia. I suppose this isn’t the kind of thing you’d want to trust to an Internet search, anyway. “So nothing for sure yet?”

He gave me a sidelong glance. “Well, there is one thing…”

“Yes?” I held myself back from demanding he spit it out.

“From what I have heard of you, my lord, you will not like this idea.”

“Tell me anyway, and let me decide.” A little growl crept into my voice.

“Yes, my lord. You see, you have the power to give a mortal nearly anything they desire, including the powers of a demon.”

I felt it coming and I just had to say it. “But?”

“But it requires a contract between you and the mortal. They receive the power in exchange for—”

“Their soul.” I closed my eyes. “No way. Look for something else.” I was
not
going to ask Hayley to sell her soul so she could fight a war in Heaven. No way. That was fucking crazy.

“I thought you might have an issue with the idea, so I spoke with one of the contract experts. She assured me that the contract can be voided after the fact if both parties sign an amendment to the contract. Essentially, the amendment can state that the mortal gives up the power granted by you, and you will return the soul.”

“What about tricks? Fine print?” There was always something in those contracts.

The librarian shook his head. “Those would only be in the contract if
you
requested them. The contract must exist for you to grant the mortal power, but the contract itself can be simple and straightforward. Satan employed tricks, loopholes, and fine print, but that does not mean you must. The contract would simply exist for the purposes of the exchange, and the amendment would reverse that exchange.”

I shook my head. It still sounded like a trick. A deal with the devil. Except now
I
was the devil. “What if she dies in battle?” The words almost caught in my throat, but if she was going to fight, she might die. I might die. We all might die. “Before we can sign the amendment?”

“Then, unfortunately, her soul would belong to you. She would go to Hell.”

Hayley in Hell. She didn’t deserve that. But then again, many of the souls I’d come across down here didn’t deserve to be in Hell, either. “She could go to the Eternal Gardens.” I shook my head again. No, I couldn’t even consider this.

A little voice spoke up and pointed out that it wasn’t my decision alone. It was Hayley’s, too. “Keep looking for other ways,” I told the librarian.

I called Hayley when she got out of school and asked her to come over so we could talk. I dreaded having this conversation, but it was better to get it over with instead of having it weigh on me.

She buzzed me at the front door and I let her up. “So what it is it?” she asked as I let her into the apartment.

“The librarian is still working on ways to get you powers.” I took a deep breath. “But there is one possibility. One I don’t even really want to consider, but I thought I should tell you anyway.”

“What is it?”

“You could sell your soul to me.” I watched her carefully.

“What? You mean like write a contract in blood giving you my soul in exchange for power? Like that Faust guy did to be young again?”

I wanted to ask if she’d heard the Faust story before or after we started dating. “Pretty much, except I don’t think the contract has to be in blood. Maybe the signature. I didn’t ask,” I said. “But I don’t want you to do it. Selling your soul to me, that’s just… ugh.” I shuddered.

“Well, what does it mean? That I end up in Hell when I die? So what?” She shrugged. “Jehovah already tried to kill me and everyone else in school. You think he’s going to let me into Heaven?”

“I, uh… I guess I didn’t think about it that way. But you could go somewhere else, some other paradise.”

“Like the Eternal Gardens you made? I want to go there when I die.”

I ran my hand through my hair. “That’s not really what it’s intended for. I made it for souls Jehovah wouldn’t let into Heaven.”

“Yeah, which is what I’ll be when I die.”

“Can we stop talking about you dying?” It made me feel cold and sick.

“Well, that’s what selling my soul is about, right? Where I go after I die.” She leaned against the back of the couch.

BOOK: Lord of Hell (Alex Holden)
2.07Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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