Mercy for the Damned (16 page)

I knew there wasn’t any point in arguing with him, and it really was our best bet to get them back.  Plus, I can admit a selfish part of me didn’t want Adam to be the one to go out after them, I’d just gotten him back.  “Keep in touch then, and good luck.”  I leaned up to kiss his cheek. 

“Will you tell Daphne where I’ve gone?”

“I will, I promise.”  Sam looked to Adam, but he was studiously looking out the back slider onto the night sky, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge him.  With a sad little wave, Sam was gone, and I went to wrap my arm around Adam’s waist. 

“It was such a good plan,” he sighed, leaning his head on top of mine.

“Too easy, we have to keep things interesting, right?” I tried to lighten the mood, but he didn’t respond more than a twitch of the lips into what might have been a faint smile.

“I’m gonna owe Naberios a fortune for this.”

“Hey, if you’ve got twenty large, I can get us a different way in,” I joked, more than a little surprised when Adam turned me to face him better.

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s another way in to Midian, didn’t you know?  Remiel, he said he knew you.”

“Oh right, I forgot I did hear something about him getting tangled up with a demon at some point.  It ended kinda badly as I recall.  Why didn’t you use that way before?” 

“He wouldn’t tell us where it is.”

“And?” he waited.

“And… Sam said he couldn’t do anything to another angel, and it’s not like I was willing to meet his price, so we left.”

“Honestly, it’s a miracle you people survived without me out here,” Adam muttered, fishing the keys out of his pocket.

“What are you gonna do to get him to talk?”

“Whatever it takes.”

I could see the wheels turning in his head, and it occurred to me, he probably did have that kind of money.  “Adam…”

“Relax, okay?  I’ll get it out of him. Remy owes me a favor or three from back in the day.” 

I didn’t like to think what the two of them might have gotten up to back then, but I did intend to be there when the boys’ reunion took place.  “Fine, I’m coming with you then.”

“Fine, as long as I can drive.”

“Be my guest, I can take a nap along the way.”

“Aw, and here I was hoping you’d help me pass the time another way,” he grinned, and I blinked as I caught on to what he was suggesting.

“In the car?”

“Why not?”

“While you’re driving?”

“I have fantastic multi-tasking abilities,” he flashed his eyes playfully.

I bet…
  “Come on, at this rate it’ll be dawn by the time we get there.”

* * *  

The room was a good deal cleaner when Remiel pulled the door open, my nose was happy to report, and the man himself had gone through quite a transformation.  Gone was the greasy hair hanging in his face, his dark blonde hair had been cut and styled, falling just above the collar, still longer than was strictly fashionable, but it looked good on him.  The five o’clock shadow was still in place, but it had that carefully cultivated look rather than unkempt and unwashed. 

Instead of the stained wifebeater, he wore a shiny gray suit with casual grace despite the shabby surroundings.  This was a man I could believe had once been an angel, though he definitely had that Fallen cast to him.  He greeted us with a drink in hand, surprise coloring his handsome features, before a slow grin spread across his face. 

“Well, look what the kitty cat dragged in.  I see you got your man back on your own.  Good to see you, brother,” Remiel held out a hand, which Adam clasped warmly. 

“No thanks to you I hear,” Adam returned the smile, giving no sign at all that his refusal to help us bothered him one bit.  “Nice place you’re got here.  It reminds me of that shithole we stayed at in… where was that?” 

“Alabama?  Arkansas? Arizona? It was definitely an A name,” Remiel chuckled, pulling the door open wider.  “Come on in,
mi casa es su casa,
” he drawled. 

Adam strolled in, helping himself to a drink without asking.  I squeezed past Remiel through the doorway, it sure seemed like he took up a lot of space when it was my turn to pass through. 

“Damn, you smell good, kitten,” he leaned closer still to sniff at my neck.  “I’m glad you decided to come by for another visit.”

“This isn’t a social call,” I frowned, taking a big step away as soon as I was past the short hallway. 

“No?  Not here to catch up on old times since your girl sprung ya?” he looked up to Adam, who shrugged.

“Maybe a little of both.  I hear you held out on her and Samael when they came to visit you on my behalf.”

It was Remiel’s turn to shrug.  “I offered them a fair price.  You know how it is.  A man can’t go givin’ away freebies, people will think he’s soft, take advantage of him.  Besides, it didn’t do you no harm, you look fit as a fiddle.”

“Twenty G’s is a fair price?  You know Sam can’t get his hands on that kind of cash without me around,” Adam scoffed, further cementing my belief that he definitely had the money to spare. 

“I offered to take it out in trade, but your girl wasn’t interested.”

“Damn right I wasn’t,” I muttered, expecting Adam to take issue to the offer, but he seemed amused over it. 

“What can I say, I ruined her for all other men,” he smirked.  “Of course, I expect a discounted price when you give it to me.”

“Discounts, is it?  Well then, let’s get down to it,” Remiel rubbed his hands together, his eyes alight with avarice.  “You know my previously stated price, what are you offerin’?”

“I’ll give you five thousand, cash up front.”

“I’ll take an hour with your girl instead.”

“No deal!” I interjected, not sure if I should be insulted or complimented by his counteroffer. 

“She’s not part of this negotiation, brother.  I’ll raise my offer to seven, and that’s being more than generous.”

“Everything’s up for negotiation,” Remiel grinned.  “How about two G’s, and you and I share her for a couple of hours?  That way everybody wins.” 

“Eewh, except for me,” I recoiled, ready to let Adam have it if he so much as looked like he was considering it.  Luckily for his sake, he didn’t bat an eye and ponied up more cash. 

“Ten thousand and that’s my final offer.”

“Cash up front?”

“Five now and five after we return,” Adam countered.

“No dice.  You never make it back and I’m out five large.  What you in such a lather to get back into Midian for anyways?  You just got out.”

“We’re going to bind Azazael.”  Adam’s eyes glittered with glee.

“Damn, you’re buckin’ for Azazael?” His brows shot up a notch.  “How’d you get your hands on him?”

“He’s trapped inside a friend’s body.  We’re trying to keep him from coming after me.  You know, to be reborn?”  He stared at me blankly, without a clue as to what I was talking about.  “You really aren’t up on current events, are you?”  Everybody else in the angelic community seemed to know far too much about my business, it was weird to come across someone who had such little care for the supernatural world around him. 

“And the skirts got no problem with you bindin’ their boy?” he asked, his voice rife with skepticism.

“Like I give a damn what Nathanael and his goons want,” Adam muttered.  “Are you gonna help us or not?”

“It’s not as simple as all that.  It’s not just tellin’ ya where the portal is.  If it was that easy I’d send you on your way and wish you well.”

“So what is it then?  If it’s not a where?” I frowned, not sure I followed him. 

“We got some witches to magic us up a portal so we could see each other whenever we wanted.  It ain’t tied to a place, it’s tied to an object.”  Remiel poured himself another drink, staring into its amber depths before he continued.  “Lysha’s ring.”

Lysha, who was now dead.  Were we spending all that time on a wild goose chase?  “And you still have that ring?”

“I got it,” he gave a slow nod.  “It’s all I got left of her, you expect me to give that up for nothing?”

“Ten thousand is hardly nothing,” Adam scoffed, and I shot him a look, feeling like the only reason Remiel kept asking for such outrageous prices for the ring was because he didn’t want to part with it at all. 

“I’ll bring it back to you, I promise,” I met his gaze squarely.

“And what if you don’t make it back, like she didn’t?  What then, huh, kitten?  What good’s a promise when you ain’t alive to see it through?” I saw the pain behind his eyes, shining bright behind the swagger and bravado.   

“Because I’m here to make sure she does,” Adam replied gravely.  “I’ll have the ten for you as soon as the banks open.”

Remiel reached into his shirt, grabbing hold of a chain around his neck and tugging until it snapped, the woman’s ring dangling from it swinging wildly as he thrust it into my hands.  “Take it and go.  You can owe me one.”

“You already owe me a fortune, I’ll just scratch off one of yours,” Adam grinned.

“No.  She,” Remiel nodded to me, “your girl can owe me one for this.  I ain’t doin’ it for you, Adamiel.”

“I’d rather pay you the ten grand,” Adam frowned. 

“It’s fine, Adam.  I’ll bring the ring back to you, I promise.  And I’ll owe you a favor, of a non-sexual nature to be redeemed sometime in the future.  Deal?” I offered him a faint smile. 

“You drive a hard bargain.”  Remy offered his hand and I took it, more affected than I wanted to be by his dazzling smile.  “Damn girl, but you do shine.  You ever consider throwing over that skirt chaser and looking for a real man, you give me a holler, y’hear?

“I will strongly consider that,” I nodded, suppressing another smile.  You had to give a guy points for trying.  Adam cleared his throat, and I snatched my hand away guiltily, looking down at the ring.  It was delicately cast in silver with a light green stone set into a hinged lid, like an old fashioned poison ring.  “So, how do we make this thing work?  Is there an incantation or something?”

“Naw, it’s simpler than that.  For the ring to work, you gotta stand under the light of the moon, and ask the Goddess Hecate to open the portal for you.” 

“Hecate’s mixed up in this?” Adam’s brow furrowed.  “I guess that makes sense.”

“Goddess?  So… you’re saying there’s more than one God then?” My mouth fell open in surprise, but Adam shook his head.

“That’s a can of worms best left unopened.”

“Oh, and you need a drop of virgin’s blood in this here doohickey,” Remiel took the ring from my hands and popped open the chamber, revealing a tiny recess under the stone.  “I’m guessing that don’t apply to you, does it, gorgeous?”

Still reeling over the idea that there were other pantheons of deities out there at our beck and call, I was slow to react to Remiel’s question.  “Um, not exactly.  Why virgin’s blood?”

“Magic don’t come without a cost, sweetheart.  You want it or not?” he held the ring up as if to slip it onto my finger. 

Darting a quick look to Adam, I raised my hand, letting him slide it on as though we were engaged.  Maybe it was my imagination, but I felt a tingle of power from the ring, or maybe it was just the cool metal.  Either way, it made me a little nervous, but I covered it with a smile.  “Thank you.  Where will the portal open up, on the Midian side, I mean?”

“In the lower decks by the slave pens.”

I looked to Adam and he gave a slow nod, apparently he knew where that was.  “And when we come back?”

“You can leave from anywhere, and it’ll take you to the same place you went in.”

“Alright then, I think we’re good,” I nodded, my mind already racing ahead to try and figure out how quickly we could arrange to leave for Midian. 

“You ain’t got to rush off right away, do you?” Remiel side stepped to block the doorway.  “We’re almost out of moonlight and you can’t go on to Midian yet.  Stay a spell and have a drink.  We can catch up on old times,” he sent an appealing grin to Adam.

I was all set to beg off, when I caught sight of Adam’s face, giving me a pleading, pouty look.  “Why don’t you boys stay and catch up?  I’ll take the car and head back, it’s been a long day.” 

For a long moment I thought Adam would agree, but instead he finished his drink and wrapped an arm around me.  “No, I’d better get you home.  It was good seeing you again, Remy.  We’ll catch up when this business is over,” he promised. 

“Yeah, alright,” Remiel sighed, running his hands through his hair.  “You’d better keep a tight hold on your girl. Raum sees her, you’re gonna have a fight on your hands to keep her.”

“Been there, done that, got the t-shirt,” Adam smirked as they shook hands.  “Take care, man.”

“Always do, brother.  Always do.”

Chapter Thirteen

I fell asleep again on the way home, only vaguely waking when Adam picked me up to carry me up to my apartment.  I probably could have walked, but feeling him sweep me off my feet… who wouldn’t love that?  Instead I wrapped my arms around his neck, eyes closed against the early morning light as he climbed the stairs to my floor, breathing in the scent of him that always made me smile.  Adam didn’t stop until he hit the bedroom, laying me down gently, and slowly taking off my shoes.  I let him undress me like a five year old, more than a little amused by the thoughtful look on his face.

“I can take care of myself you know.”

“I don’t mind taking care of you.  In fact, I kind of like it.  As long as you reciprocate of course,” he grinned.  

I could definitely get used to that…  “Where are we gonna get virgin’s blood?” I remembered suddenly.  Not that virgins are all that scarce, but I personally didn’t know any, and it seemed like an awkward way to begin a conversation with a total stranger. 

“I can get it.”

“Where?”  His keeping me in the dark over the details was starting to really bother me.  With our track record, he wasn’t likely to always be around, no matter what he promised.  What if I needed to find my own source of virgin blood for the future? 

“Don’t worry…”

“Don’t you dare tell me not to worry my pretty little head about it,” I cut him off, rising up on my elbows.  “Damn it, Adam, you can’t treat me like I’m a child.  I’m in this up to my eyeballs.”