Payable On Death: A Jax Rhodes Novel, Book One (The Jax Rhodes Series 1) (15 page)

Evidently, Tobias had
been planning the campaign for awhile and gave very specific orders to Joseph regarding our supply list. Dane and I were loaded to the teeth, looking pretty badass, if not like something out of the Punisher comics. Two Desert Eagle .50 cals loaded with custom-made blessed rounds engraved with a cross straight from the Vatican rested in holsters on my hip. A belt of holy water hand grenades were strapped across my chest and the daggers Dane gave me were fastened in sheaths on each thigh. Both of us were dressed in black from head to toe, leather pants and Kevlar-infused tops to protect us from the razor sharp claws. The only differences in our outfits were the heel of our boots, mine slightly higher, a woman's boot, and the length of our coats; Dane's the traditional length, hitting his ankles where mine stopped just at the knee.

With dawn still a couple hours away, we decided to move while we still had the cover of darkness to conceal us and the arsenal we carried. We left the two angels behind, keeping to the shadows, and made our way to the church. The minute we crossed the edge of the neutral zone, I felt them, my internal demon alarm on high alert. A distinct sulfur-like odor wafted out from the dilapidated building, bringing on a wave of nausea strong enough to make me gag.

"Here, try this." Dane handed me a small jar. "It helps, trust me."

"Vicks vapor rub?" The unmistakable menthol hitting me as soon as I unsealed the container.

"The smell of decay, of death, is a part of my job. Doesn't mean I enjoy it."

He had a point. I swiped a finger through the rub, drawing a small line beneath each nostril, the gagging stopping almost immediately.

"Nice trick." I tossed the jar back to him. "Maybe Vicks should start a whole new marketing campaign for medical examiners and homicide detectives."

"And demon hunters?"

"Definitely—I could read a testimonial in a commercial. Four out of five demon hunters approve."

"You ready?" Dane flipped a mental switch, his tone serious, putting an end to our light banter.

"Are
you
ready? Why does everyone ask if
I'm
ready? I'm not the only one going into a nest of demons."

Dane smiled, brushing a strand of hair that escaped my ponytail out of my face and tucking it behind my ear. I closed my eyes, imagining for a moment what life would be like if we were just two normal people. But we weren't normal. Never had been, never would be. I was born into this life, the last Elioud, the Chosen, and so was Dane, fulfilling his familial duty, becoming the next Sin Eater in a long line of Sin Eaters. It's who we were and nothing would change that.

"You going to stand around until the sun comes up or are we going to do this thing?" Mustering all the bravado I could find, I stepped onto the soiled church grounds.

"That's my girl." Dane chuckled, falling in one step behind me and just off to my right side.

After canvassing the exterior and quietly dispatching two lesser demons lurking by the tombstones disintegrating in the small cemetery behind the church, we moved in, entering through a back door by the pastor's office. Carpet, once plush and no doubt a lovely shade of rectory red, had become a blackened, mold-ridden mushroom farm, emitting funky puffs of air with every boot step. Every cross, every statue, had been removed. Stark outlines on the wall from where paint became dirty and faded around them were the only reminders they'd been there at all.

Rotten trash and stale urine permeated the air, unfortunate remnants from the homeless taking shelter before the demons took over. Small beams of moonlight through the holes in the roof cast eerie shadows on the wall as we crept past the pulpit to the basement door on the other side of the dais and before the parish hall. Rats scurried beneath the pews and along the walls and we crunched roaches beneath our feet. Something indecipherable crawled through the organ pipes. It was no longer a house of worship. This was a house of horrors.

Dane reached the basement door before me, ready to pull it open once I got in position. I braced myself for a wave of demons rushing up the steps at the sound and nodded for him to go ahead. The door swung open, pulling up a draft of hot, foul air from the lower level. The stench, a hundred times worse than outside, rendered the menthol rub ineffective. My eyes watered and my nose burned as I fought back the urge to vomit, grateful I'd lost my appetite earlier.

One foot in front of the other, I forced myself to go down the steps to find the source of the wretched stench. With our backs to opposite walls, Dane keeping an eye on anything behind us while I watched the front, we made our descent. An orange glow, soft and warm, became visible as we reached the last two stairs.

"What the hell?" I stepped off the last riser, careful not to get any closer to the source of the light.

"That looks about right." Dane quickly swept the area for demons, giving the all clear before we examined it further.

"What is it?" I asked, hoping he at least had an idea of what we were looking at.

"Best guess? A portal of some kind."

"To Hell?"

"From Hell. I have a terrible feeling they didn't get round trip tickets."

A large fissure opened up the floor, cracking clean through the old linoleum, the foundation, the packed earth beneath the church, all the way to the first level of Hell. Apart from the faint sounds of despair and pain from the tortured and tormented souls of the damned, the portal remained quiet. It occurred to me that one of those wailing voices could have been mine. I'd been a hair's breadth away from going the other way when I finally died. Instead, I'd been given quasi-immortality in exchange for slaying demons. My decision to become a hunter solidified in that moment.

"We have to close it." Pulling two grenades free from the belt across my chest, one in each hand, I slipped my finger through the pin loop and held in the triggers.

I popped the pins and tossed the explosives into the center of the portal, hauling ass up the stairs behind Dane. Like a magnitude seven earthquake, the ground shook violently beneath us as the grenades went off, causing the stairs to break away before we reached the top. Fire and debris erupted from the floor, engulfing the staircase. We lunged, Dane easily clearing the distance from his higher position. My feet hit the edge of the floor, the tips of my toes barely finding purchase. I grabbed hold of the doorway, holding on for dear life. So much for all the parkour training. Joseph would not be pleased with my performance.

Dane grabbed my wrist to pull me into the hallway just as another tremor rocked the church. The doorjamb I'd been holding onto broke away at the same time as the section of floor beneath me. Flames licked my feet as I dangled from Dane's hold on my arm. I reached for the jagged edge, my fingers clutching desperately, and tried to help pull myself up. Before I could hook an elbow on the floor, a wave of torment hit me, gnawing at the empty space where my soul used to reside.

The anguish and despair pulled me back down as the ghostly fingers of the damned tried to take hold of my body. Bracing himself against the force dragging me back down toward the epicenter, Dane leaned back, throwing all his weight into yanking me in the opposite direction.

Kicking at the ethereal beings that still somehow manipulated physical force, I tried again to use all my upper body strength utilizing Dane as a pull-up bar. My sense of urgency escalated to emergency when the grimace on his face from playing tug of war with my body shifted to fear. Against my better judgment and Dane's advice, I looked down. A swirling vortex, sucking everything in its wake had formed, pulling dirt, rock, souls, my boots and one sock, with my pants threatening to follow.

"Jax!" Dane shouted over the deafening roar of the wind cycling under us. "Don't let go."

"Are you serious? Why would I let go? Put your back in to it and pull!" The corner of my mouth turned up in a crooked grin, even as my fingers slipped further down.

He shifted his footing, fighting with everything he had to hold on. The bones in my hands rubbed together as he tightened his grip. Dane pulled and this time I moved. We didn't stop to question why the gateway stopped consuming everything in front of it and focused on getting me back on the first floor. Not until both of my feet touched a solid portion of floor did we peer over the edge to figure out what was going on.

Something had changed inside what remained of the portal. Full from consuming half the basement and a good portion of the first floor, the demonic doorway couldn't hold any more. The air bent and flexed, the orange glow fading. I thought I destroyed the gateway before, but I'd only succeeded in pissing it off. This was different.

"Do you think something on the other side flipped a reverse switch?" I asked, not expecting an answer. Neither of us had a clue.

We watched the portal shift, bulging outward until the heat from the hellfire churning inside it singed our skin.

"We need to go. Now." Dane grabbed my arm and hauled ass to the nearest exit, all need for discretion long since gone.

Hot on his heels—literally, since our clothes were smoking—I followed him down the center aisle to the main door. He shouldered it open, breaking through the rusted locks, and kept running until we reached the sidewalk. Doubled over, chests heaving, we hadn't even caught our breath before the church exploded. The force of the blast knocked us clear into the middle of the street. Car alarms sounded as tremors vibrated through the street, setting off their sensors. Debris rained down from the plume of smoke, leaving everything covered in a thick layer of ash. Sirens wailed in the distance.

Our cue to exit.

I doubted this was the shock and awe campaign Tobias had in mind. We made a hasty retreat back to the neutral ground instead of pressing on to the next location. My gut told me there were more gateways scattered all over the city. Unfortunately, blowing up every abandoned church on Tobias's map wasn't really an option, more of a last-resort-the-world-is-going-to-end-for-real sort of contingency plan.

I hoped like hell Tobias had another idea.

Back at the
apartment, Tobias was waiting anxiously for our return. He jumped from the couch when we came through the door and rushed to meet us only to skid to a halt when he noticed our condition.

"I take it things did not go according to plan."

"Under statement of the year." I shrugged out of my leather jacket and what was left of my gear, stripping down to just my tattered shirt and pants.

Dane did the same while I went to the kitchen to grab us some water, leaving a trail of dirty footprints in my wake. I opened the fridge, staring at the bottled water for a moment before closing the door. What I really needed was in the freezer. I grabbed a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses and headed for the sofa.

"Tell me everything." Tobias headed me off and steered me to the dining area and the wooden chairs surrounding the table. I guess he didn't want to clean a soot imprint of my body from the cushions.

Dane filled him in on the lack of demons, which we found unusual given the number we'd seen at the last church and described in great detail the portal, while I poured our shots. He slammed his back, tapping it on the table to signal a refill, before getting to the part about the explosion. I knocked back my own shot and waited for Tobias's reaction to the news that we'd inadvertently blown up a street corner.

"I need to speak to Thomas. The destruction of this portal won't go unnoticed. Get cleaned up and get some rest while you can."

"Dibs on the shower." I buried the sting of being excluded from seeing Thomas, reminding myself it was for the best, and headed for the bathroom, completely aware of Dane's gaze on me as I walked away.

Steam filled the bathroom, creating a damp cloud of dust that clung to my lungs as I disrobed. Running a hand under the spray, I checked to be sure the water reached maximum heat before stepping inside the stall. Ash and grime clogged the grout lines along the shower floor, turning the water pooling around my feet a muddy gray color. Sloshing the water around with my foot to clear the dirt away, I watched it swirl around the drain and tried to ignore the similarity to the way the portal reacted just before it exploded. I prayed Tobias came back with a solution to the problem of destroying those things, because I was convinced there were more. My gut and I hadn't always been in agreement; nevertheless, it was high time I listened to it.

After scrubbing, shampooing, conditioning and a rinse, I got out of the shower and dried off. The pile of folded clothes I usually brought in with me since sharing an apartment with Thomas was noticeably absent. Not one who shied away from exposing a little flesh when the situation called for it, I'd developed a slight case of modesty living with an angel and now a sudden case of nerves when I realized I'd have to walk by my Sin Eater to get to my room in nothing more than a towel. He'd seen me in less during Dr. Rob's examination and stitch fest but that did nothing to quell the swarm of butterflies in my stomach.

Clenching the front of the towel, I padded barefoot to my room, leaning against the door I'd shut behind me. I damn near jumped out of my skin when he called out from the hall to ask if I'd left him any hot water. My mouth dry as the Sahara, my heart pounding out of my chest, I slowed my breathing, stopped listening to the negative voices in my head and started listening to my gut. Which said it was time to put on the lace panties and make my move.

There wasn't time to be nervous or second guess myself. There was only this moment and it would never come again. With no way of knowing what the next day would bring, other than demons, more fighting, or worse, the Spear and eminent death, I chose not to waste another second on old fears and inner demons.

Rejection wasn't what waited for me in his arms.

The shower turned off, followed by the click of the bathroom door opening a few seconds later. Still wrapped in my towel, I opened the door to my room and found Dane with his hand poised to knock. He looked at me, gaze roaming every visible inch with a need so raw it left me speechless. His desire matched my own, heightened by the adrenaline from the explosion and the anticipation of being together.

With trembling hands, I reached for the towel tied around his waist and pulled him inside. Kicking the door shut behind him, he followed my lead. I could tell it took all his restraint not to devour me and I fell a little more for him because he understood I needed it to be on my terms, my pace. Another night, I'd let him play the dominant role. For our first time, I wanted control and he willingly gave that to me.

I dropped my towel, baring all of myself to him, every cut, every bruise, every inch of me, even my fragile heart. Stepping into his waiting arms, I undid his towel as well, my soft sigh barely audible over the sound of the terrycloth as it fell to the floor.

Backing him up until his legs hit the mattress, I pressed him down on the bed, marveling over the fact that he was mine. A similar expression crossed his face as I climbed up beside him. Neither of us innocent and yet the experience felt brand new, as if we were giving ourselves to someone for the first time. Dane was the one—he'd made a home in the place where my soul used to be and would live there forever. There would be no ceremony, no exchanging of rings, just a primal joining of two bodies, two hearts, two minds and the vow to stand side by side together as long as we walked the Earth. And even after that.

Curled together under the covers, our bodies still slick with sweat and our breathing labored, Dane drew lazy circles on my body. He lowered the sheet, exposing my back and placed a kiss on each shoulder blade where the two tattooed wings sprouted. Saying he loved both sides of me without uttering a word.

"I have roamed aimlessly for so long, searching for something without ever knowing what it was and then I found you."

I rolled over and kissed him, whispering against his mouth, "And now that you have me?"

"I'll fight every last demon in Hell to keep you."

I prayed it didn't come to that.

Tobias found us the next morning still asleep, tangled in each other's arms like we were afraid the other would disappear while we slept. When clearing his throat and coughing loudly didn't rouse us, the angel grabbed a pot and a wooden spoon from the kitchen, banging them together until we bolted upright, Dane scrambling to cover me up. Heat flashed through my cheeks as I met Tobias's eyes. Instead of the disappointment in my behavior I expected, he just smiled. Pointing to two neatly folded piles of clothes on my dresser, he instructed us to get dressed and meet him in the dining area.

"The news is reporting a gas line break which led to the explosion at the church. Thank Heaven there was no evidence to the contrary. The last thing we need is police and an arson investigation interfering with our plans. I should have stressed the need for discretion." Tobias poured a cup of coffee from the decanter on the table and handed it to me before pouring one for himself and for Dane.

"You gave me the grenades, Tobias. If you didn't want things to go
boom
, you shouldn't have given me handheld bombs."

"I expected you to use the grenades. What I didn't expect was for you to level a street corner." The firm words didn’t match his soft spoken voice. As far as tongue lashings went, it was pretty weak. Dark circles were visible under his eyes, small creases in the corners, a worry line in his brow, where a week before there had been none. He was too tired to go another round with me.

"She didn't know that would happen. Neither did I. We stumbled on the portal and the knee jerk reaction was to destroy it." Dane spoke over the rim of his mug. "Is this coconut?"

"Mmm, Angel's Kiss. My favorite." I sipped the coffee, savoring the flavors while I waited for the brew to work its magic. "The coffee. The name is just a weird coincidence." I added, pointing to my mug at Dane's quirked brow.

"Before this goes completely off the rails, let's get back on track." Tobias shook his head, his smile barely reaching his eyes. "Thomas found something in the archives that can help us seal the portals without any collateral damage."

He unrolled a parchment scroll with the care a new mother would show their newborn, making it painfully obvious how much he missed his role of scholar and tutor. He'd been thrust into a position as close to the front lines as an angel could be because temptation and a real desire to act upon it contaminated the one originally assigned to this task. Whether he admitted it or not, Tobias's skills were actually well suited for his new role. Dane and I needed an analyst, a strategist. Someone to come up with the plan. We could handle the rest.

"What is that? The lettering. I've seen it scribbled in the margins of your books."

"Adamic text? I thought the language was a myth." Dane answered my question before Tobias had a chance, disbelief heavy in his words.

"The language of Adam, first spoken to Elohim in the Garden of Eden, hasn't been used since the fallen. When our brothers were consumed with sin and served the other side, we no longer trusted our own words and adopted other tongues." Tobias paused, lost in a forgotten moment in time, recalling the days before the darkness.

"What does it say?" I asked, fascinated by the intricate shapes that made up the angelic alphabet.

"It's like a binding spell." The angel caught my ‘you know how I like to be told everything’ look. Exasperated, he added "There's no ‘Learn to Speak Adamic’ on CD or Rosetta Stone for this script, Jax. The best I can do is boil it down to the basics for you. When this is over, if you still want to learn, I'll teach you. Okay? For now, can you please just memorize the symbols and their order?"

I nodded.

"Good. You'll need to write them on the ground around the gateway. If it's a circle, the words must encircle it, end to end. If it's a fissure, like the one you discovered last night, the symbols must be written in this order on both sides. Do you understand? Both sides or it won't work."

"So there's definitely more of those things."

"How many?" Dane turned the scroll to get a better look at the symbols. He needed to memorize them as well.

"Thomas confirmed five more."

"
Five
more? How? We'd know, the city would be overrun." Dane set his coffee cup down a little too close to the scroll for Tobias, who busied himself with clearing the decanter and mugs away.

"Look around, Dane. It is overrun. Evil took a foothold here a long time ago, but it's never been as bad as it is now. So much death every time you turn on the news.” I gestured toward the windows and the city that lay outside them. “I felt it, the surge in demons. I just thought Lazarus was fucking with me. It became his favorite pastime and I grew accustomed to the swell in demon energy."

There wasn't anything I could have done differently. Without the right tools, the right weapons, and information, I'd never have succeeded on my own. Still, that didn't make me feel less guilty about my ability to sense it and my failure to do anything about it. My heart bled for my city and its streets running red.

"The blame doesn't lie with you, Jax. We should not have waited so long to seek you out. The moment your father died, your training should have began." Tobias rested a hand on mine with a reassuring squeeze. "As it is, you've done a fine job. Even without a soul to tether you, you've managed to stay on a path of goodness. Not quite righteous, given the fact that your deeds weren't always done with the benefit of others in mind, but good nonetheless."

"The two of you will move during the day when the sun is at its highest and the demons at their weakest. Of course, this will increase your visibility to mortals. You are to slay the demons guarding the portals without arousing the suspicions of men.” Tobias paused, letting that last part sink in before continuing.

“Douse the corpses with holy water and blessed salts and place the sachet of frankincense and myrrh in their mouths to ensure rapid decomposition and no trace evidence for the authorities to find should you be seen. Which you won't. You'll find fresh magazines of ammunition, holy water vials, sachets, and the rest of your supplies in there." Tobias gestured to Thomas's old room.

It occurred to me that in all the time we stayed together, I'd never been in there, never known more than he'd allowed me to see. Still, it was strange not having him around in one form or another. He'd been a part of my life for years—since birth, if what Dane said was true. And Thomas never denied it.

I don't know what I expected to find in his room, a window into his soul, some trace of who he truly was? None of that remained. No Earthly possessions, nothing from his time here, had been left behind except for my memories. Before my life became even more complicated, before things between us became muddled and confused. I'd considered him a friend during a time in my life when I didn't have many. And I was going to miss that.

Tobias had converted the bedroom into a storeroom at some point during our first mission. Shelving hung on the walls, stocked with various jars and vials filled with herbs, salts, oils, and holy water. Each neatly labeled and lined up in rows. Tool chests were rolled into position beneath them, the drawers filled with an assortment of rounds and mags, the coordinating guns resting in special foam, custom cut to hold each one, and daggers of varying shapes and sizes. I couldn't help notice a distinct lack of explosive devices on my side of the room. The grenades and incendiary devices were all stored in Dane's cabinets. Trying not to feel slighted, I finished going through the items stocked for me.