From Hell with Love (9 page)

“Oh, pay no attention to him, Nico.  He likes you more than he lets on,” she said before giving him a smile.  She stood there with her hand still extended for a moment before nodding her head.  Niccolo took the cue and placed his human fingers around her hand and lowered his lips to kiss her fingers.

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you,” he said as he rose back up to look at the fallen angel.  All of the kings were part of the original uprising against God and were regarded with the highest respect.  For a moment, Niccolo thought that he might be punished for the perceived slight.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not easily offended like the others,” she said before looking to the ruler by her side.  “Make sure he knows what to look out for during the Council.  Balam gets stubborn when people ignore him, you know.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.  Niccolo isn’t one for ceremonies and bureaucracy, anyway, so I expect he’ll be far away from the palace,” Lucifer said while looking fondly at the demon in the gold dress.

“I’m sorry,” Niccolo interrupted, drawing the attention of the fallen angels, “but did you say
King
of Hell?”  Paimon cocked her head to the side before her lips broke into an alluring smile.

“Oh, honey, it’s just a title.  Don’t worry though, I’m the only one with all of this,” she said as she motioned down her body with her left hand, which, just like her right, was covered in a golden sleeve that started by her elbow and ended at her fingers.

“Paimon,” Lucifer said in disapproval, but it brought a laugh from Azazel, who had pushed himself off of the pillar.

“Oh, C’mon, Lucy.  Viné has nothing on her.  Can’t we enjoy the show?” he asked as he walked up to the fallen angel and put his hand on Lucifer’s shoulder.

“Azazel, thank you,” Paimon said before crossing her arms, which pushed her breasts together further.  “You need to listen to him, more, honey.  We left him with you for a reason,” she said before looking over at Niccolo, whose eyes had finally strayed at the prospect of cleavage.  “Aww, there you go!”

“Uh,” the Horseman stammered, but the woman merely laughed.

“Proves your human, sweetie, don’t worry about it.  And Cadmus,” she purred before turning her gaze to the Pale Rider, who was still standing outside of the conversation, “it wouldn’t hurt for you to indulge, too.  You can look all you like.”

“I think you’re a little old for me,” he said, crossing his arms over the top of his scythe.

“Oh, I
missed
you,” Paimon said before chuckling and looking to Lucifer.  “Well, as fun as all this is, I have some people to catch up with in the city.  Eligos would get angry if I didn’t go to see him and, well,” she said as she glanced over at the Horsemen, “I don’t think they want me around to hear their news.”

“Why would you say that?” Niccolo asked, trying not to let on too much about their visit.  Paimon merely looked at him with skepticism.

“You have a bit of a reputation, Nico, but I know from experience that Cadmus is just a little too serious, even if he does have a wicked, little tongue on him,” she said before winking at the reaper.  “Anyway,” she lilted as she walked toward the doors of the throne room, “I’ll see you tomorrow, gentlemen.”

“And Scratch,” she said as she stood at the doorway, “don’t forget what we talked about.  I have a feeling that we need to be extra careful.”

“I won’t, Paimon.  Say hello to Eligos for me,” he said, but she just laughed as she stepped between the doors.

“Of all the useless things…  I make no promises,” she said, her voice fading with her departure.  It was only a few moments before Lucifer turned his gaze to the Horsemen.

“So what’s the problem, now?” he asked, which broke Niccolo out of his stupor.

“We can’t just stop by to say hello?” Niccolo responded.  The question brought a bark of a laugh from the grey demon.

“In a hundred years I have
yet
to see you come here without a complaint, Nico,” Azazel said while cracking his neck.  Niccolo sighed before looking back at the bald angel.

“She seems nice,” he said, but Lucifer merely bit his lip at that.

“
Seems
, sure, but that’s exactly what she wants.  Paimon’s dangerous when she wants to be.”

“Uh huh,” Niccolo said as he awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other.  He had no way how to tell Lucifer why he was here; he almost wanted Cadmus to explain it for him.

“Nico,” Lucifer said, his brow furrowing as he stepped up to the young Horseman.  He knew that whatever it was had to be serious, as Niccolo usually had no problem finding his words.  “What happened?”

“Scratch,” the Horseman said with a note of despair before looking at the floor, unable to look his mentor in the eye.  “Everyone’s saying I shouldn’t tell you.”

“You know you can talk to me, Nico,” the angel said, his voice filled with understanding.  The leper looked up with his good eye lined with a tear too stubborn to fall.  Niccolo was only now confronting the fact that he might lose his second father.

“Scratch, someone is going to kill you,” he blurted out, wondering if he did the right thing.  Lucifer looked at him hard for a moment before backing up and pursing his lips.

“Kid,” Azazel said from his other side, his voice absent his usual sarcastic tone, “I hate to break it to you, but Lucifer has been the center of thousands of death threats.”  As he finished his statement, he left his hand on Niccolo’s shoulder, but he violently shrugged it off before turning to the grey demon.

“It’s not a
threat
, Azazel!  It was a vision!  Cadmus had to take care of Räum today and he inherited the demon’s sight!” he shouted, pointing at the cloaked human behind them.  Lucifer looked past the young Horseman and stepped up to Cadmus, a dour expression on his face.

“Is this true, Horseman?” he asked, staring into Cadmus’ eyes.

“Yes,” he said, gripping his scythe tightly.  “You died, though I couldn’t tell who…killed you.”  The fallen angel grunted at that, considering his words, but Azazel didn’t stay silent.  He walked up to the two of them and seemed to stare into Cadmus’ soul, even through the blindfold.

“What did you see?” he asked, his brow furrowing beneath the dark fabric.  Cadmus turned to him and sighed before explaining his vision.

“The palace was burning.  Lucifer was dead.  Some figure in a cloak was standing behind him.  I’m sorry, but that’s all that Räum left for me.  Amon said that he tended to lack details in his prophecies, but that we could trust it,” the reaper blurted out, rushing through the explanation just to take the attention off of him.  What caused Cadmus to worry was the look the fallen shared when he mentioned the man in the cloak.  “I don’t think it was me,” he started, but Lucifer held up a hand.

“Cadmus, that didn’t even occur to me,” the fallen angel said as he backed away from him and started to pace around the room.

“Do you think,” Azazel tried to ask, but Lucifer gave him a stern look.  The ruler of Hell stood in silence for a moment, but eventually he turned to his Horsemen.

“Thank you.  I’ll keep this in mind,” he said, which caused Niccolo to step forward with his hands open in front of him.

“Scratch, we need to take this seriously!” he urged, but Lucifer just glared at him.

“I am, Nico, but Azazel is right.  I have had to deal with my fair share of death threats.”

“This isn’t a threat,” Niccolo tried to explain, but Lucifer stood over him and stopped him mid-sentence.

“It might as well be.  Räum and Amon could, at best, prophesy a potential future.  As long as we are careful and keep our wits about us, we will be fine.  Amon is a little boastful when it comes to his abilities.  And Räum…” he trailed off before setting his hands on his hips and sighing.  “Räum was always the lesser of the brothers.”

“Still,” Niccolo started, but Lucifer shook his head.

“We’ll just be careful.  Don’t listen to Amon.  He can’t even tell
your
future, Nico.  Let’s just keep this on the table, all right?” he asked, which caused Niccolo to fall into silence.  “All right?” he asked again, at which the Horseman nodded.

“Alright,” Lucifer said before sighing.  “Thanks for bringing this to our attention, but we have work to do and it doesn’t require any Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”  For a moment, Niccolo and Cadmus looked at Lucifer before nodding and heading toward the doorway.  Lucifer watched them leave and close the doors to the throne room before deciding to look over at his demonic friend.

“Well this is just perfect,” Azazel said, his arms crossed.  “We can’t just ignore it.”

“I know,” Lucifer said as he started to walk over to his throne.  He stood over it, looking at the shifting seat and watching the weapons and bones flow through the surface.  The fallen angel laughed as he considered that it was just like his future; constantly shifting, but always filled with death and warfare.

“Do you really think the Cult of Ascension is back, Zell?” he asked, working over Paimon’s warning in his mind.

“I’ve heard whispers over the last few centuries.  You know how some of them hope, Lucy.  The Fallen are used to it, but the humans are impatient.  Pretty sure even our siblings want it to end, or maybe just for things to change.  Hell, I’m starting to go a little nutty, too.”

“I can sympathize,” Lucifer said under his breath, remembering his life before the Fall.  He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of that light.  “Do you think they can actually do it, though?”

“What?  Turn demons feral?” Azazel asked as he walked up to the side of Lucifer’s throne.  “I don’t see how, but…gah, who knows?  Most demons have been taking animal traits since the beginning, only some of us have had the willpower to stay in our original shapes.  I traded my legs about fifty thousand years ago, if you recall.  It’s just you, Paimon and a handful of the others that try to keep your heavenly forms.  It’s possible that someone could manipulate us into turning into beasts.  I just…don’t know.”

“I don’t either,” Lucifer admitted before turning to his oldest friend.  “And that’s what disturbs me.  If someone out there is responsible for this, is preparing us to lose…”

“So we’re going to find out, then?”

“We have to, Zell. 
Especially
if I’m going to die.”

***

“So we’re going to investigate anyway, right?” Plague’s voice echoed as the mist formed into the scarred and pockmarked horse.

“Of course,” Niccolo said as he walked up to his steed and stroked his clawed hand through the beast’s mane.

“Lucifer just said,” Cadmus started, but Niccolo just looked at him in annoyance.

“First, when do I
ever
do what I’m told?  Second, do you seriously think I’m going to just
let
someone kill Scratch?  The only way that someone is going to stab him in the back is if I’m dead and gone, Cadmus.  Only when I’m off to whatever’s
after
the afterlife do they even have a
chance
,” he said before leaping up into the saddle of his horse.  Cadmus walked up to him and slammed the end of his scythe against the paved pathway leading away from the palace.

“Nico, it’s going to be dangerous,” he said in a serious tone as the dust in front of them started to form together.

“Obviously,” Niccolo said before looking out on the city of Dis.  He turned back to his friend with a sly smile.  “Which is why you’re going to be helping me along the way.  Even if we’re up against the demons of Hell, there are not many things that can stop two Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”

“You’re impossible,” the reaper said as he jumped onto the still-forming body of Mercy.  It shuddered for a moment, but soon the beast was standing tall with his rider in the saddle.

You are one to talk.  I told you to only do that in emergencies,
Mercy’s voice rasped in Cadmus’ mind.

Sorry, he’s being difficult like always
, he thought, but that only brought a laugh from the ethereal horse.

You are the one who lets him hang on you like this,
Mercy added, but that was the end of the conversation.  He knew how his rider felt about his friendship with Niccolo.

“So what’s the plan?” Cadmus asked, staring out on the city, working through the vision once more, even if it was painful.

“We try to figure out more about this cloaked figure.  We need to find out who might want to kill Lucifer.  It can’t just be a power play.  There’s something deep going on.  I have a feeling,” Niccolo said, hoping that he would not have to let go of his father figure.  Even if Barbas had brought Niccolo up after his fall, he would never have survived this long in Hell without Lucifer’s support.

“Oh, because your feelings are always so reliable,” Cadmus said, deflecting the statement with sarcasm.  The problem was that Niccolo had a point.  He sighed before looking at his fellow Horseman.  “So, the library?”

“You think what we need is going to be in a
book
?” Niccolo asked, raising his unblemished eyebrow.  Cadmus shook his head at that before grabbing Mercy’s reins and motioning the horse away from the palace.

“No, the only way forward is going to be rumors and word of mouth.  I’m just counting on Buer being at the library.  He could lead us in the right direction.”

“The centaur?  You
know
that stuffy old demon hates me.”

“After what you did, I’d be mad, too,” Cadmus added as he looked off into the distance.  After considering their options, he turned back to his friend.  “You’ll just have to deal with it, Nico.  We need all the help we can get.”

Chapter 4: Past - Rotten in the State of Firenze

It had only been two days, but Niccolo could feel his skin losing ground to the infection on his arm.  He had done what he could to avoid contact with his servants, hiding from them so they could not witness the treatment of his wound.  Whatever bandages he used on his upper arm were thrown away discretely; he disposed of them in the abandoned alleyways frequented by lepers and the dregs of Fiorentino society.

Niccolo walked through the doorway and into the quiet room.  It was empty, the church always was at that time of day, but that was exactly what the merchant’s son required.  He needed to talk to God and the less people who witnessed the conversation, the better.