Secret Worlds (160 page)

He stepped towards me, still smiling like a serpent. “You may scream if you like.”

I took a deep breath and withdrew my hand from my pocket. “That won’t be necessary.”

I slammed my fist into his stomach with the cross lying across my knuckles. He hissed, pitching forward. Ignoring the pain crackling through my right hand, I kneed him in the chin and then brought the same fist across the side of his face. The force of the blow knocked the demon into the left wall of the alley, doubled over, nursing the wounds. He was still too close to the end of alleyway. As soon as I made a break for it, he’d be able to grab me.

A sudden sound caught my attention. I thought the demon had been coughing. He was…
laughing
. I took a cautionary step back as he pushed off from the wall. Blood trickled down his chin as a wistful sigh escaped his lips. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt pain in this body. It’s quite delicious, I must say.”

Don’t panic. Stay calm.
I tightened my jaw and spoke with confidence I didn’t feel in the least. “Want the second course?”

The demon lowered his hands from his stomach, allowing his voice to take an almost regretful tone. “As much as I do, I cannot stall the ceremony any longer.”

The humor drained out of his face, leaving it clear with malicious intent. I slid my left hand into the other pocket, gripping the vials of holy water. As soon as he stepped forward, I threw two of them at him. He dodged to the right almost effortlessly. I brought my fist up again, but then he vanished. Too late, I felt his breath on the nape of my neck. A horrible, vise-like grip wrapped around my right arm. He twisted it behind my back and slammed me face-first into the brick wall. The vicious blow stunned me. Blood dripped down my forehead, hot and thick.

He ripped the rosary from my sore knuckles and tore off the duster. The demon held my arms behind my back with one hand, sliding the other around my throat and squeezing. I gagged, struggling with every muscle in my body, but to no avail. Tears overflowed down my face as the last gasps of air escaped my mouth.

“You could have made this so much easier on yourself,” the demon murmured against my ear. “Then again, that is what I like about you, dear Jordan. You’re a fighter.”

The world bled out of my eyes and darkness pooled in its place.

A bright orange light peeled back my eyelids, making me groan. The color swirled in unsteady intervals until I blinked a few times. Sunlight. The faint heat probably meant I was outside somewhere. My arms ached with dull pain from being held above my head. I strained my neck upward to see that my handcuffed hands dangled from a hook sticking out of a concrete wall behind me. My aching body swung back and forth when the warm wind fluttered over me. Tiny grey pebbles on the ground shifted as well.

I let my eyes adjust. I was on a rooftop of a building, but not within the city limits. It looked to be somewhere on the outskirts, maybe an old factory in a foreclosed sector.

Michael’s body lay on top of a stone slate, motionless and yet somehow still gorgeous. Next to it stood the demon.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he purred, fixing me with an amused stare.

The grogginess I felt retreated in an instant, leaving me cold with fear and confusion. The wind picked up as he strolled towards me with the patience I imagined a serial killer had when he knew his victim was helpless. My feet skimmed the ground as I struggled, trying to strain the chain of the handcuffs to see if I could bend it. No such luck.

He clucked his tongue and shook his head, making his black hair flutter. “I wouldn’t do that. You’ll only hurt your wrists.”

“What do you care? Aren’t you going to torture me some more anyway?” Raw pain rippled through my injured throat, making me sound hoarse.

He smirked. “Would you prefer a lie or the truth?”

“Who are you?”

He shrugged. “I have many names and many forms, for I have served my master well for eons. This body happens to be my favorite because of the fear it seems to inspire. However, to ease your curious mind, you may call me Belial.”

“Great. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what do you want with me?”

“You are a very special girl, Jordan.” Belial stopped mere inches from me and reached his gloved hand towards my neck. I flinched when he touched my throat, stroking the delicate skin as if I were a cat.

“The blood running through your veins is that of a Seer. In order to make this ceremony work, I will need it to open a channel into Michael’s body. Once that is done, I can inhabit it myself.”

“What does a demon want inside an angel’s body?” I managed to get the question out without a shaky voice. Gabriel would have been proud.

Belial dropped his hand. “Angels have the power of emotional influence over humans. Surely you have realized this, spending time with God’s Messenger himself. In that body, I will be able to control as many of you as I wish in order to serve my master.”

I shook my head. “What good will that do you once Christ comes back in the Rapture?”

He merely smiled. “What good will it do the Son to return to a world that is beyond his control?”

The icy knot in my gut hardened into a glacier. Gabriel had been wrong. This wasn’t just about me and Michael—this was about the free will of the entire world. I forced myself to take slow, even breaths and think logically. Belial hadn’t killed me yet. Every second I was still alive was a second I could potentially keep this from happening. My best course of action would be to stall him, keep him talking, until Gabriel could get here. Not my best plan, but it was better than nothing.

“How did you even find me?” I demanded. His thin eyebrows rose in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected me to ask, but the venomous smile remained intact. The guy seemed to like the sound of his own voice, which could work to my advantage.

“That is quite the interesting story. Two years ago, my master informed me that the Spear of Longinus had surfaced. It was being sold in an auction in Albany, New York. Thus, I was given a human body and told to retrieve two things: the spear and a Seer. My master is often enigmatic, so he did not tell me what these were for. I went to the auction, only to be outbid by your precious Michael.”

He sneered when he spoke the angel’s name, his eyes glittering with hatred. “I later cornered him outside and we fought. I was about to finish him off when a group of people spotted us. My priority was the spear, so unfortunately I had to retreat and find the Seer my master required. But before I left, I decided to take the ever-difficult angel out of the picture. I commanded the Spear to erase his identity so that none of the other angels would be able to find him. However, I underestimated the might of the spear itself. It wiped him from the entire history of the universe, leaving me without memory of him either. Thus, I continued on my mission to find a Seer.”

The smile widened into a grin. “That is when I knew our fates were intertwined, sweet Jordan. I had located a Seer to entrap by sending out a lesser demon as bait. These creatures aren’t particularly smart. They only seek out human souls and feed off their fear. The Seer fell for it and chased the demon into the apartment of a young woman.”

My entire body went numb. Everything became deathly silent except for the sound of his voice.

“Do you understand now?”

“You sent that thing into my apartment. You’re the reason I killed that man,” I whispered, my throat tightening as I fought back tears of hatred.

“Indeed I did. You killed the man I was going to use for the sacrifice. It’s quite interesting when you think about it. If you had not slain him, he would be in this situation instead of you.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell and rip free of these handcuffs and tear him apart. This
beast
was the reason I had been alone for two years straight, the reason I had to spend day after day looking for lost souls, the reason I had been drinking myself stupid in order to calm down enough to sleep, the reason I woke up constantly every night because of horrific dreams. The rage burned inside my chest like a wildfire. I was so angry I couldn’t even speak.

Belial sighed. “I made the mistake of leaving the area after you killed the Seer because you had not yet had your Awakening. I reported back to my master with the Spear. That is when he informed me that he needed a Seer in order to gain access to an archangel’s body, which I had unknowingly lost. Things seemed problematic until I stumbled across him one night while searching through the city. I confronted him in an alley and captured his body. The only task left was to locate a Seer, and all I had to do was wait. Regular souls are drawn to your kind. So was Michael’s. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered you were the Seer he found. I spread my influence and reached out to you in a dream to see if I could win you over. When you refused, I planted one of my sentries to wait for you and the angel in his apartment.”

“Bast.”

“My, you catch on quick. I kept an eye on you until you were most vulnerable, and you played right into my hands.”

“So that’s it? You’re going to kill me and then what?”

“I wouldn’t be so bitter if I were you, my dear. I have plans for your soul after you die.”

“What plans?”

The demon stepped closer, filling my vision with those empty eyes. “I asked the master for your soul in return for my services. When you die, you will become my servant.”

I licked my lips, trying to remain calm as best as I could but I could feel myself starting to shiver from the finality of his words. “Why?”

Belial chuckled. “You’re too modest. I was not lying when I said I liked you. I will thoroughly enjoy bending you to my will. Besides, it would be much more fun than simply killing you.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather have my soul destroyed than be your pet.”

“That reaction alone makes me wish I didn’t have to kill you right away,” he sighed, closing those thick lashes over his eyes.

I fought back another urge to shiver with a question. “How can you claim my soul? I thought everyone who dies is taken before the Father and Son to decide if they go to Heaven or Hell.”

Belial’s eyes lit up. “Excellent question. But what you forget is that your soul is already damned. We know about the contract you’ve made with Gabriel. You haven’t collected the one hundred souls, so yours belongs to my master to do with what he will. In this case, it will be given to me.”

I swallowed hard. “Why’d you wait until sunset?”

He stepped away, walking towards where Michael’s body lay and picked up the Spear of Longinus. The wooden shaft of the spear had been snapped off. The tip looked sharp despite being worn with time. He stroked the blade almost lovingly, like a kid with a delicious piece of candy.

“The Lord’s power works best in the light. At night, His power dims and mine grows. When the sun goes down, I will be able to perform the ritual at full strength. Take in the last of the sun, dear Jordan. When night falls, you are mine.”

Panicked, I glanced at the horizon over the city. The dusky orange had given way to a dark navy blue. A sliver of the sun was still visible, but from here it looked as if it were dying—dragging down all the beautiful pinks, reds, and yellows down in its throes. I didn’t have long, maybe less than a minute. Where the hell was Gabriel?

When I turned my head again, Belial stood right in front of me. As I stared at him, a strange sense of calm enveloped me.

“Are you afraid?” he whispered. I shook my head slowly.

The demon rested his gloved fingertips over my heart, testing my pulse to see if I were lying. “Why not?”

“Whatever happens…it ends tonight. I have no choice in the matter. There’s nothing left for me but death or salvation. You have nothing left to scare me with.”

“Then close your eyes and say a prayer, sweet Jordan. I will send you to sleep.” Belial lifted the spear, its tip crusted with the blood of Christ, of Michael, and soon to be with mine. The sun finally disappeared from sight, wrapping the two of us in darkness. I let my eyes fall shut and words spilled from my mouth from memory.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done

On Earth, as it is in Heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespassers

As we forgive those who trespass against us

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.

Amen.”

“Jordan!”

I opened my eyes to see Gabriel soaring over the edge of the building, his wings spread wide. Michael dangled from his arms, shouting my name. In that exact moment, Belial plunged the spear into the spot a few inches above my heart. Excruciating pain ate through my chest as my blood overflowed the wound, coating both the rest of the spear and Belial’s hands. Agony climbed through my limbs like acid and stole my breath.

Hit too many arteries,
I thought sluggishly.
I’ll only have a few minutes before I die.
When this notion filled my mind, I should have panicked or cried, but I didn’t. All I could think was,
I hope I get to say goodbye to Michael.

“Thank you for your sacrifice, Seer. With this life blood, I will usher in the era of the Dark One,” Belial said with an insidious smile. He ripped the blade out of my chest, turning to face the angel and poltergeist that had landed on the roof.

“Filthy creature!” Gabriel shouted, his beautiful golden wings flaring in anger. “Father should have sent you lower than the depths of Hell when he banished you and your wretched leader from the Heavens.”

“On the contrary, archangel. He could not have given us a sweeter reward than to free us of His tyranny. Let me show you how your Lord has blessed me.”

He rushed forward, almost too fast for my eyes to follow. Gabriel darted after him in a graceful arc, drawing the elegant sword from his waist and shouting at Michael over his shoulder.