The Devil's Backbone (A Niki Slobodian Novel: Book Five) (9 page)

CHAPTER NINE

“You going to tell me just what the hell that was?” said Gage. He was trying to stay calm, but I could tell he was scared. Whether he was scared for me, or scared of me I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
 

“No idea,” I said. My voice did not sound like my own. It sounded like someone weak, someone small. “I really don’t, Bobby. I don’t know what this is.” I met his eyes. “Why? Why is it always something? Why is it always me?”

“You saved my life?” he said.
 

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

“Bullshit, Niki. How?”

I shook my head, a sharp twinge behind my eyes.
 

“What’s happened?” he said. He was getting angry. Scared-angry. “
Tell me
.”

I nodded. “Okay, Bobby. Sit down.” I sat on the shining black stone. We were standing on the top of Lucifer’s tower. I’d been able to get us here, but it felt as though it was a very close thing. As if, had it been ten seconds later, I would have lost both of us in the Unsung.
 

Gage sat with his back to the tower, leaning against it, weakened by whatever Aki had done to him. And maybe by what I had done to him, too. I sat next to him.

“I saw the Creator last night,” I said.
 

“What?” said Gage. He turned to look at me.
 

“He looked like a young girl, but it was Him. Or Her. Whatever. She said She was leaving.”

“What do you mean leaving?”

“God told me that there was nothing we could do,” I said. “She said the Yuki-onna was nothing compared to what was coming. And when I woke up I was in your apartment.”

“What’s this big thing that’s coming?”

“I don’t know,” I said.
 

“Niki, why is the Creator leaving?”

“Because,” I said. “The Creator is afraid. Something is coming that even God is afraid of. It has something to do with the boy. Matthew. I think he’s going to let something out. Something big.”

We sat in silence for a while. I leaned the back of my head against the cold stone. I needed Lucifer. He knew more about this stuff than I did.
 

“What else?” said Gage, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?” I said, without looking at him.

“There’s something else,” he said. “None of that explains what happened back there. Who was that guy?”

“A shinigama. Monster hunter. Apparently.”

“And?”

“And I stopped him from breaking you.”

“Stopped him, or fixed me?” said Gage.

I didn’t answer.

“Should I be worried about you, Nik?”

“Yes,” I said. “I really think you should be.”

“What’s happened to you?”

I swallowed, trying to think back, trying to remember anything that might help me. “It was a gift,” I said, bitterness in my voice. “He did this. The Creator. He said He was going to become a human for good. I think…” My voice broke and I took a breath before continuing. “I think the Creator gave me His power, Bobby. But it’s not like last time. I’m not just carrying it.” I finally met Gage’s eyes. “I feel like it’s going to kill me.”

Gage frowned. I saw his nostrils flare for a moment. His fists clenched.

“Over my dead body,” he said.

I almost laughed. “It just might be if you hang around me much longer.”

“We’ll figure something out,” he said. “We always have. It’s what we do.”

“Not this time,” I said. “I think this time is different. I think this might be the end. Of everything.”

“It’s been the end before,” he said.
 

“We can’t fix this,” I said.

“That ain’t like you, Slobodian. Giving up? Before the fight’s even started? Has love made you soft?”

I smiled. “Lucifer would know about this stuff. I don’t know what to do. Sam’s gone, the angels are who-knows-where. And Lucifer…”

“Then I guess we’d better find him,” said Gage.

“Just like that?”

“Yeah,” Gage shrugged. “Just like that. You’re Niki goddamn Slobodian. Ain’t nothing you can’t do. You saved me. You can save anybody. The whole damn world if you put your mind to it.”

“You have a lot of faith in me.”

“It’s always worked for me before. So get your ass up and let’s go find this son of a bitch.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” I said.

“Now you’re just talking sweet to me,” said Gage, smiling. “Hey, thanks for saving me, Nik. Really.”

“Do you remember when I died, Bobby?” I said.

Gage busied himself with standing up, brushing himself off, looking out at Erebos. After a long time he finally answered.

“I don’t like to think about it,” he said.

“Remember how angry you were at Sam for bringing me back?” I said. “I was angry too. I was so angry that he would have sacrificed the world just because he wanted me around. I called him selfish for what he did.”

“You have a point?” said Gage.

“I’m no better than he is,” I said. “If it was between the people that I love, and every other human or demon or angel, or all of them, for that matter, I’d let them all burn. I’m no better than Sam. For you, for Lucifer. I’m going to save him if I have to kill every goddamn living thing that gets in my way.”

“You’re not Sam,” said Gage. “Why are you saying this?”

“This kid, Matthew. All this has something to do with him, right?”

“That’s what you said,” said Gage.

“If it comes down to a choice between your lives and Matthew’s life,” I said slowly, “I’ll always choose you and I’ll always choose Lucifer. And, if I have to…”

“Don’t,” said Gage. “You don’t have to say it, Niki. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

I shook my head. “You have to accept the fact, Bobby. I might have to kill him.”

“He’s just a kid,” said Gage. “We’ll find a way.” But he had gone white. He knew I was speaking the truth. And he knew that he might have to help me. After a time, he nodded.
 

“End of the world,” he said weakly. “Ain’t that a bitch.”
 

A shadow seemed to stretch over us and I looked up. Erebos was lit by very old Hellion magic. It never went dark. No matter the time of day or night, you could count on the red-orange sky being illuminated. But as I watched, the light over us dimmed to a dark orange, and then went out completely.

“Niki?” said Gage. “Is that supposed to happen?”

“Go inside,” I said, backing away. “Bobby, go inside right now.” I could feel something in my chest. A pressure, like there was something expanding there, something hot and bitter and dangerous. Something was coming. Even as I had the thought I felt an odd wind on my face. Hot and dry and reeking of smoke. A plume of red fire filled the sky, casting a shadow of something enormous in the sky. Something with wings that seemed to spread across the entire city.
 

“What?” I said, pausing to stare at it. The fire dissipated and the shadow blended back into the pitch black of the sky.
 

“Niki, come on!” Gage grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me inside. I looked at him, his eyes wide and afraid, gripping the railing on the spiral staircase for support. “What was that, exactly?”
 

“It can’t be,” I said. “They’re not real.”

“Just like the Yuki-onna wasn’t real?” said Gage.
 

“Just like that,” I said. “But, Bobby, dragons? Seriously?”

“I don’t make the rules here,” said Gage. “Maybe you’d better tell me more about the Grace. It’s them doing this, right?”

“Yeah. They have Matthew. They must be getting him to open up…I don’t know. Portals? Aki said something about how all the monsters and gods were separated from us and put into little worlds of their own, where they couldn’t hurt anyone. The way I understand it, Matthew is letting them out. I don’t know how or why.”

“This is the Abby kid?” said Gage.

I nodded. “I don’t know much else. They’re old. As old as Erebos, maybe. And they use old magic. The thing is, though, they’re human. But everyone I’ve talked to is afraid of them. Oh, and also the Creator may have accidentally let them get their hands on Archangel magic.”

“
WHAT
?”

“Did I not mention that?” I said.
 

“No,” said Gage. “You did not.”

“Bobby, I need you to listen to me,” I said. “Go down and on the third landing down, go down the hall on the left. You’ll find the study of a demon called Ash. Tell him I sent you and that you need Casting books.”

“I’m not leaving you here,” he said.

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Meet me outside as soon as you get the books. Okay?”

“Niki—“

“Bobby. Do as I say. Just this once. Lucifer is gone and I need to protect his city.”

Finally Gage nodded. “Fine. I’ll hurry.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Do that.”

“What are you going to do?” he said.

I tried for a smile. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

“Niki, this is insane.”

I met his eyes. The tower shuddered, the smell of smoke wafting through the cracks.

“I don’t have a choice, Bobby. I have to fight. It’s what I do now.”

“It’s not your responsibility to die for some city full of demons.”

“If it’s not my responsibility,” I said, “then whose is it? Besides, I won’t die.”

“You can’t know that,” he said.

“Do as I say,” I said. “Please. This is just the way it has to be. I can't run.”

“I know,” he said. “But maybe you should.” He turned and hurried down the stairs. I watched him go. I closed my eyes and leaned against the rounded stone wall. It was hot against my back. I needed to do this. I was the only one who could. I remembered the demons I had seen in Erebos. Innocents. Families. Just as manipulated by the lords and politics as anyone else. I didn’t get to choose who lived and died, but it wasn’t in my nature to just stand by and let it happen. I took a deep breath and, opening my eyes, turned and flung open the door. I forced myself out before I had time to talk some sense into myself.

Goddamn dragons. None of this made sense. But then, none of it ever had.
 

* * *
 

I stood on top of the tower, looking down over the city. Flames reached for the sky, everything that could burn now aflame. Smoke burned my eyes and nostrils and made it hard to see in the sudden darkness. I could hear high, thin screams in the distance. Tinny, like sound coming from a television in another room. I scanned the sky. I hadn’t been able to stop the Yuki-onna, but I couldn’t let this happen. Not again. I remembered the pile of frozen bodies, the Japanese ghost sobbing for her family, the people dead on the beach. I felt my insides grow hot.

A movement overhead drew my attention and I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the smoke and darkness. There was a noise that seemed to echo all around me. A shrieking cry that almost echoed the screams below. But there was no fear in this scream. There was nothing at all. I remembered reaching into Aki, the feeling of nothing resonating back through my head, the emptiness of a creature void of a soul. But he had still felt fear when I was inadvertently killing him. I could smell burning flesh mingled with the smoke now. I wanted this creature to fear me, too. Just as Aki had. I would give these people justice.
 

I felt the hot wind again and I stared straight into it. There was a shift, as though the darkness were moving, and then it was right above me, hovering, eyes like glowing green glass, its body barely more substantial than the smoke that choked the entire city.

“You don’t belong here,” I said, my voice like a growl between my teeth.
 

As if in reply, the creature flapped wings that spanned across the sky, the wind nearly bowling me over. I braced myself. It was made of darkness, I realized. It drew power from it.
How did I know that?
 

There was a wispy movement in front of me and I saw rows of teeth like knives and smelled rotten meat mingled with burning. The heat inside me rose, the pain making me feel strong. I was something else, something above Death, something strange and new. I was stronger than this corruption.

It shrieked again and flames shot out of the darkness. They nearly sent me to the ground, wrapping around me, trying to consume me. And when they dissipated, I was still standing, unscathed and whole. The beast seemed to pause, unsure what to do.

I was burning.

I felt a pressure that seemed to come from down below. A light in the distance rose, casting a glow from beyond. The creature shuddered. Another light, closer now, rose. Then another, until the entire city was cast in the glare of the white light. I could see a tiny figure down below, so far down that he looked like an ant. But I knew it was Gage, Casting the light all around us.
 

The monster no longer blended into the darkness. It seemed to quail from the magical light all around it. It wasn’t nearly as mighty in the light. It was bony, the thin skeleton visible under skin that looked like shadow, veins pulsing dark through long, thin wings that rose and fell. It was more like a skeletal bird, I saw now, than something frightening. It had a face that was pointed, like a beak, which it snapped open and closed, the long, sharp teeth darkened and decayed. I could see the glow of something lying at the base of its long throat.
 

I took a step toward it, nearly at the edge of the tower. I knew I should have been frightened, but I wasn't. We were dizzyingly high. I stared into its eyes and it shrank back, shrieking again and turning as if to dive. It was going for Gage. It stopped flapping, turning its head downward. It fell back down, out of reach, pointing itself toward Bobby Gage, its maw opening wide.

I didn’t think. I just jumped. For a moment I was flying. My flesh felt as though it was on fire, but with something hotter than any dragon fire. I began to fall with a sickening flutter in my guts, landing on something solid and writhing and dry as a husk. The skin of the beast crackled under me and it snapped at me, turning its head out of the dive to try to snap me in half with its nauseating mouth. A nose like slits blew tiny flames in frustration.