“No,” I said, too quickly and too loudly, “it’s the vampire inside of me.”
I glanced at Jimmy, who was staring at me with an expression I didn’t like, and that was saying a lot considering the disgust that had so recently been there. Instead his gaze had become predatory. I suddenly knew what it felt like to be the next Nephilim on his to-do list.
“Right?” I whispered, and Jimmy shook his head.
“Fuck me,” I muttered.
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite pastime,” Jimmy said.
I narrowed my eyes and thought about slugging him.
“We both hear the voice,” the Phoenix continued.
“How do you know what I hear?”
“Samyaza told me.”
Of course he did.
“Why don’t we just call him Satan and be done with it?” I snapped.
“Satan. Samyaza. Abaddon. Whatever,” the Phoenix agreed.
“I thought Satan, upon being released, would possess the one who released him,” I said.
“He would have. Except you tore the head off the woman of smoke, then tossed her body to the four winds.”
“Ah, the good old days.”
The Phoenix smiled. “And don’t think I don’t appreciate it.”
“Here’s a question—how did the woman of smoke open the gate?”
“From what I’ve read, the opening of Tartarus is a process—there are a lot of little things that put cracks in the door. For instance, Doomsday being set in motion. Imbalance between the forces of darkness and light.”
I felt rather than saw Jimmy wince. Though it wasn’t truly his fault, he still blamed himself for the deaths of so many seers and DKs.
“What else?”
“Moral decline. Hatred. Racism. Concern for others grows cold.” She waved her hand. “Blah, blah, blah. Once there’s a fissure, the Benandanti descends. If she wins, the door slams closed. If she loses—”
I glanced at Sawyer. We’d met the Benandanti—a crone who’d turned young overnight after she’d helped make Sawyer’s curse more manageable. For a price. I’d been sorry to hear that she’d died defending the door, even sorrier now that I knew her losing the battle had opened it.
“If the Benandanti’s death opened Tartarus, where does the woman of smoke come in?”
“Oh, the Benandanti’s death didn’t open it,” the Phoenix said.
I wanted to smack myself, or her, in the head. “What did?”
“Sacrifice.”
“Of what?”
“I’m not sure. There was blood and death. A life freely given.”
“Damn,” I muttered. Who had the woman of smoke killed so she could become ruler of the world and all the demons in it?
“So the door to hell cracked when Ruthie died, the state of the world made the opening bigger, the Benandanti lost, the woman of smoke sacrificed”—I spread my hands—“someone, the demons flew free, I killed her before Satan got there, and now he’s looking for a host. Does that cover it?”
“Yes,” the Phoenix agreed.
“What would have happened if you’d managed to kill Ruthie all those years ago?”
“Same thing. Except there wouldn’t have been any you to interfere.”
“Why’d you change sides?” I asked.
Her lips curved. “Why did you?”
“I like to back a winner.”
“Like daughter, like mother. He promised me the world; who was I to turn it away?”
“But you screwed up. Ruthie lived and the man you loved killed you.”
“All I had to do was try. If I failed, we knew I could rise again.”
“Aren’t you a little pissed about the woman of smoke? What if she’d managed to steal your demon king? You’d still be six feet under.”
“No.” She shook her head as if I were incredibly stupid. “Samyaza promised to raise me when he was released. Either I’d be the Prince or I’d be his right hand. I would definitely not be left beneath.”
I wanted to point out that the Prince she was talking about was the Prince of Lies. But since he’d actually kept his promise, I figured the point was moot.
“What’s Satan waiting for? You’re back; he’s free; let the possession party begin.”
“Not that simple. Since I didn’t actually release him, I have to prove I’m worthy. I must command all the demons of the pit.”
Guess we’d been on the right track.
“How you gonna manage that?” I asked.
“By a sacrifice of the innocent and the damned.”
I cast a quick glance at Jimmy. That did not sound good.
He lifted his eyebrows, tilted his head—a shrug without the shrug. Sawyer refused to look at me. He knew something, but if he was going to tell me, he already would have.
I returned my gaze to hers. “How does that work exactly?”
“Samyaza said the one I needed would come to me here. So I’ve sacrificed every being that has managed to enter this town, but I’m still me.” She lifted her hands to her head and pulled at her hair, yanking out several strands. “And Samyaza just keeps whispering.”
Her voice, when she spoke again, reminded me of Danny Torrance in The Shining. Redrum! Redrum!