chapter 24
I woke up in bed at the Waldorf, my naked body frigid to the touch, shivering with chills, and sweating profusely despite being buried under a mound of blankets. Josette was sitting cross-legged on the end of the bed, keeping an unblinking watch on me. She had traded in her angel robe for a pair of blue jeans and a leather jacket, looking ever more the human than I could have anticipated. Still, the look suited her.
“Hey,” I said, my voice little more than a meek whisper. I tried to lift my head and was rewarded with a massive throbbing.
Her face lit up when she saw I was awake. “Fellow, you are revived,” she said. “Thank the Lord.”
She was forgetting herself, and she looked embarrassed for it. I was going to ask her what time it was, what day it was, but somehow, I knew. I could feel a trickle of energy flowing into me from Purgatory like a leaky faucet. The innate connection between the two realms was undeniable. I guess it had to be that way in order for Mr. Ross’ so-called ‘processing’ to run without a hitch.
I had been unconscious for about six hours. It had been long enough for Rebecca to get us back into the city in the takes-a-lickin-keeps-on-tickin Suburban, get me back to the Waldorf, take off my clothes, and bury me under these blankets. I had opened myself too much to my Source. There was a part of me that was still, and would always be human, and it couldn’t absorb that kind of Divine energy without consequence.
Neither could this world. Dante had warned me, and I hadn’t been careful. It was like a spinning top, too much flow from Purgatory, too many changes and alterations, and it would begin to wobble and potentially topple over. I had to be more careful, more precise - a surgeon instead of a linebacker, for everyone’s sake.
“It’s good to see you again,” I said. “How are you holding up?” I shook a bit as a wave of coldness washed over me. I really needed to be more careful.
She smiled. “I am well. As well as can be. I do not need to understand God’s plan to have faith in it. I’ve found I am still able to adjust my wardrobe, which is something I guess.” Her blue jeans turned black before my eyes, then shifted back to blue. “I didn’t feel right about wearing white. Not now.”
“I’m sorry Josette,” I said for the second or third time. She waved her hand at me.
“There is nothing to apologize for, as I have already said. The Lord has decided our paths lie together, and I do not begrudge Him for that. I enjoy your company.”
That statement succeeded in stopping my shivering for a few seconds, and brought some heat to my face.
“We make a good team,” I replied. “Where’s Rebecca?”
“She went back to her apartment to retrieve something she called an Obi,” Josette said. “I am not familiar with the term.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. This conversation was making every part of me feel better. “An Obi is an Awakened human, he’s my...” I stumbled for a moment trying to think of the right word, something Josette would get. “... Squire? For lack of a better word.”
She furrowed her eyebrows in a super cute way. “He carries your sword?”
I laughed out loud that time. “Maybe squire wasn’t the best word. He’s a friend,” I said. “We didn’t bring him to the sanctuary because he’s mortal. He would have been killed.”
“Why do you not Touch him?”
It was my turn to be confused. “Touch him?” I asked.
“Where do you think the mortal servants of God come from?” She floated to her feet as though she were lighter than air. She walked up the bed, leaving the smallest impression in the mattress, then turned and flopped down beside me. “For angels, you Touch a mortal by dousing their head in holy water, saying a prayer, and laying hands on them. It’s very much like the Catholic Baptism ritual, but with a little more power behind it. Of course, I wouldn’t know how a Purgatorian would do it.”
We sat together in silence for a minute while I thought about it. I had this new tap of energy flowing into me. What would happen if I flowed some of it into a human?
“That wouldn’t make him invulnerable,” I said.
“It would make him resistant,” she replied. I was convinced, but I wouldn’t do it without asking Obi for permission first. He might not want to be that tied to my power.
“Have you ever fought a fire demon before?” I asked. That thing had been ridiculous, and it amazed me to think of her standing toe to toe against one.
She shook her head. “Never alone,” she replied. “That Great Were we fought was a toy in comparison. Thankfully, they are denizens of Hell, and are rarely summoned to this realm. They are difficult to control, and very unstable here. The amount of power needed to keep the Rift open would be immense.”
Reyzl was powerful, but by the way Josette spoke of the fire demon, I didn’t think he was that powerful. “Reyzl didn’t summon the demon alone,” I said.
Josette agreed. “He would have needed at least two other demons of his equal to maintain the Rift. It is bad sign if they are already working together to stop you.”
“How many demons of Reyzl’s power are there?”
“Reyzl is what is known as an archfiend. There are three in North America, four in Europe, one in Japan, one in Australia.” She started counting on her fingers as she listed their numbers. “Two in Russia, six in the Middle-East including three just around Jerusalem, and probably a few others who have gone undocumented. They are very territorial, though they will join forces if the need is great enough.”
That was an awful lot of evil running around. I still felt like I knew so little about how this war operated, even though I was finding myself deeper and deeper into the thick of it. Still, I wasn’t convinced that Reyzl had done this with the help of another archfiend. I just didn’t think I’d been in play long enough or proven myself strong enough for the demon to ask for help from his peers. That left me with just one other possibility.
“What about the Demon Queen?” I asked.
Her reaction was one of shock. “How do you know of her?”
“Da.... The Outcast told me,” I replied, remembering not to upset her by using his name. “Did Rebecca tell you anything about our goal?”
“No, she said she would leave it to you to explain.”
I spent the next hour or so telling Josette everything I knew about the Chalice, the Demon Queen, and the Knights Templar. Everything Dante had told me to steer me in this direction. She knew most of it, but from a different perspective. The angels wanted to find the Chalice, to bring it back to the sanctuary, and to use it. She wouldn’t tell me what effect it would have on a seraph. I didn’t think it was that important, so I didn’t push.
While I was talking, I could feel my body normalizing, recovering from the damage I had done to it. I stopped shaking soon after, and my physical form didn’t feel so lifeless to touch. I would survive this, and learn from it.
“The Demon Queen could have summoned the fire demon herself,” Josette said, answering my earlier question. “She would have no need of Reyzl to do such a thing.”
That’s what I was afraid of. “How powerful is she?” I asked.
“She is the most powerful demon currently in this realm,” she replied, as if that would answer the whole question.
“Okay,” I said. “You said currently. How do demons get here? Rebecca said that the ones summoned from Hell couldn’t survive here long.”
“All demons derive their power from the First Fallen, either through his minions here in this realm or from the power contained within Hell. He divvies this power most sparingly, as he is loathe to part with it, but does reward exceptional service as he sees fit. Demons rise in power by making deals with one another, and they rise to the top through backstabbing and betrayal, ever hoping to destroy the one above them and claim their souls. It is the nature of evil to covet power in this way.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if mankind was that much different. The whole organization of it made perfect sense. “So the Demon Queen was once one of the Devil’s human creations, and she ascended to her position?”
“No,” Josette said, surprising me. “What I have told you is a vast simplification to the processes by which this war maintains its armies. Demons can also come from Hell on their own if they possess enough power and motivation. These are the descendants of the Second Fallen, the army of seraph who followed the First when the truce was declared and my Lord granted him Hell.”
“Why don’t they come?” I asked. “Wouldn’t the war end that much faster?”
“No. Think of it in comparison to man’s invention of nuclear warheads. Were the strongest of the demons to enter this realm, my Lord would have no choice other than to grant His disciples leave to join the fray. The result of such a clash would incinerate this world and everything in it, leaving nothing for either side to claim.”
Complete Armageddon, instead of a Rapture. “So the Demon Queen came from Hell?”
“That is the only possibility,” she replied. “We would have known of her many years ago if she were accumulating power as Reyzl has. She arrived unannounced only weeks before the Chalice was lost.”
It was a lot to think about. I closed my eyes and tried to picture what Hell must be like, filled with creatures of untold power that could obliterate the world in a furious firestorm. I was glad most of them chose to stay there.
“You are courting Rebecca?” The question broke the silence, shattering it into a million little pieces.
“Courting?” I asked, trying to fight against my embarrassment. “I thought you were a modern girl?”
She grimaced. “I don’t know what the correct term for this is nowadays. I haven’t had much inclination to explore such things.”
Did angels even have an interest in relationships? It didn’t seem like it, though even if they did I could understand why Josette would be disenfranchised.
“Courting is good enough I guess,” I said. “No, we aren’t courting. Why do you ask?”
She shrugged. “It’s the way she looks at you. There is a... hunger.”
I laughed. “She’s a vampire. There’s probably a part of her that thinks everything with two legs is food.” I decided not to tell her I had already provided Rebecca with a potent meal. Let that be our little secret.
“Landon, be serious. She likes you.”
I wasn’t sure about where this was going, but I found comfort in being able to talk to Josette about it. “I like her too. I think we connected, as friends I mean.” She had kissed me a few times, and I had liked that, but it didn’t make us an item.
“Friends?” She raised her eyebrow. “She doesn’t look at you as a friend looks upon a friend.”
“The hunger?”
“Yes.”
She had looked at me in a strange way when I woke in the Suburban, but it had been more of a visceral, chilling look. It was not an intimate look at all, and I had taken it for jealousy. Then again, why be jealous unless you already thought there was something there and you didn’t want anyone else butting in?
“What do you think?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Rebecca and I?” The thought was both exciting and frightening. I took a deep breath to calm myself.
“As you said, she is a vampire. A demon. I don’t think my opinion is the best one to go on.”
“I thought you respected her choice to join me?”
“I can respect her, that doesn’t mean I have to trust her,” she said. “Whatever good intentions she has, her kind, her family, perhaps even her have intentionally caused pain and suffering to others. That is a difficult thing for me to resolve. Remember, I have been battling vampires for hundreds of years. She is unique in her views, which to me makes her more dangerous.”
“I’m not exactly a saint,” I pointed out. “You like me anyway.”
“You don’t exist to fuel evil,” she said.
“Neither does Rebecca, if she chooses not to.”
Josette pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “I will trust you,” she decided. “She is very attractive.”
I could feel my body heating up again. “She has a powerful soul Josette. She told me you were in trouble and suggested we go to your aid. Plus, she won control of her family from her father. I’m sure you knew him, Merov Solen.”
Her face darkened. “I knew him. He was a cruel nosferatu. Thank God he has been destroyed.” She tilted her head, her expression softening. “The rescue was her idea?”
“Yes.”
She was silent for a minute. “She is a rare creature indeed. Yes, I think you would do well to court her.”