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.