“Whatever,” Sebastian growled, none too pleased. “Look, since you can’t just answer your phone like a normal dick, I drew the short straw and had to come find your sorry ass. We need you to intercept and guard a Halfling.”
“Oh, sure, no problem,” Gideon snipped between cold bites of sweet and spicy chicken, “’cause they’re just falling out of the sky left and right. If this Halfling’s so damned important, and you have enough time on your hands to come check up on me, why aren’t you doing the search and rescue thing?”
“I’m off to Michigan as soon as I leave here. We’ve tracked down a descendant of the Guardian charged with protecting the Sword of Kathnesh. We’re hoping I can find something that might help us trace the stolen relic, maybe recover it.”
Gideon took a swig of coffee, unimpressed. “Send one of the others.”
“Mikhail, Xander, and Niklas are already tied up with missions of their own. By default, that leaves you.”
The Sword of Kathnesh, along with the Arc Stone, the Scrolls of Prévnar and the Chosen One, made up the four Sacred Relics. It had long ago been prophesied that whosoever controlled the four Sacred Relics would possess the means to overthrow Lucifer. Only problem with that scenario was that the demon prince, Stolas—who’d already absconded with the sword and was, even now, working on stealing the rest—intended to unleash Armageddon, as the veil between Earth and Hell depended solely upon Lucifer’s life force.
That had been God’s own curse. Lucifer existed, therefore the veil existed. If Lucifer perished, then the veil fell. Pretty effective torment for someone whose sole heart’s desire was the one thing that could only be had at the expense of his own life.
As much as they all hated bad old Lucy, Gideon and his legion of penitent demons couldn’t let it go down like that. So, regardless of the fact that they’d turned their backs on Lucifer centuries ago, regardless of the fact that Lucifer now hunted them with a vengeance, putting a price on their heads few demons could resist, they fought to keep him in power down under. Not to protect Lucifer, but to protect the human race, and—hopefully—earn forgiveness.
Gideon gave Sebastian a droll stare. “Easy enough to figure out. Guardian sucked at his job. Sword’s in enemy hands, out of reach. End of discussion.”
“You need to shut up and drink your coffee,” Vengeance snarled.
Where’s all that vaunted patience now? Well, good. Maybe if Gideon pissed him off enough Sebastian would go the hell away and leave him alone.
Gideon grunted, flipping him the bird with one hand as he tipped the coffee cup to his lips with the other.
“Back to your mission. That key you found a while back in the spine of Kyanna’s book? Xander and Kyanna figured out what it goes to,” Sebastian went on. Kyanna was Guardian of the Arc Stone. Five mostly reformed demons, one Guardian and one little human were all that stood between the status quo and the complete and utter enslavement and annihilation of the entire human race. No pressure or anything.
Only an idiot would bet on those odds.
“Key belongs to a strongbox Kyanna’s mother had stashed away in the floorboards of the attic where they used to live. The strongbox contained several journals Kyanna’s mom had kept over the years. We now have several angelic lines to follow up.”
Kyanna was more than a Guardian. She was also a Keeper of Secrets, charged with the safety of a precious family heirloom. A book—or several, by the sounds of it—that, among other things, tracked the lineage, both old and relatively new, of those of angelic descent, aka Halflings. It was her duty to teach those Halflings all they needed to know to survive in a world where everyone was out to either use them for their own purposes, or kill them outright. Overall, Gideon liked Kyanna. She was no-nonsense, compassionate and sharp as a tack.
Although, considering who she’d hooked up with, the poor girl had abominable taste in males.
“Then again,” Sebastian continued, beating a dead horse, “if you’d bothered to listen to any of the dozen or so voicemails we left, you’d already know this shit.”
Gideon set the soggy white carton aside. Apathy battled curiosity. It was a toss-up as to which was winning. “And?”
“We have confirmation of a first generation Halfling. A name and location.” Sebastian dropped the bombshell.
Gideon began to take interest at last. A first generation Halfling was huge. For more reasons than one. First and foremost, it meant an angel, one of those Heavenly creatures that were above sin and condemnation, had come down from the Heavens and had carnal contact with a human.
Naughty, naughty.