Bound

Chapter FIFTEEN

Rebecca



Two hours later I was on my way to Kansas in the sleeper car of an Amtrak train. The waiting in Penn Station had been tense, but we'd gotten underway without incident and made it out of New York unscathed. I'd spent most of the time standing on the platform, keeping an eye on the stairs, and reconciling what Randolph had told me.

The angels were dealing with archfiends, but the lesser demons were getting wild. It was an interesting approach, and it made sense. With the main power base gone in a given region, the other fiends would be spending more of their energy jockeying for position and fighting amongst themselves. It was a little more problematic for humanity, because there were some truly stupid Divine out there, but not as much of a problem as a concerted effort by a higher ranking demon could cause. As a side benefit, it would also allow me more breathing room to deal with the Box. The angels were stretched thin, leaving them mostly out of the picture. The demons were busy fighting amongst themselves. There were plenty of other players left, but every little bit helped.

I also spent some time considering the longer term picture of the changed mortals. If they were integrating into the societies of their new species, eventually they would begin to reproduce. Once that happened, would they become stronger, or weaker? Would there be vampires that could stay outside during the day unaffected, who didn't need to drink blood, but maintained the enhanced stamina and intelligence? Or would they lose traits that made them superior, the strength and longevity? There was no way to know, but it was certain this was just the first push on a domino.

My eyes glazed over from looking out the window at the landscape passing by. The trip was supposed to take a little more than a day to complete, with a couple of exchanges along the way, but I wasn't planning on going the full route. We'd be in DC in about an hour, and I would catch a flight there. It wasn't as far as I'd prefer to have gone, but I was navigating a delicate balance between time and distance. It wouldn't take the Nicht Creidim forever to figure out where I had gone, and if by some chance Sarah managed to get to Obi, the former marine could certainly hack into any transportation system he needed to help track me down.

I took the pack and pulled it up onto my lap, opening the zipper just enough to see the blue glow from the Box. It comforted me to look at it, and to know I was in control. With any luck, I'd be meeting with Elyse's contact before the sun had set again.

The power pulsed along the surface, running through intricate channels, brightening and dimming in tune to whatever logic the prison followed. I knew so little about it, beyond how its creator and the demon Abaddon had become trapped in it. The Beast had told me where to find it, once he had deemed me ready to make my return from Hell. I had been powerful then, in many ways much more so than I was now. I only had one weakness, that the Redeemer had turned into a strength.


I took a deep breath and put a finger on the box, feeling the warmth of the energy it fought to contain, the energy that was leaking into this world. I looked around at the people on the train. Would they change faster or die sooner because they had been so close to me? If the Box's power was like radiation, these mortals didn't stand a chance.

Returning my eyes to the Box, I wondered what he was going through in there. The Beast had tortured me once when I had questioned the need to bring Sarah into his game. I could remember the pain of being torn apart and put back together, so slowly and purposefully that it made the agony more intense and immeasurable than any other kind of wound could. Torturing souls in Hell had been part of my training.

None had screamed the way I had.

"Final stop, union   Station," the voice said over the loudspeaker. "If you're transferring, please hold onto your ticket and check the board for track information. Thank you for riding Amtrak."

I didn't stand until everyone else had disembarked. Only then did I sling the pack over my shoulder and make my way out, the hidden dagger in my jacket ready to be used. Nobody stared, nobody approached. I was still in the clear.

A quick walk through the station, and I would grab a taxi to Dulles International. I had never been in D.C. before, and I was amazed by the construction of the station; a magnificence in marble and light that stood in stark contrast to the old dinginess that Penn Station brought to mind. The beauty of it distracted me, and that distraction almost caused me to lose the Box.

A gloved hand dug into my shoulder, stopping my brisk pace. I tried to turn around, to face my assailant, but a second hand wrapped up under my other arm and pinned me, shoving me towards the wall and an access door nearby. I could tell by the size of the hand and the feel of the person behind me that they were taller than me, and well-muscled. At first, I wriggled in their grasp, trying to kick at the feet or twist from the grip without drawing too much attention. For every movement I made, my attacker countered it with equal and opposite force, leaving me stuck in their grasp and moving to a more private location. I needed to get out of this now, because I didn't know what was waiting on the other side of the door. Had they been expecting me?

There was only one thing left to do, and so I let go of my control of Elyse and pushed myself towards my captor. I was too close to understand who they were, and I never got to find out. No sooner had I let go of Elyse than a blazing heat greeted my ghostly form, propelling me away. I only barely managed to latch back onto her before I was sent off into the distance.

"Damn. Will you cool it, Rebecca?"

I knew that voice, but how did he know it was me? I stopped struggling.

"I'll walk myself, Obi-wan."

His hands left my shoulders. As soon as they did, I spun around and struck out at him with the knife.

He was expecting the move, and he caught my wrist and pinched the nerve, making me drop the weapon. "Hold on a sec, will you? I know what happened, but I'm not here for Sarah."

I looked up at him. His face was damp with perspiration and his breath smelled like alcohol. A rough Eye was painted on his forehead in... mascara?

"Then what are you doing here?"

He waved towards the access door. "Can we just get out of sight? It isn't safe out here."

I nodded. It was obvious he had come running from some drunken stupor somewhere, and I wanted to know why. I walked to the door and opened it. It was nothing but a small janitorial supply room. He pushed me in and closed the door behind us, stopping to pick up the dagger.

"I can't believe he was telling me the truth," he said, as soon as the door had shut. He used his hand to wipe some of the sweat away.

"Who?"

He grinned. "So, I'm at home, sitting on my couch, downing another shot of tequila when my phone rings. I pick it up, and there's this guy on the phone. He tells me I need to track down an Elyse Everness, and to check transportation databases."

He was talking fast, and the words were coming out a little stilted. I put up my hand. "Wait, slow down. I was at Sarah's. I heard her say you don't answer your phone."

"I do when the battery is dead and it still rings. Anyway, he texts me a photo of this thing on my forehead, tells me to draw it with whatever I have, find out where Elyse is going, and get there. He tells me she's really you, and you've either got the Box, or you will soon enough. I know Sarah, and she's a sweet kid. I love her like a niece, but destroying the Box? Hell, no. I wasn't helping her with that, I don't care what Landon wanted. I lost enough already." He put his hand on the wall to steady himself.

"Who?" I asked again.

"I'm getting to that. He tells me you have the Box, and you're going to get Landon out. That there's a way." His eyes started tearing. "Too much dying, too much destruction. I can feel the balance you know. I know its in the crapper, and it's going to get worse without Landon. The angels have the Deliverer, but they can't be everywhere at once, and the demons will figure out they're being played sooner or later. Either that or Gervais will get them organized. He can't kill Gervais with it you know, because he's not a demon anymore. He's something else."

His voice sped up as he spoke, until I could barely make out what he was saying.

"Obi, get to the point. Who told you to find me?"

"Yeah, right. He's an odd one. British accent, kind of soft, like a trannie or something. Laughs at himself a lot. Said his name was... Matt?"

I remembered the demon Templar. "Max?"

He pointed at me and grinned. "Yeah, that's it. Told me he was waiting for us in Peru, but you weren't going to make it without help. So I tracked you down."

That's who was feeding Elyse her information? Why hadn't she wanted to tell me? I knew Landon trusted the demon, and that made me feel better about this whole thing. Elyse might have her own selfish goals, but it seemed we really did want the same thing. "I didn't use the name Elyse Everness to book the ticket."

"Of course you didn't, that would be stupid. You used an anagram of Reyka Solen, and you paid with a credit card you got from one Randolph Hurst, who happens to be a vampire. I put two and two together."

"You did all that drunk?" I was impressed.

He shrugged. "It wasn't that hard. I've already got the algorithms set up to track the known Divine in town. The bigger problem is that you were spotted the minute you got off the train. I was waiting right outside the gate, you just didn't notice me. They went to get some backup, but they'll be poking around here soon enough. We need to get on a plane to Peru."

"So you're going to help me?"

He waved the dagger in front of him. "I want to stick this thing into your heart for all the crap you've done, but first things first. Yeah, I'm going to help you."

"Fair enough. I deserve whatever you want to dish out. You have a car?"

"I can do better than a car. I pulled some strings." He flipped the knife in his hand and held it out to me. "We just need to get outside in one piece. Let's move." He pushed open the door to the closet and peeked out. "You go first. I'll hang back so if anyone tries to grab you, I can hit them from behind."

I stepped in front of him, slipping out the door during a break in traffic and moving into the crowd. I was nearing the Center Cafe when I heard the first scream.

I took the hint, diving to the side as a round of gunfire echoed through the Station. Chips of marble scattered from the spot where I had been standing, and I came up from my roll facing the shooter. It was just in time to hear the extra loud boom of Obi's Desert Eagle, and watch him drop.

I knew right away he wasn't alone. The shooting had caused most of the mortals to run, to scatter in every direction that wasn't near the now fallen Nicht Creidim. The decision hadn't been unanimous. A half dozen or so stayed back, and even as the other humans shouted, cried, screamed, and fought their way past, they drew their own guns.

Obi was running towards me, and I raised my hand, holding up all of my fingers and then pointing behind him. He rolled his eyes, and then dropped to his knees, sliding along the floor to where the shooter's body lay. He flopped over and levered it, using it as a shield against a sudden barrage. Some of the bullets skipped off the floor around him, creating more divots in the marble. Others found the dead man's flesh. Obi's arm reached out, firing off two quick rounds and dropping two of our attackers.

"Get outside," he shouted back at me, leaving me to make a run for it while he hid beneath a corpse. I wanted to help him, but I only had the knives, and our enemies were too far away. "Go!"

I didn't have a choice. I stayed low while I ran for the doors, where the rest of the people were fighting to get out. More gunshots rang out behind me, and I heard another shout and thud in the background. I joined the crowd, pushing through them and getting outside, finding myself face to face with a policeman.

There was no hesitation when I let go of Elyse and floated into this one, wrapping around his soul and taking control. I felt the hurt of his memories: the demanding parents, the disappointed ex-wife, the rebellious son. He was a good cop though, a straight-shooter with the best intentions.

"Get out of the way!" I started shoving the frightened mortals aside. "Keep it safe," I said to Elyse, who nodded and kept going towards the street.


I hurried back inside as the whole scene fell quiet. Obi had emptied his clip, and apparently so had the Nicht Creidim. There was a frantic rush by both parties to reload, and Obi had to get out from under cover to do it. I took the policeman's gun from its holster and started firing, the bullets missing the target in my still clumsy hands, but doing the job of keeping them distracted. Obi saw me and jumped to his feet, running towards me and using my cover fire to escape and reload. I kept shooting while I rushed the three remaining attackers, my bullets still off the mark but managing to hit one in the shoulder. The other two finished replacing their clips, and I found myself in a hailstorm of metal.

Bullets ate into me, piercing my shoulder, my leg, my chest. My shell was wearing a vest, and so nothing vital got destroyed. I continued the charge, pulling the baton from my belt as I neared them, ignoring the pain of the wounds I was taking. I was out of bullets, but I could still fight.

They didn't bother with knives at this range. I was right in their face, and their guns rose, the muzzle flashes blinding me while the bullets found a better target in my face. I could feel the life draining from my host, but he had done his job. I let him go, giving him a few final breaths before he fell over and died, finding my way to the Nicht Creidim closest to me - a woman in business attire. I was angry enough that I barely noticed the pain of her memories while I wrested control of her body.

The next part was simple. I was too close to miss. I turned to the two men standing next to me and shot them both in the head. Once they were face down, I dropped the gun and started walking towards the exit.

Obi stood there, his mouth gaping. "Rebecca?"

I winked at him.

"Holy crap."

"Elyse is waiting outside. Go get her for me?"

"Yeah, sure."

He turned to leave, but I took hold of his arm.

"You need to shoot me first."

He looked at me, then down at his gun. "I can't..."

"You have to."

He shook his head. "No way. I know you're cold blooded, but I'm not going to shoot someone in cold blood."

I slid my hand forward and pulled the gun from his grip. There was no ceremony to my suicide, and it left him visibly shaken. He stood there for a few seconds, looking at my ghost form.

"Max said you'd changed. I was hoping maybe he meant in a good way."