Chapter SEVENTEEN
Rebecca
We were supposed to have a police escort to Dulles, the arrangement that Obi had told me about. It didn't work out that way, due to the war zone the Nicht Creidim had created around the train station. Instead, we had been forced to steal another car and hope that in the aftermath it wouldn't be noticed until we were well away.
The ride was tense, and Obi refused to speak to me. I tried to explain to him about the sword, about His redemption, and about my desire to save Landon. He told me to shut up because I was making his head hurt more than it already did. He didn't want to know about redemption or the notion that I had been saved by God.
"If God saved you," he said, " it was an accident."
The words hurt, but I understood. Dealing with the Divine took a toll on everyone, and mortals most of all. It was more than the things he had lost himself. It was also the things he had to see and endure. The hundreds of dead they had left in their wake, innocent mortals caught up as pawns in the Beast's game, the violence and chaos of an undying war. He had a right to be angry, and in my soul I forgave him for it.
We made it to the airport, found a flight to Peru, and were thirty thousand feet up only four hours after arriving in D.C. I felt relieved to be skyward, though there was a part of me that feared we had been spotted. It would be trivial for a fire demon to rip the plane right out of the air, and we couldn't count on the seraphim to protect us.
Maybe we hadn't been spotted, or maybe they had chosen to let us alone. In either case, the plane landed in Cusco with no interruptions. I spent the entire flight sleeping, waking to find my head on an also-sleeping Obi-wan's shoulder. I picked it up and shifted in the seat, and then shoved his arm to wake him. His eyes shot open and he reached for his gun, which had been glamoured as a laptop and put into my pack with everything else.
"We're here," I told him, pointing out the window at the cement and grass rolling by. "Did he say where to meet him?"
"No." He brought his hand up and wiped away a bit of drool from his lip. "Did you manage to make it through the flight without killing anybody?"
I glared at him for a second, and then looked away. Maybe I was being heavy-handed with my approach, but what choice did I have? It was the way I knew how to fight, and how to survive.
We were off the plane and walking through the terminal when Obi's phone began to ring. He pulled it from the pocket of his jeans and stared at it for a second before answering.
"We're here," he said. There was a pause while the caller spoke. "Crap. Okay. Be there in five." He hung up.
"Well?"
"Max has a lead on our first target, but he said they're getting antsy. We need to rendezvous with him at the terminal entrance. He's got a car." He started walking faster, his size forcing me to jog to keep up with him.
"Target? Obi, I don't know what the hell we're supposed to be doing here."
He shrugged. "Neither do I, but I've run out of things to trust, so I'm just going with my gut. If we've got a target, I'm going to hit it."
His fast walk turned into a run, and I sped up to keep pace behind him. We dashed through the airport, winding our way around the other patrons, who turned and watched us like we were crazy. We reached a set of stairs and Obi jumped, falling from the first platform to the second fifteen feet below, and landing like it was no trouble at all. I couldn't duplicate the move, but my smaller feet took the steps faster, and I hit the ground floor only a dozen feet behind him. I could see the exit up ahead, a wall of glass and sliding doors with cars parked out behind it.
Obi barely slowed when he reached it, almost crashing through the glass instead of waiting for the doors to slide open. He shoved himself through the crack and then stopped, his head flailing in each direction. He saw something, and started towards it at a run.
I followed behind, trying to see past his body to whatever had clued him in. A limo driver in a black suit and cap, holding up a placard that said 'Solen'.
"A pleasure," Max said when we reached him. He threw open the door to a dusty stretch and helped shove us into the back. Then he ran around to the driver's side and got behind the wheel. He tore away from the gate, the momentum throwing me into Obi's lap.
"Get off me," Obi said, his hands finding all the wrong spots as he tried to shove me away.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "Your paws seem to have a different idea."
He scowled while I pushed myself to the bench seat immediately behind Max. "Max, are you sure we need her?"
His laughter was musical. "I'm afraid so, old chap. Afraid so. Hold on."
The wheels screamed and the car shifted. I braced myself against the roof to keep from being thrown around again.
"Would you mind telling us what the hell we're doing?" I spun around and watched the forward view. Max was careening around the rest of the traffic, driving the long limo like it was a Lotus.
He turned his head to look at me. "Of course, of course. I've got a line on the djinn who has the Damned."
"The damned what?"
He laughed and turned the wheel, sending us around a guy on a scooter. He wasn't even looking at the road.
"No, no. Just the Damned. It's one of the Swords of Gehenna, the counterpart to the Redeemer, actually. We need to retrieve it."
Obi threw himself to the space next to me. "What do we need it for?"
"I told you already, lug nut. I want to get Landon out of the Box." He finally put his eyes back on the road, slowing behind an old van before accelerating around it. "That's not accurate. I want to help Landon get himself out of the Box. I think he can do it, but he'll need a little outside intervention."
"What kind of intervention? What are you talking about?"
"Balance, sweet cakes. In case you still haven't wrapped your mind around it, everything that has happened was meant to happen. In fact, it's all going rather swimmingly."
Obi's face began to flush, and he looked like he wanted to strangle the Templar. "Swimmingly? Are you kidding me?"
"It's a long story, but for now I think it's enough to say that even if Landon had known he was part of the bigger plan, he would have been more eager to go along with it, not less. I'm driving this limo a hundred kilometers per hour for a reason."
"So you're saying there's a way out?" I asked.
He looked back at me and nodded vigorously. "Of course there's a way out. There's always been a way out, it just... well... let us find the djinn and the Damned first, and then I'll tell you everything I know. If we don't recover the swords, my words are wind."
He blew around a Toyota and sped up even more. Within minutes, we had entered the main city of Cusco, and were captured by the downtown traffic.
"How did you hear about this djinn?" I asked, looking out the window to the mountains surrounding us.
"I've always known about this djinn, and I've always known he has the Damned. I also know who gave it to him."
"How?" Obi asked. His eyes darted back and forth, taking in the sights of the city, right now a line of cars traveling in both directions down the main square, with pedestrians walking on either side.
Max's laughter was loud and deep. "I'll give you a hint. He's driving this car."
I was confused before. I was more confused now. "You gave it to him? So why don't you just ask for it back?"
"I wish I could, my sweet. I'm afraid he's grown quite partial to my gift, and is less than willing to return it. I'm hoping to convince him, but if not..."
He didn't need to finish the statement, but I wasn't sure how we were supposed to help him handle a djinn. I didn't even know what kind of power they held beyond Kafrit's ability to extract absorbed souls.
The car came to a sudden stop, pushing Obi and I into the back of the seat.
"Time to run," Max said, opening his door. Our doors opened at the same time, and we poured out of the limo while the cars behind us began to honk and their drivers started to scream. "Too-da-loo!" Max waved to them.
We followed him at a run, across the thoroughfare and down a smaller street. Left, then right, two blocks, and then left again at a full sprint. Nobody seemed to notice the demon, but Obi and I were mortal, and we didn't get any such invisibility. Every eye followed us when we passed.
One more right turn, and we were standing in a small alley where a woman was sitting against a stone wall, a large white dog laying at her side, its head in her lap. She looked up as we came to a stop in front of her.
"Abaz?" Max asked, his deep voice echoing down the alley. "Come on, my furry friend. I know it's you."
The dog lifted its head lazily, turned and licked the woman's face. She stood up.
"A strange congregation. Who are you?"
She was wearing a long gypsy skirt, a white linen blouse, and sandals. Her skin was a dark olive, her hair brown and sun drenched. Every finger wore a different ring, and her neck was submerged in chains. If the dog was a djinn, this woman had to be a witch, a servant to the Divine lounging next to her.
"My name is Max-"
"No, not you." She put up her hand, one of the rings flashed, and Max froze in place. "You." She pointed at me. "You wear the Eye. Who are you?"
"Let him go, and I'll answer your question," I said.
"Answer my question anyway." Another ring flashed, and I felt some kind of power roll through. I was reminded of Sarah's attempt to Command me.
"Maybe I won't," I replied, moving towards her.
She wasn't afraid, but she shifted her head, curious. "Immune?" She looked over at the dog.
I heard a click next to me, and saw that Obi had pulled his gun. He was aiming it at the dog. "We don't have a lot of time for games. Are you Abaz, or not?"
I didn't see it happen, but one moment the Desert Eagle was in the former marine's hand, and the next it wasn't. He was left standing there, pantomiming.
"Not," the smooth voice said. The dog was gone, replaced with a small man with a thin mustache and flat nose, dressed in a white linen suit and holding Obi's gun.
"I can get a message to him, for a price," the witch said.
"We need to see him in person," I said. "What's the price for that?"
"Tell me who you are, and then I'll name my price."
I looked back and forth between the djinn and the witch. Who was a slave to who?
"My name is Elyse, I'm-"
I didn't get to finish before the djinn was behind me with a knife to my throat.
"I didn't ask for the name of your shell," she said. "I asked for your name."
I saw it now, the Eye etched into the ring she wore on her right pinkie. It was an otherwise plain, tin thing that looked loose on her finger.
"You can see me?"
Her head dipped and raised.
"My name is Rebecca."
The knife pressed against my neck, and I felt the bite of the blade and the warm stickiness of the blood it was drawing.
"No. Your real name. I won't ask again."
"Reyka. Reyka Solen."
The djinn was gone. The knife was gone. He was standing at her side again.
"See, that wasn't so hard. I've heard the name Solen before. Vampires, from New York. You're Merov's girl. Ah, yes, I see it now. The betrayer." She laughed. "No, I won't bring you to Abaz. You can't be trusted."
I had to hold my breath to contain my anger. We needed to see Abaz, to get the Damned back. I wasn't going to let some petulant witch stand in the way of that.
"Whoa, wait a second," Obi said. "What if we go without her?"
The witch's laughter got louder, and the djinn joined her. "You don't understand, Jedi. I know who you are. I know why you're here. I know what you want from Abaz. I won't give it to you. Like these djinn, the sword is ours. Go back to whoever sent you, and tell them that the creator Himself can't pry the blade from our hands."
"That's not an option," Obi said.
She shrugged. "You prefer to fight over it? Very well."
There was no time. The djinn appeared behind me again, his arm wrapping around my neck and bringing the blade in to cut it open. I tried to squirm away, but his grip was ridiculous.
The next thing I knew, I was laying in the middle of the street, the leather jacket the only thing that saved me from some serious road burn. The djinn had stayed airborne until he smashed into the wall of the building on the opposite side of where we started. What the hell had hit me?
"You aren't playing fair," I heard Max say. Had he thrown me?
My confusion was lost when the ground started shaking. I propped myself up on my elbows to see the demon standing between the witch and us. His back had sprouted a row of spiked bone along his spine, and a pair of black leathery wings hung from his shoulder blades. He turned an enlarged, bony head back towards me.
"Uh... run?"
He turned around and grabbed Obi, his wings launching them towards the sky. A moment later, the walls on both sides of the alley collapsed inwards, putting a pile of rubble where we had been standing.
I got to my feet and turned around, looking for the djinn. His jacket was laying in the street, but he was gone. Max landed beside me, clutching an almost white Obi.
"What the hell, Max?" I asked.
"It's a long story, lollipop, with a lot of deceit and trickery involved." He looked almost embarrassed.
"Save the chit-chat," Obi said. "They're getting away."
"I'll get her," Max said. "Rebecca, can I give you a lift?" He looked at Obi. "I nearly broke my back getting you away from the collapse."
Before I could prepare myself, Max grabbed my arm and swung me around, and then wrapped his arms under my shoulders and carried us into the sky. We circled the city while the demon searched for the witch.
"There. That car."
I didn't see the car he was talking about. We launched from the sky at a ridiculous speed. I could feel my hair whipping out behind me, and my face being pressed back against the bone. It was exhilarating.
We slowed when we neared the car, an old green Land Rover. I could see the djinn behind the wheel, the witch riding in the back. She didn't turn her head to look back at us. She tossed a small bag out of the side window.
We passed it by, and I turned my head to watch it tumble to a stop. A moment later, it began to grow.
"Golem!" The stone around the bag pulled in and gathered, rising up into the shape of a man. It started running behind us, chasing us. It was fueled by the power of the djinn, and it moved faster than Max could fly.
Max looked back at it. "I'm going to drop you on the car, okay?"
I didn't like the sound of it, but what other choice did we have? "Do it."
His wings shifted, and we shot forward. The moment we were over the Land Rover, he spread them wide and we were caught like a parasail, standing us upright and giving me one moment in time to drop onto the car at the same speed. He let go, and I fell onto the roof.
I only looked back once to see him land behind me, a black sword appearing in his hand. Had he picked my pocket? The golem slowed to fight him, leaving me to deal with the witch and her servant.
I took a deep breath and pulled a cursed dagger from my boot while I clung precariously to the small seam between the roof and one of the back windows. I felt the motion of the car, and I guessed what was going to happen. I swung my legs out of the way, letting them dangle from the side of the car as a stiletto punched through the sheet metal. It looked more like a syringe than a sword, and I could only imagine what it would do if it punctured me. Gathering my strength I pushed back and swung in, my legs going through the open window. I let go of the roof and fell inside, getting a lucky boot into the witch's face as a reward.
"Solen," the witch said.
She stabbed at my ankle with the blade. I could see it more clearly now, a cylinder of crystal with a greenish liquid inside. Poison? I pulled my left foot back and crossed over with the right, kicking her hand away. She reached out with the other and one of the rings flared. Her touch on my skin itched, but she seemed confused by the lack of effect.
"You think a Nicht Creidim would go anywhere without protection from fire?" I threw my body forward and smothered her, knocking her against the side of the car.
"What about from ice?" I couldn't see her hand, but the next time she touched me, it burned as much as fire. I brought the dagger around towards her face, but her other hand came up and blocked it.
The pain of the cold was spreading. I had to get her hand off me. I gathered my weight and shoved myself back away, breaking the contact but winding up on the opposite side of the car. She smiled, and the door opened.
I should have fallen out, but somehow I managed to dig the dagger into the upholstery and hang onto it while I fought to keep my legs from dragging onto the pavement and pulling me away from my grip. I could hear the witch laughing.
"You have no power, Rebecca. There is nothing you can do."
I hung there. I had thought taking Elyse's body and having the power of the artifacts the Nicht Creidim had collected would give back what I was lacking, but I was being trounced by the first real demon I had squared up against. And she wasn't even a demon. Just a mortal who had somehow gained more power than she should have been able to. If we hadn't been in a speeding car I could have tried to possess her, but there was no guarantee that would work either, especially when she had an Eye.
"Sacerdos ab Ordinario delegatus, rite confessus, aut saltem corde peccata sua detestans, peracto, si..."
I felt a tug at my soul. The bitch was trying to exorcise me!
That was when I remembered the red crystals. I reached into the pocket of the jacket with my gloved hand, grabbing one of them, but then I hesitated. If I killed her, she wouldn't be able to take us to Abaz and the sword. If I didn't kill her, she was going to blast me to who knows where, and probably kill Elyse.
I glanced over at the djinn, still driving the car and ignoring everything that was happening behind him.
"...obsessum ligatum, si sit periculum, eum, se et astantes communiat..."
The pull was growing, a pressure that wanted to steal me away from Elyse. I made up my mind, taking the crystal and rubbing it between my fingers.
"...genibus flexis, aliis respondentibus, dicat..."
I strained against the pull, feeling so much tension in every movement. The runes on the crystal began to glow, and it took all of my energy just to drop it at her feet. The crystal threw up a gout of hellfire, catching the witch off-guard and reducing her to ash in the space of a breath.
It also made the car explode.