The Demon's Song

CHAPTER Eighteen


She was going to kill him.

“Damn it, Phenex,” Sofia muttered, and paced the length of the family room for the hundredth time. When he’d agreed to get her out in the sunlight, she’d assumed he meant the next day. Instead, tomorrow had stretched into a series of tomorrows, until three days after he’d made her the promise it seemed obvious that Phenex was trying to convince her that spending extra time aboveground wasn’t worth the trouble. At this rate, she wasn’t even going to make it to work on time. Did he think trapping her down here was going to make her like it better?

That would only be true if depressing her into a catatonic state would count as “better.”

It wasn’t all bad. It wasn’t even mostly bad, if she were being honest with herself. Dru had arrived on her doorstep more than once to entertain her when Phenex needed to meet with one of the other Fallen, and Justin’s sister was a refreshing challenge to all her preconceived notions about what a vampire might be. It was good to have found a friend here. Especially since yesterday’s visit with Sara, her elusive newly immortal ex-roommate, had decreased her friend count by one.

That had been bittersweet. Sara had decided that not only did she like being a vampire, but that she had almost no interest in her old life. Though their conversation had been friendly enough, Sofia didn’t miss that she seemed to be included in her friend’s list of things to leave behind. And though Sara swore she’d let her mother know that she was fine, just busy, Sofia felt sorry for the woman.

The most awkward thing had been the offer Sara had made right before they’d gone their separate ways.

“You know, Sofia…I could make you a vampire, too,” Sara had said, her eyes beginning to gleam an unsettling shade of red. Phenex had warned her to be careful, that fledgling vampires had a harder time controlling their blood lust. He’d stationed himself right around the corner in the next room in case anything went wrong. But he hadn’t needed to worry. Sara hadn’t been violent when Sofia refused her. Just disappointed.

“That’s sweet, Sara, but I think I’ll stick to being human. There are things I just don’t want to give up.”

Sara had shrugged, looking disgusted, and risen to go. “Suit yourself,” she’d said, heading for the door. “If you ever decide that the trade-off is worth it, let me know.”

And then she’d been gone, without ever thanking Sofia for having saved her life long enough to allow her to become a vampire in the first place.

It was a hell of a way to find out a friendship had run its course. And it hadn’t helped Sofia’s mood that Phenex had actually looked disappointed that she’d refused Sara’s offer.

Terra Noctem was dark and interesting and beautiful. But it wasn’t the sort of place she would ever choose as a home, no matter how much she liked some of the other people in it. Especially Phenex.

Even when he was trying to make her late for work again.

She looked at her watch, ran a hand down the front of her scrubs to smooth away imagined wrinkles, and then tipped her head back to sigh. This time, she might finally have to call in. And since it was last-minute, she was going to get her ass chewed. Just another day she’d barely get to see.

Phenex had shown her that there were things she could actually enjoy about his world. Why couldn’t he let her share more of her own with him?

The front door opened just when she was getting ready to go hunt him down. He’d gone over to ask Meresin something, an errand Sofia was glad not to join him on. Meresin had made himself scarce since Dru had frightened him off, and what Dru had told her about him didn’t make her feel any more at ease about the dangers he might pose. Meresin, it seemed, didn’t like to be touched. Dru didn’t know why, but it only reinforced Sofia’s perception that there was something terribly broken about him.

Especially because the thing he hadn’t forgiven Dru for was nothing more than a simple, impulsive kiss. One that Dru seemed more than a little fixated on herself, actually.

“Sorry,” Phenex said, immediately filling up the space with his presence. “I was taking care of something. Took longer than I thought.”

Sofia sighed with a mixture of irritation and affection. “It’s fine.”

Another voice caught her attention as a familiar blond head poked around the corner of the door. “Yes, I am. Glad you noticed.”

Gadreel stepped in, big and gorgeous and still far more obnoxious than his angelic looks let on. There didn’t seem to be any hard feelings on his part from their first meeting, but Sofia had a tough time getting comfortable around him. However difficult Phenex was to read, Gadreel was a thousand times harder. And unlike Meresin, he always seemed to be underfoot.

“Hi,” Sofia said. “Everything okay?”

“Better than okay. We’re a threesome tonight.”

Sofia looked at Phenex, who just shrugged. “We’re all going up today. Justin’s not going to be happy when he finds out, but he’s pretty used to us making him unhappy.”

She looked between them. “All of you? You’ve finally heard from Uriel.”

Most of what she’d heard about the archangel assigned by Heaven to deal with the pack of renegade Fallen had been bitching about his lengthy absences between meetings with them to dole out assignments and insults about what a Goody Two-Shoes he was. Sofia had decided it was best not to express how interested she was in meeting an actual, white-winged angel. Raum sort of counted, but he still had a foul mouth when he wanted to.

Gadreel grinned. “You catch on more quickly than most humans, I’ll give you that. Beautiful, perceptive…shame about that mortality thing, or I’d have stolen you from Phenex already.”

Sofia snorted. “You could try.” The only way to deal with him, she’d noticed, was to play along and not take anything seriously. Phenex seemed to forget that long enough to punch him, not at all playfully, in the shoulder. Gadreel glared at him and hissed.

“It’s Uriel,” Phenex agreed, ignoring the display of temper. “We’re actually meeting him at the hospital, so you won’t be on your own. I’ll be close by.”

“Archangels. Always so accommodating,” Gadreel muttered. “This had better be as urgent as it seems, now that he’s kept us waiting so long over this. I hate hospitals. They’re full of the dead.”

His words sent a queer chill down Sofia’s spine, but he didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t really think she wanted him to.

“Ready to go?” Phenex asked. He looked tense, Sofia saw as she got closer. Worried. She wondered why…and knew that if she asked, she wouldn’t get an answer. For as much as he let go in bed with her, the rest of the time he was just as inscrutable as he’d been from the start, giving her little but fragments of himself before backing away again.

Maybe eventually, Sofia thought, suddenly wistful. Maybe someday he’d let her know him the way she wanted to. Or maybe he would walk away as much a mystery as he’d always been. That was one of the things she brooded over the most in her quieter moments.

“Okay,” Sofia said, pushing all her worry back into the shadows where it belonged. “Let’s go.”

…

Gadreel wasn’t the only one who hated hospitals. Still, Phenex thought as he stood near the emergency entrance watching Sofia go inside, he was glad Uriel had been paying enough attention to know that this would be the best place, maybe the only place, for a daytime meeting. At least if he wanted to get Phenex there with a minimum of bitching.

Sofia turned back right before she went in, giving him a small wave and a smile. He lifted a hand and was rewarded with a flash of her grin before she vanished through the doors. Phenex simply stood there for a moment, staring after her as a chill wind ruffled his hair. Everything out here was gray and cold without her.

And there was an irate spirit standing by the ER doors repeatedly attempting to clock people in the head with his immaterial walker. The more he missed, the more pissed off he seemed to get.

Hellfire, he hated the wandering dead.

Phenex turned and walked toward a tree around the corner of the building, which at the moment was full of a motley assortment of creatures. A thrush squatted irritably on one branch beside a large crow. An immense snake had wrapped itself all the way up the trunk and then down around a couple of branches, where it sat flicking its tongue at the thrush. Beneath the tree lay what appeared to be an extremely lifelike sculpture of a griffin, a mythical beast with a lion’s body and an eagle’s head and wings. It rested with its head in its front paws, still as stone. Then it saw Phenex and blinked. Beside the griffin sat a man with long black hair pulled back into a braid, pale oceanic eyes, and an expression that marked him as a restraining order waiting to happen. Far above them, violet lightning arced across a gray sky, seemingly out of nowhere.

“This is great,” Phenex said. “Really inconspicuous. Like Charles Manson hosts National Geographic.”

“You’d rather we waited inside?” Levi asked, getting to his feet. Physically, from his size and his striking looks, he could have been one of the Fallen. But while he was in many ways their leader, Leviathan would always stand apart. Maybe, Phenex thought, there was no other way when you’d been formed in a hellpit for the express purpose of terrifying the shit out of anyone who saw you. He had been a monster, a sea beast, Lucifer’s prized pet…and, it was clear now, in a perfect position to hear secrets that the Council didn’t want getting out. Nobody understood what had possessed Leviathan to change his lot in life, much less take others along with him. But he had decided to save them, whatever his purposes might be. And here they were.

But Levi’s secrets remained his own.

“No. Not inside. Okay, part of me wants to see how people would react if all of you went inside like this, but no. Sofia deals with enough in there. I’ve watched her.” And he had, from the shadows, becoming not invisible but thin, so that most humans wouldn’t see him even if they were staring him in the face. She was smart, efficient, capable…and he had seen a depth of compassion that fascinated him even as he struggled to understand it.

It reminded him of what he had once been, things he hadn’t thought of in so long he was surprised he still could remember. Sofia helped so many, the living and the dying, the young and the old, some of whom thanked her and some of whom were among the most awful, ungrateful specimens of humanity he had ever seen. Even when it frustrated her, Sofia thrived on what she did.

It made him remember…

He didn’t want to remember. Not that. Not the pain when he had finally given up.

“You’ve gotten awfully attached to your work,” Levi said, his disapproval clear. But he didn’t lecture, instead looking to the sky. “Meresin needs to get down here. Someone’s going to notice his…weather.”

“Better he let off some of that aggression up there than down here,” Phenex said.

Levi only grunted noncommittally.

There was a burst of warmth at Phenex’s back, and then a rich, beautiful baritone sounded behind him. Phenex hated that his first instinct was to appreciate the tonal quality of that voice. Uriel had always been a wonder when engaged in song. He remembered…

Why the hell was he remembering?

“Gentlemen,” Uriel said. “You present quite a picture.”

He strode into the middle of them, a golden-haired warrior in a charcoal-colored suit and topcoat, a vibrant red scarf at his neck. His wings were nowhere in sight, but Phenex could sense them, white edged in gold, blinding and brilliant.

Uriel’s eyes, the blue of the morning sky, swept the group of them. His gaze lingered just an instant longer on Phenex, and he could sense the curiosity there.

Hellfire. He was not going to be another redemption project. The archangel could forget it.

“I’ve secured a meeting room inside. Shall we?” When Gadreel slithered down the tree and began to make his way across the ground, looking like something out of a horror movie, Uriel’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “On foot, Gadreel. Points for style, but come on.”

In an instant, Gadreel reappeared, wearing jeans and a smirk.

“Nice to see you, too, Urinal.”

A blink, and the thrush became Caim, the crow Raum. The griffin stretched languidly and then rose to become Murmur. And after another impressive bolt of lightning, Meresin landed in the midst of them.

“What’s this about?” Murmur asked, scrubbing a hand through a crop of white-blond hair. His voice was one of the most compelling in the Above or Below, able to draw secrets from even the most reluctant subjects. Uriel, however, was unfazed.

“Inside. I’ll tell you then, and not before.”

The archangel led the way, choosing to bring them in through the main entrance and acting as though he had every right to be there, as an owner, perhaps, or a senator touring the facility. They attracted stares, especially from the women. Phenex ignored it, wishing that Uriel had thought of a less conspicuous way to get all eight of them, each well over six feet tall and looking like trouble, into this conference room. Finally, though, they managed to get where they were going, filing in and flopping into flimsy wheeled chairs while Uriel locked the door.

When he turned around, his handsome, polite veneer had been dropped. His eyes, his skin, his hair, everything glowed now, lit from within. This was a warrior angel, a scourge of evil, and Uriel looked every bit of that.

“Terra Noctem must be moved,” he said, his voice filling the room.

There was dead silence for a moment, and then Gadreel gave a mocking laugh. “Great. What do you want us to do, hitch ourselves in front of it and drag it away? Talk to Justin. This is his deal. We just live there.”

“What is it?” Phenex asked, ignoring the other Fallen. He had a strange, unsettled feeling deep in his gut that normally preceded bad things. Trouble. He always sensed it coming.

Uriel pinned him with his gaze. “Amphora’s barriers are being breached, one by one. It is no longer secure, so neither is Terra Noctem. Belial is lazy but clever. He’s turned vampires in positions of authority to help him, lured them to his side with promises. Soon, very soon, the city will be overrun.”

“How can it be?” Levi asked. “There are plenty of protective wards in place. The horde of lesser demons will be incinerated if they try to attack. Let them come. We’ll root out the traitors.”

“The traitors are the easy part.” Uriel shook his head. “Do you know how long Hell has been trying to find ways past those wards? Even centuries ago, in the days the lords of Hell were welcomed into Terra Noctem, they searched. Obviously, you lot were too occupied with your…pursuits…to notice.”

“I liked my pursuits,” Gadreel muttered.

“We had hoped that this was just another diversion for one of your bored former brethren, an outlet for Belial to try to take a little revenge for Terra Noctem’s harboring you seven. We thought it would take time for them to regroup after all that happened last year, when Raum killed Mammon and prevented the hordes from flooding into earth. But they’ve bounced back quickly, and Belial acts on Lucifer’s orders. They mean to destroy the vampire city. If the hordes overrun Terra Noctem, they’ll kill or enslave everyone in it. The loss of the night races will tip the Balance even further into darkness. The chaos would be unimaginable.”

“The demons will sense it when the spell is cast to relocate the city,” Levi said. “It was never a problem when Hell didn’t see Justin as an enemy, but now…they’re probably prepared to come running the second the movement begins. And the shift isn’t instant, from what I remember. It takes time. Half an hour? An hour? Something like that. Too long, if the demons think they can break through and stop it.”

Phenex shook his head, understanding why Uriel had put this to the Fallen first, even before Justin. “They’re getting ready to attack, right? This is imminent. This is now.”

“This weekend,” Uriel said. “Friday, most likely. The busiest night of the week, of course. Belial leads the charge, and he’ll take as many humans as he can, just because.” His piercing gaze settled on Phenex and seemed to arrow right through him, seeing into places that were best kept hidden. “You, especially, Phenex, should be careful. Don’t underestimate his rage at you. It has burned slow but fiercely.”

He felt his brothers’ eyes on him and fought the urge to hunch his shoulders. All of them knew what he had done, the moment of compassion that had sealed his fate. He didn’t want to know what they thought of it. He didn’t want to speak of it ever again, actually.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Phenex said.

Uriel’s gaze lingered a moment longer, then moved on. “It’s Tuesday, and I expect the preparations to take time, so we must move quickly. Justin will be furious, but I’ll speak with him. He’ll see reason. Twenty years in one place, with the world as it is, is about all you could expect. There will be losses, but Amphora is lost already. Better to move on. Moving will allow time for the magic-wielders to create new wards, new safeguards. There’s no choice.”

“And we hold Hell at bay, again, while the vamps disappear and the angels sit around with their thumbs up their asses,” Murmur said. “Seems fair.”

Uriel looked at him sharply. “This falls under the blood oath you took when Justin agreed to let you all back in. Protect the city. In doing so you protect the Balance. You, Murmur, should have no trouble rooting out the traitors from the club. Be glad you still have a use.”

Murmur glared at Uriel as the others began to mutter softly to one another. Phenex was silent as the full implications of this move began to sink in. They would be leaving DC. And Sofia’s life was here. As long as Belial could be defeated, there would be no reason for Phenex to hang around here. He wouldn’t be able to hang around here. His base of operations would have gone…elsewhere.

She would have to come. That was all there was to it. He’d wanted to acclimate her, get her used to Terra Noctem, befriend some vampires. Learn to forget the sun. This pushed things along more quickly than he would have liked, but there was nothing he could do. He just needed to figure out how to make his case, what to offer. Everyone wanted something. Even Sofia Rivera.

Slowly, he tuned back in to what Uriel was saying.

“I’ll speak to Justin privately about his role in what will happen. As for the rest of you, I’ve brought you this.” He waved his hand, and where there had once been nothing was now a heavy old chest, battered but solid, sitting atop the conference table. “These will make it easier for you. There are some who were reluctant to vote to let you have them, but I assured them you could handle it. Prove me wrong, and I’ll use them on you.”

Meresin finally smiled, his somber face lighting up with pleasure. “Fire swords,” he said in his raspy voice.

“Fire swords,” Uriel confirmed. “The most effective weapon against any high demon…or angel. Don’t make me regret giving these to you.”

Phenex moved to unlatch the top, opening it to take a brief look inside. Sure enough, there were seven swords, long and thin, forged of some black metal never seen on earth. Even now, untouched by Fallen hands, smoke coiled from them. In a demon’s hand, they would immediately be aflame. He gave a curt nod and shut the lid.

“We can use these.” He paused, then grudgingly added, “Thanks, Uriel.”

“Thank me by living through this. It promises to be bloody. And no doubt Belial will have fire of his own.” He looked at them, the motley crew of Fallen beholden to him, and seemed to soften despite the glares on many of their faces.

“I never thought I’d say this, but you do good work. You’ve surprised us. We—all of us—do not want to lose you.”

“Just keep paying us, then, and we’re yours forever,” Gadreel interjected, and even Uriel managed a smile.

“I go to Justin at sundown. Make your plans. I’ll see you all afterward, wherever the city sees fit to move itself.”

They all rose from their seats, Levi and Caim moving to take the ends of the chest, Raum pausing to have a private word with Uriel before he left. Once, Uriel had been Raum’s mentor. It was a bond that had been reforged with the changing of Raum’s wings, and Phenex had a suspicion that Raum now only stayed here with them by choice. Heaven would have him back, but something—his love for Ember, most likely, though maybe some sense of loyalty as well—kept him here.

Phenex realized he was glad he’d stayed, that he would feel the loss of Raum.

He frowned as he realized that was new, that…affection. That concern. He looked at all of them, startled to find that he didn’t want to lose any of his brothers. Even Gadreel, which was nothing short of astounding.

They vanished one by one, off to find things to do by daylight, or to return to Terra Noctem by way of the outer entrance, tucked beneath an innocuous house in the suburbs. None would risk the Amphora entrance again. Not now that they needed to stand together and become the underground city’s main defense. They couldn’t risk being picked off.

Phenex lingered, lost in thought, until Uriel’s voice pulled him out of it.

“You have more on your mind than the rest.”

Phenex blinked, looked around. The room was empty except for him and the archangel. Uriel was watching him closely, and Phenex realized that this was the first time he’d been alone with Uriel since he’d left Hell. The hair at the back of his neck prickled, a warning left over from years of thinking of the archangels as the enemy, all those years Phenex had spent fighting Heaven. He still wasn’t at all sure about it.

“Lay off, Uriel,” he said. “I was just thinking about something I need to do later.”

“So I gather.” Uriel tilted his head, arching one golden brow. “You won’t mention the reason I chose this place for our meeting. I knew you wouldn’t leave her.”

Of course he’d known. Phenex had just hoped the archangel was polite enough not to mention it. No such luck, of course. Phenex shifted his weight from one foot to the other, crossed his arms over his chest, and glowered at him.

“You only know what you want to see. You don’t know shit.”

One corner of Uriel’s mouth curved, and he looked unbearably smug. “I know more than you think. I’ve watched this before. Recently. Fascinating, I think, that after all these years of you and your ilk using Earth as a destructive child uses a plaything, its women seem to be the only ones able to unlock your—”

“Don’t. Hellfire, Uriel, I haven’t even eaten lunch yet,” Phenex interjected. “I like Sofia. She’s…” He trailed off, then shook his head. “No. No, I’m not doing this. You’re not going to mess with my head.”

“I’m not trying to. And you’re awfully touchy. You didn’t used to be.”

Phenex gave him a baleful look. “You do remember that I was a lord of Hell, right?”

Uriel exhaled loudly. “You make it hard to forget. Do you still play, Phenex?”

“Sure. All the time.”

“I’m glad. You and your music…you were never replaced.” The words hit him like a fist, threatening to pull him back into a turmoil he had left far, far behind. He was struggling to lock it away as Uriel continued. “I hope you still compose?”

Phenex breathed in deeply, centering himself, and frowned. This, at least, was a concrete question. He hadn’t been composing. Except all of a sudden, he had. Sofia had no idea how often he’d slipped out of bed this past week to work, scribbling notes furiously onto paper. Whatever parts of him had closed off when he’d fallen were opening up again. He didn’t understand, except to know that it was all to do with Sofia’s presence. He had to keep her. Had to. The drive to find some way to stop her from leaving him was almost frantic. He needed what she gave him. The thought of going dead inside again filled him with a horror unlike any he’d known since he’d first looked across the barren landscape of Hell itself and realized that this was his kingdom.

“I do compose a little, yeah,” Phenex finally said, figuring Uriel would know if he was lying anyway. The archangel smiled, and to Phenex’s irritation, it seemed perfectly sincere.

“Well, that’s something I’d like to hear again, one day.”

“Hmm.” Phenex looked away, frustrated and off-balance, and angry at himself for letting Uriel get to him. The guy had ulterior motives. He always did. Angels were sneaky bastards, just as much as their dark brethren.

“I gotta go. I need to go check on, ah…”

Damn it. Way to dissuade Uriel from his redemptive daydreams.

“Go ahead,” Uriel said. “I understand the need to protect, even if I understand little else about you anymore.”

Phenex slid him a suspicious, sidelong glance on his way out. “Okay.”

He’d nearly made it out the door when Uriel’s voice carried to him, making him tense as though someone had taken a swing at him.

“She’s not a bird to be kept in a cage, Phenex. You, of all people, should understand that.”

He did. And he hated Uriel for making him remember that he ought to. For bringing the question to his lips that he’d sworn he wouldn’t ask.

“How is she? Celestine?”

Phenex would never forget the discovery of her, on a night he’d played at a wild and debauched party of Belial’s. Even then, his own restlessness and dissatisfaction had been eating at him. He’d wandered off, ignoring the bacchanal, the orgies, pulled by some force he couldn’t quite put his finger on down into the lower levels of the Prince of Sloth’s manor.

Only to find a battered and broken angel in a cage. A rare female angel, radiant even in her torment. However Belial had caught her, it was clear he’d been making use of her. It was a depravity that had stunned even Phenex. This was not done. No demon was ever kept in Heaven, no angel in Hell. It was an agreement so old it never even needed to be spoken. It was simply understood.

Phenex was still haunted by the way she had looked at him. “Release me, demon. Give me death. I beg you. I beg you.”

She had longed for soulless death over what Belial was doing to her. And in that moment, Phenex realized that something deep within him had changed. He could not do as she asked and simply kill her. And he could not walk away.

It was…wrong.

When he looked at Uriel, the archangel’s gaze had softened. “Celestine is greatly healed. Again and again, she sends her thanks. And she wonders, as do I, why you are still here. You’re not like the others, Phenex. You never were. Only guilty of feeling too much, not too little. The door remains open…you can come home.”

He’d known Uriel would say it, known the words would bring only confusion and pain. How could he go back? He didn’t belong just because he had rediscovered his conscience. He didn’t belong anywhere anymore.

And where is my home supposed to be? he wanted to ask. I’m not what I was. Not even now.

But when Phenex spun around, the furious question on his lips, Uriel was gone.