There were no memories in the man, no hopes or fears, no feels, no nothing. Whatever had once been there had been replaced with a void. But somewhere inside there was a voice. It was small and barely audible, but I pushed my spirit further, crushing the snare and pushing it further and further away from Irkalla’s spirit, forcing the two apart.
The voice began to come through louder and louder, but it was muffled and I couldn’t quite hear what it was shouting. I continued on, desperate to snuff the snare from existence. Smothering it seemed like the only way to remove Irkalla from its grasp, but the constant muffled cry was beginning to feel like I had a jackhammer going inside of my skull.
A wave of nausea hit me, and I crashed to my knees, fighting against the snare as it tried to stop me from destroying it. The muffled voice became louder and louder until I screamed in pure incandescent rage as I fought against the snare. And then, without warning, the snare vanished. I fell to the floor, panting and sweating from near exhaustion.
I looked over at Irkalla and willed her to move. For several seconds I was certain I was too late, until her eyes opened and she stared at me. “That wasn’t fun,” she said, her voice low and full of pain.
I nodded. I couldn’t find any words to use.
“Did you hear it?” she asked me.
I nodded again. “The voice,” I managed.
“I couldn’t make out what it was saying. It was the man’s memory, his one final memory that couldn’t quite be destroyed by what had been done to him. Do you know what the memory said?”
Right at the end I’d heard the voice clear as day. It had been one word screamed into my skull. “Abaddon.”
CHAPTER 8
Nate Garrett
You okay?” Tommy asked me as he entered the morgue with Selene and Grayson.
“That was not a fun experience,” I told him as I got back to my feet. “How’s your head, Irkalla?”
“I wish to crush something so I can feel better,” she said from beside me.
“Abaddon,” I said. “That was the name I got from the snare.”
I looked between Selene and Tommy, who both had an expression of pure shock on their faces.
“Wait, the devil guy from the Bible?” Tommy asked.
“Woman,” Irkalla corrected. “Devil woman.”
“As to whether she’s from the Bible, yes and no,” Grayson said. “It’s a lot more complicated than that.”
“She’s older than I am,” Irkalla said. “If you thought that Tiamat was trouble, Abaddon is just in another league. I never met her, but I heard stories from those who did. She’s not a woman to mess with.”
“So, we might be dealing with someone who may, or may not, be the actual devil?”
I shrugged. “That about sums it up, I guess.”
“I’m hoping it isn’t the devil. If it is, a lot of the music I like is going to be ruined for me.”
“What, you mean if the devil is really just an asshole?”
Tommy chuckled slightly. “Yeah, I always thought he’d be cool. Or she. I’m completely open to a devil of either sex.”
“Or both sexes at once.”
“That, too.”
I paused for a second. “You know I’m an atheist, right?”
“Yeah, I figured as much. What with you having shown no belief in any religion for the centuries I’ve known you.” He made it sound as if I’d just said something incredibly stupid.
The urge to swear at him was great, but I pushed it aside. “I spent my whole life meeting people who, at one time or another, others thought were actual gods. I don’t put a lot of stock in religion as a whole.”
“But what if this woman genuinely is the devil? That’s going to throw a spanner in your entire ideology. You worried?”
“No, because I’m an atheist. It’s not the devil; the devil doesn’t exist. Not Lucifer, not angels, demons, or any other part of the whole story.”
Tommy stared at me for a heartbeat, his expression completely neutral. “You hope.”
I smiled. “Fuck off.”
Tommy laughed. “Nice comeback, very mature.”
“Fuck off, my good man?”
“That’s better. At least make it sound genteel.”
“You two done?” Grayson asked with just a flicker of irritation.
I was about to make a rebuttal when something caught in my mind. “Erebus said something about the seven devils. Isn’t Abaddon one of them? He said I was created in a similar way as the seven devils.”
Grayson nodded. “Abaddon was one of the seven devils, yes.”
“What do you mean, created?” Selene asked me.
I shrugged. “I don’t really know. Erebus just said that I was created to be a weapon. Like Mordred.”
“You all talk, and I’ll go make sure everything is prepared,” Tommy said. “Which means I’d quite like to know where you’re going.”
“My father has spoken about her before,” Selene said. “She scared him.”
“Hyperion was scared of her?” I asked, more than a little surprised. Hyperion was one of the most powerful beings I’d ever met; I couldn’t imagine the number of people that scared him to be very high.
Selene nodded. “Not just her, but those she worked with. Those she answered to. If Abaddon is involved in this, we need the advice of people who have dealt with her before.”
“What about Hades, and the like. Won’t they have dealt with her?”
Selene shook her head. “The seven devils had vanished before the Titan war, so before the ascendency of Zeus and the Olympians. Mostly they’ll only know stories and rumors, or they might have met one or two of the devils, but it’s unlikely they’ve really dealt with them as a unit.”
“So, Tartarus it is, then,” I said, trying to figure out just how powerful someone would be to make a Titan afraid. “At least we can check on Sky and those who work there. Maybe some of the Titans can help us.”
“I don’t think Hades is going to be in any hurry to let any of them out,” Irkalla said. “They might not be on the side of whoever this cabal is, but they have no love for Avalon, either.”
“See, a nice chat with Hyperion will sort all of this out,” I said, feeling very little confidence in my words.
“If I step away, are you going to be able to stand upright?” Tommy asked.
“I’m grand, just tired. I’ll be fine.”
Tommy watched me for a few seconds to make sure I wasn’t about to fall over, and then left the room.
After checking that Irkalla wasn’t about to collapse, too, Selene walked over to kiss me on the lips. “I was worried about you. Don’t do anything stupid, I said. I’m pretty sure what you did classifies as stupid.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s always nice to be the hero, so they go hand in hand.”
Selene shared my smile before kissing me again. “It’s a good thing you’re handsome, because you’re not too good at the smarts.”
“Ah, how sweet, thanks.”
Grayson sighed, although I didn’t know if it was out of a desire to not see the public display of affection, or because it had been a long day. “I’m glad you’re both okay. I need to go deal with a few things, but I’ll be seeing you all later.”
“We’re still on for that chat,” I told him.
Grayson nodded. “I promise you, I’ll explain it all. I just need to find out a few things for myself before we talk. I’ll see you at Tartarus, and I’ll explain everything. But know this: Abaddon is to be feared. She is unlike anyone you’ve ever faced.”