lately, I needed a longer shovel.
Confession
Back on Earth, I didn’t have a whole lot of faith in what I’d done. While the duke would honor his word and come to my aid, the conditions he set were going to seriously limit my options in ways I hadn’t planned for. I’d hoped to pull a fast one, using our relationship to get a freebie, but I should have known better. Forcalor didn’t get to be the Demon Trainer because of politics. He got it because he was a good demon. In the end, he’d proven once again why he was the teacher and I was still the student. He’d been given the opportunity to return to Heaven while I got shipped back to the front lines and offered yet another chance at coming home in a body bag.
Life was so unfair.
My brain in a haze, I left the house and stopped off for a cup of coffee. I needed a fix. I hustled down to the Coffee Hut and ordered up a grande latte. After mortgaging my house to pay for it, I dropped down onto a way too colorful couch whose design challenged my manhood, to enjoy it. Just as I took my first sip, I felt a booming presence in my head.
“Where the hell are you?”
It was Abraham and he sounded pissed, the telepath projecting his emotions through the link. “I’m at the Coffee Hut. What’s up?”
“Stay there, I’m on my way. We need to talk.”
I felt the connection sever. A chill ran down my spine when it did. It’d been a long time since I’d heard Abraham angry. It didn’t bode well for me. I took another sip and saw him outside the store windows, coming inside. He wasn’t wasting any time. The lines in his face were etched in stone, his eyes narrow and dark behind his glasses. I could see the pulse at his temple dancing like a two dollar stripper. His upper lip curled when he saw me, waving for me to come outside. The door hadn’t even closed when he stomped back through it, the bells jingling wildly.
I set my cup on the table and followed him out, feeling like a kid who had just been called to the principal’s office. Abraham went around the corner into a narrow alley without looking back. Reluctant, I went after him. Halfway down it, he stopped and turned to face me as I caught up.
“What were you thinking?” His voice trembled. His glasses were misty. I almost expected steam to come out his ears.
Considering all the things I’d done that would warrant that question, I wasn’t going to walk into an admission of guilt until I knew what he was referring to.
“What do you mean?” I’m all about not incriminating myself. I had the right to play dumb, and by Starbucks, I was gonna exercise it.
He shook his head. “Forcalor.”
“Oh, that.” Rachelle must have been watching the gates still for him to know about my trip so soon afterward.
“Yes, that,” he growled. I thought his head was going to explode. His cheeks were a deep shade of red.
“Why on earth would you drag another demon into this confrontation? Do we not have enough problems with the ones already here?” I started to answer, but he waggled a finger to cut me off. “I swear, Frank, I sometimes wonder just how dedicated you are to avoiding Armageddon.”
That stung. “Hey! Don’t go there. I’ve gotten my ass kicked for the cause more often than I can count.”
Insert ‘how high I can count’ jokes here. “I’ve spent the last thirty years putting my head in the cross hairs, shedding blood for you guys. I’ve even killed for you, so don’t you dare question my dedication.”
Abraham stared granite-faced at me for a moment, then sighed. The tension in his expression eased a little. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He put his hand on my shoulder. I felt it shaking. “I just don’t understand what you’re doing. Forcalor has no loyalty to us. By involving him, you’ve opened the door to God only knows what.”
“That’s just it, Abe. He’s the wild card we need. Asmoday won’t be expecting us to go to Hell for help and we need someone who can take on Gabriel.
The duke is our guy.”
It was clear he wasn’t convinced. “Can we trust him?”
I laughed. “As much as we can any other demon. For that matter, as much as we can Baalth.”
I hated throwing that in his face, but I wasn’t gonna take shit for something he’d set the precedent on. “At least Forcalor and I have a contract, so he’ll live up to his end of our deal. After that, things are up in the air, but that’s not any different from how things are now.”
I shrugged. “Besides, isn’t my connection to Hell one of the reasons you brought me into DRAC in the first place?” I figured I’d try some of stuff they call reason. I heard it works sometimes.
“Yes, that is true.” He did his best Spock impersonation. “However, some advanced warning would have been nice. We might have found another way to go about dealing with Gabriel without engaging another of the old guard demons.”
“Maybe, but you and I both know we probably wouldn’t have before it was too late. For all DRAC’s talents, Gabriel is beyond us. That’s a fact.” I met Abraham’s steely gaze. He knew I was right. “Forcalor is our best bet at neutralizing Gabriel while minimizing the cost to us, after the fact. Like it or not, we’re out of our depth here. We need the duke.”
Abraham shuffled in place. I could tell he was thinking about what few options were left to us.
He didn’t look happy with any of them. “We will play the cards we have been dealt.” He gently pushed me forward. Abe was a man who knew how to bow out gracefully. “Since I interrupted yours, let me buy you another cup of coffee. I could use a bit of the mud myself. It’s likely to be a long day.”
He was still mad at me, but I could tell he at least understood why I did what I did. Abraham was a good man, but he felt things too deeply, took things too personally. He carried the weight of the world on his aching back and every day it wore him down further. He’d envisioned the end of the world and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see the way to save it. It had to drive him crazy. Every time he closed his eyes he saw existence crumble, like a sand castle being swept away by the rising tide. But Abraham was a warrior. He would stand his ground until his vision either showed him the way to salvation or his heart stilled within his chest. Sadly, I believed it would be the latter that came to pass first. I hoped he’d find his peace before that day came.
“Sure.” I strode a short step behind him as we headed out of the alley. I could see how tired he was. When we reached the street, I heard a screech of tires as a black van shuddered to a stop in front of us. I went to pull Abraham out of the way as the side door slid open and we were staring down the barrel of several guns.
One of them just happened to be mine.
“Get inside, gentlemen,” Marcus told me through a toothy grin. “The boss wants to see you.”
Ambushed
Crouched on the floor of the van, I stared up at D’anatello wishing upon him the worst plagues and venereal diseases known to demon-kind. Abraham sat beside me, staring off into space. Though as brave as anyone I’d ever known, he didn’t look up to being kidnapped. I couldn’t blame him.
“Let Abraham go. He’s got nothing to do with our arrangement.” I spoke to Poe, bypassing the hulking moron who pointed my stolen gun at my head. Poe shook his head, his face a mask of cultured neutrality. “I’m sorry, Mr. Trigg, we cannot do that. Baalth has requested we bring both of you to him. That is what I must do.”
Stripped of my guns yet again, I thumped the back of my head against the van wall in frustration. I wasn’t willing to risk Abraham’s well-being just to buck Baalth, so I stayed put and tried not to let my emotions get the best of me. We rode the rest of the way in silence. A short time later, the van came to a stop and we were herded out. I stepped outside, staying close to Abraham and looked about. Rows upon rows of marble headstones spread out before my eyes, poking up out of the verdant green field that stretched out for acres. A large mausoleum painted in delicate shades of pink and gold stood in the center, casting its shadow over us. The bastards had
