same. The collective breaths in the room were stilled, silent.
“What’s that saying? Waste not, want not?”
Baalth’s smile grew wider as his hand burst into reddish-orange flame. Without hesitation he drove his burning fist into Glorius’s chest, smashing his way through the angel’s ribs, golden blood spraying up like a busted fountainhead. Glorius bucked against the chains, unable to fight back. His eyes were filled with pain and terror in equal amounts. His voice squawked, unable to do much else, his throat far too ravaged to scream as Baalth dug around inside his chest cavity. After an agonizing moment, he stilled as Baalth must have seized his heart. I saw the muscles of Baalth’s forearm tightened as he bore down. Under the pressure, Glorius twitched his last and died. His head dropped, his sightless eyes gazing up toward Heaven. He wouldn’t find any peace there.
Asmoday went white, his legs wobbling, nearly failing. He inched backward, but Poe waggled a finger at him, pushing his gun out slightly. Marcus reinforced the threat by taking a step forward, making a show of aiming his gun at Asmoday’s head. The demon froze.
He knew the jig was up.
Behind his gun-toting goons, Baalth pulled his dripping hand from Glorius’s chest and looked up at Asmoday. A subtle grin played across his lips. A second later, I saw his eyes roll back and a wave of pleasure washed across his face. He dropped to his knees in the throes of a soul transfer so fierce none of the rest of us could ever hope to fathom its depth. If I’d had the energy to cry, I’d have let loose like a bawling baby. Despite all the suffering and sacrifices we’d endured to stop Asmoday from gathering enough power to bring about Armageddon, I never once imagined Baalth would arrive at the last minute and steal victory out from underneath all of our noses. In but a few seconds, he had altered the status quo of existence. And all in his favor, go figure. Uncertain of what it all meant in the grand scheme of things, Baalth a far cry from the kind of demon Asmoday was, I could only wait and see where things went. It’s not like I could stop him. In the end, I guess it didn’t matter all that much anymore. No matter what happened, I was still bent over the barrel like all the rest of the grunts. I was out of this fight. Resigned to being a helpless voyeur, I turned my focus back to Baalth as the transfer neared its end. Baalth rose to his feet, his tanned face flush with excitement. I didn’t even need to extend my senses to feel the power that emanated from him. It wafted Page 288 off in thick waves. I could feel it almost like a physical presence. I watched his eyes glisten as he glanced around the room, perhaps seeing it in a way none of the rest could. He exuded a confidence I’d never seen in anyone, save for Lucifer. In one fell swoop, Baalth had realized his dreams. There was no doubt he’d become the new Satan. Only now, there was no God to rein him in. We were in for a wild ride.
Baalth smiled at me with surprising warmth before turning to confront Asmoday, his face cold. He stepped past his flunkies and moved to within feet of his once fellow lieutenant.
“I have to hand it to you, Asmoday, this was quite a scheme.” He gestured to the room with his hand still stained in Glorius’s blood. “Did you truly think you’d get away with it?”
Asmoday shivered. His confidence had broken rank and fled. His head drooped to his chest, eyes locked on the floor. “I had to try,” he replied, his voice shaky.
Baalth nodded. “I suppose you did. I can’t fault you for playing to your nature, now can I?”
Asmoday raised his eyes, a glimmer of hope shining in them. “I am what I have been made to be. Forgive me?”
Baalth raised his chin, his eyes narrowing as he looked Asmoday over. “In time, perhaps.” He managed to sound magnanimous despite the hint of condescension in his voice. “Though I imagine, in doing so I would be showing you far more kindness than you would have shown me had you succeeded with your plan.”
Asmoday swallowed loud. He hung his head in a show of staged humility. He knew his fate rested in appeasing Baalth. “I am your humble servant. Do with me as you will.”
“Brownnoser,” I muttered, my jibe coming out between clenched teeth.
Asmoday kept his cool and ignored me, though Baalth broke out in an amused smile.
“I’ll spare you for now, old friend, but you’ve much to atone for.”
Asmoday loosed a sigh of relief and dropped to his knees, kissing Baalth’s hand. Baalth shooed him off, taking a step back.
“I’ll deal with you later. Begone from my sight.”
With a wave of his hand, Asmoday was engulfed in a billowing cloud of darkness. It whirled up around him, drifted up through the roof, disappearing a moment later. Asmoday was gone with it. Wiping his moist hand on his suit, Baalth turned to stare at McConnell. After a few silent moments, he waved his hand once more and The Gray disappeared in a similar manner.
Done with the wizard, Baalth walked over to me. Poe and Marcus followed on his heels. The mentalist’s face was a mask of neutrality, but Marcus couldn’t help but grin at my predicament, chuckling as he stared down at me. He had to be loving this.
“I have to thank you, Frank. None of this would be possible without you.” Baalth knelt down beside me. I tried to feel honored.
“Make the check out to the emergency room.”
I met his cool gaze. “You’ll have to forgive me for not groveling at your feet like your pal, Asmoday, but I’m really not feeling up to it.”
He smiled at me and winked. “I’ll let it go, this time.”
I rolled my eyes. “There’s only room down here for one smart-ass and I was here first.” I pulled myself up straighter so I could look him in the eyes with a semblance of confidence. “How’d you find us?”
He gestured toward the entrance. “It seems we have a friend in common, you and me.”
I followed his gaze and my heart sank. Veronica stood at the doorway, Abraham by her side. The joy at seeing Abraham alive did nothing to temper the heartbreak I felt at learning just how much my ex-wife had betrayed me. I turned back to Baalth, unable to look at her.
“She tracked you to the Ninth where you disappeared. It didn’t take much to figure out where you’d gotten off to from there.” He shrugged. There was an unexpected compassion in his expression. “Sorry, Frank. Never trust a succubus.”
My eyes drifted around the devastated room, everywhere but at Baalth. I didn’t want to look at his face for fear he’d see just how hurt I was. “So what now?”
“For the most part, life goes on,” he answered with no trace of deception.
“No big bang, no end of the world?”
Baalth shook his head. “That doesn’t serve my purpose, at this time. Maybe one day, but not now.”
He got to his feet, dusting his suit pants off. “Before he disappeared, your uncle left you something knowing you’d manage to find your way back down here one day.”
I tried my best not to look surprised Baalth had known about mine and Lucifer’s secret meetings. “I- I-”
He waved off my sputtering response. “You’ll find it hidden beneath the altar.” He motioned to the back of the room and made a face when he noticed the state of the sanctum, his focus having been elsewhere.
“It’s buried somewhere under that mess.” He called for Veronica to release Abraham. “I’ll see you soon.”
His goons in tow, he headed for the exit, nodding to Abraham as they passed. At the archway where Veronica stood waiting, he called back to me. “Don’t forget, Frank, you still owe me a favor.” With that, he left, Poe and Marcus at his heels.
Veronica lingered for a moment and our eyes met. Even as angry as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to look away. Though I probably imagined it, I thought I saw a trace of regret flicker across her face. She looked at me and raised her hand in a tentative wave, a half-assed attempt at a smile creeping to her lips. Unable to bear it, I turned away. I heard her footsteps a second later, scuffling off into the distance as Abraham arrived at my side. Hurt, I focused my attention on him.
“How you doing, Abe?”
He dropped down beside me, looking me over.
“I’d have to say a slight bit better than you.” He glanced around the room. “Katon, Scarlett?”
I shook my head, my eyes beginning to tear up.
“They didn’t make it. I’m sorry.” I hung my head as Abraham placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, holding back his own tears.
“Don’t be so quick to count us out, Trigg,” a quiet voice spoke from nearby.
We both popped our heads up and looked to the wreckage. There, about twenty feet away, Katon lifted his
