“You look like you could use a hand,” the bear told me, its voice deep and smooth, a gentle chuckle rounding out his words.
I recognized its intonation and looked at the creature again. This time, my eyes saw him for who he really was; Rahim.
“Are you serious?” My excitement was tempered by internal bleeding.
He grinned and hunched down lower so we were face to face. “In the fur.”
His movement was fluid and graceful. He held out a monstrous paw to me and I grabbed ahold so I could get to my feet. Amazed by his transformation, I couldn’t help but stare.
“We thought you were dead.”
He nodded. “I know.” He motioned behind him. “I had a little angelic help chasing away the weres after Rachelle gated all of you out of there.”
Beyond the behemoth, Akrasiel leaned casually in the doorway. In his hand, he held Katon’s replacement sword, along with Scarlett’s blade, Everto Trucido.
“Hi Akrasiel, or do you prefer Raguel?”
He smiled, the leather of his face seeming to crack. “Names are just names. It’s all the same to me.”
I gave the angel a grateful nod, then my eyes went back to Rahim. Like Grawwl, he was nearly as big as a house. Though he wasn’t standing up straight, he looked to be several feet taller than Grumpy. His fur was a black so deep it shimmered blue when he moved. He had short swords for claws and his body was built for power.
While he didn’t look like Rahim-he looked like a bear-there was a definite resemblance in the facial mannerisms and the way he carried himself. His old confidence was back, glistening in the shimmering red of his eyes. Seeing the fluidity of his motion, I had to ask.
“The back?”
A wicked grin spread across his face. “It’s perfect. The transformation healed it completely.”
Returning the smile, I was glad he was still among us. I just wish I could say the same for Abraham. Reminded of the old psychic, my eyes teared up and I suddenly couldn’t look Rahim in the face.
“Abraham’s dead.” I nearly choked on the words. Just saying them made me feel weak.
Rahim gently set a reassuring paw on my shoulder. “I know.”
“It’s my faul-”
Rahim cut me off. “I don’t believe that, Frank. More so than any of us, he knew the risks associated with what we do.”
“But if I had-”
“We don’t have time for this.” The last word segued into a growl. “You can worry about pointing fingers later. We need to get you fixed up and get to Heaven. Any plans been made?”
I took a second to compose myself before I answered. He was right. No matter what happened, I needed to focus. Abe would come back from the dead to kick my ass if I let him die in vain. “We should still have our key piece and we’ve agreed on a tentative assault plan. It’ll need some tweaking to adjust for Azrael’s mucking about, but with you and Akrasiel over there, I think we’re better off than we were before.”
The old man shook his head, picked up my gun, and came over beside us, his leather face serious. “I’ve done all I can for now. You’ll have to do this without me.” He handed the swords to me, and then my pistol.
I accepted them and slipped my gun into my waistline as I thanked him, glad to have them all back. No point in arguing with the angel, we just said our goodbyes. He disappeared in a golden flash.
Once he was gone, I shrugged at Rahim. “I’ve recruited Alexander Poe to help us, Baalth’s mentalist, who just happens to have a little magical aptitude. It’s not much of an addition, but since we’re looking at a smash and grab, followed by a suicide run, I think we’re as ready as we can be.”
Rahim groaned and rolled his eyes. “Sounds charming. Where is the key piece?”
“It’s just outside one of the gates.” My insides feeling like an overripe tomato, I waved him on and headed for the portal room-or what was left of it. On the way, I laid out our plan of attack. Grim-faced, Rahim listened. As the gate powered up and we were whisked away, the wizard werebear sighed.
“Suicide run it is.” He grumbled deep. “Seems a waste of a good disease.”
Just a minute later, we exited the door into the alley. Well, I exited the door. Rahim kind of had to go through the wall because he wouldn’t fit. I could see a bunch of remodeling in DRAC’s future, if we made it through the day.
Once the dust cleared, I pointed to the roof where I’d tossed the bag and groaned. Rahim’s eyes snapped upward.
“Friends of yours?”
Tired, hurt, sad, and sick and tired of getting my ass kicked, I snarled at Jonas Black and Ethan White. “What the Hell do you guys want?” With Rahim there, I knew we could take these guys easy. It’s easy to be confident when you have a bad ass to back up your smack talk.
Black grinned like he was gonna sell me a used car and wiggled his reattached arm for me to see. “You got us good last time, Trigg. Sneaky.” He gave a shallow nod. “We still need you to come with us though.”
White held my pillowcase up and shook it gently. While it sucked they had the bag, I was glad to see there weren’t any stains on it and I hadn’t heard the distressing jingle of broken glass. That meant the vials were still intact.
“Seriously, guys, I don’t who you are or what you want, but I really don’t have time for this.”
Rahim growled to reinforce my point, posturing up to his full height, red energy glistening at his paws. Courage warmed my heart as I saw he still had his magic.
“Then I suggest you make time,” a cold, steely voice said, its source appearing beside Black, out of nowhere.
My senses shrieked and I nearly fell, emanations of power washing off the figure like a nuclear detonation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rahim flinch and his stance became more defensive. His face drew back in a wary grimace, his eyes narrowing. The courage I had a second ago yipped away like a frightened Chihuahua.
Dressed Jedi-like in a long, flowing black robe with its hood pulled up, the figure stared down at me through mercurial eyes. A black mask covered everything from his nose down, so there wasn’t much in the way of identifying features. The only thing I knew was that it was a he, the voice giving that away, and that he was super powerful. My shriveled nut-sack confirmed that.
His point made, the stranger reined in his essence. It felt as though the sun had been ripped from the sky, the sudden release of pressure immediate. I looked to Rahim and his eyes told me we were screwed. Now, here I was without any lube.
So, fighting out of the question, we’d have to reason with the guy. That meant Rahim would have to do it. I nudged him in his furry side. He glared at me, then looked back up, swallowing deep.
“Who are you and what is it you want?” There was the slightest hint of a tremble in his voice.
“This does not concern you, wizard. It is to the demon I wish to speak.” The glare of his silver eyes settled on me. “Come, Triggaltheron. I am Xyx. I have been sent to retrieve you and I will not fail my master.”
Though I obviously couldn’t see my face, I figured it looked a lot like Rahim’s; slack-jawed and incredulous mixed with a little bit of holy shit. Having felt the guy’s power, to hear he answered to someone else, and that someone was looking for me, made my knees weak.
No clue who this guy was, or his master, I couldn’t for the life of me think of what I’d done to get their attention. I thought I knew all the major players in the world, but I was drawing a big blank on this one. Unsure of what angle to play to get a rain check, I took a chance on the truth.
“I have no idea what’s going on, but if you haven’t noticed, we’re having a bit of a world crisis here. The longer we’re delayed, the worse it’s gonna get for all of existence. I’m needed somewhere else right now.”
“I care not for your problems.”
“Does your master?” It was a long shot, seeing how the guy was coming off as a serious hard ass, but I had to try. I didn’t know where cloak boy came from, but for his boss to need me, for whatever reason, he probably had to have some kind of investment in the world I resided in. It made a weird sort of sense.
Xyx’s eyes shimmered gold for a second, then returned to silver. He stared at me a moment before speaking.
“My master offers you one opportunity to avail yourself to him of your own free will.” Before Xyx, a demonic
