shadow darkened the ground around me. It was like standing under a massive storm cloud. I glanced up and whiteness filled my eyes.
The tightening of my sphincter gave me just enough spring as I dove from beneath the falling behemoth. Barely out of the way, I hit the ground the same time the white shape did. The earth rumbled and the asphalt shattered under the weight, sending jagged cracks careening down the street. I bounced a couple of times, smacking the road, and then rolled to an abrupt stop at the curb. My head spun and I blinked my eyes clear to stare at the thing that had fallen from the sky.
It was Moby Dick; the whale, not a judgment regarding the performer.
…and he was still alive.
Moby thrashed, its tail laying waste to the tattoo parlor in a single swipe. Lights exploded and sent sparks zipping into the air. The acrid scent of an electrical fire sprung up in its wake. The people who’d bravely watched me dispatch the witch and her cronies screamed and scattered. Apparently, a whale falling from the sky was too much for them where flying monkeys were just entertainment. I looked up to see Mihheer still smiling, hovering a short distance away. Another shadow fell over top of me.
I snapped off a quick shot to keep the alien on his metaphorical toes, and darted for the gray slats of sunlight that made it through the clouds. Yet again, another whale crashed into the earth with a boom louder than thunder. I ducked for cover behind a parked car as chunks of asphalt and concrete were flung about by the impact. Peeking from behind my makeshift shield, I noticed the second whale was also white; another Moby Dick.
Where was Ahab when you needed him?’
The two whales keened in distress, their voices burying the world under a piercing wave of high-pitched trills. Mihheer had disappeared, but the streets were full of stupid people. They’d rushed out of the shops only to be crushed beneath the bulk of the whales and their frantic tails. My ears ringing, I caught sight of a woman pointing upward, her eyes wide with terror. I followed her silent finger and felt my balls shrivel and pop in the sack.
Above us were dozens of whales falling from the sky, their mass covering several city blocks. My breath froze in my lungs and a cold sweat broke out across my body. A whole bunch of people were gonna die, and it was my fault. Worse still, there was nothing I could do to stop it.
The rain of whales coming down, I stashed my gun and darted forward. A growl ripped free of my throat. I snatched up the woman who still pointed in disbelief, and cut into a nearby alley. For all her thinness, she felt heavy to me, but now wasn’t the time to judge her for it. The best I could, I plotted where the whales would hit and tried to avoid being underneath when one did. The buildings obscuring the skyline, I didn’t have much hope. The woman shrieked as one of the Mobys took out the building behind us, and then fell silent, passing out in my arms. I flung her over my shoulder and turned to protect her head from the flying debris. Shards of glass, steel, and concrete peppered us as I ran. Wet drops of something followed right after. I didn’t want to think about it.
Moby was a sperm whale, after all.
Back out on the street, the block behind exploding, I looked again to judge the whale fall while trying to keep an eye out for Mihheer. My senses were on overdrive, but there was no way to tell whether I was picking up the alien or simply the resonance of the power that had brought the book to life. All around me were the screams of the injured and afraid. My heart went out to them, but if I didn’t keep moving, I’d be just one more squished bag of flesh right alongside them. There was no way in hell I was going out like that: crushed by a giant Dick.
At the edge of the fall, I veered off and dodged another whale. It took out the bar we’d just passed. I heard the shattering of glass and mourned the death of the liquor. The impact nearly took my feet out from under me. I scrambled not to drop the unconscious woman. She flopped against my shoulder and I knew she’d be black and blue come tomorrow, but at least she’d have a tomorrow. A bunch of folks just out for coffee wouldn’t be able to say that.
At last, I made it clear of the whales coming and breathed a relieved sigh. Sweat dripped into my eyes, and it felt like I’d run a marathon. People gathered in the street watching the ruin of their neighborhood with wide eyes and excited voices. I couldn’t imagine Michael even trying to smooth this away. There wouldn’t be any hiding the supernatural element of this event.
Muted sirens joined the cacophony of chaotic sounds. That was my cue to leave. I handed the woman over to the crowd and made my exit, doing my best to keep my face turned away. I probably didn’t have to worry about it, given what was going on nearby, but it couldn’t hurt. My mug was probably plastered all over a dozen security cameras, and it wasn’t likely that all of them would meet their destruction by whale ass.
If the DSI hadn’t called in their markers to hunt me down before, they sure as shit were gonna do it now. I needed to get outside their jurisdiction and figure out what I was gonna do. There was only one place to go where I had any hope of being safe.
I laughed, remembering something Scarlett had told me a long time ago. She said I’d end up in Hell. Guess she was right.
Chapter Thirteen
Home sweet Hell.
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d run here to escape something I’d done, but it felt like it might be the last. With Lucifer not around to protect me and DRAC looking to inherit all my crap, I was truly on my own for the first time, in a very long time.
Whoever Mihheer was, he had a beef against me thanks to this Gorath guy, but neither name rang a bell. Not that it mattered much. I’ve spent my whole life being singled out for something I didn’t remember or simply had nothing to do with; guilt by association. This was probably an inherited gripe. As I thought earlier, Mihheer was probably the guy who’d been trapped in the case in Lucifer’s chambers; if not him, then Gorath. That seemed to make more sense.
While Mihheer was packing some power, he didn’t strike me as needing such an ornate prison to hold him. Then again, I could simply be presuming the alien script was powerful seeing how I didn’t understand it. In their world, ugly might be the dominant form of empowering wards. Right now, I was just pulling shit out my ass, and none of it smelled right.
Exhausted, I took a sip of Uncle Lou’s jazz juice and thought about putting in a call to DRAC about the whales, but I was pretty sure they knew already. It wouldn’t take them but a few seconds to realize I was involved. Probably best just to let things unfold. For all I knew, the DSI might have wiretaps on DRAC’s lines. They couldn’t tap into the telepathic network, but for me to reach that, I’d need to put in a call. It wasn’t worth endangering anyone. Besides, it looked like this was Lucifer’s bullshit, which meant it was up to me to clean it up whether I wanted to or not. At least in Hell, I might find something stashed away to give me an idea who and what I was dealing with.
Having torn apart a good chunk of Lucifer’s rooms, I decided to search the area where Asmoday had been killed. Separated from the rest of the quarters, and closest to where the case had been stored away, I thought maybe there’d be something stashed there. Not to mention, I didn’t really want to stumble across anything else about my mother and Lucifer. I just wasn’t up for it.
As I found my motivation, I felt a surge of power at the gate, the portal opening. I spun around, whipped my gun out and pointed it at the portal, lowering it just a second later as Karra’s essence hit my senses. She appeared in a huff, her beautiful face contorted with worry.
“Whales, Frank? Seriously? It’s all over the news.”
I shrugged. “What can I tell you? I’m so resilient my enemies feel the need to think outside of the box to take me out.”
She shook her head and stalked over. Her eyes were narrow and streaked with red as she ran her hand across my forehead. “You look like shit.”
“Uh, thanks. You too.”
“You’re feverish and pale.” She ran her fingers down my cheek and placed her palm on my chest. “You’re burning up.”
“Whale cooties, most likely.”
“Stop joking, Frankie. You don’t look good.”
