atan picked up the stereo remote and shut off the music. “Love that song. It’s so bad, it’s good,” he said with another casual smile. “Time to get down to business. I have a job for you.” Walking to the desk at the far end of the room and opening a drawer, he pulled out a manila folder and slid it across the desk toward Luc. “I need you to procure me this woman.”
Luc slid the file closer and flipped it open. A photo of a young woman with long black hair, pale skin, and startlingly-beautiful mismatched eyes stared back at him. Her name and other basic information were listed below the photograph: Katia Andreyev, age 35, violinist with the Metropolitan Symphony, resides at suite 914-3891 Young Street, frequently spends time at Insomnia Café, and The Broken Cue Billiards, often seen in the company of one Sergei Romanov.
“May I ask why you’re interested in this woman? Is this a run-of- the- mill soul-reaping?”
Satan raised his eyebrows at Luc. “No, you may not.” Looking at Luc thoughtfully he took a seat in the leather executive chair behind the desk. He grabbed a miniature sword letter opener that he began flipping and catching in rapid succession. “You’ve never questioned me before. You either, accept and complete my requests or you decline them and suffer. What makes this one different?”
“Nothing, my Lord. I was merely curious.”
“Well, we all know what curiosity did to the cat. Curiosity makes me twitchy, and when I’m twitchy…” Satan threw the letter opener, spinning end over end, until it plunged directly into Luc’s stomach, “…bad things happen.” Luc groaned and doubled over, clutching the handle of the weapon. Smiling once again, Satan rose and headed toward the door, tossing a casual “Bye Bye, now” over his shoulder on the way out.
Chapter Five
“Argh! Goddammit!” Luc shouted as Amir pulled the letter-opener out of his stomach. The skin began to knit back together as soon as the metal was free, but it burned like someone was holding a butane lighter to his abdomen as it healed.
Laughing, Amir waved the offending object in front of Luc’s face. “What? You wanted me to leave it in?” Tossing the blade on the coffee table and throwing himself casually onto his couch, Amir shot Luc a sympathetic look. “Hey, getting knifed in the gut bites the big one, but on the upshot, you’ve still got all your skin this time. You’re moving in the right direction if you ask me. Plus, the blade might be an antique! You can hit a pawn shop later!”
“Regular comedian, aren’t you?”
Amir pegged Luc in the head with a stress ball he'd grabbed off the coffee table. “At Chez Amir, we aim to please. Give that a squeeze. You look like you could use it.”
Shooting Amir an irritated look, Luc grabbed the stress ball off the couch where it had fallen and gave it a squeeze. Powder misted all over him as the stress ball exploded in his hand. “Son of a bitch!”
Amir burst out laughing as Luc batted at the powder coating his jeans and shirt, only succeeding in spreading it around more. Grumbling under his breath he threw the remains of the stress ball back at Amir who was now laughing so hard tears were running down his face.
“Thanks man, that was very helpful.”
“Holy shit! That was priceless!” Amir wiped his face with the back of his hand, smearing powder over his face.
Luc shook his head and shot his friend a disgusted look. Sighing, he pulled the crumpled manila folder out of his jacket pocket and tossed it over to Amir. “So I didn’t learn much beyond the fact that letter openers can be used to make a point, and that he wants her.”
Picking up the folder that had fallen open to Katia’s photograph, Amir whistled softly. “Wow, pretty girl. That’s a shame.”
“Yeah, well, I have to go on the assumption this is a typical retrieval expedition. Don’t feel bad for her, she’s brought this on herself. You know the rules, he can’t force an innocent human to enter Halja…she’s got to be one of his souls.” Luc shrugged and rested his head on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling. “You see or hear anything about a Chimera in your covert travels?”
“Not a damn thing. Sorry, dude, I wish I could have been more useful.”
“Nope, don’t say that. That’s the best news I could possibly hear. That would have created a shit storm of apocalyptic proportions. Guess it was just a crazy rumor. I’ll just head topside, do a snatch-and-grab, and hand her over. Mission accomplished.” As he spoke, Luc’s Sigil began to throb painfully. He could almost feel more darkness leaking out of his heart into his body. Chalk it up to delivering another human into Satan’s clutches — nothing more, nothing less. Rubbing his hands over his face, he tried to get back into his usual frame of mind, but some insidious warning bell had set up shop in the back of his mind. Something just didn’t feel right…but why? He had a job to do and there would be Sheol to pay if it didn’t get done in a timely manner. There would be time to ponder moral issues at a later date, right now he had to get his hands on a new set of clothes that weren’t decorated with blood and guts so he could locate this Katia, wrap her in a bow and deliver her.
“I know you don’t owe me anything anymore, but can I ask you for one more favor?”
Smiling, Amir pointed toward the bedroom and nodded. “Take anything you need, bro. Useless as tits on a
