Before Michael could respond, Uriel stepped in front of him, eyes locked on Katia with an expression of wonder, sadness, and pain. “Elaina, it’s you.”
Chapter Twelve
“WHAT!” Satan bellowed, slamming his fists down on the heavy mahogany desk causing it to crack down the middle.
Voss jumped backward, slamming his body hard into the wall. His teeth clacked together painfully. If there was one thing all of Satan’s minions knew, it was to always delegate bad news delivery to a lesser demon. Unfortunately, this operation was need to know, and Voss was the only demon authorized to know. Delivering pain was what he lived for, being on the receiving end was another matter entirely. Moving out from behind his desk, but never breaking eye contact, Satan walked forward to stand in front of Voss. Pinpricks of red glowed through the deceptively soft brown of his eyes, growing in number until his irises were completely consumed. They glowed like twin beacons of pure evil. He stamped his foot angrily like a petulant teenager.
“How could you have let this happen? You — more than anyone — know the consequence of failure!” Reaching forward, Satan grabbed Voss by the front of his jacket and hoisted him up in the air single-handedly, slamming him up against the wall. Voss felt the bones of his long, forked, tail grind into powder as he made contact. In pain and fear, his skin began to change colour, blending to match the Wolframite walls like a chameleon, his red eyes standing out in sharp contrast.
A look of pure disgust on his face, Satan shook him like a rag doll and tossed him across the room. Voss landed in a heap, crying out at the agony of his broken tail. Pacing back and forth, Satan fumed. How dare Lucifer disobey him in this matter? Did he not realize that he had just bought himself a world of pain? And for what? The girl had no meaning to him. Satan would not be derailed by a fallen angel who had suddenly decided to start making up his own rules.
“Unacceptable!” he shouted. Voss trembled and cowered on the floor, eyes downcast. Stopping mid-stride, Satan pointed down at Voss.
“Get up, you sniveling waste of skin.” Cradling his ruined tail in one hand, Voss dragged himself to his feet. Resuming his pacing, Satan tapped his forefinger against his lower lip in thought. Suddenly smiling, he spun back around to face Voss. “Time to make it personal.” Walking slowly in his minion’s direction, he grabbed a paring knife off a nearby table. Testing the sharpness of the blade on his thumb, he addressed Voss. “Do you know the identity of the Jinn that aided their escape?”
Shaking his head nervously, Voss replied, “No, my lord, he wasn’t familiar to me.”
Nodding, Satan continued his interrogation. “And where did they go?”
“It was the building in which the woman lives.”
Smiling to himself, Satan replied, “I see. Were they met by anyone else before they entered, or was it just the three of them?”
“There were two others, my lord, two fallen. The ones called Samael and Baal were already present and waiting when Lucifer arrived with the woman and the Jinn.”
“Excellent.” Satan’s smile grew larger, the boyish dimples appearing on his cheeks. Chuckling to himself, he made his way back over to his cracked desk and took a seat in the oversized chair.
“I have a new assignment for you.”
Bowing, Voss replied, “Yes, my lord.”
“You will go to the building and you will locate her friend, Sergei Romanov.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You will interrogate him to determine the location of the woman and my wayward servant Lucifer.”
“My lord, do you wish me to interrogate him in the usual fashion?” Voss asked, a hopeful smile starting to kick up the corner of his lips.
Bemused, Satan inclined his head. “Voss, you may interrogate him in any way you like. I have no need of this human beyond the information you will gather.”
Enthusiasm for this new assignment crept into Voss’s voice. “And do you wish me to locate the other two fallen who have aided in this betrayal, my lord? I can interrogate them too.”
Satan replied in a thoughtful tone, “No. Leave them be for now. I’ll have some special plans for them at a later date. Just take care of Sergei and report back to me as soon as it’s done.”
“Yes, my lord, your wish is my command.”
Suddenly, Satan leapt to his feet, crossing the room at superhuman speed, snatching Voss by the back of the neck. “Damn straight it is.” Leaning in close to whisper menacingly in Voss’s ear, Satan continued. “Now remember, you’ve failed me once already by letting Lucifer and the woman leave my domain. Too much is at stake. I will not tolerate another mistake. Do you understand?”
Nodding as furiously as he was able while still in Satan’s grip, Voss replied. “Yes. My lord. Absolutely, my lord. I will not fail you, master.”
Raising his free hand, Satan brought the paring knife he still held to within a millimeter of Voss’s eye. “You had better not or a broken tail will be the least of your worries.” He held Voss immobile for what felt like an eternity, the point of the knife a whisper away. Releasing him abruptly, Satan turned and stalked out of the room. Voss was left standing alone in Satan’s office in a puddle of his own urine.
As the door slammed behind him, Satan took a moment to bask in his new plan. Hurt the woman’s human friend Sergei, thereby hurting her and, if Satan’s assumption
