“Thank you,” she said. “Amir, can you promise me one last thing?”
He looked at her with sad eyes, knowing that suicide missions had better odds of success than this one. “Anything,” he said.
“No matter how angry he is, please make sure he knows that I love him,” Katia said, her voice trembling as tears burned behind her eyes, threatening to spill.
“Of course,” he said softly.
Katia took a deep breath. No more tears. Time to focus on her mission.
“So, what’s next?” she asked.
Rising from the couch, Amir headed over to a cabinet near the bar. Muttering something unintelligible, he waved his hand in front of a strange-looking lock. Katia heard the snick of the tumbler as it gave way. Opening the cabinet, Amir began to withdraw weapon after weapon, tossing them casually one by one on the couch. Once he'd liberated enough weaponry to arm a small militia, Amir re-locked the cabinet and turned to face Katia.
“Right, you’ll be going in armed. These are charmed blades. If you have a run-in with Satan they won’t stop him, his minions on the other hand, will be toast.” He picked up one of the wicked-looking daggers and handed it to Katia. “You're going to need my weapons knowledge, so get ready to hit me with your Chimera mojo.”
Examining the blade in her hand, Katia replied. “I’m not quite sure how to do that. It just seems to happen on its own.”
“I did some digging when I went topside the other day. From what I understand, you just need to focus on what you want from your source. So, think of me like a computer program full of weapons schematics and battle tactics and download me, baby,” Amir chuckled.
Giving him a light punch on the arm, Katia rolled her eyes. “You can make anything into a joke, can’t you?”
“Like I’m always telling Luc, we aim to please.” He smiled back at her.
Turning the blade to the light, Katia noticed intricate writing carved along its length. “What does this mean? Bono malum superate?”
“Ah,” Amir said, putting on his best scholarly expression. “It’s a part of the charm; it imbues the weapon with power. You know how people say — “words have power” — well, it’s true. Bono malum superate…overcome evil with good.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Katia smiled. “So, shall we try the download now? It would probably be a good idea for me to know what to do with all of this.” She motioned toward the pile of weapons.
Amir scooted over next to her on the couch. "Right, you need to focus on taking specific information and abilities from me. This is going to sound cheesy as all hell in a bad vampire movie way, but…look into my eyes.” As he spoke, Amir reached forward and placed his fingertips on both of her temples. A blast of air came at her from nowhere and burrowed into her brain. She flinched at the psychic invasion. “No, don’t fight it, Katia. I’m just trying to establish a link with you to make this easier. Most demons have some kind of psychometric ability. Just relax and let it happen.”
Taking a deep breath, Katia forced her body to relax and focused her gaze on Amir’s. She allowed herself to be drawn in to their electric color, noticing flecks of red and black she'd never noticed before. The world around her blurred as she focused her thoughts. Suddenly, she was inside Amir’s mind. Katia felt like she was flipping through a photo album, trying to find the right page as images flashed past, some pleasant, some painful. Increasing her focus, Katia was able to narrow in on what she needed. Information poured into her in a blur, her muscles twitched as scenes of sword and knife fights flashed through her mind, her body absorbing Amir’s muscle-memory. With a blast of energy, Katia and Amir were knocked apart, each landing awkwardly on opposite ends of the couch. Katia struggled to sit up again. Her brain felt too full with all the new information.
Amir began to laugh as he drew himself back up to sitting. “Wow, never thought I’d say this, but that was an actual mind fuck! My brain feels violated.”
Katia winced as she looked over at him. “Yeah, sorry about that. I realize I saw some stuff you’d probably rather not share.”
Amir gave her a crooked smile. “I figured that would happen. Just keep it to yourself and we’re good.” Picking up a dagger off the couch, Amir launched it at Katia. The dagger flew end-over-end directly at her heart. “Think fast.”
Without a second’s hesitation, Katia snatched the dagger out of the air by its hilt, moving on instinct. “Holy shit,” she breathed incredulously.
Amir pumped his fist in the air in victory. “That’s my girl!”
With more confidence in her newly acquired abilities, Katia began throwing and catching the dagger, flipping it in the air faster and faster until it was moving too quickly for the eye to track. She never faltered. “Apparently, you’re great with knives Amir.”
Grabbing a gun, Amir replied with a big grin. “You’ll be pleased to know I’m also great with guns.” He tossed the weapon to Katia, who caught it expertly by the butt. Ejecting the magazine and removing one of the bullets, she examined the casing. The same Latin inscription was carved along the side. She re-inserted the bullet and slid the mag home with a click.
“Now that I’m a weapons specialist, I might as well arm up.” She stood and began to prepare. Knives, guns, and throwing stars were taped, strapped, and clipped all over her body in a matter of moments.
“Okay, now that was hot,” said Amir, fanning his face dramatically.
“Perv,” Katia laughed.
“Don’t you know it!” he waggled his eyebrows in jest. “So, let’s go over our plan one more time. We don’t want to be leaving anything to chance here.” He said, suddenly becoming serious.
“No shit,” Katia replied.
“Right-o. I’m going to walk you directly into Halja. There are a
