Asmodeus would not take a life, innocent or no, not at awhim. To his shame he had no doubt he had done so by accident in those earlydays before he had learned what it was that Templeton forced him to do. Nomore. Name him demon as they might but the name they had made it into did notmake him so.
Templeton could beat him to death but Asmodeus would notkill on his orders.
The first lash stroked across his back.
Agony burst through him as the tails bit, as the iron beadstore through his skin, burning, ripping. Pain blinded him, encompassed him.
Asmodeus. Gabriel’s heart broke even as it swelled withpride. He would fight Templeton in his own way. It was small, unseen battleslike these that mattered as much as the big ones. Each one of them was astatement, I will go this far and no farther.
She couldn’t cry in the face of his courage.
The next stroke fell.
Blood ran.
To see what they did to him though, to watch Asmodeussuffering, possibly dying, killed her. She pressed her knuckles to her lips.
Another stroke, another. It seemed to go on forever.
It was terrible to watch.
She fought tears, there had to be a way out, a way to helphim. Helpless, she ranged across the limits of the cage, pacing frantically,furiously. There had to be a way to stop this.
The chanting drove him down another inch, the lash anotherand still Asmodeus would not bow, he fought it as the tails rained over him.
“Obey me,” Templeton shouted. “You will obey me.”
Another. Blood ran freely down Asmodeus’ back, dripped tothe floor.
“Bow to me,” Templeton knelt beside him, his voice a harshwhisper “and it ends. You will break, in time. I will break you. End it now.Say that you’re my creature and it ends. Call your demons. Call the others.”
Gabriel knew he wouldn’t but the other Daemonae were soclose, all it would take was a thought from Asmodeus and they would come.Gabriel’s heart nearly stopped in terror for fear that they would senseAsmodeus’ distress.
“Stop it, Templeton, stop it. I swear, I’ll kill you myselfif you don’t. I’ll find a way. Stop it,” she shouted desperately, putting allher heart and soul into the cry. Everything was a weapon. “You bastard. Stopit! Asmodeus!”
Asmodeus’ eyes snapped to hers, dulled by pain. His gazesuddenly sharpened as fear for her cleared the haze.
Fury etched in every line of his aristocratic face,Templeton’s head whipped around to look at her, growing speculation in hisnarrowing eyes.
She let Templeton see it, see everything—her fear forAsmodeus, her desperation, but her gaze was on Asmodeus.
I love you, Asmodeus, she called in her heart,knowing he needed to hear it, to know it. And she needed to say it, tell him.
She saw Asmodeus’ proud head lift, his broad shouldersstraighten, his will strengthen.
It was there on his face, everything she needed to see. Herown heart lifted.
And I you, my angel, he sent in return, despite hisown desperate fear for her, despite the spell that held him.
Templeton caught the exchange of looks and smiled.
“Get her,” he said, snapped his fingers and pointed.
At his words, Asmodeus froze in horror, his eyes going tohers.
Trust me, Asmodeus, Gabriel said.
With relief, she watched Baker make the sigil, and thegateway opened.
Baker’s men were clearly far more concerned with theimmediate threat that Asmodeus—tall, heavily muscled and powerful—posed thanwith her. Not for the first time, she played on her lack of stature. All thistime, she had been playing up to their idea of her as weak, less dangerous. Nowshe would find out how well it had worked.
Their focus lax, Baker’s men didn’t bother to cover eitherBaker or her. Their mistake.
Alone, Baker marched through the gateway.
Gabriel faced him, waiting, apparently frozen in fear.Timing…timing. Her gun was in her hand, where it had been all along, hidden inthe folds of her dress.
Satisfied he was being obeyed, Templeton turned away andraised the lash once again.
Baker was halfway through the tunnel.
In an instant Gabriel’s gun was out and leveled on him. Shesnapped off two quick shots, a double tap to hammer at his face shield and thenmore shots as she quickly advanced into the tunnel, still firing.
Bullets hammered into Baker’s body armor and theunexpectedness of it drove him backward a step. Another.
Baker started to raise his weapon even as he shifted justthat little bit too close to the boundary between this plane of existence andthe next.
Something boiled up out of the darkness and shadows of thatplane, a waiting nightmare of claws and tentacles. It snatched at him from outof the ether. He screamed suddenly, sharply. Blood sprayed as it yanked himabruptly into oblivion.
Gabriel shuddered but kept moving fast, instinctivelyknowing that the moment when Baker—the man who had opened that doorway—died thetunnel he had created would die with him. Something snatched at her ankle totry to drag her back as she dove and rolled into the main chamber, franticallykicking free of whatever clutched at her.
The sound of the gunfire alerted everyone. Heads turnedquickly, everyone becoming alert.
Swiftly, she turned her weapon on Templeton, whose meninstantly leaped to cover him as he backed away from Asmodeus and dove forcover.
In shock at the sudden turn of events, the little manchanting from the Book abruptly went silent as he stared around him,horrified.
“Now,” Gabriel shouted, scrambled to her feet, and calledAshtoreth.
If they could get the enchanted iron off, Asmodeus would befree.
Daemonae appeared as if from nowhere and zeroed in onAsmodeus.
“Ashtoreth, Ba’al,” Gabriel shouted. “Get him out of here.”
Templeton shouted to his men to shoot and to his minion, whosuddenly realized that the demon was now loose. The man leaped to the Book,stammered, tried to chant.
Guns swiveled toward her. Gabriel dove and rolled as theyopened fire. Bullets whistled past her.
Scrambling to her feet, her own weapon in hand, she snappedoff shots to force their heads down as she turned toward the podium.
As much as Gabriel wanted to be with Asmodeus, she had to behere. There was still the Book of Demons. If she had anything to sayabout it, never again would any Daemonae be subject to the damned and damnablething.
She felt, smelled, the
