Chapter 8

The steps leading up to the front doors of the church were covered in an unnatural ice—ice that let off loads of steam so that the church seemed cloaked in an unnatural fog. Being that it was the middle of summer, the ice and fog were not a great sign. I continued up the steps and stopped at the top. The ice wrapped around the door, a barrier to anyone who thought they might just wander in. I took note that there were no humans nearby.

The demon was throwing off serious ‘fuck you' vibes, and the humans' natural sense of self-preservation was keeping them at a distance.

Ruby's growl was low and I wanted to emulate her. This was not what I was expecting, and I didn't like the obvious show of power. Ornias was not this strong. He was a minor demon at best.

"What do you think?" Dinah asked. "This seems more than what shadow boy in there could drum up on his own."

I lifted a hand and let it ghost over the ice. "I think that things are shifting in the demons' playground." Because of the fallen? Or because of something else?

More questions that I didn't have the answers to.

I could have used Dinah to blow the hinges off, or I could have waited for Easter to show up with Diego. But both options were loud, and flashy. We needed to keep things somewhat quiet.

With a frown, I reached deep inside and pulled up my fire, drug it through my limbs and pushed it into my hands. Bright yellow flames, edged with white, flickered around my fingers as I pressed them to the ice-covered doors.

"That's different," Dinah pointed out. "The flames are different than before."

"Hotter," I said. "The only color hotter is blue."

Like Bear's fire. His flames were blue, which told me he was stronger than me. I smiled as the ice melted, water running down the wood door and puddling at my feet. Something inside thumped against the door, rattling it.

"As if that's going to scare you," Dinah snorted.

I pulled my hands off the door before the wood caught fire. "Whatever is in there doesn't know me."

The thump of tires jumping the sidewalk half turned me around. A dark blue SUV with deep tinted windows rolled to a stop. Easter was out first, Diego strapped to her back. I could hear him chattering away at her, even at this distance.

"I've never been with a redhead before," he drawled. "I like it."

Pete and Carlos followed. Pete had been driving and he waved and smiled as the drivers having to go around the SUV half in the street honked and flipped him off.

But it was Carlos I looked at. "You left Mario alone?"

Carlos shook his head. "He wouldn't let me near him. I think he knows that you know."

Well, that was just fucking peachy. I gave him a quick nod. "Then we have to move fast."

Easter stepped up next to me, eyeing the ice that still coated a good chunk of the front entrance.

She strolled up the icy stairs to stand next to me, looking over the ice-encased church. She ran a finger over the ice closest to her. "Subtle for a stay-out sign."

Shrugging, I half smiled. "You know demons, real classy."

Easter snorted. "Mario hadn't sent Lanny to get Fred and Cowboy."

My whole body tensed. "And?"

"I made sure that he sent someone to get them." Her face was flat, no emotion. "He's an ass. And Carlos, you're wrong. He thinks we don't realize that he's working for the enemy."

Fuck. "Stupid?"

"Big ego." She shook her head. "Pity, I liked the look of him. But I don't like big egos in small packages."

"Oh, snap!" Dinah crowed. "Did you get a look at it? Was it really that small?"

"I was a big boy," Diego purred. "Huge."

"Says the small man trying to prove it's bigger than a hot dog." Dinah laughed.

Pete choked on nothing and cleared his throat. "We going in or not?" His eyes darted between me and Easter, or more truly between Dinah and Diego.

We were going in, but I was getting a feel for the demon in there, just by standing at the doorway. "In a minute." I held up my hand and put it against the engravings in the wood. "The question is, what is Mario doing then?"

Carlos held up both hands, palms to the sky. "He is moving everyone. Pretending that he is afraid of the fallen."

"What about Killian?" My eyes locked on Carlos, but he didn't flinch.

"He's as safe as the rest of them. Mario said we have a few hours at the new site, at best. That was all I could get out of him."

Easter nodded. "That's what I took from him too. He was willing to move, which means it was already in his mind for some reason."

My hand was cool, and the energy behind the door had built to where my skin crawled. Time to say hello to the new occupant. I grabbed the handle, squeezed it and pushed the door open.

Easter took point and stepped into the church first. "Fucking cold in here."

"Demon owned," I said. "Ornias, I know you missed me. And I thought I'd bring more friends this time. Seeing as you have a new friend too, right?"

I strolled in through the foyer, and as soon as the two guys stepped through, they slammed shut behind us. I didn't look back, but the crackle of ice rippled through the air as they were covered once more. No, I didn't look back, I just walked down the aisle between the pews, feeling the air frost, the temperature dropping all around us.

This was not typical for Ornias. Not this cold. Not this show of power.

I reached the front of the church and turned. Easter and Pete flanked me, and Carlos stood just in front of me. "No one say anything regarding deities. Got it?"

Nods all around, but my attention was locked on the wall and balcony above the entryway. Ornias was a prick of a demon. The question was, who or what had taken him over, and why? I didn't much believe in coincidence, which meant there was a reason that a new demon had taken up residence here.

The dark shadows against the wall melted, pulling away from the thick paneling, and slowly congealing into the formless tube that Ornias had always emulated . . . only this time was different. Aside from being larger than normal, an actual set of eyes blinked out of the darkness.

I arched a brow. "You do have a new friend."

"Why are you here?" His voice was different too, more of a tenor now. Ruby barked at him as he slithered across the pews toward us, arms sprouting out of his sides in multiple places until he was a tube with twenty arms. Grabby hands pulled himself along, crawling across the pews. Yup, somebody far more powerful. I squinted at the pews, looking for the usual feeders that the demon used. But they were all gone.

"What are we looking at?" Pete asked. "It's cold but I don't see what you're talking to."

"I see it," Easter said. "It's got a lot of arms, and it's . . . darkness come to life."

"Me too," Carlos whispered.

The Magelore couldn't see the demon? I would consider what that might mean at another time. Assuming it meant anything other than he didn't have much of a connection to the spiritual realm. I looked over my shoulder at him. His eyes were closed shut. Idiot.

"Open your fucking eyes, Pete."

He blinked and cringed. "That. Is terrible."

I put a hand on Carlos's shoulder and stepped around him.

"Ornias, I need to find Bazixal. Any idea where I might do that? An address would be perfect." I had my fingers tight on Ruby's collar, keeping her close. Her body was tense, and her growls were low, but more than that I could feel her ready to leap. I did not want her tangling with a demon. I knew who would win, and it wouldn't be my dog.

The demon's laughter was pitched far too high. "Truly, you seek your death then. He hates you. You destroyed his chance at freedom from the realm of demons. And now you want to talk to him? That's a terrible idea, even for you."

I made myself smile. "If you won't tell me, I will bring the fallen down on your house here."

The laughter cut off. "You wouldn't dare. And why would they listen to you anyway? You're the biggest abomination of them all, worse even than little old us."

Us.

"Would dare," Dinah said. "Yes. We would totally fucking dare, you douche tube."

I flipped the tablet out onto the floor, and it bounced open, showing a stilled image of Gardreel's face. "He's chasing me right now. If I leave this here, he'll arrive in a very short time. What do you think he'd make of little old yous?"

Ornias—or whoever had taken Ornias's spot—reeled back. Two voices spilled from the demon entity at the same time. The new one, and the one I'd expected.

"We do not keep track of the demons of note. They are dangerous to us as they can take us over." The shadowy tube writhed and began to back away. "Go away. We like it here. Close to those we loved once."

I ignored the fact that the demon was speaking of love at all. It crawled up and over one of the pictures of an angel that held a sword in its hand. Caressing it.

"A starting point then," I said. "Give me something or I'll assume we are enemies." Fallacy seeing as I already knew we were enemies. But demons were weird about alliances. They could be fooled, just like we could.

The shadowy tube writhed a moment and then rolled back, sliding closer and closer until I could have blinked, and my eyelashes would have brushed against the darkness. I stared hard into it, searching for something to focus on. Swirls of shadows, of limbs and bodies reached through it for me.

"A starting place." The breath of the words washed over me, stinging my face with an icy cold. "You will have a journey, Phoenix, if you wish to stop them. Many places to visit. You cannot do this on your own."

I stared at the demon. "A journey."

"Find the spell. Find the tools. Find the demon. Find the fallen." The demon writhed. "The fallen . . . do not like me. I do not like them either. But I do not like other demons either."

I wanted to say no shit, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Why?" Easter asked.

"I was one of their greatest generals before I fell, I oversaw many of the legions," he purred. "Even should they win the day and cleanse the world, they will not like me taking form here." The voice kept pitching up and down, as if it were doing scales. "And perhaps, I do not like Gardreel enough that I would side with you . . . Phoenix. Perhaps."

I didn't move. The darkness rolled around me and the others screamed as I was picked up and held far above their heads. Ruby's barking was intense, and then I could hear nothing but the rushing of water, the roar of a river I knew well.

"This is the place to discuss a negotiation." A tall muscular man stood across from me. He was naked from the waist up, scars and tattoos scattered across his torso and down his arms, most notably a lion's head and body taking up the left side of his chest. He did a slow circle as he spoke, showing off the scars where his wings had been across his back. The back half of the lion, including the tail, was etched into his skin and down his spine. "You opened this up for all of us when you started using it again. I suppose that is why I am willing to offer you help now. That and I hate Gardreel. A small thing in our world."

"Limbo," I said. "Demons can use it?" Fuck me sideways, this was not what I wanted to worry about. Of course, there was no offer of help when I was stuck in the facility.

His laugh crawled across my skin. "Fallen can use it, Phoenix. I am the fallen. You are a child of the fallen, the granddaughter of the Sword. She was always a favorite of mine." He waved a hand, and the water froze over into a solid chunk of ice. "I am no Bazixal, but I can help you. If anyone knows the fallen, it is one of their own. Take me with you."

I snort-laughed. "And just how the fuck am I supposed to do that?"

He smiled and winked at me. "You just have to say you'll take me with you, and when we find a useful body, then I will take possession of it. I will sit quietly on your shoulder until we reach a body."

He stepped closer to me. "Are we agreed?"

I shoved him backward hard enough to make him stumble and go down to one knee. "What kind of body?"

"One that is dying, is preferable." He shrugged but there was a glimmer to his eyes. "Or weak. They are open to possession."

Killian. He already knew about Killian and wanted to use his body.

I knew a setup when I heard it.

But I also knew that there was nothing we could do for Killian. "And the body?"

"Healed." His smile never wavered. "Good as new. Also, you have about ten seconds to decide before the fallen's minions come through the church doors."

"Your name," I said. He grimaced. I held my ground. "I'll let him die before I hand him over to you without your name."

His smile faded. "Ipos."

The name rang a bell, and the lion on his skin made more sense. In lore, he was a lion headed monster. "You can see the future," I said, dredging up what I knew about him.

His face tightened. "At times."

"And you can find hidden treasures?" I smiled. "Yes, I like this deal very much. I agree. You can use Killian's body until I have no use for you anymore."

He pursed his lips. "Good enough. A deal then."

Ipos shot forward, faster than I could follow, and grabbed my face with one hand. I thought he was going to try and kiss me. Nope. It was far worse than that.

He put his head to mine and whispered in what I suspected was Latin. "Eritis mihi in aeternum."

His power washed over me, and I fell backward, limp, feeling as if the fire in me had been put out. He caught me across his one arm and stared down at me. "When the Sword fell, I wondered what her bloodline would do. You are very interesting."

The Sword had to be my grandmother, that was my only thought as the ice shattered over the river and the water surged above the edges and flowed over us both.

I was dropped unceremoniously to the floor of the church. I landed in a crouch; head bent as I struggled to catch my breath.

Ruby was at my side before anyone else. She stood on her back legs, put her front paws on my back and barked and snarled at the darkness above us.

"You have taken him," Ornias whispered. "You are either very clever, or very stupid."

I coughed, chilled all over, the skin around my neck feeling like I had a frozen chain around it. "Probably both." I lifted my head as Ornias whipped away from me, crawled up the back wall of the church and disappeared into the ceiling.

The ice all around us began to melt. Except me. I was cold through and through. I reached up and touched my neck. A necklace of some sort wrapped tight around my throat.

I will stay with you until you bring me to a body. You have one in mind, yes?

I nodded.

"You okay?" Carlos was the first of the others to move.

"Fine. We need to go."

"That was unpleasant," Easter drawled. "And not all that helpful."

Of course, they hadn't had the benefit of talking with Ipos. His laughter rumbled through me, reverberating in my throat. Easter lifted both eyebrows.

"What the fuck is that? You get a shot of testosterone?"

"Demon is coming for a ride." I coughed and shook my head. Ruby whined and pawed at my foot. Yeah. I didn't much like it either, but it was what it was. And I would deal with it. "Time to go." I didn't scoop up the tablet, but instead bent and touched the power button, flicking it back to life. Then I touched Ruby on the head to make sure she was with me, then headed to the main door.

I put my hand on it and called up the fires in my belly.

They spluttered and died under the ice that was wrapped around my neck. "Fucker, ease off."

Keep your hand there, I'll remove my ice.

I didn't want the demon's help, but before I could deny him, the ice fell off the door in huge chunks that shattered on the floor, scattering, making the others jump.

Okay, it made Pete and Carlos jump; Ruby and Easter just side stepped.

"The fallen are coming," Ornias whispered from the shadows next to the door. "You promised you wouldn't bring them here!"

I looked into the darkness and smiled. "You must be mistaken."

Ornias writhed away from me, straight up into the rafters. The ghosts he fed on were slowly floating down between the pews, drifting now that the big bad demon was gone.

"Easter, let Diego light the church up."

"Gladly." She turned and aimed at the front of the church. Diego boomed and the front half of the church burst into flames, the fabric and ancient wood catching in seconds.

A whoop of sirens from outside told me that the cavalry had arrived. But had the fallen arrived with them? Only one way to find out.