Execution (The Divine Book 6) (2 page)

I stared at him for a good minute. It sucked to know the demon was up to something and at the same time have the niggling feeling that he had me right where he wanted me. Of any demon I had ever met, Gervais was the most accomplished manipulator of them all.

"Alyx, stay here and keep Gervais company. If he tries to do anything other than watch television, tear his throat out."

"Yes, Master," Alyx said. I looked over at her. "Yes, darling," she said instead.

"Rose, it's your call if you want to come along," I said. "Elyse, I would appreciate your company."

"Sure," Elyse said. "I'm in."

"I'll go," Rose said. "I need the practice."

"Aren't you afraid I'll steal your girlfriend while you're gone?" Gervais asked, clearly amused.

"Go ahead and try," I said. "Let's go."

We took ten minutes to change from workout clothes to street threads before heading out from my apartment, taking to the streets on foot. I would grab a cab to Hearst's place soon enough, but I wanted to get Rose and Elyse up to speed first.
 

"Apparently, I can hear Abaddon can speak to me," I said. "Through the connection we made while I was in the Box."

"But you destroyed the Box," Elyse said. "How did the connection survive?"

"Part of our souls were both trapped. I made him a promise there, binding his soul to mine. That binding survived after I escaped. Somehow, he can speak to me and push his power through the link."

"He can send his power through the link?" Elyse said. "You mean he could kill you?"

"If he wanted to, yes. All he wants is for me to keep my promise."

"What was your promise?"

"To destroy him. Except he's already told me, he won't go willingly. I need to earn it."

Elyse grabbed me by the arm, turning me toward her. "Are you serious?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I made the deal because it was the only choice I had. It was the only way I was getting the Beast in the Box. To be honest, I didn't think I would have to make good on it already."

"Shit," Elyse said.

"Yup. So, do you have any idea how to kill an unkillable demon?"

Elyse laughed. "Not yet. One thing at a time."

"So if Abaddon wants you to kill him, why didn't he tell you where he was?" Rose asked.

"I don't think he knows. At least not yet."

"Do you even want to find him before you can destroy him? I mean, it seems to me that he's better off being held somewhere while we figure out what to do. If he's as powerful as you say, it can't be a bad thing that the power is being contained."
 

"It isn't a bad thing the power is contained," I said. "It is a bad thing that Randolph Hearst is containing it, especially since he has a currently unknown accomplice. I'd be happy to find out where Abaddon is and take control over his imprisonment, if that becomes an option."

"Accomplice?" Rose said. "You said it wouldn't be Gervais, but can you be sure? That demon is the slimiest little worm I've ever encountered."

"You haven't encountered enough demons," Elyse said. "Gervais is too smart to be a worm."

"And if he had a hand in summoning Abaddon, he wouldn't have come back to me. No, he needs my help for something, and in return I'm going to set him up to make a move. We probably won't figure out what that move is until it's too late."

"Then how do you know we won't end up worse off than we already are?"

"I'm linked to one of the most powerful demons that Satan ever created, and he can end me with a thought. How does it get worse than that? At least for me."

"Point taken," Rose said. "Do you know where we're going?"

We had been walking aimlessly while we chatted. It was a couple of miles to Hearst's brownstone, a distance I would normally cover on foot if I were being sneaky. Having Abaddon's power in my soul, a constant buzz of dark energy, was killing my mood for sneakiness.

"Hearst has a brownstone on 93rd and Broadway," I said.

"Do you think he'll be home?" Rose asked.

"Probably not. His cronies will tell us where he is."

"Are you sure?"

"If they enjoy their continued existence, yes." I motioned to Elyse, who plucked a stone from her pocket. The stone could be replaced with a four-foot obsidian roman spatha with both demonic runes and angelic scripture on the blades with little more than a thought. "You brought your knives?"

Rose spread her shorter coat to show me the weapons. I was unarmed myself, figuring to let her get the experience she needed.

I whistled for a cab, waving it down and opening the door for Rose and Elyse. Then I slipped in on the front passenger side. I made eye contact with the driver, checking him for Divinity. It had been easier when I could sense them from a distance, but it had meant they could sense me, too.

"You don't want to sit in the back?" he asked, surprised. He was a younger guy in a sweater and stained jeans.

"I'm good up here," I replied. "Ninety-third and Broadway, please."

I watched his face. His eyebrow twitched just a little. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed.

"Elyse," I said. "Do you know our driver?"

The truth of it was that cabs were very common targets for both the Divine and the Nicht Creidem. They were an easy excuse to criss-cross the city, eavesdrop on conversations, and pass messages from place to place. Things like Lyft and Uber had only made that part of the Divine spy network that much more effective.

"I don't recognize him," Elyse said, leaning forward. As the daughter of the Nicht Creidem's former leader, she would have known most of their crew. "They've been recruiting outsiders lately, though. Kind of like you." She looked over at Rose, smiling.

"Is there a problem?" the driver asked, looking nervous.

"I don't know," I said. "It depends on why you know the home address of Randolph Hearst."

His eyes narrowed. "Who the hell are you?"

"Someone you don't want to screw around. Are you Nicht?"

His hand shifted on his left side. I took hold of my power, using it to pull his hand up hard enough that he cracked himself across the jaw.

"Don't," I said.

"You're him, aren't you?" he asked me, rubbing his jaw. "The one they warned me about."

"Yes. So you are Nicht Creidem?"

"They told me not to talk to you."

"There are three of us in the cab and only one of you. Considering you aren't Divine, and you don't appear to have any tats, I recommend doing what's best for your own safety. And don't even think about reaching for the gun again. You can't kill me with it anyway."

"Yeah, I'm Nicht," he said. "I only joined a few months ago. They put me on this route after I got them some good intel on a demon that was trying to smuggle a runestone. I know Hearst's address because I end up going that way a lot."

"I guess it's my lucky day," I said.
 

The Nicht Creidem weren't friends of mine, but we weren't total enemies, either. They wanted to destroy all Divine, and at the same time keep all of the power that was stored in the artifacts the angels and demons had created over the ages, like Elyse's sword. I killed Divine to keep humanity from being consumed by them, for better or for worse. There was some overlap there.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I told you. A cab ride up to Hearst's. I need to talk to him."

"What about?"

"He has something I'm interested in."

His ears perked up. I knew they would. "Oh?"

I smiled. "Stick around, and I might give you something to take back at the end of your shift."

"Okay, sure. Just reporting a diuscrucis sighting will get me a nice bonus. Anything else will be gravy."

"Then let's go," I said. The poor kid didn't know that I would make sure he forgot all about having seen any of us by the time he was three blocks from Hearst's residence.

The cab pulled away from the curb, cutting off a livery in the process. He was a good driver, quick and efficient, and we reached Hearst's brownstone in no time.

"What's your name?" I asked the driver when we stopped at the curb a block away from Hearst's place.

"Joey," he said. "Joey Lincoln."

"Nice to meet you, Joey. Come on."

He looked over at me. "You want me to come with you?"

"You wanted the information, didn't you? I'm not going to sit here and tell you something you can hear for yourself."

Joey didn't look happy about the idea, but he unbuckled himself and climbed out of the cab. Rose got out on his side while Elyse joined me on the curb.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a whisper.

"With him?" I motioned toward Joey.

"Yes. We don't need him. I don't get it."

"Abaddon is back on Earth," I said. "I want your old team to know about it. They'll do their due diligence on exactly how and where that happened. Best case, they'll align with us to help me destroy him."

"Worst case, they'll get to him ahead of us and use his harnessed power."

"Yup. Better them than Hearst. If the Solen family gets their mojo back with Abaddon's power behind them, it will be tough to dislodge them again."

"I assume it's also better than Gervais getting his way?"

"Definitely. Besides, we need a ride for the night. I can make him forget everything if we need him to."

"Right. I forgot about that." She smiled. "Hey, do you know if Rose likes flowers?"

"You're asking me this now? Her name is Rose; I assume so."

She punched me in the arm.

The four of us made our way down the street. As we approached Hearst's brownstone, I noticed a group of men sitting on the steps of the block of townhouses across the street. None of us were Divine, so we didn't show up on radar as out of the ordinary. Even so, the way they watched us was too intense to be typical.

"Keep an eye on the Goombas behind us," I said to Rose as we climbed the steps. She looked back at them, earning herself a whistle.

"You can't walk anywhere in this city," she said as I knocked on Hearst's door.

We waited a dozen seconds before we got an answer. A serious looking blood-sucker in a tuxedo blocked the space between door and frame, his eyes flicking over each of us.

"Ah, diuscrucis," he said. "Mr. Hearst has been expecting you."

"He has?" I said casually.

"Of course. Please, come in." He moved aside. I stepped over the threshold, and he repositioned himself to block the entrance. "Just you."

I could have made him let the others in. I still wanted the Nicht Creidem to know what was going down. It wasn't worth making a scene, especially with the guards across the street. I knew Elyse could handle them, but it just wasn't worth it.

"Sorry, I guess you should hang out here. Maybe make some friends."

Elyse rolled her eyes. "We'll be on the steps." She looked at the butler. "If those mongrels come over to bother us, they won't live long enough to have to hide from the sunrise."

"Understood," the vampire said, his eyes casting a tangible warning across to the group. "We don't want any misunderstandings at this delicate juncture." He closed the door, separating us, and then began walking ahead of me. "Follow me."

I trailed the butler through an elegantly appointed lounge so a mahogany staircase and up to the top floor. We bypassed a simple bedroom draped in heavy, sun-blocking drapes, and made our way into a rosewood and green office.

Randolph Hearst was sitting behind the desk.

"Landon," he said with a smile, his head tilting as he tried to remember the last time he had seen me. "How long has it been?"

"Do you remember the night you had to walk home?" I asked.

His smile faded. "I thought that might have been you. Come on in, have a seat." He waved at a chair in front of the desk.

I walked over to it and sat, keeping my posture casual. There was nothing about Hearst that frightened me. He was a two-bit vampire who happened to have a good head for schemes, not unlike Gervais. His physical attributes were less than intimidating.

"I'm sure you've heard by now that I've summoned the demon Abaddon back to this world?"

It had been all of twenty-four minutes. "Why would you assume that?" I asked.