Four

  When Nicole woke at midday, she was in control again. Mastemat had kept them awake most of the night, preparing Beloth’s human prisoners for Keres’s arrival. The process consisted of draining the souls of their essence to the point of nearly fading, which was supposed to make it easier for the transformation to take hold. Five hundred souls. Five hundred men, women, and children sucked dry while they screamed and kicked and cried until their strength was gone, and all the while Nicole was forced to watch as her own voice gave the orders. No matter how hard she tried to look away while the imps went about their gruesome business, she couldn’t; for Mastemat controlled her eyes. No matter how much she pleaded for it to stop, Mastemat wouldn’t listen. Eventually, Nicole managed to retreat to the deepest corners of their mind and watch in hopeless misery until, mercifully, she slipped into a restless slumber.

  “Look who finally woke up,” Mastemat said as Nicole rolled over in the bed. The pillow was wet with her tears. “I believe you’ve managed to get even weaker lately. That never used to bother you so much.”

  “That was before I remembered who I am,” Nicole replied.

  “Who you were,” Mastemat corrected. “That child died a long time ago. I don’t see what the big deal is, anyway. They’re only humans.”

  “As am I.”

  “Girl, you haven’t been human for over a hundred years.”

  “I’ve always been human, and I’ll always be human,” Nicole thought back vehemently. She wasn’t sure who she was trying harder to convince – Mastemat or herself.

  “Just keep telling yourself that, kiddo. Looks like you’ve lost a few more feathers, by the way.”

  Nicole’s eyes were drawn to the mattress, and she saw three jet-black feathers mixed with the usual collection of grey ones lying between the sheets. She hurriedly swung her legs off the mattress and stood, pulling the covers up and burying the offending feathers under a blanket of denial.

  “My Lady,” a voice from outside the tent cautiously called. It sounded like an imp. It had probably been waiting outside for hours, listening for signs that she had woken up. “Forgive me, but Lord Keres arrived at dawn and has been calling for you.”

  “You were supposed to wake me the moment he arrived,” Nicole said irritably as she slipped her dressing robe on, struggling slightly to get her wings through the holes in the back.

  “They tried,” Mastemat said, yawning.

  “We tried, my Lady,” the voice outside confirmed. “But, we could not rouse you.”

  “Has Keres completed his task?” she asked, hoping that he had gone ahead and done it without her.

  “No, my Lady,” the imp replied, dashing her dreams. “He said he would wait for you. He wishes Duke Valefor to be present as well.”

  “Lovely,” Nicole thought. “Very well,” she said out loud. “Tell him I will be along shortly.”

  “Yes, my Lady,” the imp said. A moment later she heard the sound of flapping wings as it flew off to deliver the message.

  “It’s your turn,” Mastemat said, yawning again. “Have fun playing with your sadistic mad scientist and power-hungry misogynistic nobleman with inferiority issues. I’m taking a nap now.”

  “I can’t stand by and watch this,” Nicole said, feeling panic start to rise inside her. She could handle the two demons — but taking part in the forced transformation of hundreds of human souls into evil and bloodthirsty monsters was asking too much. “This is your job. Not mine.”

  “You can do it, and you will,” Mastemat said, sounding a bit angry, which was unusual for her. “I can’t do everything for you. Just deal with it, for once.” And with that, Mastemat fell silent. Nicole stood by her bed for a few moments, suddenly feeling very alone. As much as she hated Mastemat, she had grown used to always having her around to talk to. She took a few deep breaths, trying to steady her nerves. She was in control right now and needed to be grateful for that. She shouldn’t wish to give it up so easily.

  A brass wash basin sat on a stand by her bed. She formed a fireball in her hand and placed it under the bowl to warm the water, then opened the clothes chest at the foot of her bed. She needed to make an impression to make up for oversleeping, so she had to choose the right outfit. Aamon had placed her in charge of this campaign, but that did not mean the other demons accepted her authority without question — as Valefor’s little display of rebellion the other day showed. In the demon world, one had to constantly prove their superiority or be crushed by the other demon’s ambitions. She sighed as she pulled out her battle robes and began slipping into them, the familiar motions helping to calm her nerves. Mastemat had a point, she had to do this. What other choice did she have?

  The ghostly child cried for a solid five minutes. All the while, Raquel stood back, watching the alley with her whip at the ready and looking very uncomfortable. I sat on the ground and held the boy as he cried, rocking him gently and whispering soft reassurances. If I had to guess, I would have said he was no more than ten years old. At first, I hadn’t been sure if I would even be able to hold him, insubstantial as he was, but it turned out to be no problem. It seemed that just as he could see Raquel and me even though we were invisible to the rest of the world, we could touch and interact with him as well. Eventually, the boy started to settle down and Raquel relaxed a bit, drawing closer to the two of us. I grinned up at her. “Is it ghosts you’re scared of, or kids?” I asked.

  “Neither,” she said, bristling slightly. “This sort of thing is your area of expertise, not mine. I just wanted to give you room to work.”

  “Uh-huh,” I said, smirking. “Sure.”

  “Has he said anything yet?” Raquel asked, changing the subject.

  “No,” I replied, looking down at the kid in my arms. He was just about half-asleep by this point. “He was pretty shaken up.”

  “Poor kid,” Raquel said, looking at him sympathetically. “I wonder how long he’s been like this?”

  “Probably not long,” I said. “He’s lucky we found him when we did. He’s made entirely out of spiritual essence. He’s like a beacon for wraiths. He wouldn’t have lasted long on his own.”

  “Are you angels?” the boy asked, groggily. He sat up, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

  “We sure are,” I said, smiling. “I’m Raphael, and this is Raquel. What’s your name?”

  The boy climbed out of my lap and stood tall, looking a bit embarrassed. “Zach,” he said, sniffing slightly.

  “That was a pretty scary situation you were in, Zach,” I said, staying seated so I was still at eye level with him. “Any idea how it happened?”

  Zach shook his head and sniffed again. He didn’t seem inclined to offer any more information, and after a few moments of silence, I decided to try a different track. “Maybe let’s start with how you ended up like this.” I gestured at him, and he looked down at his grey and translucent hands. “How long ago did it happen?”

  “I don’t know. Yesterday, I think. It happened after I fell down that strange hole.”

  “Which hole?” Raquel asked, kneeling beside us and dismissing her whip.

  “The one the gargoyles were flying into.”

  Raquel and I looked at each other. “Gargoyles?” I asked. “Could you mean imps?”

  “I dunno,” Zach said with a shrug.

  “Were they ugly little men with sharp teeth and wings like a bat?”

  Zach nodded. “Yeah.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Where did you see them?” Raquel asked, cocking her head slightly as she watched his face.

  The boy pointed towards the bay. “Over that way. In one of those big buildings that hold stuff.”

  “Like a warehouse?” I asked.

  “Yeah. That’s it,” he answered with an eager nod.

  “Hey,” Raquel said, tapping me on the shoulder and jerking her head to the back slightly. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

  “Give us a sec, ok?” I said to Zach. “We’re not leaving you. We just need to talk for a minute. We’ll be right here, where you can see us the whole time.” Zach nodded, looking a bit worried. I stood and followed Raquel a few steps away. “What’s up?” I asked, talking low.

  “I think I recognize this kid,” she said, also keeping her voice down. “He’s on the list of recent OD victims. I’ll have to double-check, but I think he’s lying in the hospital on life support.”

  “But if that’s the case, shouldn’t he be in the Soul Divide right now?” I asked, looking back at the little grey figure.

  “He said he fell down a hole,” Raquel said, furrowing her brow. “Could he have found a way out of there? If his soul left his body when it went to the Divide, but then came back to Earth before his body woke up and reabsorbed it, that might explain why he’s a ghost right now. He probably stumbled across the same method some of these demons are using to avoid piggybacking with archdemons.”

  I shook my head in amazement. “Well, it’s not exactly what we were looking for, but this is definitely a big break.” I looked back at Zach again. “Isn’t he a bit young to be using neural drugs, though? He doesn’t exactly strike me as the type.”

  “He was probably messing around on the net and found them accidentally. I doubt he knew what they were. Sometimes the designers like to hide them in harmless-looking downloads, like music or other digital goods. Lots of innocent people get hurt like that every year. It’s disgusting.”

  “How do you want to proceed?” I asked.

  “We need to see if he can tell us where this warehouse is, of course,” Raquel said. “Then we should check it out.”

  “That might be too dangerous for the kid,” I said. “Especially if there’s demons there. We can’t leave him alone, though, not with the way he attracts wraiths.”

  “Could one of us take him up to Heaven first? He’d be safe there,” Raquel suggested.

  I shook my head. “That might kill him for real. It would be the same as if he fully faded. I’d like to get him back in his body, if possible.”

  “Well then, why don’t I go check out the warehouse while you see if you can track down his body and get him back in it? Maybe you can get him to tell you more about what happened when he was in the Divide while you’re at it.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Hestes is behind all of this.”

  “I strongly suspect he is,” Raquel said, looking over at Zach with a fresh fire in her eyes.

  Keres and Valefor were already waiting for Nicole by the time she arrived at the ruins of Beloth’s castle. Valefor had brought a small entourage of officers with him, while Keres was accompanied by what looked like a few assistants and several miserable-looking human slaves holding large clay jars. All except for one who was standing near an iron-barred cage set on wheels. Keres was a black-winged fallen angel, while his assistants were a fairly standard array of lesser demons. He turned at the sound of Nicole’s approach and smiled as she beat her wings against the wind, slowing her descent and touching down softly. “Welcome, Lady Mastemat,” he said with a silky smooth voice. “I trust you had a pleasant rest?”

  “As pleasant as can be expected, given the night’s work, Lord Keres,” she said, not bothering to hide her feelings on the subject.

  “Of course, of course,” he replied. “It is distasteful, I agree, however necessary it may be. It must be even more difficult for you, given that you were once human yourself. Am I correct?”

  “She was a human?” Valefor asked, looking down on her with a new level of disgust.

  “You did not know?” Keres replied with clearly feigned surprise. “Lady Mastemat came to us under rather providential circumstances. Lord Aamon told me all about it once. I recently obtained some fine Cuban cigars from Earth, and I hear they pair well with a nice Cabernet Sauvignon. I will share the story with you while we enjoy them after dinner. Lady Mastemat could tell us the tale herself, of course, but propriety dictates that women not join the men during our evening smoke.”

  “Can we just get on with this?” Nicole asked, holding back her temper with difficulty. She didn’t care a whit for cigars or wine, but the message was loud and clear – Keres clearly shared Valefor’s opinion of her. “There’s much work still to do.”

  “I agree,” said Valefor. “Not all of us have the time to waste the morning on our beauty sleep.”

  “And you’ll have even less time after this, Valefor,” Nicole responded, adding an icy edge to her voice. “I want these new troops outfitted and ready to march before the week is out.”

  “Impossible,” Valefor said with a scoff. “I still have two legions of Beloth’s troops to evaluate.”

  “Would you like to tell Lord Aamon that, or shall I?” Nicole asked. “This command comes straight from him. They need not be trained, as I do not plan on using them in battle just yet, but we must be ready to move by week’s end. The archdemon Mammon is claiming Tauriel’s territory for himself. I aim to teach him the error of his ways.”

  “And why am I only learning this now?” Valefor asked, puffing his chest out in anger.

  “You might have learned it sooner if you bothered to report more often. Lord Aamon gives his orders to me, not you.” She didn’t add that she had only received the command the night before.

  “As entertaining as this pissing match is,” Keres interjected. “We are here for a reason, and I’ve been kept waiting for hours already. Shall we?”

  “There was no need to wait on my account, Lord Keres,” Nicole said. “I am certain you know your craft well enough to get by without my assistance.”

  “Be assured, madam,” Keres said, smiling. “I have my reasons.”

  A loud crash behind them made Nicole spin around, sword out. The wheeled cage was shaking, and the human slave attending it was desperately trying to control whatever it contained — with little success. Nicole took a few steps forward to get a better look and gasped, dropping her sword and covering her mouth with her hands. Inside was a monstrosity with the basic proportions of a hellhound, except its fur grew in sporadic patches, revealing pale white skin beneath. Its hind legs were the correct shape and ended in large, sharply clawed paws, but its front legs looked like human arms and ended in nearly human hands, with large, pointed claws protruding from their fingertips. The most disturbing part, however, was its face. Pointed hellhound ears grew out of its bald head, but the face was that of a human. It growled and snarled, revealing sharp canine fangs. The creature’s eyes burned with pure hatred as it glared directly at Keres.

  “Fascinating, isn’t it?” Keres asked, stepping up beside her. “It’s one of my earliest experiments. A dismal failure, as you can see. We were attempting to make something other than an imp from a human soul. Imps are versatile, to be sure, but rather limited in their destructive abilities. Hellhounds, however… Well, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of their usefulness in battle.” Keres sighed regretfully. “But the human soul is a finicky thing, it seems. Imps are more or less humanoid in their appearance, so the soul has an easier time accepting that shape. A hellhound, however, turned out to be too alien, and the souls rejected all attempts to assume that form. This is one of the few that survived the process. I like to keep them near as reminders of how far we have come, but the others, unfortunately, are in no condition to travel.” He gestured towards the ruins of Beloth’s castle. “Now, may we please proceed?”

  Nicole watched the horrific creature for a few more moments and found that her initial shock at its appearance was being replaced with something else. Was it sympathy? No. It was more like kinship or understanding. Here was another helpless human, forced to become a monster at the whims of their demon captors. Given no more choice than she had been given. The beast threw itself against the bars, rattling the cage, snarling and biting, trying with all its might to reach Keres, even though she was the closer. Her hand drifted towards the latch.

  “What are you doing?” Mastemat asked, stopping their hand.

  Nicole spun around, turning her back on the cage. “Let’s go,” she said, forcing down the bile rising in her throat, glad that she had decided to skip breakfast.

  “Are you sure this is the right place?” Raquel asked as the car silently rolled to a stop by one of the warehouses near Crissy Field Beach. “This isn’t exactly a discrete location.”

  Zach nodded emphatically from where he sat on my lap. He couldn’t use a seat, since he would just pass right through the car as it drove off. “I remember,” he said, “because I like playing here when it’s sunny.”

  “Why would they use a place like this?” Raquel asked, looking out the window. “I don’t see any signs of demonic activity, and this has got to be some of the most expensive commercial property in San Francisco.”

  “They’re archdemons,” I replied. “I don’t think money is an issue for them. Besides, sometimes right in plain sight is the best place to hide. As a cop, would you have ever thought to look here?”

  Raquel cocked an eyebrow. “Fair point. Alright, I’ll check it out.” She tapped a few buttons on the sedan’s control screen. “Here’s the hospital the report says Zach’s body is at. You guys head over there while I keep an eye on this place. I’ll check in with Sariel and see if he can use some of his contacts to fast-track us a search warrant.”

  “Do we even need one?” I asked. “This is spiritual business, human laws don’t really apply.”

  “If we can use anything we find here to help the people, it would be best if it was legally obtained, right?”

  “I suppose,” I said. “You know this business far better than I do. All I know about being a cop is what I learned from watching Law and Order and Walker: Texas Ranger when I was a kid.”

  “Those shows were ancient before I was even born,” Raquel said, looking amused. “Just how old are you?”

  “Older than you,” I replied. “Let’s leave it at that.”

  She smiled and opened the door, stepping out. “Come check in with me in a few hours. In the meantime, try to get the kid back in his body. If you run into his family, see if they have some insight into what happened. The report was written by the local L.E.O.s and wasn’t very thorough. Flash your badge if anyone gives you trouble, but don’t overdo it.”

  I saluted. “Yes ma’am.”

  “And keep an eye out for wraiths, too. I doubt they’ll come close now that Zach’s got a guardian angel with him, but you never know. He’s a pretty tempting target.”

  “Anything else, mother?” I asked with a grin.

  “Watch the attitude, mister,” she replied with mock anger. “You may be older than me, but I’m your senior in this case. Be careful.”

  “I will,” I said, looking down at my ghostly charge, who was watching our exchange solemnly. Raquel nodded and shut the door. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then switched back to her angel form, sprouting wings and a halo, before flying off into the night. “Well, kiddo,” I said to Zach, pushing the “start” button on the sedan’s control screen. “What say we go try and put you back where you belong, huh?”