Page 52 of The Sinner and the Gunslinger
“A long time has passed, Asmodeus. I’m not the weakling I used to be.” Her tone gives me pause. Then it lifts again like a vapid, brainless female. “Besides, if you come here, you’ll be stuck with us until the seals break. You wouldn’t want that, now would you?”
“No, we wouldn’t want that,” I mock and then check my talons. “So, what is it then? This all-powerful weapon that will supposedly kill me?”
“You know the drill.”
I clench my teeth. “What do you want in return?”
“A favor.”
“A favor,” I repeat, my eyebrows lifting. “I don’t think information is on par with a personal favor from yours truly.”
“Information to prevent you from dying is worthmorethan a favor.”
I suppose cutting short my fun now would be a travesty.
“And the parameters of your favor?”
“To bring one of my own into one of your strapping vessels there. I need someone topside. That’s all.”
Her minions are no match for me. “So long as the demon does as I tell him, fine. You have a dealifyour information proves to be true. Tell me everything you know,” I say, crouching low enough to hear her whispered words. When she’s done, I reach into the barmaid’s chest and crush her whimpering heart. Then I straighten and let my demon out.
In the mirror behind the bar, black draconic wings unfold from my reflection’s shoulder blades. Goat’s horns sprout from my head, a serpent’s tail from my rear, and flames drip from my mouth. A metal lance materializes in my taloned hand, and I grin, baring monstrous fangs.
Twenty-Two
Leila
Isit back on the chair and stare blankly at the CCTV screen. What the fuck was that?
“Shit.” Zeke mumbles behind me, frowning at the screen. I was so enthralled with the video footage that I hadn’t realized he returned. “That was Lilith, right?”
“That’s what he called her.” My mind is awhirl with what we witnessed. “And Asmodeus didn’t seem too happy to see her.”
“Trouble in the ranks?”
“I don’t think they’re actually working together.” I frown as I recall how they spoke to each other and the unsaid tension written between the lines. “And she didn’t tell him about the cracks being the Sinners and the Saints working together. I mean, isn’t that what Wes said was happening? When he and Thea had a fight, the cracks on the seals grew big enough for that demon Vepar to come through to our realm fully. Now that we’re working together, we haven’t had a big demonic sighting like that since.”
He nods. “You think she’s up to something?”
“I don’t know, but it’s also odd that he had no idea he was her Horseman of War.”
“What did she say at the end?” Zeke asks.
I find a cloth and start wiping everywhere I’ve touched to eliminate fingerprints.
“I couldn’t hear that part. She whispered it... but Lilith knows we’re looking for a weapon to kill Asmodeus. It was probably where to look. The fact she warned him means we’re on the right track.”
“We or the others?”
“Whoever it is, there’s now a race to find the relic.”
Zeke picks up the urgency in my tone.
“Let’s go, then.” He moves toward the back exit. “I’ve already called the cops.”
Before I leave, I erase any footage of Zeke and myself. I delete everything from Asmodeus’ demonic transformation to the part when Lilith arrived. On second thought, what’s the point in allowing any of this footage to be seen? It will only sow chaos. I hit delete on all the files and then spill water over the hard drive until the electrical wires fry. I give a last wipe down and then collect my katana as I walk out.
Zeke waits at the back door with narrowed eyes. “All good?”
