The Devil In Her Eyes Ch 09

I laid on the cot, smoke haloing around my head. I couldn't even summon the energy to shift my weight. Ari whimpered in her sleep; her fiery red locks fanned around me as she slept on my chest. She'd refused to leave my side, and I think it was as much for her as it was for me.

Plus, she had to keep an eye on me.

I'd tried to end it twice already, and no one was itching for a third go-round. There were still scorch marks on the walls, evidence of just how far I'd fallen. I didn't sleep, I didn't eat...not like I needed to do any of that anymore. Ari had explained it, and I'd only half-listened.

What Luc-...what she'd done before she died. The spell had been a transferral, a last-ditch effort to keep not only me alive but her entire race. Her magic had ripped my half-angel heritage out of its prison in the process, leaving me some kind of hybrid that even Ari couldn't put a name to.

Raw energy surged through me, so much so fast that I spent as much time dealing with the constant flow of it as I did the crushing emptiness where half my soul used to be...I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, part of me wondered if I even needed to anymore.

I was, quite simply, one of a kind.

I was also the Devil now, de facto ruler of Hell...and I didn't want one goddamn bit of it. Lucy had said it would pass to me... I wasn't ready for what she meant. I had her magic, her perception of the world; I could feel the heartbeat of the universe and in my weakened state if I hadn't had Ari in those first few weeks? I would've lost my mind. But she helped me corral it, helped me process what I was feeling.

I still felt the Demons in Hell and the souls of the damned, pressing up against my mind like an itch I couldn't quite scratch. A constant reminder of how I'd failed and continued to fail. I had no idea how to do this... how to live without her.

I'd never felt so lost.

Someone knocked at the door, not bothering to wait for a response that wasn't coming. I stared at the ceiling until Mom filled my view.

"Hi." She whispered, settling onto the thin mattress. A hand brushed across my forehead, "Baby...I...." Her voice trailed off into a soft sob.

I grabbed her hand; I couldn't let her sit there and believe I was beyond saving.

No matter how true it was.

I took a breath and pulled the trigger.

"I'm leaving, Mama, I don't know where I'm going, but I can't stay here." My fingers rubbed the only thing I had left of Lucy, the sigil pin she always wore pricked into my fingers, and I relished the slight pain.

Ari shifted and whimpered again.

"I know. Jen told me."

"Dad is gonna take you guys somewhere safe."

The hand in mine squeezed, "What are you gonna do?"

I finally pulled my gaze from the ceiling and looked Mom in the eye.

"I'm going to find...and I'm going to kill...Every. Last. One of them...."

Her eyes slid closed, tears running down her face as she nodded.

"There's nothing I can say to make you stay, is there?"

I shook my head, "No. Killing them is all I have left. They took..." My voice cracked, and it took everything I had to keep the tears in, "They took her from me, and I can't explain to you just how profound the loss is...she was half of me, and now she's gone...I can't live with that, not if I don't make them pay...I'm sorry."

Mom squeezed my hand again, "I know what it felt like when I lost your dad, like a void that nothing could fill. I could feel how much she loved you,

feel

it. I'd give anything to take that pain away...." Her eyes met mine, and they were all hard-edged now.

"They deserve to burn for it."

I wondered when Mom had gotten so goddamned tough. Ari stirred before I could respond, popping off my chest, gasping as tears flooded her eyes.

It broke my heart every single time. So I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me.

"Shh, it's alright, Ari."

But it really wasn't.

She broke into soft sobs as I crushed her against my chest; Mom gently stroked her back, trying to lend some comfort to the small Demon.

"I can't get her face out of my head," Ari whispered.

"I know." I breathed, feeling it all over again. "Ari, I'm leaving...."

She tensed, "Where are we going?"

I shook my head, "Just me; I want you to return to Hell and figure out the line of succession, put someone on the throne."

Her fingers dug into my shirt, "We have our King."

"Then consider this an order. Leave me here. I have business to attend to."

When she pulled back, the look on her face tugged on my soul, all heartbreak and betrayal.

"You're leaving me behind? To go after them?"

I nodded, not really meeting her gaze.

"It's the only way through this for me."

"And what am I supposed to do?"

My fingers glowed, and the portal resolved on the far wall.

"What I can't," I whispered, gently pushing her away and heading for the circle of pulsing red light, wards snapped to life all over my clothes, shielding me from anyone who came looking.

"Zack! Wait!-"

I stepped through the portal without so much as a look back.

*********************************************

Sometime later.

I finished the bottle and threw it against the wall... the sound of shattering glass felt good. I dug for a cigarette, lighting it with the energy that crackled around my hand.

I'd run from it, and I couldn't care what that meant. This dank little shithole in Colombia was my refuge. Mom, Jen, and Dad were somewhere, Ari too. We'd split up to keep the Trinity guessing. If they came for me, the girls wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

And things were changing. Every day the news carried some new disaster with it. I could feel the Apocalypse coming, brushing the edges of my consciousness, a side effect of stepping into Lucy's shoes.

The only thing that kept me going was that Belial was still out there, magically obscured no matter how I ran myself into the ground trying to find him. The cigarette and my skin began to smoke as it burned down between my fingers. I flicked it away and lit another one.

It was time to go out.

*********************************************

The bar was lively, local music bumped out of the massive speakers, the DJ was on fire tonight. I passed a group of girls dancing and felt their eyes on me the whole way to the bar.

I ignored them, slid onto a stool.

And waited...

I'd have company soon enough.

The doors opened behind me, and the music died abruptly, the speakers giving out with a screech of static, cold diffusing throughout the room. I watched my breath turn the air to mist as I turned, taking in the newcomers.

Two Demons and an Angel stood in the entryway, staring me down.

"Took you long enough," I whispered.

The crowd seemed to feel the malice in the air, pressing themselves against the walls, anything to stay out of our way.

I moved first, flashing across the room and decking the Angel across the mouth, sending her flying into and through the wall in a shower of plaster and wood. The Demons pulled daggers, backing away with fear in their eyes.

There were never any survivors to tell them just what they were dealing with, and tonight wouldn't be the exception.

I slapped the first wild thrust away, planting my foot and driving my fist that crackled with crimson energy through the Demon's face in a spray of blood and bone fragments. His dagger slipped from a limp hand, and I caught it, sticking him twice in the heart before he could begin to regenerate.

His partner screamed an animal sound of rage and loss that shook the walls.

Welcome to my world.

I threw his smoking body aside and dodged a strike from his still screaming friend; the blade snapped up to close the gap, punching into his side. He gasped as the pain started; I twisted the dagger as I pulled it out, only to slam it back in a few inches higher. He convulsed in my arms, black lines already racing across his skin as he dropped to the floor, weakly reaching for the other Demon.

The crowd started screaming, running, finally catching up to the explosion of violence.

I planted a foot on his wrist, keeping him from getting all the way there, holding him down until his friend burned away, relishing the tears slipping down his cheeks. I could feel his heartbreak...and I didn't care.

"Please...Mal..." He whimpered.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" I growled, "Losing someone you love?"

He stared at the pile of ash, shaking and crying and dying.

I held him there until he breathed his last, a sadistic grin burning across my lips as I denied him even the barest amount of comfort at the end. A weak cough caught my attention, and I turned from his smoking corpse to see the Angel I'd hit, the bones in her face knitting back together slowly.

"So...the abomination passed you her power...."

I rolled the dagger in my palm as I approached.

"That's gonna be the last time you call her an abomination, Seraph. Where is Belial?"

She coughed and spat blood on the floor, "Even if I knew, would I tell you? You are an affront to the Lord."

I shook my head, "I'd say you're the affront, betraying your father and siding with that fucking animal."

"It is for His own good," She rasped, "Father will see once the work is done." But it didn't sound like she really believed that.

I dropped to a knee and slapped away the weak hand she brought up.

"Doesn't matter...you won't be around to see it."

I slid the dagger in slowly; her eyes widened, another cough and blood sprayed as I sliced her heart in half. I waited until the light left her horrified gaze and pulled the blade out, letting it clatter to the floor. The sirens were getting close now. I straightened up and walked out into the evening air.

*********************************************

I shut the door behind me, reaching for the bottle on the kitchen table, the lid spun to the floor, and I took a deep swallow, the burn chasing away the pain for a moment, and stepped up to my map.

I'd done this too many times to count. London, Paris, Dubai...I'd sucked Belial's soldiers into ambushes on five continents, using the signature of Lucy's power to lure them in. I had my eye on the States for the next turn.

New York was nice this time of year. I'd keep going until I found Belial and dragged him out of his hole.

A soft knock broke me out of it, and I could feel Ari just outside. She showed up every time I dropped the wards...begging me to come back.

"Zack?"

I crossed the room and pulled the door open, revealing the small Demon that I could barely look at; she brought too much of

her

with her. I motioned her in and shut the door behind her. We were silent for a long moment before she sniffed, holding back tears, "I spoke with Baal last night. Hell is in chaos, he does what he can, but there's only so much to be done."

I rolled the smoke between my fingers, "Remind me...."

She sighed, "Third in line for the throne, but he's not a leader, Zack...They are lost, alone...." A bare sob rolled out of her, "I know you don't want-"

I knew where she was going, and I couldn't help the rage that welled up inside me.

Hadn't I lost enough?

"You're right; I fucking don't." I cut her off, "I'm done; everything in my life has been a fucking mess. I was fucked up enough when I found out it was all a game I didn't know the rules to. Now? I'm not fucking playing anymore." I rounded on her, growling, "What am I supposed to do? Lead them? They deserve better than me, and you know it."

Her face twisted into a snarl right before she blew every window in the place.

"IT'S WHAT SHE WANTED!"

I was ready for a lot of things, but her heartbroken scream wasn't on the list. The force of it pushed me back a step, and she just kept advancing.

"I LOST HER TOO! AND WE WERE TOGETHER FOR TEN-THOUSAND YEARS!"

This had been a long time coming; the growl that wrenched its way out of me shook the windows.

"Back off, Ari. I'm not-"

She slapped me so hard I actually flinched...no mean feat anymore. Fire blazed behind her eyes.

"Shut up...

Coward

. She gave you this power with her dying breath so you could end this war and save our race, your race, everyone, and everything. You're wallowing while both our worlds BURN!"

I rubbed my cheek, feeling the rage rising inside me...

"Don't put your fucking hands on me again,

Aradia.

"

We stared each other down for a long moment before she lunged. I hit the drywall and smashed clean through it into the threadbare living room, rolling to my feet, my wings flaring wide.

"C'MON THEN!" I raged.

Ari stepped through the hole, her entire body crackling with barely restrained energy, eyes smoking as her tears evaporated as fast as they appeared. "Zack, don't make me hurt you. I don't want to... but I

will

beat you bloody." Even her voice was something different, split into a chorus that echoed off the bare walls.

I raised my hands, "Let's fucking go."

She was in my face before the last syllable left my lips. A right hook knocked me to a knee before she kicked me into the wall. I came up swinging, but she had ten-thousand years on me.

It was all one-way traffic.

She kept on hitting me, savage blows that would've killed the man I used to be. I rolled out and slammed an elbow into her face that crackled with harsh light. She countered with a kick that threw me across the room.

I bulldozed her into and through the wall before she could fire off whatever spell she had planned. She hooked my ankle with hers and threw me through a window. I twisted in the air, getting my legs under me right before I slammed into the concrete, cracking it beneath my melting hiking boots.

A spell hooked in, and the impact threw me across the street. I crashed through a storefront as pedestrians scattered and screamed. The little Demon landed in my crater, marching toward me, an evil light in her eyes.

"SHE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!" Ari raged, her hands igniting with magic that would tear my head off if there was any justice in the world.

"I FUCKING KNOW!" I screamed back, shrugging off the rubble and stepping into the street.

I wanted her to end it.

And the fight just...left....

"...I know..."

My voice sounded raw, ragged. Ari stopped, eyes wide, watching me.

"She's gone, and it's my fault. I opened her up, made her vulnerable. And now she's dead...."

I didn't realize that I was crying until I heard the sizzle of my superheated tears hitting the ground. Ari's expression had cycled through wrathful to horrified to heartbroken.

"I just want to die...I want to be with her, Ari. I..."

My legs gave out, and I started to collapse. She flashed across the space between us and caught me.

"Why do you keep chasing me?" I whispered, my voice cracking into nothing towards the end.

She pulled in a shuddering breath, "Because I promised Lucy that I would keep you safe, come what may. I keep my promises...." A sob leaked out of her, "All she ever wanted was for you to be safe; you were what mattered most..." she held me tight, running a hand over my face where she'd hit me.

"We need you, Zack."

Somewhere underneath all that pain, loss, and heartbreak, I knew she was right. Lucy's smile burned through me, the Queen of Hell, that beautiful being saw the best in me and nurtured it, bet on it, gave her life for it...

Something snapped deep inside me...I could almost feel her reaching out from oblivion to caress my soul one last time...and I wrapped it around me like a suit of armor.

"I hate you for being right," I whispered softly.

She tensed in my arms, "What?"

I felt the pieces sliding back into place....I had a long way to go. The pain would never end. I'd wake up reaching out for Lucy with tears in my eyes until the universe collapsed in on itself. But she wouldn't want me wallowing. She wouldn't want any of

this

. She found me at my worst and pulled me into the light.

This was the least I could do in return...

Okay, Luce. You win.

"Let's go."

She pulled away, wiping her eyes; when she looked up and smiled, I saw the old Ari, that little ball of energy tempered by loss and fiery with retribution.

"Good to have you back...Boss."

I tried to smile back and failed; that was gonna take a few thousand years to get used to.

"Do it before I change my mind."

Ari nodded, stepping back, the street already lighting up with crimson sparks. Her fingers worked as she wove the magic circle, muttering under her breath.

"Michael, I've got him. We're heading for Hell; bring the girls...."

The circle flared to life, and we stepped up.

"I'm sorry I hit you."

She smirked, "I'm sorry you

tried

."

I didn't know I could laugh anymore, but I did. A chuckle echoed off the walls as we stepped through together.

I kinda loved her for it.

*********************************************

The landscape was just as it had been in the flashback to the Fall, blasted and broken, stretching on into infinity. We landed on the outskirts of an honest to god city, tall gothic buildings all around and a massive gate at our back framed by stone walls that stretched hundreds of feet into the air.

Crowds of demons moved through the streets, looking for all the world like they were headed to the office.

"The City of Dis." Ari answered before I could ask, "Capitol city of the realm of Hell... Home sweet home."

"Score one for Dante," I muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

Whispering voices caught my ears, whispers that escalated into shouts.

"The King?"

"He's here!"

"The King is HERE!"

The surge started a moment later, scores of Demons rushing Ari and me; she moved to stop them before I grabbed her hand.

"Let them," I whispered.

They crowded around us, hands roved over my grubby shirt, fingers brushed exposed skin. A female Demon sobbed openly as a guy that could've been her husband cried silently behind her.

"You've come back for us...Thank you...My Lord."

I almost broke right there. But they didn't need weakness; they needed a strength that I didn't have.

But I could fake it till I made it.

I reached up and grasped her hands in both of mine.

"What's your name?"

She offered me a wet smile, sniffing back tears in her violet eyes, "Sila, My Lord...."

I glanced over her shoulder, "And yours?"

"A-Ahriman...Sir..."

I could see it on their faces and the faces of every assembled Demon. They needed me more than I realized, more than I cared to. I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry it took me so long." I whispered...The couple's eyes widened, and Ari stepped in, her voice ringing through the streets before they could respond.

"YOUR KING HAS RETURNED!"

The jubilant applause and cheers drove it home.

Is this what you wanted me to see, baby?

That I could be their everything...just like you were?

I shoved my tears down deep and allowed myself the smile they all needed to see, raising a hand over my head and thundering to the crowd.

"INFEROS AETERNUM!"

"INFEROS AETERNUM!" They roared in reply as the cheers reached a fever pitch.

Ari gently tugged on my arm, "C'mon, Boss. Gotta get you to the Palace. Baal needs to be relieved." I nodded and let her pull me forward through the adoring crowd, many crying tears of bittersweet joy.

I hear you, Lucy.

Loud and clear.

*********************************************

The assembled Demons followed us all the way, the crowd growing in size until the train behind us encompassed what seemed to be the entire city, leading right to the Palace. The massive black marble structure stretched into a purple-tinged sky, Demons flying in and out far above us.

The guards, two hulking Demons with equally massive swords, stood at the gate, watching the crowd, bowing when Ari and I approached.