“Not on Earth, but yes, he’s very much alive.” Z stared at the sigil under my bangs. “You…er, rather, the Mark…created a hole in the gates of the underworld.”
As if to emphasize his point, a new demon crawled out of the smoking pit. This one had a high, flat forehead and spikes down his arms and legs. Lovely. “And how do I close that hole?”
“You can’t. Only Lucifer can reseal the opening once it’s broken.”
I hate it when anyone tells me I can’t do something. “I don’t know anything about the gates of the underworld, but I do know a thing or two about Hell and I’ll find a way to seal the hole. I also know you must have some kind of magic, Zayfeer or Xavier or whoever you are, so get off your butt and clean up the mess you made over by the window.” The new demon was eying Mikayla. He licked his lips and I made a face. “I’ll deal with this one.”
Zayfeer grinned as if this was the best time he’d had in a while. Probably was. He jumped up from the stool and headed for the slain demon in the window, keeping an eye on the latest spike-addled addition to our party.
“Yo, Spike,” I called to the new demon. He didn’t take his eyes off Mikayla and she rose from the chair in slow motion and slid behind me. I grabbed the heavy-duty ice cream scoop I’d used on Latimer and threw it at the demon’s face.
It connected, smacking him in the nose and bouncing off. His gaze swung to mine and he let go a battle cry that raised the hair on my arms. His spikes stood at attention, their gnarly-looking barbed ends quivering from the sound. I couldn’t help it, I took a small step backwards as green liquid oozed from those ends.
Seeing my hesitation, he laughed. A knowing laugh. Low and guttural. Just the kind to piss me off. I wasn’t exactly having a good day here.
Squaring my shoulders, I started forward, giving him a wicked smile. Bring it on, ugly.
He didn’t like my renewed courage, and without further warning, he launched himself at me, ready to make me regret it.
Mikayla screamed and grabbed my shirt, yanking me backwards. There was nowhere to go since the sinks were behind us, but I knew the Mark would kick in and take Spike down before his barbs touched me. Still, I had to steel my nerves not to turn tail and run.
He flew through the air and Mikayla and I both reared back. Spikes, long and thick, flashed in front of my eyes. Green poison dripped from the ends.
And then the Mark flashed its horrendously bright light and Spikey went bye-bye.
Mikayla and I staggered to the side, away from the sizzling green ash pile at our feet. The shop was sufficiently cold enough, our short, choppy breaths made tiny clouds in front of our faces.
I needed to close that hole and the opening the broken window created. Needed to clean up all the ash piles. Needed to hunt down Latimer and his pit buddies and put them back in their pen.
But all I wanted to do was find Lucifer and make sure he was all right.
I’d been to Hell. No biggie. Not my favorite place to visit, but I could handle it if I had to. How would I find Lucifer, though? And couldn’t he get back on his own? Surely he had more magic and power than the three of us in my shop combined.
Inching over to the smoke column, I watched the swirling mass. Jumping into purgatory would be reckless and foolish, and while I was used to being both, I had no way of knowing if I could find my way out of purgatory and to whatever level of Hell Lucifer was on.
And I sure didn’t want to run into Lilith. Blech.
Mikayla went to the storage room and came back with a broom and dust pan. Zayfeer stood over the body of the demon he’d slain with his sword raised over his head. The sword glowed as he chanted words too softly for me to hear. As Zayfeer finished the chant, he slammed the sword into the demon’s chest. A bright light, much like the Mark’s but with a blue tint, zigzagged from the sword into the massive body. Fissures appeared all over the demon’s scaly skin, the halves of his body splintering into tiny pieces. Another flash, this one smaller, and the demon disappeared.
Zayfeer looked at me with that smug grin and spread his hands in a what do you think gesture.
The black goo faded, but the glass bits remained. I figured Z could put his very nice muscles to good use cleaning those up. Then he could help me navigate purgatory.
I gave him a thumbs-up even though my heart wasn’t in it. “Grab that dust pan from Mikayla and get to work on the broken glass. I’ve got some plywood around back that was left over from my apartment remodel. I’ll get it and we can board up the window.”
“Oh, no need.” He pointed the tip of the sword at a large shard of glass, barely touching it. The sword once again sprang to life with its incandescent glow. The glow spread to the glass and both turned yellow, then orange, seeming to meld together. Zayfeer raised the sword with the glass stuck on the end and faced the open window. He poked at the center of the space and the glass stayed put.