Summon Toren(99)

"Someone sold them out. Maybe Joe." Saying nothing more, he turned and strode toward the reanimated men. His wings spread full behind him, sickle at the ready.

Reluctant, Sam moved in behind him, ranging side to side so she could keep a cautious eye on the dead-looking monkey men. She kept her gun in hand ready to blast to hell whatever moved.

Her hackles rose as she noted the beasts' dead open eyes. A sort of colorlessness that reflected milky white with rectangular pupils. As if there were no soul behind them.

Ahead of her, Toren came to a standstill. She followed suit, but made sure to keep her eyes on everything around them, waiting for the slightest movement. A glimpse around Toren made her wish she hadn't looked. The agony on the mens' faces made her look away fast. They appeared aware of what was happening to them but absolutely powerless to do anything about it.

Then Joe strolled easily past the others, smiling, leaving no doubt who had sold the others out. "Sorry dude. I guess things didn't work out quite as you expected, huh. Tell ya what. You hand the bitch over and get the hell out of here, and my friend will call off his dogs."

Another man strolled up to stand slightly ahead of Joe. "Well, Josephus, I owe you an apology. When you said he was a badass, I had no idea you'd run into one of these self-righteous, shiny cloud-boys." He turned brilliant orange eyes on Sam. "And this is the female you found so irresistible? You disappoint me, Joe."

Toren grinned. "You have the advantage demon, since I don't have a clue who you are."

The demon scowled. "Fool. You are too new an angel to even have a human to guard over. So new you still resort to weapons and violence. Otherwise you would recognize the demon lord Reftelen."

Toren chuckled. “It’s you who must be new, fucker. I’m Toren. The Mercury Warrior of the Fifth Universe.” He shrugged a shoulder. “So sorry.”

The way the demon’s aloof expression went poof was nearly comical. And the clear and solid fear that twisted its face told Sam that Toren must be one bad ass angel.

Not that she needed to be told that.

“There a problem?” Joe asked, looking at the demon on his right.

The demon’s mouth moved but no sound came out.

Toren shook his head and laughed a little. “I didn’t give you permission to speak. Dark Scum.”

“What the—”

Toren pointed at Joe. “You either, you piece of shit.”

“Control your rag dolls before I do,” Toren said. “What?” Toren asked, turning his head. Sam looked around at who he was talking to. “Ugh, whatever. Just don’t play with your food, okay?”

Worry for his mental wellness flitted through Sam's mind for a second.

A grinding metal sound ripped the air with a massive flare of white from Toren’s abdomen. The light faded to reveal a naked woman with a skin of swirling liquid mercury. Toren angled his head left and right, looking at the woman as if trying to figure something out.

What was there to figure out? She was clearly female and thin, with small breasts that didn’t detract from her feminine curves one bit.

A spark of jealousy hit Sam hard in the stomach. Toren was looking at the woman, studying her. Sam's fists clenched automatically.

Toren looked back at Sam and his eyes narrowed. “She’s…you.”

What? Sam blinked a few times and looked at the woman again, head to toe. “Oh my God.”

The woman seemed to have her eye on Joe. Uh-oh.

She gracefully walked toward him. No, more like pranced a little. Like a happy little girl. Was she pretending to be Sam’s younger version?

The demon suddenly morphed into a hideous creature that resembled a red hided bull with the too-large head of a carnivorous dinosaur. Its roar made Sam’s body hairs stand on end and her finger suddenly trigger happy on her gun.

The mercury girl paused in her advance to regard the beast. Her mouth opened to emit a single note in a beautiful clear tenor voice. The note reverberated and grew until it became a metallic screech that reminded Sam of a million nails down the chalkboard.

Then the girl turned into a streak of silver light and shot herself right into the thing's mouth, propelling it backward a few feet. The beast’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls and began to tremble.

Sam grabbed hold of Toren’s arm as the demon slowly inflated like a balloon. She squinted her eyes when it looked ready to pop, skin stretched taut, eyes and tongue bulging outward. Insistent, Sam pulled Toren away, wary of what the flying tissue might do.

The demon exploded with a sound like a dud firecracker's fizzle and with mercury particles filling the air. Sam looked around, watching the mercury slowly gather back into its original form.