Deacon smiled. He was enjoying himself in this world. It was like going on vacation. As much as Hell was a part of him, as much as he loved the place in all its magnificently dark and evil glory, he still liked to get away from time to time. It also helped that he had grown strangely fond of Josh. He was fucking the boy after all. Nothing new for Deacon, but it was for Josh. Which made Josh all the more easy to sway and manipulate. Not that it took a great deal of manipulation to steer Josh down the path he was now on. The darkness was already in him, which made him somewhat less of a challenge than Deacon had initially hoped for. The fun they had together made up for that, though. All the running around playing gangster, the fighting, the killing, the drinking, the drugs, the sex...Deacon loved it all. He was on vacation, albeit a working one. Why not enjoy it?

  Of course, it wasn't all fun and games at present. There was the irritating fact that Leia had removed Eblis from the board, which meant Deacon would have to work more to ensure Josh had a throne to go to when he eventually descended into Hell. Luckily, Deacon's influence in Hell ranged far and wide. The Adversary, supreme being of darkness, afforded Deacon more power than most in Hell. The Adversary could spot potential, and with it, the opportunity to increase His dark reach. Deacon was, of course, happy to oblige, spreading evil far and wide, especially here. With that kind of backing, it would be easy enough to put Josh on the throne. Once the Adversary claimed his soul, Josh would be no more. At least not the Josh that existed here. It remained to be seen who he was after his dissension. Though, whoever he was afterward, one thing was rest assured:

  Deacon would be by his side.

  25

  "What is that?" Alice asked.

  She was sitting inside Eva's metal carriage, which apparently was called a car. Alice had seen similar contraptions in Pandemonium, though none as slick as the one she was in now. The cars here moved so fast, and there were so many of them! Great lines of them in every street in the city, all seemingly different in their own way. But Alice was less interested in the cars than she was in the beautiful sounds that now filled the inside of the car.

  "It's music," Eva said, smiling, dark sunglasses protecting her eyes from the sun's glare. "You like it?"

  An involuntary smile spread across Alice's face. Last night, as she lay in bed, she thought she had reached the pinnacle of pleasure as she spent hours playing with her new body, before finally falling into a deep, relaxing sleep that was refreshingly free from any nightmares. She awoke this morning with a feeling that took her some time to work out. Then she realized she felt safe for once, if not completely at peace. It was something she felt a few times when she was with Leia in Hell, but never as profoundly as when she woke up this morning, and continued to feel now. As time went on, she felt less and less like a victim in this new world. In Hell, from the second she was born, Alice became a victim to everything, from her very circumstances, to the beasts that continually tried to prey on her in some way. But all that was over now, she was slowly realizing. Things were different here. She was different. There was no reason to be afraid anymore. The music that filled the car only served to reinforce the new feeling of hope that was growing inside her. She knew she might never be able to erase her former self, but she could make her new self stronger; better. So much so that her old self would become nothing more than a distant memory.

  Alice shut her eyes in amazement for a moment, as she let the glorious sounds wash over her. She had never heard anything like them before. There was certainly no music in Hell, and Alice could see why. Something so glorious—so hopeful!—would not be permitted in a place like Hell, where it was only about misery and suffering and joylessness. What she was hearing now was the very opposite of those things. "It...awesome!"

  Eva couldn't help laughing. "Awesome?" she repeated. "Where did you learn that word?"

  Still nodding her head in time to the music, Alice said, "Leia."

  "Well, it's just pop music on the radio. There are other types of music as well."

  "There more like this?"

  Eva's smile widened. "Yes. Lot's more. Press that button there." Eva pointed to a small black button on the dash.

  Warily, as if something would go bang when she pressed it, Alice reached out and changed the channel on the radio, almost squealing with delight when the pop music changed to a different kind of music altogether, music that sounded much more aggressive to Alice's ears. It filled her with a buzzing kind of energy that made her want to nod her head rapidly. "What this?"

  "It's metal," Eva said. "A little too heavy for me."

  "Sounds like demon screaming."

  Eva laughed. "Yes, it does."

  "I like."

  "Frank will be glad to hear that."

  As Eva kept driving through the city to wherever they were going, Alice continued to change the stations on the radio, getting excited every time she heard a different type of music. Jazz intrigued her at first, but then confused her. She switched away from the crazy sounds when she realized she felt nothing for it, not like she did with the other music. Then she came across something Eva said was called classical. It reminded Alice of Hell for some reason, so she kept switching channels until she eventually settled on another heavy metal station. She seemed to connect more with that than the rest.

  While she listened to the music in the car, Alice stared out the window at the city as it passed by. In some ways, it reminded her of Pandemonium, with all the tall stone buildings and the crowds of people everywhere, but that's where the similarities stopped. In this new city, no monsters stalked around, at least not openly. Alice knew she could probably walk here without fear of being molested, assaulted or abducted by some foul creature, which was one of the reasons she tended to avoid Pandemonium and the other cities while she was in Hell. Nearly all the buildings in Pandemonium were made from red stone as well. Here, the buildings didn't look carved from frozen blood. Most of all, it was so clean here, compared to Hell. Hell was a filth pit, through and through. You didn't know the true meaning of filth until you lived in Hell. Her new surroundings seemed blindingly clean at first, but after a while, she began to see signs of the dirt and decay underneath everything. It was there, just not as obvious as it was in Hell. It seemed the people in this world did a good job of pretending that filth didn't exist, but it did, on every building, every street. A thin layer of filth. The beings who lived here—the people—were all different also. Not monstrous or beastly as they were in Hell; not damaged so much they could barely move around. No, everyone seemed to look like her here, but different. Many of them seeming scary and unapproachable, many others seeming beautiful to look at, yet still strange with their varied clothing and odd mannerisms. She would have liked to say that the people didn't seem as fearful or as miserable as those lost souls that struggled endlessly through the landscapes of Hell, but many of them did, appearing angry, afraid, their souls suffering for some reason, as though they were already in their own private Hell.

  "We'll start here," Eva said, interrupting Alice from her reverie. She had stopped the car outside of some huge building that looked like it was made of pure glass, the sun shining off it so much Alice could hardly look at it without her eyes hurting. "It's a shopping arcade. We should be able to get most of what you need from here."

  Alice had never seen anything so bright and shiny, and seemingly full of life. On further examination, though, she also sensed the soulless nature of the building and the people who streamed in and out of the place carrying their wares. "This world confuse me," she said, staring at the people rushing around outside.

  "Yes, it has a habit of doing that," Eva said. "You'll get used to it eventually. Hopefully, our little experiment later will help with that."

  The experiment. The Knowledge Dump, Eva called it. To make Alice smarter.

  "All right. Let's do some shopping, shall we?"

  26

  I was out the back of the cabin training with the short swords when Frank appeared from out the back door. "Call for you," he said.

  Sweat dripping off me in the already suffocating morning heat, I set the swords down in the grass and walked over to Frank. "A call?" I said.

  Frank had a less than amused look on his face. "Your boyfriend."

  If my face weren't flushed already, his comment would have made it so. I felt like a teenager under his overprotective glare. I took the phone off him. "Thanks, Frank…"

  When Frank had gone back inside the cabin, I put the phone to my ear. "You need to get a phone," Lucas said.

  "It hasn't been on my list of priorities, but point taken. What's so urgent that you had to call me on Frank's phone?"

  "Frank doesn't mind. He and I are buddies."

  "Buddies? I don't think so."

  "He likes me. He just would never admit that. Trust me."

  "I'll take your word for it. So what's up? I'm the middle of training."

  "I thought you would have gotten enough training in Hell."

  I shook my head. "Not the same thing."

  "I admire your dedication nonetheless."

  "It's not dedication. I just enjoy it. Plus, you know, I gotta stay sharp."

  "That's kind of why I need to talk to you actually," he said. "You may need that sharpness sooner than you think."

  "Why?"

  "I'll tell you in person. You want me to pick you up?"

  "No," I told him. "I'll drive."

  "After you get a new phone, you should also really look into learning how to teleport. I've known Nephilim who can do it. I could teach you."

  "I like driving. I need to drive."

  "Be a slowcoach then. I'll wait."

  I didn't realize quite how much I missed driving until I was on the open road in the Mustang, with the windows down and the radio blaring out classic rock. With my hair tied back, wearing sunglasses and a sleeveless Motley Crue T-shirt, I was in fucking hog heaven as I pressed down harder on the accelerator, hearing the roar of the engine over the music, and the way the tires gripped the bone dry asphalt. It was all kinds of awesome, so much so that I took the long route into the city to meet Lucas, which happened to be the most scenic route also. Seeing the gloriously green and lush landscape rush by me as I drove, did my heart more good than I can say. After spending so long in the dark, depressing landscapes of Hell, the light in all its forms that now surrounded me was nothing short of heavenly.

  Such joyful experiences don't last forever, though, and unfortunately, mine was cut short as soon as I entered the city. While not exactly as Hellish as I once thought it to be (having experienced Hell for myself now, I can safely say that my old view of Mercy City was grossly overestimated regarding how bad it was), it was still darker than it should have been in such bright, sunny weather. And it was still full of people. Granted, it wasn't anywhere near as crowded as Hell, but it was still jam-packed with humans and non-humans. Through my sunglasses, I saw the faces of demons, as they blended into their surroundings like wolves in sheep's clothing. The faces bothered me for a while, making me think too much of Hell, but I managed to tune them out after a while, which is something I wasn't aware I could do. It just happened, like I had managed to turn off my ability to see the monster behind the human facade. I smiled. That suited me just fine.

  I made my way into the Sex Quarter, which was less crowded than the rest of the city at this time of day. When dusk came, those who frequented the place would descend upon it like rats at feeding time, filling themselves up with whatever perverse pleasure they needed to get by. In the meantime, the streets were mostly clear, everyone else sitting inside one of the innumerable sex clubs or bars.

  Like Demon Ecstasy, owned by Lucas, of course. After I parked the car and walked inside the club, I was glad to see it hadn't changed at all since I was last in it. But despite its familiarity, it still felt new. Everything felt new at the moment, like I was experiencing the world for the first time again. Nothing like a spell in Hell to make you see things with fresh, more grateful eyes.

  I made my way across the club, barely glancing at the dancers on stage, or the small groups of men who watched them. A few of the working girls gave me a dirty look, as if they had a problem with my sudden appearance again. I already knew many of the girls who worked for Lucas had a problem with me. Apparently, they couldn't understand why Lucas had chosen me over them, as stunningly beautiful as many of them were (Lucas had a knack for picking talent). As someone who had spent most of her life under the glare of such looks from girls who saw themselves as being far superior to me, it didn't bother me that the girls in the club hated me.

  And as if the universe demanded proof of this perfect tolerance, it was tested the second I walked into Lucas' office to find a naked dancer standing with one leg propped up on the chair he was sitting on. The same perfectly shaped and slender leg was also bent to the side slightly so Lucas could get an unobtrusive view of the girl's smooth inner thigh, and no doubt highly inviting snatch.

  "Leia," Lucas said, as ice cool as ever. "Jenna was just showing me her new tattoo. I think the customers will love it. Have a look. It's a demon."

  The girl, long blond hair right down to her lower back, pushed her considerable tits out and gave me a smug look. "No thanks," I said to Lucas, more sharply than I meant to. "I think I'll pass."

  A small smile appeared on his face as he looked over at me. I stood with my arms folded, waiting for the girl to leave, which she did a moment later, throwing a smug smile my way as she walked by. Shaking my head, I went and stood in front of Lucas' desk. "Well?" I said. "What did you want to talk about?"

  Lucas stared for a moment. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing's wrong."

  "Yes, there is. Jenna got to you." He laughed.

  "You think I'm jealous?"

  "Yes."

  I went to disagree, then said, "All right, I am. That's fucked up."

  "Why is it fucked up?"

  "I don't get like that. Ever."

  "No," Lucas said, getting up and walking around the desk to go to her. "You've just never been with anyone to get jealous over. Besides, you know I've pledged my loyalty to you."

  I laughed. "Pledged your loyalty?"

  "Yes."

  "When?"

  "The day I met you."

  I shook my head. "You're such a charmer, Lucas."

  "I'm not joking."

  "I don't expect anything from you."

  "I know that, but I give you it anyway."

  "Why?" It was an honest question. Whatever it was between Lucas and me, I didn't analyze it all that much. At first, it was because I didn't feel the need to. I was happy just to go along with it while I had a good time, which I did. But then when I started to think in any way deeper about it, I realized I didn't want to overthink it, for fear that I would wreck it somehow, or discover that Lucas had no reason whatsoever to want to be with me of all people. So I left it, never thinking about it, happy to coast along.

  "I think they call it love," he said.

  It was disconcerting to hear him say that word. "Come on, Lucas. You're a demon, and I'm..."

  "You're what?"

  Suddenly things seemed too intense. I just wanted to be back in the car again, out of the city, cruising the open roads. "Is this why you brought me here?" I asked him. "To talk about...whatever this is?"

  "No," Lucas said, not seeming pissed off at all by my awkward behavior. Sometimes his unflappable nature is infuriating. "I actually called you here to talk about your brother."

  His reference to Josh was the line I needed to grab hold off to pull myself out of the mess of feelings rebounding inside me, and I grasped it with both hands. "What about him?"

  Lucas sat back down in his chair, leaning back with his hands steepled in front of him. "My sources tell me that he and his demon lover have shaken down Freddy 'The Mangler' Carconi. Have you heard of him?"

  I nodded. "Vaguely. Some Goodfellas type who runs the drug trade in this city."

  "Yes, not a man to be messed with under normal circumstances, but it seems your brother and his lover didn't get the memo, or rather they did, and just burnt it."

  "I wish you'd stop calling that demon shithead Josh's lover."

  "Isn't he?"

  "Well yes, but...just don't do it."

  Lucas shook his head. "Fine. Josh and that 'demon shithead' have a new drug called Diablo they want to put on the market. They're forcing Freddy Carconi to use his extensive resources to make and distribute the drug for them."

  "And this drug is called Diablo? What do you think it is?"

  "I don't know yet," Lucas said shrugging. "I have a feeling though that Diablo is no ordinary drug, though."

  "What do you mean?"

  "It's like I said, I don't know. But given who's making it and what I know about them, there has to be some nefarious reason behind it."

  "You don't think it's just money?"

  Lucas shook his head. "No."

  "You seem sure."

  "I am. I've watched your brother from afar these last few months, and one thing I can say about him is that he is on a path of self-destruction. He hates himself and the world. I think he wants to destroy it."

 

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