At The Gates

Chapter Thirteen

The void swallowed me for two agonizing heartbeats, then Katon’s ragged voice exploded, made even louder by the confined room we were dropped into.

Though I still couldn’t turn my neck to see where we were, the almost overpowering scent of old books made it obvious. We were in Abraham’s office at DRAC. Rachelle, who had violated every security protocol DRAC had by bringing us there, stood in view, leaning against Abraham’s desk. Her moist eyes were locked on something behind me.

“Free me!” Katon shrieked, a razorblade sharpness to his voice. “I have to help Rahim.”

Abraham shushed him, his breath hurried and shallow. Unable to see him, I could only imagine he was freeing the enforcer from the tangle of ropes that held him immobile. After a moment of grunts and swearing complaints, there was a dull thud, then Katon popped into sight, stopping just inches from Rachelle.

“Send me back!” He reached and grabbed her by the arms, stooping so their eyes were aligned. “Please, send me back.”

Pity was draped across her face as she looked down, unwilling to meet his gaze.

“No,” Abraham’s answer was forged in steel.

Katon released Rachelle and spun, the begging sadness transforming into deep-lined rage. “What? How dare you? After all Rahim ha-”

Abraham appeared, silver tears leaking out from beneath his glasses. Fearless in the face of the enforcer’s fury, Abe wrapped his hand around Katon’s neck and pulled him forward until their foreheads thumped together.

“You think me heartless? See for yourself.”

Katon went rigid, the raging glimmer in his eyes melting away into a blank stare. His arms dropped to his sides as Abraham pressed his vision into his mind. Katon’s hands opened and closed spasmodically, then they went limp. His shoulders slumped as his resistance gave way with a whispered sigh.

“Do you understand now? He sacrificed himself so that you would live. He would have it no other way.”

A quiet sob slipped from Katon, so horribly pitiful I felt my eyes moistening in sympathy. He collapsed into Abraham’s arms. The old man held him close as Katon broke down. Tremors racked his body so violently that Abe struggled to keep them on their feet. They swayed in each others arms in the dance of sorrow.

I couldn’t watch it. Unable to turn away, I closed my eyes and thought of porn.

It makes me happy, all right?

Some people think of home, others of their loved ones or a song that always makes them smile. Me, I think about boobs. It’s a primal thing encoded in male demon DNA, so don’t judge me.

After a while, Katon composed himself and I dared to open my eyes. He separated from Abraham and squeezed the old man’s shoulder before looking over at Scarlett. Already emotionally battered, I could see the guilt on his face as he realized he’d been so caught up in mourning Rahim that he’d left her tied up, unconscious, and bleeding on the floor.

Hoping to spare him, I called him over. “I’ve got a vial of my,” I caught myself, “of Lucifer’s blood in my pocket.” Abraham looked at me with an eyebrow raised, but said nothing. He knew when to let things lie.

A look of relief flashed across Katon’s face and he rushed over and gently slipped his hand into my pocket. It was probably a good thing I was numb from the neck down or he might have found a little extra something in there, a side effect of all my happy thoughts.

He pulled the vial out and unwrapped it, popping the cork.

“Just a couple of drops.”

Seeming grateful, he gave me the first two, then ran out of sight where he probably did the same with Scarlett.

It wasn’t but a few seconds before I felt the warming rush. The blood’s energy prickled my skin as it lavished its attention on me like a well-paid hooker. Where only seconds before numbness had reigned, I felt a gentle surface tickle as the nerves were repaired. The bumps and bruises were already gone. The shards of marble still stuck in my face clinked to the ground one by one, pushed out as the wound beneath sealed shut.

Though I wasn’t real thrilled about it when it happened, I was kind of glad Grawwl had straightened my neck. It made the whole process quicker, not having to rely on the blood to adjust my head, and then heal it. That could have turned out real ugly if something knitted together wrong.

My body almost back in one piece, I heard Scarlett gasp and glanced over at her, elated that I could do so at all. She popped up with wide eyes, the bruises and swelling on her face replaced by angelic beauty once more. She looked around the room, then to Katon, who held her in his arms.

“What happened?” she asked, clearly sensing the mood of the room.

“Rahim,” Katon whispered, explaining everything with that simple utterance. He shook his head, unable to continue, a fresh wave of tears running free.

Her hand went to his wet cheek and she pulled him in close. For a moment, they just sat there, Scarlett gently wiping his sobbing tears away. Then without a word spoken, Katon stood and disentangled himself before stumbling for the door. He set the vial on the desk as he passed. Scarlett gave me a sad smile and followed him out.

“Hey, we’re not-”

Abraham cut me off, offering me his hand as they slipped from the room. I knew better than to argue. On my feet, I looked from Rachelle to Abe and filled them in on what we’d learned.

They both took it in and seemed to shrink right before my eyes as the entirety of what we were facing settled over them. Between them, they’d seen a lot, but it was starting to wear them down. To realize it might have all been for nothing, their lives dedicated to combating the supernatural threat that had emerged after God’s disappearance, was too stiff a blow to just roll with.

After a few tense moments of silence, I asked, “What now?”

Abraham shrugged and went to his desk, dropping heavy into his chair. “There have been more storms. They’re spreading across the globe and getting worse,” he said. His voice was little more than a whisper. “There’s nothing we can do to contain them. The world is slipping into chaos, believing the end has come. Perhaps, this time, it truly has.”

Rachelle wiped tears from her eyes and slid into his lap. She buried her face in his neck. His throat muffled her quiet sob.

“I’ll do what I can to see a path through this, but for now, there is little we can do without the key.” He wrapped his arms around Rachelle and held her tight, his eyes closing as his own tears streamed with silver dignity down his cheeks.

Hopelessness hung thick in the room. It was a deathbed vigil, the end riding in fast on the ticking hands of time. We were just waiting on the corpse to figure out what everyone else in the room knew; it was dead.

With no way to enter Heaven, there was nothing we could do to stop the war before all life was wiped from the planet. In a nagging bit of irony, the key parts split between us, the Nephilim, and Grawwl, what I’d told Grumpy Bear as he held us hostage was just as true for us as it was for him.

With an army of lycanthropes on one side and an army of half-breed angels on the other, there wasn’t any chance to separate the parts from either before everything went to shit. We simply didn’t have the power, especially considering Azrael had made his stance clear.

While used to being an underdog, the odds were stacked too deep for us to land on our feet this time.

A defeated sigh slipped loose as I looked at Abe and Rachelle. Their arms entwined, they’d forgotten I was even there as they staved off their misery with their love for one another. It made my heart hurt that I stood there alone.

The end of the world coming, Rahim dead, I snatched up the vial and headed for the door. Right then, I could only think of one person I wanted to spend my last few minutes alive with. The one person who knew me inside and out and who’d never let me down.

Jack Daniels.