Echoes of the Past

Chapter Sixteen

The door swung open, and so did my eyes, as I went into the room. I knocked the door closed behind me as a sudden wave of mystical energy hit me like a bus. It took a second to clear the stars from my eyes in the wake of the magical energy. Once I could see again, I almost wished I couldn’t.

The room was monstrous in size and in intent. Embedded all along the walls, set six high as though they were stacked mausoleum crypts, were naked people, bodies melted into the stone behind them. Their skin was mottled and gray, their blackened eyes staring off at nothing. Slack-jawed, their skin sagged as though there was no muscle behind it; they were nothing but rotting skin and bones. I could smell the decay in the room, multiplied by the thousands of bodies that hung from the walls.

Clear tubes ran the gamut of the open floor, their ends driven into the chests and groins of the corpses. A thick, greenish-yellow liquid seeped inside the tubing, running down their lengths and traversing the floor until they ended at a contraption set near the center of the room. Shaped like a massive sarcophagus, the hoses were hooked to the sides. A pulse of energy emanated from the box. Its rhythm sounded a heartbeat.

Hanging from a mass of silvered chains above the box was a glowing green orb about the same size as a manhole cover. It hummed with power and I recognized it as the energy that had struck me when I entered the room. Almost liquid in its consistency, it brought to mind a dimensional portal. There was a strange feeling of otherworldly essence, which tingled at the edge of my senses.

I had no idea what the room was for, or what the hell Poe was doing here, but it didn’t take a genius to realize Baalth was involved. Poe wouldn’t bat an eyelid without the demon’s okay.

As I walked across the room, I caught sight of one of the bodies taking a breath. A chill settled over me. I looked up and watched as the man’s chest expanded, just barely, and then deflated. Examining the ones around him, they showed the slightest signs of motion; a tremble here, a breath there. They were still alive.

The part of me that was guided by my mother, her values, her beliefs, screamed at me to free the people, to tear them down and end their suffering. For the first time in my life, I ignored that piece of me. I’d always held my mother on a pedestal, and still did for that matter, but all the uncertainty of what I’d discovered made me question even that relationship and the instincts that came with it. How could she have been with Lucifer and never tell me? Though I wanted to push all that away and not think about it, the thoughts of what might have been kept storming back. What else had been kept from me? What else didn’t I know?

Sickened by my dilemma and all that I saw, I was reminded of Asmoday’s plan to draw power into Glorius. He’d used The Gray as a focus point, the wizard’s body drawing the energy into the God-proof room and directing it into Glorius. This looked very similar in nature and had me wondering what it was for. No one needed Baalth to accrue more power.

The thought brought back the sweats. Uncomfortable and warm, I continued down the line. The only solace I had was that the people didn’t seem to suffer despite the ruin of their bodies. None looked perplexed or in pain. They all had expressionless masks for faces and hung limp in the grip of the stone wall, silent. The flickers of life they showed seemed involuntary and not a conscious effort to be free of their entrapment.

That wasn’t much to cling to, but it was all I had.

As I reached the box at the center of the room, I realized there were stairs on one side of it, leading to the top. After all I’d seen around it, I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out what was inside. Curiosity won out. I resisted drawing a breath to settle my nerves, not wanting to inhale any more of the rotten flesh smell than I already had, and mounted the steps. I went slowly, not in any kind of a hurry, but the last step came fast. Tossing the last of my hesitance aside, I glanced over the edge.

Inside was Henry McConnell: The Gray.

I grabbed the edge of the box to stop from falling over. McConnell was dead. He’d been killed buying us time against the Nephilim and vampires that tried to invade Heaven. I’d seen his corpse carried down from on high by angels, but here he was.

Just like all the other people in the room, McConnell looked like a ragged zombie, but there was no loss of meat on him. His skin was a pale gray, matching his namesake. The flesh of his substantial frame split and peeled from the bone. Unlike the rest, The Gray was submerged inside the runoff of the greenish-yellow liquid, which ran from their bodies. His massive chest sat still. No motion disturbed the translucent fluid. His eyes were closed, but steady flutters of magical current wafted from him.

I wondered if Baalth was trying to bring him back to life. Without a necromancer on call, I could imagine the demon lieutenant doing whatever he could to keep the services of McConnell. Though only human, the wizard had stood against angels and demons alike and had conquered more times than not. He was a powerful force of magic with a less than moral bent, which was just perfect for the things Baalth needed of him.

It all started to make sense. It also explained why Baalth appeared to be under control of his power again. He’d given me a small taste of his magic in trade for dealing with Reven, Karra’s necromancer pet, but it hadn’t been nearly enough to take the edge off, so to speak. I glanced around the room, at all the bodies that had been through hell, and had a pretty good idea they were part of a filtering system that channeled the demon’s energy into the pool. Having realized his blood and energy could heal, somewhat like Lucifer’s could, it didn’t surprise me he might think he could resurrect the wizard. It was pure ego to attempt it, but I’ve learned to never put anything past Baalth. You didn’t become a lieutenant in Lucifer’s army without balls.

I glanced up at the orb above and watched its swirling energy for a moment. It was mesmerizing. The emerald energy danced and shimmered and cast its eerie glow across the room. Wondering what else was I might find, I tore my gaze from the orb.

I cast one last look at McConnell. He was staring back at me. My heart sputtered. His ice blue eyes were encircled in red, but they weren’t the black pits of the rest of the people in the room. He also didn’t seem immune to the torture being visited upon him, now that he was awake. His face was lined with deep creases, his lips curled into a pained sneer above his full white beard. He looked like Santa Claus in a bad bondage flick.

Bubbles roiled from his mouth as he tried to speak, the thick fluid preventing the words from forming. He thrashed about, his movement limited by the narrow confines of the case. Apparently too weak to break the surface of the liquid, he reached out with a hand that fought to get nowhere.

As much as I hated the bastard, I couldn’t handle seeing him stuffed inside the torture box. He’d gone out on his shield-whatever his reasons for doing so-and it didn’t feel right for him to wind up as Baalth’s science project.

Without any thought to what might happen, I braced myself against the edge and reached for him.

“I wouldn’t do that, Frank.” The quiet voice stopped me before I hit the surface of the tank. The calm words carried weight. I looked to see Baalth walking toward me. He looked haggard, not at all like the last time I’d seen him. “Step away from Henry, and whatever you do, don’t touch the liquid.”

I stood there defiant, my hands dangling over the edge.

“It’s for you own safety, Frank. If another living being were to come in contact with the solution, all of the power collected inside its atoms would be released into the unfortunate thing that touched it. It would be like having a thousand nuclear bombs going off inside your chest. Messy, and quite fatal. So, unless your last wish is for me to scoop up your remains and return them to Longinus’ daughter in a Ziploc, I suggest you take my advice.”

I glanced down at McConnell and mouthed an apology, pulling my arms away from the tank with exaggerated caution. Baalth might not be telling me the truth, but I damn well didn’t want to test him on it. I stayed quiet until I was down the stairs, leaving The Gray behind.

“What the hell are you doing to him?”

“What must be done,” Baalth answered, coming over to me. His eyes narrowed. “How did you find your way down here?”

Not wanting to get Poe in trouble, I lied. “I was searching for more information about my mother and Lucifer and stumbled across your little hidey-hole.”

He didn’t look like he believed me, but he also didn’t bother to argue. For once, he didn’t look like he had it in him. “I think you should leave, Frank.” The room trembled slightly. It was a reminder of just how fragile Baalth’s control of his newfound power was.

“Why? What are you doing here?”

Baalth glared at me. “You’ve never wanted anything to do with the politics of Hell before, so why are you so interested now?”

He was right. I’d only cared when it affected me. Despite all that was going on, I wasn’t sure this particular problem had anything to do with my life, but that felt like a cop out. I couldn’t be quiet and let him torture McConnell after what the old bastard had done for the world.

“I’ve spent my whole life trying to avoid shit like this, but it’s never done me the same courtesy. It’s damn clear I’m never gonna be free of the Demonarch and its bullshit politics because I’m related to fucking Lucifer!” I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up. “With everything going on from aliens to weres to vamps to the damn government, I think it’s time I paid a little more attention to Hell’s politics, especially, since I’m always in the middle of them.”

Unexpectedly, Baalth smiled. “Lucifer would be proud.”

“Fuck him,” I answered. “He’s the reason I’m in the middle of all this.”

Baalth’s smile widened. “Lucifer would pat you on the back for your rebellious stand, Frank, right before he knocked you through the wall for daring to blaspheme him.” He chuckled, holding his side.

I grinned in response, thinking he was right on the money. There’d been more than a few lessons I had to learn the hard way.

“So, Frank, do you truly want to know what I’m doing?” He waved his arms to the room.

The old Frank yelled at me to scream and run away. Nothing good could come from digging into Baalth’s business. “Yes. Tell me.” Apparently the new Frank liked taking it up the ass, which is all that ever happened when I got involved in Demonarch politics.

Baalth nodded and pointed up at the orb. “Like you, I have also spoken to Lucifer since his departure.”

That caught me off guard, but it made a twisted sense. Baalth had disappeared during the Heaven fiasco. Just like Hasstor had used the storms to cover his arrival near Earth, it was reasonable to assume Baalth could have done the same to leave the dimension and seek out Lucifer. Not only did that mean he knew what was going on in Heaven and didn’t care, but it also meant he’d probably always known where my uncle was. It was just another kick in the ass to my presumed importance. Lovely.

Baalth waited a moment, as if letting me work it all out, before he continued. “Hasstor told you about the war?”

I nodded, but kept the part about the tome to myself. If Baalth didn’t know about it, it wouldn’t matter. If he did, he would understand why I kept it from him. If it was important to his plans, he’d bring it up.

“It would seem God’s other creations have been busy in His absence. They have grown and evolved far beyond what He believed they would. Worse still, they have become defiant, believing themselves masters rather than servants.”

A theme that is apparently rampant in every world. I bit my tongue to keep from illuminating the hypocrisy he’d so poetically stated.

“A number of universes have banded together and set out to conquer the rest, and ultimately, God himself.” He grinned at their audacity. “The most frightening aspect is that they may well succeed in their quest.”

“Is it possible?” Hearing it put so plainly scared me.

He nodded. “For all that He is capable of, God has spread his energy over His immeasurable lifespan, crafting universes again and again and again, expending the effort to maintain them. It’s quite an impressive feat. However, while still a power far beyond anything you or I could imagine, He has perhaps spread Himself too thin. Not content to create beings as simple as humans, God has crafted beings far closer to His image than any of us could hope to be. Given free will and the ability to evolve as a species, these creations have come unto their own as deities. This is what your uncle fights against.”

And here I was thinking I had it bad.

Baalth pointed to McConnell. “Though I am loath to torment such a faithful servant as Henry, the price of his resurrection was to sacrifice himself to the cause of defeating the enemies of God before they fall upon us and lay waste to our universe.”

That’s one hell of a trade. I felt sorry for McConnell, but maybe it was fate’s way of paying him back for all the wrong he’d done in his life; and then some. He was probably building up some serious supernatural karma, not that he’d ever get to spend it. “So, what does all this stuff do?” I gestured to the room and McConnell’s tank.

“It’s a portal to the universe where Lucifer now resides.”

I heard the words but they didn’t make sense. “It’s a what?”

“A dimensional rift, which leads directly to your uncle.” He ran his hand along the side of the tank. “It is kept available and shielded from detection by The Gray’s reserve energy. He is, in essence, the key to the portal. Henry holds it in stasis so its energy remains constant and off the radar of those who might be searching for such things, like your companions in DRAC.”

I didn’t bother to tell him I was on indefinite vacation and I didn’t know shit about what they were tracking. “So, it can’t be detected?”

“Only from within this room. I’m sure you felt its power when you walked inside.”

I nodded, but I still didn’t understand the purpose of a portal going to Lucifer when the bad guys were there waiting to come to Earth. “What’s the point of keeping it open? Aren’t you worried the aliens will use it to come here?”

“Not at all, as it isn’t actually open, just available should it be needed. The portal is connected to Lucifer and is carried on him at all times. It’s attenuated to allow no one else to use it. Were he to die, the portal link would shut down.”

I still didn’t understand. “Then why have it at all?”

“Because Asmoday had no idea what he was unleashing when he empowered Glorius.” Baalth clenched his fist and his power welled up. He stretched his arm toward the tank and let loose a burst of power that damn near singed the hair on my balls. The power swirled into the tank and disappeared. McConnell thrashed and I was glad I couldn’t see more than just his shadow reflected against the sides. After a moment, Baalth willed his power to settle and turned back to me. The Gray slowly settled. While Baalth didn’t look fresh, he looked like he’d taken a load off. “The soul transfer with Glorius not only gave me his powers, magnified beyond imagining, but it also passed along the mutated piece of his angelic existence, which absorbed all the power Asmoday fed him.”

Baalth strode slowly down the line of bodies set into the walls. I followed alongside, staring up at the people. I suddenly felt ill again.

Baalth turned his head to look at me, as though he could tell what I was feeling. “Do not worry your human sensibilities about them, Frank. They were dead before I brought them here. It is only the surge of magical energy through their bodies that gives them the semblance of life.”

That was something, at least. I nodded and asked him to continue telling me about Glorius.

He did. “Thanks to God’s plan that his Angelic Choir forever be empowered to defeat those who challenged him-little did we know why we would need such abilities-angels evolve as they absorb power through a soul transfer. The new energy level becomes the base level, their bodies adapting to maintain the balance. We demons had such useful talents removed from us at the Fall.” He chuckled to himself. “When I inherited Glorius’ power, increased beyond even what he could naturally handle, I also inherited the strange adaptation, but not in the way I would have preferred. Quite the opposite, in fact. Asmoday’s meddling had broken Glorius, forcing an even greater evolution upon the angel. So, rather than gaining the ability to normalize my power no matter its level, my magic constantly multiplies and grows, but I have no way to keep it contained.”

“So, sending the power into the tub helps relieve the pressure?”

“It also provides a pool of accessible energy to be used by God and Lucifer, which cannot be detected. The impact on the war effort is quite impressive. It allows them to open the portal from their end and draw upon a reserve of magic while their enemies weaken over the course of battles. It also serves as a bit of surprise boost when necessary, allowing them to catch their foes off guard.”

I pulled my gaze from Baalth and set it on the orb. My mind instantly started to wonder what answers I could get if I confronted Lucifer directly. “Could I use the portal to travel to my uncle?”

Baalth quickly waggled a finger. “You could, but you would not survive the trip. The gate is not intended for travel, only the transportation of energy. You would be broken down into your base components to become a part of the power flow.”

I felt a sudden headache coming on, my face flushing. So close to the truth and yet still so far. I growled and looked toward the door, suddenly wanting nothing more to do with Baalth or the politics of Hell. “I’m going home.” I waved and walked off.

Before I could get out of the room, Baalth called to me. “Lucifer asked about you.”

I didn’t believe him; wasn’t even sure I cared, but the words stopped me. I didn’t turn around, though, out of spite. I stood, staring at the door. “Then why didn’t he have Hasstor pass a message on?”

“For all the necessity of utilizing demons such as Hasstor, Lucifer does not trust them. He would not give them such a message for fear it be seen as weakness. Lucifer cares for you greatly, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.”

A sharp pain spiked behind my eyes, my stomach churning. I spun to glare at Baalth. “If he loved me so much, then why did he leave me behind? Why did he keep Arol’s power for himself when he sent me off to be his errand boy murderer?”

“Because you weren’t ready for it, Frank. It’s that simple.” Baalth sighed. “Lucifer hoped you would stand at his side and rule Hell in his stead, but you want nothing to do with it. You never did. Had he allowed you Arol’s power, you would have been seen as a threat to the Demonarch. You would have gotten yourself killed by those who opposed you taking power.”

“So, he did it all for me, huh?”

“He did, though I know you’ll never believe it to be true.” He shook his head, frustration plain on his face.

I felt a twinge of doubt, which was washed away by a bout of lightheadedness. “And now?”

“Things have changed, Frank, but Lucifer still hopes for the same.”

I stared at the demon, trying to pierce the shadows of his dark eyes, but there was nothing there that told me whether he was being honest or plying me with emotional bullshit meant to pacify me. I didn’t know what to believe, but I didn’t want to hear any more of it.

Not feeling well, I left the room and made my way through the labyrinth of tunnels, which led back to the portal in Lucifer’s chambers, grateful the secret passage was only hidden from the outside. I’d been fed so much shit my eyes were turning brown, and I was sick of it. I hadn’t gotten any real answers since I started searching for the truth about my mother, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t gonna. There wasn’t much point in asking any more.

I sucked in a lungful of warm air as I triggered the portal for Earth. My life had been a series of lies piled upon lies, but at least I had one person I could talk to who never once offered me anything but the truth, no matter how much it hurt to hear it. It was time to go see him.

He certainly wouldn’t start lying to me now.