Demon Evolution (8 page)

Grudgingly gathering up the blanket and bag,
while wishing they could stay for a few more hours, Taylor wondered
what Sampson wanted to talk to Gabriel about. The only reason they
couldn’t stay longer was that Sampson had asked Gabriel if he could
speak with him in private before the New Year’s celebration. What
could he want?
No need to worry
, she thought, Gabriel would
gladly share their conversation with her afterwards. He had vowed
never to keep anything from her again. And to her surprise, she
believed him. She hoped she wasn’t making another stupid
mistake.

After making their way down more than a
thousand steps, Gabriel kissed her goodbye. As usual, the kiss left
her drunk with passion. It was not your typical goodbye peck on the
lips. It was more of a
I’m-never-going-to-see-you-again-because-I’m-off-to-war kind of
kiss. This didn’t worry her though, because he always kissed like
that. Good morning kisses, nice to see you kisses, just for the
hell of it kisses, and especially goodnight kisses: they were
always full of passion. Even though Taylor wasn’t the romantic
type, she had to hand it to him: he was very consistent in the kiss
department.

Staggering slightly, Taylor went in search of
Sam, to occupy herself until Gabriel returned. Gabriel headed in
the other direction.

The passageways were extremely crowded, as
off-duty demons, many of whom were involved in the evening’s
festivities, prepared for the big event. Gabriel had promised to
meet Sampson in Demon Hall. Chris had verified that it would be
empty and they would be free to talk in private there.

Echoing Taylor’s question, Gabriel wondered
what his best friend from birth wanted to talk to him about. A good
guess was that he would want to talk about why Gabriel had been
willing to help out the Council even after he knew the truth.
Gabriel thought about possible responses. Temporary insanity maybe.
Or blind ambition. Neither answer would satisfy Sampson. Another
side of his brain clung to hope that maybe Sampson just wanted to
talk strategy. You know, make sure the two angels were on the same
page before the Elders started making any plans. Probably not.

Arriving at the alcove, he made his way
through the
To Balcony
door, and bounded up the stairs using
his Mag-lite to guide him. Sampson was waiting.

“Thanks for coming,” he said evenly.

“Listen, Sampson, before you start, can I
just say that I was a fool and was blinded by my ambition, by a
miserable, pointless desire to get ahead in life. I have completely
realized the idiocy of my choices and have truly vowed to make
amends for them. Lastly, I am so sorry that I was ever dishonest
with you and didn’t tell you what I knew. Of all people, I should
have told you.” He finished his soliloquy with a gasp—he had
forgotten to breathe while the words rushed out.

To his surprise, Sampson laughed loudly at
his friend. “You thought I asked you to come here to yell at you? I
forgave you within a half-hour, man. I know that the angel that did
all those stupid things is not who you really are.”

Gabriel looked at him blankly. “Okay, you got
me then. What did you want to talk about?”

“While you’ve been out romancing your girl,
I’ve been plugged into the ongoing situation. It’s time for you to
get back involved, man.”

“I am involved. I didn’t realize there was an
‘ongoing situation’. I thought we were just supposed to play it
cool for now.”

“That just means we aren’t going to attack
the angels in their stronghold anytime soon, but it doesn’t mean
there isn’t any activity happening. The Elders decided to let you
have a few days to rest and reunite with Taylor before bringing you
back into the strategy sessions. They asked me to talk to you
now.”

Gabriel’s face contorted with anger. “You
mean you’ve been involved in strategy sessions and I haven’t? And
you didn’t tell me? What is that all about, man?” His voice took on
an accusatory tone.

His words oozing with sarcasm, Sampson
replied, “Yeah, we never keep anything from each other, huh,
Gabriel?”

Gabriel’s head dropped, as he remembered that
he was in no position to lay blame on anyone. “I’m…I’m sorry, man.
You’re right. But why did you keep it from me?”

“I agreed with the Elders. You needed some
time to recharge, both physically and mentally. Did you not enjoy
your day with Taylor today?”

“Actually, it was awesome. I really needed
it.”

“You’re welcome. I was in strategy sessions
all day. We designed eight or nine plans, each of which ended in
the garbage can. It was a big waste of time.” Sampson looked
stressed, his brow furrowed in concern. “It’s all my fault.”

“Plans for what?” Gabriel asked. “And what’s
your fault?”

“We have a bit of a situation, which is what
I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What kind of a situation?”

“The kind where a lot of good friends die,”
Sampson said cryptically.

Gabriel waited for his friend to iron out his
thoughts. He could tell that he was going through a rough patch.
Typically, Sampson was as sure of himself as anyone that Gabriel
knew. He made decisions quickly and they always turned out to be
the right ones. He was confident, but not cocky. Everyone liked
him. After a minute of silence, Gabriel said, “Man, you’ve been my
best friend for a long time and I am not going to leave you
hanging. Whatever this is, we’re going to work it out
together.”

Sampson looked at him with pained eyes. “All
of the other angel spies are going to die because of me.”

Oh crap
, Gabriel thought. He had
completely forgotten about the other angel spies—the ones who had
helped him to escape. Hadn’t the plan been for them to get out of
angel headquarters as soon as possible after the prison break?
“Where are they?” Gabriel asked.

“As far as we know, they’re still inside that
hell-hole. Probably in prison, awaiting execution. They went dark
yesterday. At first we were still receiving reports that everything
seemed to be fine, that the angels were pissed that you had
escaped, but that they were merely back to planning for the next
battle. That’s when all communications stopped. For all we know,
they could be dead already.”

Gabriel’s heart sank. “Sampson, this is not
your fault. If it’s anyone’s, it’s mine. They risked their lives to
break me out.”

“At least they chose to try to help you. They
didn’t have a choice on how the rescue mission would be carried
out. I helped the demons design it. One of the key decisions was
that the remaining angel spies would stay on the inside, so that we
could continue to gather intel. They should have escaped when we
did. Now they’re dead.”

Gabriel had never heard Sampson sound so
pessimistic. “We don’t know that. The angels probably just
increased security and now sending out messages is too difficult.
It’s not like we can just fly back in and check that they’re okay.
I think we need to be patient.”

“That’s the same conclusion we came to today
after hours of designing—and shooting holes through—various plans.
There’s a battle scheduled for tomorrow, the first battle of the
new year, and our hope is that the angel spies will be on the
battlefield and we can rescue them then.”

“I think that’s a smart plan. I will help you
find them and get them to safety. I promise you.” The look of
determination in Gabriel’s eyes seemed to encourage Sampson. The
defeated look in his eyes lifted, and a steely resolve replaced
it.

“Thanks, man. We’ll do it together.”

They embraced, pounding each other’s backs
firmly.

W
hile Gabriel and
Sampson were having their private conversation, Taylor was able to
track down Samantha. Not surprisingly, she was wasting the day away
at a pool table with Chris and Kiren. The recreational room was
crowded with dozens of demons enjoying their holidays. The room was
dark, as the shadowy beings cloaked most of the light provided by
the fiery wall-fixtures. She squirmed her way through the crowd and
over to her friends, who occupied a corner table. When Taylor
arrived, her friends were playing
Cut-throat
, a three-person
game where each player tries to pocket the other players’ balls. At
the moment, Sam and Kiren were ganging up on Chris, who was a far
superior player, to try to eliminate his last ball, the green
six-ball.

“The two-ball is a much easier shot,” he was
saying when Taylor walked in.

“Yeah, but the six-ball is yours, and Kiren
and I have made a temporary truce,” Sam replied. There was a
choo
sound, followed by a soft clink when the white cue-ball
contacted the six-ball. From across the room, Taylor heard a soft
thump
as one of the balls fell into the corner pocket.

“Yes!!” Sam exclaimed. Apparently the
six-ball had been eliminated.

Chris groaned. “I guess I can’t win them
all,” he said, embracing Sam. “Nice shot, babe.” He kissed her hard
on the lips.

Kiren looked away and saw Taylor approaching.
“Thank God,” she said. “Ever since Sampson left, I have been stuck
here as the third wheel and these two can’t seem to keep their
hands off of each other.”

Taylor grinned. “I know what you mean, but I
can’t really talk, Gabriel and I are pretty bad, too.”

Upon hearing Taylor’s voice, Sam and Chris
ended their public display of affection. “Hey, Tay,” Sam said.
Then, turning to Kiren, she said, “You can’t talk either, Kiren,
you were getting pretty flirty with Mr. Sampson during that second
game of pool.” She grinned slyly.

Kiren blushed. Or at least that’s what Taylor
thought it looked like. Her face just got a bit darker—a demon
blush. She denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, we
were just having a little fun. I don’t care which side he’s on—he’s
still an angel.”

Sam shrugged, turning back to Taylor. “How
was your romantic day with Gabriel?”

“Perfect, thanks, guys. We both really needed
it.”

“No problem,” Chris said from across the
table. “Up for a game of pool while you wait for him to come back?
Kiren could use a teammate.”

“Sure, but don’t you want to finish your game
first?”

“Well, Sam just knocked me out of the game,
so it’s up to her and Kiren.”

“I forfeit,” Kiren said flatly. “Watching
Chris lose was good enough for me. I prefer doubles.” She sounded
like she was talking about tennis.

The game commenced with Taylor and Kiren at a
distinct disadvantage given that the best player was on the other
team. Taylor was shocked at how much better Sam had gotten, too.
She must have been playing all day
, Taylor thought. In less
than five minutes the game was over, with Chris sinking the
eight-ball using a pretty bank shot into the center pocket. Taylor
and Kiren still had four striped balls on the table.

“Rematch?” Sam asked smugly.

Taylor was saved from having to chicken out
when Gabriel reappeared just then. Sampson was close behind him. At
the sight of her boyfriend, Taylor smiled widely. His lips curled
into a grin, but she could tell that it was forced. Something had
chilled his happy mood considerably. Something Sampson said. Or
something Sampson did. Wanting to know what their secret
conversation was about, she was about to suggest to Gabriel that
they get some food to go and eat back in their rooms, when Sampson
said, “Gabriel and I would like to talk to everyone about
something.”

Chris started to say, “I’m not sure now is
the right time—” but Sampson cut him off.

“The Elders asked me to tell everyone, after
telling Gabriel first.”

Sampson got right to the point. “The angel
spies have not communicated with us since early yesterday. We are
assuming they have been discovered and will be executed as
traitors. Given the last prisoner’s miraculous escape,” he looked
at Gabriel with a smirk, “we suspect they may act much quicker this
time around.”

“What can we do?” Sam asked.

“Nothing. We just want everyone to know what
the situation is and that we may have to act quickly to save them
if necessary,” Gabriel said.

“What do you mean by ‘we’? Who will have to
act to save them?” Taylor asked.

Sampson fielded her question: “We have
created a special task force for the mission. It will be comprised
of me, Kiren, Chris, Gabriel, and some of the other highly trained
demons that helped to bust Gabriel out.”

Taylor wanted to object. Everything in her
heart urged her, even commanded her to cry out, to say, “No! He
can’t leave me again, I’ve just found him!” But she knew her cries
would be fruitless. He would feel responsible for the lives of
those angels and nothing she could say would stop him from leaving
if he was needed. She searched the eyes of each person in the
circle and, on most of them, she saw determination and resolve, but
when she reached Sam’s face, it was like looking in a mirror. Fear
was all she saw. Fear of losing her true love. Fear of being alone
again. Fear of never feeling safe. They were sisters in fear. At
least for now.