Doomsday Can Wait (36 page)

"Could he do that before yesterday?" I asked.

Sawyer spread his hands.

"Lizbeth!" Ruthie-Luther snapped. "The demons are free, and these are worse than anything that's been on this earth since the fall."

"How'd they get free?" I asked. "I killed the darkness. Everything should go back to normal."

"Normal." Ruthie snorted. "What's that? You're gonna have to find the book."

"Key of Solomon?"

Ruthie-Luther shook her-his head. "The key says, kill the darkness, all is well. But it ain't. We're gonna have to get a peek at the other side."

"Terrific," I muttered.

"And you're gonna have to stay evil."

"Excuse me?" I tugged at the collar, which was driving me nuts.

"The only way to fight the Grigori is with a darkness as complete as they are. You and Jimmy are our only hope."

"Jimmy's got his demon all pushed beneath the moon. Is he supposed to let it back out?"

"No," Jimmy said, at the same time Ruthie murmured, "Yes."

Crap.

"It has to be done," Ruthie-Luther said. "And you know it."

I glanced uneasily at Jimmy, who continued to stare at the desert below us.

"He's already broken," Summer muttered. "What's one more slap when you're down?"

They were both right. It had to be done, and he was already broken.

I sighed and turned my attention back to Ruthie-Luther. "When we're—" I made my fingers into claws and hissed. "We aren't exactly on the side of justice."

"But you are on the hunt. Summer and Sawyer will use their magic to unleash your power in the right direction."

"Unleash," I repeated. "Like a damn dog."

"Hence the collar," Summer murmured.

"I think I'm the kind of dog who turns on its master."

"Lucky I'm not going to be holding your leash."

Sawyer would.

I turned to him. "Did you know your mo—" I broke off. "The
Naye'i's
name was Lilith?"

He shook his head.

"I don't think she was
the
Lilith," I murmured.

"No," Ruthie-Luther said, "She was just
a
Lilith. Storm demon. She ruled the night and the wind; she rode the rain. There's a Lilith demon in every cul-ture."

"There are more like her out there?"

"Of course."

"Double bleeding hell," I muttered.

"I'm hungry." Luther's voice was once again his own.

"Let's head back to Summer's place," Sawyer said.

We began to walk in that direction, except for Jimmy. He continued to face away from us as if he didn't even know we were there.

I paused. "We'll be down soon."

"I don't—" Summer began, but Sawyer silenced her with a glare. She stomped off, her cowboy boots raising angry puffs of dust around her feet. With a shrug, Luther followed.

Sawyer hung back. "Will you be all right?"

"As long as I wear this." I fingered the collar.

His gaze flicked to Jimmy, then to me. "Don't let him make you feel guilty. It was the only way."

My eyebrows lifted. "This from the man who tried to convince me to let everyone rot."

"I knew you wouldn't."

Sometimes I thought Sawyer knew me better than I knew myself.

Sawyer followed the others, and I turned to Jimmy. Was he ever going to forgive me? Hopefully quicker than I'd forgiven him.

I crossed the pebbled ground, ignoring the pain in my bare feet, and stood right behind him. Below us, Summer's place was once again an Irish cottage. Her spring-green lawn was peppered with stone statues of gargoyles. I suspected they'd stay that way until the demons were no longer in residence.

"I—" I stopped, uncertain what to say. Not sorry. Because I wasn't.

"I asked you not to, Lizzy. I begged you."

I'd been there. I knew what had happened.

"You let me turn you evil for nothing."

My head came up. "Not for nothing."

He turned, his face furious, and his eyes so damn sad. "The Grigori are loose. What good did it do?"

"The woman of smoke is dead."

"You heard Ruthie. There are more just like her."

I'd heard Ruthie, but I still didn't think there was anything quite like Lilith around. "She needed to die."

And I was the only one who could kill her.

"You betrayed my trust, Lizzy."

"Then we're even."

"Baby," he murmured, "even is something we can never be. "

I guessed he was going to be as forgiving about my betrayal as I'd been about his. That hurt, but I deserved it.

"You don't understand what you've done," he said. "There'll be consequences."

"There always are."

"Not like this."

He looked so haggard, so beaten down and sad, I wasn't sure what to do, except what I did best. Move on.

"Are you going to come back with me?" I asked.

Or will I have to make you?
I thought.

His gaze was drawn in the direction of that strange howling that had earlier answered my furious call. There was something out there. A whole lot of somethings.

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "I'm coming."

The job was what mattered; Jimmy had known that long before I had.

"But I'm starting to think that—"

His voice faded; what I saw in his face scared me. I stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. What he hadn't said whispered through my mind and came straight out of my mouth.

"No matter what we do," I murmured. "Apocalypse happens."

[end]