Extinction (The Divine Book 7) (21 page)

I clenched my teeth to fight against the pain, the anger, the disappointment, and the new font of strength that was adding fuel to my fire. It still wasn't enough to beat Sarah; I could sense that much. Her power was unlike anything the Divine could muster. It was of a kind that was never meant to be.

"Now you," she said. Her eyes were cold. Cruel. She was bending the way Raguel had, her guilt and rage twisting her initial design into something more. Or was it less?
 

Either way, I knew there would only be one way to stop her, despite what I had told Josette.

I pushed myself to my feet. Dante's power was coursing through me, mingling with my own.
 

"Not yet," I said, closing my eyes.
 

I felt a familiar rush of air, and when I opened them, I was far, far away.

"Landon?" Obi said.
 

I looked around the space, still a little disoriented. I was in Espanto's hideaway, standing in the center of the workspaces. Obi was off to the left, looking up from one of them.
 

"That really sucked," I said, falling to my knees. I felt nauseous and dizzy, and a little high on the power I had gained. It was like a massive hit of caffeine, leaving me jittery and cold.
 

Dante was gone. Dead. Worse than dead. Erased to nothing, just like that. And for what? To save my life?

My life wasn't worth it.
 

"What happened, man?" Obi asked, rushing over to me. "Where's Dante?"
 

"Gone," I replied. "He sacrificed himself to save me. He gave me his power through the sword. Sarah caught up with us. She has a deal with the Nicht Creidem. They're helping her kill the Divine."

"You mean a trap?"

"Yeah. Sort of. We thought Gervais was setting one for me. Sarah set her own."

"Damn."

"That's what I said." I managed to pull myself to my feet. "She's different, Obi. She's lost it. Completely lost it."

Obi looked stricken. He seemed to know what I meant without having to ask.
 

"Geez. I'm sorry, man."

"Me too. There are no winners here. No matter what we're all going to lose something."
 

We already had.
 

"What are we supposed to do? I take it you didn't get the third eye?"

"No. That part of the plan is shot. I got the mimic stone, though. It's better than nothing." Dante's power would be a huge help as well, though that thought was still a raw one. It was hard for the truth of what had just happened to sink in. The whole thing was surreal in the worst way possible.
 

"If Dante is gone, what happens to Purgatory?" Obi asked.
 

"I don't know. Probably nothing right away. Someone will have to take over for him, I suppose." I paused, trying to settle my stomach. "That may be the least of our concerns right now. What time is it?"

"Here or in Indo?"

"Indo."

"Nine o'clock."

Gervais' demo of the Fist was in two hours. That didn't leave us a lot of time.

"I was feeling a little better about this a few hours ago," I said.

"It's not your fault, man. I'm sure you did everything you could."

"It wasn't enough. It wasn't even close."

"You have to bounce back. There's no other choice."

"I know."

I fought against the tide of emotions that threatened to sweep over me. I railed against the upset in my gut, and in my soul. I had already known I would have to kill Sarah. The promise I had made to Josette had been made with the hope of an outcome I didn't believe in. It was like a lie, but not quite. I had told her there were no guarantees.

The door across the room opened, and Alichino wandered in. He looked at me strangely when he did, and for a moment I thought it was because he had forgotten about me again.

"Dante?" he said, his snout curling and his eyes beginning to water.

They had been friends. Close friends. Somehow, the demon could see his power in me. The truth of the last few minutes punched me in the gut again.
 

"I'm sorry," I said. "He sacrificed himself for me."

Alichino nodded sadly and then fled the room.

"Poor little guy," Obi said, watching him for a moment. Then he turned back to me. "So, are we going to call back your girlfriend to help us out with this?"

"No. Not that I don't want her beast-mode on our side for this, but we won't be able to surprise Gervais if her aura is blaring across the countryside."

"Do you think we're going to surprise him?"

"It's fifty-fifty, but that's what the stone is for."

"Right. When do you want to head out?"

"No better time than now," I replied. "Can you get me a location that's a little further out than we had planned? Dante was going to drop us, and I'm not that comfortable with his method of transportation just yet. I want a little breathing room in case I screw it up."

Obi laughed and returned to his workstation. "Can do."

He called me over a minute later. I had managed to quell my nausea by then, and get a better feeling for my increase in power. I hadn't been expecting to gain some of Dante's abilities along with his Divine energy. That was a surprise bonus.

"Bogor, Indonesia," Obi said, showing me the view from Google Earth. It felt like a different world compared to New York City, though it seemed equally as crowded. "It's about thirty miles outside of Srizyl's main compound. As long as we avoid the attention of any Divine, we should be able to disappear in there for a while."

"Sounds good."

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Not completely."

He smiled. "But if you teleport with me, I'm not going to wind up with my head where my ass is or anything?"

"I'm not making any promises."

"I can stay here."

I looked at him. He smiled.
 

"Right. Let me grab my Nintendo power gloves and I'll be right back."

He headed for the door.

"You are coming back, right?" I asked.

He winked before he disappeared.

I slumped down into his abandoned chair, suddenly feeling exhausted. I didn't know how much more I could take. At least when I was fighting the Beast, I was going up against an enemy whose motivations that I maybe didn't understand but at least could villainize. Sarah was a different story. She wasn't a monster. She was a person. Powerful? Yes. Confused? Yes. Lost? It seemed like it. But still at least part human. Beyond that, she was like a sister to me, or maybe like a daughter. Either way, I loved her like family. Even her efforts to kill me hadn't changed that.

Obi returned a minute later, wearing the gloves Uriel had made for him, along with a leather jacket and jeans. He looked badass, focused and ready to bring it. I needed to be the same.

"Thanks for coming back," I said as I stood and met him halfway.

"You know I'll never abandon you when you need me."

"You're a good friend."

"Damn right."

I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. He put his hand on mine.
 

"Don't get me bass-ackwards," he said.

I closed my eyes and pictured the image from Google Maps.

A moment later, we were there.

Bogor was as crowded as the picture had suggested, even at nine o'clock at night. The city was alive with activity, as motorcycles and scooters raced along narrow streets along with pedestrians, bicycles, and the occasional car.
 

Nobody took any notice of my arrival with Obi. We became an instant part of the landscape, just another flesh and bone obstacle to move past. Obi shouted with joy that his head and rear were in the right place, but otherwise we started walking along with the rest of the traffic as if we had been there all day.

The jump made me a little dizzy, but the effects were shorter-lived the second time. Maybe it was because I was more calm when I made it. Maybe it was integrating better with the rest of my energy. Maybe it was from experience. Either way, it gave me a growing sense of confidence that I could handle the power, and learn to use it to my advantage.

"What do you want to do now?" Obi asked. "We've got some time to kill."

"The teleport didn't knock me out like the last time," I replied. "We should take advantage of the extra time. Rent a couple of bikes, head for the target, and be a little more judicious with our approach."

"Agreed."

We moved through the streets. I stopped at a few street vendors, asking them where I could get a pair of motorcycles. They barked out directions, pointing and waving through the throng. It took a few tries, but we found the place before long.

It was being run by a fiend.

"We can find another place," Obi suggested.
 

We were standing across from the shop, out of sight. I was trying to decide if I wanted to announce myself to him or not. Odds were high that he was in Srizyl's employ, which meant if he saw me he was sure to rat me out. I didn't really need her to know I was coming before I got there.

At the same time, I knew next to nothing about the archfiend and getting a little intel from the demon had a lot of potential value. It wasn't my intent to raid her compound and go right to wholesale slaughter. If I thought I could convince her to give up Gervais, I would.

"No. Let's go talk to him," I said, making up my mind. Beating around the bushes hadn't worked for me so far.

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah. Come on."

We moved across the crowd. The shop was small, with only four bikes out in front of it that looked like they were for rent. It had an open front, and the fiend was sitting behind a rickety table that served as a counter.

He looked up at our approach. His eyes landed on Obi first, pausing on the gloves. He tried to stand.

I pushed him back down with my power, pinning him to the chair. His head didn't move, but his eyes flicked over to me.

"I've had a really shitty day," I said in Indonesian. "Don't make it worse."

"I didn't do anything," he replied.

"English," I said for Obi's sake.

"I didn't do anything," he repeated in English. "I swear."

"You work for Srizyl?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about her."

"What?"

"Information."

"She'll kill me for talking to you."

"If you don't talk to me, I'll kill you." I grabbed the sword, pulling it from its sheath. The demon flinched at the glow of it. Cliche, but effective.
 

"What do you want to know?"

"How hungry is she?"

"Hungry?"

"For power."

"Insatiable," the demon replied. "Unstoppable. She's only nineteen years old. Did you know that? She killed both her parents. Her brother. She made a deal with the local fiend, became his bride. He took her virginity. She killed him and took his estate the same night."

"She didn't go to Hell and come back?" I asked, surprised. I didn't think that was even possible.

"She made a deal with Satan from here. The word is that she killed herself, and he sent her right back before her corpse was even cold."

"Rosemary's baby," Obi said.

"I don't know what that is," the fiend said.

"Can she use hellfire?" I asked.

"A little. She can read people's minds. Control them. She has a whole host of mortal slaves, orphans mainly. They do whatever she wants. She controls the police, too. The judges. Everything in Bogor."

"There are no angels here?"

"Look around. You won't find any."

"If another demon offered her a deal, would she take it?"

"What kind of deal?"

"Power beyond what she can get on her own."

"Yeah, she'd take it, and turn on whoever made the offer once she had it."

"Even if the demon was more powerful than her."

He smiled. "She would find a way. Even if it took years. She doesn't like being bound to anyone. What she's accomplished already is legendary among the demons in Indo."

I looked over at Obi, considering. She wouldn't be open to a deal with me. It also didn't sound like she would be that open to a deal with Gervais either. If he was coming to show her the Fist, she would have a trap of some kind prepared for him. Then again, if he was using her to get to me, he would also be using her nature against both of us. There were too many possibilities, and I was sure Gervais had calculated all of them, manipulating everything to get it where he wanted it. That was his true gift, his real power.