up to you.”
“You better hope you never confront Vassago then,” I murmured as I tried to remember if I knew how to play pool. If I was even half as good at pool as I was at darts, we’d probably be fine, but then again, I had no idea if I’d even picked up a cue stick before. I guess we’d find out.
“I plan to never ever confront Vassago.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel nervously. “Baal is one thing, but Vassago is a whole different thing. Baal is like that annoying guy in the movies who does really well until all his bodyguards get killed. Then you realize he’s just some pint-sized punk. Dealing with Vassago is different.” He swallowed hard. “Vassago is like Chuck Norris with the temperament of Heath Ledger’s Joker.”
“So what you’re saying is Vassago’s tears cure cancer, but he never cries?” I asked, trying to picture the demon throwing karate kicks. It was an image that did not compute. Then again, Vassago had been powerful enough to light me on fire with an eye blink. Maybe he didn’t need to throw a sick roundhouse kick.
“Vassago can cure cancer without shedding a tear.” Danton shot a sad look at me. “Actually, he’s exactly that type of demon who does that sort of thing. You know that poor schlub sitting inside a hospital hoping their two-year-old gets through leukemia? Those are the guys Vassago preys upon. He comes to the hopeless and dejected and offers them an out. Sure, his out is filled with razor-wire, lava, and spiders, but it’s an out, and a lot of people will take any lifeline. Even if it’s a live rattlesnake.”
“What does he have on you?” I asked, glancing at Danton. Something about the way he said those words made me worried he knew from experience. It also concerned me in a completely different way. When I’d saved Sera’s son John from the demon, I’d wound up owing Vassago a favor. If he was anything like what Danton suggested, I was really sure I wouldn’t like paying it back, assuming of course, my cat demon didn’t incinerate me on the spot. Oh well, bridges and crossing.
“He doesn’t have anything on me, Mac. But I’ve seen people who he’s got scratch on. It never ends well, even when he doesn’t get their souls.” He shivered and his eyes got a far off vacant stare. The kind I’d remembered seeing on documentaries about holocaust victims. Well, that was just great.
Chapter 16
Thanks to the roof of our stupid car being torn asunder, I was soaked to the bone by the time we reached the bar. Apparently, Danton’s stupid angels couldn’t be bothered to keep it from raining cats and fucking dogs while we waded through rush hour traffic with no roof. There had even been a brief moment where I’d opened an umbrella inside the cab of the car, but thanks to not having a windshield, it was almost immediately torn from my hands and sent careening into the rain soaked street where it disappeared under the wheels of a honking taxi. To be fair though, the taxi was honking before I lost control of the umbrella.
“You’re clearly not praying hard enough,” I grumbled, adjusting my trench coat for the millionth time in a vain attempt to keep cold water from dripping down the back of my neck. “Because it’s still raining.”
“I spent all my prayers on not getting pulled over,” Danton said before taking a huge drag on his cigarette. “Imagine what would have happened if we’d gotten ourselves arrested.”
“I’d have gone all demonic hand on some cops and stolen their dry car?” I glared at him, and he blew a smoke ring in my general direction. I had half a mind to grab his stupid cigarette and put it out on his equally stupid face, but that would have been petty. It didn’t help that most of the remaining ceiling covered him so he wasn’t nearly as wet as me.
“You say that, but I have a hard time believing you’d kill cops just to stay warm,” Danton said, pushing open his car door and getting outside. No
“You better hope you never confront Vassago then,” I murmured as I tried to remember if I knew how to play pool. If I was even half as good at pool as I was at darts, we’d probably be fine, but then again, I had no idea if I’d even picked up a cue stick before. I guess we’d find out.
“I plan to never ever confront Vassago.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel nervously. “Baal is one thing, but Vassago is a whole different thing. Baal is like that annoying guy in the movies who does really well until all his bodyguards get killed. Then you realize he’s just some pint-sized punk. Dealing with Vassago is different.” He swallowed hard. “Vassago is like Chuck Norris with the temperament of Heath Ledger’s Joker.”
“So what you’re saying is Vassago’s tears cure cancer, but he never cries?” I asked, trying to picture the demon throwing karate kicks. It was an image that did not compute. Then again, Vassago had been powerful enough to light me on fire with an eye blink. Maybe he didn’t need to throw a sick roundhouse kick.
“Vassago can cure cancer without shedding a tear.” Danton shot a sad look at me. “Actually, he’s exactly that type of demon who does that sort of thing. You know that poor schlub sitting inside a hospital hoping their two-year-old gets through leukemia? Those are the guys Vassago preys upon. He comes to the hopeless and dejected and offers them an out. Sure, his out is filled with razor-wire, lava, and spiders, but it’s an out, and a lot of people will take any lifeline. Even if it’s a live rattlesnake.”
“What does he have on you?” I asked, glancing at Danton. Something about the way he said those words made me worried he knew from experience. It also concerned me in a completely different way. When I’d saved Sera’s son John from the demon, I’d wound up owing Vassago a favor. If he was anything like what Danton suggested, I was really sure I wouldn’t like paying it back, assuming of course, my cat demon didn’t incinerate me on the spot. Oh well, bridges and crossing.
“He doesn’t have anything on me, Mac. But I’ve seen people who he’s got scratch on. It never ends well, even when he doesn’t get their souls.” He shivered and his eyes got a far off vacant stare. The kind I’d remembered seeing on documentaries about holocaust victims. Well, that was just great.
Chapter 16
Thanks to the roof of our stupid car being torn asunder, I was soaked to the bone by the time we reached the bar. Apparently, Danton’s stupid angels couldn’t be bothered to keep it from raining cats and fucking dogs while we waded through rush hour traffic with no roof. There had even been a brief moment where I’d opened an umbrella inside the cab of the car, but thanks to not having a windshield, it was almost immediately torn from my hands and sent careening into the rain soaked street where it disappeared under the wheels of a honking taxi. To be fair though, the taxi was honking before I lost control of the umbrella.
“You’re clearly not praying hard enough,” I grumbled, adjusting my trench coat for the millionth time in a vain attempt to keep cold water from dripping down the back of my neck. “Because it’s still raining.”
“I spent all my prayers on not getting pulled over,” Danton said before taking a huge drag on his cigarette. “Imagine what would have happened if we’d gotten ourselves arrested.”
“I’d have gone all demonic hand on some cops and stolen their dry car?” I glared at him, and he blew a smoke ring in my general direction. I had half a mind to grab his stupid cigarette and put it out on his equally stupid face, but that would have been petty. It didn’t help that most of the remaining ceiling covered him so he wasn’t nearly as wet as me.
“You say that, but I have a hard time believing you’d kill cops just to stay warm,” Danton said, pushing open his car door and getting outside. No
Similar Books
