this without being on the receiving end of the beating, but
all good things must come to an end.
After giving Scarlett a few minutes to
get her licks in—metaphorically speaking—I yanked her off Jacky,
reminding her she’d done the same to me with Kelvin. She snarled
but gave in easier than I expected her to. Jacky moaned on the
ground, lying in a pool of her own blood, barely able to do
anything but twitch.
“ What do we do with her
now?” Scarlett asked. She paced as she tried to catch her breath
and cool her anger.
“ Want to split her like a
wishbone and each of us take a piece?”
Scarlett stopped and stared at me. If
I didn’t know her better, I’d have thought she was taking me
seriously. After a quiet moment, she let out a sigh and shook her
head. “You have a better idea?”
“ Metatron wants her
punished, right?”
She nodded.
“ Then I have the perfect
solution.”
Fourteen
“ Color me impressed,
Frank,” Baalth said, patting me on the shoulder as he walked by and
dropped into a chair across from my uncle. “More surprised,
admittedly, but still…vaguely…impressed . ”
“ High praise, indeed.” I
did my best to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, but my protruding
tongue probably gave me away.
Lucifer waved me over to the empty
chair set out before his desk, alongside Baalth. I hopped into it,
all smiles. It wasn’t often I got to sit at the big kid’s
table.
“ How did you get Scarlett
to agree to rescind Heaven’s claim on our wayward killer?” my uncle
asked.
“ I have a way with
women.”
Lucifer chuckled, but Baalth only
shook his head. My uncle was more willing to believe my bullshit,
or at least pretend I wasn’t lying my ass off. He wasn’t real
concerned with justifying the means as long as the end worked out
the way he wanted it to. Collateral damage was an art form in his
world view.
“ Regardless how you
managed it, you did well. I’m proud of you.”
I couldn’t help it, but my smile grew
until it stretched my cheeks. Uncle Lou was usually thumping my
skull for being a dumbass. This was pleasantly different, and I was
gonna bask in it as long as it lasted.
Besides, it’s not like figuring out
what to do with Jacky was all that big a deal. I simply gave her
what she wanted. Too bad for her, Uncle Lou doesn’t take too kindly
to foolish Devil worshippers mucking up his plans for subtle world
domination. At least she finally got her face-to-face with Lucifer,
and we figured out what the hell she was trying to do up in
London.
Apparently, she’d been born to a human
mother after a demonic liaison gone wrong and had been abandoned on
Earth as a child. She’d never had any contact with her own kind,
and definitely had no idea who or what she was supposed to be. It
was pretty clear she was different, but it wasn’t until she’d
hooked up with Kelvin and his bunch that she’d learned what she
really was. Well, sort of.
Seems Kelvin got his claws into her
early and, as humans are known to do, he got everything wrong. He’d
apparently convinced Jacky she could summon the Devil and be
returned to Hell through ritual sacrifices. Kelvin, of course,
thought he’d get something out of the deal, too.
Well, he was sort of
right. Jacky got her one-way ticket to Hell plus one, her buddy
Kelvin dragged along to keep her company. And while I don’t know
what happened to either of them after Baalth led them away
to chat with
Uncle Lou, I didn’t think we’d be seeing them again.
“ Proud enough for a
reward?” I asked. If the udder’s dangling right there, you gotta
milk it for all it’s worth.
Baalth leaned back into his chair with
an amused snort.
Lucifer smiled, showing off his
fixation for perfect dental hygiene. “Most definitely, Frank. You
deserve a reward for your success.”
“ Really?” I hadn’t
expected it to be so easy.
“ Certainly,” Uncle Lou
said. “First thing tomorrow morning, I’ll send you to the New West
to sow your wild
all good things must come to an end.
After giving Scarlett a few minutes to
get her licks in—metaphorically speaking—I yanked her off Jacky,
reminding her she’d done the same to me with Kelvin. She snarled
but gave in easier than I expected her to. Jacky moaned on the
ground, lying in a pool of her own blood, barely able to do
anything but twitch.
“ What do we do with her
now?” Scarlett asked. She paced as she tried to catch her breath
and cool her anger.
“ Want to split her like a
wishbone and each of us take a piece?”
Scarlett stopped and stared at me. If
I didn’t know her better, I’d have thought she was taking me
seriously. After a quiet moment, she let out a sigh and shook her
head. “You have a better idea?”
“ Metatron wants her
punished, right?”
She nodded.
“ Then I have the perfect
solution.”
Fourteen
“ Color me impressed,
Frank,” Baalth said, patting me on the shoulder as he walked by and
dropped into a chair across from my uncle. “More surprised,
admittedly, but still…vaguely…impressed . ”
“ High praise, indeed.” I
did my best to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, but my protruding
tongue probably gave me away.
Lucifer waved me over to the empty
chair set out before his desk, alongside Baalth. I hopped into it,
all smiles. It wasn’t often I got to sit at the big kid’s
table.
“ How did you get Scarlett
to agree to rescind Heaven’s claim on our wayward killer?” my uncle
asked.
“ I have a way with
women.”
Lucifer chuckled, but Baalth only
shook his head. My uncle was more willing to believe my bullshit,
or at least pretend I wasn’t lying my ass off. He wasn’t real
concerned with justifying the means as long as the end worked out
the way he wanted it to. Collateral damage was an art form in his
world view.
“ Regardless how you
managed it, you did well. I’m proud of you.”
I couldn’t help it, but my smile grew
until it stretched my cheeks. Uncle Lou was usually thumping my
skull for being a dumbass. This was pleasantly different, and I was
gonna bask in it as long as it lasted.
Besides, it’s not like figuring out
what to do with Jacky was all that big a deal. I simply gave her
what she wanted. Too bad for her, Uncle Lou doesn’t take too kindly
to foolish Devil worshippers mucking up his plans for subtle world
domination. At least she finally got her face-to-face with Lucifer,
and we figured out what the hell she was trying to do up in
London.
Apparently, she’d been born to a human
mother after a demonic liaison gone wrong and had been abandoned on
Earth as a child. She’d never had any contact with her own kind,
and definitely had no idea who or what she was supposed to be. It
was pretty clear she was different, but it wasn’t until she’d
hooked up with Kelvin and his bunch that she’d learned what she
really was. Well, sort of.
Seems Kelvin got his claws into her
early and, as humans are known to do, he got everything wrong. He’d
apparently convinced Jacky she could summon the Devil and be
returned to Hell through ritual sacrifices. Kelvin, of course,
thought he’d get something out of the deal, too.
Well, he was sort of
right. Jacky got her one-way ticket to Hell plus one, her buddy
Kelvin dragged along to keep her company. And while I don’t know
what happened to either of them after Baalth led them away
to chat with
Uncle Lou, I didn’t think we’d be seeing them again.
“ Proud enough for a
reward?” I asked. If the udder’s dangling right there, you gotta
milk it for all it’s worth.
Baalth leaned back into his chair with
an amused snort.
Lucifer smiled, showing off his
fixation for perfect dental hygiene. “Most definitely, Frank. You
deserve a reward for your success.”
“ Really?” I hadn’t
expected it to be so easy.
“ Certainly,” Uncle Lou
said. “First thing tomorrow morning, I’ll send you to the New West
to sow your wild
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