Tim Marquitz - Echoes of the Past

“Look, I know he’s pissed at me, but he caught me at a really, really, bad time, you know? Let me talk to him, and we can straighten things out. I also have a message he won’t want to miss out on.” I was tempted to flirt my way in, Poe having mistakenly shown me a part of his character he kept under lock and key, but decided against it. Getting to see Baalth wasn’t worth my grunting into a pillow. “Besides, the DSI thinks I work for Baalth anyway, so it’s not like you’re saving your boss the shame of being connected to me.” I plastered on a grin to punctuate my seriousness.

Poe sighed and waved me inside. “Baalth said to let you in if were you suitably humble and apologetic. We both know this is as close as it gets for you.”

So true. As a powerful mentalist who could read whether I was lying to him, he knew I wasn’t trying to bullshit my way in…at least no more than usual.

Poe shut the door and told me to follow. He led the way past the sales counter where a pimply-faced kid picked his nose and stared at us as we passed. In the back room, we wound our way around a minefield of cardboard boxes overflowing with comic books and nerd paraphernalia. Posters and cardboard cutouts covered the walls and shelves, advertising everything from Superman to Star Wars. I was jealous. Just don’t ask me to admit it in public.

Too busy checking out the life-sized Princess Leia in the slave outfit cutout, I nearly ran into Poe who’d stopped before a small desk stashed in the recesses of the store. He muttered something that didn’t sound cultured, but still ended with, “Mister Trigg,” and waved me to a seat. Baalth sat behind the desk, staring at me with a look that said, “You better be here to kiss my ass.”

I might nuzzle it a bit, but he wasn’t getting any tongue. “Uh, hi. Sorry about earlier. PMS.”

Poe rolled his eyes and went to stand beside his boss. Baalth stared and stroked the point of his black goatee. “I’m not quite sure what set you off, Frank, but I was serious about your lack of respect. I draw the line damn far back when it comes to you, but it’s still there. Don’t cross it again.”

Having grown up around Baalth and the other demon lieutenants, I’d always had a casual relationship with them thanks to being the Devil’s nephew, but that dynamic was out the window these days. Especially now that Baalth was the true power in the world with no other beings even close save for Metatron and possibly Longinus. Even if I didn’t work for him, it made sense for me to stop antagonizing him. I didn’t have many friends these days, and while Baalth could never be considered that, it made life a hell of a lot easier to have him in the ally column rather than the enemy; more so now than ever.

I nodded. Baalth knew me well enough not to expect much more. He could push the issue, but there wasn’t any point to it, so he let it go. He stopped stroking his beard and leaned back in his leather office chair.

“You made quite a number of enemies by standing alongside Heaven.” A quiet chuckle rumbled out. “It seems the weres and vampires have put a sizable price on your head for ruining their plans of world domination.” A small grin broke across his lips as I squirmed, unsure of how to replay. “That aside, you did the right thing.”

I stared at him, eyebrows raised as I waited for a laugh. It didn’t come.

Baalth’s grin grew a little wider. “I’m serious. For all their righteous indignation and holy blather, you saved far more than just the Kingdom when you woke Metatron from his guilty slumber. Lucifer would be proud of you.”

I snorted. While that kind of comment would have lit the wick a while back, it didn’t do shit besides piss me off now. “You know, I came to talk about Lucifer, but I’m certainly not interested in his feelings.”

“Then tell me, Frank, what were you doing in his chambers?” He raised an eyebrow. I had his attention.

“Looking for answers.”

He stared at me a moment, and then waved Poe out of the room. Once the mentalist was gone, Baalth sighed. “I read the letters you threw at me. It seems, perhaps, it might well be time to tell you the truth.”

Long past, but I kept that little comment to myself and sat quietly waiting for him to continue. I couldn’t keep the anger from warming my cheeks, though.

“Those letters are just a glimpse into the complicated relationship between Charlotte and Lucifer.”

“I’d like to hear the rest of the story.”

“Doubtful, but since you’re as stubborn as Lucifer, I know you won’t rest until you do.” He leaned forward and set his elbows on the desk, steepling his fingers before him. “It begins well before the snippet you stumbled across. Lucifer and Arol had long disagreed about the politics of Hell. After centuries of muted conflict, it had come to blows, Arol fleeing the Demonarch for the relative peace of Earth, as it was at the time. For years he wandered, living amongst the humans until he found a cause to settle in a tiny village in the Siberian tundra. That reason was your mother.”

I felt my stomach tighten, a sourness churning inside, but I pushed it aside so I could pay attention to what Baalth was telling me.

“The two were married under the auspices of the village elders, and you were born a short time after.” He smiled. “You were much cuter back then.”

“Azrael told me Arol wasn’t my father,” I said, ignoring Baalth’s attempt to lighten the mood.

“Azrael lies.”

My guts grumbled and twisted like roiling serpents. A sick knot formed as I listened.

“That angel was a major part of the reason your mother ended up dead. Though Arol had formed a family and left the politics of Hell behind, he could not let his feud with Lucifer go. It ate at him until he was forced to do something or be devoured by it. This is where Azrael comes in.

“Unable to defeat his brother on his own, Arol recruited Azrael to help bring Lucifer down. Arol would gain control of Hell, deposing his brother. Azrael would win God’s favor and that of the new lord of the underworld. Not bad friends to have. But Lucifer learned of their plan to overthrow him and confronted Azrael. The angel was cowed and confessed all that Arol had in store. Lucifer bound the angel to him and kept him close.”

I stood and took a deep breath, pacing in front of the desk, hoping to ease the strange feelings that had come over me as I listened to Baalth.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Nerves, I think.” Despite wanting to hear every sordid detail, I wasn’t sure I was up for it, but I knew better than to stop Baalth when he was so willing to tell me. “Go on, I’m fine.”

He nodded. “Furious at his brother for daring to continue the conflict he believed settled, Lucifer struck first. Seeing no point in killing Arol, for the truly dead do not suffer, your uncle thought it best to wound your father where it would hurt him the most; in his heart. Lucifer turned Charlotte away from Arol, and set the people of his new home against him. While your mother and you were hidden, your father was chased from the village and left on his own once more.

“Never a kind man, not even to Charlotte, Arol laid waste to the village and set it alight, his fury stealing the last of his reason from him. He vowed to ruin Lucifer and go to war with Hell. Meanwhile, your mother learned of what he’d done to her village and family, and forswore their marriage. Grateful to Lucifer for having saved you both from the cruelties of Arol, she fell in love with him…after a time. Feeling obligated to protect the two of you from his brother, Lucifer saw to your protection personally. It was during this time that he learned what Arol had seen in your mother, and he too fell for her charms.”