Richard Kadrey - Kill the dead

I stare at Marshal Julie for a moment and lower the burning sword to my side.

"You're Sub Rosa," I say.

She nods.

"We try to be like them. To have a few eyes everywhere, like them," she says, inclining her head toward Wells and Aelita.

I look down at the gun in her hand. The steel barrel is black and cold. No trace of warmth there. She didn't fire. When she sees that I've seen, she shakes her head.

"I wouldn't hurt you. You're one of us."

"No. I'm not."

That scares her, but it's not what I intended.

"You should go now," I tell her.

"No she shouldn't."

I turn and there's Wells with a big.50 Desert Eagle pointed at my head. He gives me his Clint Eastwood stare. He's scared to death, but disciplined enough that it doesn't matter. He'd kill me without hesitation or regret if I let him.

He says, "If she's a pixie spy, she can rot in prison alive and in Hell right next to you when she's dead. You killed my people and she just stood there. Fuck both of you."

I'm running at him with the Gladius at throat level, but Aelita is already moving to him and she's closer. She's as fast as I am, so while she's a blur to others, to me she looks like a normal woman walking to a man and plucking a gun from his hand. She holds the pistol with the barrel up to indicate she isn't going to shoot. I stop, but keep the Gladius high.

In real time, human time, Marshal Wells looks at his empty hand and starts. He turns, looking for his weapon.

Aelita shows him that she has it. He doesn't say a word. His gaze is as puzzled as it is wounded.

"We're done here," she tells him.

"What?" shouts Wells.

She tosses the gun aside and points at me.

"He can manifest the Gladius. How is that possible? The answer is: it's not. But there he is and there it is. This is a divine sign."

"We can't let him walk away. You said that with the others gone, stopping him was the most important thing."

Aelita smiles. She goes to Wells, puts a hand on his cheek.

"Things have changed. Look at him. He has no purpose. He won't survive what's to come. Soon enough, he'll be back in Hell, where he belongs. The other rogue angels were the dangerous ones and they're being dealt with."

I move with angelic speed and grab Wells. Hold the Gladius in front of his face.

"What about the other angels? What have you done?"

"This day has been a long time coming. I know that the marshal explained it all to you. I heard him tell you the story. The one set in Persia about the troubled man who went away and left his family behind. But his shadow remained and became head of the house and took care of them. I look at you, an Abomination with the Gladius, and I know for certain that our Father has truly abandoned us. But I am the shadow on the wall. I will become the Father and I will never leave my family behind. The troubled Father has lost his way and must be dealt with: mercifully, lovingly, but he must be dealt with."

"Where are Kinski and Lucifer?"

"Alive as far as I know, but they'll both be dead soon enough. One might already be. Who knows? Only one will die by my hand."

I press the Gladius closer to Wells's throat. The flame singes the hair on the side of his head. Instinctively he tries to move away, but I don't let him.

"Which one are you going to kill?"

"Go to your master's room and see for yourself."

I toss Wells across the parking lot and charge Aelita. She manifests her sword, swings it easily, and meets my blade. The jolt throws me back onto the Beamer's trunk, where I leave a Stark-size dent. I roll off onto the ground, seeing stars.

"Just because you have a Gladius doesn't make you a true angel. It merely confirms that you're a freak."

Aelita helps Wells to his feet. He looks like he still wants to put a bullet in my head, but he'd have to be able to stand up on his own to do that and he won't be doing much of anything for the rest of the night.

Aelita says, "Stark, I know you won't believe me when I say thank you, but I mean it sincerely. The scales have fallen from my eyes. You've opened the Glory Road and shown me that it was finally time to act. I'll always be grateful to you for that. Bless you."

She guides Wells back to the lead van and helps him into the passenger seat. He's limping and holding one arm across his chest. I hold on to the Beamer's bumper and haul myself to my feet. My Gladius has gone out, so I pull the Smith amp; Wesson. It's empty, but still looks intimidating.

"I'm not going to let you leave and kill an angel."

Aelita smiles at me. Exactly the kind of beneficent smile you'd want from one of God's chosen ones.

"I'm done with this world, you, and the fallen angels who wallow with you in humanity's filth. Sin, destroy, and corrupt this world to your heart's content. I'm called to something more beautiful than you can imagine. I will become the Father and I will take care of my family. But before I do, I'm going home to kill God."

Aelita closes Wells's door, goes around to the driver's side, starts the engine, and drives away. I DRAG AKI from the BMW and push him ahead of me into the lobby. He limps and whines and I'm seriously thinking of hurting him some more, but the Chateau's lobby shuts him up.

The place is a meat market. The streets looked bad, but seeing the remains of what must be twenty to thirty people in an enclosed space is shocking even by the standards of what I saw Downtown. The scene is made merry because groups of zeds are still working on the human leftovers. They notice Aki and me coming in, drop the femurs and livers and brains they'd been snacking on, and come for us. I send out a "Sit, Stay" order with the Druj and they go back to eating the hotel's guests.

I spot a metal cane by the check-in desk and hand it to Aki.

"Use this and be quiet."

Before we head up to Lucifer's room, I find a janitor's closet in an alcove on the far side of the lobby. I fill a trash bag with duct tape, a gallon bottle of liquid soap, and all the lightbulbs I can find. I push Aki out of the closet and over to the elevators.

I say, "Here, kitty kitty," and the Drifters come to us, but under my control this time. I shove Aki to the back of the elevator, herd the drifters inside, and squeeze in last. I hit the button for Lucifer's floor and look over my shoulder at Aki. He's squeezing his eyes closed so hard, I'm surprised they don't pop.

We get off on the third floor. I leave the zeds in the hall and take Aki through the grandfather clock into Lucifer's room. Even though he's in considerable pain, Aki is impressed. He might be Sub Rosa, but he's only seen hick hoodoo before.

"This is amazing," he says, limping around to look over Lucifer's room.

I point to a sturdy wooden chair with arms.

"Sit."

Aki comes over slowly and sits.

"You don't have to do this. I'm not exactly going to run off. What if those things get in here?"

"Don't worry. They will. But not now."

I take away his cane and toss it across the room. I take my time duct-taping him to the chair, but I'm not thinking about it very hard. I'm wondering why Lucifer hasn't shown up or yelled at us from another room. The suite is big, but I'm not trying to be quiet. He must have heard us come in.

When the kid is secure, I drag the chair into the middle of the room onto the hard marble floor and leave him.

I go into the bedroom carefully. I have the knife in my hand and keep my head low. Even though it's dark, each object is perfectly outlined. Still, the two crumpled piles of something on the floor aren't distinct enough to see in detail. I find the light switch and throw it.

There are two bodies at the foot of Lucifer's bed. The tailor and Dr. Allwissend. Each has been shot three times. Twice in the chest and once in the head. A triple tap. It's a little excessive considering that they're a glorified seamstress and a sawbones. There's no sign of Lucifer except for a bloody patch on the bed.