Richard Kadrey: Kill the dead

"If you're not my father…?"

"Uriel is your father, you imbecile. But you always knew that. I know your mind, James. You liked the idea that I might be your father because it fit your image of yourself and would let you continue to cultivate your anger. You have to stop fighting yourself if you're going to survive what's coming."

My mind ices over for a second. I shake it off. Now's not the time to think about any of that.

"If I'm not your son, why does this come down to Mason and me? Is Mason your little monster, too?"

Lucifer winces and touches his side. There's blood on his hand when he pulls it back, thick and so dark it's almost purple.

"Hardly. I've had a million children over the centuries and they're all like Mason. Even when I've had them with good, smart, kind women, they always came out the same. And no, none of them are nephilim. Not the way you are. Whatever the deformity in my blood that produces such little bastards also makes my progeny human. Powerful humans, but nothing more than mad, cruel little Caligulas. They're more the way the Church has painted me than I ever was. Isn't that funny? I wanted to keep this transition in the family, but none of them was ever worthy to take the throne. That was truly humbling. I'd been God's favorite. More than Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, or even your father. But I couldn't produce a single heir who wasn't a miserable piece of scheming human excrement."

"What you're really asking me to do is clean up your mess."

"No. I'm going home to clean up my mess. I'm giving you a chance to save your world."

"This isn't my world any more than it's yours. I've changed and everything is different. Nothing is solid. The world is all motes of light. Random nodes vibrating on long strings of existence. Fireflies in a jar. Who could love that?"

I almost want a cigarette. Stark screams in my head. I have to concentrate to keep him locked in the dark.

"I think about the Mithras more and more. I'd solve everyone's problem by releasing the first fire and burning down the whole universe."

"I tried that with Heaven, remember? Talk to your father before doing anything rash. Unless you want to be exactly like Mason."

I look over at Ritchie.

"What are we going to do with him?"

"Nothing. He's dead."

"And you don't even have his soul. He's on his way to the Jackal's Backbone."

"I'm perfectly happy to let him wander and rot for a while. I'll have his soul eventually."

"You can't go back to the Chateau. I'm using your room to finish things with Koralin Geistwald."

He shakes his head and tries to stand. He doesn't make it.

"I wasn't going back there anyway. I need to return below and ready things for my departure. Do you think you might take me through the Room? It's the quickest way and I'd like to rest before leaving Pandemonium. The elevator is out of service and it's a long walk up to Father's place."

"The Druj Ammun controls the Drifters. Is it true it will control Hellions?"

"I expect so."

"That could be a nice weapon if I decided to take you up on your idea."

"It could be, but don't count on it. Magical weapons have a way of revealing a fatal flaw at exactly the moment you need them the most. The Druj is powerful, but don't ever get dependent on a single weapon. Who knows? You might not be able to keep it."

"What do you mean?"

"You figure it out, nephilim."

"Am I still being trained?"

He pushes himself up and manages to stand this time. I put out a hand to steady him.

"Consider it a last homework assignment before graduation."

"Hold on to my arm and I'll take you through the Room."

He pulls me back.

"Don't leave the athame lying there. Just because you shouldn't rely on weapons doesn't mean you shouldn't have as many as possible."

I get the athame and slip it in my coat next to the black blade.

"That goes for my armor, too. At some point you'll need it. If Mason has it, you'll have to take it from him."

"I'll only need it if I go back to Hell and I'm not. Ever."

"No. Of course you aren't."

"Let's take you home, old man."

"Thank you for this, James."

"I'm not James."

"I know. But I liked James better. I hope I get to see him again someday." I LET HIM through the door, but I don't go in with him. He's on his own Downtown. I honestly don't know if I want him to make it to Heaven or not. Like me, he'll have to rise or fall on his own.

Only one of the angels will die by my hand, Aelita said. She was coming here, so she had to have meant Lucifer, right? But she didn't come.

I dial Kasabian. No answer. I dial Kinski and the call goes to voice mail. Shit. I should feel something more than this. Fear. Rage. But I don't. I just see the microscopic elements of the universe vibrating. The clockwork wheels turning behind the stars.

I can go and look for them or I can go back and deal with Koralin. I suppose Lucifer was right about some of the things he said about me. Especially now with these angel's eyes, ruthlessness seems like good common sense.

I step through a shadow and back into the hotel lobby. A few of the hotel guests, who were bitten but not completely eaten, are awake. Adorable baby zeds. I herd them into the elevator, punch three, and take a few of them into Lucifer's hotel suite with me.

Aki's eyes go wide when he sees us.

I tear the tape off his mouth, cut one of his hands free, and give him my phone.

"Don't worry. The Drifters won't bite. For now. Call Koralin. Tell her where you are and that her prodigal son is going to be tonight's all-you-can-eat buffet if she doesn't get her ass down here fast."

When he's done, I tape him back up and go through a shadow to Vidocq and Allegra's place. I need to get things ready. KORALIN STEPS THROUGH the clock and into the room slowly, like she's expecting a firing squad.

I turned off most of the lights, just leaving on the ones that illuminate Aki and the area by the sofas.

She spots Aki.

"Rainier, darling, are you all right? Has he hurt you?"

"I didn't hurt him, but the genius shot a hole in his own foot."

She starts to go to him, but I cut her off.

"He isn't taking visitors and he isn't Rainier. Don't call him that."

"He's my son. I'll call him whatever I like."

"Your son is dead. So's your daughter. I know. I killed her."

She looks at me for a moment like she doesn't believe me and then turns back to Aki.

"That was a terrible thing for you to do. Still, she was lost to me a long time ago."

"It's funny you should say that. You're the last thing she talked about. She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry. She said that you scared her and her father and she wanted to get you back for it, but now she was sorry. What was she so sorry for? Taking the Druj?"

"She was always her father's daughter. They were just alike. Always weak and worried. Always apologizing."

"But not Rainier."

"Rainier was a good boy. He was strong like his mother. He understood how the world was and what was necessary for the family."

"He was that important and you let him die. Take you off the mother-of-the-year list. What happened to him?"

She walks back and forth, looking past me at Aki. But she doesn't try to go to him.

"It was an accident. Rainier was reckless and headstrong, like all children. He went to a chemical plant and stole a large amount of ammonal, aluminum, and ammonium nitrate. He was going to use it to blow up the Springheel home. Can you imagine? It would have been such a merry thing, ending that ancient family line not with sorcery, but with something so mundane. But Rainier didn't know how to properly handle the material. There must have been a spark or a flame. Perhaps one of his witless friends lit a cigarette. There was an explosion. That was the true tragedy of his death. It was so common and petty as to be obscene. It was a human death."