“I nuked it,” I said shortly. It seemed like as good an explanation as any. “Tell me what happened here. I was in the basement.”
“I don’t know. I was in my office when the building started to shake, and then I heard the screaming coming through the vents. I went into the hallway just as a bunch of other monsters came out of the elevators.”
“There are more of them?” I asked, my magical senses on high alert.
“At least a dozen. I don’t even know how they all crammed into the elevator, to tell you the truth.”
“What happened to them?”
“J.B. Bennett and some other guy I’ve never seen before—he must be another Agent from somewhere; he had the biggest wings I’ve ever seen—anyway, they came busting out of the second elevator right after the monsters and started blasting them with magic I’ve never seen before. Kind of like yours. They managed to divert most of the creatures into the stairwell,” he said. “Then a few minutes later that big thing came out of another elevator and came after us.”
There was an unnerving combination of gratitude and suspicion in his eyes, and I thought it prudent to get away before he started asking more questions about my abilities. These people were on edge and they might decide that a burning stake was just the thing for the weirdo Agent with creepy powers.
“Listen, I’m not sure if the building is completely secure, but if you can get an elevator to the first floor, you should be able to get out. I was in the lobby before I came up here and there were no creatures down there. But,” I said, holding up a warning hand as they started to move past me. “Whatever you saw up here, it’s a hundred times worse down there. So be prepared.”
The first Agent nodded and the others bobbed their heads in time.
“Be careful,” I said, and ran to the stairwell. Now that the shock of the dead bodies and Ramuell was over, I was petrified with fear for J.B. and Gabriel. I thought that Gabriel could probably handle himself—he was half nephilim, after all—but he would have to watch after J.B., who was just a puny human with an Agent’s magic.
The stairs were coated in blood and there were unidentifiable organic bits everywhere. It looked like one of the monsters had exploded. The air was a strange mixture of sulfur, ozone, apple pie—ah, there’s Gabriel—and pine tar. I hurried up the steps as quickly as I could, tracing the path of the battle by following the trail of blood and gore.
As I climbed I had time to calm down and think. I was confused by the smell of sulfur since Ramuell hadn’t made it any farther than the last floor. The smell could mean only one other thing—demons. How had they managed to get inside? The building was warded against magical intruders. There are a lot of supernatural creatures—witches, faeries and the like—that would love to have foreknowledge of certain deaths, and it was in our interest to keep them out.
Of course, I thought, the existence of demons isn’t exactly common knowledge. J.B. hadn’t believed they existed until one of them nearly filleted him. Maybe the wards hadn’t stipulated the repellence of demons.
And had Ramuell purposely brought the demons with him, or had they simply hitched a ride when they saw him busting into the building? Ramuell had obviously been looking for me, but why would demons attack one of death’s regional offices?
The carnage grew worse as I climbed, until my boots were ankle deep in monster bits, and I clung to the railing so that I wouldn’t fall flat on my face.
“This is stupid,” I said, and let my wings out.
I rose through the well between the winding staircase until I reached the rooftop. My wings tucked neatly behind my back, I kicked open the door and rushed out, prepared for an attack.
I did not expect to see J.B. blasting magic at a demon with some kind of wooden rod. I also didn’t expect to find him winning. As with the staircase, there were demon parts everywhere.
As I watched, J.B. seemed to focus his power and gave one last strong blast from the rod. It hit the demon squarely in the chest and the thing burst into monster confetti. J.B. panted, wiping blood from his face with his sleeve. I ran to his side and identified the pine-tar smell from the hallway. He reeked of it.
“What happened? Where the hell is Gabriel? And what’s that thing you’re playing with?” I asked.
“I told you that you don’t know everything about my powers.”
“Fine. I was wrong. So what’s up with your powers, then?”
“Let’s just say that my mother is about as interesting as your father. I’ll tell you a story about her sometime. And I’m perfectly well, thanks for asking, Black,” he said, his face pale and drawn and dotted with small burn marks. From the demonic blood, no doubt. “I’ve just taken out a platoon of demons by myself, but why should you care?”
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
“No, but ...”
“Then I need to find Gabriel. Where did he go?” I was worried. Gabriel had sworn to my father that he wouldn’t leave my side, and I knew that Gabriel took his vows very seriously. He wouldn’t have left me behind unless he had to.
“He was chasing that asshole from your front lawn, the one who tried to kill me,” J.B. said.
“Antares? He was here?”
That was worrisome. That was more than worrisome. It meant that Antares had tracked either J.B. or myself here, and likely for reasons of demonic vengeance. That meant that all those Agents had been slaughtered on our account. I already had Greenwitch’s death on my soul. How many more people would be killed because they had been caught in the cross fire of a war they could never understand?
“Tell me exactly where they went.”
“Black, you can’t be thinking of going after them. That Gabriel guy looked like he had things pretty well under control. What is he, anyway? He isn’t any Agent, not with powers like that.”
“Just tell me where the hell they went, Jake!” I shouted, and J.B. backed away from me a little.
“You’ve got that freaky star-eye thing going again,” he said.
“Now!” Even in times of crisis, J.B. Bennett was the one person in the world who could push my buttons and make me act like a toddler.
“Antares took off flying and Gabriel followed him. They went toward the lake.”
“Right. I’m after them, and I’ll check in with you later,” I said, and then remembered something. “J.B., have you seen the lobby?”
“Yes,” he said grimly. “If there is anyone left in the building, I’ll coordinate cleanup and . . . disposal.”
“I told some people to stay in the Hall of Records until you came for them. They should still be there, waiting.”
He nodded, his eyes far away, probably already thinking about the Agent pieces that needed to be collected and returned to their families, if possible. I hated to leave him to deal with this alone, but I had to find Gabriel. I launched from the roof and flew toward the lake, my eyes searching for any sign of Gabriel or Antares.
I crossed Michigan and then over Millennium Park, and just as I was about to fly over the yacht club at Monroe I looked down and noticed that traffic was backed up on Lake Shore Drive. It was unusual for traffic to be that bad in the middle of the day. I panicked, thinking that Gabriel and Antares had taken their battle to the street and that collateral damage was piling up even as I searched for them.
Then I noticed the two cars snarled together in the right lane, and the ambulance, and the blue police lights flashing. And I remembered that I had a pickup on Lake Shore Drive at two thirty-seven. I glanced at my watch. It was already two forty-five.