“I’m not surprised. I think she’s got something going with Mason, too. An angel’s been sneaking in and out of Hell, coming in from way out in the badlands where even Hellions don’t go. Who else is crazy enough to deal with Mason but her?”
“They’re the ones that probably sent the Qlipots or whatever they’re called. But why go after Hunter? And why get me involved? Maybe they’re trying to railroad me into a trap.”
“Were you just trying to say ‘Qliphoth’? Look at you. You learned a big-boy word.”
“Aelita can’t have hit God already. That would shake the whole universe. They’re not ready to invade Heaven, are they?”
“No way. Generals are still arguing over plans. Troops are still coming in from all over Hell. No way they’re ready.”
“Why would she be tiptoeing down to Hell?”
“Mason just got hold of something that’s got him pretty excited. It’s big, too. Like an oversized gold coffin carved with all kinds of binding runes and hexes. Aelita might have smuggled something out of Heaven. Maybe a weapon.”
“Or something to help Mason make a new key to the Room of Thirteen Doors?”
“More likely something like the Druj Ammun. A passkey to a secret back door in Heaven. She’s supposed to have allies upstairs, so it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“What if she didn’hol didnt come straight from Heaven? If she sent that demon after Hunter, maybe she has more demons. Could she and Mason be raising a demon army?”
Kasabian smirks.
“Even Lucifer couldn’t do that. Training demons is like herding cats on acid.”
My gut is churning and I really want to hit something.
“This is all on me. I got too clever. I should have killed Mason when I had the chance. That proves my theory that thinking’s overrated.”
“Get a grip. We can rule out Mason having a key. He’d have used it by now. He’d have come back himself or sent a Hellion hit squad. No. This is something else.”
“It’s got to be the thing I’m too late to stop. I need to talk to the Sentenzas again. I freaked out and left last time when I realized that Hunter is TJ’s kid brother.”
“TJ? Our TJ? That’s fucking insidious.”
“I missed something with them. I’ll go back in the morning. You keep watching Downtown. Consider it self-defense. If Mason gets back here, it isn’t just me he’s going to snuff.”
“Now you’ve piqued my interest.”
I think about things for a minute.
“You know, you could have told me some of this before. And saved me a lot of bullshit time.”
“Right. I never know how you’re going to react to information. I don’t need you going batshit and throwing me out or pulling a gun.”
It’s true. I’ve thrown the little weasel out and I’ve taken a few potshots at him. It’s not like I didn’t have my reasons. He was spying on me for Lucifer, and then there was that time he tried to kill me. But that was a while ago, and since then the angel has been whispering sweet nothings in my ear about not killing people when they get annoying. And it was before I figured that I need all the friends I can get in this world. Not that Kasabian is exactly a friend, but he has good taste in movies and we both want Mason drawn and quartered.
He scuttles over to the set and turns it back on.
“If you’re going to shoot me, I want to finish my movie.”
On the monitor, the two vaqueros are playing the Mayan ball game. They’re slow and clumsy, falling all over each other.
“All right, man. Sure. Mea culpa. On occasion I’ve been known to express myself in uncouth ways, but I’m on the wagon for pulling guns on people I know.&000ple I k#x201D;
He turns his eyes from the monitor and looks at me for a minute.
“So that’s my apology?”
“I guess so.”