Brimborion opens his mouth to scream but the dark flows in and he chokes on it.
I move my hand up to where his arm connects with his shoulder and say, “Here.”
The teeth spin. The drilling starts. Brimborion tries to wriggle away but the tentacles have him and the black vines wrap around his head, stifling his screams.
When the drilling stops, he looks at the arm, expecting to see blood and bone. There’s nothing. The skin isn’t even broken. He rubs at a few faint scratches. The skin collapses under his fingers like papier-mâché. That’s his cue to scream. He claws at the hollow arm, pulling dry dead flesh off brittle bones. Insects pour out of him. He’s ripped his arm back all the way to the shoulder by the time he understands what’s happening. He tries to shake off the insects but they’re dug in too deep. Dry bones in his arm snap and it falls where it’s snatched out of the air by a tentacle that draws it down into the void. He looks at me as the tentacles hold him, giving the hungry insects time to finish their work. It doesn’t take long. When Brimborion falls, his body is as dry and empty as a locust husk.
I let the dark go and it flows back into me like it was never there.
“I hope I never have to see that again,” says Semyazah.
“You could see that?”
He nods.
“Enough. Like through a fog.”
Bill says, “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
“You still think I have a good side?”
“There’s a search party out for it but I’m optimistic they’ll turn up something.”
Semyazah goes over to Brimborion’s body. Touches it tentatively with his boot, like he’s not sure its real.
“If only you took Lucifer’s other duties as seriously as you take killing your enemies.”
“Which duties? Leading spooky rituals or pretending I love pie charts? What I’m good at is killing sons of bitches who want to kill me. How long have you Hellions been trying it? Nearly twelve years now. What anniversary is that? Pewter? Shit? Napalm?”
Bill sits on the bed. Bounces up and down on his ass like a customer in a mattress outlet. He fingers the blanket and sheets. Semyazah gives Bill a look but he doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
“And now you’ll go home and leave us without a Lucifer and the city will burn. Hellions and damned souls will perish but you’ll have what you want and isn’t that all that matters?”
“I can’t babysit you assholes forever. I have things to do. But I’m coming back. Samael used to leave all the time and he always came back.”
“This was his home and we knew he’d always return. What incentive do you have to come back?”
“None, but I’m coming back anyway. Not to save you. Hell, most of you want to die anyway, so they don’t care. But I’m coming back because there’s souls down here I care about. I won’t let Hell fall apart again.”
“I expect we’ll see.”
He holsters his gun and I say a silent thanks. I don’t want to get into a fight with the one general that can stand the sight of me. And I really don’t want to go home with holes in my face.
“I’m taking the peepers with me. If there’s an emergency or you just get lonely, leave a note on the desk in the library.”
“That’s very reassuring.”
I motion for Bill to get up, reach between the mattress and the box spring, and pull out a full Glock clip. I eject the clip of blanks and slap in the real one. Out of habit I start to tuck the gun in the waistband of my pants but stop. I look at Semyazah.
“How much of this shit did you see coming and didn’t let me in on?”
“Marchosias isn’t a surprise but I didn’t know it would happen so soon. As for Vetis, he was a surprise. And certainly not the rise of Deumos and her church. You’ve changed the very nature of Hell in the last couple of days, do you know that?”
“You’re really worried about Hell’s survival.”
“This place is my home more than Heaven ever was.”
“That’s why I’m putting you in charge while I’m gone.”