“I’m trying to save the fucking world, Moriah! I’m trying to…” Christ, maybe he should just kill her? This was like trying to argue with a religious zealot. But the thought of cutting her down now, helpless, made him nauseous. “I don’t want to kill anyone, Moriah. I don’t want to kill you. And if I’d thought you wouldn’t have killed me on the spot, I’d have helped you fight the rider from the getgo.”
Laoko sighed, shaking her head. “She killed Ericia. Her group killed mine. I’d say we should have left her to die, but…”
“But?” David asked.
“But, she is an angel. Azoryev or not, she is an angel.” Nodding, Laoko leaned back and closed her eyes, horns against the tombstone. Not much of an explanation, but considering she knew about Azoryev and stuff, she apparently had reasons.
“I am dead anyway,” Moriah said. “Missing a wing, and hellfire and axe cleaved my chest. I am fodder. Strike me down and spare me the misery, if you are truly so merciful, unmarked.”
He threw up his hands. “Fucking sweet jesus fucking christ, Moriah! Do all angels talk like this? You sound like a kid who read too many fantasy books growing up.”
“… what?”
“I’m not going to kill you. I spared your life before, and I’ll spare it again. Fuck, I wish I could have done something to save the other angels but at the time I kinda thought they’d do to us what Shaul and Tzipporah — yes, I remember their names — would have done and just cut us down the moment we let our guard down. I am trying to do the right thing. I am trying to save the god damn fucking world, and the last thing me or Mia would ever want to do is kill an angel! I don’t want to kill demons! I don’t want to kill remnants! The only reason I am making this journey is because I was told it’d save the world, and considering the source and what happened at the spire, it might be true.”
Moriah glared at him, but thank fuck something went ‘click’ behind her eyes.
“Source?”
“A woman, same as the rider. Same gear, same fire wings. Know her?”
Moriah’s eyes fell, but only for a second. “Her. I… know of her.”
“Can I trust her?”
“I do not know.”
“Well, something is definitely up. I shouldn’t be in Hell, and neither should Mia. That Greg fucker definitely should have been, but he was unmarked, too, so I dunno what the fuck is going on with this whole unmarked thing. All I know is, I should keep going.” He got up and paced, eyes down, hands squeezing at nothing at his sides. “Laoko, there’s no food out here?”
“No. No demons. No souls.”
“Not even a forbidden fruit?”
“No. Ericia had to travel quick and far to find you a meal, and I am sure she was lucky. We do not have that luxury.”
“Fuck. Fuck fuck.” Why couldn’t things just go smooth? “Too many people have died today.”
Laoko laughed. “Have they? You sound as if this butchery is not common.”
“It isn’t for us,” Moriah said. She’d probably meant to add some venom, but her head was too heavy, and it gently thudded back against the tombstone. “I lost friends today. Angels I would defend to the death. I lost… more than friends the day I met you, unmarked.”
At a certain point, there’s only so much bullshit a man can take. David stood up, grabbed the angel by her good arm, and lifted. Anyone else would have screamed, but the angel bit down her agony and glared at David as he brought her to her feet. Heavy, even without her armor, but he managed.
“I died in my cereal.”
“What?”
“I died in my cereal. My sister and me, we were university students, and the only sin we’d ever committed was we were probably a bit hornier than the average student. We were sitting down for breakfast in our dorm, when we both died. Randomly. We felt pain through our bodies, and we died in our seats in seconds. I face-planted in my cereal.”
The angel glowered. “Is there a point to this story?”
“I died in my cereal! I was just a random nobody, just some guy trying to get through university so I can make video games and masturbate to weird hentai for the rest of my life. I fell over, dead, and wound up on the stairs to Heaven. Then a fucking portal sucked me and my sister up and now she and I, separated by a fucking canyon, are trying to do what’s right, get to the Forgotten Place, and save the world! Save you, save us, save everyone! Invisible monsters are hunting me! The rider is hunting me! Demons want to either eat me or use me. And now angels are trying to kill me, because their bosses said they should. But no one knows what the fuck is going on. No one has explained anything. I’m just a random fuck and you’re acting like I’m some horrible fucking villain that deserves to die for the horrible things I’ve done. All I’ve done is protect me and protect these wonderful girls who’ve protected me and fed me! Fuck me, I would do anything to cooperate with you fucking angel assholes, but you’re convinced I have to be an enemy when I haven’t even done anything! I died. In my fucking. Cereal!”
No one said a thing. Moriah stared at him like he was yelling at her in a different language.
“I didn’t want to kill Tzipporah,” he said. “But Shaul? I was in the cathedral when he flew in there and slaughtered those Cainites. He enjoyed every moment. Full-on psychopath behavior. I’ve seen bloodthirsty demons who enjoyed killing less than that guy. And when he stabbed Dao, killing him was the only option. But you know what?” He leaned in close up to the tall angel, and returned her glare. “I didn’t want to kill him, either. But I had to. I had to, and these demons are trying to help me save the world. Even they know other demons are probably going to be more hindrance than help. That’s why we’re trying to sneak our way around all of god damn Hell. So I’m going to do everything I can to keep them alive, because they’re important to me and I’ll kill a psychopathic angel over letting them die any day of the fucking week!”
It took effort to not punch her in the face, and he squeezed his fists at his sides until they ached.
“So I’m not going to kill you, Moriah. And if I can stop you from bleeding to death, I will.” He gestured to Caera. “Can she ride you?”
Caera rolled her eye and sauntered over. “David, you really are going to get yourself killed, and all of us along with you, you know.”
“Maybe. But with everything happening, I’m gambling on cooperating or we all die.”
“Angels, cooperating with demons? Not going to happen.”
“It can happen,” Laoko said. Again, everyone looked at her, and again all she did was subtly smile.
Moriah shook her head. “I refuse–”
“Shut the fuck up.” David stepped aside for Caera, and the tiger lay on her stomach beside the angel. “We’re going to save your life, whether you want us to or not.”
“You’re taking me prisoner?”
He dialed up the sarcasm to eleven. “Yes, I’m taking you prisoner.” And back to normal. “You damn well fucking know that’s not what I’m doing! I’m going to save your fucking life! And maybe, just maybe, we can figure out what’s going on in this gigantic fucking mess!” Breathe. Breathe. “Dao, can you help her?”
Grumbling, Jes let her girlfriend go, and Daoka took the angel’s arm. Moriah resisted, but that lasted a whole second before exhaustion dragged her down onto Caera’s back. At least she managed to sit and not pass out.
“I know we’re trying to get to Timaeus,” David said, “but we should make a detour to a hunting ground, Laoko.”
“The closest hunting ground from here is where Ericia went. We’ve moved since then. It will take a day to reach it.”
“Then we take a day. You need food. Moriah needs food. And fuck me, I need food.”
“You ate so much already.”
David shrugged. “I don’t know why, but whenever I use my… powers…”–just saying the word made him want to gag–“I get super hungry.”
“Powers.” The tetrad eyed him.
“Hey, don’t give me that. You breathed hellfire!”