Soul Trade

29.

Victoria Station was the most welcome sight Pete had ever set eyes on. Full of people and movement, just normal people going about their day, the place was unbelieveably soothing. She had missed the crowds of her city, and the ebb and flow of the Black that, while not comfortable, was at least familiar.

Jack was phoning Lawrence to meet them with Lily when Pete became aware of another presence, like a shadow falling across her face.

“Save the day again, did you?” Belial said. “You’re getting to be a proper little superhero, Petunia.”

Jack started as he saw the demon standing between them all at once, his slim form slotting neatly into the space. “Fuck,” he said. “I hate it when you do that.”

“Leave,” Pete said. “I told you we were done talking.”

“Oh, what we talked about holds truer than ever,” said Belial. “But lovely as you are, Petunia, I never did get to the point of my little visit in Overton. That bit concerns your knight in shining hair bleach.”

“You two talked? In Overton?” Jack’s eyes narrowed, and Pete couldn’t tell if he was angrier with Belial or her.

“I was going to tell you,” she said. “But it did kick off just a bit right after I saw him.” She just thanked her lucky stars that Margaret was getting food at one of the cafes that lined the main concourse, and she didn’t have to see Belial in the flesh. No child needed that in their nightmares.

Jack shot Belial the bird. “Fuck off,” he said, with only a hint of annoyance. Belial was terrifying, but he was also oddly irritating when he was right there, in your face, talking his usual line of shit. Pete empathized with Jack’s urge to swat the demon off him like a chatty house fly.

“Aren’t you even interested to hear what would bring me up from the comforts of Hell to speak with you? Because let’s face it, Jack, you’re not a font of witty conversation on your best day.”

“No,” Jack grumbled, shutting his eyes again. “Or, fuck off.”

Belial tsked and turned his gaze on Pete. “How about you, luv? You’re interested, aren’t you? You know that I know what I’m talking about.”

“If we listen, will you leave us alone?” Pete sighed. Belial cracked his knuckles and grinned at them.

“So it turns out being a Prince of Hell isn’t all torturing underlings with pliers and massages from nubile succubi,” said Belial. “Turns out, there’s a bit of a scuffle down in the Pit at the moment.”

“What a shock,” Jack grumbled. “Treacherous cunts turning on one another. Amazing turn of events.”

“Why should we care if somebody is marching with placards against you?” Pete asked Belial.

“Because this particular treacherous cunt doesn’t just have his eye on Hell,” Belial said. “Ambitious little fucker wants the whole pie.”

“Like any one demon could rule the Black,” Jack muttered. “Most of you can’t even manage to get off your arses and leave Hell.”

“Not the Black,” Belial said, and for the first time his voice was a cold blade against Pete’s neck that sent an involuntary shudder through her. “The whole world. Daylight, dead side, probably even the in-between. All of it.” He stood and straightened his tie. “I’m not about to let him upset my apple cart. And having the crow-mage on my side would ensure that.”

Jack snorted a laugh. “Yeah, me work with you voluntarily? What’d be in it for me?”

Pete saw the irritation flick across Belial’s face, a weirdly human expression that made her slightly sick to her stomach. “You may not care beyond your next pint and wank,” said Belial. “But you’re going to have to live in the aftermath.”

“Same question,” Jack said. “I don’t owe you shite, mate. Quite the other way around, after I did you that favor with Abbadon.”

“You know what’s coming,” said Belial, and Pete felt the Black vibrate all around them, saw shadows quake at the corner of her vision as the demon’s power washed over her. “You both know. The end, Jack. The full stop, the period at the end of the sentence. The Morrigan will march across the burnt face of the world, and you’ll be the dead man riding at the head of her army. It’s inevitable, and you’ve always known it.”

“Fuck off,” Jack said, but his voice was barely a whisper. Pete wrapped her arms around herself as Belial’s shadow lengthened and the temperature dropped.

“I can offer you a way out,” Belial said. “You help me, I’ll help you get out from under the Hag’s claws.”

“You think we’re stupid?” Pete blurted. “If you really knew how to help Jack out with the Morrigan why didn’t you dangle it before?”

Belial shrugged. “I never needed you before, Petunia. Was you lot who needed me.” He worried his ruby cufflinks with his black claws. “It’s a good bargain, crow-mage. It’s one of the best bargains I’ve ever made, and I’ve been making them a very long time.”

“So,” Jack said slowly. He’d sat up, and his crystal eyes were fixed on the demon’s obsidian ones. “Let me get this straight. I go to Hell, I help you put a boot up this demon’s arse, and you help me get the Morrigan off my back once and for all?”

“Yes,” Belial said.

“Bullshit,” Jack snapped. “I know you. You’re a tricky bastard, and you’d never make a deal if there wasn’t some third angle working in the back.”

“There is no angle,” Belial retorted. “I want to bargain. What about that is so hard to believe?”

All at once, Pete recognized the emotion on the demon’s face. The fact that there was an emotion to be seen was startling enough, but even more alarming was that it was fear. Demons didn’t feel fear. Even when Abbadon had escaped and Belial’s responsibility was to bring him back, he hadn’t shown fear.

“It’s already happened, hasn’t it?” she asked. “You’re on the outs.”

Belial flared his nostrils. “The other Princes and I aren’t on the best of terms,” he said. “But I still rule. I am still one of the Triumverate.”

Pete looked to Jack. “He’s scared enough to play straight with you,” she said.

Jack sighed. Pete silently willed him to take the bargain. She’d never thought it would come to this, hoping for a bargain with a spawn of the pit, but if it would get Jack out from under the yoke of the Morrigan, then almost anything would be worth it.

“All right,” he said to Belial at last. “You’ve got me.”

“Us,” Pete said. Belial flicked his eyes to her.

“Excuse me?”

Pete stood to face him. When Belial was in his human form, she was nearly as tall as the demon. “You want Jack, you get me, too,” she said. “I’m not leaving him with you again.”

Belial sniffed, as if she were a teenager clinging to her boyfriend’s arm. “Fine,” he said. “Two is as good as one, I suppose. And you, you little harbinger of doom…” He reached out and flicked his fingers across her cheek, before Jack’s growl dissuaded him. “How could I resist?”

The demon walked a few feet away, then glared over his shoulder. “Well?” he said. “What are we waiting for?”

Pete picked up her bag. “Margaret,” she called. “You wait right here, luv, and Lawrence will be ’round to get you in just a moment.”

“Pete…” Margaret said, face crinkling with concern.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Pete said.

She turned to walk with Jack and squeezed his hand with her free one. He didn’t say anything, but he squeezed in return.

They followed the demon, Pete’s heart in her throat, until all she could hear was the beating of it, and the scream of the train whistle as it rumbled from the station, leaving her and Jack behind.