Part I Part 157 (1/2)
I stared at him.
Ca.s.sius smiled again. ”But there is mercy for me, is there not? Forgiveness. Indeed, G.o.d is great.”
I turned away from him again and said, very quietly, ”People like you always mistake compa.s.sion for weakness. Michael and Sanya aren't weak. Fortunately for you, they're good men.”
Ca.s.sius laughed at me.
”Unfortunately for you, I'm not.”
I spun around, swinging the bat as hard as I could, and broke Ca.s.sius's right kneecap.
He screamed in shock and sudden surprise, and went down. Odd crackling sounds came from the joint.
I swung again and broke his right ankle.
Ca.s.sius screamed.
I broke his left knee for him too. And his left ankle. He was thras.h.i.+ng around and screaming a lot, so it took me maybe a dozen swings.
”Stop!” he managed to gasp. ”Stop, stop, stop!”
I kicked him in the mouth to shut him up, stomped his right forearm to the floor, and crushed his hand with another half dozen swings.
I pinned his left arm down the same way, and put the bat on my shoulder. ”Listen to me, you worthless piece of s.h.i.+t. You aren't a victim. You chose to be one of them. You've been serving dark forces your whole life. Freddie Mercury would say Beelzebub has a devil put aside for you.”
”What do you think you're doing?” He gasped. ”You can't...you won't...”
I leaned down and twisted his false priest's collar, half choking him. ”The Knights are good men. I'm not. And I won't lose a second's sleep over killing you.” I shook him with each word, hard enough to rattle his bloodied teeth. ”Where. Is. Nicodemus.”
Ca.s.sius broke, sobbing. His bladder had let go at some point, and the room smelled like urine. He choked and spat out blood and a broken tooth. ”I'll tell.” He gasped. ”Please, don't.”
I let his collar go and straightened. ”Where?”
”I don't know,” he said, cowering away from my eyes. ”He didn't tell me. Meeting him tonight. Was going to meet him tonight. Eight.”
”Meet him where?”
”Airport,” Ca.s.sius said. He started throwing up. I kept his arm pinned, so it mostly went all over himself. ”I don't know exactly where.”
”What is he doing?”
”The curse. He's going to unleash the curse. Use the Shroud. The old man's blood. He has to be moving when he completes the ritual.”
”Why?”
”Curse is a contagion. He has to spread it as far as he can. More exposure to it. Make himself stronger. A-apocalypse.”
I took my foot off of his arm and smashed the motel's phone to pieces with the bat. I found his cell phone and crushed it, too. Then I reached into my pocket and dropped a quarter on the floor near him. ”There's a pay phone on the other side of the parking lot, past a patch of broken gla.s.s. You'd better get yourself an ambulance.” I turned and walked to the door without looking back. ”If I see you again-ever-I'll kill you.”
Michael and Sanya waited for me outside the door. Sanya's face held a certain amount of satisfaction. Michael's expression was grave, worried, his eyes on mine.
”It had to be done,” I said to Michael. My voice sounded cold. ”He's alive. It's more than he deserves.”
”Perhaps,” Michael said. ”But what you did, Harry. It was wrong.”
A part of me felt sick. Another part felt satisfied. I wasn't sure which of them was bigger. ”You heard what he said about s.h.i.+ro. About Susan.”
Michael's eyes darkened, and he nodded. ”It doesn't make it right.”
”No. It doesn't.” I met his eyes. ”Think G.o.d'll forgive me?”
Michael was quiet for a moment, and then his expression softened. He clasped my shoulder and said, ”G.o.d is always merciful.”
”What you did for him was actually quite generous,” Sanya said philosophically. ”Relatively speaking. He might be hurt, but he is, after all, alive. He'll have a nice, long while to reconsider his choices.”
”Uh-huh,” I said. ”I'm a giver. Did it for his own good.”
Sanya nodded gravely. ”Good intentions.”
Michael nodded. ”Who are we to judge you?” His eyes flashed, and he asked Sanya, ”Did you see the snake's face, right when Harry turned with the bat?”
Sanya smiled and started whistling as we walked through the parking lot.
We piled into the truck. ”Drop me off at my place,” I said. ”I need to pick up a couple things. Make some phone calls.”
”The duel?” Michael asked. ”Harry, are you sure you don't want me to-”
”Leave it to me,” I said. ”You've already got something on your plate. I can handle things. I'll meet you at the airport afterward and help you find s.h.i.+ro.”
”If you live,” Sanya said.
”Yes. Thank you, Comrade Obvious.”
The Russian grinned. ”Was that a quarter you gave Ca.s.sius?”
”Yeah.”
”For the phone?”
”Yeah.”
Michael noted, ”Phone calls cost more than that now.”
I slouched back and allowed myself a small smile. ”Yeah. I know.”
Sanya and Michael burst out laughing. Michael pounded on the steering wheel.
I didn't join them, but I enjoyed their laughter while I could. The February sun was already sinking fast toward the horizon.