Part 37 (1/2)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
The end of all is come
Our hearts you will not tame
The past is gone far away
And now comes the final game
Don't think that you have won
Just because we're still
For what we cannot have
We will, most surely, kill
LOS ANGELES.
SOLOMON.
”Last-ditch effort,” Solomon announced as he whipped out his cell phone. Katalin was seated at a new table behind him, staring into her crystal ball. Tears and sweat dripped down her face. He'd pressured her for answers, and so far all she had come up with was more predictions about his demise. ”I've sent a fleet of planes to Romania loaded with vampires, monsters, and crack-shot soldiers.”
She said nothing, just kept staring.
”So I figure if . . . he . . . will listen to reason, I can switch sides with one phone call. I mean, does he even know about the virus? I can be useful to him,” Solomon went on.
He finished dialing, and the phone on the other end rang. A connection was made.
”h.e.l.lo,” a breathy woman's voice answered. It sounded familiar.
”Jennifer?” he asked, surprised. ”Jennifer Leitner?”
His query was answered with a hiss.
”Solomon, I'm here,” Lucifer said into the phone. Just hearing his voice made Solomon quake.
”Listen. I had a terrible lapse in judgment when I announced our existence to the human race,” Solomon said. ”I didn't think.”
Silence.
”I should have checked in with you first,” Solomon continued. ”But I-I didn't know you were real.”
More silence.
”So, listen, I'm sending soldiers in a show of support.”
”Support,” Lucifer echoed.
Katalin made a strangled sound and pushed back from the table.
”The final battle,” Solomon said. ”It's happening, right?”
Silence. Lucifer was making it very clear that he didn't have to interact with Solomon if he didn't feel like it. They weren't equals.
”Look, with me at your side, you've got the entire Vampire Nation at your command. I know things that could help you. You know, like about the virus?”
”Virus?” Lucifer said. ”What-”
Then Katalin grabbed her crystal ball, raced across the room, and smashed it over Solomon's head. He was shocked; before he could react, she reached into the folds of her dress, pulled out a piece of the table he'd broken earlier, and rammed it into his chest. Or tried to. Her lips pulled back from her teeth in a feral roar as she threw herself against his chest again.
Solomon gave thanks for his Kevlar vest and lunged at her, fangs extended, sinking them into her neck.
His face burned as if she had lit it on fire. Holy water. He recoiled, taking half her neck with him. The holy water splashed into his eyes, blinding him for the moment. And suddenly he hurt everywhere. What was she doing to him?
”Dantalion, stop her!” Lucifer bellowed through the phone.
He was burning up. His skin was blazing away, turning black, disintegrating. He dropped the phone as the holy water melted muscle, then bone. The pain- CASTLE BRAN.
LUCIFER, DANTALION, HEATHER, AND ANTONIO.
”I'm sorry, Lucifer,” Dantalion said as he, Lucifer, and Heather headed for the dungeon. They wound down the circular stone staircase, Heather attired in another of Aurora's beautiful gowns. She had just found a very interesting book in Aurora's room, and she held it against her chest. ”I couldn't stop the little Gypsy from killing him in time. At least now we know the new magicks work.”