That bastard was smarter than he'd given him credit for. Not to mention his skills had improved. But for Hades having weakened Xypher, he wasn't sure he'd have wounded him earlier . . .
Kaiaphas cursed as the slave band on his upper arm heated to a painful level. It was Satara summoning him.
If he had to listen to her mewling, pathetic . . .
He shot a blast at a car on the street and shattered the glass in it. An alarm began squalling so he shot it again. It faded into a broken gurgling noise.
If only it were Satara's head.
But that wasn't meant to be so long as she held his soul. A soul he'd traded for . . .
He didn't want to think about that. He'd made the deal and he would be bound to it throughout eternity.
Or would he?
A slow smile curled his lips as he considered an alternative. It was insidious, but it might work and it would solve both of his problems.
He cursed as the band blistered his skin. The cowardly bitch could wait until he was ready to face her. Shaking it off, he transformed himself into a human and headed down the street in search of a victim.
As he rounded a corner, he spotted a woman out walking her dog. Perfect. Just what he needed . . .
The small brown canine started barking as soon as it caught a whiff of his inhuman essence.
Kaiaphas knelt down on the sidewalk, "Here, poochie, poochie." The dog continued to snarl and bark.
He laughed before he blasted the animal into a ball of flames. The woman screamed and took off running.
She didn't get far.
Kaiaphas ran at her and swept her up into the air. His large, black wings fanned out as they soared above the homes The human fought and cried, begging for his mercy.
As if he had any.
Holding her tight, he skimmed the landscape below until he found what he needed. A large, old oak tree. Completely isolated, it looked black in the night, shrouded by mist and stretching out toward the sky. In centuries past, mankind knew to take care of their trees and to guard them well from creatures like him.
How he loved the ignorance of the current generation.
An oak was a portal that could be used to summon the blackest of spirits. Kaiaphas smiled as he recalled the Englishman in Alton Towers who once chained the branches of his tree in an effort to thwart the evil it could conjure.
But evil would never be denied.
"Help me!" the human woman screamed.
"Oh, shut up," he snapped at the simpering human. For the cowardice alone she deserved to die.
"Please, let me go."
"Oh, I will, lovely. I'll let you go in just a moment." He dove for the tree.
As he swooped in, he took a moment to survey the area. There was nothing around him. No witnesses.
Good.
He landed a few feet away. Holding his sacrifice under one arm, he stalked toward the tree. The light of the full moon whispered through the bare branches. It was cold enough that he could see his breath in the air around him. He inhaled the crisp weight of it.
The woman struggled against him as he raised one arm to sever a single limb from the tree. He could hear the oak screaming as he cut through the wood. Loud. Strong.
Thank the gods it was healthy.
The limb landed at his feet.
"P-p-please."
"Shut up." He slung the woman against the tree so hard, she died on impact.
A human sacrifice wasn't necessary for what he intended but human blood was, and since he doubted the woman would have let him cut her without more whimpering and pleading, this sufficed. Using the claw from his right hand, he opened the human's throat and let her blood flow into the tree and soak the roots.
Then he opened up his own wrist as he chanted the ancient demonic words that would awaken the Primus Potis-the first power. Before there was light in the world, there was darkness. Chaos.
And that power slept. Now it was time for it to reawaken and help him.
"I summon you forth with voice and blood. With the weight of the moon and the strength of the sacred wood. Oh darkness, come to me. So say the dark oh mote it be . . ."
As he chanted, the wind picked up speed. It whispered around him as ancient forces gathered to awaken the one he called.
Al-Baraka...
The tree began to shake as a black mist from the earth rose to encircle it. Kaiaphas looked up to see a pair of glowing eyes-one vibrant earth green and the other dark earth brown-materialize in the center of the mist The air swilled faster, rising up like a geyser that began to form the shape of a tall, lean man standing on a large limb.
Black hail rose up, tangling in the wind before it settled over broad shoulders, It was followed by a rippling white that formed a shirt, then black pants and a brown, stitched leather jacket. The last to form was a face that was as handsome as it was brutal.
A thin gold band encircled the man's throat and there at the base of his neck rested a stone as green as his inhuman right eye.
As quickly as it'd come, the wind stopped. The mist evaporated.
Now the man and the tree stood out crisp and clear against the backdrop of night.
Those fierce duo-colored eyes seemed to penetrate Kaiaphas. Suddenly, something hard wrapped itself around his neck and squeezed it closed. Choking, Kaiaphas fell to his knees,
"There now." The voice was deep and evil as Jaden jumped to the ground. He landed on his feet in front of Kaiaphas before he lacked him onto his back.
Unable to speak for the pressure still wrapped around his throat, Kaiaphas stared up into the very face of evil. Not human, not demon, not a god, Jaden was born of the first power.
Al-Baraka. He was the go-between for the highier powers and demonkind.
Jaden cocked his head as he studied the demon lying before him. "Kaiaphas . . ."He let the name roll off his tongue. In one heartbeat, he knew everything about the demon. His past and his questionable future. "Why have you awakened me?"
"I need your help."
Jaden laughed at the desperate plea. "Aye, you do. Tell me what you'll give for my services."
"Three unbaptized virgins."
He scowled at the demon. What was this? The Middle Ages? "Three?"
"Is it not enough?"
It depended on the virgins . . .
And their skills. In this day and age, virgins could be more talented than the sluts of the past.
"Perhaps." Jaden hissed as he felt his arm burn in response to the summons that constricted Kaiaphas's band. "You dare call me while your mistress summons you?"
"I-I-"
Jaden blasted him. "Go, you maggot. In one moon rising you'll have my answer."
The demon vanished instantly.
Jaden stood there in the cold stillness under the shelter of the oak, getting his bearings on this time and place. He lifted his head to smell the blood that tainted the air around him.
Turning, he saw the body of a woman in her late twenties. Her lifeless eyes stared in honor.
He went to her and knelt before her. "Sleep in peace, little one," he whispered, closing her eyes.
It was a most unnecessary death. Strike one against the demon.
Jaden paused as he caught something else in the wind. The tree was whispering to him, telling him what he needed to know. Kaiaphas wasn't the only one thinking of him.