“Hey, us mortals don’t all have magical magicfire powers or giant, super-strong demons or supernatural pets,” Logan argued. “We have to settle for the things we accomplish with our own two hands, our creative minds, and our blood, sweat, and tears. That bridge is one of those accomplishments.” “‘Merica,” Rafe added.“We have a famous bridge as well,” Abina spoke up. “It goes across the River of Souls and is guarded by a demon that the Egyptians called Xsf-Xmw.”“Uh, is Abina having a stroke?” Rafe asked.“Exactly,” the curvy woman continued. “That’s why we just call him Xavier.”“He’s actually quite friendly, once you get to know him,” Beth acknowledged. “His little unicorn horn is adorable as well.” “There’s a unicorn man guarding the main bridge in Hell?” Logan asked with a chuckle as he turned Shadow onto the exit for the Golden Gate Bridge.“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kelda shot back. “He’s a demon with a deer head and a single horn. Unicorns don’
“Son of a bitch,” Logan exclaimed, turning around to kick a branch in anger. “It was a trap!” “A pretty ingenious one, too,” Rafe remarked, placing his hands on his hips and surveying the area with satisfaction. “There are Keys of Solomon all around the perimeter. The elves and your friendly neighborhood Rafester would have been caught up in those, and then Jakey would have gotten taken out by one of the more conventional traps.” “Did they really think a trip-wire was going to take me out?” Logan laughed. “I’m almost offended.” Rafe shrugged. “Either the trip wire, or one of these.” The goblin tossed a rock onto the ground on the left side of the fire, and the tiny boulder stuck into a tarry black substance on the ground. In an instant, the fire pit split open at the side, and a couple of large logs rolled out onto the tarry substance, setting it ablaze. “That could have been you, bro,” the goblin warned. “Nonsense,” Logan snorted. “I co
“Then where do you think she is?” Logan asked as they drove down the streets of San Francisco. “At the tower with the rest of those assholes?” “I’d bet money on it,” the redhead nodded in agreement. “Though I don’t know what they intend to do with her.” “I do,” Kelda said grimly. “She’ll probably be sent to be ‘reformed’ like Sister Tris and I were when we would misbehave.” “Reformed?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s just fancy talk for ‘tortured until we promised not to do it again,’” Abina growled. “My sisters would be gone for days at a time when they were being reformed.” “Azar and his minions found that fear was a good way to keep people in line,” Beth explained. “There’s a reason that all of his elves are familiar with their fear powers, even if some of us refuse to use them.” The elves's words caused a fiery rage to simmer up from the very core of Logan’s being. “They are dangerous, sister,” Abina argued. “Ira’s magic destroyed an enti
“I guess that doesn’t really make for a good disguise, now does it?” Logan chuckled. “But how the hell do I get rid of them? They usually just go away on their own.” “I like to think about baseball,” Rafe suggested. “Or my grandma. That usually does the trick.” “Your grandma?” Abina sounded disgusted. “Relax, Lib,” Rafe snickered. “I only think about her when I’m trying to get rid of it, not when I’m trying to get one. Now, Logan’s mom, on the other hand—” “New topic,” Kelda interjected as she turned to Logan. “If you’re powerful enough to turn your powers on and off at whim, then all you have to do is clear your mind and order them to retract.” “So it is like getting a boner!” Rafe exclaimed. “Just try it,” the fit blonde put her hand on Logan’s chest lovingly. “Think of things that make you calm.” “I’m already off to a good start.” Logan smiled and put his hand over Kelda’s. He closed his eyes and thought back to the beaut
Logan felt a dull rage building up from within him. “You’re the asshole responsible for all this?” he growled as he summoned red Hellfire into his hands. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t toast your ass into a crisp right here and now.”He promised himself that he’d keep his cool, but standing face to face with the man responsible for all of their recent hardships triggered his anger.Oliver retracted his hand. “Now, now, Mr. Ralston,” he said as he held out his hands, “there’s no need for violence.”“Brrroooo,” Rafe turned visible again. “You and your friends just literally tried to trap us and skewer Logan alive. If that’s your idea of pacifism, I really want to see what you think violence is.”“Ohh!” the white-haired man jumped giddily. “You brought the goblin along!” “I’m gonna give you about five more seconds before I rip you to shreds,” Logan warned. “You’d better start talking. Now.”“You see?” Oliver clicked his tongue. “The goblin throws around
“So, what do they think?” Logan asked the group. “Do they think he’s just bullshitting them?”“If he wanted them dead, he would have had Andras try to kill them the second they entered the lobby,” Beth mused. “He obviously wanted to speak to them in person.”“And if Oliver really is the leader of the entire Cult of Azar, he’s probably no slouch with magic himself,” Abina added. “The fact that they both let them walk away makes me think he’s telling the truth.”“They just have to survive the onslaught of cultists waiting for them,” Logan sighed. “That should be a walk in the park.”“But think of how awesome it’s gonna be once they make them their bitches!” Rafe implored. “On top of killing demons, they can have these dudes and dudettes do all of their chores and day-to-day bullshit that they don’t want to do.”“I don’t think they’re going to be using the Cult of Azar to pick up their dry cleaning, Rafe,” Logan laughed.“The Cult of Ralston,” Kelda corrected.
Logan nodded, happy to be alive himself. As he dismissed his flames, he reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone and checked the time.It was eleven fifty. “We only have ten minutes left, with five floors to go!” he warned the elves. They sprinted up the final set of stairs and came to a dead end. In front of them was the door for the sixty-first floor, but there was no maintenance hatch or ladder leading to the roof.“Well, shit,” Logan shook his head. “There’s still the entire screen part of the tower above us.”“There must be some sort of entrance out on the main floor,” Beth suggested.“Ah yes, the Ohana Floor,” Logan wheezed. “I remember reading about this. It’s the communal space with the beautiful views of the city and the bar and the lounge area.”“Maybe we’ll have to return here after we’re done with our mission,” Abina joked.“As much fun as that sounds, I don’t think I ever want to see this building again in my life,” Logan snickered as
Logan slammed his eyes shut and tossed up a purple barrier around the five of them. He heard many of the cultists protesting in fear, but their screams quickly died out into a dull drone that echoed across the rooftop in unison.“What the fuck is happening?” Logan asked the elves.“He’s taking over the Cultists’ minds,” Beth continued. “Soon they’ll be under his spell, and he can make them do whatever he wants.”“There…” the demon’s voice said devilishly. “Now, where were we?”Logan finally opened his eyes and saw that all the cultists were now completely tensed up, and their eyes were glowing a bright purple.“Oh yes,” Azar hummed. “The part where my humble servants rip you limb from limb!”“There aren’t that many of them, but they could still easily overwhelm us,” Logan said to his friends. “We need to split them up. Beth and Rafe, you guys take the ones on the left. Kelda and Abina, you draw the attention of the ones off to the right. I’ll handle—”“You know how powe