“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
Logan turned back to look at the mind-controlled Jane, who was now charging across the roof at him with her dagger drawn. She left herself completely defenseless as she moved, and he could have obliterated her if he wanted to, but that was exactly what Azar wanted. He wanted Logan to slip up and treat Jane like a regular enemy, to kill her with his Hellfire powers accidentally or maim her with his blade. Not on his watch. “Uh, you want me to sweep the leg?” Todd said nervously as the woman continued to gain ground.“Hold your ground, buddy,” Logan reassured the goblin. “Once she goes for the killing blow, I can take her.”“Oh, I know you can take her!” Todd giggled. “I almost walked in on you two in the woods, remember?”Jane let out an angry scream as she closed the gap and raised the dagger over her head. She swung it down with lethal intent, but Logan was able to side-step out of the way. The brunette took this chance to lash out at him with her
Logan looked up to see a tendril of concrete flying toward him, and he quickly sidestepped the attack. As he did so, he slashed at the concrete with his enchanted blade and sent its debris tumbling across the rooftop.Azar’s first attack was little more than a distraction, and the demon was on him a second later. The demon’s fist smashed into Logan’s chin, and his mouth filled with the taste of iron. He reached out and grabbed the demon’s wrist before he could raise his sword, and they grappled for a moment or two before he shoved Azar off into the ground.“This mortal flesh is weak!” Azar hissed. “In my demon form, that blow would have popped your head like a gore-filled balloon!”“You really talk too much,” Logan huffed as he raised his sword.He thrust the end of the blade down toward Azar’s head, but the demon dropped his broadsword and clapped his hands together to catch it. The enchanted steel sizzled in the demon’s hand, and the air was filled with the smell