Hello! Hello! Hello again lovely people.
If you've made it this far into the story I assume you're enjoying yourself at least a little. So I say thanks!
Also, I've kinda noticed upon reading a particular review and then re-reading my work, that I'm extraordinarily hard on Dean. No hate there. I promise. He's just unendingly fun to pick on.
Onwards we go!
Dean toweled his hair dry walking out of the bathroom. "Shower's yours." He shouted at his brother who was sitting on the bed looking far too morbid for Dean's liking.
Sam didn't move. Dean glanced up and caught sight of his brother in the large vanity mirror. A scowl tugged at the younger man's lips and he was clearly lost in thought as he so often was. Sam seemed to thrive in a self reflective environment. Dean barely felt comfortable debating which item to pick on a menu.
"Bobby call yet?" Dean asked, hoping to divert Sam's attention from whatever he was thinking about. He looked like he was in one of those 'talk about your feelings' kind of moods.
Sam glanced up then went back to staring at the journal in front of him. "Not yet." He answered passively. Then he seemed to bolster up some courage and set his sights on Dean again. "So I was thinking…"
Dean felt himself cringe when he met Sam's eyes in the mirror. He tried to school his face immediately so Sam wouldn't notice. He knew he'd been right about that look.
"Harry's putting a lot of faith in us…" Sam said with a frown.
"Your point?" Dean asked despite himself when Sam didn't elaborate.
"Well, I kind of feel like we're hiding stuff from him." Sam replied shiftily.
Dean nearly dropped his toothbrush. "Hiding stuff?" he said a bit high pitched in surprise. "Like what?" his voice evened out.
Sam didn't say anything.
"Is this about those weirdo visions and the hot red head?" Dean asked incredulously.
Sam shot him a glare. "She was his wife Dean…" he said obviously hoping Dean would show a bit more tact. "And it's not just that."
"Then what, Sam?"
"Well, we were researching him behind his back and pretty much every step of the way we've been treating him like a potential enemy."
"He is a potential enemy Sam." Dean shot back immediately.
Sam bristled. "Why Dean? Because he's not entirely human?"
Dean turned around a bit shocked by how hostile Sam sounded.
Sam stood but it wasn't anger than fueled his motion. It was some sort of anxiety. "Every step of the way we've tried to find way to take him down."
"What's your point Sam?" Dean asked coldly, leaving his emotions out of it.
"Well, we were wrong for starters." Sam defended. "Sure, he's a bit short tempered, but he's never done anything bad to us."
Dean fought back the urge to disagree and point out his bruised throat several months back or the time the guy had allowed him to go to hell even though they now knew he had been capable of stopping it.
"And now he's putting his life on the line to fix our…! … my mistakes…" Sam calmed slightly and Dean could see he was blaming himself again. "He's putting himself on the frontlines to fix my mistakes and we're still keeping secrets. It feels wrong."
Silence rang through the room as they each thought about the problem Sam had brought up.
"What if we do somehow get him killed?" Sam said suddenly.
"He can't die Sam."
"Well then that's worse isn't it?" Sam bit out. "He's taking on the only thing I've ever seen him scared of. What if he gets captured or…"
Dean's thoughts travelled to all the bad things that could happen if this went badly. "So, what? You want to tell him that we talked to his wife and know about his past right before the boss battle? And then hope he doesn't get upset? There's a reason she asked us not to say anything."
"I don't…"
"And we never found anything out during that research anyway. No weaknesses we could exploit, no magical tree branch that kills him if you say the right hoodoo spell."
"It's just…"
"Trust me Sam. This isn't something you want to spring on him right now. If you want to tell him so damned bad, tell him after we save the world."
Dean turned back to the sink so he could finish brushing his teeth. Sam was standing at the bedside looking a bit defeated.
"What if there is no after Dean?" Sam said sullenly.
Dean spit out the water in his mouth. "Well then we won't be around for him to be pissed at if he finds out."
"I don't get invitations to your social parties?" Bobby asked grumpily as Harry opened the door for him and Castiel.
"You didn't strike me as the type to attend them." Harry replied in nearly the same tone but offered a quick smile when Bobby turned an inquisitive eye on him.
"This is incredibly dangerous." Castiel said completely unprompted, as was his way.
"Thanks for livening up the room Castiel." Harry said with a shake of his head. "Take a seat."
"So why did you want to see me and feather brain here without the boys?" Bobby cut straight to the chase. He was eying Harry speculatively. "I just about told you to stuff it."
"Yes, that sounds like your typical reaction." Harry said without any bite. "It really has all to do with your roles in what's to come. Before that though… I feel the need to ask… did you tell them you were coming here?"
"We told the Winchesters we were going to pick up nourishment."
"Breakfast." Bobby amended for Castiel's odd phrasing. Cas just seemed to contemplate the word.
"Good."
"That reaction's not inspiring confidence." Bobby told him blankly.
Harry offered a wan smile and a laugh. "I don't want them knowing we had time away from them to plot." He said to settle any unease the man might be feeling. "Primarily because of what I'm going to have to ask of Castiel."
Bobby leaned forward in his chair and motioned for Harry to continue. Castiel was giving him an intense stare.
"This whole mess, it's not going to be easy to solve. Chances are it's going to get a bit… explosive. And I'm not being enigmatic there. Things might actually explode."
"You're avoiding the topic." Castiel called him out.
"Right…" Harry didn't deny. "If things get a bit too dicey, particularly for me, I need you to get them out. I may not even need to actually ask this of you. You'd probably do it on your own."
"You're saying leave you there to rot and save our own hides?" Bobby asked sounding both surprised and offended.
"If it comes to it, yes."
"I may've done a lot of stupid stuff in my day, boy, but I ain't ever left someone for dead that wasn't already knocking on the doors." Bobby said with heat.
"You won't have much choice Bobby." Harry replied with just as much weight. "If things go bad, and they might, I could explode. Like a nuclear reactor. You don't want to be standing next to that, foolish sense of pride or not."
Bobby gave him a reprimanding look but didn't say anything.
Harry turned to Cas. "If it goes wrong, get them out." He said meeting Castiel's eyes and holding the intense gaze. "I might not take him down. They may be able to find another way even without me. But they can't do that if they're dead."
Cas nodded.
"So if you just wanted plotting time with the angel why invite me? He pops out so often I doubt either of the boys would have even noticed." Bobby said sounding almost petty.
"Well, partially I wanted Castiel to come and see me but have a good reason to be gone, and he sucks at lying. If you're providing the alibi the brothers are less likely to question it." Harry answered truthfully. "But there's also this."
Harry reached behind his chair and pulled out a small box. He removed the lid to show a small stash of keys and what looked like a rolodex. A few stray pieces of paper were haphazardly tucked in the corner.
"They're all numbered. The cards tell you which ones go where. First card has the password to my computer archives, but you always struck me as a man that liked physical documentation."
"The hell do I need that for?"
Harry shoved the box into Bobby's hands. "We don't know how this is all going to go down. If something happens to me you're going to need all the help you can get. Those keys go to lockers all over the nation. Each one has more hunting paraphernalia than you can even imagine. Who knows, maybe you find some ancient spell we overlooked that can solve everything but you need some special talisman they stopped making eight hundred years ago." He tapped the box. "You never know what resources you'll need."
Bobby was looking at the box in a whole new light. Then a small scowl spread over his face. He poked his hand into the box and it went in further than it should have. "It's…"
"Bigger on the inside." A pause. "I've always wanted to say that." Harry said with a raise of his brow. "Undetectable extension charm. Learned it from a friend of mine a long time ago."
"Don't go wide eyed nerd on me. I get enough of that from Sam."
Harry gave a breathy sigh refocusing. "Just pay attention to any storage lockers marked red in the file. They're volatile, and more likely to end your life than solve the crisis." Harry leaned back. "Besides, all this stuff needs to be taken care of if something happens. I'm pretty sure you're the only candidate that will take my advice on the matter into account."
Bobby looked like the only thing keeping him from saying thank you was his pride. The man cleared his throat and slid the lid back in place. "We should get going to the restaurant or the boys are gonna get suspicious."
"Good point." Harry nodded. "Just… keep that box safe… and Cas, keep in mind what I said?"
Castiel stared for a long moment before nodding.
"So we have two strength amulets, three protection charms, and a book on warding sigils." Ganesh said glancing over their pile of stuff before letting out a massive sigh.
"I'm sorry the crypt in Greece didn't pan out." Leto said shifting guiltily.
"It was bound to happen eventually." Tefnut said with a shake of her head. "We can't be there all the time and humans like to scavenge through things that aren't theirs. The artifacts are probably in a museum somewhere."
"It's just not enough." Ganesh said with a scowl.
"Should we start looking through his archives?" Tefnut suggested pointing to the slip of paper Harry had left at their disposal.
"I suppose if everyone's run out of other ideas, then yes." Leto agreed with a nod. "We'll have to call the angel for the passwords."
There was a long pause. "Does anyone here know how to use a computer?"
"Alright, the second base is just West of here." Bela said pointing to a spot in the map the group was hunched over.
The room was tense with readiness. Everyone was amped up for the second confrontation after the first had gone well. But then, the first place they'd gotten intel on had only had five demons patrolling when they showed up. This next compound was much larger. Chances were it would have more demonic guards.
"After the second base is down we'll rendezvous with group two so they can give us anything they've found so far." Anna reminded the blood thirsty group.
"Let's make them understand that this is our world, and we're not ready to give it up." Shu said with a fierce sneer on his face.
Bela fought the urge to point out they sounded like they were in the middle of a badly clichéd action flick thanks to that line.
"Let's do it." Anna agreed.
Harry checked his phone and nodded at the coordinates displayed there. The advance group was moving a bit fast, but he'd expected them to. He'd split them into that group specifically because they were the people most likely to want some payback. In that sense Bela sort of fit in. She did, after all, spend a large amount of time in hell. He doubted there were many people who wanted revenge on demons more.
"Ready?" Bobby asked carting two bags of food towards the door and nodding in Harry's direction. Castiel was directly behind the older hunter carrying two bags of his own.
"Certainly." Harry agreed sliding his phone into his pocket and smiling winningly.
Bobby gave him a skeptical look as he pushed open the door to the restaurant but he said nothing.
The phone vibrated in Harry's pocket as he joined the two and he spared it a glance but otherwise ignored it. "How would you feel about joining the research group?" Harry asked as he fell into stride next to Bobby.
Bobby shot a glance his way. "What do you mean?"
Harry slid the phone from his pocket and glanced at the message. A grimace slid across his face. "The group I put together that's looking into protectives and other ways to combat Lucifer… they need all the help they can get."
"I don't doubt that." Bobby grumbled. "But I ain't about to let them boys walk into the devil's arms without me."
Harry nodded knowingly. "Then we'll pull you back before we make the final move." Harry offered.
"Why're you so desperate to get me over there?"
Harry paused for a long moment to think of the right way to word his statement. "You've been researching the supernatural for years, and from what I can tell you're good at it. The team I put together doesn't even know where to start. They need guidance. As an extra incentive, you also have all the physical access keys to my storage. They only have the archive passwords, and I'm not entirely certain they even know how to use those."
Bobby was nodding and Harry was sure that weird look on his face was amusement.
"It's a reasonable strategy." Castiel butted in.
Harry shot the angel an annoyed look.
"You try to weasel your way outta bringin' me to the prize match and I'll give you so much hell it'll make Lucifer look like a playful kitten." Bobby threatened with a glare.
Harry tried not to laugh at the imagery as he nodded.
"Fine." Bobby grouched. "When do I meet 'em?"
"After breakfast maybe?" Harry said leading the way toward the hotel room that was now in sight.
Ganesh pecked slowly at the keyboard in front of him.
"G- I- N- N- Y- 1- 9- 9- 7." Leto read each letter and number slowly for him. They'd tried six times to log on to the computer Harry had given them with no success.
Ganesh hit the enter key and the log in error flashed across the screen again. The man smashed his fist into the table in frustration just inches from the fragile keyboard.
"This isn't working." Leto said with a frown. "Perhaps we need something else and Harry simply forgot to give it to us."
"He's not really the forgetful type." Ganesh shook his head and then rubbed it vigorously in a clearly irritated manner. "We must be doing something wrong."
"Perhaps we're supposed to make an offering to it first." Tefnut suggested nodding to the small machine between them. They all stared at it as if awaiting directions.
"This is ridiculous. How would it even accept an offering?" Ganesh said lifting the small thing and tilting it. His finger brushed a button and the disc tray ejected startling them all.
The computer smack back down onto the table hard from where Ganesh had been holding just a few inches above.
They all stared at it for a moment before Ganesh slowly pushed the tray closed again and they all let out a sigh of relief when nothing happened upon its closure.
Tefnut tilted the paper in her direction and furrowed her brows. "Does it make a difference if a letter is capitalized?" she asked, concerned.
Ganesh looked up at her hopefully. "Maybe. Which one is capitalized?"
"The G-"
The door to their hotel room crashed inward smashing into the wall and splintering. All three were on their feet in seconds and turning toward the noise. Leto edged backward in fear as she recognized their intruders.
"Hiya." A woman said striding in front of her peers and eying down the three gods. Her eyes flashed black and she offered them a wicked smile. "I hear you three are part of the group that attacked us in New Braunfels. We don't take too kindly to that."
"We don't know what you're talking about scum." Ganesh spat.
"Ah, now. I don't think you're remembering correctly. Let's jog your memory." The demon nodded and instantly about seven more of her compatriots flooded in, each scowling. They charged forward intent to bring the gods down.
Ganesh was having none of it. He lashed out taking two of them down and tackling a third while Tefnut tried to handle two of her own.
Leto let out a yelp as the final two converged on her. She went down in a tangled mass of limbs as the demons tried to subdue her.
As Ganesh struggled with the two demons that hadn't been knocked into next week in his initial strike the woman snuck up behind him and suddenly he had a stake at his heart.
"Stop!" She said with authority and the movement from the other groups ceased.
Leto lay dead on the floor, her eyes staring lifelessly in Ganesh's direction.
"Alright." She said holding him tightly to her so he couldn't slip free. "I want you to think reeeal hard. Who are you all working for?"
"What makes you think we're working for anyone?" He hissed.
She laughed, short and sarcastic. "Please Lucifer wiped out your last 'meeting' in a heartbeat. You pathetic would be gods can't organize to save your lives."
"Even if we were working with someone what makes you think we would tell you?" Tefnut said heatedly from where she was being forced to kneel next to the computer.
"Well, obviously, to save your own skin." The demon said with a smile pushing the stake harder against Ganesh ribs and earning a grimace from the god in turn.
"Please," Tefnut spat acidly. "You would kill us the moment we uttered the name."
"She's right." Ganesh agreed though he hated to. "You hold no leverage here."
"Well…" the female demon seemed slightly disappointed… then her frown swung into a smile. "We'll just have to settle for removing a bit more trash from the Earth won't we? Don't worry. We'll get your little friends soon enough too. You won't be in hell long without company."
She swung the stake up intending to deal a death blow.
Ganesh swung out his hand just enough to throw her off balance. She stumbled just enough that he knocked her over. Instantly the other demons were converging on him. He saw his chance for what it was.
"Run!" he shouted to the goddess only being confined by a single demon now. She met his eyes as she broke her arms free and offered him a grim nod that was full of thanks and grim acknowledgement. She bolted for the door and threw it open.
Confusion played a key part as Ganesh started to bellow loudly. The sound reverberated in the tiny room making the demons' over acute hearing a weakness. Through the havoc Ganesh made an attempt for the door. Two arms locked on his right leg weighing him down. He couldn't shake the demon off. A moment of silence seemed to linger in the room as the after effects of his voice left it. And in that moment Ganesh knew he couldn't escape now.
"Then this is how it ends…" he muttered to the room before he felt the stake plunge through his back and pierce his heart.
Abandoned. The second base they'd planned to raid was abandoned, wholly and completely. Not even the stench of demon lingered.
"I thought you were sure about these locations!" Bela said with irritation.
"It's not like they can't up and change hideouts on a whim." Anna replied with just as much heat. "They're not gonna send out memos and post it in the personal ads every time they get spooked."
Bela nodded but allowed herself a moment to cool off.
"What do we do now?" Shu asked glancing about. "There's no reason to stay here."
"Maybe we should…" Anna glanced over at Ares who was separating from the group and sniffing about like a blood hound. "Ares?"
"I smell something." He said with confusion. "It… demonic… almost."
"Almost?" Shu scoffed.
"Yes, almost." Ares shot the Egyptian god an irritated glare.
"Over there!" Bela pulled her pistol and aimed it at a figure that was approaching. Anna's eyes went wide.
"No stop!" Anna cried out knocking the gun sideways. The bullet missed its mark by a mile. Bela shoved Anna away with a glare and a heated huff.
Both gods seemed tense.
"Jesse, what the hell are you doing here?" Anna asked sounding surprised, worried, and angry all at once.
The kid grimaced at being chastised. "I'm here to help." He said confidently.
"You can't help Jesse, you're just a kid." Anna said, worry tingeing her words.
"Yeah, but this won't be happening when I'm grown up! I should help now!"
"We talked about this before…" Anna said placatingly.
"What could a child do to help?" Shu asked dismissively.
Jesse turned his glare to the god. Shu slid backwards a few feet. Ares and Bela were instantly more focused and the latter's gun was focused on the boy.
"Stop Jesse." Anna warned.
A cheerful ringing broke off whatever the kid had been about to say in reply. Everyone looked around in confusion until Anna pulled the cell phone Harry had given her out and stared at the number for a second before accepting the call. Immediately frantic breathing could be heard on the other end.
"Hello!?" the voice on the other end hissed quietly, but with desperation.
"Hello?" Anna replied with confusion.
"It's Tefnut." The phone blared loudly as Anna pushed the button for speaker phone. "I need help. Now."
"Where are you?" Anna asked urgently.
There was a pause and no one made a sound as they heard voices on the other end of the phone. A minute passed, then two.
"Indiana." Tefnut replied lowly into the phone. "Small field next to the hotel we were supposed to meet in. Hurry."
Anna shared a brief warning glance with the others before vanishing.
She landed not far from the coordinates in Indiana she knew they were supposed to be meeting at. She glanced around worriedly. The hotel was across the street from where she stood and next to it was an extensive open lot that was clearly vacated for a while now. Old car shells and debris littered the open ground.
Anna began to pick her way through, not daring to shout. She wasn't sure what had spooked the other woman but she probably didn't want to acquaint herself with it.
She was passing the second car when she felt a hand latch onto her right wrist. Tefnut was knelt there regarding the surroundings warily.
"We should go." Tefnut said with a nod indicating she was waiting for Anna to do her thing.
"Where are the others?"
"Over there!" someone they couldn't see cried out.
Tefnut looked panicked.
Anna took her hand and they vanished from the lot.
Their feet hit the ground right where Anna had left from earlier. The group turned curious eyes on the two and Tefnut collapsed to her knees taking in deep relieved breaths. Shu was at her side in an instant.
"What happened?" Ares asked glancing from the angel to the goddess. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know…" Anna replied unsurely.
"Dead." Tefnut answered having finally caught her breath. She made it to her feet with help. "They're dead."
Shocked looks passed between the group.
"What happened?" Bela asked with raised eyebrows.
"We were ambushed." Tefnut said with a nod of her head. It was clear she was shaken. "Ganesh… he… he sacrificed…"
"Shh… shh…" Shu chided trying to sooth her and keep her from tears but she pushed his hands back.
"He gave me a chance to escape." She said with a cool set in her stance.
"How did they find you?" Ares asked. "And what of Leto?"
Tefnut just shook her head.
"We need to call Harry." Anna said pacing and biting her lip. "If they're predicting our moves things just got a lot more complicated."
"We should get some place safe first." Shu suggested.
"Agreed." Anna nodded.
"Wait. Where was Mister High and Mighty while all of this was going down?" Bela butted in.
"Mister… who?" Anna asked nonplussed.
"Gabriel…" Bela said sounding exasperated that Anna hadn't caught on. "You know Mr. 'I'm an arch angel thank you'."
Anna turned her gaze to Tefnut questioningly.
"I don't know." Tefnut replied with a shake of her head. "He said he had places to be after he dropped us in Indiana. He figured we didn't need him around. Clearly he was wrong."
"Clearly Harry's not as good a judge of character as I thought he was." Bela said with a shake of her head.
"Meaning?"
"Come on. The angel ditches them and the same day they're found and attacked? It doesn't take a genius to figure this out."
"It is suspicious." Ares agreed with a frown.
Anna frowned worriedly. "We shouldn't start a witch hunt here." She said eventually, shoving aside her doubt. "He might have had a perfectly good reason to leave. And even if he didn't that doesn't mean he sold us out. We need to get somewhere safe and then get in contact with Harry."
"What if they're both setting us up?" Shu said in what he probably thought was dawning comprehension.
"For what purpose?" Anna spat back angrily.
"He speaks out of concern." Tefnut said with a shake of her head. "I do not blame my husband, but I don't doubt Harry either."
"We should move." Anna said with a sigh.
Everyone moved towards Anna so she could take them to the safe room. Anna's eyes alit on Jesse. She pulled back just slightly and he reached for her hand. Her eyes met his and she shook her head. "Go home Jesse." She said as the group vanished.
"Fresco." Harry muttered staring at the phone in shock. Just a one word message, but the sight of the code made his stomach sink.
Sam stopped talking across the table from him and turned curious eyes his way. The other two hunters caught Sam's stare and stopped their chat about the quality of their diner food.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked caught the look in Harry's eyes.
Harry lowered his phone a bit and closed his eyes, taking a steadying breath. "The research team was attacked."
"Are they okay?" Sam asked worriedly.
Harry glanced his way sharply then back to the phone.
"I don't think he knows yet." Dean said levelly.
Harry snorted, but said nothing as his thumbs flew over his phone to send a reply to the text. 'Can you talk?' the reply message read.
Just under a minute later his phone began to buzz with an incoming call. He slipped from the table and made for the door.
"Anna?" he asked as he hit the accept button. "What's going on?"
"Harry." Her voice sent a bit of relief flooding through him. "Thank g… er… we really need a new saying for that."
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure." Anna sounded unsure. "I got a call from Tefnut and I got over there as quick as possible. But by the time I got there…"
The silence said everything. "Everyone?" he asked quietly.
"No… I got Tefnut out in time." She replied.
"The others?"
"She said… she said the others were killed." Anna replied lowly. "I'm sorry. I know you and Ganesh were close."
Harry put a hand to his face and reigned back his anger. It wasn't Anna's fault and he wasn't about to take it out on her. "Did she manage to save the computer I left with them?"
A pause sounded over the phone as if Anna were taken aback by the question. "She barely got away with her life." She sounded offended.
Harry nodded but said nothing. If the demons were smart they'd take the computer. With it they had records of his archives. They now knew every weapon the team had in its possession. There would be no surprise tactics now.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"It's not safe to leave her alone anymore." Anna said breaking his contemplative silence. "They know she's working with us now."
"Bring her here." Harry said cutting off whatever she'd been about to say.
"There?" Anna said with surprise.
"Yes, the demons have access to my files. They know what we have, but they don't know how to get to it. I need to keep a close eye on the keys now, to do that I'll need to keep them close."
"Who has the keys? You?"
"It's not important Anna." Harry replied with a bit of irritation. "The point is she can stay near the Winchesters and me. She'll be safe, and she can still be useful."
"Trust you to put a positive spin on a negative situation." Anna said with just a trace of bitterness as she disconnected the line.
Harry pulled the phone away from his ear and gave a harsh glance.
"So I take it I won't be going anywhere any time soon." Bobby said drawing Harry's attention to the corner he'd been standing in.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight Mr. Singer." Harry replied with a wan smile as he passed the man.
"Good luck with that…" Bobby grunted.
Jesse huffed, staring at the spot the group had been standing in several hours ago. He'd kept waiting, hoping Anna would take pity and come back. He didn't understand why they were so hesitant to let him help.
Sure, he was young, but he was powerful. More powerful than any of them he thought. He had to be. Why else would they be so scared of him turning dark side?
And there was a thought.
Since the day he'd met Harry and the Winchesters they'd told him how horrible demons were and how bad Lucifer was. Evil, they'd called him. But that was also what the angel Castiel had called him. Evil.
Jesse had never hurt anyone. Not intentionally. And still Castiel called him evil.
Jesse had been determined at first. Determined to prove the spiteful angel wrong. Determined to show the man that offered him salvation that he was worth saving, worth the effort.
Now that determination was wavering.
He hadn't seen Harry in months. The man was just another shadow figure in his life. Pulling strings from the background.
Jesse looked down at his arm, there was the bracelet Harry had given him the last time they'd met. He said it would help to hide his energy signature from anyone that knew how to find him that way. It helped suppress his power so he didn't go about accidentally causing abnormal fluctuation in the fabric of reality. The twisted cords and small metal bits were the only thing separating him from complete freedom now.
Anna had long since proven she considered him a burden hadn't she? She'd ditched him the first chance she got help out Harry again.
Why should he take lessons on right and wrong from these people?
Why were their opinions supposed to be worth more than his own?
He glared down at the bracelet and grabbed it tightly.
They weren't.
He pulled and the cords severed under his intent to remove the thing sending frayed cord flying.
Two street lights within twenty feet of him shattered leaving him in relative darkness on the small road.
He was done playing by the rules of a man that refused to show his face.
He would find his own way. He would follow his own rules. He would make new allies.
And where better to start than with the one person Anna and Harry had told him time and again was off limits. He would find Lucifer.
Did the end surprise you? Or maybe Ganesh? I hope so. Also, I'm sorry.
Oh man this chapter was fantastic to write. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I just kept having to do it in small bits thanks to my new job. It's eating up more of my time than I expected it to.
Many, many thanks to my lovely reviewers. I got quite a few new readers during the last chapter that were nice enough to leave me reviews as the read along through the story expressing concerns about characters and joy over certain plot twists… oooh those types of reviews are so much fun to read but I always sort of want to write back because I obviously know what they're about to read and even though I don't want to spoil it, it's good fun thinking about it all.
I'm rambling. Again.
Long story short, I love all of your reviews and I do enjoy answering questions if you have any after the latest chapter I've released. Ming you, I am vague about certain things so as not to spoil plot for askers.
So… welcome new readers and hello again people who've been here awhile.
The next chapter will be up eventually. Same amount of time if not less…
Thanks for reading. ~Til next time!
~Kanathia