The Devil in Her Eyes Ch. 07

"This had better be...when?" Her eyes flicked to me, and I didn't need our little soul-bond to feel the concern there... "Very well, we will be there presently, thank you, Lillin."

She hung up and rubbed the bridge of her nose like she was already fighting the headache. When she looked up at me, I could see the weight of it all settle on her shoulders once again...

"They're early."

I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my eyes. "Syb, can you take over? I need a break."

She looked up from sharpening her sword, eyes shifting from green to blue, "You need only ask, My Prince."

I smiled, "Yeah, yeah. How many times do I have to ask you to drop the 'Prince' bit?"

She grinned, flashing her mouthful of fangs, "At least once more, My Prince."

I rolled my eyes and popped out of the chair, rolling my shoulders and lighting a smoke as Syb' replaced me behind the spotting scope...Nine teams had snuck into the city over the last few hours, hiding in rune-covered safe-houses, waiting for their moment to strike. That asshole in the suit would be here soon...and I'd hook him up to a fucking car battery until he told me the endgame.

"My Prince? Movement."

I took a drag and keyed the boom mic on my Peltor comms headset, "All teams, high ground has movement at the target building, standby for confirmation."

One by one, they acknowledged, waiting for my go.

When Lucy told me I'd be in charge of the operation, I'd balked a little. But the votes of confidence from the team leaders had gone a long way to assuaging my nerves. Syb' kept right on relaying, "I see three vehicles, runes visible, this appears to be our target, Prince. They are stopping...I have eyes on... confirmed. The suited man is in play."

I nodded, "All teams, be advised, one HVI confirmed on target, we hold for the second."

"We could kill him from here..." Syb' growled it; I knew she burned a little over my torture at his hands, the fact that we hadn't met yet made no difference, the shape-shifter considered me her responsibility. Orias felt the same; the big demon had suggested scorched Earth more than once. But if we didn't root them out, we'd never be rid of them.

"Second convoy inbound," Ori rumbled from his spot in the corner, seated behind a massive rifle, a twenty-millimeter custom job, made for blowing holes in armor...or making absurdly long shots. I rolled over the plan in my head, three teams make entry, five teams on blocking positions, and mine on rendition.

Lucy had asked me to stay back, almost begged.

It was only because I loved her that I even entertained the thought. How could I ever expect her...our...soldiers to follow me if I didn't lead from the front? But the team leaders had chimed in, agreeing with her. I was one of Trinity's targets; kicking the door myself would be handing me over on a silver platter.

Didn't mean that I liked it one bit.

"Eyes on second HVI... full house." Syb' whispered.

I took a deep, steadying breath and keyed my mic.

"All teams...execute."

The amount of Hell coming for everyone in that building was staggering. I watched demons crash the second-floor windows as three teams breached the ground floor, and I couldn't help but feel a swell of pride...

Until the fucking building exploded.

Bright purple energy tinged the blast, and a half-second later, the shockwave blew out the windows, spraying us with broken glass; Sybilla moved faster than I could track, wrapping her arms around me, shielding me from the worst of it as we rolled to the ground. I felt something slice into my arms and the side of my face as we fell; Orias tanked it like he did everything else, roaring into the cloud of smoke and ash.

"We have a detonation! Teams three, five, eight, and six are down hard!"

I keyed up, feeling the horror washing over me, but there was no time to waste on it, "Break! Break! Break! All stations this net! Evacuation order 'June,' prime your circles and jump at will! Fall back to primary rally point!"

A chorus of acknowledgments came back over the frequency before it went out with a screeching whine.

"My Prince? Are you alright?!" Syb' was right in my face, and it was the most unsettled I'd ever heard her, her hair and eye color shifting rapidly as she checked me for serious injuries... But I was far too focused on the mushroom cloud rising out the window and my dead radio.

Someone was jamming our comms, and a voice screamed at me to run.

"By the Queen..." Ori growled, "that was an erasure...they've discovered how to integrate the effect into explosives...COWARDS!" He ended with a roar, but I could feel the heartbreak in his voice.

I gently pushed Sybilla away and rolled to my feet; I could see the telltale flashes of magic jumps in alleys and through windows as the surviving teams bailed out.

"Tear it down, Syb? Get us out of here. Quickly."

She nodded, and her fingers worked; the subtle glow of runes began to form on the far wall when my radio suddenly cut back on with a hiss of static and then...

I could hear someone breathing on the other end.

Slow, measured breaths.

"Mr. Miller..."

I froze for a beat, recognizing the voice.

My old friend in the suit...

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage." I whispered, watching cop cars and ambulances race towards the destruction, "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"...You will, at the end when I erase your Queen and send her and your family to meet you in oblivion."

Blood dripped off my fingertips as I keyed up again; shock, sadness, and pain at the loss of our friends were driven out by the most horrific anger. I leaned against the wall, steadying myself. "I'm going to burn down everything you've built and scatter the ashes at her feet like rose petals. You might think you know what's coming for you, but you've never run across anything quite like me. Enjoy what time you have left; it ain't much." My hand came away covered in blood, stinging pain told me that I was fucked up, blood sheeted down my left arm, slowly pumping from deep cuts in my bicep, tears in the button-down plaid shirt I'd been wearing were rapidly soaking with red.

When he spoke again, there was a smile in his voice. "Bold words, my friend, and I wish I could entertain your notions...unfortunately for you, we planted more than one bomb...."

I caught his meaning, and my eyes went wide.

Checkmate.

Time slowed to a crawl.

Sybilla and Ori heard it at the same moment as I did... Ori was already breaking across the room towards me, but Syb' caught me first, fingers digging into my vest; one arm flew out and grabbed Ori by the throat, lifting him off the ground... And the most beautiful smile graced her lips. Her eyes snapped from green to an otherworldly violet, and she leaned forward, gently pressing her lips to my cheek before whispering in my ear.

"Live well...Zack."

I watched in shock and growing horror as the words registered, her muscles tensed in slow motion as the pressure wave from the bomb started; I felt it in my toes, rolling up from below us.

But Syb' was faster.

She pivoted and hurled Ori and I out the window before I could stop her.

The glass shattered under our weight, and as we fell, Ori wrapped his arms around me, growing in size before we slammed into and through the wall of the building across the street. The blast was nothing short of horrifying; heat rolled over me, blistering every inch of exposed skin and dragging a scream from a throat that had already started to bleed from the overpressure that blew my eardrums and left me almost deaf. But the pain paled in comparison to the world-ending loss coursing through me as our hide collapsed into a purple-tinged inferno. The blast wave hit milliseconds later and brought the building crumbling on top of us...

Consciousness came roaring back; fingers gripped me, pulling me from the rubble. The pain was blinding...

"Prince...be still, it is alright, we have you now."

"Ori..." I rasped, "Get Ori...."

I rolled my head to the side, watching a team of demons pulling Ori from the destroyed building; he shook off the brick dust and shoved them away, reaching a hand for the smoldering crater across the street.

"Ya hubiy... la...la min fadlik Sibilaa..."

Magic hummed, and the pain leeched out of my body, my strength slowly returning. I glanced around; a team of black-clad demons held a perimeter, the sun slowly setting in the distance. As soon as I could, I pushed off the ground, staggering towards Ori; he dropped to his knees, hand still reaching for the charred wreckage. My hand made contact with his gear, fingers gently digging into his shoulder.

"Sybilla..." He whispered, and his shoulders started to heave. I didn't say anything... there was nothing to say. I sank down into the dirt with him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as best I could; they needed a leader right now; I couldn't fall apart.

No matter if it felt like someone had carved my heart out.

I let my friend lean on me and let it all go. He sobbed into his hand, crying out for her, crying out for her to save him from the pain again and again until the sirens started getting closer. A gentle hand found my arm, and I looked up into the black eyes of the team leader.

"My Prince, we have to go...I'm sorry."

I nodded, squeezing Ori, "C'mon, brother, we gotta move."

"Leave me," He whispered; his voice was hollow, dead.

I shook my head, trying to bury my emotions and failing miserably, "Can't do that, man. We still have a war to win."

He spun, throwing me off him; I landed in the bricks and glass, slicing my arm open again. Ori bared his fangs and stomped toward me like he was about to end my shit right there. The team made to rush forward, and I held up a hand, stopping them... He had every right.

It was my fault.

"Orias, you don't wanna do this, not here, not now. She's gone, and brother, it's killing me. But we don't get justice by letting ourselves get caught. We do this right, and they fucking burn for what they did."

His livid gaze broke, just a flicker behind his eyes before it all came crashing down.

"It should've been ME!" He roared.

I pushed myself off the ground staring up into his eyes, wracked with pain, breaking my heart a little more with each passing moment, "And I wish it was me. But Ori, we've got the GIGN and half the Lyons Gendarmerie on their way here. We get in a fight with 'the man,' and we can kiss our chances goodbye." I held out my hand, "C'mon, your Prince needs you, your Queen needs you, and Syb...." My voice cracked hard, "She wouldn't want you giving up, not here, not like this."

I watched the fight rush out of him, the horrible sadness rushing in again, but he nodded slowly, a light coming back on; no matter how temporary, it was what he needed right now.

I nodded in return, barely keeping a lid on it as I pulled him to his feet. Behind us, the crackling hum of a magic circle reached my ears, and I finally turned away from my heartbroken brother in arms, feeling him follow behind me, and somewhere inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. A demon mage sped forward, her hands arcing with magic as she raised them up to heal my injured arm.

"No," I whispered.

She looked a little taken aback, "But, m-my Lord, you're injured."

I shook my head, brushing past her and stepping into the magic circle with Ori at my back.

The staging area just outside the city materialized; what teams had survived sat around on the floor, leaning on one another, the energy of the jump knocking me to a knee. Ori grabbed the back of my vest and hauled me to my feet before walking away, undoing his body armor and letting it drop to the floor. I just watched him go, numb now that we were on safe ground. The rest of the recovery team popped in seconds later, fanning out and waiting on my orders.

She's gone.

Across the room, a magic circle opened, and Lucy stepped out, eyes wild; she shoved her way past the team and barreled into my arms.

"Oh, love, my darling...What happened?"

"Sybilla's dead. We're all that made it... Lucy, they knew right where we were, all of our moves before we made them." I whispered in a voice that didn't sound like mine.

Lucy looked away for a moment, tears blooming in her eyes and her voice shaking with rage when she spoke.

"We were betrayed...."

I nodded, staring past her, "It's the only thing that fits; they knew where our OP was; they knew I'd be there. Someone told them, and I missed it" I ran a hand through my hair, ignoring the pain from the still bleeding gash, "I failed you," I whispered, "I failed them, walked them right into a fucking ambush. They erased them, Luce; the explosives worked just like the daggers."

Her hands slid up the side of my soot-covered face, pulling my gaze to hers.

"You didn't fail anyone, least of all me; our enemy is ruthless, cunning. This is war, my love, they were cherished friends all, but they were also soldiers. They did their duty with honor." I could hear the cracking in her voice and felt the soul-crushing pain of losing her brothers and sisters that had been with her since the Fall.

I shook my head slowly.

"No soldier deserves to die like that."

I could feel it coming, like when you know you're about to puke, it rose up faster than I could stop it...Sybilla's smiling eyes right before she died...that look of serenity... because Ori and I would live.

"Sybilla gave her life to save mine, Ori's too...She...." The memory rushed through me in a flash, hurting more and more with each passing second. "She threw us clear before the OP went up...it's the only reason we're still alive..." my voice failed. There was nothing else to be said.

The tears started slowly, just a hitch as Syb's face flashed through my mind over and over. Lucy saw it and crawled into my lap, all gentle touches and whispered reassurances...

"Let it go, my love, I'm here...."

I buried my face in her chest and wailed like a lost child.

The reports of the nine-millimeter echoed through the underground range, bouncing off the cold concrete. I felt more than heard them, "Hollywood's Bleeding," blared through my Peltors, drowning out all but the barest thumps. Blood ran from a few slide bite cuts on the web of my hand; I ignored them and kept shooting, punching holes in the targets, headshots only. I'd been at it for hours; it had only been a week since the disaster in Lyons... since we'd lost twenty of our own... Civilian deaths had been worse; over five hundred died in the blast, some sort of street fair had been going on. I'd locked myself away in this section of the building, refusing to see anyone except Lucy. I couldn't bring myself to look at them, knowing what I'd done.

Our little mole-hunt was coming up empty; we still had no idea who'd sold us out...but someone had. The pieces fit too neatly. It should be expected, but I'd thought it impossible with the love and loyalty directed at Lucy, my naïveté cost good people everything...I gripped the Glock harder, rolling it to the side and letting the empty magazine drop free, snatching one off my belt and getting back to work, punching holes in paper and imagining just what I would do to the architects of our misery.

It wouldn't be quick, it wouldn't be easy, and it would take a good long while to clean up after I was done...

A gentle hand on my shoulder brought me out of my murderous rumination. I kept my eyes on my target and swept my Peltors down and around my neck, sliding the gun back into its holster with a soft click. Lucy had crept up, cat-like, but kept her distance; even though I'd hardly been good company, she hadn't left my side for anything except to direct her forces and receive status updates.

I didn't deserve her.

"Hey," I whispered.

"Hello, darling." Her eyes widened when she saw my bleeding hands, "are you ever going to stop punishing yourself?"

I smiled sadly, not really meaning it, "There's no real forgiveness for what I've done Luce, I should've seen the signs on our approach; it was too fuckin' easy. They shouldn't have died. It didn't have to happen. "

She sighed and leaned on me, letting her head fall onto my shoulder, "The protective runes the enemy uses were purpose-built to conceal their movements; you couldn't have known. They are beyond even my sight."

I gently pushed her away and started stripping my Glock, wiping it down as I went, "But you didn't lead people who trusted you into a slaughter, Lucy, I did. They trusted me with their lives, and that was that. I let them down in the only way that matters. I stay on the ball? They're here right now. I let my desire for revenge give me tunnel-vision, and they paid the price."

She shook her head, "No...that's not right; you went into this as clear-minded as I'd ever seen you; you cannot keep isolating yourself. My love, this has to end."

I opened my mouth to speak when the doors opened. Lillin, flanked by Ari, was at the head of a pack of demons, Mom, Jen, and Ori among them, along with the demons from the teams that had survived my colossal fuck-up. They stopped a few feet from us, the air charged with something. Lillin spoke in a staccato cadence that had taken some getting used to, a side effect of partial erasure at the hands of an Angel.

"My...Prince we...have come to....speak with...you on a matter of grave importance...."

I slid the weapon back together with a glass-smooth slide-click and regarded the crowd; I still couldn't look Ori in the eye, holding up a hand...I had something to say first.

"I led your friends, family, and loved ones on the operation in Lyons; it was my responsibility. I failed them, and I failed you. For that?" I rolled the smoke in between my fingers, staring past them for a moment, "I can only beg for your forgiveness...For their deaths?...." My voice cracked a little, "I can't imagine that you could ever begin to forgive me."

I spread my hands wide, tears welling up in my eyes, tears of anger, pain, and shame. "I will accept any punishment or consequence you deem fit."

And I meant it. If they'd killed me right there, I wouldn't have lifted a finger to stop them. Ori stepped forward, getting right in my face, and smiled; still broken behind his eyes, that wound would never heal.

"My Prince... my friend... In war, there are scarcely guarantees, none of us expect them, we go to our duty knowing it may mean our death." The assembled crowd rumbled a little behind him, "Lyons was the embodiment of our willingness to give our last full measure for our Queen...and for you." His yellow eyes glowed softly, "we have spoken amongst ourselves these last days, and I believe that I speak for all assembled when I say, we will follow you to the end, you did not lead us astray, you will not lead us astray. By your leadership and our Queen's, we will defeat this enemy and honor our beloved dead. Their memories demand nothing less." More nods and murmurs from the crowd, "Arise. My Prince, cast this burden aside and lead us to victory, for we are, all of us, with you." A huge hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

"She is with you."

The final smile on Sybilla's face burst through my mind, and I knew he was right.

The crowd surged forward, hands squeezed my shoulders and slapped my back, rough and gentle affirmations, murmured words of confidence...

Ari hugged me, leaning into my side, "Mate, we need you back. You're our Prince, our brother... no matter the strait. We'll weather it together."

Mom and Jen pushed in, wrapping me in a group hug.

"We love you, buddy," Mom whispered, "It's gonna be okay."

"Fuckin' A," Jen whispered.

I couldn't tell you when I broke, when the tears started at this showing of faith, of love, and support. I felt the life rushing back into me; it didn't fix it. There was no magic bullet... But I knew what I had to do, and with them at my side? It would be done.