Black City

To the right the lake crashed against the shore, plates of ice shifting and breaking. The wind whipped frosted caps of waves in the moonlight, and more stars than I’d ever been able to view above Chicago.

The lights were out as far as the eye could see. The city had been swallowed by the night. In the distance I could hear the occasional scream, the staccato pop of gunfire. Overlaying that noise was a steady, high-pitched hum, like the buzz of cicadas—the sound of the vampire horde moving through the city.

Nathaniel paused. I could tell that he was assessing the possibility of a vampire attack. My panic had eased once we got outside, and with its diminishment came embarrassment.

“You can put me down now,” I said.

Nathaniel shifted his gaze to my face. My cheeks heated under his assessing look. After a minute he placed me on my feet. He was wearing only his black dress pants and boots, and the sheath for his sword was slung over his shoulder. The cold did not seem to disturb him in the least.

“We must try to escape the horde,” Nathaniel said apologetically. “I know you are tired.”

I shook my head. “You’re right. We have to get home somehow and meet up with the others. We’re not going to get there unless we walk.”

We fell into step beside each other on the path. I figured we were ten or eleven miles from my house. At the pace I was trudging it would take at least four hours to get home. Nathaniel was on high alert, but we walked for several minutes without encountering anyone or anything.

The vampires did seem to be avoiding the lake. I wondered why. As far as I knew, nothing more dangerous than sturgeon lived there. As far as I knew.

I looked at the dark surface of the lake, which suddenly seemed like it had some unknown menace lurking in its depths. I shook my head. I had enough menace in my life without imagining more. If there was a monster in the lake, then it could stay there, and so much the better if it worked as an anti-vampire repellant.

We passed under the overpass next to the Shedd Aquarium. The path curved around the building before turning north again. Water broke against the rocks below the safety wall. Nathaniel paused beneath the overpass.

“There is someone on the path ahead,” he whispered, drawing his sword.

I couldn’t make out the person—or creature. It must be keeping to the shadows.

“Is it human?” I said very softly.

“No,” he replied. “Stay back.”

The moon shifted behind the clouds.

One second Nathaniel was beside me, and the next he was gone. I didn’t even see him move.

The clouds drifted past the moon. I saw Nathaniel silhouetted in the lunar light. He stood over an unmoving form, his sword at his side. The tip of the blade faced the ground. There was a dark stain sliding down the metallic surface. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at me, and his expression was full of savage glee. He did not look like himself. He looked like…someone. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Someone I had seen recently, had spoken to…

“You may approach,” he said, and the smoky tendrils of memory slipped away before I could grasp them.

I came to Nathaniel’s side and looked down at the creature he’d beheaded. It was a sort of humanoid/snake combo.

“That thing looks like Amarantha and Violet after Lucifer cursed them,” I said.

“It is one of Focalor’s foot soldiers,” Nathaniel said.

“Focalor, huh?” I said, nudging the body with the toe of my boot. “I’d almost forgotten about him with everything else going on. Do you think he’s behind the vampire attacks?”

“He was one of Azazel’s conspirators in the uprising against Lucifer. But I am not certain that Azazel would have trusted Focalor with his plans for the serum and the vampires. I always sensed that Azazel was not entirely forthcoming with Focalor.”

“Then why are Focalor’s flunkies hanging around Chicago?” I asked.

Nathaniel shrugged. “Focalor knows how to take advantage of a bad situation. And he is not the only one.”

“The pix demons,” I said.

Nathaniel nodded. “And others like them. There will be many creatures that see this city as a fruit ripe for the plucking. Soon it will become a battleground.”

In my mind’s eye I saw my fair city decimated by violence, the humans dead or gone, demons tearing one another to shreds in the streets as they fought to give their master a jewel for their crowns.

If that happened, I, too, would be dead, and my child with me, for none of those masters could possibly allow me to live. I would always be a threat, especially with the shadow of Lucifer standing behind me.

Lucifer would drop the magical equivalent of a nuclear bomb on the city if I was dead, and that would be the end of any war. The Chicago I knew would cease to exist either way.

“Every time I think I’ve thought through all the implications, I realize how stupid I’ve been,” I said tiredly.

“You are not stupid,” Nathaniel said.

“I must be. Why else would I think I could stop this?” I jabbed my hand in the direction of the skyline. “I’ve got enemies galore but hardly any allies to speak of. I put myself at a disadvantage by giving up my Agent’s powers so I could make a point to Sokolov.”

“You are still the granddaughter of Lucifer, as you yourself told Sokolov.”

“As far as I can tell, being the granddaughter of Lucifer has brought me nothing but grief,” I said, my lips pressed together as I stared off in the distance. “And, Nathaniel…he’s backing me into a cage. I can feel it. Slowly, inexorably. I twist and I turn, I growl and I claw, but Lucifer is the lion tamer and he holds the whip. Soon I’ll realize I’ve gone too far backward and the cage door will close.”