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Chapter 3

The conference chamber where Kellubrae met with Venifar and Linufel was neutral ground. Kellubrae would have preferred to bring the other two into his territory; the Southern Baptist section of Hell, which he ran, had plenty of meeting rooms. But this meeting was as much about establishing dominance as it was about working out a plan for meeting the objectives set by Lucifer. And none of the three would concede power to the extent of meeting within the territory of one of the others.

So they met in the conference room of Communicable Disease Research, which was currently between directors and which had been offered as a plum appointment to whichever one of them Lucifer deemed most effective in this little task he'd set.

The other two fallen angels held the same memo as he, on official Mark of the Beast™ stationery with the holographic flame watermark in the left-hand corner.

"The fallen angel Averial," it read, "has through unknown means disappeared in North Carolina. Your job is to find her and return her to Hell. You may use whatever methods you deem appropriate. Your budget will be subject to direct approval from me, but if you stay within your time frame, it will be reasonable for the work you are expected to do. Your team will consist of fallen angels Kellubrae, Linufel and Venifar. You will choose your own team leader, who will report directly to me. Your current deadline for the successful completion of your goal is three months, subject to modification as events warrant and as I see fit."

There followed the lengthy list of titles so dear to the twisted heart of Hell's First Fallen, and Lucifer's grandiose signature, and in tiny little print at the bottom of the memo, a postscript: "Don't fail me. L"

"Averial?" Kellubrae said. "She hasn't been a player for a long, long time." Unlike the three of them—he'd been locked in a deadly power struggle with Linufel and Venifar for almost two hundred years now. The more hate-centered branches of Christianity bred Hellbound souls at a prodigious rate, and Kellubrae wasn't the only Fallen who wanted to corner that niche of the specialty Christian Torture market for himself.

"Averial is gone, all right," Linufel confirmed. "And more importantly, she didn't go up in one of the Heaven-listed shipments. She isn't on the log anywhere. I checked." She rocked her chair back from the massive black conference table and smiled slowly. "She found a way out of here, and she found a way to disappear when she got there. So you bet your wings and fangs Lucifer wants her back."

All three fallen angels had received the memo simultaneously, and less than twenty seconds before they'd arrived in the conference room. Kellubrae had spent that time negotiating for the Communicable Disease Research site. Venifar and Linufel had, too, he thought. Linufel's display of privately obtained information meant she had connections that he didn't, and she was letting him know it. She proved herself by that single action a more dangerous opponent than he'd even suspected.

Venifar waved the memo. "The deadline is—ambitious," he said. "We will have to work closely together."

An admission, Kellubrae thought, that he had no applicable resources, but was willing to steal from the other two.

He decided not to tip his hand either way. He had specific plans that he thought he might accomplish with this mission; the first of which was promotion to director of Communicable Disease Research. He had some neat ideas for a highly contagious particle-borne variant of leprosy that ought to increase crimes of hate and cruelty tremendously. And he felt that Lucifer had been in his post entirely too long. What one fallen angel could rule, another could rule as well (or better?), and he had ideas for the reorganization of Hell that were . . . well . . . demonic.

But first things first. He needed to avoid being made team leader. "Venifar makes a good point," he said to Linufel. "On the strength of his suggestion of teamwork, I nominate him as team leader."

Linufel's eyes gleamed. He could see he'd beat her to the punch, but this time she wasn't going to mind deferring. "You're so right. I second the motion."

Venifar swallowed, and his eyes went round. "I'm afraid I must decline . . ." he started to say, but Kellubrae cut him off.

"All in favor?"

"Aye," Linufel said.

"Aye," Kellubrae said.

"All opposed?"

"I'm opposed, damn you!" Venifar shouted.

Kellubrae ignored the shout. "Motion carries by a two-thirds majority. Congratulations, Venifar. You'll be working closely with the Big Guy."

 

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