Page 70 of Client from Hell

Ernesto Saven cursed, although I recognized he indulged in foul language through tone more than comprehension of the odd language he spoke. “My otter and badger are in town, but I will make certain they’re protected. What do I owe for this favor you have done me?”

“That is part of what Lucifer wants to meet with you about. He also wanted me to inform you he can acquire the seed of your lost child if you desire it.” I reviewed the list of things the Devil had left with me, trapping the phone between my shoulder and ear while flipping through the sheets. “There is an organization that has earned the Devil’s ire, and he wants to ally with you on this matter.”

“Is this organization the one who killed my child?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Call me Ernesto,” the vampire ordered. “What do you need from my brood, and what is Lucifer’s timetable to meet?”

Using the password the Devil had given me, I unlocked his computer, accessed his calendar, and scowled at the ridiculous number of entries. I scrolled through the next few days, eyeballing a general staff meeting he had set for in the morning. “Do you have anything planned at nine in the morning?”

“Time zone?”

“Eastern.”

“I’ll make sure I’m available. Where does he want to hold the meeting?”

“He instructed me to have you pick a location convenient for you.”

“How many will he be bringing with him?”

“Expect at least six to eight, possibly up to ten. He’s been in a mood.” A mood was a good way to describe the Devil’s protective tendencies, and if there was any evidence of his wife being targeted, he’d go to extremes to protect her. I had no idea how far he would go to protect Diana or Darian, although I expected he would use excessive force as necessary.

“This organization targeted people in his family?” The vampire snorted. “They’ve suicided, and they don’t even know it yet.”

“How did you guess, Ernesto?”

“Six to eight would imply he intended to bring his closest family. His wife, his wife’s brother, that secretary of his, her fiancé, and you, as the one initiating contact with me, would bring the number up to five. Six would be Lucifer. His heir and her husband would be the final two. If he wants to bring ten, I would presume he’d be bringing his cindercorns, as they would give him access to the NYPD.”

I made a note of the people Ernesto expected and his logic. Then I checked the list Lucifer had given me. “Lucifer has authorized me to give you the relevant details on this group if you want to do some research on your own before the meeting.”

“For certain. I’ll make use of my contacts and come to the table armed with knowledge. I would like to bring an associate with me.”

I made a note of that. “I’ll tell him you’re bringing someone. The corporation’s name is Modern Miracles Pharmaceuticals, and they branched from Wishing Well.”

“Those fools,” the vampire spat.

Grateful I wouldn’t have to go into much detail about the eradication of three cities in Georgia, I said, “They are working on a variant of lycanthropy that does not have an animal strain in the virus’s DNA.”

“The same strain his secretary is infected with?” The vampire grunted. “He informed me of the strain, as he wanted me to be aware because of my demons. They do get infected with lycanthropy now and then, and he mentioned it’s rather potent despite lacking animal DNA.”

“The same. Lucifer hired me to be his intern, but due to a highly aggressive cancer, I was infected with the virus.”

The vampire snorted. “Why didn’t he just cure it?”

I checked the notes and made sure to tell the vampire only what Lucifer confirmed was acceptable to share. “I had about a week to live, parts of my brain had already been eaten by the cancer, and I had no uninfected organs. He would have had to do a conversion, and that wasn’t an option he appreciated. As such, the virus strain was tested as a method of treating my cancer. It worked, although I’ve had a rather lengthy recovery process.”

“Well, if you had parts of your brain eaten by the cancer, it’s impressive you sound as coherent as you do. Brain matter is not something easily healed.”

“An archangel helped to prevent the excessive amounts of whining.”

Ernesto burst into laughter. “Yes, I can see how that could happen. Are you another of his precious equines, then?”

“He has decided I am a spicy pony with bite.”

A thoughtful silence spread between us, and while he chewed on my unidentified species, I deleted the staff meeting from Lucifer’s calendar and added the meeting with Ernesto.

“There was, a very long time ago, a species of horse that would have been aptly named as spicy ponies with bite. They could spit a potent super acid, which happened to be flammable, and they helped the Earth be formed to a habitable state. The ash from anything their acid burned was rich with the basic building blocks of life, and, given time, would become the most fertile of soil. They predated unicorns by many, many years—they predated humanity, for that matter. You might call them a source of life on our world, for they breathed life into an otherwise lifeless ground. That acid isn’t just acid—it’s the basic building blocks of life. Much like Lucifer’s beloved cindercorns, their diet consisted of organic matter, preferably matter they’d broken down with their acid or burned. They had five clawed toes on each hoof, one of which is more like a human thumb.”