"Tagashin! Five minutes, then if I'm not out get inside," I hissed, and in response got a whispered affirmation before something moved through the air over my head.

Okay, I thought as I got up, hands reaching for some tools inside my coat. Five minutes to get inside, get Melissa out of here. And anyone else inside. If we could do that without alerting the Diabolists, flee the district entirely. If not, storm and hope for the best.

I could hear the clop of the raspy-voiced diabolist through the building. Didn't have much time. No time to be subtle about this.

I put my hand against the little hole I'd broken at the bottom of the wall, focusing on the little bit of my power that had come back. Still, the wood cracked and crumpled, weakening at my touch. Chunks weakened, falling loose, but nowhere near fast enough.

The clop of hooves was getting closer. I pushed, hand cutting through the rotted wood, pulling upwards. Wood splintered and shredded as I tore upwards. I carved an opening two feet wide that I hurriedly squeezed through.

The room was dark, small, and dusty. A few empty crates in one corner, some long-ago broken and rusted tools lying next to them. A single figure lay bound by chains in another corner, the bit of light from the passage I'd opened revealing it to be Melissa.

She immediately started trying to say something past the gag, but I ignored her. The hoof clops were close now, and the single door into the room opened.

The Black Flame diabolist was taller than I, bearing clear biosculpting work. Bad work, but it gave her several inches and a lot of muscle as she tossed her lantern to the ground, grinning as she pulled on her fingerless gloves.

Sloppy. Couldn't just shoot her, though. It would alert the entire building.

"Harrow?" She said, a sadistic grin on her face. "That's it, you've fucked with me for the last time!"

I cocked my head to the side. "Who are you?"

She scowled. "Don't pretend you don't know Jenny No-tail. I was on a dozen of your shitty little-"

She moved, raising her hand. I moved faster, lunging forward with my saber. She yelped as my blade cut, carving across her fingers. A burst of black flame went past my head as I pulled my saber back for another blow.

I needed to press fast, before she spewed out more Hellfi-

She rushed forward, ramming into me. My saber drove into her side but she didn't care. She knocked me to the ground even as I drove my blade deeper.

Her jaws unlatched, leaning down to bite. Drool dripped onto my face.

My tail swung around, ramming a knife into her eye. She screamed, reeling back, hands scrambling to try and pull it out. She got it out, one hand on the knife, the other keeping the remnants of her eye inside the socket.

Too late. I aimed my revolver at her other eye as she raised her hand. Black flame gathered in her fingertips.

Click. The smell of burnt gunpowder as the revolver bucked in my hand. The back of her head sprayed blood as the bullet punched through.

"No," I said as her corpse fell to the ground. "I don't think I know you."

I moved quickly, moving to Melissa and pulling her gag off. We didn't have much time.

"Can you cast if I get the cuffs off?" I asked her, searching No-Tail's jacket. Knives, coins, a few odds and ends. A diabolism focus like mine, which I pocketed.

"Sure," Melissa said, getting onto her knees. "Rot the metal off?"

"Can't," I said, finishing my searching of the coat and moving onto the trousers. "Used all of it earlier today, only had enough to break through that wall."

"The Hells made you do-"

"Not enough time to explain," I said, coming up empty searching through the pockets. "Do you know who has the key?"

"Calhan," she said. "He's the only one who has it. Not all of them are as eager about this mess as they were at the start."

Not shocking. Having a quarter of your people dead tended to take the wind of your sails. How many were thinking of just making a run for it? Before the authorities knew their identities, all they'd have to worry about is a vengeful Versalicci. And the Devils, when they went to the Hells.

Not that you weren't screwed when you made your way down there anyway.

"Barnes?" I whispered to the air. "Willing to lend a hand?"

Nothing. Probably still with the others. We were swiftly approaching those five minutes being up.

"We can worry about the cuffs later," I told Melissa. "How many of them are there?"

"I'm not exactly sitting in on their meetings," she protested. "I think four of them are out scouting their next target. Five of them are here, and-"

"We are leaving," I said as my ears picked up a new noise. I'd been wondering why the other Diabolists hadn't burst in after the sound of gunfire. I could hear why, chanting in a tongue that made my ears burn.

Summoning a devil, the Imp told me.

"I can tell," I said, moving towards the hole in the wall. "Let's get out of here before they bring it-"

The ground shook, nearly knocking me off my hooves. The wall shuddered, began to buckle. I grabbed Melissa, running through the door. The room behind us came down, and we were in some hallway, barely lit, with no idea which way to go.

At least until the screaming started.

***

They'd turned the warehouse floor into a ritual ground. Nothing special, not the massive number of corpses that Tyler had decided to keep, but the moment I stepped inside, I could hear the same whispering I had at his house.

I barely noticed. Not with the chaos going on inside.

Chitinous limbs sprouted from a circle like the one now in my basement. A head like a crab's was trying to push through its surface, roaring as the portal failed to give way. Its limbs clawed and grasped at the surrounding floor, ripping wood up.

Around it, three Infernals lay on the ground, dead. Two of them had lacerations all over their face from a thousand teeth biting deep, and another didn't have a head at all. The pulped remnants lay around their headless corpse. A fourth one was crouched nearby, hands still on the circle, legs broken, whimpering as the devil's limbs came close.

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Better that than the other two devils. One of them prowled the warehouse floor, dodging the whirling limbs. The size and general shape of a man, its head was half of a writhing centipede's body, lashing at the sky and spitting some dark liquid upwards, occasionally taking a shot with the revolvers in its hands. It looked familiar, and I nearly bit my lip. Malachti's body.

Tagashin whirled around above the centipede devil, a dozen copies whirling about and sending green bolts flying down to hit the devil. They did nothing, and I noted that every attack was being aimed at a single one of the copies.

The gates of the warehouse had been smashed open. Ripped off the hinges, they had been flung halfway across the floor, and past them was the second devil.

A hulking thing made of writhing flesh, a struggling Tolman grasped in claw-like arms. It was using him as a shield against a reluctant Gregory, warding off any attack with divine light. It already bore the scars from previous attacks.

Most of the thing's torso was blackened and charred. Viscous white pus leaked through the cracks in the skin, but it didn't care at all as it wrenched Tolman's arm. Something snapped, Tolman screaming as it echoed across the room.

At its feet, arms torn off, torso sawed in half, was Marat.

Hybrids, The Imp told me. Devils in living hosts.

I wasn't paying attention. I was focused on my aim because I couldn't miss.

Two more clicks, and the roar of my revolver. A pair of bullets slammed into the side of the Devil's head. Blood and chunks blew out of the other side. It didn't so much as flinch from the blows, but it turned to face me.

A scream. Tagashin fell from the sky, blood sprouting from her chest as all her illusions faltered. I started moving, rushing towards her. The kitsune landed on the ground roughly, going limp. The centipede devil lowered a pistol, cocking the hammer.

Then screamed as divine light hit him in the side. I skidded to a halt, my skin feeling like needles were being driven in. My eyes burned as Gregory scoured the centipede devil.

Not for long though, as the light suddenly cut off. The devil cursed, skin cracked and smoking, the wriggling limbs along half of the centipede sticking out gone limp. I got between him and Tagashin, sparing a quick glance for the others.

The second devil had flung Tolman at Gregory, knocking him down and cutting off the light. For a while.

"Enough!" The centipede hissed in a thousand voices, recomposing itself, stalking towards me. "Handle the last traitor! I'll handle this one."

I aimed my revolver, only for one of the nearby devil limbs from the portal to suddenly descend. I backed away, trying to keep myself between Tagashin and the devil, even as a scrambling claw tore up the floor only feet away.

Not much longer. The other devil had sprinted to where the last diabolist kept his hands on the circle. He couldn't even dodge as a hoof turned his head into paste.

The larger devil screamed as the portal closed, a sound that felt like nails in my ears. Wood warped and shifted, sulfur spewing out, the roof shuddering and peeling open, revealing the sky above. Wood peeled back, forming into more limbs, but they fell apart, turning to ash as the portal snapped shut. The closing edges sliced through chitin with ease, cutting off the smell of the Hells and replacing it with the stench of the devil as purple ichor sprayed. It shuddered as the closing portal decapitated it, limbs falling.

And that's when the centipede struck.

The Devil's head whipped forward, and I brought my sword up to parry. I caught its pincers, but multiple legs jabbed at me. Pain, as they cut and tore, but I ignored it, unloading the last trio of my bullets into it. Chitin and gore splattered, hissing as it landed on the ground.

Of course, its blood had to be acidic.

It spat on my blade, the acid traveling along its pincers, and soon I had just half a sword. Acid dribbled on my gloves, making the enchantments spark, and I drove the shattered remnants of the sword into its face. More acid on my arms, burning as I drove my saber to its hilt into the devil's head.

It whipped backward, ripping my saber away before swinging back towards me. "Come on little traitor, what do you think-"

"Shut up Malachti," I snarled, as my tail plunged a dagger into the centipede's eyes.

A shriek as it withdrew, raising both of his pistols. Done toying, but too late on it's part.

I dropped to the ground as divine light struck the centipede again, filling the room with the smell of frying flesh.

Not enough, The Imp said contemptuously. Lesser light, lesser priest, too lesser to take even one of my brethren.

Still enough to drive the possessed Malachti away, screeching as his flesh blackened. He headed around the severed devil head, towards the exit, the mountain of flesh that must be Mitlau already heading through. They both ignored the crumpled form of Tolman, heading outside.

I was on their tails, ignoring the burning of my arms. Needed to make sure they wouldn't double back, and I reloaded my revolver as they continued away. Ignore the pain, the burning. I needed alchemical rounds for next time, expensive as the damn things were.

Regular bullets would have to be enough. But they didn't turn around.

I breathed out, watching as the two devil-possessed continued to flee. The centipede-devil's legs lengthened, growing an extra foot as it overtook its companion, sprinting around the corner. I put my still-burning arm in the snow, letting the acid be diluted by its melting.

Gregory hurried out of the warehouse, huffing and aiming his arm at the second one.

"Don't," I warned, and he gave me a confused look.

"Why not?" he said angrily, and then cursed as the other devil-possessed made it out of sight.

"Same reason they decided to run," I said. "No one is going to benefit from killing the other right now. We've got what we wanted. They got what they wanted. They were winning, but decided not to pursue it on the off-chance we actually hurt them, so let's not give them a reason to restart it. Also, are some of those curses church approved?"

Gregory sighed, eyes lingering on the corner where the two had disappeared around. "No, Tarver encourages us to swear by other deities. Part of the bardic tradition to keep them on their toes. Are you sure it's safe letting them go?"

"Toes were about the only body part I didn't hear mentioned," I said. "Don't worry about those two. They're being kept on a tight leash. If only so they don't get the wrong attention put on their boss."

Malachti and Mitlau had come here probably to retrieve Melissa now that I'd done the hard work of finding her. Or had they done their own search and happened upon her? It didn't matter much either way. They'd decided taking her away wasn't worth the bother.

If it meant staying alive, I wouldn't disagree.

"Tolman?" I asked Gregory.

"He'll live," Gregory said. "He got torn up pretty bad, but using what was left of your potions kept him from bleeding out. Barring infection."

"Marat?"

Gregory remained silent, and I was tempted to castigate myself for such a stupid question. She'd had her limbs torn out and half her chest crushed. Of course she wasn't able to live through that. The Hells had I been thinking, bringing her in this to begin with? Getting mixed up with diabolists and devils was no place for-

I stilled. Marat wasn't the only person I'd brought in on this. I got up from the snow, starting to run towards the cart.

"They ran the opposite direction," Gregory said, following behind me. I didn't reply as I outpaced him, sprinting towards where we'd left the cart.

By the time he caught up, I'd been there for a quarter minute, looking at the carnage.

They'd torn Jones' uneven stumps off his head and rammed them into his eyes. Blood still leaked around the bleeding horn bases, and from the chunks of skull they'd torn out. This must have been minutes at most before they'd assaulted the warehouse.

They'd taken the time to paint "Imperial Pets" on the side of the cart in Jones' blood. Still hitched to it, the donkey was still alive. Seemingly unconcerned about what had happened.

"Gregory," I said, having quietly settled against the cart out of fear I'd fall if I did not. "If it's not sacrilegious, hit the donkey with some light."

He hesitated, eyes flickering between me, Jones' corpse, and the placid animal. "Sorry?"

"Please?"

A flash of light, pain on my exposed skin, and a screech as skin peeled away and flesh melted, the devil that had burrowed inside the animal unable to hide. Inside my head, the Imp jeered at the thing's low status and lack of smarts, playing an animal so badly.

I didn't have eyes for it, as I considered trying to remove the horns, then decided not to, as Gregory continued hitting the minor devil with light, killing it. I didn't pay any attention to the words, as true as they might be. Golvar's old ones for any Infernal he considered too close to the Watch. More confirmation from one of the sloppiest people I'd ever worked with. Somehow still alive despite being this sloppy, and now partially a devil.

"Malvia?" Gregory asked carefully. "Are you okay?"

I wanted to snap at him for phrasing that like I would break. But this was just…it could have been worse. I tried to focus on being glad we'd lived. And not focus on the ones who'd died.

"No," I said. "Not generally. Definitely not right now. But slowing isn't going to help anyone. Let's go make sure Barnes and Tolman are alright, see if Melissa ran, and then…we'll need to find some way to transport that artifact."

"Give it a few minutes," he said. "Away from the cart at least. Tolman is fine, he's not going to bleed out or anything like that. If Melissa ran, there's no catching up with her. Give us both a chance to catch our breaths?"

I sighed, eyes flickering to the corpse and then quickly away. "Fine."

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