Free The Devil Is a Gentleman by J. L. Murray Page B

but almost disappointed he let me go. I took a swig from my glass.
    “Niki, I don’t want to add to your worries, but I do need to warn you.” He looked toward Gage at the bar, drinking a beer and chatting with Janis. “Eli may not come back. I hope you will be willing to accept that if that time comes.”
    “Why wouldn’t he come back?” I said.
    “This world is a complex place, and so is Hell. Things happen between point A and point B.”
    “What do you mean things happen?” I said. “Have you seen him lately?”
    “Not as such,” he said. “I have been preoccupied.”
    I narrowed my eyes. “Why did you help him?” I said. “He meant nothing to you. Why did you help him get to Hell?”
    He smiled. “You think I was trying to get rid of him?” he said.
    “The thought did occur to me.”
    “I have a soft spot for outsiders, that’s all.”
    “I wouldn’t call Eli an outsider,” I said.
    “He is a half-demon trying to live in a human world. What would you call it?”
    “I guess I didn’t look at it like that. It was always me that was the outsider. I was the Abnormal. I keep forgetting.”
    “Anyway,” said Sam, gesturing dismissively, “I wasn’t talking about him. I was talking about you. He means something to you, even if you’re not sure what that is. So I helped him.”
    “Me?” I said. “Why would you do that? I mean, really, you hardly know me.”
    “You’re wrong,” he said. “ You hardly know me. I know more about you than anyone else will ever know. I’ve seen inside of you, Niki. I know you. You’re different.”
    “Different than what?” I said. I could feel him looking at me again, but I was afraid to meet his eyes.
    “Everything,” he said.
    I cleared my throat. “What’s going on? The ghosts, they’re not crossing over. They’re everywhere. And they mob me when they know I’m there. Just me. To have dead things inside you, it’s not something I look forward to. Is it connected to your trouble? With the war?”
    Sam sighed. I met his eyes again. I saw the darkness shifting there, like a cloud in the night sky. The more I looked at him, the easier it was to withstand his gaze. “I try to keep things from you, Niki. But you make it damn difficult.”
    “What things?”
    “I’m trying to keep you safe. It’s not an easy job.” He started to smile, but his face turned quickly solemn. “I’m worried that if I tell you too much, it could put you in danger.”
    “I’m always in danger,” I said lightly. “You know me.” It came off as false and hollow. I grimaced.
    “This is different,” he said. He ran a hand through his hair. “The war is not a sure thing. Publicly, of course, it is not even a possibility. But I can feel it. It feels like last time.”
    “The One War,” I said.
    “You know it?” he said, impressed.
    “What are you?” I said.
    “I think you already know.”
    “Angel?” I said.
    He looked at me, frowning slightly. “Does it scare you?”
    “A little,” I said. “Eliza, too?”
    “Yes. I’m sorry about my reaction to the news of her arrival. I was caught off guard. She is quite powerful where we come from. The Creed is in charge of justice where we come from.”
    “The Creed?” I said.
    He sighed. “The Creed is judge, jury and executioner, as they say here. Or, rather, what she deems justice. It is cruel, more often than not. Hers is a harsh morality.”
    “Why would she come for you?” I said. “What have you done wrong?”
    “Nothing wrong,” he said. “Just different. You delivered the message yourself.”
    “You have to pick a side.”
    Sam nodded. “I’m afraid it’s not that easy, though. If I do pick a side, the side I don’t pick will take it as a slight. Ultimately, me picking a side starts the damn war.” He shook his head. “It’s all such a mess.”
    “Why does your opinion matter so much?” I said. “Why do they care what you think?”
    “It’s not the why that’s important,” he said.