Chapter 41: Hunting Moriarty, part 2

Azazel saw all the videos, and he was going to be sick. Children abused, then discarded like trash. By fellow humans, above all else. He rushed to the bathroom, and heaved over the toilet bowl.

Clutching it for support, he tried to compose himself. Tagas's video was also there. With subtitles under the image. The things the demon promised to do to Azazel's baby brother disturbed the fallen angel.

Now, if Azazel was one thing, then that was him being a denizen of Hell. He had rebelled. But there was a reason why the fallen angels didn't fight for Heaven's gates. Blood was thicker than water, and Azazel had not forgotten that those they attacked every day were his brothers.

When Tagas had been young, Azazel had tried to teach him how to wield the sword. Failing that, he had thought him hand-to-hand combat. Tagas was always terrified when he was given a sword. His gentle nature not wanting anything to do with things that could actually kill. Even if the demons wouldn't give him the same consideration.

Michael should have kept Tagas in Eden. To tend to his animals quietly, and be happy. Instead, Michael had put him on the front lines, deeming him old enough. The first time that Azazel had seen Tagas out there, he had nearly had a heart attack.

The centuries passed, and Tagas remained the same martial artist as usual, and Azazel had spoken with Lucifer. Guns and the like would have given the demons an edge, but Tagas was defending the gates.

So, Lucifer had decided to keep throwing the cannon fodder at the gates. More to keep his brothers sharp, than to hurt them. New demons were created every day. Among the monkeys, there were more evil people than good. Sad but true.

What Azazel couldn't understand was, who Moriarty was. He had to be old, too old by far. The angel brought the sock back to his nose. He had left it in the bathroom, after destroying the circle. There was something he had thought was demon stench, but then he sniffed again.

It was strange, muskier. Something like stale cigarettes. Demons didn't smoke, no matter what the monkeys thought about them. They didn't need to. Hell smelt foul enough, without them indulging in cancer sticks.

So, Moriarty was a smoker, a heavy one? That didn't tell him much. Unless, the cigarette smell was there to hide something else? Azazel sniffed the sock again. Then his eyes widened.

This was a leviathan. He looked around the apartment wildly. He had been certain that his father captured all of them and threw them in purgatory. How could Moriarty be out and about?

"Lucifer, I found something," Azazel said, and then his brother appeared.

"What does that stupid sock have to do with anything?" Lucifer said, eyeing the frogs on the orange sock.

"Leviathan," Azazel managed to get out, and his brother's eyes widened as well.

"Are you certain?" Lucifer asked, and Azazel nodded.

"He smokes like a chimney, to hide it. But the foulness is there. I have fought enough of those to know their stench," Azazel handed his brother the sock, who began to sniff it.

"I can also smell demon," Lucifer said. "But there is also leviathan mixed in."

"What are we going to do now? Tagas is in mortal danger," Azazel said. Lucifer rubbed his chin.

"If he would have agreed to it, I would have whisked him away to Hell, but he wants to protect the humans," Lucifer said, and then turned to the window. "I will help you search. Between the two of us, we can find something for certain."

They began to scour the apartment then. The place was impersonal, and, apart from the sock, everything else must have been taken. Then, Lucifer found a photo under the bed. It looked like Harry, but before he died. His eyes narrowed.

"Look at that," Lucifer went to his brother, and handed him the photo.

"When did that demon die?" Azazel asked, and Lucifer made a pause to think.

"A couple of months ago. I remember that he came to Hell because of an orgy," Lucifer said, and Azazel looked him in the eyes.

"Do you think he is a mole, or a sleeper agent?" Azazel asked, and then Lucifer shook his head.

"Neither, this was left so that we can doubt Harry. I am connected to all of my demons. They can't lie to me," Lucifer said, and then went to kneel before the bed again. His brother followed. "Help me flip the mattress."

Azazel did, and they saw that there were symbols drawn on the other side of it. Lucifer snapped his fingers, and the mattress turned into dust.

"He was summoned here by someone who is now most likely dead. He was summoned together with a demon," Lucifer said, and Azazel snorted. It was foolish, summoning demons. More so, leviathans.

"We can speak with the spirit of the poor sod. I can bet he is in Hell, right now?" Azazel suggested, and Lucifer nodded.

"I'll go check for the fool down in the cauldron. You keep on searching," with the command, the blonde fallen angel was gone. Azazel looked around the apartment again, and then went to the windows.

He searched everywhere, then noticed that the air conditioning was not working. Going to the box, he opened it up. He found a skull stuck inside.

Azazel grinned, and took it out. He went to the kitchen, and drew another circle. This time, he was certain that someone will appear. When a demon showed up, all beaten up and bruised, chained to boot, Azazel grabbed him by the neck, and forced him face first on the ground.

"You were summoned with a leviathan, correct?" Azazel asked, and the demon whimpered.

"Moriarty is going to eat me, once he finds out I talked," the demon whined, but Azazel didn't pay him any mind.

"Lucifer will do far worse," Azazel promised, and then pressed further down on the neck. "Speak."