The Night Beat

disrupted and was still offline, which was why no one had come up to help, as near as I could tell. The four of us who weren’t injured took the worst hurt, so I had Gretel, Jack had Hansel, Freddy had Amanda, and Sexy Cindy had Maurice. The others did the mutually hurt lean and drag and in this attractive way, we managed to get to the lift and down levels, in shifts.
    By the time the last load arrived we’d gotten some help, and one of the ghosts in attendance had flitted off to the hospital. The emergency personnel arrived as we reached the exit.
    Much medical chaos ensued, but finally even Ralph was on a gurney and headed off to give the little undeads tour group a real wake up call in terms of choosing their adult careers carefully. If they were still there. I realized we were very close to dawn. This night had flown. I wondered what the day would bring and if we’d get to sleep or not. I didn’t want to place a bet on it, per the base of my tail.
    Sure enough, as the four of us stood in the Necropolis Enforcement doorway, wondering what to do next, the suns started their slow rise. The undead world had its own sun, moons and stars. Thankfully, they followed the Earth solar cycle, or at least they appeared to. It was always interesting to watch sunrise in Necropolis, though, because it was the clearest point in the day where you could tell for sure you were in one plane of existence and watching another at the same time. I made sure the others weren’t in a position to look. Beautiful, yes. Potentially disconcerting, bigger yes. And we had enough disconcertion going on; we didn’t need any help from the planetary elements.
    “I got some information from the Count while we were waiting for his gurney,” Jack said. “Big fight, but he didn’t sound like he thought the Adversary was trying all that hard.”
    “Makes sense. They have a larger plan than just getting rid of us. But still, disabling Necropolis Enforcement permanently would have to be a good thing in the Prince’s mind. So, why was the damage so minimal? In that sense?”
    “They want you,” Freddy suggested.
    “Maybe.” I thought about it. Didn’t come up with enough. “Did the Count, or anyone else, mention if the dupes were destroyed?”
    “Yeah,” Sexy Cindy said. “I heard all the vampires talking. Ralph, Hansel and Gretel all wounded the dupes, and when the vamps arrived with all the angels, they destroyed the dupes completely. That’s when the Adversary appeared. I think part of it was in each dupe.”
    “Yeah, they can do that. It’s one of the reasons they’re so strong. They were used to having divided souls, so doing it comes naturally and easily to them now.”
    “You think they’re in more of the doppelgängers than just the four of ours?” Jack asked.
    “Not sure. If so, it would explain why the Adversary wasn’t able to kill everyone or destroy the building. It’s a possibility, but there are others, too. Besides, I’m pretty sure Abaddon is walking around in Tomio’s skin, and that means Apollyon is probably the Tomio doppelgänger. So, find a Tomio, find a major minion.”
    “Hitler could be in Tomio, too, you said,” Sexy Cindy reminded me.
    “Yeah, but he’s vain. He’ll look like himself as fast as possible. So even if he used Tomio’s body to get through, he’s in a dupe and it’s altered to look like him now.” One small blessing, because every being knew what Hitler looked like, alive or undead.
    “But why didn’t they show up to everyone who was tailing them?” Jack sounded as frustrated as I felt. “I mean, maybe they could have fooled Amanda and Maurice, but Black Angel Two?”
    “And Black Angel One.” It didn’t make sense.
    “Sure it makes sense,” a smooth male voice said from behind me. “If you remember that angels have strong psychic powers.” I turned around, knowing who I was going to see. Sure enough, I got the glittering grin as he went on. “Abaddon and Apollyon were as powerful as Lucifer when they fell.”
    “Not as powerful as us,” his younger brother said with another dazzling grin. “You going to introduce us to your new friends, Vic?”
    “Sure.” I risked a look at Jack. He didn’t look happy. For some reason, that made me feel good. “Jack, Cindy, Freddy, meet Black Angel One. Their friends and associates call them Cain and Abel.”
    Three jaws dropped. I turned back to Cain. “Look, that’s peachy, but if you and Abel couldn’t spot that you