“Have a seat, Frank. How are you?” He peered at me over the mounds of paperwork as he gestured to one of the chairs in front of the desk. I moved a multicolored pillow that only a grandmother would think attractive, and tossed it onto the couch before I dropped down. It was a day for leather, it seemed.

“Other than a mild heart attack at being greeted by your assassin, I guess I’m doing all right.”

Abraham chuckled. “You should know by now, Frank, if we wanted you dead, we wouldn’t dance around the issue. It would just be so.”

He had a point, frightening as it might be. I took what little comfort in it I could and let it go. “So, what’s the deal with Asmoday?”

He pulled off his glasses, setting them on the desk as he leaned back. “Word has it he’s looking to take out Baalth and has figured out a way to do so.”

Baalth was one of Lucifer’s chief lieutenants until the powers that be went splitsville. Rather than Page 20 giving in to the chaos caused by Lucifer’s departure, Baalth took advantage. It’s what demons do best. He left the Circles behind to set up his own little Hell on Earth. Entrenched in the mortal world, answerable to no one but himself, Baalth was in no great hurry to usher in the end of existence. As such, he often worked behind the scenes to thwart the proArmageddon forces while openly working against the Angelic Choir. That earned him enemies on both sides. Most recently, it had been Asmoday he’d pissed off.

“Any idea how?”

Abraham shook his head. “Not so far. We have Katon hunting down information, but Asmoday has been careful not to let anything useful slip.” He raised a finger as if suddenly remembering something. “We also have Rachelle out testing the integrity of the gates. She’ll be able to determine if anything big has come through recently.”

Rachelle Knight was the third of the triumvirate who made up the High Council of DRAC. Though human, Rachelle could only be described as otherworldly. Her tall, thin frame moved without effort. She seemed to glide, her head somewhere in the clouds. She always seemed disconnected from reality. Her powers as a mystic though, rivaled those of the angels. She was not a woman to be trifled with.