Mercy for the Wicked by Lisa Olsen Read Free Book Online Page B

be…  The demons can’t get you unless it’s night time and Sam’s got protection duty covered, that leaves Azazael.  Maybe we should try to find out more about him?  The more you know about him the easier it’ll be to spot him when he tries to pull something, right?”
    That was one of the reasons why Daphne was my very best friend.  I could always count on her to give me a swift kick in the pants when I wallowed in despair, and I’d do the same for her in a heartbeat.  “You’re right.  It’s time to stop worrying about what’s gonna come out after me and think about what I can do to stop this guy.  So, what do you suggest?”
    “Me?  Oh, well, let’s see…” Daphne’s eyes roamed around the room, looking for inspiration.  “The internet!” She all but shouted in triumph, talking quickly when she saw my eyes start to roll.  “No, really.  It’s not all crap, there’s a lot of useful information on the web.”
    “I know, but what are the chances I’ll find something real about Azazael that Sam and Adam don’t already know?”
    “Yes, but what you get from them is through the filter of their experience, and unless you know the right questions to ask, you don’t know what you’re missing.”
    She had a point.  “Alright, let’s check it out.”  Following her to the computer tucked away in the corner of the room, we typed in his name, spending the better part of an hour looking into all the links.  In addition to finding similar passages to what Sam read to me from his book, I also learned that Azazael was generally credited with the fall of mankind leading to the floods in Noah’s time.  Just about every sin committed by man was attributed to his influence.  Curiously enough, he was also the original source of the word scapegoat.  It made me wonder if some of what we’d found was just bad press?  After all, the bible was written by men; who better to hold responsible for their sins but a fallen angel?  It was far easier to place the blame somewhere else than on themselves.  Not that I started to feel all warm and fuzzy about the guy, but it did give me more to think about.  Still, it was hard to get over the countless stories of his debauchery and excess, there wasn’t a single redeeming quality attached to his name. 
    “None of that looks good,” I frowned, sitting back after my eyes started to burn from reading over her shoulder.
    “It also says he’s trapped.  I don’t think he can actually hurt you in that - what did you call it?  Ether.”
    “According to Sam, he can possess someone here and I might not even know it.  I don’t know if I would see his aura projected on the person, or anything to clue me in to the fact that it’s him.”
    “Maybe you should ask Sam about that?”
    “Yeah, I’ll have to bring it up tonight when he’s on guard duty.”
    “At least Sam’s not hiding out from you anymore.”
    “Yep, brownie points for Sam.  For once he decided to disregard what Adam told him to do.”
    “I’m still a little foggy on why Adam didn’t want you to know about any of this.”
    “Who knows what the hell goes through that head of his…” I muttered darkly.  
    “But you know he cares about you.”
    “Yeah.” A long sigh left my lips as I laid my hand over my heart.  “He does.  He just has a funny way of showing it.”
    “You make it sound like when we were in the third grade and Rupert Miller put those worms in your lunchbox, remember that?” she laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile. 
    “Yeah, only instead of worms, he actually gave me a piece of himself.”
    “I can’t even get a guy to spring for flowers.” Daphne gave a disgruntled sigh, and I hid a smile behind my hand. 
    “What about that guy you were with at the party, Jake?  He seemed pretty into you.”
    “It’s going pretty well, but it’s new.  You know how that goes.” She shrugged and I nodded in commiseration.  “What’s it like, having Adam’s