The group waited out the night until everyone had briefly recovered and then launched the first combat move. Just as they were about to leave the safe house, Crowley stumbled into the anteroom. He had the blood of his shell all over him and fell weakened to his knees. Instinctively, all the hunters pointed their weapons at him, but Dean signaled them while Sam supported the King of Hell.
"Crowley? What happened?", inquired Sam.
"Abaddon happened," he gasped, leaning against the wall with his face contorted in pain, "That bitch got me."
"Does she know where you are now?", Dean wanted to know with a grim look.
"I don't know, quite possibly," Crowley replied cluelessly.
"And you can't think of anything better than our hideout, where the only non-possessed people in this town are?", the elder Winchester grumbled.
"I had no other choice, besides, a blade could have been waiting for me here just as well," came indifferently from the demon who, after all, cared more about his own life.
"Get the hell out of here!", Sam instructed him, "And you better find out where Cain is."
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"Cain? What do you want from him?", the demon worried, suddenly not sure if he should trust the hunters.
"If you want to stay the king, you better see that we can have a word with him", Dean threatened and left the apartment first.
The others followed him, but as Josie walked past Crowley, he grabbed her arm roughly.
"What do they want with Cain?", he asked her uncertainly.
Until now, Josie thought that the King of Hell was a strong and confident demon, but in front of her stood a fearful pile of misery.
"Like Dean said, see if you can find out where he is or that's it for you!", she snapped, snatching her arm from him, "And don't ever do this again, or the Knights won't be your only problem. You're lucky Dean didn't see that!"
"You little brat threatening me? ME? The king of hell?", snarled Crowley.
"Yeah, you mind if we save your ass? No? Then let me threaten you all I want," she hissed, slamming the door behind her.
Wordlessly, Crowley stared at the ornate wood in front of him. None of his demons dared to speak to him like that without feeling the consequences. But Josie was right about one thing. The group was about to save his arse and one word to Dean would be enough to finish off the king, then Abaddon would have what she wanted. Crowley would have to put up with it willy-nilly, at least until his throne was safe again. And then he would, first of all, take care of Josie. Her soul had just become as important to him as that of the Winchester brothers.
Silently, the powerful Crossroads Demon disappeared from hiding and contacted his most trusted advisors. They should ask around where Cain was, because he was apparently the only knight who stayed out of the war. For now.
