Jezebel Felina

Jezebel Felina Jezebel Felina is the kind of person who can offer you breakfast, arrange somebody for you to feed on, and negotiate a murder in the same conversation. She has money, information, a heavily tattooed bodyguard called Prick, and a pack of hellhounds that come when she whistles. When she decides Angelica is useful, she puts all of that to work getting her attention. The first thing I would keep in mind about Jezebel is that helping somebody doesn't automatically mean she cares about them. She intervenes when Angelica is in trouble, but she wanted to find the strongest fighter. She makes it clear that if Azazel had proven better, Angelica could have ended up as dog food instead. That's a pretty uncomfortable foundation for a working relationship, even by Hellchild's standards. Her offer is a hundred thousand dollars to stop a killer. Kevin Nestor has been abducting people who are easy for society to overlook, including homeless people and sex workers. There's something older behind what he's doing, though. Jezebel knows about Samuel Diamond, a sorcerer who worshipped reptiles, sacrificed people, and tried to bring the power of ancient gods into himself. His body died. His spirit was another matter. Jezebel has put actual resources into finding out what's happening. She has a laboratory where Totts dissects reptiles, a psychic named Grace planted among the captives, and Prick available when the job gets physical. She can also handle herself. During the raid, she goes in with a weapon and her dogs. Later, when dissected reptiles come back to life and threaten her, she burns them with blue fire. She isn't just sitting upstairs writing checks while everybody else takes the risk. That doesn't make her a good employer. Angelica kills Nestor, but his corpse becomes the host for Diamond's return. Jezebel treats the job as a failure and hands over five thousand dollars instead of the agreed hundred thousand. She eventually adds another five thousand as a gesture of good faith, then burns a pile of money to show how little it means to her. Imagine having somebody argue over your payment and then set money on fire in front of you. I would have a problem with that too. The creature calling itself Ouroboros gives Angelica a much uglier account of Jezebel. He says she had Diamond killed while he was vulnerable, studied the Cold Ones, and stole power from the Elder Gods. He also tells her about Jezebel's nine lives. According to him, she's used almost all of them. One more death will finish her. That last part turns out to be wrong, and Angelica takes an absolutely insane gamble on it. In the middle of the confrontation, she slices Jezebel's head open and carries her body to Ouroboros as proof that she's changed sides. Jezebel is needed for his ritual. Angelica has figured that much out. She also suspects somebody truly down to their last life wouldn't have charged into the earlier fight so readily. Jezebel comes back right beside him, takes the blade Angelica has placed within reach, and cuts him apart. It's a clever setup that depends on killing an ally without asking her and hoping she has another resurrection left. Jezebel is understandably furious. She points out that Angelica couldn't possibly have been certain. Even after it works, that lost life stays lost. We aren't given a reliable number for how many she has remaining. Ouroboros regenerates, so the fight still has to be finished. By the end, Nestor is dead and Diamond is gone. Jezebel survives, reunites with her dogs, and somehow decides she wants to keep working with the woman who just killed her. The explanation she gives afterward makes her role much more interesting. Jezebel has a team that quietly stops supernatural threats, and she makes a fortune keeping humanity from understanding the full extent of what's out there. She shows Angelica records of attacks she's dealt with, including possession and alien threats. People already know monsters exist in this world. Jezebel's business involves making sure they don't know everything. She offers Angelica more money and a list of targets. The story ends with them working together, Prick and the hounds included. I like that Jezebel comes out of this as somebody capable, useful, and still deeply difficult to trust. She can help save the city and manipulate the people doing the saving. Losing another life doesn't suddenly turn her into a different person. She gets back to work. Spoilers for Hellchild: The Unholy #1–5.