Immortal Alliance (IMMORTAL ALLIANCE SERIES Book 1)

by A. Catherine

  “Only the really powerful can, with limitations. Kaleus would be able to, but he’s not here. Daevas may be able to, his abilities are strong enough to work on conscious minds,” she explained.

  The images and sounds that I experienced while staring at him at the dinner came flashing back to mind. I had been conscious when that happened.

  I backed up a step. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with this,” I stated.

  She came closer and clutched my hand.

  “I promise Jophiel and I will keep you safe. And if it gets to be too much, we can stop. But it’s very unusual that you can see and understand these symbols. There might be something else going on, and a clue might possibly be hiding inside your mind, if there is, it might help us.”

  I was still hesitant, dubious to the idea of a demon poking around in my head.

  “Will it hurt?” I asked.

  She squeezed my hand. “It shouldn’t.”

  That just filled me with so much confidence…

  Jophiel returned to the room with Daevas in tow. He was wearing black ripped skinny jeans and a large, oversized hoodie, dark green this time.

  They crossed the room and while Jophiel stopped on the other side of the table, Daevas grabbed a couple empty chairs and positioned them to face each other.

  He sat in one and motioned for me to sit in the other. I shot a panicked look to Jade.

  “I’ll be gentle, I promise. There’s no reason to be afraid,” he said.

  I resisted the urge to say that’s what he said.

  I expected him to be comical and sinister, as Lillith or even Kale would be. But there was nothing but sincerity in his eyes. I hesitantly took the few steps necessary to reach the chair and slowly sat down. Our knees near touching.

  “How is it you can get inside my conscious mind?” I asked, swallowing some of my dread down.

  He held out his hands for me to hold.

  “As a first-generation demon my powers are stronger than others. And I have a name in hell, Psychísąe. I earned it because of my very potent psychical abilities. One of my more particular skillsets is in consciousness infiltration.”

  I looked at both his hands before carefully placing my hands on them, afraid to make eye contact.

  “What does that mean?”

  His hands were calloused, but he was gentle, as promised.

  “Most of what I do is alter memories and emotions. I can make a mortal feel trust instead of fear, giving more opportunities for demons to corrupt them.”

  Now I looked him in the eyes, terror returning to my eyes.

  “Or…I can help someone feel less ashamed of the actions they commit. I won’t be doing any of that.”

  I think those are the most words I’d ever heard him speak. Granted I hadn’t been around him long. But compared to his counterparts, he was usually completely speechless.

  He continued, “I’m just going to wander in and take a look around. I won’t disturb or alter anything. It’ll feel strange, but if you ever need me out, you’ll only have to say so. Alright?” he asked.

  I was scared, but his honesty was helping. I nodded.

  He squeezed my hands slightly, the callouses on his fingers scraping mine. He turned to the other two.

  “Don’t disturb us unless it’s important. Simply tap my shoulder. And please, don’t try to communicate with me mentally, it takes a lot of focus, and I don’t want to accidentally do any damage.”

  My eyes widened.

  “Damage?!” I ripped my hands out of his. He held them up.

  “Human minds can be fragile, and my abilities are strong. I can control them, but if I lose focus and pull out too quickly, I may tear a memory or two. It’s an occupational hazard. I promise, as long as I’m not disturbed and maintain the parameters I’ll set, you will be fine.” He waited.

  His eyes never leaving mine, he was being genuine. That didn’t seem common in demons, so maybe it’d be okay.

  I sighed. “Okay, just be quick, please.”

  He nodded, holding out his hands once more. I took them.

  Jophiel and Jade took their seats a few feet away, Jophiel looked at my journal some more. Either to spare me the embarrassment of being watched, or to occupy her time while we did this.

  “Ready?” Daevas asked.

  I looked directly into his sea green eyes. I nodded once more.

  “Close your eyes.”

  I did, my heart sped up in anticipation.

  “Now, the first thing I’m going to do is approach the barriers of your mind. I’ll wait until you let me in.”

  At first, all I saw was darkness. My eyes were closed, and my thoughts raced, but I didn’t see anything. But then I felt something. It was like a gentle knocking on the outside of my skull.

  And then I saw a wooden gate, and a figure on the other side of it. I moved closer, approaching close enough to see the grain of the wood, and Daevas. His pants were dark but not torn, and a black tank top replaced his hoodie. With more of his skin revealed I could see more of his tattoos.

  The tentacles that reached up and around his neck extended into swirls and vines that went down beneath his shirt, and down his shoulders and arms. The vines wrapped around various symbols and images, ending on his wrists where they wrapped around an image of fire on the right and a snake’s head on the left.

  I looked back up to his face.

  “What do I do now?” I asked.

  I wasn’t sure if I had said it out loud or not. I was fully inside my mind now.

  “Now, you open the gate, and let me in.”

  I gazed back at the wooden gate. It looked a lot like the garden gate at my childhood home.

  “Our minds usually take memories and use them to shape the inner structures of our consciousness. When a barrier to your mind was mentioned, your mind formed a gate you recognized,” he said.

  I must’ve said my thought out loud.

  He shook his head. “While in your mind, your thoughts are free and clear,” he explained.

  “Oh,” was all I said.

  He motioned to the gate.

  “Are you going to let me in then? Or would you like to stay here all day?” he joked.

  I huffed and unlatched the gate, backing up to let him in. He walked through, now standing next to me.

  He looked further into the darkness behind us.

  “Shall we?”

  He began walking, I had to speed up a little to keep up. It felt like we were walking through nothingness.

  “Your memories will reveal themselves as they see fit. My abilities will weed out the ones we need to see.”

  I nodded and continued walking through the very fabric of my mind. “This is so weird. It’s like walking through a dream.”

  “In a way it is.”

  We walked for what felt like fifteen minutes before the first memory appeared, or more like formed around us. The space around us shaped and moved, color and walls locked in place. Furniture rose from the empty floor, and then we were standing in my childhood home, in my playroom.

  And there I was, no older than six years old. I was coloring on construction paper with crayons. I wore a blue and pink floral dress, the front of it messy and worn. My hair was pulled back into a bow.

  I frowned. “Why would this memory be important? I don’t even remember it.”

  Daevas moved closer to my younger self.

  “Your subconscious remembers it.” He peered over my younger self’s shoulder at what I was drawing. “It seems even at a young age you had an affinity for strange symbology.”

  I walked over and looked too. It was rough, but there was a symbol there.

  “This is an Enochian warding sigil. Not a typical childhood drawing.”

  Daevas looked at it a bit longer, then began walking away.

  “Okay, on to the next one I think.” And like that all the furniture and walls began to disappear.

  Vanishing as if wiped off a board.

  I turned to catch up
with him. Again, walking through darkness for a little while.

  “At what age did you decide you wanted to study religion and symbology?” he asked.

  “I was in high school. During an ancient world civilization class, we watched a documentary of archeologists digging up an old religious site, they talked a lot about what they learned from it and others they had explored. I found it interesting and wanted to learn more,” I explained.

  Daevas unlocked another memory, the walls and furniture forming my old high school classroom. Or maybe I unlocked it, I didn’t know anymore.

  The whole class was watching the documentary, and I was sitting in the second row, third seat down. The speaker in the film was highlighting some markings they found on a cave wall.

  “It’s incredible. Though we may not know what these markings mean, it’s going to be a lot of fun figuring it out. Years of work lie ahead of us, but that’s what makes this so exciting,” he mused in a British accent.

  At my desk, I was drawing something in my notebook, doodling really.

  My teacher paused the film. “This was filmed about eight years ago, and after some work, they learned some of what these words meant.”

  “So, this segment right here,” he pointed to the one on the screen. “they have since translated,” he looked down at a piece of paper in his hands. “to be about their sun God, and the seasonal harvest that they celebrated during the solstice. Isn’t that amazing?”

  My younger self was shaking her bobbed head. “No, that’s not right.” My teacher noticed my comment and turned his attention to me.

  “Heather, did you say something?”

  My teenage-self lifted my head from my notebook and looked around before hesitantly saying.

  “Um, I’m sorry Mr. Pirelli, those markings aren’t talking about the harvest. The curved feather thing means ‘to escape’, and the figure with the spears coming out of its head is a monster that invaded their village and killed them. They’re talking about a massive slaughter that occurred,” she said.

  Some of the other students laughed, even the teacher chuckled a bit.

  “Well, that certainly is an interpretation I guess. But I have the reports from the scientists themselves explaining their translation. So, though I commend your imagination, Heather, let’s just stick with their accounts, okay?” More kids snickered and laughed.

  Ah, that was a memory I didn’t like to remember. I glanced at Daevas who was watching the encounter closely.

  He tapped his chin. “Interesting.” He shrugged. “Shall we move on?”

  Again, the fabric of that memory dissolved.

  While we walked, I felt the embarrassment of that memory hit me again. Luckily, their teasing didn’t deter me from going into that field of study. But it did take a hit to my social life.

  I’d never had a ton of close friends in general, but after that and some other encounters, I spent more time in my own books and drawings than I did with others.

  I’m sure all those thoughts were freely flowing around Daevas, so to ease some of my discomfort I asked.

  “So, you’re one of Lucifer and Lillith’s children. That’s interesting. What was growing up like?”

  Daevas gave me a sidelong glance. “A lot of training.”

  “Training? I mean when you were a kid. What was that like?” I clarified.

  Daevas shook his head. “Training for demons begins as soon as we can walk,” he stated.

  I looked more towards him. “What kind of training?”

  He stopped mid-stride, I halted as well.

  “I know that memory was unpleasant to relive and asking me about my life is a distraction for you. But a demons life story is unpleasant and gruesome. I will not be sharing those horrors with a mortal anytime soon. Besides, it’ll only lessen my focus. And you don’t want that right now when we still have a lot to cover. Understand?”

  His gaze was edged and caustic.

  Touchy subject, got it.

  I clamped my lips shut and curtly nodded and we continued on our way. For the remainder of our journey, I didn’t ask him questions that didn’t pertain to my memories, and all the moments in-between were carried out in silence.

  We walked for an average of five to ten minutes before entering into another memory. And as I got older the occurrence of strange symbols only increased.

  EIGHTEEN

  Kale

  YOU WOULD THINK A CREATURE BORN IN FIRE and brimstone would be accustomed to the heat.

  But I wasn’t. The sweltering humidity was miserable, and it did nothing to ease my inner fire. Being so close to my origins made the inner flames churn inside me relentlessly.

  This is why I had chosen the warehouse as my mortal getaway location. Sudbury has a more comfortable climate for my tastes, and quiet. Traveling back to hell was never voluntary, the pit was a memorandum of the suffering I went through to be who I am today, and a constant reminder of what my future held.

  Usually, I would send Daevas to do my dealings with Lucifer, but today he requested Lillith and I specifically. I wouldn’t subject Seere to this. Lucifer had little regard for lower-class demons, and he had a strong aversion to my making her my second.

  So, to keep him from saying or doing anything that might make her feel uncomfortable, she would only be around him if I accompanied her.

  I waited in the foyer of Lucifer’s office. The room was carved out of the rock, which was black glossy obsidian. The walls curved upwards and rounded out at the ceiling.

  A few pieces of deep, red furniture and even some charred skeletons of trees stood in the corners. The room was lit by burning embers fashioned into light fixtures. The floor was covered in black and white tiling, the white helping reflect some of the light.

  His office was an iron door away, and I was to wait out here while Lillith and him got reacquainted. Despite her demotion from being his wife, and his taking of other lovers and wives, the two still felt the need to rump-and-bump regularly.

  Occupational hazard of being the two most seductive beings in existence.

  Another reason why I didn’t like being here with the two of them. Thank the realms the room was soundproof.

  Eventually the door swung open, and the two of them sauntered in. Lucifer was tall and burly, his rust-colored hair coiffed and styled, and he wore one of his regular black suits with a deep red tie. Daevas took more after him than he did from Lillith, the resemblance was sometimes uncanny.

  His mouth leered towards me. I had remained standing, one hand in my pocket, leaning against the tall bar in the room.

  Lillith puckered her lips to fix them, swishing her hair back and lounging on the closest burgundy couch.

  “Even after all this time, you still go back to the same trash,” I teased.

  Lillith gave a vulgar gesture with her hand.

  Lucifer laughed. “Old habits die hard. Glad to have you back home.” He clapped a hand onto my shoulder.

  I stiffened under the contact but leashed the inner raging fire under control.

  “Is there a particular reason you called me here like a dog?” I struggled not to hiss the words.

  He walked around the bar and began pouring an amber-colored liquid into two glasses.

  “How is the alliance fairing?” he asked, he set one of the glasses on the counter next to me, then began mixing some ingredients together for a martini.

  I glanced at the glass but didn’t grab it.

  “What, your whore hasn’t been giving you regular updates?”

  He poured the mixed liquid into a martini glass and added an olive on a stick before walking over to Lillith, handing it to her. She winked and sipped it instantly.

  “Maybe if you yourself took her for a spin, you might have more respect,” Lucifer suggested.

  My fire swelled enough that I could taste the ash in my throat. I took a sip from my drink to tame it.

  “What do you want?” I asked harshly. I was tired of the formalities and the stalling.


  He stood in the middle of the room, one hand in his pocket and the other dipping his glass for a drink. It took every ounce of effort not to pull my own pocketed hand out to avoid any similarity between us, but I knew that action would only give him superiority, and I couldn’t let that happen.

  He swallowed his sip. “Tell me about the mortal,” he instructed.