I about-turned, running for the shattered pieces of demonglass again. Maybe it was a coward’s choice, but when it came between the warlocks who’d nearly killed me and saving Nikolas’s life, I’d pick him every time. Zadok would have nobody left to rule over if the people on the other side of that portal got their way. I ran into the corridor—and stopped.
Inspector Angler stood there, like he’d been waiting for me. How did he get there? Half the corridor was destroyed and the rest in ruins. He might as well have walked out of the wall.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I said.
He tilted his head on the side. “Is that any way to speak to an old friend?”
“I think we both know you’re not actually him. You’re nothing but ashes.”
“Aren’t we all?” He smiled.
I called the infernal fire, sending it towards him in a wave. He raised his right hand, and the power rushed into him. Harmless. What? It can’t be.
It could. He was no shapeshifter demon. The arch-demon… really had raised him from the dead.
I re-summoned my blade, ignited in celestial fire. “Nice party trick.”
“Isn’t it just?” He smiled. “Lythocrax sent me here, you know… He would also like to request that you stop interfering in his plans.”
“Who the hell is Lythocrax?”
“Our maker.”
“That’s the name of the arch-demon who marked us?”
“One of his names. Names have power here.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. You might as well be a shapeshifter in disguise. You demonic pawns are all interchangeable.” I spoke to cover the horror dawning inside me. Nikolas was wrong. The arch-demon did have the ability to raise someone from death. And now I had his name. But was that enough to find out who he really was?
Rage flashed across Inspector Angler’s expression, his mouth tightening at the corners. “You’re lucky to be alive, Devi. The only reason he hasn’t come to confront you is because you aren’t important to him.”
“I don’t care. Someone in this realm screwed over myself and my friends, and it looks like it’s your unlucky day.”
I jumped at him, magic flaring from my right hand. He sprang out of reach, his own mark glowing with power. Shadows surrounded me in dark shades, blocking me from attacking. He’d stolen Zadok’s ability. Which meant he’d broken into the tower. Not to mention he’d apparently learnt his lesson from our last battle.
I braced myself, pushing at the shadows, but they didn’t budge. Damn him. I’d defeated him in the same manner before, using the shadows to trap him before using my divine fire to turn him to ashes. But he’d come back. The arch-demons had zero concept of playing fair.
“Why the hell are you doing this?” I snarled. “You know you’re letting Abyss’s minions into this realm, right? They’ve already taken Pandemonium. You’re no longer the ruler of that world.”
Instead of answering, he sent another wave of shadows at me. Every attack I conjured was absorbed into his demon hand. The bastard had me trapped. How much extra power had the arch-demon given him?
“Sorry, Devi,” he said. “You’re a loose cannon and too unpredictable. I’m here to make things fairer once again.”
“There’s nothing remotely fair about a war where one side has the power of a dozen armies of demons at their beck and call,” I told him. “And I told you—the person who raised you from death has no concern for your well-being at all. This Lythocrax doesn’t give a crap about you, Kenneth.”
Shadows rolled in, like solid clouds, wrapping around my legs. They held me in place. Try as I might to break free, the shadows crept up my back and held my limbs still. I cursed and struggled, writhing against the bindings, trying to reach the shattered pieces of demonglass not five metres away—
He grabbed my hand and pressed his demon mark to mine.
My demon mark ignited. Pain splintered my arm, sending shards of agony through my body. A flash of light dispelled the shadows, and I landed on my feet, backing away. The pain faded, leaving nothing but echoes. I winced, but drew back my fist and landed a solid punch on his face.
He just laughed. “You can’t hurt me, Devi.”
My hand twinged with pain. The arrowhead remained etched on my wrist, but no light shone within it. Lythocrax’s power no longer resided within me.
The arch-demon had actually deactivated my mark.
“It’s for the best, Devi. You weren’t supposed to come this far. You’ve interfered in the gods’ plans.”
“I’m being punished for winning?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“For defying the master.”
“He is not my master.”
The former inspector smiled. “Lythocrax made and remade you, just like me.”
I blew out a breath. “Taking my mark off me is handing victory over to the enemy.”
“Not at all. Victory will be ours, but on the master’s terms, nobody else’s. It’ll go a lot easier for you if you wait until your time comes rather than making trouble for everyone.”
“I’m not blindly following orders, unlike some people,” I said. “What’s he want me to do, let him take over Babylon through you, and then… go to war with Pandemonium? I thought you were working with the other demons.”
“Not anymore,” he said. “I never intended to let them take Pandemonium for their own.”
“You’re talking like you have any more say in this than I do,” I countered. “We’re being set up. You all but said it yourself. So who decided you have to switch sides? If you really wanted Azurial to replace his father so you could sneak into Babylon and take over the castle, which I’m assuming was the cover story, that sort of ignores the fact that none of your thoughts or plans are your own. They’re all someone else’s.”
“The power I gained is mine alone.” Shadows unfolded behind him. He’d stolen Zadok’s power, all right. Now the arch-demon, Lythocrax, had the run of the place. But if he’d wanted it so badly, why not have me take over as a proxy, not this guy? Because I’d screwed up his plans by getting in the way? Or because he had something else in mind for me entirely.
No. Divinities, no.
The truth slammed into me like a full-speed train. Earth was the site of the final battle. That’s why they’d used me—to get to Earth, a realm untouched by darkness. The perfect prize. A victory in a dead-end realm like this one wouldn’t be half as sweet in hell’s eyes as a victory in a city teeming with life. Millions of human lives, fuel for hell’s battlefield. Winning was all that mattered to hell. Not the lives they toyed with, and not those who they trampled in their quest for domination.
Of course they wouldn’t permit a human to run around with their power and use it indiscriminately for their own purposes. Instead, they’d cut it off. Like I’d never had it.
The shadows crowded me again, and the floor gave way beneath my feet.
“Go down below, celestial, where you belong.”
The former inspector’s cold laughter pursued me beneath the earth.
* * *
Falling was peaceful. Landing, not so much. I fell through what seemed like a tunnel, though it was too dark to see, coming to an abrupt halt on a stone floor. I had enough trained reflexes—not to mention Rachel’s boots—to land on my feet, in the darkness. A cold, empty space. Inside the castle… or beneath it?
Oh, no.
Cold hands scrabbled at me. I conjured up celestial light, relieved that was still working. The demon had taken my demon mark, but not my celestial power. No demon could take that away. Not even from the blinded, clawed creatures surrounding me.
I was locked in with the fallen—the children of the dark Divinities.
I didn’t move. The light remained burning bright, and they cringed away. Huh? Of course—their own Divinities’ light had long since departed, and now burned them as badly as the demons.
I lowered my glowing hand, warily. They didn’t move to attack. We stared one another out. Their
eyes were bloodshot, their pupils pale and dilated. Most were hairless and had long, claw-like nails. They wore only rags, their emaciated bodies exposed to the elements. It was as cold as the ninth circle of hell down here. They’d died, been cast down, and nobody had come to rescue them. If they were going to attack me, they’d have already made a move in my direction. Instead, their eyes followed the movement of the celestial light in my hand, reflecting a longing too deep for me to comprehend.
“I don’t suppose you know the way back to the surface?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
“Seriously,” I went on. “Things are pretty dire up there. You’ve probably seen. The demons are coming…”
But they’d already taken the castle, and locked them deep in the shadows. I doubted anyone in this room particularly cared what happened on the surface, given what they’d suffered already. To be immortal yet cursed as they were was a special kind of hell. They held no worse threat to me. Not now.
I took a step forwards. They closed in.
“Celestial…” one of them whispered, gazing reverently at my glowing hand.
“Yes,” I said. “You were… like the celestials here?”
He nodded. “They fell, and they dragged us down with them, and they hardly cared.”
“Sounds like them.” I was certain that he meant the Divinities. Not the arch-demons, though they were one and the same. “I need to get out of here, though.”
“There is no way out.”
I looked around. He was right. I’d fallen down a sheer tunnel, and the opening to the surface was high up in the wall. Otherwise, there were no doors or windows. A hellish dungeon with no exit in sight. My stomach twisted.
“We cannot see the light. No light at all, in the world above or below.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I—I wish I could help you, but I’m needed up there. My world is about to get overrun by warring arch-demons. And the celestials… there’s not enough of them.”
“You carry the light inside you, too, celestial. The celestials were our disciples. When we fell, they died. Except those who were chosen to ascend.”
I blinked. “What, the Grade Fours? In my realm… they’re monsters.”
“You have power like theirs.”
“Some good that is,” I muttered. My demon mark had been my best asset—in fact, considering I’d used it to kill more than one demigod, it had actually been higher than Grade Three. But I was only Grade Three in celestial training. Even if I was qualified to ascend, it didn’t mean a thing, locked down here.
“But if my Divinity fell, why can I use divine power at all?” I asked. “You—you’re saying I’m… like the Grade Fours? I can’t be. I can’t ascend, not when I’ve been kicked out of the guild.”
“The power was gifted to you. I do not know the rules of your world, but you have been chosen to carry the light.”
Despite everything I’d done, I still carried the celestial light. Somehow my divine power was the key to winning this. As a celestial, I’d been disobedient at best. Not to mention the slight issue with my Divinity being a fallen angel. But in terms of skill, I’d been on the brink of a promotion. And if I figured out how to ascend… the Grade Fours had direct contact with the Divinities. Not the fallen ones, but the true angels.
If not for Rory’s death, we’d have gone through the ceremony together. But the guild were tight-lipped on what it actually involved. A meeting with the Divinities? Surely not, but I had to wonder.
Maybe… if I couldn’t use my demon magic any longer, I might be able to gain the highest rank of celestial magic instead. Unlike my demon mark, it wasn’t the arch-demon’s. It was mine.
My back straightened. I must be losing my mind. I was prepared to bargain with heaven to save my realm from hell.
“Thank you,” I said to the fallen. “Now… I need to get out.”
My celestial hand lit up again. The fallen parted to allow me to pass, but there were no doors, nor any other way out. Except…
I shone my celestial light into the shadows, getting a closer look at the opening high up in the wall, hidden in the darkness. Recalling how Zadok had once set the inhabitants of this dungeon loose, I moved in that direction. He must have released them somehow. But the door was too high up.
Wait… the boots. The walls were sheer, but my boots could stick to the walls like velcro. The former inspector hadn’t counted on that.
I’m coming, Nikolas. Fiona. I promise.
Time to get out, back to my realm, and find a Divinity. Then get answers.
Easier said than done.
Chapter 19
I emerged in Nikolas’s living room, after passing through the demonglass again. The former inspector, mercifully, hadn’t been there. He’d probably gone to attack the warlocks. But the way I was now, I couldn’t oppose him, not even to save Nikolas and the others. I needed power beyond his.
The power of a Grade Four celestial.
“Oh, thank the nether realms you’re alive,” Rachel said. “I thought I was going to have to fight this one alone, and let me tell you, I really don’t think Madame White wants me to chew on her neck.”
“She’s not here yet? I don’t have time for this. I’m going to find the Grade Four celestials again.”
“Why? Is Nikolas—?”
“Pandemonium,” I said. “Has to be. And the vampire king deactivated my demon mark because I’m apparently ruining the fun by trying to end the battle too early.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. “Wait—what? You lost your demon mark?”
“Not for long,” I said. “He threw me into the dungeon with the fallen—it’s complicated, but they helped me. Point is, the demon realms are at war, Nikolas is probably a prisoner, and we’re next. The arch-demon who marked me can summon me at any moment, but instead of doing that, the bastard took away my powers. So I’m out for revenge.”
“What in hells do the Grade Fours have to do with it?”
“I’m going to speak to them about the secret ceremony where they upgrade from Grade Three to Four. If I can upgrade my celestial power, it might make up for being handicapped. Best case scenario is I get to take my disapproval right up to the Divinities themselves. I can’t fight this war without my demon mark.”
Rachel bit her lip. “The Divinities. Are you sure?”
“Nope,” I said. “No idea what this ceremony involves. But I’m qualified. If I’d stayed at the guild, I’d have been tested at the very least. And I’ve been able to use my celestial powers the whole time I’ve been demon marked. Now I don’t have demon magic any longer, I can try. I have to.”
“Well… you have an easy way there,” Rachel said. “During our little confrontation at the hotel, I took the liberty of sprinkling down some of your demonglass. I figured we might need it.”
“You’re amazing, Rachel.”
“I do my best.”
“Now we just need to get the Grade Fours to answer my questions.” I still had my weapons—even my anti-warlock trap had miraculously survived intact. And Rachel’s boots. “Can I—crap, I can’t use your powers this time. I need to capture one of the Grade Fours in a trap. A simple one. They’re immune to anything fancy.”
Rachel’s brow furrowed. “I show up as the inspector again, you throw a net over their heads?”
“I don’t have a net.” I paused. “I do have a spell which can knock someone out. I’ll have to move quickly, though. And you’ll have to be prepared to tie him up.”
“You have someone in mind, don’t you?” Her eyes glittered. “I’m in. I’ll get some rope.”
Two minutes later, I faced the demonglass fragments once again, calling to mind the image of the Grade Four celestials’ hotel.
“I’ll be ready,” she said, and I vanished.
I emerged in front of the hotel, where the minibus had been parked yesterday. This time, nobody waited for me. I scanned the gleaming exterior of the hotel, then summoned my light, as bright as it would go.
“Hey, Farrell,” I said, then slammed down the spell.
The blast of herbs caught him in the face, and he collapsed. I ran, grabbed him by the shoulders, and was through the demonglass before any of the other celestials could reach me.
Rachel was waiting. Between us, we bound his hands in rope. Again, the simplest traps worked best. He might be powerful, but I knew all his secrets, and the other celestials would never reach here in time to catch us. This would be a quick conversation. I was counting on it.
Rachel passed me a glass of water, and I threw it in his face.
He woke up with a yelp. “DEVI LAWSON.”
“Sorry, but not sorry,” I said.
Farrell yelped and flailed, totally stuck. Panic flashed in his gaze.
“Tell me, Farrell,” I said. “What’s the process for ascending to celestial Grade Four?”
“Like I’d tell you. Let me go. This is against the law—”
“This isn’t optional. What is the process? Whereabouts does the ceremony take place?”
I shone my celestial light in his face, warningly. With his hands bound, he couldn’t conjure his blade, and his light couldn’t burn through plain old rope.
“You can’t ascend to Grade Four without the inspector,” he croaked. “You need recommendations, and the tower is destroyed.”
“There are celestials all over the globe who follow completely different traditions to you,” I said. “They get along just fine. Try again. It’s not the ceremony that matters. And it’s definitely not the inspector. Who gifts you with your powers?”
When I’d been promoted to Grade Three, the celestials had given me one of their wristbands infused with celestial energy in order to enable me to access my blade for the first time. But the Grade Fours carried no props at all.
Celestial Ashes: The Celestial Marked Series: Book Three Page 17