I shifted my body to the side, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. This entire hearing reminded me a lot of the battle from the twelfth century between mongrels and other creatures in the underworld. I didn’t actually know if that battle ever took place, but I’d read about it in one of Ricky’s books. The small courtroom in central London was filled with demons that I didn’t recognise, demons that weren’t even supposed to be here. Ricky mentioned that there wasn’t going to be any problem, that we could secure the license for Emma within a few minutes, but so far, I was facing a lot of obstacles. Judge Michaelstone wasn’t planning to make this easy for me at all. He was the main head of Berith’s faction. The judge didn’t look like a typical demon; actually, he looked nothing like I imagined. He had a long white beard that disappeared somewhere under the table, small brown eyes, and partly bald head. Yep, I couldn’t stop comparing him to the wizard from classic tales for children that were read to them by human adults before bedtime.
I had discussed this case with Ricky over and over, and we both agreed that Emma was ready to hear the truth about the demonic world. We didn’t want to tamper with her thoughts any longer, and since she had started working for us, that became almost inevitable. She was strong enough to know that demons had been living amongst humans for as long as I could remember.
“My business partner, Mr. Donovan, and I have worked with Emma for over two months now. She’s capable of dealing with any demonic exposure. I run a detective agency, Judge, and every case requires a certain level of knowledge from her, and we can’t carry on tampering with her mind. We don’t want to replace her. She’s an excellent assistant,” I said, sounding like a parrot. I had been repeating myself over and over again, but it seemed to me that Judge Michaelstone wasn’t listening. “She’s a single mother who just got out of an abusive relationship and she needs this job. I understand that she might be a high risk, but I’m willing to take on full responsibility for anything that might happen after we share the truth with her. I can assure you that she is strong enough to understand the truth about our world.”
There was another demon standing behind Michaelstone, and he kept whispering stuff into his ear. I had a feeling that this arsehole was purposely trying to jeopardise my case. I hated the fact that I had an audience, but these were the rules of demonic court. Every case needed to be witnessed by selected demons from various factions. Besides, the word in the city had spread fast, and my previous connections weren’t working to my advantage after I left the security business. Prince George went missing a couple of months ago and I had brought him back, but no one knew how. I was willing to bet that during this hearing, there would only be a handful of demons who were on my side. Somehow my success made others uncomfortable.
Michaelstone was listening and nodding to the guy behind him and I was ready to hit him with one of my charms. I had no idea who he was, but clearly, he was doing everything he could to prevent me from getting that damn license. The old judge kept smoothing his long white beard, eyeing me intensely.
“Humans are incapable of keeping things about us to themselves, Miss Brodeur. The court fully sympathises with the needs of your business, but there is no guarantee that Miss Carter won’t talk. Unless you have any other argument that you would like to put forward, then I’m afraid that I’m unable to grant you a relief license,” the judge stated, leaning over the bench. Okay, I was truly screwed then, but I wasn’t willing to give up just yet. Emma needed to know the truth, and that was the bottom line.
The demon behind Judge Michaelstone curled his lips in a nasty smile, and I clenched my fists, thinking about the ways that I could hurt him. The head of Berith’s faction wouldn’t normally approve a relief license unless the demon who presented the case provided strong supporting evidence. Now I needed to come up with something good, and fast.
“Emma left her abusive husband, took her small daughter, and ran away in the middle of the night. During our first meeting, I had to rescue her from the hands of two convicted demons who were planning to drain off her lust. She was nearly killed that night, but after using a very mild … let me repeat, very mild calming charm, she was absolutely fine, Judge Michaelstone,” I fired out, knowing that certain questions would follow through, but I didn’t care anymore. These bastards needed some motivation to grant me that damn license. Maybe I was putting myself at risk. I had never reported that incident to the Watchers, so the judge could easily order me to travel downstairs to report what exactly had happened that evening.
After I blurted out such a thing, the guy behind the judge almost lost his glasses. Michaelstone frowned, and his energy circulated around the room.
“Miss Emma Carter was attacked by two convicted demons? That’s impossible. The Watchers would have picked this up and brought it to our attention. This would have been in your case files, Miss Brodeur,” the judge stated, raising his voice. Okay, so I might have just opened Pandora’s box, but deep down I wanted to piss off that demon standing behind Michaelstone.
“I believe Watchers purposely left the two convicted demons out of their sight … obviously following someone else’s orders. Emma could have died if it weren’t for me. I had to use my abilities that night in order to save her life. On top of that, a demon close by had opened the gates to the underworld, knowing that there was a human nearby,” I continued, throwing up accusations, and then added, “I had never been interested in politics, Judge Michaelstone, but it seemed that night, someone was working against faction interests. God knows what would have happened to other humans if I hadn’t stopped those two convicts then.”
Other witnessing demons who were standing behind me started whispering between themselves. The old judge used a wooden hammer, shouting “order” a few times. I simply pointed out that there was someone within Lucifer’s faction who was most likely conspiring against him. Most of the time this wasn’t the case, but I wanted to make them believe that something like that was a strong possibility.
“So why haven’t you reported this to Berith’s faction, Miss Brodeur?” the judge asked, leaning so far forward that his beard was now falling over the bench. The guy behind him was trying to break through my wards. His face was red and tense, but he wasn’t strong enough to challenge me like that.
“I used my powers in front of a human in order to save her, being aware of the consequences. I was running late that day, and I couldn’t afford to wait for Watchers,” I explained. “I’m certain that if I passed such valuable information to Lucifer himself, he would vote in my favour. That license is very important, and it could really transform my business.”
Michaelstone wasn’t going to report to Lucifer that his men failed to keep an eye on two convicted demons. This could ruin him and his career. It was an embarrassing flop that Michaelstone needed to keep tightly sealed. There were more snippets and whispers that spread around the room, and a moment later, the door opened up. I was quite shocked seeing my old friend Cyril. He was wearing the same kimono-style outfit, with a long Japanese sword that hung over his hips.
“Miss Brodeur, I presume that your assistant should be able to verify your story if the license is granted?” the judge asked, looking at me like he wanted to toss me down to the underworld without any further questions. Maybe I was taking this too far, but I had nothing to lose. My name was already on the faction radar, and if they needed me downstairs, then they would have to drag me down by force.
“Yes, I can release the calming charm, but I’m reluctant to mess with her mind further. She has gone through a lot in the past few months,” I replied.
“Right, Miss Brodeur, please give me five minutes. I need to consult with another representative on this matter,” Michaelstone said, sounding irritated, and suddenly got up. He disappeared behind the doors with the guy that stood behind him during the entire hearing. I nodded with a smile, sitting down on my bench. This was either going to shift in my favour or not. I just had to wait and see.
Rodriguez was aware that Alex
is had initiated her movement against Lucifer, and right now, I was only pointing out the obvious, at the same time, hoping to gain something out of it.
Michaelstone didn’t need five minutes; he came back after two, this time without the glasses guy. He had a strange, concerned look on his face. Tension rippled through the room, and I wondered if I should have kept my mouth shut. That incident from two months ago could have gotten me into a lot of trouble.
The judge shuffled some papers on top of his long desk and then looked at me. He was using his demonic energy to assess that I wasn’t making this whole thing up. I felt his powerful wave of magic deep in my bones. My hands started to tremble slightly as energy inside me vibrated.
“Relief license granted, Miss Brodeur. You’re responsible for the human in question. The faction will look into the possible breach of protocol in regard to the two convicted demons who attacked Miss Carter back in February. The session is now closed,” Michaelstone stated, finishing with a loud bang of his wooden gavel.
I flopped back on my seat feeling relieved, still not quite believing that I had managed to secure the license. A few of the witnessing demons started leaving the room, and some stopped by my bench congratulating me. Some time later, after I was holding the relief license in my hand, Cyril approached me.
“Great job, Maxine. You got what you wanted, but I thought you needed to keep a low profile. Telling Michaelstone about two convicts wasn’t too wise,” he said, looking ahead. His overbearing energy was circulating, stinging my bare shoulders. I was sober enough to realise that we were the only two people left in the room.
“I hate messing around with human minds. Emma is part of my business now and I need to protect her,” I explained, putting all my paperwork back into the white envelope. “We both know that someone is working against Lucifer, and I wanted to point this out to Michaelstone. Those two demons were out on the streets for a reason. I know it, and now you know it, too.”
He stared back at me, not convinced that I was telling him everything.
“Maxine, you’re putting yourself at risk. Your name has been on my radar for a while,” he said with a heavy voice, like he was hoping I would understand that he had to investigate me. “Try to stay away from any further trouble. I’d hate to pay you another visit. The agency is clean, but the factions won’t see it that way. You’re attracting too much attention to yourself.”
His words froze me in place for a moment. We had only met once, but Cyril had struck me as a decent kind of demon. After all, he was doing his job, and now warning me that he was going to investigate my involvement in other incidents in the city. Crap, and I was really hoping that today would be an easy day.
“I have done nothing wrong, only saved an innocent human from the hands of two convicts,” I told him, knowing that this wasn’t an issue. Someone had opened the gates of Hell without following the protocol, and that was a huge no-no.
“Yes, we can agree or disagree, but you need to remember that things are changing. Members of the faction want to push other orders, and after today’s performance, they might see you as a threat.”
“So, what are you doing here? Why are you telling me this? Maybe you should take me down yourself. That way you’ll save me a lot of hassle,” I snapped, losing my cool. All right, so yeah, I had saved the young prince, but the faction didn’t care about my achievements. They only cared about power and politics.
“I don’t really know why I’m warning you, but for some reason, I’d like for you to remain on Earth. Other mongrels need someone like you,” he said. Cyril was right. Recently there had been more Watchers patrolling the streets, and more demons had been disappearing from the face of the Earth. Something big was going on downstairs.
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll follow the protocol from now on, but I have to make a living somehow,” I said, thinking about all my unresolved cases.
“Just be careful, keep your ears and eyes open. Think about the future,” Cyril said, got up, and headed toward the door. I scratched my head, wanting to ask him what he meant, but a moment later, he disappeared. Dark clouds began filling my head, and the voice of reason reminded me that my days on Earth were somehow numbered.
Chapter 2
“Moving again, I tried the lonely slope-
my firm foot was always the one below.”
―Dante Alighier, Inferno
Cyril’s warning left me slightly on edge. He was right—my encounter with two demons back in February should have triggered a certain chain of events, but I’d failed to report that incident. Now the head of the faction had a valid reason to keep an eye on me. On top of that I was closely linked to royals. Everyone knew that Lucifer liked eliminating demons who were considered a threat, an unnecessary risk. Maybe Rodriguez was afraid that I was ready to influence Arthur and other royals against the faction order. Either way, from then on, I really had to watch my back.
I headed straight home after the hearing, thinking about the rest of the day. My stomach was rumbling, and I had some leftovers from a roast lamb in the fridge. Emma’s mother had made a proper full-on roast dinner while she was visiting here from Scotland. Our new assistant had brought tons of small containers to work yesterday, so Ricky and I had a feast. Things had been settling back for a while now. I had been closing case after case, and the cash was rolling in.
I was also glad that I didn’t have to deal with royals anymore. I rejected Arthur’s proposition, and he hadn’t tried to contact me since our last conversation in my office. My trips to the pub were more frequent and recently I won a significant amount of money in a few poker games. My problem with magical tequila hadn’t been addressed. I was still addicted to magic, pretty much drinking almost every night. It was easier to numb the memories that way, pretend that the past didn’t matter. Deep down I knew that I was drowning myself further in despair, attempting to forget about the one thing that was constantly on my mind.
At home, I stuffed my face with the roast dinner leftovers, changed, and headed back out. The hearing had worn me out, and I needed to chill, maybe have a short game of poker in the pub. Ricky had been quite pleased with me lately, so I could get away with going in to work with a hangover tomorrow. My craving for tequila was strong tonight. Normally I got away with drinking later on in the day, but tonight was special. Emma would finally know the truth about me and Ricky. The relief license meant a lot to the business.
It was still light when I walked through the streets of Brixton, and for a change, the sun had been shining all day today. It was surprisingly warm for the end of April, and I much preferred the summers rather than bitter, cold winters. After my long and painful recovery, I tried to stay off tequila. Slipping into the old ways wasn’t something that I’d intended to do, but my confidence was knocked. I’d gone through quite a shock when Arthur came over and asked me to work for him again. Then, my first official date with Zachary Quinton rolled in and I panicked. Our chemistry was off the rocker and we were both hoping that we could end the perfect evening in bed. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out that way.
Zach invited me over and I ran. After an amazing date, and even better make-out session in the cinema, I made up some lame excuse and told him that I had to go home, feeling like the biggest loser on Earth. Maybe it was a panic attack or the fact that I still wasn’t over Arthur. Either way, Zach didn’t call me again after that and we lost touch. Yeah, he’d most likely had enough trying to push me in the right direction.
“Hey, how did it go with the relief license today?” Paul asked, when I walked into the bar twenty minutes later, still buried in my own thoughts. The Broken Shoe was busy for a Thursday night, filled with more humans and demons.
“That old-school Judge Michaelstone didn’t want to listen to my arguments, but we managed to work something out in the end,” I said, winking at Paul. He automatically grabbed the bottle of tequila and placed it on the bar. I liked the fact that Paul didn’t try to cure me. He was a bartender, and I w
as a well-paying customer—we had an understanding.
“I know for a fact that this old demon religiously follows the protocol, so what exactly did you do, Max?” Paul asked, looking at me with that concerned gleam in his eye. After all, he used to be a Watcher, so he knew the ins and outs of the faction’s business.
“I had to play with him a little, put the right arguments forward. Don’t worry. I had it all under control,” I lied, drinking all three shots at once, pushing the unknown fears away. I didn’t want to think about Cyril and his warning.
“This isn’t a joke, Maxine, and you don’t mess with Berith’s men. They will find a way to get to you,” Paul warned me, giving me a stern look. My knotted stomach reminded me that I was still vulnerable, exposed, and on the Watchers radar. I had to remember that I wasn’t invisible anymore.
“I get it, Paul. I promised to follow the protocol, so that should keep the faction off my back. The business is good these days and things finally are going smoothly. Trust me, everything will be fine,” I assured him, knowing that somehow, I needed to remain positive. “Just keep filling my glass with tequila. I’ll be in the back playing poker.”
Paul was good to me and I hated lying to him. But I didn’t want him involved in any shady faction politics. After all, he retired from that old life. I didn’t want him making any assumptions about my unstable future. Things were good for once. My shitty flat was filled with cash; Arthur had left me alone, and the business was growing. I couldn’t complain.
“There she is, our star of the evening, Maxine Brodeur,” Devlin shouted when I passed through the tables and found myself in the company of a few demons. They hadn’t started playing yet, but I could see the stack of cards on the table, along with a few pints of beer. The female demonic twins were there, too, and I had a feeling this was going to be a good night. Finally, my luck had begun turning around. Recently I had outplayed everyone around the table, which caused a slight irritation amongst the group.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 28