I walked up to him and sat down, still wearing my hospital gown. I wanted to use my energy to take away his pain, for at least a moment, but my body hadn’t recovered yet. My muscles were sore, my skin still stinging in various places. Zach had stopped sobbing; he was immobile, broadcasting only anger and resentment. He didn’t want to believe that he’d lived in deceit for such a long time.
“Your partner, Cora, she was a demon, too, and she took a risk. She knew that faction discourages any romantic involvement with humans, but she chose to ignore it. Someone must have reported her. There isn’t any other explanation of why she died. The Watcher from her past came back and killed her,” I said, still touching him. Zach didn’t understand how demons shaped humanity, but he deserved the truth. I didn’t agree with Hell’s rules, but I wasn’t able to change a thing. I was only a mongrel, and half demons meant nothing in Hell.
“What happened to my sister? Did your people take Zara?” he asked, and lifted up his head. There weren’t any more tears, just anger, and it was directed at me.
“I don’t know, but she’s alive and well. Somehow she’s gotten involved with Nameless Thief, with his people,” I said, trying to keep my emotions at bay. Zach needed my help to track down his sister, and I already had a plan. There was no doubt that I still had to retrieve the letter, but my priorities changed.
“Nameless? What does he have to do with her?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
“She was the one who stole the jewellery at the party, and the one who warned me to stay away from him. I saw her down in the tunnels, but I wasn’t certain it was her until that party at the manor. ”
“No, Zara wouldn’t be that stupid. She wouldn’t have left us for some demon, a monster,” he said, shaking his head. I was surprised that the nurse hadn’t checked on me yet. Zach was quite loud earlier on, and I had to make sure that he would keep his mouth shut. No one would save me if he started telling other people that there were demons walking on the streets of London.
“I can’t explain exactly what happened to her, Zach. I think Nameless has done something to her, changed her, made her forget about her humanity. I’ll help you find her, I promise, Zach, but you need to understand that you mustn’t tell other people about what you know. This is very important.”
He lifted himself up and looked at me like he still didn’t believe that I wasn’t human.
“So you want me to lie to everyone I know?” he asked.
“If you want to live, then yes, humans can’t know. They aren’t ready for the truth. I don’t make the rules,” I stated, thinking about that letter last night, and wondering who else knew about my attempt to enter Gjöll.
“Fine, but how are we going to track Nameless now?”
“I have a plan. A few weeks ago, his father came to me and asked me to find him. You met him in the palace. As it turned out, he chose the only place in the underworld that the factions can’t control: Gjöll. I guess he’s made a lot of enemies over the years, and we aren’t the only people who are trying to find him,” I said, knowing that, for now, I needed to forget about the letter. Right now Zach’s sister was my priority. Nameless had her, and I owed it to Zach to find out what happened.
“You should have told me she was the one who stole the jewellery at the party,” he told me, looking out the window. I wished that I’d had enough courage in me to go to him and kiss him.
“There is a way to get to Gjöll, to cross the river that separates the living from the dead. It’s the only place which Lucifer doesn’t control, where Nameless is protected,” I said, knowing that Zach wasn’t ready to join me, but it was still going to be hard to convince him not to come with me.
For a long moment he debated over what to do, if he could trust me once again. I was still on the floor, struggling to find a comfortable position when he reached out with his hand.
“Fine, Maxine, I’ll follow your lead one more time, but this time, we are playing by my rules,” he said, helping me back on my feet. I could have sworn I saw that flirtatious gleam in his eyes when part of my thighs were exposed.
“I’m sorry for lying, for deceiving you, but I really had no choice. After all, I’m just a mongrel, half demon. We don’t have much say in the demonic world; our voices don’t matter,” I explained, getting back to bed. Zach did understand, but he was still wary of everything that was coming out of my mouth.
A moment later his phone interrupted our conversation. Zach answered it, and I knew that he had to leave.
We didn’t make any promises to each other, but somehow I wasn’t afraid that he was going to start talking. He must have understood that the life of his missing sister depended on it.
I lay on the hospital bed for some time after he left, thinking about Ronan. I knew that if I found Nameless and Zara, I could trade something for my letter, for all the letters.
After I got lunch, Emma came back to check on me. Apparently Ricky had to go back to the office. He had an appointment with a new client. When the doctor did his rounds, I was ready to go home. My burns would heal eventually, and I couldn’t lose another day just lying around. Emma didn’t want to hear about my new ideas; she wanted me to stay in bed. It took a bit of convincing, and maybe a few lies to let her know that I was healed, that I had to get on with things. She agreed to bring me some elixirs back from my apartment.
She came back after a few hours, with a new pair of jeans, some T-shirts, and magical potions. I snuck out of the hospital in the late afternoon, pumped with magic. I needed to soak my skin in a cold bath, probably with some added extras. Two months ago after the attack of the A’rea, and my confrontation with Alexis, it took me weeks to get back to normal. Emma had taken care of the paperwork, but the nurses weren’t happy that I demanded to be released.
Luckily for me, Ricky asked Emma to go back to the office. After assuring her that I was going to be fine, she eventually left me alone. I took some of the bandages off, brewed the elixirs from a dead raccoon that was supposed to sort me out. I forced some food into me and, just before ten o’clock at night, I felt well enough to go out. I’d failed yesterday and I had to rectify that mistake as soon as possible, so I headed straight for the Broken Shoe. Paul didn’t look happy when he saw me.
“What the hell happened to you, Maxine?” he asked, staring down at my red face. Most of the swelling had gone down earlier on, but I still looked pretty battered. I had to find another way to Gjöll, but at the same time, my hands were tied. The market wasn’t happening for another couple of weeks, and I couldn’t wait that long.
“It’s a very long and complicated story. You’d make me feel so much better if I had some tequila,” I said, feeling queasy. I was supposed to quit, sort myself out, but tonight the voices in my head were unbearable. Besides, I was hoping to pick Paul’s brain about Gjöll. He had worked for Berith for years. He must have heard of an illegal entrance to the only part of the underworld that wasn’t controlled by Watchers. It was just a case of asking the right questions.
Paul glared at me, shook his head, and eventually placed a shiny new bottle on the bar.
“Let me guess, you had an unpleasant encounter with Watchers?” he asked, like he just read my mind.
“Sort of. Have you ever heard of Azezel or Daniel? Those two were ready to throw me into the pits last night.”
Paul unscrewed the bottle and poured some into a shot glass.
“You shouldn’t be talking about them right here,” he pointed out, and I suddenly felt very warm and slightly lightheaded. I had a feeling that Paul’s demonic energy wasn’t exactly lost like he claimed. I looked around, spotting a drunken human on the other side of the bar. Paul was exaggerating, the bar was quiet, and I wasn’t sensing any demons nearby. His previous profession left him paranoid.
“I managed to get an old formula, the entrance to Gjöll. I used my magic down by the river, but the formula was wrong. I entered the underworld instead and got caught. On top of that, Zach followed me down and saw eve
rything,” I said, and then drank some liquid magic. It was refreshing, and my skin felt less strained. I wanted to play poker, maybe network with demons who could help me, but another month of rent was due soon. My stash was empty, and I couldn’t afford to be late again.
Paul widened his eyes and cleared his throat.
“That’s impossible. How are you even alive? Those two have never spared anyone, and they definitely wouldn’t spare a mongrel.”
“They received a letter just before I was supposed to be thrown down to the pits, and they told me that I had been spared,” I explained, popping another shot into my mouth. “Don’t ask me. I have no idea what happened, but it seems that someone must really like me down below.”
Paul was shocked, so much so, that he stopped polishing the glasses and stared, placing one on the bar.
“Unbelievable, you’re one lucky mongrel,” Paul said, and then poured himself a pint of beer. Okay, so he was planning to be my drinking companion for a night? “Maxine, tell me what is going on. Why are you sticking your nose where you’re not supposed to? Besides, the entrance to Gjöll is just an old myth. Stop wasting your time with this nonsense. ”
I was shocked that he said that and admitted that he knew about Gjöll. He wasn’t right. The entrance did exist, because Nameless was hiding there.
“I have everything under control, Paul. You don’t have to worry,” I said, which was a complete lie. Everything was slowly falling apart. The stolen letters, my secret, my half-started romance with Arthur, and now Zach. Paul didn’t have to read my mind to know that I was selling him the biggest bullshit in history. I was far away from closing off this case.
“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re going about it the wrong way. You won’t find the way to enter Gjöll. Someone must lead you to it,” Paul said with a serious expression on his face. I stared at him in confusion.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” I pressed, knowing that I couldn’t drink anymore. Paul knew something, but it was going to take me a few more hours to break him. He smoothed his fat neck and then noticed a customer on the other side of the bar.
“Hold on, I’ll be right back,” he muttered and then went to serve a newcomer. Sometimes Paul was frustrating. He possessed incredible knowledge, but he was still loyal to Berith. I was surprised he was even allowed to leave. After all, he was one of them.
Soon after, Paul immersed himself in conversation with the new customer and I was suddenly bored. I decided to go outside for a cigarette, to stay away from drinking more tequila. Paul was a good person, but tonight he had to forget about his morals and tell me what he knew. He didn’t understand that my life was falling apart, that I had to find Nameless.
I arched my head backwards, resting it on the back door, then dragged smoke into my lungs. A moment later, I spotted a figure on the street and I started coughing. It took me a moment to pull myself together and figure out that I saw someone I recognised. My eyes couldn’t have misled me, but I was a hundred percent sure that Zara had just passed through the alley, carrying a rucksack on her shoulders. I shook my head, telling myself that she couldn’t be here, that this was impossible. I quickly discarded the cigarette on the ground, stepped on it, and decided to see for myself if that was really her. Tequila could wait, but Zara couldn’t.
Chapter 29
I will recount all that I found revealed there by God’s grace.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
I looked back at the entrance to the pub, hesitating for a split second, thinking that Paul needed to know where I was going this time around. In the end I didn’t want to waste my time and started running toward the alley where I last saw Zara. I didn’t want to lose her, but at the same time, I wasn’t certain that it was actually her. The woman ahead had dark hair in a ponytail, leather jacket, and there was something sticking out of her back pocket. It was possibly the famous machete, but that annoying question kept popping in my head: Why would she let herself be exposed like that? What was she doing in this area so late at night?
I kept my distance. She was walking fast, almost running, and it was difficult to see her face. Just a moment ago, Paul advised me that I needed to slow down and stop sticking my nose where I wasn’t supposed to, and right now I was doing exactly that.
After half an hour, the alleged Zara had reached the main high street of Brixton. I had to remind myself a couple of times that I was still in recovery, and my burns weren’t fully healed. Last night’s encounter with Watchers had weakened me, and maybe it was time to call Zach. After all, I was following his missing sister.
A moment later Zara sped up. She was obviously in a hurry. A couple of drunk humans smoking outside a pub whistled at her, shouting some sexual remarks, but she kept going, ignoring them. My demonic power began rolling down my back, but it was going to take me a while to recoup the strength from a couple of days ago.
When she finally stopped on the corner by the traffic lights and looked around, I backed away to the empty building behind me, afraid that she would notice me. I took out my mobile and quickly dialled Zach’s number. When the voicemail picked up, I was ready to toss the phone on the street, burning with frustration. Zach wasn’t available when I needed him the most, typical.
She crossed the street and carried on toward the north side of the city. It was just after midnight when she stopped by the entrance to the underground station. A moment later she disappeared inside. I ran then, knowing she was most likely aware that I was close and she was hoping to lose me in the crowd. The station was busy, and I managed to follow her trace down to the platform, using the elixir that I had on me. I used the last bit of my demonic sense to locate her getting into the tube, heading toward central London. She changed the station a couple of times, confusing me ever more. She was playing a very twisted game, and I had to force myself to stay still, and just wait.
It was late, probably before one in the morning when I followed her all the way to Aldgate East station, keeping a safe distance between us. My fingertips started to sparkle as I hid myself behind a group of Asian students and watched her approaching a man in a trench coat.
I would have been very pissed off with myself if it turned out that I had followed some random woman who looked like Zara. As it turned out, my gut feeling didn’t disappoint, because she finally turned around revealing her face. Moments later, the guy wearing a trench coat shook her hand, and I recognised him, too. The colour drained from my face when I realised that it was Ronan. She passed some kind of package to him and they both smiled at each other.
Shock rippled through me. Something was very wrong here. Why on Earth was Ronan meeting with Zara in the middle of the night, the woman who was a close accomplice of his son? I kept watching them, wondering what the hell was going on here. Ronan was an old friend, and he would have never betrayed me. The letters from the dead princess were priceless to him, but his meeting seemed like it was planned.
A burning hot anger was filling my stomach, because none of this made sense. He pointed at the package and said something else to her. I tried Zach’s mobile again, but it was going straight to voicemail. I didn’t know what to do, staring at my old friend who was supposed to be on my side.
It took another ten minutes for them to disappear behind the barrier that led toward rail tracks. The train passed, people got in and no one noticed that a man and a woman vanished off the platform.
I reached the same spot a couple of moments later and sensed a magical potion. It was one of those elixirs that strengthened a specific magical formula. I presumed that Ronan had just managed to open the entrance to another tunnel. He must have made some kind of agreement with Zara. Maybe they were working together against Nameless. Maybe he got fed up waiting around, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. The possibilities were endless.
There were steps down that led toward the underground tunnel. I was slammed with strong demonic energy that circulated around the space. It was just a matter of time b
efore they sensed my presence, but I was willing to follow them down. I wanted answers, and I wanted to know what they were doing. After years of friendship, I didn’t want to believe that he would betray me in such a way, teaming up with an alleged enemy.
Zara and Ronan were somewhere ahead of me. Now and again I heard trains crossing, the whole tunnel was shaking, and air pressure filled my ears.
After some time I must have lost them, following through the endless rail tracks, moving further into the doomed darkness. I could no longer sense them. Despite that, I kept walking, following the tracks and remembering the crossover and the Keres that implanted the memory from my early childhood a while back now.
The tracks began to narrow and soon the tunnel started dropping down. The oxygen level decreased too, and I found myself struggling to catch my breath. The tunnel narrowed further and further, making me feel slightly suffocated.
Deep down I knew that I had left the London underground behind. Ronan used his ancient magic to let Zara inside this part of the underground or cross world.
After what seemed like hours, I reached the end. Right in front of me there was another entrance to a cave. Alarm bells started going off in my head. It was time for me to stop and reconsider what I was doing. The energy that scorched over me didn’t feel right. There were two human skeletons lying in the side of the cave.
The air was punched out of my lungs when I lifted my eyes, noticing a sign on the right side that was engraved in the stone. I had finally found the place that I had been so desperate to get to, the legendary Gjöll. Ronan must have found the way, and this time around, I was a hundred percent sure the entrance was real. Every tiny hair on the back of my neck rose, as I tried to breathe in, aware of the heat that wafted through the air.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 47