“We will get her back, and then Arthur will consider forgiving you,” Ricky assured me. I smiled weakly, knowing that this wasn’t going to happen. Rodriguez was just waiting for the moment when he could end me completely, and Arthur could easily expose me.
“Maybe or maybe not. He has every right to see her, you know, after all this,” I said, thinking about the future, contemplating all my choices I was forced to make.
We arrived at Brixton when it was already dark and headed to the alley I had recently visited with Morpheus. There was no doubt that my mongrel abilities had somehow evolved. Even the incident with Berith made me realise that my father must have been one of the upper-level demons.
“Think about Purgatory, Max,” Paul whispered in my ear when we all gathered in a circle. I knew that my anger triggered my abilities, but right then I was happy, surrounded by friends. It was my last chance to change my path. I looked up at the sky, realising that maybe this was my last time on Earth, that maybe I would never see the beautiful stars scattered across the navy sky, or hear the cars on the road.
My energy rolled over me, reaching the soil. I thought about the black tower, the wild water, and my enemy. I was going to enjoy piercing Alexis’s heart with a knife. The silence stretched for long moments, and I concentrated, remembering how other demons had humiliated me at the party, how I was treated in the palace when the queen had discovered my affair with the prince. Minutes passed, and I reminded myself that I had used my energy today, throwing Berith down to the fiery pits.
The Earth beneath my feet began shaking and vibrating. I smelled Emma’s fear, connected with Ricky’s demonic power. The bitter anger began pouring down over my shoulders.
The pavement began splitting and buildings were shaking, and I arched my head backward, releasing some more waves of energy. It took a lot of willpower not to break the connection, but the entrance with the stairs leading down appeared a meter away from where I stood. This time I knew that this was it, and I’d summoned it without any magical formulas. My mongrel abilities allowed me to create a passage, the road to my doomed destiny.
The smell of smoke wafted in the air and Zara shivered. I was still conscious that I was leading humans into the unknown. Emma, Zach, and Zara were blessed that they were humans. This wasn’t their battle, but they had made their choice. Now I just needed to accept that.
“All right, it’s time to say goodbye to Earth,” I muttered and went down first, heading to the darkness. My friends followed me down and, a moment later, we were all thrown into the gloom as we left the human world behind. Slowly, with every small step I took, torches began lighting the way. The silence buzzed in my ears, and time stretched. We kept going down until the temperature dropped below zero, and we were all shaking with cold. I kept on going. My feet were aching until I stepped into the water.
“Lord, it’s Purgatory. I never thought that I would come here willingly,” Paul said behind me, sounding excited and petrified at the same time.
Shortly after that, the tunnel opened itself to another world. Emma gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth. Right in front of us, there was death lake, and further up, the island. I felt its energy moving through me; it smelled heavy and sensual. Others probably couldn’t see the tower hidden in the mist, but my vision even in Hell didn’t disappoint. It seemed that we were still on Earth, because when I lifted my eyes, I was seeing a navy sky and clouds, but the vibration of energies reminded me that it was probably a mirage. Purgatory allowed us to see what was easy to explain. Something close to what we all saw day by day: the human world.
Summer was here, lying in the tower, waiting for her mama. I was coming for her, and I was ready to kill anyone who stepped in my way.
Chapter 30
“For all those lights, so vividly alive, shining more brightly still, began a song that glides like falling leaves from memory.
―Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“What if this is a repeat of Gjöll? What if something happens to one of you?” I asked, turning around and staring at my friends who were ready to follow me all the way to the island. Everything about this set-up looked just like another trap. Ricky had spent weeks in the hospital fighting for his life, and now I was dragging him into yet another dangerous mission.
“Max, we have gone over this; there are seven of us. Together we are much stronger,” Zachary insisted, and glanced toward the dark waters. So far Alexis had learned of my every step, but she couldn’t have known that I connected with her in the maze, that I knew she was keeping Summer in that tower.
“This is Hell, Zach, not the streets you know so well. Demons here will burn you alive and then toss your body to biblical beings, so they can consume your bones,” I said, trying to scare the crap out of him, but I knew it wouldn’t work. They were already walking toward the rocky shore.
I clenched my teeth, even thinking about locking them in a charm so they wouldn’t follow me. Paul was useful, but Zara and Emma couldn’t defend themselves with magic and charms. In the end, I had no other choice but to get inside the boat. Everyone who was here with me had made their choices. My energy shifted inside me, starting in my core and radiating out to the tips of my toes. A cold shiver crawled over my spine. The dark lord must have realised that humans crossed into Purgatory; there couldn’t have been any other explanation as to why my energy was suddenly so disturbed.
Ricky and Zachary took hold of the oars. The boat was small, but it fit all of us. I had never trusted the water around here, and I had a feeling that there were creatures underneath swimming nearby, waiting for one of us to make a mistake.
“So, is this really Hell?” Emma whispered as we started moving through the shaky waves.
“It’s Purgatory, a part of Hell where Lucifer tortures sinister souls,” I explained, conscious of my surroundings. Emma didn’t need to know any more, and for the first time, she didn’t ask me anymore questions.
The water looked disturbed, the waves were rising, but there was no wind. I shut my nagging voices down and told myself to focus on the positives, on the fact that soon Summer was going to be safe.
We reached the island without any nasty surprises, although I would have never entered this water willingly. Paul had noticed that the air pressure began to rise, and there was a possibility that our skills wouldn’t work so well around here. He was sensing it like I had but chose not to say anything. There was no point scaring the others.
My heart stopped in my chest when a tall, square black tower was revealed to us, standing on the hill. Its walls were surrounded by thick white fog that began drifting around the island. It was freezing cold here, and everyone was aware that the temperature had dropped significantly since we left the human world behind. Alexis wasn’t around; I couldn’t sense her anywhere. This was concerning, knowing that she possibly left Summer unattended.
“What now? What do you want to do?” Ricky asked, releasing his own demonic magic. He hadn’t fully recovered yet, and he struggled to be a fully functioning demon. He swore to me once before that he would never enter Hell voluntarily, and now here he was, risking his neck for me.
“Maybe we should split up and start looking around. You said that your daughter is being kept in that tower, over there?” Paul asked.
“That’s what I saw in my vision,” I replied, remembering every detail from the maze.
“All right, I’ll stay with Emma. Zach, Nameless, and Zara are safer together,” Ricky suggested, pointing out that Nameless could offer demonic protection to Zara and Zach. They were both vulnerable around here. I wasn’t quite sure if we should split, but at the same time, it was easier to move around the island in small groups.
Everyone agreed, and fear stirred my insides when I watched Ricky and Emma disappearing around the hill several minutes later. I needed to stop worrying and focus. Zach, his sister, and Nameless went in the opposite direction, rounding the tower to the other side. Paul and I took the steep steps that were leading directly up
the hill. My fingers became numb with cold, and I couldn’t feel my legs after some time. Paul was struggling to climb the stairs. After working in the pub for years, he was unfit and only slowed me down.
My energy kept shifting. The atmosphere near the tower was unsettled, keeping me on edge, twisting my gut with unease. I was getting concerned that I couldn’t sense anyone else besides my friends around the island. Alexis was here. I couldn’t have been wrong.
“Paul, whatever happens, I want you to get them back to London safely,” I said, just to make sure that we understood each other.
“Don’t worry, Max, I won’t let you down,” he replied.
We reached the last step, and we were forced to rest for a bit. The tower was built from shiny black stones. It reached at least several hundred meters upwards. The construction was impressive, embracing me with sizzling powerful energy. Now we just needed to locate the entrance. Alexis wouldn’t have known that I discovered her hiding place; she wasn’t prepared like the last time, so I had to make my advantage count.
“Here,” Paul shouted somewhere from the other side. I found him standing outside a heavy metal door. My heart skipped a beat. I was so close to seeing her, so close to touching her beautiful face. I looked out, but it was difficult to see the island now; the thick mist stretched down all the way to the water, and it began drifting on its surface. I could only hope that the rest of the group was safe. Paul muttered some formula under his breath, and a second later, he kicked the door with his leg. There it was—the entrance with a narrow metal staircase that led up.
I started climbing, floor after floor, not waiting for Paul while the adrenaline surged through my veins. It seemed that the metal stairs were never going to end, but I kept going. My breathing became laboured, my clothes sticking to my back, until I reached the top door.
I stopped, embracing my power, then sent a strong wave of my magic right through the lock. The door gave way and I stepped inside. The room was exactly like I had seen in my vision: the sofa, the dining table, and the small bed in the corner. Summer wasn’t there. The smell of blood made me nauseous, and I spat on the floor with disgust. Summer’s energy was circulating around, so she must have still been here at least an hour ago. A second later, the door shut behind me, and I felt a sharp pain in my skull. The discomfort eased off and, a moment later, I noticed another set of stairs leading up.
“Maxine, what’s going on? Open that damn door!” Paul shouted, banging his fists against the metal. We both tried using magic, but the door remained locked. It was a trap; someone intended to keep me here for a bit.
“A spell holds the lock. There is another floor above this one. I’m going to check it out.”
Paul told me to wait, he was trying to break the spell, but I wanted to make sure that my child wasn’t being kept elsewhere. Panic seized my insides, sinking its bitter claws into my skin. Alexis couldn’t have moved Summer to another location. She was still spellbound by the sleeping curse.
I started climbing to the higher level, moving further and higher until there was an attic-type entrance at the end. I used magic until I was able to squeeze myself through it, stepping out onto the open rooftop. A sharp burst of wind almost knocked me down, contracting my lungs with freezing-cold air.
I tapped into my source, concentrating, but a sudden wave of power hit me from behind. I went flying against the shiny floor, hitting the barriers, and nearly passing out. Every inch of my body burned, as another demon squeezed my power, launching a full-on attack. I cursed loudly, trying to get back on my feet.
Then I saw her—she stood opposite me, balancing a ball of red light in her hand. I was struggling to stay on my feet, the cold wind crystallising my energy into something still and fragile.
“Bianca?” I asked stupidly, recognising her platinum-blond hair and her excellent manicured nails.
“Yes, that’s me, you little mongrel whore. I have been waiting for you. My sister mentioned that you may pop in,” she snarled, lifting the light and playing with it like it was a toy. She was wearing a thick crimson coat around her shoulders. I had no idea how she figured out I was the enemy. Alexis wasn’t that smart; she couldn’t have known I would come here today. Unless someone had betrayed me.
“Where is she? Where the hell is that bitch who is keeping my daughter?” I shouted, shaking with fury, embracing my demonic powers. It didn’t matter that the demon in front of me was stronger. I was ready to kill her, just so I could get to Alexis.
A pain exploded in my skull, and I roared, losing my balance and going down. My breath wheezed when I tried to get up again. A split-second later, Bianca kicked me in my stomach, and I clenched my teeth, pushing myself to keep fighting. There was no time—the bitch was sitting on me, laughing out loud. The wind whizzed in my ears, and Bianca was trying to rip the skin on my cheek with her sharp nails.
“She’s far away, squeaking with pain and misery just like her mummy.” Bianca laughed, slicing my skin. The rage that started building within me was nothing that I’d ever experienced before. The blood got into my eyes, but I squinted, and tapped deep into my source, slapping her with a fresh wave of power.
I spit into her face and used that short moment of distraction to smash her face with my free fist. My pain was severe, but adrenaline was already kicking in. I was on my feet, breathing in the harsh air and wiping the blood away from my face. Bianca’s eyes gleamed with fire as she started circling around me. She was bleeding from her nose.
I wasn’t able to tap into my demonic abilities in full. Someone was blocking my extensive energy. After all, I tossed the great Berith down to the pits, and now I could barely stand on my feet. Bianca must have used a spell that controlled my anger, and now she was using it to her advantage. I roared with frustration, thinking about a charm that could break that blockage. I really wanted to see her back in Hell, in her own torturing chamber.
“You will die here, along with your foolish plan. You will never bring Lucifer down!” I shouted, focusing on every beat of power that was left inside me. She was blocking the exit, looking very confident. My cheek was burning with raw fire, skin hanging from it. Paul’s confused mind was screaming at me to open the door.
“Once Alexis rises from the dead, Lucifer will be forgotten,” she roared, releasing a wave of black foggy light that hit my arm when I dodged to the side.
I landed on my bruised hip, and seconds later, I was struggling to lift myself up. The pain was unbelievable, tripling with every heartbeat. Bianca darted and then launched forward, grabbing a huge handful of my hair. She pushed me and wrapped her skinny fingers around my neck. I shrieked as fire spread across my entire body. I grabbed her hand. I was struggling to hold it together. My vision went blurry, pain distracted me from breathing and fighting back. I couldn’t die in Hell; my time hadn’t arrived yet. My precious daughter was somewhere out there.
I put pressure on her wrist, until I was burning her skin with the flames that spread down my arms. A thunderstorm lightened the sky. She glanced up and, in that split second, I bounced the flames off my hand, so it began spreading over her body, too. I really wanted to burn her alive. She finally released me, and I landed on my back, gasping for air. She was screaming, trying to use her demonic abilities to stop the flames. Not wasting any time and energy, I scrambled back on my feet and kicked her as hard as I could.
Rain poured down from the sky. Bianca’s hair was still burning, and she was going crazy, running around the tower. Blinded with pain and exhaustion, I launched myself on her and then we both went down. Once I was sitting on her, I started punching her over and over. The blood began spraying all over my face. I had no idea how long I kept beating the shit out of her, but eventually I collapsed on the floor, exhausted, and covered with her blood.
Bianca wasn’t breathing, her demonic energy was slowly drifting away. I didn’t give a damn if she died here or not. My fists were cracked, and as the rainwater began dripping down my face, I realised that the skin on my c
heek was torn. I didn’t feel the pain anymore. I was numb from head to toe.
I heard screams around the island, so I ran to the edge of the tower and looked down through the long barriers. I wiped the water off my eyes and scanned the space. The misty fog faded away, and now I could see the rocky shore right in front of me. Horror rose within me, robbing me of the ability to speak, to even think when I saw Alexis on the edge of the cliff.
She had Summer with her. My daughter was crying. That bitch must have found a way to break Matilda’s sleeping curse. I parted my lips, realising that my daughter was fully alert and awake. Zachary, his sister, and Nameless were running toward her shouting. I knew that they weren’t going to get there in time. Alexis lifted something in the air, and Zach, along with others, fell in a hole that appeared out of nowhere. My friends were locked in a spell, several meters underground.
I sent a lightning ball down, but I was too far away, and my light faded. Alexis noticed me, and smiled widely, stroking Summer’s blond locks.
“Look over there, child, your mummy is staring down at us. She’s going to watch how I use your precious blood to be reborn!” the bitch said, using our connection so she could talk to me through my head. I ran down to the exit, pushed Bianca’s body out of the way, and tried to lift the flap, so I could get down.
The flap wouldn’t budge, and I roared in desperation releasing fiery sparks of energy. Bianca must have locked me up here from the inside, so I would be stranded here if anything went wrong.
I went back to the barriers and looked around, searching for Matilda. My heart pounded loudly in my chest, seconds were rolling, and all I could hear was my daughter’s high-pitched cries. Ricky and Emma were still outside the tower, but I couldn’t see them anywhere.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 70