“The population of mongrels is growing, and they are becoming a real issue. Nothing is going to change it, Maxine. It’s been the same since demons were first allowed to travel to the human world.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. I’m your daughter, for fuck’s sake, and that should give me certain rights. You owe it to me for that cruel test that you put me through, and for Arthur’s death.”
He shook his head, and I folded my arms over my chest, ready to hold my ground.
“We both know that the new rules won’t be respected. Demonic attitude can’t be changed overnight.”
“I get it that this entire process will be lengthy, but give me your word, and I’ll take care of Alexis for you.” I winked at him.
Now I understood that all the rumours about him were made up. Lucifer was a womaniser, and apparently, he had real feelings just like any other demon.
“Fine, Maxine,” he agreed, and I was ready to clap my hands. “You have my word, although I believe you’re slightly delusional. Demons won’t accept mongrels as equals.”
“I’ll figure this out somehow,” I told him. “As long as I have your word, I can work out the logistics.”
“You have incredible abilities that are triggered by anger. Most of my mongrel children are powerful, but none of them can summon the gates of Hell. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; your friends are your assets,” he added, and then we discussed what else could be done to change the situation of mongrels.
Maybe he was right. I had a bunch of good people around me: Ricky, Emma, Zachary, Zara, Paul, and even Nameless. They were all ready to help me. I had to appreciate them more.
I kept telling myself that this whole conversation was going to stay between us. The fact that Lucifer himself was my father had made me feel kind of special, but I knew that this could complicate my life a bit later.
“So what now? Where do we go from here?” I asked, hoping that I needed to get to the outside as soon as physically possible.
“You will go back to London and then you will bring me Alexis’s heart,” he said, and I burst out in laughing.
“You have to be kidding me? It’s too messy to play around with people’s organs. I’ll kill her and that will be the end,” I said, knowing that she deserved being sent down to the pits to suffer forever.
“Just deal with her and our agreement will be settled. She has caused too much havoc on Earth and in Hell, for that matter,” he added, sounding annoyed. “We both got what we wanted. Let’s put that plan in motion now.”
I nodded, and then a moment later, a very tall, white-haired girl, probably around my age, walked in smiling shyly. She wore a long blue dress and she was beautiful, having that innocent pure aura around her. I refused to guess if she was one of his many lovers.
It looked like some of the rumours on Earth about him were true. Lucifer must have been moving around Hell as Morpheus. I suspected that no one had ever seen him in his true form, even my mother or his other lovers. Maybe it was just simpler for him to use that name and body; that way whenever he showed up, he didn’t have to cause havoc around his persona.
Lucifer’s face brightened up instantly and she leaned over, completely ignoring me and then whispered something into his ear.
He frowned and exhaled loudly. There were so many other things that I didn’t know about my father, but I told myself I had overstayed my welcome anyway. We agreed on a few things, and now I needed to head back to Earth.
“I have urgent business that I need to take care of. The uprising is causing me more trouble than I thought,” he muttered, standing up. “Hades will transport you to Limbo where you will make your way back to London.”
“Hades? The god of the underworld? I thought the guy was made up?”
“I’m the only god of the underworld. He’s just someone who works for me,” Lucifer muttered, sounding irritated. I guessed he liked his own position in Hell, but it was funny that Hades was working for him. “He’s the God of Limbo if you really want to label him.”
He asked me to follow him through that magnificent mansion. There were other women laughing and relaxing in what looked like a library room, all staring at me with open curiosity. I couldn’t tell if they were demons or humans. My abilities failed to work around Lucifer.
We walked through the back door that took us to a long, narrow corridor. Lucifer’s quarters weren’t much different from Bianca’s. It looked like he enjoyed luxury, too. The dark lord himself opened the door that took me out to the open space in the desert, where the ground was covered with ash, probably from the pits. This time I finally saw the navy sky filled with stars.
Somewhere ahead I saw radiating light, probably from the volcano filled with lava and blood.
Seconds rolled by and I finally heard the sound of galloping horses. Soon the person who must have been Hades pulled the horses right in front of me, stopping his open carriage with two wheels. I felt the sting of twisted energy deep in the pit of my stomach. He had a black riding crop and had typical Greek features. Dark olive skin, black ears and masses of shiny dark hair. He was dressed all in leather and, at the back of his mythological carriage, there was a harpoon.
“Master, you summoned me,” he said, bowing in front of my father. His deep brown eyes went over my face briefly, and I could have sworn that I saw a flicker of excitement in them.
“Yes, take my daughter down to the gate in Limbo. She needs to go back to the world outside,” Lucifer said and then turned around. “Remember, Maxine, everything we talked about. You have my blood in your veins.”
And that was it. Lucifer disappeared the moment he said those words, leaving me with someone who wasn’t supposed to exist. He was the Greek God—that now served my father like an obedient dog. I had no idea how this came about, but I needed to remind myself that anything was possible in Hell.
Chapter 12
“Already, of the handmaids of the sun four were behind. The fifth was at the pole, stretching its burning point towards the height.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“Step into the carriage, daughter of man,” Hades told me with his deep, harsh voice. He didn’t seem terribly interested in the fact that I was his boss’s daughter. I didn’t care; he was taking me home, and I was already imagining myself in a nice hot bath. My father had vanished, leaving me alone with the God of Limbo. He was tall with broad shoulders, looking a lot like an ancient warrior.
I obeyed Hades and stepped inside the carriage and squeezed myself in the back. The air was humid, but Hades was covered in thick layers of leather. He wasn’t a demon, but I sensed his strong, masculine energy. I figured that he was one of many other mysterious creatures who lived in the underworld.
I had made another deal with Lucifer. Alexis was my enemy, and she needed to be brought to justice—to die or suffer greatly in one of those volcanic pits. Either option was good enough for me. Lucifer was going to be occupied dealing the uprising in Hell and sorting out his sinister demons. I wasn’t surprised that demons were unhappy. Life in the underworld was tough. I was lucky that I was born on Earth.
Bianca was dead, which meant that Alexis was the only one left, if I didn’t include Rodriguez. I took a deep breath, trying to enjoy the last view of my father’s homeland. It was a wild ride that was now coming to an end.
“Hold yourself in,” Hades ordered and started whipping his horses with the riding crop. We were soon moving through the empty ash land, into the tar darkness. My body was fully healed, so I leaned over the carriage and tried to enjoy the journey.
Unfortunately, the trip quickly became very uncomfortable. The temperature soared, the dusty ash got into my eyes and mouth, and the whole carriage rattled loudly.
The entire time, Hades seemed unmoved.
Fresh waves of energy rolled down my spine when I glanced back at his harpoon. I couldn’t wait to see my friends and have a proper drink. All the simple things that I used to take for granted were going t
o make me very happy when I got back. I wouldn’t say no to liquid magic either. Maybe I wasn’t an addict anymore, but that craving kept reminding me that I was still a half human.
My journey through Hell had taught me that I wasn’t indifferent to others’ pain. I wanted to change mongrels’ lives for the better. But I hadn’t been given a chance to grieve my lost prince. The journey through Hell had made me realise that I still had to say goodbye to him. Zachary was waiting for me in London, and I wanted to believe that we actually had a future together.
Hades kept whistling and whipping his beautiful animals, so they moved quicker through this ashy land. He didn’t even glance back at me once, standing in his carriage looking proud and powerful.
There was something that made me feel slightly uneasy about this whole journey. I was done being paranoid, so I tried to ignore those negative thoughts.
We were riding past a large lake, and the landscape changed slightly. Our road was now filled with rocks. Soon Hades pulled on the horses’ reins and stopped them abruptly in the middle of nowhere.
I had a feeling that we hadn’t reached our destination yet.
“What’s going on? Why are we stopping here?” I asked, and an unexpected wave of fear held me still.
The truth was that I was scared, terrified actually, for the first time since I’d gotten to Hell. I hadn’t even been this frightened when Morpheus was leading me through Purgatory.
Hades turned around, and I didn’t like the expression on his face. It was filled with greed and raging excitement that started my energy boiling.
“You’re a mongrel, and yet you’re his prodigy,” Hades said, and licked his upper lip.
I couldn’t show him that I was scared. This wasn’t a good strategy.
“Things will change around here soon, and demons will treat mongrels as equals,” I snapped, tapping into my source, just in case. My magic was on alert, and my heart started pumping more blood to my veins.
Maybe Lucifer had tricked me, and he sent Hades to kill me. After all, he was Satan and he might have staged that entire conversation earlier on.
“Mongrel or not, you’re the first human I’ve ever transported in my carriage,” he snarled, and then he moved fast, too fast for me to react. He was suddenly in my space, slamming his wide body into me.
My knees gave out under his weight, and seconds later, I was lying beneath him. Some of my fingertips turned into flames, but my magic failed to rise above me. It was the first time that nothing was blocking my source; however, the shock must have locked my power in place. Terror whipped through me, turning into panic, then shifting into an ugly mass of emotions generated by adrenaline.
I tried to lock my thighs around him and shift away, but he was simply too strong. I couldn’t have forgotten how to fight.
“Get the fuck away from me, or Lucifer will tear you apart,” I shouted, hitting him with my fists, and tangling myself underneath him. I most likely sounded stupid, but I had no idea what else to do.
“The master is going to be very busy with his demons, and I have been denied earthly pleasure for far too long,” he said, looking at me with a sick heat. Then he ran his hands over my waist, touching my hips and chest. Alarm bells went off in my head. The fucker was planning to rape me. In desperation, I started thinking about the moves that saved me countless times before. What the hell was wrong with me? I was a fighter and couldn’t even defend myself. My brain kept telling me that I was too strong for this, to act.
When his hand landed on my crotch the realisation of this fucked up situation hit me like a speeding car on the motorway. He locked my hands under my head, and some invisible chains wrapped around my wrists.
My demonic abilities stirred deep in my core, and I roared at the top of my lungs when he ripped my tank top. Sudden panic burned my lungs and I wanted to dig my nails into his eyes, but his grip was unbelievably strong. Hades was getting aroused, I felt his length between my legs, and nausea rolled over my stomach.
“I was the greatest, the strongest, and now I have to answer to Satan. Everything has its consequences. I’m taking his daughter, because I can. No one will stop me here on my land,” he said, tossing away his leather jacket, revealing his tanned, muscular chest.
I jerked, roaring again, but he only laughed. Then I could have sworn I saw a shadow circling beneath me. Hades’s eyes gleamed with raw lust as he pushed himself between my legs. For a split second, I thought that my father would protect me—that he could get to me at any time, but it looked like that was just wishful thinking.
“Get your hands off her, you scum,” a voice shouted from above, a voice that I recognised. Then, before I could take another breath, Hades was beheaded. This happened in a split second, and I shut my eyes. Blood poured down over me, and his head went flying over the carriage. His horses let go of a loud neigh, and the ground underneath shook slightly.
His body slammed on the carriage, and in that moment, fresh magic rolled over my system. When I looked up, I nearly passed out with shock, because I saw Paul flying above me, holding a beautiful but bloodied golden sword in his hand. The wings—he had his snowy-white angel wings attached to his back.
I opened my mouth but failed to make any kind of sound.
“Hey, Max, I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. The other messenger didn’t get to me in time,” Paul explained, landing by the carriage. My T-shirt was ripped, but it still covered the most private parts of my body. A bead of sweat rolled down my cheek. Okay, maybe it was too soon to make sense of all this, but I knew one thing—Paul was still a fucking angel.
“Thank you…but I think I’m still in shock. What are you doing here?” I managed to ask, getting back to my feet and trying to look decent. The aftershock made me want to throw up. I kept taking long pulls of air. I didn’t want to break right now.
Paul was stunning. White light radiated from him. The wings looked incredible in the darkness.
“Following through with the original plan, although it’s twenty-six years too late,” Paul said, smiling at me. “I was sent from upstairs to protect your mother.”
He was having a laugh at my expense, right? He wasn’t being serious.
“But how did you get in here, and what on Earth are you talking about?” I asked. All of a sudden, I needed to lie down.
“Rescuing you, of course. I knew that the old bastard wouldn’t keep an eye on you. That is just so typical of him, sending you away with that scum. All those years ago, I was asked to go down to Earth. Your mother was innocent, and she had a pure soul. God wanted to protect her, but I failed.”
“What? Lucifer, I mean my father just told me that someone poisoned my mother,” I said, telling myself that I wasn’t supposed to be surprised anymore, still thinking about that bath or a cold drink. It was time, I needed a break from all this supernatural shit.
“I was sent down to warn her about a demon who was just about to visit her, but I got distracted,” Paul explained, looking embarrassed while my jaw was still on the ashy ground.
“Oh, my lord, you knew? All this time you knew that fucking Lucifer was my father, and you haven’t said a word?” I said, moving over the dead body of Hades and stepping out of that damn carriage. There was nothing around us, but my head was fried, and my thoughts were racing. I still managed to remember that night at the pub. Even then, Paul had recognised Lucifer and he’d talked about some warning, but I failed to connect all the threads.
“I knew, but I couldn’t say anything. I screwed up and I had to make a deal. Trust me, Maxine, I’ve been thinking about this all my life,” he said. “Your visit in Hell—I thought he was taking you down to finally recognise you as his.”
“That was the plan. We talked about a lot of things,” I explained, not being able to think about being furious with him. That was already done, and I just wanted to get the fuck out of this place and forget about what happened.
“We have been talking about getting to you for weeks. Zach was going crazy,
and when I started getting mixed messages from Hell, I thought that it was time to get down here.”
“Weeks? How much time has gone by? I thought that it was only a few days.”
“It’s been four weeks, love, and during that time we’ve been planning to get you out. Time works differently in Hell. It’s hard to keep up with what’s going on when you can’t figure out when the day ends or starts,” Paul muttered. “Lucifer trusted Hades, but it’s Hell, and everyone wants to use each other. Obviously, the God of Limbo saw the opportunity with you and took it.”
I dragged my hand through my hair, telling myself that I’d had enough surprises for one evening. I had lost nearly a month on Earth. I still wanted to believe that everything my arse of a father had discussed with me was for real. My deal with him still stood. Nothing had changed.
“He was testing me going through different circles of Hell to see if I was ready to call myself his daughter,” I explained. “And it turned out that I am apparently ready. He wants me to take care of Alexis.”
“Okay, you can fill me in on everything later on. We need to go. It’s dangerous to be here. Limbo can be unpredictable, much more than Hell.”
I couldn’t have agreed more with what he said. The last thing we needed now was to be caught out by another creature or a demon who was ready to use me in order to get back at Lucifer.
I suddenly remembered that old demon in the forest near Langston who was following me and Zach. He’d asked me to talk to my father about his family. He knew, but how?
No one apart from Paul was meant to know about this. And Alexis didn’t even realise that she had Lucifer’s daughter under her nose all this time. I really had to take care of her.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 80