Ricky assured me the potions would work inside me for several hours. I wasn’t planning to stay in the palace for any longer than that, but I took an extra portion with me just in case.
“We are heading straight to Rodriguez’s quarters. The polls have been open for some time now, but Lucifer won’t announce the results for another week or so,” Cyril explained as we walked through the long wide corridor.
I spotted Jon and instantly wanted to wave to him, but then told myself that he wasn’t supposed to know me. There were other demons in the palace, too, but for some reason I wasn’t sensing Alexis. We had an unexplained bond, and I instantly knew if she was close. I just hoped that Cyril’s intel wasn’t wrong, because I didn’t want to waste this day if it turned out she wasn’t actually in the palace today.
We went to the west wing, and then I definitely started feeling a little sick. I remembered the first time that I showed up to see Rodriguez. I was with Ricky when he told me that I needed to team up with Zach. It felt like years ago and even then, I knew something was off about Rodriguez. Several moments later, Cyril knocked on the familiar door, and I told myself to keep it together.
“Come in,” the deep voice said.
Cyril opened the door and we both went inside. Anger spread through me like an out-of-control fire. Rodriguez was sitting at his desk like nothing had happened, like he still belonged in here. It baffled me that Lucifer hadn’t taken care of him yet, but my father was the one in charge. His actions didn’t concern me as long as he stuck to our little agreement.
Rodriguez didn’t even bother to lift his head.
“Sir, this is Dorothy Fletcher. She works with me in the court,” Cyril said, clearing his throat.
I sensed that the old demon was aggravated about something. His magic was unsettled, bouncing around the room. The potions kept my own abilities sealed, but I could still sense other demons or mongrels around.
“Good day, sir,” I said, trying to put on a thick London accent.
“Both of you sit down. I don’t have a lot of time,” the old demon stated and finally lifted his eyes to me. His energy stung me harder than I expected, but his expression remained neutral. He knew that he had to keep this meeting casual. His demonic soul recognised me as a human, which meant that he had to stick to the basics. “Miss Fletcher, you will take the statement from Duchess Natalie Morgan. Four weeks have passed, and the press keeps chasing after her. She is currently in the palace and that’s the perfect opportunity to get this done.”
“Yes, sir,” I responded with my voice tight.
“Cyril, there are a couple of events that I’ll be covering over the next two days—”
He didn’t finish his sentence and glanced at his watch and frowned. For a split second I thought that his eyes gleamed. The old demon must have forgotten himself for a moment. It was careless on his part to almost reveal his other nature to a human woman. Cyril shifted on the chair unexpectedly.
“What’s wrong, sir?” he asked after a moment.
“Nothing. I’m just conscious of the time. Miss Fletcher, you may leave. The guards can show you the way to Miss Morgan’s room. I have given her a heads up.” Rodriguez must have felt something or was given a message by someone inside the palace. There wasn’t any other explanation to the way he just behaved, but I still believed he didn’t suspect anything.
“Not a problem. I’ll go there right away,” I said, and got up a bit too abruptly. I felt a burning sensation around my eyes but told myself that this was nothing.
Rodriguez didn’t say anything else to me and it looked like he still wanted to discuss some other more demonic matters with Cyril. His energy followed me outside, and when I shut the door, I had to take a several long breaths to keep my energy in line.
The plan hadn’t changed, and when I glanced at my watch, we were still on schedule. Paul and Ricky should have been with the servants now, searching for any other demons close to Alexis. They were only meant to get involved if I got into trouble.
I started walking back to the main part of the palace. I had a stack of folders in my arms and looked like I was here for business. The whole building was filled with rich history, and when I’d worked here, Arthur had managed to show me around to nearly every empty room. We used to have so much fun chasing each other around, acting like kids. I really was going to miss him.
I kept going, but my high heels were slowing me down. I had to make a hell of an effort to look like I knew how to walk in them. I climbed the long staircase until I reached the room that used to be my office. Memories poured out all at once and my heart started bouncing around my chest.
This was one of the worst possible times for me to get emotional. The palace used to be like my home, but that was the past. I needed to concentrate on my task.
I passed a lot of people on the way up, humans with suits, staff members and guards. Obviously, no one had recognised me, and I forced myself to keep going, even when I saw a few friendly maids who I used to get on with really well.
I used to be good at my job. My experience in security had taught me how to deal with all sorts of people. Guards hated me in the beginning and I had to work really hard to get them on my side.
The palace seemed busier than usual today, and a lot of humans could complicate things. I kept wandering up and down the floor, using my demonic energy to sense her.
A bead of sweat ran down my neck when I finally detected her at the end of the long, official corridor in the east wing. Tension filled the space as I continued walking, glancing behind me to make sure I was alone.
Fresh energy jolted down my arm and forced the muscles in my legs to move faster. Fury triggered the energy directly from Hell. Alexis was strong, probably much stronger than me, but in Hell we were going to be equal again. The royal blood that now coursed through her veins enhanced her demonic abilities around humans. The underworld would break it, and she would be just like everyone else in Hell.
I stopped outside the large old wooden door for about a minute and listened. When I took on my position as the head of security, I had to memorise all the palace plans. It took a while, but I felt more comfortable knowing every square foot of this space. Alexis had been given a large portion of the top floor that in a way separated her from other humans. She’d had a certain position in the palace before she decided to kidnap Prince George, but that didn’t matter right now. She was close, and I nearly had her.
I waved my hand over the lock and the door gave way. There were stairs leading to the other section of her apartment. She was in the room two doors down from the one I was in. Ricky had sent me a mental note: apparently one of Rodriguez’s men was briefing her about the election in Hell.
It was a carefully prepared trap, but first I had to summon the gates of Hell. The demonic power would automatically suck her inside the pits. She could fight it, use her enhanced abilities to stay on Earth, but at the end of the day, her resistance would only weaken her.
I started moving down and soon found myself in a cosy living room decorated with white furniture. It was time to release the frustration and anger that had been boiling inside me since I returned from Hell. Lucifer shared his blood with me. I had always been much stronger than any other mongrel out there, but only now did I realise to what extent.
The sky today was filled with thick grey clouds and the windows were shaded with cream curtains. Silence rang in my ears as the waves of magic began rolling down my body.
I thought about Arthur, my daughter, and the first time I was forced to disappear. My pain seemed endless then, and I was in such a bad place. I went over the time when I was chasing after the missing Prince George, then my first meeting with Alexis. Anger boiled in my veins again, mounting inside me and suppressing any other emotions.
I recalled all those demons staring at me in the tube, when I was spit on outside the station. The magic began rising and the floor beneath my feet shook. I could conceal my abilities so that no one else in the palace knew
what was about to happen. Maybe some demons had sensed it, but only Alexis would be sensitive to the gates of Hell because all my anger was directed at her.
I kept taking long deep breaths until my heart started beating so fast that everything around me began spinning out of control. Images of Arthur rotated around me. For a split second I thought that I was seeing him standing next to me, calling me. This was impossible.
I wanted to shut out all the distractions, sensing that Alexis was much closer than before. My plan was working: she would show up just as I opened the gates of Hell.
“Sorry, dear mongrel whore, but this had to happen. Your daddy would have been proud anyway,” a voice whispered. Someone had been standing in the room this entire time, waiting for me. How could I not sense it?
Then I felt the pain in my neck, and it was like a thick needle had just pierced my skin.
Suddenly all the thriving energy that I had managed to produce in that short space of time was gone. My limbs felt heavy and my knees couldn’t hold my weight. I fell on the floor, and my vision went blurry. Something was wrong. I wanted to scream but couldn’t. Was it possible that I had lost my voice, too?
“Ahh, Thomas. That was something. For a moment, I thought this sounded too good to be true,” Alexis said.
I was lying on the ground, paralysed from head to toe. I couldn’t move at all. Panic invaded my system, causing my heart to beat faster. My lungs failed to work, and I thought I was suffocating. I tried to call Ricky, but our connection had been broken. This was impossible, unless … unless I had been poisoned.
“You’re welcome. The others are in the palace, too. They couldn’t see beyond her charm, mistress,” someone else said shortly after, coming into a view.
It was Nameless Thief, and he was the one who betrayed us.
Chapter 18
“His eyes vermillion, beard a greasy black, his belly broad, his fingers all sharp-nailed, he mauls and skins, then hacks in four, these souls.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“Take her to my chambers and tell Rodriguez that I caught her. He will be pleased.” I heard her saying, and she sounded ecstatic. “I have a feeling that the dark lord will pay me a visit quicker than I expected.”
I forced myself to move, but my muscles failed to obey me, and my body felt numb all over. Anger resurfaced, tightening my skin, but all the energy was useless, turning into an invisible bubble. Alexis’s skin was radiant, her eyes were gleaming, and she looked perfect.
Nameless had betrayed me. Last night he sat at the table, agreeing with everything I was saying. No wonder he was so eager to help out.
He glanced at me with a detached look in his eyes, and I wished that I could move, because I was ready to strangle him.
I should have known that he was helping her, but how long had this been going on? Me finding him in Gjoll; him telling me that she was powerful. None of that was an act or pretense.
Zara had been under Alexis’s control—this wasn’t made up, and she must have tortured Nameless at some point, too. This didn’t make any sense.
“Yes, mistress,” Nameless answered. He sounded lucid and alert. I was certain that he wasn’t under any spell. He was doing this because he was truly serving her. Coward. I should have let Zach lock him up.
Some other human men lifted me up, and my numb body was carried out of the room. They covered my face with something, so I couldn’t see where that bitch was taking me. She knew about my plan from the very beginning, so she must have been waiting for me in her chambers. I failed to make a connection with Ricky. We were separated. I truly hoped that he and Paul had managed to escape.
They carried me out for some distance, and for a long time, no one was saying anything. Nameless was most likely walking behind them. I was tossed in the back of a van and then heard the engine running. I still couldn’t see a thing, but it was probably dark. I had no idea what Alexis was planning to do with me now. My perfectly prepared plan had fallen to pieces before it even began.
Counting or swearing didn’t help. This was entirely my fault. I had trusted Nameless and he used me. I couldn’t rely on anyone helping me this time around. Cyril’s hands were tied, too. My father didn’t give a damn, and even if he did, I knew that I had to figure a way out of this crappy situation myself.
Then, I was dragged out again, and carried somewhere else. Later on, the bag was removed from my head and I saw Alexis. Someone must have sat me in the chair because that bitch was now sitting in front of me. She wore a long green dress, and smiled at me like this was the best day of her life. I was losing control, and anger blasted through me like a thunderstorm.
Ricky’s potions had probably worn off by now, and I must have looked like a complete idiot, nearly sliding off the chair because I couldn’t control my body. In my head, I kept telling myself that her spell would stop working soon. She had me, and I just needed to wait for that moment when I’d get my magic back.
She sighed like she was bored, and got up from her chair. Seconds rolled by and then she stood in front of me, grabbing my cheeks. It didn’t matter. I still couldn’t feel a thing.
“I have you now, little mongrel whore, under my full control. You shouldn’t have messed with me. Now you’re going to regret it forever,” she hissed. Her charms were twisting my guts, and I wanted to scream but couldn’t. It was harder to pretend that I could resist her, but I was hurting from the inside out. Her charms were spreading like a venom in my body.
My mind was like a sponge, absorbing everything that was going on, but I was unable to make any kind of response.
Seconds later she smiled again and then poured something into my throat. It was a fiery liquid that started burning me. My guts couldn’t take it. I wanted to stick my fingers into my mouth and throw up. Whatever was in that flask, it quickly began sucking my abilities out of each cell. I felt it getting into my bloodstream. There was no more tingling, and my magic was vanishing as my heart beat steadily in my chest. My demonic soul was falling to pieces, and Alexis stood by me and laughed.
Then darkness came, and the last thing I remembered was that creepy wide smile on her face.
I stretched my arms and legs, releasing the tension in my body. I lay on the cold ground, trying to gather the strength to lift myself up. Half of my left side felt numb, probably because I had been lying in an awkward position for too long. I really needed to stop getting knocked unconscious. I’d lost count of how many times that happened recently.
My fingers were really stiff, and my energy felt completely absent. I couldn’t tap into my source. I remembered bits and pieces from the moment Alexis caught me in her chambers, and I wished that I had been better prepared.
Suddenly I shot back to my feet, thinking I was having a real panic attack. This time around something felt different.
I couldn’t sense any demons or humans around me. Well, it was difficult to figure out if it was because of the fact that I was in the middle of nowhere, or because my energy had been somehow stolen from me. Alexis wasn’t skilled enough to do such a thing. My demonic DNA had been implanted into my soul. She couldn’t physically make me a human, and yet I had this terrible feeling in my gut that it was exactly what she had done.
She’d locked me in a cell and, when I tried to recall everything that happened, my memories were blurry, but they slowly came back. It happened just before I was about to open the gates of Hell. Nameless had betrayed me, betrayed the whole group.
I rolled my head around and kept on breathing. Sweat was dripping down my face and my chest felt like it had cracked open. I suddenly remembered sitting in a chair and Alexis pouring something into my mouth. I must have passed out after that. My throat went dry, and I felt like a ton of heavy bricks cascaded down to my stomach.
“No, she couldn’t have… That’s almost impossible,” I whispered to myself as the realisation that I was no longer a mongrel washed over me.
That bitch had stripped me of all my demonic power.
I felt empty, lost, and I hated the new me more with every passing second. My pulse sped up and blood pounded in my ears. I had lost the connection with Matilda and Ricky, couldn’t sense anyone else’s emotions like I used to before Alexis had trapped me inside this cell. Panic knifed through my chest, tearing my confidence apart. I’d taken my demonic power for granted so many times, and now it was lost forever. Seconds later I had my fingers around the bars and was screaming at the top of my lungs.
It was official. I had lost it.
“Get me out of here, you bitch!”
No one answered me, and no one was coming to my rescue. The silence buzzed in my ears. I had no idea where the bitch was keeping me, and that didn’t matter. I was just a human now, not even Lucifer’s daughter anymore.
It took a while before anyone showed up. I lifted myself off the ground, and seeing Princess Layla in a place like this, shook me to the core.
“Hello, Maxine, I’m glad that they finally caught you,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.
Only now did it hit me how useful it was to recognise someone else’s emotions and knowing what others felt. Now that emptiness was unbearable. I couldn’t fucking take it.
It was obvious that Alexis had sent Arthur’s aunt in here. She needed to make sure that she kicked me when I was down.
“We both know that I have been framed. I had nothing to do with Arthur’s death. Alexis is manipulating you,” I said, knowing I was wasting my breath on her. Princess Layla’s mind had obviously been poisoned.
She stared at me with disappointment and resentment. She never truly trusted me, even when others praised me. She was always aware that there was something going on between me and Arthur.
“Stop lying to me. You are a murderer and there is plenty of evidence,” she said and then tried to grab me, but I backed away to the wall. She was filled with pain, and I understood it. She had lost her nephew.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 84