Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  “I have watched you abusing your position for many years before you were assigned to the royals,” Lucifer said. “It’s unfortunate that you chose that path, Master Rodriguez, but it’s time for you to pay for those sins.”

  He frowned in confusion, probably because he still had no idea that Morpheus had always been Lucifer, the master of the underworld. He must have been getting his orders from him in the past, but Rodriguez had never spoken directly to the dark lord. My father must have been using other demons to shape his rules. That incident in Paul’s pub indicated that Rodriguez had met his boss on a number of occasions before, but even then, he didn’t know who Morpheus really was. Lucifer found a clever way to control his most trusted advisors, and they had absolutely no idea what was going on this entire time.

  “The girl is mine, Morpheus, and I have paid a high price for her. The election is over and only the dark lord can question my choices. I heard that he’s still in power,” Rodriguez replied, brushing away the dust off his clothes.

  “He’s the dark lord, you moron,” I said, laughing.

  “Yes, I’m Lucifer, and I have been using this body to visit Earth from time to time,” my father added with amusement in his voice, and then the fire appeared right behind Rodriguez, and we all started hearing snippets of conversations that echoed around.

  The dark lord will punish us for this. His blood is in her veins.

  I remembered Rodriguez saying this when he was with Alexis. It was funny how karma worked.

  Take her to my chambers and tell Rodriguez that I caught her. He will be pleased.

  His and Alexis’s voices echoed a few more times in the background. Lucifer was reminding the old demon of all his previous sins, his betrayal. There was no way that he could talk his way out of this.

  Seconds rolled by and the old demon went pale. He glanced from me to Morpheus and then swallowed hard, shock masking his sharp features.

  “Master, forgive me. I was only—”

  “Spare me the details, Rodriguez,” my father said. “I just wasn’t expecting this from you, and frankly, I’m disappointed. I sent my daughter back to Earth with a task and you interfered. The votes have been counted and you have lost. There are other candidates who are much more competent than you. You have failed me, and it seems that death will be too good for you.”

  Seconds dragged, and I waited for something to happen. I thought that I was going to enjoy seeing Rodriguez go down, but right then he looked so pathetic that I pitied him. I was surprised I didn’t hate him any longer.

  “I have served you loyally for decades. Alexis poisoned my mind,” the old demon said, begging my father to spare him.

  I shook my head, not believing that he still dared to lie.

  “Sadly, nothing can change what’s about to happen, demon,” Lucifer said, and then Rodriguez was lifted above the ground, and flames of fire surrounded him quickly. This time around he wasn’t going to escape. He screamed, tangling his hair, and then vanished in a thick, black cloud of smoke. The intense smell of burning flesh spread through the air and that made me instantly sick. It was over. Rodriguez was gone.

  “Rodriguez was sent to the pits, to the lake filled with lava and blood. That’s how the demons and evil humans suffer, and they will continue to suffer there for eternity,” Lucifer stated, sounding nostalgic.

  I had no idea how to react. Deep down I was relieved I didn’t have to deal with that old demon anymore. I had failed to bring Alexis down—failed when she had taken my magic way. None of that was important right now, yet I wanted to see pride in my father’s eyes. These unexpected emotions were so human.

  “Thank you,” I said, not feeling very grateful after all. He stared at me with the same intensity, as the silence continued to stab me in my gut. My feelings remained indifferent. I didn’t want to believe that he was ever planning to fulfil his promises, but now he had proven me wrong. “So, what’s the true outcome of the election?”

  “I have won with over seventy percent of the votes. A few demons who were representing their faction on Earth have already been replaced. Beelzebub and Mammon escaped to Earth when they found out they had lost, too. They didn’t get enough votes within their circles.”

  I was so overwhelmed by what happened with Rodriguez that I’d kind of forgotten about the outcome of the election. Lucifer had won, and that surprised me. It looked like his influence in Hell hadn’t been jeopardized, and he dealt with the uprising accordingly.

  Maybe it was easier that he stayed in power after all.

  “So what is going to happen to me now?”

  “Your demonic energy will flow through your system again when you return to Earth,” he said. “I had made a mistake sending you with Hades.”

  I looked down at my feet and took a few deep breaths. Too many questions were floating in my head. The time worked differently in Hell, and I didn’t want to waste another second of it, but I couldn’t just ask him to send me back. There were a few things that still needed some clarification.

  “I don’t understand. Alexis took my magic away,” I said. That bitch had broken me, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it. In the past, I had taken my magic for granted when I should have cherished it.

  “I’m gifting your magic back to you, Maxine. Bring Alexis back to Hell. Nothing has changed in that respect.”

  I stood there staring at him, wondering if this was happening for real.

  “Hold on, what are you—”

  I didn’t have the chance to finish my question, because all of a sudden, a bright light blinded me, and when I took another breath, Hell was gone. I was back in the dark basement, and someone was banging at the metal door. Disoriented and filled with even more confusion, I waited for Rodriguez to appear in front of me, but nothing happened. Then I felt it—my energy rushing through my veins, burning slowly in the pit of my stomach. I touched my face and closed my eyes for a second, waiting and praying for it to be real. Several seconds later my magic was still there. I didn’t imagine it—I had my magic back, and it was the most amazing feeling I had ever experienced. My heart pounded loudly in my chest as blue flames rolled over my arms. My senses and vision returned to normal. It was so good to feel like myself again.

  My father had given me my magic back, without asking anything in return. I was shocked, but very relieved, too.

  Ricky was still banging at the door, shouting my name, and asking what the hell was going on. It was time to get him out of here.

  “Ricky, step away from the wall!” I shouted, placing my palm on the rusty metal frame.

  Waves of electricity began skating over the surface of my skin, and I squeezed it with excitement. It felt amazing to sense that drilling rush of energy again. I shut my eyes and concentrated. My power suddenly blasted through me, and Ricky’s cell shook, and the door’s hinges rattled loudly. I backed away to the side when the lock melted.

  Before I knew it, I was hugging Ricky closely, my emotions running high.

  “On Lucifer, I thought I was going to be stuck here forever,” he said, lifting me off the ground. “It’s so good to see you, girl.”

  “You too, but we haven’t got time to chat. We need to get the hell out of here,” I told him, suddenly feeling pumped with excitement.

  Ricky’s clothes were filthy, and he looked like he had been beaten up on a regular basis. His face was covered with bruises and it was swollen in places. He must have lost a bit of weight, too. I was suddenly really glad that Rodriguez was suffering in the pits.

  “Are you all right to run?”

  “Come on, Max, don’t insult me,” he snapped, so I rolled my eyes and we started walking towards the exit.

  Zachary was waiting for me in the same spot, and he didn’t look too good, squeezing his left side, leaning against the wall. Lucifer must have adjusted the time to the one on Earth, because I hadn’t lost any extra minutes in here.

  “What the hell happened to you? Where is Paul?” I asked, staring at the blood that was p
ouring down his clothes.

  “A huge guy slashed me with a very big knife. I’ll be all right. I managed to get Paul out,” the detective replied, but he looked really pale.

  Paul approached me, and Andrej’s men gathered behind him. A few of them were missing.

  “He probably needs to get to the hospital. That wound looks nasty, mate,” Andrej said, pointing his gun at Zachary. Obviously, he had no idea that he was the same person who disrespected him earlier on.

  Paul was in much better condition than Ricky. There were other demons on the way and we had to get back to the car as soon as possible.

  “We need to get him out of here, Andrej,” I said.

  “I get it, darling. Olek, help the man out,” Andrej ordered. The large Russian put Zach’s arm around him, and I supported him from the other side. Zach complained a little, but he looked too weak to walk on his own.

  We managed to get outside the building where I saw Ronan. He wasn’t alone. He was fighting with his son—Nameless Thief.

  Both men were using magic. Ronan was throwing red balls of light while Thomas was defending himself with his machete. It must have been the one that Zara used when she stabbed Ricky, because his weapon seemed to be resisting Ronan’s energy. I had no idea where he came from. He was supposed to be with his clan underground. I glanced around, waiting for Alexis to appear, too, thinking maybe this was yet another trap. Nothing happened, but that unease stayed with me. Nameless wasn’t supposed to know we were going to be here tonight.

  Andrej whispered something in Russian, staring at the magic that was happening right in front of his eyes. I didn’t think that demonic rules mattered right now. There were a lot of dead humans around, and Andrej had lost a few of his men, too. I had a feeling that authorities were on the way, and we couldn’t just be stuck here in case more than one policeman invaded this place.

  Despite his age, Ronan was still very powerful, but Nameless seemed quicker. The waves of electricity crackled over Ronan’s body. I screamed when my mentor went down.

  “Get my gun, Max, and finish that son of a bitch,” Zach hissed at me. The gun was tucked into his back pocket and I grabbed it, feeling its weight in my hands. I got to Ronan when he was trying to lift himself up.

  Nameless stared at me and his father. He had that empty and detached look on his face. His eyes gleamed with unexplained power, as he held his machete above his head, feeding it with more rippling energy.

  We had only a few moments to react, and I was ready to burn him down to the ground for everything he had done, but instead I handed Zach’s gun to Ronan and said, “It’s your call and your son.”

  Nameless spit on the ground, glanced from me to Andrej’s men, and hesitated. Ronan grabbed the gun without even thinking about it. Nameless decided to make a run for it. He dropped his magical machete and soon, he was going to disappear around the building, this time probably forever.

  Then Ronan fired a shot. He was a demon and wasn’t supposed to know how to use a gun.

  Everything happened so fast, but it seemed like slow motion when I saw Nameless going down to the ground, just before he reached the gate. He was shot in the back of his head, and he was dead by the time his body slammed on the ground. Ronan had fired a perfect shot, killing his only son.

  Nameless was a mongrel, therefore a mortal, and his father didn’t even blink before he killed him. I stood by him, and a strong, harsh wind ruffled my hair. Goosebumps broke out over the nape of my neck and, in the looming silence, I began to question if that was really necessary. It must have been tough for Ronan to pull that trigger. His only son had betrayed him, and he made a choice to end his life.

  Nameless sold his own people to Alexis. He paid a high price for it.

  “What the hell was that magical shit? I always knew that there was something fishy about you!” Andrej shouted, smiling widely and using his gun to scratch his head.

  “It’s time. We have to make them forget what they just witnessed. Lucifer gave me my magic back,” I whispered to Ronan, who still stared at the dead body of his son.

  All of Andrej’s men seemed confused and scared. Zach had his eyes closed, but he seemed satisfied with the outcome.

  Ronan nodded to me and we both approached the group. I smiled and touched Andrej’s arm.

  “You haven’t witnessed anything out of the ordinary tonight. Ronan killed a boy,” I said, sending waves of my demonic magic through his mind. His thoughts were murky, but he was receptive enough and soon began to forget about what he saw. Ronan was talking to Andrej’s other men. He seemed weakened by the fight with Nameless, but his magic began to work.

  Andrej was resisting and grabbed my wrist all of a sudden, squeezing it painfully. I concentrated harder and reached to a further part of his subconscious. I sensed that he liked to endure pain and cause suffering to others. He fed on it, and I was betting my father was looking forward to seeing his soul in Hell.

  “Olek, get rid of the body. We need to leave Maxine now,” he finally said. I backed away from him, knowing that I really needed to reconsider the promise I had made earlier on.

  The man had a dark, twisted soul and I wasn’t surprised that his ex-wife had left him.

  “We are leaving. Thank you for everything, Andrej,” I said, shaking his hand. He gave me yet another intense look and then winked at me.

  “No problem, darling, but we have to transport your friend to the emergency room. He’s losing shit loads of blood,” Andrej reminded me.

  “Transport him to the pub. We will try to treat him first,” I said, not ready to leave Zach with humans in the ER. Ronan had plenty of ingredients upstairs. The potions could sort him out.

  He nodded to his men and we started walking.

  Zach was placed in the back of Andrej’s van. I didn’t want to leave him with Dostojevsky’s men, but I didn’t have much choice.

  I waited until we were back on the road before I told Paul and Ricky everything that had happened when I met Cyril in the Angel station, and how I managed to escape from Alexis’s hands.

  “Your father has finally done something useful for a change,” Paul said. “And I’m glad that the old demon got what he deserved.”

  “Yes, he caught me by surprise outside Ricky’s cell. He must have been waiting for me there,” I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable that Paul was calling Lucifer my father. I didn’t think I could ever get used to it. Hell was never going to be my home, despite everything Lucifer had done for me. The only reason he had given me my magic back was because he still needed me to take care of Alexis. It was that one task left unfulfilled. It was just a matter of time before our paths would cross again. A certain place in the pits was already waiting for her.

  Chapter 28

  “The man who lies asleep will never waken fame, and his desire and all his life drift past him like a dream, and the traces of his memory fade from time like smoke in air, or ripples on a stream.”

  ― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

  “It’s been a hell of a two weeks. I’m so looking forward to seeing my girl. And having a strong drink,” Ricky said when we arrived outside the pub an hour later. Emma must have listened to me for a change, because she wasn’t standing in the window waiting for us to arrive. I felt a little guilty that we left her alone. She must have been worried sick the entire time.

  Andrej’s van was already parked outside and as soon as we got out, his people helped me transport Zach to the back entrance. We needed to start treating him with potions right away. He had lost a lot of blood, and I worried that simple spells wouldn’t take care of his injury. He was going to need a blood transfusion in the hospital.

  Moments later, Andrej and his people drove away, wishing me good luck.

  Alexis was still on my mind and the fact that she wasn’t with Rodriguez tonight was worrying. It was late at night and right then I didn’t need to be concerned about her. I finally had my friends back and that’s what mattered.

  Paul exhaled
sharply when I unlocked the door to the pub with his key. I knew he and Ricky must have gone through a lot.

  We all helped Zach walk up the steps. He was lucid, but it looked like he was in a lot of pain. Ronan had shut the door behind us and sealed up the magical wards.

  Paul switched on the lights, and then a familiar voice echoed through the empty space.

  “It took you long enough, my darlings. I have been rather bored.”

  “Cornelia,” Zachary whispered, and I nearly let him go when I saw Alexis. She was sitting on the chair by a table in the middle of the pub. She had Zachary’s niece. Ronan broke our connection in the forest, so I couldn’t sense her anymore. I should have known her absence tonight was premeditated.

  “Uncle Zach,” the little girl said, sounding scared and trying to move towards Zach, but Alexis held her firmly. Her eyes were fixated on me and they were filled with hatred. The rush of anger was hitting me hard in the gut. This wasn’t happening, it couldn’t be. Alexis shouldn’t have known about the pub.

  “No, no … if any of you make a move, the little one will get hurt,” the bitch said, smiling.

  We all stared at her, and our energies circulated around. There was only so much I was able to handle tonight, but Alexis had managed to surprise me yet again. Zach’s breath was laboured, and he was ready to launch himself at that bitch. “Your human friend is upstairs unharmed for now, sleeping peacefully. For a human, that girl is really annoying.”

  I glanced around, knowing there wasn’t any way out of this. I had to do what Alexis wanted. She wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Cornelia. I sensed the excitement buzzing through her like a summer storm. She was feeding on the little’s girl fear. That bitch had no idea I had my magic back, so that was my advantage.

  “What do you want?” I asked, knowing that she showed up here because of me. She couldn’t stand the fact that I tricked her into believing she could defeat Lucifer.

  She smiled and yawned, stroking Cornelia’s black hair.