Of course, she felt obligated to help me.
“Guys, think about this. I’m just a mongrel. My own magic fails to protect me. Besides, Suzi needs a mother. My whole plan is shaky. Zach I don’t want to—”
“No, Flower, no offence, but you can’t decide for us. We are in this together,” Zach barked, rising. “If Emma wants to help us, then you should accept it and be grateful.”
His words shook me a little. I wasn’t expecting him to defend Emma. The truth was that my time was running out. My connection with Matilda was gone. Alexis was out there, tracking my daughter. I had to stop her.
“Fine, I have warned you both. You’re getting involved at your own risk,” I said with anger. They didn’t realise that demons wouldn’t hesitated to hurt them and their loved ones.
Emma looked relieved, and Zach only nodded. We headed out, and on the way, I spotted Judith. She was talking to the receptionist. She gave me a death stare and I was glad that we avoided yet another confrontation. Zach had to go back to the station; he still had his job and Emma was still taking care of the clients in the office.
I didn’t have time to worry about my business, but I was somehow glad that Emma took time to reassure clients that we hadn’t abandoned them completely.
In the end the three of us agreed to meet in Hackney Station just after dark. We were planning to work out the details later on. Getting back to my own shitty flat wasn’t something that I wanted to do. Rodriguez wasn’t going to give up. He wanted to question me. As far as I was concerned, he and the royals could go to hell. Summer was my daughter and I didn’t want to waste my time on answering irrelevant questions.
Heaviness settled on my heart when I entered Ricky’s apartment an hour later. I missed him telling me off, missed the fact that maybe he could never again push me to do what was right or lift my spirits up.
I went straight to his small bar and poured myself a shot of vodka. I was just about to drink it when I noticed a red sheet of paper in front of me with my name on it. When I lifted it up I already knew that Morpheus had left this message here for me. I would recognise the symbol of hell anywhere.
Follow the mongrel in a red coat. She is rushing through the crowded bridge. No one is paying attention to her and she uses the ignorance of humans to her advantage. Follow her and you will find the way to the Forgotten Street. Use your chance tonight, after the sunset.
M.
Chapter 7
“When any soul abandons savagely its body, rending self by self away, Minos consigns it to the seventh gulf” ―Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
These instructions weren’t clear. There were hundreds of crowded bridges in London. I had no idea why Morpheus didn’t just tell me where I was supposed to find that mongrel in the red coat. Lucifer was intent on making this test difficult for me. I had a few ideas about the location of the Forgotten Street, but nothing concrete. I remembered that a couple of weeks ago Ricky mentioned an upcoming election in hell. Maybe the dark lord was ready to shift things around downstairs in case of an uprising. I didn’t think that there was a demon out there that could challenge him, but everything was possible during these shaky times. Either way, I had to figure this puzzle quickly.
After some time, I started tidying up Ricky’s apartment to take my mind off pressing matters. Ricky was very proud of his space and he hated mess. I looked at some of his photo collections of miniature classic cars, regretting that I never asked Matilda for a photo of Summer. Until this moment I hadn’t realized I had no idea what she looked like. I was too afraid to keep her photos in my flat and now, after everything that happened, it was a good idea. Matilda had written to me often, giving me updates about Summer’s development. We had a mutual understanding and, until Alexis got involved, this worked out well for both of us. As far as Summer was concerned, Matilda was her only mother.
By the time the apartment was clean, I was slightly tipsy. The small bottle of vodka was half empty. Paul hadn’t seen me in Broken Shoe since that unfortunate night when I followed Zara all the way to Gjöll. The craving for magical tequila had left me shaky, but with all that was going on I didn’t want to start drinking magic again. I had to be completely focused if I was planning to go after Alexis.
The human alcohol numbed the guilt a little, but it didn’t get rid of it completely. After doing some more research I decided to change the location of my meeting with Emma and Zach. Arthur wouldn’t just leave me alone and I needed to make sure he wouldn’t follow me around this evening. I rubbed my sweaty palms, wondering how I was going to get in touch with Matilda in the area ruled only by Warlocks without getting myself killed first. This whole task seemed almost impossible.
Brixton seemed quiet on a Tuesday night. Not many people were out and about. I told Zach and Emma to meet me in my local pub. I wanted to believe that Arthur wouldn’t look for me there. As I walked through the busy streets, my energy became more sensitive, tingling over my whole body. I had to be vigilant, as Watchers were patrolling the streets. Most of them were connected to Rodriguez and I had to avoid getting caught.
I entered the Broken Shoe just before eight, feeling nervous about tonight. Ricky’s demonic books indicated that Warlocks were banished from earth several years ago, and that there weren’t many of them left. A crazy thought had been circulating in my head from the moment I walked outside. Morpheus’s message seemed complicated, but the more I thought about it, the answer was right in front of me.
The pub was almost empty. Devlin greeted me by one of the tables asking if I’d play cards tonight.
“No, I’m busy,” I told him, knowing that I might never have this opportunity again. That was okay, I didn’t have any more money to throw away. I wasn’t going to earn any cash anytime soon, so this was a good time to stop playing altogether.
“What’s going on with Maxine these days?” Paul asked, looking surprised to see me. The word on the street must have spread, and I bet that many demons believed Ricky was already dead.
“I have fucked up big time, Paul,” I responded, thinking about my partner. “And tonight I’m going to try to fix everything.”
A second later Zachary walked through the door, and a dose of unexpected lust curled up my toes.
“Trouble, Maxine, that man is trouble. No matter what, just keep your head above the water,” Paul muttered and went back to polishing his glasses. I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Paul had always been mysterious.
Zach looked delicious in a leather jacket and cowboy boots. He must have stopped shaving for a little while, and I only just noticed how good he looked in his dark facial hair. My heart danced in my chest, sending me to another dimension. A second later I shook my head, telling myself there was no point even thinking about hooking up with him. My future was very much doomed. I’d hurt one man enough already, and Zach deserved someone better than me.
Emma was right behind him. I was so glad that she wore jeans and T-shirt and not one of her colourful dresses. She smiled at almost every customer and greeted Paul like he was her long-lost friend.
“Right, I hope there is a reason why you decided to meet up in here?” Zach questioned me.
“Oh, I love places like this. This pub has so much character,” Emma said, walking around and smiling at a group of demons. “This whole thing is so exciting.”
“No particular reason. I just wanted to make sure that we wouldn’t be interrupted. Arthur has been stalking me lately.” I grabbed Emma before one of Devlin’s buddies had a chance to pick her up. “Let’s move. We have to be at London Bridge in forty minutes.”
The craving for tequila was slowly paralysing me. Paul was still staring back at me with that concerned look on his face. I could ask him to give me a small bottle of liquid magic, just so I could take the edge off the stress. I thought that a strong drink would mask the fact that I was scared. Failing wasn’t an option, but so far nothing was going according to plan. Entering the Forgotten Street wasn’t going to be easy, and
Alexis had the advantage over me. I had to stay sober and focused. Besides, I felt better knowing that I could rely on my own magic.
“That sounds about right. Arthur has cut me off,” Zach said as we got outside. “He told my boss to keep me out of the royals’ business. I wouldn’t be surprised if I get demoted.”
“He is planning to announce it to the world that he has a bastard child,” I muttered, knowing that Rodriguez would have to eliminate him if he knew about Summer.
“Sorry, Flower, but I don’t think he has the guts to go through with something like that. On a positive note, my boss seemed relieved that we don’t have to deal with royal drama anymore,” Zach chuckled. He didn’t seem to worry that his career was in jeopardy.
Arthur was trying to make my life difficult and so far he was succeeding. Right then, I had too much on my mind to worry about him. He didn’t get it that I was trying to protect him.
We started walking through Brixton, heading to the tube station. My gut feeling told me that Morpheus wanted me to head over to the London Bridge. Maybe this theory was completely crazy, but there were always crowds of people on that bridge. The place seemed significant. I remembered reading somewhere that one of the demons had managed to expand his own abilities during some crazy ritual by standing right in the middle of it. His theory was that the bridge was situated above the central point of one of the entrances to hell.
“We need to focus on this task. We are looking for a mongrel in a red coat. She is going to lead us straight to the Forgotten Street,” I said, convinced that I had managed to de-code Morpheus’s message correctly. Zach nodded, but didn’t say anything. Emma started asking me all sorts of questions. I was glad that we didn’t have to talk once we left the underground. The central station was very busy, and as usual I had to block human emotions out just so I could keep on going. We were back in central London just after sunset.
“Is that your plan? I thought we were going after that bitch Alexis,” Zach asked, sounding uncertain.
“I had a tip-off that she’s heading over there. She is aware that Matilda is hiding Summer amongst her kind. The mongrel in a red coat is going to lead us to the Forgotten Street.”
“Gotcha. We have to locate a half demon with a red coat. This is pretty simple, but do we know what will happen after that?” Emma asked, rubbing her long fingers. “I mean, how do we enter this gate?”
“I have no idea, Emma. I have a limited amount of information,” I explained, only now realising that my plan was very shaky. I had no idea where I was heading and on top of that I was dragging two humans with me, straight into a possible danger. “Maybe you should reconsider. Think about Suzi. Have you thought about what would happen to her if you get hurt?”
“I want to help, Maxine, so please stop making me feel guilty,” Emma said. Well, she was right. I had been trying to make her feel guilty. She was risking her life for me.
It didn’t take us long to get to the bridge. As I suspected, the pathway was heaving with people. There was congestion, and some drivers were screaming at each other. We passed a lot of men with suits and briefcases. Sudden unease settled in my stomach. I was taking a gamble, maybe reading too much into Morpheus’s instructions.
“All right, I’m sorry, but I’m worried,” I said stopping just by the bridge, looking around and waiting for something to happen. My head was tangled with the human emotions around me. Everyone was rushing somewhere. I felt suffocated, surrounded by tourists and ordinary Londoners.
Minutes passed, and a few humans glanced at us when I reached out for my demonic power. We most likely looked odd standing in this crowded spot and not doing anything.
The wind picked up, ruffling my hair. Suddenly I felt like someone had squeezed my lungs, punching all the oxygen out of me. Scorching heat swam through me, the energy rolled over my back. I felt like my chest cracked open. I couldn’t breathe, hearing how my heart pounded in my ears. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t make a sound. A split second later a mongrel with a long elegant red coat passed by, heading towards the bridge. She had shiny blond hair and a purple umbrella in her hand. It looked like Zach was telling Emma a joke, because she was laughing out loud. No one noticed my distress. The odd sensation left me as quickly as it appeared. Confusion filled my head as I tried to calm down.
Sudden lightning broke over the sky, and the sound of thunder followed several seconds later. It seemed like all of a sudden the sky cracked open and rain poured down. People on the bridge started running, men with suits covered their heads with briefcases, trying to escape the heavy downpour. Tourists began heading towards opposite directions. Some children were crying as their mothers hurried them away.
Once the oxygen began flowing through my system again I grabbed Zach’s arm and shouted.
“I see her. Come on, let’s start moving!”
I kept staring at the woman in the red coat. She was moving quickly between people that were trying to escape from the rain. A moment later, she stopped, opened her umbrella and then carried on walking.
Zach looked at me in confusion. “What? I can’t see anyone. What are you talking about, Maxine? We are getting soaked.” He tried to stop me when I walked to the bridge, but he didn’t understand anything. The woman in a red coat kept walking. She was right there in front of me, almost dancing in the rain. Zach and Emma were shouting after me to stop.
More and more humans were running as the rain intensified. The mongrel girl didn’t seem bothered about the rain. She reached the middle of the bridge and then stopped, looking around. Humans were too busy trying to escape the pouring rain. She closed her umbrella and spread something that looked like a white powder around her. Horns were going off, someone was blocking the road. The cars weren’t moving.
“Maxine, where are you going? Let’s find some shelter,” Emma shouted after me, grabbing my elbow.
“No, we can’t leave now. She is there, right in front of us.” I pointed at the mongrel girl. She had turned around and was staring straight at me. Her energy connected with mine. I felt a burning deep in my chest and then time stopped. The world around me ceased. I glanced back at Emma and Zach. They stopped moving, like most of the people on the bridge, completely oblivious to magic that circulated around them. The drops of rain were suspended all around me. I watched how the circle from the white powder suddenly beamed with light. I had no idea who was responsible for this magic. Mongrels’ abilities were limited. I could cease the time sometimes, but that kind of energy shifted and expanded in the human world.
The light exploded upwards from the circle, creating some sort of portal. A second later the mongrel girl giggled and jumped through the hole created by the light, disappearing in front of my eyes. Energy rolled down my arms, and my fingertips sparkled. I had no idea what I was doing, but my instinct took over. I ran to Emma and Zach, spreading my energy over at them. They woke up from the spell, glancing around, disoriented at the world that had been ceased in one of the busiest places.
“Come on, let’s move. We have to follow her,” I shouted, soaked from head to toe.
The light was still beaming from the hole that had been created in the middle of London Bridge. I didn’t know how long this spell would hold the portal. The mongrel girl was connected to Warlocks. I had to follow her, with or without Zach and Emma.
“What the hell is going on here? Why is no one is moving?” Zach asked.
“I don’t have time to explain. We have to jump through that portal, now!” I roared back. Emma seemed the only one that could still think straight. She nodded to me and then grabbed Zach’s hand. I kept whispering the formula under my breath, trying to remember the spell that allowed me to cease the time. A split second later the circle began closing up on us. The rainwater showered us like a river, we heard the horns. We passed one or two humans that looked disoriented for a moment.
I reached the magical portal, and without hesitation I jumped straight into the unknown. I had no idea if Emma or Zach would
follow. The darkness obscured my vision and I was still falling. My screams died, and a moment later I crashed onto the wet ground painfully.
Then two more bodies fell on top of me, knocking the air out of my lungs. I saw stars, as pain left me numb. I lay on the wet ground for several seconds until I was able to feel my limbs again. My head hurt, so did my knee and elbow.
“Oh my God, Maxine, we are alive. This is amazing.” Emma’s squeaky voice reached me. Zach was back on his feet, massaging his back.
“Are you all right?” he asked me, with a deep frown. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. It looked like the portal worked. We were transported into a dark quiet street. There was a round of terrace houses along the road and everything looked ordinary. My clothes were soaking wet, and water was dripping down my face. This whole experience felt surreal.
“Sort of, just give me a minute. I need to rest,” I said, breathing in and out until the pain eased.
“What the hell happened on that bridge?” he asked.
“It looked like the mongrel girl created a portal. She ceased the time. I saw her instantly,” I explained, looking around. I didn’t understand how Zach and the rest of the humans couldn’t see her. Even demons weren’t invisible. The mist was spreading quickly, covering everything around us. There was no time to ask questions. We needed to get the hell out of here.
“I didn’t see any girl,” Emma said, sounding disappointed. “But that’s okay as long as we are here, right? Is this the Forgotten Street?”
“I hope so. We followed her through the portal, so this must be it,” I said, squeezing the water out of my jacket. A mist was covering the streets. I could barely see the streetlamps in front of me.
“I have no signal in here, wherever we are. So what now?” Zach asked.
“We should get off the main road and find a place to hide,” I suggested, trying to locate any sources of energy. My fingertips stopped sparkling. The street seemed completely deserted. Morpheus must have been right about the mongrel in the red coat, and my gamble paid off. He wanted me to head to the London Bridge.
Doomed Cases Series Box Set Page 51