Doomed Cases Series Box Set

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  I took a deep breath, wanting to share with him everything that happened in the past several months. That could save us time, but Arthur refused to touch me. Zach was watching both of us in silence.

  In the end I had no other choice and started telling him about the world beyond the one that he knew so well for over twenty-six years. He kept interrupting me through the story, and when Zach added his five cents he was ready to punch him. I had a feeling that it was going to be a long night.

  Both Zach and I knew that Arthur couldn’t just leave. His new knowledge came with responsibilities.

  “Unbelievable. So this demon has our daughter?” Arthur asked. “How could you let her kidnap her in the first place?”

  “Hey, pretty boy, be careful. Maxine did everything she could to protect her. That crazy bitch kidnapped your brother too. Thanks to Maxine, he’s still alive,” Zach said, and came closer, like he wanted to shield me with his body.

  “And you knew about her? You knew that these demons are controlling us?” Arthur shouted towards Zach. Now after seeing what Arthur was going through I suspected that Zach was glad that he found out the way he had. Our relationship had taken a turn, but then we came back stronger. I was glad that he was willing to protect me, but this was my own battle.

  “Trust me, man, I was in shock too. My sister had run away from home with a demon. I haven’t seen her in six years. You need to understand that Maxine has a soul and she is trying hard to save her child,” Zach shouted, and the vein on his neck pulsated dangerously fast.

  Arthur looked away, clenching his fists, not saying anything for a while. I was done with my part of the story.

  “Lies, so many lies. I loved you … so much that you can’t even imagine,” Arthur said finally with that bitter and sad tone of voice. My heart was shattered, because I understood how much I hurt him. “And then I read that damn letter and discovered that I was a parent, that I had a daughter.”

  “Arthur, I made many mistakes, but I had good intentions. Summer was precious and I made these decisions to keep her happy,” I said, pushing the tears away. “Alexis has her, but I’ll find her. This isn’t over.”

  Arthur laughed, and he sounded like he still didn’t believe me.

  “So that demon Alexis, she’s dying and she thinks that our daughter can help save her?”

  “Yes, that’s pretty much it. She is fixated on royal blood and believes that Summer could heal her. That’s why she kidnapped your brother,” I explained.

  “And you think you can stop her, Maxine? Have you got a plan?” he demanded, taking a step towards me. I swallowed hard, knowing that I couldn’t keep lying to him any longer. Everything that I had done in the past weeks failed, and I didn’t know what else to do.

  “I’m working on a new plan, Arthur,” I whispered, not believing in myself anymore. Arthur had heard me outside the club, when I was begging Berith to help me. We both knew that I didn’t know what else to do, that I was lost.

  The silence stretched for minutes.

  “I need to go. I can’t be here pretending that you will get our daughter back. I’m planning to find her myself,” Arthur finally said.

  I blocked his way, worried that he was going to go out with this new knowledge and do something very stupid. He didn’t realise that he couldn’t trust anyone anymore.

  “Please, Arthur, I’m begging you, leave it to me. Alexis is dangerous. You will get yourself killed,” I said, not wanting to use violence against him, but maybe this was the only way. He smiled, but it was a dark smile, one that I had never seen before.

  “You’re a demon that has supernatural powers and you don’t know what to do. That speaks for itself, Maxine. I’m leaving, so don’t try to stop me,” he stated, and he passed through the door.

  We were done. I couldn’t keep him here against his will. He was right—I was a demon that kept failing every step of the way. I learnt that there was always a price for magic and now I was paying mine.

  Chapter 28

  “Light rays that enter amber, crystal, glass, display such a luminescence that, from when they reach, than are there wholly, there’s no pause.” ―Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

  Zach walked up to me and sat beside me. Neither of us said a word; we let the silence speak for us. Arthur was gone and he wasn’t coming back. I was responsible for his misery. Time was running out and I had no idea what else to do. Summer was alive, so there was still a chance to bring her back.

  “Your Prince Charming is scared. Trust me, he won’t say a word. Besides, people will think that he’s lost his mind,” Zach assured me, but his statement didn’t make me feel better.

  I had to get up and pull myself together. There were people that cared about me and it was time to reach out for help. Zach was here for me, and I couldn’t pretend that I could keep going alone.

  “I need to speak to Paul,” I said.

  “I’m with you a hundred percent, but maybe we should sit down and think about what’s next,” Zach said, taking my hand and squeezing it.

  I was stubborn and I hadn’t been willing to take any advice on board. It was time to change that and listen to others. Matilda had offered her help, and then Paul and Cyril came to my rescue. I wasn’t alone, and I needed to stop acting like I knew it all.

  I stood up and went to Ricky’s bedroom, not responding to Zach’s suggestion. Ricky had his old rucksack under the bed, so I pulled it out and started putting all my potions inside it. After a while Zach joined me. He was apprehensive about my plan of action. My magic had failed me, causing more damage than good. Maybe it was time to let it go and use my head instead.

  “There is no time. I have to find Summer before Alexis strips her down from her sleeping charm,” I insisted, knowing that it might be too late already. Alexis must have found the way to remove the sleeping curse. I used to sense Matilda’s presence, and there were hints now and again, but lately I felt nothing. That meant only one thing. She was either dead or locked up in a place unreachable by any magic.

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “To Paul’s. He must know something. I can’t keep sitting here and pretending that I know what I’m doing,” I said, thinking about Morpheus. He hadn’t shown up and I had no idea if he still wanted to help me.

  I grabbed the rucksack and then crossed Ricky’s hall. Zach was walking behind me. I hoped he had his gun.

  “Flower, wait, let’s talk about this.”

  “Zach, please, I need to get to him. Everything—” I stopped in midsentence opening the front door. There, with the keys in his hand stood Ricky, and behind him was Emma, Zara, Nameless and Paul. My heart exploded with joy. I gasped out of shock as Ricky pulled me against his chest, squeezing me as hard as was possible. For a split second I thought that I was hallucinating, that this was too good to be true.

  “Motherfucker,” Zach whispered behind me.

  Ricky was real, his arms, his body and even his cologne. It was a miracle.

  “Max, fuck. I’m so glad that you’re here. Paul showed up with the reversal spell and then woke me up in the hospital. Things were a little foggy at first, but then I remembered everything, and I had to see you right away,” he was saying to me. Oh god, it was so good to have him close again.

  After a moment I pulled away from him and grabbed his face. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Everyone else was watching us. I suddenly couldn’t stop the flood of emotions running through me. I had always said that I would never break in front of Ricky, but I was so shocked that I couldn’t stop crying.

  “Are you real? Please tell me that this is real, that this isn’t some kind of fucked up dream.”

  “Zach,” whispered Zara, standing behind Ricky. She was staring at her brother and she seemed healed.

  “It’s not a dream, Max, so get yourself fucking together,” Ricky said and a second later Zach grabbed Zara and began hugging her tightly. I read her emotions. There was nothing wrong, her thoughts and memories were working in o
rder.

  “But how? You were in the clinic in Reading, and that wound—”

  “I had a visitor last night, Max,” Paul explained, unexpectedly. “Someone left me a message. Inside the envelope was a spell that came directly from Lucifer’s quarters. I didn’t want to waste time, so I went to Reading, hoping that this wasn’t any kind of hoax.”

  Emma was clapping happily and Zach was still holding Zara close. I didn’t understand any of it. Only yesterday everything was falling apart and now I had my friends in front of me.

  “Ricky’s curse must have been somehow connected to Zara’s, because she was all right as soon as he was healed,” Nameless pointed out, looking at me. “Do you have any idea who sent the spell to Paul?”

  I thought about this for a second. Morpheus, he was the only person that could have visited Paul in the middle of the night.

  Did he help me, just so he could have my soul? I had no idea what to think. Ricky was looking at me expecting answers, so was everyone else.

  “I don’t know,” I said, feeling suddenly like a coward, but these were my friends. People that cared for me, so it was better that they didn’t know that I had a made a deal with the devil in order to save them. “But that’s not important. Zach and I were just heading over to see you, Paul. I’ve lost my connection with Matilda, and Alexis is keeping Summer locked up in a tower, somewhere in the underworld. I saw her in a vision, on an island. ”

  “Max, we are all here for you. You won’t be going anywhere alone. We are in this together,” Ricky said, and everyone around him nodded in agreement. I glanced at Zara and Zach.

  “Together, Flower,” he reminded me, squeezing his sister’s arm. Even Nameless seemed happy to be part of this gang. Whatever, I couldn’t let them follow me to the underworld. It was a suicide mission.

  “I appreciate it, but she’s my daughter and you all have done enough,” I argued, going against what I admitted to myself earlier, that I didn’t have to do this alone.

  “Really? You’re still going to argue with us, even after everything that’s happened?” Ricky asked, consequently letting me know that he was going anyway.

  “Listen to him, Maxine. We are here to help,” Emma added, determination in her voice.

  “Last time you nearly died, Ricky, and Zara was affected too. Besides, I don’t have a plan. I don’t really know what I’m doing,” I said, feeling like the biggest fool on this planet. My friends were willing to risk their lives for me, but in the end I was useless. Everything that I’d done so far had gotten me nowhere.

  “The island that you speak of, it’s in the underworld,” Paul said, and everyone looked at him, stunned.

  “Underworld?” I repeated, already knowing that Alexis was capable of taking my daughter downstairs.

  “It’s part of Purgatory, an island in the middle of the death lake. The Dark Lord uses it sometimes for tortures and hearings,” he explained, and I was suddenly seeing the light in the end of the tunnel.

  “There, Maxine, now we have a plan,” Zach said. “But now we have to figure out how to get there.”

  I started thinking about my options, aware that it was a huge risk. Ricky had nearly died, and now Paul, Emma, Zach, Nameless, and even Zara were willing to join me, regardless of how dangerous this whole mission was.

  “They all want to help you, Max, and you can’t stop them,” Ricky said, placing his palm on my shoulder. Emma beamed like this was the best day of her life.

  I clenched my fists, as frustration showed its claws. I only just got Ricky back and now I wasn’t willing to lose him again. The tiny voice in my head reminded me that I had to accept the true value of friendship and love. These people wanted to help me and they didn’t care about any danger. Morpheus had sent me a silent message. He must have delivered the reversal spell to Paul. He fulfilled part of our deal by giving me Ricky back. Now, I had to save my daughter with the help of my friends, who had no idea that in the end I had to sacrifice myself too.

  “Fine,” I agreed, knowing that I needed to open the gates to the underworld. It was the only way to get Summer back. “But we have to go back to the alley where I saved Emma for the first time.”

  “Good call, Max,” Paul nodded, and Ricky patted me at the back.

  Ten minutes later we were all outside, heading towards the city. I wondered why I hadn’t thought about Purgatory before. I’d read about it and knew that Alexis could complete her transformation in a remote part of the underworld.

  We couldn’t all squeeze into Zach’s car, so we took the tube to Brixton. People were staring at us in the underground. Ricky was standing close, while I went through everything that happened in the past several weeks when he was absent. I felt a little guilty that I didn’t focus more on the business. We probably had lost a number potential clients, but I knew that Ricky could get us back on track.

  “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 a right to see her, you know, after all this,” I said, thinking about the future, contemplating all my choices that I was forced to make.

  We arrived at Brixton when it was already dark and all headed to the alley that I recently visited with Morpheus. There was no doubt that my mongrel abilities had somehow evolved. Even that 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 the 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 could never see the beautiful stars scattered on the navy sky, and 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 the 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 himself down to the fiery pits.

  The earth underneath 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 backwards, 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 down I took, torches began lighting the way. The silence buzzed in my ears, and time stretched. We kept going down until the temperature went 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 a 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 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 29

  “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 that 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, it’s seven of us. Together we are much stronger,” Zachary insisted, and glanced towards the dark waters. So far Alexis knew about 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 street that 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 that it wouldn’t work. They were already walking towards 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 that was here with me 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 down to Purgatory; there couldn’t have been any other explanation as to why my energy was suddenly so disturbed.