Nikolas seated himself opposite me. “A new demon’s mark and several murders committed by another unknown demon certainly stirred my suspicions at first,” he said. “But there’s no proof. And no demon I’ve met from that dimension has the ability the killer apparently does.”
“Seemed fiery enough to me.” I shuddered. “As for the mark, I don’t know when it happened. It might have been years ago.”
“Perhaps,” he said thoughtfully. “But you said all the people who’ve been targeted are novices, correct?”
“Yeah, they were. I need to look at the latest victim to get a full picture. But it fits. Our arch-demon put a mark on a novice, and for whatever reason, it backfired.”
“That’d work if an arch-demon was able to access this dimension, but they aren’t,” said Nikolas. “As I said, Themedes can’t call on just anyone, and you saw how much work I had to put into the pentagram to allow us to travel there.”
“Damn.” There went that idea. Didn’t mean he was innocent, but someone else must be calling the shots.
“So theoretically, could someone else have made a link with that dimension?”
“I’d know if they had. Or Javos would know. Very little escapes his attention. And no demonglass has left my possession since before the first murder. You also need something from that dimension, and an energy source to fuel the portal while it’s active.”
“Celestial light works,” I admitted. “That’s what I do, when I summon demons.”
“Search the guild tonight,” he said. “If you see any suspicious signs, we’ll pursue them.”
Irritation prickled at me. “Do you always just assume your theories are correct as a given?”
“I’m rarely wrong.”
I snorted. “I know you don’t like the celestials. But considering how fast the killer moves, pursuing false leads might lead to more victims. This arch-demon lead was a dead end. And I’m not sure about our demon marked theory, either. None of the victims had demonic tattoos—that I saw, anyway. Or demonic auras.”
But if the novices were dying because of a demon’s mark, why hadn’t I? I actively summoned demons and I’d done worse. Unless my punishment had been to watch my best friend die in front of me. But realistically, dozens of demons held a grudge against me. Past experience and paranoia conspired to drive me to the wrong conclusions. The arch-demon had provided no clues at all about the murders. He hadn’t even known my name.
Nikolas’s stare was a little too penetrating. “What are you thinking?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m a warrior of heaven, not a demon’s slave. And I’m not exactly keen on being a pawn, to be honest, even if we do catch the killer.”
“You’re not a demon’s slave. Not if you don’t want to be. The mark offers you a choice. One I’d wager your Divinity did not.”
I gave him a glare. “If not for the Divinities, I’d be dead. No demon mark can reverse that. And whoever marked me didn’t give me the choice, either.”
He didn’t respond for a moment. “Perhaps not, but it can’t happen for no reason. We’ll need to look into the extent of your ability.”
“You mean, you and Javos.” I frowned. “Wait. You said I’m not marked by anyone in the dimension we just went in. Then how could I travel home? You can only travel between your home dimension and this one.”
“That’s the usual rule.” He eyed me thoughtfully. “This is an irregular case in every way.”
“No kidding,” I said. “How’d you discover yours, then?”
“I’ve answered a lot of your questions already,” he said. “You do realise we don’t hand out our secrets to every celestial? I’m trusting you not to share them with the guild.”
“You seriously think I’d do that?” Hurt crept into my voice. “You’ve read my records. You know how many times they overreacted and punished me for the slightest thing.”
“Yes, I do.” His mouth twitched. “The superglue prank the year you joined the guild was a particularly inspired one. How long did it take to glue four hundred chairs together?”
“Less time than you’d think,” I said, unable to suppress a grin at the memory. The six months of detention that followed had been entirely worth it. “But I’m not a snitch, and I didn’t even tell them your name.”
“I’m beginning to see why the inspector’s so determined to keep you out of the way,” he said. “All right. I’ll answer your question if you answer one of mine.”
“Deal. You know almost everything about me anyway.” Except one thing. My shoulders automatically tensed.
“How did you die?”
Some of the tension left my body. “I died in a car accident. My parents were killed, too. It was over fast. One second I was there, the next I couldn’t see anything but this light. Then I woke up in the morgue. Scared the hell out of the doctors. I mean, my body had completely regenerated. Horrific internal injuries, totally gone. It was a literal miracle. Only this was different.” I waved my left hand. “The mark. Of course, once they saw it, the doctors knew what’d happened. They sent me to the academy for the celestials, and the rest is history.”
“It is indeed.” He studied me, his brows close together. “To answer your question, I discovered my ability the first time I went into the shadow realm.”
I waited, but he didn’t elaborate. “You evaded on purpose. That’s no answer.”
“To tell you the full story would involve betraying secrets that aren’t mine,” he said.
“Then I have another question. What exactly does a Divinity have to do to turn into an arch-demon?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why the sudden interest?”
“Just curious. Fallen means they did something awful, but the Divinities do some pretty terrible things on the battlefield. So what makes them turn?”
“Usually it means they pissed off someone important. Most are ancient—they all are. After all, this war has been raging longer than you or I have been alive.” He paused. “You have a new idea, don’t you?”
“Not really.” More a hunch, and my instincts hadn’t been great lately. “I’m wondering who hands out divine judgement.”
“I thought that was your job.”
Now I’m not so sure. But if the Divinities were watching this realm, I’d bet they wouldn’t be pleased at the notion of a demon marking their celestials. None of my theories explained why I’d been singled out, nor the novices. They weren’t powerful bargaining chips. But souls were currency, as far as both heaven and hell were concerned. And if these deaths pointed to movement in the netherworld, who knew what the demons were planning?
Rachel’s shoes pinched my toes as I stood. “I’m going home.”
“Very well. Are you certain you wish to break into the guild tonight?”
Nope. “Not if it involves any arch-demons you haven’t told me about.”
“There are no arch-demons there,” he said. “This time, at least, I can promise that I won’t leave you behind, if that’s what concerns you.”
“Honestly,” I said, “at this point I think I’d take a second round with the arch-demon over what Inspector Deacon will do to me when he sees the mark.”
And I was starting to suspect that a demon owning my soul was nothing compared to owing my freedom to a warlock. He might have stopped accusing me of being a demon’s willing mark, but it was too easy to forget it was in his interests to gain my trust, to make me believe I had a better chance of keeping my freedom if I sided with him—and the demons. He knew too much about my disdain for the celestials to be a reliable neutral force when it came to the decision I had to inevitably make.
I had two choices: submit and let him sign me up with the warlocks, or keep him around for the duration of the investigation, using his ability whenever convenient. In other words, be as much of a manipulator as the average warlock.
Nikolas reached a hand across the table, stopping just short of touching my right hand. “I’d suggest covering it up.”
; His fingertips ghosted over the mark, raising goosebumps on my arms. No blisters appeared on his hands so he hadn’t actually touched me, but my heart rate picked up anyway. “No, I planned to waltz into the guild waving my hand in the air and dance on the tables, obviously.” I didn’t move my hand. Not because I particularly wanted to see his evenly tanned skin break out in purple blisters, but because I swore I felt the demon mark tingle with the undercurrent of the lightning he carried in his hands. A hint of power I might have myself. If I let the warlocks train me. If I gave up my celestial mark and stepped off the ledge into the unknown, without any idea what waited below.
Nikolas removed his hand without touching me, but the spark remained in the air, along with the question. His gaze was too knowing. He’d figured out the drift of my thoughts without me needing to speak a word. My heartbeat pulsed in my ears. A warning, or an invitation to jump.
“If it’s any consolation,” he said, his voice dropping to a low purr, “the netherworld isn’t all bad.”
I made the mistake of breathing in, and the earthy scent of brimstone washed over my senses. Licking my dry lips, I snatched my hand away from the table. “That’s for me to decide.” Somehow, my voice came out steadily, though as far as my racing pulse was concerned, I’d already jumped off the ledge and was in full-on freefall. Being so close to him was too much. I didn’t even know if he was using his lure or not.
You’re in deep, Devi. Get out, now.
“Then I leave the choice to you.” His steady gaze didn’t waver.
I pushed away from the table, looking away. “I’m going home,” I said. “If we’re breaking into the guild tonight, I need to be ready.”
“Of course. The front door’s that way.”
He remained behind me at every step. I buried my shaking hands in my pocket, the demon mark still tingling. Oh, no. I’m not ready to part with my celestial sword just yet.
Nikolas kept too many secrets. Being a warlock, that wasn’t a surprise, but the fact that he knew my entire history put us on an uneven playing field. I wouldn’t forget that. And I needed to get away from him before he realised the extent of the power he held over me.
And just how close I was to stepping off that ledge.
Chapter 15
“Hey! Devi!” Fiona leaned out of her window, her eyes widening as she took in my appearance. I’d stare too if I found her covered in dusted brimstone with the wrong-sized shoes and singed patterns on her jeans. “What happened to you? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”
Guess my phone hadn’t worked in the demon dimension. “Sorry, I turned my phone off while I was working. The guild’s super busy.”
“I hoped you were busy, not dead.” She rested her elbows on the window ledge. “Seriously. You’re worrying me. Don’t switch your phone off when there’s a serial killer on the loose, even if you are more badass than every demon in the city.”
“Sorry,” I said. I couldn’t say I wouldn’t do it again, not when I’d be back in the shadow realm tonight.
“So does the guild have any new theories? I take it they don’t, if they sent you home.”
“I’m pretty much suspended from the investigation,” I admitted. “The inspector’s being a dick. He’s the one making all these terrifying statements, by the way, so if there’s any fearmongering bullshit in the newspapers, it’s on him.”
“Haven’t read the papers, but there’s a ton of theories on the internet. Also, the DivinityWatch site crashed. People flooded it with videos of that girl’s death.”
“Vultures,” I muttered. “I mean, it’s not like the humans can actually help us solve this, but they can try not to stir up hysteria.”
“It’s sort of hard to keep it quiet when it happens in a public place like last night,” said Fiona. “If you ask me, you’ve got a killer who loves attention. Surprised they haven’t been caught on camera yet.”
“Maybe because the killer isn’t actually here.”
Or is amongst the celestials. Not one of them, but something else. A force moving through their ranks, targeting them. Marking them. I wouldn’t tell her about the demon mark I wore on my right wrist, like a brand. She deserved to be kept out of my crackpot life, especially with everything crashing about my ears.
Fiona blinked at me. “Not here? How does that work? Can a demon snap its fingers and kill someone on the other side of the world?”
“Probably not,” I said. “I mean, not to my knowledge. The celestials are the experts on that sort of thing.”
She eyed me, gaze lingering on my singed clothes. “You’re talking about them like you aren’t one of them. Please don’t say you’re trying to tackle this demon alone.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve done it.”
“Devi.” She crossed her arms. “I can’t pretend I know what it’s like to be chosen for a holy mission, but working alone against a serial killer is a good way to end up dead. If everyone in the city’s saying these murders aren’t normal, you know shit’s got real. I don’t want you to die.”
“Nor me, believe me. It’ll be fine. I just have one more thing I need to do tonight.” If the guild caught me, I’d be a fugitive. If they didn’t but I did discover evidence of collusion with demons, it was likely to have the same outcome. And if I got caught, it’d cement my reputation as the guilty party even before they saw my demon mark. But whether the same demon had marked me or not, I owed it to the victims to at least try. “Then we’ll have a girls’ night in, with terrible movies. Okay?”
“Deal,” she said.
When I closed my flat door behind me, I checked my phone and found I also had a missed call from Clover. Now the media’s glare covered the guild, I doubted another murder had happened, but a cold feeling grew inside me as her phone rang with nobody answering. I breathed out when she finally picked up. “Hey. Clover, are you okay?”
“You’re alive.” She sounded like she spoke from somewhere crowded. “Good. I can’t talk for long. The inspector will find out.”
“Are you at the guild?”
“The inspector has requested that everyone, retired celestials included, is to step up and aid the guild in their fight against evil. Unfortunately for them, I was injured in my first battle with the netherworlders, so I’m on bed rest.”
“Er—what? You retired years ago. What attacked you?”
“The inspector’s word is law.” She gave a short laugh. “I’m fine. I tripped chasing a thieving demon. Nothing related to the murders.”
“Nobody else has been attacked?” I asked. “It’s been nearly a full day since the last one.”
“No. It might be a sign that the demon has exhausted its magic—or that it’s planning something bigger. Either way, the guild will be ready.”
“Ready to kill its retired members,” I muttered. “He really has lost his mind. I don’t suppose they’re any closer to finding the killer?”
“No,” she said. “As I suspected, however, there’s been a certain vocal minority insisting that the warlocks must be involved, as they’re the closest to true demons in this realm.”
I groaned. “It’s not them.”
“And you’d know?”
“I would.” I didn’t elaborate. I trusted her, but if the guild was resorting to extreme methods, I wouldn’t strike interrogating their own allies off the list. I’d prefer to keep myself out of the line of fire as long as possible.
“Careful,” she said softly. “The inspector doesn’t accept excuses, even from our own.”
“You knew they’d kick me off the case,” I said to her. “Didn’t you? What was the point in giving me back my magic only to try to take it off me five minutes later?”
“That’s why I argued against them rehiring you, Devi. I knew they’d try to bind you to the guild, and they have no room for flexibility. Now the inspector’s powers have strengthened, he can wield authority over every celestial who enters the city.”
“What’s the point?” I asked. “We’
re looking for a murderer. There’s no point in sending the city into a mass panic.”
“It’s not one murderer that concerns them, Devi. The inspector thinks that these deaths indicate hell making a move against this realm.”
That’s what I’m afraid of. “Hell has been moving against us forever,” I said. “No excuse to turn into total despots.”
“Inspector Deacon has been waiting for this opportunity, Devi, ever since the demons attacked the old guild headquarters four years ago,” she said. “Every celestial has been arranged into teams, and the rules are being strictly enforced. Anyone who disobeys is put on probation. The novices are now terrified that they’ll become targets for demons if they breathe wrong, so if the goal of the killer was to scare everyone into inaction, it’s working.”
I swore under my breath. “Maybe they have a point.”
As much as she might be on my side, that’d change if I hinted at my suspicions—or Nikolas’s, to be more accurate. Nobody would believe any celestial in their right mind would work with a demon, even under coercion or brainwashing. In fact, it’d be a very demon-like strategy to make us suspect one another, and it’d further their goal of turning us against each other. The inspector, though—as she’d reminded me, he’d been on the warpath against demons since his former partner had died in the attack on the old guild headquarters. And it’d been an ex-celestial working against us who’d caused the whole debacle. But was that enough of a motive for him to turn against us?
“What does that mean?” she asked. “What’s your theory?”
“Er… hypothetically, how seriously do the inspector and his merry band of fanatics think the Divinities take the doctrine? I mean, the rulebook? Could one of them burn someone’s eyes out as punishment for some sin?”
“The Divinities? Nobody knows how they work. Hypothetically, they might be responsible for anything, but murdering their own celestials? That’s your theory?”
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