Celestial Magic (Celestial Marked Book 1)

by Emma L. Adams

  I gave him a blistering glare. “I’m pretty heavily drugged right now, so I’m not entirely responsible if I end up punching your lights out. Just a warning.”

  He took a step back. “You’re a liar, Devina,” he said. “Everyone knows your story’s a bullshit cover-up for you and those warlocks.”

  “Did someone say warlocks?” A girl with a shock of red hair bounded into the room. “Hey, Devi. I brought you cookies. Who’s this?”

  “Sammy, meet Rachel. She can turn into a creature with three sets of teeth.”

  Sammy jumped sideways. “Warlock!”

  “I’m allowed in as a visitor,” she said. “You, on the other hand, aren’t. If I’m thinking of the right Sammy, there are a few warlocks who want to have words with you.”

  He paled and backed further away. I frowned at him. “Wait, you’re the one who got those warlocks arrested? What did you do, hand over a random list of names pulled up from a google search?”

  “Something like that,” said Rachel. “Don’t worry. We’ve all done stupid things in our quest to gain power.”

  Her hand flickered, momentarily replaced with a long claw. Sammy took one look at her and bolted.

  I laughed. “Seriously? He’s been hiding in here all day because he’s scared of the warlocks?”

  “Apparently.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand humans.”

  “Nor me, half the time.” I took the bag of cookies from her, fumbling with the bandages. Not being able to use my hands was a nuisance, but at least my demon mark was hidden, for now. “They have the real story. It’s up to them whether they choose to believe it or not.”

  “It’ll be okay,” said Rachel. “The human newspapers printed your story, and a huge interview with Fiona. The majority of people know the killer got caught.”

  “What we don’t know is if anyone else was bitten,” I said. “The side effects won’t go away even though he’s dead.”

  “Er, Devi, he’s not actually dead.”

  “Crap. He regenerated?”

  “Not before Niko and I shoved him in a prison cell. His power’s totally drained, though. He won’t be attacking anyone soon.”

  “Good.” I closed my eyes. “I can’t help the celestials if they don’t listen to the warning. And we’ve no idea how many other vampires might have been infected. We only destroyed one nest of them.”

  Others might have had the same idea. After all, Azurial’s death might have cleared up the murders, but not what’d happened to Rory. As far as I’d known at the time, he’d never been bitten by a vampire. But now I knew I wasn’t to blame, I felt a sense of peace I hadn’t since long before his death. I’d been so numb with disbelief when the celestials had disbelieved my report that I’d gradually forgotten the details of our mission, but we’d spent hours crawling through demon caves on our path to tracking the beast we’d been sent after on that fatal day. Now I knew how little it took for the demon energy to fatally spread through a victim, any one of the demons we’d run into might have been responsible.

  Of course, it didn’t bode well for the celestials, knowing the demons had found a weakness in their divine strength. And I’d bet Azurial was only the first to exploit it.

  “The authorities know about those dodgy bloodstones by now,” Rachel said. “After he let the warlocks out of jail, Javos went to see the vampire sires and terrified them. I don’t think they’ll be a problem for a while.”

  “Unlike the inspector,” I said. “Is he even still at the guild, or hiding?”

  “I think he left early this morning. Or sneaked out. He’s not very popular there at the moment. Someone exposed his dodgy dealings with the guild’s money…”

  “Ha.” I grinned. “Finally. I don’t think he was actually working with a demon, but… did anyone have an explanation for that demonglass?”

  “I haven’t spoken to them,” said Rachel. “They don’t like warlocks.”

  “They’re not fond of me, either,” I said. “We’ll get over it.”

  With the inspector on the guild’s shit list, I’d be able to have a proper talk with them after I’d recovered. Didn’t mean they’d ever like the warlocks, but if everyone would stop trying to kill one another for five minutes, it’d make my life a hell of a lot easier.

  I wasn’t naive enough to think the brief peace would last. Wounds were too raw, and even with the killer caught, inflamed tensions didn’t die down easily. Some of the more astute celestials noted that the body of the demon responsible had never showed up, and it wasn’t like any of them could verify it without going into the other dimension themselves. It’d be up to the high council to evaluate the evidence, and I was already dreading having to recount the whole thing, my own involvement, minus any references to using the demonglass or my mark. I needed to manufacture a cover story for the guild’s superiors before then. Rachel and Nikolas might help, but the guild would trust even my word over a warlock’s.

  After a week, I had my first meeting with Mr Roth. My arms were still bandaged to the elbows, though my celestial mark still activated the guild’s doors. Whether my demon mark functioned, too, remained to be seen. The bandages certainly attracted enough stares in the lobby. I pointedly avoided looking at everyone. If things went my way, I’d never see any of them again.

  I made for the office which had once been Gav’s, then the inspector’s, and now—who knew. One glance at the demon almanac on the desk, of all things, made tears spring to my eyes. I blinked them away and planted myself in the seat opposite Mr Roth like I owned the place.

  “Before you ask how I’m doing,” I said, “I was having a great time recovering before I got dragged here and paraded in front of everyone like a circus freak. Why not meet with me somewhere else?”

  He frowned at me. “You want to use a different room?”

  “Never mind,” I said. “Just get this over with. Am I getting arrested or not?”

  “Of course not. Your actions—rash though they might be—saved lives.”

  “That makes the way you treated my best friend worth it, then,” I said. “Don’t think I haven’t heard about your people showing up at Fiona’s flat. She’s human, and got dragged into this by accident.”

  “I never sent anyone to her flat,” he said, sounding tired. “I can’t control every celestial, and those who followed the inspector’s lead are… restless. Not all of them believe your story.”

  “I figured that much out when they sneaked into the hospital to gloat at me,” I said. “Never mind them. I just want reassurance that you’ll leave me, and the warlocks, alone. You’re free to pester the vampires if you want, but don’t make it my problem.”

  “I wanted to offer you your old position back, Devina.”

  “You’re probably expecting me to give you the benefit of the doubt,” I said. “Seeing as I broke into your headquarters, broke the law several times, and caused chaos across three dimensions.”

  His brows drew together, and he opened his mouth to speak.

  I got there first. “Unfortunately for you, your inspector accused me of multiple murders on no evidence, refused to listen, and let his little grudge against the local warlocks hide what was really going on. I’ve no intention whatsoever of working here again, in a consulting capacity or otherwise. If you manage to get yourself into another mess, go and hire someone else.”

  His jaw dropped. “Devina Lawson.”

  “You know, you’d get along better if you didn’t act as though you’re above everyone else because you were chosen by the Divinities. Because I don’t think they give any more of a crap about us than the demons do. Tossing blame around won’t help if they decide to attack our dimension again.” I had no doubt they would. The passing of an arch-demon wouldn’t be without its side effects. Even if he was likely still alive, his time was limited.

  “I wish you’d reconsider—”

  “Don’t,” I said, lifting my bandaged hands. “I wouldn’t have ended up like this if your people had lis
tened to reason. And I’d really like to know what that demonglass in your storeroom is doing there.”

  He blinked. “What demonglass?”

  “Don’t pull that one on me. Why do you think I sent pictures of it to Gav? Where’s his phone?”

  He looked around. “I don’t know. The inspector had it—”

  “And have you been in the west wing lately?”

  “Devina, I don’t see how this is relevant to—”

  “There’s a sheet of demonglass hidden in there. I’ll send you the pictures, but if one of your people is talking to demons, I have no interest whatsoever in cleaning up your mess.”

  He shook his head. “I regret what happened to you, Devina. I wish it could have been handled differently.”

  “Welcome to the club.” I pushed to my feet. “I’ll see myself out.”

  I’d said my part, and the guild had nothing more to offer me. Just bad memories, tinged with regret. I never had confirmed the same demon virus had killed Rory, but anything was possible. Even a celestial with the mark of a demon.

  I found Clover waiting outside the front doors.

  “I take it you said no?” she asked.

  “You knew, did you?” I rolled my eyes at her. “Honestly, I don’t know why he even asked. He must have known I won’t come near this place again. Not with an invite anyway.”

  “I suspected,” she said. “So are you going back to your old job?”

  Considering the trail of vampire corpses I’d left behind me, they probably wouldn’t want to hire me anytime soon. As for the humans… it depended how many had closely followed the news. Or saw the latest pictures on DivinityWatch.

  “Maybe,” I said. “I need to speak to the warlocks.”

  “They’re not in jail anymore,” she said. “But I suppose your warlock friend told you.”

  “Yeah, she did,” I said. Probably, she meant Nikolas, but again… I’d seen no sign of him. Not since I’d given him an arch-demon to lock up in his home dimension. Considering the trouble I’d caused, he and Javos probably wanted to avoid me for a bit. “And the celestials who were bitten?”

  “Isolated and kept under watch,” she said. “The inspector might have handled things badly, but putting the novices into groups did make it easier to figure out who was affected. Only three novices are known to have been bitten, and we’re working on a cure for the venom.”

  “Just as long as they don’t run into any demons.” I grimaced. “As for the inspector, one halfway decent idea doesn’t change the fact that he nearly started a war. I’m not forgetting who enabled that, and who tried to get me thrown in jail.”

  “No, you’d be wise not to.” Clover paused. “I’d advise you to be careful who you let into your circle, Devina.” Her gaze briefly went to my right hand, then to my face again, too fast for me to be certain she’d looked at the demon mark. Does she know? The question hovered on the tip of my tongue, but even now, I didn’t trust the guild not to have had me followed. And I didn’t trust them, end of. Not just because I wouldn’t forget what they’d done, but because there was plainly someone here interested in covering their tracks. Missing demonglass, Gav’s stolen phone… and the reminder that I’d never truly figured out how Rory had died. I might not have caused it, intentionally or not, but who knew for sure what’d happened while I was in that demon dimension?

  “I’ll be careful,” I told her, and walked away.

  I hadn’t reached the end of the road before I saw the shadows move out of the corner of my eye. Pausing, I glanced to the side. “That’s not very subtle of you.”

  The shadows peeled back, revealing Nikolas. His gaze immediately dropped to my arms. “I hoped you wouldn’t suffer lasting damage. Unfortunately, the hospital lies right over a demon-infested crater in my own realm, so I was unable to stop in and check on you.”

  “I thought you were busy,” I said. “With your new guest.”

  A shadow passed over his face. “Yes. His power’s mostly gone, but he’s imprisoned safely in the castle. He probably won’t live very long. Pandemonium will be facing a lot of changes soon.”

  I shrugged. “That’s their problem. I take it our fiery friend won’t rise again and cause trouble?”

  “Not if I have anything to do with it. I didn’t know you could take others with you when you travel through dimensions. Did you?”

  “No. I was improvising.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought of it,” he said. “Moving demons between dimensions is generally not advisable, but I think in Themedes’s case, his power isn’t strong enough to make a significant difference. However, Devi, I’d prefer it if you asked my permission in future before bringing undesirable characters into my castle.”

  “Not like I planned to make a habit of it, believe me.” I held up my bandaged hands. “I’m not sure what else I can do with the mark, but there’s one person—a friend at the guild—who might have guessed. She won’t tell anyone.”

  She doesn’t trust the guild. And the demonglass? That was a major red flag if I ever saw one. Someone was up to no good in the guild. But not the killer. Thank the Divinities for that.

  “Javos will need to know,” he said. “It’s required. You might be the only person we know of with a demon’s mark, but everyone we train is logged in case accidents happen.”

  “You seem awfully convinced I’ll let you train me.”

  “It’s in your interests to.” His expression was serious. “If you can’t tell me who gave you the mark, then it’s possible they will come for you in future, whoever they are. You’ll have to be ready.”

  “You still don’t trust me.” I watched his face for clues, finding none.

  “I don’t trust the arch-demons,” he corrected. “I’d rather know if someone planned to step in and claim you. I was just starting to like you.”

  His answer caught me off guard. “Only just? I’m disappointed.”

  A smile curled his lip. “You’re something else entirely, Devi, and I’d like it very much if you told me what you know. Everything you say to me will be confidential.”

  I screwed my eyes closed, then opened them again. “My partner, the one who died,” I said slowly. “I… wasn’t exactly in this dimension when it happened.”

  I told him. I admitted that I’d prayed to the Divinity who’d saved me for help, only to find Rory dying on the other side of the portal.

  “I thought I did it, somehow,” I said, not looking at Nikolas. “I thought I’d somehow transferred the curse over to him, or accidentally brought down divine judgement on both of us. The celestial training taught me that, and obviously I wasn’t going to tell them. So I took the coward’s way out. Until these deaths. I thought I was cursed.”

  “Not cursed,” said Nikolas. “Unlucky, certainly. Demons don’t answer prayers, generally. Not a celestial’s either.”

  “Yeah, well. The vampires seemed to recognise the demon whose mark is on me. Unfortunately, they’re all dead.”

  “I might be able to answer that question,” said Nikolas. “The mark is unmistakeably from an arch-demon, not one I’ve seen before, but there’s only one way an arch-demon can be created.”

  “Because the Divinity who gave me my celestial powers is no longer an angel,” I said. “They fell.”

  He gave me a brief nod. “Yes. I suspect that’s the case. You couldn’t have known. Netherworld alone does.”

  “But what does that mean for the other celestials?” I asked. “I can’t have been the only one converted by that particular Divinity.”

  “That,” he said, “depends on whether you were considering going back to work for them or not.”

  “Have you been spying on the guild?”

  “It was obvious, Devina. They’re trying to save face. But my offer is still open. Work with Javos and me. You’ll need to train your demonic power if you don’t want anyone taking advantage. News of your exploits has doubtless travelled by now.”

  “Yeah, I figured. What sort of work
would it be?”

  “Whatever needs doing. I think it’s best that we keep you away from arch-demons in future, but considering the only one we’re in contact with is locked up in my castle, that shouldn’t be an issue.”

  The guild hadn’t been my home for a long time. Maybe it never had been. No other celestial would ever accept a mark from hell, but the demon mark didn’t have to be a sign of condemnation. Not if I didn’t want it to be. One mark from the Divinities. One from the demons. Whichever choice I made, whatever cause I fought for, I’d do so on my own terms.

  “All right,” I said. “Don’t speak too soon, though. I have a reputation.”

  “I’m sure you’ll give Javos a run for his money.” He paused for a moment. “Now, I’ve checked my brother is safely ensconced in his tower, and there happens to be an impressive light display happening in the shadow realm right now. Want to come and watch?”

  I hesitated. “No demons?”

  “Absolutely none. They don’t like the daylight.”

  “Then okay. Sure.”

  Shadows closed in around us, then faded, and the cold air of the shadow realm rushed in. Before me was a sky striped in purple, still etched with stars.

  I turned to Nikolas. “I didn’t know this place looked like that during the day.”

  He pointed. “Watch.”

  A star detached itself from the constellation, falling down. Another followed, leaving a glittering trail behind, and another, etching themselves on my vision. I thought I’d seen it all, but the demon world proved me wrong.

  “How did you know I’d like this?” I asked.

  “I had a hunch.” He took a step closer to me, and I let him, my bandaged hands held loosely at my sides.

  “You were right,” I admitted. “But I reckon you wanted to prove this realm isn’t all bad. If you forget the swarm demons, your brother, and the arch-demon you have locked up here.”

  A smile tugged at his mouth. “Yes, I suppose I did.”

  “All right. You win this round.”

  I tilted back my head to watch the last star fall with a trail of light, over the wasteland of the demon’s realm.