Deception

by A. S. Fenichel

  I remain in the shadows trying to save myself from damnation.

  January 1, 1795

  What I have started cannot be stopped. The master had me in his clutches. My prayers opened the gate. I see now that the word of a demon is worthless. He promised the return of my friends. It was not to be.

  His minions are making ready for his ascension. I must spend my life in the pursuit of justice for all humanity.

  God forgive me for what I have done.

  Lillian closed the last journal. They had been reading for hours. Her neck ached, and her eyes burned as she leaned back in the chair. Pain so deep it had to be her soul tearing wrenched her gut.

  The arrogance of one man had brought them to the brink of human destruction, yet she was sorry for Shafton. Foolish behavior and the arrogance of youth had destroyed any hope he might have had for a life with his wife and daughter. He could have gone back to London. Instead, he dedicated his life to correcting his mistakes.

  Dorian gripped his head in his hands and leaned his elbows on the desk. “I cannot believe it. I know you were sure Shafton was hiding something, but this…”

  She touched his shoulder. “I did not suspect this. I’m not sure what exactly I meant to uncover, but this is far beyond.”

  “He must be brought here. We must question him. If he helped to open the gate, then what he knows could help us seal them.”

  “He may not agree to come.”

  “We will tell Drake what we found and let him decide how to deal with Shafton’s deception.”

  “Keep in mind, he did not run from this. He has spent his lifetime trying to right this wrong.”

  Dorian examined her face. “Are you defending the Earl of Shafton?”

  It was madness. “Not defending. What he did is indefensible. I can see how his arrogance led him astray. And look at what he has done since. He created a company, endorsed by the crown, to combat the demons.”

  He shook his head. “I cannot believe my ears.”

  “His greatest crime is keeping this a secret. His actions in the beginning…he made a mistake. However, the demons would have found a way through eventually without the help of the earl. Their world is dying. They told Belinda that when she was a prisoner at Fatum. Our world was compromised regardless of Shafton’s actions and with no Company created to defend against them.”

  “I suppose that is true.”

  “We can use some of the details to find the gate he helped open. Perhaps he can give us enough information to learn how to close it.”

  * * * *

  Lillian climbed into the carriage with Dorian. They’d plotted a course through Edinburgh by using clues in Shafton’s journals.

  The instruction took them to a spot half a mile outside the city. They climbed a rocky path up a small hill. The journal described everything with precision.

  Lillian had left her skirts back in the carriage, opting for the more practical trousers and a long coat to store several weapons. It was dark and they were not likely to encounter anyone on the road at that hour. Perhaps a thief or highwayman, but shocking men of that ilk was no worry.

  The darkness hindered their progress, but they could not risk a lantern or torch. Demons could see no better in total darkness, and she hoped to surprise them.

  At the top of the first ridge, they found a caved opening, though the angle made it more of a hole in the rock. From their current position, the cave opening was well hidden by trees, boulders, and the angle.

  Her heart pounded as it always did before a battle.

  “Are you sure about this, Lilly? Do you really want to climb down a hole with no light and no idea what we will find?”

  She stepped to the edge of the cave. “I do not see any other options.”

  “We could come back with more hunters in the day light.”

  “The sun will not help us down there. What will you tell Drake, we found something but we do not know what it is or if it is anything at all and we need more people?”

  When he only sighed, she dropped into the cave. Her feet hit rock and she stepped forward.

  The thump of Dorian hitting the ground alerted her to his presence. She reached out and found his arm. She could see nothing. Taking his hand, she placed it on the back of her shoulder as someone might do to lead the blind.

  Without the use of her eyes, she felt along the rough rock walls. The stone scratched the pads of her fingers. Water trickled downward, and they followed the sound.

  Low chanting made its way through the tunnel toward them. The flicker of firelight and acrid smoke followed at the end of the cave.

  Dorian gripped her arm, though he needn’t have stopped her advance. Jumping into the scene below was suicide.

  The tunnel opened at the top of the wall of a rough cavern dug out of the stone. Lillian pressed into the shadow. She did not leave the shelter of the cave.

  More than twenty humans knelt around a hole in the center of the floor. The chanting was in the demon language, but it was human voices raised in prayer.

  Her stomach turned. Some of the people looked beaten and afraid. Some had half-lidded eyes and swayed ready to drop. Yet others were healthy and boisterously praying into the swirling blackness within the hole.

  Twelve demons stood in a circle around the supplicants. Eleven of them were trebox, and the twelfth was a durgot priest. He was the only armed demon, and he held his broad sword with the blade point in front of his face. Both hands clasped the hilt, and he and all the demons remained still.

  Symbols burned into the walls glowed red. She didn’t know what they meant, but she had seen the same ones in Fatum Manor before its destruction. The only symbol she knew was the fleur-de-lis wrapped by a serpent. It was just above the durgot’s bullhead. It was the unmistakable and haunting symbol of the master.

  Lillian’s heart beat wildly. She wanted to dive down into the midst of the demons and slay every last one. If she used her crossbow to take out the durgot, she and Dorian could manage the rest. The problem was the humans. Too many might die if they attacked without a proper plan and enough hunters to carry it off.

  A man toppled from his knees to the ground. She couldn’t see his chest rising and his eyes stared blindly. His cheeks were sallow as if he’d not eaten in a long time. Could starvation or the promise of food have driven these people into worshiping demons?

  Two trebox rushed forward and dragged his body away. They disappeared down another tunnel. The supplicants did not react to their fallen comrade, only kept chanting. Some rocked while others barely moved. The trebox returned with another man who they ordered to kneel in the fallen man’s place.

  This one was not as thin, but his skin was pasty and his eyes had dark rings beneath them. He followed orders and chanted in time with the rest.

  The pit, which they all faced, was a swirl of gray and black smoke. Again, Lillian was reminded of the pit where the master ascended at Fatum. This was the gate to the demon realm.

  It tore at her gut, but she backed away from the cavern. She whispered, “We need help.”

  Dorian followed. They hurried back through the cave and climbed to the surface.

  Dorian called up to the driver. “Best time to the castle.”

  Once the door closed, the carriage barreled toward town.

  “I am very pleased you did not jump in and begin a battle we might not have won.”

  “If the humans had not been there, I would have. The risk to them was far too high.” She had to yell to be heard above the pounding hooves and bouncing wheels of the carriage.

  “What do you make of them? They did not all look forced into supplication. Some wore expressions of joy.”

  “I do not know. I have never seen anything like it. They all looked weak and thin. Perhaps they are captured and kept near starvation, and nourishment is an incentive to follow orders.” It had made her gut twist to see humans willingly praying to the master or whatever was linked to that gate.

  “Why would the maste
r want humans to pray to him? He has thousands of demons at his command.”

  “I do not know, but he is very keen on using the power of humanity as a means to an end. He needed a powerful hunter to ease his rise from the demon realm. Perhaps prayer will speed his recovery from that failure.” She rubbed her eyes and brushed hair off her face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There was something about prayer.”

  “In Shafton’s journals?”

  She shook her head. “I think it was in the monk’s book. I will find it when we return to your house.”

  The carriage pulled up at the side door, and they knocked until Tybee opened up for them.

  They woke Drake at his quarters within Edinburgh Castle.

  Drake asked the doorkeeper, “How many hunters are here in Edinburgh?”

  “Besides those in this room, there are only the four you have watching Holyrood.”

  “Send for them to meet us on the east road out of town.”

  Tybee turned and rushed down the hall away from them.

  “Can we get in without being cut down immediately?” Drake asked.

  Lillian said, “I can kill the priest with my crossbow. If half our numbers can surround and protect the humans, the rest of us should be able defeat the trebox.”

  “But you said the humans were not forced into prayer the way the women were the other night.”

  Dorian said, “No. They did not all appear to be forced, and some of them looked quite rapturous in their prayer.”

  “Then they may take up arms against us during the attack.”

  “It is possible, but they are undernourished and exhausted. I do not imagine they will do much harm.”

  Drake nodded. “Seven demon hunters, four to protect and three to destroy.”

  Lillian couldn’t believe her ears. “Will you be joining us, Mr. Cullum?”

  He laughed. “You may find this hard to believe, as I’m sure you see me as a diplomat, but I am a demon hunter and have been much longer than you, Miss Dellacourt.”

  “I meant no offense. It is only, I have never known you to take up arms in battle.”

  “Times are changing and so must The Company.”

  Dorian said, “We should arrange for large carts to bring the humans back here. They will need to be cared for, and maybe they have some answers. We are going to need a doctor in Edinburgh.”

  “I will have food prepared as well. If their condition is as you say, it might be best to feed them right away. I have a doctor in mind to ask to join The Company. Dr. Barns cannot continue to see to all The Company’s injured.”

  “I agree.”

  Drake strode away from them and disappeared around a corner.

  Lillian and Dorian exited the castle, and two stable boys brought horses into the street.

  Dorian gave her a leg up into the saddle of a roan mare, then swung onto the gray’s back.

  Tom ran into the yard in front of the horses. His eyes were wide as saucers and he was still in his bedclothes. “What’s happening?”

  She pulled the rains. The mare tossed her head and stomped her hooves.

  “Go and find Tybee. He will give you your orders.”

  They left Tom standing in the street.

  * * * *

  The Company’s small invading force eased down the tunnel toward the gate.

  They stayed close, each with one hand on the shoulder of the hunter in front of them. Dorian was at Lillian’s back while Drake descended last.

  At the cavern entrance, Lillian stopped, notched her arrow, and took a breath. Her hand shook, as did the rest of her. She forced her breathing to steady and relax in spite of her excitement over the coming battle.

  The scene had not changed much. Several humans that had been there before were missing and others had taken their place, but the number appeared consistent. Staying in shadow, she took aim and pulled the trigger.

  The arrow flashed across the room and lodged in the left eye of the durgot priest. His sword clattered to the stone floor, and he followed the weapon down with one last roar.

  The priest fell, the other demons roared, and pandemonium erupted. Human victims ran screaming in every direction, some clutching their heads, some crying. The hunters jumped down the five feet drop and spread out around the room. Most attempted to herd the humans and calm them.

  Drake Cullum picked up the abandoned broadsword and lopped the head off a trebox before skewering another through the gut.

  Lillian dropped her crossbow into the holster at her hip in favor of her swords. Taking on a group of three trebox, she sliced the hand off the first one to approach. Black blood shot from the wound. Another bared its pointed teeth, and she responded in kind while carving him across the chest. She spun and cut a third across the throat.

  The creature clutched his bleeding wound and fell to the floor.

  Screams, both human and demon, resonated off the stone walls. The round cavern echoed with mind-bending noise.

  The swirling gray and black in the gateway receded until only a roughly cut hole remained.

  Lillian killed two more trebox.

  The handless demon ran for the opening where they’d brought the replacement human earlier.

  The rest of the demons lay dead along with three supplicants.

  Dorian wiped his sword on the hooded cape of the durgot.

  She called for him.

  He turned and ran toward her as she bounded after the one who’d escaped.

  Torches lit the cave. In an alcove, human bodies lay in a heap. Following the footfall and blood trail, she and Dorian gained ground on the injured trebox.

  Cool air pushed toward them through the hot tunnel.

  Lillian panted with the effort but called on her body for more. She reached toward the demon’s gray flesh. Her fingers grazed him.

  He leaped away out of the open cave mouth. It dropped to a sheer cliff.

  Lillian’s inertia carried her to the edge of the cliff looking down into the Firth of Forth. She wobbled, her toes losing their purchase on the edge. She waved her arms for balance, and Dorian pulled her back to safety.

  The trebox soared downward. Silently, he fell toward his doom in the sea, his arms outstretched as if to embrace his end.

  A whirling vortex of blackness opened, blocking the view to the sea below. The demon disappeared within, and then the distortion closed in on itself and was gone.

  “What the hell was that?” Dorian asked.

  “I do not know.”

  “You hunters will pay.” The master’s voice boomed so loudly they had to hold their ears to dull the pain. “You do not know what you interfere with. I have come. I grow stronger. Power flows through my veins. You dare enter my sanctuaries and reap destruction. You take from me. I will take from you all you deem precious. Jump into the past realm and I will welcome you. I will not be so generous again. This new empire is mine.”

  The vortex returned just below the cave.

  Lillian and Dorian backed away from the edge.

  “You’re threats have no meaning here. You are the master of nothing in this world,” Dorian said.

  The laugh that erupted inside their heads brought them to their knees before it faded and the vortex closed.

  They stood and walked back toward the cavern. All that remained was the dead.

  On the surface, the supplicants moved like sleepwalkers and were directed into carts.

  Once they cleared the area, she and Dorian returned home.

  * * * *

  Lillian retrieved the book she’d taken from the Shafton library. She scanned page after page.

  Dorian’s arm slid possessively across her shoulder as he sat next to her in the study. “What are you looking for?”

  “I saw something about prayer. I cannot remember what it was.”

  “Are you worried about being killed or taken by the master?”

  She turned away from the book.

  Dorian’s eyes narrowed on her.


  “I prefer the idea of death, but I am prepared for my fate whatever it may be as long as it is not in vain. I do not mind dying for this cause. You are worried about the master’s threats?”

  “Not for myself. I am willing to die for the good of humanity as well. I could not bear to see you killed, Lilly.”

  “This is war and we are soldiers. Loss of life is inevitable.”

  He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “Yes. I know.”

  His arms tightened around her, and she sighed into the embrace. Dorian Lambert was the first cocoon of safety in her life. He was as close to nirvana as she would ever come. “I accepted a long time ago, the few people I have grown attached to may fall in this war. I watched Belinda nearly die last year.”

  “May I count myself among those with whom you have developed an attachment?”

  Her chest ached. “I adore you, Dorian. As I hung over that abyss tonight, I thought how my heart has grown attached to you in the short time we have spent together, and I had never told you. If our circumstances were different, I would welcome your attention.”

  He knelt next to her chair, gripping her hands. “Our circumstance could not be more different, Lilly. I have loved you since you were merely the subject of my brother’s letters, and I love you still today. I suspect I will go on loving you for the entirety of my life, however long that may be.”

  “Thank you, Dorian.”

  “Tell me, if we survive the next few days of insanity, you will become my wife.”

  She trembled half with joy and half with terror. Had he lost his mind? She was the daughter of a seamstress who had sold her into prostitution. How could this nobleman want to marry her.

  It was insane.

  Crazier still was the fact she yearned to say yes. “I wish I could tell you I will.”

  “You can. You only have to say yes and you will make me the happiest man in the world. You may be ripped away from me tomorrow or it might be me who is killed. If we belong to each other, I would have all that I want at the end of my life. Say yes, Lilly.”