Celestial Storm

by Emma L. Adams

  “I thought you were looking for evidence of insiders at the guild,” said Nikolas. “Trading records would only show the legal transactions, not who might have gone into the demon realms behind the guild’s back.”

  I didn’t blame him or Rachel for their confusion. Looking up records from two years ago wouldn’t do much except satisfy my own curiosity… but I had to know.

  My hands shook as I reached the right date. I wouldn’t forget it in a hurry. If the guild had legally procured saphor demon eggs… here was the proof.

  Nothing. No records, legal or otherwise. I skimmed through the whole lot and found zero mention of demon eggs. Not that I’d really expected an admission, much less a name to point the blame at, but I found myself annoyed at my own disappointment.

  “I don’t know about discrepancies,” Nikolas said, looking up from the reports. “But the mission numbers doubled the summer of two years ago.”

  “Really?” I’d wondered if that might be the case. I’d been too numb from Rory’s death to notice that an unusual number of members of our guild branch had died in a short space of time. After all, I’d left the guild immediately afterwards. I took the paper he offered me and ran through the dates. Seven dead in a week. For one guild branch, that was a lot. Nikolas was right. The mission numbers had doubled that spring and summer, and so had the deaths. Including…

  There it was. My report—the one the guild had supposedly lost, and the one Damian Greenwood had found.

  “He put it back,” I said. “Or, someone did.”

  Report written by Devi Lawson. Mission set by Inspector Deacon.

  I looked at the name, numb all over again. My hands trembled, and I put the papers down.

  “He knew,” I said quietly. “He sent me on the mission himself. It wasn’t the council who ordered it.”

  Which meant there was a very good chance he also knew the demon eggs had been planted at the site of the mission. I didn’t know why I’d never considered it before. It’d been the inspector who’d denied my report, after all, and left it lying around on the desk for anyone to find. I’d thought that was an act of carelessness, not maliciousness.

  Maybe he’d let Damian Greenwood read it.

  “What is it?” asked Rachel.

  “I think the inspector was an insider,” I said. “Maybe he didn’t know he was, but he spoke to the angels often enough that one of the Divine Agents might easily have taken their place. The mission he sent me and Rory on—he was the one who received the orders from heaven.”

  “From who, though?” asked Rachel. “I mean, who in heaven? The angels have names.”

  “I sure as hell don’t know them,” I said. “Besides, nobody’s going to question the word of an angel, are they?”

  “No,” said Nikolas, looking up from his own stack of mission reports. “But with no other eyewitness as proof—how did Faye learn of the Divine Agents’ existence, exactly?”

  “She got the name out of someone in the netherworld,” I said. “A demon spy must have let it slip. But they’re not being as subtle as they used to. Look what they did to Purgatory. The guild might not have a lot of contact with heaven, but if any other celestial in the world tries to upgrade…”

  “I don’t see what use a years-old report is, then,” said Rachel. “Especially when the inspector’s as good as dead.”

  “I know, but…” Damn, there must be a clue I’d missed. I turned over the page. I’d reached the end of the year’s mission reports. The others were older. Three years… four. The attack on the guild wouldn’t be recorded as a mission so there was no use looking for that in here. I’d already seen all the news reports at the time. I had the official story memorised. But someone had opened the portal inside the guild. They couldn’t do that without assistance—and props.

  I looked at the records open in front of me. Someone had done an awful lot of trading with Pandemonium that year.

  “Bugger,” I said, eyeing the name on the records. “It was him. Inspector Angler. He bought the props that were used in the attack Faye was framed for—from Pandemonium.”

  Inspector Angler was the one who’d bought the supplies that the insider had used to open the portal to Lythocrax’s realm on top of the guild, sealing his own fate. But maybe he’d unknowingly been talking to a Divine Agent before he’d ever set foot there.

  “Seriously?” said Rachel.

  I nodded. “I should have known. It’s where the saphor demon eggs came from, but the guild doesn’t have that on record.”

  But maybe someone there still knew.

  Wait a minute. Saphor demon eggs carried demonic parasites, capable of infecting someone and causing side effects. Like, say, humans spontaneously developing demonic powers.

  Holy shit.

  “I’m going to Pandemonium,” I said. “It’s time to speak to an old friend.”

  6

  I burned a pentagram into the living room wall, and yelled, “Get out here, Dienes.”

  “Devi!” said a squeaky voice, in the lower Chthonic demon tongue, and a horned head popped up. Dienes, the little shit, now had a new master, since the appropriately-named city of Pandemonium had changed leaders for the second time this year.

  “Don’t start fawning,” I told him. “I’m coming to see Zadok. Tell him I’d appreciate it if he didn’t send assassins after me.”

  Nikolas’s brother had claimed we were allies, but the little horned creature in front of me was a living and breathing example of why trusting demons was a bad idea.

  “I’ll tell him,” said Dienes, and vanished into the pentagram.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Rachel.

  “Since when has that ever factored into my decision-making?” I rolled my eyes. “Maybe Zadok doesn’t know if someone’s been smuggling demon eggs behind his back, but I think it’s something he’d appreciate me telling him.”

  “I don’t think it’s saphor demons causing the humans to develop demonic powers,” said Nikolas. “I haven’t heard a single report of maggot demons showing up during the battle.”

  “What else can transfer magic by proxy?” I’d thought I’d wiped those damned demon eggs from existence. “Maybe the vamps lost control of their bloodstone stash again.”

  “I’ll check with Madame White,” said Nikolas. “Given the state of things on Pandemonium, however, it’s entirely possible that something slipped out unnoticed.”

  “It’s been known to happen.” Zadok likely didn’t know. He’d been the new ruler of Pandemonium for less than two days, after all. I had to admit the idea of Zadok being the new ruler wasn’t a terrible one, if just because he had zero interest in conquering Earth.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to come with you,” said Nikolas. “Javos is still demanding a meeting to discuss what to do with the humans, and besides, it’s possible that my presence might cause Zadok to keep quiet.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Zadok made no secret of his disdain for his brother, who’d been raised on Earth while Zadok himself had grown up among the warlocks on Babylon. He’d nursed a bitter jealousy towards his older sibling and while none of his attempts to steal Nikolas’s army had ever come to fruition, he must have had help when he’d ousted Abyss from her throne. Aside from her weakness, which I’d accidentally told him, not knowing he wasn’t already in possession of that information. If anything, he owed me a favour.

  “Right,” I said, stepping towards the pentagram. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Hopefully with answers. If demon eggs had caused those humans to develop demon magic… maybe I could undo the damage, like I had with the virus that’d infected the vampires. But you’d think at least one person would have spotted a swarm of demonic maggots during the battle.

  As the pentagram closed around me, flames filled my vision, a reminder that I was on my way to an infernal realm. Since Zadok’s weakness was fire, Pandemonium wasn’t exactly an ideal fit, but demigods rarely gained power, and I had no dou
bt he planned to make the most of his five minutes of fame.

  The flames died down, revealing the same hall which had once belonged to Themedes before Abyss had redecorated it with endless corridors of demonglass mirrors. Apparently Zadok hadn’t cared for Abyss’s taste in decor, because the floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies were back, along with the obsidian floors and the demonglass pillars showing my own reflection—half light, half dark, an aura divided.

  Zadok sat on a throne made of a slab of gold, sipping from a goblet. “Devi,” he said, in English. “It’s delightful to see you.”

  Like the last time I’d seen him, he wore thick dark armour which covered every inch of him except his head, with gaps for his wide bat-like wings. Dark red hair curled over his tanned forehead, and his aura and wings almost masked the golden chair at his back.

  “That looks uncomfortable,” I commented, indicating the slab-like throne.

  “I’ve lived in worse conditions.” He tipped the goblet to drink the last of the wine, or whatever it was. “You look a little stunned.”

  “Usually when I come here, demons try to assassinate me.”

  “Why would I do that?” He rose to his feet, towering over me. “We are allies, after all.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  He showed me a wide smile. “Devi, I’ve missed your company.”

  “I can’t imagine the demons are spectacular conversationalists. Why not redecorate the place?”

  “I’ve taken a liking to sitting on a throne,” he said. “Being taken seriously. Smiting the odd dissenter.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Sure you have. I’m here to call in my favour.”

  His brows rose. “Favour?”

  “You know. For giving you the information that led you to be able to take over this place without being challenged.”

  Even white teeth showed as he smiled. “Thinking like a demon, Devi. Excellent.”

  “Don’t pull that one on me. I want to talk to Themedes’s advisers,” I said. “Did you leave anyone alive who used to work in the palace? Or underneath it?”

  “Underneath it? I’m told someone scoured the tunnels. The damage was so extensive, I would think a celestial was responsible.”

  “Yeah, I killed the saphor demons under the palace,” I said. “And destroyed their eggs, or I thought I did. I’m looking for the people responsible for trading them to Earth.”

  “Oh, are you?”

  “Yes. Someone sold a huge batch two years ago or so.” Or rather, more recently. Humans wouldn’t die from interacting with them—the fact that using their demonic power hadn’t had fatal side effects proved that—but celestials couldn’t handle the parasites without dying, burned out by their own fire.

  “I’m sure back door trading was more common than your guild knows,” Zadok said dismissively. “From what I heard, Themedes even encouraged it.”

  “You talked to him when he was dying,” I said. “And you knew about the saphor demon eggs. Did he tell you that? He shouldn’t have known about guild missions.” I ought to have asked him the last time I’d been here, but I’d been preoccupied chasing down Lythocrax at the time.

  Zadok shrugged. “I got curious. The guild’s files aren’t secure, and my brother made the mistake of leaving his Earth-made communication device lying around in the castle. He had a large amount of information on you, as well as the guild.”

  “You knew the saphor demon eggs came from this realm,” I said. “Did Themedes tell you?”

  “Saphor demons aren’t a common species outside of this realm,” he said. “Themedes did a great deal of complaining about those foul maggots getting into his palace. If you’re looking for the smugglers, however, I strongly suspect that they’re dead.”

  Thought so. “Has there been any illicit trade in the last few weeks?”

  He tilted his head. “Trouble at the guild?”

  “No more than before,” I said, not wanting to mention the humans with demonic magic in case he got ideas about kidnapping them. “I guess you’ve only been here two days. Never mind.”

  “Is that all you came here to ask me?” He took a seat on the throne again. “I thought you dearly wished to know how I came to be where I am today.”

  Oh, boy. I should have figured he’d been impatiently waiting to find someone to brag to about his accomplishment. “No, I figure it involved the usual trickery. Pity you couldn’t have applied some of the same to keeping Abyss out of Babylon and stopping Casthus from taking Nikolas’s castle.”

  “It was never his, the fool,” said Zadok. “It’s his problem that he didn’t come up with an exit strategy while he could. When you’ve been hunted down just for existing, you develop a knack for escaping while you can.”

  “Some would call that cowardice,” I said. “You don’t seriously want to stay here, do you? I thought you wanted the castle on Babylon.”

  “Devi, you must know that my father has no intention of leaving.” He cast a look around the hall, his brows pinching together. “My brother ought to have accepted that by now. I admit this place is brighter than I prefer…”

  “You did conquer a city in an infernal realm, you know. Fire is kind of their thing. Considering you’re terrified of it, you might have picked a different city instead.”

  He scowled. “Being aware of a potential threat isn’t the same as fearing it, Devi.”

  “Sure looked that way when you ran from Abyss.”

  “You might run headlong at every potential threat and hope it doesn’t blast you to pieces, but you’ve never had to survive on a demon realm, Devi,” he said. “Not without the weapon built into you that’s designed to destroy every demon you encounter. Imagine you weren’t a celestial, but human, with limited power. Would you be so reckless with your own safety if you didn’t have your celestial blade?”

  “If I wasn’t a celestial, I wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with,” I said. “And it wasn’t your own safety you risked. You got the other warlocks killed, not to mention jeopardising Earth.”

  He shrugged. “There isn’t a person on Babylon who doesn’t deserve to burn along with it when I take back what is mine.”

  “Was it worth it?” I said, an inexplicable surge of anger taking hold of me. He had all the resources to stop his father and chose to sit on a throne instead. “Making a deal with another arch-demon? Why not ask them to stop Casthus instead of giving you a throne you don’t deserve?”

  His burgundy eyes blazed to gold. “I have never made a contract with an arch-demon, Devi.”

  “Yeah, right. What about Abyss?”

  “Hardly a contract,” he said. “I have never signed over my soul to anyone, and I never will.”

  “Then how did you get here? How’d you kill an arch-demon and escape your father? There’s no way you did that by yourself.”

  “So little faith.” A smile curled his lip. “It was you who gave me the idea, Devi.”

  I blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “Demonglass stores power,” he said. “Do you recall how Azurial the demigod leached off his father’s power to add to his own? His father was dying, which made the transfer easier, but the means he used to extract that power relied heavily on demonglass. When I heard of your new extraordinary power… that confirmed it for me. If demonglass—active demonglass, connected to a source—can store magic, there seemed no reason why I shouldn’t be able to use it to create a weapon.”

  “What did you do?” I asked, half afraid of the answer.

  “Nothing too heinous,” he said. “I spent several weeks siphoning off my own demon magic into my demonglass devices. It weakened me significantly, but the presence of those fallen temporarily stopped the other warlocks from trying to kill me. Until he showed up.” His aura darkened, making his eyes look brighter. “He forced me to put my plan into motion early, which meant letting him think he’d killed me. It was the only way to avoid him hunting me down.”

  “You brought the demonglass to Earth, then?” He
must have, since he’d regained his power so quickly.

  “Yes, I did. While I was a prisoner in your house, I took the power back into myself to restore my strength, while using my brother’s kind attempt to create a connection to Babylon to visit the warlocks who supported me. Oh, don’t look so shocked. There are some people on that world who support me, even now… and I convinced them to go along with Casthus’s plan to kill Abyss.”

  “You hijacked his army?”

  He grinned. “I know how his mind works. And I knew he wouldn’t go to Pandemonium in person. So I entered this realm as part of Casthus’s own army. While the others set upon the palace, I took care of that bastard of a fire demon he kept close at his side. Then it was a simple matter of drawing Abyss out of her palace and dealing a fatal wound while she was unable to regenerate. With the sun on her, she had no protection. I confess I didn’t know she planned to flee to Lythocrax’s realm, but it all worked out in the end, didn’t it, Devi?”

  I didn’t return his sly smile. He thought he was so clever. And he was. He’d sure fooled me, anyway. Not to mention his brother.

  “And that’s it?” I asked. “No catch? No bargains, or side effects? Where is the demonglass you used?”

  He held up his arm, lifting the sleeve to show a wristband with demonglass built into it. He must have stolen the idea from my own cuffs.

  “The glass does sometimes mask my aura,” he said, “but of all possible options, this is the best outcome I could have hoped for. I owe it to you, Devi, for distracting my dear father at the crucial moment. I assume he’s plotting your downfall and not mine, but I have every confidence that you can meet the challenge.”

  “That’s it?” I spluttered. “You’re just going to leave him to destroy everything—and rule over this place while he rampages around the world I thought you wanted to stay on?”

  “It’s not me who fears the flames, Devi,” he said softly.

  I stiffened, remembering the blazing light I’d once been afraid of, for so long. But I’d never run. Never.