Celestial Storm

by Emma L. Adams

  “Have you chosen a demon name yet?” he asked.

  I blinked at the abrupt subject change. “What? Who even cares? It’s not like it’d be of any help, even if I could.” Most of the arch-demons gained true demon names after they fell, while demigods were born with them.

  “If you take on a demon name, nobody can summon you unless they know that name,” said Zadok. “Very useful if you’re in the habit of ticking off arch-demons. You have enough magic that anyone can summon you, at any time.”

  My heart dropped. I hadn’t known that. “What?”

  “Frankly, I’m surprised my father hasn’t already tried. Did anyone follow you here, Devi?”

  I shook my head, my skin prickling. “Why?”

  Zadok climbed to his feet, peering over my head. “There’s someone here who shouldn’t be.”

  I spun on the spot, raising both hands, and the window exploded in a shower of glass. A monstrous demon tore its way through, opening its mouth wide to expose two sets of serrated teeth. Feathery shadow-coloured wings extended from its shoulder blades, while its body resembled a cross between a turkey and a bat.

  “What was that about being safe from Casthus’s forces?” I said, as a second demon appeared behind it, wings beating.

  Zadok flashed me an amused smile. “I was counting on it.”

  Shadows burst from his skin like an imitation of Nikolas’s lightning power, spearing the demons on the spot. My celestial hand lit up along with my demon mark, and I drew a blade that rippled with divine fire.

  On cue, the second window shattered, more winged menaces landing on the balcony.

  I ran out to meet them, and my blade sliced into the nearest demon’s neck. Winged demons that presumably belonged to Zadok fought more of the shadowy creatures in the sky. As they died mid-flight, they disintegrated, vanishing back into whatever foul dimension had spawned them.

  Zadok ran past me, taking flight to join them. I remained on the balcony, swiping at anything that dared to get too close.

  They’re shadow demons. The shadow arch-demon was behind this. I should have figured he wouldn’t let his youngest son run around unchecked for long.

  Zadok landed on the balcony again, his eyes glowing with golden light. He was in his element. And I was out of here.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to join my army?” he asked.

  “No thanks. I prefer to live in a place where angry shadow demons don’t fall out of the sky.”

  He grinned. “Let me know if you change your mind, Devi.”

  I didn’t dignify that with a reply. Instead, I walked to the nearest demonglass pillar and stepped through, back to Earth.

  7

  The rest of the week passed quickly, but no more answers came on where the humans’ sudden magical powers had come from. While their powers mirrored demonic magic, no matter how many I questioned, nobody reported seeing any demon eggs or full-grown saphor demons in the streets. Let’s face it, both were distinctive-looking, and the humans would catch on to a maggot infestation pretty quickly. Faye swore up and down that the vampires had kept the bloodstone trade firmly under watch ever since the saphor demons had killed so many of them a few months ago. She was probably right, considering the vamps she lived with couldn’t keep a secret if their lives depended on it, but it bothered me that we had no conclusive answers.

  It bothered the humans, too. Theories flew wide, on DivinityWatch and outside it, and Nikolas spent longer keeping curious humans off the warlocks’ doorstep than actually preparing to lead them. Fiona and I took the more curious ones into the back yard to teach them to control their magic, while Rachel busied herself buying dozens of copies of every basic guide to magic on the market.

  “They’re going to use the magic anyway,” Nikolas had said, when I questioned whether it was a good idea letting that information into so many humans’ hands. “It’s not a trade secret. Humans just haven’t generally been interested enough to learn about us before.”

  “Except celestials,” I’d responded. “You probably bought a year’s worth of academy textbooks.”

  The celestials’ academy was technically shut down for summer, with no lessons running, but a fair number of students stayed behind. Most of them were orphans who’d lost everything except the guild, just like I’d been, but I wished Mrs Barrow had taken my warning seriously. At least they hadn’t dragged any of the humans in for questioning, since the incident with the exploding pentagram seemed to have put Mrs Barrow off taking matters into her own hands—for now, at least.

  The day before the rogues’ designated visit, I sneaked into the guild to set up some of my own defences and return some of the papers I’d stolen. I also searched their storeroom again, but I’d combed every corner of the place in search of hidden demon eggs for the last week with no luck whatsoever.

  I hopped back through the demonglass from the guild to Nikolas’s living room to find Faye and Fiona sitting on the sofa.

  “Enjoy your trip to the guild?” asked Faye.

  “Everyone knows except them by now, don’t they?” I rolled my eyes. “I guess Lydia told you?”

  I’d seen her around, but Mrs Barrow seemed to be keeping a close eye on her. Maybe because she was supposed to have died in battle at least once. I hoped Clover had enhanced the guild’s defences, but my real worry was that someone would open the doors wide and let those rogues march right in.

  “Have you read every file in the archives?” asked Faye. “I could have told you which missions were suspect or not, you know.”

  “That’s not what I was looking for,” I said. “The demon eggs. Every preternatural store is accounted for, according to Nikolas. That leaves the guild.”

  “I don’t think it’s demon eggs you should be looking for,” said Faye.

  “What else lets a virus spread that quickly?” I asked. “Those humans—they developed their abilities that fast, it can’t have happened any other way. Demons can’t put their mark on anyone unless that person has contact with something demonic. That’s one rule that can’t be broken.”

  Otherwise, demons would have the upper hand. And if they were capable of passing on their mark to random people the way Divinities were, it’d require a near-death experience to trigger the transformation. From what I’d heard from the humans who’d spoken to Nikolas and me, most of them had never had such an experience. Their powers had just shown up out of nowhere.

  Faye shook her head. “If they’d all handled the demon eggs, at least one of them would remember.”

  “It’s the only connection I can think of,” I said. “Maybe they got bitten by vampires, like when the celestials got infected, but some of them would remember. Vampires can’t erase memories. If you can think of anything else, though, I’m all ears.”

  Faye pressed her mouth together. “I never met Lythocrax like you did. But he… he was a demon of creation. That was his power, right? What if something got triggered when he died?”

  “Shit. His realm opened right here.” My heart lurched. “Do you think something might have got out when he brought his army to Earth?”

  “Who knows,” said Fiona. “I talked to the humans all week. They wouldn’t know a demonic substance if they walked into it.”

  I sank into the sofa with a groan of frustration. “You know, you’re right. Lythocrax created a demonglass clone of me. I don’t know if he made any other monstrosities while he was alive, but the only people who might know wouldn’t answer my questions if I threw them into the deepest pit of hell.”

  “Demonglass clone,” said Fiona. “Clone. Uh, do you have any of that other arch-demon’s power left?”

  “Yes…” I slapped my forehead. “Of course. Yeah, I do. I should have guessed it was Lythocrax behind this. His final parting gift.”

  And I’d bet his mind contained the answers.

  “Okay. Step back,” I warned the others, getting up off the sofa.

  “What are you doing?” asked Faye.

  “I borro
wed some of Abyss’s magic—well, she gave it to me when she died. I don’t know how much I have left.”

  “You became Lythocrax when you fought him.” She nodded. “Yeah, I saw some of it from below, but it was kinda hard to make out what was going on up there in the sky.”

  “I’ll try not to break anything this time.”

  I reached for the power I hadn’t touched since I’d left Lythocrax’s corpse burning in the road, a familiar sickening sensation gripping me at the close presence of his foul, warped mind.

  I felt my body change, wings unfurling behind my shoulders to brush against the ceiling, muscles thickening. I stumbled awkwardly, wishing I’d done this outside. The table containing my lab setup teetered, and I steadied it with a huge demonic hand.

  Fiona gaped at me in open horror. “Uhhh. Devi?”

  “Relax, I’m still me,” I said in my own voice. “Yes, I know he’s ugly as sin. That’s arch-demons for you.”

  Unimpeded by an imminent battle, I grabbed the threads of his thoughts, and threw myself in. Tell me what you did to the humans. Tell me. What did you do when you attacked Earth?

  Flashes of the battle rushed through my mind, viewed through his eyes. I felt his anger, and his triumph as his army continued to climb into the streets, through the portals he created—

  I broke free of his thoughts and jerked out of reach of Faye’s hand, which blazed with celestial light. “Sorry,” she said. “It reacted to you.”

  “Ow.” I let go of the magic, turning into myself again, and staggered against the wall. “It’s not demon eggs at all—it’s demonglass. I think he booby-trapped the portals.”

  Faye’s mouth fell open. “Demonglass? It was all over the roads—”

  “When he brought his army through. People were running around panicking, falling over, fleeing for their lives—that stuff is barely visible when it’s burned out. They wouldn’t have known what they were picking up.”

  Faye shook her head. “They wouldn’t have. Clever bastard. If it’s any consolation, the portals burned out after one use.”

  “Yeah, but… what if that wasn’t the only demonglass he infected?”

  My heart sank like a stone, and I turned to face the makeshift lab in the living room’s corner. I kept a whole stash of demonglass there.

  “He can’t do anything, Devi,” said Fiona. “He’s dead.”

  “But—there’s demonglass all over the city. I left it lying around months ago, in case I need to get somewhere fast.”

  Faye’s eyes widened. “Including—”

  “The guild,” I finished, feeling sick. “It’s well hidden. Nobody’s found it yet, but—shit. I should get it out while I can. It’ll mean having to walk out the main entrance, but if anyone touched it—”

  If a celestial touched it, and it really did contain demonic power—they’d die.

  I wouldn’t be responsible for any more deaths. I had to get it out. But in doing that, I’d lose my ability to transport myself around the city to save anyone who needed help. Lythocrax had left one final trick… no piece of demonglass was safe.

  Beyond my own shock and anger, I swore I felt his triumph flicker within me as the last thread of his influence slipped away.

  “Wait,” said Faye. “Did you see anything unusual at the guild when you were last there?”

  “No, but—shit, I can’t just leave that stuff inside their headquarters. I should have known Lythocrax wouldn’t die without leaving one hell of a mess to clean up.”

  Nobody questions the Divine Agents. My mind replayed his thoughts, his anger, but whenever I tried to probe into who the other Divine Agents were, I saw nothing but a blaze of light. Bitter anger stirred in my blood—ancient, deep-seated.

  I clutched my forehead. “Ow. Note to self: do not try to understand an arch-demon’s mind.”

  Maybe he’d blocked out his memories of heaven. I’d check later—getting the demonglass away from the guild was more important.

  “Are you okay?” asked Fiona.

  I nodded. “You two, stay here and keep an eye out for trouble. I’m going to fetch that demonglass.” I’d have to hop all around the city to pick it up. The only piece I knew wasn’t potentially infected was Javos’s, from the old headquarters. Wonderful.

  I put my hand in my pocket, unable to stop myself from wondering if that demonglass was damaged, too. Why couldn’t Lythocrax have infected something else? It might be I had the situation all wrong, but demonglass stored magic. Lythocrax knew it better than I did. I didn’t even know which realm it’d originated in, but it looked like I’d have to check into Pandemonium again sooner than I’d thought.

  I squeezed the handful of glass fragments and landed in the guild’s storeroom. Then I picked the pieces of discarded glass from the floor. I’d hidden it under a loose piece of carpet and it didn’t look like anyone had touched it, but you couldn’t be too careful. Next, I hopped to the courtyard—this time, I had to duck behind a bush to avoid a group of novices—and then to the final store of glass on the floor of the inspector’s office.

  Sorted. I pocketed the glass—then froze at the sound of voices outside the window. So much for sneaking out.

  The rumble of voices resolved into familiar ones. Mrs Barrow, and…

  Harvey.

  8

  Swearing under my breath, I pushed the window open, drawing my celestial blade. In a leap, I jumped clear of the window, slamming down between Harvey and Mrs Barrow. The latter blinked at me in surprise, and something hard hit me in the back of the head.

  I rotated on the spot. Ow. A stapler. Someone had thrown a stapler at me.

  “Get out, demon!” yelled Sammy, throwing a box of staples at me. I dodged, unable to believe he’d seen the scenario in front of him and pegged me as the bad guy.

  “Harvey’s a traitor,” I said, more to Mrs Barrow than Sammy. “He plans to take the guild over tomorrow and kill anyone who disagrees.”

  The dick must have lured Mrs Barrow out to feed her the Divine Agents’ lies, paving the way to take the guild. There were so many innocent people inside this building who didn’t deserve to get caught up in the crossfire.

  Harvey looked between me and the others. “There is a sickness in this place,” he announced. “A demonic taint. I will help you be rid of it. If you wish to accept our help, we’ll be back at noon tomorrow.” His gaze went to me. “Tomorrow at noon, Devi. Until we meet again.”

  He strode away down the road. I’d kind of expected him to hop over into Purgatory on the spot, since he’d apparently been taking drama classes from Clover. It’d be great if she actively did something to stop those nutjobs.

  “Devina,” said Mrs Barrow, faintly. “You’re trespassing. Why did you just jump out the window?”

  “To save you from him,” I said, jerking my head in the direction of Harvey’s retreating back. “I told you, he’s coming here tomorrow with an army to take this place over.”

  Where in hell was Lydia? The only people witnessing this were a bunch of terrified-looking novices, with the exception of the stapler-wielding Sammy.

  Mrs Barrow appeared to pull herself together. “Devi, I’ve tried to ignore your insubordination, but this has gone on for too long. I won’t have you poisoning my people against one another. Randy, Groves, take her in.”

  “You’re arresting me.” I burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious.”

  They were very much serious.

  Apparently, the guild had installed a jail at some point in the last few weeks, inside the old bicycle shed. I sat in a pentagram on the dirty floor, watching rainwater drip through a gap in the ceiling. It hadn’t rained in weeks, a sign of the apocalypse if there ever was one. I rubbed the back of my neck, stiff from sitting in a cramped position. Sammy had confiscated my demonglass, not to mention my weapons. The little shit had probably taken them for himself, and it would serve him right if it did turn out to contain an infectious demonic disease. He’d finally stopped taunting me when Mrs Barro
w had ordered him to go on patrol. I’d sat through his gloating with more patience than I’d ever thought I possessed, hoping for a private audience with Mrs Barrow, but no luck so far. Hell would freeze over before I discussed the Divine Agents in front of Sammy.

  The door to the bike shed clicked open, and Lydia walked in.

  “Hey,” said Lydia. “Looks like our roles are reversed.”

  “Thanks for intervening.”

  She shifted her weight guiltily. “If I’d blown my cover, I’d be dead.”

  “Uh-huh. I don’t know why Harvey didn’t attack the guild there and then. But we need to evacuate—”

  “No, we don’t,” she said.

  “I’m not sure I trust Clover’s word,” I said. “Can you speak to her? Today?”

  She moved closer to the pentagram keeping me caged. “Why?”

  “Demonglass,” I said quietly. “It’s booby-trapped, Lydia. I picked up every piece I left here, but all the glass in the city has demon magic inside it. Like the vampire virus.”

  Her face paled. “What?”

  “It’s true,” I said. “When Lythocrax came into this realm, he used portals made out of the stuff, and he infected them with a virus. That’s why humans are developing demonic powers—they picked it up in the street, not knowing what it was.”

  “Damn,” she said quietly. I was pretty sure it was the first time I’d heard her curse. “No, I didn’t know that. The celestials don’t talk to me much. And Harvey… he’s losing his mind.”

  “You only just figured that out?”

  “He wanders around Purgatory, talking to people who aren’t there.” She bit her lip. “If he comes here, he won’t be able to get into the guild. But I didn’t know—I didn’t know about the demonglass.”

  “We weren’t supposed to,” I said. “The Divine Agents strike again.” For whatever reason, they’d decided to target ordinary humans instead this time around. And the guild would never believe it was real—or worse, they’d blame it on the warlocks, the original source of demonglass in this realm.