The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy

by Terra Whiteman

  I shook my head, heading for the door. “Alright, whatever. Good night.”

  “No, wait.”

  When I looked back she was already across the room, standing at her wardrobe. “Come, sit with me. We’ll talk.”

  My stare lowered to the silver lighter and glass-blown pipe that had magically appeared in her hands. She cozied on the couch, head against the arm. “Come,” she repeated, and I shut the door and followed.

  I sat on the other cushion, trying to keep as much space between us as possible—for her sake. Leid stretched out her legs, digging her toes into my thigh. I watched as she put the pipe to her lips, lit the top and then sucked, hard.

  “What is that?” I asked, unnerved. The idea of her doing hard drugs didn’t sit well with me. I wasn’t one to talk, though. My weekly consumption of alcohol would have killed anyone.

  “Elesium. Want to try?”

  Not really, but I wasn’t about to say no to my boss. I took the pipe from her, our fingertips brushing. I mimicked how she’d done it, inhaling deep. But I could only hold it in for a fraction of a second before I coughed so hard that I nearly retched. My lungs felt like they were on fire.

  Leid had found that funny. She was smiling. “Careful.”

  I opened my mouth to assure her that I was fine, but then my heart started pounding, each throb like thunder in my ears. Panic exploded up my throat, choking me.

  I shot out of my seat. I couldn’t sit still.

  Leid watched me pace the length of the couch. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” I said, shaking. “I am the opposite of okay.”

  She frowned. “Oh, so you’re one of those.”

  “I think my heart is going to explode.”

  “It won’t, sit down.”

  I ignored her, pacing faster.

  “Even if it does, so what? You’re Vel’Haru.”

  “How are you not feeling like this?”

  “Because it’s all in your head, sit down.”

  “I can’t!”

  Leid grabbed my arm and yanked me back on the couch. I leaned over, placing my head between my knees. She rubbed slow circles on my back, and my pulse began to slow as I concentrated on her touch.

  “You’re fine,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it would do that to you.”

  After another moment, the panic was gone. Now there was a strange floaty sensation in my stomach. I leaned back, exhaling. “I’m good.”

  Leid smirked, taking another puff. “Good.”

  How weird was this? Doing drugs with Leid. Not exactly how I expected the night to turn out.

  Each of us had a vice. Except for Zhevraine, unless it was torturing us with her poetry. Chemical and other behavioral escapes were another constant seen throughout most intelligent life; and I could only conclude that reality sucked no matter what or where you were.

  “I’ve been visiting Hell,” she confessed.

  “We know. Adrial followed you to the cephalon.”

  She frowned. “He’s been spying on me?”

  “We were concerned.”

  “There’s nothing to be concerned about. I’ve been trying to gather some information based on a tip from Belial Vakkar.”

  Belial Vakkar was the Archdemon of Tehlor, also Hell’s biggest socialite. He was their most famous playwright and controlled ninety percent of their entertainment business. His celebrity status gave us an advantage; he heard a lot of Parliament gossip. He’d been a Celestial Court informant for ten years. I’d never met him, but he’d contact Leid through Aeon whenever he had any information worth mentioning.

  “What was the tip?”

  “He heard that a few Obsidian Court officials had scheduled private meetings with collectors, some of whom are under suspicion for aiding code violations.”

  “Have you found anything out?”

  “Belial showed me a copy of the logs at Avernai’s Parliament. A secretary had asked him about an unscheduled meeting that took place after hours. Turns out it was off the book, and he suspected that it was held by the Sanguine Court.”

  I waited for her to mention who she had been meeting with each night, but she didn’t say a thing about it. There was no demon whose name began with the letter S in her explanation at all.

  The story seemed disingenuous, too. It was like she wasn’t telling me everything, because surely following up on a tip from Belial didn’t merit sneaking around. I had half a mind to demand the truth, but that would have gotten me nowhere. You couldn’t force Leid into doing anything.

  “For a while I was just running in circles, but these last several days have proven well.”

  “Meaning?”

  Leid tapped her chin. She always did that whenever she was thinking. “You’ll see what I mean tomorrow. I wasn’t in Hell tonight. I was in Heaven, speaking to Commander Telei and General Trede. We’ve got a solid case for the hearing.”

  Oh, shit, that was right. The hearing was tomorrow. “I thought you were going to stay out of that affair? I didn’t realize we were building a case.”

  “The Obsidian Court will refute everything otherwise. If we don’t have something to dangle over their heads, the entire night will be spent arguing in relentless circles. They’re winning the Contest, Alezair. They don’t want any of their tallies shaved, even if the means through which they get them is a crime.”

  I didn’t say anything, only sucked on the pipe. Its floaty feeling was growing on me.

  In the following minute of silence I caught Leid staring at me from the corner of my eye. Her look was conflicted, like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how. I pretended not to notice.

  “You play well,” she said.

  I was confused by her random comment, but then realized what she was talking about. “Thanks, but I don’t.”

  “I heard you.”

  “I don’t know what I was playing. I can’t read any music.”

  “Oh,” she said, glancing away, seeming disappointed. “You can have that violin if you want.”

  “It’s not mine.”

  She hesitated with a response. “Take it anyway. I don’t play it.”

  “There’s a cello in there, too. I saw the case.”

  She smiled thinly. “Well, that I do play.”

  “I’ve never heard you.”

  Leid’s eyes searched the space in front of her, marveling at something I couldn’t see. “I used to. A long time ago. …A different life ago, almost.”

  “Hey,” I said, pulling her from that dream. “I’m really sorry for what happened in the office. I didn’t mean to—”

  “It wasn’t your fault. I never blamed you for it.”

  I nodded.

  Leid stretched, stifling a yawn. “It’s late. I should probably go to bed, and so should you. We have a big day tomorrow.”

  “Yeah,” I said, taking that as my cue to leave.

  She saw me to the door. I lingered in the hall, looking down at her. She wore a sadness that I couldn’t understand. Leid’s beauty was damning. I’d been in love with her since I’d arrived in Purgatory, and she knew it. She was like an exquisite piece of art in a display case; you could never get too close, only admire from afar.

  I almost reached out and touched her face, but refrained. Instead I murmured a goodnight and crept down the hall. There were several seconds before her door clicked shut.

  The elesium made me tired enough that I forewent the wine and just lay in bed. Right as I was about to fall asleep, I heard something and jolted awake: sobs.

  My eyes opened. I waited, holding my breath, trying to determine if I’d been dreaming.

  Another sob.

  I sat up and pressed my ear to the wall.

  It was Leid. She was crying.

  IX

  COERCION

  THE FOLLOWING WORK DAY WAS AGONY.

  Leid’s sobs kept me up until the early morning. I should have been able to ignore them—they weren’t that loud, being three rooms away—but I
hadn’t. Instead I’d sat with my research splayed across the bed, working to the music of her sorrow. Three times I’d almost gone back, but decided it was better to keep my distance. I knew her well enough to also know that she wouldn’t have wanted me there. It would have been embarrassing for her.

  Leid couldn’t have gotten any more sleep than me, but she was completely alert and focused, like last night had never happened.

  By the afternoon I was brain dead, and the thought of having to attend the hearing directly after work almost made me sob. I spent the final hour of work signing soulcases and indictments without even giving them a glance over. Unprofessional, but it wasn’t like I could read coherently even if I’d wanted to.

  Finished, I swept my folders aside and put my face on the desk. Leid shot me a look.

  “You need to go home and change.”

  “Why?” That question was rhetorical. In the scramble to get to work on time this morning, I’d thrown on anything that I could find.

  Glaring at my wrinkled, half-buttoned shirt, she said, “I won’t have the courts thinking I recruited a hobo.”

  Ouch.

  I had half a mind to tell her why I’d been too tired to dress properly today, but kept my mouth shut. One thing I’d learned here was that you didn’t poke a tiger with a stick. “Whatever.”

  “You look emaciated,” she went on, continuing her work. “You might want to eat something before you return.”

  “Anything else? I don’t think my self-esteem is dead yet.”

  “Don’t forget to give your case files to Nephilim on your way out.”

  ***

  I sprinted home, showered, threw on a new outfit and then shotgunned as much caffeine as I could in the ten minutes I had to spare.

  By the time I returned to the Celestial Court, demons and angels were already congregating around the entrance, packing the front steps and lobby. None of the upper-echelon Court members had met me yet. My gait slowed as butterflies danced in my stomach.

  I’d forgotten my briefcase in the mess of racing home, so I slipped through the crowd, into the foyer, up the stairs and unlocked the office. I snatched it off my desk, turned around—

  And saw someone standing in the doorway. A demon.

  He was frozen in the threshold, glaring at me. It was the kind of glare one might reserve for a feral, rabid beast about to rip your nuts off.

  “Uh, can I help you?”

  The demon’s glare filled with confusion. He tilted his head, tipping his top hat. “Who are you?”

  “…Who are you?”

  The demon smirked pretentiously, adjusting the collar of his long, beige coat. “I’m Belial Vakkar, the Archdemon of Tehlor.”

  Oh, him.

  “Alezair Czynri, Judge.”

  Belial scoffed, his vibrant green eyes looking me over. “You don’t say? Where’s your Commander?”

  “I don’t know. Downstairs somewhere.”

  He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “If you see her before I do, could you tell her to find me?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Belial turned to leave, then paused. “How are you finding Purgatory?”

  I shrugged, wondering why he’d care. “It’s cold.”

  The demon smirked. Without another word, he vacated. I watched his exit, baffled.

  What the hell was that about?

  ***

  The lobby was too crowded. I felt claustrophobic.

  I moved outside on the stone platform near the entrance. There was a crowd out here too, but not as heavy. I spotted Zhevraine leant against the railing and joined her. We stood side by side, observing our guests like two social rejects at a high school prom. Unlike Celestials, we seldom found a reason to mingle unless it pertained to our job.

  “You cleaned up nicely,” Zhevraine remarked, eyeing my pressed black suit. “But Leid’s going to say something about your earrings.”

  “I’m not taking them out. She’ll have to meet me halfway on a few things.”

  I didn’t understand why Leid was so adamant about removing my earrings. It wasn’t like the Fallen or Archaeans weren’t wearing any body art. Half of the men walking around here had piercings on places other than their ears. Sometimes I thought Leid just demanded things of me at random, seeing whether or not I’d actually do it. I wouldn’t bend for her on this.

  I caught a glimpse of Nephilim standing with Naberius and a few other demons. They were laughing about something. It was a strange sight.

  “Have you seen Adrial?” I asked.

  Zhevraine shook her head, the chains hanging from the chopsticks holding her bun in place clinked. She wore a black oriental dress with gold embroidered seams, covering her from neck to knees. “He hasn’t left his office today. I assume he’s still there.”

  Leid hadn’t come home either. She and Adrial were probably going over the presentation for tonight.

  The crowd cleared for a second, and a demon approached us. She wore a long scarlet coat, a white laced dress and black knee-high boots. Her hair was bone straight, ice blond, stopping at the middle of her back. Her gold, red-rimmed eyes were locked on me.

  She looked like an angel, all except for her eyes. Beautiful, but in a different way than Leid. Sliding through the crowd like silk, she stopped in front us and paid me a half smile. Her full, ruby-red lips parted. “So, this is the newest member of the Jury?”

  Zhevraine shifted an uneasy glance between us. “Yes, this is Alezair Czynri. Alezair, meet Samnaea Soran, Archdemoness of Junah.”

  Samnaea tilted her head, holding out her hand. “Pleasure is all mine, Justice.”

  I couldn’t tell whether she was into me or acted like that to everyone. If the former, the idea of attracting a pretty woman made this night seem a little more worthwhile. Not to mention it revived my self-esteem that Leid had mercilessly stomped to death earlier this afternoon.

  “The psion,” I said, shaking her hand. “I’ve heard of you.”

  She gave a little laugh, looking humble.

  Samnaea Soran was the ruler of the sixth layer of Hell, and was renowned for her psionic ability of mind control and pain-inducing psychokinesis. Adrial had said that she was able to give someone an aneurysm with only a look.

  Her appearance was surprising—petite frame, an airy, gentle voice and a smile that could melt even the most frigid heart. Samnaea didn’t seem at all like the sadist that rumors made her out to be.

  “This is the first time I’ve seen you here,” I said. “Court delegations must keep you busy.”

  At my sudden shift of demeanor, Zhevraine lifted a brow. Neither of us looked her way.

  “Yes, quite. I tend to let others handle our judicial affairs.”

  “I’m going inside,” Zhevraine said. “Keep an eye on the time. You have ten minutes until you need to be in the courtroom.”

  I nodded and she disappeared into the lobby. Samnaea took her place at my side. Zhevraine didn’t seem to like that I’d made a new friend.

  We said nothing for a moment, eyes drifting over the many demons and angels clad in business attire, conversing in smaller groups across the stairs. Seeing so many Fallen and Archaeans in the same place—actually speaking to one another—left me baffled. Things weren’t at all what they seemed.

  Samnaea reached into the satchel around her shoulder, pulling out a package of cigarettes. These weren’t the cigarettes I’d seen in Leid’s room. They were lavender and burned floral-smelling smoke.

  “So,” she began, smoke escaping her lips in a hazy purple stream, “how are you finding your job so far?”

  “It’s alright.”

  She smiled at my lack of enthusiasm. “That bad?”

  “Not bad, just… I don’t know, boring.”

  “It sounds exciting if you ask me. Being able to leave The Atrium and see all the other worlds out there.”

  “Well I haven’t really made it that far yet. I’m still in training.”

  Samnaea held out a cigarette.
I hesitated, remembering my adventure with elesium. It was probably better if I didn’t pace the stairs screaming that I was going to die in front of everyone.

  “No, thanks.”

  “Good for you,” she said, slipping the cigarette back into the pack. “Never give into peer pressure, I say.”

  I smirked. “Isn’t that how you collect your tallies, Samnaea?”

  “True.”

  I laughed.

  The crowd began to thin, heading into the lobby. That was probably my cue to leave. “I need to go.”

  She nodded, looking at the sky. “I’ll be inside in just a moment. It was nice meeting you, Alezair. Hopefully we can meet again soon.”

  “Likewise,” I said. “Though you might have to make an appearance here more than once every century.”

  She laughed again, and I headed inside.

  ***

  The courtroom was the size of an amphitheater, lavish with Greco-Romanesque sculptures and rows of black velvet seats. Circular second-tier balconies and scarlet curtains loomed over the crowd of angels and demons as they awaited the hearing. I’d been here a hundred times previously, yet never before had it looked so vast.

  I moved toward the stage where Zhevraine and Adrial were waiting. To my left, the Argent Court and their officials sat; chattering among themselves, filling the auditorium with the buzz of collective anticipation. The Obsidian Court did the same thing on my right.

  A collection of eyes followed my journey to the stage. The majority of people here tonight had never seen me before.

  Adrial and Zhevraine were seated at podiums arranged in a line across the stage. At the end of the row, a vacant podium sat with a placard on the front, reading:

  JUSTICE ALEZAIR CZYNRI

  Wow, it had my name and everything.

  I slid behind the podium, taking a seat on the stool.

  Zhevraine filled me in. “When your name is called at the beginning of the trial, you have to stand.”

  I gave her a nervous look. “Just stand?”

  She nodded.

  “I don’t have to say anything, right?”

  “God no.”

  At her retort, Adrial scoffed.

  Able to relax, my gaze drifted across the crowd, finding its way to the second-tier balconies. The Commanders had entered the building.