I started running, not even thinking about my magic. Suddenly the light appeared, exploding around. It came from the centre of the pond, and the impact knocked me off my feet.
I quickly understood that it was Matilda’s magic. Somehow she managed to pull herself out of the water. I lifted my head and saw Alexis. She was now sprinting across the yard. I knew that if she could get to the trees I might lose her. The problem was that she didn’t get to the forest, the stream of light appeared right in front of her, sucking her straight inside some kind of magical portal. She vanished in an instant.
“Go after her. It’s my spell. It will lead you straight through to the maze labyrinth,” Matilda shouted, soaking wet, still trying to get some air. I didn’t hesitate, got up and started sprinting straight ahead. A second later I was sucked right into the Warlock’s spell, landing on my arse in the middle of a tall green wall.
Chapter 22
“Yet those who live within your boundaries stand nowhere free of war. Each gnaws the next, all locked together by one wall and moat.” ―Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
I rolled on the grass, gasping for air, touching my arms and legs, hoping that I ended up in the maze in one piece. After I assured myself that everything was in order, I closed my eyes for several seconds, tapping into my power. The waves of energy flew through me and I instantly felt relief. Moments later I was on my feet, still hurting, but ready to nail Alexis straight to the coffin. The sky above me was dark, filled with stars. In Matilda’s world the day shifted into night. All around me I could see the green walls. I had no other choice but to start walking, using my abilities to figure my way out of here.
My eyes hurt and my ears were popped. I brushed the magical dust off my clothes, took the knife that I hid in my boot, and glanced around ready to tear this whole place apart in order to find my enemy.
“Alexis, you rotten bitch. I’m coming for you, so watch out!” I roared and started running, ignoring the searing pain in my left foot. It was dark, pitch black, but even in this magical place my vision was excellent. I ran across, then turned left, right, hoping that the damaged demon would respond to my threat. The tiny voices in my head kept reminding me that Zach was on the other side, probably lying in the bushes injured. Matilda was there too, but what happened to Summer? Alexis couldn’t have left her alone. I was planning to rip her face if she did anything to my little girl.
My breathing became laboured, but I kept going, sensing the bitch right in front of me. I took another sharp left and I ended up in a blind spot. Panic settled in, the adrenaline rushing through my veins. There was a way out of here, so I started backtracking my steps, connecting with the energy of the soil. The Warlock’s magic was weakening me with every step. Matilda had worked hard to trap someone in the maze. The waves of energy began to vanish, but I still had an advantage. Alexis’s condition had worsened and she was an easy target.
Sparks rushed over my skin, burning some leaves on the way. I stopped, listening in, until the silence rang in my ears. I heard a movement on the other side of the green wall.
“Open!” I roared, throwing the fireball right across from where I stood. My heart made a happy dance in my chest that my abilities were still intact. My magic lashed out, burning a hole in the bushes. A second later I was staring straight into Alexis’s deformed face. It’d only been a couple of weeks, but now most of her skin was black, and it seemed burned out. It was difficult to tell if she was dying or she was rotting alive. She’d lost a lot of weight too, her green dress nearly hanging off her.
The pain in my left foot soared, but I kept a straight face.
“How did you find me? You stink of hell, which means you went down,” she asked, not appearing even slightly worried that I was planning to kill her. My lips curved in a nasty smile, and I called out the power again, but something was suddenly blocking it. Alexis tried to create a ball of light inside the centre of her palm, but she was in trouble too.
“Where is she? Where is my daughter, you coward?” I screamed, being inches away from launching myself at her.
She tossed her hair behind her, glancing around with a strained expression on her face.
“Safe for now. You won’t find her. She belongs to me now. She’s a royal baby that will give me unlimited power.” Alexis laughed, sounding like she had lost her mind, touching her black cheek.
I didn’t wait any longer. I jumped through the hole, supercharged and ready to use my bare hands to fight with her if that was necessary. Alexis started backing away as I bared my teeth.
She threw a red powder on me when I tried to grab her. Whatever magic it was, it fucked my eyes, and I suddenly couldn’t see a thing. My face was burning and I screamed in frustration. There was a knife in my hand, so I started waving it, hoping to stab the bitch. She laughed loudly, as I spun around.
The powder was burning my skin, and I screamed. Moments later I was in a different place. Alexis was gone and I could see again. She couldn’t have escaped. Suddenly I wasn’t standing inside the flawless maze but in an obscure square room with moulded walls. In the far corner I spotted a bed, and on it my daughter, Summer. I looked around, trying to find out where that stupid bitch was keeping her. There was a sofa in the middle with some blankets, chairs and old dining table. I wanted to rush to her and hold her, if only for a second, but it was another vision. My movements were limited. She didn’t seem to be in any distress, but she was flustered and the bedding was dirty. There was a view from the window, so I figured out that this was either the second or third floor. A moment later I was standing in the dim darkness looking from the roof terrace down on the water that surrounded the square black building, a sort of tower. Then I was on the edge of the cliff, looking at the steps that led down to the bottom of the hill.
The wind ruffled my hair and I concentrated, trying to focus on all the details. Then my vision went blurry again, and darkness sucked me in. Moments later I was back standing face-to-face with Alexis. She seemed confused herself, staring down at her skeleton hands. The time went back to normal, so I jabbed her arm with my knife. She hissed, and some blood dripped down on the grass. I was just about to stab her chest, but a split second later the bitch vanished. I lost my balance, as the earth underneath my feet started moving. I fell through the cracks, going down, until everything went dark.
I regained my consciousness sometime later, waking up with a dull headache. My body refused to obey me, so for a long moment I sat on the ground, trying to remember how to breathe. A young deer looked at me for a couple of suspenseful seconds, then disappeared behind the trees. Silence fell between me and nature, as my chest began rising and falling quickly.
Memories came back and I lifted myself off the wet ground. Confusion and disappointment washed over me. I almost had her, and then she was gone. I had no idea how she managed to use her magic inside the maze. Nothing was supposed to go wrong today, but in the end everything had.
“Matilda … Zach,” I whispered, tapping into my energy. Yes, it was back, floating through the surface of my skin. My eyes slowly began recognising the surroundings, the pond and cottage. I tried to sense Alexis or Matilda, but I was on my own. Zachary was somewhere here lying on the ground, unconscious. I had no idea how long I was stuck in the maze, but I had to find him. To me it was only a few minutes, but here several hours must have passed, because the sun had disappeared behind the horizon. It was getting dark. Every part of my body hurt like hell, but my foot looked the worst. It was swollen and I could hardly walk on it. The wolf that Zach killed was still there lying in the pool of blood. The animal was dead and its body began rotting away already.
With shaky legs and an even shakier head I walked around him, trying to figure out the magic that was used to enhance his abilities.
In moments like that I hated being only half demon. With fully developed abilities I could have reversed the spell and discovered the identity of the demon that sent the wolf after me. Alexis was involved, no doubt, but I really
wanted to know who was helping her.
My strength was going to regenerate slowly, but I had never been so pissed off in my entire life. That bitch had gotten away again. I was so damn close to ending her. Our connection allowed me to see through her. Maybe she escaped without getting what she wanted, but now I roughly knew where she was keeping Summer.
I used my sparkling fingers to navigate around the trees. My heart began jackhammering in my chest when I couldn’t sense Zach anywhere. He went flying just before I vanished in the maze. Maybe he woke up and panicked when he couldn’t find me.
“Zach, hey Zach! This isn’t funny, mate. You need to show yourself,” I shouted, trying to connect with his emotions, but he wasn’t responding.
Minutes were passing by, and it was getting darker. There was no way I was going to find him when it was completely dark and cold. I started walking around on my swollen foot, trying to stay positive. Alexis wouldn’t have taken him. Zach was useless to her, and besides, she had Matilda now too. The Warlock must have set traps around her house for demons or nosey Watchers. That could have easily explained the spells in the maze.
I was forced to rest on the trunk of a tree for a bit. Moments later I realised that someone was coming towards me. I saw flashlights first, then sensed three humans.
“Max, is that you?” asked the voice that automatically made me feel better. I got up slowly, seeing Zach with two strangers. They were all flashing their lights at me. Zach looked terrible; he had scratches all over and he was limping. His two companions were humans. I recognised one of them from the pub in the village.
The pain made me dizzy for a split second, but I jumped straight into his arms and started hugging him like there was no tomorrow. Everything was suddenly better when his scent overwhelmed me and I was nudging my nose into the crook of his neck.
I had never been very good with displays of affection, but I was so happy that he was all right.
“Wow, Max, are you all right? I have been looking for you for hours,” Zach said, wrapping his strong hands around my waist, sending small shivers over my body.
“I’m fine. Something happened and I woke up here,” I explained, finally realising that the humans were staring at us. The older guy grinned at me. Of course, even after two years he remembered me.
“This is Gerald and Mathew,” Zach introduced us, scratching his head. “I’m glad that you’re all right. We have been walking around the forest for hours, trying to find you.”
I assured him that I was fine and then spoke to Mat for a bit. He asked about Ronan. Apparently no one in the village had seen him for weeks. Locals were worried that something happened to him. I didn’t know what to say, so I explained that I hadn’t been in touch with him since I went back to London
They wanted to walk with us to the train station, but Zachary assured them that this was unnecessary. We chatted for a bit longer and finally they went back towards the village.
It took me a little while to tell Zach what happened after he was hit with my spell that was intended for Alexis. This could have been so much worse, but it seemed that besides some scratches and bruises Zach was okay. He didn’t let me to see his leg.
“This is fucked up. Someone must have known that we were going to be here. Alexis was warned. Do you think that she set that wolf on us?” Zach asked, pacing around.
“Probably, but someone definitely enhanced its abilities. We can’t dwell on it. We need to go back to the cottage. Alexis was searching for something there,” I told him, feeling overwhelmed with emotions. Summer was all alone in that tower, and my time was running out.
“I’m sorry that she escaped,” Zach said, when we entered the house. “I knew that you were hoping to see your daughter.”
I nodded, swallowing the tears. I couldn’t cry, the tears wouldn’t change anything. Morpheus had given me the right information, but I kept failing. Alexis couldn’t have known that I tricked her own sister. She had no connection with hell. There was another demon that was helping her.
“So what exactly are we looking for?” Zach asked, when we went inside the cottage again.
“Matilda was hiding something in here. Alexis vanished, even in the maze that was supposed to block her abilities. Just look around, go through drawers in the rooms. There must be something here that we missed,” I explained. Zach had most likely no idea what I was talking about, so I asked him to look for any books or potions that Matilda had left behind.
Her storage was almost empty, and I presumed that she must have emptied it out before she left. My hands were shaking when I searched through her bedroom. It was a violation of her privacy, but Alexis came here for a reason. The wolf was a distraction; she must have used a complicated spell to charm the wolf in order to keep us busy.
I threw all Matilda’s clothes on the bed, biting my lip and wondering what else there was for me to find. Frustration was taking its toll. I went to the smallest room and started rummaging through the drawers until my foot stood on a box.
I picked it up and opened it. The box was empty. On the top was the symbol of a snake with some Latin writing. My heart skipped a beat, then began racing again. I stood in Matilda’s spare bedroom realising very fast that Alexis had gotten what she needed. A special present from Lucifer himself. A Rubella necklace that allowed her to travel to different parts of the underworld. That only meant one thing. She was more out of reach than I ever thought.
Chapter 23
“In all of Hell, through every murky ring, I saw no spirit facing God so proud, even that king flung down from Theban walls.” ―Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
I tossed the box away, angry that Alexis had tricked me. The wolf was supposed to keep us away from the cottage. I should have looked through Matilda’s things as soon I got there, then all the drama could have been avoided. Summer was alone. Alexis still had no idea how to wake her up, but she had a Rubella necklace and that changed everything. Her demonic soul was falling apart, which meant that she was desperate enough to arrange the healing ritual quicker than she planned.
By the time I got downstairs my head was banging loudly. Zach was standing by the window. There was stack of demonic books on the table.
“We have to go back to London. Alexis has a Rubella necklace, which means she can travel down to hell without being noticed,” I said, rushing outside and taking a deep breath in order to calm my nerves. I had to keep going no matter what. Zachary needed to find the way to bring Zara back and reunite her with Cornelia. It couldn’t end like this. There were still other options worth pursuing.
“We won’t stay here, that’s for sure, but maybe we should head out in the morning?”
“No, the last train leaves soon. I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“Whatever, Flower, I’m with you a hundred percent, but maybe it’s time to get help,” he advised, thinking that we were slowly losing this battle. Alexis hadn’t won yet. She was still dying.
“No, I’ll have a new plan by the time we get back to Victoria,” I said. Zach didn’t know that I was already getting help from the demon that would take my soul in the end. There was also Arthur. I made him a promise that I couldn’t even keep. The question remained—how much time would he be willing to give me to bring Summer to him?
In the end we agreed to head out in the morning. We were both exhausted and walking through the dark forest in the middle of the night wasn’t the wisest of choices. Zachary slept, but I kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep, going over what happened earlier. In the morning we walked back to the train station. The detective had damaged the muscle in his leg. He was in pain, but refused the trip to the hospital. I treated my injuries with potions.
“Please save it, Flower. I’ll recover at home,” he told me as we boarded the train.
The trip back was exhausting. The train was filled with too many humans and I was overloaded with their emotions. A few demons were staring bluntly at me when we approached London Victoria station. Ricky’s
situation was still pretty much unresolved too and I had no news for Emma. I kept rubbing my head, considering other options, pushing myself not to give up just yet. Morpheus had to stick to his word and help me. I needed to get in touch with him again.
“Max, I think we have a problem,” Zach said when we were approaching the exit gate on the platform. I was too distracted to worry about demons around me. I felt under pressure, unable to understand why I kept failing.
“They keep staring, they always do,” I sighed, knowing that Zach was referring to humans that were probably noticing us more than usual. Sometimes after an outburst of my power, I brought a lot more attention to myself than anyone else.
“Maxine Brodeur?” asked someone blocking my path. I finally lifted my eyes and realised that at least three Watchers were blocking my way off the platform. Zach was quickly surrounded by others too. A tall Watcher with long dark hair shoved a badge into his face. I looked around, considering running, but there were too many humans standing in the way. To them Watchers appeared to be part of the police task force, so no one would dare to interfere with them. After all the time that Zach had spent with me, he knew that it was just a cover. That’s why he was making so much noise. Internally they dealt with demons that were in violation of protocol and as far as I was concerned I had done nothing wrong.
“Yes, what the fuck do you want?” I asked, wondering if maybe Ricky’s condition had worsened and they showed up here acting as the messengers of bad news. Watchers didn’t normally arrest demons in public places. They were very vigilant about security, so this seemed very strange.
The three Watchers looked very believable: they all were very muscular, hairy and their extensive magic told me that I wouldn’t stand a chance fighting them. Besides, I would have been silly even attempting to use my energy in such a busy place filled with hundreds of humans.
Doomed Cases Series (1-3) Demonic Triangle Diabolical Quest Infernal Initiation Page 62