by Ciara Graves
“And you don’t know where that might be?”
Several locations came to mind, but the chances of Hadariel using them were slim. Most of those had been destroyed in the early days of the war. They were beyond saving, not that we had the manpower to save them, what with rifts opening constantly. So many years had been wasted fighting the wrong enemy. If only we’d stopped long enough to see the truth in front of us, Hadariel might never have grown this formidable.
“Sadly, no. I’m not that old to remember all the sacred grounds,” I said, my words tinged with regret.
“You sure about that?” he teased.
I shot him a narrow-eyed look. “Damn. Thanks for that one, really, because I’m not already having a shitty day.”
“You did that to yourself.”
He was right, but it didn’t stop me from using my good foot to trip him as we made it inside the infirmary. He almost toppled over, and I laughed as he righted himself at the last second. I reached a bed and sat down. Bryan hung around as the human medic went to work patching up my leg.
I had a good three days until Mech would be coming back from Hell. Hopefully, by then the bruises would have faded enough for him not to notice. I could hide the injury on my leg well enough. He never had to know.
Chapter 3
Mech
I tracked down Bailey the second I was awake. I’d fallen asleep in my old quarters in the barracks. Bobby and Kexan hung around late into the night. My meeting with the other demon lords had been short, especially since three of them were on the surface. Mostly, they wanted to pass on their condolences for Koreth, and to remind me that I was now a demon lord, which meant there was no going back to my old life. I hadn’t needed the reminder of how much my reality had changed, but I let them give me whatever advice they thought might help.
I hadn’t really listened. My mind was too focused on Lela and getting back to the surface. When I questioned the lords about her plans, none of them fessed up to what she was plotting.
I’d nearly headed back to the surface right then, until Bobby and Kexan distracted me. I knew what they were doing but let them have the win. One more night, I only had to wait one more night, and now it was finally morning.
I stepped out of my chambers, noticing two guards were posted outside the door. I hardly paid them any attention until they fell in line behind me.
When two more joined them as I exited the barracks, I spun around. “Alright, what’s this about?”
“My lord?” The two guards exchanged a brief glance. The one who spoke was Travis. “Nothing, my lord.”
“Nothing. Who told you to stand guard outside my door?”
“No one, my lord.”
I clenched my jaw. “Can you stop calling me that?” Before they would address me as such, but we all knew it was because I was the son of a demon lord. Now, I was one. I wasn’t quite happy about the change yet. Each time they said it was just another reminder that Koreth was never coming back.
“Sorry, Mech,” Travis replied this time.
“Fine, now who told you I needed guards?”
Travis cleared his throat. “Sir, it is our duty to keep the Demon Lord of Olem safe whenever he is here. We used to protect your father. Now, we’ll guard you.” His words seemed to catch, and he coughed harshly. “We’re sorry we couldn’t save him.”
I tensed and barely managed a nod. “You weren’t there, Travis. You couldn’t have saved him. No one could.” I flinched when I envisioned Koreth being killed all over again. I waited a beat for the image to fade. “I’m looking for Bailey. Where is she?” I had to get back to the surface and my head into this war. It wasn’t over, not yet. There’d be time to mourn and grieve, and potentially go insane, later.
Right now, Lela needed me with my head on straight.
We had an angel to hunt and a mad beast to destroy. Travis told me Bailey was in the infirmary, and we headed for the main fortress. Every demon I passed bowed or saluted. Many of them had looks of regret on their faces. After a while, I stopped nodding to them and focused on getting to Bailey.
Bobby and Kexan weren’t around, and when I asked Travis about them, he said they had returned to the surface that morning per the request of Commander Lela. I smiled. Lela giving orders to a demon and a zombie. A few weeks ago, she would’ve been more likely to kill them. The need to get back to her side grew, and I picked up the pace, almost running to the infirmary. Travis and the other guard, I wasn’t aware of his name yet, hustled to keep up. I burst through the double doors to find Bailey standing there with her arms folded as if she was waiting for me.
“You’re late.”
“You going to let me leave my own realm or what?” I questioned.
She worked her jaw as her arms fell. “I would suggest you remain down here several more days, but I can tell that isn’t an option for you so yes, you have my permission to leave Olem, my lord.”
Hearing the words come from Bailey today hit me like a kick to the gut. She had been one of Koreth’s closest friends, especially after my mother died. His death must’ve hit her hard, but she wouldn’t let anyone know. That’s just who she was.
“Thank you.”
“If you start feeling weak, you’re to return immediately,” she ordered. “No arguing with me.”
“Whatever you say.”
She growled, annoyed, and shooed me out of the infirmary. “Get out of here, Mech. Now.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. I spun around and my new entourage of bodyguards followed me to the courtyard. I lifted my hand to create a portal, but Travis stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
“Allow me. You should continue to conserve your strength.”
“Won’t be doing much of that soon.”
Travis stepped back as a portal expanded before us, the flames flicking out to reach the demon who created them. “Maybe not, but every little bit helps, right?”
I started to step through, then stopped. “I’ll expect you two to be here when I return,” I said, using the same firm tone Koreth had with the guards. I used to give him shit about it, but as soon as I gave the order, Travis and the other guards stood straighter.
“Yes, my lord,” Travis replied.
Running from my new life wasn’t an option. I was Demon Lord of Olem. No way around it. I stepped through the portal without another glance back and lingered for a moment in the dark in-between. I wanted to meet with the other three demon lords soon. That was also on my agenda today. According to Kexan, two or three were always in Dakota to help keep an eye on our new base of operations on the surface. They were taking no chances of either Zeraxin or Hadariel making a surprise attack. The way he said it told me he was keeping a shit ton of intel from me. I wondered how different the compound had changed in the week I’d been absent. Slowly, I stepped out the other side of the portal.
“Well, shit,” I mumbled to myself as I took in my surroundings.
The walls were double the height they’d been before. Rows of barbed wire glistening with hellfire lined them. More watchtowers were in place, each one with several humans or demons stationed inside. The main buildings had been repaired, and many appeared to have steel doors and shutters to help against an invasion.
Lela and the demon lords were not playing around.
I wandered aimlessly down the streets that had been cleared of debris. Most of the faces I passed were smiling. Not cheerful and carefree, but optimistic. The energy was contagious and the grogginess that had clung to me since I awoke quickly dissipated. A structure to my right had four guards stationed outside. The demons waved at me when I approached.
“What is this building now?” I asked.
“Armory, my lord,” a demon with a bright red mohawk said. “Fully stocked. I’d like to see those bastards attack us now.”
I peered past them into the room, catching sight of racks of rifles, shotguns, and swords. I was tempted to go inside and see what else was there but resisted. “Where is Commander Lela
?”
“Town Hall, if she’s not at your place, my lord,” the same demon said.
“Thank you.” I backed away from the armory and headed for what had become our place. Unlike the first time I’d brought Lela there, the front doors were more than shattered wooden planks. Two guards were also placed outside, one human and one demon. “She here?” I asked when I neared.
“No, sir. She’s at Town Hall with Lord Ilran,” the man replied.
So Ilran was here. Good. I’d like to know what trouble she and Lela had been getting into behind my back. “What other demon lords are present?”
The man frowned and glanced to the demon. She scrunched her face for a moment. “Ah, that’d be Muz and Gath, my lord.”
I nodded slowly, then asked for their names. The man was Xavier and the demon Melinda. “Are you two stationed here all the time?”
“Yes, sir, unless Commander Lela has other orders for us. We take it in shifts with others,” Melinda informed me.
“Right, thank you.” I wasn’t sure what else to say so I continued toward Town Hall. Dakota had certainly changed. It sounded as if Lela was back to her old self, too. I’d take that as a good sign.
A group of kids rushed past me, one of them yelling after the others that he wouldn’t be it forever. I stilled, letting them swarm around me, then kept going. I recognized many of their young faces as kids I’d saved from other compounds and outposts. There was so much hope in their eyes for a future not focused on war. We had to end this fight, if not for ourselves, then for the next generations.
A startling image of Lela, holding a baby, our baby, appeared in my mind. That future seemed so out of reach. I never saw myself as having a family. With Lela in my life now, that had changed. We couldn’t let the world plunge into darkness.
Familiar faces passed by once I got going again, all of them asking how I was doing. I only stayed long enough to give them short answers, then went on my way.
Town Hall came into view around the next block. Guards I recognized from the realms of Hell hung around the main doors. They stepped aside at my approach. One asked if he should tell the others I was here, but I shook my head. Lela hadn’t expected me to be back so soon. It’d be nice to surprise her.
I walked through both sets of double doors and nodded to the other guards inside the main hall. I leaned against the back wall, watching. In the center of the room stood Ilran, decked out in black chainmail and red silk, looking exactly as I expected her to at a time like this. A map projected off the table, and she manipulated it as she spoke. But it wasn’t Ilran my gaze stayed on.
The woman standing across from her was a sight I’d worried I’d never see again. Lela wore black leather pants, knee-high boots that hugged her calves, and a dark, tight long-sleeve shirt. Holstered at her back was a shotgun and she had a set of daggers sheathed at her hips. She had on random bits of chainmail and leather armor at her shoulders and down to her elbows. Silver vanguards protected her forearms, etched with symbols of Hell and infused with fire, judging from the subtle orange-red glow they gave off. Her hair was pulled back in a tight braid that hung down her back. This was a battle-ready Lela. My gut clenched, uneasy at the sight.
Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I was ready for her to be Commander Lela again. The future I’d pictured disappeared in an instant. In its place was an image of Lela’s dead body.
“They’ve picked up the pace,” Bryan said, drawing me from my darkening thoughts. He stood next to Ilran and pointed to the map. “We’ve got two days, three if we’re lucky.”
“Then let’s hope we’re lucky,” Ilran muttered. “Unless you’ve had a breakthrough?”
“No,” Lela responded with a heavy sigh. “It starts to work, but then it just gives out. We need more time.”
“Hate to tell you, but we’re out of time, Commander.” Bryan twisted the map and zoomed in.
The sight that appeared had me pushing off the wall.
Bryan continued, “They’ve broken into three groups. They’re going to surround us, and even with the new fortifications, I’m not sure how long we can withstand a full siege.”
“We could evac the humans,” Ilran suggested.
“To what end?” Lela shook her head, hands firmly planted on the table. “If humans remain on the surface, they’ll always be in danger.”
“Then what do you want us to do?”
“I don’t know. Without knowing where Hadariel’s taking the angels, we can’t shut it down.”
“And you still think that’s where the main source of power is?”
“It would make sense. He called it sacred ground. If we can figure out where it is, we can stop it from activating and find a way for all demons to access your hellfire. Be nice if we could just remember.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Unless anyone else has any better ideas.”
“And the shields?” Bryan asked. “Do you know why they’re failing?”
“Not yet, no. We’ll work around the clock until we get it to work. And if not, then I suggest we start preparing for the worst. That army’s going to be on top of us whether we succeed or not.”
“I’ll see to it the demon lords continue to search for the source of our hellfire,” Ilran assured Lela. “We might not be able to remember, but there has to be some scrap of information about it. Something to jar our memories.”
“You don’t think it’s just because you weren’t meant to know?” Bryan asked. “To prevent evil or a corrupt demon lord from accessing it maybe?”
“Or an angel,” Lela added darkly.
Lela’s eyes took on a calculating look. “No, it’s the same with the holy light. We should know where our power comes from. And when I try to remember, there’s a haze… almost like I see the place through a veil of some kind.”
“What do you mean? Are you saying your power comes from the same place?” Bryan asked, sounding surprised.
Lela glanced to Ilran. “Demons and angels, we’re not so different, not really. The details are fuzzy to me, just like the memory, but yeah, our powers come from the same location. It’s why I don’t understand how all angels have access to holy light, but hellfire only works for some demons. I’m telling you, Hadariel did something to mess it up. To block it from you somehow,” she said, the last to Ilran.
“Muz has been working to clear the fog from our memories, but obviously she hasn’t found a way around it yet. If any healer can do it, she can.”
“If they come from the same source, does that make them the same?”
Ilran and Lela seemed unsure of how to answer Bryan’s question. I was right along with them. Our race had been placed on this earth to care for the souls of the damned. Our counterparts, in turn, cared for the souls of the living and saw to it they found peace once they moved on. Part of me sensed there was more to it than that, but the strangest sensation of trying to peer through a fogged window filled my mind. Why couldn’t I remember? We knew where our power came from; all of us did. And just like Lela said, I couldn’t see a damned thing. Were they the same, though? I never heard of a demon using holy light, or an angel using hellfire.
I was going to step forward and let Lela know I’d returned. The conversation had reached the point I couldn’t simply stand by and listen any longer when Lela shifted her weight. The second her other heel hit the floor, she grimaced and grabbed at the table.
“Told you, you shouldn’t be standing on it yet,” Ilran told her with a scowl.
“Don’t want to hear it.”
“Bring Commander Lela a chair,” Ilran ordered.
Lela held up her hand and turned to the demon about to do it. “Said I’m fine.”
The light caught her neck.
A harsh growl reverberated off the walls. Purple and black bruises covered the skin at Lela’s neck. I could hardly see any unmarred skin. She had not looked like that when she left Hell yesterday. Every face in the room turned toward me as I continued to growl.
Every face except Lela’s.
&nb
sp; She stared at the map as if her life depended on it. I strode through the demons toward the table. Bryan gave me a sheepish grin, which I disregarded. Ilran crossed her arms, eyes darting from me to Lela as if to say, “I told you so.” Lela made no indication she saw the look at all. Her hands gripped the edge of the table so hard, if she was still an angel, it would’ve broken.
“Can you please explain to me why you’re wounded?” Each word was punctuated with a growl as it left my mouth. A strained hush fell over the room as she refused to look at me. “Lela, answer me.”
“Can we talk about this later?”
“No, we’re talking about it right now.”
Lela tried to shift her weight again, but when her right foot touched the floor, she grimaced, and I let out another furious snarl.
“Oh, shut up,” she snapped, and my brow shot up. “Don’t stand there and go all caveman mode on me because I got hurt.”
“You are not supposed to be putting yourself in dangerous situations, remember?”
“We’re in a war, Mech. In case you forgot while you were knocked out and in Hell for six days because you nearly died.” She stomped toward me, or limped rather, and shoved me so hard I staggered back. “I told you before, I will not sit on the sidelines while others fight.” She swallowed, and that seemed to cause her pain, too.
“Out,” I said quietly, then cleared my throat. “Everyone out,” I shouted, pointing at Ilran and Bryan, “except you two.”
“You’re overreacting.”
“Actually, he’s not,” Ilran spoke up. “I told you this would happen.”
“If I died,” Lela corrected harshly, and I tensed.
“Died? Why were you two talking about if you died? What did you do?”
The demons and humans exited the hall. Except for Ilran and Bryan. The doors slammed shut behind them. The sound boomed through the suddenly silent room. I waited impatiently for Lela to answer my question, but all she did was stare me down. How did she not understand what this was doing to me? We were entwined; that’s how it worked for demons. If anything happened to her, it would be the end of me. That, and if I was Demon Lord of Olem, then one day she would become what essentially amounted to my queen. I would not stand by while she carelessly risked her life.
