by Antara Mann
The guys’ chanting in the other corner of the basement grew louder, though it was still more of a humming than actual chanting.
“I have to thank you for taking the bait, my dear. Finding a goddess’ heart is pretty difficult, but you proved to be very useful. Many, many thanks.” He smiled again viciously.
A goddess’ heart? What? This guy thought I was a goddess?! He was even crazier than I’d imagined.
No, he is not lying. You’re truly a half-goddess, my inner voice chimed in.
I almost choked. What? How is that even possible?
Now is not the time for a heart-to-heart talk, sweetheart, the voice said.
I cleared my throat and tried hard to gather my thoughts before I said, “I don’t know why I am surprised at all: I knew there was something fishy about Desmond, his occult shop, and that coven of his. Though, I have to admit, I didn’t think you were involved in this insanity too. Did Desmond lure you in, or possess you?”
The guy smirked at me, the veil of his ordinary human aura suddenly tearing off. And then I felt it: His magic came to me, powerful, sinister, and overwhelming. It scorched my skin and I tasted something vile in the back of my throat, as if someone had poured a concoction of poison mixed with bile into my mouth. I felt filthy just by association. His magic burned deeper inside me and I choked.
“You’re so ignorant, aren’t you?” he croaked with delight. “Desmond has been quite a good disguise — his natural human energy is somewhat dark, but make no mistake: He is not of my caliber, nor does he belong to our order. I knew from the moment I met him that you’d suspect him and forget about all other leads. The mind, be it human or supernatural, is an amazing thing, isn’t it?”
This guy loved to hear himself talk. Too bad he couldn’t see his own viciousness. I asked him, “So, Desmond isn’t involved in all this?”
“Nope. Disappointed, aren’t you?” He mocked me. “That was all part of the grand plan. I know that a goddess, even a half-goddess like yourself, has powerful magic and can feel other supernaturals’ magic too. I had to go undercover and block my magic, and Desmond’s dark energy came to my aid. I daresay I did pretty well, since you were oblivious to my true nature up till now.” He chuckled, and the urge to punch him and wipe the smile off his stupid face overwhelmed me.
“Well, congratulations, you are a genius… uh, what was your name? Whatever, you can be proud of yourself — you had me fooled,” I remarked sarcastically.
“Which name? My human or magical one?” he snickered at me, then added, “Desmond knows me as Garrett, Garrett O’Brien. So nice to meet you, goddess.”
The desire to vomit welled up again, but I suppressed it and tried to focus on getting out of here alive. There was too much iron around me to apply Kagan’s advice, unless I wanted the whole space to collapse around us. Besides, the amount of iron would cause me a hell of a lot of pain. My healing power was at its peak, true, but I didn’t want to tempt fate. I had to find a way out of this and I needed help.
Please help me, I begged my inner voice mentally.
So, now you need me? it taunted me.
Yes, I do, please!
Okay, okay. Buy us time, Alex. Distract him, I’ll handle it, the voice replied.
I turned to the man and said, “Your behavior is truly remarkable, Garrett, but why? What’s the purpose? I don’t still see what you gained by killing the bank manager, Mr. Stone. And what about the poor homeless guy?”
I didn’t actually expect him to answer me, but I had to try anyway. The chanting was noticeably louder by now. The sound of it wasn’t benign: My skin felt as if someone was piercing it with multiple small needles. They burned my skin and the pain in my stomach and head intensified.
Garrett stepped closer to me, now only a few inches away from my face. His dark, rotten magic washed over me stronger than before, and now I wished I had fainted. Never before had I tasted such obnoxious magic. Even the demon-powered vampires weren’t as bad as Garrett’s power. Suddenly, the energy of suffering, terror, and unknown wicked crimes surged inside me. His magic sounded like madness — the screams of insane asylum patients or the evil cackling of an old witch. I bet even Baba Yaga wouldn’t be able to muster such sinister laughter. I tried to jerk myself free, but the shackles bound me tight. He gripped my face and his vile magic pounded inside my mind, my body convulsing. The pain was like hundreds of burning cigarettes pressed into my skin.
“And why would I want to tell you that, sweetheart?” he whispered in a tone of innocence.
It took a great deal of power to answer him. “Maybe,” I coughed, “because it’s the least you can do.” I took a deep breath and continued, “After all you’re going to butcher me and sacrifice my heart. Without me, you won’t be able to complete your sacrifice ritual.”
He seemed to consider my words and took a few steps backwards. Thank magic! I instantly felt a bit better. Finally he conceded, “I have to admit, you have a point. You’re going to die anyway, so why not share our ingenious plan with the person primarily responsible for its fulfillment?” He laughed again, and the sound gave me goosebumps. “But I have one condition.” He approached me again and I braced myself for the worst — his touch and his rotten, sick magic.
“What condition?” I asked cautiously.
He regarded me and said, “A very small one. I’d like to know your mother’s name.” He held my gaze and warning lights started flashing inside my head, sending the message: This is trouble. I didn’t pay attention, though.
“Why?” I asked suspiciously.
“Because I might have known her.”
Oh, no — no way. This was an absolutely taboo topic.
Buy us time, Alex! pleaded the voice in my head. The chanting in the chamber had grown even louder and flames of dark brown with a purplish cast were steaming out of the cauldron in which the potion was being prepared. The vapors looked more like shadows on the walls than anything else, dark and eerie, and they intensified the feeling of foreboding in the pit of my stomach.
Hurry up, I said to the voice in my mind.
“So, what is your decision? Are you going to tell me your mother’s name?”
I swallowed hard. “Okay, but first you’ll have to tell me why you killed those two people. I know the bones of your plan but not the flesh of it. And why are you intending to kill me?”
He sighed. “Because someone has to do it, genius.” He waved his hand in the air. “The true order has to be restored.”
I gaped at him. “What?”
He sighed and said with annoyance, “Don’t you see? The world is terribly mixed up — good coexists with evil, and both energies often tolerate each other. The worst, though, is that everyone accepts this situation. Most aren’t even aware of it. This is completely wrong. Evil is the true master and its demonic nature will soon rule over the world. As my master says, ‘Let darkness prevail all over the worlds.’”
I shivered at the ardor and feverish excitement in his voice. This must be why his magic tasted so rotten. I’ve never subscribed to the theory of sin, but if sin existed and had a flavor, it would taste like this guy’s magic. Garrett was so wrapped up in his maniacal zeal that he didn’t notice the disgust written on my face.
So much the better. Buy us some more time. It’s more difficult than I thought, the voice in my head said.
Garrett continued, saying, “Kai, of course, is aware of this. He himself made a prophecy many centuries ago, even prior to the war between demons and gods. He said, ‘In eight thousand years my kingdom will come on earth. There shall be no more gods, no fae, nor any other supernaturals that exist in the universe we now know — the true master will subdue them all. Our Lord shall reign over the world of the humans and over our own. No longer will we hide from humans, nor be ashamed of our magic nature; the humans will serve us, and fear us, for they have no magic in them and are of a lower nature.’” He was speaking fanatically, as if reciting some scriptures — demonic scriptures? — his eye
s gleaming with religious fervor.
So Kai was behind all this after all? I suppressed my snarky comment about him saying humans were ‘of a lower nature,’ and said, “So you are following Kai’s explicit bidding then? These are all his orders?”
Garrett shook his head and smiled in his evil way. Even just the sight of his smile made my stomach churn.
“No, he would never break his word. Quite a few demons have tried in the past to persuade him to impose his rule and order. ‘Why wait so many thousands of years when hell can shower upon earth right now?’ they said. He wouldn’t listen, though. His reply has always been, ‘All in good time.’ And that’s why we had to intervene. That fool Kai sticks to the agreements he once made with the Morrigan and the rest of the Court of Heaven. Who cares what gods want? Their powers and influence will vanish soon, anyway.”
So Garrett was a rebel — a rebel against Kai, the chief of demons. Hmm, interesting.
“Your master is someone else, then? Another demon? An incubus maybe?” I suggested, though this seemed rather unlikely.
A smug smile danced across his face. “No, Alex, no. Incubi are minor demons with inferior magic — how did you pass your Magica Academy exams? Cheating, huh? How wicked of you.” He smirked at me. “I serve an inferni.” He said it with great pride and something even more powerful — awe.
Inferni? Oh, hell no! That was bad, bad, extremely bad! Inferni were the worst kind of demons, extremely potent and wicked, even by Kai’s standards. That was why he had most of them locked up in a separate prison in Hell, known as the Inferno. Brendan had told me about it. It was much, much worse than any ordinary hell.
“And who is that?” I croaked fearfully.
Garrett smiled menacingly and commanded, “Tell me about your mother. I already answered your question.”
“No, you haven’t. I still don’t know why you killed those two men.”
“Oh, Alex — isn’t it obvious? Don't you smell the answer in the air?” He snickered and I stared at him. The scent of the magical potion from the far corner was suddenly strong in my nose, and I remembered: Three people’s deaths, and their blood had to be added into the mixture for the ritual to be completed.
“So you took their blood for this ritual, did you?”
“Yes, that was the point. Daniel was one of my human minions. The occult shop Magica World is a cover. I was searching for ways to settle here in your home town so I could get closer to you, when I came upon Desmond. He wanted to open an occult shop and I sponsored him. I let him be in charge so I wouldn’t attract attention. Through the coven I recruited more serious and ambitious people interested in the dark arts, and occult practitioners, the wannabe magicians,” he chuckled. “Most of them are useless, of course. They have no magic, but they serve me dutifully and do whatever I bid them. Like my boy, Paul, whom you’re already familiar with, right?” He pointed to one of the figures in the far corner near the cauldron. They had started dancing in trance, their eyes glowing in feverish fanaticism, singing in high-pitched voices. They were oblivious to us and the room they were in, completely out of this world.
Garrett went on, “Daniel served me well, it’s true. But he got too greedy for superpowers and magic. I had to get rid of him, and decided to sacrifice him. In any case, we needed three innocent deaths and their blood, and he qualified for one. He should have felt honored. As for the tramp, he was randomly picked. I needed another innocent death. The only thing we had to be careful about, was to hide his death body in a dumpster, so that the news of his murder wouldn’t come out before the meeting between gods and demons at the Veil. And if you ask me why — which you will do anyway — it was because had Kai learned about that vagrant’s murder, he wouldn’t have been so mad at the Morrigan and the rest of the Court of Heaven.”
I was feverishly processing all the information he told me and finally asked him, “I don’t see how Daniel was innocent.”
Garrett waved his hand depreciatingly. “Oh, please. He never did anything truly wicked; I just brought him to the Hellfire Club a few times, that’s all. He kept pressing me to initiate him into the dark arts so I gave him a book on sorcery. But he was still innocent and nonmagical.”
“Unlike you,” I remarked, thinking to myself that his definition of wicked had to be creative, considering his own crimes.
Garrett grinned and ran his hand down my neck. His evil magic surged through my skin and senses, suffocating me. I gasped for air, and the bastard laughed. Clearly he was enjoying this — it was his version of fun. He dropped his hand and I took a deep breath.
“As they say, you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, you know that. Now,” he ordered, “answer my question, Alex: Who’s your mother?”
The lump at the back of my throat tightened and I swallowed hard.
How much more time do you need? Can I blast this guy yet? I asked my inner voice.
I’m nearly done. However, I suggest you listen to his story. There is something much bigger at play here. That inferni business is worrisome. I had to agree with the voice.
A sudden slap across my face brought me back to the present situation. “Inferno, calling Alex,” Garrett said, and chuckled.
I cursed. Was it really so noticeable when I had a conversation with myself?
“I just feel sad for the poor people you slaughtered — they didn’t deserve their miserable ends,” I lied.
“You fools. Good is blinding you and making you weak,” he bellowed. “Can’t you see that humans don’t deserve to live among us at all? Their numbers need to be greatly reduced, and those we leave alive will serve us. Now, answer me before I lose my patience — who is your mother?” He leaned in, only inches away from my face.
I instinctively recoiled, but I felt how my magic had built a shield between us: His magic didn’t make me feel nauseated any longer. In fact, it didn’t affect me at all.
We’re done, my voice chimed in gleefully.
At last!
“I never knew my mother, unfortunately. I saw her perhaps once every two or three months. She never said what she was doing or where she lived. The only thing I know about her is her name: Andred. That’s what she called herself. She always looked so young: not more than twenty-five, and sometimes I thought she must be immortal. I last saw her when I was barely seventeen years old. That’s all I know about her.”
He took a step backwards and mumbled to himself, barely audible over the chanting of his minions at the back of the basement.
“So I really found her. Andred’s very own blood!” Then he turned to me and said, in a louder voice, “How old are you?”
“I’ll be twenty-five in two months’ time.”
His face beamed. “I am so sorry you won’t live to see your twenty-fifth birthday, but if it’s any consolation for you, I knew your mother. Her name was Andred, a warrior goddess. And isn’t this a twist of fate — eight years ago I had to kill her, now I have to kill her daughter, too.” He laughed and his white teeth shone.
My heart raced, the blood pounding in my ears. I didn’t care about anything at that moment other than my need to wipe this fucking sorcerer — or whatever he was — off the face of earth.
“You bastard!” I yelled, ready to blast him with the biggest fireball I could summon.
Calm down, Alex. Don’t lose your temper before he spills the beans. The Magic Council and both courts, even Kai, they all need to know what — The voice tried to reason with me, but I shouted back at it in my mind.
I don’t care! I want to kill this bastard! My mother probably suffered a more gruesome death than he will!
You’ll kill him when the time is right, but now, be sensible, child. There was truth in what my inner voice said, even though I didn’t want to admit it. I was overcome with revulsion for Garrett.
I made a tremendous effort to pull myself together, and to sound calm when I said, “So, I am indeed a half-goddess, then. Congratulations! First the mother, then the daughter.” And I spat i
n his face.
As I expected, he recoiled. The smile fell away from his face. His eyes were again cold, piercing, and cruel. He stepped closer to me and punched me straight in the mouth with all his strength. Pain hit me, though not as strong as I would have expected from the blow. Apparently my inner voice had summoned all my magic, using it as a shield. Realization hit me: Was this magic part of my goddess power?
I tasted blood in my mouth — the punch had split my lip and blood was running down my chin. I had to figure out this half-goddess business, but I’d leave it for later. Right now I had to make it out of here alive.
“Bitch!” he yelled. “Fucking goddess scum! I’ve always hated gods, but you are the worst of them all!” He delivered another blow to my face and the flow of blood intensified, and a throbbing pain began pounding inside my head. However, I didn’t feel any weaker.
“That should teach you some manners, bitch, before you meet your pathetic end,” he chuckled, the maniac glow in his eyes back. “You are pretty hard-headed for someone who never learned to use her special magic. Poor creature: Having the powers of a goddess, but the old fool Awen hasn’t even taught you how to use them. He even hid the fact you were a goddess, am I right?”
“How do you know about Awen?” My tremor was back. It horrified me that Garrett knew about Awen. My mentor was everything to me: My mother, father, friend, and teacher. I couldn’t allow anything bad to happen to him. True, he was very experienced and powerful, but this inferni business was extremely dangerous.
“Tut-tut, Alex. Do you think I’m stupid? I’ve been searching for you for quite a long time. Your mother made it very difficult to find you. She was protecting you from us — can you imagine it? I’ve been searching you for years and finally I found the traces of a teenage girl who fit the description of Andred’s daughter. That’s why I had to work with that fool Desmond and fund his occult shop. It wasn’t just for recruitment of obedient minions. This way I could spy on you and get a better look at your abilities and magic. I wanted to make sure you were indeed a goddess, Andred’s very own blood. It was hard to judge by just observing you, although my instincts told me you were indeed a half-goddess. But I had to see you in action, in a fight. When you went to the Hellfire Club, I sent two of my dark wizards to test you. And you didn’t disappoint me.” He smiled and pressed hard on my cheekbone. Thank magic, my shield was protecting me.
