“We both know that I do care about you and the business so shut your bloody mouth. I’ll be there soon. Just use compulsion to keep the humans there,” I snapped through gritted teeth and hung up, feeling like my anger was getting out of control, and that was a bad sign. I felt bad about arguing with Ricky. He only looked out for me, and it was my fault for being late. After all, we were running a business partnership.
Two bulky men passed the building that I was in, stopped, and glanced in my direction, probably aware of sudden demonic energy, the inhuman power. The problem was, that most humans could sense that something was wrong. They might have been weak, but they weren’t stupid.
I closed my eyes quickly and took two deep breaths, swallowing the violent fury and remembering the reasons I’d made that difficult and painful decision twelve months ago. It was never really a choice. It was my only option and I had to do it alone; he didn’t deserve to know the truth.
I shivered with the cold and put my hood over my head. When I came out of the building, I shoved my mobile into my back pocket, picking up my pace. I headed for the office, knowing that it wasn’t wise to keep Ricky pissed for too long. Sometimes he acted more like my overprotective brother than a business partner. I reminded myself that I loved him dearly; he was the closest thing to a family member that I ever had and we both needed each other.
Twenty minutes later, I would have made it to the office like I had promised. Yes, after passing a couple more streets, I would have been sitting next to Ricky, listening to some chick babbling about working on a team and trying to forget about the fact that my hangover was dragging me down the road to destruction. The problem was, that something happened between Green Lane and Parkway Road, something that forced me to use my power.
I chose a shortcut, using the back alley that separated two housing estates. In hindsight, it wasn’t my wisest idea. A split second later, I felt gut-wrenching fear that literally knocked the breath out of my lungs, and then I heard a loud, petrified scream. The scream resonated within me; after all, half of my DNA was demonic; my mother had hooked up with a full-blooded demon and nine months later she had given birth to me. Because of this, I was able to read most humans’ minds, but only to some extent—images, feelings, sometimes a few words. Tonight, I knew instantly that someone was in trouble, and that was part of the problem of being a mongrel: half demon-half human—my abilities were always pushing me to do shit that I didn’t want to do.
I breathed in the fear that attached itself to my soul, and then I tried to exhale, as the energy rushed through my system.
For fuck’s sake. Why me, and why the hell now? Will I ever be able to just walk through the streets without getting involved in someone else’s shit?
Okay, so maybe I was a little bit harsh, but this was a hangover from hell, and I wasn’t ready to play hero, plus capes were just a bad fashion choice. I wanted to concentrate on my own problems for once. On the other hand, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do something to save this human in trouble.
I shook my head and crept closer to the back of the building, feeling my demonic side being drawn to the crippling fear of death. On top of my oversensitivity to human emotions, I also had exceptional vision. It was a drizzly, grey evening, and visibility was poor. The streets looked like they were taken straight from a black-and-white Hitchcock film, and in that gloomy alley, humans wouldn’t have seen anything.
I noticed two unfriendly-looking demons surrounding a petrified human woman. They were part of the Asmodeus faction, most likely ready to drain her of any and all lust and innocence. The price for that kind of thing was high, and many useful potions could be produced from this human’s innocence. Rage burst to life inside me, setting my blood on fire. Shit like this was not cool in the human world. Being half human gave me empathy, and what they were about to do to this girl was akin to rape. Those two bastards knew it, but they were ready to dismiss the rules just for a few coins of favours in the underworld.
Sometimes certain members of demonic factions liked pushing their luck. These two arseholes were clearly far away from their designated district, and they were breaking the code, attacking an innocent human. My head was banging like hell, but despite that, I had to get involved. I couldn’t just leave her there on her own. She didn’t deserve to lose all her innocence, as well as her passion and lust, then be left to die.
“Such a strong energy … vicious and intense. She will please Asmodeus, and we will be rewarded,” the larger and hairier demon rasped, brushing his repulsive gnarled fingers along the woman’s neck. He had a lot of tiny scars on his forehead and a tattoo of a skull on his arm. That seemed a bit obvious, but I wasn’t too sure if the tattoo was given to him by the head of the faction, or if he had it done in one of those fake studios.
The second demon was shorter; he looked like he had spent more time on Earth. He wore nicely fitted clothes, and his thick black hair was in an approximation of a human style but smeared with too much gel. My exceptional eyesight never let me down, and I knew that these two demons were looking to draw out the episode just for fun.
“Please, let me go. I don’t have any money on me,” the woman squeaked, like a dying bird.
The hairy demon laughed and shifted closer. He grabbed the woman’s throat and lifted her a couple of inches above the ground. I’d never seen a demon go to this extreme for something that he could buy on the black market. This woman, whoever she was, had no chance of pulling away. Those two were probably ready to take away her soul, too.
The good side of me, the one that wasn’t lazy or selfish, reacted. I moved from my hiding place, releasing the energy that had been brewing inside me for weeks feeding the flames of my fury. I knew that there was always a price to pay for magic, for using my abilities to their absolute demonic extremes, but I couldn’t worry about that right now.
“Oh, boys, I suggest you step away from that lady right away. Don’t you know that no means no? I’m sure it isn’t the first time a girl turned you down. Besides, we both know that breaking the rules topside means Lucifer himself will fry your arses in the pits!” I shouted, creating a wave of protection around me. It was one of the tricks that I was taught by Leviathan’s men, converting human fear into my own energy. By the time the two of them turned around, I had a Sherafine elixir in my right hand. Maybe it wasn’t totally necessary; I could deal with them without it, but I was going to enjoy using it on a member of the Asmodeus faction. A girl has to get her kicks somewhere, right?
“Ted, look at this. A dirty mongrel is sticking her beaky nose into our business,” the non-hairy one said, and his eyes gleamed with an unknown energy. Shit, that’s what I thought. These two were running around London getting high on lust, hurting innocent human women for fun. That was why I hated Hell. Asmodeus couldn’t even keep an eye on scumbags like them.
“You have two seconds to stop what you’re doing or you will get hurt. Really, really badly. And I don’t have my first aid kit with me,” I said as sarcastically as I could, letting them know they had a chance to leave. The uglier and wider demon licked his lips greedily and smiled. I had an advantage—my eyesight—I could see better than them, than anyone.
Unfortunately, the other demon joined his mate, and for a good few moments, both of them laughed loudly, holding their quivering fat bellies. One of them shot a fireball in my direction, trying to scare me, thinking that he was skilled and gifted. I moved my body sinuously to the side, flexed my protection shield, and absorbed the ball. My energy escalated, streaming out of my pores. Every single hair on the back of my neck rose.
I jumped in front of the uglier one and threw the Sherafine elixir that disabled him completely, then tossed off a swift roundhouse kick straight into the other’s jaw, knocking him good and proper to the ground. I expected a battle, a true scrappy street fight. What I got was strung-out demons too high to fight me. This was easy, almost too easy, but on the other hand, no other female mongrel had a black belt in Tae kwon do and
years of experience in the security industry.
The woman who stood plastered to the wall let out a hysterical whimper when the Earth beneath my feet started shaking. I felt the strong rising heat that made my toes curl and caught a whiff of a burning sulfuric smell. The much hairier demon was on the ground moaning in agony, holding his neck; the other demon lay where my last uppercut left him, pretty much knocked out—not dead, but close enough. I walked up to the woman, covering her with my body. My lungs contracted against the smell, as the Earth opened up and bright yellow and red light spread everywhere. The woman was screaming now, and I was sweating like a pig, trying to fight the urge to jump into the pit.
I glanced down, seeing the large hole in the middle of the alley filled with hot lava that melted away parts of the pavement. The heat was unbearable, and I felt strong burning on my back. An incredible force whizzed through the air, ruffling my hair and pulling me away from the woman.
“No … you bitch, I won’t let him take me!” the skinnier demon roared, crawling away from the hole, suddenly conscious. He was bleeding, most likely wounded by my attack. The human’s heart was jackhammering so fast that I was scared she was going to have a heart attack at any second, and that wasn’t something I had anticipated.
A thrilling and intense energy began dragging the two demons down to the hole. My leather jacket was melting to my body, and that strong urge to jump too was messing with my half-human mind. Within a few seconds, both demons got sucked inside the pit. The whizzing noise was strong, pushing and pulling things around the alley. A split second later, there was a loud blast, and then silence descended all around me, sucking the rest of the oxygen out of my lungs.
Everything was back to normal when I opened my eyes again and took a long, deep breath. Demons were gone, the hole, too. I had no idea what happened, but no one apart from Watchers were able to open the gates of Hell, and there were none around. I was most certainly sure that I was the only supernatural being within a hundred yards.
Now I was stuck with a woman who had witnessed and felt everything that happened. That really complicated things for me. Now I was not only late, but also exposed. Fuck my life.
Chapter 2
“Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always”
― Dante Alighieri
“What happened? How … who—?” The girl stuttered, glancing from where the hole was and where the two sleazeballs disappeared, to me with my half-melted coat and singed hair.
I had to calm her down somehow, but I didn’t know where to start. There was a possibility that Watchers were going to show up at any second. They were responsible for preventing humans from knowing about the demonic world. Even though I had enough adrenaline in my system to run a marathon, my head was still pounding. I just couldn’t catch a break. I needed to forget about my doozy of a hangover and get my sorry arse out of here as soon as possible. The woman was losing the plot, mouthing words that didn’t make any sense. Humans just couldn’t comprehend anything outside of their little bubble of reality and that there was something other than them in the world. Still, I felt sorry for her. Despite her obvious shock and fear, there was something in me that didn’t want her to be removed by the Watchers.
“Look, you’ve had a mind fuck. I know it’s all confusing right now. I’ll explain everything in a second, but we have to keep moving,” I said, pulling her upright to her feet. The dreaded shadows of the city were making me agitated. The Watchers were in the area, probably looking for the person who opened up the gates. A chilling dread hung over my head. They also took care of mongrels and demons who threatened to expose themselves to humans. If they caught me, the uncomfortable questions would follow, and I couldn't afford to be stopped now.
Somehow, I managed to hobble several meters dragging this chick without falling down. I was trying to gather my thoughts. It was difficult enough with the blisters on my back healing, and my hangover, but the demon side of me was howling to be released, scratching at my impulses to get back to see if the gate would open again. My whole body throbbed painfully, and I knew that I was going to suffer tomorrow morning. It’d been a couple of weeks since I last trained, since I worked my muscles to that kind of extent. In my line of work, it was easy to dismiss the pain, but I wasn’t used to it like before.
The noise from the alley should have brought attention from other humans, but I had been right all along. No one in this damn city paid attention to other people anymore.
“The light…I felt so warm…those men were sucked right into the ground,” the woman kept saying over and over again. I had to drag her down the pavement just for a few moments to catch my breath, trying to keep a good pace. Lugging my sorry arse and the girl was pretty taxing. At least it hadn’t stopped raining yet. Watchers didn’t like rainy weather because they couldn’t track the magical fingerprint as easily in the rain, plus some weird shit about frizzy hair. You’ll never meet a demon who isn’t a little bit vain.
Ricky was going to lose his shit with me. I had no idea how much time had passed since I spoke to him on the phone. There was a strong possibility that all the candidates had already left, and my business partner would be sitting behind his desk, cursing me out and making a voodoo doll. Okay, so this time around I had a good reason to be late, and maybe I shouldn’t have stuck my nose into someone else’s business, but these arseholes weren’t going to stop with one innocent human. They were marked by a Watcher, so they were probably convicts on the run, who knew?
The woman became very vocal all of a sudden, attracting too much attention to the two of us. We were in a crowded street now, and I had to do something. Other humans were staring. Some guy with a dog asked me if my friend was all right. I waved him off and pulled her around the corner.
“Hey! Hey! Calm down, crazy lady, you’re safe. The men ran away. I kicked their butts and called the police. You don’t have to worry anymore,” I said, placing my palms on her cheeks.
As the warmth of my energy reached her face, she stopped mumbling all of a sudden, staring at me with her wide blue eyes. I hated fiddling with human minds or emotions. If I wasn’t careful, I could easily read their desires and tap into their deepest secrets. Sometimes I was too scared, in case I accidentally crossed that line where I let them see beyond the charm. I hated when my own privacy was invaded and had serious issues doing this to her, but right now, the woman could get both of us into trouble. I had to calm her down.
I swallowed hard, seeing a little blond girl in her thoughts, and then her fearful eyes shifted, and she smiled. I was aware that tonight, I had used too much energy. I didn’t have time to worry about the consequences right now, but I could feel the cold chill in my bones. The future didn’t look bright and the price for magic was always high.
The woman flinched, glanced around, and narrowed her eyes at me when I backed away from her.
“Who are you?” she asked, and then cocked her head to the side. “Wow! Your eyes are so beautiful, so dark. I swear I think your pupils are almost purple.”
I scratched my head wondering if I might have accidentally sent too much energy into her and damaged her mind. That was impossible. I was gentle, and she seemed strong.
“You were attacked in the alley, but it’s okay now, you’re safe. I scared the bastards away. They tried to mug you,” I explained, tossing my long dark hair behind me, confident that she would believe me. The woman opened her mouth but didn’t say anything. She looked down at her clothes that were wet and giggled nervously. I stood in front of her, puzzled, worried that I had done something wrong. I knew my limits, I knew that I was skilled, but maybe today, for the first time in my life I’d gone too far.
“Oh, my God, really? I don’t remember anything. Thank you so much.” She leaned back and sagged against the wall. “It’s like I have this big black hole in my head,” she said, looking confused.
“That’s okay, it’s probably shock. It will pass,” I assured her.
Then she threw herself at
me with what had to be the world’s most awkward hug. I went stiff almost instantly. First of all, this woman was a complete stranger, and second of all, I wasn’t used to anyone touching me.
“Thank you. You probably saved my life.”
“Yeah. Yay me. All right, I think that’s enough now,” I said, pulling away from her. “You don’t have to worry. They were probably junkies after your money, but they didn’t manage to take anything, anyway.”
“I’m so glad that you came to my rescue. My name is Emma, by the way,” she said, smiling widely. “I shouldn’t have taken that shortcut, but I was running late for a job interview. Bummer, I must be like two hours late now.”
It started raining heavier all of a sudden. I grabbed her elbow, not even thinking what I was doing.
“Come on, I know a place where you can dry off.”
She nodded and we both started running through the streets. Twenty minutes later we reached my office. By the time we entered the building, we were both dripping wet, but Emma was oddly recovered and somehow excited.
Ricky was right: I was weak enough to fall back into my old nasty habits. Magical tequila had shut down all thoughts about the past and made me happy for a while. No matter how heavy the secret weighed on me, tequila managed to carry it when I filled my belly with it. Plus, tequila was way cheaper than therapy.
Emma didn’t seem to have an off button. She would not shut the hell up and kept talking all the way upstairs. She mentioned her white cat, her daughter, and the fact that she should have left her house early to get to her interview on time, a sale going on at her favourite shoe shop, her favourite teacher in high school—on and on she went.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 5
