“Sometimes demons are not careful,” I explained, not knowing what to else to say.
“Oh, my lord, Maxine, now everything makes sense. I’m so relieved. I thought I was going crazy!”
I exchanged a worried look with Ricky, telling myself that everything was going to be all right.
“Good, because you need to take it easy. I started this business because I wanted to help mongrels and demons. Faction normally doesn’t interfere in those sorts of things and mongrels can’t go to the police. From now on, you will know all the ins and outs of the business. We won’t hide anything from you,” I continued, watching her carefully. “If any demons question your background, you’re safe to say that you have a relief license. Sometimes clients are reluctant to deal with humans, but you have excellent telephone manners, so you can handle everything.”
“How are you feeling, Emma?” Ricky asked. “We understand that it’s a lot to take in right now. You don’t have to worry about anything. Watchers are out there to keep an eye on the demonic community.”
Ricky was right: Watchers were patrolling the streets and our agency was on their radar. I hated the fact that we were suddenly so exposed. Emma was still standing, fanning herself with a stack of papers, unsure what to do next. Her thoughts were racing; there were so many questions she wanted to ask.
“It’s a lot to take in, but I’m excited and petrified at the same time. This other underworld sounds so fascinating. Have you been there, Maxine?” she asked me, taking my hand. I bit my lip, bringing up the memories from the past. Emma didn’t understand that mongrels weren’t allowed to go down to Hell, but they were dragged in against their will.
“No, and it’s better if I stay on Earth. It’s a different, scary, and violent world down below,” I said, knowing that demons from Earth wouldn’t simply adjust back to the life underneath. “Now, if you don’t have any other questions, I need to grab something out of my office and head out. I’m on the case with Zach.”
“No, it’s fine … I’m fine, a bit overwhelmed but excited. This whole other world sounds awesome, and so far, you two are the best employers that I ever had,” she said, raising both her voice and her arms. “Group hug?”
Ricky scratched his head and nodded to me to move my arse. This was the most bizarre and awkward experience of my life, but Emma surprised me yet again. She was taking this extremely well for a human. My body stiffened when the three of us embraced.
After that, I told myself that I needed to get used to listening to her smooth humming voice. This unusual habit made her stop feeling anxious and worried. She seemed fine, but I knew that the old fear could resurface. Over the next couple of days, Ricky would keep an eye on her when I wasn’t around. Emma’s adjustment to her new knowledge would take time, and I could only hope that we didn’t accidentally damage her.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” Ricky said, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head when we all came back to our duties.
“I don’t know … she seems fine, just keep an eye on her. Maybe the information hasn’t sunk in yet.” I sighed, thinking about the day ahead and Ronan. He hadn’t been in touch for some reason. Over the years I learnt that Ronan liked working at his own pace. He had given me the task. It was my job to track down his son without any questions.
“Just go, Max. I know you’re itching to see the detective,” Ricky told me ten minutes later. “Just be careful. I’ve seen more Watchers on the streets than usual. Something must be going on downstairs.”
Ricky and his constant worry made me feel a little bit more special today. I needed to start appreciating that I had him in my life.
“Cool, I’ll try my best, but there was something else that I forgot to mention,” I said, suddenly remembering the stranger outside my flat last night. That was another reason why I needed to ditch tequila. I began telling Ricky about it. “A demon stopped me when I was just about to take off. He said that I should look into the death of my mother, that it was a message he was supposed to deliver to me. And just before he disappeared, he mentioned that Alexis had escaped from the pits, so I suspect that she was the one who leaked my name to the press last night.”
Ricky knew everything about me there was to know. We’d never discussed my childhood or the fact that I had some distant memories about my mother. Now we both had to worry about Alexis, too. I had a feeling that she was planning something big. Her timing couldn’t be any worse, because I really needed to concentrate on my new case.
“Have you seen him before? What faction was he from?” Ricky asked.
“No, I’ve never seen him before and he didn’t look like a demon at all,” I said, remembering his ordinary features, his odd energy. I still had no idea if my father was alive or not. Mum liked secrets, too, and she kept a lot of things to herself. Some memories stuck to me; the others faded when I made a certain decision that affected me to this day. “He was from Berith’s faction. He came out of nowhere and showed me Arthur’s statement. This whole thing was very spooky.”
“I don’t know, Max, you have to stay alert. Alexis is dangerous and she’s clearly after you. We’re running a business and I need you alive and well,” Ricky said, looking at me with that too-familiar concerned expression on his face. We were a team and we worked hard to keep the business going. I didn’t want to jeopardise it.
I left shortly after that, assuring Emma that she could call me anytime if she felt that she had to talk to someone other than Ricky. The access to my flat was blocked and I still needed a change of clothes. Hopefully, after a few days, paps would get bored and leave, but for now I had to think about buying a new pair of jeans and some T-shirts. I hated the fact that after eighteen months, I was still paying for my mistakes.
Zach was waiting for me when I came out of the tube train at Angel Station. A stream of unexpected heat scorched though me at the sight of him. After last night, I definitely needed to start thinking about investing some time into my love life.
“Everything all right?” he asked, eyeing me up and down with that lusty look on his face.
“I’m good,” I responded. “So what’s the plan? Where are we going now?”
“We need to head north, leave at the last station on Metropolitan Line,” Zach responded. “I have no idea what to expect. We’re heading down to the underground unofficially, Maxine. It’s a different world out there. We need to stay together.”
“It’s a good thing you don’t look like a cop,” I muttered, wondering if he was trying to scare me.
“I’m serious. Nameless has people down there, spread over the underground stations. People who hate government and police.”
“In that case, don’t mention that you’re a cop, and I’ll just pretend that I’m looking for a mentor, someone who could take me under his wing. Men and their egos, this kind of thing always works,” I said, wondering if there were many demons who supported Nameless Thief.
My demon senses told me that Zach was thinking about a woman he interrogated a couple of months ago. He believed that she was a close associate of Nameless. In the end, he had to let her go due to lack of evidence.
“Good plan, let’s see if we can pull this off,” Zach said, thinking that he was risking a lot if anything went wrong. He had been gathering information about Nameless over the space of a few months, and he wanted to put him behind bars once and for all.
Angel Station was busy, and at least today, I was successfully blocking the stream of human emotions in the carriages. Zach was now thinking about his missing sister, Zara. We never had a chance to discuss her, and I needed to look into her disappearance in my spare time. People didn’t just vanish from the face of the Earth, especially human women.
We stepped out of the train in Watford Junction and used the entrance for the staff to get to the tunnel, most likely only accessible to rail workers. My eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly enough as Zach led me on. Waves of demonic energy became stronger as we moved deeper, l
eaving behind civilisation and the crowds of people on the outside. Zach’s mind was sharp and focused. We walked at a pretty good pace for at least twenty minutes, not seeing anything other than railing tracks and tar-black darkness. Earlier on, Zach assured me we were in an abandoned tunnel, not accessible to trains. He forced his way through the entrance blocked by a steel handle, using a strange-looking spanner. It was obvious that he wasn’t following his standard police rules this time around, and I was stunned that we weren’t even stopped by official underground workers at the platform.
I was really hoping that today we could get somewhere, hopefully track a member of his crew or Nameless himself. The tunnels were the perfect hiding place, away from Watchers and nosy humans. The energy further down was strong, sizzling with diabolic power. It vibrated through me like invisible spider webs, tangling my thoughts, blocking full access to my abilities.
“Whoever you are, this isn’t the place for ya. There is still a chance for you to turn around and go back to the world above,” a voice said, startling me and Zach all of a sudden. We turned around abruptly. It took us only a couple of seconds to realise that we were cornered by several people. Most of them were armed with sharp machetes, knives, and some automatic weapons. I swallowed hard, knowing that I couldn’t have missed them on the way, that my senses would have registered people nearby. It seemed like they came out of nowhere, which could only mean one thing.
We must have left the human world behind at the platform and crossed the gates to the underworld, that forgotten part that no one controlled.
Chapter 10
“If the present world go astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought.”
–Dante Alighieri
I felt like a complete idiot, not realising that such a crossover even existed in London. I had read about it a couple of months back in one of Ricky’s demonic books. Sometimes other creatures settled in the places on Earth that Watchers couldn’t fully control. I suspected that this one particular tunnel became something in between, one lost dimension between the underworld and Earth.
Two females and a man stood in front of us, blocking the only way out to the ordinary world. Zach probably couldn’t see them clearly, but I instantly sensed that the people in front of us possessed some kind of foreign magic in them. Their skin was the colour of light chocolate and their vibes weren’t particularly friendly. I didn’t need to be a demon to realise that the semiautomatics and machetes meant I had to really think about my next move. Zach was completely calm and somehow glad that we were surrounded.
“Take us to your boss, the Nameless Thief,” he requested, when one of the guys that stood at the far corner said something to the girl in a language that I neither recognised nor understood. It seemed like Romanian or some other Eastern European dialect. I allowed myself to presume that they had been living in the tunnels for some time, claiming it as their territory. The diabolic energy was strong, which meant that they must have made connections with other demonic beings or even Nameless Thief himself.
The woman laughed and caressed her sharp blade with affection, assessing me with her deep brown eyes. An unexpected cold shiver crawled over my spine when our eyes met. This woman was challenging me to fight her.
“He ain’t my boss anymore, pretty boy, but that’s okay. Let’s move it. Ray will be pleased to see the fresh meat,” she said loudly enough. For some reason, Zach believed that Nameless wasn’t in charge of them any longer. He suspected that something had happened to him. I needed to find out why, because my time was precious.
Zach glanced at me quickly, like he silently wanted to confirm that I had another plan, another way out of here. He was eager to make use of his gun, but as we were moving deeper into the obscure tunnels, he changed his mind, thank God. The rail track ended and restarted in some spaces. I kept breathing in and out, but the air stirred around me. My demonic power vibrated. There were some other beings nearby. Creatures that slowly began filling me with dread.
I tried to tell myself that we were on the outskirts of the city, in a place that humans wouldn’t be able to access. Nameless was smart. He most likely used the tunnels to hide his stolen possessions away from others, in a world where usual diabolical rules couldn’t be executed.
The two females were dressed in tight pants and low-cut tops, exposing their impressive cleavage. I didn’t doubt that they were probably skilled, ready to fight in order to survive. The three of them talked in their own language while we were walking in front of them. Zach was silent, and the further we moved, his thoughts became murky, confusing. We must have walked for about forty minutes before we seemed to reach some sort of abandoned station. Zachary still held on to his small flashlight, convincing himself that our new bunch was leading us straight to the nest of Nameless Thief.
I couldn’t quite figure out if the men who followed behind the women were full-blooded demons or if they were just mongrels. Their power was wild, untamed, and scary.
Soon we started seeing some lights ahead of us. My stomach contracted as I tightened up my internal wards. The smell of fresh meat, herbs, and fire wafted through the air. This wasn’t something that I expected in tunnels, miles away from any civilisation.
“Go ahead, quickly; we are already late,” one of the females barked, dressed in a navy top, swinging the machete in front of me. All right, I got it; she was showing her dominance, but I didn’t want to lose my head just yet.
Further down as the track continued, we ended up in some kind of abandoned station. The part that used to be a platform was gone. I spotted a tiled floor in some places, and there were some bits and pieces of torn posters on the walls. I wasn’t sensing other demons nearby, but other beings that were marked by Hell. I had to stay focused and remember that we were the intruders, not the other way around. Other humans scattered on the platform, all staring at us. They looked very similar to the people who led us here, dark skinned, all armed with machetes. I figured out that they were all part of the same group, possibly a gang.
“Who are they?” a man asked as he appeared on the edge of the platform, carrying a long-handcrafted knife. He was large, obese, with a huge stomach hanging over the front of his trousers, and dressed in an old blue-jean jacket. I could tell he liked me; his thoughts and emotions were transparent enough. An old perv; that was what came into my mind instantly.
“We are looking for Nameless Thief,” Zach said, and a few people moved as that nickname echoed in the tunnel. I didn’t know what Zach expected we would find in here. Surely, he must have known there were people who chose to live like rats, hiding in the tunnels. Thomas O’Connor was wanted by the police all over London. If he hadn’t been caught by now, then there was a strong possibility that he was hiding somewhere unreachable. I just hoped we’d find the next lead or a witness who could lead us to Nameless himself. Not to mention, getting out of here alive.
The obese man narrowed his eyes at Zach for a second before he rested them on me. Sparks zoomed through my fingertips and some people noticed. I wasn’t ready to expose myself again, but the presence of other creatures disturbed me. I felt them close, watching and waiting for the right moment to show up. I had an odd sense of deja vu, like I had been here before, but it was impossible. Theses tunnels had been created by ancient magic, and that was never good.
“A lot of people are searching for him, but he isn’t here. Nameless abandoned us, stole from me, and I want his head!” the man shouted, lifting his knife. Others cheered, too, and I backed away slightly, feeling overwhelmed with my own power. Zach was getting agitated. He should have brought backup, but we didn’t expect to be greeted by so many strangers.
“He has something that we need. We are willing to pay generously for his location,” I said, knowing that his ex-companions wanted him as much as we did. They were ready for anything.
The man nodded to the girl, and a second later, someone pushed me forward. Zach had his hands on his gun, but I hissed at him to take it easy. We didn’t wa
nt to anger these people. They outnumbered us, and I needed to save my own abilities for later. The group on the platform wasn’t the only people who wanted our blood.
We were pushed onto the platform, facing the obese man and his two females.
“Nameless Thief is from the underworld. He doesn’t follow the rules,” one of the girls sang, smiling at Zach. “Take us there and we will help you.”
Zach laughed, like someone had just told him a very good joke. I shifted my body weight, glancing around. This wasn’t good. I didn’t think that I could protect him from any kind of external factors, from being exposed again to demonic magic.
“The underworld?” he repeated.
“The human doesn’t believe. His mind has been poisoned with other powers. Nameless Thief isn’t on Earth anymore. He made a deal with a demon, and he is hiding in Gjöll,” someone else said, appearing in the corner. I looked up, seeing another man, a much younger one, possibly in his early twenties. He had pale white skin and a very strong London accent. His clothes were untidy with dirty marks and patches. My heartbeat spiked, as I tried to concentrate on my demonic abilities. Gjöll. I had heard that name before.
Ronan had mentioned it once or twice. It was a river in the underworld that separated the living from the dead. The river flowed straight to Lucifer’s quarters, and rumour had it, that anyone who was able to cross over was under the protection of ancient magic, no longer able to be prosecuted by demonic law. This was clever. I had to give it to Nameless Thief. He went to the place where no one could touch him.
“Max, we are wasting time. Nameless isn’t here,” Zach muttered, as his anger escalated. I had tampered with his mind before, used strong charms just to keep his thoughts in line. Now I didn’t think I could weaken him like that again. It was unnecessary. The bottom line was that Nameless wasn’t here and I didn’t want to step into the gates of Gjöll. It was another world, another dimension, but at the same time, he had my letter.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 34
