Alexis was using her energy to get to my good memories. My eyes started to burn with tears, but I refused to cry, so I screamed instead.
Then the pain returned, and Summer vanished in a white cloud. I screamed again, cursing those two monsters and thinking that surely, they were going to get tired of this eventually. Alexis was laughing, using her skill to inflict even more pain. Tiny, sharp knives were piercing my skin over and over again. Waves of energy rolled down my skin, and I was surprised that I felt it, until the raw flames began licking my skin again.
I was taking long pulls of air, trying to pull the straps around my wrists. Sweat ran down my face, and I prayed in my head for this pain to end.
“Where is that bastard child of yours? Where is that Warlock witch hiding her?” Rodriguez kept asking me, spraying me with spit.
“I have no idea. Our connection was lost the moment Alexis took my magic away.” I remembered that my idea could save me, and hope turned into a small butterfly. “Besides, I learnt from my earlier mistakes. You will never find her!”
“What the hell is she talking about, Alexis?” Rodriguez asked, turning to face the woman who was essentially running this show.
“Nothing. She’s playing tough. She will talk. We just need to push her a little more,” Alexis said and then I felt like my joints were being stretched out of my sockets. I didn’t think that I could take this. She used her magic to make me feel worthless, squeezing nasty images into my head.
I started seeing myself standing in the lake and drowning my little girl. Ricky, Emma, and Paul were there, too. They all stared at me with detached, almost haunted expressions on their faces. Her little body wasn’t moving, and I’d gotten a great joy out of killing her.
The tiny voice in my head reminded me that this wasn’t real, that I would never hurt her. Alexis was implanting these cruel images in my head, so I’d give her what she wanted. But there was nothing else that I knew.
I blacked out, and then I was back in the room, breathing hard and seeing Alexis’s green eyes leaning over me. She was whispering to Rodriguez, and I tried to focus on my good memories.
“I know a way you could defeat him,” I said, but my voice sounded weak, rough. Almost like it didn’t belong to me.
“What did you say, little whore?” Alexis asked, showing up beside me. She squeezed my cheeks, and I kept my eyes focused on hers. The pain was slowly subsiding, but now my skin felt raw, like it had been burning for a long while.
“Lucifer. I know … I know how you could end him,” I repeated, knowing I sounded desperate.
“She’s playing you, dear. Keep torturing her and she will tell us everything,” Rodriguez said.
“He abandoned me, and he poisoned my mother,” I said. Alexis moved her hand down my throat, releasing some sparks.
“The little whore is telling the truth for a change,” she said, leaning so close that I could smell her perfume.
They had me. She and Rodriguez had united to bring my father down, and without my magic, I was no one. I had no personality, no strength, and I didn’t believe I could defeat them.
“What are you talking about? How can we defeat the most powerful demon in Hell?” the old demon demanded.
“There is a place where my mentor had hidden a spell. It’s an old parchment that could give you unlimited power. It’s been blessed by God,” I said, remembering what Ronan had told me a few years ago. I always thought that this whole story was silly. The legend about God’s tears that turned into a spell had been drifting from demon to demon for as long as I could remember. It was a long shot, but Alexis and Rodriguez were greedy. They had nothing to lose, and a lot to gain. Obviously, that was interesting enough, and I just needed to keep on talking.
“Alexis, the child is the key. You promised me that bastard child.” The old demon was saying. “She’s making this stuff up. She’s lying through her teeth. The spell is just a legend.”
“No, there is something to what she’s saying. The little whore isn’t lying this time. Berith and Mammon believed in that lost spell, too, but I heard it was somewhere in Rome, not London. How did you find out where the parchment is hidden?”
“I have seen it. My father told me the location. He sent me back to Earth to destroy it,” I said. “I promised myself that I would avenge my mother. Lucifer is weak, and Bianca’s movement scared him.”
The words were pouring out of my mouth and most of it was true. In some ways I hated my father, because he hadn’t protected my mother. She was dead because of him.
Because Alexis and Rodriguez wanted to see Lucifer go down, and they both wanted to matter in the new order, this was my chance—and I had no idea what I was going to do after they realised that this whole thing was a bluff.
Alexis was aware that Lucifer had never acknowledged any of his other children. She could feel his demonic mark on my soul. And then the rumours reached her. She found out that I was Lucifer’s legitimate daughter. He’d rejected her, as he had done with other women. I didn’t know how much truth was in what he’d told me. Maybe he had loved my mother, but I doubted that he ever had any real feelings for me.
Lucifer must have known that going after Alexis was a suicide mission for me. He didn’t want to dirty his hands. That was why he created that whole test in Hell.
“Well, part of what she is saying makes sense,” Rodriguez said. “Her mother had been poisoned, but I had no idea that it was the dark lord’s doing. I heard that Tarosh, a demon who was the head of the factions years ago, gave the order to kill her. She seemed important, and he needed her to be eliminated.”
This news hit me like an avalanche. The head of Lucifer’s faction ordered my mother to be poisoned. Lucifer must not have known about this, or he blatantly lied to me. Either way, it didn’t matter right now.
“Tell me, little whore, where that parchment is hidden, or I’ll find a way to get to your bastard daughter again. I did it before, but this time around, I won’t hesitate to slit her little throat,” Alexis said, and her eyes were telling me that she wasn’t bluffing.
“I have to show you where it’s hidden,” I said, staring at them both.
Alexis exchanged a silent look with Rodriguez, probably weighing all the pros and cons. Her men were watching me from the other side of the room. I wondered if they were demons or humans.
“All right, sweetness. We are all going on a little trip,” she finally said, but Rodriguez didn’t look happy. “One wrong move, and I’ll snap your neck. I’m tired of playing games.”
I licked my upper lip when her men started pulling off my restraints, trying to gather myself somehow. My head was spinning when I sat up on the table, massaging my wrists.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew where we would go. I was aware that stepping into the place called Suicide Lane was simply a suicide mission. Especially now when I couldn’t sense any supernatural creatures around. I was ready to take back everything I said before about being a human.
Mongrel or not, my past life was much better with magic than without.
“Move, little whore. Time is of the essence, and you better pray the ancient spell is there; otherwise this is going to be the last time you see the night in this life.” Alexis started walking toward the dark, narrow corridor.
Rodriguez looked angry this wasn’t going his way again. The old demon had gone against his own master, joining forces with Lucifer’s enemy. He must have realised betrayal had its consequences.
Alexis’s men grabbed me and started dragging me away, presumably toward the exit.
My legs barely held me, but I told myself I needed to recover fast, because in the end, it was the only thing that could save me.
This time around no one covered my eyes. The larger guy asked me to climb back up the narrow metal stairs, through a tiny tunnel that could only fit one person. I struggled, thinking it was just one more effort to get my freedom back. I was so weak and vulnerable, I felt like the old Maxine didn’t even exist.
>
“Hurry up, mongrel girl, the mistress is waiting,” one of her men shouted, nudging me with a long sharp stick. My eyes were itching, and every time I made a move, nausea rolled through my stomach.
It took me ten minutes or more, but eventually I gritted my teeth and forced myself to move. By the time I got outside, I was drenched with sweat, and my fingertips were bleeding.
I knelt on the ground as blood pounded in my ears. I heard Alexis talking to someone on a mobile phone. The necklace that allowed her to travel to Hell and back was hanging around her neck. It belonged to Matilda and I needed to get it back.
“Get her to the van. She will give you the instructions to where we should be going next,” Alexis ordered. Rodriguez was silent for a change, but I didn’t like that look on his face. The old bastard had his own agenda in mind, and I had a feeling he was ready to cut Alexis off, just so he could continue torturing me.
I was shoved back into the black van soon enough and told to keep quiet. Suicide Lane would be thriving with life after dark, and I knew showing up there filled with magic was a very bad idea. Ronan had told me about this place and warned me many times, that the factions had lost control of that area years ago, when horrific stories started to appear in the papers. Alexis had no idea what was waiting for her out there.
Desperate humans used to go there in order to die. They would stand on the bridge, waiting for the train. However, by the time the train passed, those humans were long dead. It was suicide, and even the human police couldn’t question it. Watchers made sure it was always the case.
One of the shorter demons started the engine when Alexis and Rodriguez climbed inside. I gave the driver the name of the village, and he typed it into a sat nav. I concentrated, well aware that I was weak and in pain. It was going to be tough to even think about running, but I had to give it my best shot.
The silence was making me anxious, and as we drove, I wondered if Ricky and the rest had been locked up, too. Things had never gotten so bad, and this time around, I was on my own.
People had often told me I was short-tempered and reckless. Nothing changed. I was still the same person, and I was taking matters into my own hands. I needed to stay alive for Summer and for all my friends.
Chapter 21
“The colour that courage failing brought out so quickly in me, seeing my leader retreat, made him, the sooner, check his own new pallor.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“The two of you stay in the van. This shouldn’t take long,” Alexis ordered, still scrolling through her mobile phone. As a demon, she wasn’t supposed to be familiar with technology, but it looked like she embraced the human way of life to the full extent.
Rodriguez didn’t look happy at all.
He and Alexis had no idea that I had brought them down to Suicide Lane. I didn’t think either of them had ever heard about this place.
We stopped right on the edge of the forest. I could make out shapes of the trees in the background. It was pitch black, and I wasn’t looking forward to getting lost out there.
I could only count on my gut feeling, because all my demonic senses were lost. After that painful experience in the bunker, my body wasn’t in the best of shape. I didn’t want to end up dead, especially not being a human. The police would label me as that girl who had an affair with the prince and, in the end, couldn’t live with her guilt, so she took her own life. After she murdered the prince.
“We are in the middle of nowhere, Alexis,” Rodriguez pointed out, sounding angry. “The girl is trying her luck. That parchment doesn’t exist. We all know it.”
“It does exist, and we have to walk for a bit. We can only track it down in the dark,” I said, waiting for them to either follow me or take me back to my cell. It was a possibility, but I really didn’t want to go down that route. Alexis’s eyes told me that she was ready for anything, just so she could get her hands on that spell. “You need to follow me.”
I started making my way toward the trees, thinking my plan was shaky at best.
“She’s making sense, Rodriguez. I remember my sister once said that it’s a complicated spell. The little whore is just a useless human now. I have taken all her abilities away. She knows that she’s dead if she tries anything.”
“We need to move. It’s important we don’t waste any time,” I told them, hating that they were wasting time on pointless conversation.
The temperature was dropping, and harsh air ruffled my hair when I found a small path between the trees. My stomach was in knots, as I went over my plan in my head. Alexis and Rodriguez were behind me.
This is crazy, Maxine. You aren’t strong enough to pull this off.
I ignored my own inner voice and picked up the pace. My muscles were aching, and my skin was still hypersensitive after Alexis’s tortures.
“How long before you know where the parchment is hidden?” Alexis asked behind me.
“A few miles,” I lied, and goosebumps appeared on the nape of my neck. By the time she realised that this whole trip was just my way of getting away, it was going to be too late.
The forest was miles away from any housing estate or any human populated area. I was probably going to have only one chance of getting away, so I needed to be ready. I was freezing cold, and I only had a light jacket on. I had lost track of time being in the cell, but I figured it was really late at night right now. Alexis must have been planning to torture me for a long while.
We were slowly moving deeper into the woods, and it was getting colder.
“What the hell was that?” Alexis asked, hearing something in the bushes. The three of us stopped and I took a sharp breath, looking around. My eyes failed to notice anything. For a moment I really hoped it was some lost animal, rather than a certain supernatural being.
The old abandoned train station was somewhere ahead. Several years ago, the trains used to make regular stops there, providing a regular connection to London. Then the press wrote that some teenagers started a fire and the whole station had been burned down. Over the years, the station became a place where youngsters liked to hang out, smoke and drink alcohol. The famous platform bridge next to it was a spot where people had made a choice to end their life. That was why the press started calling it the Suicide Lane.
Most of this story was legit, except the fact that the fire wasn’t caused by teenagers, but by a demon who opened an illegal passage to Hell. Ronan didn’t fail to mention that the same demon had let loose a few dark creatures from the underworld. From then on, they had been penetrating this area unable to leave or go back.
Tonight, the path soon disappeared, and it became difficult to walk through the thick bushes. I couldn’t see anything ahead. Alexis was pissed off. She kept throwing spells around, trying to clear the path, and kept barking at me to hurry up.
A few months ago, I fought with the mythological A’rea and then met up with a Keres in the underground tunnels. These creatures from the underworld had somehow managed to adjust to the human world, and they weren’t ready to go back to Hell. It was Watchers who were meant to take care of them, but they weren’t always eager to carry out such complex assignments.
Suicide Lane was a dangerous place after dark because of what lived deep in the forest.
Those creatures were Eurynomos demons, and they could sense other demons nearby. Alexis was blasting her demon power right, left, and centre, attracting a lot of unnecessary attention to herself. I wasn’t planning to advise her to conceal her abilities.
It took us an hour to finally reach the burned down station. The smell of sulphur and burned wood still wafted through the air. The old building was covered with graffiti, and the windows had been smashed to pieces.
I couldn’t let them see that I was scared, even though deep down I was shitting myself.
“This place is filled with powerful energy from Hell,” Rodriguez pointed out, and his eyes gleamed. Okay, so the old bastard was finally starting to believe what I said earlier.
“Oh yes, dear, I can sense it, too. I’m surprised the little whore led us here. I didn’t quite believe her at first.”
“We need to head over to the platform bridge,” I told them, knowing that we had less than five minutes. Those creatures had probably already sensed us being in their territory. Alexis was like a lightning bolt, filled with magic, and no one around would have missed her.
“Wait, let her go first. I still don’t trust her,” Rodriguez said, stopping Alexis who was already rubbing her hands.
Actually, the legend about the old parchment was true to some extent. Ronan had told me about an ancient spell that could steal all the power away from Lucifer. Alexis was stupid enough to believe that my father had ordered me to destroy it. I was amazed at how well I could twist the truth.
Alexis disagreed. “No, I don’t trust her going alone, Rodriguez.”
There were empty cans of beer lying on the platform along with other rubbish, and the whole place was buzzing with electricity. I didn’t have any magic in me, but I still sensed it as my skin became static. Trains still passed this station from time to time, mostly during the night, but none had stopped here since the fire.
“We need to climb over the platform bridge,” I repeated, and a split second later, we all heard howling nearby.
“That’s definitely not a wolf. I don’t sense it,” Rodriguez said, glancing around.
I could see he was beginning to suspect that something wasn’t adding up. I had to do something. I thought that I had a bit more time to carry on my bluff, but we had already been surrounded. I didn’t have to be magical to sense them circulating around the station. Over the years I believed that the Eurynomos always travelled in pairs, but things were different here on Earth. Those creatures had to adapt to new surroundings and they managed to survive.
Moments later I felt cold fingers clenching around my throat. My feet started to levitate several inches off the ground. Alexis’s eyes turned bright red. She looked furious in the darkness.
Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel Page 86
