“The thing with the hunter. You had to give me your address when I questioned you,” said Wayne.
Celeste resumed pouring. “That’s right. You want a drink?”
“Got any beer?”
She looked over her shoulder at the beast. “Hem, could you grab him one from the fridge?”
“Not comfortable leaving him alone with you.”
“Hem, the kitchen is ten feet away, and he’s human. Even if he tried to pull anything, I could tear out his throat with my bare hands.”
Wayne couldn’t help his eyes bulging at those words. Hem huffed and stomped over to the kitchen, disappearing from view. Celeste gestured for Wayne to come in and sit. He stepped deeper into her apartment and sat on the couch situated across the room from a large television. Celeste sat in a recliner nearby and sipped her wine.
“I wouldn’t, by the way,” she said. “Tear your throat out. I just said that so Hem would relax.”
“What’s his deal anyway?” asked Wayne. “Didn’t know vampires came that big.”
“They don’t. He’s actually a yeti,” said Celeste. “Really a sweet guy once you get to know him.”
“Luther never mentioned that you had a bodyguard.”
“It’s a recent development. Usually Hem just acts as my driver. But a few months back, I got into some hot water with a nasty sorcerer,” said Celeste. “Since then, Hem has refused to leave my side.”
Hem returned from the kitchen and handed Wayne a bottle. The detective examined the label and frowned. Miller—far from his preferred choice. Wayne looked back up at the yeti. “Don’t suppose you have any Goose Island?”
A low rumble was the response Wayne received.
“Don’t worry about it, this is fine.” Wayne twisted the top off the bottle and dropped it on Celeste’s coffee table. He sipped the beer. Wasn’t too awful—it would do for now.
“Something tells me you didn’t come to Lincoln Park just to have a crappy beer,” said Celeste.
“It’s about Luther.”
Celeste sighed.
“I’m going to assume that means you’ve also noticed that he’s been acting different lately.”
“A few months back, Luther went on…a bit of a trip.”
“Where did he go?”
“Purgatory.”
Wayne nearly choked on his beer mid-drink. He coughed a few times, covering his mouth to avoid spitting anything up. “Purgatory? As in the Purgatory?”
“The one and only,” said Celeste. “After he came back…he wouldn’t talk about what happened there. But there was something…different about him. Off, even.”
“You think something happened to him down there?”
She shook her head. “I really don’t know. All I do know is that he refused to talk to me. That sorcerer I mentioned? He’s still out there, and he has a pretty powerful book. I tried to tell Luther that we have to find that book, but he said it wasn’t anything to worry about. And since then, he’s just ignored my calls.”
“Sounds like he’s been giving the both of us the brush-off,” said Wayne. “Case came by my desk lately, some ghosts terrorizing the new buildings that have gone up on the old Cabrini-Green grounds. He said he had other things to take care of. And then I get asked to check out a case in University Park.”
Wayne took out his phone and brought up the photos he’d downloaded from the police. He passed the phone to Celeste and she started to swipe through them all.
“Eleven victims. All of them shot or stabbed. One had even been set on fire. Eyes burned out of their skulls.”
“Demons?” asked Celeste.
Wayne nodded. “There were a few witnesses—bartender, some of the strippers. Interviewed them and they all gave the same description. Black male, early thirties. Tall and bald with a goatee and what they swore were red eyes. Ballistics came back on the rounds used. Forged from an alloy of silver and iron. Hollow points and some foreign matter was found in the victims’ bodies, which they assumed the points were filled with. Herbs, of all things.”
“To ward off the supernatural. Luther uses those in his bullets,” said Celeste.
“I know,” said Wayne. “So, the question is, why is Luther blowing both of us off in order to massacre demons? And why so sloppily? I’m not wrong in thinking this is a bit weird for him, am I?”
“No, you’re not,” said Celeste. “But more than that, this isn’t really something Luther should even be capable of on his own.”
“Because of the brutality?”
“That and because of the power it would take. Luther’s powerful, yes. Probably even more powerful than your average demon. But to take out eleven of them? I’ve never seen him do anything like that before, and I’ve seen him do a lot.”
“And you think this has something to do with Purgatory,” said Wayne.
“It would explain some things…” Celeste tapped the chair’s armrest.
Wayne leaned forward and sipped his beer, trying to think himself. A thought occurred to him, one he didn’t even want to entertain. But as a detective, he’d been trained to look at a situation from every angle, to try and see all the possibilities.
“Worst case scenario, what do you think we’re looking at?” he asked.
Celeste’s head snapped to attention, Wayne’s question pulling her from her own thoughts. “What do you mean?”
“Say you’re right, that Purgatory changed Luther somehow. Changed his personality, made him more reckless, even more powerful. What do you think we’re looking at here?”
Celeste took a deep breath. Wayne could tell this was a conversation she didn’t want to have, but it was one they needed to have.
“Please, Celeste,” he said. “I want to believe everything’s okay with him, I really do. But I also can’t ignore something that may get other people hurt.”
“You’re right.” Celeste closed her eyes and nodded. Instead of a sip, this time she took a great big gulp of wine, then set the empty glass on the coffee table. “All us…creatures…we’re all some kind of demon-human hybrid. Sometimes, we can control our demonic side, curb those urges. That’s what I do every day. Other times…people let the demon take control.”
“So, what is it, like, a split personality?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Whether we give in to those urges or not, we’re still us. I guess that’s why Luther and I connected. We both know what the other goes through at times when the demonic side wants to take control. Sometimes, it’s like being a recovering alcoholic and trying to resist the urge to drink when you’re standing right in front of a bar.”
“You’re saying Luther’s fallen off the wagon?”
“I’m saying it’s possible,” said Celeste. “I don’t want to believe it, but it might explain his personality change.”
“And Purgatory could do that?”
She shrugged. “I honestly have no idea. Until recently, only one person had ever come back from Purgatory. But from what Luther told me, he is not someone we want to try and seek out.”
“Might not really have any options. If we have to find out what Purgatory can do to a person, and this guy’s the only one who can tell us, then we have to track him down.”
“Why are you doing this anyway?” asked Celeste. “I know you and Luther have worked together a few times, but—”
“Luther’s saved my ass a few times,” said Wayne. “If I can do something to help him, then I will.”
Celeste nodded. “Then I guess we have to find—” She stopped herself. “Wait…I just remembered something.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s someone else who went to Purgatory with Luther.” Celeste looked at Wayne and smiled. “Come on, we’re going to see a witch.”
15
Hem pulled the town car to a stop in front of a Logan Square storefront. In the backseat, Lilith pulled a leather jacket over her bare shoulders. Her hands were gloved, and she wore sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat. She t
ook a scarf and wrapped it around her exposed neck, making sure to cover up any bit of skin.
“You ready?” asked Wayne.
She nodded and they both exited the car. A moment later, Hem followed after turning off the engine. It was early afternoon now and the sun was beating down. So long as Celeste kept her skin covered or out of direct sunlight, she was safe.
They walked up to one of the shops with THE SANCTUM stamped on the sign. But as soon as they approached, they noticed a sign that said CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
“Great,” said Celeste with a huff. She took a few steps back and looked up.
“What is it?” asked Wayne.
“Luther told me Tessa’s got an apartment above the store. So, whether she’s running her business or not, I bet she’s still in there.”
“There’s not much we can d—”
Wayne was cut off as they heard the sound of metal tearing. Both Celeste and Wayne looked at the front door and saw Hem holding it open for them, the lock ripped out. He gestured for them to go inside.
“I didn’t see that,” said Wayne.
“He’s handy to keep around,” said Celeste. As she walked past Hem, she smiled at him and offered a thanks. He nodded and followed them inside.
The lights were off in the comic book store. The three of them walked through the shop, trying to see what they could find. Celeste went into the back area, past the curtain with an EMPLOYEES ONLY sign. She saw a stairwell leading up and was about to ascend, but then she noticed the door with light filtering out from under it.
Celeste opened the door and saw stairs leading down. She also heard what sounded like chanting. Slowly, she walked down the steps, continuing to hear the chants. Celeste removed her sunglasses, sniffing the air. She could smell blood. She readied herself for whatever sort of horrors she might witness down here, preparing for a fight if the perpetrator was still here.
But what she found was a woman sitting in the center of large sigil painted on the ground. Lit candles lined the edge of the circle and the woman was naked with magical sigils painted on her body. Celeste’s eyes widened in shock as she watched the young woman sit there in total silence.
The woman turned and when she saw Celeste, her eyes were pure white. But only for a moment as the whiteness faded to reveal her brown eyes. A look of realization came over her and she screamed.
She lunged from the circle, hopping over the candles and grabbed a robe from the couch to cover herself with. Celeste just stood there, staring in surprise, blinking a few times.
“What are you doing here?” asked the woman.
“Looking for you, Tessa,” said Celeste.
Tessa sighed and ran a hand through her short hair. “Celeste, right? Nice hat.”
Celeste realized she was still wearing the wide-brimmed hat and took it off. “Had to do something to keep out of the sun.”
“What do you want?”
The sound of footsteps coming down was heard and Wayne’s voice calling, “Is everything okay? Heard someone scream.”
Wayne came up beside Celeste and saw the scene laid out before him. His eyes drifted from the circle to the candles and finally settled on Tessa. Confusion was written all over his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came forth.
Even if Wayne had been capable of producing words, the sound of Hem’s heavy footsteps would have interrupted him. The yeti stepped off the final step and joined his mistress. He raised a brow but gave no other indication of surprise.
“How did you get in here?” asked Tessa.
Celeste frowned and looked up at Hem, who lowered his head. “I owe you a new door,” she said.
Tessa huffed. “I closed the place up for a reason. Last thing I need is getting dragged into craziness, especially at this point.”
“What’s going on?” Celeste pointed to the circle. “What kind of spell is this?”
“After that little trip to Purgatory, my magic’s been a bit wonky,” said Tessa. “I’ve spent the past few months trying to straighten things out. Regular spells weren’t doing much good, so I had to get creative.”
“I smelled blood,” said Celeste.
“Yeah, mine,” said Tessa. She walked across the room to a small kitchen area and opened the refrigerator. Inside were several bags of blood. “It requires my own blood, so I had to draw some out slowly over time. Took me this long to get enough to use for the spell.”
“Blood magic is dangerous, not to be undertaken lightly,” said Hem.
“I’m aware of that, Sasquatch,” said Tessa. “But had to do something. Especially with Luther off the reservation.”
“That’s actually why we’re here,” said Wayne. “He’s been acting strange lately.”
Tessa grabbed a bottle of water before closing the refrigerator. She unscrewed the top and started to drink from it as she returned to the couch and sat down. “What’s he been doing?”
“Ignoring my calls,” said Celeste. “There’s a sorcerer out there named Odysseus Black.”
Tessa groaned. “Oh, yeah, I know him. Real nasty guy.”
“He managed to get his hands on a dangerous book, one that allowed him to incapacitate an angel. After Luther returned, I tried to convince him that we had to go after Black, but he said he had other things to worry about. Since then, I haven’t been able to reach him.”
“I tried to bring him a case recently—also turned me down,” said Wayne. “More than that, seems he slaughtered a gang of demons in a strip club.”
“We think it might have something to do with Purgatory. You were the only one with him who we can talk to, so we were hoping you could give us some insight into what’s going on,” said Celeste.
Tessa looked down at the floor. “All I can tell you is that he was scary.”
“How so?” Celeste sat on the couch.
“When we got there, everything was going more or less okay,” said Tessa. “But then we got attacked by these spider creatures and Luther was separated from the rest of us. We were eventually able to hook up with him again, but there was something strange about him. He seemed…different.”
“What happened after that?”
“Thanatos, that’s the guy who runs Purgatory, came after us while we were making our escape,” said Tessa. “Seemed like that was the end of the line. But then Luther…he changed.” She looked at Celeste, giving her a hard stare. “He used hellfire.”
“Hellfire…?” asked Wayne.
Tessa shook her head and gestured to the cop. “What’s the normie’s involvement in all this, anyway?”
“Detective Wayne Cooper, CPD.” He flashed his badge for good measure. “Luther’s consulted on a number of cases.”
“Yeah, he mentioned you a few times,” said Tessa. “The highest-ranking demons were once angels. Angels have this power to manipulate energy produced by the soul.”
“They call it soulfire,” said Celeste.
“Right. But when those angels who rebelled with Lucifer were sent to Hell, they became corrupted, transformed into demons,” said Tessa. “So soulfire became hellfire. Some demons that were once human can generate it, too, but it takes centuries of imprisonment in Hell to develop that power.”
“Luther’s never been to Hell, and he’s only half-demon,” said Celeste. “So, in theory, he shouldn’t be able to use it.”
“I can see why he likes you.” Tessa took another drink of water. “It was more than that. Luther didn’t just use hellfire, he also transformed.”
“What do you mean he transformed? Like physically?” asked Wayne.
Tessa nodded. “Wings came out of his back. Demonic wings. He had horns and fangs. It was like looking at a twisted version of him.”
“He was a demon,” said Celeste. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything before now?”
“I was upset and scared and confused—I didn’t really know what I saw,” said Tessa. “I had to get my mind straight, and when I did, that’s when I found out my powers weren’t worki
ng so well.”
She held out her hand and a ball of ice started to form in her palm. When she closed her fist and opened it again, the ball vanished.
“Looks pretty good to me,” said Wayne.
“Except I was trying to create a flame,” said Tessa. “Spells aren’t working for me the way they used to. I can do some things, but I’m not as powerful as I once was. And sometimes, they go wonky for no real reason. I closed down the store because last month, I was ringing up a customer and the damn register melted. I couldn’t risk hurting anyone until I’d gotten things figured out.”
“There’s another problem.” Celeste took her phone out and looked through it. “A girl who used to work for me, Lydia. She’s been at Lust lately, Asmodeus’ club. I asked her to keep an eye out for Luther in case he happened to show up. And last night, he did. Had a chat with the new boss.”
“You didn’t say anything earlier?” asked Wayne.
“Before Purgatory, Luther would take meetings with Asmodeus. With him gone, Lydia tells me a new demon has taken over the club. I thought—or maybe hoped is a better word—that Luther was just there to meet the new boss.”
“Who took Asmodeus’ place?” asked Tessa.
“Lilith.”
“Oh, shit…” Tessa threw her head back and rested it there for a few moments before sitting up straight again.
“Who’s that?” asked Wayne.
“First human to become a demon. Very powerful,” said Tessa. “If she’s up here and she’s meeting with Luther, it can’t be good. Maybe she knows about Luther’s change. And if so, she’s probably trying to corrupt him, bring him closer to the dark side.”
“We can’t let that happen,” said Celeste.
“What are we gonna do?” asked Tessa. “I know you’re a vampire and you’re pretty strong. Then there’s that walking Buick behind you. But that alone isn’t enough.”
“They’ve also got me,” said Wayne. “I want to know just what the hell happened at that strip club.”
“No offense—you seem like a good guy, but you’re also a normie,” said Tessa.
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