“Promise not to abandon me. Promise me, please,” she implored him in a very small voice, seeking his gaze.
The Prince promised. He had made a vow to her. He had sworn an oath, and she had fallen asleep next to him, one leg tucked under his. Then he followed her into slumber, his neck and back still bathed in sweat from the sex.
The night was deep as Crystal sank into a dream. The presence of her lover soothed her and she let herself drift.
She was walking in the desert. A faraway land, misty. She was far in the past, she knew it. An ancient time, time immemorial. But the rules of time were broken ; she also walked in the future. Her bare feet marked the sand with their prints, raising eddies of dust with each step. Her sheer white dress danced at the whims of the wind. On her forehead she wore the symbol of the crescent moon – Where everything starts, where everything sleeps (it awaits).
As in a mirage, the curls of dust and of smoke parted and a sanctuary formed, a vague shape. (The final key).
Facing the monument, Crystal came to a halt, the veils of her dress caressing her skin, and she felt an intense golden light sweep over her. (But the gold is ashes). In a cloud of vapor, a chest appeared at the entrance of the sanctuary and she stretched out a hand toward it. It opened and the world changed. (Lucifer).
Under Crystal’s feet, the earth shook. The skies turned black and the sand took on the color of blood. In the distance, the water in the rivers turned to lava, and the children died. The animals lay down on the ground ; the cities and the people burned. In hell….
The young woman screamed.
She woke up with a start. Alerted by her scream, the Prince leaped out of bed and let loose a jet of flame, burning the drapes in front of the window. Crystal turned on the lamp next to the bed.
“Sorry, I had a nightmare.”
Dimitri raised his eyes to the ceiling and murmured a spell to put out the fire. She had the decency to put on a contrite expression as her lover got back into bed, grumbling about all these crazy hysterical women. He put his head on the pillow and once again drew her onto his shoulder so that she could go back to sleep.
“Dimi....”
“Treasure, stop panicking, if your friends the Paladines show up I’ll waste them all in ghastly torture. Can we relax now ?”
“Uh...well,” Crystal stammered. “Actually, I think I just had a premonition. A kind of prophetic dream. With Beatrice I was off base with the interpretation, but I wasn’t completely wrong, was I ?”
Annoyed, the Prince sat up in the bed.
“You never sleep, do you ?”
“I’d like to, but I have to go back to the apartment. We brought back a chest from the Palace tombs – you know, on the island of the All Powerful. I dreamed about the chest, and I think it’s important. We need to go get it.”
“So,” Dimitri moaned, “we’ll run around looking for something you had a vague nightmare about, when by this time Cornelia has probably denounced you. I really want to fight four Paladines at three o’clock in the morning. You think we can do it in our pajamas ?”
“You sleep naked,” she countered with a smile. “And in any event, it would be better if you don’t come ; there’s a chance that Cornelia hasn’t warned anyone yet. Stay in bed, I’m going to go look for the chest. Don’t worry.”
The Prince grouched before unhooking a thin gold bracelet from his wrist. Crystal arched a brow. She had never noticed the gold chain. So thin, almost invisible. And yet she knew every inch of her lover.
“It’s a magical link,” he explained, hooking the bracelet around the young woman’s arm. If you are in danger, break it. By breaking the chain you’ll trigger a signal. I’ll know you’re in trouble, and I’ll know where to find you. I’ll immediately dematerialize to where you are. It’ll keep you from being killed, as usual.”
New York, Park Avenue apartment, library
Crystal had entered the apartment without difficulty ; evidently Cornelia had not yet said anything, or otherwise the access spells would have been changed. But when she went into the library, she was unpleasantly surprised to find Glory there.
Sitting at the central table, her nose in a book, her long platinum blond hair brushing the surface, Dollface straightened up. Her turquoise eyes sparkled in the light of the wall fixtures, her irises piercing. Crystal shrank back in on herself. The Paladine knew, there was no doubt of that.
“Did Dimitri throw you out on the street, or have you come back for the chest ? Or more precisely, the book the chest contained. The book that gives access to supreme power. I suppose that your lover wants to get his hands on it,” Glory stated conversationally, without blinking.
Crystal gasped. She had been ready for anything except this blank impassivity. From that point of view, she actually would have preferred Cornelia’s rage. By far. By far, indeed.
In the face of the young woman’s pallor, Dollface settled into her chair.
“What ? Are we going to keep pretending for a few more hours, or shall we lay down our cards ?”
“What are you playing at ? What... what do you want ?” Crystal vacillated, staring at her former friend as if she had never really seen her before. Without her mask.
Glory stood up. Her high heels clicked on the parquet floor. She ran her tongue over her full lips and sensually traced her former protégée’s cheekbone with her finger.
“What about you ; what do you want ? What were you hoping for, honey ? That Falada would fall in love with you ; that you would steal him from me ; that you would be the All Powerful and that you would reign in peace and happiness ? Or maybe that the invincible Dimitri would fall for you ?” Glory smiled cruelly before continuing : “You’re out of your mind, sweetie ; you’re playing with the big kids now. Your father is going to croak any minute and when your number is up, no one is going to rush in to save you anymore. Total war will break out, and soon. You’ve alienated our Cornelia and she’ll turn the others against you. Your Prince is not going to help you, news flash : he’s a bad guy. He screwed you, that’s all. And Falada might play at Romeo and Juliet for a little while, but he’s mine and he’ll stay mine. You’re fucked, honey.”
“And you’re the one who’s going to get me out of this jam, of course,” Crystal anticipated with a disillusioned grimace, frozen right to her heart.
“Well played, sweetie,” the Paladine congratulated her sarcastically. “You’re in a hell of a mess, but I can deal with that. Cornelia and the Paladines obey me and the Empress trusts me. I could convince them to let you accede to the function of All Powerful when your father dies.”
“What will it cost me ?”
“You’ll sign a secret pact with me. A treaty that will give me full power over the cult. So you’ll be a figurehead and you get to stay alive.”
Crystal winced and circled around Glory. She had had enough of being the victim, and she had to try to seize the book. The Paladine pivoted around to follow each of her steps, ready to fight. The tension mounted slightly.
“Did you always want my place, or is this new ?” Crystal provoked her in order to upset her. “Tell me, what’s it like being absolutely gorgeous and super powerful and still envying someone else ? What does it do to you to realize that your guy prefers me because you’re just a pin-up and I’m the kind of girl he could really fall in love with ? What does it do to you, Glow, to see that in spite of all your intelligence, your genius, and your strength, you never conquered the Prince of Hell, whereas all I had to do was bat my eyelashes and he didn’t even try to kill me ? What does it do to you to be faced with someone who has everything just for having been born, while you had to act like a manipulative bitch to get one quarter of what I have ?”
Abruptly, Dollface put her hand on the book that the young woman was getting ready to grab. The two women were no more than an inch from each other. They could smell each other’s breath, feel the electrical waves rolling off their white-hot skin.
“Nice mental destabilization technique, sweet
ie,” Glory lashed out. “Am I the one who taught it to you ? You’ll never get the book, honey. And I never wanted your place. I’m forging my own day after day. Many of the Damned are jealous of you ; they hate you because you have everything without having to do anything. But as for me, I know that it’s all hot air. And I know that you know it, too. I trained you ; I know you. Don’t try to fuck with your teacher. I have a determination that you never had and I’m the one who’s going to win. Give in, and you’ll finally have that quiet existence you’ve never stopped dreaming about. You were not made to be one of the Damned. It’s a burden to you, no matter what you say. Let me relieve you of it.”
“No,” Crystal decreed, facing the Paladine’s deadly eyes. “I’m going to choose, too. I’m going to fight. Maybe I don’t deserve my powers ; I don’t feel I was made for this and I don’t like being Damned, but there is a reason why I was singled out. I’m going to fight to do the right thing. I’m going to fight, Glory... and I’m going to win.”
The Paladine looked her up and down, off balance and furious, but Crystal didn’t give her time to react. She dematerialized.
17
The Face of the Underworld
Crystal rematerialized in the street. She wanted to vomit. She had stood up to Glory but in reality she hadn’t really accomplished much ; she had never felt as exceptional, nor as loved as she had made herself out to be. She did not believe that Dimitri would support her to the end, and she did not believe that Falada loved her more than his fashion doll. She was convinced, with horrible certainty, that she was more alone than ever and that her situation was only going to get worse.
She walked to the Prince’s private mansion. Above all, she had to get her mother to a safe place. She would be the first to suffer the repercussions of her daughter’s deeds, now that the All Powerful could no longer act. I have to keep a cool head. Dimitri is going to help me – yes, but if it was nothing but the sex, what then, big girl ? How can you still believe that this monster will really support you when even your best friends reject you and manipulate you ? she thought, knocking on the door of the residence.
As usual, the butler with the burned face opened the door. Still deep in thought, Crystal asked mechanically :
“Hello, can I come in ?”
“The Prince isn’t here. He had to leave to take care of some business, Miss.” The servant turned her away, nodding his head strangely.
“How many times are you going to pull this on me ? And besides, hello, I live here now,” the young woman yelled, irritated.
The butler did not budge an inch.
“I know, Miss. But the Master is not here. Go away.”
“You’re crazy, Frankenstein,” Crystal said, stamping her feet. “I swear, your brain is even more damaged than the rest of you. Get out of my way. Move !”
“Henry, Miss,” the servant corrected her gloomily. “My name is Henry. I can’t prevent you from entering this residence ; the Prince has forbidden it, but... leave. Go far away from here. I wish I could be clearer but the magic the Master exercises over me will not allow me to be.”
“So much the better ! That keeps you from offending his girlfriends,” she groused, shamelessly shoving him aside. Seriously, even this charred cretin detested her. That really took the cake !
Crystal left Henry behind and climbed the stairs with all the elegance of a charging elephant. On second thought, before saving my mother, I’ll order Dimi to throw out this horror film butler. I’ll tell him that....
Reaching the final landing, she stopped short. Her body, her thoughts. Something was subtly different in the atmosphere of the mansion. There was a funny smell. Disturbed, her hand on the banister, she tested the air like a dog on the lookout. She had learned to recognize this odor. It had reeked in her nostrils since she had been Damned ; she had never been able to make it disappear. It was the smell of death.
Crystal blinked her eyes. The residence no longer had the muffled, heavy silence that she was accustomed to. It felt empty. The lurking presences in the corners, in the other rooms of the mansion were absent. There’s nothing here anymore. The young woman concentrated on increasing her perceptive abilities. Nothingness all around her. Downstairs, in the entry, she could feel the butler. Her senses rippled, crossing through the space. In the bedroom, in the Prince’s private apartments, she felt something, someone.
Step by step, step after step, the sound of her shoes absorbed by the thickness of the soft carpet, she advanced down the hall. Outside, the night extended its black wings and inside, in spite of the flickering light from the lamps, the world seemed dark. Crystal had too much experience with danger not to be wary, and yet the thing in the room drew her. Don’t look under the bed. But she closed her hand over the doorknob and opened it. The noise that she made banging it against the wall made her jump. Instinctively she turned her head. The monster was there. But no, it was just the deserted hall ; her imagination was playing tricks on her. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of movement in the room. Her senses on alert, she did an about-face. Fighting off the beating of her heart, she turned toward the room. Empty as well, but she could feel the threat, heavy, omnipresent. Knock, knock who’s hiding in the closet ?
Crystal furrowed her eyebrows upon discovering what had attracted her attention. On the bed, a black serpent twisted. Momentarily shutting out reality, Helen’s classes surfaced in her memory. “The first law of Zanatos establishes that venoms and poisons have no effect on the Damned unless they have been put under a spell either by direct manipulation or by prior bewitchment of the animal.” The memory did not reassure her. Not in the least. Everything that touched Dimitri closely or from afar smelled strongly of black magic. Crystal sensed the trap. The snake seemed harmless but he could bite her at any time, couldn’t he ? Cautiously she moved away. And suddenly she froze. An icy breath had invaded the atmosphere. Behind her, very close, too close, she felt a presence. The young woman could feel someone’s breath on her back. A hostile scent. A silhouette formed on the floor. The lights in the room flickered ; a flash streaked across the sky beyond the windows. Behind me. It’s behind me.
“You don’t even have enough courage to find out ?” a woman’s voice hissed.
Crystal turned around, her eyes wide with surprise. It was the voice of her stepmother. It was the voice she had heard in Dimitri’s mirror ; the one she couldn’t identify.
In front of her, implacable and tall in her long green silk dress, the Empress stared at her, her dark gaze penetrating.
“You ! You, my father’s wife, you’re the real mole, aren’t you ? You’ve been working for Dimitri from the beginning. You out-maneuvered us all.”
Her stepmother snorted a horrible laugh.
“So, you’re less half-witted than you look. Beatrice was nothing but a pawn. I’m the one, the poisoner. I’m the one killing the All Powerful. I’m the one engineering your fall at the side of your dear Prince of the Underworld.”
“No. It’s impossible. You’re good, you are a saint. And you couldn’t have seen Dimitri, or have given the order to poor Beatrice ; you always stay on the island,” Crystal replied, trying to hang on to what she could to keep from losing her mind.
The Empress pointed to the broken mirror that stood, now useless, in the Prince’s living room.
“I see everything and I direct everything through my mirror. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most powerful queen of all ?” she mimicked in a demented parody. “I’m not a saint, little girl. I agreed to marry your father to get my claws into his power. I immediately understood that the Dark Clan and all their stupidities would never crush your bloodline. I needed to gnaw away at it from the inside. I secretly murdered your dear father’s first wife and thanks to our marriage, I climbed to the summit of the cult. Believe me, it cost me more than just blood and a few murders. But my final objective will soon be achieved. The All Powerful just fell into a coma and you will be dead in a few minutes. Dimitri will finally be a
ble to seize power.”
With a mixture of repugnance and astonishment, Crystal shrugged her shoulders.
“Bravo, you’re super gifted... and really nice, apparently. I find this unbelievable, really : you others, the members of the Order of Hell, the famous supporters of the Prince of Darkness, you all seem to believe that Dimitri is going to send you flowers for having helped him. But there’s just one little thing that you don’t get : he couldn’t care less. The only person he’s interested in is himself. Give him power and you can be sure you’ll come to a bad end.”
“Idiot,” the All Powerful’s wife hissed. “I’m not a follower ; I’m not a slave. My reign will be inevitable if Dimitri reigns. Don’t you understand what I am to him ?”
Crystal narrowed her eyes.
“You’ve slept with him, is that it ? Well then, for your information, so have I. In fact, I think I might have stolen your place. And let me tell you....”
“I’m his mother.”
The Empress’s words echoed through the room, cutting the young woman off. The two women looked at each other.
“But,” Crystal faltered.
“I abandoned him very young. I hid him from all the Damned in order to be able to marry your father. It’s a long and tragic story that I’m not going to tell you this evening. It seems that my son has cleaned out his house and he has certainly left to clean up elsewhere, but he’ll return soon and I don’t want to break his heart. So I’ll kill you right now,” her stepmother announced coldly.
Crystal raised her chin. No time to think about it. She knew that she was going to have to fight for her life. She was going to have to leave here to escape this. And this time there would be no unexpected rescue. This time it was not one of her friends or a man who desired her. This time it was for real.
Crystal and the Damned - Possession Page 18
