by Cara Wylde
“Let’s see what this does,” he said and pressed it gently. His palm sank into the stone and the wall creaked and moved.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” murmured Alexi.
The tunnel that opened in front of them was long and narrow, and there were no torches on the walls. It was just a dark, humid gallery that led deep inside the mountain, maybe directly into hell. Alexi waved his torch around and stepped through the opening only after he made sure there were no traps or surprises waiting for them on the other side. Kain followed him carefully, leaving the door open behind them.
“I wonder how long this thing is,” whispered the blond.
“Shh… I think I heard something.” Alexi stopped and listened. He held his breath and he would have even stopped his heartbeat for a couple of seconds only to be able to better focus on the silence surrounding them. “Did you hear that?”
Kain gasped. “Yes. It can’t be too far.”
They increased their pace. They would have started running, but they knew they were on unfamiliar territory and it was clever not to make any sudden movements or rash decisions. The noise they had heard was getting louder and it began to sound uncomfortably close to crying and sobbing. Alexi’s heart clenched at the thought that Casimir might have hurt Sophie. He could hear Kain breathing heavily beside him, and he knew it wasn’t because of their race to catch the demon. He was just as afraid for Sophie’s life as he was.
“Damn echo,” Kain cursed under his breath. Because of it, they had the impression they were getting close, when in fact it seemed like they weren’t getting anywhere. His steps became even more determined, and he soon passed Alexi and took the lead.
“Be careful,” Alexi almost shouted. “You don’t know what’s waiting for us there.”
“Oh, I know what’s waiting for us: a demon who will rot in the cells of Lure Academy.”
They walked for what seemed like forever. Time seemed to stretch and expand down here. They couldn’t have found the secret door more than half an hour ago, but they felt like they had been walking for hours.
“It’s getting louder. We’re definitely close,” said Kain.
“And that’s Sophie’s voice.”
It was clear now: she was crying. A small light came into view, and Kain threw all caution out the window and started running towards it. Alexi cursed and ran after him. Out of the two, the Russian was more careful and calculated, but there were times when Kain’s quick temper was the better option.
“Sophie! Sophie, are you okay?” Kain slid to his knees by her side and gave Alexi his torch. “We’re here, baby. You’re safe now.”
She was curled up on the stone floor, with her back against the wall. She had covered her head with her arms and hidden it between her trembling knees, and her whole body was rocking back and forth, her spine touching the wall rhythmically. Her long, now dirty skirt muffled her sobs, and her disheveled hair covered her face.
“Come here…” Kain tried to pull her into his arms, but she flinched away. “What happened? Tell me what happened, baby…”
“Kain…”
It was Alexi’s voice. The gravity in it took the blond by surprise, and he looked up to see what his partner had discovered.
“I think… I think he’s dead.”
Kain threw Sophie a worried glance, unsure if it was okay to leave her there for a moment. He stood up and walked to where Alexi was standing. “Oh,” he gasped. “I don’t… sense his aura.”
“Because it’s gone.”
They were both looking at a very thin and very pale Casimir D’Argyle lying on the floor. His eyes were open, but the sparkle in them was gone. His once sharp and elegant features were now nothing more than a skull covered in white, wrinkled skin, and his long, silver hair looked as if it was slowly receding, leaving his forehead bald and shiny. Kain and Alexi shuddered. It was then that they realized how incredibly cold this place was.
“I didn’t mean to…”
They turned to Sophie. She was still rocking and hiding her head between her knees, but at least she had spoken.
“He wanted to take me somewhere… He said no one would ever find me there. I couldn’t let him, but I didn’t mean to do this to him. I just wanted him to stop.”
Alexi placed the torches on the floor, next to her dying one, and knelt beside her. Kain did the same.
“Shh… it’s okay, sweetie,” said Alexi. “Look at me.” He tried to unhook her arms from around her head, but he had no luck. This whole situation confused him. He threw Kain a worried look, and he immediately saw the blond was just as shocked and confused as he was, and for good reason. Sophie was a new cambion. Only a month ago, she was an apprentice and was learning how to control her powers. Yes, she was stronger than most cambions, but she still couldn’t have been strong enough to actually kill a demon with her sigil and aura alone, most certainly not a demon as ancient and powerful as Casimir.
“Sophie,” tried Kain. “Can you remember anything? How did it happen?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know!” She started sobbing again, and a few minutes passed before she was ready to speak. “My energy… it doubled. I don’t know how… I just felt that my demon sigil was growing and growing, burning stronger and brighter… I don’t… I didn’t mean to…” She broke down crying, and both Kain and Alexi tried to comfort her by hugging her awkwardly and rubbing her shoulders. Given the fetal position she was in, they couldn’t do much.
“I’ve never heard of anything like this before,” said Alexi.
Kain ignored him. It was more important to calm Sophie down and convince her to stand up. They would get to the bottom of this afterwards. “We know you didn’t mean to, baby. It’s all right, he didn’t deserve to live. Just remember what he wanted to do to all those innocent humans. You did nothing wrong, Sophie.”
“Killing someone is wrong!” she shouted. She straightened her back and looked deep into the blond’s eyes. “Don’t you ever dare tell me it’s all right. It’s not!”
Kain sighed, but didn’t say anything. It was always hard the first time. He wondered how many demons had Alexi killed, either intentionally or by mistake, and he realized he wasn’t sure if the Russian had ever killed one. He, on the other hand… Well, he had a history he didn’t particularly like talking about.
“You said your sigil was growing,” said Alexi. He couldn’t let her fall into despair again, or she would end up sitting in fetal position for hours. He needed to distract her. “Could you show it to me?”
Sophie turned to him, confusion evident in her eyes. “I… yes…” With trembling hands, she started undoing the ribbons of her corset. Alexi helped her, and when the corset was gone, his fingers worked on the small buttons of her dress. She was too shaken to do much, so he let him pull her dress open and reveal the roundness of her breasts and the tender skin of her stomach. She knew her sigil was still burning bright. She could feel it.
“Oh my…” whispered Alexi.
“What…? How…?” Kain didn’t even know which question to ask first.
The demon sigil on Sophie’s stomach was now surrounded by a second one, which looked like nothing they had seen before. It had an entirely different pattern. While demon sigils were usually made of small circles, lines and triangles, this one looked a lot like a mandala. Long, elegant lines formed a complex, flowery model that encircled Sophie’s original demon sigil which she had activated over two months ago with the help and guidance of her mentors. How did this one appear? What triggered it? And, most importantly, what did it signify?
Sophie looked down at her stomach to see what had gotten Kain and Alexi so distressed. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the new mark. It covered most of her abdomen and it looked completely out of this world. She had studied three books on demon sigils at Lure Academy, and in none of them had she found anything similar to the thing on her body.
“What in hell’s name is this?”
Neither Alexi, nor Kain could take their eyes
off the mysterious pattern.
“I don’t know,” said Alexi. “But whatever it is, it was the Count’s undoing.”
“Come on,” said Kain after a couple more minutes had passed. He started buttoning up her dress. “Let’s go home. I’m sure the Pantheon will have some answers.”
END OF BOOK FIVE
CHAPTER ONE
There was too much light in the room. Normally, Sophie would have looked around, eyes filled with curiosity, as she didn’t often get the chance to be in Lilith’s office in the middle of the day, with the curtains open so the fresh sunrays of early April would light the smallest corners of the succubus’ sanctuary. Right now, however, she didn’t care. The moment she had entered the office, she had found the most isolated armchair and sunk in it, trying to block out the enthusiastic chatter of those around her. Kain and Alexi were there, ready to support and encourage her, but all Sophie wanted was to be alone, far away from everyone. They had just arrived at Lure Academy, and they hadn’t even had time to eat or take a shower because the Pantheon was too eager to find out exactly what happened in Ukraine. Tengu had told them, Sophie was sure of that, but they still wanted to hear it from the three cambions who had been directly involved. But that was not all. There was so much Tengu could tell them, and it was impossible for him to cover those details which only Sophie, Alexi, and Kain knew. How Sophie had been under the Count’s spell most of the time, how she had hypnotized Leila so the girl would help her communicate with Alexi and Kain, how she had managed to release Irvene from under Casimir’s influence and turn her into an asset, how she had fought the demon and… That was the part Sophie feared the most. She sank deeper into the leather armchair and tried to tune out her two partners as they were telling the incubi and succubi how the hunt had gone.
Lilith was lounging in her velvet-covered chair behind her desk, while the other succubi and incubi were scattered around the office, some sitting on the sofa, others simply standing, as if they were waiting for the meeting to be over so they could go back to their normal routines. Lilith liked to have everyone around her like this, in front of her watchful eyes and under her complete control. The only thing that bothered her right now was that Ke-sar was the only one who was standing behind her, looking out the window. She waited patiently for Kain to finish his story, then raised her eyebrows in appreciation and smiled.
“You three did a great job. Honestly, I didn’t expect things to go so well, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s just that this case was so complicated and it involved so many higher and lesser demons that it would’ve been incredibly difficult for anyone to handle it so well. You, however, handled it perfectly!” Lilith closed her eyes and bowed her head slowly in a special form of thank you. It was a gesture she rarely made, but this time the three cambions deserved it.
Alexi nodded in response, while Kain relaxed in his chair and propped his right leg over his left knee. “Well, we did our best. We’re just glad it’s over.” Leave it to Kain to ruin the elegance of the moment.
Lilith smiled indulgently and turned to Sophie. The girl had been silent the whole time. So silent that Lilith herself had started to worry. Yes, she knew Casimir D’Argyle was dead and she didn’t care. Of course, she would have preferred for her cambions to catch him alive, as she would have had many things to ask him, but alas, even the all-powerful Lilith, the first ranked succubus, knew she couldn’t have everything. She also knew that Sophie had been the one to end the Count’s long, pathetic life, and while she understood that the girl was shaken, she was curious beyond belief to find out how Sophie had done it. She cleared her throat.
“Sophie, darling, we would love to hear your part of the story.”
Sophie jumped in surprise. Confused, she looked around her, and her eyes stopped on Lilith’s beautiful face. With the window behind her, the light fell like a heavenly aura around her frame, making the succubus look even more breathtaking. Then Ke-sar turned around and distracted Sophie’s attention. The second their eyes met, Sophie looked away. She swallowed heavily, but didn’t say a word. She had no idea why, but being face to face with the incubus who was supposed to be her real father intimidated her. Luckily, Anahit, her succubus mother, was somewhere by the door and Sophie couldn’t see her unless she really wanted to.
“You’re so tired, my dear,” continued Lilith. “It’s my fault… I should have let you three rest before summoning you here.”
Surprisingly, Lilith believed her own words, and even Sophie could sense that.
“No, it’s fine…” She straightened her back and tried to gather her thoughts. “What do you want to know? I mean… Alexi and Kain have pretty much covered everything.” She still had some hope left that the Pantheon would let it go.
“Start by telling us what happened when the hunt began. You and the Count stayed behind, right?”
“Yes.” Sophie looked around her again, as if she was searching for an escape. Everyone in the office was looking at her intently, ready to devour her every word. “I… I was supposed to keep him busy until Kain and Alexi returned. I knew I couldn’t fight him by myself, so I tried to distract him… I really tried…”
“But you were able to fight him by yourself,” pointed out Ke-sar. These were the first words he had said since entering the room. The incubus had waited for Alexi and Kain to finish, and for his colleagues to calm down. This was the most important part of the story, the part he had been dying to hear from Sophie’s own mouth.
Sophie was startled by his deep, soothing voice. It sent shivers up her spine, but not in a lustful kind of way. There was something about this man that was mesmerizing and frightening at the same time. He was tall, well-built, with long, dark-blond hair that fell in waves down his strong shoulders. For the first time since she had gotten to the Academy, Sophie thought about her mother. Her human mother, the woman who had given birth to her and raised her, the woman she had left behind without a second thought. Sophie had been so sure she would despise her forever for having cheated on her husband, but now that she was face to face with Ke-sar, she could almost understand why she had done it. What woman could ever resist the incubus’ unique charm?
Sophie opened her mouth to say something, but then realized what Ke-sar had said wasn’t a question. She gulped, wincing at how dry her mouth felt. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she focus?
“Sophie,” said Lilith. “Take your time. We’re not judging you for what happened, you must know that. By killing Casimir D’Argyle, you have avenged many innocent souls and saved even more. That’s not why we’re asking you to tell us your side of the story. We just want to know… we need to understand what happened because…” She made a pause and pursed her lips, searching for the right words. “Sophie, you’re a new cambion. A new cambion who fought and defeated an ancient, high ranked demon on her first case. We’re… how should I put it? We’re beyond intrigued.”
“We’re impressed!” said Hebe in her cheerful voice. Her turquoise eyes sparkled with excitement and her rich, white hair bounced on her shoulders and back with each sudden movement she made. Because that was the only way Hebe knew how to move: swiftly and gracefully.
Sophie tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. Killed. She had killed the Count. She hadn’t meant to. Both her hands moved to her mouth, which prompted Kain and Alexi to run to her side.
“Sophie, are you okay?” asked Alexi while stroking her hair.
Kain touched her forehead. It was fairly warm, but she was far from burning up.
“I’m fine, I’m fine…”
Someone sighed, and Sophie had to turn to her right to see who it was. Anahit’s pale eyes met hers.
“If you’re not ready to talk about it, we can wait,” Anahit said.
Sophie’s heart started beating faster. Anahit was just as intimidating as Ke-sar, albeit in a different way. While Ke-sar oozed power and sexuality, Anahit seemed to be as cold and rigid as an iceberg. Sophie gathered her courage and decided sh
e needed to tell them whatever they wanted to know and get it over with. There was no way she was going through a similar meeting later. Being surrounded by all the incubi and succubi at Lure Academy at once was unsettling. Alexi and Kain were probably used to it, but she wasn’t. Until now, she had only interacted with some of them, and it had always been during classes.
“No. I’ll tell you now.” She stood up and walked to the middle of the office, facing Lilith. “I don’t know how I did it. All I know is that his aura had become too much for me to handle without raising my shield and defending myself, so I had no choice. I attacked him because I had to. When he realized who I was, he pulled me out of the chalet. At first, I thought he would take me somewhere deep in the forest, which would’ve been fine. I was ready to scream my lungs out until Kain or Alexi heard me, but when I saw that he was taking me to the prisoners’ cells, I panicked.” She tried to push away the images which had started flashing before her eyes. Anxiety was rising in her chest. “Then he opened this… this secret door at the back of the cellar, and the next thing I knew he was pulling me after him through long, dark corridors. I couldn’t let him… I had no idea where he was taking me, but I was sure that if I didn’t do something, I would be lost there. So I attacked.”
The room was silent. Everyone was entranced by her story. Anahit’s eyes were studying her coldly, and it was a good thing Sophie had her back turned to her. Lilith had leaned forward in her chair, and Ke-sar was rubbing his chin in deep thought.
“The strangest thing happened,” continued Sophie. “My demon sigil started burning brighter than ever, to the point when it became unbearable. I think I lost consciousness for a few seconds… When I came back to my senses, I was on the floor, my back against the wall. The pain… it was too much. It felt like my stomach was on fire, which was weird because my demon sigil had never burned so hard. The Count… he was… lying some feet away from me…” She swallowed heavily. “I couldn’t feel his aura. It was gone. He was gone.” She took a deep breath and held it in for a few seconds. Tears were threatening to fall, and she struggled to keep her emotions under control. There was no way she would start crying in front of so many people.
