“And what did you learn?”
“I was doing it all wrong.”
Amalia stopped walking, and I faced her. “I don’t understand,” she said.
“I’m an illusionary demon, and I knew I was capable of conjuring things such as this.” Holding out my palm, I brought to life a perfect, red rose in the center of it. She smiled as the rose started spinning in a slow dance over my palm. “Go on, touch it.”
She glanced at me before stretching her fingers forward. Her smile faltered when her fingers slid through the rose, but it returned when the flower remained.
“Amazing,” she breathed.
“I thought the same, back then, but I knew there was a lot more potential in me. Curious about my kind, I decided to read up on what past illusionary demons could do. In the process, I learned I was barely scratching the surface of my abilities. My illusions distracted our enemies for a brief time, but they were parlor tricks at best.”
“So what did you do?”
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the war with Lucifer and strengthen my abilities at the same time, so I retreated from the war. I hoped our friendship would be enough to keep Kobal from killing me, as I never told him why I abruptly decided to stop fighting.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
“I was afraid if I told him, Lucifer would somehow discover what I was trying to do and come after me. No one wants an enemy who is trying to grow stronger, and back then my illusions weren’t a concern to anyone. I also don’t think the craetons knew what I was then, or now, as in battle it’s almost impossible to tell who is doing what.”
“I don’t think they know either,” she said. “I’d heard of you, but I’ve never heard anything about what you are capable of doing.”
“If Lucifer never learned the truth of what I was doing, he’d remain too busy trying to defeat Kobal than to concern himself with going after the coward many viewed me as. I preferred to let them all think I’d tucked tail and run, than to reveal the truth and risk everything.”
Amalia seized my other hand and squeezed it. When she went to release it, I held on to hers so I could feel the warmth of her delicate hand within mine. It wasn’t a good way to keep my distance from her, but I had to touch her.
“I staked out a corner of Hell, claimed it as mine, and started practicing,” I said. “I created a demonic carnival meant for Hell alone. I trapped craetons and lower-level demons there, turned them into sideshow freaks, or killed them.”
“Kind of like the jinn with the Abyss,” she murmured.
“The demons who entered my world weren’t tricked into it; they went there to kill me. I may have been flying under Lucifer’s radar, but there were still plenty I’d pissed off over the years and others I pissed off after I left the war. Those demons just weren’t prepared for what they encountered, but believe me, they all deserved what they got. The jinn are not so discerning.”
“No, they’re not,” she agreed, “but I still don’t like it.”
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t need to build any carnivals on Earth, Freckles.” As I’d hoped, a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
CHAPTER 17
Magnus
“What is a carnival?”
Reluctantly, I released her hand and knelt. “It’s a human thing. A place of games and rides, food, animals, and all kinds of assorted things.”
As I mentioned each thing, I weaved a foot-high replica of a carnival over the path. Colorful tents sprang to life, and roller coasters and carousels rose from the ground. The miniature humans strolling the midway pointed to the games and rides. Barkers leaned out to wave at them as they encouraged the humans to spend their money.
When Amalia knelt before me to examine my creation more closely, the colors of the carnival flickered over her face and illuminated her awe-filled, coral eyes. She laughed when the roller-coaster wheels clattered over the wooden tracks and screams echoed from the humans when the cars plummeted down a steep hill.
With two fingers, she tried to touch the top of the carousel as it rotated into life and the proud horses started to rise and fall in rhythm with the music playing. Unlike the malevolent carousal and carnival I’d created in my corner of Hell, this fair held only the delights of the human world. Amalia had witnessed enough ugliness in the Abyss; I would make sure she didn’t see any more of it than she had to.
A bell rang as someone slammed a hammer down on the strongman game and a giant teddy bear was handed over to a woman who hugged it. More tents and buildings rose from the ground. Animals stood idly by as people strolled through the barns to admire them.
Amalia clapped her hands when the racetrack materialized and the harness horses and their drivers raced around it. The horse’s hooves pounded across the dirt as the crowd cheered them on from the grandstand.
“Amazing,” she murmured.
“Humans are creative creatures,” I said.
“Yes, they are. How did you know these places existed on Earth?”
She never took her eyes off the carnival as I weaved new rides and games into place.
“Once I retreated from the war, I started reading through the scrolls, but they weren’t exactly entertaining, so I spent a lot of time watching Earth too.”
“How did you do that?”
“I would journey to the oracle.” When she gave me a confused look, I realized she didn’t know what that was either. “The oracle is a lake of fire in the bowels of Hell, and the focus of all the heat in Hell, but Earth could be looked on from it.”
“Oh,” she murmured and focused on my illusion again. “And you saw this through there?”
“This and many other things both gruesome and astonishing. Humans are a fascinating, loving, infuriating, self-destructive, angry, and selfish species. Some are as cruel as demons, but as horrendous as some of them can be, far more of them are good and loving. I was fascinated with Earth, humans, and the magnificent things they created before I ever left Hell.”
Behind the carnival, I weaved the pyramids, Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, and Sistine Chapel into creation. “And Earth itself is remarkable.” Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, and Mount Everest came to life. Above it all, the Northern Lights shimmered over my creations. “Everything about the human world interested me, and I found myself watching it more often with every passing year.”
Her striking eyes took on a more ochre hue again when she lifted her head to look at me. “Is it all gone?” she whispered. “Did all of it get destroyed when the gateway opened?”
“No.” Gradually, the illusions faded away. “Some of it still exists. One thing I’ve learned about humans over the centuries is they often come back stronger after they face destruction. And much of the natural beauty of this planet remains.”
“Since coming to Earth, I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about it. I find this planet fascinating with all of its creatures, plants, and people, but I haven’t met many humans who can answer the questions I have about it.”
“I know plenty of humans who will be more than willing to answer your questions.”
Hating the sadness in her eyes, I lifted my palm again. Within it, I brought to life a bouquet of lilies that matched her hair and eyes. “I’ll answer what questions I can for you and reveal to you anything you ask to see,” I vowed.
Offering this wasn’t exactly the best way to keep my distance, but if she were my Chosen, I wouldn’t be unkind to her; she deserved far better than that, and she would have it.
“Do you miss Hell?” she asked.
“Not at all. Do you?”
“No. I’ve fallen in love with Earth, especially the butterflies.”
Lifting my hand over the flowers, I constructed an orange monarch to perch on top of them. The butterfly’s wings flapped, and Amalia laughed.
“It’s wonderful, and the flowers are beautiful,” she whispered.
“Take them,” I encouraged.
She frowned at m
e before gripping the stems. Her mouth parted as she lifted the bouquet and held it before her. Leaning over the flowers, she inhaled deeply and sighed. Then, she skimmed one finger over the butterfly’s wings and gasped.
“It’s… it’s real!” she cried.
“It’s more real than any of the others,” I said. “I hated removing myself from the war, despised they considered me a coward, but I became far stronger in the three hundred years I remained in self-imposed exile. I can make illusions a reality now, something no other illusionary demon could ever do. It takes some time to construct elaborate illusions, but I can weave small ones into existence far faster. Before me, my father was the strongest illusionary demon to exist, but I have grown stronger than he was, in many ways.”
“Three hundred years? Why so long?”
“That’s how much time it took for me to strengthen. Then, one day, Kobal’s queen stumbled into my corner of Hell, and I knew it was time for me to return to the war.”
“In what ways aren’t you stronger than your father?”
I wiped my palms on my thighs and stood. Extending my hand to her, I waited for her to take it and rise, before speaking. “I’m not very good with cloaking illusions. I can do them, but they’re draining for me. My father was a master at them.”
She glanced at the flowers in her hand and smiled. “I’d rather have something real than nothing at all.”
I couldn’t stop myself from bending to brush a kiss against her temple. When the increased beat of her heart thudded in my ears, I remained leaning forward for longer than I’d intended before reluctantly pulling away.
“Can you make a duplicate image of yourself?” she asked.
“I can.”
Her eyes widened. “Can you make it as real as these flowers?’
“It would take some work, and the duplicate couldn’t talk or reveal emotions, but it would be solid until it was destroyed.”
“Amazing,” she breathed as she gazed at me from under the lowered fringe of her thick, multi-hued lashes.
“And what of you, Freckles, why do you like the human world so much, aside from the butterflies?”
“It’s far better than the four walls of a seal,” she said with a laugh as we started walking again. “And what I’ve seen of it is interesting. The jinn haven’t traveled far since being freed, so I haven’t seen as much of it as I would like to. For a time, we lived underground, but after some of the jinn met with Astaroth, we moved.”
I stiffened at the mention of the fallen angel who had risen to take Lucifer’s place. “Why did you move?”
She lowered her bouquet. “I don’t know. I’m not exactly kept in the loop. The other Faulted had already split off when the meeting occurred, so I’m not even sure they know about it. I didn’t expect the jinn to align with anyone as their loyalty lies with each other, but a lot of them are pissed about being locked away. After eighteen thousand years behind the seal, the jinn were accustomed to their surroundings, they had no other choice, but now that they’re free, they want revenge.”
“And are you pissed about it?”
“It wasn’t the greatest life to have, but it was all I knew. I couldn’t be pissed about missing out on something I’d never experienced before like the other jinn were. Sometimes, I’d dream about what it would be like to be free, but I knew it was a waste of time, and that it would destroy me if I did it too often.”
Stepping in front of her, I blocked her from continuing and gripped her shoulders. “You shouldn’t have endured that.”
“You didn’t put me there, Magnus, and you didn’t keep me there.”
“No, but if Kobal had known there were jinn such as you who existed, he wouldn’t have kept you there either.”
“You’re so sure of that?”
“He is tough, but he is not cruel. And he was not the varcolac who sealed the jinn away.”
“Wasn’t it cruel to lock so many away for so long to begin with? There were two hundred three seals.”
“Perhaps it was cruel, but if the occupants of those seals were all slaughtered outright, you wouldn’t be alive.”
CHAPTER 18
Amalia
“True,” I reluctantly agreed. “It was still a shitty thing to do to them though.”
“Perhaps, but I don’t think the varcolac who created the first seal knew what to do with the demons who stepped out of line. Before the angels, Hell wasn’t really a place of slaughter and war. Perhaps that varcolac planned only to keep them imprisoned for a certain amount of time before releasing them, but as the number of seals grew, and new varcolacs rose, the intentions of the first one were lost.”
“Maybe,” I muttered as I gazed at the bouquet he’d given me. I didn’t miss that it matched my hair and eyes, a personal touch of his, I knew.
“Do you hate the king?” he asked, his fingers briefly digging into my skin.
“I can’t hate someone I’ve never met, and willingly or not, his queen did destroy the seals and set us free.”
“You’ve heard the tale then?”
“I think everyone has.”
“The act earned River the loyalty of many who were sealed away.”
“I have no loyalties in this, Magnus,” I said honestly. “I have no grudges, and I’m not much of a fighter. I simply don’t want to be judged for what I am, and one day I dream of living in peace. I guess that’s the fae in me.”
“It’s a good dream to have, Amalia.”
“But?” I inquired when I sensed more behind his words.
“But sometimes war comes to our door, and we have no choice but to fight it. We can’t allow the craetons to win. Not only will they enslave the human race, but the horsemen and fallen will turn on the demons before turning on each other. They will destroy what the palitons have battled to preserve since the gateway opened. They won’t care if the fae in you doesn’t want to fight; they’ll kill you anyway.”
“Perhaps, but no matter which side I chose, I will inevitably have to kill, and I don’t want to.”
Releasing my shoulders, he brushed back the sides of my hair and gripped it against my nape with his hand. His finger traced the curve of my cheekbone before dipping down to run it over my lips.
“You are unlike anyone I’ve ever met before,” he murmured.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Oh, it’s a very good thing in most ways.”
“And in other ways?”
His eyes met and held mine. “It makes me worry about you.”
“I may prefer not to kill, but I will defend myself.”
“A battered body can heal; a battered spirit might forever be maimed, and if you are forced into something you can’t handle, that could happen to you. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t.”
Before I could respond to his vehement words, he released my hair and turned away. I stood and gawked after his stiff back as he continued down the path. His confusion radiated from him, yet I also sensed he was trying to distance himself from me.
But why?
• • •
Amalia
The man sat on a rock, his elbow propped on his knee and his chin on his fist as he watched two children laughing while they played. The children kicked a white ball with black spots back and forth between them. Their mops of shaggy brown hair bounced against their faces as they ran.
“Dana?” Magnus asked, and the man glanced at him before focusing on the children again.
Then, Dana’s brown eyes came back to Magnus, and his eyebrows shot into his russet hairline. “Magnus?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Magnus said and grinned.
Dana studied him before turning away. “You’re not real either,” he muttered.
Magnus glanced at me, and I shrugged. He knew as much about what was happening here as I did.
“I’m real,” Magnus said.
“Yeah sure, and so are they,” Dana waved his hand at the kids. “They’re as fak
e as fake can get. Oh, and yep, here comes the other phony one now.”
His words confused me until a pretty woman with her blonde hair pulled into a bun emerged from behind some rocks. She wiped her hands on her checkered apron as she approached the children.
“Dinner’s ready, kids!” she called to them before turning to Dana and waving. “Are you hungry, love?”
When Dana lifted his middle finger to her, the woman’s smile remained plastered in place. It was a gesture I’d seen before, and I’d figured out what it meant pretty quick.
“We can do the equivalent of that later,” the woman said with a laugh, and Dana groaned.
“What is this?” I asked.
Dana glanced at me and turned away before facing me again. “Who are you?” he demanded.
Magnus gave Dana a look that made the man cringe away from him.
“My name is Amalia,” I replied.
“She’s here to help you,” Magnus grated, “and you’ll talk to her with respect.”
I didn’t point out that he wasn’t exactly respectful in the beginning. There was no reason to bring up the past or argue about it when we might have a chance of helping Dana. The man realized something wasn’t right here.
“Yeah, sure she is, and I suppose you’re here to help me too,” Dana muttered and rolled his eyes.
“I am real.” Resting his hand on Dana’s shoulder, Magnus bared down until the man winced. “Does that woman or those children make you feel pain?”
“My wife, my children. I’ve held them, and loved them, and…” Dana’s voice trailed off as his attention returned to the laughing family. The woman joined in to kick the ball around with the children. “And I felt their touch on me.”
“So why are you sitting here?” I inquired. “If you’ve felt them, then why do you think they’re fake?”
The man’s shoulders slumped. “Because I know something’s not quite right about them. As much as this family is mine, something inside me says they’re not. Have you ever seen kids or a woman so perfect before? I mean, kids complain about everything, but not these two. Nope, not my two flawless boys. And my wife is… is… I’ve known many good women before, but how many of them would smile at you after you flip them off?”
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