The Devil Inside

by Lana Pecherczyk

  “No offense,” said Roo, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not contagious. I know how to create a virus that starts in one body, incubates, and then releases infectious airborne particles after a while.”

  The hunter and I both gave her an incredulous look.

  “What?” she replied innocently. “It’s from Petra’s Grimoire. I haven’t actually done it. Stop looking at me as though I’ve grown two heads.”

  “Sorry, love, it’s just that you remind me of someone.”

  “Oh, really, who?”

  Cash choked on his drink, then tried to hide it with a cough.

  “Someone I need to go and check up on.” My eyebrows quirked at the thought. There was no need to get caught up believing Sephie was right here when I could be wrong. She could be safe and sound, thousands of light-years away.

  “Probably best we collect more samples of that, then.” I pointed to the black mess on the floor. “And the boy needs to be assessed.”

  Roo placed a gentle hand on James’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

  “Hunter, could I see you outside, please?” I stepped toward the exit.

  Cash followed me through the door and positioned himself in the portico outside. He checked back briefly at Roo, then folded his arms and waited, expectantly. Since I had left, the man had changed shirts to replace the one I’d ripped open. He now wore a chambray business shirt with the sleeves rolled up. No snide comments this time, just his trademark unwavering attention. Almost reminded me of the good old times.

  “Right. We need a plan of action,” I started.

  “I love how you think there’s a ‘we’ in this equation.”

  “Are you mocking me, hunter?”

  “Never.”

  “We’re either together on this, or we aren’t.”

  “I’m with her.”

  “So am I.”

  “Then we’re together.”

  I sighed. “We should be including her in this conversation.”

  “She can’t be. There is no way around it. Like you said, we don’t even know for sure it’s her.”

  “I know that, but lying about this feels wrong.”

  Cash placed a hand on the back of his neck and rolled his head, cracking his bones. “I don’t like lying either, but it’s for her protection.”

  “You were fine to lie about it a day ago. What changed? Oh, no, don’t tell me. Of course. You did the rumpy-pumpy and now you’re whipped. You can’t see the forest for the trees. Need I remind you that you went off all half-cocked on a killing spree the first time and look where that got us.”

  “She ordered me to do that.”

  “But did she really mean it?”

  “I left the uninfected.”

  “I’ve done nothing but her wishes since you cocked up everything. I’ve spent my life cleaning up your mess. If there is anyone who will lead here, it’s me.”

  “And what, exactly, do you think I’ve been doing? Having a picnic, or a walk in the park, perhaps? No. I’ve fucking been gathering the pieces of my broken soul for millennia. A soul that was broken to save this fucking mess.”

  “Exactly. You’re broken. I’m not.”

  “You dare to question my abilities…” His voice trailed off, and he dropped his arms to his side. “You’re right.”

  “Of course I’m bloody well right. You may have been the strong one back then, but all I’ve been doing for the last few thousand years is damage control. I think I’ve learned a thing or two.”

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “Just… just sit tight until I’m back. Can you do that?”

  Cash’s nostrils flared, he grit his teeth and nodded.

  “There’s a good lad. I’ll send help for when you get to The Ludus in Sydney.”

  “I don’t think that’s wise. We shouldn’t be sharing this information with anyone.”

  “She won’t know the full details. She’ll just think she’s doing a favor to get back in my good books, and considering how your body is failing, I believe we need backup. Australia is Urser’s territory. When I travel, time can shift out of my control. I only intend to go for a day or two but there may be too much passed before I get back. You stick to her like glue. Not a hair on her head harmed, yeah?”

  “Of course.”

  I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “I’ll go and give a few instructions to The Ludus about the trials. I don’t think I can cancel them, but perhaps I can shorten them to four or three. Oh, how I long for this all to be over, but there is so much to do before I go.”

  “Via, veritas, vita.” Cash’s words hadn’t been spoken for many years, not since beginning. They meant: The way, the truth and the life, and it was a greeting and a goodbye in one. A motto, or guideline by which to live by. I thought it was good to hear the words again. It grounded me.

  “Via, veritas, vita,” I murmured, then added, “Vivat Regina.” Long live the Queen.

  Before I left for the Empire, I took a detour to the London Ludus, and made my way to the lowest below ground level. The desire to skip it all was strong. I had to get off this piddly planet. I had to get home. I longed for it. Ached for it. There were questions only my people could answer.

  My people.

  The words swam around my head. Were they really my people anymore when I’d lived on this planet for so long?

  Perhaps the Simons were my people now.

  Standing in Purgatory, ready to collect Seraphim souls, I realized I might have to make a few trips. Cor blimey, I thought, as I picked up a collection of baubles filled with static life-force. I struggled to carry them all. This was way overdue.

  “About bloody time.” Jacine’s voice echoed from somewhere behind me in the vast, dark chamber. Walls were lined with shelves stocked with rows of souls trapped in glass spheres.

  I glanced over my shoulder. “I know it’s been a while, but I had no idea these would build up so much.”

  “A while? Try decades, Marc. And what did you expect? These souls won’t be happy when they return to their bodies.”

  “I don’t suppose you’ve weighed any of them in front of the Tribunal, yet?”

  “Well, we had. But it’s been a while. You might have to do them again, for due diligence.”

  I sighed. Of course I did. If one, just one, of them was tainted with heavy darkness, and I let it through, then a plague of epic proportions would be released on the Empire. So far we’d kept the evil confined to this planet because we’d checked, quarantined, and checked again. And with the new threat of its rebirth, I couldn’t take a chance. But honestly. “There’s got to be over a hundred here.”

  “Try a thousand, Marc.”

  “Bollocks.”

  “Don’t use that tone with me.”

  I scrubbed my face. Perhaps it had been longer than I thought since my last trip. “All right, all right. I accept this as my fault. As long as you said they’ve been weighed, I’ll give you that. Besides, this lot looks clear to me. They’ll get assessed again upon entry to the Empire, so I’m sure it will be fine.”

  “C’mon, then. How many can you safely carry?”

  I assessed the mountain of spheres with a heavy heart. The answer was: not nearly enough to make this journey simple. I scratched my chin. â
€œI’d say perhaps around a hundred, give or take.”

  “Is that all?”

  “If I take anymore, there’s a risk I can’t safely contain them in my aura. Even though this is a new polymer blend type glass, it’s still not fully organic and nowhere near as advanced as the one’s from the Empire. Even those disintegrate after a time. Perhaps you should liaise with the hunter and his team. They’ve come up with some fandangled new encasing. These spheres shatter half way across the journey, the souls release and then the strength of their energy competes with mine. I need to contain it, otherwise, boom, they’re tangled in the universe.” I shivered at the thought. The whole damned lot of them would wind up a mish-mash of atoms, including me.

  “Are you saying you are in danger, dove?” Call me crazy, but to me, Jacine appeared concerned. She stepped towards me, a crease formed in her smooth brow. “Has this always been the case, no matter how many you carry?”

  I recognized an ego stroke when I saw one. And I accepted. I flicked imaginary dust off my shoulder and shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

  “Rubbish. You risk your life daily for her and what does she give you in gratitude? A lifetime of servitude.”

  “Jacine,” I warned, but without resolve.

  “Dove.”

  “Pet.”

  “Tell me you’ll think about it.” She was inches from me now, but respectfully distant. She moistened her lips, and it reminded me of a time when I’d done that for her. “You owe her nothing,” she said.

  “Please stop talking like that.”

  “I miss you,” she added, hopeful.

  “And I, you, love.”

  “Can’t you perhaps put me in one of these spheres, and I can come with you?”

  “What, and give up your corporeal body?”

  She shrugged hopelessly. “At this point, I don’t even care.”

  “But you’ve spent eons enhancing those three-dimensional molecules. That body has been primed for evolutionary upgrades. If you leave all that behind, you’d be starting at the beginning, and that’s if you can find a new body to meld with at all. They might be empty at the institute. You could end up coasting in the ether for years, slowly disintegra—”

  “Yes!” Jacine cut me off. “I know all that, but—”

  “But the fact remains the same. She comes first and always has. I have a feeling this will be over soon. You’ll get your just rewards. Wait a little longer.” As the words came out of my mouth, I knew with absolute certainty that I’d never betray Sephie. Never. I was in her corner until the end, even if she didn’t know it.

  Jacine turned away, the hurt in her eyes palpable. “For once, I’d like to come first.”

  Her words broke the temporary hold she had over me, and I laughed. “The Goddess of Love never coming first? Un-bloody-believable.”

  “Shut up.”

  “I’ll bet you came first many times over.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

  “I said, shut up.” Jacine gathered a silver tray and began counting spheres onto it. Each had a little name tag that dangled when it moved.

  “In fact, I can remember when you and I were in a juicy little hot-spring in Iceland, and you came first. And second. And possibly third, but I’m a bit hazy on that.”

  She tried to hide her smile rather unsuccessfully.

  I joined her counting out the baubles and said quietly, “Jacine? I’ll talk to the Queen. And in the mean time, there’s something I need you to do for me. It will go a long way to help prove that you’ve done your penance.”

  She glanced at me from the corner of my eye.

  “This is of the utmost importance. I’m giving you leave to exit the London Ludus.”

  Now she fully turned to face me, focus etched on her features. “Really?”

  “Yes. I agree with you, you’ve been down here long enough. I think you’ve learned your lesson about fraternizing with and manipulating the Simons.”

  “I have.”

  “Right, so…” I stalled and licked my lips.

  Jacine placed warm her hand on mine. “What is it?”

  “There is someone who needs protection and help.”

  While she waited expectedly, I mentally argued with myself. If I asked her to protect Little Red, it could be entirely too obvious. But if I asked her to protect the hunter, then it’s possible Little Red would be safe as a sideways result. With my absence, I didn’t want to take any chances. I couldn’t live with myself if I returned and Little Red was gone. I’d already been complacent and negligent. Now someone had discovered she could move through the in-between with me.

  “Marc?” Jacine said.

  “Jacine, this is highly confidential. If you do this, I have no doubt that you will be rewarded heavily.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “The hunter needs your protection.”

  “The hunter?” She frowned. “What’s so special about him?”

  “He’s the Queen’s enforcer, reborn.”

  For a moment, Jacine’s eyes looked inwards as she tried to make the relevant connections. When she caught Marc’s eyes, her own were glistening. “Oh my gods, he’s alive.”

  “Exactly. You can see how protecting him and following his orders will please the Queen.”

  Her hand fluttered to her throat. “Yes. I know more than anyone what that relationship meant.”

  I had no doubt she spoke the truth. I could see it in her aura and knew she’d always been able to sense the emotions related to love, but I didn’t give two-hoots about that love. I only wanted Sephie protected, and this was the best way to do it.

  “You follow his orders, no matter what, yes?”

  “You can trust me with his life.”

  I stood silent for a minute and studied her energy. At the time of her words, she meant it. That was the best I was able to do.

  “Good. I’m also reinstating your status to the Tribunal. You won’t just be a member, but a leader. You’ll have sway. And-ah… you won’t need me to think about you-know-what anymore, yeah?”

  Her eyes widened, and she looked away. I couldn’t be sure but I thought I saw a tear in her eye.

  “Jacine, you don’t still want me to…”

  She sighed. “Marc, it’s just that I’m done with this false life. And I want to start a family. A real one, not a soulless one that get’s used up for this stupid Game.”

  “Well, you know who to blame for that, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” The malice in her eyes was clear.

  “Bloody tosser Prince. Maybe start the process in uncovering his whereabouts too.”

  I considered sharing Eve’s news about his demise, but held it in. The Prince. Urser. Both bloody the same. Instead, I placed a palm against the back of her warm neck and kissed the top of her head.

  Silently she nodded. “Right. These have been weighed. You can start here. When you come back, I’ll have the team get another lot ready before I go.”

  “Cheers, love.”

  “I’ll see you when you get back.”

  I stepped through the in-between and within moments arrived somewhere in Tasmania, Australia. My feet formed in the icy water of the ocean, and as I walked through the water toward the shore, the crisp night air tickled my skin. I didn’t need to look up to see the sky was awash with the floating green and magenta lights of t
he Aurora Australis. My skin lit up with phosphorescence, reflected from the sky above and the calm waters below. The last time I had been here was with the Queen on the night I returned her to the Empire.

  The ghosts of my past rose swiftly to remind him of how cowardly I’d behaved been back then. I could still hear the devastation in her long keening wail as she splashed around the icy waters, wanting desperately to get back. She’d pounded her fists on my chest, she’d screamed obscenities at me, she even used her power on me but I’d shifted to another spot every time. Wordlessly, I’d taken her fury because that’s all I knew to do. Just like when we were young, and she’d heard about her betrothal to the ruthless man who one day became King, and father of her son. Then after suffering countless years under the tyrant, he was assassinated. She finally found happiness with her hunter. This planet was her chance at a fresh start. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, she funneled her resources into creating life. Pity her son didn’t feel the same. The darkness had tainted his soul.

  The entire debacle was a travesty.

  Especially what the Prince had done to the innocent here on Earth. In one day—one hour!—she’d lost her family, her creations, and her new love. She lost it all to her only son. When I took her home to the Empire, I knew the hunter would unleash his devil inside to stop the darkness from spreading, even if it cost him his life. The Queen stood on those shores giving me everything she had because she knew she would never see her hunter again.

  I watched her rage. I knew nothing else to do, but to let her come at me. Everyone envied me when my ability to teleport evolved into existence. They said I must be doing something right for the Universe to reward me so. But I knew the truth. All those years in my childhood where I raced Sephie, watching her ponytail fly before me, an inch away. I never caught up because I wanted to lose. To fade. I’d gotten these powers because they helped me run away.

  Now I was doing penance for my cowardice: endless trips between the Empire and Earth, carrying the souls of delegates, holding their lives in my hands. One slip wrong and I’d be responsible for the loss of lives so fundamental that I’d devolve like the Soul-Eaters did. I’d lose the advantage I’d clawed back from working tirelessly on this planet.