“She’s like that,” he said when we were back in the car. “Only cares for her own tribe. If one of her blood-children fell victim, then she’d care. Not before.”
“Great,” I said. “I mean, it’s helpful that we’re allowed to go it alone, but I hoped we’d get a little direction. So she doesn’t use bloodstones. Who started that trend, then? They didn’t come out of nowhere. Someone must have worked out it’s possible to store human energy inside an object.”
He cleared his throat. “Actually… that was the warlocks.”
I blinked. “Seriously?”
You might have mentioned that before. It wasn’t pertinent information, but still pretty relevant. Because a warlock might be behind this, not a demon. Vampires must be getting the demon energy from somewhere, and Nikolas had been downright vague when I’d asked how the whole thing worked.
“Yes. The primary use of energy is in summonings, so they invented a way of storing that energy which didn’t involve causing unnecessary damage to the people involved. Certainly not demonic energy, however.”
“But that doesn’t explain… it’s not Azurial’s magic in those bloodstones, right? He’s a fire demon.”
“Correct,” he said. “Bloodstones aren’t strong enough to hold the power of a demigod—up until recently, I didn’t know they could store demonic energy at all. Demons and vampires would have no use for such a thing. It’s human energy that holds value for them.”
“They don’t drink demon blood,” I said. “It’s poisonous to them. But someone must have come up with the idea of using energy instead. Azurial? I can’t think how a fire demon on a realm where celestials don’t even exist would have figured out how to kill us in that way.”
“I’ve always suspected he didn’t work alone. He never struck me as a revolutionary thinker.”
“Well, he apparently started it,” I said. “The vamps were just pawns. I’m pretty sure he only got hold of them in the first place because they’re his dad’s major weakness, and he needed their venom to keep him down. But then again, that might not have been his idea either.”
“There must have been another mastermind.” He nodded slowly. “The vampires didn’t all come from this dimension, either. The demon energy they put into the bloodstones certainly didn’t.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Say it’s still happening—the odds are high that it’s coming from over there, right? I know the celestials don’t have a permit to go to the palace and stop them. I mean, people like us don’t even exist in Pandemonium.”
The worlds weren’t parallel. There weren’t another dozen Devis running around. The countless realms diverged at such crucial points—like who won major demon wars—that the very nature of civilisation shifted. When demons won the wars, things never seemed to work out very well for the humans involved.
“I’m not concerned with needing a permit,” he said. “But if there a demon from that dimension, someone here is responsible for summoning it. That’s the part which concerns us.”
“And—you don’t have any idea who it could be?”
He shook his head. “If the answers lie anywhere, it’s in the blood of the person who might have taken in the demon energy himself.”
“You mean our prisoner,” I said. “Has anyone tested his blood?”
“It’s not that simple. Vampire blood cancels out most demon viruses—she was right about that part. But as to isolating the demon energy itself… as of yet, even Rachel hasn’t managed to do so.”
“Seriously?” My heart sank. “I need to talk to her.”
“I’m heading to the Harpy’s Nest to meet with her and Javos now,” Nikolas said. “Want to join me?”
“You don’t even need to ask.”
But one thing was for certain—if even Nikolas didn’t have the answers, we were deep in the shit.
Chapter 5
The Harpy’s Nest was a mostly-warlock bar run by a vampire with spiky hair who kept trying to get me to buy blood cocktails. Weirdly, nobody here seemed to mind that I was human, though I kept my celestial mark hidden just in case.
I sipped at a vodka and coke while I filled Rachel in on our unsuccessful meeting with the vampire queen, and Nikolas went in search of Javos.
“I had a feeling she wouldn’t cooperate,” she said. “She’s set in her ways. Doubt she ever thought anyone would find an alternative use for bloodstones.”
“Most of us didn’t, either,” I said. “So she’s off the list, which means we have to go back to tracking them the old-fashioned way. Unless you or Nikolas knows anyone who might be an expert in separating the demon venom from our prisoner’s bloodstream.”
“Was that your idea or Niko’s?” Her eyes gleamed. “He didn’t tell you. Oh, boy. Well, there is one person who might know how the whole demon energy thing works… Niko’s brother.”
I choked on my drink. “Zadok.”
Nikolas’s brother lived in the shadow dimension, Babylon. Unlike him and Rachel, they were biological siblings, so their magic was similar. Except while Nikolas could travel between realms, Zadok could lock someone into a shadow trap of his own making, and attack with shadowy clones. He also had a small army of scorpion demons and lived in a demonglass tower adjacent to the castle that belonged to Nikolas. So, not the sort of person you visited without backup. But Nikolas had known the whole time he’d been talking to me that his brother might know something we didn’t. If he’d told Rachel, why not trust me with that information, considering what was at stake?
“I’d ask Niko to take you to him,” Rachel said. “But Zad’s pissed off with you, and Niko will be pissed off with me for suggesting it.”
“Just what I was afraid of.” I rolled my eyes. “What about our prisoner? Nikolas said you couldn’t isolate the demon energy.”
“That’s the other problem,” she said. “I tried to get more of the cure from the vamp’s blood, and couldn’t find anything. I think the regular vampire venom obliterates it. Besides, it’s worn off by now.”
My eyes widened. “It has? But—doesn’t that mean he’ll go back into demon mode, if he’s still under the effects of the venom?”
A tremendous crash rattled the table, and glasses shattered on the floor. The room trembled as though an earthquake shook the whole pub. I looked for the culprit and spotted a huge horned warlock swinging a smaller human-sized figure by the neck. He hit the table, apparently unconscious or dead.
The horned warlock cast a furious gaze around the bar, and my wrist tingled uncontrollably. There’s a demon. Close by. Of course, the mark might well be reacting to the close proximity of a pissed-off warlock.
The door smacked off the wall, and three vampires ran into the bar.
For a moment, everyone stared. Then one of the vamps leaped onto the nearest table, grabbed a fork-tailed demon by the neck, and sank in his fangs.
Panic erupted. Warlocks rose to their feet with furious cries, launching themselves on the enemy. Since the average warlock was twice the size of a vampire, it shouldn’t have been an issue—if not for their speed. What with the brawling heaps of claws, tails and wings, it was beyond me to pinpoint the vamps and take them out.
Fine. I climbed on the table, pulling off my cuff. Celestial light blazed from my wrist, bouncing off the walls, and drawing the eye of every demon and vampire in the bar. My gaze snagged on a vamp chewing on a young warlock, and I leaped at him. Our bodies collided against the table, sending several glasses shattering on the wooden floor. The vampire’s eyes were flat black. I knew it.
I waved my celestial light in his eyes, struggling to break free from his iron grip. My free hand found a glass and smashed it on the side of his neck. The vamp screeched but didn’t loosen his hold. Rachel yelled, the noise buried beneath the sounds of brawling filling the air. I punched the vamp’s already-bleeding neck. This time, his grip slackened enough for me to knee him in the crotch. Sliding out from underneath him, I grabbed a stake and thrust it into his back.
Droppi
ng the blood-soaked glass, I pivoted, trying to see the other two vamps. A pile of warlocks brawled several feet away, accompanied by the sound of ripping and tearing. A bloody-mouthed warlock climbed off the heap, grinning. I think Vamp #2 might be dead.
Lightning spiked the air, and I pinpointed Nikolas in the far corner. The third vamp fell to the floor, having apparently been running away. Maybe he’d rethought his foolish plan to attack a bunch of overpowered warlocks on their own turf. I elbowed my way through to him as the vampire fell to the ground, his neck snapped at Nikolas’s hand.
“This is my fucking bar!” yelled the vampire bartender. “I’ve been here for fifty years. Kill the interlopers.”
Whoa. I hadn’t thought he was older than me. I shouldn’t be so quick to judge vampires.
Problem: all eyes were on me, not the dead vamps.
Nikolas moved forward and grabbed my arm, as the vampire disappeared underneath a heap of writhing bodies. At the same time, shadows closed in around us, and the next second, we stood in a ravine.
“Thanks for asking before you dragged me away,” I said, yanking my arm free.
“You know things were about to go off into the deep end.” Nikolas shot me an irritated look, like I’d brought the vamps there myself.
“I could have made it to the door,” I said. “Now they’ll blame both of us.”
“Half of them were drunk and won’t remember by tomorrow. They’ll take their rage out on those dead vampires, and that’ll be that.”
“No, it won’t,” I said. “Those vamps were jacked up on demon energy, and they attacked a neutral bar. Do you really think there won’t be backlash?”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t presume to think I haven’t considered the possible outcomes. I think the two of us have caused enough damage.”
“Yeah, by killing the vamps trying to attack everyone.” I yanked down my cuff. “Some gratitude.”
“I never said I was ungrateful,” he said. “Just that those who do remember tonight will remember you as a celestial who came into their establishment.”
“I had an invite from Javos himself. If he’s so dead set on converting me over to Team Warlock, he can explain to the others. It’s not like they’ll listen to me.”
“Recruit you?” he echoed. “You signed up of your own accord.”
“I signed up for a trial,” I corrected. “I’m not an honorary warlock until my magic shows up, which as long as he forbids me from using it properly, isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. Besides, I’m bound to the celestials by blood, and that’ll never change. He can’t undo that.”
Neither of them really understood. They’d been born with demon magic. I’d been reborn from death as a celestial soldier, and it’d been written into my very nature. The demon mark had come along later, and the celestial magic had always taken precedence. Using it to kill demons felt right, and not being able to access it was like cutting off some crucial sense. It was part of me. But that wasn’t what was bothering me. Your brother might know something important, and you lied.
“We’re not trying to take away your celestial mark,” he said. “But I think it’s worth unlocking your demon magic before someone forces it on you.”
“Your boss is forcing it on me,” I said through gritted teeth. “You know, if I’d used demon magic tonight, I’d be facing a whole different set of questions. It’s not a matter of simply switching over from one to the other. I’m both at once. Unless the Divinity or arch-demon who marked me decides to alter my marks, I don’t have a choice in the matter.”
There was a pause. “You might be correct, but I don’t believe the demons who’ve seen your power are being idle.”
“Your brother? What’s he up to these days?”
Nikolas had told him in no uncertain terms to leave me alone—and Rachel, for that matter—but warlocks didn’t play by the rules, and that particular warlock carried a grudge and a half. Surely Nikolas would have considered asking him for help… though given their ongoing rivalry, maybe not.
“Sulking,” Nikolas said. “He tried to overstep his boundaries in the castle, so I was forced to put him under a spell to keep him trapped in his tower with his powers bound until I could arrange alternative accommodation for our other guest.”
“I take it he got curious.”
“Right,” he said. “Who wouldn’t? Themedes is ensconced in a different part of the castle, but Zadok’s curiosity knows no bounds. And besides, I never did devise an appropriate punishment for what he did to you.” Anger flared in his eyes. “No spell can bind him permanently, but I know his weaknesses. He’s without his shadow power for a few weeks, at least.”
“Damn. Remind me not to get on your bad side,” I said, to disguise the irritating rush of warmth that flooded my body at his indignation on my behalf. Annoyance didn’t quell my instinctive response to being close to him. On an alien world where I’d nearly died once before. Okay, the spired castle and starry sky were beautiful in their own way, but when it came down to it, most people in this realm wanted me dead.
“You bound him,” I said. “Like Azurial. Is there a level I have to reach before you can tell me how to do that?”
“Each warlock is different,” he said. “Zadok’s prison isn’t permanent, but he seems to have a disturbing fascination with you.”
“Not going to answer my question, huh,” I said, cutting to the chase. I could excuse him not telling me other people’s secrets, but on the other hand, my own demon mark was inextricably tied to the nether dimensions. “Rachel said your brother might know which demon’s energy is in the bloodstones, and how to isolate the cure.”
His mouth thinned. “No. If he does, he wouldn’t share that knowledge, not without a price.”
“So that’s it? You’d put your grudge above people’s lives?”
“He won’t help us, Devi,” he said. “Not because of my grudge, but because of his own. He’s far less human than I am. If he gets the slightest clue you’re in need of information from him, he’ll reel you in with words and shadows until there’s nothing left of you.”
“Delightful,” I said. “He’s a real prize. Fine. Can I speak to the arch-demon instead?”
“Not tonight. The path to the castle isn’t safe.”
“I’m not an untrained human.” I blew out a breath. “Tomorrow, then. Otherwise I’m taking on this case alone.”
He looked sharply at me. “It’s not worth it, Devi. At least one other demon already has a claim on you. The more time you spend in the nether realms, the more they’ll try to pull you in before you’re ready to handle them.”
I swallowed down an angry retort—or several. I didn’t want to argue with him, and heaven only knew I’d have a job and a half getting through to Zadok, considering he wanted me dead. But letting that knowledge dangle out of reach while people were dying…
He might know who killed Gav.
Going back to the guild had brought all the memories rushing back. The demonic magic the vampires had taken in had corrupted them, but the ones who’d attacked tonight had apparently acted at random. Attacking a bar packed with warlocks was downright foolish, but it hadn’t been an accident that they’d targeted a neutral place where warlocks and vampires generally got along just fine. But it’d been suicidal at best. They’d known—or the people who’d sent them had—that they wouldn’t make it out of there alive.
As much as I wanted to storm into the castle and question the arch-demon, a mile of wasteland and an impenetrable wall lay between us and the castle, and I had entirely too many questions to answer at home. Maybe it was worth looking into the attack in more detail rather than jumping right into questioning arch-demons. Someone in our own realm had sent those vampires with the apparent purpose of sowing chaos, without a care as to whether the vamps in question lived to tell the tale.
I breathed out, willing the clenching sensation inside me to go away, and let Nikolas’s shadowy aura envelop my body, taking me back home to Haven City.<
br />
Chapter 6
“What a disaster,” Rachel commented when I walked into the warlocks’ headquarters early the following morning. I hadn’t heard a word from the celestials about any new developments on the bite victims. I’d assumed Javos was dealing with the fallout from last night, because he hadn’t contacted me either.
The door on the right lay open, revealing a living room where Nikolas and Rachel sat in front of an old-fashioned TV with a VCR.
“What’re you doing?” I asked.
“Watching the CCTV tapes from the pub down the road from the attacks,” Rachel said. “To see which direction the vamps came from.”
“Has anyone looked at the bodies?”
“There wasn’t enough left to examine.” Nikolas glanced at me. “The warlocks took them to pieces and burned the remains. If we’d stayed, we’d have been caught in the melee.”
“So they destroyed the evidence.” I sighed. “Great. No clue who gave them the demon energy? Is Madame White actually taking this seriously now?”
“I haven’t spoken to her,” said Nikolas. “As for Javos, he’s storming around trying to work out which collective those vamps came from. If he can find a pattern, it might be possible to track the source of those bloodstones that way. The real question is what they hoped to accomplish. Why target a warlock bar?”
“To inflame tensions between preternaturals, obviously,” I said. “The bites don’t affect warlocks, right?”
Nikolas returned his attention to the screen. “For all our sakes, I sincerely hope not.”
The camera played the grainy image of people passing by outside the pub. Since more than half the clientele were warlocks, even the black-and-white images made it a little easier to pinpoint any human-sized figures passing by.
“Three people walking that way,” I said, squinting at the image. “Looks like they were pretty calm before they started smashing things in the pub. Must be how they avoided attention.”
Celestial Fire (Celestial Marked Book 2) Page 5
