by Hanna Peach
“That’s Loki,” he said by way of explanation.
“How can a mortal stand to work here? I thought−”
“Loki’s half-demon. Proper half-demon.”
Alyx turned her gaze towards where Loki was now pouring a clear liquid into two stub glasses filled with ice. He didn’t look any different than any other mortal. No horns, no fangs, no scales. Half-demon? “But how?”
“This is the one place where demons, Seraphim and mortals in the know can come together. Is it so hard to imagine that a demon and a mortal could fall in love and produce a son?”
Is this where Israel had come from? Is this how he had become part demon?
“Thanks,” Jordan said to Loki as two glasses filled with clear liquid and ice brandished with slices of lemon were pushed in front of him. Jordan slid something across the bar under his fingers into Loki’s hands.
Alyx realized that Jordan hadn’t specified what drink to pour. How did Loki know what to pour him? Was Loki a mind reader? And Jordan hadn’t needed to ask how much these drinks had cost…
“How often do you come here?” Alyx asked, her tone more accusatory than she had intended.
Jordan shrugged. “Tongues loosen after a few drinks. Information here’s good. Sometimes the company is, too.” He swilled the ice and liquid in his glass before downing the whole thing at once. “Plus, sometimes you need to let loose and have a bit of fun, right?” He winked at Alyx.
Alyx took a gulp of her drink. She tasted a cool sharpness laced with the sourness of lemon. Then her mouth burned as if it were on fire. She coughed. “God, how do you drink this?”
“Vodka. It’ll put hair on your chest.”
“It’s awful.” Alyx pushed the glass away from her.
“You get used to it.”
She was about to respond with a retort when she heard a voice from behind her, thick like pouring honey. “You two look like you could use a little extra company.”
Alyx turned her head. Behind her was a man, strong jaw, jet-black hair styled into a quiff, deep blue eyes rimmed with black eyeliner. Under his tanned mortal skin he was green and had rows of small horns across his cheeks. Alyx’s body reacted by flaring in swirls of disgust. This demonic creature was standing way too close for comfort. Alyx moved her hand to her blade at her hip and cursed inwardly when she realized she wouldn’t be able to use it. The Darkened didn’t seem perturbed by her reaction to him.
“Before you dismiss me, you should be polite and at least shake my hand.” The Darkened stared intensely at her as though he were trying to transmit his thoughts to her.
Alyx looked down at his hand – long fingers, tapered fingertips, well-manicured. But she couldn’t get over the hue of the lesser demon skin underneath. She bristled. “I’m not−”
“Shake his hand, Alyx,” Jordan’s voice was low but his tone was fierce. Alyx looked back at him in surprise. Jordan didn’t meet her gaze. He kept his eyes narrowed on the Darkened. Jordan knew something.
She had a choice – she could trust Jordan again or she could refuse. So far, he hadn’t let her down.
Alyx turned back to the Darkened and slowly extended her right hand towards his. He closed his fingers around her hand in a fierce grip. The instant her skin touched him he began to shimmer. The green of his skin faded under the human facade. It disintegrated to a sea of blue that swirled and seemed to ripple. The horns on his face smoothed out and his skin rose up to form ridges along his jawline like gills. She gasped. A mirage demon. A greater demon. The most rare and revered of demons apart from Lucifer himself. What in the holy Angel’s name was a mirage demon doing here?
Alyx started to speak, “You’re a−”
“Not here,” he stated simply, although his eyes conveyed much more. He leaned in and lowered his voice, “I know who you are, Alyx.”
Alyx. He didn’t call her Alyxandria. But Alyx. Alyx’s skin prickled. Who was this demon? And why was he hiding who he was by choosing to look like a lesser demon?
“What is it to you?” Alyx said, pulling her hand from his. The blue of his skin faded into green again.
“We should talk. Somewhere private.”
Jordan spoke up, “Upstairs, then?”
“Yes. It is safest there. We will be left alone.”
The Darkened pushed off the bar. Jordan nudged Alyx’s back, indicating for her to go first. Wordlessly, she followed the demon as he weaved his way through the bar. Alyx noticed that he was careful not to touch anyone along the way.
At the back of the bar the demon disappeared behind a red curtain. Alyx paused before it, not wanting to pull it aside, not wanting to see what was behind it and where they were being led. Her heart thudded in her ears. Jordan stepped closer to her and reached out around her to separate the curtain.
Before her was a flight of stairs between two black walls, each one with a row of searing white lights like diamonds. The glare wouldn’t allow her to see what was waiting for them at the top of the stairs. Perhaps that was the point.
“Whatever happens,” Jordan said in her ear, “just go along with it.”
Alyx felt the unease in the base of her stomach grow. But she nodded and began to walk up the stairs.
At the top was a small reception area, stylishly furnished. Alyx could feel her feet sinking slightly into the plush carpet beneath her. The mirage demon was talking to a lady behind the desk with ginger hair in curls piled on top of her head and secured with simple black pins. Alyx caught the end of what the mirage demon was saying, “...a more standard room, Lady Bluesette. It’s her first time. We wouldn’t want to scare the poor thing.”
Then Alyx noticed the top of two bronzed horns showing through the lady’s curls and the set of clawed bat-like wings spilling out from either side of her chair. “Lady” indeed.
This Lady Bluesette looked over at Alyx and Jordan, who had come up beside her, and acknowledged them with a slight nod of her head.
“And it’ll just be the three of you?” The lady directed this to the mirage demon. “Or will you be wanting additional company?”
“That won’t be necessary, Lady Bluesette.”
“Come with me,” she said as she circled around her desk. As the Lady walked past Alyx, she could smell thick vanilla cloying her nose. But underneath it something smelled like rust, which set her teeth on edge.
Whatever happens, just go with it.
Lady Bluesette led them through one of the corridors off of the reception area. She stopped in front of a door marked as room number 17, turned the handle and pushed open the door. “I wish you…an adventurous and pleasurable stay.”
Alyx swallowed and stepped inside.
It was a large room decorated in cream, latte-brown, and wood edged in gold. The large king-sized bed was covered in a tasteful number of pillows. Two deep red bedside lamps, a single matching red pillow and a vase of white and red roses were the only accents of color. Several bucket armchairs circled a low coffee table. On a black glass table near the bed was a large black box opened on its hinges displaying a silver paddle, a pair of silver handcuffs and a silver phallic-shaped object.
Experiment with pain during…
Alyx’s heart thudded when she realized where they were. She jumped when she heard the door close and the lock click behind her. When she spun around the demon had taken off his brown leather jacket, hung it across the back of one of the armchairs and was now loosening his tie.
What the hell had she gotten herself into? Alyx drew her sword and pointed it at the mirage demon. She knew she couldn’t use it against him but she felt better with the steel in her hand. “Don’t you dare come anywhere near me.”
“Alyx, it’s not what you think,” said Jordan. “This is just a place for us to talk.”
Jordan stepped up to the demon and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Balthazar. I thought it was you. You can’t hide those eyes, even under glamour.”
The Darkened named Balthazar nodded at Jordan. “We meet again.”
“You know him,” Alyx hissed at Jordan.
“We have met before, yes. Put your weapon away, Alyx. You can’t use it here anyway.”
Alyx glared at both Jordan and Balthazar, but neither of them seemed to want to elaborate any further.
She lowered her blade but kept it unsheathed. “Met how?”
Jordan breathed deeply as if he were deliberating whether or not to speak. “We met here in Purgatory.”
“Here?” Alyx choked out.
“Balthazar has been…helping me. He was the one who told me about the Trinity Amulet.”
“What?” Alyx’s head spun.
Balthazar handed Jordan a drink, then held one out to Alyx. “Shall we sit?”
“I prefer to stand.” Alyx ignored the drink. “Who the hell are you?”
Balthazar, looking nonplussed at Alyx’s rejection of the glass, started to drink from it himself. He settled into one of the seats, as did Jordan.
“My name, as you have already gathered, is Balthazar. I am one of Lucifer’s closest.”
Alyx’s heart skipped at the name Lucifer. Lucifer, the Devil, Satan...she had been taught about Lucifer. Alyx could feel Balthazar’s eyes on her, watching her reaction. She tried to appear unaffected. “So what do you want?”
“It appears we have a common enemy.” Balthazar took another sip from the glass and placed it on the table in front of him before continuing. “There is a demon, a greater demon, who we are both acquainted with. His demon name is unpronounceable in the human tongue, but he goes by the name of Samyara in the mortal realm. Samyara isn’t happy with how things are done down in Hell. He quietly, but never openly, defies Lucifer’s ruling. Unfortunately, no monarch is perfect. Not even God,” Balthazar added with a touch of irony to his voice. “Samyara managed to collect himself a following. Not a large following but large enough, mainly mongrels and lesser demons...”
“Mongrels?” asked Alyx, having never heard this term before.
“Mixed-demon breeds,” Balthazar explained. “Recently, Samyara has started promising the Earth for those who join him. Samyara claims that he has a weapon against the Seraphim and that he has gained one of the pieces of the Trinity Amulet, which has the power to make Lucifer his slave.”
Alyx rolled her eyes. “Tell us something we don’t know, demon.”
“Is she always this pleasant?” Balthazar asked Jordan.
“Take it easy on her. She’s only a new FreeThinker.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here. I’m right here,” snapped Alyx.
Balthazar finished off his drink. “Some of the greater demons have become sympathetic to Samyara’s cause. Some very powerful demons.”
Alyx remembered the collection of greater demons on Earth that she and Israel had found in the demon den in the Valley of Saint Joseph, and she couldn’t help shuddering.
Balthazar continued, “We have heard of the existence of a keye to unlock the celestial gates including those to Hell. We understand that Samyara is after this keye. One doesn’t have to be a genius to put these things together and create a very disturbing picture that will affect both Hell and Earth. Samyara is planning something. Something big.”
“Okay,” Alyx said. “Big yucky things happening. We got it. What do you want from us?”
“We will defeat Samyara faster if we work alongside each other. Let us share information and resources.”
Alyx’s jaw dropped. “Have you lost your damn mind? You want us to work with you?”
“What is your problem with me, exactly?” Balthazar said, his voice calm and steady, unlike how she was feeling at the moment.
“Apart from the fact that you’re a demon?” Alyx looked over to Jordan for support, but his face was lined with what looked like disapproval. It caused Alyx to begin to question herself. Was her reaction wrong? Was she mistaken somehow?
“Alyx,” Jordan admonished. “Wasn’t it you who said ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”
Alyx stared at Jordan. She couldn’t believe he was siding with Balthazar. How much did she really know about Jordan? “But he’s a demon. You want to work with demons?”
“Alyx, things aren’t as simple as that...”
Balthazar interjected, “Let me handle this, Jordan.” Balthazar turned to Alyx. “We are so greatly misunderstood. We may represent the night, death, diseases, destruction... but these are necessary things.”
“You dare to call these things necessary?”
“Without death there is no room for new life. Without destruction there is no space to rebuild afresh. Without your personal demons to overcome – fear, hate, greed – where is your growth? We are your teachers.”
Alyx crossed her arms. “Pretty speech. You practice that into a hairbrush in front of the mirror at home?”
“We are but two sides of the same coin, you and I. The darkness is needed just as much as the light. But there is meant to be a balance. Samyara is trying to upset the balance, to break it apart for his own gain. We must stop him, restore the balance.”
“What about the fact that you demons have to take life from mortals to stay alive on this Earth?” Alyx’s voice was beginning to rise in volume. “Where’s the necessity in that? Where’s the balance in that?”
Balthazar’s face began to show its first signs of strain. “The Hell realm is not perfect by any means, and we know that some demons use humans as a means to escape from it. We don’t condone the possession of humans by demons, but we can’t stop it from happening if the mortal allows it.”
Alyx scoffed. “You try to justify your existence and yet you stand in a mortal’s body, taking life yourself to survive.”
“I had to come through to Earth so that I could discover what Samyara was up to. It is a means to an end. Yes, I must take some life from other mortals so I can remain here, but I am not taking so much that it causes death. I will return my host’s body back to him once I am done.”
“Liar. You can’t do that.” Alyx looked at Jordan. “Can he?”
Jordan nodded.
Balthazar continued, “We must work together to ensure that Samyara does not succeed. Otherwise we – you, I and the entire mortal race – are lost.”
“Ohhhh, I see. You’re a good demon. My mistake.”
“Sarcasm is not a very attractive feature in a woman. Remember,” Balthazar said curtly, “that it was one of your own, one of the ‘good guys’, who gave this piece of the Trinity Amulet to Samyara.”
This made Alyx flinch. Her mind turned over Passar’s actions. And Michael’s. Both Seraphim. And here a demon was offering her help.
When had everything become so complicated? When had everything stopped being so clear?
“Don’t judge me for what I am,” Balthazar said quietly, “or the color of my skin.”
Alyx’s resistance began to fade. She pulled her arms from her defensive position across her chest and let them hang by her side. “Okay, so theoretically we help each other defeat Samyara. Afterwards, then what? We’re on opposite sides again?”
Balthazar smiled. “When this is over, if things have gone our way, hopefully we won’t need to take sides.”
What Balthazar meant by this, Alyx had no idea.
“At the moment we don’t know much more than you do about Samyara,” said Jordan. “We know a little bit about this weapon of his. It’s a type of material out of which he is making swords. There are limited amounts of it on Earth and we are looking at finding the remainder to limit his weaponry.”
“Is this anything we can help you with?”
“No. We can look after this weapon.”
Alyx understood why Jordan didn’t elaborate on Black Stone and why he refused Balthazar’s assistance. Black Stone was a weapon against the Seraphim that no one should have. Not even the supposed good demons.
Balthazar nodded respectfully. “I shall continue to hunt for information regarding this keye and try to contain the outflow of demons from Hell into Earth.”
“How does that work?” Alyx asked. “What happens to the demon in Hell when the demon takes possession of a mortal?”
“The demon’s body remains in Hell in a sort of sleep. We believe Samyara has a secret stronghold somewhere in Hell where the bodies of his followers are kept safe while they move around in their mortal host on Earth. We have agents of ours looking for this stronghold. If we can find them we can contain this threat, but…”
“But what?”
“I believe you have not had the pleasure of visiting Hell. It is…vast. We have been around since the dawn of time and even we have never seen the edges of it.”
We. This demon kept saying we. Before Alyx could ask him about it, Balthazar pulled something from his pocket and held out his hand. “Here, take this.”
In his palm was a tiny cage made of bronze metal on the end of a thin chain of the same metal. Captured inside the cage was a small ruby-brown bug with a polished shell like a gem, red and black patterned wings like a butterfly and an antenna that moved wildly.
Alyx had never seen anything like it. She frowned but made no movement to accept this strange gift. “What is it?”
“It’s a demon Communicator. It’s a small demon-bug with the power to alert its partner; the partners can locate each other. We have its partner.” Balthazar pulled out another cage identical to the one he held out to Alyx. “You can use the Communicator to alert me or vice versa, and we can meet to discuss our findings.”
“Locate? So you can know where I am?” Alyx felt the fire of anger lick at her belly. “How do I know you aren’t trying to trick us? Discover the location of our community and attack us?”
“The creature will only begin transmitting your location once it has been instructed to turn on using the secret word. So you should only turn it on at the location where you wish us to meet.”
Alyx frowned at the creature and crossed her arms. “Nope. Not taking it.”
“Fine. Then I’ll take the Communicator.” Jordan held out his hand.
“You do that and I’ll take Israel and leave. We’ll take our chances on our own.”
