“Was it?” Valeria purred wickedly, “So I had an alternate agenda. That does not invalidate all my hard work and efforts. Hell, every human walking the earth has an angle. You had an angle. I introduced you to Oxivius, or have you forgotten that too?”
“What’s your point?” Xlina shot back, but Valeria only grinned the more her eyes drinking in Xlina’s battered attire.
“My point is,” Valeria replied, slowly placing her glass on the bar and leaning forward. “I have given you everything good in your life. I took you from the ward where your father dumped you and gave you a home, a job, an education, Amber, and Oxivius. All those things you lost of your own actions. Don’t blame me because you can’t keep your shit together dear.”
“I lost?” Xlina stammered in reply, “Of my own actions?”
“Precisely,” Valeria nodded. “You wandered into the park and told your tale of woe to the Brothers Three about the terrible demon. They sold you out, and the Burnished Rose came to your home. That was on you.”
“It wouldn’t have happened had you not,” Xlina retorted, but Valeria cut her off, raising a hand and causing the mark to flare to life.
“I placed a mark,” Valeria answered. “It was your response that caused the Burnished Rose to learn of it and attack you. It was your choice to continue hunting the cephalopod when you promised me you would wait until you were fully healed that caused you to get the mark in the first place. Just as your incessant desire to be rid of the mark forced you to abandon your job and your studies at the University of Maine. Your blunder with the brothers dragged poor Amber into this mess as well. Still, after all that, you struggle against me. Me? The one who has made all the good things in your life happen while you squander them away.”
“You’re twisting the truth,” Xlina replied defiantly as the mark flared once more.
“You are denying the consequences of your actions,” Valeria answered firmly. “I gave you space to mourn Amber after the battle with the council. Then I offer to rebuild what you lost. Giving you a new home here at Pandora’s and a job if you want it. A second shot at a normal life. What do you do? Run off with that fool necromancer for another misadventure and spit in my eye for my efforts.”
“You’re playing the innocent victim,” Xlina replied sourly. “Spare me.”
“Spare you?” Valeria replied mockingly, “Then after running off with the necromancer when the shit truly gets deep, what happens? You call for your oppressive demon to pull you from hell? Really Xlina, there is nothing I could do that would be more damaging to your life than your decisions. I swear.”
“What would you have me do?” Xlina replied, exhausted from the demon’s circular logic. She knew deep down Valeria was the architect pulling the strings on all of it, but the demon could spin the truth like no other.
“Be the bouncer for Pandora’s,” Valeria answered firmly. “Live your life and, when needed, kill whatever I point you at. That is all I require, though I admit a thank you now and then would be a pleasant bonus.”
“Thank you,” Xlina shrugged in defeat, a wasted gesture without meaning.
“Oh, my Baku,” Valeria smirked, “We could be so great together if you would just appreciate the gifts I offer.”
“Your gifts?” Xlina replied sarcastically.
“Yes! My gifts,” Valeria purred like a cat toying with a mouse, “My patron is pleased and so am I. You are a powerful, awakened and only growing more so. All you have to do is stop fighting me at every turn and I could make your life... so much fun.”
“Until I die, that is,” Xlina answered, “Until the part where you torture my soul until nothing worthwhile remains. Until my blackened soul is reborn as a demon from a seething pile of maggots and worms?”
“You make it sound so ugly?” Valeria countered, “You cannot see the purity of the transition.”
“Purity?” Xlina balked.
“Yes purity,” Valeria answered, “When the last vestiges of human waste are squeezed from you... there is a release. A purity of spirit unburdened by petty human foibles. When you emerge from the spawning, you are refined in demon form, taking on your strongest traits.”
“You turned into a succubus,” Xlina answered with venom, “A lust demon... so your pure form is a tramp?”
She braced for the backlash, but it was well worth it to stick it to Valeria. Her mark did not flare to life however, Valeria did not pounce, she just leaned on the counter as if the insults were meaningless.
“You see it as a terrible thing,” Valeria continued, “But I am pure in my desire and intent. I accept who and what I am, Xlina. Can you say the same for yourself, eater of dreams?”
Valeria’s words pounded home like a sledgehammer. Of course, she could not hurt the demon’s feelings. It would require the demon’s still to possess such human traits, and everything that was human about Valeria was sitting in a brass collection bowl in hell. Xlina, on the other hand, was only human, with human emotions and human insecurities, and Valeria was all too skilled at peeling back those layers and driving her cutting words deep into her core.
“I need to shower and get some sleep,” Xlina replied, her anger deflated by the demon’s precision assault on her insecurities.
“Yes, you need to restore your depleted reserves,” Valeria nodded toward the door behind the bar that lead down to the basement below, where they had first fought the fae named Puc. It had been his throne room when he operated Pandora’s. Valeria had fixed it up and made it inhabitable for Xlina and herself. A gesture to get Xlina to move out from the Hearth and stay under her careful eye.
“I do,” Xlina nodded, “The journey has been... taxing.”
“Naturally dear,” Valeria answered softly. “You’ll find the accommodations most desirable. Rest now, for the club gets lively at nighttime and you’ll never know when I’ll bring guests down for dinner.”
Xlina cringed a little, hearing the ominous tone in Valeria’s voice and knowing she meant guests in the food sense and not the hosting for entertainment way. She walked to the door numbly, her emotions a swirl of anger and regret as her hand landed on the doorknob. She turned back to look at Valeria, her demon master.
“Thank you,” she called across the bar, “Thank you... for introducing me to Oxivius. He was a treasure.”
“Indeed, he once was,” Valeria replied as she emptied her glass and poured another.
Xlina staggered through the door and down the stairs, finding a posh and lavishly decorated suite below the night club. Where Puc had preferred the filth and the dirt floors, Valeria had installed marble black-and-white tiles that formed a checkerboard pattern. The walls had been repainted with a scenic artist rendering of fluffy clouds surrounding a red sunset. As she turned, taking in the mural, the sunset dimmed to a night sky and stars on the far side of the room where a single king-size bed stood on a marbled platform with fresh black satin sheets and embroidered pillows. The sun side of the room was decorated with a pair of black and white sofas surrounding a glass coffee table. The ceiling had recessed lights which were tied to a dimmer switch on the wall at the base of the stairwell.
She had to admit, demon or not, Valeria had actual skill at interior decorating. Despite being in the nightclub’s basement, the room was most likely one of the finest in Portland. Xlina passed through a white door on the day side of the room and found a luxurious bathroom, complete with a massage tub large enough for three or four people. It was ornate... lavish... no; it was opulent; she decided. Far more than she required. It was the classic carrot and stick approach she expected from Valeria. The ease of it all, the fine things. It was yet another attempt to convince Xlina how simple life could be if she just succumbed to the demon. If she just gave in. Xlina wondered if agreeing to move from the Heart’s Hearth really was the best choice. In her grief she had thought staying close to Valeria would at least protect those around her from the threats of otherworld. After the coven attacked the Hearth to get at her, after she had put the Bur
glecuts in danger, it seemed only fitting that if more of Ertigan’s minions were going to keep emerging from the woodwork and shadows that the wretched demon bear the brunt of it.
She stripped down, leaving the sanguine sword resting next to the opulent tub as she stepped in. She did not know how to operate the fancy jets and massage panel and instead just turned the water on hot and laid down, allowing the tub to slowly fill around her. The sound of running water filled her ears and her shoulders loosened for the first time in a long time she felt safe. The warmth of the water penetrated her body, sending a relaxing wave through her legs and back. The trip to the infernal realm had been unplanned, but fruitful. She had Amber’s soul hidden away in her subconscious, but she hadn’t planned on losing her guide. Losing her friend. Losing Ox.
In truth, she did not know where to turn next. Ox had told her to go to the Burglecuts, but she was unsure about that. Penny had loved Ox like a son. She deserved to know his fate, but her guilt weighed on her like an anchor. How could she look Penny in the eye and tell her that Ox had sacrificed himself for her? Since the day Oxivius first brought her to the Heart’s Hearth, all she had brought was trouble. Between the coven of the Burnished Rose assault on the hearth and then the wraith Morticae. All that followed in her wake was violence.
‘I don’t care what troubles chase you here, so long as they don’t interfere with the fine folks living here,’ Nathan’s warning rang in her mind. Together with Amber, they had sought Lexxes Stillwater on a native reservation. Nathan was Lexxes’ husband and the local constable for the tribe. His warning as they entered the reservation was a stark reminder of the trouble that followed in her wake. Could Valeria be right? Was it that trouble and violence followed the mark, or was it her? Was it all just the nature of her Baku lineage? She fed on nightmares after all; she hungered for fearful and violent dreams like most people hungered for a bacon cheeseburger. Could it be that she was the problem and not the mark? She thought back to the river of blood. To the repeated acts of violence, it had shown her from her life. Many, too many, were from a time before she had even met Valeria.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Valeria’s demure tone rang in her ears, startling Xlina from her reverie.
“Not really in the mood,” Xlina replied, not looking up at the demon in the doorway.
“X, you’re going to have to come to terms with all of this,” Valeria continued softly.
“All of what?” Xlina scoffed, splashing the water in the tub angrily. “The pain? The loss? What do I need to come to terms with? The mark?”
“The helplessness,” Valeria answered flatly, “You gave it the college try, you resisted the mark. You resisted me. All that has done is to cause you further pain and loss.”
“You’re not here to save me,” Xlina answered sourly, “You’re here to enslave me.”
“I only offer a between path to the inevitable,” Valeria answered.
“Just because the mouse doesn’t know it’s in a maze,” Xlina shot back, “Doesn’t mean it’s not trapped. The mouse doesn’t know it, but it isn’t free.”
“What is freedom X?” Valeria answered, leaning against the door frame. “What would you do with this precious freedom?”
“I don’t know,” Xlina admitted grimly.
“I do,” Valeria responded, her voice raising and growing more animated. “I do. You would sleep in some run-down apartment, full of stale beer and leftover pizza. You would find another thing to hunt in your dreams. Then you would venture out into the night to kill it or be killed yourself. You would be alone. Fearful of hurting those around you. You would live alone, fight alone, and in the end you would die alone.”
“But I would be free,” Xlina answered softly, “My soul would be my own.”
“Yes, I suppose,” Valeria replied with a shrug, “For what’s that worth. You’re not very religious despite having literally been to the infernal plane. You help people, sure, but you do it by killing. I’m no angel, but I think that’s one of the big ten.”
“What’s your point?” Xlina muttered, thoroughly annoyed that Valeria had intruded once more on her quiet time.
“Simply that there is no guarantee your soul wouldn’t end up in the infernal realm to begin with,” Valeria answered with snide barb in her voice.
“And so, my fate is inevitable,” Xlina concluded softly.
“Perhaps,” Valeria answered, “But what do I know, I am after all just a demon.”
“What is it you want from me?” Xlina asked, weary of the demons prattling on.
“Whatever do you mean?” Valeria asked, feigning innocence.
“Well,” Xlina paused, preparing her answer cautiously, “Normally by now you’re trying to seduce me or feed on me.”
“And you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Valeria asked dry, looking over Xlina in the warm bath. She smirked lewdly for a moment before turning away. “Sorry X, not in the mood.”
“Well, that’s new,” Xlina muttered as Valeria looked out into the lavishly decorated apartment.
“Soulforge,” Valeria replied absently.
“Oxivius,” Xlina perked up, hearing his name.
“No,” Valeria shrugged with a sigh. “He will always be the rogue Oxivius Soulstealer to me. Whatever drove him to become Soulforge is beyond me.”
“I think it represented a change in him,” Xlina answered, “An end to a former life.”
“Tell you much about his former life, did he?” Valeria cooed, turning back to look at her with hostile eyes.
“Not really,” Xlina lamented. “The Burglecuts told me he was a hunter, feral and untamed. That his years in exile... changed him.”
“Why on earth one would name themselves after that legend,” Valeria muttered dismissively.
“What legend?” Xlina inquired, her interest piqued.
“The Soulforge,” Valeria replied snidely, “The Pair Dadeni, the cauldron of rebirth, the Soulforge.”
“Wait, Cauldron of Rebirth?” Xlina asked sharply.
“An old Celtic wives’ tale,” Valeria chuckled, “Fitting of Ox, I guess. The symbolism of being born anew. Oxivius Soulforge. Finally, you find your rest.”
Xlina looked at Valeria and saw it then. Fleeting, but for a moment she may have missed it. There on the demon’s face for a split second. Was it sadness in her eyes? Did she mourn for the necromancer or for losing his power? Nevertheless, it was there. At that moment, Xlina had seen it. Genuine sadness. Valeria looked back at her, her eyes growing cold and expressionless as the pupils expanded until only the black orbs of a demon stared back at her. Valeria turned away and stormed off, her designer heels clicking on the floor as her footsteps trailed away.
Chapter Nine
The Garden of Weh
Sleep had come easily for Xlina. She was exhausted to the bone and an hour of soaking in the hot tub had left her eager for the soft embrace of the pillows. The luxurious bed certainly did not hurt as she slipped between the silken sheets and felt the cool material on her skin. She snuggled down, knowing there were a hundred questions that needed answers, but for the moment her eyelids hung heavy and her body felt like it was made of lead. She needed slumber, and it came shortly after her head found the pillows. So too came the nightmares.
They were vivid and strong at first; she dreamed of hell and the horrors of the infernal realm. Whether they were her dreams or the surface thoughts of Amber’s subconscious mingling with her own, she couldn’t tell. It became a blur of torture and blood. Screams and howls in her dreams caused her to thrash and lunge out into her sleep. She saw Amber, skewered and roasting over the flames. Calling out for any to end her torment. And then it was gone. Hell, the infernal realm, Amber... they all faded to black, and she was alone in the empty void of the dreamscape.
“Hello,” Xlina called out, stepping cautiously through the emptiness. A single candle flame sparked into being before her. Its light, like a beacon in the darkness. She moved closer to the flame and soon the singl
e light became many. She found her dream-self standing before a fifty-cup votive stand, complete with an offering lockbox and an array of lit white and red votive’s. As the light from the candles spread into her vision, she could make out a stained-glass window about the candle display. Turning, she found herself in a church or perhaps a cathedral. The walls were closer to tan than brown, with high arched windows that seemed to keep the darkness of the night out. She at the entrance to a place of worship, some place close. She caught the scent of incense as she made her way up the center aisle between a score of pews. At the front of the room stood a giant cross before an alter bearing a gold chalice and plate. She recognized the layout and moved cautiously closer as faint sounds of panic echoed from the door to the side of the main platform.
A voice cut out through the silence once more. A woman’s voice filled with terror and pain. The door burst open, and a woman stumbled into the cathedral, grabbing a golden candelabra and spinning back to the door, waving the end defensively before her. She was dark-skinned, with long black dreadlocks that hung down past her waist. She wore a silver bracelet on her left wrist that caught the light and seemed to sparkle as she waved the candelabra menacingly.
Xlina followed the woman’s gaze to the door, where the silhouette of a figure loomed in the shadows ominously. She moved forward through the dreamscape as the woman slowly backed down the center aisle. The man stepped into the light brandishing a small crossbow in a black gloved hand. His hair was fiery red and cut clean, like a soldier, short on the top and shaved to the skull on the sides. His skin was pale white, with a series of scars that crossed his right cheek and eye. His clean-shaven face held a look of utter disgust.
Xlina followed his eyes back to the dark-skinned girl only then did she note the feathers of a crossbow bolt jutting out from her faded black jeans at the thigh. Blood darkened the fabric around the bolt and she staggered as she backed away, gingerly putting as little weight as possible on the injured limb. She swung the candelabra again in a futile attempt to ward off the mysterious man.
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