“I’m sorry for lying, for deceiving you, but I really had no choice. After all, I’m just a mongrel, half demon. We don’t have much say in the demonic world; our voices don’t matter,” I explained, getting back to bed. Zach did understand, but he was still wary of everything that was coming out of my mouth.
A moment later his phone interrupted our conversation. Zach answered it, and I knew that he had to leave.
We didn’t make any promises to each other, but somehow I wasn’t afraid that he was going to start talking. He must have understood that the life of his missing sister depended on it.
I lay on the hospital bed for some time after he left, thinking about Ronan. I knew that if I found Nameless and Zara, I could trade something for my letter, for all the letters.
After I got lunch, Emma came back to check on me. Apparently Ricky had to go back to the office. He had an appointment with a new client. When the doctor did his rounds, I was ready to go home. My burns would heal eventually, and I couldn’t lose another day just lying around. Emma didn’t want to hear about my new ideas; she wanted me to stay in bed. It took a bit of convincing and maybe a few lies to let her know that I was healed, that I had to get on with things. She agreed to bring me some elixirs back from my apartment.
She came back after a few hours, with a new pair of jeans, some T-shirts and magical potions. I sneaked out of the hospital in the late afternoon, pumped with magic. My skin needed to be soaked in a cold bath, probably with some added extras. Two months ago after the attack of the A’rea and my confrontation with Alexis, it took me weeks to get back to normal. Emma had taken care of the paperwork, but the nurses weren’t happy that I demanded to be released.
Luckily for me Ricky asked Emma to go back to the office. After assuring her that I was going to be fine, she eventually left me alone. I took some of the bandages off, brewed the elixirs from the dead raccoon that was supposed to sort me out. I forced some food into me and just before ten o’clock in the night I felt well enough to go out. I’d failed yesterday and I had to rectify that mistake as soon as possible, so I headed straight for the Broken Shoe. Paul didn’t look happy when he saw me.
“What the hell happened to you, Maxine?” he asked, staring down at my red face. Most of the swelling went down earlier on, but I still looked pretty battered. I had to find another way to Gjöll, but at the same time my hands were tied. The market wasn’t happening for another couple of weeks, and I couldn’t wait that long.
“It’s a very long and complicated story. You’d make me feel so much better if I had some tequila,” I said, feeling queasy. I was supposed to quit, sort myself out, but tonight the voices in my head were unbearable. Besides, I was hoping to pick Paul’s brain out about Gjöll. He had worked for Berith for years. He must have heard about an illegal entrance to the only part of the underworld that wasn’t controlled by Watchers. It was just a case of asking the right questions.
Paul glared at me, shook his head and eventually placed a shiny new bottle on the bar.
“Let me guess, you had an unpleasant encounter with Watchers?” he asked, like he just read my mind.
“Sort of. Have you ever heard of Azezel or Daniel? Those two were ready to throw me into the pits last night.”
Paul unscrewed the bottle and poured some into a shot glass.
“You shouldn’t be talking about them right here,” he pointed out, and I suddenly felt very warm and slightly lightheaded. I had a feeling that Paul’s demonic energy wasn’t exactly lost like he claimed. I looked around, spotting a drunken human on the other side of the bar. Paul was exaggerating, the bar was quiet and I wasn’t sensing any demons nearby. His previous profession left him paranoid.
“I managed to get an old formula, the entrance to Gjöll. I used my magic down by the river, but the formula was wrong. I entered the underworld instead and got caught. On top of that, Zach followed me down and saw everything,” I said, and then drank some liquid magic. It was refreshing, and my skin felt less strained. I wanted to play poker, maybe network with demons that could help me, but another month of rent was due soon. My stash was empty, and I couldn’t afford to be late again.
Paul widened his eyes and cleared his throat.
“That’s impossible. How are you even alive? Those two have never spared anyone, and they definitely wouldn’t spare a mongrel.”
“They received a letter just before I was supposed to be thrown down to the pits, and they told me that I had been spared,” I explained, popping another shot into my throat. “Don’t ask me. I have no idea what happened, but it looks like someone must really like me down below.”
Paul was shocked, so much so that he stopped polishing the glasses and stared, placing one on the bar.
“Unbelievable, you’re one lucky mongrel,” Paul said, and then poured himself a pint of beer. Okay, so he was planning to be my drinking companion for a night? “Maxine, tell me what is going on. Why are you sticking your nose where you’re not supposed to? Besides, the entrance to Gjöll is just an old myth. Stop wasting your time with this nonsense. ”
I was shocked that he said that and admitted that he knew about Gjöll. He wasn’t right. The entrance did exist, because Nameless was hiding there.
“I have everything under control, Paul. You don’t have to worry,” I said, which was a complete lie. Everything was slowly falling apart. The stolen letters, my secret, my half-started romance with Arthur, and now Zach. Paul didn’t have to read my mind to know that I was selling him the biggest bullshit in the history. I was far away from closing off this case.
“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re going the wrong way about it. You won’t find the way to enter Gjöll. Someone must lead you to it,” Paul said, with a serious expression on his face. I stared at him in confusion.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” I pressed, knowing that I couldn’t drink anymore. Paul knew something, but it was going to take me a few more hours to break him. He smoothed his fat neck and then noticed a customer on the other side of the bar.
“Hold on, I’ll be right back,” he muttered and then went to serve a newcomer. Sometimes Paul was frustrating. He possessed an incredible knowledge, but he was still loyal to Berith. I was surprised he was even allowed to leave. After all, he was one of them.
Soon after, Paul immersed himself in conversation with the new customer and I was suddenly bored. I decided to go outside for a cigarette, to stay away from drinking more tequila. Paul was a good person, but tonight he had to forget about his morals and tell me what he knew. He didn’t understand that my life was falling apart, that I had to find Nameless.
I arched my head backwards, resting it on the back door, then dragged smoke into my lungs. A moment later I spotted a figure on the street and I started coughing. It took me a moment to pull myself together and figure out that I saw someone that I recognised. My eyes couldn’t have misled me, but I was a hundred percent sure that Zara had just passed through the alley, carrying a rucksack on her shoulders. I shook my head, telling myself that she couldn’t be here, that this was impossible. I quickly dumped the cigarette on the ground, stepped on it, and decided to see for myself if that was really her. Tequila could wait, but Zara couldn’t.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I felt a breeze strike soft upon my brow: I felt a wing caress it, I am sure, I sensed the sweetness of ambrosia.” ― Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio
I looked back at the entrance to the pub, hesitating for a split second, thinking that Paul needed to know where I was going this time around. In the end I didn’t want to waste my time and started running towards the alley where I saw Zara last. I didn’t want to lose her, but at the same time I wasn’t certain that it was actually her. The woman ahead had dark hair in a ponytail, leather jacket, and there was something sticking out of her back pocket. It was possibly the famous machete, but that annoying question kept popping in my head. Why would she let herself be exposed like that? What was she doing in this area so late at ni
ght?
I kept my distance. She was walking fast, almost running, and it was difficult to see her face. Just a moment ago Paul advised me that I needed to slow down and stop sticking my nose where I wasn’t supposed to, and right now I was doing exactly that.
After half an hour the alleged Zara had reached the main high street of Brixton. I had to remind myself a couple of times that I was still in recovery, and my burns weren’t fully healed. Last night’s encounter with Watchers had weakened me, and maybe it was time to call Zach. After all, I was following his missing sister.
A moment later Zara sped up. She was obviously in a hurry. A couple of drunk humans that were smoking outside the pub, whistled at her, shouting some sexual remarks, but she kept going, ignoring them. My demonic power began rolling down my back, but it was going to take me a while to recoup the strength from a couple of days ago.
When she finally stopped on the corner by the traffic lights and looked around, I backed away to the empty building behind me, afraid that she would notice me. I took out my mobile and dialled Zach’s number quickly. When the voicemail picked up, I was ready to toss the phone on the street, burning with frustration. Zach wasn’t available when I needed him the most, typical.
She crossed the street and carried on towards the north side of the city. It was just after midnight when she stopped by the entrance to the underground station. A moment later she disappeared inside. I ran then, knowing that she was most likely aware that I was close and she was hoping to lose me in the crowd. The station was busy, and I managed to follow her trace down to the platform, using the elixir that I had on me. I used the last bit of my demonic sense to locate her getting into the tube that headed towards central London. She changed the station a couple of times, confusing me ever more. She was playing a very twisted game, and I had to force myself to stay still, and just wait.
It was late, probably before one in the morning when I followed her all the way to Aldgate East station, keeping a safe distance between us. My fingertips started to sparkle as I hid myself behind a group of Asian students and watched her approaching the man in a trench coat.
I would have been very pissed off with myself if it turned out that I had followed some random woman that looked like Zara. As it turned out, my gut feeling didn’t disappoint, because she finally turned around revealing her face. Moments later the guy with a trench coat shook her hand and I recognised him too. The colour drained from my face when I realised that it was Ronan. She passed some kind of package to him and they both smiled at each other.
Shock rippled through me. Something was very wrong here. Why on earth was Ronan meeting with Zara in the middle of the night, the woman that was a close accomplice of his son? I kept watching them wondering what the hell was going on here. Ronan was an old friend, and he would have never betrayed me. The letters from the dead princess were priceless to him, but his meeting seemed like it was planned.
A burning hot anger was filling my stomach, because none of this made sense. He pointed at the package and said something else to her. I tried Zach’s mobile again, but it was going straight to voicemail. I didn’t know what to do, staring at my old friend that was supposed to be on my side.
It took another ten minutes for them to disappear behind the barrier that led towards rail tracks. The train passed, people got in and no one noticed that a man and a woman vanished off the platform.
I reached the same spot a couple of moments later and sensed the magical potion. It was one of those elixirs that strengthened the specific magical formula. I presumed that Ronan had just managed to open the entrance to another tunnel. He must have made some kind of agreement with Zara. Maybe they were working together against Nameless. Maybe he got fed up waiting around, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. The possibilities were endless.
There were steps down that led towards the underground tunnel. I was slammed with strong demonic energy that circulated around the space. It was just a matter of time before they sensed my presence, but I was willing to follow them down. I wanted answers, and I wanted to know what they were doing. After years of friendship I didn’t want to believe that he would betray me in such a way, teaming up with an alleged enemy.
Zara and Ronan were somewhere ahead of me. Now and again I heard trains crossing, the whole tunnel was shaking, and air pressure filled my ears.
After some time I must have lost them, following through the endless rail tracks, moving further into the doomed darkness. I could no longer sense them. Despite that, I kept walking, following the tracks and remembering the cross over and the Keres that implanted the memory from my early childhood a while back now.
The tracks began to narrow and soon the tunnel started dropping down. The oxygen level decreased too and I found myself struggling to catch my breath. The tunnel narrowed further and further, making me feel slightly suffocated.
Deep down I knew that I had left the London underground behind. Ronan used his ancient magic to let Zara inside this part of the underground or cross world.
After what seemed like hours, I reached the end. Right in front of me there was another entrance to a cave. Alarm bells started going in my head. It was time for me to stop and reconsider what I was doing. The energy that scorched over me didn’t feel right. There were two human skeletons lying on the side of the cave.
The air was punched out of my lungs when I lifted my eyes, noticing a sign on the right side that was engraved in the stone. I had finally found the place that I had been so desperate to get to, the legendary Gjöll. Ronan must have found the way, and this time around I was a hundred percent sure the entrance was real. Every tiny hair on the back of my neck rose, as I tried to breathe in, aware of the heat that wafted through the air.
I could still go back and get in touch with Zach, but I had no idea if the entrance would still be here later on. Ronan had lied to me, but I didn’t want to believe that he knew how to get to Gjöll in the past few weeks. He wouldn’t have let me struggle over finding the way in.
I walked through the cave a moment later, knowing that I couldn’t turn back. My anxiety increased, because the entrance reminded me a lot of the one from two days ago. If this was the real deal, then the icy river of Gjöll would appear spread in front of me at any moment. I was stepping into unknown territory, not knowing what was waiting for me on the other side.
My breathing became laboured. I sensed demons close by, heard muted voices and screams. The long corridor widened, and after some time it started to level up. A few minutes later I reached the end, and on my right I noticed concrete stairs. I climbed up, breathing hard until I squeezed through to the large open space. It was another cave, but this was stretched for at least half a mile. A cold shiver traveled down my spine when I rubbed my tired eyes, seeing a lake that covered almost the entire square footage. There was a small island in the middle and the only way to get there was through the lake.
The tiny voice in my head reminded me that this wasn’t exactly what I expected. Everyone always talked about the river, not a lake. I also suspected that the mythological Gjöll was filled with nasty surprises. Nameless was hiding here, and now so were Zara and Ronan.
The water looked calm, and it was difficult to judge if the lake was deep or not. I took a few deep breaths, telling myself that I was in control of this situation, that I still had my magic inside me. I walked up to the edge, looking around, and a moment later a boat appeared from underneath the surface. It was made of wood and it vibrated with demonic magic. I stared at it for a while, contemplating what to do. This whole thing seemed easy, almost too easy. Someone wanted me to get to the other side. Maybe it was just a dream, maybe this whole thing was a hallucination. After all, I had magical tequila in my system.
I took my leather jacket off and tossed it on the ground, bracing myself as I climbed on the boat. There were two oars inside. I was clumsy, but eventually I figured out how to use them, and the boat started moving slowly through the dark waters. Swimming wasn’t so
mething that I enjoyed, and after last night I didn’t want to even consider getting into that lake.
The silence rang in my ears, and after several minutes my arms started to ache, but at least I was halfway through. I knew that I arrived here completely unprepared, still experiencing the side effects of elixirs that I pumped into myself earlier on. If Nameless was somewhere here, then I had made the right decision, but I was also worried about Ronan. He opened the tunnel for a reason and he did that behind my back.
By the time I reached the rocky island in the middle of the lake, my skin became hypersensitive to unknown magic circulating around me. I started to sweat and struggled to breathe. The boat disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The island was rocky. There were some brushes and stones scattered around. I spotted someone tied up to a tree, a mongrel.
He was covered with blood, his eyes were swollen, and he had cuts all over his chest. A moment later, probably after hearing my heavy breathing, he lifted his head up.
“I knew you would come. My father was right all along. You wouldn’t just give up,” he said. I assumed that I was facing Nameless Thief. He was injured, covered with cuts and bits of dried blood. He had dark brownish hair, deep hazel eyes and wide jaw. He muscles were poking out of his green, now- torn-apart T-shirt.
“Where is Ronan and what is going on here? Why are you tied up?” I asked, creating a fire ball that I balanced on my hand. It was a precaution in case this was some kind of trap. My energy was suddenly alive, rising in my system, igniting my protecting wards.
Nameless laughed and shook his head, staring at me with a mixture of anger and amusement.
“The letter has gone. Your prince has it now and he knows the truth,” Thomas replied, and I felt like my knees were just about to give up on me. No, this was impossible. Arthur couldn’t have gotten the letter already. Nameless was bluffing, trying to scare me.
Doomed Cases Series (1-3) Demonic Triangle Diabolical Quest Infernal Initiation Page 44
