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I went over the statement. Official and sealed from Gretel herself. Haymen had officially found the demon who had killed Luke and went into a very detailed statement with the demon admitting to the murder. Despite all the evidence leading to its legitimacy, I thought otherwise. The snake demon Haymen claimed was his downfall because I had seen Luke take one of the exact same species within my own city. Luke was young but experienced. I had trained him myself on many accounts. It left a lot of doubt in Haymen’s statement. That, and he conveniently gathered it so quickly. The demon was prepared to face the courts and plead guilty. Because he wasn’t protected like Vivian, he would be publicly executed.
By the courts ruling and agreement Vivian was a free woman. Well, in certain terms. I wasn’t convinced that she had no involvement and I intended to follow her for the next thirty days as agreed by Haymen and the court. I would find the truth behind Luke’s death and it somehow centered around Vivian. I just knew it. I owed it to Luke’s family and co-workers; the truth about his horrific death. When his body arrived with wings in a separate bag, his mother wailed. Young were difficult to conceive for angels and like many, one child was all they could birth through hundreds of years trying.
He had done so much for all of us and to be murdered within the Demon Lord’s city was no coincidence. I forbade any of my own angels to come within Haymen’s city until further notice and I urged other cities who were ruled by angels to do the same.
I had avoided confronting Haymen head on for many years. I could ask any of my soldiers to follow her in my stead but I couldn’t trust the treaty. Against the Haymen, only I would stand for a fair fight. I asked my second in command to rule my city while I was gone. This involved us all and although I had many candidates to take my place in Shabeah, I wanted to see this through to the end. Something was happening here, I could just feel it. Luke was the tip of the iceberg. If Haymen was plotting to initiate another war we had to be ready and on the forefront. It was only Haymen who could start a global scale war.
I sat in the carriage on my way to Aztec. I read over the documents that had been sent to me just before I departed the docks. A mass fight broke out in the prisoner’s communal arena. It was the first time that anyone had been able to break through the metal cage but with the amount of impact on either side from both prisoner and guard, a small part shattered and it crumbled from there.
Seven of the prisoners were now dead. No loss, really. Only one survived. Vivian. Of course, I thought. Even another Guardian that was detained in there had died. I remembered Alice’s case well. She was a Guardian of Haymen’s, loyal until she was possessed by a member of the Volv. It was the first time any of us had seen one come out of hiding after the last war and that was three hundred years ago. That was bad. It meant that the Volv who possessed her was no longer trapped in Alice’s body. It’s why we imprisoned her, so the vile demon wouldn’t be set free. After three hundred years it could easily find its way back to its master.
Almost all of the chanters were dead. They were witches who had been chained and forced to live a life within Aztec to keep whatever unspeakable demon was sleeping. Even I couldn’t find a track record of it, but I knew what I felt which meant that records were being hidden. Gretel was the only one I could trust and she was one of the few who kept an eye on the prison alongside Haymen who represented the demons solely.
I didn’t find it a coincidence that Vivian had been detained in Aztec for less than forty-eight hours and a slaughter like this erupted.
Gretel had been so kind as to send me the sheet, security, and blueprints to Aztec. I pressed a red button on the flat metal sheet and footage of the breakout within the yard projected in front of me in 3D. I swiveled the images from side to side until I could get a perfect positioning on Vivian. All the Guardians and soldiers perfectly filmed and saved the surveillance. What they saw, we had records to as well.
Vivian had been talking to someone in there. I zoomed in on the ugly woman like creature until I noticed the tattoos on her arms which matched that of a Guardian. Alice. The way Vivian had walked out was very intentional and she engaged with Alice almost instantly. I zoomed in further on Alice and her identity came up into a separate side box. Alice Kendrid. Concealed by Haymen’s Guardians Three hundred and two years ago. I frowned at the offenses. Serious, but mostly screamed rogue Guardian who was attacking her own kind. I remembered being briefed on this case. I tapped on the side of the metal sheeting. If it weren’t for a Volv possessing her she would’ve been killed. It was because Haymen wanted to entrap that demon that he requested it to be sent to Aztec. Each generation of Guardians only lasted a maximum of thirty years. On the official records it was because their contract expired with their demons that devoured them whole. I wasn’t entirely convinced. Although Haymen claimed to be transparent about his creations, the Guardians there were a lot I was suspicious of. Especially if the only Volv movement since their uprising in the last war was targeted at one of Haymen’s Guardians.
I zoomed in on the image of Alice and noticed her pinhole pupils and the veins which protruded from her in a grotesque way. The video didn’t have audio and the way her mouth moved I couldn’t read her lips. Vivian flinched but didn’t move. I hummed and reversed the recording watching it again. And then a third. A clean cut began to bleed from her calf. I zoomed in and went over those few seconds again. She had definitely been cut by something. Perhaps the demon I had felt before I left? It had taken an interest in her the moment we walked into Aztec. I zoomed out and watched in suspense as the others began to surround her. The records said that Vivian had made it out alive so I watched on as the seven surrounded her and then attacked.
I had to give her credit. Despite having no access to her demons she was a fluent and smart warrior in her own right. Her body moved of its own accord and in some of her movements I could see the cat demon within her even if not apparent. She had strength and brains which was a rarity; watching her fight was almost... enchanting. I stopped the video as soon as Vivian had broken out of the cage and was no longer visible on the surveillance. What happened to her after that? She was running towards the mouth of Aztec but was later found locked in her room passed out?
When I landed, thicker bars were being applied by the witches. They were chanting and reinforcing the magic that should’ve held out against even excessive force. A part of me suspected that communal arena was designed in hopes that the inmates would kill each other. Some demons were easier to capture than kill and majority of the species in here went within that category. The same hooded figure greeted me at the mouth of Aztec. Before I even reached him, he was already walking towards the stairs not waiting for me to follow. The chanting continued but wasn’t as loud; more than likely because so many had been killed in the outbreak. The copper smell of blood and rubble now seemed engrained in the walls. I squinted down a tunnel where I was certain I could see blood splayed against the wall. My wings glowed bright enough to lead me up the stairs. Although guarded I still expected to feel the demon’s presence like I had last time. I even lowered my guard almost welcoming it to have a taste like it did with Vivian. Nothing. It was as if it had vanished. That worried me. When we stood in front of the door to Vivian’s cell, the hooded scaly chanter opened the door and left. Odd fellow. I creaked it open and looked down at her. She sat against the wall with her knees bent and hands casually covering her stomach.
I wondered then if Guardians actually feared death. I had killed and seen many demons panic for their life. I found only few that did not squirm nor did they beg. I imagine Vivian would be that kind. But the shadows beneath her eyes was the element that gave away she was both not a demon and not entirely unscathed. Despite that, it didn’t prevent her smart mouth barking.
“What do you want? Don’t you have a pretty blonde angel to gang bang or something?” she growled. Her grey eyes didn’t leave mine. I bit back my own comment which could meet hers but wouldn’t be a part of her childish and menacing games. I looked around and could feel the remains of Haymen’s demonic energy. He was always overconfident in himself. Powerful yes, but he had forgotten that I have been around for hundreds of years.
“Has Haymen come to see you?” I asked, ignoring her childish behavior.
“Why would he? I’m just a criminal behind bars. My master would have no need for me.” I scoffed at her choice word, ‘Master’.
“No one is your Master and if you honestly believe that then you are more pathetic than I thought,” I said coolly. I had seen her fight and knew that she was smart. Her eyes screamed of that with intelligence. But that cockiness was overbearing.
“I don’t need to hear that from you, Angel Boy. Shouldn’t you be head hunting whoever killed your boyfriend instead of pestering me? Unless you just want to fall into the same trap that he did with me,” she said arching an eyebrow suggestively. “Now wouldn’t that just be pathetic.”
I clenched my jaw hard, refraining myself from giving her the treatment she deserved. She shifted and covered her stomach tighter. She was hiding a tattoo that further extended down. Her shirt had been shredded into two. I took note of that. Guardian’s tattoos and contracts weren’t usually that exaggerated in size. I could’ve pinned her to a wall and seen it for myself but I reminded myself that I had her for the next thirty days. I would find out the story of her tattoos sooner than later.
“You are free to go, Miss Lair. Of course as agreed you will be supervised by myself for the next thirty days. It would appear that your Master, was able to bring forth some befitting evidence.”
She looked away from me bored and unmoving. “I said you are free,” I repeated to her after the long silence which rolled over into minutes.
“I would rather spend the next thirty days in here than spend it with you tailing me,” she spat. I smiled. Stubborn. I would make sure to drive her insane within the month. She had involvement in Luke’s death. I was certain of it and I would make sure that she slipped up.
“I doubt that you would last another thirty days in here after the footage I’ve seen of you trying to play nice with everyone.”
“Fighting for my life for the next thirty days still sounds more appealing than being stalked by you. Brood over some other mare, elsewhere,” she said. And this time I laughed at her, seeing if a different reaction would appear. She slowly looked in my direction and mumbled. “What do you know, he laughs.”
“More so at the fact that you think you have a choice. I’m done with this,” I said and walked over to her. She jumped onto her legs and tied the tattered bits of her shirt making sure to conceal her tattoos. So that particular one irritated her.
“If you man-handle me I will find a way to squeeze your large dome head through that window,” she said raising her fists ready to fight. It was pointless without her demons–she was no match for me–but credit to her for trying. She tried to smack my hands away from her but I grabbed one of her legs and pulled her towards me. I flipped her in the air and threw her over my shoulder. She punched me numerous times in spots that should have disabled a man from walking. I dodged each one flipping her this way and that. Much to my annoyance it was like a screaming child and I had dealt with numerous ones of those at home. I was careful to keep my wings stretched away from where she might be able to hit them. They were very sensitive. Much to my surprise she hasn’t yet taken any cheap shots to try and harm those either.
“If you don’t behave yourself I will put you to sleep.” Her motions stopped and I could almost hear her thinking it over. She obviously didn’t like being put to sleep when it wasn’t on her terms. I wondered if she remembered the last time I had to press my lips to hers to put her to sleep. Obviously she did, because she stopped with her tantrums.
“Put me down. I’ll walk myself,” she mumbled. I placed her on her feet and she shoved me away. I gave her an insincere smile which pissed her off even more before she led the way down the stairs. If I could keep her on edge then she was more likely to make a mistake. That, and a part of me truly wanted to put this smart mouth in her place. I had thirty days to piss this demon summoner off and get closer to Haymen’s real objectives. Since this was his favorite pet, I considered that the two would go hand in hand. She looked over at my still smiling face and scoffed.
“What, did someone get laid while he was gone? You seem awfully chipper with my release considering how hell-bent you were on having me locked up and dead,” she seethed. We walked down the stairs in the dark.
“Obviously someone didn’t while she was captive,” I retorted. I had taken Gretel’s advisement. I needed to catch this Guardian unguarded so I could figure out what really happened that night and what Haymen was up to. I knew that he was recruiting to build an army because I had a close watch on him since the day the last war ended.
She waited for me at the bottom of the steps. As I took my first step, she put her foot out in front of mine and before she could trip me, I pinned my hands on either side of her against the wall and blocked her escape with my body.
“You try that little trick again and it will be you rolling down the stairs,” I growled. This was now the third time she tried tripping me and I wasn’t going to concede to such childish games. A smile twisted on her lips and she pushed her hands through my hair with a smile that was all too cunning. Now knowing that she was contracted to a succubus demon, I wasn’t at all surprised she knew how to create such an enticing smile. Her hands stroked my hair, each touch like a burning sensation. I didn’t like it and her touch wasn’t welcome but that’s why she did it. It was a game. I slowly grabbed her wrists and put them to her side.
She laughed behind me as I continued walking in front of her. This next thirty days is going to be a handful watching her alone.
