Chapter 15

 

Once the meeting was over and the different gods began teleporting back to their respective realms, Tarrence waved for me, Raphael, and Neil’s assistants—to come over to him. I took a good look at them: one was a bearded ginger guy, with long, medium-copper hair, tall and athletic; the other guy was leaner, with dark hair and blue eyes. Now that all the other supernaturals had left but Neil, I instantly read these guys’ magical type. The red-haired guy was a lion shifter, the brunette—a werewolf.

Neil came over to me and, shaking my hand energetically, he wished me good luck.

“Once this mess is over, I’ll call you. I’ll find you a suitable job in the Magic Council,” he assured me, then his phone beeped, and he left the room. Before that, he briefly instructed something to his shifters.

“Please follow me,” Tarrence said, motioning at us. He drew nearer to the wall, his handsome forehead creasing up as he placed his hand on the wall’s surface. A loud thunder-like sound echoed in the room and the wall moved, shifting vertically, revealing a new, smaller room.

Tarrence strode forward and we found ourselves in a near-exact replica of the previous room, only this one was significantly smaller. Tarrence pointed at the round table in the center, in case someone wanted to sit down, but no one showed interest.

“Thank you for helping us track down the informer and stop Hades’ evil plans,” Tarrence began, but the ginger shifter abruptly cut him off.

“Why did we have to come in here? Can’t we have this prep talk in the main room?”

Tarrence shot him a murderous glare, his eyes narrowing. Fiery dots sparkled in them. The scent of bile and rotten food assaulted my senses, but Tarrence snapped out of his rage fast.

He composed himself and, trying hard to keep his tone even, he replied to the ginger lion shifter, “I was about to explain it later, but since you asked, here’s why. The Dark Lord is sure someone from our court is betraying us, spying on us. We have our suspicions, but maybe it’s more than just one person. Anyway, this room belongs to us, we have long reserved it from Neil. We’ve put spells to block anyone from overhearing or listening to our conversation here. Now, are you satisfied?”

The lion shifter’s face didn’t even flinch or betray a hint of emotion. He remained silent, his head barely nodding in confirmation to Tarrence’s question.

“Since you spoke, would you mind introducing yourself and your colleague to us?” The demon asked, an evil smile dancing on his lips.

The ginger turned to us. “I’m Aidan. Nice to meet you,” he added hurriedly.

The brunette turned to us. “And I’m Gordon. It’s honor to be in this mission with you guys and thwart Hades.”

Tarrence nodded and said, raising his voice, “The Dark Lord suspects the double agent is Sebastian: a high-profile demon, the second in rank after me in the Black Court. He has betrayed us and is actively working for Hades.”

“Why do you think so?” I asked Tarrence. Something about the confident way he announced this threw me off.

His face remained blank, his dark eyes locking with mine. “My Master’s black diamond is missing and only he, Sebastian, and I have access to it.”

Raphael turned to the demon. “You want to convince us, that Sebastian guy is so stupid as to steal from your boss and draw his attention? It doesn’t add up.”

The corners of Tarrence’s lips curled into a grin and he said, “Sebastian’s not that stupid. He’s replaced the black diamond with a perfect replica. If it weren’t for the current events, my Master and Lord would have never suspected or even checked the diamond.”

“Okay, and what is the role of this diamond?” Aidan, the ginger shifter asked.

“This gemstone facilitates the most evil and abominable rituals. Hades and his cronies are going to use it for their ritual, too. Without the black diamond, it would be nearly impossible to accomplish a dark ritual of such caliber, unless…” The demon’s voice faltered, and he didn’t finish the sentence.

“Unless what?” I asked, a strange emotion rushing to my chest, making my heart beat faster.

“Unless they sacrifice a goddess’ blood into the ritual,” Tarrence said quickly, his voice hard. It was as if an invisible knife cut the atmosphere and we all fell silent. The thought of any goddess from the White Court being butchered in some bizarre ritual made my stomach churn in disgust.

“Anyway, this scenario will never happen, we won’t allow it. We’re going to stop Hades right now,” Tarrence said, his voice getting more cheerful and determined. “This is the plan, guys. We’ll follow Sebastian down when he enters the Gates of Hades and then take the black diamond from him.”

“When do we start?” I asked.

“Right now.”

“Right now?” Aidan asked, repeating Tarrence’s reply. The shifter glanced as his wristwatch. “Now, it’s past 10:30 in the evening.”

His remark reminded me of the late hour. It was past 9 p.m. when Raphael had connected with me back home.

An evil smile spread across Tarrence’s lips, enhancing his demonic aura. “Time moves slower in our realm—Inferno – than it does here. According to my calculations, it’s the early afternoon in Inferno. Sebastian works until 5p.m., after that we’ll snoop on him.”

“You want to teleport us now to your Hell?” The other shifter asked.

I racked my brains to recall his name. Gordon, that was it. “Don’t we have too much time?” He asked the demon.

“Yes, we do. You can go have a late supper somewhere, and we can meet here at midnight. I’ll teleport us straight to our destination.” Tarrence smiled wickedly, his lips curling up to reveal his snow-white teeth. I wondered how I’d found him attractive the first time I’d seen him. The more time I spent with him, the less I liked his demeanor.

“Sounds great!” Aidan exclaimed. “I’m starving. Would you guys like to join us?” He invited Raphael and me. I glanced at the archangel, and he gave me a curt nod.

I turned to Tarrence. “And you? Fancy joining us?”

He shook his head. “I have something to discuss with the Dark Master. I’ll come back here to take you to the other side.”

“But why do you have to teleport us? Can’t we just teleport there on our own?” I remembered how Raphael and I had teleported to Inferno Hall via the portal. I couldn’t see why we couldn’t repeat it again.

“I have no access to Inferno, nor does anyone else from the White Court. Only Lucius’ minions have access to Inferno,” Raphael whispered to me. I was about to object when he hastily added, “That portal we used works only for Inferno Hall whenever Lucius needs a meeting. Now that’s not the case.”

“Oh, silly girl.” Tarrence shook his head disapprovingly. “Is she always that slow?”

My cheeks warmed up, a rush of heat flooding my face. I wanted to give him a proper comeback line, but Raphael stopped me with his hand.

“I take it your boyfriend explained to you how teleporting to our realm works, right, sweetheart?” He smirked and added, “Come back here at midnight. I’ll wait for you. And be on time.” And with this, a dark cloud of shimmering glyphs and runes swept across the room, taking the demon back to his home.

***

After our conversation with Lucius’ high-profile demon, our small group went to a nearby restaurant in San Francisco at Raphael’s recommendation; he teleported us there. The place was called Witches’ Brew, and it had an amazing variety of vegan and vegetarian meals; I was sure Dara would love it. The restaurant smelled of various herbs, vegetables, fruits, and even essential oils, particularly of ginger and lemon grass. I ordered myself a vegetarian salad, since it was late, while the guys ordered mostly steak and meat dishes. I questioned the two shifters about their work at the Magic Council and, as I expected it, they were mercenaries on a steady contract.

“We’ve been working for Neil’s organization for over ten years now,” Aidan said. Gordon nodded in agreement.

“We’re the oldest and most trusted mercenaries in the Magic Council.”

Close to midnight, Raphael, the shifters, and I entered the tall glass building of the Magic Council’s headquarters and hopped on the elevator, which delivered us to the 18th floor. The door of the room the meeting had been held in stood ajar: something I assumed was uncommon for the Magic Council’s headquarters. Probably Tarrence had negotiated it with Neil.

Raphael placed his hand on the wall in the room, just like Tarrence had done after the meeting, and the wall cracked open with the same thunderous sound. The smaller room revealed itself before our eyes, Tarrence already waiting for us inside.

“You’re late,” he said instead of a greeting, glancing at his wristwatch.

I checked mine, too. “By one minute,” I objected, my brows arching in bewilderment. I wouldn’t have guessed this demon would be so pedantic.

“My watch shows it’s two minutes,” he said, unyielding.

“Oh, give me a break,” I said, starting to lose my patience. What was his deal? Had Lucius punished him while we had supper or something? Tarrence behaved way grumpier than before.

“Punctuality is crucial for our mission. Just a few minutes later and we would miss Sebastian,” the demon retorted.

“Cut the crap, bro. We’re here now,” Raphael interrupted our fight, involving himself in the conversation. He turned to Tarrence. “Shall we teleport to your realm, demon?”

The latter nodded, pressing his lips; I could feel he didn’t like it being bossed around/told what to do by the archangel.

“Before I teleport you, I need to inform you of two things.” His voice turned graver and more serious, his pettiness dissolving. “First: everything you see, hear, and observe in Inferno and in the Gates of Hades must remain confidential. This is non-negotiable.” His eyes lingered on our faces, studying our reactions, and probably even spying on our thoughts. I had blocked mind-reading, but I wasn’t sure about the two shifters.

Tarrence continued, “Usually, we perform a blood binding oath whenever a stranger has to enter Inferno, but now there’s no time for that. You have to promise you won’t blabber about anything you see. Okay?”

We all nodded our heads in silence. Tarrence clapped his hands, faking enthusiasm. “Good. Now that this part is over, I’ll cast an invisibility spell on all of us. No one at Inferno should see us there, especially you guys.” He glanced at the archangel and me. “The only thing you have to be careful about is not getting wet, otherwise this spell makes you totally invisible. Even our conversation cannot be heard,” he explained and then snapped with his right hand. A shower of little, gray sparkling stars rained on us, sticking to our clothes. Tarrence’s lips moved silently, uttering some spell. My body shivered, twitching and convulsing as if I fought an invisible enemy. Next, I couldn’t see myself; I looked at the other guys: their bodies had paled, colorful hues swirled around their lines. Tarrence’s aura was black—no surprise there! Raphael’s was a mixture of green and blue, while Aidan’s was a mixture between orange and yellow, Gordon’s—gray and dark green. Mine was light pink.

“Will we be able to hear each other when we speak?” I asked the demon.

“Yes, but no one else will be able to,” he replied and added, “Any other questions?” He studied our faces. “No? Good. Let’s teleport to Inferno. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” And with this ominous statement, the air around us darkened, a whirlwind of black runes and glyphs shimmered, engulfing our invisible bodies. The sensation of horror, death and pain sizzled, crashing on my skin, tainting my senses. The pull mounted and the dark magic took us across the void.