“Then, over them, he made the holy cross, at which they flung themselves upon the shore. And he, as fast as he had come, went off.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
This idea was absolutely crazy and unbelievably stupid, but I had run out of options. I was going to lose my mind if they forced me back into that dark cell again. Alexis had made me desperate, and I suddenly remembered Ronan’s unbelievable story from years ago that could possibly change my future.
Rodriguez leaned over me and I saw fear in his eyes, maybe for the first time since we met. Lucifer wasn’t going to spare him, and he must have been aware that he was going to be punished for conspiracy.
That idea seeded hope inside me and I was planning to hold on to it as long as physically possible.
It was clear I was going to be tortured until I gave them something useful. Before I could speak, my mind started playing tricks on me. I was seeing Summer. She was standing on the other side of the room, waving at me.
Alexis was using her energy to get to my good memories. My eyes started to burn with tears, but I refused to cry, so I screamed instead.
Then the pain returned and Summer vanished in a white cloud. I screamed again, cursing those two monsters and thinking that surely they were going to get tired of this eventually. Alexis was laughing, using her skill to inflict even more pain. Tiny, sharp knives were piercing my skin over and over again. Waves of energy rolled down my skin and I was surprised that I felt it, until the raw flames began licking my skin again.
I was taking long pulls of air, trying to pull off the straps around my wrists. Sweat ran down my face and I prayed in my head for this pain to end.
“Where is that bastard child of yours? Where is that Warlock witch hiding her?” Rodriguez kept asking me, spraying me with spit.
“I have no idea. Our connection was lost the moment Alexis took my magic away.” I remembered that my idea could save me and hope turned into a small butterfly. “Besides, I learnt from my earlier mistakes. You will never find her!”
“What the hell is she talking about, Alexis?” Rodriguez asked, turning to face the woman that was essentially running this show.
“Nothing. She’s playing tough. She will talk. We just need to push her a little more,” Alexis said and then I felt like my joints were being stretched out of my sockets. I didn’t think that I could take this. She used her magic to make me feel worthless, squeezing nasty images into my head.
I started seeing myself standing in the lake and drowning my little girl. Ricky, Emma and Paul were there too. They all stared at me with detached, almost haunted looks on their faces. Her little body wasn’t moving and I’d gotten a great joy out of killing her.
The tiny voice in my head reminded me that this wasn’t real, that I would never hurt her. Alexis was implanting these cruel images in my head, so I’d give her what she wanted. But there was nothing else that I knew.
I blacked out and then I was back in the room, breathing hard and seeing Alexis’s green eyes leaning over me. She was whispering to Rodriguez and I tried to focus on my good memories.
“I know the way you could defeat him,” I said, but my voice sounded weak, rough. Almost like it didn’t belong to me.
“What did you say, little whore?” Alexis asked, showing up beside me. She squeezed my cheeks and I kept my eyes focused on hers. The pain was slowly subsiding, but now my skin felt raw, like it had been burning for a long while.
“Lucifer. I know … I know how you could end him,” I repeated, knowing that I sounded desperate.
“She’s playing you, dear. Keep torturing her and she will tell us everything,” Rodriguez said.
“He abandoned me, and he poisoned my mother,” I said. Alexis moved her hand down my throat, releasing some sparks.
“The little whore is telling the truth for a change,” she said leaning so close that I could smell her perfume.
They had me. She and Rodriguez had united to bring my father down, and without my magic I was no one. I had no personality, no strength and I didn’t believe that I could defeat them.
“What are you talking about? How could we defeat the most powerful demon in hell?” the old demon demanded.
“There is a place where my mentor had hidden a spell. It’s an old parchment that could give you unlimited power. It’s been blessed by God,” I said, remembering what Ronan had told me a few years ago. I always thought that this whole story was silly. The legend about God’s tears that turned into a spell had been drifting from demon to demon for as long as I could remember. It was a long shot, but both Alexis and Rodriguez were greedy. They had nothing to lose, and a lot to gain. Obviously that was interesting enough and I just needed to keep on talking.
“Alexis, the child is the key. You promised me that bastard child,” the old demon was saying. “She’s making this stuff up. She’s lying through her teeth. The spell is just a legend.”
“No, there is something in that. The little whore isn’t lying this time. Berith and Mammon believed in that lost spell too, but I heard it was somewhere in Rome, not London. How did you find out where the parchment is hidden?”
“I have seen it. My father told me the location. He sent me back to earth to destroy it,” I said. “I have promised myself that I would avenge my mother. Lucifer is weak, and Bianca’s movement scared him.”
The words were pouring out of my mouth and most of it was true. In some ways I hated my father, because he hadn’t protected my mother. She was dead because of him.
Because Alexis and Rodriguez wanted to see Lucifer go down, and they both wanted to matter in the new order, this was my chance—and I had no idea what I was going to do after they realised that this whole thing was a bluff.
Alexis was aware that Lucifer had never acknowledged any of his other children. She could feel his demonic mark on my soul. And then the rumours reached her. She found out that I was Lucifer’s legitimate daughter. He’d rejected her, as he had done with other women. I didn’t know how much truth was in what he told me. Maybe he had loved my mother, but I doubted that he ever had any real feelings for me.
Lucifer must have known that going after Alexis was a suicide mission for me. He didn’t want to dirty his hands. That’s why he made that whole test in hell.
“Well, part of what she is saying makes sense,” Rodriguez said. “Her mother had been poisoned, but I had no idea that it was the dark lord’s doing. I heard that Tarosh, a demon that was the head of the factions years ago, gave the order to kill her. She seemed important, and he needed her to be eliminated.”
This news hit me like an avalanche. The head of Lucifer’s faction ordered my mother poisoned. Lucifer must have known about this or he blatantly lied to me. Either way, that didn’t matter right now.
“Tell me, little whore, where that parchment is hidden or I’ll find the way to get to your bastard daughter again. I did it before, but this time around I won’t hesitate to slit her little throat,” Alexis said and her eyes were telling me that she wasn’t bluffing.
“I have to show you where it’s hidden,” I said, staring at them both.
Alexis exchanged a silent look with Rodriguez, probably weighing all the pros and cons. Her men were watching me from the other side of the room. I wondered if they were demons or humans.
“All right, sweetness. We all are going on a little trip,” she finally said, but Rodriguez didn’t look happy. “One wrong move and I’ll snap your neck. I’m tired of playing games.”
I licked my upper lip when her men started pulling my restraints off, trying to gather myself somehow. My head was spinning when I sat up on the table, massaging my wrists.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew where we would go. I was aware that stepping into the place called Suicide Lane was simply a suicide mission. Especially now when I couldn’t sense any supernatural creatures around. I was ready to take back everything I said before about being a human.
Mongrel or not, my past life was much better with magic than without.
“Move, little whore. Time is of the essence and you better pray the ancient spell is there; otherwise this is going to be the last time you see the night in this life.” Alexis started walking towards the dark, narrow corridor.
Rodriguez looked angry this wasn’t going his way again. The old demon had gone against his own master, joining forces with Lucifer’s enemy. He must have realised betrayal had its consequences.
Alexis’s men grabbed me and started dragging me away, presumably towards the exit.
My legs barely held me, but I told myself I needed to recover fast, because in the end that was the only thing that could save me.
This time around no one covered my eyes. The larger guy asked me to climb back up the narrow metal stairs, through a tiny tunnel that could only fit one person. I struggled, thinking it was just one more effort to get my freedom back. I was so weak and vulnerable I felt like the old Maxine didn’t even exist.
“Hurry up, mongrel girl, the mistress is waiting,” one of her men shouted, nudging me with a long sharp stick. My eyes were itching and every time I made a move nausea rolled through my stomach.
It took me ten minutes or more, but eventually I gritted my teeth and forced myself to move. By the time I got outside, I was drenched with sweat and my fingertips were bleeding.
I knelt on the ground as blood pounded in my ears. I heard Alexis talking to someone on a mobile phone. The necklace that allowed her to travel to hell and back was hanging around her neck. It belonged to Matilda and I needed to get it back.
“Get her to the van. She will give you the instructions to where we should be going next,” Alexis ordered. Rodriguez was silent for a change, but I didn’t like that look on his face. The old bastard had his own agenda in mind, and I had a feeling he was ready to cut off Alexis, just so he could continue torturing me.
I was shoved back into the black van soon enough and told to keep it quiet. Suicide Lane would be thriving with life after dark, and I knew showing up there filled with magic was a very bad idea. Ronan had told me about this place and warned me many times that the factions had lost control of that area years ago, when horrific stories started to appear in the papers. Alexis had no idea what was waiting for her out there.
Desperate humans used to go there in order to die. They would stand on the bridge, waiting for the train. However, by the time the train passed, those humans were long dead. It was suicide, and even the human police couldn’t question it. Watchers made sure it was always the case.
One of the shorter demons started the engine when Alexis and Rodriguez got inside. I gave the driver the name of the village and he typed it into a sat nav. I concentrated, well aware that I was weak and in pain. It was going to be tough to even think about running, but I had to give it my best shot.
The silence was making me anxious and as we drove I wondered if Ricky and the rest had been locked up too. Things had never gotten so bad and this time around I was on my own.
People had often told me I was short-tempered and reckless. Nothing changed. I was still the same person and I was taking matters into my own hands. I needed to stay alive for Summer and for all my friends.