“Thus every nature moves across the tide
of the great sea of being to its own port,
each with its given instinct as its guide.”
― Dante Alighieri, Paradiso
The heat stung my skin. I felt it in the marrow of my bones, spreading quickly everywhere. Unknown voices were calling me down to hell, and I wished that I’d made different decisions a couple hours ago. The large hole filled with fire spread in front of me. The Watchers had won. They couldn’t wait to report to Berith that they caught a mongrel trying to illegally enter the underworld. Daniel was hoping that he would rise in the ranks, and his mate only wanted to see me dead.
“No, you can’t!” Zach shouted, suddenly growing a conscience. “This is inhuman. Let her go.”
I looked back at him, smiling possibly for the last time in my lifetime. Zach didn’t hate me after all. He couldn’t let them kill me, his humanity made him look beyond the lies, the deceit, and the pain that I had caused him. I only wanted to preserve his humanity. The demonic world was cruel and he’d suffered enough at the hands of creatures that he didn’t even know existed.
“There are too many mongrels in the demonic community, and we are going to make a good example of her. Trespassing to the underworld is illegal. She must be punished severely,” roared Daniel, pumped with hate. Deep down he was an arsehole. This had nothing to do with breaking the rules. I was a mongrel and that’s why they wanted to kill me. My clothes were sticking to my skin, sweat running down my body. The heat was becoming unbearable, and I felt my skin burning raw.
Zach went suddenly ballistic. He was trying to tear past the Watchers that stood behind me, screaming at them to let me go, but it was hopeless. They were stronger, filled with inhuman energy.
I felt nauseous, trying to move back, but the heat was forcing me forward.
A step further and my feet would slip; with every passing second I was losing more oxygen, taking long raspy breaths. I thought about my mother when Zach was fighting for me. I thought about the demon that fathered me. After all, I would never have a chance to find out who he was.
I clenched my fists, trying not to scream, but my skin was flaming alive. Small blisters appeared on my arms and legs. Then—all the warmth from the cave was sucked out. The earth moved underneath my feet. I lost my balance, knowing that I was going down. A strong cold wind ruffled my hair. It came out of nowhere, cooling me off a little. A moment later I found myself on the ground. I tried to inhale, but my lungs felt like they were on fire. Something was wrong. My vision was blurry when I lifted my head, but I realised that the hole had disappeared. The heat remained, but now I could breathe again. The Watchers looked disoriented, staring at each other in confusion.
“The letter, it’s sealed with hell’s mark, Azezel,” Daniel rasped somewhere in the background.
Beads of sweat ran down my face. A moment later, I saw a thick brown envelope lying on the ground by Daniel’s feet. It reminded me a lot of the one that I received a couple of months ago from the royals, but the seal was in the shape of a skull. The two Watchers stared at it for a long while; neither of them dared to move.
Finally Azezel reached out and picked up the letter. He glanced at his companion like he was searching for a confirmation of whether he was supposed to open it or not. I held my breath, thinking that they were hesitating for a reason, that this message came directly from downstairs.
He finally broke the seal and unfolded the brown paper. His pupils dilated as his eyes moved over the text slowly. After a moment of silence Daniel passed the letter to his companion and looked at me with utter disgust.
The Watchers had no respect for mongrels or humans. Azezel stared at me like I was nothing but an insignificant insect that he intended to squash. I had blisters all over my body, but I didn’t feel any pain. I was high on adrenaline pumping through my system. Maybe I was going to be saved. Maybe there was hope for me after all.
“You may leave with the human now, mongrel. The punishment won’t be carried out. You have been spared,” Daniel stated bitterly, moving aside. He looked displeased, angry. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Who is the letter from? What do you mean that I have been spared?” I asked, wondering why the hell I was even questioning them. A second ago they wanted to toss me down to the pits, burn me alive and torture me, and instead of getting up and leaving I was demanding answers.
“Leave now and take the human with you. He’s your responsibility now, the hell decision has been made,” Daniel said, and then spat on the ground with disgust. It was obvious that he didn’t agree with whoever sent the letter.
Maybe this was stupid, but I didn’t want to move. I had to know who had sent the letter, who knew that I had entered the underworld. Ricky had no idea what was going on, and Zach wouldn’t have had time to get back up. The letter must have been from someone important, someone that knew what I was doing all along.
The two Watchers glared at me like they were ready to carry on the execution anyway. I pushed my feet forward, telling myself that I better get out of here as soon as I could. Zach was staring with mixture of wariness and shock. He still didn’t believe in anything that happened in the cave.
It was clear that the two Watchers weren’t prepared to talk. A moment later Zach grabbed my hand and physically dragged me out of the cave. His grip was so tight that it was cutting circulation to my fingers. I was unable to say anything, moving through darkness, not looking back, not understanding what was actually going on.
I had no idea how much time had passed, but then we were in the water again. The coldness soothed my burning skin a little, and I searched for corpses, but the water was calm, and there was nothing in it.
“Maxine, what the hell are you doing? We need to get out of here,” Zach said when I immersed myself in the icy flowing stream. The water was only to my knees now, but I had to lie flat, it was such a relief not to feel the burning anymore. I wanted to close my eyes and stay there forever.
I didn’t remember much of what happened after that. Everything was blurry, but Zach must have dragged me out of the water, and then we walked for what seemed like forever. My feet were aching, my thoughts racing. I knew that Frederick must have purposely misled me. He must have seen through my magic; he must have known that I was a mongrel. There wasn’t any other explanation.
Once I inhaled the fresh air on the outside I collapsed on the ground, drained of my powers, drained of magic and energy. I couldn’t move, I didn’t feel my limbs, and my breathing became laboured. We were back on earth, to the world that I knew.
Zach was talking to me, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. My skin began burning again and then the darkness shattered me.
I heard a voice near me, familiar voices, but I couldn’t move. Someone must have strapped me down to the bed. My body was covered in something; my skin was sticky and it stunk of antiseptic cream or paste. I was breathing okay, and my lungs weren’t burning like before.
The memories flooded my head. Everything came back in a glimpse. The swift decision to enter Gjöll, the river, Zach and then Watchers. Was it possible that I was only dreaming?
When I opened my eyes briefly I realised that this wasn’t a dream and everything that happened actually happened.
“Are you fucking kidding me? How am I supposed to stay calm? The whole world is collapsing, demons exist, humanity is lost,” Zach was shouting, going off on one again. I was in the hospital. A doctor or a nurse must have strapped me down to the bed, but why? I couldn’t be a danger to myself, but I didn’t remember anything after the Watchers let me go.
“Guys, you need to be quiet. You will wake her up. She needs to rest,” hissed a female voice. Emma was in the room too, and I suddenly felt a little better.
“Calm down, Zach. I didn’t make these rules. The faction system was established centuries ago, long before your were born. You need some time to adjust to the truth,” Ricky said, sounding tired.
I remembered that the Watchers had spared me. Someone in hell had made a decision that I didn’t deserve to be punished, but who and why? I opened my eyes, recognising the white hospital walls. My arm was connected to a drip, and I was covered in bandages. Emma was sitting beside me. Zach and Ricky stood by the door.
“Adjust? You’re having a laugh? I’ve been robbed of the truth. Maxine filled my head with bullshit. Other humans should know that there is another world out there, that demons are walking on the streets,” Zach said, shaking his head, like he still didn’t want to believe in everything that happened last night. I didn’t get why we both managed to get away. I didn’t understand how he retained his thoughts. Watchers didn’t spare humans or mongrels.
“You two are making a hell of a noise. I’m trying to rest here,” I said, interrupting Zach.
“Max, you’re awake, oh thank God!” Emma squealed, nearly jumping off her seat. I didn’t understand why Ricky had decided to take me to the hospital. The magic should have sorted me out. My business partner scratched his head, looking relieved, probably that I was all right. Zach was standing by the window; he was angry. Well, I wasn’t surprised that he stared at me like he didn’t know me.
“What is going on? Why am I in here?” I asked, looking down at the leather straps.
“The doctors had to restrain you. You were in some kind of shock. You punched one of the medics when he was trying to help you. Zach had called an ambulance, then he called me. You had second degree burns all over your body,” Ricky explained, sitting next to me.
I opened my mouth to ask Zach what happened after we left the cave, but I thought better of it. I felt dizzy, weak and still drained. My energy vibrated in my system, but it was going to take me a few hours to recoup my demonic power, to feel like myself again.
“That demon at the market tricked me. He didn’t give me the formula that opened the entrance to Gjöll. It was an illegal entrance to the underworld. I nearly drowned in the river filled with corpses. I saw my mother,” I said, not even knowing where these words were coming from, still shocked that I was here amongst my friends. The Watchers didn’t spare anyone ever. It was a miracle. “I nearly drowned, convinced that my mother was in the river, but then Zach saved me. He dragged me out of the water and then we were caught by Watchers.”
Ricky dragged his hand through his hair and I looked at Zach, in the hope that he was finally ready to listen. He was torn between what to do, how to act around me. I’d lied to him. I’d tampered with his mind. This wasn’t going to be easy to forget.
“Zach explained that the Watchers received a letter, sealed with hell’s mark?” Ricky inquired.
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. I thought this was really the end, that I would never see you guys ever again.”
“That’s terrible. I mean how could they do that to you? Didn’t they know that you were trying to solve a case?” Emma interrupted.
“I broke demonic protocol, used magic that wasn’t acceptable for mongrels. Besides, Watchers don’t ask questions, they act and I should have known that Frederick was dodgy, that he was only playing with me,” I said, knowing that Nameless had won again.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Zach shouted all of a sudden, mainly at Emma. “We are all surrounded by demons, the creatures from the underworld, and your only concern is Maxine’s well being?”
Okay, so he was losing it again. I felt too guilty to use my energy, and I passed the message to Ricky to keep his demonic powers away from his head too. He was either going to adjust to what was happening or he might end up in the mental institution, and obviously I couldn’t let that happen.
“Zach, calm down. Emma has had a few weeks to adjust to this new knowledge. I believe that you and I should talk,” I said, hoping to lift myself up, but I felt weak. Ricky needed to sort his shit out and get some elixirs into me, pronto.
A moment later, it looked like he read my mind, because he said, “Come on Emma, let’s grab a cup of coffee downstairs.”
Emma smiled at me and a moment later I was left alone with Zach. I knew that it was going to take a while for him to understand that I didn’t have much choice when I lied to him. Humans weren’t supposed to know about the demonic world. He must have realised that.
Zach was pacing yet again, trying to put together the things in his head. I had no idea where to start, how to explain to him that I did care a lot about him, about us.
“Listen, I’m going to be straight with you and start from very beginning. I never meant to lie to you, to hurt you, but I had to follow the rules, the protocol,” I began. “You have to understand that your ex-partner didn’t commit suicide. This whole thing was fabricated by a Watcher. A couple of months ago when we were together at the cemetery something happened and we connected. I saw your memories, and saw that a Watcher killed her.”
It was a start, something that I felt I needed to share with him.
He looked at me then in despair, the raw pain reflected in his features. I wanted to get up and comfort him, suddenly aware that he was overwhelmed with memories. A moment later he slid to the floor, hiding his head between his knees, and then sobbed. I swallowed hard, unable to comprehend what was happening. This was nothing like I expected. For a long while his pain was all I felt. The tough man, the overbearing Zach was breaking apart and it was all my fault.