“Beauty awakens the soul to act.”
―Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
I had a feeling that we were going to have a tail. I suspected Rodriguez first or someone from Arthur’s entourage, but for a long time I wasn’t sensing any demons nearby. Only when we left the crowded street another person’s emotions hit me hard and I figured that we were being followed. My sixth sense indicated that someone had been tailing us since we left the train station in Reading. Something was definitely off, but I was willing to let it go for now. Emma was getting anxious and Zach was thinking about his missing sister.
I thought about Arthur for a moment, remembering the way he stared at me when he discovered that he had a daughter. Regret and anger resurfaced, and a hot boiling guilt poured inside my stomach. I wished that I had done more in the past. Now it seemed like I was chasing my own tail, trying to put together broken pieces from my life.
It was my sacrifice, but maybe I should have done more. Things would have been different if I’d come clean at the start.
“Who is following us? And how … okay, never mind,” Zach said, realising pretty quickly that I wasn’t functioning like any other human being. My demonic abilities often warned me about upcoming danger.
“Do you think it might be someone from the royal guard? You said that Arthur was determined to find his daughter no matter what?” Emma asked, worrying that I could get arrested again.
The private hospital that Ronan had told me about wasn’t far from the main high street. Ricky’s sister was probably footing the bill. I should have never left him in Gjöll. Now he was in the hospital, alone and vulnerable. Alexis had been searching for my weak spot; she knew that I had no family. Ricky had always been like a brother to me.
“I don’t know, but we have to keep on moving. Demon or not, Ricky is fighting for his life in the hospital,” I hissed, feeling weakened by another demon nearby. In the past few hours my energy had been rippling through, electrifying everything that I touched.
The moment that I decided to follow Zara everything began spinning out of control. I should have figured out that Alexis was behind this whole thing. She had learnt about Summer, then escaped the pits. It was clear that she was planning to find a way to get to her.
Emma was talking to me about her ways of coping when she had decided to leave Suzi’s father. Zach was strolling behind us, and deep down I was wishing that I could be dealing with this whole mess alone. Dragging two humans through an unknown path wasn’t wise. My soul didn’t matter much to hell, but I didn’t want to ruin Zach’s or Emma’s future. They deserved to be away from any demonic mess.
Half an hour later we managed to locate the clinic. Whoever was following us must have backed away a little. My energy subsided, but the uneasiness remained, drilling holes in my stomach. Morpheus had promised to guide me, and so far he’d done nothing but provide me with useless information. I should have thought twice about the deal that I made with him.
The clinic Savvy Health was run entirely by demons, but the funds came from human sponsors. I didn’t dwell on logistics, wondering if my best friend was ever going to wake up. It wasn’t fair that he had to suffer because of my poor choices from the past. As soon as we stepped inside, my anxiety shot through the roof. I hated hospitals in general, hated the fact that I put Ricky in danger, and he was dying, but I needed to be here.
Inside, the sterile smell hit me instantly and I did everything I could to keep it together. A pretty demonic nurse was sitting behind the large reception desk appearing busy when we approached. She was part of Mammon’s faction.
“We are here to see Ricky Donovan,” I said, pushing myself to keep it together. In the past two years magical tequila was my companion, and in situations like this I would normally be drunk, but not this time. Too many people got hurt because of me and my inability to deal with the past. Now it was time to grow a thick skin and fight. My addiction didn’t matter right at this moment.
The nurse glanced over me, raised her eyebrows at Zach and Emma, sending unfriendly vibes throughout the room.
Are you aware that humans aren’t supposed to be here?
“They know about us, and we are in a hurry. Ricky Donovan is my business partner,” I explained, knowing that she was most likely planning to report me later on.
“The last room on the left,” she said with a fake smile. Emma was muttering to herself as we passed through the long corridor. There were demons behind each door, I sensed them. Sick demons, filled with twisted curses and dreaded injuries.
The temperature inside my body rose when I stopped in front of Ricky’s room. The door was ajar, and there was a demon checking something on a clipboard.
“Oh my Lord,” Emma gasped and I felt like my knees turned into paper. He looked worse than I expected, and even Zach stopped frozen behind me. The wound wasn’t covered, spreading from one side of his neck to the other. I didn’t understand why the hospital staff didn’t even attempt to conceal it, at least for his relatives. Half of his left side was black, and the skin looked like it had been rotting for a while. The foul smell was unbearable. Despite all that, I couldn’t look away, sensing that his demonic soul was in pieces. On the contrary, I wanted to go to him, squeeze his hand and tell him that everything was going to be all right, but deep down I realised that improvement of his condition depended entirely on magical energy that was in hell.
“Rick, I’m sorry,” I whispered, sending the stream of thoughts directly to him.
“We are keeping up his vitals, but we need a reversal spell to get him back on his feet,” said the nurse that stood by the window with the clipboard.
Emma started to sob and her tears numbed me even more. This man was my family, even though we had only known each other for a few years. He always kept me on my toes. I had to do something to help him.
“Max … he’s dying … oh God, please tell me that you will find a way to get that spell,” Emma said, moving closer to me. All of a sudden I couldn’t talk. I felt like someone had cut off my tongue. My hands were shaking as an incredibly cold shiver crept over my spine. Morpheus had promised to help me. There was still a chance, even if the price seemed too high.
“There is a way. I have a plan, Emma, but it’s dangerous and I can’t get you involved,” I stuttered, glancing at Zach.
“You are a demon with powers and magic. Heal him, do something,” Zach said, looking lost himself, squeezing my arm. I fought away the tears. I had to stay strong for both of them. Things in the demonic world were complicated enough.
“This isn’t that simple. Zara’s machete was taken from the underworld. The reversal spell would need to come from there too,” I explained, telling myself that I could make everything work. My soul didn’t matter, as long as Summer and Ricky lived.
Zach’s dark eyes flickered at the corners, and he ran his hand through his hair. I was supposed to keep this quiet from him.
“She really did that to him?” he finally asked, not believing that his sister could have changed so much. I nodded, realising that I couldn’t hate her for what happened. Alexis had poisoned her mind and taken her humanity.
“Who is Zara?” Emma asked.
“Zach’s sister. She had been missing for quite some time. It’s a really long story, Emma,” I explained.
“What the hell are you and those humans doing in here? It’s a private room and you have no right being here,” said a voice that I recognised. Judith Donavon stepped into the room, glaring at me with fury, her energy rising fast. Ricky had introduced me to his sister a while ago, once during dinner in a restaurant. I left before the main course was served. We ended up arguing, both refusing to let it go. Since that day we hadn’t been on the best of terms. Maybe it was a clash of personalities or maybe the fact that Judith was jealous over the fact that I had such a good relationship with her brother. Ricky had tried to reason with both of us, but I never wanted to have anything to do with her.
“We both know that I have every right to be here and have these two humans with me,” I snarled, ignoring the fact that Zach wasn’t supposed to know about demons at all. Judith was a full-blooded demon with crazy red hair and a long face. I had no idea what she did for a living, and I didn’t really care. For as long as I could remember she had never been much involved in Ricky’s life.
“Oh hi, it’s really nice to meet you. I’ve been worrying about Ricky so much in the past few days and Maxine hasn’t been in touch, so I thought that I’d visit him and …”
“Emma, you can spare Judith the details,” I said, cutting Emma off, before Judith lost it with her too. “Ricky is going to be all right. I have a plan.”
Judith laughed out loud, shaking her head in total ignorance. She obviously didn’t believe that I could help her brother.
“He’s dying thanks to you, and the doctors are saying that no one can help him,” she snapped. “So I suggest you get the hell out of here. And take those humans away with you. That one has a relief license, but the man doesn’t. I bet the faction would love to investigate this further.”
I knew that Judith wouldn’t hesitate to report me. She must have heard that my name was on the Watchers’ radar already.
“Yeah, like they would also love to know that you’re copulating with a human man,” I snapped, unable to help myself. Her face fell and I automatically regretted that I mentioned her relationship. She’d escaped hell, and for years she had been trying to create a new life on earth. Despite the fact that we didn’t get on, Ricky had talked about Judith often. I knew that she had been dating a human man for a few years now, ignoring the protocol from hell. “Emma will stay here for a moment. She’s our co-worker and she is very worried about your brother. Zach, come on, I have to show you something.”
Judith shot me a vicious look, but didn’t say anything else. Deep down, she must have realised that I was the only person that could help her brother. She wasn’t stupid. Emma nodded and sat on the chair next to Ricky’s bed.
A sharp pain shot through my chest when I left the room. Ricky had suffered a great deal and he wasn’t going to get better unless Lucifer delivered the spell. I had found the way to get him back on his feet, but first I had to deal with Alexis. Lucifer himself wanted me to take care of her.
Outside on the corridor, I turned around to face Zach. It was time to break the news to him too.
“Zara is in this hospital, Zach. She was brought in along with Ricky,” I said. He exhaled sharply, obviously not ready for news like that. “I didn’t want to say anything more about her condition. You have to see for yourself.”
“Where is she? What do you think happened to her?”
“I have no idea. The charm that she was under must have been broken when Alexis disappeared. She must have gone into a shock.”
Zach clenched his fists as anger embraced his sharp features. In the end of the day he was her brother, but Zara wasn’t the same girl that he knew all those years ago. Earlier on he promised that he would behave.
“I want to see her,” he demanded.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Demonic doctors are trying to put her back together. No one knows what is really wrong with her,” I warned him, thinking about his past.
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to that son of a bitch, just take me to her,” he said. I could sense that he was telling the truth. One of the other nurses directed us to the second floor. Nameless had stayed with Zara. He didn’t escape down to the tunnels as I was expecting. He must really love her.
Zach was tense and conflicted. It’d been six years since he’d last seen his sister. He’d thought that she was dead. Until a month ago he also thought that humans were the only creatures living on earth. Maybe I should have waited for the right moment. It was a hell of a shock, even for a tough guy like him.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked when we approached another room at the end of the corridor. Zach nodded, not even hesitating.
I took a deep breath, knocked lightly and then entered. The room was small, and with a large bed and two extra people inside, it felt even smaller. Zara was lying in bed, staring directly at the ceiling. To anyone from outside she would have looked perfectly fine, but I knew straight away that she’d been hit with a strong curse.
“Max, right?” asked the man that sat next to her. It was Nameless Thief, a man that Zach had been trying to track down for years. He looked better than the last time I saw him. The scratches and cuts on his face were still apparent, but he was mostly healed. After all this time I needed to find out how Alexis had managed to disarm him.
Zara was slightly pale, dressed in a hospital gown, staring blankly at the ceiling. Zach moved towards her, determination in his eyes. He needed to understand that it had been six years. A lot of things changed since the last time he saw her.
“She won’t recognise you … she don’t recognise anyone,” Nameless said, standing up. Zach reacted instinctively. He grabbed Nameless and pushed him against the wall. His eyes gleamed with fury.
“It’s all your fault, fucker!” he hissed, taking his gun out and pressing it to Nameless’s head. I should have suspected that Zach was never even planning to stick to our deal. On top of that I had sensed Arthur outside the building. This day wasn’t even over yet, and it was already screwed. I sighed and released some magic, hoping that Zach would get back to his senses and Arthur would disappear. Of course, even I didn’t have that kind of power. I just needed to deal with one thing at a time.