“Avarice, envy, pride,
The fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all
On Fire.”
–Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
Emma blinked a few times, then opened her mouth but didn’t say anything. The uncomfortable silence stretched for ages and I started to think that maybe she wasn’t ready to handle what the world had in store for her. I concentrated on her thoughts, and she seemed very confused. I didn’t know what to make of it. Ricky was born in hell, so he was slightly less receptive to a human’s way of living.
“Demons?” Emma repeated, narrowing her eyes at me. “I remember it now—they were doing strange, unexplained things, and then you showed up. The light … they were struck with the lightning bolt.”
She seemed nervous, her voice uneven. Ricky shifted on the chair and my pulse was speeding away. We both needed to take it easy, because we were freaking her out and that wasn’t supposed to happen.
“There are some things that you might not understand, and we are here to explain everything,” I began. This wasn’t supposed to be difficult, but I had never told a human about hell or heaven. She needed to understand that not all demons on earth or in hell were evil. They had jobs down below like any ordinary humans, but with much better opportunities on earth they wanted to live amongst humans. Emma didn’t interrupt; she listened carefully when I went over our demonic faction system, and the fact that humans weren’t supposed to be aware of everything that was going on between hell and this earth. Humans were protected. Lucifer had worked out a plan with the archangels upstairs centuries ago. Maybe for anyone with a closed mind this story was unbelievable and overall too complicated, but Emma had already experienced certain things, and I was hoping that she would understand. I told her that demons and mongrels had certain magical abilities.
“All right, let me get this straight: you’re a mongrel, a half demon and half human. And Ricky here was born in hell?” she repeated, slightly flustered. Her pulse was beating faster than it was supposed to, but that was normal. She had a lot to take in. I wasn’t expecting her to just accept the fact that demons and humans had co-existed in the past centuries.
“Yes, Emma, Maxine saved you that day. She wasn’t supposed to expose herself like that, especially on the streets, but our Max doesn’t like following the rules, as you know. Then you showed up for an interview. I liked you and made an instant decision. We did make an exception. We didn’t plan to employ a human, but you settled well.”
Emma got up and brought her hands to her face, then picked up some papers on Ricky’s desk. A moment later she was fanning herself with it, staring at both of us with some sort of twisted excitement.
“I don’t know… This can’t be possible. I mean I believe in God, but Lucifer, the demons and mongrels. My head is telling me that you two are out of your minds, but my heart wants to agree with you.” She was talking very fast, like she was having trouble catching her breath. “But I remember that night clearly now. Before, my thoughts were all murky, but now everything is so vivid. You had done something, Maxine, and the earth started shaking. It opened up, creating a large hole, sucking them both inside.”
I got up then and placed my hands on her shoulders. I wasn’t using my energy this time around to calm her down. Her thoughts were erratic, but I wasn’t worried. She just needed time to adjust to this whole new world.
“Don’t worry, it’s a lot to take in. You became a part of the team and we didn’t want to keep messing around with your mind. A couple of days ago, I applied for a relief licence. I had to present your case in a hearing, and the head of the factions granted it. Human safety is a priority to all the demons on earth. There are exceptions, like now with us. I went to the hearing to convince them that you could handle the truth, that you’re strong-minded and reliable,” I said, sounding like I was giving a lecture in front of a large number of students.
“You know, that night in the alley wasn’t the first time that I saw some strange things,” Emma mumbled. “Once in a beauty salon a woman did something with nail varnish … and once in my daughter’s school I saw this woman in the rest room, her eyes were glowing. I’m not making this up, but all this time I kept saying to myself that I was probably hallucinating.”
“Sometimes demons are not careful,” I explained, not knowing what to else to say.
“Oh my lord, Maxine, now everything makes sense. I’m so relieved. I thought I was getting crazy!”
I exchanged a worried look with Ricky, telling myself that everything was going to be all right.
“Good, because you need to take it easy. I started this business because I wanted to help mongrels and demons. Faction normally doesn’t interfere in those sort of things and mongrels can’t go to the police. From now on you will know all the ins and outs of the business. We won’t hide anything from you,” I continued, watching her carefully. “If any demons question your background you’re safe to say that you have a relief licence. Sometimes clients are reluctant to deal with humans, but you have excellent telephone manners, so you can handle everything.”
“How are you feeling, Emma?” Ricky asked. “We both understand that it’s a lot to take in right now. You don’t have to worry about anything. Watchers are out there to keep an eye on the demonic community.”
Ricky was right, Watchers were patrolling the streets and our agency was on their radar. I hated the fact that we were suddenly so exposed. Emma was still standing, fanning herself with a stack of papers, unsure what to do next. Her thoughts were racing; there were so many questions she wanted to ask.
“It’s a lot to take in, but I’m excited and petrified at the same time. This other underworld sounds so fascinating. Have you been there, Maxine?” she asked me, taking my hand. I bit my lip, bringing the memories from the past. Emma didn’t get it that mongrels weren’t allowed to go down to hell, but they were dragged in against their will.
“No, and it’s better if I stay on earth. It’s a different, scary and violent world down below,” I said, knowing that demons from earth wouldn’t simply adjust back to the life underneath. “Now, if you don’t have any other questions, I need to grab something out of my room and head out. I’m on the case with Zach.”
“No, it’s fine … I’m fine, a bit overwhelmed but excited. This whole other world sounds awesome and so far you two are the best employers that I ever had,” she said, raising both her voice and her arms. “Group hug?”
Ricky scratched his head and nodded to me to move my arse. This was the most bizarre and awkward experience in my life, but Emma surprised me yet again. She was taking this extremely well for a human. My body stiffened when the three of us embraced.
After that I told myself that I needed to get used to listening to her smooth humming voice. This unusual habit made her stop feeling anxious and worried. She seemed fine, but I knew that the old fear could resurface. In the next couple of days Ricky would keep an eye on her when I wasn’t around. Emma’s adjustment to her new knowledge would take time, and I could only hope that we didn’t accidentally damage her.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” Ricky said, leaning over the chair and putting his hands behind his head when we all came back to our duties.
“I don’t know … she seems fine, just keep an eye on her. Maybe the information hasn’t sunk in yet,” I sighed, thinking about the day ahead and Ronan. He hadn’t been in touch for some reason. Over the years I learnt that Ronan liked working at his own pace. He had given me the task. It was my job to track down his son without any questions.
“Just go, Max. I know you’re itching to see the detective,” Ricky told me ten minutes later. “Just be careful. I’ve seen more Watchers on the streets than normally. Something must be going on downstairs.”
Ricky and his constant worry made me feel a little bit more special today. I needed to start appreciating that I had him in my life.
“Cool, I’ll try my best, but there was something else that I forgot to mention,” I said, suddenly remembering the stranger outside my flat last night. That was another reason why I needed to ditch tequila. I began telling Ricky about it. “A demon stopped me when I was just about to take off. He said that I should look into the death of mother, that it was a message he was supposed to deliver to me. And just before he disappeared he mentioned that Alexis had escaped from the pits, so I suspect that she was the one that leaked my name to the press last night.”
Ricky knew everything about me there was to know. We’d never discussed my childhood or the fact that I had some distant memories about my mother. Now we both had to worry about Alexis too. I had a feeling that she was planning something big. Her timing couldn’t be any worse, because I really needed to concentrate on my new case.
“Have you seen him before? What faction was he from?” Ricky asked.
“No, I’ve never seen him before and he didn’t look like a demon at all,” I said, remembering his ordinary features, his odd energy. I still had no idea if my father was alive or not. Mum liked secrets too, and she kept a lot of things to herself. Some memories stuck to me; the others faded when I made a certain decision that affected me to this day. “He was from Berith’s faction. He came out of nowhere and showed me Arthur’s statement. This whole thing was very spooky.”
“I don’t know, Max, you have to stay alert. Alexis is dangerous and she’s clearly after you. We’re running a business and I need you alive and well,” Ricky said, looking at me with that too-familiar concerned expression on his face. We were a team and we worked hard to keep the business going. I didn’t want to jeopardise it.
I left shortly after that, assuring Emma that she could call me anytime if she felt that she had to talk to someone other than Ricky. The access to my flat was blocked and I still needed a change of clothes. Hopefully after a few days paps would get bored and leave, but for now I had to think about buying a new pair of jeans and some T-shirts. I hated the fact that after eighteen months I was still paying for my mistakes.
Zach was waiting for me when I came out of the tube train at Angel Station. A stream of unexpected heat scorched though me at the sight of him. After last night I definitely needed to start thinking about investing some time into my love life.
“Everything all right?” he asked, eyeing me up and down with that lusty look on his face.
“I’m good,” I responded. “So what’s the plan? Where are we going now?”
“We need to head north, leave at the last station on Metropolitan Line,” Zach responded. “I have no idea what to expect. We’re heading down to the underground unofficially, Maxine. It’s a different world out there. We need to stay together.”
“It’s a good thing that you don’t look like a cop,” I muttered, wondering if he was trying to scare me.
“I’m serious. Nameless has people down there, spread over the underground stations. People that hate government and police.”
“In that case don’t mention that you’re a cop and I’ll just pretend that I’m looking for a mentor, someone that could take me under his wing. Men and their egos, this kind of thing always works,” I said, wondering if there were many demons that supported Nameless Thief.
My demon senses told me that Zach was thinking about a woman he interrogated a couple of months ago. He believed that she was a close associate of Nameless. In the end he had to let her go due to lack of evidence.
“Good plan, let’s see if we can pull this off,” Zach said, thinking that he was risking a lot if anything went wrong. He had been gathering information about Nameless over the space of a few months and he wanted to put him behind bars once and for all.
Angel Station was busy and at least today I was successfully blocking the stream of human emotions in the carriages. Zach was now thinking about his missing sister, Zara. We never had a chance to discuss her and I needed to look into her disappearance in my spare time. People didn’t just vanish from the face of the earth, especially human women.
We stepped out of the train in Watford Junction and used the entrance for the staff to get to the tunnel, most likely only accessible to rail workers. My eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly enough as Zach led me on. Waves of demonic energy got stronger as we moved deeper, leaving behind civilisation and the crowds of people on the outside. Zach’s mind was sharp and focused. We walked in pretty good speed for at least twenty minutes, not seeing anything other than railing tracks and tar-black darkness. Earlier on Zach assured me we were in an abandoned tunnel, not accessible to trains. He forced his way through the entrance blocked by a steel handle, using a strange-looking spanner. It was obvious that he wasn’t following his standard police rules this time around, and I was stunned that we weren’t even stopped by official underground workers at the platform.
I was really hoping that today we could get somewhere, hopefully track a member of his crew or Nameless himself. The tunnels were the perfect hiding place, away from Watchers and nosey humans. The energy further down was strong, sizzling with diabolic power. It vibrated through me like invisible spider webs, tangling my thoughts, blocking full access to my abilities.
“Whoever you are, this isn’t the place for ya. There is still a chance for you to turn around and go back to the world above,” said the voice, startling me and Zach all of a sudden. We both turned around abruptly. It took us only a couple of seconds to realise that we were cornered by several people. Most of them were armed with sharp machetes, knives, and some automatic weapons. I swallowed hard, knowing that I couldn’t have missed them on the way, that my senses would have registered people nearby. It seemed like they came out of nowhere, which could only mean one thing.
We must have left the human world behind at the platform and crossed gates to the underworld, that forgotten part that no one controlled.