Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
CORMAL
S ika, the half selkie, races off the minute I’ve given him the information. It takes a while to track down Ren, a merman and one of my best light Fae spies. Apparently, he’s been helping the Water Fae prepare for war. Once he knows it’s Rivan, he mobilizes his entire family to help search.
I sent word to Tarquin, the hellhound, but he wanted nothing to do with the Phoenix. Can’t say I blame him after what happened between him and Brixton. So, I send out runners to my Fae contacts, both light and dark, to ask if they’ve seen Brixton. It’s better if they don’t know I’m actually searching for Rivan.
The dot on the map moves again. I’ve been watching it disappear and reappear all over the Fae lands for the last hour. Madoc moves quick. It’s quite impressive, but also worrisome, because we know very little about him.
Kavi walks in and folds his arms across his chest. “I don’t like it when you go on a mission alone. At least take one of the other chaos demons with you. In case you need back-up.”
The dot jumps and lands… in the Wilds. I wait for it to move, but when it doesn’t, I flash a grim look at Kavi. “I’ll take Lux with me.”
Very little throws Kavi, but my request for the unstable shadow demon definitely makes him uneasy. He knows better than to argue, though. Grimacing, he waves a hand and Lux appears in my office. Dark as the shadows themselves except for his red eyes, and standing three feet tall, he doesn’t look like a threat.
“He has a job for you. Don’t fuck it up.”
The small demon laughs and swirls his finger across a nearby shadow. “Where are we going?” he asks in an excited, high-pitched voice.
Shaping my own shadow into a noose, I toss it over him and pull him close. “If you don’t do exactly as I say, I’ll throw you in the Flames of Hell. Got it?” The eternal flames cast no shadows, offering only permanent death to his kind.
He gulps and repeats, “Do what you say. Got it.”
“You’ll stay in the shadow of the trees, alerting me to any threat that approaches. That’s it,” I tell him, deliberately using the word alert instead of guard. Off his leash, this small demon can rip the world to shreds using only the shadows around him.
He looks disappointed, but when I tighten the noose, he swears to follow my orders.
“If I’m not back in two hours, come find me,” I order Kavi. “We’re headed to the Wilds.”
Kavi looks ill at the mention of our location, but Lux perks up. “I like the Wilds.”
“You would,” I tell him wryly. “Let’s go.” Using my own shadow network, we travel to the portal, then cross over to the Fae lands. In minutes, we’re standing outside the Wilds.
I check my phone. The dot is still here, which means Madoc hasn’t moved. What in the hell could he want in here? Does he think Brixton would dare enter this sacred wood? Not likely. The Fae who live here are unlike any other. Twisted and dark, they have little allegiance to anything and a penchant for killing. Kind of like Lux.
At the boundary of the woods, old, gnarled trees block the entrance. An innocent barrier that turns deadly if you try to cross without their permission. I stand and wait. Surprisingly, Lux also stands utterly still at my side. Makes me wonder how many times he’s been here.
Twisted branches move, snaking in and out, until the entrance is clear. We have their permission. I step through, Lux right behind me, and when we pass the last root, the branches close, locking us in.
Not far from the entrance, we come to a small mountain. This is the location. I glance around the base, but there’s no sign of Madoc. Sensing magic above me, I look up. Halfway up the side is a cave, firelight rippling across its stone mouth.
I look at Lux. “Stay here. Alert only. Understood?” My voice is barely a whisper, but he nods his head several times.
Scampering into the nearest shadow, he settles in. Eyes peeled for danger, he doesn’t even blink. Maybe I should consider taking him on more missions.
With a boost of magic, I step to the entrance of the cave, only to find a knife at my throat. I raise my eyebrow in disbelief at his choice of weapon. With all the magic at his disposal, his choice is primitive, but says a lot about his confidence.
He clucks his tongue in irritation. “What are you doing here?” Crossing to the fireplace, he sits down and resumes eating, but his predatory gaze never leaves me despite his nonchalant demeanor.
“Are you really trying to convince me you’re camping in the Wilds?” I ask derisively. Does he think I’m stupid? I cast my magic to the corners of the room as I take a deep breath. Mmm. The saturated tones of dark magic.
He smirks at me. “It’s safe enough. Better than getting caught between the Lesser and aristocratic light Fae.” A weary look crosses his scruffy face. His dusty clothes reflect the amount of traveling he’s done today. “I haven’t caught one whiff of Brixton or Rivan. Or any Phoenix, for that matter. It’s as if they’ve disappeared from the Fae lands.”
I say nothing, concentrating only on finding the source of the disturbance I sense in the air. Magic ripples in the corner, and I send mine to intercept. Camouflaged, the huge creature moves forward, magic pulsing in my direction, but Madoc jumps between us and blocks it.
“Stop!” he shouts at the semi-transparent… thing. “He isn’t here to harm us. Friend. Friend.”
His words reverberate off the stone walls, but they have the desired effect. The creature solidifies in front of us.
“Friend?” it asks. Head brushing the ceiling, the… monster… stares down at me with pitch black eyes as if he’s contemplating my demise.
“Friend,” Madoc confirms with a snort. “Don’t take this to heart, Cormal. Our relationship will be as brief as your time in this cave.”
Wiry hair covers a rough, textured body. Long, dark hair cascades down from a face that is decidedly not human in structure. Demon origin, maybe. Thick protruding brow. Mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. Five-inch claws at the end of each of its fingers. Bow-legged, it stands at an awkward angle.
“He grows, doesn’t he?” I ask Madoc, eyeing the muscles stacked on top of each other. “How tall?”
Madoc grunts. “He could grow as tall as the mountain around us if he wished, but it would take him a while to shrink again. The process is painful too. This is his preferred size.” With a swipe of his tongue, he licks his finger and tosses the large bone to the creature who catches it in a lightning fast move.
“Is this the monster Callyx is hunting for Lucifer?” I ask, my gaze catching on the brand on the monster’s hip. It’s the devil’s mark.
Silence reigns for several minutes. “Does it matter? He only hurt one person his whole life. Granted, it was a demon prince, which is why he landed where he did. But if we were counting kills, I’m sure you and I would surpass his record by at least a few hundred.”
“It must have been a long time ago,” I say slowly, trying to figure out when the last prince died. At least a couple of thousand years ago. Way before my time. “It’s odd that nobody has ever talked about it.” Demons love to gossip, and time has no meaning to them. They’re just as likely to talk about a prince dying today as they did yesterday.
“That’s because it was the devil’s own brother.” Madoc sneers. “He was sent to The Below for one lapse in judgement.” Anger sets in the line of his jaw. “An entire life ruined because of who he killed.” Bitterness seeps from his lips.
“How did you two meet? If he was in The Below all this time?”
“Because I was there, too,” he reveals. “For some reason, Aamon chose to protect me. Now, I do the same for him.”
Shock renders me speechless. Of all the secrets I thought he might be hiding, none of them came close to the truth. “How the hell did you get out? There’s only one tunnel in and out, and it’s a maze of deadly traps.”
“Would you believe me if I said an angel?” He shakes his head as if he still can’t believe it.
The creature must decide I’m not a threat because he plops down beside Madoc and reaches for the bone in his hand. Quicker than I can see, Madoc cuts his hand. Roaring, he jumps to his feet and towers over Madoc, who does nothing.
“You already had your share. I told you I was hungry,” Madoc explains to him as if he’s a child. “I’ll give you what’s left when I’m finished.”
Huffing and stomping his feet, he circles around and lies down with his back to Madoc.
“As you can see, he’s like a child. Something happened in his development, and he never matured into an adult,” Madoc explains to me as he finishes his meal.
Similar to Lux .
“Gabriel,” I state confidently. Lucifer sent him there to cool off. When he retrieved him, his wings had been cut off. “How did you get him to give up his wings?”
“The Below has a way of stripping you bare. Gabriel thought he was strong until he faced the true monsters of the deep. One monster’s favorite torture tool is the mirror. It’s spelled to display only the darkest truths about yourself, the ones buried deep inside that you never let out. After a while, he broke. Begged us to protect him. Our price was his wings,” Madoc reveals, his voice full of satisfaction.
“When Lucifer retrieved Gabriel, we took a chance and flew out before Lucifer shut the door, so to speak,” Madoc says, flicking a glance at me. “I’ve been hiding him ever since, but it’s driving him crazy. He wants to roam and be free. At least the hunt for Leandra will distract him.”
Any thought of turning him into Lucifer or Callyx died the instant he said those words, and by the smirk on his face, he knew it. “Damn you.” My mind considers and rejects several options. “This is going to put me in a hell of a bad spot with Lucifer.”
Callyx is also going to be pissed. Wait. “Why is Callyx only after him?”
“Nobody but Leandra knew I was down there. She couldn’t kill me, but she needed me in a place I couldn’t escape,” he growls, barely able to contain his fury. “She made a deal with someone, and the next thing I knew, I was fodder for the monsters.” He shudders. “I’m damn lucky Aamon befriended me.”
The monster rolls over and snorts. “Not my friend.”
Madoc quips. “Too bad. You’re stuck with me.”
Aamon bares his teeth in what I think is a grotesque smile. “Maybe.”
The bond between the two of them runs deep, but that’s not a surprise. Surviving the atrocities in The Below would forge an unbreakable alliance.
“This is the reason you want to find Leandra, isn’t it?” I ask, knowing I’m going to have to trust him. His motive for revenge is the strongest I’ve seen.
“She stole my future from me,” Madoc spits out. “And some of my power. I want it back. All of it. But I’ll settle for her death first.”
“That’s her special parlor trick. Stealing someone’s future,” I say, sharing in his bitterness for a moment. “Her death is the only thing that will protect Meri.”
“Why does she want Meri so badly?” Madoc hands the rest of his food to Aamon, who greedily gulps it down.
I explain to Madoc how Leandra created Meri from the essence of Nyssa and Denir.
He pales. “If she created her, she could also unmake her, right?”
Madoc’s quick. “Meri hasn’t even thought of the possibility. But I have. A thousand times a thousand to infinity. For a long time, I was forced to protect Leandra, but not anymore. I don’t know what she wants with Meri, but with Denir hunting her too, we can’t afford to get caught between them.”
“Denir.” Madoc curls his lip as his face hardens with hatred. “He was Leandra’s co-conspirator. Once I have what I need from Leandra, he’s next on my list.”
Madoc’s voice is full of power and magic. He hardly seems diminished by whatever Leandra took, which means she must have taken something specific.
He tilts his head. “How are you going to prevent her from unmaking Meri with her dying breath?”
“The Phoenix can resurrect the dead,” I reveal. It’s the key to my plan. “I’m hoping Rivan will revive her. Once we find him.” I can tell by the look on his face he isn’t quite as confident it will work. “I need a back-up plan, I know. If I only knew what they both wanted from her, it would be easier.”
Madoc frowns. “You know this means we need to capture Leandra instead of killing her on sight?” Disappointment crosses his face. “Fuck me.” He sits there thinking about it for a minute, then his scowl lightens. “I guess this means we’ll need to torture her to get answers.”
“Sounds good to me, but first we need to find Rivan,” I remind him.