Chapter 3
The rest of the working day was rather uneventful for Satani media. Lucius locked himself in his office the entire day. He didn’t even bother to venture out during his lunch hour. I, on the other hand spent the day working through the voluminous pile of contracts that increased as each moment passed while my fingers itched to open the drawer where a certain gold scroll currently resided. As soon as darkness fell and the last unknowing human left, the atmosphere in the Satani building completely changed.
Like the furnace that fuelled the building had suddenly been fed with the fires from the pits of hell, the heat reached an uncomfortable level and the walls gave off an aura that had the fine hairs on my arms standing up. Rubbing my hands up and down my arms to try and sooth the uncomfortable feeling welling within me, I shivered as though someone had walked over my grave. I knew without turning my head that someone was behind me but it still caused me to jump when I twirled around on my seat to see Lucius standing there like a gloomy looking Adonis.
“You scared me Luce,” I chastised as I placed one hand over my skipping heart and threw a punch into his steel stomach.
Wincing, I shook my hand and then sent a scowl up at the guy but he just ran a hand through his thick black hair and perched himself on the edge of the desk. I poked him in the side when my carefully ordered pile of papers slid across the desk and skipped off the edge meaning that I would have to spend another few minutes sorting them out before I could go home. As much as I wanted to have a rant at Lucius though, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was most probably the lost look on his face that had me hesitating. Or it might have been the fact that he had grasped my hand as I tried to snatch it back and proceeded to rub soothing circles on the back of my hand.
“It’s nearly time,” he whispered, his fingers interlacing with mine as he stared blankly ahead of him. I didn’t take his actions to mean anything given his traumatised state but I couldn’t help but enjoy the simple pleasure of someone holding my hand.
Nodding my head in reply, I allowed the two of us to fall into companionable silence. His fingers kicked back and forth so that his shoes rhythmically thudded against the hard wood of the desk yet his eyes continued to stare at the wall ahead of him. I opened my mouth to speak several times but I couldn’t bring myself to actually say anything. What could I possibly say?
The elevator dinged and the lyrics to Highway to Hell blared down the corridor until the sound was cut off abruptly when the doors closed once more. Glancing upwards, I saw there was a familiar figure walking down the hallway. The man looked like he was a little evil just from the way that his lips turned up at the corners with that smirk – it just promised trouble. But that was Levi, trouble all over but surprisingly loyal and hardworking. In the past year Lucius and I had found him to be an excellent person to call in a crisis hence his new position as Lucius’ right hand man.
Pushing myself up from my chair, I gave him a smile which probably wasn’t as warm as the usual ones I sent his way. Nodding his head in reply, he stopped a few feet away from my desk so that I had to close the distance between us so that I could shake his hand. The two of us exchanged a look before he nodded and released my hand. I let out a breath of relief. I could only hope that he caught the full meaning of that look. If the demons even thought for a moment that Lucius was weakened, dissension would break out and they would scrabble over the opportunity to gain more power. That’s just the way that demons are.
Lucius slid off of the desk and approached Levi, his entire posture towering over the demon so that he had to move back a few steps and duck his head under the intensity. Tugging at his jacket, the shorter and less powerful of the two waited in apprehension as the other man circled his like a vulture. After he had done a full circle, Lucius held out his hand towards Levi and the man dropped a small flash drive into his waiting palm before lifting his head to meet his superior’s gaze.
“Don’t watch it Lucius,” he pleaded and from the horror on his features, I could tell that it wouldn’t be anything pretty to look at. “I can tell you cause of death but you do not need to watch this, it will do nothing to help you.” He gazed at his boss for a moment before shaking his head and gesturing to the office. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Lucius gave an unintelligible grunt before leading the way back into his dark and gloomy office. I noted that his posture was stiff, his back ramrod straight as he took staggering steps forward like each time one was causing him immense pain. My hand moved up to my chest and rubbed over my heart absently as I stared after him before letting out a sigh and following after him. The best I could do, was be there for him if he needed me.
Lucius was sat behind his desk when I entered, too busy clicking away to notice my entrance. I was grateful that he was so distracted; it meant that he missed my pitying glance that lingered on my features before I remembered that he was a man and, like most men, he hated pity.
Taking the seat in front the desk, as Levi stood beside me, I felt my fingers toying with the hem of my shirt. I didn’t want to relive the death of that poor girl – of Celia’s last terrifying moments. But I knew there was no choice, Lucius would need support to get through this even if he didn’t want to admit it. Stubborn headed mule.
Soft whimpers filled the room, a slight crackling of the speakers giving it an eerie feel. I knew what was coming next – the clicking of the claws as they dragged across the floor. A glance at Lucius’ face let me know that something wasn’t right. His lips were pressed firmly together and he flinched at each whimper that issued from the speakers but there was something else in his expression. His eyes were watching the screen intently and there was a frown firmly etched between his brows. Pushing up from my seat, I moved around to the other side of the desk so that I too could see the screen. My timing however was terrible as the image flickered like there was something jamming the video feed. A scream ripped through the room before it stopped shot and the silence that fell over the room was deafening.
My hand moved to Lucius’ shoulder in comfort just as the screen righted itself and the picture became clear once more. I’d seen dead people before but the sight of this stranger there on screen lying like a broken doll was still disturbing. Celia’s body was sprawled awkwardly across the floor and her eyes were staring sightlessly at the camera just as a tear rolled down her cheek. My eyes were drawn to the slash marks across her cheek. There didn’t appear to be any other injuries and the claw marks were only superficial. So why was she dead?
Turning my gaze to Lucius, he looked more conflicted that I had ever seen. Before I could do or say anything, I heard a crack. My eyes moved downwards to glance at the source of the sound and I saw his fingers clutching painfully tight around the now destroyed mouse. His knuckles were white under the pressure and I silently thanked his thick skin. Placing my hand over his, I prised my fingers off the mouse while my other hand pressed the button on the monitor so that the screen went black and Celia’s face vanished from view. I winced as I felt a shard of the mouth jab into my skin but I ignored it as I continued to release Lucius’ death grip.
When it was finally free, I held his hand in mine and checked that there were no injuries before I allowed my gaze to wander back to his.
“What is it Lucius?” I asked eventually when he seemed resolute in keeping his mouth closed.
He gulped and looked up at me through his lashes but seemed unable to utter the words. Glancing over my shoulder at Levi, I raised my eyebrows in a silent question and with a quick glance at his shell shocked superior, the man gulped and looked strangely young and terrified as he whispered a word that would alter everything we thought we knew and trusted.
“Hellhounds.”
The certainty in his voice as he spoke had me gulping and looking incredulously between him and Lucius who was still playing mute. I had only learnt a little about them in the past year because they were only to be utilised in special cases. They were one of the most feared of all creatures, they were minions of death himself rather than the devil like their name suggested but the fact that they were out there reaping souls of innocents sent a tremble through my body.
“How is this possible? I thought only the angelic and the demonic could set out bounties?” My statement came out more like a question as I waited for the men to confirm or deny what I thought I knew.
Lucius just nodded his head and looked away from me with a blank emotionless mask back on his features. For a moment I wished that he would be his happy smirking self but then chastised myself for the thought.
“The right to use hellhounds was given by death himself at the beginning of our existence. The matter of our existence is complex - even I don’t know how it all began. All I know that as long as time and creatures have roamed the universe, so has death. Ultimately he is more powerful than any other entity that I know of – even my father.” Lucius stared at his lap the entire time he spoke, his gaze seemingly fixated on his hands that were still wrapped within mine. For a moment he broke his ponderings to give Levi and me a grim smile. “Basically what he says goes. When the population of humans started to expand, he gave us dominion over his children – the hellhounds. Born from the essence of death and the fires of hell, they were the perfect predators. They were only to be used as bounty hunters for those souls that could tilt the balance too far.”
I nodded my head and then frowned. “So they took Celia because she could tip the balance? I thought the entire point of the seers was to keep the balance in the first place.”
Lucius and Levi gave me identical looks of incredulity before the former shook his head. “She wasn’t on the list. As my granddaughter and a company seer, she is – was – an exception the rules. What this means is that we have a traitor. The hellhounds can only be commanded by arch angels or someone of the demonic persuasion. Now, considering that there are less than five arch angels with such knowledge and all are over at the pearly gates, this can only mean one thing – one of my people is going against me.”
Lucius slammed his fist against the table and I felt my heart leap into my throat as I startled back away from him. “- And I will stop at nothing until I find them and make them pay. “
I frowned at him for a moment before reluctantly nodding my head. Revenge was never the answer but he couldn’t stand by and let his ‘people’ take advantage of his seemingly weakened state.
“I guess I should start make arrangements then?” Levi queried breaking into my thoughts and causing me to glance between the two of them in confusion.
“Arrangements for what?” I questioned as my foot tapped on the floor and I placed my hands on my hips.
Levi completely ignored me and started tapping away on his blackberry that he had pulled from his pocket. Returning my gaze to Lucius, I tried to stare him out. Giving a small chuckle, he shook his head back and forth before spreading his arms wide.
“Where else?” He stared at me for a moment but laughing when he noted my clueless expression. “Hell, you know the pits of eternal damnation. Oh and – you’re coming too.”
For a moment, I thought he was joking but when his expression didn’t change, I gave an audible gulp. Holy crap, I’m going to hell.
Sorry it's taken me so long. Anyway I hope you liked it :) I am looking for someone to make me a book trailer for this and Devil's Assistant so if you are interested then just leave a comment below :)