Dark Forsaken (The Devil's Assistant Book 3) (4 page)

Chapter 3

“Why are we going to the blacksmith’s shop?” I asked.

Sorrel didn’t take his eyes off the road. “We have to make a quick stop.”

“A quick stop. I haven’t been able to get you to stop anywhere that wasn’t on The Boss’s list for weeks, and now we’re taking a sudden detour.”

Sorrel was quiet.

I pulled out my phone and started to dial The Boss’s number. Sorrel grabbed it before I could hit the send button.

“What the hell are you doing? Give it back or I’ll make you regret it.”

Sorrel scoffed. He looked sideways at me, tucking my phone into his inside jacket pocket. “I’ve noticed something about you, Claire,” he said. “When it comes to me or one of my siblings, you seem to be more bark than bite. You don’t act. Not the way the others would. So unless you want to figure out exactly how well matched we are, then I suggest you cooperate.”

That jackass was calling my bluff. I turned away from him and stared out the window again. “It won’t always be this way.” I could feel the cocky bastard smiling.

We rode the rest of the way in silence. I jumped from the car the moment he stopped outside the large brick building where the shop was located. I was hoping he’d brought me here to see Isla, the blacksmith. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I trusted her, but if she’d been able to leave the fourth realm, she could give me an update or possibly get word to Omar when she returned.

I took in the scene around me. I had the oddest sense that everything was okay. But how would I know that was true? I hadn’t been to this part of town in months. As I thought this, I took a closer look at Isla’s shop and realized it was abandoned. I glanced around and noticed that everything on this street looked just as deserted. The Harley shop across the way was half boarded up and the sign for the surf shop next door was dangling by one chain. I no longer had the sense that everything was okay. The exact opposite was true: nothing was as it seemed.

What was going on down here? Was this part of the displaced residents problem the big three wanted me to fix? Nothing else was open in these shops, so it wasn’t like new people had moved in and taken over. I needed a closer look.

I closed my eyes, slipping into the in-between. My ability to slip my consciousness from my body was a trick I’d learned after entering Purgatory last spring. I’d lost the more powerful teleportation and time travel angle when Harry removed his blood, but I could still move my presence into the in-between and roam around incorporeally. The view I had of the world while using astral projection opened up my full sight to magic. Thresholds, wards, and other auras came alive in this bodiless state.

I blinked my presence into the different shops. As I suspected, they were all deserted. Isla’s looked to be in good condition, just dusty from non-use. I assumed this meant no one was able to leave the fourth realm, which had to be why Omar hadn’t contacted me. But last summer he’d indicated that new Fallen had arrived with the ability to communicate outside the realm—so why was he staying quiet? Shaking off that concern, I considered the other two shops. Both were smashed up and abandoned without a backwards glance, as if someone just decided to walk away. There wasn’t as much dust, either. Whatever had happened here, it hadn’t happened that long ago. Since it didn’t appear anyone was setting up shop in the newly vacant properties, I had to assume there was more going on here than I first thought based on the big three’s description of the problem. The previous owners were displaced, but forced to evacuate would have been more accurate.

I returned to my body and opened my eyes. “Why are we here?”

Sorrel checked his watch. “Someone needs to talk with you.”

Before I could ask who, a rush of wind blew past me. Gizelle, Sorrel’s mother, manifested in front of me, boldly laying her hand on my arm. A sharp pain seared my skin at her touch.

“Gizelle,” I hissed, pushing her hand away. Her eyes widened as my vision flashed green. “What the hell was that for?”

Was this who Sorrel had been texting when I thought he was texting with The Boss?

Composing herself, she smiled. She ignored me and turned to Sorrel. “Son, you look well.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Sorrel replied just as formally. “As do you.”

I rubbed my arm to ease the pain. “What do you want?” I asked, drawing her attention back to me.

She bowed her head, “My queen.”

Oh, please
. She may have called me her queen, but her allegiance was still with Purgatory. Considering her level of power, I would have felt it had her energy been added to my realm. I raised an eyebrow as she looked up.

She cleared her throat. “I was simply reminding you of your promise to me regarding the continuation of life for my children.” She glanced down at my arm.

I stopped rubbing it, which was when I realized there was a dull throb where she’d touched me. The same dull ache there had been last summer when she made me promise to save her children from death and Mab. That deal should have been complete, but unfortunately, she’d inadvertently linked it capital-D Death, my ex-lover who fully intended to capitalize on that loophole to get me to cooperate, but that just meant I couldn’t let
him
kill them. This reminder was bullshit.

“That deal’s done. Now remove the reminder.”

She laughed. “You agreed to protect my children from Mab and death. You can never let them die by anyone’s hand—even your own.”

“Oh, hell no. I didn’t sign up for that. I can’t protect them twenty-four seven. Remove the spell. I demand it.”

Gizelle looked affronted. “And let you kill them.” She waggled her finger at me and made a tsking sound. “What sort of fool do you take me for?”

A green shine ran across my eyes. “As long as they stay out of my way, why would I kill them?”

Sorrel stepped forward. “You threatened to kill Mace. You said that if you ever laid eyes on him again, you’d kill him.”

“So?” I shrugged, remembering the time we’d all been at the Great Museum. It was after Mace had tried to kill me—again—and I’d had enough of his bullshit.

Sorrel glanced back at his mother. “I told you she wouldn’t understand.”

I narrowed my eyes. When had he told her? When he was texting earlier or had they discussed me before? Sorrel slid his phone into his back pocket.

“What don’t I understand?” I demanded, staring at Sorrel. “You already know I can’t hurt you—not really—so why the hell do you think I’d decide to push my luck with Mace?” Everyone knew Mace was stronger than the twins.

“My queen,” Gizelle said in a very condescending tone. “I forget how young you really are. You made the threat when you had Harry’s blood in you.”

“So?”

“Let’s just say that it makes your idle threat more of a curse.”

I still didn’t understand. “Okay, obviously I’m missing something here. What does that mean?”

Gizelle sighed. She was really starting to piss me off.

Sorrel explained. “It wouldn’t be as hard for you to kill Mace, even in your weakened state. And you’d be somewhat compelled to carry it out—no matter the cost.”

I glared at Sorrel and then at Gizelle.

She smiled. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t accidentally hurt him before you realized it would kill you as well.”

I was livid. “So you’re saying I can’t kill Mace, or let anyone kill him—or any of them—or I’m dead. And apparently I’ve cursed Mace, so not only would it be easy to do, but I’m going to be compelled to do it. Do I have that right?”

She nodded.

“No deal. I saved them from Mab and death once. I won’t be tied to them so closely again. Remove your fucking curse and I’ll swear never to kill them.”

She shook her head and smiled, but I wasn’t done with my threats.

“Try to hold me to the other promise and I’ll go out of my way to see your curse broken and your children dead before year’s end. And before you toss away this offer as if it means nothing, you should be aware that the first thing I’ll try is killing you.”

Her smile vanished. “You wouldn’t, Mab will go to—”

“What,
war
, for
you
? I doubt it would even register on her shit-to-care-about list. We all know I hold the trump card with her. Do you think she’d risk me going after Thanos for you? Test my threat against your gift and tell me who wins.”

Her lips pressed into a hard line, but she closed her eyes. She told me once before that she had only one gift: to see the fate of her children and to know what she must do to save them. I doubted that was her only gift, but if she looked ahead, she’d know I meant business.

“Make the new deal,” I said. “This is the only time I’ll offer it.”

She opened her eyes. With a vicious sneer on her lips, she snarled an unbinding in Ancient and the throb on my arm immediately went away. Before I could react, she grabbed my arm again in the same spot. “I bind you, Claire of Fallen, Queen of the fourth realm, to protect my children from death at your hands or by any means which you knowingly can prevent.”

Oh, holy hell. The pain hurt before, but this time it traveled through my arm to my core with what felt like a jolt that went directly to the fourth realm. “Stop,” I yelled, ripping my arm from her grasp. “That isn’t what we agreed to.”

“You wanted out of the other deal. You agreed not to harm my children—I can’t have you circumventing that with a command to one of your underlings. This is how it must be.”

I hadn’t actually thought about that. And what underlings did I have? I was just hoping to have Death’s threat neutralized. The way it stood, I just couldn’t knowingly let someone kill them. Unfortunately, that meant Death would be able to trigger Gizelle’s curse to cause my death unless I could stop him by giving him the torque of time. So I was just as screwed on that front, but any random thing that killed them, including Mab, wouldn’t be on my head.

Pissed, I turned to leave.

“Do you wish for an update, my queen?” she asked coyly.

Thanos
. I spun back around to face her. “Yes.”

“He is safe and unharmed.”

“Does he speak of me?” I asked.

She shook her head, “No. He appears to have no memory of events.”

“Mab,” I spat, knowing she had to be the one to take his memory. That was if I believed Gizelle.

Gizelle shrugged. “Perhaps.”

I turned away, blinking back a few tears.

I’d saved Thanos from a command Raven had given him five hundred years ago. She’d told him to serve the Fall Queen, but of course the Fall Queen, Jayne, was dead and her last known location was the fourth realm. I found Thanos alone in a desolate and deserted realm, where he’d been trapped since Raven’s curse. He’d bound us together, entwining our souls. We’d been mates for a time. To gain my freedom and save him from ultimate heartbreak at his mother’s hands, I released him from our bond and agreed not to claim Thanos for my realm—something Mab would never let happen. I truly believe she’d kill him before letting me have him.

At least he was safe, but I hoped Gizelle was lying. He’d said he’d never forget me. I wanted that to be true.

I motioned for Sorrel. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 4

My arm throbbed as we parked the car in front of the Wild Hare Bar & Grill. I took in the street. There were plenty of businesses open, but not all the same ones from last summer when I stopped by the Wild Hare to find Ronin, Mab’s bounty hunter at the time, and the one I’d bound myself to in Purgatory to break the pledge I’d made to Mace last spring.

Scanning the area with my senses, I didn’t get an overwhelming impression of the fallen. If these new businesses were part of the displaced residents’ issues as the big three implied, then why weren’t these shops being run by the fallen? Unlike the area near the blacksmith’s shop, there were at least open shops to investigate here.

As I looked closer, I noticed that more were closed than I’d first thought. Was someone—or something—running the pagans, druids, and demons out of downtown?

“Why are so many places closed?” I asked Sorrel.

He looked around, as if for the first time. He shrugged and shook his head. “I didn’t realize there was an issue, but now that you mention it—”

Sorrel’s words were cut off by a loud crash. A pagan the size of a refrigerator had just been thrown through the door of the bar into the street. He lay sprawled out on the sidewalk, not moving and maybe even dead, and I was sure he was part of the other problem I was supposed to fix: Sage.

Sorrel and I got out of the car. I didn’t stop to see if Refrigerator was breathing. It wasn’t that I was heartless, but he wasn’t the first unwelcome person to be tossed out of the Wild Hare. I couldn’t see how this would be causing pagans to flee from this part of Underworld, and the blacksmith’s shop wasn’t exactly around the corner. These businesses were abandoned and not even run by pagans, so whatever Sage was up to, it didn’t have anything to do with the other problem. I also found it odd that Sorrel hadn’t noticed the closed businesses, but we were already at the Wild Hare, so the issue with Sage needed to be handled first.

I walked into the bar just as another pagan was about to be thrown out. I stepped aside just in time for his body to fly past me, but Sorrel wasn’t as lucky. The new guy slammed into him with enough force to knock Sorrel to the ground. Angry, he threw the unconscious pagan off of him.

“Thanks for the warning, Claire,” he said, knocking dirt from his pants.

“Man up.” I smiled, not sure what he’d really expected me to do.

There were a few gasps as I entered the bar. Sage, who was clearly drunk, was staggering back to his seat at the bar after tossing the pagan out the door. He gave me a bleary-eyed look of disgust before motioning for the barkeep to pour him another drink.

Before I could confront him, my path was blocked by several of the newly-turned Fallen. The three men and one woman went down on one knee before me.

“All hail the queen,” the man in front said.

“All hail the true ruler of Fallen,” the woman added.

Sorrel snorted behind me. Ignoring him, I motioned for the newly aligned to stand. “Thank you, please carry on with your day.” Scanning the room, I spotted more than one patron with eyes that shined green. They bowed their heads when our gazes met. I nodded and smiled, but other than that, I had no clue how to treat them.

With a drunken laugh, Sage said something that sounded derogatory, which reminded me why I was here. I headed over to the hot mess that was Sage on whiskey.

“Hello, my queen,” he slurred.

Looking at the bartender, I said, “Cut him off.”

The dark-haired pagan was the same bartender that had been here last summer when I came looking for Ronin. On that visit, I’d thrown a guy through the wall and then the building next door. Glancing to the right, I noticed the wall had been repaired. The bartender’s eyes were wide, obviously remembering the same event. Luckily, he didn’t know I wasn’t strong enough to do it again. I just shrugged and mouthed, ‘No more for Sage.’ The bartender nodded before scurrying away.

“Pussy,” Sage bellowed at the retreating man. “Yes, go get my brother. She has no power. No control here. More drink,” he slurred, slamming his glass on the bar and sloshing some of the amber liquid over the rim.

A few chairs behind me scraped the floor, followed by the sounds of feet shuffling away and exiting the bar.

Glancing at Sorrel, I asked, “Did you know he was like this?”

Before Sorrel could answer, the throbbing pain of Gizelle’s reminder kicked up a notch. I was aware of Mace’s presence before I heard or saw him.

“What the hell is going on out here?” Mace barked.

Sage chuckled and continued to drink his whiskey.

Slowly I turned to face Mace, ignoring Gizelle’s curse, which seemed to react only to him. I raised an eyebrow just as his gaze fell on me.

He stopped in his tracks. My vision flashed green and I sensed his anxiety increasing as the impact of our meeting fully settled in. This was, after all, the first time I’d laid eyes on him since I threatened to kill him. Considering how poorly he had treated me in the past, he should have been thankful I hadn’t hunted him down the moment I’d recovered after last summer. It was probably a good thing because had I seen him without Gizelle’s painful reminder, he would so be dead already. The more I thought of killing him, the stronger the pain burned from Gizelle’s mark. So, yeah, I hated Mace—just a bit more than the rest.

His anxiety lessened a bit when I didn’t immediately blink him from existence. I couldn’t feel the emotions of the other fallen so well, but even though my connection to the fourth realm’s power base had waned, the quads were different. They were so much more powerful compared to the other descendants that when their emotions were raised, I felt everything about them.

Regaining some composure, Mace turned to the remaining customers. “Get out. We’re closed.”

The patrons hurried to leave, throwing money on the table before running like mice from a snake. They didn’t want Mace’s kind of trouble—no one ever did.

My hand twitched with a crackle of energy. The power visibly formed at my wrist, streaming a ball of hellfire into my palm. I tightened my fist and pulled in the rage just as Gizelle’s mark sent another lightning bolt of pain down my arm.

“My queen,” Mace snarled, his voice echoing in the empty bar.

I kept a tight hold on the power within me that really wanted to kill him. Sage cackled. He was seriously drunk and that was getting very annoying.

Glancing at Mace, I asked him, “What the hell is up with Sage?”

Sage took offense. “Nothing’s wrong with me,” he slurred.

Eyeing Mace, I said, “He clearly has a problem. Why are you letting him drink?”

Mace let out a long, exasperated breath. “He was getting into more trouble elsewhere. At least it is somewhat controlled here.”

“Controlled,” I scoffed, “There are two half-dead pagans laying on the ground outside.”

Sage snorted. “They could be dead.” He tipped up his glass for the last drop of whiskey.

“Quiet,” I said to him. “You’re not allowed to drink anymore.”

“Fuck you,” he murmured, leaning over the bar as if he planned to grab the bottle and pour himself another drink.

Mace sighed as if this were boring him. The energy within me wanted out. Seeing his disinterested image in the mirror behind the bar and not really wanting to hold back, I let the hellfire gather in my palm. The power coalesced as I watched his smug face. In the blink of an eye, I tossed it at Mace’s reflection, shattering every bit of glass on the back wall and feeling a tiny amount of satisfaction in the process.

Sage yelped as the bottle in his hand broke. Throwing my will, I knocked him off the stool and then smacked his head against the floor, knocking him unconscious.

I turned back to Mace, whose mouth was still gaping at the shattered mess behind his bar. Snapping my fingers, I got his attention. “This has to stop. The big three don’t like all the shit going on down here, and this kind of thing isn’t helping. They sent me to handle it.”

Mace laughed.

“They sent me to make you handle it,” I clarified. That shut him up. He raised his chin, defiant. I continued. “Someone is running people out of business. The big three are accusing the fallen. I need to know why. And it needs to stop.”

Mace narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t know what I meant.

“Are you telling me you haven’t noticed either?”

His expression was clueless.

I pointed out to his street. “There are over seven stores around you that are closed, and another half a dozen that look new. Two more over near the blacksmith’s shop also look abandoned. Any of this ringing any bells?”

Mace shrugged. “Since when do you care about Underworld, Claire? And why should I care that a few places have shut down?”

A new surge of power crackled in the air and a flare of pain shot from Gizelle’s mark. I stretched my neck. I didn’t need this shit. “Look, truth be told, I couldn’t give a fucking rat’s ass what goes on down here, but something tells me if I don’t get ahead of this, then I’ll just be dealing with a bigger problem in the future. Which would mean more meetings with the big three or dealing with Harry’s threats of having
his boys
sort it out, and, next to you, the druid mob are my least favorite people to deal with. I can’t exactly give back the Fall Queen title, so I’m stuck dealing with it, which means you’re stuck dealing with me.” I needed to get out of here and away from him. Mace’s eyes widened a fraction as he saw the blue wisps of energy dancing around my wrists. “It’s obvious the places near the blacksmith’s shop weren’t closed by the owners—they were tossed and abandoned. I suspect the ones on this street are the same. The new businesses at least have people in them you can question.”

“I’ll just have Sage here keep the riffraff out of the bar,” he said, as if he had no plans to look into anything.

Squeezing my fist closed to tamp down my power, I put a bit of persuasion in my voice and said, “This is more than just a PR nightmare. I don’t want any more pagans tossed out of this place half dead. If they want to drink in here, let them.”

“This is—” he tried to argue.

“This isn’t my problem with downtown. I couldn’t care less who drinks in this bar.” Adding persuasion again, I said, “You will look into the closed businesses. You will investigate the new ones that have opened. And you will report your findings back to me. Do I make myself clear?”

I had to stop myself from taking a step back. Using that much power on him had almost drained me and I couldn’t look weak.

Mace nodded, but he didn’t look happy.

“And you’re going to help keep the other fallen in line. If we figure out it’s the Fallen descendants causing the issues, then you’ll be responsible for stopping it.”

Mace raised both eyebrows.

“I don’t want you killing anyone. Just make sure they start behaving.”

He looked away as if to dismiss the entire conversation.

“
Anyone
,” I said stressing the word, “that doesn’t behave will be sent to the fourth realm. Have I made myself clear?” That got his attention.

“Anyone?” he said. “Does that include Cinnamon?”

“Cinnamon? Why do you ask?”

He shrugged. “I’m just trying to clarify the rules, my queen.”

As far as I knew, Cinnamon was living on the Upper East Side with a billionaire playboy that bit off more than he could chew. I didn’t think she was causing any trouble. The big three hadn’t mentioned her, but Cinnamon wasn’t exactly the poster child of playing nice. “Is she not behaving?”

He shrugged.

“You don’t get to send the troublemakers back. I’ll handle that. You’ll just spread the word and inform me of anyone breaking the new policy. After you investigate the businesses. I need to know what’s going on down here.”

“Of course, my queen,” Mace sneered. He gave a slight bow before heading back to his office.

“Sorrel, get Sage. We’re leaving.”

Sorrel gave me a weary look, but clearly my don’t-fucking-push-me expression was enough to keep him quiet. He lifted Sage and slung him over his shoulder.