“Zach thinks that she didn’t commit suicide, that some kind of dark forces were involved. He hasn’t been the same since. I don’t know, but the pathologist was convinced that it was a suicide, that no third party was involved.”
There was a long moment of silence, as the woman in the cubical next to me was digesting all the information slowly. I had my answer now: Zach had lost his partner a while back. Of course I didn’t know all the details, but it was safe to assume that he hadn’t gotten over it yet.
“Right, you mean he thinks that there is some other world beyond this one,” the other one laughed.
“Yes, something like that. He might have lost his mind,” the one next to me added. A moment later I flushed the toilet and left like I was just some random girl done with her business.
Zachary believed in the other world, and there was possibly a good reason for it. Some demon had already tampered with his mind or he was simply just paranoid. I didn’t quite believe in the second option. These days demons were unpredictable.
I left half an hour later, not getting anywhere with the cop at the front desk. Maybe last night was a mistake. I shouldn’t have shared with Zach intimidate details about my past. He was obviously sensitive to things that weren’t easily explained. His problems shouldn’t really worry me, but I knew that in the near future I had to stop blabbing about my life to anyone who was willing to listen. Working alongside a human who believed in supernatural stuff could slow down the progression of the case. If the missing royal was kidnapped by another demon, then Lucifer’s reputation would be in tatters.
I was hoping that the guy at the desk would tell Zach that I had been around, so I expected him to get in touch with me later on. It took me another hour to reach Buckingham Palace. I was pleased to see that security was tighter than normal and the guard at the front of desk made me wait for ages before I was eventually let through. Deep down I was hoping that Arthur was out gallivanting somewhere else with Natalie, so I didn’t have to deal with him today.
“Ahh, Miss Brodeur, I presume that you have a reason to be here again?”
I turned around, not even making it a few steps into the main corridor. Rodriguez must have gotten the call that I was in the palace.
“My business partner has managed to extract an elixir from the samples found of George’s blood. We are certain that the demon that took George belongs to a higher faction—Lucifer’s,” I said, getting straight to the point. I bet this wasn’t what Rodriquez wanted to hear, but he needed to face the truth.
Rodriguez stroked his beard, grabbed me by the elbow and moved us aside, like he was afraid that someone was planning to listen in. Of course, the news was unexpected. That could only mean that someone within the faction was conspiring against Lucifer himself.
“A demon part of Lucifer’s faction? Impossible. The prince never associates himself with any demons,” Rodriquez snarled, looking alarmed. The royals were protected and, after me, no other demon apart from Rodriquez was allowed anywhere near them.
“Yes, sir, my business partner triple-checked everything. That’s why I need full access to the prince’s staff to assess if anything was missed the night in question. I also found out that the prince had been seen with redheaded, older woman outside the palace. Maybe this is nothing, but you would know who that might be?”
Rodriquez’s eyes narrowed even further, and a vein in his neck began thumping faster. No one ever dared to rebel against the hierarchy in hell and now there was a demon on the loose—that had Prince George. This whole thing stunk like someone was looking to start an uprising.
“Of course, I will inform the guards to give you full access. Make sure you keep this to yourself. The Dark Lord wants this matter to be resolved as soon as possible. On top of that the Queen Mother is thinking about appealing to the press, and we can’t afford the risk of panic in the nation,” Rodriquez hissed, exhaling sharply.
He was right; things were tight and time wasn’t on my side. I bet the other factions didn’t know that the Queen’s grandson was missing. There was only one master of the underworld, but I had heard rumours that some Watchers expected to see a change. Apparently not everyone was happy downstairs and, if there was going to be an uprising in hell, then mongrels like me were going to be used as a shield. Yeah, none of this was good.
“I shall, but right now I need to go,” I said, letting him know that he was wasting my time.
“Use the back entrance. There is a meeting on the upper floor. I’ll make all staff available to you should they need to be questioned again,” Rodriquez said. “By the way, what happened to Detective Quinton?”
As soon as Rodriguez mentioned Zach’s name, a fresh wave of heat shot over the nape of my neck. I didn’t understand that new reaction. The guy was a still stranger to me.
“He’s around. We made a deal last night to work together,” I explained, faking a smile. “I’m planning to give him a full report later on.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Time is of the essence, Miss Brodeur, and I hope to hear good news soon,” he said, turned around and then headed in the opposite direction.
My hangover reminded me that I had to get on with my task, so I used the back corridors to walk to the main kitchen. I still had friends amongst the staff. Not many of them were privy to what happened to me twelve months ago. Arthur was forced to cut whatever contact he had with me. I was relieved from my post within an hour. I never had a chance to say goodbye to anyone that I worked closely with, so I wasn’t sure how some of the staff would react seeing me now. After all, I was an outsider now, asking them uncomfortable questions about their bosses.
It took me fifteen minutes to get from one wing to the other. Now and again, I had to stop as the heated memories blurred my vision, spiking my anxiety and increasing my heartbeat. Arthur was an impetuous man; he used to drag me to all of the secret rooms, away from guards, staff and other people, so we could be alone. I needed to keep the whole affair in the past, but right now I was reliving every second of it. My love for him burned deep inside me, and I couldn’t get away, even after twelve months of hell.
“Hello, are you lost, little girl?”
An unfamiliar voice startled me when I walked through one of the back staff rooms. A woman appeared suddenly right in front of me. Her face was hidden in the shadow, and I couldn’t read her emotions. I nearly tripped, but kept my balance. There was something odd about her ambiance. She was either a demon or something much worse.
Chapter Twelve
“Because your question searches for deep meaning, I shall explain in simple words” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
Her long, silky hair was wavy, the colour of chestnut. She wore a long, fitted silky green dress. Whoever she was, she couldn’t have been part of the royal staff. I wondered if I had ever met her before, but my mind was totally blank. As far as I knew, she was a stranger.
“No, I’m fine. I’m heading to the kitchen,” I said, kind of wanting to tell her to stay out of my business. “And you are?”
She lifted her lips in a smile, but there was something disturbing in a way she expressed her joy. Her eyes were sharp and focused. My own energy danced across my neck, as I was trying to read into her emotions. Every human was unique, and everyone reacted differently when I was close, but I was always able to read humans, without exception.
“Alexis Frasier. I’m a close friend of Princess Layla,” she stated with a sophisticated, icy tone of voice. “I don’t think that Lord Chamberlain would appreciate seeing you running around their palace without proper identification.”
I forced myself not to roll my eyes. She obviously wanted me to think that she was someone important, but I really didn’t give a damn. Princess Layla had never mentioned her and as an ex-head of security I knew everyone in the palace.
“I’m working with Rodriguez, and I don’t have time to chat, if you’ll exc–”
“Oh, so you’re the private investigator that is looking into the disapp
earance of young Prince George?” She cut me off, moving even closer. I was taken back by the way she changed her tune so suddenly. She had very green alluring eyes, and I kept thinking that I had seen her somewhere before. I had been drinking tequila for so long that I had problems with remembering certain people or events from the past. Maybe it was time to stop drinking this shit.
“Maybe I am, but right now I really have to go,” I muttered, ready to leave, but she grabbed my elbow, and a spark of electricity shot down to my abdomen. I looked down at her hand, wondering what the hell her problem was. I didn’t like to be touched.
“Wait, please excuse me, but I’m curious. Layla is my good friend and she’s very worried. Have you got any leads? The prince had been difficult lately. His aunt did suspect drugs at first, but I thought that it was something completely different,” she said, and released me. Good, because I was ready to slap her.
I sighed and relaxed slightly.
“Evidence has been found that suggested a possible link to drugs. Apparently the prince was seen with a much older woman, someone from outside the palace. I’m looking into this a bit further,” I said. I felt like she almost forced this confession out of my mouth. This wasn't right. I normally wouldn’t share information about a crime case. Maybe she was a demon after all and was concealing her true nature from me.
She arched her left eyebrow, smiling widely. I needed to shut my mouth fast. I don't know what was going on with me.
“And you must know this because you were close to the other prince, right?” she asked, innocently, like she didn’t mean anything by it. A mad gleam started dancing in her eyes. She knew, she must have; otherwise, why would she bring something like that up? The bitch.
“I used to protect him, so there was no doubt that we were close,” I replied, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. It was clear that this woman wanted to know juicy details of my encounter with Arthur.
“I believe that it was more than just protection. You were caught with him in one of the confer … oh, don’t mind me. I know more than you think,” she said, burning me with her intense gaze. Anger rippled through my system and I was ready to wipe that stupid smile off her face. Alexis had no business asking about my past. It looked like way too many people knew about me and Arthur.
“What the hell is your problem? Who are you?” I repeated, not able to bite my lip any longer.
“I have no problem, Maxine. I’m just a friend that wants to give you friendly advice. Continue with your investigation, but keep your claws away from the prince,” she said, firmly and forcefully. An odd draft of cold air passed over my neck. I felt another person nearby, a demon, but I was too distracted to care. This woman obviously wanted something from me.
“Or what? Are you threatening me?” I asked, having enough of being pushed around. Friend of the princess or not, I didn’t give a crap anymore.
“No, Maxine, it’s something for you to remember. The prince has his future laid out for him and he’s focused on his new fiancée. I gently suggest you to stay away from him; otherwise, the consequences might be severe. This is coming from the higher end,” she told me, smoothing her long dress, creeping me even more with an aura that I didn’t understand.
I was ready to snap, but the voice of reason told me to let it go. I quickly turned around and walked out of the room, heading towards the kitchen. My pulse was speeding, thoughts racing. Royals knew that Arthur was a player and we had always been discreet. There was something not quite right about Alexis Frasier, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was exactly. She appeared to be a human, not a demon, and if she was such a good friend of Layla’s, then why was I only meeting her now?
Shaking with anger and trying to find the answers to some of my own questions, I bumped into the head chef, Laticia, in the kitchen. She threw herself at me and didn’t let go. I held it together, pushing the discomfort from earlier on away. It felt almost nostalgic to stand in the kitchen. In the past I had spent quite a lot of time in here, chatting to Laticia about anything and everything. I missed the palace, and I never actually realised before now just how much.
Laticia and a couple of other members of the staff had never seen the prince with the redheaded woman. Apparently he had been acting up lately. He was angry and aggressive towards his whole family. Laticia confirmed that he hadn’t been eating much, and a few times she had seen him with a bottle of odd liquid. This was some kind of progress, but I still had no idea with what kind of demon I was dealing.
Two hours later I was leaving the palace through the main courtyard, glad that I didn’t stumble upon Arthur again. My heart was beating hard in my chest, and the softer part of me wanted to run to him and confess that I still loved him. I knew that it was impossible; that life wasn’t meant to be. We were much too different, and our worlds clashed.
As I walked through the long path that would take me back to the main street, I looked back at the palace. A couple of stories up, probably on the third floor, I saw a face. Natalie, Arthur’s fiancée was staring down at me from the window. My stomach tightened, and for a second I couldn’t move. She kept staring down at me, probably wondering if I came back to steal her precious Arthur away. She couldn’t have known about the kiss from yesterday. The guards were pretty discreet.
She was worried and jealous. I didn’t need to be a demon to figure that out. I was with Arthur when they weren’t together. He had mentioned a few times that they went out on dates, but I never thought it was anything serious. Natalie had always been nice to me, and I suddenly felt like yesterday I betrayed her.
The memory of everything that went wrong twelve months ago suddenly zoomed through me. I turned around and continued to walk back towards the gate, not knowing what the future held for me.
Everything was supposed to be good, tequila numbed me, but inside I was torn apart, hurt badly with no way of getting better. Arthur was long lost for me, quickly and without a warning. The only thing that remained was my guilt and the secret that I so desperately wanted to share with him. Maybe I needed to reconsider my decision from the past and give him a chance, see how he would react. Keeping the life-changing moment to myself was selfish and deep down I wasn't a selfish person. I wanted to protect him, protect us, but in the end I was only hurting us further. It was time to put his and my priorities in order.
I didn’t go back to the office. When I called and spoke to Emma, Ricky wasn’t back yet. I was starving, so I went back to The Broken Shoe. I felt slightly better when the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Paul served me his traditional fish and chips, and the hot meal eased away my hangover and exhaustion for a bit. I ate, thinking about Zachary Quinton.
Emma had brought her own laptop from home to set up a spreadsheet with all the cases that the agency dealt with in the past. She’d told me earlier on over the phone that the files were a complete mess (I knew that) and she wanted to sort everything out electronically. I told her that as long as she was confident enough to take on that kind of job, then I didn’t mind. Ricky had mentioned a few times that we were going to have an audit, but nothing was set in stone just yet.
Lately we had a lot of cases, but the cash flow was still poor. We needed a boost. The case with the missing prince could bring a lot of revenue, but I had to bring young George back, safe and sound.
“Empty tonight, Paul,” I pointed out to the retired Watcher when he came in to remove my plate once I finished. It was still early, but there were only two demons at the back, drinking Guinness and talking in hushed voices.
“It will get busy later. I’m glad that you’re all right and that human didn’t kill you,” Paul said. “I should have called Ricky. You drank way too much the other night.”
“I was fine. Besides, Zach acted like a gentlemen. I woke up without my clothes though.”
“I told you that he wanted to get into your pants.”
Paul looked tired tonight, like he hadn’t had much sleep last night, but he was right. There was definitely a spark betw
een me and Zach.
“I think he’s one of those humans that believes in supernatural stuff, in another world. I went to the police station to talk to him. Apparently his old partner committed suicide.”
Paul was looking at me with that vacant expression on his face, probably thinking that I was sticking my nose into something that I shouldn’t. After years of knowing Paul, I knew that he preferred to keep his own affairs to himself.
We never truly spoke about his time as a Watcher and I had a feeling that he wasn’t allowed to say much. At times, Paul could read humans much better than I ever had. Most of his abilities were lost, but he was still able to connect to his demonic soul and use it to his own advantage.
“You need to be careful with him. That kind of exposure might cost you more than you are prepared to give, Maxine,” Paul mumbled and strolled back to the kitchen with my dirty plate.
I wanted to play tonight, but I couldn’t be hungover tomorrow. Besides I was skint. This investigation was moving along slowly and Ricky was going to be on my case. My mobile was back in the office. I didn’t like taking it with me all the time.
Several moments later, as I contemplated asking Paul for some tequila, two scruffy-looking female mongrels barged through the front door. They were both blond, flustered and excited about something.
“The body was found down by the canals,” whispered one of them, giggling like this was the most exciting thing that she heard in a very long time. I automatically rose back on my feet and moved closer. “It’s one of us apparently.”
“Yeah, it’s a big deal. Apparently the head of Leviathan faction is down there. It’s one of his girls,” said the other one.