Chapter One Hundred Fifteen

My heart throbbed with the clock’s second needle. It was around midnight. Desmond had left fifteen minutes ago for Voocrod, leaving me and my family at Becky’s apartment. The much-awaited final war had begun.

I had begged him to take me with him, but he said it was too dangerous.

“Humans suffer the most during spirit wars, Cass,” Desmond had said. “Fiends will not hesitate to spill innocent blood. Violence is entertainment for them. What I fear the most is them taking you hostage to hurt me. Your love is my strength and my weakness. It doesn’t matter how close we are to winning the war. I would drop everything and sacrifice myself to save you.”

Now, I was forced to wait without updates. Desmond wasn’t the only one who cared. I cared about his safety, too. Resting on Becky’s couch, I prayed to God for our victory and to bring my demon back to me unharmed.

Becky wasn’t there because she had to leave to see her grandmother because of a medical emergency. My friend, however, was kind enough to let us have her apartment for the day.

“Cassidy,” Mom called. It was the first time she had come to talk to me after finding Desmond’s truth.

“Finally,” I sighed, sitting up and twisting my open hair in a bun. “Come sit, please. Are you ready to talk?”

“Mia told me about the war in Voocrod,” said Mom, taking a seat while avoiding my gaze.

“And? What are your thoughts about that?”

Mom pouted, holding her chin high. “I appreciate his kindness. But I will only accept that demon and your relationship if he succeeds.”

I squeaked joyfully and hugged her. “That’s more than enough for me. Thank you so much for giving him a chance.” Mom didn’t reciprocate my enthusiastic hug and only patted my back.

My phone vibrated in my jeans pocket. I let go of Mom and reached for it.

“Who is it?” Mom asked. “Is it your demon boyfriend?”

My guess would have been the same if I had seen him with a phone.

The caller ID was unknown. I hesitantly picked it up, half expecting it to be Jane Astor. Only the guilt inside me produced such thoughts because I never gave her my number.

“Hello,” I answered the phone. “Who is this?”

“Little duckling, don’t you remember me?” That voice gave me the creeps. Madame Long had only brought chaos and trouble in my life and relationship with Desmond.

“Of course I do. I wasn’t expecting your call since I never gave you my number.” I smiled awkwardly at Mom, who was staring at me in confusion.

“Come on, weakling, I thought we were past these formalities. You should have given me your number in the first place to avoid this awkwardness,” said Madame Long.

I turned my eyes skyward. “Let me take this to another room,” I told Mom. “It’s an old crazy friend.”

Without awaiting Mom’s response, I rushed into the guest room and bolted the door. “What the hell do you want?” I demanded with a clenched jaw.

“You wish to skip the small talk. Fine with me.” Madame Long’s tone changed completely. “Elaine told me about the demon war. I wish to know the location and name of that town.”

“No freaking way! Last time we talked, you wanted to make Desmond your slave,” I yelled.

“That’s in the past, deary. Also, you gave me your permission. I don’t want your demon lover this time. It’s the other demons wandering around that place. I have my eyes on them. You can come with me if you don’t trust me to be alone with your demon,” Madame Long insisted.

I would have given her an earful if she hadn’t agreed to help me during the toughest time of my relationship with Desmond.

“Look.” I calmed my voice. “I can’t. Benedict Astor and his demons might skin you alive.”

“Don’t worry about me, weakling. I am a tough one. I have survived and returned from near death countless times. Just tell me where it is, and I’ll leave you alone for a decent amount of time,” she stressed.

Madame Long was nothing less than a parasite. “Look. I don’t want to come off as an ungrateful bitch, but I can’t allow you to go there. Don’t pester me. I am already worried,” I huffed.

“Hm. I had a feeling you were going to be stubborn about it. That’s why I want to make you an offer. Tell me, do you want to know what happened when I tried to seduce your demon with a gorgeous busty young woman with an ass of a swimsuit model?”

I felt a pinch of jealousy in my heart. Desmond was neither human nor disloyal. The witch was trying to lure me into her trap.

“If he had fallen for that supermodel, he wouldn’t be here with me. Goodbye.” I angrily hung up on her. She had some nerve to create misunderstandings in my relationship again. Who the hell did she think she was?

The phone rang again. I answered abruptly to give her a piece of my mind.

“Do you have a death wish? You have no right to make such requests,” I hollered.

“Cassidy. Is everything alright?” The person on the other line spoke. It wasn’t Madame Long, but Alistair.

“Alistair,” I exclaimed. “How are you calling me? How do you have a phone?”

He coughed. “I am more connected to humans than other spirits, so I use many electronic devices. Sorry to steal your number at our second meeting. I didn’t dare to call until today. Your ex-boyfriend is too scarily aggressive.” I didn’t know how to feel about Alistair calling me. He had gotten into an ugly fight with Desmond because of me. “Are you mad at me?” Alistair continued. “Sorry for lying to you about the incubus thing. Your boyfriend was right about there only being demons. I had to lie to protect you because I didn’t know whether he was evil. It’s a complicated subject.”

“Nah. That’s alright. You weren’t the first one to speak poorly of him. I am the one who doubted him and came to you for help. Things are fine between Desmond and me. He is not evil. He is the exact opposite of that. You would be surprised to know that he is right now at my Satanist relatives’ town to free us from witchcraft and all related problems forever.”

“Congratulations,” Alistair spoke happily. “I am glad he turned out to be the right guy. You were quite attached to him from the beginning. I wish you two a happy, worry-free life. Don’t hesitate to ask me if you ever need anything.”

My thoughts flew to Desmond. I wanted someone to check on him.

“Um, there is.”

“What can I do for you?” Alistair asked politely.

“Can you go to Voocrod and see what’s happening there?” I hesitantly requested.

Alistair spoke after a brief pause. “Of course. Would you like to accompany me?”

“I can’t. Desmond forbade me to do that,” I said.

“Okay. I’ll go there and report back to you. I can show you visions from my mind if you tell me where you are,” said Alistair.

I agreed and texted him the address to Becky’s apartment and the location of Voocrod.

Alistair took just as much time to return as Desmond usually did. I received a call from him to open the door, but I refused because my family was in there with me. In the end, we agreed to meet inside my car.

I unlocked the door and entered my vehicle. Alistair was already present there in the front passenger seat. He greeted me with a smile.

“Hi,” I waved at him.

Two hands strangled me from behind. “Gotcha!” I struggled to free myself, and the person soon released me.

I gasped for air, pressing my neck, which was burning with pain. I dared to look into the rearview mirror and saw the shadow demon sitting in my backseat.

A panicked scream escaped my mouth. “Alistair. Alistair. There is a wicked demon behind us. It tried to kill me. Do something!”

Alistair didn’t respond and simply smiled at me. “Sorry. I didn’t want to do this to you.”

“Do what, Alistair?” I asked, utterly confused.

“Don’t you see it, girl?” the shadow demon spoke in its eerie voice. “He is not Alistair. He is Xolmon, and I am Hepzibah. Benedict Astor sends his regards.”

They cackled in unison at me. I was frozen with fear and shock. My spirit friend was the enemy’s servant!