Capricorn's Midnight Clock: The Zodiac Book 10, page 16
We sat in that shared moment. Me, listening to the crackle of the fire and reminding myself to be careful with every word because my new position changed every dynamic. I had no idea where Capricorn's mind was, but I had a good idea.
"You know," Capricorn said after a while, "there's something unusual about this place. The Isle, I mean. Have you ever felt that?"
I chuckled despite the seriousness of the moment. "Most definitely."
He gestured vaguely at the air. "The magical currents there… Different. Less rigid than I've experienced, and I've been involved in many unique situations. It's very interesting. By chance, did your predecessor say anything about that? Anything you'd be willing to share?"
"My predecessor and I didn't get much turnover time. In fact, I've worked at fast-food joints that gave new employees more than this position. I'm afraid I can't be of much help."
Capricorn dipped his head, his eyes scanning the ground under the dancing campfire light. "In the Second Circle, magic followed very specific patterns. We know that about demons' Abilities. If you watch the properties, you soon understand that Fire Abilities will react one way while Water Abilities react another. My own, Construction, is distinct from both. So on and so on. But here, things seem more fluid."
Did Capricorn have a sense of magic like my own? Was I not as unique in that respect as I thought? The older incubus got more interesting the more I got to learn about him.
"Are you talking about demons being able to use different types of magic? Bilba has a theory on that."
"He does?"
"Yeah. Chat with him about it. But only do so if you've got a day to talk about things like magic, and manipulation, and cores or something."
Almost as if on cue, I heard my best friend's laughter, light and flirty. No surprise when he stepped into the camp, Sagittarius by his side. Bilba's face straightened when he saw me sitting at the table with Capricorn.
Busted.
"Zeke, what are you doing here?" he asked as they sat across from Capricorn. Sat together. Side by side like. Nice and snug.
Double-busted.
"Boredom. Briefings. You know how it goes?"
Bilba, in fact, did not know how it went in the tower. But that didn't stop him from laughing. "Tough being important. Honestly, though, you could have just said you miss us and wanted to stop by for a visit. So, what are we talking about?"
I wagged my finger between the Sagittarius and Bilba. "What's more interesting is what you two were just talking about." They flushed. I called them on it. They flushed deeper. "Seriously, is this a thing now?"
"Zeke!" Bilba set up as if someone had pinched his backside.
Sagittarius leaned forward, gripping Bilba's hand. "It wasn't anything like your imagination may lead you to believe. We were actually talking about his mother."
Bilba's cheeks followed the color of the tips of his ears after I picked on him and his flirting nature with his long-haired walking partner.
"You talked about your mother?"
Bilba knew what I meant by that question. He didn't talk about his mother at all. Well, rarely. And he definitely didn't talk about her with people he wasn't close with. Mostly because she rejected him, but also because she was still very vulnerable to the machinations of Founders who wanted to get at us by getting at those we loved.
Bilba looked at Sagittarius. They held each other's gaze. There was a softness there that told me I needed to stop getting in their business. At least for a little while. When he turned back to me, he said, "She knows everything."
"Enough to know that it's time to bring her to the Isle." Sagittarius squeezed Bilba's hand. "For her sake, and for his."
I nodded, not wanting to say anything more. We could discuss that when Capricorn wasn't around.
"So, like I said," Bilba said in a tone meant to redirect the conversation, "what are you two talking about?"
Between Capricorn and me, we quickly filled them in on the conversation about the island's magical properties. Bilba's eyes lit up with the same excitement they always did any time someone mentioned magic or dorky things like books.
"That aligns perfectly with everything I thought, and everything Sethel and I have discussed," he said eagerly. "It also aligns with my research. Did you know I've been documenting how Forgotten Ones manifest magic differently here than the rest of us? There's something about them that's less constrained."
I chuckled at his excitement. "No, I didn't know that. Is Ralrek okay with that?"
"He's the one who requested it," Sagittarius said, beaming proudly at Bilba. "And Bilba's discoveries are mind-blowing."
Bilba looked sheepish. "Well, they're preliminary. Let's not get excited. But my theory is proving to be true. I mean, there's still a lot of testing to do, don't get me wrong."
"What theory?" Capricorn asked.
Bilba waved his one free hand. "Like, what if the rigid classifications we use for magic aren't natural? What if they're artificial constructs? Nothing more. What if they actually limit magical potential?"
Capricorn smacked the table. "That would explain the inconsistencies."
Sagittarius laugh. Bilba nodded excitedly again.
"The Isle might not be creating new magic," Bilba said, now with both hands free and waving. "What it might be doing instead is reverting it to a more primordial form. One that existed before the influence of Lucifer's Council."
As the pair discussed their thoughts, I tried to keep up. Sagittarius looked to struggle as well, but not to the same degree as me. I was okay with being the dullest knife in this drawer of intellect.
But something else was happening during their conversation. My eye was opening again.
Without the nudging of One, I could almost see what the pair were describing. Using the tactic my predecessor had tried to train me on, I let my gaze drift over the darkening natural surroundings. I needed to see beyond what I saw. To see the true nature of things.
I emptied myself of every thought and concern. Temporarily letting go of worry or happiness. Forgot all the stresses and strains for a moment.
And I suddenly saw beyond the night sky. The magical currents that flowed up and through the canopy of trees. The streams of demonic nature that provided a shell for every living thing. The trees. The foliage. A harpy zipping across a dusky sky. I saw vibrant colors of every hue mix and swirl in the hidden life. Fascinating as they were shocking. Had they always been there ? Would they always be? If this were true, did anyone know? Now or ever? Was it lost? Never gained at all? The most shocking bit? The realization that my Hellfire wasn't separate from this beautiful ocean of magic.
"See?" Bilba's voice seemed to come from far away.
I blinked, giving my head a shake. All the beauty of the swirling colors zapped away as if they'd never been there. "Hey."
There was a flash of concern on my friend's face. "Are you alright? You look—"
"I can see it," I whispered. The streams of flowing power was there, just beyond my sight. I wanted to abandon this conversation more than anything in the world just so I could dive into the river of existence. "The currents. The connections. Bilba. Everything is connected. Everything."
His forehead furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"The Hellfire. It's not just a type of magic unique to the position of Lucifer. It's the original magic. The source that all demonic Abilities are derived from."
Bilba exchanged glances with Capricorn and Sagittarius.
Capricorn spread his hands. "That would make sense. If Lucifer's power is foundational, then the magical classifications would be like branches from the same tree."
"Which means," Bilba added excitedly, "that the boundaries between magical types might have been artificially imposed."
"Like you said, a construct," Sagittarius added.
Bilba was on a roll now. "This could all mean that the Isle is allowing magic to flow more naturally because it's outside of the formal constraints of the Underworld. It's part of our realm, but not formally. Maybe that was by design?"
All three had turned my way. I held up my hand. "Don't look at me. I don't even know where my silverware is at the moment."
"But you'll ask, right?"
"Of course," I answered my friend's question that was not a question. "Not sure who I'd ask, but I can start poking around."
"This changes everything. If this is really how demonic Abilities work, and they've been restrained, we might be able to—"
"This levels the field," I said firmly.
Sagittarius looked determined. "Ordinary demons have access to power they never thought possible."
"Only those we inform."
"Imagine if the Forgotten Ones throughout the Underworld could suddenly access their full magical heritage. Demons who were told they were powerless, discovering they had strength all along. Or others like you, Zeke. Segregates. Plural. Can you imagine? I need to talk to Sethel." Bilba looked ready to push himself away from the table and sprint into the forest to find the island's shaman.
I held up my hand as Bilba rose. "Hang on."
He paused halfway to standing.
"We've got something else to discuss on the way. Let me join you."
Looking confused, Bilba said, "Okay. What we need to talk about?"
"About how we rescue your mother."
17
UNDERWORLD, FOURTH CIRCLE
Bilba was planning. Sagittarius was helping—which was a good thing, because the pair were constantly around one another. As inseparable as a chicken wing from the perfect barbecue sauce.
While they did their thing, I used my time to do something I never heard my predecessor doing. Something that, if he had, might have changed the course of the Underworld long before it was needed. Because if he had, maybe demons wouldn't have needed to establish rebel cells. He hadn't. They had. And now I was playing catch-up for His inattention.
The twin deserts of the Fourth Circle stretched endlessly in both directions. One side was a barren wasteland of rock and scrub. Ugly in every sense. The other was a cracked plain that looked like the skin of an ancient, dying beast. Every breath was a flash point of PTSD from my deployment to Iraq because of the taste of dust on the air.
I turned away from the depressing view, slightly irritated by the constant sound of clinking coins echoing from the Endless Track that separated the two regions.
I groaned. "Let's get this over with."
A group of gaunt demons pushed bags of gold up a moderate slope, taking breaks every forty feet. The cart weighed more than all of them combined. Crates were being sealed, containing goods that'd just been procured. The gold that was handed over was likewise crated, always under heavy guard. Few seemed to notice the new ruler of Hell and his entourage walking in their midst.
"The rebels chose their hiding spot well this time," Ralrek said, watching the few demons who turned to look our way. None of them looked interested and quickly returned to their business, but Ralrek continued his assessment.
"I don't know. I think Dialphio's idea of buying the business next to the Book Abyss was genius. Fake walls and all. Way smarter than anything we would have thought of."
Ralrek shrugged. "We were also busy doing all the Council's business."
"Is that your excuse?"
"Yep, and sticking to it."
My guard contingent, a thirty-strong outfit that Baphomet insisted was "very dangerous," spread out as we worked our way through the crowd. The six Forgotten Ones Ralrek promised could handle themselves while keeping me safe packed in closer. I had to admit, our entire party was professional in every aspect. It definitely made me feel more comfortable, even as it obviously increased the unease of demons conducting business they probably owed taxes on and weren't paying. Their looks were a dead giveaway. Another problem for another time.
"There." Libra pointed at a cluster of ramshackle buildings forming a line of demarcation between the haves and the half-nots. "That's the coordinates."
"All right, let's go," I said, already tired of the smell of the desert and the idea that my nose was being invaded by billions of dust mites with every breath.
We'd made it maybe a hundred yards when I noticed the crowd gathering around something near the ruins of what had once been a marketplace. Now it was nothing more than skeletal remains of booths and rotting carts and baskets of a time when life might have occupied this space.
Being, well, me, I angled toward the commotion. Everyone followed, only Ralrek grumbling—that is until my guards realized I'd changed course at the last second. No one could match Ralrek's grumbling, especially the most elite guards assigned the task of protecting the new Lucifer. They were so professional they didn't even bother letting a single whine escape.
The crowd was squeezed together. I stopped my guards from prying them open like one of those frustrating containers of peanuts in the Overworld.
"Hang back."
They complied. Wow, being 'the man' had advantages. Wonder if Dialphio would listen to my wise counsel without calling me on my many failings? Nah, even with my new station, I didn't have the guts to try that.
In the center of the crowd stood a succubus who looked like she'd seen better millennia. Her rosy cheeks were streaked with tears. Thick and wet. Her eyes were as odd as the public show of vulnerability she was putting on. Square and dark. They held a depth of sadness. Her voice carried across the crowd to where I stood, even though she didn't appear to be putting much effort into projecting.
I wasn't the only one who noticed.
"That's a set of lungs," Perkin Jenks, a sandy-haired Forgotten One Ralrek had brought to the Isle, said.
"Agreed. But I'm not sure what she's talking about." I tipped forward and turned my head. Not that I needed to hear more clearly. I just felt like I was missing something. The move did nothing to translate the message.
"The waters remember," she was in the middle of saying when I stopped talking long enough to listen. She gestured, whipping her arms up and swiftly, but fluidly, curving them through the air. Like a flowing river. Though her skin was faint brown, it didn't hide the slight flush of her pronounced cheekbones. "Every tear that is cried. That drains into the soil. Seeps into the dirt that provides, and then out again into the waters we drink, that keep us alive. Or every drop of blood that has been spilled when a son protects his home. A father protects his wife. The mother protects her children. The sister protects the family. It remembers every moment of joy, pain, sorrow, and triumph. It remembers because it has tasted each."
She'd worked herself into a fervor. The crowd appeared drawn in by the power of her speech. Not a single demon twitched.
"The waters ebb and flow. Push forward and retreat. But even when they seep into the sands, when the last drop evaporates into the space above, they never leave. The waters are always with us." She snapped her head forward, her dark, straight hair falling forward over her shoulders. Now, she glared at the crowd as she stretched her neck forward. Her head floated from right to left. "And they're coming back to wash away the lies."
As dramatic as her performance was, it didn't create immediate converts. Instead, she got huffs, laughs, eye rolls, and hands that swatted at the air in her direction. Menacing words were mumbled. Someone said something unkind about "crazy water witches" that I definitely wouldn't have wanted Dialphio or even my mother to hear.
Demons weren't the kindest to our own when someone was unique. When someone didn't conform. A lot like mortals in that respect.
But I noticed something else as the crowd began to depart. A handful hung back. They watched until the succubus stood alone on a series of overturned crates. First, a young incubus of no more than two thousand offered her his cloak when she shivered. At his gesture, the others moved closer.
Ralrek started forward. Libra moved with him, almost as if they were linked.
I whipped my hand out, in his path. "No. Wait."
"Why?"
"Let me watch."
The succubus wrapped herself in the incubus's cloak. He glowed and backed away. He wasn't three steps away when an elderly succubus pressed a chunk of bread into her hands.
The cryptic speaker looked at the rough chunk, lifted it to her nose and closed her eyes as if the bread had seduced her. She nodded at the older succubus.
The small kindnesses said more about this community than any intelligence report could.
One of my guards, whose name I didn't have locked down, stepped closer. "Should we move her along?"
"No," I said sharply. "She's not hurting anyone."
The succubus's gaze swept our way. She locked onto us the way I targeted dirtbags with Creed, which, by the way, buzzed profoundly. A conceited leader might think this strange succubus only had eyes for them. But I wasn't a conceited leader. Heavens, I was barely a leader. I wasn't hurt when her dark eyes continued past me and stopped on Capricorn. Her demeanor changed. Right there. Right then.
She jabbed a finger at him. "You. The clockmaker becomes the clock."
The small crowd turned as if the move had been choreographed. Five of my guards and a lot of the Forgotten Ones turned. All eyes fell on the incubus at my side.
Capricorn stiffened. "What did you say?"
She stepped closer. Her dark rags swirled with a life of their own under the borrowed cloak. "Time returns to those who give it. The waters have shown me your face in dreams of tomorrow."
Nothing flustered Capricorn. Not that I'd seen in my short time knowing him. In a few curt statements, the succubus changed that.
He stood slightly straighter, but was obviously shaken. "I don't understand."
Striding to the incubus, the succubus looked him up and down.
As the succubus reached out as if to touch his arm, the cloak lender shouted, "Pisces, no! Don't taint yourself!"
Her hand slowed, as if she had pushed it through a thick ball of dough. Unflustered by the cloak lender's cry, she met Capricorn's eyes. "Understanding comes when the last raindrop falls. But by then, the choice is made."
Those who had hung back after her public performance slid closer. My guards shifted.
