Maleficium (Devil's Playground Book 2) Page 3

  “It sucks about your girlfriend, but I need to keep moving. I’m looking for someone too. You can do as you wish.”

  I took a few steps to the side, keeping him within my sights until I felt okay with turning around. When I glanced back a few seconds later, he was following me, which is exactly what I’d expected him to do.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Flawless city streets and next level architecture. It was spread out before me like a giant chessboard splattered with invisible bloodstains. With the sun now nowhere to be found and nightfall having set in, the glow from the city’s streetlights were more like a beacon.

  “Where are we?”

  “Pretty sure we just found hell.” I waved a hand in the direction of the silent city, proceeding down the small hill we’d emerged on.

  “Hells not real.”

  I didn’t dignify that with a response. I could see a map near the beginning of a new path. That’s exactly where I needed to start. Maybe going through Goetia wasn’t such a bad thing after all. I wasn’t completely clueless about what to do this time. The map had the same interactive look to it as the ones I’d seen before, glowing with a list of names positioned in the upper right corner.

  That’s where the similarities ended.

  DEVIL’ S PLAYGROUND was displayed at the very top. That was one of the first things I noticed. A second was how much bigger this city was than Goetia.

  “Which one are you?” I asked my newest travel companion, looking over the list.

  “Dion, third in the second column. My girl’s sixth.”

  Morrigan, I read silently.

  “What kind of name is Devil’s Playground?”

  “One that more than likely describes exactly what that city is like.”

  “That city?” He pointed.

  “Do you see any other cities around here?”

  “…no.”

  “I’m Liliana by the way. Lana for short.”

  He stepped closer, and I caught whiff of his cologne. It reminded me of Colgate—a strong minted scent.

  There was no relief in seeing the girls’ names on this map when I didn’t know what was going on or where they were. All I could discern thus far was that they were alive, unlike two other people that’d been newly listed.

  Ciaran’s name wasn’t on here at all. Neither were Maverick or the twins. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. I studied the map’s surface more diligently, taking small mental notes for later.

  This was an entirely new layout and I wanted to have it as down pat as possible. When I was satisfied, I took a step back and looked over at Dion.

  “You ready?”

  He turned his head at an angle, brows dipping. “Ready for what?”

  “To go find your girlfriend.”

  That got him to perk up. “You’ll help me?”

  “She might be with my friends.”

  “Do you know where they are?”

  “Nope, but I’m about to go find out.”

  Weaving around him, I started down the next path. He followed less than a second later. After a few twists and turns, a weathered pair of iron gates came into view, serving as a barrier.

  I stepped forward and wrapped my hands around the cool iron bars, peering through the gap so that I could get a better look at what lay ahead.

  “How do we get through?” Dion asked, looking over my shoulder. “And why is it so quiet? Where is everyone?”

  “This isn’t that kind of city. Just keep your eyes and ears open. As for how we get in, we’ve got this.” I pointed to a small black recorder that’d been attached to the upper portion of the fence, reaching up to hit play before Dion could ask any of the one million questions written all over his face.

  There was a whirring noise, and then a familiar voice began to speak.

  The jester.

  Her petulant tone was undeniable.

  “It’s a penitentiary full of rhymes and riddles.

  A place where dark and light go hand in hand.

  Blood and sin will drench your skin.

  Fuck, kill, sacrifice, those are your only options.

  Countless heirs have come before you, they’re rotting corpses shall be your sole companions.

  Trust no one.

  Question everything.

  Pyscho versus psycho let your true self emerge.

  Servatis a Maleficium, something wicked this way comes.

  Welcome to the Devil’s Playground….”

  As soon the recording clicked off, the gates unlocked and swung inward.

  Dion instantly started shaking his head back and forth. “That sounded like a whole-bunch of bullshit to me. We can’t go in there.”

  I brushed aside his minor freak out, more concerned with what was said on the recording.

  The initiation comment from my abuelo and now this. Why did I feel as if she was speaking to me directly?

  For the first time since I’d woken up, a small trickle of apprehension worked its way down my spine. I took a deep breath and shook the jitters from my hands. I knew as soon as we stepped inside it was game on.

  Could I do this?

  Yes.

  But I sure as shit didn’t want to.

  I knew what going in here would cost me. I knew there was about to be a lot more blood on my hands. That’s not what bothered me.

  Choosing the moral high ground wasn’t really a feasible option at this point. I didn’t care who had to die or get hurt for me to see this through. In fact, there was a part of me eagerly looking forward to it.

  That was precisely the problem.

  There was this thing inside me that never bared its teeth in fear, but out of eagerness to rip something apart and happily watch as it bled out.

  Ever since we got to Goetia, all the effort I put into being a decent member of society had all but slipped away. There wasn’t much I could do to change that anymore. I had to finish this. Not just for me or the girls, but because someone was going to pay for every fucked-up thing, they put us through.

  “Did you forget about the people running around somewhere in masks? There ain’t no way we can go in there,” Dion objected again, continuing to shake his head.

  How many times was he going to say that? I got he might be scared. Most people would be. His girlfriend was missing, though. Shouldn’t he already have been sprinting by me to go find her?

  “I’m sorry to break it to you, but we don’t have a choice. Do you want to find Morrigan or not?”

  “Of course…that’s all I want.”

  I quirked a brow.

  He hesitated a second too long to answer the question, in my opinion. Why was that something he needed to think about? If your man wasn’t willing to burn down a city to save you, maybe it was time to get a new one. But I wasn’t in any position to hand out relationship advice, for obvious reasons, so I let the hesitation slide.

  “If that’s what you really want then keep your guard up and follow me.”

  I stepped through the gates first, allowing him to be my shadow. Unsurprisingly, they slammed shut as soon as we were both inside.

  “Did we just get locked in here?”

  “Yup.” I popped my lips on the P.

  “Why aren’t you scared or freaking out yet?”

  “What exactly am I supposed to be afraid of?”

  “Huh? Everything! What about those people that took us? They could still be around here somewhere.”

  My mouth opened and closed, me quickly biting back the reply that came to mind. I nearly told him that wasn’t how I wound up here. He didn’t need to know that yet. The people responsible for taking him, however, I could almost bet that they were indeed still lurking nearby.

  I was looking forward to coming across a few of those individuals. I had a hunch a certain someone was an active member in their sordid crew. I couldn’t tell Dion this either, though. If I did then I’d have to explain things I wasn’t ready to talk about.

  “I’m not afraid because I already went through
this before,” I settled with disclosing.

  He moved up so that we were side by side.

  “Wait a minute. Whatcha mean you went through this before? I thought you got kidnapped like I did.”

  “How I got here isn’t important right now but believe me, I’m not here willingly and I don’t know anything more about this city than you do right now.”

  “Can you explain this a bit more? I’m feeling like I just entered the twilight zone.”

  I expelled a quiet breath of air. Anything I told him would only lead to more questions. Questions that I couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. The simple fact of the matter was, he would never understand the complexity of this situation. We were caught in a deadly web of lies, secrets, and deceit. So much so that I didn’t know where to begin untangling it my damn self.

  “I’m going to make this super simple for you, okay?”

  “Okay?”

  “No one is coming to save us. I need you to stop trying to make sense of insanity. Suspend reality. Don’t trust anything you see or anyone. There are people in here that will shred you apart and then laugh as you choke on your own blood.”

  Using a piece of Kyrous advice was irony at its finest, but I think it got the job done and drove my point home. I expected him to ramble for a little after my explanation. He simply grew quiet.

  We ventured deeper into the city and once again, I was struck with a feeling of deJa’vu. The buildings, pristine roads, and various places of business were different than Goetia’s, but the amount of money and effort that went into constructing them was clearly the same.

  With blackness now devouring the starless sky, a lone moon and glowing streetlights helped guide us.

  Our bleak reflections stared back at us from either side of the road, looking none too thrilled about this current predicament.

  “There’s another map,” Dion said softly, pointing to what appeared to be a bus stop.

  They’d really thought of everything for this place. Behind an all-black bench was indeed another map, this one with a visibly blinking location.

  “That will tell us where to go first.”

  I crossed the street so I could see better, he followed. Upon reaching the map Ciaran’s voice resounded inside my head as I looked the layout over.

  “You see the black dots?”

  I almost nodded as if he were right beside me. I could’ve backhanded myself for continuing to think of him.

  I walked the dotted path with my eyes until I found my X marked treasure. “School of Abyss.” I tapped the blinking icon, so Dion knew where to look.

  “That doesn’t sound like someplace people should go. Let me guess, we don’t have a choice?”

  “Not unless you want to wait here and see which crazed psycho decides to come find us.”

  “To the Abyss then.”

  He started to turn away from the map, I placed a hand on his forearm to stop him. “This box wasn’t on the other one.”

  He peered over my shoulder, eyes going to the red square sitting in the upper left-hand corner. There were three names listed within it. Each had a symbol that matched mine and the girls.

  “Azrael. Stolas. Vetis,” Dion read off.

  Hearing them out loud made something wiggle in the back of my head.

  Like with the strange symbol, there was a hint of recognition I couldn’t fully grasp hold of. Why was I having issues remembering stuff?

  It was beyond frustrating knowing you knew the answer to something, but your damn brain wouldn’t produce what it was.

  Feeling the hairs on the nape of my neck rise to attention, I tore my gaze away from the map and combed over the street and buildings carefully. My gut told me someone was nearby. Whoever it was they were making sure they stayed hidden.

  I brushed some loose hair behind my shoulders and nudged Dion to get his attention, playing off I was on to the person creeping.

  “We should head to the school.”

  He looked around like I had before nodding his head in agreement.

  “Good idea.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  A scream of hysteria and disbelief. I knew this sound as well as someone knows their favorite song on the radio. It carried through the speakers and filled the room. Too bad it was poorly timed and a waste of energy. If she could have held off for about fifteen more minutes that would’ve been perfect. A solid nine out of ten.

  She screamed again, the sound raw and cracking.

  I lifted my earpiece off the console top in front of me and held the button on the side. “Can someone please shut her the fuck up?”

  Within seconds the screams ceased.

  I think it was Brody who gladly punched the girl in the back of the head, effectively knocking her out. He hated the screamers.

  “Thank you.” I tossed the gear back down and stretched my arms above my head.

  “Tired of the fun already?” Maverick asked.

  I spun my chair around to look at him. “I’m not tired of anything except you still putting your shoes on that ottoman.”

  “Bro. This furniture isn’t going to be coming with us to the manor. Why do you care what happens to it?”

  “He’s training you for later, like any good owner would,” Charon joked, switching between different camera feeds.

  Maverick lowered his boots to the floor, middle fingers raised at both of us.

  “It’s no good when they scream before the fun begins,” Kyrous murmured.

  Maverick gave him a quizzical look. “You always jump in sixty seconds too late, Ky.”

  “Your mom didn’t have any issues with that.”

  I was quick to suppress my laughter while Charon let loose, not giving a fuck. This jab never got old. It was only as funny as it was because Ky wasn’t being sarcastic.

  “You always gotta go there.” Maverick tossed down the Maxim magazine he’d been reading and stood from the leather sofa, coming to stand between me and Charon.

  “It’s cool. I think I’ll return the favor.” He made a point to look at the second screen from the left.

  It was muted, but the image remained in perfect crystal-clear color.

  Gracelyn was currently glaring at the walls of her cell, as if her hazel eyes alone could make them burn it down. I don’t think she was a fan of the straitjacket she’d been placed in.

  Ky didn’t take one look at the screen. He already knew what was there. Instead, he settled his weighted stare on Maverick, expression blank per usual. We didn’t need him to speak to know where his head was at.

  Once you’d been around someone long enough you tended to know exactly how to make them tick. Maverick lived to piss Ky off. It had been this way since we were little, despite the countless times he’d shown how befitting his ‘Psycho’ namesake was.

  “Hey, I was just screwing with you,” Mav assured, raising his hands defensively.

  “You pussy,” Charon goaded when he realized why he had come to stand by us.

  I had to agree with him.

  It was a smart move, nonetheless. Mav knew we’d keep the peace. Occasionally someone would get put on their ass, but I wouldn’t let any of us get too serious and do something that couldn’t be came back from. We were a tight-knit crew, brothers with a bond stronger than the linage we shared.

  It was something well worth preserving when you came from the place we did. That’s what made this such a big deal. We were adding new links to our solidified chain. It would be a major adjustment. Also, highly entertaining.

  I was honestly surprised Ky was on board with it considering the way he was with most men and women. He had never been in a relationship for anything other than experimental gain.

  We were each a different breed of devil, creating our own versions of hell.

  Ky tended to indulge in a merciless type of reverse psychology. No one could get inside someone’s head like he could.

  I’d seen more than a few people lose their minds because of him and it was a beautiful thing to witness.
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  Charon was all about creating chaos. He was so good at it he made it seem like a form of art. A real fucking Van Gogh you could say.

  Maverick had a penchant for absolute madness. It was his drug of choice, a habit he hadn’t been able to kick since the sixth grade.

  As for me? I was the wildcard of the group. Sometimes I impressed myself with what I could make happen.

  I returned my attention to the various flat screens we had mounted on the wall. Each one showed a different part of Devil’s Playground.

  Goetia didn’t have shit on this place.

  This was a whole different realm of depravity. Nothing was off limits. For every person that arrived, two more had already died. Only a small percentage made it out alive and even then, the game was never truly over.

  I watched Lana and the guy she’d been buddied up with make their way towards the high school. Dion was his name. He didn’t remember me either. If he did, he’d have all the answers to the questions he kept asking.

  Puppet slowed down and tapped his arm, directing his attention to a street sign. I was trying to understand why she keep fucking touching him. The first time had been too many times already. This was the third.

  I leaned back, strumming my fingers on the arm of my chair.

  “You okay over there?” Charon asked, a knowing grin following behind the dumbass rhetorical question.

  “Of course, he isn’t,” Maverick replied before I could. “Dion’s looked at his girl’s ass at least four times. Not that I blame him.”

  “What was that?”

  “I said the poor guy is desperate to find his girlfriend.”

  “Uh huh. That’s what I thought I heard.”

  Contemplating my next move. I glanced over at the stand we’d set up against the right wall. Maverick stepped closer to one of the screens, watching where Melantha was displayed, his dark eyes slightly narrowing.

  “Are you sure you want to use her for this one?” I asked.

  “She’s already tied up.”

  “You know she could die, right?” Charon pointed out the obvious.

  “Isn’t that the point? What about you, Raze? Are you sure you want to go through with all this?” Maverick questioned, calling me by the shortened version of my alias.