So here I am, Gabriella Herondale, on a mission assigned to me by Lucifer.
This is Russia. Where else in the world would I be freezing in gear? Shadowhunter gear is designed with very rough material that keeps away cold, yet it doesn't cut it here.
Lucifer, as it turns, wanted his own son dead so badly he gave me a specific address of where to find him and his followers. It occurred to me, later, why he won't kill him by himself.
"That's not how I do things," said Lucifer. "I'm the seducer of the entire humanity. When I want something done, I whisper in some human's ear to do it. Let alone that I have more important tasks than a rogue son to finish. See, dear, Hell is a difficult place to rule. I have to keep things organized, little old Azazel is not always so capable."
This is a small village in East Russia. It is surrounded by mountains and snow. Right now it's night, the roads are freezing and people are hiding in their small wooden houses. I could smell the wood burning in the fireplaces and the warm soup they're preparing and loafs of warm bread… and I could hear their prayers. Prayers from almost every house I pass by, every window I come near. This place is so out of time, it looks like the mundane fairytales about princesses that grow in small villages or our own stories about people in small villages hiding from the banshee. I chuckle; if a banshee went rogue and tried to scare those poor villagers, I'd rid them of it in an instant. I have weapons in my backpack that could be enough for an army of shadowhunters. But this is Russia, not Scotland. People here don't believe in banshee.
Well, I hope right now they're not hiding from something because I need one of them to open the door. Unfortunately I don't speak Russian. My grandpa taught me a lot of languages but not Russian. I'll try English then Romanian and hope for good luck. I knocked the door.
A very pretty girl opened the door. She had this kind of shining red hair I see in the photos of mundane movie stars- and blue eyes. She was tall and very skinny. She was nearly my age, could be about two years younger. She wore sweat pants, a woolen scarf and a pullover. For a while there I'd thought people around here wore medieval dresses.
"Excuse me, do you speak English?" I said without getting my hopes up.
The girl gave a little smile. "Oh, yes. How can I help you?" with a heavy Russian accent.
Well thank God.
"I'm sorry to disturb you in this hour. I was just wondering which of those mountains is Santa Anna's?"
The girl stepped out of the door and stood on the porch to give me directions.
"See this one, behind the lumberjack's house? It's the one with the cut branches in front of it, of course. This is Santa Anna's."
"Thank you. I'm sorry again for bothering you." I said with an apologetic smile.
"Not to worry. But if you'll forgive my curiosity… it's just… Santa Anna's now? You could freeze to death. If there's something you need from there, why not wait till morning? It'll be a little warmer."
Normally, she had a point. But of course I couldn't tell her that attacking at night was easier, for camouflage.
"I have an appointment with a friend there. He has a house at the feet of the mountain."
"Oh, okay." She still looked worried. "I'd be careful if I were you, though. This is a very dangerous area."
"What is your name? I'm Gabriella." I smiled and gave her my hand to shake.
"I'm Roxanne." She shook my hand and smiled.
"Roxanne, I think you look more worried than you could be about just the cold." I'd guessed some things, from the way she looked speaking of the mountain. "Is there anything that is strange about the area? Did anything happen there?"
Her blue eyes widened in fear. She waited a few seconds before answering me.
"About a month ago, some children were playing there with the snow. Four children. The three of them that came back described a big wolf that bit the fourth one and, strangely, ran away without devouring him. The boy's name was Anton. When the three boys ran and reported to their fathers, they gathered a group of our people and went there to kill the wolf and save the kid. The kid wasn't found and neither was the wolf." She posed for seconds and then said, "He was my nephew."
"I'm so sorry Roxanne." I said with a concerned frown. Must be one of Frederique's rogue werewolves. Seems I have a bigger mission than the warlock.
"It's okay. See, this is not the only incident. We've been hearing howling and other strange sounds at night, about three months ago. All coming from that area. Our village and the mountains are not usually inhabited by wolves. We've also been seeing strange sparks a night… it's been really strange. I'd never go there alone, if I were you. And that friend of yours must be so courageous to live there." She said, and shivered.
"Thank you Roxanne. I'll try to find another place to stay."
"I'd offer you staying here but… my father is a little… unwelcoming. He's usually in a bad mood." Her tone was apologetic and a little cold when she mentioned her father. Ah… probably the typical drunk-and-family-beating type of mundane father.
"It's not a problem, I'll probably find an inn around."
"There's one there, behind that cabin." She pointed a direction.
"Alright, I'll head there. Thanks again, Roxanne."
"You're welcome." She gave me a warm smile before closing the door.
Of course, I still headed to my original destination. Apparently Frederique thinks it's fun to unleash his werewolves on the villagers. Tonight I'll only observe and wait for Frederique to be alone, then I'll attack him. Later I'll call reinforcements from the Clave for the rest, but first I've got to cut the serpent's head.
I was now near the lumberjack's house. The mountain behind it, Santa Anna's, looked horrifying in the dark… like a giant demon sleeping. Apparently I'm the unlucky one who'll have to wake him up. I remembered Lucifer's words. "Santa Anna's… a small mountain… one of many that surround that village. On the other side on the mountain where mundanes wouldn't dare step in fear of the snow, my son constructed his place."
I was at the feet of the mountain now. The path between Santa Anna's and the mountain on its left was very narrow and fully locked by snow. Mundanes wouldn't dare step here, but I'm a shadowhuntress, I have my own inner fire. I opened my backpack and put a pullover on my gear. The runes I'd received from my grandmother the day before were a lot of help… I felt power run in my veins. I drew a quietude rune on my arm then I started climbing the mountain.
After a few minutes, I was high enough to start walking sideways to the other side of the mountain. I started doing it with my back to the air and my body stuck to the rocks. The mountain wasn't difficult to climb. It must have been the mundanes' fear from the strange sounds and lights that scared them off that side of the mountain, not the snow or rocks. When I heard their sounds, I turned my head to look.
Now I can see them. At the feet of the mountain, there were trees that formed an almost complete circle. Between the trees, cabins of wood or hay were constructed, and even some tents. The area must have been under some warlock magic because there was no snow on their small homes or the grass between them. In the heart of all that a fire was lit and a group of people was there- I could here laughs, yelling, the sound of a group of friends. Such a strange sight… that wasn't what a group of people that planned for evil looked like. For a second there I thought Lucifer probably set me up and this was just a group of mundane friends camping –In this weather?- but then I watched one of them raise his hand to the sky and golden sparks shot from his fingers. A warlock. Could it be Frederique himself or maybe just another one?
Under me now, there was a prominent edge. I could see it. From the lightening on it I could tell it was the mouth of a cave. I stepped further to my right so I could be right above it and then I jumped.
Thank God the distance wasn't big. My feet hit the cave's floor soundlessly.
I lay down and watched for a while. Took some salty snack out of my backpack and a bottle of water. They looked like just a bunch of guys enjoying a fire and a dinner. Reminded me of Team Good.03. I had to remind myself that those people were actually bad… that they were planning to summon the realm of demons here. About half an hour later they started going to sleep one by one until the place was almost empty.
One of them got out of his tent. I couldn't identify his nature at first, but then he took a something out of his pocket and shoved it up his forearm (must be a stele). A shadowhunter. He headed to the trees alone.
I won't get a better chance. He's going to have to lead me to Frederique's place and then I'll silence them both and get out of here and get more forces to kill the others. Yes it's totally insane, but when exactly was anything about the whole situation sane?
I climbed sideways from the cave then down, and when I was close enough to the floor I jumped. My quietude rune still worked fine; I ran to the trees hiding in the shadows of the cabins with no notice.
I could see him. I held two daggers each in a hand and slid behind him. With the speed of light, his hand was caught in mine behind his back and the dagger in my right hand was on his throat.
"I'll kill you now, betrayer of your kind, if you make a sound."
He nodded in horror.
"Only speak when asked. I repeat: You scream or try to wake the others up in any way your throat will be cut now."
He nodded again.
"Where's Frederique?"
"Frederique… do you mean Kevin?" his voice was so trembling I almost felt guilty. I also recognized that he was probably younger than me.
"Frederique Deraux the son of Lucifer."
"We call him Kevin. And he is in his cabin."
"I didn't see that one coming. Where is that cabin, idiot head?"
"It's the one in the heart."
"Take me there."
"Who put you up for this? What are you going to do to Kevin?"
"That is none of your business, idiot. Now take me there or I'll slit your betraying throat."
He turned around, terrified. He looked young and innocent. What was Frederique doing here exactly?
"Walk in front of me. Get moving."
My dagger was still on the back of his neck. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. If he hasn't done what he went to those trees to do, then he probably wet his pants by now.
We entered the circle of the simply built cabins and tents. At the core, there was a wooden cabin. It was the one they lit the fire in front of. Must be a magical warlock fire, I think, because they looked unafraid it would catch in the wood or hay of the cabins.
I was lost in those thoughts when I felt a movement behind me. I turned around and there was a female vampire carrying a sword to me. There's plenty of time to observe her appearance later.
The shadowhunter boy slid away and started yelling. "Marianne! She's here to harm Kevin!"
"Wake the others!" She said in a powerful voice, unusual from vampires who usually use seductive, soft voices. Ah. The vampires, I forgot about them. Of course they're awake while everybody else isn't. "Surrender your weapons, shadowhuntress."
The kid ran off and started calling random names. I captured "Cecelia, Zochov, Sam, Kevin wake up! We're under attack! Some shadowhuntress!"
"In your dreams." I replied to her.
"You are outnumbered."
"This makes no difference to me; I don't surrender my weapon without a fight."
And I jumped at her. My dagger almost got her in the stomach, but she avoided it. Of course, this is not the way to kill a vampire, but it gives me what I want: Merely a fight, not victory.
A voice came from behind me… a strangely familiar voice, saying, "Gabriella, drop your weapon and you won't be harmed."
Strangely familiar… knows my name… who is it?
I turned to him. The last thing I saw before something hit me on the skull was a familiar face and brown hair, and then my attention was all on the hit. I knew at the same instant it wasn't strong enough to kill me, but strong enough to knock me out. So, I knocked out.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
When I woke up, I was on a bed… a surprisingly comfortable bed. I heard the voice of someone doing something beside me, but I couldn't concentrate enough to know what it was. Yet I knew who he was.
"What on earth are you doing here?" He said.
"I could ask you the same question, brother." I didn't look at him. My eyes were on the ceiling of the cabin and my voice was cold.
"Gaby, you're the one who came with a full arsenal attacking us in the middle of the night."
"Ah… there's a "You" and an "Us" now. We're on different teams. Always good to see you, parabatai."
"Gaby, this is serious. Okay?" said Sam in a calm voice. "Who sent you? Who told you where we are? Who put you up for the whole thing?"
"I could explain that with plenty of cherries on top." I noticed that my voice was still sedated. "In the mean time, I'd like to know why exactly you've left me… Left us… let us look for you and all, and winded up with the guy who wants to be the destroyer of the earth."
"Destroyer of the earth?" He said in a quizzical tone. "You know, I think each of us has the answers of the questions on the other's mind. So why don't we take turns to explain? Ladies first."
I posed. "Lucifer."
"What?"
"You asked me who told me and sent me and all this… bla. It was Lucifer. He said…"
"Wait… you came to Russia to kill Kevin –and apparently us too- because of something Lucifer said? The Lucifer?
"And you left your parabatai, friends and family to team up with some crazy warlock who wants your planet dee-stroyed?"
"That was your turn to explain."
"And you interrupted me. Anyway, I was going on a mission. Looking for you while you were here enjoying your time and all. And then I hear some noises in my apartment and BAM, it's Mr. Lucifer standing in my bedroom asking for a friendly chat. Want to know what he said about your new me?"
"New you?"
"Apparently that Frederique's totally got you."
"Don't be silly."
"He said your boy wants to be the finishing warlock. That he'll call the realm of demons here and do all those evil things, you know, kill babies, drink the blood of kittens, slay young virgins, all that bad action movie horror."
"And you believed him." He said with a sarcastic tone.
"He seemed honest to me."
"Lucifer seemed honest to you." His tone got even harsher.
"Not when you put it like that."
"Seriously, Gaby…"
"Your turn to explain."
"Oh, well, I should explain some things. Maybe the fact that Kevin –don't call him Frederique, drives him angry- is the total opposite. Maybe that he is trying to stop Lucifer from producing the finishing warlock. Maybe the fact that we're all here to help him do that."
I posed, trying to swallow what he just said.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Gaby, last summer when we thought Lucifer was there because some mundane summoned him and he went out of control, let's just say we were naïve. We were fools. Lucifer's not the demon somebody summons for a joke or even for a wish to come true."
"And?"
And a boy came in. He was probably my age or a year older, or so he looked anyway. His black hair reached to the end of his neck. His body was full of muscles and yet slender and tall. I took a second more to observe his face.
His features were perfect, like his father's, but not scary like the old man's. His nose was long and bony, his lips full, and his crystal blue eyes wide with a look of innocence and feathery eyelashes. Something about him made him look strong yet vulnerable… in need of protection. I liked boys who looked vulnerable like that because they made my female power spring as I wanted to protect them, just like some men like weak girls because they love being the protectors. And then it hit me… my grandmother used to describe my grandfather just like that: Strong and though, but beautiful and vulnerable.
"Hey, Kev," says Sam. "She's fine now, I'm talking to her."
He smiled. "Good. It's energy saving that she came to us herself. We needed her."
"I was just trying to convince her it's not you the one she should kill."
"It was my father who sent her to do it, wasn't it?"
"You're guessing correctly," said Sam with a sigh.
Kevin smiled bitterly. "Infatuated with me, my old man, isn't he."
"You're Frederique." I said.
Sam gave me the "I told you not to" sort of look. Frederique seemed patient.
"Tell me, Gabriella: If a man got your mother knocked up then left and only showed at your childbirth although she really needed him, then let her die giving birth to you, and let you face your life alone only knowing that he is your father, yet never able to actually talk to him or feel like he really is, if that man gave you a name. Then came along another man… a man who loved you from the first sight and took care of you, regardless of the fact that you had black wings and your eyes turned red occasionally, that man gave you another name. Which of the two names would you prefer to be called?"
I posed. "The second."
"The first was Lucifer, Lord of Hell, and he named me Frederique Deraux, maybe to remind him of the beauty of my French mother." He said bitterly. "And the second was lord Maxwell Gray from England, and the name he gave me was Kevin Gray. I'm the son of the second, Gabriella, not the first."
I thought of what he said. Now I noticed he had a slight British accent.
"It's Gaby." I mumbled.
He smiled. "So we have a deal. I call you Gaby, you call me Kevin."
I nodded.
Sam seemed happy about the way we got along. "So, Kevin, I was just explaining to her how he lied to her, and what we're doing here, and what we're trying to prevent."
"You were explaining why Lucifer was actually in Romania last summer." I said calmly. It was Kevin who answered me.
"He was there to impregnate a woman."
Silence.
"Having one of those demon love affairs… even the old man needs a rest…"
"Not just a demon love affair, Gaby, it was serious." He took a hard breath and said, "Gaby, that child is who he plans to make the finishing warlock."
Again, silence.
I remembered his words. "I intend to mess with your kind a little longer." But he is the lord of liars. He could convince me the sun goes down at 1 a.m. while looking as honest as an angel.
"When you guys arrived, it was too late. He had already met the woman, the deed was already done."
"You're trying to tell me that…"
"A woman is pregnant with the finishing warlock right now."
"But then… where's the big deal? Find her and kill it."
"Had it been that simple, do you think we'd still be here?" He asked bitterly. "Lucifer's got the woman and the child protected. Demons, rogue downworlders, shadowhunters with old grudge… anything you can imagine. We need as much forces as we can get."
"Funny… he said you guys were teaming up with those fellas." I said in his same bitter tone. "And you guys here are trying to…"
"Find a way to break through those defenses and destroy the thing."
"Do you know where it is at the moment?"
"The thing and its mother are in Romania, hidden in a castle. It's the one where you found him."
"So it is in Romania, and you guys are in Russia because…"
"Childbirth is in five months and we have to collect forces from around the world. Sam is part of our forces, that's why I kidnapped him. I kidnap my desired warriors then inform them what they're into, and they have the freedom to join me or to walk away. We were coming to collect you and your other 4 friends soon, but for the beginning I just took Sam to have one of you know the truth and convince the others. This is where we stay, but we portal daily where there are notable warriors from any kind."
"And why not just tell the Clave?"
"Gaby, the Clave is infiltrated by some of Lucifer's shadowhunters. They mislead the others and misinform them about the finishing warlock. They could convince them it's me to get rid of me, and then no one will believe us."
I silenced and closed my eyes. Someone touched my shoulder tenderly. I opened my eyes expecting Sam, but Sam was standing in the middle of the room looking at me patiently. It was Kevin.
"Look… I know this is all so much to take in especially in your condition. I'll leave you now. And Sam, I know you need some time with her but if I may ask you… let her rest."
"It's okay, Kev, I think that's what she needs," said Sam as he was walking to the door. Kevin walked out first, then Sam looked at me. "Goodnight, Gaby. I know this is going to be difficult but try to rest. We'll have a conversation tomorrow."
I'm still looking at the door with my mouth wide open and my eyes narrowed. I'm tired and I'm already slipping into sleep, and there's already a lot to think about. And yet –silly me- the only picture that occupied my imagination was Kevin's face.
Yes, I'm an idiot.