TW: non-consensual kissing (very brief, not explicit).
« Il est à noter que, lors du bannissement du démon Cherufe, le chant devra être repris à l'envers, autant de fois que nécessaire, par trois personnes, et non deux, comme lors de l'invocation. Tout manquement à cette règle peut avoir de graves conséquences, la plus commune étant que le démon invoqué, ou tout autre démon majeur nommément mentionné pendant le rituel et dont l'attention a donc été attirée, ne sera pas renvoyé dans l'Abîme. Il aura alors la possibilité de prendre possession de n'importe quelle personne présente dans la pièce au moment du bannissement, sans que cela ne soit immédiatement manifeste, ou de la tuer sans cérémonie et de la pire manière imaginable. » – Pernelle Flamel's personal notes on Invocation et bannissement : un guide pratique pour les sorciers confirmés.
Evey walked into the garage, which had long ago become Tony's workshop. It was as he'd left it: in a state of well-organised chaos – not unlike Evey's dressing room. Or her desk. Walden often complained about how messy they both were, but the truth was that Evey and Tony knew exactly where everything was. They had a system, weird and illogical as it may seem to others, but it worked for them. Stranger still, Tony and Evey seemed to…understand each other's chaos.
Malkoran had her back to her. His hands lay flat on Tony's desk, his head was slightly bowed. He must have caught her scent, though, or heard her approach, because he turned as soon as the door closed behind her. He smiled at her warmly.
"Oh," she said, taken aback. She'd expected a murderous expression. "I…thought you were mad. I mean angry," she amended, mindful of his difficulties with the modern meaning of certain words. Although, in truth, she had no idea how modern this particular meaning was.
"Angry?" he repeated in a low, rumbling voice. It was deeper than ever. "How could I ever be angry with you?" He gestured for her to move closer, and she did. She was confused by his reaction, but she didn't think twice about it. This was Mal, after all.
She stood near him, facing him, and twisted her hands, feeling ashamed. She'd done something very wrong, she knew that, but she hoped he would forgive her. His friendship meant more to her than he knew – especially with Tony and Ted gone, and Walden perpetually annoyed with her, or so it seemed. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend-"
"Hush," he murmured. He held a finger over her lips, then cupped her face gently with both hands. Evey tensed automatically. She didn't like to be touched without the other person asking her permission first, or at least signalling their intention, and Mal had never done anything like this before. Usually, he displayed a need for personal space as much as Evey herself.
"It's been so long," Mal went on, moving even closer to her and bending until their faces almost touched. What the hell was he doing?
Kissing her.
That was what he was doing.
Malkoran was kissing her.
An alarm blared in Evey's mind, reminding her that she was supposed to push him away. How long had it been since their lips had locked? One second? Five? Long enough that he believed she actually wanted this? She hoped not, because she most certainly did not. She finally regained control of her body, which had gone nearly limp with shock, and pushed his hands away from her face so that he would release her. She took several steps back, then quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "What in the name of Fuck do you think you're doing?" she demanded, invoking Fuck as if it were the Muggles' made-up God and forgetting all about Hades – though she only "believed" in him because she knew him personally. She didn't worship him or anything like that.
Why was she even thinking about this now? It was completely irrelevant. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?" Her voice was high-pitched with indignation, which made her sound like a squeaky teenage boy. She hoped that it wouldn't undermine her righteous anger. "I know I made a mistake with the serum, but nothing, and I mean nothing, justifies you acting like the biggest twat in the universe! I mean, if Wal finds out-"
Oh, for pity's sake! Why was this always her primary concern? She was the wronged party here. She hadn't asked for this. She didn't want this. Mal had…raped her mouth. Walden's feelings could be taken into account later; right now she wanted to understand what the hell was going on.
She couldn't even begin to fathom how Mal had gone from being miffed and offended, barely ten minutes ago, to being…horny? Was it the thrill of the summoning ritual? Some sort of disturbing reaction to an adrenaline rush in his Wolf blood? Was it because of the Veritaserum?
Gods, was this her fault?
Malkoran was staring at her. He looked…puzzled. How was he the puzzled one in this situation? How had he expected her to react? Had she accidentally said or done something that caused him to believe that she wanted to be kissed by him? She honestly didn't think so. She'd been very careful with the unconscious flirting since Estelle had pointed it out to her. Besides, they'd talked about this.
"You're…you," Mal said eventually. There definitely was puzzlement in his voice, but he sounded mainly disappointed.
Disappointed that she was herself? It didn't make any sense. "I'm sorry," Evey said in a biting tone, "did you take me for Estelle?"
He scratched his hair. "Um, no. Ah, this is awkward."
"Awkward?" That was not the word Evey would have used to describe what had happened. "Mal, what is wrong with you?" she asked again. This time, though, she was worried rather than merely indignant. "Have you gone blind and deaf, have you lost your sense of smell? Did you seriously not know it was me?" She hesitated. "Do you even know who I am?"
If the Veritaserum proved to be the cause of this unpleasant development – namely, Mal losing his mind – she would never forgive herself. She hoped the damage wouldn't be permanent, at least.
Mal was gazing into her eyes with unblinking intensity, like he did when he was in Alpha mode. "No, I… I knew it was you… As in, the human body of that Evangeline girl…"
That Evangeline girl?
His eyes never left hers, but he didn't seem to see her. "But I thought… The wife should have emerged at the same time I did… These rituals during which a subordinate manages to utter both of our names are rare opportunities for us to communicate in person, you see, but this ritual involved a Wolf and…well, you, so… I assumed…"
The wife?
Emerged?
Evey was beginning to puzzle out what had happened. There must have been an issue with the banishing part of the ritual...
Which meant that this wasn't Malkoran. Had the Cherufe demon possessed him?
Evey would know it if she herself were being possessed, right? Or was there an unwelcome entity inside her, that was unable to interact with the other demon for some reason?
The man who looked like her friend but was being controlled by a demon continued talking, addressing her as if she were a complete stranger. "Obviously, I would have preferred Estelle's body, she's a lot more to my taste, but a mere mortal couldn't host a being as powerful as my Lilith, not for long. I thought you could, since you're…you, but…well, apparently, that's not good enough."
Now Evey was offended, on top of everything else. Still confused, and now scared, but this was insulting. Demons were so rude. "Yes, well, you're not to my taste, either," she retorted. The comeback was lame, she heard it as soon as she said it, but her ego was pricked.
The demon looked down Mal's body appreciatively, then looked back at her, an eyebrow raised. "Come on, he's hot and you know it."
Evey blushed, which annoyed her even more. "Look, you've had your fun, but you obviously got stood up by your…wife, so how about you leave my friend's body now? If you don't, I'll…"
I'll what? Banish you with a chant I don't know, let alone backwards? I'll call Estelle? The witch didn't have sensitive hearing, like most of Evey's friends and acquaintances.
She did have a friend (of sorts) whom she could call with her mind, however.
Hades? Little help here?
For the first time since she'd met the god, she received no answer. Not a single sassy word, nothing.
The demon grinned with Mal's face. It was a disturbing sight; it made him look…wolfish. "Nice try, but he's not allowed to interfere in these situations. This may be his world, but he's not the boss of me. The Council made that very clear."
The Cherufe could read her mind? Oh, that was bad.
The demon growled. "Quit calling me that, you ignorant little girl. The Cherufe is but an underling. He couldn't possess my Wolf. Even now, Malkoran is fighting for control, and I can barely suppress him. The Cherufe would have been expelled right away."
My Wolf.
Now Evey knew for certain that Malkoran would never forgive her. Not for drugging him, but for doing something that caused the demon he despised and feared to possess him. Did he know that this could happen? Was that why he'd been so reluctant for them to summon any demon?
The demon cocked his head sideways. "I see you've finally puzzled it out," he noted.
"You're F-" Evey held back at the last moment. At last, she understood why Mal refused to say the demon's name aloud.
"Oh, it's too late, child," Fenrir said, obviously amused. "I'm here now, and I intend to stay at least until I can find a suitable host for my-"
The door banged open and Estelle barged in, wand raised. Incongruously, Evey noticed that the woman was barefoot. Estelle shouted something in French, addressing the demon. Whatever it was, it made Fenrir laugh. "My delicious Estelle." He laughed harder at the look of pure disgust on her face. "Come on, admit it: you've missed me."
"For someone who claims that Lilith is the love of his life, you sure spend an awful lot of time dallying with us petty humans," Estelle remarked, in English this time – either for Evey's sake, or because Fenrir had used that language, though he clearly understood French. Almost certainly the latter, in Evey's estimation.
Fenrir leered at them both. "Well, a demon has needs. Ideally, I would physically transfer Lilith to this plane of-"
"I was a child, last time," Estelle interrupted him. "I was young, I was stupid. I was reckless. I know better now."
If you knew this could happen, why didn't you warn us? Evey thought. Why is Fenrir here at all?
"If memory serves, your mommy had to come to your rescue…" Fenrir taunted Estelle. "Ah, fearsome Pernelle. You did us all a favour the day you despatched her to the Waiting Room. For that, I will make your death quick and…mostly painless. But only yours," he added, winking at Evey. "I will take my time with this one. We went to a lot of trouble to make her, and it was all for nothing, apparently…"
"To make me?" Evey repeated. "What does that mean?"
The demon sighed. "Do you know how many people like you exist, child? In this entire world?"
"People like me?" Another jolt of pure shock. How much more could she take before her brain short-circuited? "There are others?"
Fenrir nodded. "Only one, currently. A ninety-three-year-old Inuit woman from Nunavut. There have been forty-two of you in total since…well, since I made this one." He patted Mal's chest. "Centuries sometimes go by without a Tri-ling."
"I'm not alone," Evey said in a low voice.
"Mm, technically, yes, you are alone. You're the only one whose powers we've managed to fully unlock. It was no easy feat," he added.
"But how… I mean, what am I? A Tri-ling, you said? What does that-"
"Part human, part Wolf, part Ancient," Fenrir said impatiently. "The name speaks for itself, I should think," he went on in a somewhat condescending tone.
Evey skipped over the demon's condescension. "Right, but how do we exist at all? Malkoran and the Bloodmother never had children together. The Wolves and Ancients are all barren. How is it in my genes?"
Fenrir scoffed. "Genes? Girl, are you not a witch? A…Muggleborn one? Where did that come from?"
Evey bit down on her lip. "I just assumed…a long-dead ancestor, maybe…"
"Nah. Magic isn't in your genes, child. Don't you people have a saying… 'The wand chooses the wizard', or something like that? Well, it also applies to magic that is demonic in essence. It chooses its host, and apparently it likes you more than it does others. That's where the so-called 'spark' comes from, but you got the whole package. And that, at least, had nothing to do with us."
"That woman, then, the other one like me… She's not…"
"Grigori bit her," Fenrir said. "At my request. It was…an experiment. But she never came close to any of the Ancients, let alone one who would bite her. She's…no one, by their standards. Not distinguished enough. Just like you, granted, but your situation was different."
"Different how?" Evey was so fascinated – a proper explanation, at last! A proper word for it! – that she'd pretty much forgotten what was happening: she was talking to a greater demon, through her possessed friend, while Estelle, who wasn't supposed to know about these things, listened on attentively.
Or so Evey had assumed.
As Fenrir was about to reply, Evey noticed that Estelle had traced a bloody pentagram on the garage floor, with her bare feet. She must have cut open one of her toes to do so. Her eyes were closed; she seemed to be chanting, but silently. What the hell was she doing? Trying to banish Fenrir, a greater demon, all on her own, when they'd failed to banish a measly Cherufe demon together, half an hour ago?
Fenrir realised that Evey's gaze had strayed, and he turned to Estelle, smiling indulgently. "It's too late, Estelle. You can't force me out once I've taken residence, especially in such an adequate host. Only Malkoran himself can do that, but he's not as tough as he likes to believe. So, unless you're attempting to contact Father…" He snorted in derision to show them what he thought of that idea. "It will only hasten your demise, my dear."
Father. Fenrir's father… Evey's brain was in overdrive, to compensate for the fact that it was still reeling with new information and processing quite a few mind-blowing shocks.
Loki was Fenrir's father, according to Norse mythology. But Loki was a god, not a demon… Unless he'd been demoted, like Set?
"Estelle," Fenrir continued when the French woman ignored him. "You know I can't actually wreak havoc in your world until the official manner and date of The End has been approved by the Council, yes? I only want to find my Lilith a new body, so we can live here together, unshackled, until-"
"How romantic," an ethereal voice said wryly. Estelle's lips moved with the words, but she wasn't the one talking. Her eyes were still closed.
Fenrir gasped in surprise. "You made it!" He ran to Estelle and hugged her. Estelle didn't react. Fenrir held her eyelids open, but only the white could be seen. It was very creepy. "I didn't think that Estelle could accommodate you. How long until she-"
"This is not a possession," the voice said. "Think of Estelle as a…telephone. I cannot come through."
"Don't worry, my love," Fenrir assured her. "I'm working on that."
"I forbid it."
"Forbid it? But why? We're closer to each other today than we've been in…in…" He stuttered to a halt, unable to put a number on it.
"Fenrir, I cannot use portals outside of the Homeland, and my every move is monitored even inside of it. It's part of my punishment… I cannot join you. Not in our world, nor in this one. We can never be together."
"But at least let me try! I have found my Alpha. If we can find Ellessin…"
"I do not want that. I do not wish to spend eternity in someone else's body, in the human world," Lilith said sharply. "What I want is revenge, my darling. Revenge on your father. Revenge on…You-Know-Who." Evey speculated that she was not talking about Voldemort. Lord Noseless had never been half as terrifying as Lilith or Fenrir. Hell, Evey was more scared of Estelle than Voldemort. "On all of them, for believing that they are better than us! For enslaving us and using us!"
Fenrir held Estelle's body close, hands on her upper arms, Mal's eyes staring adoringly into hers, despite their current emptiness. Evey hoped that he wasn't going to kiss her, too. She was perfectly aware that they weren't themselves at the moment, but the idea of Mal and Estelle kissing was still highly disturbing.
"I want to be free again," Lilith went on. "I want us to rule the Homeland together, as it should be, while our children dominate the remaining earthly realms." Remaining earthly realms? What did that even mean? "Come home. Leave the humans be. Be patient, for once. Their time is nearly over, but ours is about to begin. As The End nears, the Divines will weaken, then we shall seize our chance and demons shall dominate the entire universe! The revolution is underway, my dearest. Come and see for yourself. Join us. We are stronger together."
Estelle's plan wasn't really working, in Evey's opinion. Sure, Lilith seemed about to convince Fenrir to leave them alone…but at what cost? Tony was still in Pandemonium. What was happening over there? Lilith's words sounded quite ominous.
"Patience was never my strong suit," Fenrir murmured in Estelle's ear. "But for you, my love…anything." He cleared his throat, stroking Estelle's cheek. "In the meantime, since we're both here in the flesh, so to speak…"
"I am absolutely not there in the flesh!" Lilith barked. The angry tone was utterly at odds with Estelle's slack face and absence of expression. "I am only able to hear you, Fenrir, and to speak to you, nothing more. Don't you dare… Not again. I know it's easy for you to play with the humans, given the relative liberty your father has granted you, but let me remind you that I'm stuck here, all alone. It's not fair!"
"Ugh, you sound like Ellessin," Fenrir grumbled. "Like mother, like daughter, I guess."
"I'm warning you…"
"Fine, fine, I'll wait for you. Patiently." He released Estelle from his grip and took a step back, hands in the air like an armed robber caught in the act, though Evey didn't think Lilith could see him.
"Also, can you tell him not to kiss me again, please?" Evey said tentatively. "That was gross."
Fenrir threw her a…demonic glare. Estelle's face didn't change, but Lilith's voice was strangled with wrath. "He did what?!"
"I thought she was you!" Fenrir exclaimed. "Lil, that was my plan all along! You'd be her, I'd be Malkoran, and then we'd-" He made an obscene gesture that, once again, Evey was certain Lilith couldn't see. And that she wished she couldn't see.
"Are you out of your mind?" Lilith raged. "Even if I could open portals, it would be impossible! She's a Tri-ling, Fenrir. It'd be like trying to take control of a Divine."
Cool. Was Evey part god, too, then? Well, goddess… A Quadri-ling? Interesting.
"Don't be ridiculous," Fenrir snapped. "Nobody can be made into a god. It doesn't work like that."
"How does it-"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be working for Father," Fenrir replied bitterly. "He'd be working for me. I'd never make the stupid mistake of being demoted after trying to alter the very fabric of the universe. For a bet."
"Enough! Leave now, Fenrir, before you reveal secrets that aren't yours to reveal, and worsen our punishment. Well, mine, at least, since you obviously benefit from preferential treatment."
Fenrir sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going."
"Don't you need us to perform a ritual?" Evey asked. She pointed to Estelle's improvised, poorly-drawn pentagram. "A better portal? Some chanting, candles…?"
The demon wearing Mal's face gave her a sidelong glance. "You wanna know a little secret, Tri-ling?" he whispered conspiratorially.
Evey nodded without hesitation. Did anyone ever say "no" to that question?
"You don't actually need a pentagram to summon a greater demon. Do you think Malkoran and his tart bothered with doodles in the sand?" He snorted in mockery of the silly doodling humans. "They didn't even know what a pentagram was."
"But…then how…?"
"We can open portals at will…as long as we follow the rules. You call us, we listen. If you call us just the right way, if we find you interesting, we might actually show up. But as you've learned quite recently, you better know exactly how to get rid of us when we do respond." He grinned a wide grin which, once again, looked disturbing on Mal's face. She wasn't used to seeing him smile so often, or so…unnaturally.
"But doesn't it mean that….the pentagram grants us zero protection, if it's unnecessary? I thought the whole point-"
Fenrir roared with laughter. "Now you're getting it! It's efficient enough against minor demons, because they actually do require a pentagram to portal to your world, but it cannot stop the likes of me. Once you call out my name, all bets are off. The only reason why we don't devour every single one of you is because it's forbidden by the Council, unless-"
"Fenrir!" Lilith insisted.
The demon turned toward Estelle, eyes lowered, head slightly bowed, like a dog cowering after being scolded by his owner. "Coming, my love." He flashed one last smile in Evey's direction, though. "You didn't even ask about your friends in the Homeland! Aw, you're gonna regret that in a second, when I van-"
Mal trailed off, mouth hanging open, eyes glazed over, and fell to the floor. Evey rushed to his side.
Someone was talking. Malkoran heard them as if they were far away.
"Mal? Mal! Can you hear me? Oh fuck, I killed him. Fuck!"
Someone was taking his pulse – or trying to. They were fumbling with his wrist, applying pressure in the wrong place.
"Bloody hell! Hades, help! They're gone now, please help. How do I resuscitate an immortal person?"
Malkoran's mind flashed with a name: Evangeline. He attempted to say the name aloud, but he seemed unable to speak. Or move. He could barely think. What had happened? Could she be right? Was he dead?
"Come on! Of all the times you choose not to appear and assail me with sarcastic comments, you damned god! Mal, please, don't be dead. The Bloodmother will kill me if you're dead." There was a pause. "Also, I'll be sad, and I hate being sad. Crying makes my eyes puffy…" Now the voice was barely audible. "Oh, fuck, what have I done?"
There came another voice, stronger, sharper. "I'm fine, if anybody was wondering."
Estelle, Mal thought. If Estelle was alive, shouldn't he be alive, too? He was immortal; she was not. He was the one who should have survived…
Fenrir.
That was what had happened. He'd encountered the demon again – sort of. It was not like they'd had a pleasant chat; Fenrir had taken full control of his body. Mal had struggled, he'd fought Fenrir with everything he had, but the demon was unstoppable. It was like taking candy from a baby. Mal had never felt so helpless and weak.
His head hurt. Or so he thought. His head had not hurt in…maybe ever. It wasn't supposed to, not like that. Wolves didn't suffer from mundane headaches. Though perhaps "mundane" was inadequate, given the situation. He felt another stab of pain between his eyes and grunted.
"Mal? Mal, was that you? Are you alright?"
"Of course he's not alright, you silly girl. He was possessed by a greater demon! A mere human would be vomiting blood by now, and would be dead in a minute."
"That's just a figure of speech, you…witch. Mal, can you open your eyes?"
He tried, but his eyelids seemed to be glued shut. He tried to speak, but found his tongue lying like a large, dead slug in his mouth. There was a foul taste in his throat, as if he'd drunk spoiled milk. He was breathing, though, of that he was almost certain. His heart was beating – slowly, weakly, but it was.
"You think he's in a coma?" Evangeline's voice asked worriedly.
"I think he's pretending to be dead because he doesn't want to face your annoying personality."
"Well, Hades didn't come, but you're doing a great job at impersonating him," Evangeline grumbled.
"You know about Hades?" Estelle's voice was devoid of sarcasm now. She sounded genuinely surprised.
"About him? I know him personally," Evangeline replied, quite smugly. "But seriously, what do we do? Should we get him onto a bed and let him sleep it off?"
Estelle exhaled loudly. "He's not drunk. He just needs to regain control of...well, everything. It might take some time, but he's a Wolf, he should be fine." Her voice was closer now. "Mal, I think you can hear me, so here's my advice: one limb at a time. Focus on your right hand first. Feel it, feel every finger, every knuckle. Try to clench your fist. Imagine strangling the demon with it, if it helps."
It did help. His index finger was the first to give in. It bent with agonising slowness, but Mal could feel it move.
"It's working!" Evangeline exclaimed. "That's great, Mal, keep at it."
It took about half an hour for him to be able to sit up, and that with great difficulty. His eyes were open, but he still couldn't speak.
"I'm so sorry, Mal. It's all my fault," Evangeline repeated for the tenth time.
Estelle rolled her eyes. "Doesn't matter whose fault it was. It's over now, we're all alive. And we got the ingredient we needed."
"Yeah, but I really messed up," Evangeline insisted. "If not for the Veritaserum, maybe you could have fended Fenrir off." Mal tried to pat her hand to reassure her – he really didn't think that the potion could have affected him in such a way, if any – but she pulled it back as if she'd received an electric shock. She bit on her lip abashedly. "Sorry! Sorry. I didn't… It's just…" She was blushing now.
She must be remembering what Fenrir had done. Mal was certainly thinking about it. He'd watched it happen like a movie – given Evangeline's expression at the time, a horror movie. He hadn't really felt anything, physically, but her expression did hurt a bit. He wasn't that disgusting, surely. After all, when he'd kissed her, she wasn't yet aware that Fenrir had taken possession of Mal's body.
"I'm fine," he finally managed to articulate. "It's fine."
Her shoulders slumped, and she took on an air of pure despondency. "It's really not," she murmured. "We haven't even gotten to the worst part yet."
Malkoran felt a cold shiver run down his spine. "What do you mean?"
Evangeline buried her face in her hands. "Now I have to tell Walden about this."
[Sorry about the French part, it was too tempting. I pasted it on Google Translate and the English translation is surprisingly accurate, though, if you're interested.]