I am so sorry, this is so late! Two entire weeks... I've been really busy and tired lately, and I've had no motivation to write. This chapter is shorter, and they will be from now on... I hope you still enjoy the story though! Thanks for being patient. I'll let you get to it now.

When Alec stepped through the portal it felt weird, it was warm and everything was spinning for a moment. When he reached the other side he had to bend over and clutch his stomach. He felt sick. After a second he lifted his head again and looked for Magnus who was leaning against a tree. Obviously he had not been the only one who had an upset stomach from that travel. "Magnus? Are you alright?" Alec asked gently and slowly moved towards him to place his hand on his shoulder.

"Hm, Yes. Yeah, I'm fine. This has just been very strange and my stomach didn't like it… How do you feel?" he asked quickly. Alec just smiled and nodded.

"I'm feeling fine now. I mean it has been upsetting, but I'm okay," he said and only then started to look around. It seemed to be a dessert, everything was covered in red dust or dirt, it wasn't really sand but something like it. It wasn't as warm as Alec had thought it would be but it was definitely a creepy was a castle in the distance, it reminded Alec of the one he'd seen behind the fake walls of the glamour of Edom.

"So… I guess we go straight to the castle and get this over with?" he suggested and looked at Magnus who was now standing straight again and had a bit more colour in his face. It seemed like he was back to normal, which was good.

"Yes… I think we will do that," agreed Magnus.

"Oh no, I don't think you will do that," said someone behind them. Alec and Magnus turned around and were faced with a tall man, dark hair, very exquisite clothes but what struck Alec first, were the man's eyes. They looked liked Magnus's when he was doing his magic.

"Who are you?" Alec questioned, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he pretended to be much more confident then he really was.

"Oh, come on, once and future king. You know who I am," the man said.

"I have an idea, but it's not possible. It doesn't make sense."

"Tell me, I'm sure it's right."

"You're Magnus's father."

"What?" Magnus explained and stared at the man and then at Alec. "You're Asmodeus?"

"Yes, I am. I'm impressed that you know my name."

"I've heard about you," Magnus said before he looked at Alec. "How did you know?"

"The eyes… you have the same when you do your magic," Alec explained and bit his lip. He didn't know if this was good or bad.

"Well, enough of that. I guess you are here to fulfill your destiny, which is great. Lilith is horrible and once she is gone I will rule here, so I am willing to help you… And I don't think that you know what you're getting yourselves into." Magnus looked intently at the man, Alec wished he could tell what was going on inside his mind.

"You'll help us?" Magnus questioned. "Why? Just because you don't like Lilith?"

"Isn't that enough reason? But there is another reason, if you must know. I'm extremely bored, just waiting for something to happen."

"Magnus, if he's willing to help us, maybe we should let him," Alec suggested.

"But we shouldn't just trust him. He's a demon, Alexander."

"He's your father!" Alec protested.

"He's not my father. He's just the man who impregnated my mother." Meanwhile Asmodeus was looking at them with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Well, boys. I don't have all day," he said.

"Come on, Magnus. If anything happens we'll take him down, okay?" Magnus still looked doubtful, but agreed with a sigh.

They followed Asmodeus into his house. It looked like a castle inside, although not looking all that appealing outside. There were tall bookshelves and lots of books on the floor, everything was lit by candles. "Welcome to my palace," Asmodeus said with a fake smile. "Sit down, sit down. I'll be back in a second," he said before storming off into another room.

"I don't think that this is a good idea Alexander."

"But we can try it, Magnus. He's your father, don't you think you should give him a chance?"

"I don't know him, Alec. He's a stranger. And he's a demon. I just don't think he'll help us out of kindness."

"He said Lilith was awful. Maybe he really wants to get rid of her."

"I really don't think so, but I trust you Alec, so... I guess I'll give him a chance."

"Good," Alec nodded. "And I promise, if anything happens we'll kill him. Or stop him, at least."

"That's very nice of you. I should give him a chance because he's my father, but if he does anything we don't like we kill him," Magnus said.

"Then we have a deal," Alec said just as Asmodeus came back into the room.

"Oh, you haven't run away. How good. I was worried you would." He had something in his hand and placed it on the table before sitting down as well. The thing turned out to be a map, which he spread open on the table.

"So... first of all, we are here" he said and pointed at a spot on the map. "And Lilith is there," he said and pointed to the other side of the map. "Edom seems huge, and it can be but most of the times it isn't so you can be there in a few hours" he explained.

"Okay, so we know how to get there. What do we do once we find Lilith?" Magnus asked.

"You kill her, of course," Asmodeus said.

"Oh, really? I hadn't thought of that!"

"I can't tell you how to do that. You have to figure it out yourselves."

"So basically you're useless for us. All we want to know is how to actually kill her."

"I'm sorry, my boy. But no one has ever killed Lilith before."

"Well then, Alec and I will be on our way."

"Oh, you can't leave yet," Asmodeus said matter of factly.

"Yeah? Watch us," Magnus said and took Alec's hand.

"I haven't told you everything yet," Asmodeus said and leaned back in his chair. "But by all means, be on your way."

"What is it you haven't told us?" Alec asked.

"Sit down again and I'll tell you."

Alec and Magnus sighted and then sat down again. "You have 5 minutes"

"Now, Magnus. That's not a way to speak to your father." Magnus just rolled his eyes.

"Just say what you want to say."

"You boys don't know what you're up against. Whatever you've faced till this point, Lilith is much, much worse. Do you even know what you're trying to stop her from?" Alec looked at Magnus. Did they know? He didn't remember any mention of what they were stopping her from, only that they had to stop her. "That's what I thought," Asmodeus said. "Lilith is working on a way to get out of edom, and once she manages that I'm sure she has a very detailed plan on what to do with every single person on earth. I mean, it would be good for me, since she would be away from here but, there is one person I actually care about. I'm not sure when Lilith will be able to fulfil her plan either, and till then she is annoying and I would rather have her killed now than wait years."

"Who is the person?" Magnus asked.

"Who? It's you, my dear boy."

"Me? If you care so much, why were you never around, huh?"

"I had important business to take care of."

"Business? You're a demon, what kind of business could you possibly need to do?"

"I'm the king of Edom, my boy. It keeps me busy."

"You are a price of edom, not the king. You just want to be and maybe you will once Lilith isn't alive anymore."

"Yes. So I have a reason to help you, don't I?" he grinned.

"I... I guess so"

"Good we finally agree! Now, let me show you some of Lilith's history."

Magnus lost track of time after about three hours. Asmodeus had gone on to tell them everything about Lilith, most of which Magnus already knew from his research. He tried to leave multiple times, but Asmodeus always called them back and insisted there was important information coming.

"This is a waste of time!" Magnus said for the nth time that day. "We could be in Lilith's castle already."

"You could be dead already," Asmodeus retorted.

"You don't know that. And you clearly don't know how to defeat Lilith either, so this is pointless."

"Well then. If you absolutely want to leave I will show you out. But not before you've paid me back."

"Paid you back? For what, wasting our time?"

"For all the information I gave you. Everything comes with a price."

"You told us nothing we didn't already know!" Magnus protested.

"I took you in to my house and I've told you everything I know about Lilith. Now I want something in return."

"And what's stopping us from just leaving?"

"You could try. But don't forget that you're in my world and my house. And don't even think about fighting me. Your power came from me, I can easily take it away," Asmodeus warned. Magnus didn't know what to say to that. Was it true? Could Asmodeus take away his power?

"Magnus, let's just give him what he wants," Alec said after a minute. "What do you want?" He asked Asmodeus.

"I just want to play," Asmodeus said. Magnus didn't like his smirk at all.

"Play? Play what?" Alec questioned.

"A little game I like. Come on now, I'll show you." Asmodeus walked away, and Alec and Magnus reluctantly followed.

"I told you something like this would happen!" Magnus whispered at Alec, his mind already going through everything Asmodeus could do to them.

"He hasn't tried to kill us yet. Maybe he's just lonely," Alec protested.

"He's a demon, Alexander! They don't have feelings!"

"You two realize I can hear you, right?" Asmodeus interrupted. Magnus shut up at that, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

Asmodeus led them to a small room, empty except for two chairs around a table in the middle of the room, two glasses on it. Something else came to Magnus's mind. The second glass. Did that have something to do with this?

"Go on, sit," Asmodeus said. Magnus and Alec reluctantly took a seat, Alec's hand on the hilt of his sword. "The game is simple. Each of you must drink a glass." Asmodeus snapped his fingers and the glasses were filled with clear liquid. "One of them is water, the other may kill you. Choose wisely."

Alec caught Magnus's eyes, nodding towards Asmodeus as if asking for permission to attack him. Magnus shook his head softly. He was confident in his and Alec's joined powers, but Asmodeus was right. They would have a hard time taking out Lilith, if they managed at all. They didn't need to tire themselves out on Asmodeus first.

The second glass. How could that help him? The book had been right about the troll, it had led them here… but this just didn't make sense. The second glass? Second counting from the left? Second for him or for Alec? Did it mean the second glass was the water or the poisonous one?

Magnus looked up at Alec. Alec was the one destined to kill Lilith, not Magnus. Maybe this was his destiny, to make it possible for Alec to reach his destination. Magnus smiled softly before reaching for the second glass, the glass on the left. He raised it to his lips and downed it in one go.