Demon Heart (The Darkworld Series Book 3) (24 page)

But I needed answers from the fortune-teller first. And so I followed her into the forest.

walked beside the fortune-teller, through the woods, weaving around thick oak trees whose arms blotted out the star-flecked sky. I didn’t know where we were going, but we followed a noticeable track, trodden into the fallen leaves. Strips of moonlight barred the path. The night was eerily silent, and when a crow let out a sudden cry, we both jumped.

Soon, we reached a clearing. A lopsided wooden bench sat in the centre, and the fortune-teller motioned for me to take a seat beside her.

She faced me, her pale hair gleaming in the moonlight. Everything else around us was smothered in shadows.

“This may be the last night I am safe in Blackstone,” she said as calm as though she merely made an observation on the weather. “If you have any questions, now is the time to ask.”

The shock of everything had burned away my hesitancy, and I asked, straight out, “Are you Melivia Blackstone?”

The fortune-teller’s face flinched inwards in pain, and she nodded. “Yes. That is my real name. The individual I once was. But I am her no longer.”

I didn’t doubt that.

“You meant for me to find the diary?”

“I felt you had earned the right to the truth. It’s never easy to hear, and yet… having lived a lie for so long, I know the value of honesty more than most.”

“I didn’t guess until the end,” I said. “I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I just didn’t think there was any way it could be you.”

“We change,” said the fortune-teller. “You know I am far older than I appear. I was little more than a frightened child when I left this world behind, and over years… I have still been blind to Lucifer’s faults, but you cannot glimpse human history through demon eyes and not develop a sense of perspective.”

“I guess,” I said. “The others didn’t believe me. Howard said I thought you were a time-travelling ghost.”

“Ghost, perhaps,” she said. “I am from a time dead to everyone today. Perhaps I would be a fascination for historians, but I did not want my diary exposed to public view. To an outsider, of course, it sounds like it was written by someone on the brink of insanity.” She sighed. “The Venantium have changed less than I hoped in a hundred and fifty years. If they were more open, I might have considered offering to work for them, to teach others what I have learned. I did not truly grasp the nature of demons until I lived amongst them. But they would never allow it. I did not dare reveal the truth of myself to them.”

“I still can’t believe it,” I said. “You’ve been… there.”

“It does seem unlikely,” she said. “Yet here I am.”

“Why did you do it?” I said. “Why did you come back?”

“Because I was tricked,” said the fortune-teller. “You cannot imagine what it is like existing in the Darkworld, having known this world. Lucifer always planned to make his return, and I begged him to bring me with him. I believed in him even after a century in the Darkworld―although of course such terms are meaningless there; time does not exist. It passes, but the Darkworld is an endless present, and a century in our time can pass in the blink of an eye.

“To exist as a spirit is almost to forget how to be human. I was pulled from my body, and yet I remembered what
life
felt like and desired to come back. But if I had known it would cost another life…” Her face creased into deep sadness. “The woman whose body he stole was in a coma. Perhaps, if I had not usurped her body, she would have woken up. No one will ever know. Her name… was Eve Temple.”

“Aunt Eve,” I whispered. “So… she
was
a real person? That makes no sense…”

But why didn’t it make sense? Something nagged at the corner of my mind.

“She was comatose for years, but I have always wondered about her. When I realised what I had done, the grief consumed me. That was the first time I saw Lucifer for the demon he truly was and finally took my powers back into my own hands. I began a new life, under a new name, a new face. I wanted to help other magic-users, initially as penance for what I did. It was… hard. The world had changed so much over the century. I barely recognised it, even Blackstone. That was my curse. I lost everything in order to carry on living. Death would be preferable.”

“So… what happened to Lucifer?”

“He returned to the Darkworld after William Melmoth and I defeated him. That was the last time Lucifer was seen inhabiting a human body. That was… a difficult time. William cared for me deeply, but I could not give him what he wanted. The guilt was too strong.”

“I still don’t understand how that works,” I said. “You… possess the body? Can the original person still be alive?”

“Yes, it’s perfectly possible, just like when a demon possesses someone. But the demon rarely lets the host live, just in case they break free of its control. In any case, it’s incredibly difficult for the host to kill the demon without destroying themselves.”

“What happened with you?” I said. “You were going to walk into the fire and kill yourself to kill the demon. I… saw you. In a dream.”

“I thought you deserved to witness part of what happened for yourself,” she said.

“So
you
made me dream that? How is that even possible? I thought only demons could…”

“My time in the Darkworld taught me some skills, many of which I will never use. Dream manipulation is a branch of subliminal magic, Influence, and few know how to use it, for which we should be thankful. But I knew that the diary only revealed part of what happened. It disappeared for years, and I only found it again when I returned to this world. I had concealed it near the house after Lucifer took me away.”

“But what happened to the demon possessing you?” I asked.

Her eyes darkened. “It escaped. I didn’t know. He has influence over demons and persuaded it to let me go… but it stayed in this world, and that’s how the Demon Wars started. I claim full responsibility.”

“It was Lucifer’s fault,” I said. “You didn’t know what you were doing.”

“Naivety is not an excuse. Hundreds were killed. The Venantium have never been the same since. Even now, their numbers are minimal. They’re not ready to face Lucifer again.”

“But where is he?” I said. “If he could come back whenever he wants, why hasn’t he?”

“I do not know for certain, but I believe he is trying to find the perfect human host. It is an obsession of his.”

“He’s a… spirit? Or soul? Are they the same thing? Does that mean there’s some kind of afterlife?”

“No. Only magic-users can separate from their bodies, because it requires a connection to the Darkworld and the use of spell that draws one’s essence and magical energy into an incorporeal form. I have studied it extensively. At death, one’s magical energy is left behind, but I retain all the skills I had before I left the world behind.”

“There’s one thing I don’t quite get,” I said. “I know you’re a powerful magic-user―hell, probably the best I’ve met―but I didn’t see… I mean, when I was reading the diary, I’d never have thought of Melivia as you. Why did Lucifer pick you as a target?”

“I have often wondered that myself,” said the fortune-teller. “Perhaps he could see potential that even I myself was unaware of. Most of my skills I have learned since my return; I knew little of the Darkworld before I went there. Either way, he also saw a way to bring low the country’s strongest and best-respected magical family from within. I believe it amused him. I was an easy target. You and I are both alike in that we are victims of circumstance.”

“That’s just…” I shook my head. “Do the Venantium know?”

“No. Just you.”

“So why did you let yourself get taken in?” I said.

“I knew they’d come after me eventually. It was the only way I could ensure that I would still be here when Mephistopheles attacked.”

“Is he dead?” I said.

“I hope so. His demon heart is lost. I didn’t manage to catch it before Jude’s body fell into the ocean.” She looked at me, and not for the first time, seemed to see right through into my inmost thoughts. “You’re worried about what the others will think, knowing the truth.”

I knew she didn’t mean about herself, but about me.
You don’t know the half of it.

“I know I should have told them,” I said, swallowing. “They deserved to know. But… they
hate
demons.”

“Have we not already had this discussion? You are no demon, Ashlyn. You are far less guilty than I. Do we not all tell lies to protect the ones we love? If they truly understand, then they will forgive you. It is hindsight which is the most unforgiving of all.”

She stood, imposing once more.

“When will I see you again?” I said. “
Will
I?” I felt like we’d barely scratched the surface of all the questions… yet I feared that the longer I waited, the more likely it would be that the others would disappear without giving me a chance to explain.

“You will. I hope I can help when you have need of me. Now go. Return to your friends.”

My heart ached as much for her as for myself as I walked the path back through the forest, the path that led to the graves of everyone she’d ever known.

he others waited by the cemetery. I wondered if they’d been talking about me. I could almost see Berenice’s gloating smile already. But that didn’t bother me. If Leo looked at me with disgust, even disappointment… I couldn’t face it