VI

“Good afternoon, Major.”

“Captain… Kettlewell has informed me of what has happened. Do we have any other news?”

Major Colin Maddox was much like Kang Dae. Muscular and strong and never cute. His skin was tan and his hair and eyes were a brilliant brown.

“This is Balaam. My father sent him with whatever information they required. I waited till we all were here to hear it,” Sauda explains.

“I thought his name was… Kang something,” Jordan comments.

“Balaam… that sounds familiar,” Dix says, looking down, racking his brain.

“His original name is Balaam, maybe,” Sauda shrugs, “but he goes by Kang Dae, a Korean name given to him for the Prince of Korea.”

“It’s like my name,” Adorna says. She leans back in her chair and runs a finger across the table. “You all call me Adorna, but my actual name is something else. You just can’t say it or it unleashes all of my power. Kang Dae’s only power lies in how sneaky and charismatic he is. Saying ‘Balaam’ does nothing.”

“But you are a Demon, right?” Maddox asks.

“Not really,” Kang Dae replies. “I’m not a fallen angel, child of Lilith, or a descendant of either. I was a regular human who was condemned to hell and talked my way into power.”

“Basically, he’s a politician, just way better than the ones burning in hell. Let’s get to the information and then we’ll talk about who he is,” Sauda says.

Sauda takes a seat next to Dix and looks up at Kang Dae. He looks at Sauda and takes a deep breath. Reaching in his back pocket, he pulls out a red square. The gold script reflects on the surface.

“Someone has been bragging that they’ve gained control of the Shades, but it’s a no-name Demon, so the rumors are all over the place. We didn’t even hear about it until we were looking.”

“Has anyone reported bodies or having seen any shades?” Adorna asks.

“No,” Kang Dae says, “so we were ready to go kill whoever it was thinking they were just making shit up until we found this.”

He hands Sauda the card, and she looks at the gold Aramaic letters and the swirls and leaves that line the card. “It’s an invitation to a ball,” she says.

“A ball in the Shadowlands,” Kang Dae adds.

“Where?!”

Adorna jumps up, claws digging into the table. Everyone looks at her, shocked at her reaction except Sauda and Kang Dae.

“La Muerte’s old realm in the Shadowlands,” Sauda reads off from the card.

“La Muerte was the person who controlled the Shades before, right?” Maddox asks. “So does this mean that someone took up his mantle?”

Adorna slowly sits down in her chair and both Ashleigh and Malik reach out to her. “There’s no way to get through the Shadowland without being killed by Shades. Without a master, they just roam around, killing when something gets insight. Maybe this is just a sick prank.”

“We don’t think so. Our spies got as close as they could. Looks like someone is taking guests at that house and we have seen them going in and out, alive.”

“And why didn’t your father kill whoever it is then?” Maddox asks.

“Whoever is controlling the Shades hasn’t come out of the Shadowlands—”

“My father can’t step onto the Shadowlands,” Sauda says, staring at the invite. Holding it tight. “After La Muerte tried to take over more than half of hell, the leaders made a blood contract so no one could ever take over. They’re not even allowed to step a toe on that land.”

“Who all got these invites?” Adorna asks.

“Everyone Demon royal except Andras,” Kang Dae sighs, “and there is no way it got lost in the mail.”

“I was told that the Shades attacked in packs, but that this one was alone. Is there any chance that the Shade just slipped out and was on its own?” Maddox asks, face grim.

“The Shadowlands is under Romania. Specifically, the Hoia-Baciu Forest. There is no other way to get there but through the Fairy mound in the clearing. There’s no way that one shade would have made it from Romania to New Orleans without a trail of bodies. Topside or in Hell. Did they say anything about weird deaths while you were in DC? Or unexplainable disappearances or alien sightings and abductions?” Sauda asks the Major.

“No. Just reporting on our recruiting numbers,” Maddox says.

Everyone is silent while they think over exactly what this kind of thing could mean.

“Someone tried to kill a member of my team, and that will not stand. Sauda… if I sent you and a team to this ball, could you successfully find out what’s going on without it being another Yemen situation?” Maddox asks.

“Yes,” Sauda lies. If someone was trying to kill her, then they’d definitely try to be at that ball. What other choice did she have?

The way the Major looks at her seems like he knows that she is lying. “Okay. Gather a team and go. The priority of this mission is intel. Try to find out if they have plans to harm humans or take over up here. However, if they try to kill you while you are there, kill them first. If you believe you can take them and it’s for the safety of humankind, then kill them. If you don’t think you can, then you come back and report and we’ll decide if the threat is enough for us to take action. When is the ball?”

“A week from now, Major,” Sauda tells him.

“Okay…” Maddox takes a huge breath, “You decide the team you’ll take to Romania, and I’ll turn this bird around and explain the situation to the Pentagon.”

“Roger, Major.”

The screen goes black as the Major disconnects. Sauda finally puts the invite down and looks across the table as Adorna snatches up the card.

“First,” Sauda says, “Dix, I need you to find him a room.” She points to Kang Dae.

“He’s staying?” Dix asks.

“Until whoever is using the Shades is dead, he’ll stay. If he goes back, Andras will kill him,” Adorna says, still reading the invitation.

Sauda just moves on and looks at Dix again. “Then I’ll need you and Jordan’s input on all the Demon soldiers and their progress in training so we can make a team to travel to the Shadowlands.”

“Roger,” Jordan and Dix say in unison.

“Adorna. You and I will train with the newbies the entire week to get prepared. You too, Balaam.”

“Me!?”

“I swear, I’ve heard that name before,” Dix says.

“La Muerte’s name is different too,” Malik says, finally speaking up, hands resting on the small of Adorna’s back. “It’s Spanish. But her home is under Romania?”

“From what I’m told, she was a Demon slave from Spain,” Sauda explains. “She got that name in the fighting pits, La Muerte. One day she escaped, making it into the Shadowlands, and somehow grew powerful enough to take on Demon Princes.”

“And Balaam?” Dix asks.

“The Bible,” Adorna says absentmindedly.

“The Bible? Then how can you end up in hell?” Dix asks.

“He’s in the Bible, but it has nothing good to say about him,” Sauda clarifies.

“Men wrote the Bible, and they left most of the books out for political purposes. Don’t believe everything you read,” Kang Dae defends.

“Hey! That’s my religion you’re talking about!” Dix’s ears become red and his brows furrow and his chest puffs out.

Sauda rests a hand on Dix’s shoulder and smirks at Kang Dae. “There’s a little truth to it, Kang Dae.” She turns to Dix. “They wrote about him in Rabbinic text, the New Testament and the Quran. And though some of it is true, men, who needed someone to blame for what happened, wrote the rest of it.”

“What happened?” Ashleigh asks. She shrinks down in her seat just a little. Still a shy little mouse, even though she was a Castor and the tamer of a Succubus.

Kang Dae looks at her. “Long story short, Little One, God had given me the gift of prophecies and discernment. The first of the non-Jews to receive this gift and many sought me out for it, including a king who wanted to use this gift to learn the Israelites' weaknesses. And contrary to popular belief, I did not aid him. King Balak succeeded, the Israelites turned from God and were punished. They blamed me for this and I was murdered and cursed to Hell.”

“They even say he’s the reason the Gentiles lost the gift of prophecy,” Adorna tells Ashleigh, “The quote: ‘Let no the wise man glory in his wisdom’, is about him.”

“Years ago, they blamed me for something I didn’t do.” Ashleigh whispers, “They wanted me dead too.”

“I’m hungry,” Jordan interrupts.

Adorna growls at him, Sauda shakes her head and Ashleigh chuckles.

“All right. Meeting adjourned. Dismissed,” Sauda says. She gets up to walk out, but Kang Dae grabs her arm.

“We need to talk.”

“Not right now.”

“I know you’re thinking about your sister.”

Sauda freezes, and everyone scurries out of the room to give them privacy. Dix hangs back in the doorway.

“I’ll find him a room and I’ll come back to find you, Cap.” He doesn’t wait for her response.

When the room is clear, she snatches her arm out of his grip and rounds on him, glaring. Kang Dae holds his hands up in surrender.

“Can we talk?”

“Not about her,” Sauda snaps, trying to hold back the tears. She walks away but then pauses at the door. “Where is Raum?”

“He’s busy.”

“Too busy to come to my aid?”

“Goddammit, Dada!”

Sauda’s heart beats like crazy at the way he says her old nickname. She tries to breathe through the feelings he’s trying to stir up.

“I’m here and all you can talk about is him. I heard when you left him four years ago and you never even came to look for me. Don’t you miss me?”

Sauda looks at him but can’t say what she wants to, so she just walks out of the room.