The Coven: Book 1

Chapter 39 - The Good Demon

Walking inside the office, Lucy had to refrain herself from arching her brows in surprise.

It was very modern and elegantly furnished and designed, a dim light illuminating it, along with the flashy lights coming from outside. Lucy found it almost strange that there were plants around the place. The office seemed to have floor to ceiling windows with thick, wide blinds covering them.

“Good evening.” The rough, tired voice of the demon came from right in front of them, where he was standing right next to the clean, glass desk “I’m assuming you’re here because of the Witch that was tortured two months ago.”

Namjoon and Jin both let out a low growl, their fangs growing in length and eyes glowing red. The demon didn’t even bat an eyelash, simply lighting up another cigar and grabbing the whiskey glass that was on his desk.

“Well? Are you?” He queried, arching an eyebrow.

“Yes. What do you know about it?” Lucy asked back, starting to approach the desk slowly.

“I know enough…”

Lucy sighed and finally sat down on the chair in front of the desk, crossing one leg over the other “Why are we here? Is this some meeting where you get to the tell us you enjoyed your time while messing with my apprentice?”

The demon looked down at his glass. He kept a very blank expression, looking at Jin and Namjoon and then Lucy again. He finally sat down at the desk, leaning back on the chair.

“I had nothing to do with the torture of the child. And I could care less about the Witches’ and demons’ war. But it’s come to my knowledge what they needed her powers for.”

Namjoon scoffed loudly.

“This is a joke, right? You’re planning on telling us? You’re a demon, dude, if there’s anything we know about each other is that we hate one another.” The vampire said, growing a bit angry as he spoke.

The demon nodded at the statement, agreeing with what Namjoon said.

“You may hate me, true. I, however, feel absolutely nothing towards you, vampire. And about Witches… Well, they could’ve had my head a long time ago and didn’t.”

Lucy felt a light go off in the back of her brain.

“You’re the demon that worked for the Council, aren’t you? Park Daesik.”

That had Jin and Namjoon shift behind her, growing surprised over her statement now. And she could smell their shock when the demon smirked and nodded slowly.

“And you are the White Witch they fear so much.”

Lucy chuckled, shaking her head “Been a while since I was called that.”

“You worked for the Council? How?” Namjoon looked from Lucy to the demon, whipping his head around and looking very confused.

“A story for some other time, Joon. I’ll explain later.” Lucy dismissed, getting up and walking to look around the office space “So, what? You’re here to help us too?”

“If that’s what you want to call it. It’s not on my best interest the purposes of the Nidhögg clan. So you could say I’m protecting my best interests.”

“And what is your best interest? Just out of curiosity, my man.” Namjoon asked, sarcasm having him smirk a little.

Daesik smirked for the first time, a darker look playing in his eyes.

“See, I’m trying my best to not get involved in your war. Like I said, I couldn’t care less if you killed each other. I’ve had my fair share of that, in past lifetimes. Right now, all I want is to keep doing my work here, mind my own business while not giving a shit about you. But it gets difficult when some little idiot decides to mess with affairs that don’t concern him.”

There was a few moments of quiet, while everyone digested what the demon had said. But Lucy was the one to break the moment.

“And what affairs are those?”

The demon placed the cigar between his teeth while he went for a drawer on his left. He rummaged around and then brought out a file, throwing it on top of the desk, where Lucy could reach for it.

“The Náströg Enterprises is, on the outside, a marketing company, buying other smaller companies to make profit out of them and then sell at the highest bidder when they are no longer profitable. They seem to be using the contacts of said smaller companies to then go around their drug business.” Daesik said, going back to holding his glass and swirling the ice cubes around.

“And the company is run by the Nidhögg clan, isn’t it?” Jin asked, going to the file and starting to go through the papers.

“Yes… and some really dumb humans that like to meddle with what they shouldn’t. The usual.” Daesik continued “They’re trying to have as much control over the drug lords and demon clans as they can. The company is just another way to make money and keep a disguise.”

Jin absorbed all the information, still looking down at the papers.

“I’m sorry, I fail to see where this involves my apprentice?” Lucy finally cut in, her tone growing a little colder.

Daesik blew out a final puff of smoke and put out the cigar on the ashtray before leaning back on the leather chair and resting his hands on the arms rests.

“Your child’s powers will be used to perform a ritual.” He announced bluntly.

Lucy tensed, a feeling of dread settling on her stomach and growing into an ice cold ball of fear. Demons performing rituals was a rare thing, but not that strange. They could do it, of course. They were created through the bad, corrupted feelings of humans and Witches. Some demons had been humans once and female demons had been Witches that ended up in the wrong path… It wasn’t impossible for them to practice magic.

But what sort of ritual would they be performing?

“What ritual is that.”

It wasn’t actually a question. More of a demand. And the demon didn’t bother beating around the bush.

“They wish to awaken the Fallen One.”

The temperature dropped drastically and Namjoon looked back to Lucy in time to see icicles forming in the air around her, the ground beneath her feet freezing slowly in a circle around her.

“They wish to what?” She breathed out, anger making her eyes lit up in a haunting white and her tattoos glow alike.

Raksha appeared beside her, a little bigger than usual and with her head low, and walking in a circle around Lucy. Namjoon was scared shitless. He knew Lucy was quite menacing, but this was straight up terrifying. Back home, Raksha was sweet and much gentler. Almost like a dog would be. The big, white wolf would spend long hours watching over Amelia in the garden, sometimes with Lucy in the library. She had even started to spend more time with Hoseok, who was now much more accustomed with Lucy’s familiar. Namjoon even liked to play with the wolf sometimes.

Now, Raksha was almost double the size and her fur was spiking up in her neck and back, while a snarl made her massive, white teeth appear.

“The Fallen One. The leader of the clan wishes to awaken her.” Daesik repeated, not seeming too bothered with the fact that big wolf could pounce on him anytime, now.

Jin and Namjoon looked at each other, as if trying to figure if any of them knew what that meant. And seeing as they were both looking lost, none of them knew what the awakening of the Fallen One was supposed to mean.

“They can’t.” Lucy growled, approaching the desk horrifyingly slow.

“With the right assets, they can. Right now, they already have the girl’s powers. I believe all they need now is Witch’s blood. And seeing your apprentice ran away from them, they are now trying to get another.” Daesik replied, seemingly relaxed on his chair.

“Uh… Don’t take me as the dumb one, my guy, but why don’t you want the… Fallen One to awaken?” Namjoon suddenly asked, leaning a little towards the demon and still looking lost.

“The Fallen One was once a Witch who messed with what she shouldn’t. A long story that I will let Lucille explain to you. My interests don’t lay in her awakening simply because she owns the power to control demons by feeding on their blood and magic. You have to excuse my wish to remain uncontrolled by such a creature.”

Daesik went back to focusing on Lucy again. The tall woman was calmer now, the ice subsiding slightly. Her familiar, though, was still circling around the office, throwing menacing looks at the demon.

“This warehouse, here in the papers. Is this their hideout?” Jin interrupted, pointing to a specific place in one of the papers and looking to the demon.

“Yes, but not where they will be performing the ritual. That I have not been notified of. If you are going to check it out, I suggest tonight. The leader should be there as well. He’s the one in possession of your apprentice’s powers.”

“What is your role in all of this, by the way? Why are you involved with them?” Namjoon asked, narrowing his eyes at the demon, not trusting him still.

“They wanted to use my club as a trading point to their drug business. I didn’t have much choice but to agree. My clan is long gone and I had no intention of making a war of this as well.”

“So, by helping us, you help yourself.” Jin concluded, closing the file.

Daesik nodded once in agreement, confirming it. Of course… He wouldn’t be doing this just for sole of helping a guy out. It was also sort of strange his interaction with Lucy. He knew her actual name, Lucille, and seemed to know more than he let on, too.

Outside, in the VIP area, the rest of the group was just sitting around, waiting for Lucy, Jin and Namjoon to come back out. Mina was leaned on Jimin, now, seeming a bit bored, while Jimin, Taehyung and Yoongi had started to talk among each other, mostly to distract the gloomy Jungkook.

At some point, Emily sighed and actually grumbled.

“They’re taking too long.”

Mina huffed and stretched her arms before looking at her watch.

“It’s been literally ten minutes, woman, give them time.” Mina said, frowning and looking at her sister.

Emily huffed in annoyance and leaned back, clicking her tongue.

“Oh, this reminds me. Since you’re bored and all, why don’t you guys tell us about breaking into the Romanov palace, huh?” Yoongi suddenly said, with Emily tensing a bit and looking away from her sister.

Mina pressed her lips together, trying to hold her laughter in.

“What do you guys know?” She asked, batting her eyelashes together and trying to play innocent.

“That you broke in there the same way you walked in here.” Taehyung spoke, now curious about the conversation as well.

Emily chuckled darkly, while Mina straightened herself on the couch she was sitting on.

“So, this happened when we went to Russia for a little while. Because we don’t age, we have to move around, and all.” Mina started “Lucy knew a Witch in the Russian court, so we ended up being invited to a lot of their parties and such. I tell you, man, the Tsar knew how to throw a motherfucking party! Those were the best parties I had ever been to!”

“Oh!! Remember when Alexandra got pissed drunk at one of those parties? We had to carry her to her room and then get her undressed?” Emily said, perking up in her seat beside Yoongi.

Mina laughed, nodding.

“And a servant thought we were trying to take advantage of the Empress.” Emily shook her head, rolling her eyes.

“But anyway! We managed to get friendly with the Tsar’s daughters and they were all pretty cool. Anastasia was hilarious, to be honest- “

“Anastasia was a fucking hazard!!” Em interrupted, trying not to laugh.

“She used to play pranks on everyone. Even Em. Maria was much more calm and sweet. Then Tatiana was the girly one, but kind of stern. And Olga… well, she was the more independent type, I guess? A bit stern like her father, but very beautiful. They all were!”

“I can’t believe you met the Romanovs.” Taehyung said, smirking a bit in surprise.

“Well, yeah, but dear Em, here, had to go and grow a crush on Olga!” Mina said, shaking her head at her sister.

“Like I said, she was hot.” Em shrugged.

“We sneaked out of the chateau we were staying in and went to the palace. Our house was part of the palace grounds, anyway, since we were being treated like part of the court. I seduced one of the guards and he let us in!”

“Why, though?”

“Mina met one of the girl’s cousins the day before and he was staying at the palace.” Emily smirked while watching her sister.

“Yeah, but I didn’t find him because Anastasia found me in the halls. So I went to the nursery to hang out with her.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened “Oh, shit! You didn’t actually- “

“Christ, no! The girl was literally a kid, sixteen, mate! We just hung out! She liked music and was very talkative, so I literally didn’t even mind staying there and talk with her most of the night.”

Taehyung smiled a bit at that. He seemed to be the most interested about the history part of things.

“Were you there before shit hit the fan?” He asked, frowning a bit.

“No, this was a while before. But we all got kind of sad when we found out. It’s not like we could do much to help them, anyway. Lucy always told us we couldn’t meddle with political matters.” Emily said, her blue eyes turning a bit sad when remembering the family’s fate.

“That night you snuck in. The guards or servants never found you?” Jungkook finally voiced, now seeming a bit more distracted.

“Well, they sure as hell couldn’t find Em, she had her face between Olga’s legs!”

Yoongi straight up choked on the drink he had ordered a few moments ago, the alcohol burning his throat while he coughed and tried to take deep breaths before looking at Emily, who was holding back her laughter.

“For real?” He asked, completely stupefied over the information.

Taehyung and Jungkook snorted and started laughing, Taehyung shaking his head.

“Oops!”

“Oh, by the way. Mina?” Jungkook dipped his head to look past Jimin and at Mina, who perked up and hummed in response “I've been meaning to ask you something… Does Amelia sing?”

Mina smiled for a second and was about to open her mouth to answer when she was interrupted by Lucy’s voice behind her.

“Looks like we have some place else to be at.” The white haired Witch said, her face even more stern and cold than before.

“What?” Emily asked, getting up and frowning when she saw the demon come out of the office and start to move towards the stairs to make his way down “Uhm… excuse me, demon dude is still alive.”

“He tipped us off on where the Nidhögg clan's headquarters is. He's helping us out.” Jin explained.

Everyone looked at Jin like he was the Antichrist for a hot second there.

“Helping us?” Taehyung finally said.

“Yeah. And the best part?” Namjoon smirked “Lucy knows the motherfucker.”

~ Sass 😘 [The second book of this series is murdering my butt...]