Daegelus | Volume One: Subject 0333

Chapter Thirty-Six | August

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As Elijah led the way through the narrow, mirror-covered passage, several new questions were added to his ever-growing list: why could Zoe see illusions? Why could her father? And what else was she hiding? He didn't know too much about demons other than what he'd learned through Lyca Corp.'s twisted lessons and what he discovered while killing and escaping, and he admittedly wanted to know more about not only who and what he was but his species, too because clearly, not all demons were the same.

He glanced back at Zoe, who was following behind him beside Jake. "Do all demons have some sort of visual power?" he asked.

"No, it's only a rare bloodline thing," she said.

"So, everyone in your family can see illusions?"

Zoe shook her head. "No, that's just my Papa...and now me, too. My Papa has a few different visual abilities, and my siblings and I all got one of them. The asmodi demons also sometimes develop like...a fraction of an ability, but not always."

"Can't your brother like...heal people or something?" Jake asked.

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "He can heal anything so long as it wasn't caused by silver or deridiuz."

Elijah frowned. "What's deridiuz?"

"It's um...like silver but for Ancients."

The demon nodded and set his eyes on the end of the passage. "What about your cousin, Lucian? Does he have one of these visual powers?"

"No, but his father was an angel, so he can see astral Caeleste."

"Dude can see like ghosts and shit," Jake added.

As he reached the end of the passage, Elijah pushed the wooden door open and stepped out onto a busy sidewalk. He waited for Zoe and Jake to join him, and then he led them through the crowd and over to a large glowing amber crystal. "Where do we find a pilot?" he asked, looking at Jake.

"Uh...from what I've heard, the kind of people we're looking for usually hang around in like...bars and stuff. Loud places with lots of people to cover behind, you know?"

Elijah scoured the street, but he couldn't see any bars. They were going to have to head deeper into the underground city.

"What if we can't find anyone?" Zoe asked as Elijah led the way across the road.

"We'll find someone," Jake said confidently. "I mean look at this place. That guy's probably selling organs," he said, nodding to a cloaked man lurking in an alley between two market stalls. "She's definitely selling plasma," he muttered, pointing to a woman surrounded by crimson-eyed vampires. "And that dude...I mean, come on," he snickered, gesturing to a man on the other side of the street; he had his hood up, looking around cautiously, and when people passed, he discreetly handed them something while taking cash from them.

Elijah continued leading the way up the street, and when they reached the end, he chose to turn left, where a lot more commotion was coming from. He followed the sidewalk, eyeing each building they passed; most of them were take-out places or stores selling alchemy items and potions.

"What about that place?" Zoe asked, pointing to a small casino.

"No," the demon muttered, turning right at the end of the street. "Anyone we find in there is either going to be in debt, an alcoholic, untrustworthy, or all three."

"Or we could find someone real smart," Jake suggested.

Elijah didn't reply. He set his sights on a tavern sitting between a pizza place and a loan office. That might work. "This way," he said, crossing the road.