Chapter 9: A Dress and The Devil in Westhay

A letter appeared at Alix's front step early that morning, not by the courier as none ever came to the little castle, but whoever had delivered it had vanished by the time she opened the door. She lifted the parchment and returned inside, turning it over and over in her hands as she studied it. Quickly, Alix broke the unfamiliar seal and unfolded the parchment when she realized it truly was addressed to her. The parchment itself was blank, but contained within was a piece of cardstock with gorgeous calligraphy detailing the time and location of a party hosted by one of the local nobility. At first glance, Alix was almost certain the invitation had simply somehow been blown onto her step by the wind, but upon checking again it was still her name on the parchment and when her eyes fell on the name of the host, that fantastic dangerous thing called curiosity got the better of her.

Lucius Avel was new to the Westhay area, Alix knew because she made a point of documenting everyone in a given area while residing there, and even without her flawless memory, a name like that would've stuck.

Avel wasn't an entirely common surname on its own and it, paired with a name so close to Lucifer? Normally Alix would be setting out again for somewhere new, but she liked the Westhay area and with her only family living so nearby, she was hesitant to just leave again, instinct and habit be damned.

And so, Alix found herself wearing a gown and standing on the front step of Lord Avel's estate, invitation in hand and a large Hellhound at her side. She knocked lightly on the door, false confidence in her movements that hid the sense of unease she'd begun to feel walking up. It was an instinctual thing, this unease, and try as she might to push it to the back of her mind, it simply wouldn't stay there. The handle turned and Alix almost laughed in her relief as the door opened to reveal a man in a formal uniform rather than an empty hall. With a silent gesture, she sent Keep away from her side, the Hellhound disappearing into the darkness around the estate. The butler said nothing; Keep had moved quickly and silently enough to remain unseen despite his large size.

"Good evening, Miss," he spoke with a professional, carefully measured tone, holding his hand out for the invitation she offered him. "Ah, Miss McÁed," she nodded slightly as he scanned the card, "please follow me." Alix stepped over the threshold, following the butler through the main house and towards the lawn behind it. She heard the music first, the beautiful classical instruments drawing a smile across her lips and lulling her into a sense of calm at odds with the sense of foreboding still nagging at the back of her mind. A few of the guests who loitered near the door turned to see who the butler was escorting in and their eyes widened at the sight of Alix. She paused there, surveying the other guests as more and more eyes turned to her, whispers of "witch" and "monster" drifting to her ears and slowly turning her colder and colder. Then one whispered word reached her and she broke into a broad smile, an almost wicked gleam to her mercury eyes, and that word was "demon". Alix lifted her chin slightly, about to make some smart remark when, perhaps rather luckily, a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Alix!" She started to turn, but before she could move, Adam had appeared beside her, throwing an arm around her shoulders with a drunken grin plastered on his face, "I'm so glad to see you, this crowd is entirely too prudish for my taste," he spoke mockingly as he steered her towards the bar he had no doubt just come from, "You look like you're about to snap." He spoke again, but thankfully he'd had the decency to lower his voice first this time. Alix took a deep breath and let out a long-suffering sigh.

"I need a drink and I'll be fine," she muttered the words before flagging down the bartender and ordering the strongest drink they were offering; she had no pockets for her flask of holy water so the liquor alone would tickle at most, but it was better than nothing. Adam, of course, stood by and watched as she downed it in one go, pride in his gaze enough to make him seem the older of the pair.

"Come, my friend, have another, I'll join you!" He spoke as he ordered another round and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You may have gotten older, kid, but we both know I will drink you under the table if you try to keep up." He waved off her concern and lifted his glass to start chugging so Alix gave him a defeated shrug and turned to her drink.

#

About half an hour later, Adam was barely conscious where he sat collapsed in a chair with his head down on the table next to the piano; by now Alix was fairly certain he'd had enough that he wouldn't be able to lay down without holding onto something. She shook her head as he grumbled something barely coherent about ordering another round, choosing instead to continue playing the jaunty tune he'd talked her into earlier for a little while longer. He'd been right apparently, playing had helped her to relax a little around the other guests and vice versa, but that contentment only lasted until she saw the opalescent glow of a very familiar soul with an unfamiliar face approaching from the other side of the piano.

"Good evening, Miss," the man trailed off as if asking her name, though the look in his void black eyes absent of the divine light in most angels told Alix he had recognized her as well.

"Alixsandra McÁed," she spoke with a charming smile, continuing to play and putting on a show for the other guests despite her instinctive urge to flee, "You must be Lucius Avel." A few of the guests let out muttered disbelief and annoyance at the way she addressed their host; he was a Lord, after all, a man of nobility and Alix was worse than nothing as far as they were concerned, she was pagan, spoke with an Irish brogue, and a nonconformist woman in a man's world—a demon in more ways than one. However, their whispers only caused a smile to tug at her lips; what they didn't know was the pair that stood before them had been married long before humans had evolved, let alone learned complex thoughts; in his eyes, they likely still were. Alix watched him bite down on his temper, her smile beginning to border on something more malicious grin.

"This sort of behavior is why the locals think you a demon, Miss McÁed." She laughed aloud at his lowered voice.

"I assure you, that is not why they think me a demon." As if summoned by the mention of demons, the two hunters that had unintentionally aided Este in her most recent escape appeared behind Lord Avel's shoulder. "And with that, my dear Luci, I fear I really must be leaving." Alix finished her song and stood, turning her back on the outraged Lucifer's gaze to lift Adam to his feet and allow him to lean heavily on her as she coaxed him across the yard and back through the estate.

"Where are we going?" Adam spoke sleepily, the confusion plain across his face.

"I'm not sure yet, kid, but we can't stay here."

"Why not?"

"Hunters showed up," Adam started to laugh and argue that Alix needn't worry about hunters and he'd be fine if she was there, but she didn't give him the chance, "and Lucifer." He sobered up some at that, his brain suddenly focused on ways to flee the country. "I should've left," Alix broke the silence, "I can't afford to be sentimental," her voice was soft as they walked along the city streets. Keep seemed to melt from the shadows nearby and relief flooded Alix as she ran the fingers of her free hand through the Hellhound's dark coat. Adam seemed to start dozing off again leaned against her and she breathed a heavy sigh before lifting him despite his size over her shoulder and making her way home.

#

Normally if Alix decided to visit her family, she'd take the time to walk to the other side of the town, but this was an emergency and she didn't relish the idea of leaving Adam alone longer than she had to. Thus, she closed her eyes after laying Adam on her sofa and focused on the interior of the Horsemen's house. She took one step forward and, to any onlookers, appeared to step through the shadows of her living room and appear in those of her family's, which wasn't all that far from the truth. Her sudden appearance was greeted by yelps of surprise and when Alix opened her eyes to survey the room she found herself with an audience of three of the four residents of the house.

"Jesus Az, you scared us half to death," Warin, a large man with a blindingly perfect politician's smile beneath blood-red hair, spoke knowing full well Daniel wouldn't appreciate the phrase, a mischievous light in his fiery eyes despite the fact his bronzed skin really was a shade or two paler.

"Come on Warin, it's not every day we get a visit from one of the ancients," Fitz said only slightly mocking from tucked into the corner of the sofa next to Warin dwarfed by his presence; he was perpetually trapped in the form of a starving child, this time with thin brown curls and big green eyes in his gaunt face to match the Russian in his accent. Daniel shot them both an icy glare with iridescent eyes before turning to address Alix with an air of seriousness the others hadn't shown.

"What brings you here in such a hurry? I've never seen you shadow walk outside of long-distance travel and fights." She faltered now that she was there, searching for any sign of the missing horseman.

"There's a bit of an emergency…" She trailed off as she turned back to Daniel, "Where's Alter?" Daniel frowned at her words but didn't press just yet.

"He was upstairs sleeping off a bad day but now that you're here, he should be down any—" The sound of the door opening cut him off and a young, sickly boy appeared on the stairs, his eyes sunk deep into their sockets and his pallor closer to that of a corpse.

"Az," Alter's voice rasped softly, his pale blue eyes widening slightly when he confirmed it was her, "what are you doing here so late?" Alix took a deep breath, seeing no point in beating around the bush.

"Lucifer is here in Glastonbury." The room went silent and cold at Alix's words, "He finally caught up," her voice was quieter this time and after a moment she seemed to physically break, dropping her head into her hands. Daniel began to approach her, but stopped before he got close; he'd seen the room flicker. That was the problem with Alix, she'd bottle up her pain until she'd crack, and when Alix cracked, so did the Moira, the veil between this world and the next. The darkness in the room was growing, like a living thing feeding off what little light the lamps provided, and along with it, an icy film began to spread from where she stood as the pressure of the room mounted.

"Az?" Daniel spoke gently as the darkness behind Alix began again to flicker, this time the image clear enough for them to recognize it as somewhere in Hell. "Azrael," worry began to fill Daniel's voice as he recognized Hell's empty throne room and he and the other three Horsemen backed away from their former home. It was the fear in his voice, the wariness in the eyes of those Alix considered family that brought her back from the edge this time.

She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she ran long pianist's fingers through her raven hair. "Az." Daniel's voice, calm and soothing again, broke the silence and Alix's mercury eyes snapped to him as the room stabilized, all traces of Hell vanishing with the dark and the cold as it got easier to breathe. "You should pack," she opened her mouth to argue, but there was still fear in some of their eyes and after Alix had spent so many years running away to protect them, she couldn't bring herself to argue when she saw it.

"I need to go," she spoke quietly, unable to voice what was going on in her head. I'm afraid… I don't want to be alone again… and underneath it all, I'm so tired of running… Daniel started forward, reaching out to her as if hoping to be a source of comfort, but Alix stepped back into the darkness, an immense pain in her eyes as the shadows swallowed her whole and transported her back to a home she'd soon have to abandon a second time.