As soon as we started on our way back to the Underworld, breathing became easier. The Messenger sat in front of me, but he kept his gaze politely out of the window while I recovered. Eventually, the long strands of hair that hung past my shoulders disappeared, and my claws retreated into their nail bed. Once my skin appeared human and the cuts on my arms started healing, I commented, “Right on time.”

I wasn’t dumb enough to think that he had strolled into the Suspended Hall by coincidence just as I was turning into a puddle on the carpet. The Messenger gave me a sympathetic smile. “Castor contacted me while I was speaking with the investigators. I figured it was time to bring some fresh news to Heaven.”

“Did you know Azrael was working on a replacement?”

“I just heard about it.”

“What the hell is a golem anyway?”

The Messenger shrugged. “From what I heard, it sounds like a doll that possesses some form of conscience.”

Well, that thing was now running around in nature, doing god knows what. I wondered whether the Light Stag would still try to find it to replace me, or if he was going to change plan. I let my forehead rest against the window. “It's just a question of time until the Light Stag comes up with another plan to get rid of me.”

The Messenger frowned like he didn’t know where I was getting at. I finished my thought, “If you’re not careful, you might end up in trouble too.”

He shook his head dismissively. “The Snow Raven won’t let it happen.”

“There’s just so much she can do against Heaven. Anyway, what I mean is, next time, don’t get involved.”

It was hard for me to say that, because just thinking about spending one more minute in the Suspended Hall made me want to throw up. The Messenger smiled in a conciliatory manner, but I knew it was just a façade for his stubbornness, which often doubled up as idiocy.

Up to now, the Messenger had done a good job of staying in everybody’s good grace. He was eager to please, got the job done and was careful with his words. He had no choice because, as someone who worked for both Heaven and the Underworld, demons and angels scrutinized his every move to see whether he favoured one side over the other. If the Light Stag realised he was secretly helping me, then the Messenger would get dragged in this mess as well.

He got out of the carriage first once we reached my apartment and he extended a hand to help me step down. My legs felt a little shaky so I was going to swallow my pride and just grab his forearm for stability. At that moment, the front door opened and Alexandra came running out. “Luca! What happened?”

Ah, crap. Not now. I flitted the Messenger away and ignored Alexandra. I just wanted to go to bed. It was still night and with a bit of luck, I might catch a few hours of sleep before the morning. The first step already felt like a bad idea. On the second one, my vision blurred.

“Luca!”

On the third one, my body gave up and I lost consciousness before I hit the ground.

I woke up to a torrent of light pouring in through a crack between the curtains. The soft surface of my bed did little to appease the pain in my bones. It was still better than lying down in the street, I guess.

I discerned someone standing by the window. I recognised Alexandra just in time to repress an undignified scream of terror. I still screamed inside, though. She probably heard me somehow, because she turned around. “Are you feeling better?” she asked.

“Hmm.” I let her interpret that whichever way she wanted. I wasn’t sure myself.

“What happened?”

“The Light Stag thinks I stole something.”

“Stole what?”

“My replacement.”

“What?”

I rolled on my side to tune Alexandra out. She shouldn’t be asking so many questions while I was still convalescing. “The Light Stag made some sort of creature to replace me.”

“A creature to become the new Soul Collector? What about you?”

I shrugged in the pillow. I should be careful not to say anything confidential or she would leak it all during one of her gossiping sprees around the Capital. “I guess that’s part of his plan to force me to retire. When a demon is replaced, their soul is cleaned and then sent back for reincarnation, just like humans.”

“So, that’s basically an assassination plan?”

I pressed the pillow over my head to block out all the noise she made. Yes, I guess if you squinted hard enough, you could call it an assassination, although in the Light Stag’s psychopathic mind, it probably sounded more like a strategic reorganization of personnel.

There was a knock at the door. Two distinct impacts, just loud enough to be heard in the bedroom. My intuition told me that it must be Castor. He was such an efficient knocker. “Can you answer the door please?” I mumbled to Alexandra.

She took a deep breath. “Come in!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

If she was going to stay here any longer, we needed to have a serious talk.

Anyway, as expected, we met Castor in my hallway. He carried a bunch of flowers that he gave me as he entered. We waited for a bit and once it became clear I wasn’t going to invite him to come in and sit down, he said, “The Snow Raven is deeply sorry for what happened last night.”

The flowers looked like something that had been picked from her garden. What an honour. “Well, she better be,” I answered.

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and noticed Alexandra, who stood close by, trying to intercept scraps of classified information. “Good morning, Alexandra.”

“Hey, Castor,” she replied. Alexandra had really been all over the place in her quest for gossip. She’d even made friends with Castor, apparently. She was bound to be disappointed with this one. People around the Capital typically called him the Ice Cube because he was so stingy with information.

I mean, they didn’t actually call him that, but they could have.

“Is the current housing arrangement to your satisfaction?” he asked Alexandra. “We can help you find something else if the Soul Collector is bothering you.”

I cleared my throat loudly to remind them that I was there, listening to every word. That was pointless. Alexandra just replied, “Thanks, but that’s fine. He’s almost never here.”

I waited in vain for Castor to ask me what I thought of this housing arrangement. Oh, well. Let’s get to the main point. “The Light Stag and the Snow Raven have been talking about replacing me?”

“Although it may seem that this is the case, I can assure you that the Snow Raven formally refused to replace you. We had no idea the Light Stag had commissioned Azrael for a golem with the objective of using it as a new Soul Collector.”

“So, what now? What if they find it? What if they can’t find it?”

“I understand this situation is causing uncertainty on your side. However, for now, we must focus our efforts on finding the golem before it causes any harm.”

Castor was in diplomatic mode. He completely obscured the possibility that there might be someone out there who had stolen the golem with the intention of using it for malicious purposes. I’m sure the Snow Raven had spent most of the previous evening trying to reassure the Light Stag that no demon was out there to get him. If he started to suspect that someone in the Underworld wanted to overthrow him, there would be no end to our grief.

I guess it made sense that the Light Stag suspected me. After all, I dreamed about his downfall on a daily basis. If there was a demon smart and brave enough to devise a plan to make my dream come true, I might want to have a chat with this demon and maybe even offer them a drink.

As much as Castor wanted to pretend the Snow Raven had the situation under control, I knew there was no way this could be the case. Given the current circumstances, I was instructed to make sure the Seer’s successor wouldn’t be left without supervision for extended periods of time. Therefore, instead of taking the day off to rest my mangled body, I took the boat to the human world the same afternoon to go watch over Anna.