It took Sal a full hour to get dressed, Lucifer kept on pointing out all his fashion hazards and inappropriate colour combinations and Sal wondered internally what was so wrong with a simple t-shirt and jeans.
At the end of the day Lucifer had chosen a white shirt, black ripped jeans and sneakers with a black leather jacket for Sal.
"I feel like a biker" said Sal.
Lucifer smiled and stood from Sal's bed, no creases or wrinkles left behind to indicate anyone had sat there.
"You look splendid" he said. "Now let's go"
"Where are we going?" asked Sal.
"You will know soon enough" said Lucifer.
"That's not an answer" Sal said.
For a second Lucifer's eyes flashed with impatience, then he took a deep breath and his eyes softened.
"Salome, just trust me" said Lucifer, he stretched out his hand, "I am only here to help"
Sal hesitated, looking at the pale outstretched hand, and then took it. The softness surprised him, so much so that it made him shiver, he couldn't quite place the words to describe how it felt to hold the devil. Lucifer's hand was soft and welcoming, comfortable, but it was cold, like his bones were made of ice itself.
Lucifer smiled and then he stretched his wings, the large white wonders filled the room with light and then they fell down on Sal, engulfing him and blinding him with darkness.
***
It was tiring, Bloom thought, watching mortals argue. It had always been an unnecessary activity for her, why try to speak your opinions so loudly, why must they all talk at the same time, and why did they argue about the littlest things.
Like paper.
"I can't believe you burnt the note!" exclaimed Katarina.
"Of course I burnt it" said Casmir.
"Could you at least tell me why?" said Katarina.
"Cause we didn't need it" said Casmir, like it was obvious.
Bloom was getting very tired of listening to Casmir and Katarina argue, at first it was entertaining, but it had been going on for hours now. The shouting, the bickering. Why couldn't mortals use their time for better things?
Reading, for example, was an efficient, useful way to spend your time.
Bloom suddenly missed her parents, they would have silenced these two with a clap from their hands. It was how they'd settled arguments between her and Melchior when they were children. Her mother would smile wickedly and her father would speak warmly, and despite their contrasting characters they were perfect for each other, and sometimes they were even the perfect parents.
Until they weren't.
They'd changed, drastically, and now to Bloom anything was better than home.
Home meant captivity, home meant heartache, and home meant a responsibility she wasn't ready to accept.
But still, home wasn't loud. Not like this.
"We could have used it to find him" said Katarina.
"And what makes you think he wants to be found" said Casmir.
Good point. Bloom thought.
"This hunt was important to him, he wouldn't just abandon it"
"Yeah but you made him to", blurted Casmir, "you just had to put your insecurities out there, you just had to push him away"
Oh dear.
"I didn't trust him" defended Katarina.
"And you couldn't keep that information to yourself?, you just had to tell him to his face, didn't you?"
Katarina fought for an argument, but Casmir was shouting louder than before, his voice towering over hers with every single syllable.
"You don't trust anyone, not Sal, not me, not anyone" said Casmir, his voice brimming with different emotions, emotions that Bloom understood perfectly but hoped she'd never relate to, raw emotions never did anyone good. "This is what you do to everyone around you, your friends, your family, you drive them away and then you search for their forgiveness"
"That is not fair" Katarina yelled, then her voice went down several decibels, quieted by tears. "You don't know how hard it's been, without you, all of you"
Casmir didn't seem to care, his eyes were a bright red now, his fangs growing.
"How could I?, you're the one who avoided me after becoming this big shot vampire hunter, and then the one time you reach out you abandon me once again, it's just this constant back and forth with you Kat, you bring people in and you leave them to rot, you get their assurance and never give yours, you take them in and then you give them up just like that"
"You said you forgave me, I explained that it wasn't that simple"
"It never is, is it Kat?"
Katarina was about to reply when Melchior came barreling down the stairs wearing his armour backwards.
Thank Neptune.
"Casmir, I'm afraid I may have overexaggerated my ability to uhm "gear up", I request your assistance please, that is if you're not too busy" said Melchior.
Casmir sighed and closed his eyes, when he opened them they were silver again and had softened considerably.
"I'm coming" he said. He shook his head and cast Katarina one last disappointed look, then he moved to the stairs, the sounds of his steps reducing until they were heard no more.
For several seconds the living room was quiet.Then Katarina screamed a loud, ear splitting "fuck!", and plopped down loudly on the sofa, her dark blue hair frayed across the gray pillows like spilled ink.
There was a worry in her eyes, one that Bloom had seen in the eyes of many Fey. She had her suspicions, but she decided to ask, just for the fun of it.
"You have fallen for Salome, haven't you?, that is why you care so much for him" asked Bloom.
Katarina looked at Bloom, dark eyes shielding her emotions, but Bloom could see what many other Shaded beings couldn't, her sight transcended the Shade, it saw the affairs of the heart.
"I have…and I am not supposed to" said Katarina.
That was an answer Bloom hadn't expected.
"Why?" She asked.
Katarina never answered, she looked up at the chandelier, eyes scanning the candles as if they were the most fascinating things in the world.
Bloom hadn't been expecting an answer, and she'd be fine if she never got one. They had only just met and Bloom understood that Katarina kept secrets even from those she loves.
"He will come back" said Bloom.
Katarina scoffed and faced Bloom again, her cheeks were bright pink, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
Mortals, they were so emotional, it was almost repulsive, even though Bloom wished she could feel as much as they did.
"Thanks but, you don't have to try and make me feel better" Katarina said.
"I am Fey Katarina, I do not care about your feelings" she said with a scoff, "I speak facts and truth, he will be back"
Katarina turned from her and faced the ceiling once more.
"And why is that?"
Bloom leaned back into the sofa and closed her eyes, tracing the bangles on her hand with her fingers.
"Because he cares for you, and your silly brother, never have I seen such a mortal that loves so fast, so strong" said Bloom.
I pity him.
***
When Lucifer uncovered his wings Sal was unsure where they were. The streets were noisy even at this hour of the night, yellow taxi's sped by, tires shreeking as some of them came to speedy stops, there were lights everywhere, shining from jumbotrons and billboards and restaurants and streetlights, as if the city was trying to prove a point to the dimly lit sky above with nothing but a star or two winking in and out of sight. It was when Sal saw the building piercing the sky in front of him that he realized where they were.
"Is that the Empire State Building?, are we in New York?" asked Sal.
Lucifer nodded, looking at a passing minotaur shedim and wondering why it was there.
"Are we going in?" asked Sal.
Lucifer turned to Sal still looking confused, then he seemed to realize something and nodded, then walked forward. Sal, not wanting to be left in a city he'd been to only once, followed diligently.
They walked into the Empire State Building, pushing the revolving doors and walking into an air-conditioned lobby.
The lobby was empty save for the guard at the front desk who was sleeping, his head leaned back and his ears plugged. Sal and Lucifer went straight to him and Sal dinged the bell at the front desk.
The guard, whose name was Ted according to his name tag, sat up immediately as the bell rang and faced Sal.
"How can I help you?" asked Ted, he seemed not to have noticed Lucifer standing by Sal's side. Sal wondered if Ted was mortal or if Lucifer was just deeply Shaded.
Probably the latter.
"Say your name" said Lucifer.
"Salome Markson" said Sal.
Ted squeezed his eyebrows in confusion, Sal saw that his ears were pointed very slightly at the tips.
"Your other name Salome" said Lucifer lazily.
Sal sighed, he didn't know that name, he didn't want it, but if that was the key to finding out the truth he'd use it.
For now.
"Salome Nightshade" said Sal.
Ted's eyes widened in shock, then he nodded and gestured to the elevator.
"I'll inform them of your arrival Mr Nightshade" said Ted.
Sal nodded, a bit confused as to why Ted said his name with so much reverence and importance. He walked to the elevator, Lucifer by his side and then after pushing the up button waited for the elevator car.
"I'm so nervous" said Sal.
"Relax, I assure you the Shemer don't bite, at least not all of them" said Lucifer.
"Not helping" Sal said, "but I've heard of the Shemer, I don't really know who they are though, I've only ever heard of them from Katarina and Casmir"
"You wouldn't, there are so many things you don't know about yourself, hidden things" said Lucifer, then he smiled sweetly. "But you will find out soon enough"
"You keep saying that, why can't you just tell me" said Sal.
Lucifer's smile grew as he precariously examined his nails.
"Because you'll find out soon enough"
Sal rolled his eyes and faced the elevator, watching the numbers slowly creep lower and lower.
"You won't be there with me, will you?"
Lucifer sighed and turned to Sal, remorse written all over his ageless face.
"I apologize Salome, you must face this part of your journey alone, at least for now" he said.
He put a cool hand on Sal's shoulder, Sal couldn't help shivering again.
"I'll just give you this piece of advice, the gods, they will only tell you half the truth and let you figure the rest out yourself, nothing is as it seems until you have all the pieces Salome, remember that" said Lucifer.
Sal nodded and then heard the ding of the elevator, he turned to it, watching as the metal doors slid open.
"Thank you Lucifer" said Sal.
But there was no reply this time, Sal turned to see nothing but wisps of white light left behind where Lucifer had stood, the place on Sal's shoulder he'd touched was still cold, as if his hand was still there.
Sal sighed and then stepped into the elevator.
He looked back once more, just in case Lucifer was still there, but there was no smirking angel waiting for him outside the elevator, he was on his own.
Sal didn't know which button to push so he pushed one randomly.
"20th floor here I come"
The elevator groaned to life and carried Sal up.
His heart thumped unsteadily against his chest, his palms sweaty from anxiety, he looked at the numbers as they took him higher and higher, closer to the truth about who he was, who he was supposed to be.
Sal assumed it was his nervousness that made it feel like the elevator was rumbling, but then the numbers he'd been watching so carefully began to change, shifting from digits to letters, not in regular English language .
Greek letters spelled out above him and Sal could tell immediately what it said.
Shemer.
The elevator shot up like a rocket, without warning Sal was pushed to the ground, the pressure rising as the elevator rose. It was like a feeling of too much weight pressing down on his back.
Then suddenly, just as abruptly as it started, it stopped.
Sal got up from the floor breathing heavily, adrenaline buzzing through his veins, and then the elevator door dinged open.
He got to his feet as the metallic doors parted, pushing his hair to the back of his head and straightening his jacket, he braced himself, only half ready for what was to come.
He was met by another lobby, though it was larger than the one downstairs, there were people here as well, so many people, but they were less noisy than the ones downstairs. They all wore armour but these were coloured purple and had silvery metal attached to certain parts of it.
Tunic, thought Sal, that part of his mind that somehow knew things suddenly clicking. The Shemer's tunic.
The people were a mixture of mortal and Shaded beings, Sal saw a few Fey among them as well, were-people and half-shedim hybrids.
All of them walked the same, with authority and self pride, their bodies adorned with accessories and jewelry, necklaces and rings and earrings and bracelets.
Sal walked forward, and he noticed that they all had marks, though none of them resembled the one he had on his chest. The marks these people had were tattoos of plants and flowers, a mortal man with a sunflower on his arm, a female vampire with a chrysanthemum on her chest, a mage with a hibiscus on their forehead.
Sal moved through them, none of them seemed to notice him, they all walked with purpose, time consciousness, efficiency, like they were soldiers.
Sal got to the front desk and was met with a smiling woman, her oxblood skin was unmarked and she had the large pointed ears of an elf.
"Yes sir?" asked the woman.
Salome gulped and licked his dry lips, here goes nothing.
"Hey, my name's Salome…"
"Nightshade?" inquired the woman.
Sal nodded.
The woman gave him a thin blue card and gestured to a tube at one end of the lobby.
"Just walk over there and slide in the card, Mr Rose is waiting for you" said the woman.
Sal nodded, he was confused but he simply did as she asked.
He entered the tube, slid the card in a slot and watched as the lobby disappeared as if glazed over with mist.
There was no hard lurch, no rumbling, no hovering in the air, just a whir and a gentle hum.
The mist cleared and Sal found himself standing in a long hallway lined with wooden doors, he walked out from the tube and the air behind him hissed.
Upon turning the tube was no longer there, instead there was a man standing in it's place.
He looked about forty, with a mop of dark brown hair on his head and a full beard clothing his face, he had kind, thoughtful eyes, brown like coffee powder. His frame was sturdy and the tattoo of a rose on his wrist peeked out from under the sleeve of his tunic that clung to his body, outlining his thick muscles.
He looked at Sal with horror, sadness, worry and heartbreak.
"You should keep that card safe, you're going to need it in the future" said the man, his accent indicated he was a true New Yorker, born and bred in the city. "Oh wow, you look just like her, just like both of them, you've grown so much"
The man stepped forward, his hands raised for a hug but Sal took a step backward, alert and aware till the end.
"Sorry, you probably don't know me, even though I know all about you" said the man as he awkwardly dropped his hands.
"I'm sorry I don't think we've met" Sal said.
"We haven't, not officially anyway" he stretched out his hand and smiled.
"My name is Peter Rose and I'm your uncle"