Change - Chapter 2

This is the first book in The Godsverse Chronicles, a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.

Sadie was a changeling, which made her an excellent thief. She built a good life for herself off her incredible talents. After amassing a small fortune in the criminal underworld, she was ready to retire and live a simple life with her girlfriend.Unfortunately for her, Sadie had a weakness for gobs of money made quickly. So, when a job came along that promised her $250,000 for a few days of work, she couldn’t say no.All she had to do was track down an impossible-to-find dagger before the end of the week and she would be rolling in dough.How hard could it be? Besides, she was the best…but even the best fall down sometimes.Her mission will take her across the Cold War-era world and into the seedy underbelly of the demonic weapons trade. Can she avoid being caught by the most dangerous magical creatures in the world as she tracks her prize, or will she slip up and destroy her perfect little life?Find out in the thrilling prequel novel to Magic, and an exciting introduction to The Godsverse Chronicle universe, in Change.

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Demons were notoriously hard to corner alone, as they were both incredibly strong and infinitely cagey. The most powerful demons in Hell stayed that way through conniving, back-stabbing, and deception. Those that made it up to Earth succeeded in the same way, except that they preyed on humans instead of others of their kind.

Ja’rel’vre went by Jared on the surface, and a selection of weaker demons and other monsters from Hell guarded his compound. On Earth, they masked themselves through a series of charmed objects and spells that allowed them to blend into humanity, but there was always a hint of sulfur in the air when they were around.

Usually, I would follow Jared around for a month, learning their habits before I pounced, but Ollie gave me an impossible deadline. Every minute counted, so I had to take some shortcuts that would normally be too risky for me. I liked to work in the background, only slipping in and out of a situation when I could go undetected. That was impossible in this case, but half a million dollars was enough to retire comfortably, and so risks I would normally steer away from were completely in play as long as it saved me time.

Still, unless I had a death wish, I couldn’t simply waltz into Jared’s compound and attack them head-on. Luckily, his dossier told me he ate out every night at a little French bistro a few miles from his house. That was as good a place to ambush him as any. I waited for his limo to leave the gated drive that guarded his mansion and sped ahead to make sure I was there when Jared entered the restaurant.

When I arrived at Chez Antonius, I saw a pretty, young waitress with a spiteful face smoking a cigarette out behind a dumpster next to the restaurant. Her eyes were light brown and with thick bangs. Half her hair was pink, and the other half blue. She stood out from everything around her and was easily the most beautiful girl I ever saw, outside of my Leigh.

I spent a little time as a waitress in my youth, and while I hated the job, the wait staff was a perfect way to infiltrate a secret meeting, so it paid to keep my skills sharp.

“Excuse me,” I said in perfect French. Learning languages had been a hobby of mine for years, and I mastered three dozen languages and was proficient in twenty more.

“What do you want?” the waitress growled at me. Her name tag said Claudette.

“I have a proposition for you if you’ll hear it.”

She took a drag of her cigarette. “I am not interested in sex with you.”

“It’s not a sex thing.”

“Then I still want to be alone.”

I pulled a wad of cash out of my pocket. It paid to keep a few thousand dollars handy in local currency. “Are you sure?”

Belgian waitresses made good money, but a hundred thousand Belgian Francs was more than even they made in a night. “You have my attention.”

I waved the wad of cash. “I will give you all this money if you leave now, and don’t come back for an hour.”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “So you want me to get fired, then?”

“Not quite, just disappear into the ether. In an hour, you can come back, and it will be like this never happened, I promise.”

She scoffed. “Matteau is a dick. He’ll chew me out if I leave for ten minutes. It’s nearly the dinner rush.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged as I eyed the limo pulling up and a short, fat man in a three-piece suit waddled into the restaurant, flanked by two gorgeous women on each arm. “But is a hundred thousand francs enough to put up with him chewing you out?”

Her eyes rolled up in her head as she thought about it. “No, but two hundred thousand would.”

That was almost four thousand dollars, more than she probably made in two months. I smiled as I dipped into the reserves in my pocket. “Consider it done. Give me that cigarette and your apron.”

She shrugged and did as she was told. “Whatever.”

“Oh, and tell me about the fat man that just walked inside.”

“He’s annoying, and he’s in love with me. Sometimes I let him feel me up when I need some money.”

That was good. I could use that. “Thank you.”

“Are you going to kill him?” My eyes went wide as she smirked. “I don’t care. I just want to know what is worth two hundred thousand francs for an hour of my time.”

“Just don’t come back for an hour.”

I handed her the wad of cash, and she walked off into the night. I used the cigarette to get the DNA I needed to transform into a perfect replica of the waitress. When I had the apron over my neck, I slid inside the back door. The kitchen was in chaos as cooks moved back and forth between the stoves and the pans, swirling sauces and braising beef. The smell of it made me salivate, but there would be time for that later.

“Where were you?” a tall, grizzled man with a bushy mustache growled as I walked inside. “I said a cigarette break, not an afternoon nap.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied, moving faster. “It wasn’t very busy. I thought I could have five minutes to myself. How silly of me.”

I made the assumption that Claudette would not take any guff from her boss, and from the small smile on his face, I figured I was right. “Jared is back, and you know he only likes you to wait on him.”

I growled, “I will take care of it.”

“Don’t take him to the bathroom like last time, or I’ll have to fire you.”

“Please,” I replied. “You love me too much to fire me.”

“That is where you are very wrong.” He pointed to a tray of hors d’oeuvres, and I picked it up before sliding out of the kitchen and into the front of the house. The tables were dimly lit, and there were very few guests inside, but the ruckus from Jared’s table filled every corner, drowning out the silence. Demons were loud and disgusting.

“Good evening,” I said as I placed down the tray.

Jared slapped my ass, and I just about cut his throat, but I kept my composure and turned to him. “What did I tell you about that?”

Jared smiled. “Only in private?”

My eyes narrowed before I remembered what Claudette had told me. “Are you prepared to put your money where my mouth is?”

 A capricious grin rose on his face. “I have plenty of money, if you will let me use it to find your mouth, I would reward you handsomely.”

I finished putting the last of the appetizers down on the table. “Let me get us a drink, and then I will meet you in the bathroom.”

I brought the tray to the bar and slid it to a young man who looked at me with disgust. “Two limoncellos.”

He turned and grabbed a bright yellow bottle. “You can’t mean to let him—not again. Not after what Matteau said last time.”

I shot a look at him to shut up. “Why do you think he keeps coming here? For the overpriced food or your charming company? No, he comes because I make him come. Don’t forget it.” He handed the drinks to me. “Judge me silently from now on.”

I took the drinks and pulled a small vial out of my pocket. I kept holy water on hand in case I came into contact with any demons. Spraying it into their faces would give you a chance to escape but pouring it down their throat was a quick way to send them into an early grave, and they wouldn’t rematerialize in Hell, either.

I dripped a couple of drops into each drink and watched Jared disappear into the bathroom. I waited a second before joining him. He pulled me close before the door even swung shut, and I swallowed the urge to vomit as the sulfur hit my nostrils. Demons weren’t always disgusting to look at, but Jared was little more than a mass of fat made human, and when he grabbed me, his body undulated like a bowl of Jell-O.

“Come here, my Belgian flower.”

I held my hands into the air. “Ah ah. First, we drink.”

He growled at me, his hot, disgusting breath hitting my face and sending a shiver down my back. “Don’t keep me waiting, ma chérie.”

“Not waiting, just anticipating.” I opened my mouth and downed the drink before holding the other one over his mouth. He smirked devilishly before opening his gullet and letting me pour a drink down his throat. “There we go.”

I slipped out of his grasp and placed the drinks on the counter. By the time I turned back, the tincture had taken effect, and he was on his knees, wheezing. “What—what have you done—”

I turned back into my previous form and smiled at him. “I have a question for you, and if you answer, then I’ll give you the antidote.”

“I’ll kill you!” he screamed.

“You might, and you might succeed, but without the antidote, you won’t even die. You’ll simply cease to be.”

He fell to the ground. “What—what do you want to know? Hurry—hurry!”

“Where is the dagger you stole? The sinewy one made of black metal. And don’t play dumb with me. I know you have it.”

He choked out every word. “Haaad—Had it—I don’t—I don’t have it anymore—”

I snarled at him. “I’m not stupid, demon. I know you don’t have it. I want to know where it went.”

He shook his head fiercely. “I don’t—”

I held up my hand. “You don’t have time to lie. So, tell me the truth, right now. You’re running out of time.”

He coughed, trying to regain his breath. “Kirkorov. The KGB spook. He took it from me. Then disappeared behind the Iron Curtain. I can’t—I haven’t been—” He coughed. “Please, give me the antidote! Please. That is the truth.” 

“I believe you.” I stood up and chuckled. “The thing is, I don’t have it.”

I stepped over him as he flailed on the ground, writhing against his imminent death. I smiled as I passed the bartender, who heard the screams and didn’t know what to do.

“Call an ambulance, I think,” I said as I slipped out the door. It was going to be tough for Claudette, but she could dry her tears on all the money I gave her. 

A scream cut through the air as the bartender’s face dropped. “Did you really—”

But by the time he turned around to look at me, I was gone into the ether. It was about to get messy, and I needed to get gone before all of Brussels was on my tail.

Read the next chapter

This is the first book in The Godsverse Chronicles, a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.

Paid subscribers can access the entire archive of this series from the beginning, along with other series and every article I’ve ever written.

If you are not a paid member, you can read everything with a 7-day free trial, or give us a one-time tip.