21. The Smile Behind the Curtain
There were many advantages to being underestimated.
People mistook Alastor’s smile for theatrics. For nostalgia. For a relic of an older Hell that no longer mattered. They saw charm and assumed distraction. Politeness and assumed weakness.
It made watching them fall apart so much more satisfying.
Vox’s broadcast still echoed faintly through the city, replayed on screens large and small, dissected by commentators who believed they understood power because they could measure it. Alastor stood on a rooftop not far from the studio, hands folded neatly behind his back, listening to the aftershocks ripple outward.
Calder Knox had wanted control.
Instead, Vox had given him humiliation.
“You handled that beautifully,” Alastor murmured, though Vox could not hear him now.
The Tri-Circle would respond. They always did. Calder with force, Marcus with manipulation, Seraphine with silence sharp enough to cut. Alastor had known their names long before Vox ever learned to fear them. Old demons. Ambitious. Careless.
A shadow shifted behind him.
“You’re enjoying this,” Husk said flatly.
Alastor turned, smile fixed. “Immensely.”
Husk took a drag from his cigarette, eyes narrowed. “You’re involved.”
Husk exhaled smoke. “That’s a bad idea.”
Alastor’s smile widened just enough to show teeth. “Most interesting ones are.”
Angel Dust leaned against the rooftop doorframe, arms crossed. “So that’s it then? Radio Demon and TV King sittin’ in a tree?”
Alastor chuckled. “How quaintly reductive.”
Angel grinned. “I fuckin’ knew it.”
Alastor didn’t deny it. There was no point. Denial was for those still afraid of consequence.
“What’s the plan?” Husk asked.
Alastor looked back out over the city. “Protection.”
Angel snorted. “That’s new.”
“Not really,” Alastor replied. “Just selective.”
The hotel had been restless when Alastor returned earlier that evening. Charlie had tried not to stare. Vaggie had stared anyway. Niffty had asked entirely inappropriate questions. Alastor had answered none of them.
He had, however, listened.
The Tri-Circle had been probing more than the Vees. Minor overlords. Independent territories. Anyone who might fold under pressure and offer information.
Which meant Vox was not their only target.
But he was the one that mattered most.
Alastor did not protect out of sentiment. He protected what he chose to keep. Vox was sharp, volatile, endlessly fascinating. He challenged Alastor in ways most demons could not. Not with force, but with refusal. With cleverness. With desire he did not pretend away.
The communicator at Alastor’s side crackled softly.
“Don’t tell me you’re brooding on a rooftop,” Vox’s voice said. Tired. Wired. Alive.
Alastor allowed warmth into his tone. “I prefer the term strategising.”
Vox huffed. “They’re moving pieces. Val’s pissed. Velvette’s already three steps ahead and won’t tell me shit.”
“As she shouldn’t,” Alastor replied. “Secrets are leverage.”
“God, you’re insufferable.”
“And yet,” Alastor said lightly, “you called.”
There was a pause. A breath Vox probably hadn’t meant Alastor to hear.
“I wanted to know if you were still… in,” Vox said.
Alastor’s grip tightened behind his back.
“I am,” he said without hesitation. “Entirely.”
Another pause. Softer this time.
“Good,” Vox said. “Because they’re coming.”
“Yes,” Alastor agreed. “I know.”
After the call ended, Alastor remained on the rooftop, listening to the city breathe. Somewhere below, Calder Knox was planning his next move. Marcus Bell was whispering poison into willing ears. Seraphine Crowe was watching, patient as a blade held still.
They believed they were circling prey.
They had forgotten what it meant to wake a predator.
Alastor stepped back into the shadows and vanished, reappearing moments later in a quiet corridor deep beneath the city. Symbols glowed faintly along the walls, old contracts humming with recognition as he passed.
He stopped before one sigil in particular.
“Prepare,” Alastor said softly.
The Tri-Circle wanted war.
Alastor would give them a performance.
And Vox, brilliant and reckless and burning bright at the center of it all, would not face it alone.
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I am so sorry, it's been so long. School has started again and I'm trying to find the time. Once everything is settled again then i should be back to writing more. Soryyy
