Alexander woke to a fierce demon wolf with red eyes staring at him. He crawled back, startled, finding himself on his own bed.

  His heartbeat settled, and he recognized the creature in front of him. It was, after all, his and under his complete control.

  The creature was on its feet, wolf ears shifting forward. Its eyes were fixed on the door, lips pulled back to reveal rows and rows of teeth.

  Alex wished that the creature was not so close.

  And as if it had read his thoughts, it immediately shifted back and stood down, eyes still trained on him.

  "Alright," he said.

  A knock echoed on the door.

  Alexander sat up, his head foggy with sleep. A casual look at his watch proved that he had slept longer than four hours.

  "Hey, big guy," Samantha's voice echoed from the other side of the door. "Are you awake?"

  "Yeah." His voice came out deep and rough. He sat up, feeling his head reeling. "Come in."

  Samantha entered and straightened when she saw Fenrir. "Oh. Your pet looks at me like he doesn't like me."

  "Down, Fenrir." The creature settled, still wary. "Is he supposed to like any of us?"

  She walked in and sat on the rolling chair, crossing her legs.

  "I believe this kind of morph can actually end up liking you. And I think he does. I don't know if it's some kind of Stockholm syndrome built into the species. Bigger and smarter demons, not so much."

  "Anyway," Alex said. "Damn, I'm starving."

  Samantha handed him a bottle of water.

  "Thanks."

  "For the thirst. Marion has avoided ransacking your kitchen, out of respect."

  He uncapped it and drained half the bottle in one gulp. He cleared his throat and wiped the sleep from his eyes.

  That was exactly what he needed. His mouth tasted like ash, and his throat felt like the Sahara.

  "She can do whatever she wants, as long as I get to eat. What did I miss?"

  "Not much," she replied, picking up the vinyls on the side table, stopping at a copy of Black Sabbath's first album. "Just another attack from small shoggoths. Thomas and Marion handled them. Killed a bunch of them."

  Alex paused for a moment. "Wanna play some music?"

  "Not right now," she said. "Not the time. But... soon."

  "You like that, huh? I figured you would."

  "Yeah."

  "I'm more of a Creed kind of guy," he said.

  "You look like one," she replied. "I... like this old stuff."

  Samantha moved to the window, pulled the curtain back, and that made Alex flinch.

  He let the light settle on his pupils and leaned back.

  "Anyway," he said, standing up. He fell asleep with his jeans on. On regular days, he'd be disgusted with himself and change the bedding at once. He doubted there would be time for that.

  "So. Are we... gonna go explore the city? I can't just lay down while the people around me are in danger."

  Samantha turned her head just enough to let him see her smirk. "That's actually the plan for today."

  Alex cleared his throat.

  "I get that no one aside from you guys expected demons to materialize, but I can't help saying that this has been handled badly. They should've sent someone. I look through those windows and it looks like I'm in a dystopian video game."

  Samantha's glance was sharp.

  "Who was supposed to send... someone?"

  Alex sighed. She did not need words to make her point.

  "I guess it's up to us, isn't it?"

  She was right about that. Now, Alex himself had been initiated. There was no reason to expect the government to intervene. Somehow, this loose band of sorcerers was the only hope.

  Samantha paused for a moment, then continued: "Sean found that the military's attempt had gone wrong. And I tell you, as a former marine, here in this city they got overrun. The demons are everywhere."

  "More reason for us to go demon hunting."

  "Sure," she said slowly. Samantha looked down for a moment. "Anyway, Marion needs you downstairs. Sean found something, and it's bad. I'll wait for you outside if you need to change."

  Alex walked to the bathroom and washed his face. He stared into his reflection, as if expecting a big change. Perhaps horns or red eyes. But it was the same old him.

  He couldn't quite shake the feeling that it wasn't actually him.

  They descended to the gym. Marion, Thomas, and Sean were gathered around a laptop on the front desk.

  They looked like they'd seen a ghost.

  Chris was awake, sitting on a bench, staring at nothing, but stood up once he saw Alex.

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  "Hey, finally awake, huh!"

  "Chris, good to see you up. How are you feeling, man?"

  "Just happy to be alive!" Chris replied. "My God, things are shitty. I talked to my ex-wife, though. My daughter is safe, thank God, locked in the Swedish Hospital, with some military personnel and half of the army taking care of them."

  "Good to hear that, man. I really hope they stay safe."

  "Yep, the priest is gonna help me get there later today!"

  "So, I guess I won't be seeing you."

  "Nope, wish you the best and that you manage to... I don't even know. Survive."

  Alex turned toward Marion.

  She looked more haggard than before. The dark circles under her eyes had deepened, and her skin had grown paler.

  "Hey, everything good?" Alexander asked.

  Marion pointed to the laptop. "I need you to come and watch something. Beware, it is not for the faint-hearted, but you should know what we're up against."

  Chris stood up. "Alright, guys, I... think you don't need me now. If you don't mind, Alex, I'm gonna go take a shower."

  "Go ahead, man, it's your house."

  Once Chris was gone, the mood grew somber again. Alex could tell the topic would be unsavory.

  Sean turned the screen. It showed a forum. Alexander guessed it had to be on the deep web. The interface was bare-bones, just text and occasional images.

  "This is one of our enemies' communication channels," Sean said. "I've been trying to crack into their network since last night. I got in about an hour ago."

  Alexander leaned in and began to read the posts.

  "So they're... showing coordinates and..."

  "Ritual instructions too," Sean said.

  The first photo showed a warehouse interior, with symbols drawn on the floor.

  And they seemed to be in blood. The image itself made Alex dizzy. The blood had been smeared, forming a star with too many points and raw angles.

  The instructions came with sacrifices. The next thing he saw would have made a tough man faint. He immediately felt his stomach drop, his fists clenched almost involuntarily.

  "This can't be real," he said, feeling disgust and anger.

  Dead children. Sacrificed for evil.

  "There's more." Sean clicked to another thread showing images of different locations, all of them with the same setup, including warehouses, basements, and abandoned buildings.

  "They've been doing this for years," Marion said quietly. "Sacrificing children for their blood, to summon an evil from beyond. That's why the tears opened where they did—major cities with high populations and existing ritual sites."

  He had heard of allegations like that. He knew it might have happened in history and in some cases of serial killers, superstitious folk practices in Third World countries. But this, if real, was proof that it was prevalent.

  "This has been going on for centuries," Thomas said from behind them. "More recently, you must have heard of the satanic panic in the eighties and the nineties. After a few decades, the consensus is that it was hysteria and moral panic—false memories implanted by grifting psychologists. But some of it was real. It is not a single group or order. No, it's the spirit of evil that envelops the world. All of them have been working for this moment."

  "Murdering children..." Alex let out slowly, his fists clenched.

  But Alexander knew deep down. The blood of the innocent was valuable. That taboo and those stories were known across the world, in different cultures and societies.

  This was the darkest kind of magic.

  "Innocence," Marion said. "The innocence and blood of children are precious. And everything you do in this world, whether good or evil, whether to help and save or to destroy someone, has an echo in the worlds beyond. It feeds creatures beyond the veil. This is what makes the deepest demon in hell thrive." She closed the laptop.

  Alex's knuckles were white. He spoke through gritted teeth. "We have to stop them."

  "Indeed," Marion said to Alexander. "You need practical experience—real combat, real binding. Sitting in this gym isn't going to prepare you for what's coming. And it is about time to start stopping these creatures from killing more people."

  "I agree," he said, facing her and looking into her eyes. "What are we waiting for?"

  She crossed her arms and nodded, approval in her eyes.

  "I want you to go to Pike Place Market. About two miles from here; you know it. Sean has tracked a suspected ritual site in the lower levels. The System has designated it as a dungeon."

  Alex raised an eyebrow. "A dungeon?"

  "That's a system term," Sean explained. "It's a concentrated spawn point, with a high density of entities. Also high experience gains for clearing it. And it usually contains resources: magical items, materials, and sometimes artifacts."

  Alex snickered. "You want me to raid a dungeon while the city's burning and children are dying?"

  "Not quite. This is an important target, from where demons might be spawning," Marion said sharply. "The market is close and perfect for training. Go in, clear the entities, bind what you can, kill what you can't. Samantha goes with you."

  Alex looked at the blond sorceress. "Just the two of us?"

  "And your new pet," Marion added. "Samantha's an expert at knife fighting, ex-Marine, you know. Enough magical experience. And you need to start building your collection. One bound entity isn't going to cut it. You need an army, Alexander. And you need it fast. Bind those you can control; destroy those too strong for you."

  Alexander looked at Samantha. She shrugged. "So, big boy, are you ready?"

  "Not ready, but eager, yes I am."

  ***

  Alexander made a quick high-calorie smoothie and downed a can of white Monster, went back upstairs, changed into fresh clothes: jeans, boots, and a dark hoodie. He strapped the axe to his belt and checked his phone.

  There was still barely any signal. The networks were down or overloaded.

  He grabbed his gym bag, emptied it, and started packing a smaller grimoire, chalk, a bottle of water, and a protein bar.

  Fenrir waited by the door. "Ready?" Alex asked.

  The wolf's eyes fixed on him, steady, not at all like a friendly Golden Retriever; more like a wary wolf that somehow respected him. If he weren't a dog person, he'd probably be freaked out. Its tail, however, flicked in agreement.

  They returned downstairs. Samantha had changed into tactical pants, combat boots, and a vest with multiple sheaths. She had four knives visible, probably more hidden. He could still see the Iron Maiden t-shirt underneath it, and her headphones were blasting Dio-era Black Sabbath at full volume, banging her head to its rhythm.

  She looked at him and pulled the beats down.

  "You've got quite the bloodlust, don't you?" she said slowly. "I see it in your eyes. You want revenge for what you saw there."

  "It's horrible. I... am kind of pissed at Sean and Marion for letting me see that. I've seen war footage and stuff, but... this hit even worse."

  "I get it, big guy, but don't let it get to you. We've seen messed-up stuff."

  Alex sighed.

  "I guess I can't blame the demons for being demons. But to think that people did that, in my own country, and people... I usually don't talk like this in front of women, but I'd tear out their eyes."

  She snickered and sighed. She didn't really address his words, but her reaction showed that she had a lot to say about that.

  "You're a marine, right? Did you serve abroad?"

  Alex saw her swallow, as if dreading the question. "I did. I did some tours in Iraq."

  The way she looked away told Alex that she did not want to speak about it, so he didn't press.

  She looked into his eyes again. "Alright, Tarzan, time to get the job done. Stay close and watch your corners. Don't try to bind anything while there are active threats nearby. And if I say run, you run. Clear?"

  "Yup. Anything else?"

  "Yes. Remember that even though you have these powers now, you're human. The System gives you power, but you can still die. Bullets kill System users. Claws kill System users. Falling from a building kills System users. Don't get cocky."

  "I'll try to remember that."

  They walked down the stairs and stood before the door for more than an instant.

  Knowing he was about to step out was surreal, as if he knew a nuclear bomb had been dropped on the city and destroyed it. Seattle had been a world-class prosperous city until less than a day ago.

  Then he opened the door and stepped out. Fenrir took three strides ahead of him and stood still, as if waiting for a command.