Chapter One
Romania, April
Oftentimes the greatest of men, the biggest visionaries, were the most misunderstood. They were painted as villains, feared and reviled, when in fact they were heroes. It was this simple truth that forced Belpheg to push forward when his deteriorating body longed to quit. Nothing mattered but his mission. Once it was complete, the worlds as everyone knew them would be changed. And he would again be whole.
But first he had to put his plan into place. He needed to gather the men who would aid in his objective. Which meant breaking one of them out of the most secure prison in all the dimensions.
No small feat, but he had a secret weapon.
Me.
Belpheg would normally never attempt what he was about to do in the light of day, but it mattered little considering where they were: a narrow patch of land nestled deep in the forest off the Appalachian Trail. Even if a random hiker had stumbled into this area, they would never see the area where Belpheg stood, because it was hidden by a powerful glamour that only Otherworlders could see. All interdimensional portals were masked this way, and this one was no exception, despite the fact that it had been created in secret by a disgruntled Council employee. Rumors of such a portal abounded in New York City, but its location was a well-kept secret.
How lucky for him that one of his now-deceased lackeys, Leviathos, had discovered its location.
The hidden portal was how he’d made the move from his dimension to Earth just a few weeks ago. He missed his home dimension of Faelan, but this godforsaken world held the eleven men he’d collected for his centering ritual, along with the handful of other minions he’d hired. Besides, the beauty of the expansive Neo-Renaissance castle he’d purchased in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania did much to ease the pain of leaving behind his old, familiar world.
“Ready?” he asked the hubrin demon he’d brought on to assist him.
The demon nodded. “Yes.”
When Belpheg stepped into the portal, his legs gave an unexpected shake. Gritting his teeth, he rode out the temporary wave of weakness. His damn body was growing weaker by the moment, too feeble to contain his impressive powers. Which was why he needed to act now.
Steeling his breath, he waited for his assistant to enter the portal before speaking the coordinates for the Council headquarters, located between planes. Since the Council controlled all interdimensional travel, entry into its headquarters was only supposed to be accomplished by Council permission. Lucky for him he had an alternate method.
The only problem was that the Council was now aware of the portal’s existence, if not its location. Leviathos had used it several months ago to steal the Book of the Dead, an ancient book containing a spell to create a zombie army. Then the stupid idiot had gotten himself killed. The book had been destroyed, but ever since then, the Council kept a contingent of guards stationed in front of the portal leading into the headquarters…which made what he was about to do a little bit trickier.
Thank goodness he had a little help from the inside. Men were all too easy to bribe these days.
Belpheg pulled a golden orb about the size of a baseball out of one of the pockets of his robe and held it out to his assistant. “Remember to do as I instructed.”
“Yes, Belpheg.” His assistant’s arm shook as he clutched the orb loosely in his hand.
“Try not to get yourself killed.” The portal shimmered and the shift in pressure momentarily sucked the air from their lungs. Belpheg forced his traitorous body to stand firm. He could collapse once he’d accomplished his mission.
A second later, they landed at the entrance to the headquarters, a four-story stone fortress plunked onto a floating piece of reddish rock in an otherwise dark, landless world.
The guards posted in front of the portal snapped to attention with startled looks on their faces. Belpheg counted ten…no, twelve of them.
The guards lifted their weapons—high-powered rifles that shot ribbons of energy instead of bullets. Smart move on the Council’s part. Bullets wouldn’t necessarily kill an Otherworlder, but if the energy their weapons emitted hit him, it would block his abilities long enough for them to take him down.
“Stop right there,” one of the guards shouted. That was all the warning Belpheg got before the guards shot their weapons.
Belpheg lifted his hand, and an answering stream of power poured from his fingers. It collided with the energy from the weapons, neutralizing it.
“What the fuck?” one of the guards said. His brows furrowed, and he briefly lowered his weapon to examine it before lifting it for another round. Belpheg hit him with a second shot of energy, sending him tumbling off the floating piece of rock.