The next evening we were in the institute. A lot of people were there. The sirens in my head went off. It never meant something good when so many people came to the conferences. Between all the faces I could make out Alec, Jace, Magnus and Luke. The seelie queen was not there. Izzy already told me that the faeries don't have contact to anyone else anymore. We sat at the big table. It felt really uncomfortable this time because there were so many unknown people.

A woman named Lydia started the conference.

Lydia: "I'm happy to see you all healthy and alive. And there is also a new face, I see. The vampire clan got another leader. Miss Santiago, I suppose." She said it in kind of repellent tone of voice.

Raphael just nodded. Great, I'm Miss Santiago now. Where was my proposal and where is my ring?

Lydia: "Sadly we all came together for bad news. The rumors are true. Belphegor is back. We need to react immediately and send him back from where he came from. May the people who don't want to fight stand up and leave this room. No one will be forced."

I looked around and for my surprise a lot of people stood up and went away. Magnus, Luke, Alec and Jace and some other leaders from other institutes stayed and so did some of the unknown warlocks. Of course Raphael and I stayed too. While the people left Raphael whispered into my ear "You got the command of us two now. Be sassy, my princesa."

Lydia: "I'm surprised there were so many cowards in our rows."

Magnus: "It has nothing to do with being a coward. The people have families, commitments and aren't as tired of life as we are."

Lydia: "Well, if you say so." She looked at me. "You are new, I suppose you don't know who Belphegor is?"

Freja: "He is one of the nine princes of hell, a greater demon. He is the prince of sloth, tricksters and charletons. He was given the realm when he and his brothers were banished to hell after trying to uprise heaven. Belial stole it from him and since then he was more or less lost in the world. I suppose he found his way back."

Lydia: "I see, you did your homework. For a vampire you know a lot about the world of the demons."

Oh, little did she know I was also a nephilim and a werewolf... Also a warlock and a faerie. We kept it secret. Nobody needed to find out. Not even the clave. They would have rather locked me into a dungeon than letting me live with my clan.

Lydia: "Anyway, we need to kill it and we need every help that we could get."

Luke: "I will fight with you. The men of my pack will join me."

Magnus: "The warlocks will do anything to help you kill it."

I looked at Raphael and he nodded.

Freja: "The children of the night will pay tribute too."

The nephilim joined also joined. The fight would be in two days.

Back at the hotel the next conference was called. Raphael explained them the situation.

Joanne: "And you expect us to fight a battle that is not ours?"

Freja: "What do you mean, it is not ours? It is our world. And when the demon came after the nephilim and the warlocks nothing will be save anymore. The werewolves and faeries will follow. And guess who will be killed next? We share a bit of demonic blood but after all we are still a threat, even for a greater demon. Also, if the nephilim and the werewolves are going to win this battle there will be a lot of dishonor and shame above our clan because instead of fighting we decided to hide and be silent. Nobody will be forced to fight but if you ever dare to ask such a stupid question again you can pack your stuff and go. We'll see when the sun comes after you."

Joanne remained silent now.

Aldo: "Freja is right. We can't let shame and dishonor come over our clan. I will fight."

Most of our followers decided to fight. I did not expect less.

After two days of feeding us to the maximum and training we met up in front of the institute. When the vampires and the werewolves met each other arguments began to start. Not from our side tho. In advance I told our clan to remain silent when it comes to the wolves. An argument between the allies would bring death and mistrust. The werewolves could not be silent tho. I had enough of it.

Freja: "Luke, could you please tell your pack to shut up. As is seems they cannot behave and need some f***** muzzles."

He just looked grumpy and raised his hand. His pack went silent. I heard Raphael laugh next to me. 

We weren't a lot of people. Less people showed up than in the conference. Only some nephilim of the Londoner and New Yorker institute, not more than 20 people and not even a hand full of warlocks. Not even Lydia was there. Apperently she was too important to die.

Belphegor was supposed to be in a huge abandoned storage hall in the city boundary of New York. The warlocks created portals and everyone went trough. We stood in front of the building. It was even bigger than I imagined. It probably had several floors and different rooms. It will be a nightmare to go through this. I took a deep breath. Raphael looked tensed. Actually everyone looked tensed. Caleb, one of our most loyal followers came towards me.

Caleb: "You do not need to do this. You can stay outside and be save. It will not be a shame, princess."

Freja: "Stop calling me princess."

Caleb: "What else am I supposed to call you?"

I came towards him and whispered into his ear. "What about 'queen'?"

May the fight begin.