by G. Bailey
“Are they living or undead?” I ask. “I’ve never heard of the term Draugar before and I don’t remember reading about it in the Book of Zorya.
It’s Gage who answers me. “Undead. Funnily enough, it’s Draugars who created the Shades.”
At the mention of his species, Echo hops off the log and flies over, rolling to a halt at our feet. I chuckle and lift him up, kissing him on his little wet nose.
“How can something that sounds so terrifying create something this cute?” I hold Echo up to them. “I mean, just look at him!”
“They were created this way as a ruse to befall their enemies,” Pitch explains, reaching out to touch Echo. It’s the first he’s ever tried to pet him. I hold my breath as he awkwardly pats Echo on the head. “Echo is the first Shade I have ever seen or I would’ve deciphered his species the first day you got him.”
“I didn’t know either until Stonehart brought Echo to the staff room.” Gage reaches over and rubs Echo’s stomach. “Luckily, he was able to convince Stonehart to let him stay.”
Ambrose returns with Jonah, but they don’t look as relaxed as Gage had.
“What’s wrong?” Pitch stands and clenches his hands. “What did you see?”
Ambrose stops beside us, the shadows from the fire playing over his face. “I only sensed something dark.”
As soon as he says the words, a gust of ice-cold air sighs around us. It freezes the fire into swerving icicles, and our breaths turn into puffs of smoke. My teeth chatter as I hold Echo to my chest, looking around to see where the coldness is coming from. Every breath I drag in is like snow in my lungs. Even the water bottles beside me freeze into blocks of ice.
“Is it Draugars?” I whisper to the guys, shivering as my breath streams out.
Pitch shakes his head. “Something darker. Gage, Jonah, protect her. Ambrose, come with me.”
He steps forward, his entire body radiating with dark magic, but he stops when an even darker shadow appears in front of him. The smokey-black tendrils materialise into a tall, cloaked figure with burning gold eyes. He looks almost identical to Pitch only older with slightly longer black hair and sharper features. His gaze drifts lazily between us, pausing briefly on me, before landing on Ambrose. A smile curves the edge of his lips.
“Aeon. It has been a long time, my old friend.”
Every part of Ambrose’s body visibly tenses. “I am not known by that name here and I shall never again be fooled into being your friend.” He pulls his lips back into a snarl and his skin glows like it did when I first met him. “You betrayed me!”
“Betrayed you?” The Dark God scoffs, contemplating his black fingernails. “I kept you safe from my brother’s wrath. You should be thanking me.”
“Balle eis Korakas!”
Hades’ gold eyes snap up to him. “It is I who feasts on the flesh of crows, not the other way around. How disappointing you would choose to side with mortals.” He turns his gaze onto Pitch. “You, Alastair Pitch, are my son and heir. It is time to come home with me.”
I practically choke on my own spit at the statement. I mean, sure, they look alike, but Hades is the Dark God of the Underworld. Pitch is…the Dark Fae Prince… It isn’t a wild stretch now that I think about it.
“Pitch, is this true?” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “My parents died after I was born which is why I was given to Narah.”
The Dark God laughs scathingly, his features hardening. “I gave you to the fae queen until I was ready to retrieve you.” He holds out a hand and clicks his fingers. “Come. We have wasted much time already.”
Pitch stares at the proffered hand with large, unblinking eyes. “No.”
An even darker shadow gathers around Hades, oozing off him in waves. “You choose also to stay with the mortals, my son?”
“Even if what you say is true,” Pitch replies, his tone equally as firm and confident, “you are not the blood I wish to stay with.”
Hades’ hand falls by his side, his knuckles blanching white. He looks between Pitch and Ambrose for a long, awkwardly silent moment.
“Very well,” he says at last. “If this is your decision then I shall go and leave you with a parting gift.” With a wave of his hand, gigantic roots claw out from the earth into a monstrous shadow. “No need to thank me,” he sneers before disappearing into a dark cloud of smoke.
“What the hell has he done?” Jonah asks, pulling me protectively behind him.
The darkness bleeding from the roots snap and crackle like bolts of lightning. They merge together until a beast with matted black fur and three wolf heads snarl at us. Holy fuck, it’s huge. Much bigger than Echo’s giant pink Thumper.
“That is Cerberus,” Ambrose answers, the colour draining from his face. “He’s here to take me back.”
“You mean the three-headed monster who guarded the Howling Hollow?” Gage frowns at him. “Please don’t tell me it’s that Cerberus.”
“I’m afraid it is.” Ambrose swallows, his throat jerking nervously. “Nothing will stop him until he traps me with the Bonds of Chaos and returns me to Tartarus.”
The fear in his voice twists my stomach. He barely finishes speaking when the beast digs one of its paws into the soil. Chains covered in fire whip into the air around him.
“Well that ain’t happening,” I say, taking his hand and giving a reassuring smile despite the tremor of fear catching in my throat. “That crazy pupper isn’t taking you anywhere, Ambrose. We’ll make sure of it.”
He looks at me, his brows drawing together. “Why would you all do that for me?”
“Because you’re our friend.” I nod to each of my guys. “And we don’t abandon our friends.”
“Fuck yeah we don’t,” Jonah exclaims.
Gage pats Ambrose on the shoulder and even Pitch, who’s never liked Ambrose, nods in agreement.
“How do we defeat it?” he asks the god, his tone no longer scathing like it normally is when he talks to him. It’s also the first he’s spoken since the bombshell was dropped. I can’t wait until this is over and we can be alone together. “I don’t think positive reinforcement is going to work with this hound,” Pitch adds quietly.
Ambrose runs a hand through his curled hair. “We cannot defeat the demon but we can restrain it. If we use the shadows to bind it, we’ll be able to escape. Who here is a shadowbinder?”
All of us raise our hands and Ambrose grins. The earth shakes around us as the demon prepares to attack. We don’t have long. Seconds, if we’re lucky. I prepare to shield my guys just in case.
“Gather the shadows around him, I will do the rest,” Ambrose instructs, and we split up.
Pitch and Jonah shadowlocate behind the demon while I go with Gage to cover the front. Each of the demons’ heads snarls and snaps at us, but we shield him with magic. With our other hands, we peel the shadows away from the trees and out from under the rocks. They lift off the ground and Ambrose, still standing behind us, holds up his hands.
His spell is stopped when Cerberus swipes its paw at me and I let go of the shadows. I slam against the ground with a startled cry and pain ripples through me. Blood trickles down my leg where there are now four oozing gashes.
“Corvina!”
Everyone shouts my name at the same time.
“I’m all right,” I call back at them, using my wings to hold me up now that it’s too painful to stand. “Let’s send this demon hound back down to hell.”
I gather the shadows again, completing our circle so Ambrose can bind the demon. To my relief, the tattoo on my arm heals the wound on my leg. Narah’s protection spell mixes with it and gives me an incredible burst of power.
With the circle now whole again, Ambrose links each of our shadows as if he’s weaving a net. It reminds me of the blanket of stars Selena wove into the night sky. The second the net touches the demon, it lets out a deafening howl that shakes the leaves around us. The shadows sizzle against its flesh and it tries to claw away from it, but Ambr
ose pins him to the ground.
“This won’t hold him for long!”
He snaps the shadows around the demon like an elastic band, another shrieking howl carries around us. Singed fur permeates the air and a huge void opens up below the demon. It’s like Cerberus really is being dragged back down to hell. Good. Serves him right for trying to hurt my friend.
I fly down to my guys and glare up at the demon. You are a very bad dog!”
Gage pulls me away with a grin. “Alright, you. Let’s go before we land ourselves in even more trouble.”
“Looks like Cerberus is being summoned back anyway,” Pitch remarks, pointing at the black hole dragging Cerberus in.
As the five of us turn to leave, a rush of cold dread fills my spine with ice. My breath turns into smoke again and the ground beneath me freezes. I turn to see the demon wrapping the fire chains around Pitch and dragging him into the void.
I stare at the ground where the demon dragged Pitch like something is going to change, like time can simply go back and I can stop what just happened. Panic flares through me as I fall to my knees and dig into the soil underneath me, connecting me to the world even as I fall apart. My vision turns blurry as tears threaten to fall, but I keep on digging, needing to find a trace of something that will help find my shadow.
My mate.
“Vina, stop,” Jonah whispers, pulling me back. Even though his touch would usually soothe me, connect me to everything, the burning fear pounding through me makes me hardly notice Jonah.
I shrug him off and dig harder. “There’s got to be a trace of some kind. Maybe I can use my magic to counteract the portal. Or maybe I can—”
“I know where Pitch is.” Ambrose gently touches my other shoulder, briefly stopping me as I turn to look up at him, searching his calm eyes. “The only place Hades could’ve taken him is the Underworld.”
“That’s another realm entirely,” Gage says with a frown and I look at him. “Only fae can enter it.”
“Then let me go.” I stand up and use magic to wipe the dirt off my hands. “How do I get there?”
Ambrose, Gage, and Jonah exchange a worried look. Before they can talk me out of this, I lift Echo into my arms and walk away.
“You’re going in the wrong direction,” Ambrose calls after me. “The best place to get to the Underworld is through the Fountain of Mene. That’s east. You’re going west.”
“I was just making sure you were paying attention.” I spin around and head the other way. “To the fountain we go!”
Even though a niggling thought settles in my mind, that I can’t fight Hades to save Pitch…not in his own dimension, I still know I have to go to him. I would go to hell, to heaven, to the gods or anywhere for my mates. I will fight anything for them. Even Hades.
Jonah stands in front of me, one of his brows lifted. “We should stop by Jane’s to check on Narah and the others, don’t you think? It’s on the way.”
I nod, admittedly bummed about having to see Jane again, but it’s important we talk to Narah. Maybe she might know a way to fight Hades. I’m pretty sure she is going to be shocked when I tell her who Pitch really is. No wonder he didn’t die as a baby when Narah lost control and attacked him with dark magic. Pitch is a half-god. A demigod, and that makes him incredibly powerful…likely more than me. I have to believe he can keep himself alive long enough for me to get to him.
“Okay,” I say, nodding and sucking in a deep breath, “we check on the others, and then I’m going to the Underworld to destroy Hades once and for all.”
I know something is wrong even before the cottage is within sight. There’s a septic tinge to the air that reeks of freshly drawn blood seeping into white roses. It invades my senses and causes the hairs on my body to stand on edge. Ambrose senses it, too, his eyebrows knitting together and his skin glowing ever so softly. He motions for us to stay hidden in the shadows, but the second Jonah sees the cottage peeking through the trees, he runs off.
I put Echo down and go after him, using my wings to guide me above the treetops. I reach the cottage before Jonah does and my heart squeezes when I see that the lights are out and the wind chimes have all smashed onto the floor, nothing more than shattered glass now. The dark magic lingering in the atmosphere is suffocating, trickling over my body like a static chill.
“Jane?” Jonah leaps over the fence and runs up the porch. “Jane!”
He barely sets foot on the first step when a blast of magic sends him spiraling onto his back. I’ve seen that type of forcefield before when Ivywood shielded the academy. That means it’s been cast by a light fae.
As I help Jonah onto his feet, the sword speaks in my mind.
“How do you know that?” I ask it, and Jonah frowns at me, rubbing his arm.
Ambrose and Gage appear behind us with Echo, and while Jonah tells them what happened, the creepy sword speaks in my mind.
Dammit, I’m getting hit on by a talking sword. All my guys rush to us, and Ambrose stares at my arm like he can hear or sense the power. When his eyes meet mine, I turn away. No need to worry him…or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.
“We need to find a way inside,” Gage says, tentatively approaching the cottage.
“Wait!” I grab his arm and pull him back. “Eva is in there. She’s holding someone hostage and wants me to go in. No one else can get inside.”
“It’s a trap.” Ambrose’s skin glows even brighter as his magic radiates off him in waves. He shines brightly, like the glare of the sun against the ocean. “Whatever she wants cannot be good.”
I’m touched by his concern, but I need to do this. What if it’s Sage she’s holding prisoner again? Or David? Or even Jane? I need to find out what happened to the others if there are only two people in there, and I need to get to that god damn fountain.
Gage lifts my chin and forces me to look at him. A crease forms between his brows, almost like he can read my thoughts, but he doesn’t try to talk me out of this. He just kisses me, the touch gentle and yet filled with such unspoken promise that it takes my breath away.
“Trust me,” I whisper against his lips.
“I always have.”
I kiss him again before letting go and stepping back. Jonah looks away, his hands clenching, and glares at the cottage. Ambrose, on the other hand, gives a hesitant nod in approval. It’s not like I needed it to save my friends, but it’s nice to know that the god has my back.
“If you’re not out in ten minutes, I will burn the cottage to the ground,” he says.
“Like fuck, you will!” Jonah yanks Ambrose back and scowls at him. His features soften when he looks at me. “But in all seriousness, if shit hits the fan in there, I’ll skin Eva alive and wear her like a suit.”
I chuckle despite the gross imagery. “Just have faith in me, Jonah. If nothing else, I’ll be able to take down the force-field and let you in. We’ve totally got this.”
“Ever the optimist, shadow raven.”
“One of us has got to be.” I wink at him, stepping back. “See you all on the other side, baby.”
The three of them watch me turn and make my way to the porch. My smile fades when I climb the first step. I hold my breath, preparing to be shot back onto my ass. Nothing happens. The magic sweeps over me like a sheet of cling film. I wrap my hand around the door handle, and pausing only briefly, twist and enter.
The entire cottage is cloaked in darkness. I wave my hand, igniting the fireplace, and there, bathed in the shadows of its flames, is Eva. She’s holding a blade to Jane’s throat. To my horror, relief floods through me when I see it’s not Sage or any of the others. But Jane is still Jonah’s sister, and an innocent person, too. I need to get her out of here.
One thing I
know about force fields is that they’re easier to destroy from the inside. I clasp my hands behind my back and let my magic seep into the darkness. Everything about me has always been dark, so my power merges seamlessly with the shadows. If I can distract Eva for a couple of minutes, I’ll be able to destroy her forcefield and let my guys in.
“Eva,” I snarl at her, surprised by how quickly her poison has spread. The black veins now cover part of her face, which she has tried but failed miserably to hide with her matted hair. “You’re always so dramatic with your arrivals.”
She curls her blackened lips into a repugnant snarl. “What’s revenge without a little flair?” Resting the tip of the blade on Jane’s jugular, she adds, “But I do think that we ought to stop meeting like this.”
Jane’s fearful eyes widen. “Get this crazy bitch off me and I swear I won’t ever be a bitch to you again!”
“Hush now,” Eva warns. “You’re ruining my moment.”
“What do you want, Eva?” I sweep my gaze over her body. The ivory dress hanging off her thin body is torn and covered in mud. She looks like she hasn’t washed or slept in days. “What’s happened to you?”
“War has happened.” She waves her other hand dismissively. “These things are never easy. Or sanitary.”
“Well, you look bloody awful.”
Her eyes narrow into slits. She’s completely oblivious to what I’m doing. “Don’t let my appearance fool you! We are winning this war. Already the titans, and my army, have taken over the Dark Fae Kingdom; something my father never had the guts or power to do. Soon, Draconia will fall, and the entire Forest will be at my disposal.”
I clap my hands sardonically, more as a distraction than anything as her forcefield is lifted from right under her nose. “Congratulations on turning into a tyrannical bitch. Now, what do you want from me?” She glances at the tattoo on my arm. “Oh, this little thing? Yeah. You don’t want it. Trust me. It talks to me all the damn time, especially when I’m trying to sleep.”