Princes of the Underworld

by Olivia Ash

  Nope.

  To her surprise, he reached toward his weapon, fingers fanned out. Sadie rolled her eyes and tried to summon extra strength to get her attacker to pass out from lack of oxygen. His fingers grazed the handle, spinning it in his favor. He gripped the handle and quickly jabbed it into her right thigh, startlingly fast.

  Blistering pain tore through her body. She released his throat and fell off his back, hands clenching the wound. Her attacker coughed a few times, taking in large gulps of air and then pulling himself to his feet. He faced Sadie.

  A dark chuckle rumbled from his throat as he limped toward her and kicked her hard in the side. He did it again. And again. Each time she tried to stand, he kicked her once more. Sadie’s vision lit up with dots with each blow. She tried to place distance between herself and the attacker by crawling on her hands and knees, but he took the opportunity to ram fists into her back, making her collapse to the floor.

  Sadie’s mind was consumed by the pain and the need for escape. She needed to do something—anything—to get away from him. She rolled onto her back, prepared to kick out one if not both of his kneecaps. The man loomed over her, rubbing his fingers over his throat. Sadie lifted a foot. He caught it, twisted it. She cried out. He chuckled again and straddled her, pinning her arms to her side and sitting on her injured leg. She yelped in pain.

  Sadie writhed under his heavy weight, determined to fight, to get out of this ungodly place and find her sister.

  The man slapped her across her face. “That’s for being an annoying bitch.”

  Sadie’s head snapped to the side. Her cheek throbbed, the pain reverberating. Her eyes watered instinctually, blurring her vision. She blinked them away, and the sharp tip of the man’s knife descended on her face.

  She lifted her hands instinctively. It was intuitive, perhaps not the most advanced martial arts move she’d learned, and she fully expected the blade to pierce her palm.

  It didn’t.

  Instead, her chest began to burn, right beneath the amulet.

  The heat became unbearable, and energy surged through her. It was all-consuming, as though a star had come to life within her body.

  Just then, bright flames exploded from her hands. It was violent and sudden, completely out of her control. She squeezed her eyes shut against the intense heat and light.

  The burst lasted for only a few seconds, but the weight on her lifted. A knife clanged on the floor.

  She opened her eyes, finding herself alone in the abandoned house, covered in ash. The amulet on her chest glowed like molten gold, or a chunk of amber.

  She looked at her hands. Flawless. Clean. Not a scratch on them anymore. Nothing seemed different. No scars or burns… nothing.

  I did this?

  Sadie gasped and crawled backward, shaking off the ash that had fallen on her. She stared at the remains of the first person she had ever killed. She wanted to cry, but she held it in. Whatever she did wasn’t her fault. She only defended herself from the man who tried to kill her. She had to choose to save herself. And she would keep choosing to save herself. Not only would Sadie get out of this alive, she would stop whoever was coming after her and her sister. She would end this.

  For herself.

  For Blair.

  Weary and injured, she stood then walked to the man’s knife, bent down, and picked it up. With the way her night had been going, she was certain she would need a weapon again. She sighed and glanced at the pile of ash, wondering what the hell Blair had gotten her into.

  Chapter Four

  Sadie

  Sweat dripped along Sadie’s hairline as she removed the remains of her shirt and wrapped it around the gash on her thigh. Covered in wounds and a bra, she limped to the pile of discarded clothes on the floor and picked up a ragged, navy-blue coat that reeked of spilled beer and vinegar.

  At least, she hoped it was vinegar.

  Breathing through her mouth, she put on the coat, grateful for the coverage. The warmth she felt from the amulet slowly faded. She shivered and tucked her hands inside the smelly coat’s pockets, slipping the knife into one.

  She limped toward the nearest shelf and opened the cabinets, hoping it would contain something that would help her tend to her wounds. Alcohol, aspirin, anything. Maybe there was even a first aid kit stashed in here somewhere.

  Hey, a girl could dream.

  But after looking through all the overhead cabinets and counter drawers, she found only cobwebs, dust, and the occasional rat scampering away from her. She sucked in a breath as she walked around the room, scanning the debris and the messy bookshelves, looking for anything that might possibly aid in her healing.

  There was nothing. Nothing but trash, anyway.

  Blair must have sent her here for a reason. Maybe her sister thought it was safe for her to get here. But it was also possible Blair had no control over whatever the orb had done to her. After all, her sister had been critically wounded by a monster just before she handed Sadie the orb.

  She walked around, kicking the litter on the floor, sucking in a breath when she put too much force on her injured leg. She crouched over the broken glass orb and examined it. Some fragments had a bit of a yellow color to it, and when she picked up larger fragments, the yellow tint looked more like melted topaz that crystallized inside the transparent orb. She might have found it beautiful at any other time, but under the current circumstance, the orb was useless.

  She stood with a grunt and approached the large ouroboros painted on the nearby wall. Around the image were different sigils and runes painted black. She unbuttoned the first few buttons of the smelly coat she wore and traced her fingers over her chest. It still itched and burned a bit, but the sensation had dulled compared to earlier.

  Inside the ruby, she felt the energy. The movement. Something stirred within her chest. If she was being honest, she loved the sensation the amulet gave her. And even when she felt ashamed with what she had done to the man that had attacked her, the sensation that overwhelmed her body—the warmth, the power—overshadowed every negative feeling.

  The amulet made her comfortable and provided a sense of safety. It made her feel strong.

  She closed her eyes and tried to reach for that power again. Her eyebrows pinched together. Although she felt a stir within her chest, and her mind brushed the edges of the energy, she couldn’t tap into it. The power stayed out of her reach.

  Sighing, she lightly rubbed the red jewel on her chest and continued walking.

  A crashing sound—something like clay pottery falling onto stone—came from the door on the right of the ouroboros. Sadie halted in her steps, straining to hear anyone, or anything, approaching. Her heart raced. The darkened doorway seemed to lead to other parts of the abandoned house. If occupied, the fight with the man she turned to ash could’ve been heard. Maybe a buddy was coming to finish her off.

  Well, not if I can help it. She narrowed her eyes on the dark, searching for movement, and pulled the knife from her pocket as she cautiously approached the doorway.

  As she neared, without further sound or movement, she reasoned the sound was probably just a pesky rat knocking something over. She calmed herself and walked to the wall farthest from the dark doorway, to where the front door stood. She should leave this house soon, but first, she needed to plan what she would do next.

  Despite the plan, she found herself nodding off. After sixteen hours awake and twelve of those hours on the job, it was understandable, but she couldn’t stay here.

  Her body slumped from fatigue, and her eyes wanted to close. She wanted sleep, but she had a plan: find a safe place, properly tend to her wounds, rest a little, and find Blair.

  Nearby, the sound of boots shuffling broken clay fragments caught her attention. She stayed still for a moment, looking at the doorway as she gripped the knife’s handle, waiting for someone to jump at her. When no one appeared from the doorway, she eventually relaxed her grip on the knife, though her eyes never left the dark space beyond the
door. The window next to it overlooked an alley. Her muscles went rigid, and the hair on her neck stood on end.

  There. It shifted again. It could be nothing, but her body warned someone watched her.

  “Who’s there?” she asked, her voice ringing through the quiet with thick command.

  Silence.

  She waited for a moment, her eyes glued to the window. The shadows shifted one more time.

  “Show yourself,” she said, again commanding.

  Still, no answer.

  Whoever it was, he had no intention of showing himself. She glared into the shadows, ready to take him on, but there wasn’t any more movement. And everything was silent, save for the sound of the occasional rat crawling through the walls and her harsh breathing.

  Her gut, however, told her that someone was there, and he was watching her every move.

  Time to get out of this place. She hastily headed out the front door.

  After she flung the door open and rushed out, she tucked her hands into her coat pockets, knife hidden away. She carefully kept her head down and stayed in the shadows as she limped toward help.

  She had never been to this place before, especially at this time of night, but she only needed to walk a few blocks and enter the nearest store. Hopefully, the clerk would let her use a phone. Blair had said she couldn’t go to the cops, but Sadie had friends on the force who weren’t corrupt. They were good and honest people who would do her a solid.

  Disregarding Blair’s aversion to seeking police aid, she followed her intuition and planned to call a friend for help as soon as she could. She didn’t know what on Earth she would say, but she had to start somewhere.

  She stayed close to building walls and walked as quietly and as fast as she could. She had never been so thankful that the streetlights weren’t working. When she had passed a few blocks, the sound of a fight wafted toward her. She halted and then pressed her back against the wall of a crumbling brick house.

  She peeked around the corner, finding a few men at the end of the alley. They appeared no older than teenagers, actually, and she counted five of them ganging up on a scrawny guy. The bulkiest of the five shoved the skinny kid to the ground. The five guys then took turns punching and kicking him, but as far as she could tell, none of them had any weapons.

  She probably should have left. She had Blair to worry about, and her injuries needed tending to lest they got infected and left her much, much worse than she already was.

  But she couldn’t turn her back on the poor kid that clearly needed help.

  Knowing she would probably regret it, she grabbed a rock the size of her fist and threw it at the bullies. It hit one on the back and he cursed loudly as he turned to glare at her, cradling the back of his neck. She knew she couldn’t outrun them because of her injured thigh, so she took her knife and walked toward the middle of the alley.

  Well, she couldn’t go back now.

  “Do you want to be next?” the largest of them asked as the group approached her.

  She looked over their shoulders and saw the scrawny guy stagger to his feet. Through the glow of the moonlight, he met her gaze, nodded once in gratitude as his face bled, and scampered out of sight.

  She raised her knife and took on a fighting stance. The five guys looked at each other then laughed.

  “Ooh, I’m terrified,” a blond who stood at the back said as he pulled out a swiss knife from his pocket and flicked out a blade. The others did the same.

  She wasn’t sure what happened next, but those punks looked over her shoulder and their eyes simultaneously widened. Without another word, they turned on their heels and ran. Her eyebrows shot up and she turned around to look at what had scared them. She prepared for another ambush, but the street behind her was empty and silent.

  Soon, she stood alone in the alley, baffled but secretly grateful she didn’t have to take on anyone else in this injured state.

  Deep between her shoulder blades, the sensation of being watched returned. She frowned, glaring at the darkness around her, wondering if she’d gotten a tail from the abandoned house, wondering if something worse than a few teenagers had followed her.

  Just great.

  Her heart thudded in her chest, but she pressed on toward the convenience store, limping from her leg injury and doing her best to keep her pace steady. She clenched her fist around the knife’s handle within the pocket of her smelly coat, ready to draw it if need be.

  If she hurried, she would look scared, and that would make her an easy mark for whatever lurked in the shadows. It would make her look weak. She had to keep her resolve and remain calm despite the urgency of the situation and how desperately she needed to get to Blair.

  But the fear in those boys’ eyes… she lost herself temporarily in thought. If whatever was following her was another magical creature, though, she wanted to catch him alive.

  She needed answers. Come hell or high water, she was going to get them.

  Chapter Five

  Kaiser

  Kaiser kept to the shadows as he watched the stunning woman limp down the barely lit sidewalk. Even with ash smudged on her face and grime staining her beautiful skin, she captivated him. The fire in his blood burned hotter every time she got close to him.

  He craved her.

  As he watched her, he shifted and changed his form to become more inconspicuous, hiding his wings, tail, and horns. Even his armor shifted to a grey hoodie, faded denim jeans, and sneakers.

  The human world was no place for a demon to go un-glamoured.

  The neighborhood she was unknowingly leading him through was close to abandoned, but he wasn’t going to chance letting a criminal, or worse, another demon hunter, touch her. She hadn’t needed his help back in the abandoned house, but at this rate her luck wouldn’t hold out.

  She didn’t know what she was. He did. She needed him—almost as much as he needed her.

  He crossed his arms and kept his attention toward the entertainment for the night.

  Sadie. A name fit for royalty.

  She seemed athletic, but he hadn’t thought she could hold her own against that ogre of a man back in the demon hunters’ safehouse. As she walked down the street, she hugged the coat close, but he knew what lay beneath—he’d seen her beautiful body as she’d dodged the man’s blows with graceful movements, the torn flaps of her shirt’s neckline separating to reveal luscious cleavage glistening in sweat. His eyes had lingered on her curves, her sensuality igniting something primal within him.

  He shook his head and furrowed his brows.

  What the hell am I doing?

  He was never one to be affected by an ordinary, human girl.

  But that was just it, wasn’t it? She wasn’t just an ordinary human girl. She was more. So much more. And by the looks of it, she had yet to learn that. And the way she’d burned that man to mere ash—

  Kaiser grinned, equally impressed and turned on. He wanted this girl—and what he wanted, he got.

  Hell, she had just killed a man without any real weapon, without conscious control of the immense power she wielded. And from the shock written all over her face, this was probably her first time taking a man’s life.

  This tall drink of deadly water was a welcome distraction to the hunt for the demon who killed his brother, and though he thought he’d had a lead after his followers captured that accomplice, a solid week of torture had turned up nothing. So far, he wasn’t any closer to an answer. Kaiser gritted his teeth instinctively, the flare of anger habitual at this point, but he couldn’t let himself think about Cedric’s murder.

  As with everything in the underworld, there was so much more at play than even he realized, and if his suspicions were even remotely correct, everything he knew was about to unravel.

  He needed help. He needed Sadie.

  And this girl didn’t know what she had become the moment she put on that amulet. The girl had no idea what sort of hell was about to come after her.

  Oddly, he felt protecti
ve. He wanted to rush in, to sweep her out of this frail human realm and down to the underworld where she could be a little safer—for a time.

  It didn’t make sense. He didn’t even know her. And yet… his eyes trailed after her as she turned a corner, and his jaw clenched as he fought with making a decision.

  He knew exactly what a first kill felt like, how lost and uncertain she must’ve felt, and for a moment, he wanted to run to her and take her in his arms. But that was a bad idea. He kept still, though his entire body wanted to go nearer, pulled by her unique energy.

  By her power.

  This was it—his chance. He needed her power, her abilities. She would help him get everything he needed. This was all too perfect, and he wouldn’t miss this chance to make her his.

  More than that, she was special. He felt it. He needed more of her. But from what he had seen, this woman was dangerous. Especially since she didn’t have control over her newfound powers.

  For now, he needed information. He needed to know her resources, her plans, her followers—if she even had any. Before he made himself known, he needed to know the kind of woman he was dealing with.

  And so far, he was impressed.

  As she kept to the shadows and walked as fast as her injured leg allowed, he silently traced her steps. He kept his eyes on her and never strayed more than a block away. Aside from the practical need to watch her, he also felt the need to protect her, to make sure she safely arrived to wherever she was planning to go.

  This woman is one of a kind.

  Eager to see what she would do next, Kaiser lifted the hood on his jacket and followed behind the woman who was so much more than she realized—the woman who had hypnotized him without even a word.

  Chapter Six

  Sadie

  Sadie was definitely being followed.

  Her stalker made the mistake of a slight shuffle of a boot half a block behind her. The faint sound almost went unnoticed, but between that and Sadie’s gut instinct, she knew someone followed her from that abandoned house.