Hell’s Key: Siblings of the Underworld, Book 1

by Baxter, Linzi

  My eyes were heavy and hard to open, but I needed to find out if Ryker was okay. I might be in his room, but I knew he wasn’t there. I couldn’t feel him, and after the previous day, my body hummed when he was near.

  When I opened my eyes, Marilyn was sitting next to me. “About time you woke up.”

  “Where’s Ryker?” My throat was scratchy, and it hurt to talk. I didn’t know where my body didn’t hurt.

  A huff came from my right side. Wrath was sitting on the chair in the corner of the room, sharpening her long blade. “Who cares about the dog? Now that you are up, we can start the hunt.”

  The sun shone through the window. It had been setting when I passed out from using my magic. Ignoring Wrath’s comment, I asked, “Is Ryker okay?”

  “Yes, he’s been by your side for the past day, but he needs to gather his pack and send them out for more information.”

  The bright sun coming through the window did nothing to help with the pounding in my head, and I laid my arm across my eyes. “Why was I out so long? I’ve never been out this long from using my magic.”

  Marilyn handed me a cup of warm green liquid. “Drink this. Yes, your magic drained you some, but the main reason you were out was from the zombie bites.”

  At the mention of the zombies, I remembered the pain I’d felt when their nails dug into my leg. “Am I going to turn?”

  Wrath let out a bark of a laugh. “You watch too much TV.”

  “Okay, in the past few days, I found out the devil is real and my sisters are the seven deadly sins, and you think asking if I can turn into a zombie from a bite is a stretch of the imagination?”

  She stopped running a sharpener down the sword blade. “I stand corrected, but no, you can’t turn into a zombie. Necromancers raise the dead. I don’t know exactly how it happens, but when they raise them, their bodies have a green liquid. When the green liquid touches something human, it burns.”

  A flash of black had me turning my head just in time to see Frank jump up on Marilyn’s lap. She ran her hand through Frank’s fur. His tail was completely straight, but he seemed to be giving me the evil eye.

  “Be nice, Franky.” She patted the cat’s head. “What Wrath said is correct. It took your body longer to heal from the poison, but you don’t have to worry about turning into a zombie. Now, about your powers… you need to stop pulling as much as you can until you learn to pull correctly. That amount of power keeps making you black out.”

  “I had to do something. Ryker was lying on the ground, dying.”

  “As if. He’s next North Amer—”

  Marilyn glared at Wrath. “It is not our place to tell her. We need to get back to work with your training.” Frank hissed and jumped off Marilyn’s lap. “He’ll get over it. Now let me go grab you some more tea so we can train while Ryker is out gathering more intel.” She got up and left the room.

  Wrath stood and started to pace next to the bed. “We need to come up with a family creed.”

  I laid my hand across my eyes again to block the sun out. “Wrath, I don’t think right now is the best time to come up with a creed. And I’m sure some book written a million years ago already has our creed. These magical books seem to know everything before we do. What I need is coffee. This tea tastes like shit. What did Marilyn stop you from saying?”

  My sister stared at the cup for a second. “That’s not tea. The witch lady added a bunch of things she said would heal you. Clearly, you need to heal a little longer before we start training. As for your question, Ryker will tell you soon. It’s not my place to tell you.”

  “Well, it sounded like you were going to say he’s going to be the North American alpha.”

  Wrath flipped her blade in the air. “Talk to him. I don’t want him on my bad side. Now, can we get back to our creed?”

  A million questions swarmed in my head, but from Wrath’s look, I knew she wasn’t about to give me the answers I needed. “Fine. Tell me what you’ve got.”

  “We are the daughters of Hades. We promise to destroy anyone in our way,” Wrath said as she paced. The long sword on her back glimmered when the sunlight hit it. She was still making the creed for the daughters of Hades, but I had stopped paying attention. “We are immortal.”

  Wait, what did she say? “Repeat that.”

  “You want me to repeat the whole creed? I’m making this shit up as I go. All you are doing is lying in bed. You should be writing what I say down or video recording me.” She leveled her black eyes on me, which had scared me the first day I met her, but after seeing her work with Ryker’s pack, I knew she was more bark than bite. Well, except for the wolf who’d grabbed her ass. She’d tossed him into the forest.

  “No, just the immortal part.”

  “We are immortal. What else do you want to know?”

  This can’t be right. No one told me I would live forever. I don’t know how I feel about this. “I think you are mistaken. You are immortal. I’m not.”

  Wrath rolled her eyes. “All of Hades’s children are immortal. Now can I get back to telling you our sibling creed?”

  I let out a sigh. “We don’t have a sibling creed.”

  “Of course we won’t if you don’t stop interrupting me.” She sat down in the chair. “Now, where was I?”

  “Explaining how I’m immortal. We don’t know who my mom is. I could be half-human.”

  I gritted my teeth when Wrath let out a laugh. “We are gods, the next in line to rule the world. You also met with the only human off our list, and she wasn’t it.”

  “Umm… if what you say is correct, my parents are both gods, which would make them immortal. When would we rule?”

  Wrath’s face was priceless. It seemed in her three thousand years of existence, she had never thought about that. “We still need a sibling creed.”

  There was no way to stop the train wreck, and it wasn’t like the creed would go anywhere outside the room. “Okay, lay the creed on me.”

  “Take no prisoners. Kill first and ask questions later.”

  “Wrath, how can we ask questions if we kill first?”

  “Fine—we are the daughters of Hades. Fear us.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her the creed still sucked, so I decided we would stick with it. “Okay, we are the daughters of Hades. Fear us.” Life would never be the same since I found out that lucifer was my dad.

  Though the tea or whatever was in the cup tasted like shit, my aches decreased with each sip, and I pulled myself into a sitting position. I wanted to know more about our father and where he lived. “What’s Lucifer like?”

  “Dad’s fair and will do anything to protect his children.”

  If he cares so much about his children, why did he take so long to come for me? Life at the North American pack hadn’t been the greatest, and I felt a pang of sadness about my childhood friends Ethan, Elijah, and Ezra never speaking up or making sure I was okay. Growing up, the four of us had done everything together, and we stuck up for each other when one of us did something wrong.

  Ezra had been in the forest with me that night, and he’d disappeared. We were running together. I still didn’t understand how I ended up alone when the second attacked me. When Joseph found me passed out next to his body, he’d banished me from the pack that night, and I hadn’t had a chance to find out what happened.

  “Why is he not helping me figure out what is going on? Shifters are going missing, and demons keep trying to kill me—demons, as in his minions. I don’t see how he is protecting me.”

  Wrath glanced out the window. “Earlier when you rubbed your face, you still felt the cut. Yes, Father took the scar away, but what happened there still haunts you. He thinks all this has to do with where you came from. If he steps in and fixes everything, you won’t feel vindicated. But he would step in before you died.”

  It was time to get out of bed. I swung my legs over the edge and attempted to stand, but they still felt weak from the attack. “I almost died last night. There was
no sign of Lucifer in the cemetery.”

  Wrath rolled her eyes. “You’re such a drama queen. You killed a necromancer and a bunch of zombies and demons. And the dog can handle more than you know. For one thing, I was his trainer.”

  “Is it normal for you to work with alphas?”

  “No, but Ryker is special. I would have to agree with Dad. Your old pack is the key to solving this case. We need to head to Georgia.”

  But I hoped we wouldn’t need to head north. I still wasn’t ready to face my past. Wrath didn’t follow me into the bathroom. My mouth tasted like soured milk. I couldn’t even imagine what my breath smelled like. Once in the bathroom, I leaned in close to the mirror and looked at my eyes and skin.

  “You can’t turn into a zombie.”

  My scream echoed through the bathroom and probably the house. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

  Wrath cocked her head. “We were in the same room, and you didn’t close the door.”

  Before I had time to answer her, Ryker and Marilyn appeared at the bathroom door. Ryker shoved Wrath aside and ran his hands down my arms. “Are you okay?” His voice was gruff, and it sounded like his wolf was close.

  “Yes. Wrath scared the crap out of me.”

  My loving sister tapped her finger on the door. “I just came to see what was taking her so long in the bathroom. It turns out she didn’t believe us about not turning into a zombie. I found her testing her skin.”

  Ryker put a hand over his mouth to hide his laughter. “You can’t turn into a zombie, Paldon. Now, let’s go down and find you some food. Mary’s cooking a big dinner for everyone.”

  I followed Ryker downstairs, and I spent the rest of the day laughing with the pack.

  Chapter 13

  “Do you realize you’ve made butter?”

  I looked up at Ryker. “It’s been three days. Why haven’t we heard anything?” I threw my hands up in the air. Ryker had been right—the cream I’d been whipping had turned into butter, so I grabbed another bowl and a carton of cream. “Mary’s daughter is still out there. Cassy is probably with her as well. What happens if they put a demon soul in her? She’ll die, Ryker, and I’m standing here making whipped cream.”

  “Technically, you made butter,” he said while trying not to smile.

  “I’m serious, Ryker.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and placed a kiss on my forehead. “We have half the pack looking for Sasha. You’re not the only one concerned about missing pack members. When we lose a pack member, I feel it, Paldon. I have a connection with each member. But I can’t send everyone out to look for her and leave the remaining pack members vulnerable. If we aren’t careful, the demons will attack when we don’t expect it.”

  When I pulled back and took a closer look, I saw that Ryker had bags under his eyes. Each night, he didn’t come to bed until past midnight. My body was almost back to normal because I kept drinking the tea Marilyn made.

  For the past three days, I’d spent the mornings working with Marilyn on my magic, and I could control the amount of magic I used. Each evening I spent sparring with Wrath. Guilt washed over me, as I had not helped Ryker deal with the pack or the protection detail. “I’m sorry.”

  Ryker pulled me in closer. “Why are you sorry?”

  I laid my head against his chest. He smelled so good. His scent alone made me want to climb him like a tree and wrap my legs around his waist. But no matter how much I wanted him, I couldn’t have him right then. “I haven’t helped with the pack. This is why I can’t be your second. I’ve been down for three days and left everything on you.”

  Ryker moved away from me and cracked a couple of eggs into the bowl. “Who sat with Mary last night and talked to her about her daughter?”

  Mary had told me stories about Sasha growing up. Her prom was the following weekend, and she was the prom queen. The day before she’d gone missing, Mary and Sasha went dress shopping, and the dress showed up yesterday. I’d found Mary clutching the dress and kneeling on the floor, crying.

  It had taken me two hours to get her calmed down. The more Mary talked about Sasha, the more I was certain she hadn’t run away. Someone grabbed her. With each passing day, I became more worried we would be too late, but I worked to keep a positive attitude in front of Mary. Hope and a pack looking for her daughter were all she had.

  “That’s not the same as what you are doing. I should be out searching and helping you find Mary’s daughter or watching for more attacks.”

  Ryker placed a finger over my mouth. “Who broke up the Willy twins this morning? Those boys are both senior linebackers in high school. You zapped their asses.”

  I winced at the reminder. The two boys had been roughhousing outside and not paying attention to their surroundings. I yelled for them to stop because they were a couple of feet away from stepping on two young girls playing in the yard. When they didn’t change direction when I yelled, and the girls didn’t move in time, I pulled on my magic and sent a wave of energy. The boys yelped as the bolt of magic hit them and threw them in the other direction. “I didn’t mean to hit them that hard.”

  Ryker beat the eggs with some cream. His cooking had turned out a lot better than my mess earlier. “They deserved it, and now I bet they’ll think twice before they roughhouse outside of the designated area.” Since Wrath had shown up and begun doing daily training with the pack, we’d roped off a section of the backyard. We’d learned our lesson the first day when Wrath fought one of the enforcers close to the house, and when she hit him, he flew through the patio door. Marilyn had placed a spell around the circle so they couldn’t throw each other outside the designated area when they were fighting.

  The sound of the back door made me turn away from Ryker. Wrath and Paul, Ryker’s tracker, came through. Before they spoke, Ryker’s growl vibrated the bowl on the counter. Wrath gripped her sword, and I seized the knife on the table.

  The doorbell rang at the same time as I asked, “What’s going on?”

  “We have an uninvited guest.” Ryker headed toward the front of the house.

  I practically ran to keep up with him. I didn’t need to look to know that Wrath was standing next to me. Her high heels had clicked across the hardwood floors.

  The air had grown heavy as everyone stood around the front door. “If it’s someone dangerous, why are we opening the door?” Wrath rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles.

  “He won’t hurt us. I just don’t like him,” Ryker growled.

  The person on the other side of the door let out a booming laugh. “Is this how you treat your guests?”

  Ryker’s knuckles were white as he gripped the door handle and opened the door. He blocked the newcomer and crossed his arms.

  I thought I recognized the person’s voice. When Ryker didn’t invite our guest in, I bumped him aside. “Come in, Atieno. Ryker was just teasing.”

  “No, I wasn’t,” Ryker growled.

  “Don’t mind him.” I waved toward the living room. “Come in and have a seat. I assume you are here with an update. We’ve been looking into a few possibilities, but nothing has panned out. The neighboring pack has told us they had another member go missing. The local supernaturals not part of a pack are staying with other clan members.”

  But Atieno hadn’t moved from the front door. His eyes were locked on Wrath.

  “Umm, do we need to do some special invitation? My friend Archer is a vampire, and he walks in the house all the time.”

  Atieno didn’t answer me. His eyes were still on Wrath. “I don’t need a special invitation. I wasn’t expecting you to have company.” His voice was dangerously low and menacing.

  “Atieno, it’s been a while. Can’t say it’s been long enough.” Wrath didn’t take her hands off her blade as she eyed the new guest.

  He was dressed similarly to the last time I’d seen him—black Armani suit with leather shoes. If my wolf and I weren’t so attached to Ryker, I would give him one wild night. I couldn’t help but
look between him and Wrath. They looked as if they were going to either kiss or kill each other, and from the fire in Wrath’s eyes, I knew it was closer to killing.

  Ryker cleared his throat. “This isn’t the time to deal with your issues. Since neither of you has let go of the three-hundred-year-old grudge, I don’t think you will in the next couple minutes. Come in.”

  “Issues?” Wrath hissed. “That man killed the only man I’ve ever loved.” Her voice hitched.

  Atieno closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair then took a step into the house and followed us to the living room. He let out a sigh. “You know it was the only option. He killed an entire village. The supernatural council and your father didn’t give me a choice. Why am I the only one you’re mad at?” Atieno’s eyes held pity.

  “Because the three of us were friends.” Wrath threw her arms up. “You tore our makeshift family apart and joined sides with the council. And it seems you are still doing their dirty work. I don’t know how you work for those people. He was your son, and you killed him.”

  Since I wasn’t part of a pack or supposed to be around other shifters, I had distanced myself from the supernatural council and the laws. Every time someone brought the council up around Wrath, she got a murderous look in her eyes, and I suddenly knew why. Her sadness made me want to wrap my arms around her. Atieno didn’t look too happy, either.

  “Someone has to make sure the council doesn’t become a court again. You think I don’t think about it every day while I’m at work? I know the council made my son go insane, but there was no way to bring him back from that bloodlust. I miss him too. I didn’t only lose him—I lost you as my close friend as well, and I work to make sure shit like that doesn’t happen again. I’m here because more shifters are going missing, and we need to figure out what is happening.”

  Mary brought in a tray of glasses of water. She had bags under her eyes. Ryker had taken the seat next to me on the couch, and Atieno paced in front of it while Wrath stood next to my side of the sofa with her hand still on her long, shiny blade.