by Lexi Ostrow
Not questioning him, she sat quickly. Philippe grumbled, but he and Felicia did join her on the floor, seated in a line. Another sea creature, possibly a shark, hit into the submersible.
“Are you lot okay back there? You grew far too quiet for a pack of stubborn hunters, and since I’ve hunted alongside all three of you, I know you’re itching to continue that row you were just having.”
Lucius chuckled, and for the first time, McKenna understood why the others oft wanted to hit him over the head.
“Thank you for that, Lucius. I do not know how we would survive these missions without you,” Philippe countered sarcastically.
“Ah, but you wouldn’t, would you, Frenchman?” Lucius’s comment was barbed, and Philippe grew silent.
Moments passed in silence, and McKenna almost wished she could see the ocean. She’d secretly hoped for a moment under the waves in the minute Eliza had said there were viewing windows.
The speed began to taper off by the time Felicia spoke. “McKenna, do you truly think you cannot do this?”
Internally, she panicked. She had wanted nothing more than to go into Hell a year before. Now, she’d seen so many attacks in less than a full moon cycle. She wasn’t certain she could handle Hell. Her thoughts drifted to Jacob, and she realized they might send him in if she wouldn’t. They’d been warned the mission would be quick but that they needed larger numbers. Which had already been ignored, as only four would have been going if the Angel Layel found a way in.
“No, I do not. I know that I have to try, though. If you simply wanted my communicator, you would not have hesitated to ask for it. If you wish for me to go in your stead, I am honored and will not let you down.”
Felicia’s back was to McKenna, but she thought she heard a smile in her voice.
“You are going to be a wonderful hunter, McKenna. This will only be the beginning. You’ll likely be around to teach my son how to mind himself.” Felicia laughed.
McKenna flushed at the words and remembered one other item. “Philippe, did you bring your watch inside Hell? The last mission?”
“No. Perhaps had we, a demon would not have snuck up on Master Agardawes and me.” Pain laced his words so quickly. “I want us to bring them this time. If a demon is close enough for it to go off it’s likely it will be able to see us already. I do not want a repeat of the last mission.”
“I don’t have mine,” McKenna admitted in a rush. “It fell when I was engaged with the Siren.” She looked down, ashamed.
“That is not a problem,” Lucius said.
The ship jerked to a stop and McKenna could see Lucius walking towards them. Something gold dangled off his forefinger, and he tossed it over Felicia’s head. McKenna barely caught it and looked over the circular object.
“Another?” she asked.
“Whilst we cannot duplicate communicators, we lost pocket watches when the airship was attacked last mission, so we learned to bring extras. It’s the only one, but it’s yours now. Congratulations, your very own mission pocket watch.”
She laughed softly and brushed her finger over the engraved sailing ship on the watch’s cover. It was smaller than her palm, much like the one they’d made for Jacob. But it was hers, and she would take much better care of it. Slipping it over her neck, she stood awkwardly in the small space.
“Do you stop the ship to sleep?” she asked Lucius.
“No, I can sleep in the chair, unappealing as it is. I stopped it now, in case you lot wanted to take a peek at the wonders I’ve been privy too. We’re less than a day’s journey to the entrance now, who knows what terrors will await us.”
She filled with glee, despite their situation, and eagerly waited as Felicia rose up in front of her. They filed to the windows up near the helm, and her breath caught in her throat. It was so much different than the battle-soaked sea she had seen earlier.
Pitch-blackness surrounded the ship in all directions. Small beams of green and purple pierced the darkness where the crystals lit the way. But there was nothing to see. Creatures did not swim rapidly about. It was simply a blanket of darkness.
“It’s so different.” she whispered.
“ I would have to agree. I expected to see….more,” Felicia said from next to her.
Lucius laughed. “Give it time, there is more space down here than creatures. I can promise you, if you sit in front of these windows for a long enough period, things will come by.”
“Have a run in with something other than the Akkorokamui, Lucius? Philippe asked, his voice also filled with a little awe.
“You don’t want to know the things I’ve seen down here. There are demon kind we could not have thought of, including the merpeople of legend. Part shark and part human, they are not to be messed with any more than a Siren.”
A picture of the Siren as it tried to sink below the surface with Jacob flashed in her mind, and she cried out. Embarrassed, she placed her hand over her mouth and muttered an apology.
“You witnessed a lot earlier, McKenna. Do not let the images consume you. Especially not in such tight quarters with a Nightmare Demon,” Philippe cautioned.
“I resent that, human,” Lucius growled, not as playfully as normal.
“You are still what you are Lucius. You saved my life in and out of Hell. I respect you as a fellow brother in arms. But you are still a demon, and you do feed on Nightmares. You must be rather weak after over a fortnight.”
“It is something I would rather not speak on.”
McKenna saw Philippe’s features tighten in the reflection of the window.
“You said we had a day and a half. Kellan allowed you to use him when we sought to save Odette. It’s only fair that I allow you to use me whilst we seek to save him.”
Philippe’s words sincerely shocked McKenna. He was known for being ruthless and rather uncooperative. The man had saved her, helped her and now was willing to suffer through nightmares to save a man he’d once hunted with.
“Do not offer this lightly, Clemis. It will be no more pleasant than before. You might think you know your nightmare, what you will see. I can assure you, I’ve poked in your mind when you haven’t noticed it. Your greatest nightmare is Thomas, and always will be. Are you ready to lose him, again?”
Lucius’s words were deadly cold, and McKenna was grateful she couldn’t see how soulless his eyes must look.
“Kellan was my partner. I treated him terribly, especially in Hell. I will do this, so you are strong enough to help us save him from the moment we enter. Felicia, you will watch over him, make certain he doesn’t kill me by mistake. Let’s do this now, Lucius. The quicker we can move, the closer to Kellan we get.”
McKenna wasn’t confident they even remembered she was there with them in the small space. The conversation felt intimate. Even if Felicia had not gone to Hell prior, her husband had. Some things had happened down there that only they knew, and she felt oddly not included, on the outside of the only family she’d had for many years.
“I’ll watch for danger, I’ll shout if I see anything,” she said suddenly.
Felicia put a hand on McKenna’s shoulder and squeezed. “We will not be long, and then perhaps you should go back to Jacob.”
The trio turned and left McKenna standing before the blackness of the sea. The lonely darkness seemed to reach inside the submersible and wrap around her. She was a hunter, but she would never be one of the inner circle, no matter what happened. And it was lonely, even if she was safe with them right now.
Seraphina had never felt quite so alone, especially not after a good fuck. Neal never failed to heat her body and make her come, screaming his name. Which she had just moments before. Yet, as she walked to the entrance surrounded by water, something felt simply off.
Her section in Hell had seemed quiet without the rush of wings and screams of the Pure the last few days. All she had was Kellan, and she’d fled his cell rather quickly when he’d nearly ripped her throat out with his teeth. His blood craze was almost to
o strong. She’d barely been able to ask three questions before he’d turned on her like a rabid mutt.
Now, as she walked to meet Meriscas, she longed for Kellan—sexually and emotionally. The tie was potent as if he had Angel blood himself, and it scared her. Killing him was going to be akin to ripping her own heart out because she had fed him so much of her blood to destroy his mind. There would be no hesitation, though. Kellan would die, but only after she had released him with a plan to feed him so that he would maintain the appearance of sanity. She needed him to unlock the doors and allow her and her Fallen army inside to kill them all, once and for all.
The blood craze was painful and disgusted her, as it tied her to him, but it had its uses and was proving a fruitful plan at last. She did have three crucial pieces of the Alliance of Silver and Steam puzzle. An Angel, none other than Layel himself, was the patron protector of the Alliance. It was he who had started the Alliance, gave them the crystals and imbued his own magic to create the infernal tracking devices they used.
Which had been the second piece of information Kellan had all but shouted at her in exchange for blood. The reason they all seemed to know when her kind was present was thanks to a network of crystals and magnets that lined the streets in many cities round the world. It was the first thing she was going to destroy, after ensuring Kellan’s little rescue party had not made it past her trap. The third item, well it was fairly useless, but it was a comfort to know that there was no established order of command that Kellan knew of. Whoever was in charge of the Alliance and the guild could never possibly be ready for her.
The tips of Seraphina’s heeled shoes touched the waterline, and she looked down at the sound. She had been so lost in her thoughts, she almost walked right into the pool that would lead through a small underground tunnel that opened out into the ocean. The Siren should be along any moment, and then Seraphina would take another lover, perhaps a fire demon to counter the chill of Neal’s touches. She suspected it would be just the trick to undo the thoughts of Kellan’s warm hands on her as he fed, attacked or seduced her.
A rush of water drew her out of her thoughts, and she watched as the Siren leader slowly appeared above the water. She was stunning as ever, though cuts marred her face, and her small seaweed top was so far gone, her breasts were almost exposed. Unlike the last time, the Siren did not rise out of the water and come all the way to meet Seraphina. Meriscas lingered in the center of the pool, and Seraphina wanted to know why.
“Come out and face your Queen,” her voice boomed off the cavernous walls, and the candles flickered in their holders on the walls with the power she exerted as an angry Fallen.
“You did not tell me there would be females in their midst,” Meriscas spat at her, her face twisted to reveal the true ugliness of a demon.
Seraphina sucked in a deep breath. She should not have been surprised to learn that they’d brought women. But it begged the question of survival of the party.
“I am not shocked, though I had not known. Tell me, was one blonde?”
“Yes. That bitch took two of my tentacles, I have no knowledge if they will return.”
“Eliza,” Seraphina hissed, assuming it was Lucius’s mate.
“No. I heard a redhead name her, this blonde is McKenna, and she stole my prey from me.”
Meriscas’s teeth dripped a raw liquid drool, and Seraphina blanched at the disgusting act. She found some comfort that Lucius might not be in the mix to destroy her again.
“I take it she is dead for her actions against you?”
The hiss returned. “They had a ship, an underwater ship, and four of them escaped.”
Seraphina’s vision went as blood red as her hair. That was Eliza’s doing. “I should have had the Thrasher slit that bitch’s throat the moment I knew she was Alliance,” Seraphina growled.
Her hands clenched, and her nails sliced into her palm. She felt the slide of her blood downward and jerked her hand back, stopping it from getting into the water. There was no knowledge on what Angel blood could do in a drinking substance, how it could disperse and merge with the water itself. Seraphina was many things, but foolish was not among them.
The Sirens’ failure sunk in the moment she stopped seething about Eliza’s invention. “The deal had been for all to die for your people to eat.”
Meriscas moved further away, closer to the far wall. “I did not feed my Queen, we all did not feed.”
Seraphina’s eyes grew black as her demon nature prevailed in her anger. “I do not care that you did not feed. They will be on their way to destroy me and take my prisoner. You want to keep your heart in your chest? Kill them all before they enter. Wait here for when they step out of their side on the land, and see to it that they never make it past that archway.” She pointed behind her at the path that would lead directly to her, directly to Kellan.
“My Queen, I will not fail you again. I will find more of my kind to deal with the two females.”
Seraphina said nothing, her eyes slowly gained their ice blue color. She could feel the shift, even if she couldn’t see it. Meriscas was already dead for her failure. There was no point in giving that little surprise away, though. She left the Siren and turned to walk back down the tunnel. Whether or not the Siren failed, the Imp she was going to send to the doorway would report to her.
If the Alliance got past the entrance and happened to pick the left archway, they would be to her prison in only a day’s time. She was closest to this entrance, which is why she always insisted on using London’s, to avoid bringing them near her home. The hardest path of entry for any non-aquatic demons had been her savior when many of the Pure had tried to seek her out when they learned of her nature. Now, thanks to a Pure Angel and a bloody inventor with more knowledge than anyone ought to have, she was in danger of being caught off guard.
“Thank the bloody hell for the useless Imps,” she muttered as she focused on her chambers and flashed inside.
Neal was waiting, fully clothed and sitting on her bed as if he belonged in there. Just for a moment, his ice white hair was red as she thought about Kellan sitting on her bed, and she snarled. His head jerked up, and he immediately rose and took her in his arms.
“My Queen, forgive the intrusion. You called for me after many interactions of your rule, I thought to be here before you had to seek me out.”
She pushed him back, unimpressed and rather annoyed. “I do not seek you out, I order someone to bring you because your body suits mine nicely.”
He stepped up to her again and ran his hand down her. She shivered as her nipples puckered, and she felt her body grow wet for his expert lovemaking. Seraphina bit the inside of her cheek and wrapped her hands around his neck in an instant.
“Do not mistake your place, Neal. You will come when I call. You will touch me when I call.”
His face was turning purple, and yet, his hands did not claw at hers. His tolerance was impressive. Snorting, she took her hands off his neck, and he dropped to the floor, clutching at his throat.
“Get out before I decide death is in order. Plaything, or not, you will not outgrow your place. You are a lesser demon, I just happen to not find pleasure in the disfigured bodies and mouths of high demons.”
Slowly he stood up and looked her deep in the eyes. His silver eyes had always fascinated her, and the rage she saw in them now gave her pause, even as he spoke out of turn.
“I will not be traded for a human. You are forgetting yourself, forgetting your mission.”
Rage was swift, and so was her hand as she lashed out and sunk her nails into his chest, just above his heart. She let them sink in as deep as they would go and twisted her wrist, tugging at muscles, skin until a faint tearing sound came from his chest, and her arm jerked backward.
Neal screamed then.
His face contorted in pain, his eyes rolled back into his head, and she wrapped her delicate fingers around his heart, puncturing it with her nails. One hand jolted up to wrap around her wrist, and his
eyes opened. Tears fell from them as he tried to speak. She unclenched her hand and released the torn organ. Neal gasped and fell backwards onto the floor, his eyes looked into hers as he whispered just one word.
“Traitor.” He took his last breath, and his hand lulled to the side, even as his blood continued to spill on her lush carpet.
His last word had shaken her more than she liked. She knew she’d been growing closer to Kellan, even without the blood sharing. There was an enamoring quality to a man who could withstand all of her advances of the sexual and violent variety. His accent sent shivers through her, and he was handsome indeed. Those things did not lead up to the jealousy that Neal had just displayed.
She kicked at his body, to ensure he was well and truly dead, and he was. “I am your queen. I do what I do to gain the freedom we all deserve. My heart belongs to Hell. My passion to vengeance. No one else will question me, even if I must kill Kellan and find a new plan.”
She growled low at nothing at all and turned on her heel to find someone to clean up the mess. The attack on London had best be going better than her day thus far, or more than just Neal were going to lie dead at her feet.
Sixteen
Jacob’s head was pounding as he slowly opened his eyes. A purple glow filled the room, and he saw a purple crystal sitting on the little table next to the bed. Scrunching his face in pain as he tried to sit up, the room tipped on its axis. He lay back down and took a few deep breaths before trying to sit up again. The room was even too small to be the wrecked quarters he and Philippe had taken up in the boat.
“The submersible,” he said to no one at all as he remembered what had happened.
Running his hands through his hair, he noticed it was dry, even if he could still feel his clothing sticking to his skin in a few places. Though, he was grateful he was alive to feel such a sensation. When he had awoken last, he’d remembered nothing of what had occurred. When he awoke now, he remembered everything.