by K.N. Lee
“The Netherworld agents wiped them out,” Jax added.
Lexi shook her head. “Fuckers. They make us register and follow their rules, and then turn around and treat us like vermin. I knew we shouldn’t trust them.”
“Are they doing this to all vampires?” Jax asked, his brows furrowing.
“That’s right,” Lexi said, checking her phone. The glow of the screen illuminated her pale skin.
“Just our luck,” Evina said. “As soon as we get here everything goes to hell. Might as well go back home.”
Jax nodded. Finally, they were on the same page.
“In due time,” Lexi said. “All of the gates are being destroyed by that silver-haired nuisance, Viktor.”
“What?” Jax asked. Dread filled his veins. Their chance to get back home to their kingdom might be forever taken away from them.
“The main angel, Viktor, has put an order out to find all gates and all portals and to have them destroyed. He doesn’t want any supernaturals getting into this world, and wants all of those who are already here to be found and killed. Sick, eh?”
“This is insane,” Evina said, shaking her head. “At least the castle is safe, right?”
“Wryn Castle has been taken over,” Lexi said, lowering her voice. “I lost many friends because of this whole debacle.”
Evina sat up. “So, where are we going?”
“The Wryn Clan is going back to our roots.”
“Where is that?” Jax asked.
She flickered a look at him, a sneaky smile entering her dark eyes. “The Netherworld. Word says your father’s second wife is marching on Lyrinia to usurp your throne.”
Evina and Jax shared a look. “What?” They asked in unison.
“We’ve reports that Lera has raised an army.”
All thoughts of staying here and living a free life were dashed away as he imagined what Lera would do to his mother if she breached their walls.
“No way,” Evina said. “What does she think she’s going to do with an army?”
Lexi tilted her head. “What do you think? She’s picking up where your psychotic—no offense—cunt of a father left off. That’s what. Your mother is all that stands between her and the throne.”
Jax shook his head. “No. She’s not.”
They both looked to him.
“Because, I’m going home,” he said. Resolve set in. He had a plan, and a purpose. “I’m claiming my throne.”
13
Koa was dirty, sticky, incredibly tired, and desperate for a drink of blood. She clutched the sink before her and yawned.
Still in her torn dress from the grand ball at Lady Colleen’s castle, she stood in the bathroom in the lower levels of the church safe house. She stared at herself in the mirror as the shower made a thick cloak of steam fill the air.
They’d traveled all night to bring Colleen and the others to the church. Now, it was time to sleep while the sun rose and prepare for the night ahead. They had to find another portal before they were all destroyed and all chances of escape were taken from them.
Halston showered in one of the other bathrooms at the same moment. She tugged at the small buttons that ran up from her belly button to her bosom, and ended up snatching it off. Free of the gown, she gave herself one last look, annoyed by the dark circles under her eyes, the streaks of dirt and caked on blood, and the knots in her long blue hair. She stepped out of the dress pooled at her feet and into the porcelain tub.
The water was glorious. Hot and with the perfect pressure, it fell onto her back and she scrubbed every inch of her body. She paused, a bar of lavender scented soap in one hand, as she traced the areas where Bund’s sharp talons had pierced through her skin, skewering her like a piece of meat on a kabob.
Flashbacks of being possessed by him sent her to her knees. Her breaths were labored, and frantic as she dropped the soap and doubled over onto the floor of the tub, her palms pressed against the slick surface. He had wanted to claim her, use her, and torment her. The fact that he had almost succeeded was disturbing.
Her head thumped with pain and pressure as she tried to shove the memories from her mind. They continued their assault, blocking out everything, filling every corner of her consciousness with images of his face, sharp teeth, and the children he’d killed.
Koa chewed her bottom lip, trying to shove them back. “No,” she whimpered, curling into a ball in the tub. “Get out of my head. Get out.”
Never, a voice seemed to whisper.
Koa tensed.
Was that real?
Bund’s laughter filled the bathroom and Koa screamed.
“Leave me alone!”
The door to the bathroom burst open, and Halston, nude, and ready for a fight, rushed inside to see her cowering on the floor like a frightened child.
“Koa?” He knelt at the tub and collected her into his arms.
Shaking, she could barely form a sentence. Her eyes were wild, searching the room for a trace of the demon she believed to be dead.
“Where is he?” she asked in a voice that hurt her ears. She was too loud, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t stand to face Bund again. Not after all he’d done to her.
Halston held her tight to his wet chest and cradled her head with his hand. “Koa, he’s gone. I promise.”
“Are you sure?”
Bund had nearly broken her. She couldn’t imagine facing him ever again.
Halston gently placed his hands on either side of her face and leaned in close, lowering his voice. He spoke tenderly, calmly. “He will never hurt you again. No one will. I swear I won’t let them.”
Searching his eyes, Koa realized that Halston had taken the same path as Bund. Was it possible that one day, long ago, Bund had been pure and good? It had to be. He’d been an angel, perfect by design. What he had become couldn’t have been natural or what he’d even expected. She swallowed. Was that what Halston would become?
She buried her face into his neck and held on. “I’m tired, Halston. Please, can we just go to bed?”
He nodded and snatched a towel off the bar on the wall next to the shower. She closed her eyes and let him carry her back to one of the bedrooms.
“Are you all right, Koa?” Oren asked, standing in the darkness of the hallway outside the door to the room he was given to sleep in. His sudden question startled her. There was still something about him that made her uneasy. Then again, shifters always had that effect on her.
Her cheeks flushed and she nodded as Halston carried her away. “I’m fine. Thank you, Oren.”
It was cold, but she didn’t care. Halston set her on the ground inside the room and handed her the towel. She avoided staring at his naked body and dried herself. She’d seen him like that before, but it seemed inappropriate to let her mind think of the time they’d been intimate. Too much was on the line.
So, she dried and put on a large t-shirt Halston had stored in the bottom drawer of the single wardrobe in the room. When she turned back to him, he wore a pair of plaid pajama pants and a grey shirt. His dark blond hair was messy, and sexier than ever, and Koa scolded herself for even thinking that way at a time like that.
She swallowed and fidgeted with the hem of the t-shirt.
“Ready?” Halston asked, his hand hovering above the light switch.
Koa climbed into the twin-sized bed in the corner of the room and covered herself with the quilt. “Yes,” she said with a nod.
Darkness filled every inch of the room and Halston climbed into bed with her. She melted into his arms and closed her eyes. Somehow, she always felt safer when he was around. This was no exception.
“Do you remember when we first met?” Halston asked.
She sighed. “I do. I hated you,” she said with a laugh.
He stroked her cheek. “I know you did. I expected it. But, you know what I did wasn’t to hurt you, right?”
“Not back then, no. I couldn’t understand why I had to marry that awful vampire. Often, I dreamed of flyi
ng far from that palace.”
“Viktor believed that if we kept the vampire kingdoms at peace, that peace would keep the human world safe. He was right. After I took you from Lyrinia, Greggan began planning his attack on the humans.”
“I’m glad Bund killed him. That may have been the only good thing he ever did.”
“It wasn’t. Bund had once been a good angel. An obedient one. Thousands of us had once been the same. Pure. Perfect. He couldn’t help being tricked.”
“You sound as if you feel sorry for him.”
“I do. He went down a dark path and had no one to bring him back,” Halston said. “I, at least, have you. My love for you will keep me sane. It will bring me back.”
Koa looked up to him and kissed him on the lips. The kiss was every bit as delicious as she’d remembered.
“I love you, Halston.”
He kissed her again, harder, and nearly took her breath away.
“I love you. And, I want you to know that I will never follow such orders again. You are safe with me. Because, you are all that matters to me anymore.”
She smiled. “I know,” she said, and yawned despite the fear that had gripped her soul merely minutes ago, she rested her head on his chest and slipped into a deep sleep. She dreamed of the enchanted dagger in her father’s manor.
Could it really be the Enchanted Elyan Dagger? Salvation was only miles away, but warnings screamed at her from deep inside. Nothing was ever easy, and Koa feared what was to come.
14
Halston worried he was losing himself to the dark changes churning within. Tomorrow, they would travel to the Vangelis Estate to see if there was any merit to Koa’s new prophetic dreams. But now, his skin itched with the desire to kill.
The strain of keeping his newly-forged hair-trigger temper in front of Koa was draining him. While his natural dry pragmatism could camouflage some of it, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain an even keel, and worse, make the kind of smart decisions that would keep them free and alive.
He left Koa at the church and stumbled into the woods out back of the old building. Sleep beckoned, but he was too wired to rest. Even if he wanted to hold Koa in his arms, she could kill him. But, she wouldn’t. Not if he kept the evil inside at bay.
Halston clung to the tree trunks, jamming painful bits of bark under his fingernails. The soft, sweet smell of moss and decaying leaves rose up when he crushed them with his clumsy footsteps. Birds chirped peaceably to each other, while squirrels scrambled and squabbled through the branches. It was a world away from everything he knew, from ballrooms and cafes, politics and plunder.
His vision went black for the space of six heartbeats. But, vision wasn’t necessary to experience the slashing pain that tore through his body, setting every muscle on fire and splitting the tender tissue that held him together.
When the darkness lifted, he was on his hands and knees, panting hard and covered in a clammy sweat. There was no way he could stand up. At best, he would wobble like a newborn foal. At worst, the darkness and pain might return. Flopping onto his back seemed like the best option, regardless of the dampness of the ground or the precisely three twigs that were poking into the small of his back.
Halston ground his teeth. He would have clenched his fists in frustration as well, but he was just too damned tired.
“Welcome to the first day of the rest of my miserably long, dubious life,” he growled to himself, his thoughts returning to their previous gloomy groove.
Not even twenty-four bloody hours.
Lord only knew what state he would be in after a week. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be your average pleasantly-tired-ready-for-a-drink kind of Friday night.
With his luck, it would end up being the equivalent of getting a massage from a really pissed-off Syth, followed by a heated rock treatment using hellfire and brimstone.
The familiar sensation of sleepiness crept over him, and he fought it. The last thing he wanted in this weakened state was to get sucked into another terrifying dreamscape. He opened his eyes wide and strained to focus on the texture of the tree branches against the sky. But, the branches swayed hypnotically in the breeze and compelled him into sleep.
He found himself in complete darkness, but just like when he had been awake, he didn’t need to see to get the full experience of the pain being inflicted on him. If anything, the lack of light made him more aware of the fine details of the pain: the way it made his knuckles ache, the fine sheen of sweat that covered his skin as waves of nausea rolled over him, the way his brain hurt more behind his right eye than his left. The whole experience was a kaleidoscopic rotation of slicing, burning, aching, tearing, and breaking.
It was relentless and exhausting to the point of forgetting how to scream. He had no name, no face, no words. His body had no boundaries, no skin to contain it. He existed as nothing more than an endlessly expanding universe of agony.
But, with the pain came a kind of cleansing purity. All that he was had been stripped away, tendon by tendon, until he became glad of the pain, of the strength it gave him, the power it bestowed. From there, it was just a twist of a single thought to take pride in his suffering, to enjoy it.
He felt generous, like a god wanting to share his bounty. He wanted to give this divine purity to all creatures great and small the gift of such complete freedom. As a god, he knew that all freedom and purity came at a price. The balance of the universe itself depended on payment for services rendered. Torment would be his currency, and he would build a fortune in his own bliss.
For every dark god, there had to be a dark goddess, and a single point of light appeared, defining a horizon for him. The light grew brighter and closer, and he saw the face of his fearsome beloved. She was an avenging angel of death, and the heavenly host that sang her alleluias held flaming swords and promised the end of all things.
Koa waded through throngs of the innocent, blood blossoming in bright stains on her golden skin. She grabbed a woman to sink her fangs into, barely breaking her stride as she tossed her aside like a broken doll before snatching a young boy into her deadly embrace.
“My love,” she cooed with scarlet lips. “Join me. I would share this with you.”
She reached out and beckoned to him. “I would share all things with you.”
After that, it was a seduction by slaughter. He laughed at the screams of the dying as he ripped their arms off and sliced their kneecaps from their bodies, letting them crumple to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut.
It felt good, natural to be the harbinger of such sweet deliverance. He was the god who could reintroduce humanity to its most basic element, the simple primal scream of survival. It felt even better not to be alone, to have the other half of his heart, his soul right there with him.
His mouth twisted and stretched into a smile as he went willingly into her embrace. He didn’t even mind when she ripped out his throat because he had plunged his hand into her chest and pulled out her beating heart.
The all-consuming darkness returned.
He drifted.
He blinked.
Halston woke gasping for air, clawing at his throat. He sat up and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Koa lay beside him, sleeping, her soft breaths the only sound heard in the small bedroom.
Hell was real.
Halston knew that for certain now because Hell was within him, contained in all the secrets he would have to keep from Koa to keep her safe, to keep her sane.
Sweating, he slid Koa off his chest and quietly left the bed. He was too hot, and too worked up to go back to sleep. Instead of resting, he had to do something. The world was about to change, and he had to think of a solid plan to not only protect he and Koa, but the humans he had vowed to look after when he and Viktor started the Netherworld Division.
Yes, he was a demon. But, that didn’t mean he didn’t have the free will to still be good. It may be a struggle with his new dark desires, but he was a figh
ter. He would fight the blood lust that boiled within.
He left the room and closed the door behind him. The corridor was quiet, though his ear drums pulsed with the sounds of snores, breathing, and calm heartbeats. Everyone was asleep.
Everyone except that nosy shifter.
Clenching his jaw, Halston turned toward the staircase that led out of the lower level of the church. He followed Oren’s scent, which led him outside into the sunlight. A gentle breeze cooled the air outside the church, and birds chirped and sang in the tall trees. Daylight used to be soothing. Now, he felt more like the creatures of the night and winced at the brightness of the sun’s light.
Oren was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, gazing at the sky.
“Not easy sleeping during the day while the vampires hide from the sun, is it?” Oren asked, glancing over his shoulder as Halston walked down the stairs.
“I find I don’t need much sleep anymore,” he said. “I think I just do it now out of habit.”
“Ah,” Oren said, nodding. “Can’t say I relate. I enjoy sleep. But, after the things we’ve seen. The things we’ve done…”
He paused and looked away from Halston who sat on the bottom step beside him.
“I know,” he said. He did. He knew too well that the things he’d done would forever haunt him. At least he could say he did it for love.
“So, what’s the plan when the vamps wake up?” Oren asked, rubbing his hands together. “Or do we just start making peace with the fact that we’re all going to die once we go to the Netherworld?”
Halston gave him a sidelong glance. “I don’t plan on dying.”
“Of course, you don’t. You’re used to winning. I come from a long line of losers. My family are all posers. They wish they were human, and pretend to be just that. They’re so good at living a lie that they work their mundane, low-class jobs, and never give a second thought to the animal desperate to be free.”
He tilted his head. “How did you end up with Lady Colleen?”
Oren smirked. “She tried to feed from me. Amazing how the vampires, especially the Netherworld ones, have a hard time telling the difference between a vampire and a shifter. Let’s just say, I showed her pleasure greater than a quick blood fix. And, she hasn’t been able to say goodbye ever since.”