As if in response, Ralph licked playfully at her palm, which served to only highlight her warning. He resembled a puppy so much because, in a lot of ways, he still was one.
“If he’s relatively weak for his species, I’d hate to run into a full-grown hellhound,” Eli said, like he was reading my mind. “Still, we’ll miss having you around, little guy.” Eli patted him awkwardly before he stood up and rubbed his hands together. “Alright, shall we be off to hell?”
I might have been seeing things, but I was fairly certain that Claude actually rolled his eyes at that before he turned and walked out the door.
Seeing my chance slip away, I wrapped my arms around Ralph’s neck and squeezed. “I’ll be back for you, I promise. Just lie low and be safe in the meantime.”
“You be safe too,” Khalida said, her voice a soft whisper near my ears. “It can be a tricky thing—figuring out who you can and cannot trust. Choose wisely, especially once you’re through the portal.” She shook her head as if changing her mind. “On second thought, I caution against folding your trust completely into any being you encounter there, even the one you’re trying to save.”
I shivered at her warning, even though agreeing to it was a pretty simple thing. I hadn’t intended on trusting any of the creatures we might come across in hell, except for Wade. And while Khalida seemed wise beyond her years, she didn’t know Wade. I could trust him. Of that I was certain.
Not wanting to be rude, I nodded once before glancing towards the door. Atlas was standing just outside, waiting for me. The rest of our team stood awkwardly behind him.
His team. He’d made it clear that I would never belong with them many times.
But did I want to? More and more I was noticing how well we worked together, how our personalities and abilities complemented each other.
No. I was always destined to join a team with Ro—he would always be the person who made me feel like home.
Khalida arched her brow as she watched Atlas, her somber goodbye melting into a smirk. “Something tells me you’re in for an amusing adventure, Max. I truly wish that I could join you all as you embark on it. And not many things could make me yearn for a trip into hell.”
Her comment was coy and suggestive, as was the way she kept looking at Atlas. I was suddenly filled with gaping relief that she wouldn’t be joining us—a sentiment I buried as far down as it could go. I most definitely did not have the capacity to argue with my brain about how very bad of an idea it was to think of Atlas in any terms quite so...intimate.
“Thank you,” I said, as I gave one final squeeze and kiss to Ralph. “You’ve been very helpful and warm.”
I surprised myself by actually meaning those words. In some ways, she reminded me of Izzy—more guarded and mysterious perhaps, but filled with the same sort of open kindness. If I met her in any other circumstance, if she wasn’t whatever it was that she was, we might actually become very good friends.
Her smile brightened, as if she too sensed the sincerity in my farewell. “It was my pleasure. I don’t often get the opportunity to meet new people. Claude likes to keep me ferreted away. A bit protective, these vampire brothers.”
Hearing her jab, Darius pressed his hands to his chest as if she’d wounded him.
“Keep an eye on him, Max,” she whispered, her words so soft that I had to strain to hear them. “He’s strong, even for a vampire, but he doesn’t have the control that he needs to survive there. And I don’t kn—” her voice broke softly, like she was choking back tears, “I count very much on the continued existence of these brothers. I would be quite lost if either of them were killed.”
I nodded, once again filled with an almost painful curiosity about her relationship with them. I knew so little about Darius—and as much as I could pretend that I wanted to keep it that way, I knew with absolute certainty that I did not.
Her face brightened once more before she turned her attention to Darius and ran at him until she collapsed against his chest, her arms around his neck.
He squeezed her back and while I could tell that they were sharing some parting words, I couldn’t hear what they were.
Their embrace was so familiar, intimate in a way that made me feel like I was trespassing on a scene that wasn’t meant for me. I averted my eyes and, rather than waiting for them to separate, I walked out of the old house and into the night.
* * *
“You mean to tell me,” Eli said, his arms crossed in front of his chest, annoyance on his face, “that the portal to hell was through your shitty ass bar this whole time? What the actual fuck?”
Claude turned around slowly, his fist closed tight and his jaw muscles so tense I was certain he was going to pop something. The vamp was a walking cliche of anger.
“By which I meant to say, very nice bar. Best bar I’ve been to in a long time. Top notch, really,” Eli added quickly, his voice pitched a few notches higher as he looked everywhere but at Claude’s eyes.
Darius slapped his hand down roughly on Eli’s back before inching his body between ours. “Now that your life is tied to mine, how about you at least pretend to try preserving it, yeah? At least for a day or two?”
We were standing in front of the now-familiar bar. Claude simply nodded to the doorman before ushering the rest of us through. Marge was working behind the counter again and when she saw all of us spill around the bartop, her mouth dropped open.
“You sure this is the best idea, boss? After what happened the last time this lot was in here, might not be a good look. Don’t exactly want our patrons thinking this is a protector joint now do we?” Her voice was low and hushed, and while she’d seemed so jovial and welcoming the first time I’d met her, there was a dark cast to the way she looked us all up and down now. The lines around her mouth and eyes that spoke of a jovial spirit when we met, now seemed to reflect fear and anxiety. “I don’t want anyone coming after you like they did Darius, is all.”
Claude exhaled on a soft chuckle. “Don’t think anyone who comes into this bar is under the illusion that they stand a chance against me, Marge. My brother and his new band of friends will be here for only a moment. We’re just heading out back.”
If she was surprised by our arrival, then she was downright shocked by the thought of us going out back. Her ruddy green eyes dulled as she looked at him. “You can’t really mean—”
“Not something for you to concern yourself with,” Claude said, cutting her off. He nodded towards the room in the back and we all followed.
I didn’t miss the regret that carved lines in her expression as she watched Darius follow.
A second before he was out of reach, she shot her hand out to grab his, her short red hair bouncing from her rushed movement. “I can’t make you reconsider?” She paused a beat and waited for Darius to shake his head in response. Her face fell when he did, her eyes wide with a profoundly sad concern. She shook her head, eyes glazing over with unshed tears. “You’re a reckless, reckless boy.”
She didn’t say it unkindly, more like the way a mother might chastise her son for doing something that brought him harm; it was the sort of statement filled with regret, with abject, terrifying powerlessness.
He brought his palm up to her face in a move that appeared so tender and heartfelt I almost forgot that he was a bloodsucking vampire whom I’d watched snap a protector’s neck with little thought or concern. “I’ll be okay.” He winked before adding, “I’m pretty tough to kill. Keep an eye on this place.” He turned, like he was finished talking before he thought better of it and spun around again. “And keep an eye on him, will you? He’s too tense. Needs to live a little.”
She tsked softly before tapping him playfully on the cheek. Without another word, she turned back to tend to her customers. The bar wasn’t exactly full, but I spotted several guys waving her down for a refill.
I scanned the room, looking at the few dozen tables and stools, most of which were filled with people huddled over pint glasses and shots. How many
of them were vampires and werewolves? Villette didn’t seem to be present tonight.
It was strange how much the scene resembled ones I’d seen countless times at the restaurants and bars from back home on the mountain and back at Guild Headquarters. I had to remind myself that these weren’t just humans or protectors out enjoying a night with family and friends. That a whole group of them had attacked us only a few nights ago.
That they had almost killed me and my friends.
That no matter how innocent or human they looked to me now, they were anything but.
I spun that reminder on repeat as I followed the group, desperate for it to grab hold in my mind, for it to feel unflinchingly true. More and more, I could feel myself pulling away from The Guild—questioning everything I’d ever been taught about the supernatural world. And I wasn’t entirely certain that I was ready to have my entire universe turned upside down. Not when there was so much at stake.
We disappeared through the door behind the bar, winding through a dark hall that was lined with a series of closed doors until we made our way to the very end. It seemed like such a typical bar. Maybe a bit larger on the back end, with all of the mysterious rooms, but typical in all other ways. The walls were lined with a deep wood paneling, the carpet a plush red.
Maybe they’d chosen that color to disguise all of the blood shed? I shook the gruesome thought away and tried to refocus on what we were doing—on where we were going.
Claude inhaled deep and slow, like he was preparing himself for what lay behind the heavy metal door. For the first time since I’d known him, some of his calm slipped away to an emotion other than anger. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that there was a sort of sadness in the hunch of his shoulders, in the guardedness of his eyes.
“Why exactly is the portal to hell located at the back of a Seattle bar? Seems kind of like a strange place, no?” I asked, drawing my attention away from Claude and whatever sympathy was stirring in my gut. I turned to Darius, my skin buzzing with the tension of the moment. We were going to walk through some mystical portal and land our asses in a world filled with our enemies. And we were doing it on purpose. While I knew that was the goal from the moment we left The Guild, I hadn’t let the fear and realization settle in until now. Not exactly great timing. “I thought you said that you weren’t certain where the portal was?”
I didn’t mean for my tone to sound like it was filled with accusation, but if my brother worked so close to a hellgate, I’d make damn sure I was aware of it.
Darius shrugged, not at all phased by my rambling. “I wasn’t. It moves. This time it’s apparently gone and attached itself to the bar.”
“The portal is unstable,” Claude said, though I could tell he was holding something back, telling us only half truths. “It goes where it can latch onto power, where it can both control and be controlled. Right now, that location is here.”
“Seems like a dire business plan,” Eli said with a dry laugh, “your kind doesn’t exactly speak fondly of hell, so I imagine it can’t be great for business—your customers having the potential to get sucked into another realm while guzzling down a pint.”
Darius cleared his throat like he was uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. It was strange, as he generally seemed to embrace the awkward and uncomfortable with a weird, sadistic relish. But where Claude and his old life were concerned, he seemed to take on a wholly different persona.
“Let’s stop the chatter and speculation and get on with it,” he said, sweeping his arm in a gesture for his brother to open the door.
When he did, the heavy breath I inhaled spilled out in an anticlimactic sputter. It just appeared to be a vaguely rundown back patio, with grass growing between cracks in the concrete. There were a few forgotten beer bottles littering the ground and when Claude flipped a switch, a buzzing, flickering light cast the small area in a soft glow.
“Not exactly what I was expecting,” I said, as I craned my neck around, half-expecting to see some whirl of light or fire that led to the depths of hell. Why did everyone seem so frightened of...this? “Kind of looks like any old back patio.”
Claude turned towards me, his eyes narrow, but stiff. “It’s meant to appear non-threatening. Can’t exactly have a mystical force field drawing attention to every creature who walks by it. Would make gatekeeping it a big problem, wouldn’t it?”
His spine straightened as he glanced around, and while I didn’t know the vampire well, he seemed more tense than usual, like he desperately wanted to turn around and close the door, to abandon this lackluster alleyway as quickly as possible.
His fangs descended in a quick, fluid movement. My breath stopped and I was momentarily convinced that this whole thing was one elaborate ruse; that he’d turn on us all, now that we were outside of a building filled with his friends.
The logical part of my brain knew this wasn’t the case, knew that if he’d wanted to, he could have killed us all back in his home. But fear was a fickle fuck that loved playing mind games and distorting reason.
He arched a brow, like he knew exactly where my mind had gone, before he pressed his fangs into the fleshy part of his palm.
I watched, fascinated as deep red blood pooled in his hand. I stood, entranced, as he took a few steps towards the back of the alley, and swept his hand delicately around, like he was caressing an invisible wall.
His blood-streak stuck, like a smear in midair and then was quickly absorbed, like the air was nothing more than a hungry sponge. He breathed in deeply, like the cut actually drained some of his energy—a false notion if ever I’d had one. I’d just watched him demolish his entire living room in a blood-filled pissing contest with his brother after all.
I blinked, confused, as the air seemed to shimmer, like it was contained by plastic wrap that was blowing softly in the wind. And then, just as I convinced myself that what I was seeing wasn’t simply my brain playing funny tricks, the air stilled, and a quiet, hushed whisper filled the atmosphere around us, calling us forward, before quieting altogether.
Claude took a few hurried steps back, studying the area he’d just been standing on with a deep focus. Then, with a swift kick, he lodged one of the empty beer bottles towards the brick wall at the farthest spot from the door and my mouth fell open as I watched it disappear completely from sight, swallowed by air or an invisible force, at the exact spot he’d offered his blood.
Satisfied that this was the spot, Atlas took a few steps forward. I could feel the adrenaline coiling off his skin as he studied the area where the bottle no longer sat. “We just walk through? Is that all there is to it?”
When Claude nodded, Atlas turned back towards the rest of us and exhaled softly, running a hand through his messy black hair.
“Anyone can turn back now if they want,” he glanced quickly at Darius, his lips tightening slightly, like he was debating the next part of his speech. “That includes you vamp. We got you out, you got us here. We can call it even if you want to cut your losses and go do whatever it is that you do with your time.”
Eli stepped forward next to Atlas and gripped his shoulder in that bro way guys always pulled off. “Can’t get rid of me that easily, my friend. Like I’d give up on the opportunity of chasing baddies in hell.”
Declan nodded, no mirth in her expression as she locked eyes with Atlas. “You and Wade are my brothers in every way but blood. I’m going.”
Atlas’s jaw tightened as he looked at his two teammates, and I could see the strange bond that connected them all.
I was filled with an unrecognizable longing—to be connected with them in that way. I’d experienced something similar with Ro, of course. And Izzy and I had grown close in a really short amount of time. But to be a part of a team, to have someone’s back and them have mine, no matter what reckless or ridiculous things we got into.
To belong.
I cleared my throat, shoving the rising emotion back down. I’d get back to my family after this if it was the last
thing I did, but I wasn’t backing down now. “I’m in too.”
Beyond finding Wade, beyond using my dreams as a way to uncover our path to him, I was enthralled by the idea of exploring hell. For some reason that I couldn’t quite understand, I’d felt a pull towards that bottle as it disappeared from sight. A strange desire to chase after it was building and building, like I needed to explore whatever it was that lurked on the other side.
I’d learned so much in my short time with The Guild, but if the last few days taught me anything, it was that I didn’t know nearly as much as I needed to—not about this world of supernaturals and, more importantly, not about myself.
Something in my gut told me that the answers I needed would be through this invisible portal, hidden in the backyard of an old dive bar. Maybe I was just being naive, but I couldn’t back away from that intuition.
Darius stepped up next to me, his lean build towering over mine. His eyes fell on mine as he answered Atlas. “I’ll be seeing this through. Not least of all because I want to make sure all aspects of our bargain are held up.”
Atlas glanced at me, his expression filled with steel as he took in Darius’s statement.
My stomach dipped as I stared up at him. In all of the strangeness of our journey, I’d almost forgotten about my particular role in our bargain. That if we survived our descent into hell, if we rescued Wade from the shadow creature or the man who’d kidnapped him in the first place, that everyone would return to The Guild.
Everyone except for me. I’d made a promise to Darius that if we were successful, if we survived, that I would stay with him. At least for a while. An agreement I made, having no idea what exactly it was that he even wanted with me in the first place.
I nodded, a silent acknowledgement that I hadn’t forgotten our bargain.
Darius’s face split in a peculiarly chipper grin as he walked towards the brick wall. “In that case,” he said, glancing quickly at his brother, “we’d best be off.”
Hell and Back: The Protector Guild Book 4 Page 15