Moonlit Majesty

by Crystal-Rain Love

  “We’ll save her tomorrow,” she promised Addix once they were far enough from the palace to speak safely. “Would Fairuza hurt her if we anger her?”

  “She can’t,” Merta answered. “Did you see the cuffs she wore? She’s a house pet.”

  “What’s a house pet?”

  “Fairuza keeps two, one for mana and one for strength. They’re bonded to her through the magic of her pendant. When she needs extra mana or strength she pretty much sucks it up out from them. The drawback to her having them as pets though is that if any pain is inflicted on them, she will feel it as well.”

  “You mean, she hasn’t been torturing Avery all this time?” Addix asked, relief evident in his voice.

  “Oh, I’m sure she’s been torturing her mentally, most likely by telling her horrible things about you. Avery probably thinks you’re dead. I know how Fairuza works.”

  “So she won’t hurt her?” Zaira asked again.

  “No. If the throne is taken by force and the Imortian people do not give their devotion to the one who overthrows Fairuza, Avery would die. That is the only way Fairuza has been able to use her against Addix. She can’t physically harm Avery without weakening herself, not if she’s a pet.”

  “She can’t just no longer use her as a pet?” Mercury asked.

  “No. They are bonded as long as Fairuza owns that pendant and she wouldn’t dare remove it and step down as queen,” Merta answered.

  “Good.” Zaira picked up the pace as they headed toward the town square. “The devotion will last about another thirty minutes if I recall correctly. That gives us about that much time to release those caged people in the square and get them to safety.”

  She led the group to the town center, now empty, and pushed back her hood, not wanting to alarm the prisoners when she opened their cages.

  “Merta, why don’t you fly above us and keep a lookout?”

  Nodding, Merta shifted shape and took to the sky. She circled high above the cages as they neared.

  Zaira headed for the center cage, which held a young brunette, as Mercury and Addix pushed back their hoods and approached the cages holding men. As she neared, the young woman raised her head and gasped, eyes widening in recognition, then alarm.

  “No, Zaira, no!” she cried, shaking her head back and forth. “Leave me, please!”

  Zaira paused, surprised by the woman’s reaction, and then shook her head in disgust. She’d already heard how the Imortians just bowed to Fairuza’s will, not even bothering to try and defend themselves. “I shouldn’t even be surprised you’d choose prison over freedom,” she muttered as she gripped the lock in order to examine it. Pain sliced through her chest and blackness engulfed her.

  She found herself standing in a small circular room in what felt like two hundred degree heat. The smell of sulfur overwhelmed her as screams rent the air. Smoke wafted up from the red, glowing rock walls that threatened to burn her if she dared touch them. The room was dark but light came from the flaming words etched into the wall across from her. Angry tears burned behind her eyes as she read Fairuza’s writing.

  I knew you wouldn’t be able to wait until you defeated me to free those people. Welcome to Hades.

  SEVENTEEN

  “Where is she?!” Addix’s bellow echoed off the buildings in the empty square but he didn’t care about being heard. Zaira had just vanished right before his eyes, only an arm’s length away from him.

  Mercury turned in a circle, searching. “She was just there.”

  “I told her not to,” the female prisoner whimpered. “It was a trap. If you’d touched the locks on the other cages you’d have been caught too.”

  “What the hell happened?” Merta asked, having landed to shift shape.

  “These prisoners were a trap,” Mercury explained. “That bitch has Zaira.”

  “I’m going to get her,” Addix said, reaching for the lock on the cage he’d been seconds away from touching when Zaira had disappeared.

  “No!” Merta grabbed his hand. “You don’t know what happened to her. What if she’s …” She turned her face away, unable to say what she feared.

  “If Zaira were dead, I’d know.”

  “Addix …”

  “I’d know, Merta. There hasn’t been a day since I met her that I haven’t felt her inside of me. It’s the only thing that got me through Hades. She’s alive and I’m going to her.”

  “You don’t know where that is,” Merta argued with him. “If she’s not dead, she’s probably caged somewhere. How are you going to help her if you’re caught in the same trap?”

  “I brought her here. It’s my responsibility to protect her.”

  “Again, how are you going to do that by rushing in blindly into a trap? You might not even go to the same place as her if you touch that lock. Have you thought of that?”

  She had a point. Addix looked at the lock Zaira had touched. “If I touch the same lock she touched—”

  “You could be killed on impact,” Mercury interjected. “Merta’s right. We don’t know for sure how this works, but we do know this Fairuza bitch is evil. Besides, you have people here that do know magic, and you have me. I’m of Zaira’s bloodline. Surely that counts for something.”

  “He’s right,” Merta said, excited. “The strongest spells are always blood spells. Even I know that much. We’ll find her, Addix, I promise you. Don’t do anything stupid so we lose you too. We’ll need you to help save her.”

  Growling, Addix fought his protective instincts and clenched his fist to keep from gripping the lock. “I can’t lose her again, Merta. I can’t allow her to be hurt.”

  “I know. We’re going to find her.”

  “My pack leader gave me one job and I’m not going to fail it,” Mercury reminded him. “Right now though, we need to get out of here.”

  Addix looked where Mercury nodded and saw people starting to enter the square, the gathering at the palace over.

  “Go,” the caged brunette urged. “We saw no one with her.”

  The other prisoners nodded their promise not to tell anyone Zaira had company with her when she’d been caught.

  Addix followed the others’ lead and raised the hood of his cloak. It took every ounce of will power he had not to turn back around and grab one of the locks as they walked away toward Norene’s. They walked quickly, Addix praying the whole time.

  “I’ll do my best to numb the pain,” Imelda told Mercury as she held his arm over the bowl.

  Norene, a large brown-skinned woman with doe eyes, drew a dagger across Mercury’s forearm as Imelda used her healing powers to dull the pain.

  Mercury sucked in his breath but made no other noise as his blood was drawn. Addix and Merta sat at the stone table, watching the creation of the spell.

  “You’re sure this will work?” Addix asked.

  “Yes,” Norene answered as she angled Mercury’s arm so his blood poured into the bowl. “Blood Trail is a powerful tracing potion. We will find her, and once we do, the potion becomes a key.”

  Imelda ran her hand along Mercury’s arm, hovering just over his skin, and healed the cut.

  “Thank you,” he said, pulling his arm back. “I could have healed by shifting shape.”

  “No need.” She waved a hand. “A minor wound like that doesn’t take much out of me.”

  Norene busied herself placing other things into the bowl, humming unintelligible words to herself as she did so. Addix recognized the words as some sort of magic spell, but didn’t understand their meaning. Despite being Imortian, he’d never possessed any magic until he’d been given the unicorn spirit.

  With Norene’s hand poised over the bowl, its contents began to boil. She raised her hand, and the liquid followed, shooting up like a fountain before settling back into the bowl.

  “Gather around,” she instructed.

  They gathered around the bowl and stared at the swirling red liquid inside. It swirled a few seconds more before stilling, a red-tinted image coming into
focus.

  Addix’s heart leapt into his throat as he saw Zaira, visibly shaken, running down a narrow tunnel as dark shadows chased her.

  “No!” He slammed his fist down on the table, cracking the stone. “Why there? Anywhere but there!”

  Merta growled, her eyes glowing red. “How do we get her out? Hades is huge. Just finding her could take days.”

  “Not when you have a key to her exact location,” Norene said calmly despite what she’d just seen. “This isn’t just a tracing spell. It will take you to her exact location. You’ll still have to get back out though.”

  “Can you whip something up for them to use to get back here?” Mercury asked.

  “I’m afraid it isn’t that easy. Hades holds all kinds of magical people,” Norene explained. “There are safeguards against such an easy way of escape.”

  “How did you get out last time?” Mercury looked at Addix.

  “We fought our way out,” he answered, “but it wasn’t easy.”

  “We have to save her.”

  “I have to save her. You two stay here and—”

  “The hell we will!” Merta pinned him with a defiant glare. “It’s going to take all of us to get her out.”

  “Actually, Mercury will need to stay here,” Norene advised. “The spell connects his and Zaira’s locations. Once you ingest it you’ll be taken to Zaira, then you’ll be able to see a trail directing you to where Mercury will be waiting outside the portal you’ll need to get to.”

  “Ingest it?” Merta scrunched her nose up. “We have to drink this? It’s blood.”

  “It’s a potion, dear. If you plan on going to Zaira’s side to help her, you’ll have to drink the potion.”

  “I can go alone,” Addix stated. “With a definite trail leading us back out, it won’t be as difficult.”

  “Not happening. I’m going with you even if I have to drink blood to do it.”

  Addix held Merta’s glare for a moment before he shook his head and threw his hands up in the air. “Fine. There’s no time to argue. I don’t want her there a moment longer. Let’s just do this.”

  “I’ll take Mercury to the portal before I head into town,” Imelda said, grabbing his arm. “He’ll stay there at the gateway so you know where to go, while I discreetly spread the word that tomorrow’s Gathering will have a very special guest. You retrieve our new queen and we’ll be ready to give her a throne.”

  Addix nodded his agreement as Imelda directed Mercury toward the door. “Give us five minutes.”

  Addix sighed as the door to the small cottage closed behind them and looked at Merta. “Are you sure you want to go back there? We barely made it out last time.”

  “I always wanted to be a member of the queen’s army,” Merta answered with a shrug. “This queen is worth serving a hell of a lot more than Fairuza. It will be my honor to help you save her.”

  “You’re a good friend, Merta.” Addix felt water pooling in his eyes, touched by her loyalty.

  “Good? I’m fucking awesome!” She winked, trying to lighten the mood. “Besides, we’re family, even if I don’t have a horn and you don’t breathe fire. Now, don’t get all soft on me or I’ll have to rough you up.”

  “They should have reached the portal by now,” Norene said as she scooped the potion into two goblets. “Are you ready?”

  Addix looked at the drinks and took a deep breath. He’d never imagined going back to Hades, not after all he’d been through there and all he went through to get out, but the only thing he feared more than going back, was Zaira staying.

  “If I don’t make it, you get her out,” he instructed Merta.

  “We’ll all m—”

  “Promise me!” His command came out as a roar.

  “I promise.” Merta nodded firmly. “I have no intention of losing either of you, but I promise if something should happen, I will get her out.”

  “We’re ready,” he lied as he picked up the goblets, handing one to Merta. They could never be ready for a place like Hades, but there was no other choice. He would not leave Zaira there.

  “Bottoms up.”

  “I feel like a damn vampire,” Merta grumbled as they raised the goblets to their mouths.

  Zaira let out one last growl of anger and sank to the floor. She’d managed to lose the demons chasing her, but she knew they’d be back. Hiding in this small room was only a short respite. There would be more demons, more fighting. It would never end, nor would her grief. She’d lost it all. Her family, her love, everything. She would never see Addix or any of her wolves again.

  “The least you could have done was shown your face, Fairuza.” She knew it was no use saying anything, Fairuza wasn’t listening, but she couldn’t sit in silence worrying herself with what was going to happen next, or what was happening to her loved ones. “So help me, Fairuza, if you hurt Addix or the others, I will find a way out of here and I will make Hades seem like a vacation spot.” I’ll do that anyway, she thought. Addix and Merta had fought their way out. She would too.

  Footsteps sounded beyond the door.

  Zaira held her breath, staring at the door. There was nothing in the room with her other than the daggers she’d had on her when she’d been caught in Fairuza’s trap, and her magic was useless. She’d already figured out that there was some sort of magic-nulling spell put over the realm. She couldn’t even shift into her wolf form.

  She stood, gripped her daggers in her hands, and braced herself for attack as the door opened.

  “You gonna cut me?” Addix asked, smirking. “I expected more gratitude.”

  “Addix!” Zaira leapt at him, wrapping her legs around his waist as she hugged him tight.

  “That’s more like it,” he laughed before kissing her long and deep. “You knew I’d come for you.”

  “I didn’t know if you could,” she admitted. “I didn’t know if you’d been caught in a similar trap. Wait. Were you?”

  “Nope. Believe it or not, we actually came here of our own free will,” Merta said, stepping in behind Addix. She held her daggers, ready to fight.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “Mercury. Since he is of your bloodline, Norene was able to work a blood spell to locate you. He had to stay behind to act as a beacon.” Merta grinned as she looked at the ground outside the room. “You probably can’t see it but there’s a glowing trail leading us back to him. It’ll make our escape easier since we won’t take any wrong turns. It’s kind of cool.”

  Zaira looked at the ground but saw nothing.

  “What’s the plan?” she asked as Addix lowered her to the floor and turned for the doorway.

  “Walk right out,” he answered, palming a long knife, “and kill anything that tries to stop us. You ready?”

  His eyes burned with anger as he looked down at her. “Sonofabitch. What happened?”

  Zaira looked down at where blood seeped through her shirt. “I’ve been running and fighting since I got here. The demons tried to force me into a cell. I can’t shift shape to heal the damage.”

  Addix shifted before her and touched his horn to her abdomen, healing the cuts there before shifting back.

  “You can shift? Why can’t I?”

  “I can null a lot of magic,” Addix explained. “I couldn’t null anything in the Realm of Nightmare, but I can null whatever it is here that prevents other Weres from shifting. And I can unlock the portals leading out of Hades. It’s how we got out last time.”

  “Um, guys,” Merta whispered. “Incoming.”

  Zaira looked past the doorway and saw four large shadowy figures creeping up the tunnel.

  EIGHTEEN

  “Stay behind me and slice up anything that gets past me,” Addix ordered as he lunged forward, attacking the demons before they could reach the room.

  Merta and Zaira followed, Zaira bringing up the rear as they traveled down the narrow tunnel. A demon got past Addix’s blade but didn’t survive Merta’s.

  Zaira stepped over the d
emon’s shredded body and followed the others as they ran through the twisting corridors. She’d hoped she would adapt to the overbearing smell of sulfur but still hadn’t. She found herself choking on it every few minutes as they ran.

  “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” she asked as they turned right at a crossroads. She didn’t see how as Hades was a series of interwoven, narrow, dark tunnels with cells interspersed here and there.

  “Yes, the trail is very easy to follow,” Merta answered. “You’ll just have to trust us on that.”

  Yes, she would. She couldn’t see any sort of trail whatsoever as they whipped around corners, Addix racing forward like the hellhounds were nipping at their heels. With that image in her mind, Zaira threw a glance over her shoulder and saw exactly what her mind had conjured.

  “Hellhounds!” she warned as the large, snarling beasts raced toward them.

  “The portal isn’t far away,” Addix called back as he took another right.

  Merta and Zaira followed him around the corner, coming to a large, open space lined with caged cells. Hands of the prisoners reached out to them, attempting to grab them as they ran past. The people inside hissed and screamed vulgarities at them.

  “What’s wrong with them?” Zaira asked as Addix stopped in the middle of the room and turned.

  “You can only be tortured in Hades for so long before you lose all trace of your humanity,” Addix explained. “We can’t outrun the hounds. Go for their hearts.”

  The words barely left his mouth before the pack of hounds rounded the corner. Zaira quickly counted ten as they filled the room, acidic drool dripping from their mouths as they headed straight for them.

  Ten against three were never good odds, especially when she couldn’t use her magic she relied so heavily on, but she couldn’t run away. If the hounds didn’t rip into her, they’d rip into Addix and Merta and that was not an option.

  Two hounds bore down on her as a third leapt in the air, her throat its mark. Reacting quickly, Zaira dropped to the ground and spun, legs out. She used her legs to sweep the hounds running at her away as she raised her dagger, its blade catching the hound that had leapt at her, slicing it open as it sailed over her head.