by Helen Scott
“I need to get back to the house, so I vote you pack a few things and come with.” He shrugged as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.
“And what about my job? I'm supposed to be at work in”—I paused as I glanced over at the clock on my dresser—“five hours.”
“One of us will call you in sick.” He said it so nonchalantly that it almost pissed me off. I wasn't the kind of person who would just call in sick if I didn't feel like going to work. It was an obligation and a commitment I had made and usually kept unless I was actually sick.
“That's not how waitressing works. I need to find someone to cover my shift, and trust me, no one wants a Monday-night shift. We aren't exactly a sports bar, so we lose a lot of clientele on Mondays.”
“I'll figure it out. Don't worry. For now, could you please just pack a few things?”
“Fine, but if I get fired, you're paying me a severance package.”
“Sure thing, Your Worship.” He chuckled.
“Grubby-looking nerf herder,” I muttered under my breath as I stood up.
“Who are you callin' grubby looking?”
I looked down at him, analyzing the possibility that he actually knew if he was a few letters away from quoting Star Wars or not.
“I might look like a gym rat, but I'm a nerd at heart.” He smiled up at me, and it was dazzling.
“I might have to test that statement sometime,” I said, unable to stop the grin forming on my face.
“As you wish.” He smirked.
“Come on, now you're just being obvious.” I laughed as I recognized his quote from The Princess Bride.
We both laughed a minute, and the tension in the room from this new development eased. I reached into my closet somewhat awkwardly, given that his hand was still wrapped around my ankle, almost blindly groping for my luggage. The carry-on-sized suitcase would have to do since it was that or my huge one, which was almost as tall as I was, or my backpack, which I hadn't used since college and probably had who knew what in it. I laid the black canvas case open on the bed and began putting various items in, being careful about what I chose, just in case things between Emmett and me got heated again, or for that matter, maybe Knox and me. They were all so tempting. Their dynamic was an interesting one, almost brotherly, but not quite.
Finally, when we were ready to go, I scribbled a note for Rox, telling her I was going out of town for a couple days, and closed the door behind us as I gripped Emmett's hand. Trepidation crawled up my spine and made me want to crawl back into my apartment with Emmett and lock the world away. I was always nervous before a big change, though, and if I followed the path they were telling me was my destiny, cue melodramatic music, then I would definitely be changing my whole life. I could go from being a waitress and freelance graphic designer to the queen of hell. The transition didn't seem to make much sense to me, and I kept waiting for them to realize that they had the wrong girl, but they were confident that I was the one with the magic DNA.
“What happens if I decide to believe you?” I ask, tugging on Emmett's hand so he stopped just before we got to the sidewalk. The short black fence that surrounded the grass felt as if it were the only thing standing between us and the rest of the world. It was covered in peeling paint and probably made the building look a lot more run down than it was from the outside, but it felt safer inside it somehow.
“I'm not sure now is really the time or place for that conversation,” Emmett said, keeping his voice low so it only just skated over my skin.
“Just give me the top line, big picture.” I awkwardly batted my eyelashes at him to try to get him to give in.
“We bond with you, find your judges, and get you to the Underworld as fast as possible.”
“Judges?”
“There are always three judges who dictate where souls who enter the Underworld end up. They change with each queen so they are, hopefully, a little more current with the times. You don’t want someone sending a woman to Tartarus just because she wore a bikini or something.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised by the intricacies involved. Something scratched at my brain, something he'd said earlier about what they were doing before they became hellhounds. “How did you find out what you were?”
“That is a very long story.” He sighed, and a sadness haunted his eyes. “I'll tell you sometime if you really want to know, but not until we get to know each other better.”
“Okay,” I said, wanting to pout but knowing I couldn't since he was right. It had been a personal question, and we did barely know each other no matter what our bodies thought on the subject. When he tugged me toward the car, I reluctantly went along, the feeling of unease only growing as we went.
I braced myself for pain when we parted so he could get in the car, and practically fell into the passenger seat. The seatbelt buckle dug into my hip with a starburst of pain on top of everything else. When I felt his warm, dry fingers twining through mine once more, the pain ebbed. Whatever was going on, whatever was triggering this, I needed to figure it out. I couldn't live my life attached to Emmett, as delicious as he was. It just wouldn't work.
The sleek car he drove was way past anything I could afford if I even wanted to buy a new car. I was fortunate to live in a city with a decent public transportation system. Was it great? No. Did it get me where I needed to go? Yep. My car helped, though. The little red box was small enough for city parking and got me to work and home again, but most of the time, I tried to rely on public transportation. I felt the rev of the motor and the changing gears. We had turned the music up loud and were driving with the windows down. It seemed neither of us were ready to tackle the elephant in the room, so instead, we sang our hearts out to the songs heard every weekend in karaoke bars around the world.
I stuck my hand out the window and played with the wind whipping through my fingers, waving my hand up and down, side to side, as I felt the air move me around. The skyscrapers of downtown towered above us, and then after a couple turns, we were driving past Navy Pier and Lake Michigan. It was a little cloudy, so not only did parts of the lake sparkle in the small amount of sunlight breaking through, but the Sears Tower spikes faded into the sky. Yes, Sears Tower. It would never be the Willis Tower to me; it was just too weird. I always ended up thinking about Bruce Willis and then wanting to watch Die Hard.
We wove through traffic, passing cars and trucks fast enough that I wondered what speed Emmett was going. Then in what seemed like mere moments, the city was behind us. The skyline took up most of the wing mirror as I watched it get smaller behind us. The towering buildings suddenly didn't look so daunting, the gray, black, and red buildings looking more like models the further away we got. Before I knew it, the clouds obscured them, hiding them from my view as though they were forcing me to turn away from my past. When I dragged my gaze away from the wing mirror, I was left looking to the future and trying to figure out what on earth I was going to do about my present situation.
My thoughts were tangled on the matter. I could try to deny it, but I knew I was already developing feelings for Knox and Emmett, even Hunter to an extent. They were some of the most fascinating people I’d ever met, which was saying something since with both my lines of work, I met a lot of different people. If even half of what they said was true, then my whole world had been just a tiny pinprick of light compared to what was out there. Part of me still wanted to hide from the truth, but I knew I couldn’t, especially after seeing a ghost and more than one of them transform back to a human from their hellhound form. Denying it now would be like trying to convince everyone the earth was flat when there was a space station up there taking photos proving it was round.
I heard a car rev, as if it were street racing or something. I knew from experience that even though we were driving fast, there were always people who wanted to go faster, usually in their tiny sports cars with oversized spoilers on the back. I turned to look, curiosity getting the better of me, but then the whole world broke apart. Eve
rything tilted and whirled with an explosion of glass and metal screeching like a banshee. My head smacked against something as my seatbelt kept me painfully locked in place. Fire erupted from Emmett's seat, consuming everything in its path. There was a screaming noise other than the metal on metal, and I realized that I was the one making the sound just before the flames wrapped around me.
Chapter Seven
Knox
Something had happened. I wasn't sure what, but I could feel the change through the bond I had with my battle brothers. Emmett was hurt, which meant that Poppy was probably hurt as well since they were together, and for some reason, that turned my stomach more than anything had in a long time. I grabbed my jacket and ran, abandoning my post as gatekeeper. It was a risk, but I knew none of the souls in the Underworld would escape while I was gone. They were all too scared of me, or one of my brothers, hunting them down to take that chance. They knew that once I found them, because there was no doubt I would, that their place in the Underworld would be a whole lot worse.
I wrapped the shadows around me and teleported to the human realm. All the stories talked about the Underworld as if it were somewhere people could get to if they crossed the right river or found the right cave, but none of that was really true. Sure, there were weaker spots, but overall, a person couldn't cross unless they were either dead or had some mojo. Fortunately for us, hellhounds had the required juice, as did all the other supernatural residents of the Underworld. A shiver ran through me at the thought of showing Poppy around. Would she scream and run? Or maybe by the time we got there, she would be less sensitive to the supernatural surprises.
Hunter wasn't at the house when I arrived, and neither was Emmett, but they were close, and they were together. I moved toward the area where the bond seemed to be pulling me and found a car pulling into the driveway. Hunter was driving, and Emmett was shirtless in the front passenger seat, looking as if he’d just tried to play firefighter and failed. Soot and ash seemed to cover most of his face and upper body from what I could see. What raised red flags was that he was looking over his shoulder and down, as though Poppy were lying on the back seat. As soon as the car stopped moving, I was around to Emmett's door and opening it.
“Help me get her out,” he said, his voice unstable, betraying how worried about her he actually was.
I opened the back door and found a singed Poppy unconscious with bruises forming on her shoulder by the base of her neck. The woman practically weighed nothing as I picked her up and carried her into the house. Her limp body hung in my arms and made my heart beat painfully in my chest. She had barely even started down the path to being queen, and she was already banged up and unconscious.
As I marched through the house, I couldn’t decide where was best to lay her down so she could rest. Finally, I just kicked open the door to my own room and gently deposited her on the bed, pulling a fleece blanket over her legs so she didn't get too chilled, before heading back out to interrogate my brother. Before I closed the door behind me, I watched her for a moment, making sure that her chest was rising and falling with her breath. She looked so small and fragile in my big bed that I almost couldn’t leave her, but I needed to know how she’d ended up that way.
“What the hell happened?” I asked as I came into the living room.
Emmett was sitting on the couch, naked as the day he was born and covered head to toe in black soot and ash. His dark eyes looked up at me with red flashing in their depths. “She's definitely our queen.”
It was all he said until I sat opposite him. I took a calming breath, knowing that he meant she’d been attacked. How had they found her so soon? The necklace had only just been activated. The only thing I could think of was that they were following our movements somehow, but that didn’t make sense, either, considering we had a shield that spanned a ten-mile radius around the house.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “We were driving back here, and a car T-boned us out of nowhere. It hit hard enough to roll the car, so I don't think it slowed down or braked at all. Something about the situation, maybe just having been around her so much, or . . . I don't know. My hellhound came to the surface, but I didn't shift. I turned the car into a fireball. I was on fire, completely, every inch of me, but it didn't hurt me or Poppy. Everything around us was burning; even the metal was melting.
“The only thing I know for sure is that the people who got out of the car that hit us weren't human, and they weren't any supernatural I'm familiar with, either. They were paler than vampires and had pale eyes and hair. I got us out of there before I could investigate, but I got the impression that it was intentional. They clearly weren't hurt, and they just stood staring at the car as it burned.”
Emmett wasn't telling me everything. I could tell there was something he was holding back, but I hoped it was just for now. The last thing we needed now that we had found the future queen was secrets getting between us. The bonds between both us and the queen needed to be clean and pure, as strong as possible so that we could stand united against any threat.
My heart sank at the news. Someone was after Poppy, and not just any someone. I’d seen pale figures before like those Emmett described, but I couldn’t confirm they were the same creatures without seeing them for myself. She'd only been wearing the necklace a few days. We had only just told her who she really was, and now this? It seemed unfair in so many ways.
“Hunt, did you check her out?” I asked, hoping that I hadn't just left her without considering the consequences.
“Of course I did.” He huffed at me. “She should be fine once she wakes up. Just some bruising, that's all, but if we can get her to complete the bonding with at least one of us, then her injuries could heal immediately instead of waiting.”
I grunted my acknowledgment. The idea of Poppy completing the bonding with us just to heal her injuries was distasteful to say the least. I understood where the sentiment came from, but the bonding was supposed to be intimate, to tie us to her for the rest of her reign. I had wanted her since I’d first laid eyes on her and accidentally scared her, but I wasn't going to use that or the connection she clearly felt with me to push the bonding, and I knew Emmett wouldn't, either. The trouble was, until all of us were bonded to her, we couldn't shield her. She'd be vulnerable, a beacon lighting the night sky to anyone who could sense magic, and that set my nerves on edge.
“There's something else you should know.” Emmett's voice was rough and quiet as he spoke.
“Oh?”
“I told Hunt in the car, but you should know, too. Poppy was experiencing pain the further away she was from all of us. If I wasn't touching her, then she was going through intense physical discomfort to the point where she couldn’t even stand. It was unsettling. She’s our queen, but something beyond my control was hurting her.” Emmett blushed slightly as he spoke.
If he wasn't touching her? I knew that what he hadn't said was that things had become heated between them somehow. I also knew that he wouldn't have consummated their new relationship, because Poppy needed to know about the bonding first. His description was troubling, though, and I couldn’t imagine how scared he must have been when it first happened.
“Do you have any idea what was causing it?” I asked.
Emmett shook his head. “All I know is that she was feeling unwell on the ride over to her place, and then when we got there, it seemed to get worse, and by the time we were ready to leave, if I wasn't touching her somehow, she would be writhing in pain on the floor.”
I looked to Hunt, waiting for our resident brain's opinion.
“I have no idea. Wish I did, but there wasn't anything like this in any of the books I found,” he said, running his hand through his red hair.
Figured. “We'll have to take shifts with her, then. The last thing she needs is more pain when she wakes up. Agreed?”
Emmett nodded enthusiastically, his eyes still flashing their hellhound red every now and then. I wondered what was causing it, but I wasn't about to add a
nother level of confusion to an already tense situation. It was probably just his nerves and the new bond he was forming with Poppy. I could already tell he felt responsible for her.
Hunter didn't respond, but I knew he'd be on board once he thought about it a little more. I stood and stretched. “I'll take first watch if you'll check in on the gates, Hunt? Emmett, you should get some rest. You look like hell.”
Both of them nodded, and I turned and walked back to my room. The door creaked ever so slightly as I opened it, and for a moment, I was afraid it would wake her, but as I watched, her breathing remained steady and her eyes were moving under the delicate skin of her eyelids. Silently, I padded over to the side of the bed, toed off my boots, and peeled off my leather jacket and T-shirt before easing onto the bed with her.
Her small frame tipped slightly toward mine. I honestly hadn’t even noticed she was just in her panties and bra until that point. My brain had been so focused on everything else that her clothing, or lack thereof, was the last thing on my mind. I slid off the bed and grabbed my T-shirt, slipping it over her head and gently pulling her arms through the sleeves before tugging it down her body. It was long enough that it covered everything it needed to, which made me smile at the size difference between us.
The pale skin of her hand stood out against my own as I slipped mine under hers. I just wanted to make sure that we were touching somehow so she, hopefully, didn't wake up in pain. If she needed to be touching Emmett, then that was going to be a problem for multiple reasons. I rolled on my side and watch her pulse and her breathing to make sure she was okay. The last thing I wanted was for something to happen to her now, somewhere she was supposed to be safe.
“Sleep well, Poppy,” I murmured as I brushed some stray hairs out of her face.
Her eyes snapped open, blazing with fire and emanating a vibrant red color. “Protector. Hound. Guide. Do your job well and prepare this new queen, for there is a war coming. A fight you will lose if you are not ready for it, not just your life but the Underworld itself. Guide her, protect her, love her. She needs you all more than you know.” The voice, which was melodic and reminded him of birdsong, was clearly not Poppy.