Last to Love

by Alexa Whitewolf

  As I step forward again, something shudders through me. I stop in my tracks, taking stock of every shadow around me. There is no witch here to cast a spell, no one trying to pull one on me. So where the hell is this coming from?

  My insides feel icy for the barest of moments, and all breath leaves my body. I bend over, hands on my knees and panting. My chest constricts, my lungs seize – and then it’s gone. The only aftereffect is a tingling around my fingertips.

  “Che diavolo...”

  The only possible explanation would be something happening to my pack. We’ve been interconnected since Lucrezia officially joined us, and it has only gotten stronger. I’d felt the depth of that connection when we lost her – however briefly – and suffered a new kind of hell on my own, isolated from my pack.

  But I’d told Monica to warn them off. Did she play into Alessandro’s hands, and fall prey to his machinations? Or... There is, of course, the possibility I felt Monica’s own pain. But that’s ludicrous, and would imply a much stronger bond than we currently have.

  A chuckle escapes me, and I straighten from my crouch. I don’t have time to linger over the odd sensation. Matteo waves me over urgently, and I head towards him.

  The boat comes into view first, gliding over the somber lake. I would’ve expected it to be black, but it’s a rich mahogany that glints a little, almost begging to be touched. Curved at the front and back, it gives the illusion of a crescent moon on its side from a distance.

  Nearer, of course, it’s a different story. I can see the curve I thought was smooth is actually rough, as though something bit into it. Scratches cover the sides of the boat, as though from many hands. And then there’s the broken design right under the bow.

  Before I can make it out, a figure shifts in the shadows and we come to a stop. Matteo’s slightly trembling next to me, now. The man is dressed all in black, with a long cloak over shaggy clothes. His face is partially hidden, but as I come closer I see a hairy chin, with a long beard falling to midway down his chest. It’s unruly and peppered with dirt. And his eyes – Matteo said he was blind, but surely he cannot be when I feel him looking into my very soul.

  His lips move and a toneless, empty voice echoes around us. “What do the living come seek in the Underworld?”

  I don’t miss a beat. “A cure for my brother, signore Charon,” I say. If he knows what else I’m here for, we’re doomed from the start. Best I get to the heart of this jungle for Matteo first, and deal with the staff later.

  “A cure? There is no cure here. I am the ferryman of the dead. The living cannot come on this land.”

  I produce the coin Alessandro gave me, tossing it towards him. “Not even with this payment?”

  His long, thin fingers catch the coin mid-air – ovviamente, he must be playing the blind angle. Then he tilts his head to the side, feels around the coin with frail fingers, and his expression changes. It’s a small transformation, almost easy to miss, but I catch it. Not fast enough to decipher it, though.

  “Very well,” he says smoothly, and moves aside. “Step onto the boat.”

  I let Matteo go first, then follow. Surprisingly, the boat holds us just fine. I would’ve expected with how ragged it seems, that we would all sink. Instead, it simply centers itself. And then it starts moving, as though pushed – or pulled – by invisible hands.

  Matteo stands at the opposite end of the boat from Charon, so I move closer to him. “I thought you said Charon would know where to go.”

  “Yeah, but forget about asking him – he gives me the creeps,” he mutters. “Let’s just find Mamma, she’ll know.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  He frowns at me. “Because Ana said she would.”

  “Ana said...” I trail off, narrowing my eyes on him. “Matteo, how much do you realize of what Papà has done to you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I’m starting to lose my patience. This isn’t the strong, intelligent brother I’m used to. It’s like he’s only half himself. “This cure they sent us down here for. Do you even know why you’re alive, in this state?”

  “Ana said she bonded with me.”

  “Did she say why?”

  “Because she loves Papà and hated seeing him sad,” he whispers, as if reading off a card. They’re words I’ve heard before, spoken in the same tone.

  I remember Monica’s tapping, that first day we met. How it had entranced me, almost hypnotized me. And she practices the clean side of stregheria. What are the chances Ana, with her powers heightened by the occult, actually has full control of those faculties? And what’s more, why push my brother towards Mamma?

  “I hate this,” I mutter.

  Matteo’s expression is filled with sorrow. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a burden, Lucas.”

  “You’re not, fratello. I will find your cure, but on my own terms. Not Alessandro’s.” Without waiting for his reply, I head to the front of the boat. If Charon heard any of this, he gives no sign of it. “You lied, before. Otherwise you would not have accepted the payment and broken the rules of this land. Am I right?”

  He says nothing, instead placing both hands on his staff. His back seems straighter, as though he’s fighting against himself to retaliate.

  I have no such qualms. “Do you know where I can find this cure, yes or no?”

  Charon caresses his staff. “I do.” He stares into the darkness of the lake for a long moment, and another. “And perhaps I will tell you. But first, answer me this. How did you come upon the coin?”

  “A witch from above gave it to me.”

  Charon turns his head to me, and I stand immobile. After a beat, he nods, once, and his beard moves. Out of it fall pieces of – bones? I don’t even want to know. Stay focused on this. Forget Monica, forget the above, this is about Matteo and nothing else.

  “Very well. The cure you seek is on the other side, where the dead converge. Bordering Elysium, the final resting place of the virtuous, is a small river. You will hear its call, it cannot be ignored.”

  He pauses then, and I fight the impulse to shake him for the remaining information he’s withholding. “And what of it?”

  “If your brother drinks from it, he will be cured in the only way he can be.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper, and head back to Matteo, tugging him under my shoulder again. “You’ll be alright, fratello. I swear it.”

  He settles against me. “I believe you, Lucas. You always looked out for me... Of my living, and even now. I’m tired... So tired.” When Matteo rests his head on my shoulder, I don’t shake him awake. I let him sleep, because I’ve got a feeling we’ll need all our energy for what will follow.

  Monica

  “This place gives me the heebie-jeebies,” Luz whispers. “Is it just me?”

  “No,” Dominic says. “It’s not.”

  We’ve been searching for the last half an hour everywhere around this cell to try and find some of Lucas’ blood. I peer under the cot for the fifth time, just as we hear noises from the entrance.

  “Stay here,” Dominic orders and heads out.

  Luz watches him leave, then goes back to searching. A moment later he comes back with one of his vrykolakas.

  “Did something happen?” I ask, noticing his frown.

  “No. He’s just here for added protection. And if you’re right and our physical bodies will be left behind, he’ll stick around to guard them. Apparently the outside is being handled, curtesy of Dani and Elle’s magic.” He glances at Luz. “Sure you don’t want to stick around and help them?”

  “Nope,” she says as breezily as if he asked her out for coffee. “I’m good with my decision.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Dominic mutters and goes back to searching.

  I sink again next to the cot, feeling around blindly underneath. There must be something! The moment after, my hand hits something wet. I pull it back and find it coated with blood.

  “Is that it?” Luz asks.


  “Maybe? There’s no way to be sure it’s Lucas’, but we might as well go with it.”

  I stand up and, holding my dirty palm to the side, I reach for the coin stolen from Ana and wrap that same hand around my pentagram necklace, meshing the two metals together. Step by step, I head closer to the incinerated wall and take a deep breath.

  “You guys might want to step back for this,” I tell them. “It’s not like I make a habit of playing with the occult.”

  Once I get the go-ahead from Luz, I focus my attention on the stone. This close to it, I smell sulfur and something else, something unidentifiable. It’s enough to make bile rise up my throat, but I refuse to back down.

  My mate – potential mate – is beyond this wall, and if I don’t get to the damn Underworld before he loses his soul, I’ll never find out if we’re meant to be together or not. So yeah, that’s motivation enough.

  Another deep breath, and I tap into what Ana used to brag about as a child. I can feel the evil, Monica!...It’s so empowering!...Your darkest dreams, brought to the surface, used as a fuel for whatever you want... Just wish with me, that’s all. It’s that simple. Open yourself up...

  My being rebels against the idea, but I push past my natural distaste of the occult in favor of what must happen. I better not regret this.

  The hand around my necklace tightens on it, letting the sharp points dig into my skin until it pierces, and hot blood trickles down my hand. Then I bring my bloody palm to the wall, and slap it on – coin and all.

  “Janus, master of all doors, I call upon thee,” I whisper. “My mate is past this, and I need to get to him. I’ll pay the price in blood or life, whatever you demand, but I need to get past this.”

  I close my eyes when nothing happens, and a hot wave of despair threatens to overwhelm me. I place the other palm against the wall, the one tainted with Lucas’ blood, and rest my forehead on it.

  Thinking back to the rage that filled me with Ana, and the power I’d relished under Alessandro’s command. Every dark thought, dream and wish that crossed my mind, I feed on it, letting it fill me and –

  A beat pulsates in the wall. Something vibrates under my right hand – the one with Lucas’ blood – and the darkness of the wall turns to silver. I step back with wide eyes, nearly bumping into my companions.

  “I did it!”

  “Great,” Dominic says, looking like he’s about to throw up. “Let’s go, then.” He turns to his wolf and whispers, “This is as far as you go, camarade. I’m on my own from here. Watch over my people, and our bodies, please.”

  He’s first in line, crossing through and followed by Lucrezia and me. Once we’re on the other side, it takes me a minute to adjust. Our shimmering forms are the only light.

  “Merda, the portal is gone!” My whisper echoes too loudly around here, but I turn to Dominic and Luz and notice they’re also ghostly form, like me. “Okay, no panic. The faster we move, the faster we get out. And, um, we’ll figure that part out later.”

  I pocket Janus’ coin and head down the path that leads to a cave. They follow, keeping an eye out just as I am. Where could Lucas be? He can’t have been down here long enough...

  “If I remember my mythology correctly, we’re about to run into Charon,” Luz says softly. Her face is lighted by some orbs above us – souls, I think.

  Dominic grabs her hand, throwing her an odd look. “Is it just mythology you’re drawing from?”

  She looks away, and it makes me come to a stop next to them. “What?”

  Dominic’s expression is tense under the lights. “Since you’ve been back, you’re having dreams just as much as I am. And you scream about rivers and ghosts, but what you’re really seeing is this, isn’t it?”

  Luz bites her lip, fighting back tears. “Don’t be mad, Dom.”

  “Ah, draga mea,” he whispers and pulls her in his arms. “I should have known. You were gone for days, of course your soul would have followed its natural path... But why? Why would you come back down here? What if they don’t allow you to leave again?”

  “They will,” Luz says softly. “We’ll all get out of here.”

  It dawns on me, then. “The portal didn’t just need a chimera’s blood. It also needed one who’d been in the Underworld... That’s why they used Matteo. And I inadvertently used you, Luz, didn’t I?” She nods, and it breaks my heart. “Why risk it?”

  Luz shrugs. “Because we don’t leave behind any of our own, and going against that would be a horrible way to fight for a better future.”

  I sigh, wiping my forehead. The air here is stifling, or maybe it’s just me. “Bene, we’ll just have to be extra careful. I’m pretty sure whoever runs this place doesn’t take kindly to people just waltzing in and out. Even if you were protected and didn’t die per se at the time... Let’s not chance attracting too much attenzione.”

  We come to a stop, having exited from the cavern into a larger one. A lake glints in the distance. “I don’t even know what we’re supposed to do. If we’re right and Matteo is doomed, then what else did Alessandro ask Lucas to do?”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Dominic says. “I just hope we get to do that without encountering the worst the Underworld has to offer.”

  We get closer to the river, but there is no boat. None that I can see, anyway. The faint glow above us barely illuminates more than a foot ahead. There’s also no Charon.

  “Must be a busy day for him,” I mutter. Then it dawns on me. “Merda, we probably just missed them!”

  Dominic looks around, sniffing the air. “I don’t like us being in the open like this. Let’s find shelter.”

  Just as we turn, I hear a growl.

  “No...” Lucrezia’s whisper is filled with panic. “He can’t cross the river!”

  But he had. A massive shape emerges from the shadows we had just left. A shape with three canine heads, each bigger and uglier than the last, and a massive snake as a tail.

  Lucas

  The boat journey finally comes to an end. We disembark, and as I pass Charon he says, “I will see you again, young wolf.”

  Ignoring him, I follow Matteo out. As we cross the new path, I hear grumblings from afar. “Where’s Cerberus?” I had half-expected to run into my great-great...whatever he is. Just because we share a gene doesn’t make us family, I guess. He’s more likely to kill me, than anything.

  A shiver runs through Matteo. “Maybe he went out for a walk. Whichever the case, let’s count ourselves lucky enough and get a move on.”

  We continue walking for a bit, passing various scenes. Souls are everywhere. Some weeping, some raging. They’re not in orb form anymore, more like humans – except for the shimmering aura around their bodies.

  In the distance, a large mountain looms, with a red cloud hanging around it. Lightning strikes every so often, illuminating a massive boulder that seems to be going further and further up the path. It might be my imagination, but for a second there it seems there’s a small figure trying to push it upwards... Surely, I’m hallucinating.

  The deeper we go, the hotter it gets. Matteo doesn’t appeared bothered by the change in temperature. More and more, the sense of not belonging creeps up my spine, demanding I leave. And then, on another hand, my chimera yearns for something. I can’t quite understand it, but whereas above I was so quick to rage, down here... I’m almost domesticated.

  Matteo grabs my hand when I stop again, staring in the distance. “Don’t hang around, Lucas. The more you look, the more questions you’ll have, and we risk never getting out of here.”

  I allow him to drag me away. Moments later, we pass another field, and I stop dead in my tracks. I wouldn’t have, except... Souls of dead women are picking blossoming marigolds. The yellow flower, Mamma used to tell me, can raise the dead, and point spirits in the right direction. As if that wasn’t enough to reason to become a statue, one woman amid all the others draws my full attention.

  “Lucas, come on!” I let go of Matteo’s
hand and move closer, my heart pounding hard.

  In the distance, the woman with red curls turns around and smiles at me.

  “Mamma?” I choke.

  Matteo is frozen next to me, his mouth gaping. But I don’t hold back, I run to her and pull her in my arms, inhaling her familiar smell.

  “Oh, Luciano!” It takes me a while to realize she’s crying – and not tears of happiness. “Why have you come?”

  I pull back, searching her features for an explanation and frowning. “To save Matteo, Mamma. Whatever Alessandro did, this is one thing I can help with.”

  She turns to him then, and the tears come even faster. Only I hear her whispered words, and they root me to the spot.

  “There is no salvation for him, and Alessandro knew it.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  ∞ Mostri ∞

  “There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.”

  -André Gide-

  Monica

  I thought I’d seen enough monsters working under Alessandro Conti. But, nope, fate is still surprising me. As I stare into the dog’s murky eyes, the massive canines, I instinctively move backwards until I bump into Lucrezia’s shoulder.

  Cerberus is huge. No, even that is an understatement. I used to think Lucas in wolf form was massive. But this creature...this mostro...is easily ten times that bulk, if not more. His fur is a muted grey mixed with brown, and each of his heads has floppy ears, with eyes the color of a muddy lake. One that would swallow us whole.

  And those teeth... The large canines, or fangs, are the length of my arm. His paws are bigger than my head, and the claws digging into the sandy shore we’re on are thick. Sharp. Very dangerous-looking. As if the entire package wasn’t enough, his tail swishes back and forth, drawing my attention to a brown snake. Though smaller than the heads, it’s every bit as intimidating.

  In short, we’re faced with our worst nightmare.

  Dominic stirs first, though I sense he’s steeling himself against it. “Go find the boat guy,” he says through gritted teeth. “I’ll handle the dog.”