Needles pricked my scalp as Ulrich fisted my hair and yanked my neck back. “Submit. You put up a good fight, but it’s over.”
He sounded almost sorry.
“Fuck you, Ulrich. You want the crown? You’ll have to kill me.” My words ended in a gurgle as blood bubbled up my throat.
I wasn’t healing fast enough.
I was dying.
“Such a shame,” Ulrich said. He grasped my head, and I knew what was coming.
I locked gazes with Grayson then Hunter. Sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.
Grayson’s eyes blazed silver and Hunters bloomed gold, and then the scent of the forest filled my nostrils. Heat infused my limbs, turning to healing fire.
Ulrich’s grip tightened as power surged through me. Hunters and Grayson’s power. It swelled and exploded outward expeling Ulrich away from me and tearing a bellow from me that was pure beast.
This was the power of the Tribus.
This was all of it channeled through me.
It raced through me, infusing my muscles and my Loup with energy and strength unlike I’d never experienced. I rose to my feet in one fluid motion and turned to face Ulrich.
He shook his head. “How? How are you doing this?”
“It’s called a fucking Tribus, you bastard.” I attacked.
Two jabs to his face. Blood on my hands. Claws sprouting and slashing through flesh. The red haze of the berserker took over, fueled by Grayson and Hunter. Their power, my skill. My Loup. My berserker.
Blood and screams and the satisfying tear of flesh followed. I attacked in a non-stop frenzy, over and over, not giving him a chance to recover or counter. He was big, but I was fast, and then he was on the ground.
The red tinge bathing my vision retreated as I looked down at his torn chest, skin pulsing as it tried to knit, then up at the pulp that was his face, bubbling with blood.
He held up his hands to ward me off, and then slowly, painfully, bared his throat in submission.
I wanted to kill him. I wanted him dead.
But if I was going to rule Rising, I had to be the bigger person.
I stepped away from him and his head fell back against the ground in relief.
The crowd was silent. Stunned. And then several Loup detached themselves from the crowd, coming forward to fall to their knees.
Rising pack.
My Regency pack pushed through the rogue barrier to join me in the circle.
I looked to Grayson. “Is it over?”
He reached for me but there was pop and then something slammed into my shoulder, throwing me back.
Fuck was that a bullet in me?
Hunter morphed and leapt for the stairs, but a bullet caught him in the leg, and he buckled.
“Nobody move!” A voice called out from the balcony above.
Grayson pulled me up. “Shit, Fee…”
But there was no pain, only fury as I raised my head to pin the shooter with a death glare.
The rogue Loup trained his gun at me. “Ulrich may be down, but us rogues still outnumber you. We didn’t work this hard to be side-lined, and you’re not getting rid of us that easily.”
“Fuck,” Bastian said.
I lifted my chin. “How many bullets you got? How many of us can you take down before we get to you, huh?”
I was bluffing, no way would I risk my Loups’ lives. They weren’t cannon fodder, but I got the response I was looking for as doubt crossed his face. Shame it was momentary.
His eyes narrowed. “That ain’t you. That’s an Ulrich move. You’re a do-gooder, just like your father.”
Shit. “You can’t just take a pack. There are protocols.”
“Yeah, you got to bring down the current alpha. And by my calculations that’s now you.” He aimed the gun at my head, and my blood ran cold. “Bye, bye bitch.”
Grayson shoved me, falling into my place. My scream was cut off by a flash of light. And then there was silence punctuated only by the chink of a bullet. What the hell? Uri materialized through the brightness, haloed by celestial power, he reached out his hand to me.
“Turns out I’m bullet proof,” he said.
“But they aren’t,” the Loup sneered. He aimed the gun at a random Loup. “Die you fuck—"
An arrow thunked into the rogue loup’s neck and he fell back. Taking his weapon with him.
There was moment of absolute silence and then more arrows whizzed through the air landing on their marks with simultaneous thunks.
What the fuck?
I scanned the room looking for our saviors. The crowd to my left, closest to the exit, parted, and the female Loup from the forest strode through, flanked by two of her pack and trailed by even more. They were all dressed in combat gear and carrying crossbows.
It was over.
With the female pack on our side, we finally outnumbered the remaining rogues and they knew it. They exchanged glances then made a break for it., barreling toward the exit at the back of the room.
“Fee?” Bastian looked to me for instruction.
“Let them go. There’s been enough bloodshed.” I grinned at the new arrivals. “You came.”
“Sorry we didn’t get here sooner.” She looked down at Ulrich’s unconscious body. “Looks like you claimed the alpha spot.”
“I did. Will you stay? I could use the help running the pack.”
Her brows show up. “Running it?”
“Yeah, running it. You in?”
She looked to the women flanking her and nodded. “No commitments. We see how it goes.”
I could live with that.
The air crackled and Cora appeared in the circle. Her gaze zeroed in on me and then slowly panned around the room.
She slapped her hands to her hips and shook her head. “I leave you alone for two days, babe. Two days!”
She looked horrified.
A giggle bubbled up my throat and exploded from my lips.
“You think this is funny?” she said. “Seriously?”
But the cork was out the bottle and the giggles wouldn’t stop coming, and the next thing I knew, I was guffawing like a crazy person. It was inappropriate and a totally non-alpha move, but the nerves and the fear, and the every-fucking-thing combined, needed an outlet, and this was it.
Fuck it. I was alpha. This was my party, and I’d laugh if I wanted to.
Chapter Fifteen
Eldrick was back in his penthouse suite which we’d cleaned up, removing any evidence of Ulrich and his cronies. Security measures were updated, and new pack roles assigned. I plonked my ass onto the sofa in the penthouse and groaned.
I was fucking shattered.
“I’ve found Harper and her pack rooms on the floor below,” Uri said. “They aren’t too comfortable with sharing a floor with the male Loup.”
Harper. So that was her name. “Understandable. Thanks, Uri.”
I needed to remember the distrust Harper and her Loup had of the males. This was going to be a huge adjustment, but if they stayed, if they integrated, then Rising and Regency could be free of the need for covens. The miasma produced from their presence would be enough to free us, but they had to make the decision to stay willingly, and to do that we needed to change the mentality of the Loup in Necro.
I had no doubt Rising would come around, the worst of them had been weeded out when they joined Ulrich. The best of them had died. Oh shit, I needed to find out who the dead Loup were.
We needed a memorial service. “The Loup Ulrich killed—"
“I found out the names,” Uri said. “We can have a memorial service for them.”
I looked up at him in surprise, and an idea formed in my mind. “I’m going to need a beta here. I know it’s not the same as being a Grigori, but will you do it?”
“I’m not a Loup.”
“I don’t care.” I looked to Grayson. “Does it even matter?”
Grayson frowned. “No one has ever appointed a non-Loup beta, but there’s no law against it that I’m aware
of.”
“Then it’s done. If you want the title.”
Something indecipherable crossed Uri’s features. He dropped his chin and I sensed a wave of confusion. It hit me without my even having to try and pick up on it. He was conflicted. Lost. How had I not seen this?
I walked over to him, took his hand, and led him out of the penthouse into the corridor.
The door closed softly behind us. “You’re unhappy.”
“No.” He balked. “I’m not unhappy. I want to be here. With you. I just…I’m not sure what my purpose is any longer. Being a Grigori was my whole existence and now it isn’t.”
“Do you want to go back?”
Uri shook his head. “No. Before the divine sent me back to you, he offered me the choice to stay and reclaim my Grigori title or to find a new path. He asked me to look into my heart, and I did. I’ve been a Grigori for so long, I didn’t know anything else, but when I thought about it, really considered it, I realized I’d never felt completely comfortable in that skin either. I think I may have to try on a few hats until I find one that fits.”
I stroked his cheek. “A journey of self-discovery.”
“Yes.”
“You want to try on a beta hat?”
He wound his arm around my waist and tugged me to his chest, dropping his mouth to an inch from mine.
“I would do anything for you, Seraphina Dawn.”
Even take a bullet. Fuck. It had bounced off him. “You’re bullet proof.”
He brushed his lips against mine. “Does that turn you on?”
It kinda did, but he was deflecting. “How?”
He kissed me softly. “I don’t know.” He kissed me again.
I pulled back. “Uri…”
He sighed. “I don’t know. I think when I died and the divine brought me back he must have…upgraded me?” He shrugged a shoulder.
“Okay, but why?” I chewed on my lip.
He kissed my forehead. “It doesn’t matter right now. We have a pack to run.”
I grinned up at him. “We do, don’t we?”
* * *
“We need food,” Grayson said.
“I vote pizza.” Cora plopped into the seat opposite me.
Grayson got out his phone.
“I can get it,” Uri said. “It’ll be quicker.”
He vanished and Grayson fell onto the sofa beside me. We laced fingers both too exhausted to move.
Hunter exited the penthouse master bedroom and joined us. “He’s asleep,” he said. “Healing nicely.”
I looked up at him, noting the dark circles under his eyes. He’d been through so much the last few days. Being held captive by the ouroboros, experimented on, almost dying and then saving Eldrick’s life.
I patted the free spot beside me. “Sit with me.”
He hesitated a moment then joined me, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
I studied his profile noticing the slight bump on his nose that was practically invisible head on. His thick lashes lay against his cheek like silken moths. He was beautiful and misunderstood, and he was mine.
“Hunter?”
“Mmmm.” He opened his eyes and sat up straighter. “What do you need?”
You. The word was on my tongue, but I swallowed it. Not yet. “I need you to run the Rising Pack.”
He frowned. “You’re the alpha.”
“I know, but we’re a Tribus. What’s mine is yours, and I need you to do this. I won’t be able to be here all the time.”
“Your Dominus duties…”
“Yes. Will you? Please.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
I’d been neglecting my Dominus duties. The system in the Beyond may have changed but there was still so much reaping to be done and souls to be delivered. With Azazel and Mal out of action, it was my job to keep shit together, but the pack side of my life had taken over. For the hundredth time since they’d left, I wished Mal and Azazel were here with me. That the Underealm was safe, that Lilith would be safe, and they could come home. I missed them with an ache deep in my soul.
Azazel had promised word from Conah, so I’d hear from them soon, but their absence was still a hollow sensation in my chest.
The cuff on my wrist tingled sharply, and I winced.
“What is that?” Cora asked.
I sighed. I’d almost forgotten about it. “This is a long story.”
She gave me a spill-it look.
“You remember the whole, Cain’s bloodline must not die curse Eve put on Azazel?”
“Yeah?” Cora said.
“Well, it was all so Cain wouldn’t wake up.” I filled her in on what Eve had told me.
“Shit, it’s like a train wreck,” she said. “One carriage after another.”
“I know. I have to find him, but so far I’ve only managed to get into his head once and I wasn’t able to identify where he was.”
Uri materialized by the kitchen with several boxes of pizza. “I wasn’t sure what to get, so I bought a selection.”
Amusement curled my lips. “Is this going to be a thing now?”
“What?” he asked innocently.
“The not being able to choose, so getting everything?” I stood and wandered over to him. “The cakes and now this.”
He dropped his gaze. “I just… I realized I didn’t know what you liked.”
“You got me a chocolate donut when I was craving one, and I hadn’t even told you.” I flipped open the top box to find a double cheesy pepperoni pizza. “This is my favorite.”
He looked up at me sharply. “It was the first one I picked.”
I kissed him lightly on the mouth. “You know what I like, Uri. You know it instinctively.”
I didn’t understand how, and it didn’t matter, because I knew it to be true. Uri and I had a connection of a different kind. This. Us, here right now, with the Rising pack, back in control, and pizza—lots of fucking pizza—was just fine.
Yeah, I told myself that, but my heart didn’t believe it. My heart pined for Azazel and Mal. It pined for the Underealm. I just hoped they were okay.
Chapter Sixteen
Azazel
The library in the Keep is one of the most extensively stocked. It’s a vast space of four floors of wall to wall books, and Conah is perfectly at home here.
He’s commandeered the large desk in the center of the room, and it’s littered with scrolls and leatherbound tomes. He looks up as I enter and blinks rapidly to adjust his vision.
“You could have showered,” he says.
I grin through the blood and grime. “You said it was urgent.”
“I think I have something.”
“An aversion to sunlight?”
He snorts, unimpressed by my quip. I join him at the table and reach for the scroll he’s pinning to the wood.
“Whoa.” He bats my hand away then wipes his own on a handkerchief. “No touching the precious.”
I snort. “What am I looking at.”
He runs his fingers over the paper. “Nothing, right now. But there’s something here. I can feel it. Beneath the surface.”
“A hidden message?” Conah has a penchant for the hidden. Memories, messages, artefacts. He can find them, sense them. “You think it’s a map of the pit?”
“It’s something. It could be.” He turns it over and points to a name scrawled on the outer edge of the scroll.
“Samael?”
“I think he’ll be able to unlock it,” Conah says.
Fuck. “Samael can’t unlock his own chamber doors half the time.”
“He can when Lilith is about. She seems to anchor him, and you’re the closest thing we have to her right now.”
“You want me to speak with him?”
“I do.”
I reach for the scroll and he slaps my hand away again.
“No. Shower first, scroll later.”
“Yes, Mother.” I sneer at him in jest and then leave him to his musings.
I
n truth, it’s good to be back at the Keep. The world beyond is falling apart. More attacks. More death. We’re running out of demons to hold the line. Mammon’s sneak attacks are debilitating us.
Mal and Asmodeus have taken to the training grounds in efforts to bring new soldiers up to speed. Leviathan is in negotiations with neighboring lords for manpower. Saying no to my father isn’t easy. In a week we’ll have an army to be proud of, and if Mammon attacks, he’ll be met with true force.
In a week Imperium will be fortified, and we’ll be able to focus on finding Lilith. I take the stairs to my chambers two at a time, eager to get out of the grimy layers and sluice off the dust and blood from the battlefield
Lilith spares no expense when it comes to creature comforts, and my bathroom doubles as a wet room with several power jets eager to do their job. I adjust the temperature and step into the spray.
Azazel…
Fee’s presence tugs at my soul.
I miss you.
I don’t hear the words. I feel them.
I want to feel her. I close my eyes and imagine pressing my lips to hers, soft but firm. My pulse speeds up when I sense an answering pressure. Her lips are on mine. I fucking feel her. I close my eyes and slide my hands into her hair, sensing the silken strands slip through my fingers. My tongue rasps against hers and then her fingers are trailing down my chest, lingering over my abs, making them tighten in reflex and anticipation as she moves south. I gasp as her hand closes around my arousal.
Her mouth is no longer on mine, but she’s still here. I can sense her presence, and then hot wet heat slides down my shaft.
My hips jerk and I slam my palms against the tile. “Fuck!”
Her hot mouth is on me. Taking me deep over and over. I close my eyes and I see her on her knees, hands grasping my hips, head moving back and forth as she drives me insane. I’m so hard I think I might explode. Then she cups my balls and squeezes. Breath rushed from my lungs and my body is no longer my own. My hips thrust as if propelled by an insatiable force, heat spirals through me, tight, desperate and ready. I come hard. My groans are eclipsed by the shower spray, and then I feel her arms around my neck, her lips on my cheek.
Reaper Unleashed: Deadside Reapers: Book 7 Page 8