Queen of the Underworld

by Helen Scott

  Something gleamed in the light to my left, and I could make out thick marble columns peeking through between the tree trunks. My eyes followed them, and I saw a thick marble floor supporting a few couches, some of which contained sleeping occupants, or at least, I hoped the limp hands and feet belonged to sleeping occupants. The top of the rotunda was a shallow dome that seemed to reflect the light, making it bounce off the marble and giving the whole place a sort of glow.

  I hadn’t realized that I’d been moving forward as I took in everything until I reached the edge of the trees. The image before me made me avert my eyes while I moved backward, making sure I was completely hidden. I glanced back at the rotunda and clearing. The sight hadn’t changed. I knew I needed to approach them, ask for help in getting back to the general vicinity of Tartarus and the furies, but how could I do that when they were all running around stark naked? Or, even worse, in the middle of having sex?

  10

  Poppy

  Moans and screams tore at the air, but no one was in pain. Gasps and shrieks filled my ears, but I knew they were just being generated from whatever pleasure the people were taking part in. There had to be someone who wasn’t mid-coitus who I could ask for help.

  I took a deep breath and stepped through the trees and into the grassy area. No one noticed me at first as I strolled through the clearing. I was calm and aloof. Definitely not letting the noises of everyone around me having sex get to me. Not. One. Bit.

  As I followed the clearing around the side of the rotunda, I found it opened into an even bigger open area. I felt as if I were watching the Olympics of sex as I stood frozen in place, looking out over a sea of writhing bodies.

  The smell of sex and sweat filled the air, punctuated with a sweetness that couldn’t be natural. In the middle of the open area was a palace of sorts. From what I could see, there was food sitting out, along with a variety of containers that people were using to refill their glasses or cups or whatever. The whole scene was very bacchanalian, and it made me wonder if the god Bacchus was involved somehow. I didn’t think he lived in the Underworld, though, so it was unlikely.

  The itch under my skin got worse as I wove through the groups, and I began to feel as if I were running a fever. Every part of my body ached. I stumbled as I walked, and fell to the ground, and after willing myself to get up for a minute and nothing happened, I just let myself lay there. I felt as if I had a nasty case of the flu, except my heart was hammering in my chest and my skin felt too tight on my body.

  “Look at the clothes she’s wearing. I’ve never seen anything like it,” I heard a voice on my left say.

  My eyelids flickered, but I couldn’t seem to lift them.

  “Look at her head. She has horns!”

  I looked inside myself at the flames and saw that my own had turned into an inferno, blocking out the others, burning so brightly that I couldn’t even look at it for more than a split second. I couldn’t tell if my guys were okay, and I definitely didn’t think I was okay. Something was wrong, but I had no idea how to fix it.

  Hands scooped under me as though to pick me up, but a howl of pain sounded, and I fell unceremoniously to the ground once more. A masculine voice rang out around me. “Leave her. She is not for mortal hands.”

  Strong, thick arms picked me up and tossed me over something in what felt like a fireman’s carry. The bouncing started after that. So much bouncing. I had to think I was moving on either something or someone. I was willing to guess the latter due to the hands on my leg and my arm. Eventually the bouncing stopped, but the movement didn’t. I tried to open my eyes once more and found that I was able to get a bleary-eyed look at my surroundings.

  Everything was slightly darker and cooler now, and I was being carried. The guy was walking with me draped over his shoulders, and he was naked. The next thing I knew, water splashed in my face. I spluttered and gasped, reaching for the water as if it were the oxygen I needed to breathe.

  “Sip from this. Don’t gulp,” the voice said.

  I reached out with greedy hands and took a long pull from a metal cup.

  “I said sip!” he grumbled as he pulled the cup away from me.

  “I need it,” I croaked out. “I’m so hot.”

  “I’ve got something better than this for your temperature,” the voice said.

  My eyes cracked open, and I caught a flash of wavy blond hair before I was picked up, but thankfully this time, I was cradled. If I’d been put in a fireman’s carry again, I was likely to revisit the water I’d just drunk.

  “There is a bathing pool here that is filled with cool water. I can put you in, or you can strip first and then I can put you in.”

  “Just put me in, please.” My voice sounded old and croaky as I spoke.

  I felt him wade into the water and position me against some kind of seat before I tried to open my eyes again. Everything hurt, but the cool water rushing over my skin was a blessing. It let me take a deep breath for the first time since I’d entered the woods.

  Finally, I was able to keep my eyes open, and I found a set of piercing blue eyes staring me down. A full head of sun-drenched blond hair shimmered in the low light while the eyes studied me. To be fair, I was studying him back, confused as to why a naked man had just dumped me in a cool bathtub.

  “Thank you,” I muttered as I felt myself cooling down.

  “You’re welcome. Now, tell me, why is the queen of the Underworld in the Elysian Fields?”

  “How did you—”

  He cut me off before I could even finish my question. “I’m Achilles. I believe most people have heard of me in your time, yes?” When I nodded, he continued. “So, as you can imagine, I’ve been here quite a while. I know things that most people don’t, and since you are wearing clothes, I know you aren’t destined for the fields, and you wouldn’t be able to get here if your soul belonged in another area, so that only leaves a few positions. I know most of the people and the other gods and goddesses who live in the Underworld, but I don’t know you, so you must be filling a role that’s empty. What role is that? Oh, yes, queen. Now, why are you here?” He tapped his chin for a moment in thought, but before I could answer, he started talking again, and I realized that the man loved the sound of his own voice. “You didn’t know where you were, nor did you know that a succubus coming to the fields was possibly the worst idea ever. You haven’t opened yourself up to the sexual energy in the air, but you’re absorbing it anyway, and since you’re not forwarding it on to your bonded court, I can only assume it’s because you weren’t aware. You’re still new and don’t know everything about your powers yet, do you? Why would you come somewhere so dangerous for your succubus side if you aren’t able to fully control it? You’re under attack, aren’t you?” He paused for a brief moment before he added, “I humbly offer my services.”

  There was absolutely nothing humble about this man, but he was legendary, so I shouldn’t have expected it. When he was quiet for more than a few seconds, I tentatively said, “I am the future queen. I need help getting back to my hounds. Can you take me?”

  He shook his head. “Spirits cannot leave the area they are judged to live in, unless someone like yourself or Hecate takes them.”

  “So I could take you?”

  “You could, but I cannot let go of your hand. Also, do you know where you’re going? I’ve been quite enjoying my afterlife and don’t want to risk being teleported into a wall or something.”

  I sighed. “No, I don’t know where I’m going. That’s the whole problem. I can’t sense my hounds or my judges right now. The bonds are stretched too thin for me to use them to tell if they are hurt or not, let alone use them as a location.”

  “So push your magic into the bonds.” He shrugged.

  I stared at him for a moment. How did a war hero, or a villain, depending on which side one was on, know about magic?

  “Look, I can see you’re a succubus, so go and feed, gorge yourself on all the tasty energy those souls out there a
re unleashing. I’m sure you won’t regret it.”

  “How do you know I’m part succubus?” I raised an eyebrow as I watched him. The man was far too shrewd to have just been a good fighter like the stories said.

  Achilles reached into the water and took my hand, raising it in front of my face. Long black talons extended from my fingertips, and the skin of my arms had turned black as before. I yanked my hand from his grip, uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me, as if I were his meal ticket or something.

  “Fair enough,” I said as I cleared my throat and pretended to scratch my head as I felt for the horns I’d seen before. I felt the small bumps under my hair, but they weren’t big enough to be worrisome yet, although I knew someone out there had seen them when I fell to the ground. My hair naturally wanted to part around them, but they were too small to jut up from between the strands.

  “Come on, let’s go get you some succubus food.” He grinned and tugged my hand away from my head. I followed him even though I wanted to stay in the cool water. The idea that I could better see and possibly even use the bonds with my hounds and judges had me on my feet. I needed to know they were okay, and I would do whatever it took to accomplish that.

  I couldn’t say that I was completely at ease with everyone’s nakedness, especially since it was clearly sexual, but there was something that felt natural about it, making a voice in my head whisper about shedding my own clothes and enjoying the glory of my skin being completely open to the air and light.

  As we walked out of the building, I could see the large open space where I had collapsed before. The energy washed over me like a wave and made my skin itch and tingle. I couldn’t suppress the shudder that ran down my spine and drew Achilles’ eyes. He seemed to be either assessing my outfit or checking me out, I wasn’t sure which, but I was thankful that his dick wasn’t jutting out from him like so many of the men I could see wandering around. Boobs I was more used to—I mean, I saw my own every day, and it wasn’t as if they were an infrequent occurrence on TV and in movies, but dicks, especially multiple erect ones? Well, I didn’t see those all the time. Part of my brain chastised me; I had seen plenty of erect cocks recently, all of which belonged to men who were mine.

  When the building was a good arbitrary distance away, Achilles stopped and pulled me into a sitting position on the ground. The grass tickled my hands as I leaned back, and I felt the warmth of the light beating down on me. It was enough to forget that the sun didn’t exist here. I might not have been able to see the glowing orb in the sky that I was used to, but the light itself felt the same.

  “Soak it all in, little succubus. Feast. I’ll prevent anyone from bothering you.” His voice was calm as he sat and looked as if he were beginning to meditate or something.

  I had no idea how to do what he’d suggested, but I could feel that now familiar itching sensation of my succubus’s magic crawling over my skin. He kept saying that I needed to open myself up to it, to let myself take it in and redistribute it—well, he hadn’t said that in so many words, but I knew what he meant.

  The only thing I could think of was the fire I saw within myself and my royal court. I pulled up my fire, and it was snapping back and forth, the flames seeming to lash out as they twirled and grew in the imaginary place where I saw them.

  They weren’t the only things I could see, though. Instead of being against a black background with just my fire and the bonds of my guys, I could see the world around me like sparks of light. Most of it was grayed out, so I couldn’t make out details, but instinctively, I knew each spark was a couple having sex. Some were brighter than others, and some were just tiny flickers. The potential was there, but it hadn’t come to life yet.

  I knew the energy that I needed was that of the bright flames. The brighter the flame, the juicier the fruit; at least, that was what it felt like when I looked at them, as if they were fully ripe strawberries or crisp tart apples just waiting for me to bite down on them, to devour them. My mouth watered at the thought, and I tried to mentally draw the flames to myself. My body seemed to know what to do even though I was just guessing.

  When I felt the prickle of grass on my neck and my head, I knew I had fallen backward from my sitting position, but I didn’t care. I pulled and sucked and squeezed, whatever it took to bring the flames to me. They all came flying toward me, circling me as if I were at the center of a hurricane.

  11

  Poppy

  A swirling column of flames surrounded me. The fire pelted down on me like small pieces of hail, stinging my skin as it hit. With each piece that fell, I craved more, wanting everything out there.

  It raged around me like a tornado, and as my body absorbed it, I tried to push it into the faint shimmers of the bonds with my guys as I had done with images and thoughts before. I let every piece of excess energy flow toward them. In that moment, I was just a river, a funnel for the energy, and they were my tributaries.

  Sensation rushed back to me along the bonds, along with a barrage of emotions. Confusion. Joy. Concern. Need. It was the last one that drew my interest. Like a beagle chasing down its quarry, I wanted to go to whoever that was.

  It wouldn’t be safe, though. The agents of Hel and the members of Alpha could be there. Whether they were attacking together again or not, it was a risk I couldn’t take. One thing I was sure of in that moment was that I was safe in the Elysian Fields. I wanted to pull whoever felt that need to me, to satisfy it in both of us, but I couldn’t risk pulling them out of a battle and leaving the others short a man.

  I tried to see through the bonds to ask them what was going on. It worked a little too well, though, and I found myself looking out over a field of pale bodies, none of which were moving. Knox was looking back at me.

  “You’re a good fighter,” he said.

  “Boxing and martial arts through high school and college.” The voice came out of whichever guy I was seeing through. It sounded obscured, different from how my guys normally sounded, but maybe that was because I was hearing it through the person’s own ears, like hearing myself on a recording. It left me unable to decipher which of them I was seeing through.

  Knox nodded.

  Hunter moved toward us. “Do you guys sense that?”

  “What?” Knox asked as I saw him slip back into battle mode. He was a scary son of a bitch when he wanted to be.

  “It’s like I can smell Poppy, feel her magic or something . . .” Hunter looked at whoever I was in.

  “I felt a surge a minute ago. Did you guys feel that?”

  Knox nodded but strode away. The eyes I was looking through followed him as he walked calmly over to a group of agents of Hel who were storming the area and took their heads off with a few swings of his sword. Once they were down, he pierced their hearts with the blade as well, and I knew he was making sure they stayed down.

  “Poppy?” Hunter asked.

  The eyes I was borrowing swung back to my auburn-haired hound, who was frowning at me. I couldn’t help it; I was so startled that I withdrew from the form I had been occupying. When I arrived back in my body, I found myself still being pinged by fiery hailstones of energy. I pushed another big wave of it toward the guys, making the flames of our bonds glow brightly next to my own. That feeling of need still echoed down one of the bonds, and when I looked to see who it was, the feeling withdrew, leaving me wondering and needy in my own right as my body responded to the call of one of my men.

  I forced my eyes to open and found a crowd around me, their bodies writhing in the biggest orgy I’d ever seen. I hadn’t witnessed a lot of orgies, so it wasn’t difficult to be the biggest, but for some reason, I felt as if this one would break all the records. My skin felt too tight on my body, and when I sat up, I felt as though my center of gravity had changed. My head felt heavier than I was used to. I reached a hand up, feeling through my strands of hair for those little horns that had been there earlier and being careful not to scrape myself with the talons. I couldn’t find them, though. Wha
t I found instead were large curving structures rising out of my head.

  “I wouldn’t touch those just yet,” Achilles said next to me.

  I turned and looked at him.

  “They are still growing,” he said simply. I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by that, but I withdrew my hand. That was when I noticed that what had been long, curved talons had withdrawn into short, dagger-like nails, and my skin had turned from black to a deep red. I truly looked like a demon.

  “Succubus is a good look on you.” He smiled over at me.

  I was honestly surprised that he was still sitting there given what was going on all around us. Just the noises were making my nipples harden painfully under my T-shirt. Most of me wanted to run away, while a small part of me wanted to join in, not that I would ever do that to my guys. It made me wish that someone was there with me, though.

  The need I had felt earlier whipped through me, twisting around my own. I was on my feet before I realized what I was doing. I needed to get away from the orgy and get control over myself. Being horny was just an emotion, or a biological craving, but when I felt the need of one of my men mix with my own in the face of a mass of people having sex, well, let’s just say it wouldn’t have been good for me to hang around there. My back twitched, and I was in the air, moving higher with every breath. I didn’t know how any of it was happening, and I screamed.

  “Have you never flown before, little succubus?” Achilles called out.

  “No! How are you not affected by this?”

  “I’ve been living on the Island of the Blessed for thousands of years. I need a bit more than just sex to excite me these days.”

  It made sense logically, but it was as if he were saying two plus two equaled ten. My brain just wouldn’t accept it. Now was not the time to have a philosophical debate, though. “How do I get down?” I shouted.

  “I don’t know! They’re your wings!”