by Emma Dean
Jace’s smile at that statement shouldn’t turn her on.
“While I’m considering,” she said, pressing the gun harder into his head, making sure it hurt. “Find us a way out of here.”
“There’s one still alive,” Ben stated, eyes on the trees. “I can hear him calling for backup. Doesn’t sound like help is far.”
Great. Her first solo mission and she wasn’t even truly alone.
Emily would be pissed if she could feel it.
Aiden groaned and she dropped the gun, focusing on the wounded raccoon.
“How are you doing?” she asked Aiden, keeping her voice soft and soothing while she made sure the magic was doing what it was supposed to. “You still with us?”
“I’m with you,” Aiden said, taking her hand in his. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“There were three shots,” Ben stated, holding his hand out for her gun. “And ravens don’t miss.”
Oddly, Emily handed it to him without even thinking.
“I took fire,” she told him.
“Where?” Chance demanded, suddenly right next to her.
“Just find us a way out of here!” she snapped, wrapping up Aiden’s stomach. “We probably have two minutes before we reach the point of no return and none of us make it out alive.”
Jace studied her while he handed something metallic to Chance. “Why are you helping us?”
“I’m helping them,” she said, careful to make that distinction.
“Even though your mark is right in front of you? Interesting.” Jace didn’t move. He didn’t look away from her face either even though she refused to give him her attention. “So, what are you going to do now assassin?”
Emily glared at Jace, ignoring his question that posed an existential crisis if she decided to answer. “You’re supposed to be the leader of this shitshow. So lead!”
Aiden was mostly back together. At least for now. Emily slipped his arm across her shoulders and helped him to a standing position. Thankfully he wasn’t as big as the other raccoons. She should be able to carry him on her own.
What was she going to do?
Emily was an assassin, just as Jace had said. But she’d never been the typical assassin – the typical raven. And now here she was, saving three marks from fellow ravens, even if some of them weren’t from her flock.
What did that make her?
Who exactly was she?
That was never a question she’d had to ask herself.
And Emily honestly didn’t know the answer. She was an assassin, yes. But there was so much more to it than that.
She was saving these three and ignoring the male she was supposed to kill. Rather, she was procrastinating, if she felt like making herself feel better.
All because Emily remembered what it was like to dance under glittering Samhain lights with them. She remembered what it was like to have all of them for a night of the hottest sex she’d ever had – her first fivesome.
Emily remembered how they’d tasted, how they’d made her feel special – even if she currently couldn’t feel the emotions they’d made her experience that night.
“They’re coming,” Ben stated.
“Chance?” Jace asked.
“Nearly there.”
Emily glared at Jace, waiting to hear what his brilliant plan was.
“I need to know where you stand before you come with us,” Jace told her, crossing his arms over his chest like they had all the time in the world. “I don’t care if you haven’t decided whether you’re going to kill me or not. If you promise not to kill them, we’re square. But coming with us sends a message to the other ravens and assassins.”
Was she ready to give up on everything she’d built? Had she already gone too far over the line to come back now? Emily wasn’t sure she could salvage this situation, even if she did complete her contract and kill Jace.
Emily considered, hefting Aiden up as gently as she could.
What should she do?
“I’ll just tell them you kidnapped me,” Emily told him.
Jace cocked his head at that. “Fair enough, but wouldn’t that tarnish your perfect reputation? Would you still be the best assassin if four raccoon shifters managed to get the best of you? How do you want people to see you? Don’t think I didn’t notice the only one left alive is the one you seem to know.”
She hated how observant he was, even if it was something she remembered liking. “Does it matter if I’m the one thing keeping you all alive at the moment?”
What did she want?
Who was she going to be?
Emily should stay. They could take care of Aiden if she handed them her med kit. It would leave a lot of hard questions. Lying to the Enclave, convincing them of her innocence wouldn’t be easy, but it was possible.
But as Jace had said it would pop her off that pedestal that said, ‘The Best.’
Somehow Jace seemed to understand her internal struggle. He nodded. “Don’t give a fuck what other people think, Emily. Be yourself, even if it gets you killed.”
“They’re here,” Ben warned.
“It’s ready!” Chance yelled.
Shots rang out and Emily felt another hit her shoulder as she turned her body and shielded Aiden.
Before she knew what was happening, Chance hit a button and a portal opened up out of nowhere. Then Ben shoved her and Aiden through before she could think, before she could decide, before she could even understand what was going on.
Emily felt the crackle of energy raise every hair on her body as she and Aiden fell through the portal and landed on hot sand.
Scrambling to her feet she studied the terrain, trying to figure out her new surroundings.
Then she recognized the barren landscape and bared her teeth in annoyance.
They were in hell.
3
Emily
It looked just like the paintings she’d seen in the eyrie’s library. The books had described the landscape and colors perfectly.
“Hell?” she demanded as Ben came through the portal with Chance.
Jace walked through a second later and she checked on Aiden again.
His face was wan, and he seemed to be going in and out of consciousness. He was holding it together for now, but he wasn’t doing well.
“It’s the closest plane of existence to ours,” Ben explained, eyeing Aiden. “Can you save him?”
She was still annoyed they were somehow in another plane of existence. But there wasn’t much she could do about it at the moment. Figuring out why and how would have to wait.
Gently she laid Aiden down on the sand.
He mumbled something unintelligible, but the words made him smile. Emily checked the bandages and grimaced when she saw they were already soaked through with his blood.
“I’m not sure if I can save him, because some idiot thought hell was a better idea,” she stated, glaring at Jace. “We’re not allowed to enter and leave certain planes at will. Pretty sure hell has one of those rules.”
Emily pulled out fresh bandages and wrapped those around Aiden’s abdomen.
Ben knelt next to her, moving Aiden when she needed him to without her having to even ask.
“Unless you’re friends with a demon, or Lucifer himself, this isn’t going to work,” she gritted out, feeling the dryness of hell seeping into her skin.
Movement in the corner of her eyes told her goblins were getting closer and closer.
“Fuck, those things are creepy,” Chance muttered, keeping an eye on them, gun out to guard the rest of them.
“Those rules don’t apply to us,” Jace told her. “Pretty sure it doesn’t apply to ravens either. Aren’t you all descendants of a death god or something?”
She glared at him, annoyed he somehow had learned and remembered that. “Either way, Aiden’s going to die here unless I have somewhere clean to remove this bullet. From the look of him it’s silver.”
“Jace,” Ben warned, looking up at the alpha raccoon
with a glare Emily felt in her bones.
The determination on his face to save Aiden even if he had to challenge his alpha sent a pulse straight south. Something about these raccoons had her body in overdrive. She was surprised considering she hadn’t had her emotions on in months.
“What are you doing here?”
Emily spun around, palming her knives. A blade rested on the female's throat before anyone else moved. “Who are you.”
Who else resided in hell? Emily couldn’t remember as distracted as she was.
The pretty female eyed Emily, and then the blade. She seemed rather nonplussed considering it would take nothing to slit her throat.
“Shifters from the smell of you and from earth,” the female stated. She eyed Aiden and the blood on the bandages, and then the other three. “Raccoons and a raven.” She snorted then.
Emily dropped the knife. This female, whatever she was, didn’t seem to be a threat. But just in case she kept her knives in her hands.
“I’m Khalida, a reaper. And this is my patrol.” She inspected Chance next, noting the silver device in his hand. “I sensed the breach. Lucifer will have sensed it as well.”
Great, that was the last thing they needed.
“Can a raven escape hell?” Jace asked, as if Emily wasn’t standing right there.
Khalida shrugged one shoulder and watched Ben with suspicion as he stood. He was so tall he towered over Khalida and the reaper was not short.
Secretly Emily hated how short she was even if it was convenient for her position. She could slip into small spaces no one else could and disappear. But Khalida commanded respect with her height and the big-ass scythe she clearly knew how to wield.
“I assume so as they’re creatures of death,” Khalida said, eyeing Emily. “I’ll cover for you if you leave now.”
“Why?” Ben asked, stepping closer to Emily. She would be flattered except the position also put him closer to Chance.
“You guys seem like fun, and this patrol is usually boring.” Khalida swung her scythe, knocking a few goblins back who’d grown bold. “But I’d hurry. Lucifer isn’t fond of earthlings in his plane. You guys always cause a lot of trouble.” Then the reaper grinned at that.
Emily was pretty sure she liked her.
“Make that thing work,” Emily told Chance, pointing at the device. “Get us somewhere I can help Aiden or he’s going to die.”
Chance started up the portal device he had, that Emily knew certainly wasn’t legal, but it wasn’t her place. It’s not like she actually cared that the raccoons had somehow procured illegal tech magic.
“Hurry up,” Khalida told him. “You lot are aggravating the goblins, smelling of blood.” She pushed a few more back. “They’d love a taste, I’m sure. Ravenous little beasties.”
Emily took Aiden’s arm and Ben took the other. Together they lifted the smaller raccoon, the one with the soft hair she couldn’t stop admiring. He was only a few inches taller than Emily, but she kind of liked it. It made it easier to kiss him.
She shook her head. Well, that’s what she’d liked that one night.
Emotions were a pain in the ass, and she didn’t want to deal with them, especially now when all they would do was make this all harder. It would be almost impossible to concentrate, and she would probably be panicking about the amount of blood Aiden was currently losing if she turned them on.
But without them? She could get them somewhere safe, and then do the real work of helping him heal.
“Thanks,” she told the reaper as the portal opened. “I owe you one.”
“Nah.” Khalida shrugged one shoulder again and twirled her scythe to scare back the goblins. “One daughter of death to another, I wish you the best with these guys. They seem like trouble.”
And then the reaper winked.
Emily rolled her eyes.
She really did like the reaper.
Walking through the portal with Ben and Aiden, she glanced back at the dunes only once. Emily had always wanted to explore hell. It was inconvenient she found a portal only to have to leave immediately.
Then Jace walked through with Chance and the portal closed behind them. Chance glared as he searched their new location.
“Where are we?” she asked, trying to figure it out from the surroundings, but it wasn’t anywhere she was familiar with.
“I made sure it had magic,” Chance told her. “There should be a hotel over there.”
Emily shared a look with Ben. Aiden was getting heavier. She didn’t have time to argue with anyone anymore, not if she actually wanted to save this one.
Jace and Chance led the way and she ground her teeth together to keep from asking a thousand questions and demanding answers.
Like what the hell were they doing with a portal? Where had they gotten it? Why were all four of them so high on someone’s shit list their deaths had been contracted out to ravens?
Why was Jace so sure she was struggling with her place in the world?
Emily shook her head at that last one.
It didn’t matter. She was a raven which meant she was an assassin. Her life had been decided for her from the moment she was born. Another path – another life was unthinkable.
There was nothing else Emily would rather be doing.
Just maybe…maybe the way she wanted to do it was not the same way her family and flock wanted her to do it.
Chance held the door open for her and Ben while Jace stood watch. He had a gun on him somewhere since she could practically taste the tang of metal on him; she just hadn’t seen him reach for it. Emily tried not to be impressed, but the professional side of her calculated what that sort of confidence meant.
“He’s a bit drunk,” Chance explained to the hotel receptionist. “Could my brothers and I get a room?” He angled his body to hide the blood leaking through Aiden’s bandages.
Jace came up with his charming smile to distract the woman. “As soon as possible, please.” He handed over a black credit card and the receptionist practically fainted as she took it.
It took everything Emily had not to roll her eyes. If she kept it up, they’d roll right out of her damn head and she quite liked her eyes where they were.
The woman had them in the elevator with their room keys in seconds. Emily gave her credit for the speed and efficiency. But the elevators were so slow she cursed them up and down.
Was that some weird part of this reality? Insanely slow elevators?
It felt like an eternity before the elevators opened.
Emily didn’t feel panic or fear. She didn’t really even care about Aiden, not at the moment. Mainly she was trying to mitigate the disaster that would occur the next time she turned her emotions on.
She’d liked Aiden and remembered just how much. If he died…well, Emily knew the shitshow that would happen when she could finally feel the grief that would send her on another bender.
And the last one had ended in blood, tears, and a pile of bodies.
It took two seconds to get Aiden on the table, shoving everything off to make room. Ben got to work getting the clothes and bandages off Aiden while Emily washed her hands.
Emergency field medicine had trained her for this very moment.
Never had Emily thought she’d be using it on a raccoon shifter.
All she had to do was get the silver bullet out and seal the wound. His shifter healing would do the rest. Emily grabbed her med kit and selected the surgical steel tools that were made specifically for assassins. Small and compact – a normal surgeon would hate the size, but for her they were perfect.
“Are you sure you can do this?” Chance asked, right before she made an incision.
“Whatever you plan to do, he better survive,” Jace snapped. “If you nick an artery…”
“Will all of you please kindly shut the fuck up so I can do what I’ve been trained to do?” she snapped. “It would be nothing for me to let him die.”
“I don’t believe you,” Chance said.
She let him see how much she did not care; how easy it would be for her to walk away thanks to them annoying the shit out of her. The only reason she hadn’t left already was because she had no idea where she was or how to get home.
Aiden had been the only objective.
And buying herself more time to figure out what to do about Jace.
“Just get it done,” Ben told her, voice tight as Aiden’s breathing slowed and they all zeroed in on it.
Before anyone else could say or do something stupid, Emily sliced into Aiden’s chest, widening the bullet wound ever so slightly. Then she set the scalpel down and grabbed her surgical tweezers.
Carefully, very carefully she dove in, peering into the hole to find the bullet. Thank the Morrigan for the eyesight she’d been gifted with, better even than other shifters.
“There’s internal bleeding,” she muttered, inspecting the damage. “Bullet didn’t exit which is good and bad.” There it was.
She practically held her breath, feeling as she tried to get a grip on the metal. That’s when the smell of poisoned flesh reached her. Emily wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Definitely silver.”
No one spoke, thank fuck. She would have screamed if they tried to argue with her or interfere.
“There we go.” Slowly Emily pulled the bullet out and then dropped it into Chance’s hand. She grabbed the small vodka bottle from her kit and poured it over Aiden and into the wound.
He grunted in pain, but still didn’t wake up.
That wasn’t a good sign.
Picking up the laser, she zapped where she could see blood leaking, cauterizing the wounds.
Then Emily wiped her bloody hands on her shirt, and then grabbed the spelled bandage. “If I can’t get his healing to jumpstart, none of this will have mattered,” she warned. “But the bullet is out, the bleeding mostly stopped, and this will help heal the damage and prevent infection. I’m not an actual surgeon though. His body will have to heal the internal damage and filter the poison from his system.”