The older elf continued. “I am Arthion. Please, let us talk.” He motioned to the back room he had come out of, and without waiting for verbal acquiescence, moved to that space. Adan followed, but not without one last look of loathing towards her. Of course, it was Emrys grabbing her hand and leading her towards the back that solidified her decision.
Once in the room, Adan settled himself next to Emrys and glared at her, as if daring her to say something. Nemesis didn’t, instead leaning against the wall, arms crossed and exuding as cocky an attitude as possible – and succeeding, if Adan’s glower was anything to go by.
Arthion didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “What does the Seven Houses wish from us?”
Behind Adan’s pissed expression was a hint of smug knowingness, but it was Emrys’s stricken look that had Nemesis’s chest constrict hard, and she said, “I’m not here on behalf of the Houses. I saw a situation and I stepped in.”
Emrys stood to come beside Nemesis, nodding her head. “That’s right. Paul and I had no plan. We ducked into a club with no forethought and only wanting to escape the Magus’s-”
“Magus?” Nemesis’s voice cut through Emrys’s explanation, and it was only now that Emrys realized what she had said, her one hand coming up to cover her mouth.
Trying to regain control of the situation, Arthion rose to come closer, his posture all pleading submission. “Please, you must understand-”
Nemesis was having none of it. Grabbing Emrys’s wrist, she pulled the elf close. “Who are you?”
Emrys looked up at her with stricken eyes, her mouth moving with no sounds coming out.
It couldn’t be.
The Magus ruled the Dark Forest, and personally, Nemesis had more problems with him, his children, and his subjects then she did with the necromancers. The Magus didn’t destroy – he corrupted, twisting and mangling, denying things their very nature.
The Seven Houses was not an arbiter on good and evil, though. They only sought balance. There were the ever-present treaties, and the balance between all the factions was forever on a knife’s edge, so like the necromancers, the Magus was allowed his place, and she had to accept that reality.
His place wasn’t here though. Neither he nor any of his subjects were allowed here.
But there had been talk of a bride…
“Who are you?” Nemesis asked again, and she was shocked by the plea in her voice.
Emrys’s pointed chin once again came up, and damned if Nemesis didn’t like it as much now as she had at the club. “I’m Emrys. That’s all you need know.”
And before another word was spoken, an explosion sounded in the front room.
Chapter Five
Nemesis grabbed Emrys dove for the ground, pushing them away from the blast. Emrys’s arms encircled her, the elf holding tight as they rolled away, while the wall where their heads had been a mere moment before exploded, the debris raining down on them.
On her feet now, Nemesis stood before guard, shielding Emrys behind her. It was chaos in the front, screams from the front peppering the air around them.
There was no time to debate loyalties, or what the Houses would expect from her. Right now, all she could do was shove Emrys into Adan and yell, “Run!”
Emrys took a step towards her, grabbing at the air between them, but Adan had no compulsion about abandoning her and pulling Emrys away, down a secret door she had missed on her first inspection, where Arthion was waiting to shepherd them through. The last thing Nemesis saw was Emrys’s spring green eyes locked on her before the hidden door closed.
Nemesis went to the front room, where the three from the club were waiting. The two smaller ones were magic casters, but the third, the one who had truly tripped her senses at the club, stood in the center, a wild beast on a very frayed leash.
“The elf, where is she?” one demanded, even as the first stirrings of magic began to emanate from them.
“I don’t do elves, darlin’. High-maintenance. Friend of mine gave me that advice. Now my question. What in the four hells are those from the Dark Forest doing here?” Nemesis shook her head, tsking away. “Makes it seem like y’all don’t respect the rules that have been set up.”
“If something of ours is missing, we have the right to follow it.”
“Perhaps, but not without informing the Seven Houses.”
One of the magic users started at the invocation of the Houses, but the other was steady, and only madness lay in the eyes of the third. The nervous one settled, and any hope Nemesis had of them leaving peacefully faded.
Fine with her. A good fight was a great way to relieve stress. Right now, all she wanted to use was fist and foot, and she wanted to beat the shit out of these little pissants. On time, like he heard her wish and was answering it, the first one threw a spell at her.
A mostly universal truth about magic users – they were terrifying at a distance, but in a one-on-one fight, a yappy dog had a better chance of doing damage. The two weren’t very high-level in their spells, so without any worry she beat them both down until they were unconscious.
The third only watched, the insane glint always lighting his eyes. When both the others fell, though, he stepped forward, and that’s when it hit her. Stupid. She’d been so intent on unleashing her aggression, she hadn’t realized that the two had him on some sort of leash. With no one to hold the leash, the third wanted to come out and play.
Skin ripped away, sliding from his rapidly growing body, and from this came a hulking form easily three times her size. It resembled a bull mixed with Orc, and emanating magic so rotten it oozed into her skin and forced itself past any barriers.
An Etsai, an abomination of the highest order. Strength beyond imagining, and its skin was immune to magic. Its only vulnerability was its eyes, but even blind it had its other senses to use.
“Nemesis!” Even as a giant poofball, there was no more gorgeous sight than Laire standing amidst the devastation, her hand extended in a way that said she was going to cast a spell, the question clear in her face.
There was no time to plan, no time to question the wisdom of trying to corral the magic of a mage of Laire’s level, something she’d never attempted before. Nemesis nodded, and Laire flung her hand out, pitching the magic like it was a curveball.
And damn, any question of the power of Laire’s magic was laid to rest. As Nemesis absorbed the spell, it began to eat through her insides, battering her own defenses and felling them like a child destroying a toy village made of popsicle sticks. There was no choice to move forward, because at this point, it was death by the spell or death by the creature.
The spell was designed to disintegrate. She couldn’t just hit the creature with it, the skin was immune. But…the eyes…
Nemesis twisted on her heel and, pushing with every muscle, every tendon and sinew, she ran straight for the Etsai, which in turn ran full tilt toward her. When they were scant feet from each other Nemesis pivoted and jumped to the left, using a large pile of debris to propel her through the air, aiming for the face of the beast.
In the second between the start of the jump and the collision between them, she concentrated Laire’s magic into the tips of her thumbs. The creature reached out to impale her on its giant claws, but she twisted enough to avoid being run through, and as her hands connected with his face, she pushed her thumbs through the spongy material of his eyes, the white exploding and oozing underneath her fingers, followed by a gush of crimson blood. The creature bellowed, bucked to throw her off, but Nemesis held on and pushed the spell through her until it settled within the new body.
Nemesis freed herself and jumped off, still facing him, battle-ready.
The caution was unnecessary. Black cracks began appearing through the flesh, scattering through skin like the icy top of a frozen lake in the first thaw, before going gray and turning to dust. The Etsai’s scream was piercing, but it barely started before the spell hastened its destruction. Within moments, there only a pile of ash.
/> Laire came beside her, the small mage holding out her hand for a high-five. “Less bloody hand please. I owe Fallon twenty. I said there was no way you could handle magic at as high a level as one meant to disintegrate.”
“You tossed me a spell you didn’t think I could handle?” Nevertheless, she gave Laire a high-five, though with the bloody hand, thank you very much. Adrenaline still coursing through her body, Nemesis looked around, but no other enemies presented themselves. No Emrys, either, and she pushed back at the stab of disappointment that thought caused. She was the one who said to run, after all.
Laire’s little moue of disgust was almost enough to make up for that though as she stood there with her hand held far away from her body, very obvious in the fact she was looking for something to wipe it off with. “Nothing else was going to end that thing, so what else was I supposed to do? Don’t tell me you’re going to carry a grudge over a little death magic.”
Considering she was bleeding from her side from a sizable-if-not-deadly wound, Nemesis didn’t have the reticence that Laire did and wiped her hands off on her clothes. There would be no saving them anyway. “No, that would be silly. I do think you owe me a drink though, darlin’. How’d you find me?”
Obviously having had enough, Laire used her good hand to tear off some fabric from her dress, using it to clean her hand. “I need to bleach this back at the club. That and the fact I came to save your butt after your little girlfriend found me negates me owing you a drink.”
It was the word girlfriend that had Nemesis lifting her head, giving Laire a hard stare as her heart began to beat triple-time with no enemies in sight. “You mean the elf?”
“Of course I mean sex on legs. Who else have you been mooning over all night?” Laire began to move towards the club, leaving Nemesis no choice but to walk next to her to hear the story. “She found me in the club and told me you needed help, told me I needed to come. In fact, you owe me. I was in the process of choosing between two oh-so-nice shifters, and I think if I had a few more minutes, I wouldn’t have had to choose.”
As Laire kept muttering to herself about decisions and pros versus cons, Nemesis walked beside her, lost in thought. How had Emrys known to get Laire? She hadn’t mentioned Laire at all. “Did the elf have a couple of prats with her?”
Laire threw her hands up in agreement. “Why didn’t you smack the younger one? He’s all up in your woman’s business, and he was so pissed she went to get help for you. Do you want me to disintegrate him next?”
That offer was more tempting than it should have been. “They were from the Dark Forest?”
“The elves?” Laire gave a stutter-step in confusion before clarity descended. “Oh, you mean this lot? I knew that as soon as I saw the Etsai. You going to say anything through official channels, hmm?”
Nemesis stopped dead. It was expected of her. Not reporting this and being found out later would not do her any favors. Would have her superiors looking at her with suspicion.
It took Laire a few steps before she realized her listening partner was no more. She turned, puzzlement on her face as she asked, “Is everything okay?”
First Laire’s question, then came the buzz of a text. Nemesis pulled the phone from her pocket to see the last person she would have expected to contact her.
Need to talk in person – available?
A hell of a night. Given the slip by a new-to-the-city-elf, and contacted by her most-wanted best friend, the same guy who had not long ago tied up the mage who was in front of her. If she was smart, she’d erase the text and pretend she’d never seen anything, and then go straight to the Seven Houses and report every minute of this night.
Then again, who said she was smart?
when
Tomorrow night, same conditions as the Halsing job.
If she was smart, her body wouldn’t be thrumming with excitement over the fact that the elf was still out there, and she had no idea the signal she sent out when she chose to bring Laire to help.
you better not get my ass kicked this time
Because now Nemesis had a reason to pursue her, and the hope that the pursuit wouldn’t be unwelcome, at least not completely.
I make no promises.
Things were going to get interesting.
never do manana darlin
Note from Danielle Monsch: Peoples! Thanks for reading Nemesis Underground, the latest in my Entwined Realms series.
Let me share a not-so-secret secret with you – Reviews are the BEST WAY for readers to discover authors. As a new, small-time author, I am very dependent on reviews, but I’m also aware the time spent writing a review could be spent in more enjoyable ways.
So, to show my gratitude, if you leave a review for me anywhere and email me at [email protected] with the link to it, I will gift you the next book in the series in thanks.
Didn’t realize Nemesis Underground was part of a series? Well, go start with book 1 entitled Stone Guardian (psst…it has a gargoyle hero!)
Entwined Realms Reading Order
STONE GUARDIAN
STONE EMBRACE
THE CAGE KING
THE ROOFTOP
THE DREAM CRAFTER
NEMESIS UNDERGROUND
Do you enjoy Fairy Tales redos, stories that are slightly twisted, very sassy, sexy, humorous (as only I can deliver) and promises you a Happily Ever After? Well, you might enjoy my Fairy Tales & Ever Afters series, which begins with my take on Cinderella called Loving a Fairy Godmother.
Fairy Tales & Ever Afters Reading Order
Loving a Fairy Godmother
Loving an Ugly Beast
Loving a Prince Charming
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Entwined Realms Reading Order
STONE GUARDIAN
STONE EMBRACE
THE CAGE KING
THE ROOFTOP
THE DREAM CRAFTER
NEMESIS UNDERGROUND
STONE GUARDIAN
Entwined Realms, Book One
Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motorcycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.
Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species, nor has she wanted to. Her life is as ordinary as it gets - that is, until one day she walks out of her apartment and is attacked by a mob of Zombies, only to be saved by a Gargoyle.
Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but due to a cryptic prophecy, Terak, Leader of the Gargoyles, has been watching over the human woman for months. While he can find no reason why the woman has been singled out, something about her stirs every protective instinct within him. When the attack confirms that the threats against her exist and are real, he convinces Larissa that though their races have never been allies, the best chance of discovering why she has been brought into his world is by working together.
In the course of their investigation Terak becomes entranced by his little human. But when he discovers why Necromancers want her and the great reward that awaits him if he betrays her, he must choose between the welfare of his Clan and not only Larissa's life, but the fate of this New Realm as well.
Buy Stone Guardian here!
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Fairy Tales & Ever Afters Reading Order
Loving a Fairy Godmother
&nbs
p; Loving an Ugly Beast
Loving a Prince Charming
Loving a Fairy Godmother
Once upon a Time, in a Kingdom that was just a little twisted (oh yeah, and kinda far away), Fairy Godmothers Rule! Elf Kings drool, and a Knight was having a bad time with a Dragon.
Too bad he didn't realize the Dragon would be the least strange part of his day...
Fairy GodMOTHER. As in female - it's right there in the name. With those divine dimples, killer blue eyes, and hard muscled body, no one's going to be mistaking Tiernan for a female anytime soon, but due to a wish gone wrong, Tiernan is now the only Fairy Godfather in existence. Strangely, most Fairy Godmothers don't have a problem with this change in the status quo... all except the one Fairy Godmother he'd go and win a kingdom for.
Organized, efficient, logical - and happy with the status quo, thank you very much - Reina never liked that Tiernan was allowed in the program. After all, the FGs do not need a stubborn, infuriating, feckless male messing up tradition, and she wants him gone...like yesterday. Circumstances arise that might let her get her wish, but in a way even she never wished for.
Tiernan's employment status is called into question, and to prove himself worthy of being an FG, he is given the task of getting a woman named Cinderella a Happily Ever After or lose his position. So Cinderella will get to the ball and get her Prince if he has to dress her down to her shoes himself, and he's bringing Reina along to help. After all, who said only mortals should get a Happily Ever After?
Nemesis Underground (Entwined Realms Book 6) Page 3