by Lucy Auburn
They were weak and disgusting, with none of the intelligence or strength of even the lowest of demons, but they were persistent. At one point I found myself covered in four or five of them. Elah came to assist me, dismounting from his mare and driving them off with his sword.
“You alright?” he asked, while beside him Fira shuddered and rolled her eyes, frightened of my wolf form. I nodded, and he added, “There seem to be more and more of them. I don’t think we can kill them all. We should find out where they’re coming from.”
Again, I nodded, irritated as always by my beast form’s inability to speak. Sometimes it was easier to have my double beside me—even if he was a pain in the ass.
“You go that way,” Elah said, gesturing with his sword towards a cluster of mausoleums in the North end of the graveyard, “and I’ll stick here.”
I turned to look towards Petyr and Tae Min; the former was doing a good job putting down soul eaters with his Anyana-given strength, while the latter seemed to have a borrowed knife he was brandishing with a determined look on his face. There was a long scratch down his arm that healed before my eyes. Both were fine, and Elah was more than capable of keeping them safe.
So I loped towards the mausoleums on four feet, eyes sharp for anything that might attack me on the way. As always, my nose gave me more information than my eyes, and my beast jaws killed quickly and brutally. When a soul eater attacked my right flank I barely slowed down to kill it.
Part of me wondered what—or who—the souls used to be before they became the dark and demonic things they were. But as far as I knew there was no cure for their current state, and legends said the dark things multiplied and made new soul eaters. If left to their own devices, they would eat souls and steal bodies, roaming the Earth freely and killing to survive.
As I got closer and closer to the mausoleums, that familiar smell began to hit my nose again. It was carried on a gust of the wind, beautiful and alive. I picked up the pace and filled my nostrils with it.
Selena. It was her.
I was sure of it.
I let the beast’s nose lead me to the source of the scent: a Roman-style mausoleum, old and covered with growing vines. Stopping before the front door, I put my nose to the gap beneath the frame and inhaled her smell. It went straight through me, to the place inside me that wanted to take control and claim what I desired.
There was no denying it anymore: I’d bonded to Selena, unintentionally or not, and my walker instincts wanted to keep her.
First, though, I had to break down the door and get her out.
Something that I could tell would prove difficult when I caught the other scent wafting from beneath the door: soul eaters. Dozens of them, hungry and fresh from the dark place they came from.
They wanted her soul, and after they ate it they’d take her body.
But neither were theirs to eat. Selena’s body and soul were mine to claim, and no one would come between us if I had my way.
With a snarl of my lips, I backed up and charged the door.
Selena
They were starting to move the coffin lid.
There were so many of them now, their bodies clicking against the thick marble between me and the outside world. Stuck in the airless dark with the bones of an unknown dead man, I tried hard not to think too much about my current predicament.
What I could use, more than anything, was another fae to feed off of. But thinking that made me feel sick—like sex and romance had turned into nothing but opportunism for me now.
No, it wasn’t feeding that I needed. I needed a fucking break. Ever since being dragged to Hell, my life had been nothing but shit: my birth mother turned out to be a psychopath, the Underworld was next to impossible to escape, and my mother tried to sell me off to a half-demon demigod.
And then, right when I was about to escape, I was attacked—and lost the one person in Hell that I’d grown attached to, right at the very moment I realized I cared about the asshole.
Now even my escape had turned into this: lying in a coffin in darkness, trying not to hyperventilate, unable to stop imagining what it would be like when the soul eaters crawled inside with me and took away my soul.
“Don’t think about it, don’t think about it,” I whispered to myself even as panic took over. And here I thought I’d gotten strong in Hell; at the end of the day even I had my limits. “Fuck, I just want to go home. If I still have one.”
Miserable, self-pitying tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. I felt a leg with a little claw at the end scratch against my arm and shuddered, bile rising in my throat. What a way to go this would be, after everything I’d been through.
The least the world could do was give me something besides pain and misery.
Just as I was trying to figure out how long I could fight before they ate my soul—and how the hell I could fight so many at once—I heard a great booming sound outside my coffin. I held still, listening and wildly trying to figure out what was going on. Whatever it was, the sound was coming from the opposite end of the mausoleum, near the exit—not the door I’d come through.
Another boom. Then: I heard a very familiar roar. My heart leapt in my chest, and it was all I could do not to scramble out of the coffin then and there.
The beast. It had to be.
At least, I hoped.
There was crashing, as whatever it was hit the door a third time and burst into the mausoleum with another roar of bestial strength. There were little clicking sounds as the soul eaters scattered off my coffin lid. I heard squeals, hisses, and the crunch of great jaws closing over their empty bodies.
Scrambling, I thrust my fingers into the gap between the lid and the edge of the coffin, hissing at the pinch of pain in my fingers. Using all of my strength, I pulled the lid to the side and pressed my face against the gap, trying desperately to see what was going on.
My view mostly gave me a good look at the ceiling and just a bit of the mausoleum itself. I saw soul eaters go flying, their bodies squelching against the walls. Pulling my face back, I heaved at the coffin lid again, biting down on a groan of pain; my muscles screamed at the effort it took.
I shouldn’t have bothered, though. Before I had the lid pulled back even six inches I heard footsteps, and a familiar face came into view. I sobbed at the sight of him, those blue eyes looking at me with the same intensity as the night we met—but now, in a whole different way.
“Leon.” Sniffling, I tried to stop the stream of tears falling down my face, wanting to be strong in front of him. “It’s really you, isn’t it?”
“You bet your ass it is. Hold tight, I’ll get you out of there.”
With a grunt, he reached out to pry the coffin lid away. His strong arms made short work of it, and within seconds I was sitting up, filling my lungs with fresh air. He’d taken out all of the soul eaters; I could tell based on the thick inky blood splattered everywhere, and the bodies torn to shreds all over the ground.
It was a complete mess, the exact kind of thing you’d expect from Leon’s beast form. I knew I wasn’t any less messy. I was covered in soul eater blood, oily and thick, and now the dust of bones was matted in it, making me even filthier than before.
But based on the way Leon was looking at me, he didn’t see any of that at all. “Selena.” Reaching out, he put an arm around me and scooped me up, effortlessly pulling me out of the coffin. “We’ve been looking for you.”
My feet touched the ground, and it was all I could do not to stumble. Shaking, I forced myself to stay upright and look into his bright blue eyes, sniffling as I did my best to keep the tears from coming down. “You have?”
“It’s all I’ve done every single day since the day you disappeared,” he said gruffly, his eyes roaming my face. One of his calloused hands reached out, and he pushed hair away from my cheek, his finger trailing the wet streak of tears on my skin. “I never gave up hope that we would find you. And now here you are.”
“Here I am,” I echoed, feeling du
mb.
“You’re the best thing I’ve seen all day,” he murmured. Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against mine, his hand moving from my cheek down to my neck. I could feel every beat of my heart against my rib cage. “The instant I caught your scent it was all I could think about. For a minute there we almost thought you were...” He tore off, his breath ragged. “There’s so much I want to say to you.”
I’d expected a lot of things when I got back to Earth: anger, confusion, demands for an explanation. Given what I did to Maggie, I didn’t think any of the light fae in the Collective would want anything to do with me, unless it was to lock me up and question me.
This hadn’t been a part of the homecoming I thought I would receive. I felt dizzy from it all; if he hadn’t been holding me at the waist, I might have fallen over.
Leon’s arm tightened around me, pulling me to him. I blinked up into his eyes. Every breath he took brushed against my skin.
I knew what came next. And I wanted it more than anything. But despite myself I said, “Wait.”
He jerked back, still holding me up but putting me at arm’s length in the blink of an eye. “What is it?” His eyes roamed my body, concern flitting across his expression. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” I quickly clarified.
But the next words, the question I knew I needed to ask, I had to drag from within. Because I was scared more than anything that saying them would change things between us, and I would never have his closeness back, his strength holding me up. I didn’t want to lose him, but I wouldn’t have him based on a lie.
So I asked him, “Do you... know? About what I did to Maggie?” I had to look away for a moment, adding, “I used my powers to manipulate her into telling me something she wanted to keep secret from me. She loved me, and I betrayed her.”
I felt his hand on my lower waist, strong and sure. It didn’t flinch or move away, so I dared to look up into his eyes. There was compassion in them—but also disapproval.
Leon said, “I know. I knew the whole time we were looking for you. And—I don’t approve, Selena, but I understand. You think I’ve never used my powers to get something I want?”
“I’m not sure how you would,” I said softly. “You can turn into a wolf and make a double of yourself. I can control people, Leon.”
“I can also change my face,” he pointed out, drawing closer to me again. “The changes are subtle, but enough to fool a lot of people. Do you know how many times in my early twenties I took advantage of my slight resemblance to Chris Evans?”
I scoffed, eyes wide. “You wouldn’t!”
Leon smirked at me. “What can I say, I have a bit of a bad boy streak in me.” He lowered his mouth until it was close to mine, murmuring, “You did something regrettable because you needed to know the truth. We’ve all done worse things for far more selfish reasons. If I shunned you, that would make me a hypocrite. I understand, Selena.”
His forgiving words took a weight off my shoulders I’d barely realized I was carrying. Licking my lips, I grabbed onto the strong arms holding me and melted into them. Leon’s embrace tightened until we were close enough that I could feel his heat all along the length of my chest.
And he dipped his mouth towards me with a growl of possessive desire. I whimpered in response, a sound he caught in his mouth as he covered my lips with his own.
The kiss that followed was scorching and claiming. Leon had a dominant streak he hadn’t shown me when we first kissed—a move that had been more practical than anything. This kiss was about passion, a passion I met with a desperation of my own, because the more our mouths moved against each other the more alive I felt.
His hand moved lower than my back, down to cup the curves of my ass. I pressed forward against him, heat pooling in my belly. He claimed my mouth with his tongue, seeming not to care about the grime or filth around us. I fed off him and restored my vitality, taking what he freely and passionately gave. His energy tasted primal, like raw power, like duality, bitter and sweet, light and dark. I felt a distinctive outline of the heat he was packing against the spot where my leg met my hip, and I knew that it wasn’t his sidearm I was feeling.
If we hadn’t been surrounded by so much dirt and dead soul eaters I might’ve climbed him right then and there. As it was, I was tempted. A moment of passion in a mausoleum didn’t seem so far-fetched now that I’d been to Hell and back, and I was hungry for sex, for something real and primal.
Leon backed off and broke the kiss at the last moment, panting wildly. His pupils were blown huge and black, rimmed by light blue. He licked his lips, and I got the sense that he was savoring what he tasted—savoring me. Heat splashed against my neck and chest.
“As much as I would love to continue this,” he said, briefly squeezing my ass before moving his hands back to my waist, “I think we should save this conversation for later. There are demons and soul eaters roaming around outside, after all.”
“Right,” I said, glancing back at the door to the in-between place, which had closed for now. “Not the time and place.”
The way he looked at me, though, I got the feeling that we both agreed on one thing: if we could, we would rip each other’s clothes off and screw like mindless teenagers right here, right now. I knew I would, at least, and not just because I was a succubus. Leon Hardwick wasn’t the kind of man you passed up when he wanted to have you, no matter how filthy it was.
Or maybe because of how filthy it was.
“Demons,” I said aloud, more to remind myself of something not-sexy than anything. I stepped back and brushed myself off, grimacing at my current state. “Point me to them. I’m in a mood to take a few out.”
Leon raised his eyebrows at me. “They’re right outside that door I tore through, but—I thought you were scared of demons.”
I glanced up at him, realizing then that he had absolutely no idea how much had changed since we’d last seen each other. “I’m not so scared anymore.”
We started walking towards the mausoleum entrance, both of us patting down our hair and trying to look less... disheveled. Not that we’d been in much of a perfect state before he hungrily claimed my mouth with his own and pressed his arousal against my thigh.
I continued speaking, trying to get my mind on other subjects. “I’ve changed while I was away. Well, not entirely. But let’s just say I’ve figured a few things out about my powers.” And about the blood that ran through my veins, but I decided the Queen of the Underworld could wait. “I’m a bit more of a badass now.”
“About that,” he said, as we took the steps up towards the door, “where exactly have you been the past three months?”
Three months. I hadn’t even known it was that long.
I stepped out of the mausoleum and into the light. There was chaos around us, a demonic battle raging. I took a brief moment to tip my head up towards the sky and feel the heat of the sun against my face. It was the best feeling I’d had in awhile.
I glanced back at Leon, who was waiting expectantly for my answer.
“I was in Hell.”
10
Elah
My sword ignited with the power of my flame, fire swirling around the Havaala-forged steel. I nudged Fira’s sides with my heels, and she leapt into motion, cantering across the graveyard. A too-fast speed demon was headed our way, and it was my job as a knight of the Ignus following to protect the ambassador and the doctor.
Though based on the way Tae Min was wielding that knife of his at soul eaters, he was perfectly capable of protecting himself when push came to shove.
The speed demon hissed as we approached, digging its heels into the ground and unfurling its four claw-tipped arms. Two of the arms curled over its lower shoulders, while the other two darted out. I reined Fira towards the left and raised my sword, fire running up my arm as we approached. Though the demon had at least one of its arms poised to rip at Fira’s belly, she cantered towards him without fear.
Steady, girl. My thoughts we
re an emotion I poured into her as much as words; she trusted in me completely, and our bond was one of friends as well as warriors. Press on!
She screamed a war horse scream when we got close, the demon’s limbs spinning out to attack her. The stiff armor of her breastplate blocked its blows. With a yell of fury, I dropped my flaming sword onto its shoulder in a diagonal strike, severing its head and one of its arms from its chest. Fire burned where my sword struck its body.
Fira cantered past, and I reined her in and pulled her around to make sure the job was finished. These terrible, four-armed demons often managed to rouse for a second round; I’d fought enough of them at the edge of the Realm of Light to know as much. Though it was screeching and clearly dying, two of its four arms still moved.
Dismounting my mare, I walked over to it and thrust my sword into the middle of its chest. I didn’t know if the things had a heart, but the light—or what passed for light—faded from its eyes regardless. I pulsed fire down on it from my hand to make sure it wouldn’t rise again.
“Stay down this time.”
Looking around at the chaotic battlefield, I tracked my allies’ battles. Naomi and her sister Iva fought back-to-back, putting down soul eaters with their flashing knives. Her associate and fellow dark hunter Crane was wielding a battle axe at a winged demon on the other side of the graveyard. Petyr was using his strength to crush soul eaters with a large boulder, after which Tae Min severed their heads from their bodies with a knife.
Leon was the only one I didn’t spot right away, and his beast form was usually easy enough to find; as large as it was, it made an impression. Remounting Fira, I nudged her towards Petyr and Tae Min as I searched the graveyard for the detective. We’d grown to be friends in the past few months, and I would be betraying my oath as his battle brother if something happened to him under my watch.