by Lucy Auburn
“Stay right there,” I said, throwing my legs over the edge of the bed and searching the floor for my clothes. “I’ll be there right away.”
“What happened?” Leon asked, going into the bathroom for his clothing. “Is something wrong?”
He couldn’t hear my conversation with Elah, of course. “Beelzebub is free.” Reaching into my purse, which I’d dropped by the door as Elah and I walked in, I pulled out the knife and leather holster there. It hadn’t felt like something I needed to wear for my date, but I was glad I brought it all the same. “How fast can your motorcycle get us to the Collective?”
“Very fast.”
“Good.” I slipped the holster over my arm and buckled it into place before throwing on my jacket. “It’s time to take down this demigod once and for all.”
38
Selena
Leon swerved around traffic so fast that I barely had time to blink before we were pulling into the Collective’s parking lot. I pulled my purse off my shoulder as I swung off the bike, hanging it on the handlebar and grabbing only my phone, which I put in my back pocket. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to travel light, with nothing in my hands but power.
Looking up at the building, I saw fire in one of the first floor windows. There was no sign of the simulacrum guards out front, which worried me. If they’d gone in to protect the fae headquarters, that didn’t make our odds seem very good.
There was a telekinetic half-demon demigod on the loose in the city, and he would no doubt kill whoever he could to get what he wanted. What he wanted, I realized with a start, was probably me.
“I texted Naomi and Maggie,” I told Leon, taking the stairs up the front as fast as I dared. “Are you going to use the beast or Leo this time? Because if I had to vote—”
Leon grabbed my arm and pulled me around, surprising me with a rough kiss against my lips. He seemed frantic, almost; I returned the kiss, softening it in an attempt to calm him down. When I pulled back, he was staring at me with fear in his eyes, hands framing my face. “This time, promise me you won’t disappear.”
“I promise,” I said, heart aching at his worry for me. “I don’t even have the necklace that took me to the Underworld in the first place. I’m not sure I could get there even if I tried.”
“Let’s keep it that way,” he said, letting me go to face the doors of the Collective again. “And to answer your question, I think now is a time for the beast.”
I’d told Leon and Elah about the necklace that took me to the Underworld, but I never told anyone about my other adventures in realm walking. Now seemed like a bad time to mention the symbol in the book—a secret I’d just have to live with keeping until I understood the risks of realm walking without proper training. It seemed like the sort of thing I should refrain from doing again, given how Petyr reacted to the idea of me blithely walking between realms on my own—and given that I now knew I might hold the power to opening up the gates of Hell.
Maybe it was simple, though. Maybe, just maybe, I could avert disaster. All I had to do was keep the world safe from the one last thing that followed me out of Hell: Beelzebub.
With Leon at my side, Naomi’s knife strapped to my shoulder, and Elah somewhere in the building with his flames, I felt confident I could take him on. I had each of them inside me as well as with me, and this time the dark demigod would regret facing us.
I just hoped Naomi and Maggie got there in time to help us out.
Naomi
I’d just finished dinner with my sister, who’d been released into my care after begging Tae Min, when I received a text from Selena on my phone. I stared down at it and cursed, then looked back at Iva. “I’m going hunting. Stay here.”
“Tonight? All on your own?”
“Yes. You’re not coming with me.”
She frowned at me, her right arm resting in a soft sling she used when the weakened muscles and previously torn tendons could no longer hold up on their own. Petyr said that with rehab, her arm would get better, but first she had to rebuild strength and retrain her nerves—and the haunted look in her eyes from nearly dying was beyond even his skills.
Within a few weeks she would be able to throw a knife, as long as she returned to Tae Min’s intern Sarah for physical rehab. I couldn’t bear the thought of her one day hunting again. It twisted me up inside with anger, until I could barely see straight.
But I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop her forever. So before I left my apartment, I told her, “After you’re doing better, maybe we’ll go visit Mom in London. You can train with her for a while.”
That perked her up; Mom had always been permissive with Iva when it came to training, which made sense now that I knew she shared a soul with Sophia Sobol. And in London, unlike here, there would be enough dark hunters to protect her.
Enough that, should the London hell gate open and demand another hunter’s blood, there would be veins to offer up that weren’t hers. I would leave her there if I had to.
First, though, apparently I had to go put down a demigod. So I sheathed my knives, got in my car, and pointed it in the direction of the Collective, with one planned stop along the way.
Tae Min
I was in my lab, studying my own changing genome, when the emergency lights started blaring. I grabbed my things and headed for the exit, only to stop and stare.
Outside my laboratory doors, marching down the hallway, was a tall demonic-looking thing with tattoos running up and down his arms. He was coming from the prison sector—and he didn’t look friendly.
For a moment, I tried to decide what I would do: stand and fight, or run away. Inside me, I felt the fox snicker and mock me. So I decided this time I would fight. Grabbing the knife I’d borrowed from Naomi only days ago, I shouldered through the laboratory doors, certain that if nothing else I would survive this. I was growing more and more fae by the day, after all.
“Hey, you!” The beast turned to look at me, its eyes glowing. “Come and get me.”
As I skidded through the hallway, I felt the fox inside me take over.
And everything after that was a blank.
Selena
The building was empty.
That was the strangest part of it. Leon and I walked down the hallways of the Collective, passing no one—or almost no one. There were a few fae huddled in various offices along the way, peeking out of doors like survivors. For a moment I wondered why they didn’t fight, but then I saw what types they were: peaceful fae, with useful magical skills and inhuman faces, some with cat ears and some with wings.
Leon noticed my glances at them and said, “The fighters will be up ahead, trying to drive the demigod away. We should find out exactly where they are. Contact Elah.”
I grabbed my amulet and murmured, “Elah, Elah, Elah.”
It vibrated briefly before connecting to him. “Selena. You’re here?”
His voice was quiet, and a panicked idea entered my head: that he was hiding from Beelzebub, injured and on the verge of death. I dismissed it as soon as it came, determined not to give into the fear. “Leon and I are here. Where are you?”
“Conference room D. Shadow form. I think I burned him pretty badly. There are people here who need to escape.”
My heart pounded as I imagined all the potential victims Beelzebub could claim now that he was in such a populated building. “Hang tight. We’re on our way.”
I let go of the amulet and turned to Leon, not surprised to find myself staring into the blue eyes of a great hulking wolf. “Conference room D. Let’s go.”
We ran down the first hallway, heedless of who might hear us. The floor was slick under my feet; the walls were scorched in places, no doubt where Elah’s flame licked at them. I was disturbed to see that more than one wall had been extensively damaged.
As we came to the hallway where the conference room in question was located, I skidded to a stop, barely believing my eyes. Stretched out in front of me on the ground was a gap in the floor t
iles at least five feet wide. He’d torn through the floor, leaving a gaping hole that revealed plumping and exposed wires.
I saw him up ahead, and had to tamp down on the urge to scream. His back was to me, those great wings of his spread wide, his pale body hulking and tall. On the ground in front of him, desperately crawling away from the demigod, was Tae Min.
The sound of Leon’s rumbling growl was low and angry. I saw a flash of his white teeth and had to agree with the rage; my hand clamped over my knife, and the urge to throw it was great. But Beelzebub was so far away from me that I was sure I would miss.
We would have to leap over the gap to get close enough to him. The walls on either side were thick and undamaged, and the only other way into this hallway involved going around—time we couldn’t spare, as Beelzebub was advancing on Tae Min, clearly enjoying teasing his prey.
I took a deep breath and backed up, hoping my legs were strong and swift. I gathered all my borrowed strength to me, ready to face my greatest demon. With the energy of others inside me, I felt almost prepared.
I had the strength of a whip-smart, bitingly sarcastic woman with more knives than sense. I had the heart of a flame that burned so bright it protected me even in Hell itself. And I had the strength of the man beside me, bestial and full of rage, curling my hands into fists.
Further down the hallway, I saw a flame floating a few feet off the ground just outside the door of conference room D. And I knew Elah was here too.
I took a deep breath and ran towards the gaping black hole. With all my strength, I leapt.
39
Selena
My feet slid across the tile as I landed, immediately drawing Beelzebub’s attention. The beast landed next to me a moment later, his giant paws as silent as the grave. I heard a low growl and was glad to have him at my side.
“There you are,” Beelzebub said, his voice a twisted croak. I clutched the knife in my right hand, trying not to look to my right, where I knew Elah was in his shadow form.
“Here I am,” I echoed. “I guess getting your ass kicked once wasn’t enough.”
The demigod peeled his lips back from his teeth, revealing too-sharp canines and twisted facial features. “Your mother misses you. Time to go home.”
He lunged for me, and the beast lunged back, soaring into the air teeth first. His jaw connected with Beelzebub’s arm, fangs sinking in. The demigod howled as he windmilled his arm and threw the beast to the ground in a rage. I took the moment to fling my arm behind my shoulder and throw my knife towards him; it sliced through his great wing, tearing a hole in the thin flesh and sinking point first in the wall behind him.
The hole in his wing began to heal, but before he was fully recovered another attack began and the healing stopped. Suddenly fire rose up at Beelzebub’s feet to twist around his ankles. Elah appeared seemingly out of nowhere, crouched to my right with a hand on the ground, his shadow form melting away as he used his fire. The flame extended from his fingers and to the demigod’s legs. Beelzebub snarled in rage and pain. If we just kept attacking him, he wouldn’t have time to fully heal and would be weak enough to capture.
I almost dared to hope for a moment that we could defeat him.
But then Beelzebub threw out a hand and Elah went flying into the wall. I screamed, watching in horror as the demigod’s powers pummeled into Elah so hard that his head hit the drywall and he slid down to the floor, unconscious.
I turned to the demigod with power gathered in my hands, flames burning. “You’ll pay for that.”
I threw a fireball at him, clumsy and new to wielding Elah’s powers, but the demigod just batted it away with a telekinetic force. On my left side, the beast tried to stand and struggled, Beelzebub’s power dragging him down just like it kept Elah down.
Somehow his imprisonment had only rested him and grown his powers. Fear rose in my chest as I realized just how hopeless our situation was.
Beelzebub sensed my fear and licked his lips. “Finally you see what I truly am, you pitiful thing. I am the son of a God and darkness itself. I don’t care who your mother is, you should be on your knees before me.” I gasped as he extended a hand and a heavy force wrapped around my body and pulled me down until my knees hit tile with a force that bruised. “Ants! You are all ants to me. I will destroy all your little friends, and drag you straight home where you belong.”
That was when he said them: the only words he could ever speak that would hurt me. “Your mother doesn’t even love you, you know.” His mouth twisted in a cruel smile as he forced me down, all the way down, until my cheek brushed against the tile beneath me. The protection amulet given to me by my foster mother warmed against my skin as it cradled my body from being harmed, but my mind still heard Beelzebub’s painful words. “She made you, you dumb little bitch, as nothing more than a tool. A chance for her to rule a world that would be brought to its knees by her power. And your father was so dumb he went along with it just long enough for you to be born, weak and useless—until now.”
I struggled, against his power and against his words. But he was too strong; even with all the borrowed strength inside me I couldn’t push myself up off the ground. And Maggie’s protection amulet was only meant to protect me from direct harm; it didn’t stop me from being captured. Beelzebub was going to take me back to the Underworld somehow, and there was nothing I could do to stop him—or to stop my mother from using me for her own selfish plans.
Just as I was sure that there was no hope left for me or the world, I heard Beelzebub screech in pain. His powers let go of me all at once, and I pushed up to my feet, joined by a beast shaking itself off and a woozy but determined-looking Elah. In front of me, Beelzebub was now the one being brought to his knees.
Clinging to his back, an unfamiliar sneer of rage twisting up his lips, was Tae Min. He had my knife in his hand and had dug it into the demigod’s shoulder where it met his neck. He was twisting it in Beelzebub’s flesh with a look of satisfaction. My heart soared to see that he was alive and okay, even as I saw that there was something new and altogether dangerous about him.
The expression on his face was not his own.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on what was going on with Tae Min. Beelzebub threw him off his back with a roar, and it was time for me to step in while he was still weakened. I threw myself at the demigod, heart pounding just like the last time, and put my hand on his forehead to drain him.
When I reached for my powers and tugged at his energy, nothing happened. I stared at the demigod, eyes wide as I saw a smirk curl his lips. Behind me, I heard the beast growl a warning, and saw the flicker of flames as Elah prepared himself for another round of fighting.
“It isn’t working,” I said aloud, desperately pleading with the succubus inside me as I tried to tap into my powers. “What have you done?”
The demigod grabbed my arm and dragged me behind him, roaring as he expanded his wings to fill the hallway. The beast charged at him, claws rending through his left wing as he leapt onto the demigod’s chest. Elah threw a fireball at his right wing, desperately trying to weaken him.
Both were thrown back again. I stepped away from Beelzebub, turning to Tae Min, who was on his knees with his head in his hands. “Are you okay? Were you hurt?”
When he looked up at me, there was despair in his eyes. “I can’t control it,” he said, voice a horrified whisper. “It’s going to take over.”
I blinked as I stared down into his soft brown gaze. There was something so fundamentally different about him. A desire tugged on me, fierce and undeniable, and I found myself getting on my knees before him, reaching out to touch his skin—to caress his face. Dimly, I could hear Elah yell my name as he attacked Beelzebub again, but I found myself not caring. All I wanted was to touch Tae Min, to be seen by him and to look into his eyes forever. There were stars in his eyes, deep and fathomless like the night sky.
I felt like I was dreaming while awake just by looking into them.
But t
hen he was shaking me, hands on each of my shoulders, the fear in his voice snapping me back to reality. “Selena! Damnit, not now—Selena, snap out of it, it’s not real! It’s just a glamour.”
I blinked and pushed myself to my feet, a sick nausea in my stomach. “We’re talking about this later,” I told the doctor. “After this.”
I came back to the present just in time. The battle was going well; Beelzebub folded his wings as he turned to look at me, and I saw with sick dismay that Elah was on the ground again, half his shirt torn off. The beast was up and snarling, but limping badly, one of his paws twisting in a terrible way.
Anger filled me as I met Beelzebub’s eyes, pushing to stand in front of Tae Min. “It’s me you want, so stop going after them,” I said, heart racing. I still had the protective amulet on; hopefully it would protect me. “They have nothing to do with this.”
“I know.” Beelzebub grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. “You’re what I came here for.”
Elah weakly said, “No,” and tried to stand, but Beelzebub threw out his hand and used telekinesis to throw him to the floor again. My heart felt like it was bruised; I looked away from the blackfyre knight, staring up into Beelzebub’s eyes.
I warned him softly, “I’ll only go with you if you stop hurting them.”
“Very well.” He let go of Elah, who I leveled a warning look at, trying to let him know to leave this to me. The knight shook his head, but he’d been weakened in his long fight with the demigod; there was nothing he could do as Beelzebub dragged me with him by the arm.