by Ivy Asher
Satisfaction and belongin’ settles into the deepest recesses of my soul, and I feel whole in a way I’ve never experienced before.
“You have to watch! Turn around, it’s the coolest thing,” Delta tells me excitedly, and I spin and wait for my eyes to settle on what she’s talkin’ about.
Slowly, grass and flowers start to sprout up from right under my feet and move out down the corridor like ocean waves lappin’ at the shore. I jump back with a surprised gasp, and the soothin’ flames of the Hellgate lick comfortingly up my back. Delta laughs as she turns to watch the vegetation spread from just the one side of the corridor to now fill the entire middle section of the path and extend out almost all the way to the entrance of Hell’s embrace.
It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed. I feel a sense of profound accomplishment, like this is exactly what I was meant to do, and this is exactly where I’m meant to be.
As I watch, trees grow, flowers bloom, and soft lookin’ grass sprouts up and spreads. I wouldn’t have expected anythin’ so beautiful to adorn the Gates of Hell, but...my eyes land on Alder, and I correct that thought. Of course Hell would be beautiful. Just look at the incredible beings it creates. My mates bein’ two of them.
My eyes fill with love, and like he can feel my eyes on him, he turns from the sight of the garden to look back at me. Alder’s gaze warms, his own love and appreciation pourin’ out as a proud smile takes over his full lips while Delta steps into Rafferty’s open arms for a hug.
“You did it. I can feel that the portal is shut down again, and you stabilized the Hellgate,” Alder tells me with pride.
The corners of my lips tilt up. “Yeah, and it looks like I can also do a thing or two with flowers too,” I tease him as I glance at the bloom still clutched in his tattooed hand. “And you’re right. I think this purple color has grown on me,” I say, gesturin’ back to the flames that now match me.
Alder laughs, and his adorin’ gaze moves behind me to take in the beautiful color of the Gate.
But then, his smile starts to falter. I don’t even get a chance to wonder why.
I feel arms wrap around me from behind, and then suddenly, I’m bein’ pulled back like I’m a fish that just succumbed to the lure of bait on a hook.
I’m yanked back so hard that I can’t even scream before somethin’ is bein’ spoken into my ear, and alarmingly, I feel my whole body go limp under the order to comply. It’s as though the fight was just stolen right out from under me like a rug bein’ ripped up.
Fear and confusion rocket through me, but I can’t struggle. I can’t make a noise. I’m just suddenly tumblin’ into terrifyin’ darkness, with no way of gettin’ out.
I only hear one word before everythin’ in me just seems to shut off. It’s a deep, power-laced voice whispering into my ear as I’m snatched away from my sister and my mate. It’s a voice that gives me chills and a word that pierces my soul.
“Gotchya.”
Epilogue
Gotchya swirls around the darkness of my mind like a wayward leaf on the wind.
I try to reach out and grab for it so I can understand why it’s floatin’ around, but I miss, and it swirls with other echoin’ words: you will be quiet and you will come with me.
The orders twist and dance around in my head, while a power I find myself tryin’ to swim through makes my thoughts and limbs feel heavy.
I shove through the bleak darkness of my mind, my body immediately startin’ to shiver as I start to wake up. There’s a bitter cold seepin’ into me, and I feel like I’m wadin’ through quicksand as I try to figure out what’s goin’ on.
Rough, cold stone lies under my cheek, and my stomach roils as fear and worry sit like jagged rocks in my gut. The heaviness of those emotions anchors me to the here and now, and I feel the ripples of alarm spreadin’ through my body. It’s as though somethin’ scared me so badly that the imprint of it is in my every fiber.
My mouth is dry and chalky, and a barely-there whimper leaks out of my cracked and chapped lips. I struggle to open my eyes, and it takes a moment to blink the blurriness away. As soon as I do, a terrified tear falls from my eye, and I can practically hear it drop to meet the freezin’ stone beneath me.
Metal bars condense into focus in front of me.
Wherever I am is damp, and dark, and ominous, the very air oppressive. I prepare myself to force my body up so I can separate my skin from the frigid temperatures that are bleedin’ into me from below, but I’m surprised when it’s not a struggle to sit up.
So my body is okay, but my mind went twelve rounds with Manny Pacquiao. Strange.
“You will call your scythe and sit up if you want this to stop.”
I freeze at the sound of the quiet, menancin’ voice as it snarls. Somethin’ in the tone makes me feel like I have ants crawlin’ through my veins.
My eyes search out the source, and I land on mud-colored wings and the back of a head that’s filled with black dreadlocks.
No. Not dreadlocks, my brain screams at me. Snakes.
Morax.
Terror slams through me, makin’ my chest tighten and my lungs constrict. Frantically, I look around me, forcin’ myself to see exactly where I am, and my gaze zeroes in on the bars surroundin’ me.
A cage. I’m in a damn cage.
Bitin’ my lip, I drag my eyes away from the metal bars and see that my cage appears to be inside a large cellar with no windows to speak of, and at the far end, I’m starin’ right at the back of the Ophidian.
His words are met by silence, and I realize he’s talkin to someone else. I can just make out a small, frail lookin’ body on a metal table that he’s standin’ over. All I can see from my vantage point are legs with lines cut into the flesh all over, leavin’ behind dozens of blood-red slices. Disgust and anger start to boil inside of me on behalf of whoever this monster is torturin’, while horror threatens to burst my heart in my chest.
The word gotchya continues to ring through my mind, and devastation claws up my throat. How did Morax get me? That last thing I remember is starin’ into Alder’s lovin’ eyes as flowers and plants sprung up between us, and now...I’m here, in this dark, dank room filled with nothin’ but agony and shadows.
A sob works its way up my esophagus, but I close my mouth and swallow it down. I need to get out of here. I look around for somethin’ that will help me, tryin’ to drown out Morax speakin’ as he continues to issue orders to whoever is on that torture table. It’s clear that he’s gettin’ more and more frustrated every time he’s met with silence. When he lifts his hand up, I catch sight of a long, sharp dagger in his grip, the metal glintin’ from the lit torches anchored into the walls.
I shiver at the sight of the weapon and the power I can tell he’s pourin’ into his voice, but it’s not aimed at me, and my body doesn’t betray me by listenin’ to him. Silently, so that I don’t tip him off that I’m awake, I sit all the way up and search for somethin’, anythin’ to help me out of this.
My gray eyes land on a shape in the corner of my cell. Hope explodes in my chest at the sight of my scythe. Yes!
I dive for it.
Except...my body jerks to a stop after movin’ barely an inch. Blinkin’ in surprise, I try to reach for it again, but my body refuses to listen, stayin’ frozen in place.
With a determined frown, I focus all my efforts on my fingers, my hands, my arms, but I can’t get a single part of me to move toward my weapon, toward the one thing that could protect me from Morax and his evil intentions.
Tears of fear and frustration drip down my cheeks, and a brutal headache blooms behind my eyes, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t force myself to grab my scythe.
Morax must have used his power to keep me from usin’ it, to keep me from touchin’ it, and that realization terrifies me. He left it here, right within my reach, just for the mental torture it would bring me. It’s like he’s danglin’ a carrot on a string in front of a starvin’ horse, and right then,
I know exactly what sort of bein’ I’m up against. Evil. The Ophidian is evil.
Slumpin’ back, I give up on the scythe and wipe the tears off my cheeks as I quietly scoot back in my cage. Delta said Morax’s power wears off with time. Just like that night he approached me in the club, I had to wait for the effects to fade away. My only hope is that with time, I can take back control of my body and hold my scythe in my hands once again.
I flinch in alarm when Morax suddenly bellows out in rage, and I cower down onto the floor to make it look like I’m still sleepin’ in case he glances over here. Peekin’ through my lashes, I see him throw his dagger clear across the room where it crashes against the stone wall before clatterin’ to the floor.
In his fury, he doesn’t even look my way, and a small puff of relief moves through me as he storms across the room to a shadowed doorway and leaves, slammin’ the heavy door behind him.
My heart beats hard and fast in my chest, but I wait a moment, makin’ sure he’s really gone before I scramble up and rush forward to the bars. My hands close around them as I look around, searchin’ the room for anythin’ else I can use to try and get out of here.
I freeze when my eyes land on the woman that’s strapped to the table. She’s in only her underwear, and cuts of all shapes and sizes mar her skin. I see what looks to be healin’ burns and bruises peppered over her as well, and my stomach churns at the sight.
I press one palm to my stomach and the other over my mouth as I take her in. I blink back more tears, and the image of the woman on the table changes. Suddenly, she has deep purple wings underneath her that are so dark they could almost be black. The hair blanketin’ her shoulder is the same purple-black hue as her feathers, and my eyes widen at the sight as I quickly dash away my tears, makin’ sure that I’m not seein’ things.
My gaze skips over the bruises on her neck and lands on full, slightly parted lips, lookin’ as chapped and cracked as mine feel. My stare moves up to her nose, and somethin’ sparks in the back of my mind.
But then I see her eyes.
It’s then that a sob tears out of my throat, because I know those eyes. They’re my eyes, Delta’s eyes...Sable’s eyes. Horror rages through me like a tidal wave, as I take in the blank, gray stare.
When I blink again, the wings are suddenly gone, and her hair is no longer dark purple, but now just a simple flat black with bangs swept across her forehead, but her eyes are still starin’ at nothin’. I drop my frenzied eyes down her body to her chest. Is she breathin’?
Nothin’ moves. I watch for a beat, holdin’ my own breath as I wait. The longer I wait, the more pain settles in my soul.
What did he do to her? How long has he had her?
More sobs rip out of me, and I bring my watery gaze back up to the pair of lifeless eyes that seem to be starin’ right through me.
“Sable,” I whisper shakily, my voice shatterin’ with emotion as I stare at my lost sister—at the triplet that we just found out about and have been searchin’ for. But nothin’ happens as her name takes flight on the stale sulfuric air floatin’ in this room.
We were too late.
The Ophidian stole her away, and now he’s ended her before Delta and I ever had a chance to know her or to love her the way she deserved.
And I’m next.
The End of Book 3…
Hellgate Guardians Series
Rapid-Release Schedule
Book 1: June 8th
Grave Mistakes
Book 2: June 22nd
Grave Consequences
Book 3: July 6th
Grave Decisions
Book 4: July 20th
Grave Signs
Also by Ivy Asher & Raven Kennedy
Shifter Romantic Comedy Standalone
Conveniently Convicted
Dystopian Romantic Comedy Standalone
April’s Fools
Also by Ivy Asher
The Sentinel World
The Lost Sentinel
The Lost and the Chosen
Awakened and Betrayed
The Marked and the Broken
Found and Forged
Shadowed Wings
The Hidden
The Avowed
The Reclamation
More in the Sentinel World coming soon.
Romantic Comedy Standalone
Conveniently Convicted
April’s Fools
Also by Raven Kennedy
Paranormal Shifter Romance:
Addie: Pack of Misfits Book 1
Reese: Pack of Misfits Book 2
Jetta: Pack of Misfits Book 3
Fantasy Reverse Harem Romantic Comedy:
Signs of Cupidity: Book 1
Bonds of Cupidity: Book 2
Crimes of Cupidity: Book 3
For the Love of Cupidity: Book 4
Cupidity Box Set
Romantic Comedy Stand-Alone:
Can’t Fix Cupid
April’s Fools
Conveniently Convicted
Dark Contemporary Romance:
The Girl Who Cries Colors
Cruel: Savannah Heirs Book 1
Tame: Savannah Heirs Book 2
Wild: Savannah Heirs Book 3
Dark Paranormal Romance:
Void
Wicked Webs
Ivy Asher
Ivy Asher is addicted to chai, swearing, and laughing a lot—but not in a creepy, laughing alone kind of way. She loves the snow, books, and her family of two humans, and three fur-babies. She has worlds and characters just floating around in her head, and she’s lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing people who support that kind of crazy.
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Raven Kennedy
Raven Kennedy lives in California with her family. She is most known for her international bestselling Heart Hassle series about a quirky cupid who wants to find love for herself. RK writes in a range of genres, including romantic comedies, fantasy, dark romances, contemporary, and paranormal. Whether she makes you laugh or cry, she hopes to connect with readers and create characters you can root for.
You can connect one-on-one with RK on Facebook in Raven Kennedy’s Reader Group and on her Instagram. Click the icons below!