Unlocked (Hell's Throne Book 1)

by M. L. Gabrielle

  I gasped, instantly recognizing the white bird. “It’s you.” The bird cooed in response. I smiled as it flew to my shoulder. “I don’t want any animals in the house, Evelyn. Take it outside,” Dad barked.

  I laughed. “No, it’s my power. When I willed my power to take on a physical form, I noticed a bird in the classroom. I thought it was trapped, so I opened the window to let it go. I didn’t put two and two together. How did you get here?” I asked the bird.

  “I brought her with me,” said a deep voice from the doorway. I groaned and pet the bird. “Can you turn into something ferocious and get the jerk to back off?”

  Suddenly a gigantic white tiger appeared in front of Locke. I was positive that it was going to attack, but instead, it rolled onto its back so Locke could give it a freaking belly rub. I threw my hands up in exasperation.

  “You have to be kidding me. You were supposed to put Locke in your belly. Not get him to tickle yours!” I threw a piece of bacon at Mikey, who was snickering.

  “Please talk to me, Eve. This is all a big misunderstanding.” I turned my back to him and sat down. “Just go, Locke. I already saw the truth with my own two eyes. Nick sent me the pictures from the bar.”

  Uncle Mikey squeezed my neck and started shoveling bacon in his mouth. “Pictures from what bar? I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about, Eve. Can we please go somewhere and talk?”

  Dad gave me a sympathetic look. “I think you should hear him out, my love.” Seriously? This is Unbelievable. Whose side is he on anyway? “Good thing I didn’t ask for your opinion, Dad,” I snapped.

  Ab slammed his hand down on the table. “Evelyn Morningstar! Do not speak to your Father that way. Go talk to Locke upstairs, and bring that tiger with you.”

  I wanted to storm out, but guilt consumed me. I walked over to my dad and hugged him. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I didn’t mean it.”

  Without sparing Locke a glance, I grabbed another piece of French toast and went to my room. It’s better to just get this over with now. This way, we can just go our separate ways at school.

  I’ll just have to plaster a smile on my face and pretend that I’m not dying inside whenever I run into him on campus. I sat on my couch and squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe I can persuade my dad to let me transfer schools? There are two other colleges for beings on Terra.

  “Eve…” Locke brought me out of my musings. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. It hurts too much to see his beautiful face.

  “It’s fine, Locke. I just wish you would have told me the truth. It was brutal finding out from someone else. I’ll get through it somehow. I just ask that that you don’t parade your relationship in front of me,” I sighed.

  There’s no way I can do this. It’s making me sick just thinking about it. Seeing Locke and Hannah together again is going to be the worst type of torture.

  “How about you let me into this one-sided conversation you’re having. I’m not a fucking mind reader. From the breadcrumbs you’ve tossed at me, I apparently cheated on you at some bar. Now, I’m in a relationship with someone else. Yeah, that definitely sounds like something I would do,” he scoffed.

  I looked up and instantly regretted it. The look on Locke’s face was heartbreaking. “Do you think that little of me? Do you trust me at all? Instead of talking to me, you jumped to these ridiculous conclusions. Do you have any idea how much I love you? I don’t understand how you could believe these lies. How many times do I have to tell you? I only want you! Fuck this. I’ll see you around.”

  My stomach sank as I processed his words. He’s right. I saw the pictures, and I reacted. Even though I was hurt, I should have at least given him a chance to explain. My default reaction shouldn’t have been to push him away. “Wait, Locke.”

  He paused at the doorway but didn’t turn around. “You’re right. I should have talked to you. I was just so overcome with anger and jealousy that I lost all sense of reason,” I whispered.

  I looked down at the floor and toyed with the hem of my sweatshirt. I was too nervous to look up. I don’t think I can handle watching Locke walk out the door.

  My heart started hammering in my chest as I felt him approach. “Look at me, Eve.” I shook my head, unable to look him in the eye. If he ends things right now, I only have myself to blame.

  Locke lowered himself to the floor in front of me. He put on of his fingers under my chin, lifting my head so that we were eye level. His eyes softened as they locked with mine. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  He swiped a stray tear from my face. “This is just one of the many times that our relationship will be tested, little hellion. We don’t stand a chance if we don’t communicate. From now on, we need to talk things through. No more jumping to conclusions, okay?” he asked.

  Locke stood up and pulled me to my feet. I wrapped my arms around his waist and nodded into his chest. He kissed my head and chuckled as the tiger stretched out on the floor in front of us.

  “Okay, I have to ask. What’s with the bird or tiger? Cade flipped when the bird flew into our room. I could sense your power in her immediately, that’s why I brought her with me. I couldn’t feel you through our bond, so I texted your dad right away. He said you were here.”

  I opened my mouth but immediately snapped it shut. Hellfire, he doesn’t know about Zane. Oh, this is bad. Locke is going to lose his mind. I stepped away from Locke and called out for my dad and Abaddon. They immediately popped into my room.

  “What happened? What’s wrong?” Dad asked urgently. My heart started hammering in my chest. “We have a situation. I thought someone knew something, but I am almost positive that isn’t the case.”

  Locke crossed his arms and was eyeing the three of us suspiciously. Ab pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fuck. We should have realized this, Luc. After all, the palace is still standing.” My dad and Ab stared at each other as if they were having a silent conversation.

  Suddenly, dad grabbed our arms and popped us into the throne room. It was a smart choice. The ceilings are high, and there isn’t anything too breakable.

  “I’m holding on by a thin thread. Someone needs to fill me in right now,” Locke threatened. I leaned against Abaddon who placed a kiss my head. “Go ahead, Evelyn. It’ll be fine,” Ab encouraged.

  “Well, I just want to point out that I am totally fine. I may have had a bit of a situation with Zane yesterday, but the good news is that he’s been permanently eliminated from the game,” I rushed out.

  Locke was physically vibrating with rage. His eyes turned to gold as scales ran up his arms. “You were attacked by the siphon yesterday, and not one of you thought to tell me. Is that what I’m hearing?”

  I could tell he was struggling to hold back his shift. “Well…,” I started to answer when my dad leaned in. “It was a rhetorical question, my love.” Oh, my bad.

  “I want details. Now,” Locke ordered as a thunderbolt appeared in his hand. “Shit,” we all said at the same time. Zeus was the only god able to wield a thunderbolt. It was one of the reasons why he was viewed as the king of the gods.

  Seeing Locke holding one was incredible and scary as fuck. I knew Locke was extremely powerful, but this is next-level. I quickly launched into the story, starting from when I walked into the empty classroom.

  Locke stood eerily still as I wrapped up the story. Suddenly, Locke’s solid gold wings extended as he let out a resounding roar. He pitched the thunderbolt at a stone wall, causing a massive explosion.

  Abaddon quickly popped my dad and me into the dining room. “Stay here. I’m going to send him to the gate to work off his rage.” If anyone could talk some sense into Locke, it would be Abaddon. They may butt heads a lot, but I think it’s because they’re so similar.

  “You’re covered in debris, my love. You should go upstairs and shower,” my dad suggested. Fun fact, Lucifer is a total neat freak. I know he’s internally flipping out right now. At least he has an excuse to update the throne room. “I’ll see you in
a bit, dad.” I walked upstairs, leaving a trail of dust behind.

  38

  Eve

  After drying my hair, I put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. I found another one of Ceb’s hoodies in my closet and slipped it on. I have to fix things with Locke.

  After racking my brain, I decided to bake him some “I’m sorry for being an awful girlfriend” cookies. I looked up a recipe on my phone and headed down the kitchen with my tiger in tow.

  I’m not sure if the chefs were more upset about me being in their kitchen or the tiger. After getting a quick lesson on preheating the oven, I began rummaging through the cabinets for ingredients. I decided to keep it simple and make chocolate chip cookies.

  I finished mixing the wet and dry ingredients and scooped the dough onto cookie sheets. I tried to be good and avoid eating the batter, but I have absolutely no willpower. It’s so flipping good. I put the cookies on cooling racks once they finished baking and started to clean up my mess.

  The head chef must have checked in on me about twenty times. I’m pretty sure she thought I was going to burn the kitchen down. I can’t blame her since this is my first time baking.

  I tasted the cookies to make sure they’re edible, and my eyes lit up. They are surprisingly delicious. I quickly put the cookies in a container before I ate them all. The cookies are nice and all, but I just feel like they aren’t enough.

  Just then, an idea popped in my mind. I looked at my tiger thoughtfully. As if reading my thoughts, the tiger transformed into a white bird. “Are you sure it’s okay?” I asked.

  I took her coo as a good sign and plucked one of her small feathers. She went back to her tiger form and followed me to my bedroom. I set the small feather on my desk as the tiger rested her head on my leg.

  Closing my eyes, I touched the feather with my fingertip and brought my love for Locke to the forefront of my mind. My eyes opened to see that the once white feather was now onyx black tipped with brilliant gold.

  I held up the feather and smiled. It was beautiful. Digging through my jewelry box, I found a long leather necklace. I held out the feather, and the tiger carefully bit down, making a small puncture. I ran the leather cord through the opening and held up my little creation. It was perfect.

  Hopefully, he’ll like it. I wrote a simple note and placed it on top of Locke’s gifts. Exhaustion finally caught up with me, so I crawled into bed to take a nap. The last thing I remember was my tiger curling around me as I drifted off to sleep.

  Stretching my arms over my head, I looked over at my clock. Good, I only slept for an hour. I wiggled out from under the tiger’s paws and padded into the bathroom.

  I heard a deep voice as I was walking back to my room. I ran in only to find Cerberus playing with the tiger. “Wow, Evie. You can at least pretend to be happy to see me,” Ceb muttered.

  “Sorry, I thought you were Locke,” I admitted, taking a seat on the couch. “Your boyfriend is insane, Evie. You should have seen him at the gate. His hydra made my hellhound look like a puppy. Beings were actually running to me just to escape him. I’ve never seen anything like it.” I smirked. “Aw, someone has a crush,” I singsonged.

  “Fuck. I do. He can wield a thunderbolt, Evie. A thunderbolt! Abaddon told me about the throne room. How much do you want to bet Lucifer is still in there sweeping,” he snickered. I couldn’t hold back my laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” asked a deep voice from the doorway. I smiled and took in a freshly showered Locke. His dirty blonde hair was still wet, leaving droplets of water trickling onto his white t-shirt.

  The shirt wasn’t his, but it should be. The joggers had some designer name running down the side and sat low on Locke’s hips. They looked good on him. I mean, really, really good.

  “Fuck, Evie. Enough with the sex vibes,” Ceb groaned. I huffed. “I explained it to you yesterday. I can’t help it!” Locke pointed at Cerberus. “You, get out.” It looked like Ceb wanted to talk back, but he held his tongue. He blew me a kiss and vanished.

  Locke turned toward me and frowned. “I understand you’re upset, Locke. I would have told you about Zane earlier, but I honestly thought you knew,” I sighed.

  Locke crossed his arms and leaned against my closet door. I didn’t like the distance. No, I hated it. I was itching to go over to him, but I forced myself to stay seated.

  Locke’s jaw ticked. “I should have sensed your fear through our bond. I didn’t feel your call. I didn’t know anything was wrong. Explain how that’s possible, Eve?”

  I shifted in my seat. “I couldn’t risk Zane getting his hands on you, so I closed our bond. You don’t have to like my decision, but I needed to keep you safe.”

  His eyes flashed to gold as he stood up straight. “What you did was foolish and reckless. You should never have faced him alone, Eve. You should have called me through our bond as soon as you realized that you were in danger,” he barked. I jumped to my feet.

  “Did you just call me stupid? I was caught off guard, Locke. It’s not like I wanted to get cornered and almost kidnapped by some psycho. Instead of lecturing me, how about you give me some credit for thinking on my feet and holding my own.”

  Locke stalked closer and cupped the back of my head with his hand. “Zane hurt you. I should have been there. It’s killing me that I wasn’t there to protect you. He was too close to taking you away from me.” I reached up on my tippy toes and gave him a soft kiss.

  “He didn’t take me, though. Lucky for you, your girlfriend is kind of badass.” Locke smirked and brought his mouth to mine. Hellfire, I love him. I put my hands on his chest and pushed him back, making him frown.

  “I know I’ve been sucking in the girlfriend department over the past few days, so I wanted to make it up to you. It’s not much, but I just wanted you to know that I love you and I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions.” I walked over to my desk and gave him the cookies and necklace that I made for him.

  He swallowed hard and gave me a soft smile. “No being has ever given me a gift before,” he whispered. How is that even possible? Then it dawned on me that, other than the heirs, he never had a family.

  I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. “I hope you like it. I have a piece of your heart and soul, so it’s only fair that you have a piece of me.”

  He sat down so that I could put the leather necklace around his neck. He held the feather and grinned. “It looks like you plucked a feather from your wings. It’s going to sound crazy, but this feels like you.” I smiled as a white bird landed on my shoulder.

  “I created it from one of her feathers, so it actually is a part of me. I also made you those cookies from scratch. Don’t worry; I made sure they’re edible.” He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a kiss.

  “I can’t believe you did all of this for me. I love you, little hellion. Let me show you how much.” He picked me up and carried me to the bed.

  “What I’m not loving is you in another man’s clothes. Let’s take this off. I’ll give you one of my sweatshirts when we get back to campus.”

  He took off the sweatshirt, leaving me in my light blue lace bra. He looked at me through hooded eyes and ran his finger across my cleavage.

  Letting out a growl, Locke dragged his finger down my body to the waistband of my shorts. He slowly pulled them off and stared at me in my bra and panties.

  “Locke…” He gave me a lazy smile. “What, baby? Tell me what you need.” I bit my lip. “I need you to touch me.” I moaned as he spread my legs wide. He slowly ran his finger along the center of my panties.

  “I can see how much you want me, baby.” I silently begged him to stop torturing me. As if hearing my thoughts, Locke leaned over and violently captured my mouth with his own.

  I reached for the hem of his shirt and ripped it over his head. I love the feel of his skin against mine. He licked and nibbled down my neck toward my cleavage. Reaching under me, he unclasped my bra and squeezed my full breasts in his hands.

 
My back arched as he ravished my nipples with his mouth. Locke alternated between kisses, nips and bites as he journeyed south. He stood to his full height and ran his eyes over me. “You look so beautiful with my marks all over your body.”

  Standing up, I pushed his sweats and boxer briefs down to the floor. He let out a moan as I reached out and slowly stroked his hard cock. I swiped his arousal with my finger, bringing it to my mouth. His eyes turned to gold as he watched me suck my finger clean. “Fuck me,” he whispered.

  I squealed as Locke picked me up and tossed me onto the bed. With a wicked smile, he pulled my panties off and brought his mouth to my center. Hellfire, the things this man can do with his tongue.

  Locke began flicking my bud with his tongue while thrusting two fingers in and out of me. I saw stars as soon as he sucked on my throbbing clit. “Locke!” I screamed. I was still coming down from my high when he removed his fingers and drove his cock deep inside me.

  “I had all intentions to give it to you nice and slow, but you have me too close to the edge,” he groaned, sliding in and out. I dug my fingers into his muscular arms as he picked up the pace.

  “Hellfire! I’m so close, Locke.” He lifted my ass off of the bed and changed his angle. I moaned as he rhythmically hit my sweet spot with each powerful thrust. It was too much.

  Locke pinched one of my nipples hard, pushing me right over the edge. He let out a roar as he came deep inside me. His eyes turned to gold as he bent forward, nipping at my neck. “Mine,” he growled.

  He scooped me up and carried me to the bathroom. I rested my head on his shoulder while he started the shower. I was pretty much useless at this point.

  Once the water was warm enough, Locke stepped in and set me on my feet. He poured body wash onto my loofa and, in between kisses, thoroughly cleaned both of our bodies.