Fury

by Elizabeth Cole

  The magic he’d stolen from Salem was partial power over the doors. When Salem’s father died, his magic had transferred to Salem, but since his soul wasn’t completely gone, he’d found a way to take back part of the magic.

  “It’s terrifying. We’ll be in our rooms and suddenly the doors will disappear. He left Joshua in his for two days while Salem was out on business.” Tasha said, her eyes fixed on her hands

  “Joshua sat in there for two days?”

  Tasha nodded. “There was nothing we could do. Afterwards, Salem refused to leave the manor for more than a few hours.”

  Hearing that, I felt a little guilty for being as harsh as I had on Joshua earlier. No wonder he felt so strongly about getting my help. I couldn’t imagine being trapped in a room with no access to the outside world.

  “I’m not scared of Abaddon.” Jane said, “Salem will protect us. He says Abaddon’s just a bully.”

  Tasha smiled at Jane, “Salem will always protect us, Jane.”

  By the time we made it through all the books, it was very late. Charon had brought the three of us dinner and stayed while we ate. He didn’t speak often, and I got the impression he liked to listen to others more than he liked to add to the conversation. It was a little while later that Salem had walked back into the library to show me to my room, but Jane had fallen asleep and he opted to take her to her room first while I helped Tasha put some of the books away.

  “Tasha,” I said, as I held the stack and she took them and placed them in their rightful place. “I have another question.”

  “So full of questions, Nyx.” She laughed, “I like it.”

  I smiled, “Then we’ll be friends in no time.”

  She returned my smile as she grabbed another book from my stack, “What’s your question?”

  “You Jane and Charon are so nice and Joshua and Salem are…not. How do you all get along?”

  “Joshua is kind, but he looks up to Salem and is constantly striving to impress him. He lashed out at you because his pride took a hit. It isn’t right, but it is the truth.”

  I could understand that. I agreed it wasn’t right, but I always felt the need to be more like Callie and Iris. They always seemed so comfortable in their own skin, happy with their lot in life in a way I never had been. I could still remember the first time I expressed my annoyance at the way our lives were so decided, they’d looked at me, disbelief evident in both their expressions, like they couldn’t fathom why I had these feelings. Thinking about that day, I could get why Joshua had chosen me to take his embarrassment out on me.

  “And Salem?” I queried.

  “Nyx, I know your first impressions of Salem haven’t been the best, but he’s one of the best men I’ve ever known. Charon and him were born here, but Joshua, me and Jane were all human once. He came across us on his trips to your world and fate or luck intervened. We all would have died if he hadn’t saved us and taken care of us.”

  “You respect him.” It wasn’t a question. It was written all over her face and with the way she referred to him with a kind of reverence.

  “It’s hard not to. His father was half-mad and power hungry. He was cruel to the creatures and the people in this world and crueler still to the souls. Salem is tough, but he is fair. When he has to deal with a soul, he can hear their lies and he won’t hesitate to call them on it, but he won’t rub their noses in it. He listens and takes the appropriate action.”

  “Are you in love with him?”

  I didn’t know why I asked the question, it just came out, but she didn’t look offended.

  “I am, in my own way. It isn’t like Salem is hard to look at, but he’s a big brother to me.”

  Salem was far from hard to look at. He was harder to look away from and that bothered me because I thought he needed an attitude check and a serious ass kicking, but maybe I was biased.

  “Besides, he has Miss Briella for the romantic aspect.”

  “Who?”

  “Briella Haycock. She’s been chasing after him for years and somehow she sunk her claws in.” Tasha’s voice took on a tone I hadn’t heard from her yet, but it was hard to miss.

  “You don’t like her.”

  “She’s visiting tomorrow. I’ll let you make up your own mind about her.”

  “Sounds interesting.” I said, handing her the last book.

  She paused, holding it to her chest as she turned to face me.

  “Nyx, can I give some advice?”

  “Sure.”

  “All of this has really shaken Salem up. He’s more temperamental than usual, so try not to push him over.”

  “The King of the Underworld has a temper? Color me shocked.”

  She smiled, but joking aside, I took her warning for what it was. He wasn’t someone I wanted pissed at me if I could help it. My best bet was to put the work in and keep to myself. By the end of the week, this problem would be solved and I would be going home.

  Salem came back for me and I wished Tasha a good night. She was loyal to Salem. She might not have agreed with the way he’d brought me here, but she wasn’t going to take my side if it turned out Salem didn’t have to honor his word and decided to keep me here. She might put up a fight, but it was clear she’d defer to him.

  I liked Tasha. She was kind and easy to get along with. Her love for the books we’d spent the day combing through had shown with her enthusiasm. She became animated as she relayed stories, or explained why certain laws of the Underworld existed and why different places were the way they were. She was quite the Underworld historian, she was funny and I could tell she loved to laugh but part of me wondered if she had some magic in her. After a few hours in her company, I’d found myself just as engrossed in the histories as she was. The stories she told and the way she explained things were enchanting but I didn’t like that she’d managed to make me comfortable here so easily. Hours ago, I was a kidnap victim, livid I’d been stolen away and she’d caused me to enjoy myself. Not cool.

  Jane, too, had been enraptured with some of the stories and bored with others, but she was sweet and had seemed happy to have the time she wanted with me. She had asked to hold Fitz, and he’d gone to her willingly, sitting curled on her stomach as she’d read and enthralled with her when she’d talked to him. He’d only come back to me when she’d fallen asleep.

  Now, I was walking out of the library with the King of Silence, and my happiness from the day spent with two people I’d come to like very much in very little time was waning. As we exited into a foyer, I took in my surroundings. The floor was made of a white and gray marble which matched the staircase that wrapped up the far wall. Several doors lined the same wall as the library door, there were two I could see on the opposite wall. But to the left, my eyes locked on a front door. I could see through the windows the outside and it took everything I had not to turn and make a run for it. I was thinking about my chances as the entire fixture vanished from sight.

  I glanced at Salem, who was watching me, and sighed. I guess he didn’t feel like chasing me outside. Fine.

  “That is the parlor, then the dining room and further down are the kitchens.” Salem said, pointing down the hallway before he led me to the stairs. When we’d reached the top, it split off into two directions. He pointed to the left and said, “Down this hall is my study and the men’s rooms, “to the right are the woman’s rooms.”

  I nodded, taking it all in.

  The manor was gorgeous. Deep maroon window dressings and dark wood furnishings contrasted with the white marble floors I discovered flowed throughout the house. It all felt open without feeling plain or hotel-like. As we walked down the right hall, I noticed an electrical outlet in the hallway and I smiled.

  The Fates had said indoor plumbing was going to be big, but they hadn’t mentioned a thing about electricity.

  “What is it?” Salem asked, and I looked up to see him watching me.

  “When did the Underworld get electricity?”

  The corners of his mou
th twitched, but he looked away before I could see if I’d gotten even a small smile. “Well before your world did.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Do you speak fluent evasiveness?”

  “I give stupid answers to stupid questions.”

  “You know, I’ve agreed to help, you could quit acting like such a tool.”

  “I don’t believe for a second you’ve simply agreed to help. I might not know you well, but you don’t seem like the type of person to accept things easily.” He stopped walking and stepped right into my path so fast I ran right into his chest. This forced me to back up and crane my neck to meet his eyes. “If I were to ask you if you were forming an escape plan right now, what would you say.”

  “No.”

  He was trying to detect a lie, and I hid my smile because I was telling the truth. I didn’t have a plan forming right now. I wanted a feel for the layout of the place and a few days to figure out what everyone’s schedules were. I could stick this out for a week, but if things didn’t go as planned, I wanted a way out.

  “And if I asked if you were going to try to escape?”

  Answering a question with a question wasn’t a lie, so I decided to go that route and smirked up at him. “And if I said no?” I threw back at him, wording my question the same way he had.

  I felt pleased with the answer until he returned my smirk and said, “Like I thought.”

  “That wasn’t a lie! You wouldn’t have felt it or heard it or whatever it is you do.”

  “You haven’t told one lie since you got here. You have stepped around a question once and still ended up telling the truth so the fact you’re doing it again tells me it’s to avoid lying outright.”

  Score one for the King of the Underworld.

  “Look, I get you need my help, I even believe some of the stuff I read down there. Crazy people don’t have enough time or imagination on their hands to make up all of that. But I have roommates who are going to be looking for me and we aren’t without protections, the Oracles make sure of it. If this doesn’t work out, you can take me home and I swear I’ll help you when the time comes again.”

  His demeanor changed, his superiority shutting down and he looked like he was fighting off guilt as he said, “The Oracles have parlor tricks compared to what a demon can do. Their magic wouldn’t be able to protect you. Besides, if he finds you, he finds your roommates. He might kill them as an insurance so they couldn’t be used against him as well. Luckily, I only had your name, general location and your description so he won’t be able to use them to get to you.”

  “I appreciate that.” I said, and I meant it. “But Callie and Iris will still be looking for me. We’re family.”

  “Nyx,” he stated, and I still was picking up the guilt as he spoke. “Your friends aren’t looking for you. Aside from sensing lies I can manipulate a mortal’s mind. Make them believe things I need them to in order to conduct my business unnoticed. While you were in the library, I paid your friends and the Oracles a visit. They think you’re on a school trip and will continue to think so until I take you back.”

  I wasn’t going to spend the week asking, “Seriously?” every time they revealed something else that seemed impossible. Several emotions swirled through me as I took in his words and then let them sink in. I pushed them all to the side and tried to be sensible as I picked the most pertinent question.

  “If you can do that… if you can make people believe things, why didn’t you do it to me?” I didn’t want him to, but I wanted to hear his answer.

  “I don’t do it unless I have to. It’s not pleasant taking someone’s ability to think freely and in essence that’s what it is. I force their minds to accept what I need them to think and ensure they’re incapable of questioning it. Besides, you had to be willing to help, and we couldn’t be sure if the magic would mess with the spell.”

  “You could have tried. If it didn’t work you could have brought me out of it at the end of next month and I wouldn’t have been the wiser.”

  Shut up, Nyx. You’re giving him ideas.

  “Would you like me to?” He hissed, the calm guilt turning into exasperation fast enough to give me whiplash. “I could make you believe this was your home and you were happy here. I could make you believe you were desperately in love with Joshua or you were Jane’s sister. I could make you believe a great many things, Nyx. Is that what it will take?”

  “No.” I bit out, not liking the direction this conversation had taken.

  “Pleased to hear it.” He growled, reaching over and opening the door we’d stopped next to. “This is your room. There’s a lamp by the bed Fitz can curl under to keep warm. If you need anything just call for me. I’ll hear you regardless of where I am.”

  I walked into the room and looked around. The space was big. Two nightstands sat on either side of the four-poster bed which took up a large amount of space but there was also a sitting area with two plush chairs and a couch situated around a coffee table. A dresser sat opposite the bed, and beside it was a large fireplace. Even with all that, there was still enough room for me to do an acrobatic show if I felt so inclined.

  “I’ll return your door in the morning and you’ll be expected downstairs for breakfast.”

  Return my door? Wha—oh no. No. I whirled and lunged for the door, “Hey, wait!”

  But the door disappeared, my hands hit wall and I spent a full minute calling his name mixed with every other name I could think of, hitting the wall with my palm.

  When I realized he wasn’t going to open the door back up, I gave up and turned back to the room.

  Immediately my eyes zeroed in on the window, but when I opened it, I saw it was barred and even if it wasn’t, there was no way down without falling and breaking my neck. I sat on the bed, and instantly that served to piss me off because it was comfortable. Why couldn’t there be one thing that was all wrong here? I knew it was petty, but I didn’t care.

  I stared at the wall, letting myself stew for a while, letting myself think of other ways to get out of this house and then, after cursing Salem one or a dozen more times, I gave up on my pity party and explored the space further.

  The two doors on the other side of the room led to a beautiful walk in closet made of a red wood. The smell screamed cedar, but more impressive was the fact that this closet was bigger than my entire room back home. Hanging in the closet were a few things I assumed were for me, but I was more focused on the floor to ceiling gilded mirror, the cream fainting couch and the blown glass chandelier that twisted and turned around itself in an incredible abstract design. The closet was gorgeous, and I hurried out to check out to see if the other door led to a bathroom.

  I hit the switch on the wall and was rewarded with the same white marble that made up the foyer. There was the same kind of chandelier that had been in the closet, but this one was bigger and set into one of the recessed panels in the ceiling which were painted a soft, heather gray. But while it was all spectacular, my eyes were locked on the giant clawfoot tub on the far end of the bathroom with chrome fixtures and an abundance of oils and soaps lined up neatly on a shelf next to the gleaming porcelain that was screaming my name.

  Heading back out to my room, I set Fitz under the light Salem had mentioned and he curled around it and fell asleep. I grabbed a set of pajamas from the closet and then went to the tub and filled it, dropping in several drops of the oil which left me smelling like a piña colada when I climbed out. I had no choice but to climb in bed since I’d stupidly left Jane’s books on the library table. I figured I’d toss and turn most of the night, but my body chased down sleep fast and I drifted off.

  Chapter 4

  Briella Haycock was as miserable as her boyfriend.

  When Tasha had come up to get me, she had started filling min in on what I’d missed so far.

  “As soon as Jane let it slip you were here, she’d demanded to meet you. Then she demanded she be allowed to stay here too since you would be.”

  I was squeezing into a p
air of black jeans in the closet, shaking my head as I listened.

  “Then she went as far as suggesting we take you back regardless of the risk to your life, all because she thinks you are after Salem.”

  “Gross.” I muttered, ignoring the flutter in my stomach as my mind remembered Salem in his towel yesterday.

  I grabbed a gray sweater and pulled it over my head trying and failing to get it to situate itself so it didn’t fall off my shoulder, but it was a hopeless endeavor. “She doesn’t even know me and she decided I’m after her boy toy?” I called from the closet, “He might be good looking but he’s also arrogant, rude and bad tempered.” I snapped, grumbling as I pulled all my hair up and secured it with the hair tie on my wrist. “Can’t we just tell her I’m sick? Make up an illness and tell her I brought it with me from my world? We could say it causes boils all over the body. She sounds like the type of woman who would freak over boils.”

  Tasha didn’t answer, but I assumed she was smiling. That had me smiling as I walked back towards the room.

  “Seriously, I don’t know why—"

  I cut myself off when I saw that Tasha had gone, and in her place was Mr. Bad Tempered himself.

  Salem was leaning casually against the wall in a pair of black slacks and a light gray dress shirt. The sleeves were rolled to his elbows and a silver tie was tucked into a black suit vest.

  I knew I should have been embarrassed, but instead I had to swallow a laugh, “I’d apologize, but I wouldn’t mean it. You are arrogant and rude and bad tempered, but it seems you’ve found the perfect woman for you since she’s ordered me downstairs.

  His eyes narrowed, but instead of insulting me or pointing out my faults, of which there were many, he simply said, “Always the truth with you.”