Would the door lead to freedom?
Salem had said I’d crossed over to get here. I didn’t know what that meant, but if it was anything close to what I thought, I didn’t think I could walk out this door and find the nearest bus station. It didn’t help that I knew they weren’t crazy. Just remembering those souls touching my skin had the cold fear oozing back up my spine. There was no way it had been simple magic. Those souls had been frozen wrongness.
Not to mention the fear I’d seen in Tasha’s eyes when she’d told me what the demon had been doing. Her fear had been real. I was the only plan of action they had left and I couldn’t abandon them. I wouldn’t.
They kidnapped me. They took away my door. They were ready to hold me hostage and still I couldn’t convince myself to reach for the handle. My fingers twitched to do so, but I had finally made up my mind.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I stepped away.
“Dammit!” I cursed, spinning around and marching myself back up the stairs. As I gripped the railing, Fitz’s head peaked out under my sleeve and I said, “We’ve got to try and help them, Fitz. They’re good people.”
He gave me a reassuring squeeze and disappeared back under the sleeve.
I was halfway up the staircase when movement caught my eye and I looked up to see Salem leaning over the railing at the top of the landing, watching me.
He straightened and from the look he wore, I knew he’d seen it all.
“Were you just standing there watching?”
“I was curious.”
“To see what I’d do?”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything else.
“And?” I prompted, stopping at the top of the stairs.
“Thank you.”
Of all the responses I’d been expecting, that hadn’t been one of them.
“For not walking out the door and making a run for it?”
“For believing us.” He said, turning and heading back towards the other side of the house as he called, “Good night, Nyx. Sweet dreams.”
The stubborn part of me did not want to have sweet dreams. He’d watched me decide to stay and help. He had me, he knew it and I didn’t like it. I wanted to have a nightmare just to retain a little bit of willfulness, but that was stupid.
As I was pulling on my pajamas, I realized my door was still in place. Curious, I walked over to it, wondering if it would vanish the closer I got, but it didn’t. I pulled it open and was met with the hallway. Had I earned his trust? A little at least if he was letting me keep my door tonight. Shutting the door again, I climbed into bed, thinking I’d made the right choice, and hoping that if I hadn’t, I could at least make their expectations a reality.
Chapter 5
The next two days were a repeat of the first, minus the shopping trip. Briella did show up for breakfast but she always left soon after. She ignored me most of the time, only speaking to Salem and a little to Tasha.
Jane hung out with Tasha and I during the day, I spoke to Salem only in passing or at dinner when Briella wasn’t around, but I still hadn’t seen Joshua. I’d asked where he was at breakfast the third day and Salem informed me Joshua was running an errand.
Part of me still thought Joshua’s errands had to do with him avoiding me, but I didn’t voice it.
The more I got to know Tasha and Jane, the more I liked them. Charon too, though he didn’t seem quite as comfortable around me. Always polite and kind, but not comfortable. Tasha said it was probably because I kept asking him about himself. He was a very interesting person once you got him talking. My first impression of him had been right, he’d been alive a very long time. He’d served under the last three Hades. He liked to sketch, he liked to read and I was shocked when he’d told me he’d read every single book in the library.
I’d been here for half the week and I didn’t feel on edge now that the initial shock had worn off. It was odd, but I found myself actually liking it here. It felt like a forced vacation. I didn’t have to take souls, I didn’t have to go to classes I hated and I hadn’t needed alcohol or nicotine to calm my body down.
By the fourth day in the Underworld, I realized I had a problem. Jane had convinced me to read to her while Tasha played with her hair and when I’d tried to do a deep male voice, they’d both lost it in a fit of giggles. This just egged me on, and before I knew it I was laughing too.
I found myself wondering how I was supposed to leave all of this behind? How did I forget about this place and the people living here?
I wanted to ask Tasha if visitors were allowed, but I didn’t. Joshua had said they hadn’t wanted me here and while it was okay now when they needed me, they wouldn’t if everything went according to plan. I knew Joshua had been mad at me, but nobody had contradicted him at the time. Granted, I had been fighting all of them, but I still hadn’t gotten the courage to ask.
Instead, I had decided to soak up as much as I could in what little time I had.
As the week went on, Briella got colder towards me and I thoroughly enjoyed pretending like I didn’t understand her snide comments, taking them as compliments instead.
Salem didn’t appreciate her rudeness and Briella always found a way to blame me when they argued.
Last night, after tucking Jane in again, I overheard one such argument where Briella accused us of sleeping together and the proceeded to point out all the things she had that I didn’t. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be the reason the relationship ended. She’d accused me of being selfish and he’d told her I didn’t have a selfish bone in my body before dismissing her. I’d hurried to my room, and as I’d gotten ready for bed, I realized it was really hard not to like someone that went to bat for you like Salem had. I mean, he’d been wrong. I could be just as selfish as the next person, but he didn’t think so, and that made my insides feel warm and gooey.
Today, Charon had taken Jane with him to do the weekly shopping and Joshua had returned and asked Tasha for help. I had spent the morning exploring the rooms I hadn’t seen, which included finding the kitchens where I found four people being ordered about by a woman who looked like Charon’s older sister. She’d spotted me, introduced herself to me—complete with a curtsey—and then asked if I needed anything. All eyes went to me and when I responded in the negative, they went back to work.
I was now back in the library in one of the big leather chairs next to the fireplace, reading one of the books talking about the first Hades. According to book, he had had three siblings; two sisters and another brother. Their responsibilities were split equally. Each sibling would have an heir of the original sex and thus the four worlds (Duat, the Land of Mists, Hell and the Underworld) would be ruled by two men and two women. There was nothing in there about Zeus or Mount Olympus and I wondered when they came into the myths I’d grown up with.
I’d always assumed parts of myths were true, but I’d never believed in Mount Olympus, Hades or the Underworld. After all, I was a Fury. I worked for Oracles, but it wasn’t like they laid out our origin story or our histories out for us, other than what we needed to know in order to do our job. For the first time, I wondered if the Oracles were what they claimed, or if they’d just been magically inclined and had chosen the name because of what it had meant to the ancient world.
I was running the possibilities in my mind when a door appeared in the wall next to the fireplace and I waited for Salem to walk out of it.
Instead, it creeped open but nobody walked out.
Did he need me for something? He hadn’t given the impression he was the type of person who expected people to jump when he called. In the little time I’d known him, I’d seen him seek out the others if he had a question, not summon them.
I waited a minute but when nothing happened I got up and opened the door the rest of the way.
There was nothing but a long hallway that led to another door. I thought about going to get someone else, but Salem would have gone to them if he needed something from them. Or maybe I was just the closest person to h
im.
My curiosity got the better of me and I walked down the hall.
Through the next door was another hall with another door at the end. This one adorned with hooks that held long hooded cloaks on either side. When I opened it door, I found out it led outside.
I couldn’t help my smile.
I loved being outside. The window in my room overlooked the front of the manor and the extensive grounds. All of it clean cut and tidy and all of it beautiful. I’d mentioned it to Tasha at dinner one night and Salem had said once we’d taken care of Abaddon, he’d be happy to take me out to walk the grounds.
I was standing in a small clearing of a forest that backed up to the manor. The trees were barren of leaves but I still couldn’t see very far in. The air was chilly, which would explain the cloaks. Charon had asked me about seasons over lunch the second day and explained to me that it was always on the cooler side here and wanted to know how we classified each season and what happened. Here the leaves and flowers would grow for six months and then the trees would shed their leaves and the flowers would hibernate for the other six, the weather a constant state of Fall. That was something I could get behind.
If this clearing was Salem’s version of a compromise, I could work with it. I couldn’t walk the grounds quite yet, but he’d given me this and I’d take it all in.
I picked up a rock to prop open the door, grabbed a cloak and stepped outside.
Giant trees made up the forest were black, the leaves on the ground a deep red and the contrast was striking. Dark and beautiful in the same way I was finding a lot of things here in the Underworld were.
Walking to the edge of the forest I bent down and was surprised to find the dead leaves were velvet soft. They didn’t crunch and when I ran my fingers down the spine of the leaf static electricity buzzed up my fingers.
I reached out to try the same thing with the trunk of the tree as something rolled past my foot. I jumped, only to see it was a rock.
I turned, expecting to see Salem but the smile vanished from my lips when I saw the door closing. I ran, reaching for the handle but it was too late. My hand curled around air as the door disappeared and stone took its place.
My hands ran over the stone but any hope I had the door could be called back diminished.
This wasn’t good, but it wasn’t until I heard a twig snap behind me that fear sunk its claws into my chest.
I pushed back against it as I turned, needing to stay calm while I figured this out. I followed the side of the building with my eyes as far as I could. I couldn’t see another door, but there had to be another. If not, I’d follow the building around to the front of the manor. I knew the front door was still there.
The only problem with the plan was I would have to walk into the forest in order to follow the wall. Aside from the clearing I was standing in, the forest was growing right up to the stone of the house, but I didn’t see another option.
I took a deep breath and stepped into the forest, keeping my hands on the wall the best I could.
The further into the trees I went, the darker it became. My heart rate skyrocketed at every sound and for a second, I swore I heard a growl on the wind. I spun around, but there was nothing there. Fitz’s senses were better than mine and I cursed myself for leaving him curled under the lamp on my nightstand.
I tried to steel myself as I continued on. I was letting fear get the better of me, but could I really blame myself? I’d been threatened, thrown into the Land of Mists, and I’d spent most of my free time reading accounts of terrifying histories of this world. Not to mention the actual demon problem. I had a right to feel a little paranoid, it just wasn’t helping.
I heard a rustle and the creek of branches and that paranoid turned back to fear.
Something was out here with me.
The growling sound came again, much clearer and much closer this time. Composure gone, I ran. The cloak trailed behind me as I put every ounce of energy I had into powering my legs while keeping as close to the house as I could manage.
More branches cracked behind me but I refused to look back. A door. I just needed a single door to get me back into the manor.
Mid-step something snagged the cloak and the force of it yanked my neck back. I heard the tearing of fabric just before it gave and I stumbled, tripping over uneven ground. I rolled out of the fall, determined to get back to my feet as quick as possible but just as I pushed myself back up something hit me hard from the side, knocking me back over and landing on top of me.
I opened my mouth to scream but the sound died on my lips as I looked up into gray eyes. I felt my body relax right before something large and brown knocked Salem from above me. Something screeched, the sound so shrill I flinched and my hands moved to my ears. I was yanked to my feet and Salem pulled me to his side, situating his body between me and the several creatures that stepped out of the forest.
Their bodies were long and lean, their skin a dark, mossy color and their eyes were black. Their clothes were more scraps of cloth than actual clothes, the women wrapping cloth around their chests and their bottoms, the men only wearing the latter. Each of their bodies were painted in different ways, making me wonder if the markings were symbolic.
“Sire,” one of them spoke, taking a knee. The rest of them followed, each bowing their heads. Their ears were pointed, twice the length of my ears and none of them looked up.
A doglike creature circled around us, giving Salem a wide birth and even its head was bowed. It had sleek fur, blue paint streaking its eyes and the same sort of symbols painted on its body. The oddest sight was the ram’s horns curling from its head. The dog made a complete circle before backing towards the creatures from the forest.
“What’s the meaning of this, Fenris?” Salem hissed.
The man who’d spoken looked up, but he didn’t rise. “She came out of the forest door. When the door was shut behind her, we thought her a sacrifice.”
“She’s not. She’s a guest.”
Fenris shrunk back from the harsh tone Salem’s words held. They seemed to echo through the forest and Salem’s grip tightened on my hand almost painfully. His body was rigid and when I glanced up at him he looked like he was about to lose it.
I reached up with my free hand and set it on his shoulder. I don’t know why I felt it would help or why I felt the need to interject, but I did.
“He’s telling the truth.”
Salem’s jaw clenched as soon as I spoke and I pulled my hand from his shoulder and tried to do the same with the one he held but he didn’t let go.
“Thank you, mi’ lady.” Fenris said, splaying both hands on the ground and bowing low enough his nose touched the ground.
It made me feel a hundred different kinds of awkward and I was about to protest both the bow and him calling me mi’ lady when I saw something seeping through Salem’s shirt. His shirt was shredded on his side and the substance oozing out was black, sticky and shiny. When he moved I saw that it was oozing out of his skin.
I looked back at the dog whose claws curled around massive toes that were covered in the same black substance. Those claws had been meant for me and Salem had taken the brunt. That was why he’d tackled me. There hadn’t been time for anything else and that black substance was his blood.
He needed medical attention more than he needed to stare down the bowing man on the ground, but he wasn’t moving.
“Salem,” I said, tugging at his hand. “Can we please go back inside?”
He didn’t move and I wondered what this stare down was supposed to accomplish. The longer he glared, the longer he bled, but he still seemed too preoccupied with whatever was going on to care.
“I found something and I was trying to come find you when I got turned around and ended up out here.”
I knew he’d hear the lie, I was counting on it. I needed to get his attention.
His gaze shifted to me and his eyes caught mine before scanning my body. He came to some sort of a conclusion and gave m
e a curt nod.
A door formed behind us and he allowed me to inch towards it, not letting go of my hand as he walked backwards. Considering what had just happened, I was inclined to keep hold of that hand until we were inside.
Salem stopped just in front of it and said, “Fenris?”
“Yes, sire?”
“Did you see who shut the door on Nyx?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
My eyes widened, but Salem’s narrowed. “If you see him again, Fenris, aim to kill.”
“With pleasure, sire.”
They all started to retreat, none of them bringing their heads up fully as they did, but Salem called out again before Fenris disappeared into the darkness. “And Fenris, Nyx is never to be harmed.”
“Your lady has nothing to fear from the Dark Fae again. I’ll make it known.”
I expected Salem to tell him I wasn’t his, but he didn’t. Instead he yanked the door open and I found myself looking at the same room I’d been in that first day. I could see the same bed I’d woken up in and realized I’d missed out with how dark it had been. It was giant. Twice the size of mine with the double doors opened so that I could make out the office area that I’d run into.
As soon as Salem closed the door behind us, it disappeared and the air around us crackled and hissed. It wasn’t until then that he let go of my hand and stumbled further into the room.
“What did you just do?”
“Even Abaddon will not be able to create a doorway into this room now. I’ve locked it…in a way.”
Outside he’d seemed okay. Walking and talking like he hadn’t been injured, but his voice had broken with pain as he spoke and he was walking like he’d been hit by a truck. It was like he had refused to show weakness when he was dealing with the fae.
“Salem? Are you okay?”
He’d begun unbuttoning his vest, but struggled to get it down his arms. I took a step towards him but he held up a hand.
“I’m fine.”
He wasn’t facing me so how the heck had he known I’d even moved?
Fury Page 7