The Burn of the Underworld

by Meg Xuemei X

  The fire of lust was stewing me alive, yet there was no channel to vent it out, at least not yet, while Max, Ash, and I fought to maintain our last dignity.

  It didn’t help that the potent male musk of Ash and Max twirled in my nostrils, and the heat of their gazes set me ablaze and constantly sent me to the edge.

  Even their every whisper sounded like a mating call blaring in my eardrums.

  “You have no fucking idea,” Ash said without humor. “It’s been burning every ounce of my strength and will, but I’ve promised to be a better male for my mate.”

  Max trembled as he pulled out dried bread and fruit from a pack, and my gaze darted to his perfect, taut ass.

  “It’s worse for Max,” Ash added. “He also craves her blood. He hasn’t wanted anyone’s blood like that.”

  Sebastian blinked in disbelief and anger. “Blood? He wants my sister’s blood?!”

  “What do you expect, dragonian?” Ash snorted. “He’s a vampire, and she’s his mate. Her scent sings in his veins. I don’t know how long he can hold on. We need to get to the Upper Realm as soon as possible.”

  Max’s control seemed to be slipping away; I suspected that was the only reason he let Ash speak for him. I could tell they competed and fought all the time, but they also looked out for each other.

  My mind drifted to the picture of his fangs sinking into my veins while his cock thrust wildly inside me. A normal girl would be repulsed by the idea of fangs sinking into her flesh, or she’d at least feel a healthy dose of fear, but this mating fever only got me excited at the prospect of being pierced and penetrated by my vampire mate.

  Sebastian sucked in a breath. He wasn’t happy at all.

  “Here’s what I think,” he said, darting his gaze between us, his face turning redder. “You three should just get it over with right there.” He pointed at a bush. “Octavia and I won’t even look. We’ll just have our breakfast quietly and pretend we don’t hear anything.”

  Max and Ash gazed at me expectantly. They’d go for it if I agreed. After all, they were males.

  Despite my body feeling like soft jelly charged with carnal need, I still had one last shred of dignity left.

  I glared at Sebastian. “What did you say, Bas? Are you fucking crazy?”

  “You’re my little sister,” he said. “The last thing I’ll do is pimp you out. I’ll cut off anyone else’s hand if they lay a finger on you. But these two immortal males are your mates, obviously, and they’ve come for you. This mating thing is jeopardizing us. You three are losing it. Your two males can’t even think straight now, even though they used to be mighty warriors, and you can’t even walk straight. All of us need to be functional, or we’ll be done for when the demons come, and they’re coming.”

  “I’m not a beast, in case you don’t know that,” I cried and stormed off. If I didn’t, I might just cave in and drop my pants behind the bush.

  Yet my body urged me shamelessly. What’s so bad about having a quickie in the wilderness? It’ll ease the burn inside.

  But in the back of my mind, my last cold, logical thought told me that the voice was telling a lie. If we got started, we wouldn’t stop. The mating fever didn’t care about our survival. It only wanted instant gratification. It only wanted to satisfy our base needs.

  “Have your breakfast, too, doll,” Max said, his amber eyes giving me another caressing glance. “I’m going to scout. Our food is running low. We’ll need to hunt soon.”

  Ash nodded. “We won’t let our mate have an empty stomach. We’re the providers.”

  I was pleased by their way of thinking, but in this barren terrain, there wasn’t any game.

  His wings whooshing out and spreading to their full length, Max shot into the sky. I watched the magnificent black wings pierce the gray clouds and disappear from view.

  I clustered together with Octavia and Sebastian, sharing the last roll of bread with them.

  Ash perched on a rock next to me, his body heat radiating toward me in delicious waves.

  Killian slouched at my feet. He was hungry, but he didn’t ask for food. I searched the pack and gave him the rest of the dried meat.

  We finished our meal, and the tiger looked up and growled, though the sound was not unfriendly.

  A pair of massive wings beat toward us.

  My heart lurched at the sight of Max returning.

  He landed gracefully beside me. His silky feathers brushed against my shoulder, sending a shiver of pleasure down to my curled toes from the contact point, before he tucked his wings in.

  “There’s a forest to the southeast, less than four miles from here,” Max said. “We’ll make a stop and go further south from there. My compass said that direction is good.”

  “That’s Acheron,” Octavia said, “the land of woe.”

  “Have you checked inside the forest?” Ash asked.

  “We don’t need to,” Max said. “There are no demons in the area. And we’re the most dangerous predators anywhere in the universe. No other creatures dare to stand in our way.”

  Ash nodded. “Tonight, we hunt.”

  The tiger, who had finished his meager meal in one swallow, licked the back of my hand in bloodthirsty excitement as I flashed him a picture of hunting.

  CHAPTER 16

  _____________

  We trudged toward the forest ahead.

  I’d never seen a forest. There wasn’t a single tree in Lethe, and the path to the Reaper’s landing site was all wasteland and hills.

  I thought of how the arrival of Max, Ash, and Elijah had changed my life. If they hadn’t come for me, I’d have died in the arena, torn to pieces for defying Emperor Cain. And even if I hadn’t stepped up to replace my brother to fight to the death in the gladiatorial stadium, I’d have died eventually in the land of oblivion and never seen anything other than the tunnel and the swamp.

  “Is the forest in the Upper Realm the same as this one?” I asked Ash and Max, who strode on either side of me.

  “The fairy forest in the Twilight Realm is the loveliest on Earth,” Ash said, with a nostalgic smile ghosting his sensual lips. “The trees are ancient and vast. Their silver and red leaves stretch high into the blue sky. The raindrops and the sunlight spill through them like an enchanting dream you don’t want to wake up from. The blossoms never fade, and magic pulses deep in the soil, scented like the finest wine in the air.”

  Yet he’d given up that magical realm to come to the Underworld for me.

  Sebastian and Octavia both widened their eyes in longing.

  “It’ll be your home if you don’t desire to live in Atlantis,” Ash said. “I’ve inherited the realm, since my half-sister, Empress Rose, left with her archangel consort for the galaxy of Valhalla.”

  There were so many things about the Upper Realm, my homeland, that I didn’t know.

  My tiger roared and charged headlong into the forest.

  “Killian, come back!” I called, but he’d vanished into the rows of dark, canopied trees.

  “He’ll be fine,” Ash said. “He’s a predator that needs to hunt. Even though he listens to you most of the time, he’s still a wild animal. He can’t fight his nature.”

  I gave Ash a look, wondering why he didn’t shift to a wolf this time.

  As if perceiving my thoughts, he smirked, a dimple that I hadn’t seen before appearing on his cheek. “I fight better in my fae form.”

  “I thought we were going to hunt,” I said.

  “I hunt in my fae form as well,” he said. “Besides, it’s easier for me to communicate with you in this form. I want you to know me better.”

  “You can speak in my head in your wolf form as well,” I teased. “You did that when we first met.”

  He blinked. “You prefer my beast form? I thought you would be more attracted to a man.”

  I flushed. “I like both forms.”

  Lust pulsed with every heartbeat.

  Max stepped closer, his hand brushing against mine, and the touc
h sent an instant buzz of pleasure to my nerve endings. The vampire’s eyes brightened at my responsiveness to him.

  “I have two forms, too, doll,” he said. “One with wings and one without.”

  Ash snorted.

  The males were getting competitive again. This mating fever kept messing us up.

  Ash entered the forest first. One of them would always scout and the other would stay with me, as if they had a silent agreement.

  “The tiger has gone deeper into the woods to hunt,” Ash informed us.

  We followed him into the forest of low trees that blocked most of the gloomy sky. The entire Underworld was depressingly overcast all year long, and this place was worse. It wasn’t anything like the enchanting forest in the Upper Realm that Ash had told us about.

  The thick forest felt like the setting of a nightmare—stifling air, deep shade, and thorny trees.

  Silence stretched. The only sounds were our breathing and our feet padding on the dead leaves. There wasn’t any movement, either.

  I swept my gaze around. “There doesn’t seem to be any game in this forest. I should call my tiger back.”

  Though I was glad to see even a dark forest for a change, my survival instincts screamed for me to stay away from this place.

  “It’s too quiet,” Max said, voicing my uneasiness. “It’s unnatural.”

  But they wouldn’t call for a retreat from the forest as long as they thought they could handle it. My mates were top predators.

  We had to keep going anyway. There’d be another week’s walk to reach the portal, according to Octavia’s estimate. If it were only Max, Ash, and me, we would probably reach the exit of the Underworld in less than three days. But we had Sebastian and Octavia with us. We’d have to consider their pace. Sebastian was faster than a human, but he wasn’t half as fast as me.

  And we had to hunt. It seemed that providing for me was very important to Ash and Max. I suppressed a smirk.

  Max drew his angelblade, just to be ready, his wings forming a protective half-ring around me. I’d sprawled on his silky, soft feathers once. But I’d also seen them harden like steel in a mere second when he’d fought the demon horde.

  “I’ll hunt and check on the tiger,” Ash said. “You stay at the edge of the forest. If there’s any hint of danger, Max, you bring them out right away.”

  “No, we stick together,” I said.

  The idea of letting Ash venture into this eerie forest alone shot fear and anxiety into me. I was already on edge because Killian was deep in the woods alone.

  I liked to keep both Ash and Max in sight. Call me possessive, but I couldn’t imagine losing either one of them. To part from Elijah had broken my heart. The distance between us hadn’t eased the pang.

  I wondered if Max and Ash could feel my hidden pain.

  Ash sent me a warm gaze, pleased with my concern for him.

  “I’m one of the greatest hunters, Blossom,” he said gently. “I’ll be back before you know it and I’ll bring Killian along.”

  “Actually, I think we should stick together,” Octavia said. “I recognize this place. We can cut through the forest to reach the portal and save ourselves a day’s walk.”

  That sounded like music to our ears.

  “Move along and hurry up,” Max barked at Ash.

  My mates were all for getting me out of this hell as soon as possible.

  Ash gave him a glare and stayed a few feet ahead of us, his angelblade tight in his hand.

  Although I was confident about Ash’s and Max’s combat ability, my heart thrummed in my throat as we ventured farther into the forest.

  The perilous feeling I had about this place deepened with every step. I tried to shake off the dreadful feeling. Maybe it was my nerves.

  “Killian,” I called again as we moved deeper into the forest.

  A roar of warning ricocheted off the dark trees, and a picture from my tiger flashed in my mind. He was being besieged by four creatures, and he warned me to run.

  “My tiger is under attack,” I cried furiously, and dashed south.

  Ash had moved, sprinting like an arrow ahead of me.

  We reached a clearing just in time to see Killian crash into a lion-shaped beast, only the lion had sharp spikes in his head. They locked together, snarled viciously, and bit into each other.

  Blood flew from both animals.

  Another red-furred beast jumped on my tiger and sank his fangs into Killian’s hind leg.

  Killian roared in rage, trying to shake off both foes.

  “Leave my tiger alone!” I shouted, forming a mental picture and slamming it into the minds of the beasts that attacked Killian.

  The beasts hesitated for a heartbeat before assaulting Killian even more savagely, gnawing and clawing at him.

  Ash leapt across twenty feet and stabbed his angelblade into the skull of the lion-shaped beast that had his jaws in Killian’s throat.

  Max was there in a second as well. He impaled the beast attacking the tiger from the side. The crimson runes ignited on his blade, and the two remaining beasts jumped back at the vampire’s ferocity.

  The beasts’ eyes glowed red with hunger, their fangs as sharp as daggers.

  I touched their minds again, flashing them a new image of the wolf girl hanging out with wild animals, as I’d done to Killian and won him over.

  The beasts brushed off my picture.

  They didn’t care for my friendliness. They might spare me, I saw, but they wouldn’t let go of the fresh meals that had stumbled into their territory.

  The beasts raised their huge heads and bellowed.

  Within a second, the entire dark forest burst to life with the shrieks of predatory birds and the yowls of wild animals all around.

  They’d called for backup and answered each other.

  A realization clicked in me. They’d lured us in.

  There was no leaving this forest, unless we fought our way out.

  Before I could tell that to my companions, shadows descended on us like phantom ghosts. Then, an armada of beasts and monsters of all shapes charged from every tree line, closing in on us from all directions.

  Ash thrust his angelblade into one beast, then another, and pulled it out just in time to impale more as they leapt over the corpses toward him.

  Max reached my side the next second. “Pull back, Ash. There are too many.”

  I summoned Killian to come to us.

  Ash reached me right before he cut down another one-horned monster.

  The six of us formed a defensive ring, our backs to each other, Killian included in our circle. He was limping, blood dripping from his wounds. But my fierce tiger wasn’t lying down. He snarled at the monsters surrounding us, his jaws wide open to expose his dripping fangs.

  His golden eyes fixing on a lizard-shaped creature, he flashed me a picture of how he’d bite off his prey’s head.

  I studied the assembly of monsters and beasts in front of us—massive spiders, scaly-tailed lizards, giants covered by hard shells, and beasts with razor-sharp claws and jagged fangs.

  I sent the beast pack a series of pictures that said, “Hey guys, sorry for the misunderstanding earlier. We’re actually a friendly bunch. We’ll just get a rabbit or two and then be on our way.”

  At their ferocious sneers, I changed my strategy with a sigh and sent them a compromise image that spelled, “Fine, no rabbits. We won’t touch your game. We’ll just pass through this forest in peace.”

  They weren’t moved. If they knew how to gesture like humans, they’d probably flip me off.

  The beast horde stared at us, their red and yellow eyes glowing with hunger. While I tried to communicate with them and probed them, I learned what they were.

  “They’re mutant beasts,” I told my companions. “They’re probably failed experiments by the Sváva demons.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Max said in disgust. “Their race is notorious for creating hybrid monsters in the galaxies. The army of undead
vampires that plagued Earth is their signature style as well.”

  Without warning, the monsters and beasts surged toward us, moving as one, like a well-oiled machine. It was a surprise that they could coordinate so well. Then it hit me. They’d probably developed a hive-mind.

  Max propelled his wings forward, tossing a few beasts into the air. He danced and weaved, his blade slashing and slicing through the air, faster than anything. Where it landed, bones and flesh separated, and the monsters fell.

  Ash was equally formidable. He was a leftie, the angelblade becoming his extended hand as he sailed toward the beasts’ heads. The Winter Prince blurred in a seamless blend of light and shadow, cutting through the savage monsters without missing a beat.

  While the two warriors fought, they kept an eye on the rest of us.

  Sebastian charged with a battle cry, hacking with a broad angelblade Ash had taken from the demon captain. The fae warrior had also showed him some basic fighting moves on the road. Sebastian scored by slaying a monster that had horns like him and roared in victory. My brother had never been trained like the rest of us, but he had a dragonian’s brutal strength and speed. So far, he managed well.

  Octavia fought beside Sebastian, watching his back while cutting down a beast. She didn’t yell like the rest of the males, but she cursed a lot when a monster’s claws opened a slash on her arm.

  Killian tore into the lizard he’d marked as his prey. Just as he’d shown me in a flash of pictures, he bit into the lizard’s head and refused to let go, despite his opponent thrashing and swinging his scaled tail in rage.

  I cleaved left and right, slashing and stabbing, leaving a trail of bodies behind me. Dreamkiss was the perfect weapon for me. It became the extension of my will and my hands as I spun and slew the beasts.

  I hoped I could meet Merlin, my last mate, soon, and thank him for this wonderful gift. He knew my strengths and weaknesses even before he met me, judging from the blade he’d forged for me. For a brief moment, my mind drifted to what he looked like, and I wondered if he had a good personality. Ash, the most competitive male I’d met, seemed to have an issue with the demigod druid.