Stolen Fire

by S. Dalambakis

  “Fine.” I take a moment to look around. “All of it. It all smells so good.” I look around, spying all the restaurants, trucks, and vendors. “I know what I want.” I rattle off a list. Stolas and Verkor leave to fulfill it.

  “There’s a table over here,” Obsidian says, ushering me in the direction where a couple of demons just vacated. I take one seat and he takes the seat across from me.

  “Hell is nothing like I’d imagined. I thought I would see humans being tortured.” I take a look around at my surroundings. “I thought there would be screaming and pain. You know, the whole doom and gloom. But, so far, minus limbo, it’s been fun.” I move my gaze back to Obsidian. His brow is arched, and his arms are crossed over his chest as he leans back in his chair. His sole focus is on me.

  “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.” He sighs, shifting forward in his seat. “There are some levels in hell, just like you thought. They are closer to the pits, closer to Lucifer. Enjoy the fun levels while you can, because you’re going to need every bit of strength and a steel spine to get through the lower levels.” Obsidian looks away. He gets this thousand-yard stare, like he’s seeing something that isn’t there. It doesn’t last long. He clears his throat, settling his gaze on me once more.

  “I’m not going to like what I see, am I?” I ask quietly. Obsidian shakes his head.

  “No, you’re not. Just remember, not everything is as it seems.” I don’t get a chance to ask him what he means, because Stolas, Verkor, and a beautiful woman, holding the best-looking cake I’ve seen, are walking our way.

  Stolas and Verkor place the food on the table, but the dark-haired beauty sets the cherry chocolate lava cake right in front of me. I eye it like it’s a long-lost lover.

  “Hi, I’m Cassie,” she says in a sweet voice.

  I pull my attention from the cake to Stolas’ sister. She’s pretty. Her black hair is in cascading waves down her back. She’s taller than me, with a lean, but curvy body. She’s dressed in jeans and a white crop top that barely covers her ample chest. Her heels are killer. They’re red, with a sequined skull on the toe.

  “Hi, I’m Finley.” I offer a small wave and a smile. “Thank you for the cake. It looks divine.”

  “Wait until you try it,” she says with a wink. I smile wider. “Do you mind if I sit?” She gestures to one of the empty seats around me.

  “Please.” She walks over taking the seat on my right. Verkor sits next to Obsidian and Stolas takes the seat on my left. He pulls my chair closer to his, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I feel his lips on my temple. I look at him, offering him a smile. I turn my attention back to Cassie.

  “I hope I’m not pulling you from your work.”

  She waves a hand. “Not at all. I own the place. Devil’s Delight.” She points to a building a little ways down the street. It’s pink with gold lettering on the window. “It’s a bakery.”

  “Wow.”

  She chuckles. “Besides, there is no way I was missing a chance to meet my brother’s mate.” I shift nervously in my seat. She inhales. “You’re nervous.” Oh God, can she smell that? Do I stink? She inhales again and her silver eyes that look so much like Stolas’ widen. She leans back in her seat and raises her eyebrows at her brother. I glance behind and see him nod. I look back to Cassie and see that she wants to say something, but Stolas stops her.

  “Not yet.” She nods, returning her gaze back to me and smiles. Something is going on and I want to know what.

  “So, Finley, tell me about yourself.”

  “There’s not much to tell.” I shrug my shoulders, letting my curiosity about what just happened go for the moment. I’ll get it out of Stolas after his sister leaves. “What would you like to know?”

  “Everything. Where do you live? What do you do? Do you have any siblings?” She rapid fires the questions at me.

  “I live in the Magic Realm with my best friend Izzy, who is a witch. I recently learned I’m only a few blocks away from where Obsidian lives. I don’t have any siblings that I know of. I don’t know my biological parents, so…” I trial off leaving her to fill in the rest. “As for what I do, I’m an acquisitions specialist.”

  “Are you good at what you do?” She asks with a twinkle in her eye. I nod.

  “I am.”

  “Hm. I may have to hire you to retrieve something for me if you wouldn’t mind.” I peer over to Stolas who simply shrugs his shoulders. I look back to Cassie.

  “Sure, why not.” She claps excitedly.

  “Awesome. I’ll let you know when I’m ready. I don’t need it back right now.”

  “Just let me know.”

  We talk for a little bit longer before she says she has to get back to work. I stand when she does and give her a big hug.

  “I’m so excited to have a sister,” she says as she pulls back.

  I smile, because I’m excited about it too. I consider Izzy to be family. She’s like a sister to me as well, but this feels a little bit different. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s because she’s Stolas’ family and that’s why it feels different. But he was right when he said I would like her. I do. She is bubbly and happy and so full of life. I think I need someone like that in my life.

  She gives Stolas a hug. “I’m so proud of you. I like her. You better treat her right.” She glares at Stolas and he grimaces.

  “I will. She’s my mate. She’s my everything.” She nods, happy with his answer. She leans in and whispers something in his ear, too low for me to make out, but whatever it was put a huge smile on his face. Cassie glances over her shoulder, smiles, and waves bye. I watch as she walks back to her shop.

  I look at Stolas and see him eyeing me. “You were right. I like her.” He beams a smile at me.

  “I knew it.” He puts his arm around my shoulder, placing a kiss on my cheek. I lean a little closer to him, breathing in his scent. He smells wonderful. I just want to sink my teeth into him.

  Mark him.

  Claim him.

  Mine.

  Hm. That was weird. I’ve never had the urge to do that before. I mean, I’m human. I can’t mark and claim him like he did me. I take a deep breath, inhaling his scent. I swear a growl rumbles from me.

  “Are you alright?” he asks. His silver eyes meet my gray ones. He smiles, this huge grin taking over his face, like he knows something I don’t. I don’t like it. Which reminds me, I need to ask him what that look was that he shared with his sister.

  “I’m perfect. Why do you ask?”

  “Just wondering. After everything that happened in limbo,” he shrugs his shoulders. “I know what you and Obsidian did at the Demon’s Sins. I just need to make sure you’re alright. If this is becoming too much, we’ll stop.”

  “I feel fine.” I frown. “Actually, I feel better than I probably should. I’m human. How am I up and about after almost getting jumped?”

  “I think because the soul didn’t actually jump into your body, it saved you from the side effects. It mostly drained you of your energy.”

  His eyes flit between mine. I can sense he wants to say more but doesn’t. I’m about to ask him what he’s hiding from me, but Obsidian and Verkor shove my food closer to me. I had forgotten all about it while I was talking with Cassie. I grab my food and start to devour it.

  “Why am I so hungry all the time?” I ask between shoveling bites of food into my mouth. I see all three of them giving each other looks. They’re all in on something, and I want to know. I stop eating, staring all of them down. I cross my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at them. “Alright, someone better tell me what the hell is going on, and now. Between looks you just shared and that weird exchange Stolas had with his sister, I know something is going on.”

  “I promise, we’ll tell you, but after we get home,” Stolas tries to placate me.

  “No, you’re going to tell me right. Fucking. Now.” A plume of smoke erupts from my nose. I gasp, placing my hand over it. “What the hell was that?” I yell.

>   “I don’t think we have time to wait anymore. We’re going to have to tell her,” Verkor states. Stolas whines.

  “You’re going to have to stay calm.” Stolas reaches over, grabbing my hands. “I just want to say that I love you, we all love you, and we’ve only recently found out. I promise, we were going to tell you, but we wanted to wait until after we got this piece of the map.”

  “You’re freaking me out. Am I going to die because of that whole thing in limbo?” I can feel my heart starting to race.

  “No, love.” Stolas releases my hands to cup my face. “You’re not dying. You’re pregnant.”

  A laugh starts to bubble up, and I let it. I’m laughing so hard Stolas’ hands fall from my face, as I double over. My sides start to hurt from how hard I’m laughing. I have tears in my eyes. Once I get ahold of myself, I look up and see that not one of them is laughing or smiling. I whip my gaze back to Stolas. My eyes widen.

  “You’re serious,” I whisper.

  “Yes, love.”

  The last thing I remember before the world goes black is Stolas’ worried expression.

  Verkor

  “You couldn’t have waited until we got to a hotel for the night?” Obsidian growls.

  “There was no need for you to stop at that dessert shop either,” I seethe. “Do you know how it looked standing there with an unconscious girl in your arms. If it weren’t for the fact that we’re in hell, we would have been in serious trouble. Besides, we still have the cake your sister gave us.”

  “Finley was already unconscious. I went in there to get some dessert for her. You know she didn’t get to finish her food, and dessert is her favorite part. I’m just preparing for when she’s awake,” Stolas exclaims. “You know as well as I do that one cake isn’t going to be enough for all of us.” I sigh.

  “She took the news about as well as I expected. I almost thought she lost her mind with the way she was laughing.”

  We all look over at our mate, sleeping peacefully in bed. We wanted to get through another level today, but with Finley fainting, we thought it was better to get a room here in the gluttony level to let her rest. Stolas hasn’t left her side since we came here. Obsidian has been hovering near the end of the bed, and I’m sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed.

  “She’s been out for a while now. Should we be worried?” I inquire.

  “I know she said she wanted kids but later down the road. She wanted to find the map and the treasure and be stable first,” Obsidian responds. “I hope she doesn’t hate us.”

  “This is our fault for not using protection in the first place,” I say through gritted teeth. “What the hell were we thinking?” I run my hands through my hair.

  “You weren’t,” Finley’s soft voice calls out. All of us crowd her. “You can’t just blame yourselves. I’m at fault in this too.” She struggles to sit up, but Stolas immediately moves to help her. I rearrange her pillows and she lays back against them. “I didn’t dream that did I?” Her voice is still quiet. It’s almost like she is afraid to voice it out loud.

  “Sorry, love, but you didn’t.” Stolas sits next to her on the bed, putting his arm around her.

  “Are you sure? How do you know?” she questions. There’s a tremble in her voice, and I hate the sound.

  “I’m sure, Fin. I even had Obsidian check. And any doubt was erased by the smoke you released earlier. I was first suspicious the morning we first talked about coming here. Your scent was different, but I didn’t know what was going on. Your scent has been changing by the day. I had an idea of what was happening, but I didn’t confirm it until after everything happened in limbo. I shifted into my hellhound and I laid my head on your stomach, and I heard it. A heartbeat.” Finley sucks in a breath. “It’s strong. You smell of fire and brimstone. That’s not your natural scent.”

  “It’s yours,” she whispers.

  “Yes, love. The pup you’re carrying is mine.”

  “I don’t think you realized it, but you growled earlier, before Stolas and Verkor came back with our food.”

  “There’s also the smoke. Those are things you didn’t do before,” Stolas states.

  “That explains the voice.”

  “What voice?” I ask.

  “There was one urging me to mark and claim Stolas.” Stolas growls, his eyes flashing red. I can see that he likes the idea. “I did it earlier with Obsidian.” Obsidian’s eyes widen. “It’s why I bit you.”

  Obsidian stands, walking into the bathroom. He pulls the collar of his shirt to the side. I watch as a smile creeps across his lips. He walks back into the bedroom, and right to Finley. He plants a kiss right on her lips. When he pulls backs, he smiles.

  “But-but,” she stammers. “But I don’t remember the feeling of my gums aching like they did just now.”

  Obsidian grins and puffs out his chest, completely pleased with himself. “Then I did a damn good job of giving you pleasure and distraction.” Finley growls and licks her lips, which only pleases Obsidian further.

  “It’s normal,” Stolas interjects. “My hellhound did that when we first met. He wouldn’t stop until I marked you.” He leans down, kissing her shoulder that I know bears his mark. Obsidian sits on the bed next to Finley. “I know this isn’t what you wanted right now, and I’m sorry, but I love this pup already.” He places a hand on her stomach. She covers his hand with hers.

  “Why am I taking on traits of a hellhound?” she asks.

  “Because of the pup. It’s changing you, so you’ll be able to carry a supernatural being.”

  “Will I keep any of the traits after?”

  “I don’t know,” Stolas replies. “I would say no, but stranger things have happened.” Finley gets really quiet.

  “Are you not happy about this?” I ask. Finley turns her gaze to me.

  “I’m just processing. I was thinking that this was going to happen a few years down the road. How does a baby fit into all of this? We’ll have to go home, and I’ll get a real job, and I’ll have to find a better place to live.” She sighs.

  “You’re just going to give up?” Obsidian bellows. “What happened to the spitfire we first met? The one that held a knife to a drunk guy’s throat?”

  “She got pregnant!” Finley yells.

  “So, that doesn’t mean you stop living your life. That doesn’t mean you stop following your dreams and what you want,” Obsidian yells back.

  “I won’t put this baby in danger.”

  “No you won’t because I know that you’ll do everything to keep it safe. You know we’ll do everything to keep you both safe.”

  “Obsidian is right. We’ll be more careful going forward,” I say.

  “We can’t and you know it.”

  “Yes, we can.”

  “We’ll be fine, love,” Stolas kisses her temple. “Trust us and yourself to get through this.” Finley takes a deep breath and releases it.

  “Okay. We’ll continue.” Finley moves her head to look at Stolas. “You look entirely too proud of yourself.” Stolas puffs out his chest.

  “Of course, I am. That’s my pup.” Finley rolls her eyes.

  “Um, so how is this going to work?”

  “We talked about it and we’re all going to be a father to the pup. Obviously, when it comes time for the pups first shifting, Stolas will deal with that, but everything else will be shared,” I say. Finley starts hyperventilating.

  “There it is,” Stolas says. He moves so he can cup Finley’s face. “Love, open your eyes and look at me.” Stolas waits until she does before continuing. “You’re fine, everything will be fine. I need you to take some deep breaths for me. Follow my lead.” I watch as Stolas walks Fin through some breathing exercises. When it seems to be working, I take a deep breath myself.

  I knew she was taking the news a little better than we expected. Though, I didn’t think that she would try to say we should go home. I figured she would have fought us on that, believing that we would be the ones that wante
d to stop this journey. But, like Obsidian said, her life doesn’t stop because she’s pregnant. We just have to adjust accordingly. We’ll be there with her every step of the way.

  “That’s it, love, just a few more. Feeling better?”

  “Yeah. Sorry, I freaked there for a second. It’s just...a baby. Holy shit, I’m going to be a mom.”

  I understand now. I move from the chair to the bed. “Baby, look at me.” Her terrified eyes turn to me. “You’re going to be a great mother, and do you know how I know?” She shakes her head. “Because you already know what you don’t want to be. You know what it’s like not having a family. You already know what not to do. If you love this baby half as much as you love us, then that baby has it made. You can do this. You won’t be doing it alone.” She nods her head.

  “I got this. I can do this.”

  “Damn right you can,” Stolas says pleased. “How about we celebrate? I have dessert.”

  “Dessert?” Finley perks up. All of us laugh.

  “I told you,” Stolas smirks. I shake my head. He was right. Finley’s stomach growls at that moment, causing all of us to laugh again.

  “Why am I always so hungry?” she groans.

  “It’s the pup. You’re going to be burning more energy. Eating will help refuel you.”

  “I’m going to be so fat.”

  “No, you won’t. You’ll be burning energy too fast to be fat. You’ll have your normal pregnancy weight, but your metabolism will burn away any excess weight.”

  “Well, in that case, give me that dessert.” She holds her hands out, waiting for Stolas to hand her a plate. I shake my head.

  “At least we know how to keep her happy for the next few months,” Obsidian says, but there’s a smile on his face.

  “Har-har. I won’t complain if Stolas keeps me supplied in cherry chocolate lava cake.” She points her fork in Stolas’ direction. “This shit is good.” She moans around the fork she shoved in her mouth. My heart starts to pound at the sound. I would give anything to lay her out on the bed and eat her the way she’s eating that cake.