by Callie Rose
Panicking, I looked around for my men. I found them suspended like me in red and blue electric orbs above the ground.
“Xero!” I called. “What is this?”
But my voice didn’t seem to make any sound at all. It didn’t bounce back at me, it just sort of disappeared into nothing, like it had been swallowed up by a dull silence. I watched as the guys started to talk, then shout, then scream at me and each other, but there was no sound I could hear.
We were trapped. Isolated.
My ribs seemed to constrict around my lungs and heart as I reached out with my feelings, but it was like the guys weren’t even there. Like they had never existed at all.
Fuck. No!
The succubus power inside me screamed for them, fear and grief ripping through me at the sudden, complete loss of connection.
I clutched my hands to my chest and sobbed.
Darkness tinged the edges of my vision, creeping in slowly, and I knew if everything hadn’t been muted, my screams would’ve filled the air like the dawn sounds of the underworld.
I screamed until my throat was raw and blackness claimed me.
“Oh, stop that noise! What are you, human?”
My eyes snapped open in shock at the smoky voice.
Consciousness flooded me so fast I jerked, instantly awake and alert. My gaze darted around, taking in my surroundings at a glance.
I wasn’t hanging over the ground any longer. Somehow, I had ended up in a little cave, still floating over the ground. The guys were there too, and they all looked just as confused as I was. I wondered how the stranger’s voice was getting through, then I realized that a small hole had formed in the electric membrane. It was growing quickly, and I scrambled to get my feet under me before it dissolved completely.
All five bubbles popped, and I inhaled my guys’ scents like I hadn’t breathed in ages. The demon woman in front of me wrinkled her delicate purple nose and narrowed her large, shark-black eyes at me.
“Succubus. Should I put you back in the cage, or can you leave those boys alone?”
I was aching—actually physically aching—to run to my men for comfort and power. The broken connection had affected me so severely that I honestly thought I was going to die. But I would rather breathe their air without touching them than be so utterly isolated again; at least I had practice with the former.
“I won’t touch them,” I told her, swallowing hard.
“Good.” She gave each of us a hard look. “Hellhound. Dragon. Demon. Ugh. And a vampire.” She wrinkled her nose at Kai, which made me irrationally angry. She shot a warning look in my direction before the emotion had even fully registered with me.
“What are you? Siren?” I asked. “Or witch?”
“Witch is a profession, twit, not a race. I am a demon.”
“You’re an empath,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that a fact?”
“Is that a problem?” I answered.
She tilted her head slightly. “You tell me.”
“I’m not psychic.”
She shook herself and huffed. “Let’s cut to the chase.” She stepped up to me until I could see my face reflected in her black eyes. She inhaled deeply, then held my wrist between her thumb and fingers.
“Where did you come from?” she asked.
“Uh—just now? Down the hill a ways—”
“Where did you come from?” she repeated more forcefully.
“Earth.” That was vague enough, right?
“You’re trying my patience, girlie. Were you sent by Gavriel?”
“God no.” The shock of disgust I felt at that question registered clearly on her face.
She squinted at me for a moment, then gave a satisfied nod and moved on to Jayce. She did the same thing to him, but rather than bothering to ask where he’d come from, she just skipped to the final question—the one about Gavriel. Apparently satisfied with his adamant denial, she moved on to Xero, then Kingston. She practically ignored Kai until she couldn’t any longer.
“Vampire.” She heaved a sigh, sounding exasperated. She didn’t touch him, although he held his wrist out for her. “Were you sent by Gavriel?”
“No,” he answered in a cool voice. His dark eyes narrowed, his angular features seeming to sharpen. “Were you?”
Her eyes widened and she blinked as if it hadn’t occurred to her that we might also be avoiding the fallen lord.
“Of course not.” She dusted off her hands briskly.
“Then you work for the Custodians? Some kind of point of contact behind enemy lines?” Kai pressed on.
She bared her teeth and hissed. “Custodians! Useless fucks.”
My vampire mate smiled, his eyes narrowing. “Then you and I have a lot in common.”
She barked a laugh of disbelief. “Me? Have something in common with a leech?”
He stepped forward, shoulders back, head high, somehow transforming into the most powerful presence in the room. “We have both been neutral parties in this conflict, intent on remaining so. I hid on earth for years before the Custodians found me and forced my hand. How long have you been hiding? How long has it been since you decided that this conflict had nothing whatever to do with you?”
If I could feel his sincerity, I was certain she could—her empath powers probably made her almost as attuned to the men’s emotions as I was. Her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed, staring at Kai as if seeing him for the first time.
“Eons,” she breathed. “It feels like eons.”
“So you see,” Kai said, opening his palms. “We are of one mind.”
She recoiled from all of us for a moment, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Centering herself, I thought. I’d seen Jayce do the same from time to time, and although it struck me as a little funny that a demon from the underworld would have the same emotional coping techniques as a man who’d been raised by hippie parents on earth, I didn’t say anything.
Instead, all five of us were silent, giving her space and time to do what she needed to. When she came forward again, she seemed more clear-headed.
“I’ve searched each of you thoroughly. I can find no threat to my own well-being if I allow you to rest here today. You’re all tired, hungry, and thirsty. Follow me.”
She turned around, and for a moment it seemed she was going to walk into solid rock; but as she neared it, I realized that the solidity was an illusion. She cast no shadow on a door-sized section of rock, but on the floor beneath it instead. I followed her through, raking my fingers through the illusion appreciatively.
“You’re good,” I said. “Hannah would kill for this skill. Oh! Not literally,” I added quickly as she gave me a sharp look. “I just mean, my friend Hannah loves magic, but she’s better at theory than practice.”
“Everyone is at first,” the woman said with a shrug. “Sit down.”
On the other side of the illusion was a comfortable living room and attached kitchen. The décor was heavy on the black rock and jewel tones, but it could almost have been a human living space. The long couch was set a little higher than the average human couch, but the cushions squished just the same. I sank into it with a grateful sigh, and gestured for my guys to sit close. Xero and Jayce came at once, settling on either side of me. Kingston swaggered over and sat beside Jayce, draping his arm over the back of the couch to play with my hair. Kai sat beside Xero, but made no move to touch me.
That was fine. The couch was soft and cradled my aching body, and the other three were softly touching my hair and wrist. Healing, soothing power trickled over me, washing away the exhaustion of the last several days and the lingering pain of being separated from them. The demon woman brought us food and drink, and no one said anything except for a murmured thanks until we had finished the hot meal.
“What’s your name?” I asked her when we’d finished.
She slid me a sideways look. “You can call me Vee.”
I knew as well as she did that that wasn’t her name at all, but at least I
had something to call her now.
“And what is it that brings you all out here?” she asked.
Her empath skills could help her read our feelings and emotions, enough to convince her we weren’t on Gavriel’s side, but they obviously couldn’t fill in the exact details of what the hell we were doing tromping around in the deadly wilderness of the underworld.
Glancing around, I shared a look with the guys, silently asking how we should proceed. Jayce shrugged and gave a half-nod. Xero pursed his lips and shook his head slightly. Kingston frowned. Kai smiled in a smug sort of way.
Awesome. So helpful, guys.
I decided to give her part of the truth and see if she could help us. Nothing about her seemed overtly threatening, and her interrogation of us earlier had revealed as much about her as it had about us. She might not think much of the Custodians, but she hated and feared Gavriel as much as all of us did.
“We’re looking for Temple Stones of the First Order,” I said.
Vee’s spine stiffened. She narrowed her eyes at me. “And what would you possibly use those for?”
“Do you know where we could find them?” Xero leaned forward, shifting in his seat next to me.
She hesitated, then shook her head. “No. I won’t be involved in this. Whether they’ve been mined or are raw, those stones are property of Gavriel alone, and he protects them fiercely. If I tell you where to find them, I might as well stake my own head.”
Xero winced, which told me that those words meant exactly what they sounded like.
“I understand your position,” Kai said coolly. “But your name would never enter into this. Or your location, for that matter. You’ve made sure of that, since we know neither your true name nor our current location. No one would know that we’ve been here at all.”
Her black gaze flitted back and forth across our faces. I could almost feel the tension vibrating off of her. She shook her head, and for the first time since I’d woken and seen her face, I caught true panic in her expression. A fear so deeply ingrained in her that it’d become part of her DNA.
“No. No.” She shook her head emphatically. “They’ll catch you and cut you open. You’ve eaten my food. They’ll trace it back here, then I’ll be no better off than you are.”
“We won’t get caught,” I assured her. “We could even stay here, eating our own provisions, until there isn’t a trace left of yours. Just to be safe.”
Jayce looked at me in horror. I patted his hand. It wasn’t going to happen, but I knew a pragmatic soul when I saw one. She needed the contingencies accounted for if we had any hope of getting her help at all.
“But you’ll know where you are when you leave,” she argued. “Under torture, you could lead them back to me.”
“I lived here for decades before I escaped to earth,” Xero told her. “I went through the whole breaking cycle and came out of it clean. I’ve trained with my friends, who have all been taught to do the same. We won’t give you up.”
I fought the urge to look at him. We hadn’t had any such class, though in retrospect we probably should have. Or maybe that’s what all that love and light centering bullshit had been about. I really needed to start paying more attention in class.
“Also,” I added, knowing that it was a lot to ask for her to trust in us. “You could blindfold us or magically blind us and lead us out of here. Or—” I hesitated and shuddered. God, please don’t pick option number C. “You could always put us back in the bubbles.”
She looked pleased at that idea, and I squeezed Jayce and Xero’s hands hard. I desperately did not want to go back in there, but if it would give us what we needed, it would be worth it. I hoped.
“How many do you need?” she asked.
“Twenty-four in all,” I answered.
Her jaw fell open. “Twenty-four?! What are you trying to move, a mountain?”
Kingston and Xero both shot me warning looks, but I knew it was time to give a little to get a little. Despite our reassurances, I couldn’t deny that she’d be taking a massive risk if she agreed to help us. And although she seemed to have no love for the Custodians, I could only hope her dislike of Gavriel trumped those feelings.
“Fallen University,” I told her. “The Custodian training school. One of Gavriel’s minions sabotaged it, untethering it from earth and sending it back here. Now the Custodians are working blind, and their supply of new recruits has been cut off.”
A new kind of understanding lit her eyes. Then she closed them with a long, controlled sigh. “I see.”
I cocked my head. “I think you do. I think you see more than we do, actually. Do you know why this specific attack happened? What’s Gavriel planning? Why did he want his minion to move our school?”
She rubbed a hand over her face and bit one long red claw between her glistening teeth. “Pointing you in the right direction is one thing. Speaking out against the dark lord—that’s an act of treason. A declaration of war.”
“Gavriel declared war ages ago,” Kai said coldly. “We pleebs are caught up in it whether we like it or not. I refused to admit that for a long time, and it took being sent to Fallen University to make me begin to understand. There is no ‘neutral’ in this fight.”
Vee sighed heavily and gazed around her home as if saying goodbye to it—to the last shred of peace and safety she’d been able to muster up in this terrifying world. I held my breath, almost afraid to hope.
“Well. It isn’t anything that the whole underworld doesn’t already know,” she muttered, almost to herself. Then she straightened up in her chair and faced me directly. “Gavriel has been obsessively recruiting demons for his army. That is why I laid the trap as I did. I will not be forced to go to war for his cause.”
“What is his cause?” I asked as a chill trickled down my spine.
“To take earth,” she said bluntly. “He has been increasing his numbers here and on earth for the last several months. He’s training his troops day and night. I thought he was readying himself for a war with the Custodians, but now—if he’s cut off their supply, he isn’t anticipating a war. He’s anticipating a slaughter. The end of humanity.”
The little chill exploded violently, turning my blood to ice, and I froze.
The end of humanity. Fallen rule. Destruction.
“Then we have to get back to earth as soon as possible.” My voice shook a little, but I kept my gaze steady on her. “Please help us.”
Vee tilted her head sadly and sighed again.
“It won’t work,” she said. “He’s too strong now. Armies upon armies of fallen, and more every day. You think your Custodians can stand up to wave after wave of bloodthirsty brutes?” She shook her head. “Gavriel wants earth, and he’s going to take it.”
“Well, we’re not just going to roll over for him,” I said through my teeth. “We might not win, but we can at least slow him down.”
A slight smile touched her lips. “I admire your conviction.” She gazed up at a painting that’d been applied directly onto the stone wall of her little dwelling, her brows deeply furrowed. The room fell silent for a long moment, then she looked back at us.
“I will help you,” she said. “But first, sleep.”
Chapter Twenty
The magical transport bubble wasn’t quite as bad the second time around.
I wasn’t in it for as long, for one thing, but I was also functioning on over ten hours of cuddle-puddle sleep. I could have withstood virtually anything at that point, but Vee made the whole process as painless as possible. One minute, we were standing in her living room, then we were floating above the ground. Next thing we knew, we were two-thirds of the way up the mountain and the orbs were already dissolving.
“There are the three spikes,” I said, pointing. Vee had given us detailed directions before picking us up in her orbs, and she’d placed us exactly where she’d promised she would. “She said we go north from here.” I glanced at Xero. “Uh… which way is north?”
He nodded
toward the steep incline. “That way.”
It looked too sheer to climb, but I soon discovered that the mountain was staggered. Thin ledges snaked across it as if it were actually sheets of slate stacked up and shoved unevenly sideways into the ground. They were only wide enough for two, so Xero and I took the lead while Jayce and Kai took the back. Kingston walked at the very back for a moment, then took flight.
“Get down from there,” Xero ordered.
Kingston roared a question.
“Because this is prime dragon real estate, moron. You’re going to fly into someone’s territory or get too close to a clutch.”
The green dragon roared an indignant statement.
“Oh, really? You, a little half-blood lizard, are going to beat down an angry mama dragon with a thousand years and a million kills under her scales?”
Kingston huffed reluctantly.
“Even if you can survive that, we can’t,” I pointed out. The thought of my bond mate fighting a massive, ancient dragon in the sky had made my heart lurch in my chest, but I figured he’d respond better to arguments about our safety than his. It would’ve worked on me anyway.
Kingston groaned and flopped back toward earth, looking exactly like a toddler doing that boneless tantrum thing. He shifted back as he landed, and his boots touched the ground behind Jayce as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
“I can’t believe I’m hiking,” he muttered just loud enough for us to hear, sounding truly disgusted.
Xero and I shared an amused look. “Bet he never even did that as a human,” I whispered.
“Of course not.” Xero grinned. “He was rich enough to have people who hiked for him.”
I laughed, then a thought occurred. “You don’t think his obsession with flying is a sign that he’s—you know—starting to like this place a little too much, do you?”
“Turning evil, you mean?” he asked wryly. “I thought we decided that was a myth. And no, I don’t think so. He’s not any more evil than he’s always been anyway.”
My eyebrows lifted. “What do you mean?”
“Think about it.” He shrugged, tugging gently on my elbow to help me avoid a jagged rock that stuck up in front of me. “He was a human with predisposition for hoarding money and a knack for brutal business. That’s evil, to some. But he has our backs, he’s saved lives, and he doesn’t want earth to be consumed by Gavriel. That’s good. He’s had opportunities to screw us all over for cash and he hasn’t done it.”
