by K. C. Hamby
I snarl and pull her impossibly closer. Raven touched my Mate. Mine. And tried to claim Eddie as hers.
I’m almost not above pissing on my territory, but Eddie isn’t my property. She’s a person.
But still…
“I’ll fucking kill her. Are you okay?”
“Aye, I am for now. I promise you, mo chridhe. She brings back horrible shite with her, but I’m doin’ the best I can to keep my mind off it. Nina nor Falen ken why she is here either, apparently. But it’s nothin’ good. Nina had a vision when she gripped Raven’s hand, so they dinnae get to find out much of anythin’ since all discussion was cutoff when Nina hit the floor.”
“Another vision. Goddess, what now?”
She tells me everything Fal told her and I’m not too happy about any of it.
“That’s…not good at all. None of this is good. Son of a bitch.”
There is a knock on the door, interrupting my soon to be dread-riddled temper tantrum.
Eddie sits up in all her bare glory and looks down at me.
“Who the…”
“It’s Nina and Fal,” comes from the door in Nina’s voice. “Um, sorry. I know we didn’t exactly call in advance.”
“Ach, a’rite. Hold on a tick,” Eddie yells back, pushing the blankets off herself.
“Take your time,” Nina answers.
Eddie stands up and, if it weren’t for our unexpected guests, I would pull her back into the bed.
“Ashy, stop your leerin’. Get your bonnie arse up and put on some clothes.” She crawls back on the bed and gets up in my face. “I’ll be sure to show you my appreciation for your compliance later.”
“Do we need to come back?” Fal yells through the door, clearly embarrassed, as Eddie winks.
I snort. “No. It’s fine,” I answer and stand up, smacking Eddie on her bare ass and ducking before she can slap me.
After I slide on a black shirt and black gym shorts and Eddie throws on a blue crop top showing off the tribal slashes on her stomach and pajama pants with moons all over them, she opens the door and lets Nina and a red-faced Fal Pal through and into our apartment.
The air thickens in the room and I can immediately tell it’s from Fal. Her jaw is set in that way I know too well. Mentally, she’s not doing so good and is obviously fighting with herself about something.
She’s not fully present, that’s for sure.
Nina has a smile on her face, but she’s worried. It’s thick in her scent, the lavender mixed with a coldness I can’t exactly describe. She twirls a piece of hair around her finger and flicks her eyes all over the place.
“What’s up?” I ask as I plop down on the couch, readying for what’s sure to be something shitty that’s happened or will happen. I grab the crystal decanter on the side table and pour myself a glass of some fancy Scottish whiskey Eddie got me obsessed with.
I’m definitely going to need some alcohol to deal with this.
“Get me one or four of those,” Fal calls before she sits down beside me.
And Fal needs some too. Shit.
I hand her a crystal glass and slowly pour, waiting for Fal to say when.
“I’ve decided to go through with it.”
The crystal of the bottle clinks against the glass I’m pouring when I pause at her declaration.
“Goin’ through with what, lass?” Eddie asks as her and Nina lean against the bar.
“The whole Death Reaper thing,” Fal answers, waving her hand in the air like it’s just another day at the office.
I pour until the glass is full, not waiting for her say in the matter. She gives me a grateful glance when I pull away.
“Well, I guess it was bound to happen sometime,” I give, not really knowing what I’m supposed to say. Fal Pal already looks sick with the decision. I don’t want to make it worse.
“Yeah, we want you guys to come when she goes through the whole,” Nina pauses and moves her hands around in front of her, wiggling her fingers like they are flames, “Burning thing. As backup if Hades decides to be a jerk. And for support, you know.”
“Going to hell again, fun,” I grumble. It wasn’t exactly my favorite vacation.
Fal downs her whole glass of whiskey in one go and doesn’t cringe once.
Yikes.
“Of course, we will come,” Eddie butts in and gives me wide eyes from across the room.
Ashy. Try not to make it worse.
Sorry, babe. Just a knee jerk reaction when thinking of hell.
“Yeah, you know I’ll come support you, Fal Pal.” I reach over and fill her glass back up when she wiggles it at me. “And I’ll be glad to punch that sorry piece of shit King of the Dead in the face if he tries even breathing in the wrong direction. When were you planning on going?”
“Tomorrow,” Fal smacks after she shoots the whole glass down her throat again.
Goddammit. No time to prepare then.
“I would rather just get it over with before I get some sense and decide not to be a fucking idiot.” Fal leans over herself and places her elbows on her knees, gripping the glass a little too hard for my comfort in her trembling hands.
“Aye, you’ll be a’rite, lass,” Eddie tells her. “Go in with a clear head. Like I told you.”
Fal nods and hands me her empty glass before rubbing her hands over her face. “Do you guys mind if we leave first thing in the morning? Again, I’d rather get it over with and spending the whole day waiting may drive me insane.”
I nod, picking up my other role of the helpful brother. “Yeah, no problem. First light we can head on down.”
Fal nods, staring at the carpet while her feet move in small circles. She blinks slowly, like she’s exhausted in all departments. I put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze.
“Hey, you’ve got this, Fal Pal. I know you do.”
“Thanks, Ash,” she whispers and gives me a small, but grateful smile, hand squeezing mine for a second.
“Also,” Nina adds and watches her finger trace a line on the countertop. “We told Althea and Winema about my vision and all the Poacher stuff.”
The way she keeps staring at the counter makes my stomach twist. I guess it didn’t go well.
“And?” Eddie prods.
“Well, apparently Raven is claiming to be Hecate’s Prophetess and a vision sent by Hecate told her to come here,” Fal mumbles, massaging her temples with the tips of her fingers.
“Which doesn’t make sense,” Nina adds, obviously beyond fucking annoyed. “Hecate isn’t the one who sends the visions. I get them from like…the universe.” She tosses her hands toward the ceiling. “And if I think Hecate needs to know, I will tell her about them.”
Huh. I didn’t know that.
“And then Althea and Winema said we need proof of Raven being a vile fucking twat,” Fal growls, coming to life, and stands, starting to pace.
“Ach,” Eddie swears and turns around, facing away from all of us with her hands on her hips. Different emotions fly over me from the bond. Anger, betrayal, fear… “I wish someone could just see my memories and understand.”
The ice spreading across my chest is painful. I hate that Raven is bothering her like this. I’ve never seen her so anxious. I’ve never seen her so on edge. She’s usually lax about everything.
“I mean, Nina could see your memories,” I reason and gesture at my white-haired sister-in-bond and soon to be in-law with raised brows.
I regret the suggestion the moment Eddie tenses.
“Even if I did, they could say she has changed from her past. They’d probably use you as an example, Eddie.” Nina swallows, clearly feeling the uncomfortable energy coming off Eddie in waves. “Especially since you guys used to be close.”
Eddie growls.
I don’t want this bitch to be here. She’s hurt my Mate several times. She’s tried to have her taken away from me where those Poachers would do goddess knows what before they kill her. If they don’t decide to keep her alive for torture, that is
. She’s fucking touched her. Put her fucking lips on her.
The rage builds in me quickly, darkening my mind as I think of what I should do. How I should kill her.
But I drop it and sigh. Sure, I can be angry, but Eddie needs me to be calm for her right now. She needs me to keep her level-headed and safe through all this mess.
I clasp my hands between my knees. “She’s right, babe. I hate to say it, but that’s probably what they will do.” I look to Nina with heavy eyes. “You guys leave to go to Oregon soon, right?”
Nina nods. “In four days. Well, I guess technically one since being in the Underworld will take us three. Winema and Althea told us to leave this issue to the Council and enjoy our trip.”
“Fucking idiots,” Fal growls under her breath, pacing a rut in our floor for sure. “This is all bullshit. They know Nina is right, but they won’t act because not everyone agrees she’s Hecate’s Prophetess.”
“Or they don’t trust her because she isn’t Lupi and now they have a Lupi claiming to be the actual Prophetess,” I add.
Nina visibly deflates and casts her eyes to the counter.
Shite. Too soon, Ashy. She is still ragin’ because she cannae shift.
I know, I know, my bad.
“We believe you, Nins. And everyone else will too if they don’t do anything about this and shit hits the fan. They’ll realize their mistake. Probably when it’s too late to do anything but build pyres for the mass amounts of bodies sure to be acquired.” I shake my head, frustration a clinging web to my skin. “We will keep an eye on Raven while you guys are gone. She can’t be mistake free forever.”
Nina’s lips kinda smile a little.
“I could just fix the whole situation if I go slit her throat right now,” Eddie snarls, turning back around with fire glowing in her eyes.
Are…are her hands smoking?
Maybe I’m just seeing things, but her clenched fists seem to have smoke billowing from their pores.
“She wouldnae be a problem anymore.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Fal tells her, stopping her pacing to stare at my Mate. “If the Council doesn’t have proof and you kill a Lupi, you could be executed. Hell, they may make it a spectacle for everyone to watch if they don’t kill you on the spot first. I’m pretty sure I would have been shot right between the eyes when I killed Invidia if everything else didn’t blow up and I had to reveal I was Chosen. And if I had killed you? They’d broadcast my execution on TV for all to watch.”
Eddie leans against the wall, defeated. Her eyes shine in the low light of the kitchen, showing her own frustration in the pools accumulating there. “I almost think it’s worth it.”
“Eddie,” I growl and push myself off the couch. My steps are loud as I make my way to her and place my hands on each side of her face. “Don’t ever think her life is worth even half of what you are. Ever.”
Ashy, I dinnae ken if I can do this.
You can. And I’ll always be here to help you when you don’t feel strong enough.
“Yeah, she’s not worth it, okay?” Nina taps Eddie’s shoulder and smiles a little. Eddie cringes at the touch.
She hasn’t been able to handle touch from other people very well since she was drugged.
“Aye, lass. She’s not.” Eddie’s golden eyes blink up at me, vulnerable and terrified.
I’ve never seen Eddie be scared until this Raven showed up. Hell, she called Klythios a bawbag with a smile on her face before running right into his warpath.
This Eddie is different. She is anxious and paranoid with fear and rage almost constantly in her scent.
“But we should all get some sleep. We have to go to hell tomorrow, after all,” Nina fills in the growing silence.
Fal groans from behind us and stomps her way to the door.
“Can’t fucking wait,” she grumbles.
***
Eddie and I follow Fal and Nina down the dark ass steps into the Underworld.
Again.
But something is different. My body isn’t wound up and anxious. I’m more relaxed the farther down we travel. I’m going to attribute it to the three or five whiskey shots I took before we left our apartment.
I needed something to help me go to hell.
And, by the smell of Fal’s chemical breath, she did too.
We’ve at least gotten out of the extreme, soul-sucking darkness of the first part of the stairs. The air was stale and heavy like the darkness was an actual being who needs to go on a major diet.
Now we are to the walls of stone with sconces lit every few steps, banishing a little of the terrifying black abyss from above.
Eddie plops down the stairs beside me, her skin hot like she’s burning a fever. Her shift is always out of her control in the Underworld. Once she gets to a certain depth, she becomes a Fury; she transforms into an avenging goddess of hell.
Her eyes burn bright fire when she looks at me with a sharp-toothed smile. She’s pulled her hair back, bundling the glowing strands with the gray into a long ponytail. It swings back and forth with each dramatic step she takes.
I swallow the urge to kiss her neck.
I wouldnae mind, Ashy.
I squint at her with a smirk. Don’t get me in trouble.
“I guess we are getting close,” Fal mumbles from in front of us, preventing what was surely going to be something dirty falling from Eddie’s mouth. Or…mind. “It’s definitely starting to smell like hot ass.”
“It’s called sulfur, Fal Pal.”
“It’s called shut up, Ash Trash,” she returns in a snap.
“You know,” Nina comments, cutting off any retort I may have. Which, I totally had one. “Maybe you two could take something seriously for once.”
Fal looks back at me with a raised brow and her lips attempting to hide a smirk.
“Nah,” we say in unison.
Nina sighs and keeps plopping down the stairs, her long white hair halfway down and bouncing along as the bun on top of her head stays tightly in place. “I guess it was worth a try.”
“Pick your battles, lass. I choose to stay out of their squabbles.”
“Yeah, I think you have the right idea.” Nina grabs Fal’s hand and leans into her shoulder.
We carry on down down down and down some more. Did Hades make these stairs longer? I don’t remember spending a fucking eternity on them last time.
As if sensing my growing annoyance, the walls of the staircase turn a foreboding red as heat crawls up my skin.
Fal’s steps become more stiff, reluctant even.
She stops moving.
“Fal?” Nina asks after she almost trips over her, pushing Fal’s hair away from her face. Her sweaty face.
She’s breathing hard behind the wall of black and her eyes are wide.
“I’m fine,” she breathes. “I just…I just need a minute.”
Last time she was here, she was tortured by Damien and Invidia. I can’t imagine what being back is doing to her.
I had thought she was dead. She looked dead. I mean, I guess she technically was, like, for real dead because her soul left her body. But her soul looked dead.
Fuck. I’m just trying to say she looked like absolute shit.
She has every right to refuse Hades and Hecate. But I wonder what it would do to her if she did. I have a theory that being this goddess of Death and Reaper is something that will give her a place to put all that darkness she struggles with all the time.
And if she doesn’t do it…it could eat her alive.
Chapter 35
Falen
My throat is closing.
The stairs are smaller, somehow, and the weight of the world is falling on me. All the walls are moving in, ready to end me right now. Asphyxiation by wall.
And I don’t think I would mind.
It must be better than this crawling sickness the touch of heat on my skin is bringing up my throat. It pulls sweat from my pores and it slides down the sides of my face, trailing over my sca
r, and falling to my neck. Salted fear.
My body wants me to get the hell out of here.
“Fal?”
Small, cool hands smooth my hair away from my face as I lean against the wall. My gaze meets icy storms in worried eyes. The fire burning through me slowly cools and begins to ice over with something that may resemble calm. But her healing isn’t touching all of me.
“I’m fine,” I gasp out. “I just…I just need a minute.”
Eddie pulls Ash back up a few of the stairs to give me space as I slide down the wall to the step beneath me and Nina follows, squatting, hands never leaving my face.
“Breathe,” she whispers. “Come back to me.”
I’m trying to breathe, but my lungs fear the heated air around us. If I breathe it in, it will be full of ash and smoke and I’ll be hanging from chains and bleeding everywhere and…
“Shh. Fal. Tell me what you see.”
My breathing halts for a second.
“With your eyes right now. What do you see?”
“Um,” I choke out. “I see your eyes and red-tinted skin.”
“Good.” Her lips smile and more calm seeps into my soul. “What do you hear?”
I focus, realizing I haven’t really been paying attention to what I’m hearing. All it was a minute ago was loud wind filling my head. There is now a steady thumping speaking to my heart.
“Your breathing. Your heart beating. I hear the river up ahead.”
Phlegethon. The river of lava.
“Okay, that’s good. What do you feel?”
“The wall on my back. Sweat on my face. Your hands.” I place one of my shaking hands on top of hers and lean into the touch.
“And what do you smell?”
“Ass,” is my immediate response. It’s true. It smells like hot, wet ass.
Nina’s laughing smile is beautiful and my lips curve up too. I relax, realizing I’m fine and safe. I’m not back in the Torture Fields of Tartarus being flayed and burned. I’m with Nina and she is smiling at me with her beautiful eyes glittering.
