A Crown of Shadows and Secrets

by Sloane Murphy

  “I don't know that I'd call it lucky,” I murmur and all eyes shift to me.

  “Yes, well, we'll deal with that too, once we catch up,” Morgan says with a tight smile.

  “Still, she is not an Angel any more. I am not sure how well her body will handle those sorts of memories,” Levi say firmly, looking at me, his eyes crinkled with concern. “The memory of her time as Amantara when we first arrived caused her to seize. She bled from her eyes, ears, and nose.”

  “Well, then why not grant her immortality back?” Morgan asks, crossing her arms.

  “I can do no such thing,” Levi says, and the others just look shocked.

  “It seems, my dear Leviathan, that you do not know everything you should know,” she sighs. “Before we jump into all of this, let’s eat, I'm starved.” She claps her hands and a table for ten appears in the middle of the room, upon it more food than I think I've ever seen. I just kind of gawk at the sight of it.

  I look back at my guys, Levi looks shocked still from Morgan’s little revelation, whereas the others just kind of look cautious.

  “Oh for goodness sake, we're not going to poison you,” Morgan huffs. “Mara was once my closest and dearest friend, despite a lot of prejudice on my part. None of you will come to any harm in my realm from this point. You have my word.” Power sings across the room from her words and I watch as the others relax a little. Strangely, I don't feel any sort of mistrust towards her or the four men with her. Considering who they are, the queen and her Horsemen, I probably should, but I feel so at ease, my instincts telling me to trust them and that small seed of power I felt yesterday just seems settled, at peace, in their presence.

  “We can trust them,” I say to my guys. Creek takes me at my word and strolls towards the table where Morgan already sits at the head, her four guys down one side. Leaving the other side and the other end of the table open.

  “Come on,” I say to the other three. Kain smiles at me softly and follows Creek. I grab Levi and Roman’s hands, always the more cautious two of the four, and pull them along with me.

  “Mara, sit by me. We have so much to catch up on. Starting with how the hell you ended up as a mortal!” She eyes Levi as I sit and he sits down next to me, Roman on his other side. Creek is already seated at the far end of the table, between Kain and Killian.

  “Well, for starters, my name is Remy now,” I say with a small laugh.

  “Oh no, you will always be Mara to us.” She waves her hands, echoing Caleb's earlier words and he grins at me from his seat next to her, opposite me.

  “Okay then.” I laugh.

  “So, I see you took my advice and found yourself a harem. I told you it was more fun this way.” She winks at me as she reaches for the food in front of us and starts to fill her plate. Once she starts, the others reach for various plates, and the clink of cutlery fills the air.

  “Technically, I have no recollection of that, and all of this is a long story,” I say, putting my hand on Levi's thigh beneath the table. He's still so rigid beside me so I lean into him and kiss his cheek.

  “Well, I guess you better start talking then.”

  We eat and I tell her what I've been told about my death as Amantara, and my lives since then. She sits patiently listening as I ramble on, the guys adding small details here and there, until I finish telling her about Archer and Fallon, and our journey through the Shadow Realm so far.

  “So that brings us to now, and why we're here,” I say and her eyes darken.

  “Have any of you heard any details about this?” She says to her Horsemen who look equally as pissed off.

  “I'd heard of some smaller tears, we've been handling them, but we hadn't heard of anything of this magnitude,” Caleb tells her. “We'll get on it, and we'll find your friend,” he says to me.

  “I want whoever is working with this Hunter found and brought before me. A gathering of the higher Demons along with it to teach them exactly why I do not tolerate this bullshit.” Her words crackle with power, and Creek flinches at the end of the table.

  “Sorry, Creek. Didn't mean to send that in your direction,” she says, and Creek smiles.

  “It’s fine, just didn't expect it,” he says, and my eyes bounce between the two of them. He looks unharmed, but it puts me on edge.

  “I'm fine, Remy,” he says noticing the look on my face. I nod, trusting that he'd tell me if not.

  “Now then, since I have these four starting the hunt for your friend, let’s get you guys settled. I assume one room will be fine?” Morgan says, turning to me with a cheeky grin.

  “One room will be fine, no offence, but I'm hoping we're not here too long. It’s taken us longer than I wanted to find Fallon already,” I say softly.

  “I completely understand, but selfishly, I kind of want you to myself. Maybe once we sort this mess out, you can come back and visit?” She asks, and I nod.

  “I'd like that.”

  “Can we assist with the search?” Levi asks, looking towards Caleb who seems to be Morgan’s right hand.

  “It's not necessary, but if you'd like to accompany us, you're welcome. It will give these two more time to gossip,” Caleb says, looking to Morgan, his love for her obvious on his face. None of the others object to his words so I guess he is their leader of sorts. Similar to Levi, he has that air of authority, a natural leader.

  “Sounds good to me,” Roman says. I look to him, since he's been unusually quiet since we got here and he smiles at me. I can tell he's still not fully on board with all of this, but he's trying. Trusting me with people he doesn't really know must be driving his wolf insane.

  “Let's show you your room, and then you boys can go hunting while us girls talk about who is better in the sack,” she says, winking at Roman who barks out a laugh while I blush.

  “You'll leave her memories alone until we're back?” Levi says, looking to Morgan.

  “I won't do anything to her until we've discussed it all further,” she says with a nod, and his shoulders relax a little further.

  “Thank you,” he says, squeezing my hand under the table. While I don't really like him talking about me like I'm not here, I understand his concern, so I let it go.

  “Morgan, maybe we should head out to start the hunt now, and we can show them their room when we get back,” Caleb interjects and she nods.

  “That’s fine, off you go. We'll be able to keep ourselves entertained,” she says, a twinkle in her eye. “As long as you don't mind staying here keeping me company while the guys all disappear,” she says to me.

  “No, it’s fine,” I say with a small smile. I don't like the idea of the guys going out and risking themselves, but I know they can handle themselves, and they're literally with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. What’s the worst that could happen?

  “Perfect!” She says, and her men stand, mine following suit, and they seem to pair up. Kain and Malik, Creek and Bryce, Roman and Killian, Levi and Caleb.

  “Like really does call to like,” Morgan says, watching them with raised eyebrows. Caleb laughs but doesn't explain before they all disappear before our eyes.

  “What do you mean?” I ask her when they're gone.

  “Your men and mine have a lot of similarities. Caleb is Conquest, their unofficial leader, and Leviathan is the Archangel of War. He led legions of Angels to successful battles. Malik is the quieter, reserved on of the bunch, and your Kain seems rather restrained, he was also once a prince of his kind before those four found each other, and if memory serves, Kain is also a prince of kinds. Bryce is War, a Demon with a warrior’s heart, the same as your Hunter, Creek. And Killian is Famine, a devastator of worlds. Your Lycan holds a similar power inside of him, the power to destroy an entire people should he be so inclined. I've not come across another group of warriors so similar to my men in all my time. Your heart chose well, Mara.”

  “Oh,” is all I can think to say, and she laughs loudly.

  “Oh, you have not changed a bit in all this time. Your k
ind heart still pushes you in everything you do. I can tell. I am so glad that after everything your soul has not been tainted by the darkness as it could have been. That was quite the tale you told. I am not sure I could be so forgiving to those who crossed me, even if they are family.”

  “You'd forgive your men anything,” I counter, and she smiles.

  “I would. They are the family I never thought I'd have.”

  “That, I understand completely,” I tell her with a smile.

  “I can tell.”

  “You can really give me all of my memories back?” I ask her.

  “I can. Though your Angel doesn’t seem too keen on it,” she says with a frown. “I’m still bewildered that he didn’t know he could remake you into an immortal. Whatever Cas and the rest of them are up to on Avalon worries me, but that is for another time.”

  “I haven’t even ever considered immortality.” I shrug.

  “It’s not so different to how you live now, except that you’d likely get your wings back, you’d likely get your other powers back too and you wouldn’t have to deal with the constant relearning. You’d be able to stay with your men forever without those years of separation, well, except for your Hunter.” I sigh at the last part of her sentence. While on the one hand, immortality could be the tip in the balance that helps us with whatever archer has planned, if Morgan and her Horsemen are able to help us, it may not be necessary, plus, Creek. He would be gone for untold amounts of time with his rebirth. “It’s not something to worry about just yet, I daresay the wrath of your Angel is a sight to behold.”

  “Something like that,” I say, chuckling at the wistful look on her face.

  “It has been a long time since someone has challenged my power in the way that’s happening now, and we didn’t even know about it. It would appear, we’ve gotten a little lazy over the centuries.” She shrugs.

  “Can you help us, back on Earth I mean?”

  “We can’t.” She shakes her head and my face falls. “Unleashing those four on Earth would cause more harm than good. Here, their power is kept in check by the very fabric that creates the Shadow Realm. On Earth, there is no such power, and so the very essence of what they are infects those around them. There is a reason the humans named them the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” She grins.

  “Okay, yeah no, let’s leave them here.” I laugh, trying not to be too disappointed that they won’t be able to help.

  “But down here, I can help down here. Any Demons who are already on Earth, I can’t help with, but you and I can reseal the realm, make it impossible for any others to leave from this side, though, you may need your full immortal strength and powers back for that to work.” She shrugs. She waves a hand and the table clears, and transforms to a smaller one. Two glasses, a bucket of ice, and a bottle of whiskey appear in front of us. “I assume it’s still your tipple of choice?”

  “You assume right,” I say, practically drooling over the bottle of Macallen 1926 sitting before us.

  “Now, let’s drink and enjoy ourselves while the men are out hunting troublesome Demons, shall we?”

  I shrug, because how do you turn down the Queen of the Shadow Realm. Guilt gnaws at me for doing this when we still haven’t found Fallon, but the guys are all out searching for her, and she pins me with a look. So I smile, and lift my glass “Lets!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Fallon

  My prison cell has been upgraded. Turns out selling your soul to a Demon will do that, and now I'm back in the room I was in when I first woke up here. I watch Rebel asleep on my bed, unable to rest myself as I guard the room from the assholes that wait outside. I can't do much against them, and Azriel swore no further harm would come to either of us, but something is wrong with Rebel. She doesn't seem like herself, and the guilt of it eats at me.

  It’s my fault she was taken, my fault that she's here.

  It might be Archer’s fault overall, but I couldn't protect her from these monsters, I couldn't even protect myself.

  And now I'm going to be trapped here forever.

  Part of my bargain. Saving my sister’s life, and in return, sacrificing my own. I try not to dwell on everything I'll be giving up, including my own fucking sanity.

  Though deep down, I'm still hoping that Remy comes up with a way to beat Archer, and in turn, free me from my deal. Don't get me wrong, I would sacrifice myself for my sister happily, but without that shred of hope...

  I don't even really want to think about it.

  “Fallon?” Rebel murmurs as she wakes. She's too young to be here, to have gone through what she's gone through. The shadows I see in her eyes as she takes in our surroundings serve as a reminder that no matter what I've given up, it was worth it.

  “I'm here, Rebel,” I say softly from my corner of shadows. “You should go back to sleep sweetheart, it’s the middle of the night.”

  “Okay,” she says, still half asleep and lies back down. I let out a deep breath as her breathing evens out again, and she leaves this horror for her sleeping world.

  “Fallon?” The whisper reaches me as the door to the room cracks open, and I see Deacon stood in the sliver of light. I glare at him, but I guess he can't see me when he opens the door wider to find me in the darkness.

  “What do you want?” I hiss.

  “I wanted to say I'm sorry,” he says softly, his head hung. “Much like you, I'm a prisoner here. Azriel... he is the higher Demon of this level. If I go against his wishes...” He shudders and waves for me to join him outside of the room when he notices Rebel sleeping on the bed. He frowns at her, but shakes his head and opens the door wider for me, inviting me outside of the room.

  I sigh and stand, because really, what other choice do I have other than to wake Rebel with his blathering.

  “You can be sorry all you like Deacon, you still did what you did. I won't ever forgive that,” I tell him straight. “I am here against my will, I made the deal I made to save my sister from a similar fate. Beyond that one choice, I have none. I am a prisoner here, I will bend to Azriel's will at a cost, probably greater than I ever thought I would have to pay.”

  “If I could save you from it I would. Is your sister... is she okay?” He asks, and I glare at him.

  “No thanks to you, but she will be fine,” I hiss. “I just need to get her back to my mama. She'll be losing her god damn mind.”

  “I will see what I can do,” he tells me softly. “I truly am sorry, I have never had family, so I do not know what it is to sacrifice for them, to love someone in that way, but I can see how hurt you are, how her being here haunts you, and so I will do what I can to help get her back to your realm.”

  He doesn't wait for me to respond, he just turns and leaves me in the brightly lit hall. I look around, taking in the space around me, realizing this is the first time I've seen it, but since I am now bound to this place, I suppose they have no fears that I will attempt to escape.

  The hall is little more than a mezzanine, looking down to another hall below. We're on the fourth and top floor, the hall a horseshoe in shape, and each level is laid out in a similar way. So very many doors on each level, I can't imagine that they're all bedrooms, but I shudder to think at what they might be. At the curve of the horseshoe, is a giant white staircase, linking each level, descending to the ground, which is full of tables.

  This place looks like a fucking library. I roll my eyes and head back into my room. I move the dresser as quietly as I can in front of the door. I'm not stupid enough to think that it'll stop a Demon trying to come in, but it makes me feel a little better.

  Exhaustion pulls on me as I settle onto the bed next to Rebel who is still fast asleep. There might be thirteen years between us, and I might have resented having so much responsibility when it came to her before, but now I know I'm probably going to miss out on watching her grow up, my heart hurts, and I'm grateful to have this little chunk of time with her, even if she is still trapped here. I close my eyes and try to shut out
the racing thoughts and get some sleep before whatever tomorrow brings.

  “You can give me my powers back?” I ask skeptically as Azriel grins at me. He invited us down for breakfast in his private quarters, and we've all eaten in silence, until he dropped that little bomb on me.

  “Well, I can gift you power,” he says, smirking as he leans back in his chair. “It won't be the same power you're used to, it will be more. But I'll give you a little at a time. You're going to have to earn it, and my trust. Can’t have my newest plaything using that power against me now can we?” He winks, and I force myself to smile at him. Of course there's a catch, he's a Demon.

  “And how, exactly would you like me to prove myself?” I ask him, trying to keep the rage from my face.

  “Well, I think that's best discussed when small ears aren't at the table, don't you?” I swallow the bile that rises at his words. There isn't a chance in hell I'll do that for him, not for all the power in the world.

  “If you say so,” I say back, not wanting to let him know he got to me, though Deacon balks at me. Well tough shit, he doesn't get to judge, especially when he has no idea who I really am. A plan starts to form in my mind, but I keep the glee from my face. These Demons might just have bitten off more than they can chew. Especially if Remy is on her way here. I intend to have enough power by the time she gets here to turn these assholes to nothing more than dust.

  I pop a mini bread bite with salmon and cream cheese in my mouth, groaning as I chew. These guys might be assholes, but the food here is fucking divine. Rebel is oblivious to it all as she tucks into her pancake stack, and I'm glad that the resilience of her youth is benefitting her right now. I'm almost envious.

  I sit quietly, pretending not to be interested as Azriel discusses his next steps with Deacon, who's eyes keep darting to me, trying to assess what game I'm playing, but I shrug when I catch him staring. I'm going to be the best prisoner they ever had, and then I'm going to be the worst nightmare they never could have imagined. I'll raze this entire fucking realm if that's what it takes.