Fated Mates of the Underworld, Books 1-3

by Baxter, Linzi

  I pulled back. “I’ll be fine.”

  * * *

  The trip from hell to the mortal plane was quick and painless. We came out in the cemetery only a few blocks from my apartment. I’d mapped out everything for the past six months. My plan was finally coming into place.

  “You know he’s going to worry about you,” Wrath said as we walked out of the cemetery.

  “He can’t keep me caged up there forever.”

  “He has his reasons.” Wrath frowned. “You aren’t safe walking around unprotected, but I understand that you can’t be down there forever either. I don’t think I would’ve lasted as long as you did.”

  “Since I’m in the mortal area, you can tell me the big secret.”

  “Everything will come out when it is supposed to. Until then, live your life and enjoy it because if the prophecy starts to come true, Lucifer will lock you right back up.”

  The problem with prophecies was that there were a million of them. I’d tried reading through a bunch to see if I could figure them out. Each one was the same—someone was born, and that person would end the world. Wrath wasn’t going to tell me, so I didn’t bother asking any more questions.

  “Is Lust already here?”

  “Yep.” Wrath smiled. “You did well today. Lust and I talked, and we planned to help you get here even if Lucifer didn’t allow it.”

  “Thank you.”

  Growing up with the seven deadly sins hadn’t always been easy. I’d been closest to Wrath. One thing I loved about her was how much she cared about her family. A few of the sisters, I hadn’t seen in years.

  “This is it.” I stopped in front of a small building.

  A window curtain was pulled back, and Lust sat drinking a cup of tea. I ignored my big sister and kept walking to my apartment. The previous week, I’d had a courier bring me the keys.

  The key clicked, and the door opened. “Macy?” I called. My new roommate had said she would be home.

  When she didn’t answer, I walked deeper into the apartment, and Wrath closed the door behind me. It only took a second for dread to come over me. A trail of blood was on the floor. I followed it, hearing Wrath’s heels click behind me. In the center of the kitchen lay my roommate, dead in a puddle of her own blood. But my eyes weren’t on Macy. They were on the man holding a knife, whose eyes were flashing yellow.

  Wrath’s sword buzzed by my head, and the killer dropped to the ground. I’d only been on the mortal plane fifteen minutes, and someone had already died because of me.

  But I wasn’t going to go back to hell.

  The End - Preorder Daisy’s story now!

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  OTHER TITLES BY LINZI BAXTER

  White Hat Security Series

  Hacker reExposed

  Royal Hacker

  Misunderstood Hacker

  Undercover Hacker

  Hacker Revelation

  Hacker Christmas

  Hacker Salvation

  Hacker Enclosed

  Hacker Wedding - Jan 12, 2021

  Nova Satellite Security Series

  (White Hat Security Spin Off)

  Pursuing Phoenix

  Pursuing Aries

  Pursuing Pegasus

  Pursuing Columbia Mar 30, 2021

  Pursuing Cygnus May 25, 2021

  Immortal Dragon

  The Dragon’s Psychic

  The Dragon’s Human

  The Dragon’s Mate

  The Dragon’s Warlock

  The Dragon’s Wolf

  The Dragon’s Daughter Dec 15, 2020

  A Flipping Love Story (Special Forces World)

  Unlocking Dreams

  Unlocking Hope

  Unlocking Love

  Unlocking Desire

  Unlocking Secrets Apr 27, 2021

  Unlocking Lies

  Montana Gold (Brotherhood Protector World)

  Grayson’s Angel

  Noah’s Love

  Bryson’s Treasure

  Fated Mates of the Underworld

  Hell’s Key

  Hell’s Touch

  Hell’s Portal

  Hell’s Angel

  Visit linzibaxter.com for more information and release dates.

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  The Dragon’s Psychic

  Chapter 1

  When the universe throws you a curve ball, you can either fight it head-on or run for your life.

  The fresh air of the West Virginia mountains did nothing to calm Talia’s nerves. It wasn’t the first time the supernatural council had summoned her. Once the council found out about her ability, they used her to help solve cases, and now they called at least once a month. But something about that day’s call made her uneasy.

  If Talia could hide from the council, she would. Yes, she loved the money she made—it helped support her Jimmy Choo habit and kept a roof over her head. But the visions took a toll on her with each new case. It wasn’t as if she could unsee her visions. The images haunted her in her dreams.

  Each state had its own governing council. A handful of high-ranking government officials in each state’s council governed the supernatural community. Only a few humans were aware of the supernatural world, and the supernatural beings wanted it kept that way. The council’s headquarters for West Virginia were in the mountains, a few miles from Haven Springs, a small town inhabited mostly by shifters.

  Talia had not only helped the West Virginia Council—sometimes other state councils also called when they needed her help. The council was made up of supernatural beings who had been around for centuries, whose moral compass only consisted of black-and-white beliefs.

  Talia parked her red Toyota Corolla at the end of the gravel parking lot. She shifted in her seat and stared at the building, which resembled a warehouse. The morning sun hadn’t burned off the layer of fog surrounding it. From the outside, the building looked small, but she knew that under the structure was a maze of offices and research labs. A chill went through her as she thought about the research labs. She’d overheard horror stories over the years about the criminals being used as test subjects.

  Ever since Gideon, from the high council, had called, she felt like something bad was about to take place. Talia couldn’t call in sick—the council would send someone to her one-bedroom apartment and drag her to the warehouse. Few people had her ability, and some days, it seemed more like a curse than a gift. Today was one of those times she wished she had no abilities, because she had an inkling that once she walked into the building, her life would change.

  The council had placed cameras around the warehouse—Gideon would be informed the second Talia arrived. Even if she wanted, she couldn’t sit in her car much longer, or Gideon would send a goon out to grab her. Talia’s best friend, Nyx, had called her when she was in the parking lot a few weeks earlier, and they’d been on the phone for five minutes before one of Gideon’s men had shown up at her car window, ushering her inside.

  She took in a deep breath of the mountain air before she exited her car. The gravel crunched under her high heels as she walked toward the side entrance. Gary stood outside. He had been the day guard for as long as she’d worked for the council. The council used trolls for protection around the building because they were particularly loyal.

  No matter how many times Talia came to the council, Gary would motion for her badge. This time, she held it up, and he scanned it with his phone then nodded when a green check mark appeared on the screen. She grabbed the cold metal door and pulled it. Gideon had told her to head to the interrogation rooms.

  Talia stopped at the security desk. “Hi, Olinda. Is this new?”

  Every time Talia walked past Olinda’s desk, a new flashy trinket was sitting on it. Fairies loved to collect sparkly charmed objects.

  Olinda’s face lit up as she reached for her glittery gold miniature gnome. “Yes. Gary bought it for
me.” She blushed.

  Talia held back a smile. She couldn’t image the petite blond fairy with the muscular Gary. He didn’t resemble a troll unless he shifted, but he was close to seven feet tall, and his muscles had muscles.

  “That was nice of him.” Talia shifted to her other foot. “You have any clue why Gideon called me?”

  Olinda was in charge of the front desk for the council and heard all the latest gossip. She might be able to give Talia a hint about what she was about walk into.

  Olinda’s lips turned down. “I have no clue why he called you in, but Gideon is in a bad mood. Something happened, and he isn’t happy about it.”

  Great. Now I have to deal with a thousand-year-old grouch. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in a good mood, but if Olinda thought he was mad, well, their meeting would be bad.

  “Okay. I’ll head back.”

  Olinda reached in her pocket and threw gold glitter on her. Talia hated when Olinda doused her in glitter, but the fairy didn’t understand, and Talia didn’t want to upset her. Talia mumbled a thank-you and walked through the door to the left of the receptionist’s desk.

  She stepped into the back, where TVs lined the far wall of the warehouse. Each TV displayed the local news around the state and country. A team scrutinized the news and waited for someone to shift in public. Within minutes, the council would have someone on the scene, cleaning up the mess. The council members perceived it was important to keep their abilities a secret so humans wouldn’t do research on them, but it didn’t stop them from using the lab in the basement on their latest criminal.

  Talia bypassed the group working and walked down a plain hall to the back of the warehouse. On her way, she passed the stairway that led downstairs. In her years of helping the council, she’d never set foot downstairs, and she didn’t plan to ever go down there.

  Outside the interrogation room stood another guard. Talia didn’t remember his name, but she knew he was one of the council’s top guards. He stood with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Talia’s stomach turned with uneasiness again. Instead of opening the door to the room with the suspect, the guard nodded to the next door. Talia grasped the handle and pulled.

  Over the years, Talia had sent many supernaturals to life in prison and few to their deaths. Two years before, she’d observed a father murdering his family because he wanted to start over. The screams of his daughter as he stabbed her had stuck with Talia. She shook off the thought of the evil man she’d helped put away forever.

  “Kael,” she muttered as she entered the room. Gideon had always annoyed her, and his powers vibrated around the room, but Kael’s power seemed beyond anyone’s thoughts. Some days, her fingers itched to touch him and find out what he really hid under his perfect blank face. Talia believed he worked hard to cover who he really was, unlike Gideon, who let his powers out constantly. She didn’t understand how Gideon didn’t see Kael’s power.

  “Talia, we need your help on a case.” Kael gestured toward the two-way mirror. “The knife is the key to putting the girl away.” A long serrated kitchen knife wrapped in a white linen cloth sat on the silver metal cart, but that wasn’t what caught Talia’s attention in the four-by-four-foot interrogation room. No, it was the little girl sitting there, all of eight years old. Tears streaked down the girl’s face, but it was the vacancy in her eyes that made Talia want to help her. The young girl stared down at her hands until her head jerked up and her eyes focused directly in Talia’s direction. There was no way the girl could be aware of her on the other side of the glass, but she looked as if she was asking for help with her eyes before she glanced down at her blood-covered hands.

  “What does the girl have to do with this?” Talia asked. There was no way that young girl had done anything wrong.

  Kael crossed his arms. “She used the knife to murder Jalil and Maya Meadows.”

  “I have never met Jalil or Maya Meadows. Who are they?”

  “They’re both members of the council. Alida”—he nodded to the girl—”is their only child.”

  She couldn’t hold back the frown. “So I’m here to prove the young girl killed her parents?” Why would the little girl kill her parents, and since both of her parents are gifted, why would she use a knife and not her powers? The whole thing was strange. She couldn’t understand how a eight-year-old girl could overpower two council members.

  “We need you to confirm what we think happened, and then we can put her on trial.”

  “What did the girl say?” Talia asked.

  “She hasn’t spoken.”

  “Why do you think she killed her parents if she hasn’t spoken?”

  Kael crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not here to ask questions. We brought you in for one job.”

  “Don’t snap at me. I will get you your answers. You said her name is Alida?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I only need you to get a read of the knife.”

  “If you only wanted me to read the knife, you should have taken it out of the room.” Talia didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut sometimes.

  Kael cocked his head. “Yes, Alida is her name. Now, do what we pay you for.”

  Overgrown hotheaded council members were one of the other reasons Talia hated her job. She turned on her heel and left the observation room. The overgrown bodyguard opened the door to the interrogation room. She couldn’t wait to get a read on the knife and prove the asshole in the observation room wrong.

  Talia shivered as she entered the interrogation room. Someone had cranked the AC to a freezing temperature. Talia glanced at the two-way mirror. She knew Kael was watching her every move, and she couldn’t help but mumble, “Asshole.” It didn’t surprise Talia to see her breath in the cold room. Talia was pretty sure Kael would be mad if she interacted with the girl and didn’t just read the knife. But if they’d only wanted Talia to touch the knife, they should have taken it out of the room.

  The metal chair screeched against the cement floor as Talia pulled it back from the table. The little girl gazed up from her bloody hands. Her blond locks had fallen out of her ponytail. Tears continued to stream down her face, but it was the blank look that crushed Talia’s heart.

  “Hi, Alida. My name is Talia.”

  The little girl didn’t look up from her hands. She had to be in shock.

  Talia didn’t understand why the council had left the poor girl in the same room as the knife. Blood streaked down the side, and it looked menacing. This was the part of the job she hated. Normally, the reward for the pain she endured was knowing she would put a scumbag away. The thought of this young girl going to jail for this crime made her stomach churn.

  Talia was staring at the knife on the cart for a couple of minutes when a loud knock sounded on the mirror. She jumped at the noise, but the young girl continued to stare numbly at her hands. Talia moved her hands toward the knife. She hated this part. When she touched an object, she wasn’t just an observer—she could feel the pain and emotions of everyone in the room. If the scene was too bad, the vision would drain her body of its energy, and she would need to lie down.

  The council had a room for her. She’d only had to use it a few times. The last time was when a wolf went rogue and killed an entire pack. The pain she’d felt when he killed the women and kids was enough to knock her out for three days.

  After taking a few deep breaths, Talia reached for the knife. Her fingers locked around the black handle. The thing was heavy for a kitchen knife. This handle was the spot that should tell her who the killer was, since he or she would have held the weapon.

  Images of death and destruction assaulted Talia as she gripped the knife. The copper smell of blood choked her, but it wasn’t the scent that made it hard to concentrate on the vision—emotions were extremely strong in the room. She arrived in what she assumed was the kitchen of the little girl. They were all in the room together… Jalil, Maya, and Alida. The anger and sadness were so strong they caused blurriness around the edges
and somewhat in the center. Then she saw the little girl standing over her dead parents, holding the knife.

  Talia glanced at Alida in the vision. The little girl stared into her eyes. “I didn’t do it.”

  Talia had never before experienced anyone talking to her in a vision. This girl had powers beyond anyone’s belief. There was no way she would have killed her parents with a knife. Talia could feel the little girl’s powers vibrating through the room. She strained to see around the blurriness of the vision, but all she could hear was the little girl sob, “I didn’t do it.” Talia didn’t know if Alida’s powers or the emotions in the room were affecting her vision. She closed her eyes for a second to focus. She needed to find something to prove the girl’s innocence. When she looked to the side, she saw a black figure.

  Something pulled her out of her vision, and her body was transported back to the room. Exhaustion overtook her, but she needed to fight through it. If she hadn’t already been sitting on the chair, she would have collapsed to the ground. The vision had taken an extreme amount of energy, but being pulled out of it had caused her stomach to turn. She looked around the room to find Arrow standing next to her with the knife in his hand.

  “Why did you pull me out?” she asked.

  “Your eyes rolled back, and you chanted a language nobody had ever heard.”

  “You had no right to pull me out.” If she’d had more energy, she would have stood and gone toe to toe with the overgrown enforcer. But Arrow would never admit he’d done something wrong. Talia took her eyes away from the enforcer and studied Alida. “What are her powers?” she asked without taking her eyes off the little girl.

  Arrow shook his head. “Her parents told the council she had no powers. Gideon can’t sense any powers in her. It doesn’t matter. She used the knife to kill her parents. Is that what you saw?”

  Talia didn’t know how to explain the vision. If she admitted the girl could talk to her during it, Alida might be put in further danger. This was the first time she wouldn’t tell the council her true vision—and technically, she hadn’t seen the little girl kill anyone.