by HP Mallory
Tallis took a step toward me and pulled me into him. I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead, he brushed his lips against my cheek and whispered, “If words are nae workin’ for ye anymore, then I will jist have to prove me heart belongs to ye, Besom.” He lightly grasped my hand and tugged me towards the rest of our group. We didn’t speak another word as we approached an iron gate that blocked the rest of the tunnel. I looked over at Tallis and nodded, recognizing that this was the end of the conversation. It had to be. For now anyway.
Asterion and Bill bickered about something under their breath but fell silent as we drew near. I lifted a questioning brow at Bill. The angel stammered a little but then turned and pried the gate open. I saw light up ahead, and the tunnel gave way to miles of black sand.
“Where are we?” I asked. I didn’t recognize this place along the river’s edge.
“So long as we keep out of the way of them lemurs, I’m good,” Bill said.
“Lemures,” Asterion corrected.
“So you keep saying, but nobody likes an I-think-I-knows-a-lot, Kemosabe.”
“Bill, you do realize a lemur is a primate, right?” I asked.
“Primate, weird monster that impregnates marionettes, what’s the difference?”
“I don’t even want to ask.” So, I didn’t.
Bill and Asterion knelt beside the riverbank. A thick fog rolled across the surface. Asterion reached into the river and tugged on a rickety old chain. In the distance, a hooded figure appeared. The ferryman.
He rowed his boat up to the edge of the water and held his hand out for payment. Asterion looked at my former guardian angel who frowned at him.
“What? Whattcha looking at me like that for?”
“You don’t have any coins?”
“Nah, I’m all outta charity donations. What about you?” Bill looked at Asterion like the latter held some profound knowledge. I glanced between the two of them. They seemed closer than before, like they’d bonded somehow in those tunnels while Tallis and I had been talking.
Asterion’s hands clenched for a moment, but he dug into his pockets and came up with what looked like a gold coin—an old one. He dropped it into the ferryman’s outstretched hand. The coin glowed a brilliant shade of orange before disappearing into the ferryman’s skeletal hand. Asterion was the first to board the small boat. The rest of us climbed in one by one.
“And now we venture into the Underground City,” Asterion said. “As soon as we cross this river.”
“What was that?” I asked him. “Why did the coin glow?”
“I think the Minotaur has been to Plutus’s vault,” Tallis said. “That’s the only place where ye’d find sooch coins.”
“Plutus’s vault?” I repeated, shaking my head.
Tallis nodded. “Aye. ‘Tis cursed treasure that belongs to the God of Wealth that pirates an’ thieves worshiped in their greed.”
“The ferryman accepts cursed pirate gold? Doesn’t he care that it was stolen from a god?” I asked.
“He doesnae care, for its value is far greater than any regular gold.”
I glanced over at Asterion. He knew so much about the places in the Underground City that not even Bill or I were aware of. Getting into Plutus’s vault couldn’t have been easy. I wondered what other secrets Asterion kept bottled up inside him. After we learned a bit about Asterion’s past on our last mission, I didn’t know what to expect from him.
I knew what I was after. I knew what Alaire was after. I knew what Bill and Tallis were after. But Asterion’s goals were still unknown to me. Regardless, it was time to fill Tallis and Bill in on my plans.
I cleared my throat. “After we visit Jenny at the Toy Store and I’m able to connect with my mother, I’m going after Uriel.”
“That’s far too dangerous,” Tallis responded.
“Uriel’s in trouble, yo,” Bill added, shaking his head. “You saw them pictures o’ him in Alaire’s dungeon.”
I nodded and kept my gaze on Asterion. “At this point, there’s no going back, and trying to hide under AE’s radar would be impossible.”
“We will nae allow ye to go after Uriel yerself, Besom,” Tallis said and his jaw was tight.
“I know,” I answered. “So I’m asking you to come with me.”
“It’s easy for me to answer ‘cause I can’t be killed or nothin’,” Bill said with a shrug. “So you know I’m in.”
“Aye, I’m in as well,” Tallis answered.
“And so am I as you already knew,” Asterion added, holding my gaze all the while.
“You?” Tallis insisted.
Asterion nodded. “I promised to take you all to the Toy Store, but our journey doesn’t end there. I owe a debt to Uriel. And that debt means I need to help him escape Alaire’s clutches.”
“I’m going for the clout,” Bill answered next, earning a few glares from the rest of us. “I can see it now: little, insignificant angel saves the most powerful of angels. They’ll write a book about me, and those big boys upstairs’ll have to give me a promotion.” Then he faced the rest of us. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna give ya all some credit, too. The Epic Adventures of Bill Angel and Friends.”
No one said anything more as the ferryman took us further down the river. I began to recognize my surroundings the closer we came to the Toy Store. Tallis took my hand in his once again. His strength made me feel safe.
Safe and protected because I knew Tallis would lay down his life for me. Bill was immortal, of course, so he didn’t have to worry about doing the same. But then I thought of something… maybe Bill wasn’t as immortal as we’d supposed. If the weapon Alaire described could kill The Forsaken, then it followed that it could kill angels too… Or so I imagined.
NINE
LILY
I walked through the trees.
Flickering amber light broke through the shadows.
It led me to a camp at the base of the mountain. Annice sat beside the crackling fire with a strange stone resting in the palms of her hands. The stone glowed, casting a blue light into her eyes.
“Come closer, Sorcha,” Annice whispered, never moving her gaze from the eerie stone. “Stare into the fire and tell me what you see. Is it dark or is it light?”
I moved closer to the flame and knelt in front of the dancing fire. “Dark.”
Annice closed her eyes and gripped the stone tighter. “Tell me what you see…”
“I see smoke and... love,” I responded. “But it… feels wrong.”
“And a color?”
“Blue... no, green. Dark, almost black. His eyes…” I felt myself leaning closer to the blazing embers. Tears slithered down my cheeks, and I reached into the fire, unable to stop myself. My fingers dug into the ash and I pulled out a ring. It burned white-hot in my hands, but I held it without pain.
Annice opened her eyes, and I met her gaze, breaking the trance that had fallen over me. “What is it?” I asked.
“The key.”
“The key to what?” I implored.
“That is what you must discover on your own, but beware, Sorcha. I fear your journey does not end happily. You are running out of time. Death has tilted the hourglass, and the sands are moving quickly. Hold tight to your courage, Sorcha. And fall without fear….
And so fell Sorcha Fergus, the beloved of Tallis Black, betrayed into the hands of Aulus Plauntius.
I stared up at the simmering inferno of Fergus Castle. My bones were broken, and so was my heart. The eyes of Aulus Plauntius glared down at me from the broken window.
A figure stood over me, blocking my sight.
Annice.
She held my hand in hers and kissed the center of my forehead.
“Let go, Sorcha. Death is not the end for you. You will see your beloved again. I promise.” Annice slipped the ring on my finger and cradled me until I gasped my last dying breath...
###
LILY
Tallis shook me awake.
“We’re here, lass.
” His worried gaze lingered on my face for a moment before he helped me step out of the boat. I looked up the hill, at the small structure at its peak where Jenny ran her business. Tallis took the lead as Asterion checked the perimeter to make sure Alaire’s men weren’t lying in wait. Before he got too far ahead, I grabbed Tallis and stole a quick kiss. He smiled down at me and I felt warm inside. I was glad we were working things out.
“Congurgitations,” Bill muttered. “You two sicken me sometimes.”
I flipped the angel my middle finger.
One glance down at my appearance caused me to grimace. I was covered in muck from the tunnels, and a layer of dirt and sweat began to dry on my skin. My hair was tangled at the ends and smelled worse than it looked. I took a page from Asterion’s book and finger combed my hair until I was able to braid it. It wasn’t much, but it tidied me up a bit.
I was more than sure Jenny looked like she fell out of a dominatrix catalog. Just the thought of seeing the bombshell demon made me feel insecure all over again. Tallis’s friendship with Jenny made me jealous the last time I was here, and I wasn’t looking forward to experiencing it all over again.
When we reached the front door of the shack, Elizaveta, Jenny’s first in command, opened it before we could. A panicked expression overcame her features, and Tallis shot me a glance that made me reach for the handle of my sword.
“We’ve come to see Jenny,” Tallis said.
Elizaveta nodded once. “She knows you come.”
“How?” I started but Elizaveta didn’t spare me a look.
She continued to stare at Tallis and then Asterion. “Alaire’s got bounty on your heads,” she said in her thick Eastern European accent. “We were told not to help you, Bladesmith.”
“I wouldnae be here if it werenae important. We need to see Jenny.”
Elizaveta waved us inside and led us through a door I hadn’t noticed the first time I visited the Toy Store. Through the door was a hall. The hall led to a staircase that took us to another closed door. Elizaveta knocked once and someone told her to enter, so she opened the door and we walked into Jenny’s office.
“They’ve come,” Elizaveta said by way of introduction.
Jenny looked up from a stack of papers in her hand and gave me a sympathetic smile. She stood up and sauntered around the desk to stand before me. I could practically hear the men in the room salivating.
“Goddamn! You just get better each time I see ya!” Bill was insufferable. Just as I’d assumed, she was covered in black, shiny leather head to toe with tall, black stiletto boots. And she was more beautiful than I remembered. Lucky for me I smelled and looked like total shit.
“Angel,” Jenny said in greeting. Then she faced Tallis. “Bladesmith.”
“Jenny,” he nodded.
She looked past him to Asterion. “Asterion, I have not seen you in many, many years.”
“Greetings,” he answered.
“You are quite… attractive in your human form,” she finished as she looked him up and down… appreciatively.
He chuckled. “As are you.”
“I got dibs!” Bill said without bothering to face Asterion. “Jenny, you remember me right?”
“I do,” Jenny answered but her interest seemed to be centered around Asterion this visit.
“An’ you remember how happy I made you an’ all your girls?” Bill continued, looking her up and down. “We could have us a repeat.”
“If we could all please get down to business,” I started, not wanting this visit to devolve into a sex show because that’s exactly where it had gone last time. Luckily, Tallis hadn’t wanted to be involved so we’d left Bill with Jenny and her girls for… long enough that he could enjoy himself.
“I know why you’re here, Lily.” Jenny reached into her impressive cleavage and pulled out a folded scrap of paper. She handed it over to me without even an ounce of shame. I accepted the letter begrudgingly and gasped when I saw the name scrawled at the top.
Uriel.
“It arrived not even an hour ago,” Jenny said.
“Why would he tell you we were coming?” I asked. “And how did he tell you?”
“Uriel is an archangel and, thus, very powerful,” Jenny answered. “He found a way… obviously.”
Jenny looked at the four of us with a smile curling her lips. That unsettling gaze of hers raked over Asterion and Tallis appreciatively again. Anger began to prickle at the edges of my consciousness. Jenny didn’t seem fazed at all.
“The letter instructs me to help you, but I haven’t seen Uriel in nearly a hundred years,” Jenny said. “Thus, I wonder why should I help you without getting something in return? After all, I would be risking my business.”
“Tallis is off the menu,” I growled.
Jenny tossed her hair and chuckled lightly. She stepped past me and ran one index finger up Asterion’s chest. Though I held no claim over him, of course, I still felt a stab of jealousy when he responded to the demon’s touch with a growl.
“What do you want, Jenny?” I asked.
She returned her gaze to me even as she continued to pet Asterion like a prized stallion. “If that letter is true and you are going after Uriel, then I want to speak with him when he is freed.”
“Why?” I asked, wondering if I could trust her. Yes, she’d helped us last time but she was still a demon and still controlling one of the levels of the Underground City.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she started as she continued rubbing up against Asterion, only this time she also circled him, touching his body all over. “I knew Uriel long before he earned the title of archangel,” she explained. “I’ll help you contact the other side if you give me the chance to talk to my old friend. Not a bad deal, I think.”
No, it wasn’t.
Even when every fiber of my being told me to be petty and deny Jenny, there was more at stake than my pride. “Alright. You’ve got a deal.” I paused as I watched her come to the front of Asterion’s body where she stood a few heads shorter than he was. Asterion returned her intensely sexual expression. She reached up and gripped his neck, yanking his head down before she licked him from his chin to the base of his nose.
“You haven’t had a woman in far too long,” she said, inhaling him.
“I haven’t,” he answered as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her into him.
I frowned. “We don’t have time for this,” I said as Tallis looked at me with one raised eyebrow.
“Oh, come on!” Bill whined. “Where’s my turn?”
“Do you want this contract written in blood or something?” I demanded, not wanting to watch any more of Jenny and her sexual antics.
She looked at me and chuckled. “I might be several centuries older than you, but I’m not archaic.” The demoness sauntered over to a panel behind her desk and pulled it free. “Only Lily and the angel can follow. The rest of you will need to guard the entrance in case Alaire’s hunters show up.”
“How does Alaire know we’re here?” I demanded.
She looked up at me. “How does Alaire know half the things he knows? He’s the Master of the Underground City. It’s his business to know.”
“Why cannae I come with Lily?” Tallis demanded.
Jenny focused on him for only a few seconds. “Bladesmith, I never thought I’d see you so… domesticated. What has she done to you, hmmm?”
“Naethin’ I did nae want her to do,” Tallis answered, standing up as straight as possible. “An’ I intend to accompany her.”
“This does not involve you, Tallis,” Jenny answered. “And, like I said before, I need both of you…men,” she said as she looked from Tallis to Asterion and licked her lips. “To protect us in case we get a visit from Alaire.”
“I don’t know about this, Nips,” Bill grumbled as he looked back at me. Asterion gave me the same worried expression, as if he agreed. Even though he’d just been molested and had seemed to approve of it.
“Ma
ybe we should discuss this a bit more before you do anything drastic,” he said.
You are running out of time. Death has tilted the hourglass and the sands are moving quickly.
“No. I’m doing this,” I said, shaking my head. “We’ve come too far. Don’t lose faith now.” I followed Jenny and ducked through the opening and into a smaller room. It was dark with lit candles forming a circle. There didn’t appear to be anything within the circle.
“Give me your hand,” Jenny said as she reached for my hand before I could offer it. Then she pulled out a blade from behind her and before I could stop her, she slashed a line into the palm of my hand. Immediately, the wound started bleeding as I gasped in pain and shock.
“I need your blood to make this work,” she said as she motioned me forward, toward the candles. “Step over the candles,” she instructed. I did as she said and instantly felt cold air wash over me. The wound in my hand continued to bleed and the blood traveled down my arm until it dropped off my elbow and landed on the floor below me. Almost instantly, a door appeared in the circle of candle light, just before me.
“Your mother is through that door,” Jenny informed me.
“How much time do I have?” I asked.
“Not long. The others will have to keep Alaire’s men busy, if he shows up, while you talk to your mother. The angel and I will guard you from this side. You have an hour or so.”
“You make it sound like I’m leaving or something?” I asked.
“Similar,” she answered with a smile as she removed a silver locket from around her neck, and a wave of recognition came over me. It was one of the objects from my dream, one that had been indiscernible until that very moment when Jenny revealed the trinket to my eyes.
She opened the locket, and a tiny ball of light floated out and flew over to the lock of the large door that floated before me.
