“She has the dagger,” he stated.
“How the hell did she get the dagger?” Newfound energy surged through me, and I sat up, furious with him. I knew it probably wasn’t his fault, but he was the only one I had to blame.
He gave me a curt grunt, most likely telling me to shut my mouth, but I held strong. “Well?”
“She must have slipped it from my belt when we blinked back.” He growled, flexing his fists.
Jealousy reared at the thought of her having her hands on him. I swallowed it back. I would not turn into that over him. “We’ll get it back,” I countered and snuggled back down on the couch, deciding that sleep would be better than worrying over her.
Boy was I wrong.
Every little hair on my body stood on end as if I were fresh out of the dryer. Coal visibly stiffened. The only movement was his eyes darting around the room. Good, he felt it too. A sinking feeling added to the lingering nausea in my stomach, and my heart started to race.
“Coal, what’s happening?” Fear iced my voice.
“Someone is breaching the wards.”
Not just someone, five somethings added layers to the room like a blizzard. I gasped, jumping to my feet and swaying when my head spun. I groaned. It was daylight outside, and I just wanted to sleep.
Three fully formed gargoyles latched onto Coal, who was mid-transformation and looking all kinds of hot. Two of them took an arm, and the other positioned himself behind him, his hands tightly gripping his neck.
The fourth hauled ass across the room, his sights set on me. My shadows spooled around me, ready to dive in. I sent them hurtling towards him to distract him. I leaped over the couch and ducked while he was temporarily blinded. He roared, shaking the walls. I would have to find a new place to live, somewhere isolated without neighbors if this was going to be a thing now.
My shadows tore into his mind. They ripped through him in a frenzy, desperate to feed after all we’d been through in the caves. Taking on a mind of their own, they spread through him quickly, leaving him incapacitated.
Boulders colliding in the far corner of the room had me glancing over. Coal grappled with two of them while the third was clutching his nose, bent over in pain. Coal seemed to be holding his own, but I reached my shadows out and invaded the mind of the one he’d hit with his head.
I would be lying if I didn’t take a second to watch the warrior in action as he fought off the other two. He shot a glance my way, making a pleading contact. I couldn’t quite grasp what it meant. Stay safe, maybe?
“Get out of here,” he ordered, then tore his gaze from mine. Well, that answers that.
Screw that macho shit. No way was I not helping him when I was completely capable of holding my own. I mean, look at me. I was single-handedly taking two of them out without even moving.
A maniacal chuckle rang through the room. All laughter drained from my body.
Hades.
What. The. Fuck.
How the hell was he topside? My mind immediately jumped to conclusions. Surely Scylla was involved and had something to do with this. I mean, why else would she be MIA with the dagger? I should’ve known she was nothing but shady.
“Enough!” he boomed. The Brothers all froze. Daddy’s presence was more than looming––it was downright overbearing. Only up here, he was a slightly attractive man rather than the red beast he was downstairs. And holy shit if I didn’t see Scylla in those sea-green eyes. There was no denying their kinship. A ripple of jealousy let me know just how I felt about that. “Where is the dagger?”
I stood from behind the couch, leveling my gaze with his as I kept feeding on the two brothers. I wasn’t going to back down. I needed the energy, and it felt great. My body was healing itself, renewed with their fears. Which were rather tasty, I might add. There was something to feeding off of gargoyles with mates.
But I also couldn’t help the guilt that Coal was instilling within me. It was hard to deny the remorse I felt for taking love from someone, especially when her mate was just doing his job to put food on the table and keep his family safe from Hades.
Still, I was just a Shadow, possibly demon, after all, right?
“What dagger?” I feigned knowledge.
“Don’t play stupid, Shadow,” he bit my name, prompting me to want to try and see if I could feed off him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Daddy,” I countered with a smirk.
“You know damn well what I’m talking about. I can feel its pull. I know it's been moved.” Well, technically, it's been moving for the last three thousand years because it was in me, after all. I shivered. This whole situation was just all kinds of odd.
“If you know it's been moved, then you should know where it's at? No?” His lips curled back in something resembling a wry smile. It sent chills racing over my skin, reminding me of why I hated him so much. “How are you here?”
He laughed sardonically. “My dagger, of course. It's my anchor. I’m impressed that you managed to find it, my daughter.” A snarl met my lips at the sound of my daughter falling from his pathetic mouth. My shadows twitched, ready to attack him.
His anchor, huh? I wanted to blame Scylla. That was, of course, my first instinct. If the dagger was his anchor, then I would guess if it was topside, he would be topside. If I had known it was that easy for him to get here, I would never have agreed to find it. And no, not because he would kill so many humans, but because now there was simply no place to be rid of him.
I had two choices now. Kill Hades, which I didn’t have the dagger, Scylla did.
Or destroy the dagger, which might kill him as well. I was allowed to dream, right? But Scylla still had the blade. Either way, I was screwed.
I released the Brother on the other side of the couch, ready to strike Daddy and give my theory a test when Scylla appeared behind him, equally prepared to strike. My eyes flashed, hoping to convey the question of ‘what are you waiting for’ and ignoring all the other thoughts flowing through my mind.
Like, I thought you had no powers, you slimy bitch.
She must have gotten my point because she plunged the dagger through his back, straight through his heart, and out the other side.
The asshole just flinched, an evil, all-knowing grin spreading across his face.
Damn.
Why didn’t it work? It should have worked, she was his daughter, after all, and it was his dagger. A two for one. Why the hell didn’t it work?
I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy with him.
I felt the pull of a gargoyle feeding, and much to my dismay, Coal was right. It didn’t feel good. It felt like a gazillion tiny spiders were crawling through me. Not on me, through me. I shuddered. I would have to make a move fast, or we were all toast.
“Scylla, get the dagger, and get out of here,” I commanded, channeling my inner Coal once again. I didn’t want us losing the dagger again, and I didn’t want him turning to see her. If I could see the resemblance, he sure could. “Stuff it away, in the Underside. Somewhere he won’t find it until we can figure it out.”
Coal grunted, and Daddy laughed again. Dammit, too much. When the hell was I going to learn?
Scylla yanked the dagger from Daddy, and the wound closed immediately. A stricken look crossed her features, her jade eyes doused with fear. I cocked my head to the side.
“A little tidbit of information, the dagger only works if you use it, Shadow. After all, it contains the soul of your body.” Onyx’s soul.
My jaw clenched shut, and I cleared my face of all emotion. He was so sick.
Behind me, Coal struggled against the hold of the Brothers at his words. My eyes fluttered shut for just a second as I fought the urge to comfort him.
Realization heated Daddy’s eyes. Shit. I didn’t hide my reaction to Coal well enough. Coal was not only a weapon but now leverage.
The Brothers pulled harder, this time stealing a bit of my breath with their attack. I fought back with my shadows, thankf
ul that I took the opportunity to feed on them when I did.
Then, in a blur, everything happened so fast.
Daddy turned, snagged the dagger from Scylla’s frozen body, and lodged it deep within her chest. Her face contorted wickedly in pain, and she crumpled instantly to the ground, her jaw slack.
My heart skipped a beat.
Daddy was on me in a flash, an iron grip pinning my arms to my sides. I fought against his hold, but it was no use. He was a Lord. I stood no chance against him. “Release my men, Shadow, or I’ll kill the ogre.” My shadows swarmed the men in a bout of defiance.
I locked eyes with Coal, absorbing every handsome feature of his beautiful face. From his glowing amber eyes to his charcoal skin. I stored the images away for a dark day but put no emotion out on the table. It didn’t matter. He could read me like a book regardless.
He knew my choice was already made. His fate was sealed.
It would either be the best choice for my fight from here on out…
Or it would be the worst thing I’d ever done in my life because loneliness was a son of a bitch, and that void would be bigger than ever.
I was staring Coal straight in the eye because, well, if I were going to be selfish and kill him to protect myself from my father having any leverage over me, I could at least do it by looking him in the eye. I owed him that much after everything we’d been through. I amped up the shadows and sent them barreling to the brothers.
I suppressed the overload of emotion and the lump in my throat at the thought of his loss. It was just another reminder that things were getting too deep, and if I were going to survive all this, I was better off without feelings weighing me down.
Survival mode, always.
My father threw his head back in the darkest, most approving chuckle I had ever heard in my life. I swallowed hard, ignoring the outburst the best I could. This was war, and I wouldn’t let it be known just how much my decision affected me.
Coal’s eyes told me nothing, as usual, as to how he felt towards me. He was void of anything, just staring at me as they ripped his arms from his body. He didn’t fight or give away any clue to how much pain he was in.
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes, and I couldn’t stop the action of mouthing I’m sorry. Coal’s eyes shut briefly like they did when he approved my shot choices during our nights at the pool hall.
My heart shattered, and my hatred for my father grew. We fell into every bit of bait he threw out. I fell for Coal, like he probably hoped for, so he could force me to make this choice and rip him from my life in the name of vengeance.
We even unearthed the dagger for him. I fed right into him believing we couldn’t get the dagger. He knew it would only make me determined to prove him wrong. He knew it all.
Coal’s acknowledgment hurt more than if I had never known how he felt and left me more confused than anything.
The Brother behind him slipped from my shadows and wrapped his hands around Coal’s thick neck.
My world stopped.
I love you, Coal mouthed back as the Brother made one swift twist, removing Coal’s head from his body. It dropped to the floor along with his other limbs.
Numb. I was so numb. How could he do that to me?
Screw love. Screw feelings. They only proved to hurt me in the end.
The way I felt just cemented my decision. I needed Coal out of my life, so I could focus on the task at hand. After all, it would only hurt for a little while, right?
“Impressive. It looks like I raised you right after all,” Daddy whispered. Anger raged like a tidal wave within me, but I didn’t act on it. I gave him nothing.
Daddy slipped from the apartment, taking his goons with him, but not the dagger. Why didn’t he take the dagger?
He had something else up his sleeve, but I couldn’t be bothered to give a shit anymore. Time would tell what he was planning.
I sagged with some sort of relief that it was all over for now. I just wanted to go into my room, lock the door, and lick my wounds. But nothing felt even remotely safe enough to do that.
I glanced around the room at the bodies just soon enough to see a demon crouched over Scylla’s corpse. I didn’t even care. It was just my luck, and I was growing so used to my life having a mind of its own that I wasn’t even surprised she was involved with demons. It made sense.
They could have her and the dagger, as well. I had a sinking feeling that if I used it, Onyx would somehow be back, or I would die, or some combination of those options.
Nope. I was a glutton for punishment and not ready to leave this life just yet.
“See you soon, little demon,” its nasally voice said. I just huffed a laugh as it swept her body up and disappeared through the apparent revolving door that was my apartment.
I was alone. Completely alone once again, only this time, it hurt.
I grabbed the half-full bottle of vodka and sat on the floor with my back to the couch. I tucked my legs into my chest and downed a quarter of the water-like substance. The liquid burned as it slid to my empty belly and did nothing but fuel the aching in my chest.
Loneliness was a bitter thing.
I swallowed another two shots’ worth and laid my head back on the cushions behind me. I stayed like that for hours, playing the scenes over and over in my head.
Just how had I gotten to this moment, and where was I going from here?
I wasn’t going in blind anymore, that was for sure. I was going to learn my world, learn the war I had started. I may not want the dagger in a way, but I needed it. If I had it in my possession, then technically, I controlled Daddy. Wherever I put it meant that was where he stayed. And if I was the only one that could use it to kill him, there was no chance of Onyx coming back unless I wanted her to––if that was even a possibility.
My next moves included finding the dagger and maybe Scylla.
Then, I would find a way to kill Hades, even if it killed me.
A saying was rolling around in my drunken stupor.
A friend of my friend is my enemy … No.
An enemy is a friend … that’s just dumb.
The enemy of my enemy. Is. My. Friend.
My head shot up.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” I knew then what I had to do. Alone or not, I had to stop Daddy, make him pay. If I wanted the dagger from the demon who now possessed it, all I had to do was go to the Lord of Demons himself.
“Lucifer, here I come.”
Thank you!
Thank you for taking a chance on my debut novel. It means the world to me that you would take some of your precious time to read something I wrote. I poured my heart and soul into these characters and had a ton of fun writing them.
Hopefully, you’re not too upset with me! If you love Coal as much as I do, I know that was rough. I won’t make you wait too long for the next installment. Hang in there, and if you enjoyed it, please leave a review.
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
West City Devils Part 1:
Good Little Addict
A Contemporary RH Gang Romance
March 2021
About the Author
Hi!
If you are reading this far, thank you. I know these things usually are written in the third person, but that’s weird. Right? I was born in Pennsylvania, raised in North Carolina, where I now reside. I am a dog groomer during the day, writer at all other times.
I love everything about music, tattoos, cars, and creative worlds. Ever since I can remember, I have been writing creatively or reading. Outside of that, I am usually with my six animals, including one cat who loves to hate me, and my husband. I also spend a ton of time in my car because I just love to drive. Find me on Instagram.
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Pawns Daughters of The Underworld Book 1 Page 23
