by Meg Xuemei X
Raven, Willow, Jonathan, my brother, Octavia, the women from the Desert Belle, and the Alpha Pure team stood on the outskirts of the Shades, watching my mates and me enter the narrow, dark path between the mountains.
“Be safe and return for us, my queen and her consorts!” they called.
As soon as we passed through the dark passage, lava erupted into the sky and the mountains trembled. The ground shook and rumbled, and lava flowed to the ground and formed a hot stream.
Rocks from the side of the mountains also rained down. Merlin’s shield of light went up, covering us. The rocks and the swirling lava soon sealed the way behind us to stop us from retreating.
There was no return path. That was the Guardians’ message to us.
Fog arose ahead to further obscure our sight.
Ash growled like a wolf, and Killian roared. For the first time, my tiger didn’t leap into the impenetrable darkness. He pressed closer to me.
I didn’t blame him. The land of the Shades wasn’t for any living being. Even the demons stayed away from the Shades for centuries.
Ash lashed out with his icy current to keep us floating in the air. His ice magic also enhanced Merlin’s shield and protected us from the lava.
“Shades, this isn’t the way to entertain guests,” Ash bellowed. “Where is your honor?”
Merlin sighed. “Prince Ash, it’s best to let me do the talking. As I said, I’ve had dealings with one of them. Also, the Guardians don’t take kindly to being called Shades.”
“It doesn’t matter what I call them,” Ash hissed. “They attacked us.”
“If you call that an attack, then you haven’t seen the worst yet,” Merlin said.
“Let the druid do the talking first,” Max said. “If it doesn’t work, we go for plan B.”
But there was no plan B.
“Guardians of the dead,” Merlin called out. “Merlin humbly requests an audience with you. I bear a gift in exchange for passage through your land.”
There was no answer, and we let the silence linger.
Lava bubbled and hissed beneath our feet.
“Morgan, answer me,” Merlin barked. As I expected, his politeness and patience didn’t last long. “Show me some fucking courtesy, or I’ll have to remind you in an unpleasant fashion that you still owe me a debt.”
“When was that?” an unimpassioned male voice answered.
“Five centuries ago,” Merlin said firmly. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember, Morgan. I nearly perished saving your ass when you first traveled to the Upper Realm.”
“You can remember something that happened so long ago?” the voice asked, a bit more curious now.
“It’s a life debt!” Merlin snarled. “And I don’t forget anything. I don’t forgive either, if the sin is big. I’m here now to collect the debt you owe me.”
Perhaps I should learn from his example. I was the more easy-to-forgive type. As if he perceived my thoughts, Merlin darted a stealthy glance at me.
“Don’t be snappy with me, druid,” the voice said. “I’m not Morgan. I’m Alessandro.”
Merlin exhaled. “You’re one of the seven Guardians, then. Where is Morgan? Is he hiding from me?”
“Morgan’s sleeping,” Alessandro said.
Ash snorted. “It’s the first time I’ve heard that the Guardians of the dead require sleep.”
“You don’t know the first thing about Guardians, fae,” Alessandro said.
“Well, wake him up, Alessandro,” Merlin said testily.
“I’m on duty now, so you deal with me at the moment,” Alessandro said. “What kind of gift have you brought us?”
“Show us courtesy, and you’ll get to see the gift,” Merlin said.
A bone-chilling wind rattled by us, and the lava vanished from beneath our feet, but the entrance was still blocked by rocks that dripped with lava.
“The ground is cool to stand on,” Alessandro informed us. “Now, show me the gift.”
“We need visibility all around so we can see who we’re talking to first,” Merlin said.
“You’re one demanding druid,” Alessandro grunted. “No wonder Morgan warned us about you.”
The fog lifted to reveal a dark gate ahead of us, yet we still couldn’t see anything beyond the ominous gate.
A giant figure stepped into our field of sight, and I swallowed a gasp.
He was probably eight feet tall, a pair of long horns sticking out of the sides of his head. His eyes were all black, yet they emitted twin beams of hellfire. When he breathed, a trail of smoke puffed out.
His monstrous body constantly shifted between solid and shadow.
I stared at him. “Sha—shade,” I murmured in a gasp.
I had never seen any creature quite like him. He looked even more formidable than a Sváva demon.
The Guardian of the dead snapped his head to me. I bit my lip at my embarrassing slip of the tongue. I was a bit shocked, but at least I hadn’t pointed my finger at him, though I was itching to do just that.
“My mate has never heard of the existence of your kind before,” Merlin said, “although she was raised in the Underworld.”
Alessandro sniffed, then he smiled at me, showing his jagged fangs. Both Ash and Max stepped forward a pace to shield me, and my tiger glowered.
Ignoring my mates, my beast, and me, Alessandro turned to Merlin.
“Gift, please,” he insisted.
“Just a second,” Merlin said. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”
I craned my neck and turned my head to Merlin. I was also curious to know what gift Merlin had brought to bribe the Guardians. It must be spectacular or very expensive.
Merlin pushed his sheathed longsword aside and pulled out a transparent ball from inside his white robe. He’d been battling since he’d come to the Underworld, yet his robe remained clean. And he didn’t have that haggard look, unlike Ash, Max, and me after we went through a long journey or a battle.
The only way to tell Merlin was tired was the weary look in his ancient eyes and the tense lines at the corners of his sensual lips.
All of us, except for Merlin, stared at the ball.
“This is a music box snow globe crystal ball,” Merlin said. “It’ll become a very popular ornament in every human household. I brought Morgan a gift from the future.”
He twirled the ball, and a lovely, joyful melody that I never knew could exist floated out of the ball. I nearly closed my eyes, wanting to forget myself in the music and probably dance a little to the soft tune.
Inside the ball, a miniature beautiful couple started dancing in circles as snow drifted from the sky. A rainbow curved around them to add to the joy.
It was a desirable gift. Life in the Upper Realm must be like heaven compared to life in the Underworld.
“Look at the hand-carved top and the base,” Merlin said. “The workmanship is exquisite.”
Alessandro tilted his head, his horns bending backward, as he regarded the snow globe with an intrigued expression.
“It is exquisite,” he agreed.
“So, what do you say?” Merlin asked. “A debt for a free pass, with an incredible gift from the future world as a bonus.”
“Uh, slow down, druid,” Alessandro said. “As you know, we’re the Guardians of the souls. We aren’t allowed to indulge in pretty things like that.” His eyes, the pits of fire, suddenly trained on me.
And I thought he’d forgotten my existence.
The way he peered at me sent a bad chill slithering up my spine, yet I straightened and lifted my chin and held his gaze firmly.
I wouldn’t back down even from a formidable being.
“Calamity, is it?” he asked, his flaming eyes still sizing me up. “You fought bravely in the imposter emperor’s arena. I heard your speech was full of sparks of fire, and now every slave has risen to fight the demons. The social structure amid the living in the Underworld was stagnant for centuries until you stirred shit up.”
I
tried to wear a blank mask, not revealing my surprise that the Guardians of the Dead were incredibly well informed.
“I’m Calamity,” I said. “And I’m not fond of slavery.”
“Change is good.” He nodded. “Change is very good. The Underworld needs it.”
“Could you wake up Morgan, Guardian Alessandro,” Max chimed in, trying to sound diplomatic, “and tell him his druid friend Merlin is here?”
“That’s right,” Ash said. “We’d love to chat with you, but we don’t have all day. We need to get on the road.”
Alessandro sighed. “One doesn’t just wake up Morgan. It’s not fun when he’s grumpy. He’ll wake up when he feels like it. That’s the benefit of being the true King of Hell.”
Morgan, the one who owed Merlin a debt, was the King of Hell?
I barely covered up my shock, along with Max and Ash.
“But I’ll do you all a favor,” said Alessandro. “If you want a free pass through the land of the dead, you can win the rights of the road.”
“Name the terms,” Ash said roughly.
“Pick a champion among you to fight me,” Alessandro said. “The Shades never allows the unworthy to walk through its valley of death.”
“I’ll fight you,” Max and Ash said at the same time.
Merlin arched an eyebrow. “Or would you prefer I do it, Guardian Alessandro?”
Alessandro chuckled. “I want none of you, since I heard a joke a long time ago about a fae, a vampire, and a druid walking into a bar.” He pointed his thick finger-claw at me. “I want to fight Princess Ayanna, the daughter of the First Witch and the Dragonian King, also the great-granddaughter of the once most powerful Sváva archangel in the universe.”
My limbs turned cold. How did this Guardian know all about my origin? I’d only learned about it after my mates came down to Hell and found me.
“Not a chance,” Ash said, stepping forward threateningly, viciousness rolling off him. “You’ll have to get through every one of us to get to our mate.”
Alessandro only shook his horns and fixed his hungry gaze on me. “Not up to the challenge, Princess?”
“If I win, we have the rights to the road—a free pass for my mates, all of my people, my tiger, and me.”
“You’re thorough.” Alessandro chuckled. “Yes, if you win.”
I eased Dreamkiss from its sheath. “How do you like to duel?”
At this point, my mates understood that I had to fight the Guardian to win the pass—their land, their rules. The four of us might be able to fight our way through the Shades if we refused to meet the Guardian’s terms, but our people would have no hope of crossing over the land.
Alessandro eyed my blade enviously. “That is exquisite.”
If he wanted to trade a free passage for my Dreamkiss, I’d do it, no matter how much I valued the sword forged by Merlin.
“Don’t even think about it,” Merlin chimed in. “It’s a gift to my mate.”
“Ah, possessive,” Alessandro said. The twin flames in his eye sockets jumped, which was disturbing, especially as I was psyching myself up to fight this Guardian of the dead. “I wasn’t going to ask for it. I was merely admiring the special sword that was forged by love, magic, and angelic fire.”
The Guardian of the dead seemed to know lots of things about the living and their world.
“We’ll have to set boundaries for the duel,” Merlin said. “It’s already an unfair match, since you can’t be killed in the Underworld as one of the seven Guardians to the dead. You can shape shift between shadow and solid form, so no weapon can harm you either. And you don’t bleed, so don’t tell me whoever draws the first blood shall win.”
“Feel free to reveal all of our secrets to your mate!” Alessandro snickered, his tone laced with sarcasm.
“Sure, thank you for your generosity,” Merlin said. “Fire can’t burn you either, since every Guardian was reforged from hellfire. You basically have no weaknesses in the Underworld. One can only kill you in the Upper Realm.”
“That’s enough,” Alessandro said. “Let’s just get on with it. The druid loves to hear his own voice too much.”
“Whoever is immobilized first loses the game,” Merlin said. “And whoever draws blood will forfeit his or her honor and also lose the challenge.”
“Uh, you’re very protective of your mate,” Alessandro said. “Without bleeding her, it would be difficult to kill her. But there are many ways to kill.” He spread his arms. “However, I have no intention to kill such a rare beauty with such great power. And I haven’t told you about our Guardians’ hobbies and obsession. We don’t just collect the dead.”
My mates snarled in fury.
Alessandro only smirked. “So, if I win, Calamity will stay with me.”
Max and Ash drew their swords. “Over my dead body,” both males promised.
Alessandro’s smile turned icy. “That can be achieved. After all, this is my realm.”
Before Max and Ash could lunge at the Guardian and make things messy, I spun and charged the asshole without giving him a fair warning. My sword swung toward his thick neck. If I beheaded him, it would take him at least a few seconds to grow back his head, if he could recover that fast. Right?
And that should be counted as immobilizing him. And he didn’t bleed, as Merlin had informed me.
As soon as my blade touched his neck, he turned to shadow, and Dreamkiss passed through him. Even with the red lightning hissing on its blade, it couldn’t harm the Guardian.
Alessandro shifted back to his solid, monstrous form, his black sword appearing in his large, claw-like hand.
He slashed the blade toward my face in a fast arc. I bent my head backward to dodge the slash, my foot shooting out and connecting with his chest. Once again, my foot went through the empty air.
Then he was behind me like a dark flash.
My eyes didn’t catch him, but my magic sensed his presence. He was aiming for a stealthy attack. I stepped aside and spun in the other direction, narrowly missing his stab.
Tension, worry, anxiety, and rage from my mates rippled toward me, but I remained calm, holding on my cold clarity, just as I had when I stood in that arena, facing death.
“You’re faster than I expected, girl,” Alessandro said.
“I’m not a girl,” I said. “I’m a woman, and I ain’t just any woman you can take by force, asshole.”
He blinked. “No one has called me asshole before. I must teach you a lesson so you’ll respect me.”
“You don’t know how to earn respect, douchebag,” I snorted.
“Douchebag sounds worse than asshole,” he said with anger.
Then he suddenly split into a dozen clones. All of them flung a spiderweb of inky shadows at me. If the net touched me, I’d be incapacitated, and then I’d lose. And I’d doom my people.
A wave of red lightning blasted out of me, forming a shield around me. Since Merlin mated with my magic, my power now came to me easily. It could flicker into existence with a mere thought.
The shadow crashed into my shield, then latched on to it, trying to find a crack to get through my defense.
Only I wasn’t the kind of girl who hung onto defense. I was an alpha female who was all about the offense.
Merlin kissed me before we headed for the land of the dead for a reason.
I would earn the pass across this land for my people. I wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I’d been pushed around all my life until the day I stood up for myself in the arena. I’d seen too many good people being pushed around.
I wouldn’t let this Guardian of death get his way either.
My power welled and blossomed in me at my righteous anger.
I remembered Merlin’s kiss and how he’d infused his power into me. I remembered what he had whispered to me in that incredibly intimate moment when his magic made me come.
My mates were my anchors in every way, and what was theirs also belonged to me. We were one, and I wasn
’t afraid of taking from them anymore, for they would want me to claim them in every way as mine.
I shed the last trace of the slave mentality that had been hitched on me.
I wheeled, peeling off the Guardian’s illusion and focusing on the real Alessandro. I stalked toward him as if he was my prey, carrying my shield like golden armor. Red lightning flashed around me, yet I knew I couldn’t strike him with it, since my power of Red Plague originated from the Dark Lord Atlas, the evilest being. To defeat the darkness and shadows, I needed white light.
Merlin’s light was already mine—his last gift to me. I called for it, and the light rose from the deep well of my magic. I threw up my hands and tossed the spear of light at Alessandro.
“Eat this, dickhead,” I shouted, and the white light crashed into him and seized him before he could blink. “I was born to teach all assholes, jerks, brutes, fools, and cocksuckers a lesson.”
The Guardian cursed and counterattacked with his shadow magic.
My light kept the shadow at bay, but the Guardian was strong, as he kept drawing his power from the land of the dead.
“Ice,” I called, and my fae mate’s ice magic was waiting right at the brink of my well, at my disposal. It had always been there. I just hadn’t paid attention or learned how to use it.
I cascaded the ice toward the ground, and acres of the land of the Shades were coated in ice instantly, breaking the connection between the Guardian and the soil, and thus cutting off his power supply.
The brilliant light wrapped around Alessandro, binding him and imprisoning him, eating away his shadow, and preventing him from shifting. Then my red lightning formed a solid second prison right outside the white light to augment its power.
My mates’ magic and mine complemented each other.
Alessandro widened his eyes, his twin flames in them no longer dancing. “That’s not fair.”
“You lost, Guardian,” I said. “Open the gate and let my people pass.”
“Well, well, not so fast.” A sleepy yet amused voice sounded as if from the depths of Hell.
“Morgan,” Merlin called, not very pleased. “Nice of you to finally grace us with your presence.”
A male who looked like Alessandro but with red horns and red-toned skin materialized in front of us. My mates stepped forward to stand between him and me.
