Nanshe jerked, looking up at Carlo with startled eyes. “You might be right. And if she's not here–”
Lennox yelled, shattering the quiet a moment before the door crashed open and a beautiful woman—looking so much like Nanshe that Carlo had to do a doubletake—stalked into the room. Her hair was dark as midnight, her eyes glittering red. Delicate, white horns curved around her ears and her lips were ripe cherries.
“You do not belong here.”
Her ominous voice was heavier, more sensual than his mate’s. It curled into the room with a demand and pull much different from Nanshe’s, even though she had the same face. It confused and startled Carlo at the same time.
“Skuld.” Kallan’s anger pulsed through the room.
Lennox lifted a brow and stepping forward, shooting a stream of fire ahead of him. “Well, I'm not going to wait for her to send us an invitation or attack us first.”
The room spiraled into pandemonium.
What is Skuld doing here? She shouldn't be here without Asherah, unless she came to stop us.
Nanshe shook her head. “Something is not right.”
But they were too busy fighting for their lives for Carlo to try to figure out what she meant. The battle raged around them. Hollows bounded over each other as Skuld sent dark, miasmic clouds around them, buffeting their bodies.
Kallan was pulled into one first, his screams roaring through the room. The black smoke pierced through his stomach and wrapped around his throat, lifting him into the air. He struggled against it but couldn't get free as he choked on the blood drizzling out of his mouth.
“We’ve got to save him!” Carlo bellowed, blasting through Hollows and making them feel the harsh slash of his claws as he tried to get to the helpless Fae male.
“I will kill him,” Skuld assured them.
No matter what, they would have to find their way through.
“Stop!” Nanshe pleaded. “Something is wrong. She's different.”
He had no time to wonder why and figure it out. He had to save Kallan. If he didn’t, there’d be hell to pay. Heath was tethered to the Fae male, which meant their hearts were connected. If he died, the others died too. Carlo was unsure of what it would mean if one of them didn't make it back to Heath.
Carlo was nearly to Kallan, his hands hovering in the air and ready to grab him, when he was thrown back with sheer force. Skuld’s power was too strong to get through. They roared, the men twirling amongst each other, fighting hard as they could get to Kallan.
Teague sang a song of destruction and pain, weaving it through the room and belting notes that swelled and rippled through the air. Carlo fought to ignore his sensitive ears so they wouldn't start fucking bleeding from the noise. As beautiful as Teague's skill was, it was terrifying.
At the same time, Nanshe stepped forward and lifted her hands toward Skuld. “You will not hurt them anymore!”
A blast of her power burst forth, slamming into Skuld’s insidious black smoke.
Nanshe was much different, twirling with dust and glittering with white light. It was nearly the exact opposite of the oily residue left behind by Skuld. It pressed around Kallan, trying to pull him and yank him away from the smoke that held him aloft, but Skuld had a tight grip.
“You are not welcome here!” Skuld gripped Kallan's throat tighter with the smoke and dancing behind her guardian Hollows so the team couldn't reach him.
“It's not her!” Nanshe yelled. “It's only a projection. She's not nearly as strong as she should be I her true form. Focus on the Hollows. Removing and killing them will break her hold.”
Carlo, Lennox, and Teague redoubled their efforts, burning the Hollows to a crisp, slitting their throats with sharp claws and teeth, bursting their heads open with song. The men moved as one, not saying anything or directing the battle, yet their motions were almost choreographed as if they had fought together countless times before. Their joint need to save one of their own was much stronger than any one of them having to take the lead.
As they get got closer to where Skuld held Kallan in the air, the replica of Skuld screeched, throwing the black cloud out from her like a thousand fingers, searching for any enemy to take down. But the men danced around the tendrils, focusing on the Hollows as Nanshe had told them.
“When I tell you it's time, I need you all to jump at him and grab any part of his body.”
They all grunted their assent before attacking the Hollows more viciously after Nanshe positioned herself in the center.
“Now!”
They all jumped in unison. Carlo grabbed Kallan's legs, Lennox grabbed his right arm, and Teague grabbed his right. Nanshe hovered above them all, wrapping her arms around Kallan’s neck and sending in white light to blast away the dark cloud.
“Now, the past overcomes the future as it always once was. Past is now the ruler. Bow before its weight. Bow before its majesty.”
Nanshe’s words were a mantra, a prayer, a ritual, and they pulsed with power and conviction through the room. The light grew brighter and brighter as the dust swirled in a whirlwind of strength, until everything finally dissipated.
The Forgotten Tower disappeared, the room with archways and rooms shattered, fractured in the Chaos. Pieces dwindled until they were minuscule atoms fading into the darkness. If Carlo hadn't had his hands on Kallan, he would have felt he was alone.
He hovered in the air, weightless. A piece of nothing until the room spun and wind buffeted his skin. Then he dropped down to pure white with a groan. The men got to their feet.
“Where the hell are we?”
Nanshe rested, and Carlo choked when he took another look at her. His breath stilled in his chest and his heart beat against his ribcage. Nanshe was much different here, her white hair flared around her shoulders. Her skin was more vibrant, and the black horns around her ears were shiny as jewels.
“Welcome to my home. Welcome to my domain. You are now within Ashes, and here is where I have the most power. Here is where I can be who I truly am.” Nanshe's voice echoed through the room, multiplying itself. Layers of past, layers of information, on top of each other all at once.
Carlo had never heard such a beautiful sound, and it was all coming from her.
“What the fuck?” Teague whispered, trying to get to his feet.
They were struck with awe as they looked around the room.
This was much more than he ever had seen. Pristine white, almost blindingly so, was around every inch of the room. There was no color, no vibrancy, nothing. It was a milk-washed world. The furniture was carved from the stone itself—even the cushions were white. The filigree around the edges were perfect decorations carved by artesian hands.
This was a place of beauty. Yet it was removed from the vibrancy of life. How could she have stayed here being touched by nothing?
Nanshe smiled at Carlo, and the soft sadness in her touched him. “It is easier to see nothing to remove so many imputes of the past. Life is too painful to see in true color.”
Her words sent a pang of denial through him, but he couldn't understand why. The beauty of this place didn’t belong around Nanshe. Though he could admit it was breathtaking, it didn’t fit her and wasn’t something she deserved.
She should have been in gold and vibrant blues and greens. She should have been surrounded in delicate palm fans with the sea-salt air kissing her skin. She should have been somewhere so different. And once again, Carlo was pulled into a vision, another time when Nanshe wore different clothes. He shook his head to disperse the picture in his head. He had no idea where it was from or why it felt like he knew it, why he should have recognized it, or why the sense of home filled his breast.
“You left Asherah in the Forgotten Tower.” Rage took over Kallan’s features. “We can’t go back without her. We need to find out where Skuld is holding her and get there before Skuld strengthens her defenses.”
The fucker could barely catch his breath and was bleeding out from the wound in his chest, but he d
idn’t seem to care about that. Carlo growled in warning. No one was going to talk to his mate like that, wounded or otherwise.
Nanshe struggled to her feet. “She isn't there. If Skuld’s replica is guarding this place, Skuld isn't within her territory. Skuld would never leave Asherah if she were. We are missing something, and it is going to take time for us to figure out what it is.”
“We don't have time,” Teague argued. “We need to get to her as quickly as possible and make sure she's safe.”
Nanshe shook her head. “Kallan is wounded and needs healing. We don't have a choice but to wait. You may want things to happen when you want them to, but the flow of time can’t be controlled by any man. Well–"
Her back stiffened as tremors rack through her body and she was tossed to the ground with a cry.
Carlo was at her side in a moment, pulling her into his arms. “Let it go. Whatever you were trying to say, let it go. It is not important now.”
Nanshe sighed, going slack. “I wish I could tell you. I wish I could show you so much, but I can't. My power has rules, and they cannot be denied.”
“Eventually, we will have the information, Nanshe. Relax for now.”
“Stubborn male.”
A buzz went through the room, and Nanshe lifted her face into the air. She closed her eyes. When she opened them, there was a broad smile on her face.
“I think I know exactly where Asherah is. And if she is there, she’s safer than any of us could ever be. Let’s get Kallan healed and then we can leave.”
“A portal again?” Carlo hoped she wouldn’t say yes, but from the look on her face he knew it was a ridiculous wish.
“Of course, we are in the Chaos Realm.”
Fucking Chaos Realm.
Chapter Twelve
“He will have to rest here for a while, but I've put him in a magic-induced coma so the healing will happen faster.”
Carlo was in awe of Nanshe’s skills. The Norn had taken only a short time to get Kallan rested comfortably in a spare room, his wounds magically healed on the outside already, and put in a state of status to make sure he was sound internally. Apparently, Skuld’s magic could disrupt someone’s insides if she pierced one of their magical cores. It was something Carlo had never heard of.
“So what is this magic cord you were talking about?”
“The Fae are built differently as they are the founts of the original magic humans now rely on. The magic within them is stored in different points, their Meridian lines, and looks like little golden cores within the body. The ability to affect those takes high levels of magical concentration. Skuld can affect them if she pierces one directly or uses her smoke to do so. But doing that takes a lot out of her, so it is a last resort or trump card she uses to protect her inner sanctum. It's how I knew she was not actually here and something was wrong,” Nanshe explained.
Her brilliant platinum hair slipped over her shoulder as she smiled hesitantly. “I wish I had realized sooner. If I had, maybe the battle would not have had to be so fierce, or I would have known we were searching in the wrong place. I've never known Skuld to leave her tower and be elsewhere. It makes me worry about what she is planning to do.”
Teague stepped further into the room and moved to sit at Kallan’s side. “He seems more comfortable and no longer in pain, so I'm happy for that.” Teague looked over his shoulder. “Carlo, would you mind telling me more about why you're bothered by the Chaos? I'm not one of the wolves so I'm not privy to your history, but it seems pretty important.”
“I am interested too,” Lennox added. “Kalinda watches out for her wolves’ information, and I understand why she does that, but seeing how you affected the Chaos portal earlier makes me wonder about your connection with the Chaos.”
Carlo sighed. He knew this was coming, eventually. Even the wolves who knew his story and a bit of what happened to him still wondered how he was so greatly affected by the Chaos Realm in the first place. To be honest, Carlo wasn't exactly sure what happened. He’d never tried to explain it before, but he would try now. Maybe having Nanshe with them would help shed some light on it.
“To be honest, I don't understand how I could affect the portal. Back in the 1950s, I was made by Arturo. Most of you know he is my cousin. He is a Born wolf, but he didn't know about many that were like him. And he was also a Mafia man. He had plans to increase his strength by having his own pack, and he wanted those closest to him to be trustworthy. By turning his own men into wolves, he hoped that's what he would achieve. We already know what ended up happening with Primo and his betrayal. I was different though.”
Carlo raked his hands through his hair, the memory making his skin crawl. “I was a fighter even then and was larger than most of the human males around us. Arturo knew I could become a great second-in-command for him, what some packs call a Beta. When I was first bitten, I didn’t worry about if I was going to survive the bite or not. I was cocky, self-assured, and knew my human body was strong enough to at least survive that. We wanted to pay more attention to my first shifting when it came to my first full moon. As the days grew closer, we knew something was wrong.”
Soft fingers trailed over his hand, leading up his wrist and across his forearm until Nanshe tucked her fingers into the crook of his arm. Her presence soothed the fear and anxiety he hadn’t realized was beginning to swell within him. Now that he was paying attention, he could feel the quiver of his heart and the shakiness in each breath he took. Quietly thankful for her support, he continued.
“It was about a week before the moon was scheduled to come. I started feeling different and my dreams were terrifying. I didn't know it then, but I was seeing the Chaos Realm. I would be trapped in this black and gray world, unable to get out with the power swirling around me. It didn't feel good or like I was gaining ground. Instead, it was eating at me, tearing at my insides and soaking up my blood. Each day I grew closer to the moon becoming full was another day I was tortured by this power. It was ravenous for me, coming each night without fail. I started to worry for my eventual survival of the transformation, but no wolf had ever dealt with this problem before, so I had no one to help me. My mind began to fracture and was pulled in different directions.”
Carlo shook his head, even now struggling with how to explain it.
“It was like a weave, different places, different times, all layered on top of each other,” Nanshe offered.
Carlo’s wide eyes met hers. “How did you know?”
“Because that is how my power comes to me.”
Lennox shifted his weight. “What would your power have to do with his, Nanshe?”
Leave it to the mage to ask what was most important. There would be no reason for a wolf to mimic the power of a past Norn.
“Keep telling your story, Carlo. It is important.” Nanshe nodded encouragingly.
With a deep breath, Carlo proceeded. “Like Nanshe described, I saw places I shouldn’t have, towns I didn’t know the name of, people speaking languages I couldn’t translate. It felt so real, like I was right there. It made me feel crazier and crazier. I woke up under the light of the full moon looking through the eyes of the wolf and couldn’t understand who I was. I had no name, no purpose, nothing. Only the wolf senses mattered. It took Arturo six months to get me calm enough to transform back into a human.”
“Six months?” Lennox’s eyes grew wide. “That's unheard of for a wolf. It is surprising you didn't die.”
Carlo grunted. “Don't you think I know that? But I did survive, and I'm here. After that, I wasn’t like I was before. Speaking took another year or two to get to a level that was coherent, but most of my memories were gone. I'm able to remember them now, since I was pulled back together the second time I was inside the Chaos Realm, but I had nothing during the time my mind was gone.”
“You say you were fixed after the second time you went into the Chaos Realm, right? But you've been in the Chaos Realm, or at least in a portal, a couple of times since then and it did not a
ffect you. Why?”
“Lennox, I don't really know the answer to that.”
“Yes, you do. Remember.”
At Nanshe’s soft-spoken words, she pulled him deeper into her arms and against her body. Her voice echoed through his skull, a whisper in his ear.
“Remember.”
But remember what?
“The second time we were in the Chaos Realm.”
As if she had ripped the veil shrouding his mind, Carlo’s memories rushed back at him. The scent of deep earth filled his nostrils and sweat dripped down his face as he worried for Zoey and Dominic. Primo stood, waiting to kill them. It was as if he was reliving the moment.
Benedict held his hand toward a portal, fighting to keep it open moments before Dominic was pushed inside. Zoey followed, screaming that she could help him with her earth and map magic. Carlo’s heart fluttered in his chest as he shouted for her to stop, but she didn't.
“Come home, King of History. Come home.”
Carlo gasped, coming out of the memory. He stumbled to his feet, breaking away from Nanshe. What did that voice mean? What was it trying to tell him? The King of History. He’d heard that before. Somewhere.
Lennox stood. “What is it, Carlo?”
“I remembered something. When I went into the Chaos Realm, it asked me to come home. It called me the King of History.”
Nanshe’s cry stopped any further conversation. She hit her knees, gripping her head and wailing.
“The King of History remembers. Time is his. But so is death. Which shall he hold dear?”
Her voice was as it had been when she’d fought against Skuld, weaving and multiplying upon itself and swelling into the room.
“What the hell is she talking about?”
Carlo didn't know how to answer Kallan’s question, and even if he did, he wasn't sure he would have been able to reply. His focus was only on Nanshe, pulling her into his arms and rocking her. “Let it go. Whatever you're trying to say, let it go.”
He felt like no matter what happened, he was constantly fighting against the pain he couldn’t stop for his mate. His wolf whimpered, wishing it could do more for her.
Mated to the Chaos (Portal City Protectors Book 5) Page 10
