United

by Maggie Walsh

  He looked away from Matt’s gaze quickly and his eyes landed on Evan. “So did Bailey go to your room?” Evan asked.

  The water bottle froze at Josh’s lips as his eyes went wide at what Evan asked. He slowly lowered the bottle as the feeling of dread rushed through his body. “As far as I knew, Bailey was already in our room when I left,” he whispered.

  Evan stood up, fear showing in his eyes. “What? After you headed out the door, we gave Bailey some alone time. After about half an hour I went up to talk to him, but he was gone. I assumed he went after you,” Evan’s voice broke as he spoke.

  “Shit!” Josh yelled and ran from the room. He took off up the stairs and into their room with everyone on his heels. He ran to the dresser and pulled the drawers open. “Shit! No, no, no,” he yelled and slammed the drawer. “Gods damn it, Bailey.”

  “Josh, what is it?” Evan asked cautiously.

  Josh stood there holding on to the edge of the dresser, eyes shut tight as he tried to control his breathing. “He took his money and his stash box. Some of his clothes are missing, too,” Josh explained in a defeated voice.

  “Stash box? Like drugs?” Shane asked in surprise.

  “No. Bailey keeps a box with some things in it from before. Things that mean something to him. He wouldn’t leave it behind if he were running,” Josh explained sadly.

  “You mean he left? He ran away?” Evan asked in shock.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. Shit!” he yelled and pushed the dresser hard against the wall. He grabbed his hoodie off the chair and headed for the door.

  “Where are you going? You can’t go out after curfew, Josh,” Evan said as he took off after him.

  Josh stopped short and turned to face Evan. “He’s out there all on his own,” Josh said as he pointed toward the window. “We don’t know what the fuck did that to those people in town. He’s our family. We need to go find him and bring him home.” Josh turned around and headed down the stairs.

  Evan caught up to him at the bottom and grabbed Josh’s arm, stopping him. “Yes, Josh, he’s our family and we need to bring him home safely, but we have to be smart about this. We can’t just run around blindly in the dark trying to figure out where he is. Somebody could get hurt.”

  “Then what do you suggest we do, Evan?”

  “The fae warriors are outside. Let’s go explain the situation to them. They can help us,” Evan said and headed for the door.

  * * * *

  “There are some papers over here, Micah,” Crew said as he sifted through some of Alison’s things that were left behind.

  Micah walked over and picked up the papers and read through them. “These look like some kind of formula. Good job, Crew. We can take these back to Aaron,” Micah said and tucked the papers into the messenger bag he had slung over his shoulder.

  “I don’t like some of the groaning sounds this place keeps making, Alpha,” Lexi said as he looked up at the cave’s ceiling. “I think we need to look faster.”

  “I’m with the wolf,” one of the fae warriors agreed. “This place seems almost like it’s been waiting for us to arrive so it can drop on us.”

  “Exactly,” Lexi said. “There’s a weird feeling coming from the dirt. Like it’s waiting for the right time and then splat, we’re all flattened.”

  “Didn’t Raffy say something about the Nephilim?” Dante asked.

  “Yes,” Micah answered as he walked to where Dante was. “He said they were the offspring of the fallen angels and humans. Why?”

  Dante handed Micah some papers. “I found these under the chair as if they were dropped and forgotten. It says here something about the Nephilim masses to join together to defeat the enemy,” Dante explained.

  “It just looks like a bunch of gibberish to me. How do you know what it says?” Micah asked.

  “On the bottom of the second page, it’s written in Latin. I don’t know what all the other words say, or even if they are words,” Dante explained. A large cracking noise split through the air.

  “I think that’s our cue to get the hell out of here,” the fae warrior announced.

  Another, louder crack sounded and a thumping sound came from the tunnel. They all turned their attention to the tunnel entrance. A group of large men stood crouched in the entrance. They had to be about seven feet tall. They looked like the fae warriors but not as ethereal–looking. They looked more demonic. But they were big and wide, with muscles on muscles.

  “What the fuck are they?” Crew asked in horror.

  “I don’t know,” Nicco said in awe. “But I’m with the fae warrior. I say we get the hell out of dodge.”

  The cave began to grumble and Lexi looked up. The ceiling began to shift and bow. The noise of the rocks moving grew deafening. “Go now! Get Micah and Dante out of here!” Lexi shouted over the noise. He held his hands up and focused all his powers on the center of the ceiling. The cords of his neck straining against the pressure and the muscles in his arms and back were bulging and tightening. Lexi’s legs began to buckle, but he caught himself and stood strong.

  Nicco grabbed onto Crew and disseminated. Phenex’s two Legion Warriors stood shoulder to shoulder and faced the threat at the cave tunnel. The two fae warriors joined them. “Prime, you must leave now!” one of the Legion called out.

  “Lexi!” Micah yelled over the growing noise. “Let’s go! Grab onto Dante!”

  “I can’t, Alpha! If I let go now, you and Dante won’t make it out! Just go!” Lexi yelled back.

  “No, brother, I won’t leave you!” Micah yelled. He looked at Dante and he nodded. “Lexi, let go now and run toward us!” Micah ordered.

  “No! You and Dante are needed. You’re important to the fight. I must protect my Alpha! Go, Micah! Dante, please get him the hell out of here! I can’t hold it much longer!” Lexi yelled and fought against the rocks.

  The Legion and fae warriors held their ground as the giant creatures advanced on them. Micah looked to them. “Open a portal and get the hell out!”

  “Go, Prime! Take the king and the brave wolf and go!” one of the fae called back.

  Micah looked at Dante. “Now!” Without hesitation Dante grabbed Micah’s arm. Micah stared at Lexi and suddenly Lexi was lifted off the ground and flung in their direction. He slammed against Micah’s chest and Dante wrapped his arm around them and the three disseminated.

  * * * *

  “You know,” Taylor said with a frustrated sigh. “I’m really starting to hate this room.” He was lounging back on the cot in the safe room.

  “Me too,” Noah agreed.

  “Do you feel that?” Jesse asked and stood up. He looked at the monitor’s to see if there was anything there.

  “What you feel, Jesse?” Noah asked and joined him by the monitor’s.

  “I don’t know. It was like a pulse,” he answered absently as he studied the screens.

  “Dale, use your powers and see if you can get anything,” Taylor said as he too stood and joined Jesse and Noah.

  Dale closed his eyes and concentrated. He sat quietly for a few minutes before his eyes snapped open. “Get out, now!” The house shook and they all wobbled as they tried to keep their footing.

  Raffy, Dale, Bastian, Adam, Noah, Taylor, and Jesse all linked hands and Jesse began to chant. Taylor and Noah joined him as the house started to fall apart around them. Adam looked up in horror as the ceiling caved in.

  * * * *

  Phenex walked through the ruins of the underworld with two of his Legion by his side. He hated coming to this section. He would much rather stay in his home territory. At least there it looked like any other city on earth, except it was always night. This was a cold, desolate place that led to the morasses. A wet, muddy wasteland, like the marshlands found on Earth, but a million times worse, for there was no water here like in the marshlands. What appeared to be water was actually blood. This was the place where the worst souls were kept. Here was where the first demons ruled. The level-one demons, the mos
t dangerous. It was kill or be killed here, but one couldn’t actually be killed. One’s soul would come back and the fight for survival would begin again.

  The horrors that these souls inflicted upon each other were like nothing Earth and its inhabitants had ever seen or even dreamed were a reality. The worst of the worst horrors inflicted by man were a mere drop in the bucket of evil, compared to those here. They would not be welcomed here and would most likely be beaten and shredded, but here they must come if Phenex were to find the answers he sought.

  Nigel Brighton and Malachi had been placed in the morasses. It was the one place in the underworld where there was no escape. Or shouldn’t be. How Malachi escaped this hell, Phenex didn’t know, but he knew the answer would be found here. Lord Lucifer gave them permission to come here with his protection, but it would only last for a few minutes. They needed to get in and out as fast as they could or they would have to fight to the death to leave. But again, there was no true death here. One fought, clawed, and killed for survival. One died and returned to fight again.

  He could see the beginning of the morasses in the distance. The stench of rotting and burning flesh began to permeate through the air. The cries of pure agony would soon be heard, cries that he would hear in his dreams for months to come.

  Phenex and his warriors continued on, never faltering or hesitating. Their stride sure and with purpose they walked toward true hell, Tartarus.

  The sickening stench of death grew stronger and the bloodcurdling cries louder as they approached the outer limits of the morasses. A sweat began to break out across Phenex’s brow as the temperature increased. The metallic smell of iron and copper from the pools of blood grew thicker as the ground beneath their feet got softer and more pliable. Phenex hoisted himself up onto a rock formation and looked down upon the morasses. There was no going back now. His eyes scanned the inhabitants that were sentenced here. The atrocities before him would make the hardest man weep. He couldn’t bear to see the images before him, but he must find Brighton. He steeled his resolve and took a step down into the pit, his warriors at his side.

  The beasts around them separated as they approached. Some looked upon them with disgust as others looked at them with shock and disbelief that they would willingly enter here. A grotesque creature stepped toward them, but was held back by an invisible force. Lord Lucifer’s protection was intact, but their luck would run out if they didn’t find Brighton soon.

  Phenex and his warriors continued on, eyes scanning for the one they sought out. Phenex’s eyes landed on someone he had hoped to never see again. Eblis, the fallen angel of Malachi’s desire. The fallen stood not eight feet from him as his eyes bored into Phenex. The hatred he held for Phenex and the Legion was visible in those eyes. His long black hair was matted with dirt and blood as it hung down in snakelike tendrils around his face. His black eyes reflected the visions of the horror all around. His face, a mask of pure evil.

  “You dare come here, Legion,” he spat out in a harsh, gravelly voice dripping with hatred.

  “You are not who we seek, Eblis,” Phenex said with his voice full of disdain.

  “You have no right to come here, Phenex.” He growled the name with equal contempt.

  One of the Legion touched Phenex’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. He nodded his acknowledgment and stepped away from Eblis without a second glance. They continued on, but Phenex could feel all eyes on him, especially Eblis’s. He could feel him following them, but he couldn’t pull his attention from where he was going. Nigel Brighton was in his sights about forty feet away. He needed to get to him as fast as possible. He quickened his stride, but not enough to make his audience believe it was due to their presence.

  He took in the man’s appearance as he got closer. Nigel Brighton was nothing of the man that was sentenced here not so long ago. His clothes were strands of material hanging from his emaciated form. If one could even call what he had on clothes at all. He was more skin than covering. His eyes were sunken and lifeless, cheeks hollowed, lips cracked and bleeding, hair a tangled mess of grime. He sat on a rock with his feet in the murky red waters below, staring blankly in the distance.

  His body jerked and his eyes focused slightly as Phenex stopped before him. He lifted his head and met Phen’s gaze. “Have you come to take me from here?” he asked in a raspy, emotionless voice.

  “No. I cannot release you from this place,” Phenex answered.

  “Then why have you come?”

  “I am seeking Malachi and hoped you might know where I can find him?” Phenex asked.

  Brighton’s eyes turned hard and full of hatred. “Malachi did this to me. He tricked me and then left me here.”

  “I know. That is why I am here. To make sure he returns to where he belongs.”

  “He escaped and left me here to fend for myself,” Brighton said brokenly.

  He would almost feel pity for the man before him, but he didn’t. This man had caused so much pain to so many. The horrors that this monster inflicted on Noah and Raffy alone gave him the right to be sitting here. “Do you know how he escaped or where he was going?” Phenex asked.

  “When you find him, will you return him here, to this place?” Brighton asked hopefully.

  “No. There is one place worse than this that is reserved especially for him.”

  An evil smile crossed Brighton’s lips as his eyes turned feral. “If I tell you what I know, what will I get out of it?”

  “Depending on what you tell me and how helpful it is in capturing Malachi, I can go to Lord Lucifer and ask for you to be removed from here, if that is what you seek,” Phenex answered.

  The damned souls around him began to move closer, warning Phenex that their time was almost up. Lord Lucifer’s protection was about to disappear.

  “I want time with Malachi to show him my true thanks for all of this,” Brighton said flicking his hand absently around at his surroundings.

  Phenex nodded. “Done.”

  “The Nephilim.”

  * * * *

  “What the hell?” Micah said in horror as he stood in the driveway looking at the ruin that was once his home. The huge beautiful house that he and his inner pack had built over two hundred years ago, with their own hands, now lay in a pile before him as if it were struck by a tornado and flattened beyond recognition. “Jesse!” he screamed. But no reply came.

  “There’s no way they were in there, Micah,” Dante said with conviction, but Micah heard the slight tremor to his voice. “They got out. I know they did.”

  “Alpha!” Micah heard the voice call from behind them, and he turned to find Evan and his boys stepping out of a fae portal with the two fae warriors. Evan’s eyes focused on the house and grew wide with shock. “What happened?”

  “We don’t know. Why are you here?” Micah asked.

  “Where’s Bailey?” Lexi asked in a panic.

  “That’s why we’ve come, Lexi. Bailey is missing. We can’t find him anywhere,” Evan answered in a rush of words.

  “What do you mean? What happened?” Lexi asked as his eyes filled with panic and he grabbed Evans’s arms.

  “He ran away,” Josh whispered sadly, his eyes refusing to meet Lexi’s.

  “He ran away?” Lexi asked in shock, releasing Evan and stepping back.

  “We all shifted and tried to follow his scent. We got about nine miles from the house through the woods, but then it just disappeared,” Evan explained.

  A bright light appeared behind them and out walked Jesse, Taylor, Dale, Dare, Bastian, Noah, Raffy, Adam, Ryland, and about twenty fae warriors.

  “What happened? How did you…” Micah asked and walked to Jesse, wrapping his arms around him.

  “I felt a strange pulse and Dale used his power to see if he could find out what it was. The house began to shake like an earthquake and Dale told us we needed to get out. So I opened a portal and got us all out right before the roof caved in. We ended up in Ryland’s castle,” Jesse explained.

&nbs
p; “You opened a portal to the fae realm?” Micah asked in surprise.

  “Shocked the shit out of me,” Jesse said with a snicker. “I was picturing the Legion Warrior compound. I thought we would end up there.”

  “You were trying to purposely go to the underworld?” Dante asked in amusement as he held his two mates.

  “Yeah, I figured what safer place than that with the Legion there,” Jesse said and shrugged his shoulders.

  “You cannot open a portal into the underworld,” Ryland explained. “Jesse thought of his father, so when the portal didn’t open to the underworld, to Phenex, it came to me.”

  “So what are we going to do about that?” Taylor asked and pointed to the house.

  “We’ll have to rebuild. But first we need to help find Lexi’s wayward mate,” Micah said. “Take us to where you lost his scent.”

  Chapter 7

  Bailey’s eyes fluttered open and he tried to focus on where he was. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to focus. He sat up slowly and looked around. He had no idea where he was or how he got here. All he could remember was walking through the woods and then…nothing. He couldn’t remember.

  He was in a small bedroom with bare walls and little furnishings. It had the bed he was on and a nightstand, plus a desk and chair. There were two doors, one he figured went out into the rest of the house and the other to a closet, but he hoped a bathroom, because his bladder was full and he needed to go. He tried to stand but his legs felt like Jell-O and his head spun. His legs refused to hold him up, so he sat back onto the bed, held his head between his hands, and closed his eyes, trying to stop the spinning.

  A duck, was the thought that popped into his head as he tried to remember. He remembered seeing a duck. The damn thing scared the shit out of him and then nothing. He just kept drawing a blank. He heard a slight snick and then the doorknob turned. A squeak from the door being opened reached his ears, but he was afraid to look at just who had entered. He opened his eyes slowly to face whatever was there. He lifted his head and his eyes went wide at the person in front of him.