I don’t know what made me say the last part — it just felt right. The Demon Lord had been kind to me, and while he might be turning into an asshole now that he was no longer obligated to be nice, it didn’t mean I had to be a bitch.
I formed my fighting staff as I neared Nathan, and I literally hit the ground fighting. Nathan was in his half form, so he looked like something out of a nightmare, and I warned him, “Try not to get their blood on you!”
He didn’t seem to care about their blood — his claws sliced and slashed, and created arterial fountains that soaked him. I worried for him, but also knew he’d been around a long time and must know something I didn’t. I’d sliced perhaps six or seven vampires in half when I saw Aquila heading towards me, pissed, and with armor he must’ve thought would protect him from my weapons.
I didn’t know if the chain mail would shield him or not, but I was certain I didn’t want to fight him when I couldn’t replenish and I didn’t dare draw in the energy of Hell. I’d managed to avoid it so far and we were so damned close to leaving.
I’d only levitated someone else a few times, and had struggled each time, but intellectually I knew it wasn’t about weight and mass — it was about whether I could reverse the gravitational polarity of two beings instead of just me.
“Nathan!” I yelled. “I need you over here, and I need to be able to touch your skin, not your fur — preferably where there’s no Celrau blood!”
Almost as soon as I said it, he was beside me, his left hand no longer a claw, though his arm was still furred and huge. Several Celrau rushed us, and I hacked the arms and legs off the one in front of me as I yelled, “Grab him!” Thankfully, Nathan did so without asking questions.
I reached for Nathan’s hand and pushed us both up with all my might. I managed it, but it used so much of my remaining reserve I worried we might fall with no warning. As soon as we were up and clear of the fighting I said, “Your other hand, too. I need to touch both halves of you.”
He tucked the vampire’s torso under his arm and grasped my other hand in his, and I breathed easier as my energy expenditure evened out.
“How far to the gate?”
“Not far, but we’ll have to be on the ground to go through.” He nodded to a spot perhaps twenty yards away — more a shadow at the base of the cliff than an actual cave, but I took his word for it. We hit the ground fast enough we were both forced to run, and we went through the face of the cliff, my right hand in his left.
One step into the dark cave and I breathed in the sweet, sweet air of planet Earth. It was dank and musty, but there was no sulfur and it was heavenly. Or, perhaps earthly might be a better word, but I breathed in air and energy all at once.
Nathan didn’t let me stop, though. “You have their blood on you. Have to get you to some water so we can wash it off before it soaks in.”
He picked me up and ran with me under one arm and the vampire under the other. We travelled out of the cave, through the woods, and to a mountain stream, where he unceremoniously splashed me into the water, dropped the vampire onto the bank, and then joined me in the water to furiously wipe blood off me as he said, “I can change back and forth to burn off any that entered my system. You don’t have that luxury.”
The sky was still light but I could tell sunset wasn’t far away. “Please tell me it’s the same day, here.”
“It is. Cora’s at your house. She told Lauren and Xiaolan you got caught up with something and asked her to stop by and make sure everyone’s okay, just in case you couldn’t get back tonight.” He smelled me. “You won’t make it home tonight, but you’ll be able to call Lauren and talk to her to ease both of your minds.”
“Why can’t I go home?”
“You smell like hell. Literally. They won’t be able to smell the tiny bit of Celrau in your bloodstream, but you reek of brimstone and it may take a day or two to get it out of your system.”
“Where am I going?”
“Abbott’s.”
I shook my head. “No. He broke a promise to me and we’re finished. I need to calm down and figure out how to confront him about it, and can’t deal with him tonight.”
Nathan shook his head as he helped me out of the icy mountain stream. I ignored his nudity, though I admit my eyes were naturally drawn to his chiseled abs. And lower. I focused on his face as we spoke, though.
“You need to tread carefully,” he warned. “Abbott is a powerful ally. You need him.”
“Then I’ll try to figure out a way to do it so I don’t piss him off more than necessary, which is all the more reason to keep me away from him right now.”
Nathan sighed. “I can’t take you to my house. No one from my pride lives with me. If I were to let a human stay with me a few days it would—”
“I understand, Nathan. Don’t apologize. I’ll call Master James and arrange to stay in one of his cabins.”
He shook his head again. “Not an option. Let me call Bran.” He gave me his asshole smile. “What are you willing to offer him in exchange?”
“Hold up.” I jumped at Mordecai’s voice, and turned as he stepped towards us and asked, “Why is Abbot’s house not an option?”
“He put the word out I belonged to him. It’s what brought me to the Celrau’s attention. Even if it hadn’t, though, he agreed not to…” I sighed and crossed my arms. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, wet, and cold. “I was clear I didn’t belong to him and that he had no claim on me. I agreed he could put me under his protection, but no more, and nothing that would give anyone the idea we were an item. He promised he wouldn’t.”
“You’re sure the Celrau were telling the truth?”
After the heat of Hell, the dunk in the mountain stream had me so cold I was having to make an effort to keep from shaking.
“Xaephan had heard the same thing and as far as I could tell, he was honest with me — even when it would’ve been easier to lie.”
Mordecai sighed. “You and I will speak of the Demon Lord at a later date. If you absolutely need to speak of him, refer to him as Ex, please.”
“She’s freezing, Mordecai.” Nathan stepped behind me and put his arms around me, and I snuggled backwards into his warmth. Shapeshifters are naturally a good bit warmer than humans, and I think Nathan is even warmer than most shifters.
“You can touch her without being burned?” Mordecai asked Nathan.
He nodded and Mordecai stepped to me, touched my arm, and yanked his hand away as I screamed. There was an ugly red burn on my arm, and the tip of his finger was bright red, as well. I ran back to the water and dunked my arm back in the cold mountain stream to try to relieve the pain.
Mordecai’s face showed pain a split second, but then he put his hand in a pocket and looked fine. I wondered if he’d be able to do anything with the vampire we’d brought back, and I nodded towards the dark figure, ten or so feet away. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to bring one back to question.”
Mordecai looked at Nathan. “Pick her up and make sure you have a good hold on her. I’ll hold you and teleport the three of us without touching her. I have someone else on the way to collect the vampire.”
“I’ve been in Hell twice today,” Nathan warned.
“Only a short time, and you haven’t picked up enough residual energy to react against me.” He looked at me. “I’d hoped perhaps you’d managed to pull in enough Earth energy I could touch you. I apologize for the burn.”
“Apology accepted. Where are you taking us? I need food and water, but I’m serious about not wanting to see Abbott until I have a chance to calm down and figure out how to split with him diplomatically.” No way was I risking giardia by drinking water from the cold mountain stream, but it was a cruel joke that I could submerge myself but didn’t dare drink it.
Mordecai looked from me to Nathan, and back. “Sit tight. I’ll be back.”
When he was gone, I asked Nathan, “Why did we get burned when he touched me?”
“Your frequencies are in oppos
ition. You didn’t get too much of the energy of Hell inside you, but your skin and the outer part of your aura reek of it.”
I considered his words a few seconds before clarifying, “So, we’re kind of like baking soda and vinegar, for the time being?”
He nodded. “Way oversimplified, but using your analogy — I’m closer to neutral, so I can touch both of you.”
I finally reached the point I couldn’t stop my teeth from chattering, and he said, “For fuck’s sake. Pull more energy in and dry yourself. If you don’t have enough to do yourself and your clothes, strip. I can keep you warmer naked than I can with you in wet clothes.”
I was sitting on a rock beside the stream, my hand and forearm in the water to keep the burn from hurting. I shook my head at him and admitted, “I’m so far beyond exhausted I’m afraid I’ll pass out if I use enough energy to try to warm myself, and I’ve never been able to use enough to dry myself like you did for me.” I took a breath and tried to stop shivering, but couldn’t. “I’ve replenished with Earth energy, but I need food and water.”
“Our energy signatures are so far away from each other right now, I worry there’ll be unknown repercussions if I try to use mine to dry you.” He sighed. “You likely won’t get sustenance until we’re settled somewhere. Shivering burns a whole lot of calories, though, so we need to get you warm enough you stop.”
I held my finger up to see if I could light a fire on my fingertip, and it didn’t form. I shook my head, dropped my hand, and asked Nathan, “Where are we?”
“Sorry, I’m sworn to secrecy. We’ll teleport you out of here so you can’t find your way back.”
I frowned at him, confused. “It isn’t like I’m going to try to get back into Hell.”
“You know how this works. I was allowed to know, but I had to take an oath before they’d bring me here.”
“Okay. I get it.” I looked around at the vegetation, took in the shape of a mountain I could see in the distance, and turned to see how far up we were on our mountain. I looked to the sun and made some mental notes — we were on the northwest face of a mountain, and I thought the cave had been maybe a third of the way up. We were near the base of the mountain now, at a stream or creek, or perhaps small river. Based on the shape of the general landscape, we weren’t on the Cumberland Plateau, nor were we in the heart of the Smokies. Perhaps the Appalachian Foothills.
Mordecai returned without a warning of even the change in air pressure I sometimes feel a split second before he arrives. He had someone with him, but I focused on the protein bar and bottle of orange juice he handed me. The person he brought with him was dressed in all black and kept his back turned so I didn’t see his face. He took the dozen steps to the unconscious vampire Nathan had put in the shadow of a tree, lifted him, and disappeared.
Mordecai tossed a bag at my feet and another at Nathan’s, and left without saying anything, but I already had the orange juice open and was chugging it.
I downed the juice and bar in just a few seconds, not caring that Nathan saw me eating as if I was starved — he knew I was.
I was pleasantly surprised to find two more protein bars and another bottle of orange juice in the bag, and I ate and drank these a little slower.
He dressed in black sweatpants and an all-black hoodie while I ate. Food was more important than warmth, so I prioritized. However, as soon as I finished the protein bar, I turned back to the bag Mordecai had brought me. There were also black sweatpants, and a purple and black hoodie, and I undressed and redressed, ignoring Nathan as I did. Shapeshifters seem to be pretty laid back about nudity, plus — it wasn’t like he’d never seen me naked before.
My hair was a mess, and I used the brush Mordecai had also thoughtfully included, and then put my hair up in a French twist with one of the clips. He hadn’t brought socks or shoes, so I was barefoot for the time being but I wasn’t complaining.
Nathan pulled me into his lap when I was dressed, and I settled my feet on his legs for warmth as I pulled in the energy of the mountain stream.
“It wouldn’t take much for me to fall asleep,” I admitted.
“I know, but we’re still too close to the gateway. Mordecai shouldn’t be long and we need to stay on guard. It’s doubtful they’ll come through and engage us again, but I won’t rest easy until we’re away from the portal to fucking Hell.”
“You know I’d just go to the cave near Prentice Cooper if I wanted to go back. Which I don’t.”
“The gateway there’s been closed. It’s just a cave. Do you want to talk about what happened with the Celrau? Did they… what did they do to you?”
“I thought I killed one of them, and I later learned it was a good thing they’re hard to kill, or I’d have probably never gotten out of Hell.”
“You got his blood on you?”
“Yeah. They pushed for me to drink their water up until they realized I’d gotten enough of his blood on me to let Aquila into my head. I thought they backed off because they didn’t want to lose anyone else, but it turned out it was because it wasn’t important anymore.”
“The portal in your office has been permanently closed, and some things done so one can’t be opened up in your office building, or anywhere on your property, or in your house. You spend a lot of time in the theater, so the same thing will be done there, but there’s no way to guarantee they won’t find another place to open one up and grab you.”
“It gets worse.” I jumped as Mordecai came at us out of nowhere and my heart lodged in my throat. He looked at Nathan. “Get a good grip on her, and both of you hold your breath.”
I took a deep breath and nodded, and I was yanked through the nothing. It hurt this time, as if pieces of me were being ripped off to become part of the static. I didn’t dare scream in pain though, knowing there was no oxygen in this not-a-place between the worlds.
We arrived in someone’s playroom. Or, perhaps dungeon would be a better description. Mordecai pointed to a closed door. “The shower is big enough for ten people, surely the two of you can share it without having to take turns.”
I didn’t argue about the shower — I’d have preferred a bath but I’d make do with standing under clean running water. However, I wasn’t going to do anything until I talked to Lauren, and thankfully Mordecai took my word for it when I told him.
“Mom.”
That one word, and I had to take a breath and choke back a tear when I heard the concern and relief in my daughter’s voice.
“I’m sorry you were worried. I had to take care of an emergency, and we were underground and I couldn’t get a signal to call out. I wish I’d known ahead of time so I could’ve let you know. How are you making out with Cora?”
Ten minutes later, when we’d both assured each other we were fine enough times we believed it, I told my daughter I loved her yet again and finally hung up to take a shower.
Nathan was already in there, facing the other direction so I had a nice view of his back and ass. His muscles have muscles, but more like a cat than a bodybuilder. Or like a feline bodybuilder, maybe.
Mordecai hadn’t been joking about how big the shower was, so I didn’t take too long before stepping in and soaping myself under the water in another corner.
Shapeshifters don’t view nudity as the special circumstances humans see it. They strip to change, and they come back to human nude, so it’s no big deal to them. Besides, Nathan had seen me nude after Mordecai worked me over, and then earlier today as well. I could handle a shower.
I settled in a corner with a showerhead above and multiple jets hitting me from the left and right all up and down my body. A shelf had several kinds of shampoo and conditioner, and I chose the ones I thought least likely to turn my hair into a frizzball and washed my hair four times before I conditioned it. I kept my back to Nathan, totally ignoring him in his corner until he asked, “Is there anything I can do before I go?”
I turned my head sideways to look at him, and my eyes went down and up before I could s
top them. I grinned and told him, “Thanks, but I think I’m good. I’ll be out in a few minutes. Probably.”
He sighed, looked at the floor a few seconds, and then met my gaze. “I don’t think there’s a tactful way to tell you this, so I’ll just say it. You need to thoroughly wash and rinse every piece of skin the Demon Lord touched. Even the skin inside you. Run soap up in you with your fingers, and then use one of the removable showerheads to rinse. I’m assuming you don’t want or need help, but if you do, I can handle it without turning it sexual.”
He turned and left without waiting for me to say anything, and I was thankful, because my face was burning hot with embarrassment. I felt him waiting just around the corner a few moments, as if waiting to see if I called him back, and when I didn’t, he moved on.
When I finally turned the water off and came out, another woman was in the bathroom and the door was closed.
“I’m Madeline,” she told me as she handed me a luxurious white robe. “I belong to Bran, and he wants me to help you. I have some snacks for you to eat while I blow dry your hair.”
“I’m assuming you belong to him consensually, but I have a feeling you’d tell me you do even if you didn’t.”
“I wasn’t free when I was sold to him, but he gave me the option of my freedom after he bought me.”
I smiled. “You chose to belong to him?”
She nodded. “I wouldn’t have known what to do with myself. He’s teaching me, so one day I can be free. For now, I’m happy having rules and structure.”
I didn’t know how to ask if she was human, but thankfully she filled in the blanks for me. “I’m human, but was raised in a household of shapeshifter royalty as a slave. I know what Bran is, and he says I can speak with you about it freely.”
“Thanks for making it so I don’t have to be careful I don’t spill the beans. I wasn’t sure how to ask what you are. I’m human, too, though I guess I do things that don’t seem human. Thanks for offering, but you don’t have to dry my hair — I can handle it.”
An Unhuman Journey Page 9
