by AJ Mullican
Whatever I hit that time, it stops the roars. I do a quick backflip and land in the bushes next to the porch, which at least provides a modicum of cover. Now that the beast has fallen silent, I risk a better look.
Holy shitballs. I knew the snout was big, but I didn’t take into consideration how utterly massive the beast itself must be on the other side of the door.
As black blood pumps out of its slashed neck, I take in the rest of the monster. Bigger than Holden’s van and teeming with spikes, horns, and claws, it’s like a nightmare and a bad acid trip rolled into one, only it’s real, and it’s on the fucking front porch.
Blue light glows out of the corner of my eye, and I hope that means Oren got to Geiger in time.
The beast lets out one last, wheezing breath, and then it stills.
Did I just kill a fucking hellhound?
Focus, Molli. No time to get cocky. I scan the woods surrounding the gravel drive, but I can’t see where the dude who cast the fireball is hiding. The air is still, stifling, and stagnant. Not a single leaf rustles, not a single branch sways. Where is the guy?
A snap behind me gives just enough warning for me to spin and block with my sword. I don’t know what I’m blocking, but I know if I don’t block whatever’s back there, I’m dead.
I nearly faint with relief when the clang of steel on steel rings through the air, and a jarring sensation travels down my arm. A sword won’t stop a fireball, but I sure as hell was about to give it a try anyway.
My gaze travels up the sword connecting with mine to meet the eyes of my attacker. Human, as far as I can tell, and from the level of living decay, they’ve almost reached their body’s limit on demonic possession. This person’s five minutes from dead as it is, so when I disengage and swing my sword through their gut, I feel no remorse.
Roll, stand, stab, dead. That’s the end of that one. My head whips around as I search for others, but the forest is once again silent. Nobody sneaks up on me, no fireballs go flying.
Satisfied that I’ve done a thorough check, I jump back up on the porch when I hear sobbing. I have to climb over the dead monster’s head to get back inside, and when I do, a gruesome sight greets me.
Geiger’s wolf lies deadly still, his gut a torn, bloody mess. Oren, Arman, Cherry, and another wolf all touch him, the various colored magic lights swirling together around him. Cherry’s normally green eyes, now a glowing blue, stream tears, and her shoulders tremble as she sobs her way through the healing.
“Get the fuck out of my way! Did your dumb ass forget that I can help, too?” Lena’s voice cracks like a whip, and the remaining party-goers part for her to get to Geiger.
She kneels with surprising grace, given how far along she is, and her fingers move in complex motions as she weaves what I assume is a healing spell. The tattoos on her arms—which I learned last night are made up of ancient, arcane symbols—glow, and her energy flows into the mix of magic surrounding the still wolf.
I almost feel like I’m in the way, but with the beast behind me and the tragedy in front, there’s nowhere for me to go.
“Molli, come help.”
Is Lena crazy? I’m just a human! “Lena, what can I do?”
She jerks her chin in the direction of Geiger’s midsection. “Start putting shit back inside. It’ll give us a place to start. And get Finn over here, too. If I’m right, Geiger’s spirit needs healing as much as his body.”
I put two fingers to my lips and whistle for Finn. He steps over the crouched wolf in the healing party—Holden, I guess?—and lays a hand on Geiger’s leg. Finn’s brow furrows, and I struggle to hold my lunch as I set to work pushing entrails back into the general vicinity of “inside.”
Geiger’s body doesn’t flinch, doesn’t move a muscle when I shove the intestines in.
I lose track of how long we all work to save Geiger. It’s only when Lena and Arman stop their efforts and sit back on their heels that I realize we failed.
Oren, for what it’s worth, keeps trying, and I don’t think Cherry’s capable of stopping. Not when it’s the father of her unborn baby lying there. Wolf-Holden nudges her arm, whining in the back of his throat, until he’s slipped between her and the body. Cherry’s sobs turn to wails, and she buries her face in Holden’s furry shoulder.
I look down at the blood on my hands, and as my own tears roll down my cheeks I sniffle and wipe my nose on my sleeve as best I can without using my hands.
Two more wolves join us in the entryway, and the last wolf scrambles out from under the beast, where it had gotten pinned when the thing fell. They all sniff Geiger’s body and whine, then they erupt into mournful howling. The song, both chilling and beautiful, echoes in the wilderness surrounding the house. When Cherry’s voice joins theirs, that does it for me. My heart breaks for this man I just met, this father-to-be who probably jumped in to save his mate and child without a second thought to his own safety.
For all my training, for all my bravado, for all that I tried to stay on fucking point, it was all a waste.
I’m sorry, Geiger.
I’m so, so sorry.
Chapter 6
The rest of the afternoon passes in a haze. I know that Lena cast a spell on Bethany to wipe her memory of the attack, I know that Kalen, Oren, and Finn helped the others wrap Geiger’s body in a sheet, I know that Arman and Aistan, another one of Lena’s boyfriends, magicked up the bloody mess on the front porch and disintegrated the bodies of the hellbeast and the possessed human I killed. I know more people needed healing, including me, but I don’t even remember who healed me or why I needed it. There are just facts swirling around, things that happened in another dimension.
Not to me. Not in my reality. This can’t be my reality. Even as I wash Geiger’s blood from my shaking hands, I can’t believe it’s true.
This is a nightmare. I’m going to wake up any minute.
When I come out of the bathroom to see the large bloody sheet in the middle of the living room floor, right next to the assembled changing table, my heart sinks into my stomach.
Once Lena’s seen Beth and Bradley safely off, memories wiped clean and replaced with what Lena says is a “better ending to this shitshow,” she confers with Cherry in hushed whispers before she orders all non-wolves into her van and instructs Kamran to drive us into town. He asks where, and she snaps something about “any-fucking-where but here.” Eyes wide, he blanches and backs out of the driveway.
Poor Cherry. She’s always been super nice to me, and even though I hadn’t met all of her mates before last night, they all seem cool, too.
Seemed cool. Fuck. Gotta use past tense for one of them now.
The van is mega packed with people, to the point where Callie and I have to sit on laps for us all to fit. I choose Finn’s lap because now that my mind has started to return to reality, my soul hurts the most. Of my three soulbound mates, Finn’s the one with the spirit magic, and my spirit right now is … broken. Destroyed.
I make sure we’re in between Kalen and Oren, so I can be in contact with them, too. I need to know that they’re alive, because in spite of my brain’s efforts to disassociate, I have to have that fact secure in my mind. My guys are okay. They’re here, right here with me, alive.
Purple light flows from Finn’s hands into my body, and he kisses the top of my head. “Rest, my love. It is a sad day, but you fought well. You likely saved your friend from further heartache.”
“I wasn’t fast enough, though. Not fast enough to save all of them.”
Oren rests a hand on my knee. “Do not blame yourself, Molli. Geiger made his choice. He chose to fight, and when we fight, we risk death.”
The words, though grim, comfort me. I lean back into Finn’s chest and take Kalen’s hand in mine, threading my fingers through his. Though we stopped any more people from dying today, we still flirt with danger by even sticking with this crazy, stop-the-end-of-the-world quest given to us. I send a thank-you up to God, who I’ve never really believed in too much
before, that we’re still together. That fact matters more to me than I can say.
After a little while on the road, Callie leans forward and taps Lena on the shoulder.
“What?” the older witch snaps.
The young teen clears her throat. “Why are we leaving Cherry and the Hunters all alone at a time like this, Lena? I feel like we’re abandoning them.”
Lena sighs and twists in her seat, but when she turns around her expression and tone are gentle. “Cal, hon, Cherry asked me if we could leave. They need their privacy right now. They haven’t known any of us for very long, and it’s more of an intrusion to have a bunch of relative strangers offering platitudes than for us to go find somewhere else to be while they sort things out.”
That hurts a little bit, because I’ve known Cherry since before I left for Ireland, but I guess when you tend bar in a small town, being friendly with the natives doesn’t necessarily make you “friends.”
Then again, when I consider that I never told her the full truth about my three fae and she never told me her secret, maybe I was naïve to think we were friends in the first place.
Lena takes Callie’s hand and squeezes it. “She’ll let us know when they’re ready. For now, let’s go pick up some pizza or something. She told me they have a family plot on the property, but even with their wolf strength, it’ll take time to bury him. We might have to get a motel room for the night.”
I want to offer them a place to stay, but our tiny one-bedroom apartment barely holds the four of us; there’s no way we could squeeze four buff demons, a pregnant woman, and a teenager on our pull-out couch. Even if we gave up the queen in the bedroom and took the living room ourselves … no, it wouldn’t work. I lean forward and rest my forearms on the back of the middle row of seats. “Hey, if you guys want to drop us off so you can find a place, we can scrounge up our own dinner. You know how restaurants are; they charge extra for parties as big as ours.”
Lena gazes into my eyes, and after a few uncomfortable seconds she shakes her head. “Nope. Y’all are coming with us. We’re not splitting up any more than we have to. I’ll order us some take-out on my phone, Kam will pick up some beer, and we’ll stay at the Nowhere Inn for the night. They have big rooms, and I think I have a coupon somewhere for a group rate on the continental breakfast.”
I don’t know how Lena does it. From what I understand, Geiger was posing as her obstetrician for a while, so she had to have trusted him, and she’s already had to live through her parents and brothers being murdered, orchestrated by the succubus that started this whole mess. Her sister was kidnapped—twice!—and she nearly died reverting a speed-aged Bradley to his infant self and exorcising the demon inside him. Now she’s just handling all this shit like it’s something she does every day. Like this insanity is normal.
Then I remember our mission, and I realize that this insanity will become normal if we don’t put a stop to it.
Silence fills the van as we collect our dinner, and when Kamran stops at a gas station for the beer, I run in with Callie to get some snacks and other stuff for later. I mostly just want out of that stifling atmosphere, that heavy air full of sadness and mourning.
I make a beeline for the candy aisle, grabbing every pack of Skittles they have. Kalen, Oren, and Finn freakin’ love Skittles, so I always pick them up some when I get a chance. Their fae magic in Faerie could manifest into berries that contained each man’s personal essence, and this candy reminds them of home, they say. I may be a step up from white trash on the classy scale, but I’d never forget to bring them this piece of home.
“Damn! You really like Skittles, huh?”
I laugh at Callie’s wide-eyed stare. “They’re for my guys. It’s their favorite.”
“Surely they’re not gonna eat all that tonight? Even for magic immortal beings, they’ll get sick!”
“Nah, they won’t eat it all. But it’s not like they’ll go bad in a few days if they sit there.”
Cal taps her cheek and gazes off into the distance. “I wonder what candy would be my brother-in-laws’ favorite. I bet they all have different ones.”
We spend the next five minutes inspecting the junk food selection, and Callie decides that, while they all have different tastes, the red-hot cinnamon candies suit them best. She grabs four bags to take back to the van with us, and after hitting the energy drink case we head up to the counter to pay.
Then I remember that I spent what little money I had leftover this check getting Lena her shower gifts. I don’t have any cash, and my bank account has cobwebs in it.
“Shit! I’m broke.”
“That’s okay!” Callie pulls a credit card out of her pocket and shoves my pile of rations over with hers. “I’ll get this.”
“You’re fourteen! How do you have a credit card?”
Callie snickers and elbows me in the ribs. “It’s Lena’s account. She got me one so I can get stuff for myself every once in a while. The first time we had to send the demons out for an emergency tampon run, it was a disaster.”
The mental image I get from that sends me into hysterical laughter, a much-needed relief after the tension of the day.
After Callie pays, we take our bags and head back to the van. In the parking lot, Cal’s so quiet I worry something’s on her mind, but when we get to the sliding door she grabs my arm and looks me in the eye. “Y’know, Molli, it was super cool how you just dove right in there today. I mean, the first time seeing a hellbeast is usually too traumatic for most people to handle. They either get eaten or they go batshit crazy from the sight, but you just went all Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on it!”
Oh, great. That killed my mood. “Fat lot of good it did, though.”
She stops me from opening the door and smacks me upside the head. “Are you nuts? You saved our asses! The last hellhound we fought took four wolves to the neck and a shotgun blast to the head before it dropped! You took this one out with just a couple slices and stopped the guy who tried to get the drop on you without missing a beat.”
Rubbing the spot she hit, I avert my eyes and yank open the van door. “Hero worship isn’t super healthy, Cal. I’m just a human. Remember that. If you’re going to fawn over anyone’s actions today, you’d do better to worship your sister. She’s the real hero.”
“What? She didn’t do anything. The incubi wouldn’t let her near the fight.”
I hand my haul to Kalen before climbing into the van. “She took charge when everyone else was freaking the fuck out. That takes more courage than you’d think.”
Chapter 7
Lena gets us three rooms, all king suites on the top floor, and she doles out the keycards when we exit the elevator. “Hot tub’s closed. Maintenance or something. If anyone wants to go out for swimsuits to take a dip in the pool, though, just knock and ask for the keys. I’m beat.”
I half-expected us to eat dinner together in Lena’s room, but she splits the pizza boxes up and bids me, Callie, and the fae good-night before shutting herself in her room with the incubi, “Do Not Disturb” sign prominently displayed on the doorknob. I look at my room number and notice that it’s way down the hall, and I sneak a peek at Cal’s; hers is on the opposite end of the building.
“Why did your sister get us rooms so far apart?”
Callie rolls her eyes. “She’s a carnal witch, Molli. With four sex-demon boyfriends. Let that sink in a bit.”
Oh. Oh!
“Trust me,” she says as she heads towards her room. “You want your rooms as far apart as possible. It’s fixin’ to get real loud tonight.”
Wow. Lena thinks of everything.
Then I remember that we’ve got a king suite all to ourselves, and honestly I could stand to get a little loud myself. Gotta burn off this terrible heaviness in my chest, and what better way to do it? I turn to Kalen, Oren, and Finn. “Guys? How are you feeling after today’s ordeal?”
Kalen bows, keeping the pizza boxes perfectly balanced despite the awkward pose. “I am wholly yo
urs this evening, Molli.”
Oren and Finn nod their agreement. “Oren had the most strenuous task today, but I think we all would very much like to spend some—how do you humans call it?—quality time with you this evening.”
My stomach rumbles, reminding me that I haven’t had anything except baby food and snacks since I ralphed up the slice of cake I ate, and I place a hand on my belly. “Okay, but maybe food first. I know you guys don’t need to eat human food anymore, so if you want to shower or something that’s fine; I’ll have to eat, though.”
Kalen tips my chin up with a finger and bends to give me a deep, eager kiss. When he pulls back, he gazes into my eyes and winks. “Whatever you desire, my love.”
A tingle surges through me, and I shudder.
I’ll have to scarf this pizza fast if he keeps this up.
Hell, after the day I’ve had, I might forgo the pizza altogether.
“Room. Bed. Us. Now.” Wow. I’ve gone full cavewoman here. I can’t even collect my thoughts into full sentences.
Something about near-death makes me a little horny, and now that I have physically and mentally distanced myself from Geiger’s body, my hormones have time to poke me and say, “Hey! Over here! We need some fucking attention, stat!”
My fingers fumble as I try to insert the correct end of the keycard in the lock. I get it on the third try—don’t ask—and swing the door open.
When I flip the switch, I take a brief moment to survey the huge suite, complete with minibar, microwave, fridge, big-screen TV, and, most important of all, the king-sized bed. The geometric-patterned comforter screams “motel living,” but the rest of the room comes off as classy and sophisticated, with fancy brass accents and gorgeous stained-glass shades on all the lamps.
A playful pinch on my ass reminds me of why I’m so eager to get in here, and I run to the bed and jump, twisting mid-air to land on my back in the middle.
Kalen grins and sets the pizza boxes on the modest dining table. “That display of athleticism is most pleasing.” He palms the bulge in his jeans, and I grin, hooking a finger to signal him to come over.
