by Ivy Asher
I was right about the sister thing, wrong about this being a Hellgate requirement.
“You look so hot though,” Delta adds, rocking back on her heels.
I give her a glare, mostly because she’s in comfortable leggings and a tube top, while Medley is in short jean cutoffs and a corset that zips up in the front. I really could’ve used that zipper this morning. You know what neither of them are wearing? Leather.
And I found out this material squeaks. A lot.
“What? You do,” Delta says with a grin, and I reach over and pinch her before she can get out of my reach. “Ow!” she whines before she darts behind Rafferty. “Iceman, protect me from Sable.”
Her blue-skinned mate glances down at her where she’s clutching his arm. “What do you want me to do? Shoot ice at her?”
Delta’s gray eyes gleam. “Would you?” she asks excitedly.
“No.”
I snicker, and Delta sticks her tongue out at him.
I look down at myself. “It was a pain to get on, but now I think I kind of like it. The top is probably my favorite,” I declare.
“Really?” Medley asks. “I mean, I did get on board with the pants, I will admit that much. My mates definitely got on board with them too,” she adds with a secretive smile.
“I was mostly a fan of peeling them off you, Peaches, but that can be said for everything you wear. I guess I have an addiction to stripping you out of ’em.”
Medley blushes and chuckles.
“Yeah, I think it’s the crisscross thing happening at the top,” I tell them, pointing to the chest of the leather top I’m squeezed into. “Maybe it’s all those years I spent trapped in straightjackets; it has a similar feel. It’s homey,” I tell them as we all continue down the long cavern.
Everyone grows quiet, the air around me suddenly tense and awkward.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Sable. I didn’t even think of that,” Delta confesses, her levity dried up and gone.
I try to hold back my smile, but it’s a battle.
One corner of my mouth tilts up, and Medley catches it with a gasp. “Sable Pierce, you’re messin’ with us, aren’t you?” she accuses, and I can’t hold it in any longer, and I bust out laughing. Delta’s and Medley’s mouths both drop open, incredulity falling right out, and it makes me laugh even harder.
“I can’t believe you fell for that,” I cry out as I clutch my stomach.
My mates chuckle, and someone else starts to guffaw with laughter. I look over and surprise flashes through me when I see it’s Jerif who’s cracking up. “She just got you so bad,” he announces on a high-pitched wheeze as he points at Delta and loses it. “Your face,” he squeals out, and the rest of Delta’s mates start to join him when they too get over their shock.
“Huh. You broke his grumpy,” Medley observes, and both Delta and I snicker.
“It better not be permanent though,” Delta whispers conspiratorially to me and Medley. “His assholish ways just do it for me so hard,” she admits, and I snort before looking over at Ire and thinking to myself that I know exactly what she means. He shoots me a wink.
We keep going, and I rub at my ears and the slight ringing I can still hear in them. As soon as my mates and I arrived in Hell’s Embrace, a loud gong went off, doing its best to make us all deaf.
Alder—Medley’s purple-skinned demon—explained that the gong noise was how Morax tracked my sisters. Apparently, Alder found out from some informants that the gong sound was Hell announcing that an Annulus had returned. Morax knew about it from Nefta letting that innocent fact slip out when they were children. The Ophidian kept that kernel of information and used it to his advantage twice. Once, to have the Outer Ringers launch an attack on Delta and her mates when she came to Hell, and the second time, when Morax snatched Medley using a portal through the Hellgate.
All of the guys have been on high alert ever since it went off, but Hell’s Embrace is quiet and empty, and even though the place is a little creepy, I have no sense of dread or worry. In fact, the closer we get to the Hellgate, the calmer I feel.
Deeper into the cavern, I start to see grass and plants and trees growing inside the strange place in a lush spread. All except for the left side, which is still barren and gray.
“That side is yours,” Medley whispers, nudging me with her elbow as she seems to know exactly what I’m thinking.
The garden is gorgeous. My sisters told me it was, but seeing it with my own eyes is something else. The smell is sweet too, as all sorts of blossoms permeate the air, the greenery so thick that it’s like a sponge beneath my feet, and I wish I could take off my boots just to enjoy the feel of it on my toes.
Our large group reaches the Hellgate pretty quickly, and my gray eyes widen in awe as I take it in. The guys spread out around us protectively, getting as close to the gate as they can without blocking our way. I know that Medley’s mates are especially tense, since this is the place she was kidnapped from, but I can feel in my gut that everything is going to be fine.
“Ready?” Delta asks, as I stand between her and Medley.
I give a nod, and I follow them toward the massive double doors that make up the Hellgate, light purple flames burning brightly all over it. The closer we get, the better I’m able to see the bones that make up the doors.
My sisters already told me exactly what I need to do, so with a breath, I call upon Monster, feeling the familiar, comforting weight of the scythe in my hand. I slice my blade across my palm and get to work, touching the first skull of the Annuli who came long before me.
Immediately, I’m rushed by visions of the creation. Of Hell, of balance. Of how important the darkness is as a backdrop for the light. I see my ancestors and the sacrifices they made in order for me to be standing here today.
I get overcome with a sense of time stopping as power sweeps over my vision, and I watch in awe as memories from past Annuli are carried out like a movie on a screen. Except I’m not just watching, I’m here, experiencing it like a fly on the wall.
I see Hell being made, the Abdicated coming down, the first Annuli and Gatekeepers forming the Hellgate and promising to protect everything it stands for. Years spin forward like a movie reel as I try to take it all in. Figures blur as they go, centuries whip by, and the Hellgate slowly deteriorates. Battles come and go, blood is spilled, and Annuli, Gatekeepers, and Guardians all make sacrifices throughout the course of time while I stand back like a spectator.
Done speeding forward, I watch in awe as the last memory slows to a near stop, and blurred figures become clear and crisp. My eyes widen when a beautiful Annulus with red hair and wings appears before me, a proud scythe in hand and a knowing look on her face. She’s standing in Hell’s Embrace like a magnificent champion, her hair matching the fire of the Hellgate’s flames that burn behind her.
As soon as my eyes land on hers, her expression softens, like she was waiting for me all along, for all these years. My heart skips in my chest, and I know that somehow, she really is seeing me.
Her bright eyes flick over, and I realize my sisters are standing at my sides, and that she can see them too. A dazzling smile spreads across her face at the three of us, and then I’m hit with an all-encompassing emotion of love and purpose and pride.
The last thing I see before she begins to fade away, taking all of the visions with her, is her smile as she mouths the words well done.
By the time the vision disappears, tears are slipping down my cheeks, and my entire spirit feels full. I look over and find Medley and Delta are crying silently too, and my heart wants to burst from everything I just experienced. To know where we came from, to feel the love and hope our ancestors had for us for the future, and to see her, that nameless Annulus female, tying us all together. It’s overwhelming.
I have so much more than I ever even thought to dream of or even hope for. Family, something I never thought I’d ever have in my life, is all around me. And even though my ancestors are gone, I can feel them here. I can s
till feel the red-headed female like she’s tied up a thread that was hanging forlornly inside me and connected it to her. Our kin is wrapped all around us in this place, in us, and they’re encouraging us and giving us peace.
I know now that I was always going to end up right here, beside Delta and Medley, and that every circumstance we faced was a stepping stone we had to cross in order to find our place, our destiny.
I have three amazing mates who I love, and I know that love is just going to continue to grow and deepen and bloom until it’s as beautiful and thriving as the garden all around us. I have a purpose now. I’m not just needed, I’m vital in ways I could have never fathomed before, and I fit.
I feel so grateful, so blessed by it all, and as I begin to make my way down the Hellgate, pressing my bloody palm to every skull as fiery flames lick at my palms, I vow to keep it all going. To give whatever I can to the future that will come after us and to the present and all that it has in store. When I touch the last skull, I offer up my love and gratitude, finishing the Annulus duty to reset the Gate.
Gasps sound off behind me, and I turn to see my third of Hell’s Embrace bloom to life. Right in front of my eyes, the last of the emptiness is filled, and I can’t help but see it for the metaphor it is.
“Well done,” Ire says as he steps beside me and presses his lips against my temple. Vudu comes up on the other side of me and wraps a protective arm around my waist.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my scythe disappearing as I swipe a hand across my cheeks.
Everyone is taking in the glory of the garden for a moment, appreciating it for what it signifies: the Hellgate is no longer broken and barren. We’ve reset it to its former glory. Now, all it needs is a Gatekeeper to promise it never-ending life.
I turn to watch my third mate as he walks up to the inky black-purple flames that now encompass the fiery doors. I wonder what he sees when he looks at it. If he has visions of the Gatekeepers of old like I saw my Annuli ancestors. I wonder if he just sees death and ruined sacrifice when he looks at the ever-burning bones.
Toreon’s hands shake slightly from where he’s stopped right in front of it, and as much as I want to go to him, I know he needs to do this on his own. So I wait quietly behind with Ire and Vudu, silently supporting him no matter what. If he decides right now that he wants to walk away, I know everyone here will defend his choice, and we will continue to guard the Hellgate as best we can, no questions asked.
But when Toreon takes a deep breath, and his scythe made of bones appears in his hand, I smile with pride, inwardly cheering him on.
He takes another step closer and then kneels, his forehead bowing in reverence. With his scythe firmly in hand, he raises it up, high above his head, and the whole thing begins to glow with light.
I have to squint, while some of the others use their arms or hands to shade their eyes from the glow that seems to have lit up Toreon’s scythe. With a heave, he aims true, straight for the center of the Hellgate. The marrowed blade snicks between the space where the doors meet, and right on impact, the Hellgate flares.
A split second is the only warning we get before the entire cavern of Hell’s Embrace explodes with light like a new dawn. My hands cover my eyes, and I feel Ire and Vudu doing the same, while I hear some exclamations of surprise.
But after a few seconds, I’m able to adjust to the brightness and lower my hands, and as soon as I do, I gape in awe.
The entire Hellgate is glowing. Pure flames of light lick out of it, thick and healthy and burning as bright as the sun. It looks pure and flourishing and strong. I can feel the power pulsing from it like it’s just been strengthened a thousand times over.
“Holy fuck,” I hear Delta say beside me.
“Do y’all feel that?” Medley asks, her face lit up as she gapes at the Gate.
“Yeah,” Jerif answers. “We feel it.”
“That’s what the Hellgate is supposed to feel like,” Alder says.
“I get it now. This right here is exactly why Gatekeepers are known for being so badass,” I hear Crux say, making Echo snort.
“Yeah, but does this mean we’re out of a job?” Flint drawls with a smirk.
“No, we’ll still be guarding our Hellgate portals. We’ll just be guarding our Annuli and Gatekeeper now, too,” Rafferty says, and everyone nods.
“Shit,” Ire breathes against me as he shakes his head in awe. “Toreon did it. He actually did it.”
I beam as Vudu and I share a private grin with each other, both of us so damn proud of Toreon. “Yeah,” I say, just as Toreon turns around with a smile, looking at me like I hang the moon, even though he just brought the sun back to Hell. “He did.”
50
My sisters insisted that I cover my eyes when we all shifted out of Hell’s Embrace. My guys still haven’t told me where they’re thinking of moving to in the Mortal Realm, but apparently, Medley and Delta are in on it, because we all go together.
As soon as we shift away from the garden, I immediately open up my other senses, feeling a bright sun shining down on me and smelling the scent of dewy grass. “Can I look now?” I ask no one in particular.
Vudu adjusts me, my footsteps stumbling a little until he gets me placed right where he wants me. A hard surface lands beneath my feet, and my nerves start to skitter around me at what I’m going to find. Briefly, I wonder if I’m just going to be living with Delta and her mates. I know they said they have a mansion, but...I’m not sure I want to intrude like that.
“Alright, Little Mate. You can look,” Vudu tells me quietly, his hand brushing softly against my cheek as he steps back.
I drop my hand and open my eyes, only to find all three of my mates in front of me, blocking my view. I huff. “Oh, come on. The suspense is killing me!”
They chuckle, and then as one, they move aside, and I’m left to take in the house in front of me.
It’s a dreamy historic-looking house set between trees whose leaves are turning shades of yellows and reds. The walls are white shiplap, and it has an arched tin roof, with a wraparound porch in the front and a rose garden adorning the bay windows that curve around the side of the house. It’s two stories and large but not palatial, and my taking it in soon morphs into gaping at the beautiful and unique looking house that sits proudly in front of me.
“What is this place?” I ask in awe, taking it all in.
“It’s where the previous Guardians lived,” Delta tells me, drawing my eyes to where my sisters and their mates are standing off to the side.
“The graveyard and Gate is just down that way,” Medley points, and I look to see a slightly sloping hill and a quaint, pretty graveyard below.
“My ancestors used to live here,” Toreon adds, surprising me.
I turn to glance at him in surprise. “They did?”
He tilts his head down and slips his hands into his pockets. “They did. It’s where my very great Matron lived before she fled back to Hell. The Guardians took up residence here in order to be close to the portal once the Gatekeepers were gone.”
“Do you like it?” Ire asks, and I realize for the first time how nervous everyone seems, even my sisters.
I can’t help the grin that overtakes my face. “I don’t,” I say with a shake of my head, fumbling for the words to express how I feel. I quickly backtrack as I watch disappointment ripple through the group. “I love it!” I correct, hurrying to fix my mess up. “Something this beautiful can never just be liked, it deserves so much more than that,” I explain, giddiness and excitement sparking through me as I tell them how I feel.
This is home.
Maybe that sounds weird to just know something or recognize something like home when I haven’t even stepped foot inside, but goosebumps crawl up my arms as I take it all in, and there’s this peace and calm to the house and all the land around it that makes me feel warm, welcome, hopeful.
Home. I’ve never truly had one before, but I recognize it immediately.
Understanding
dawns on everyone’s faces, relief and smiles spreading through them as my sisters squeal and share a hug.
“Truly?” Toreon asks, his golden eyes darting over my face like he wants to read my thoughts, and I nod excitedly.
“Yes. It’s beautiful. I know it’s going to be perfect, and I haven’t even been inside yet,” I tell him.
“Well...about that,” Delta breaks in, and I look over at her curiously.
“What?”
“Just remember that there were generations of bachelor Guardian dudes living in it for the last few centuries, so it needs some homey touches and a good scrub,” she explains. “But we can help you,” she rushes to say.
“Actually...” Medley intervenes with a secretive smile that she shares with Alder and Flint. “We already took care of that.”
Delta looks over at her with confusion. “You did?”
Medley beams. “Mama! Daddy! Come meet everyone!”
Immediately the door to the house bursts open, like Medley’s parents were just waiting with their ears pressed against it on the other side. “Hell’s Bells, what took you so long?” a middle-aged woman with frizzy red hair calls. She’s wearing a sundress and a bright yellow apron, her face lined beautifully from years of smiles and laughing.
“Patience, Mama, I had to let them see the house first!” Medley calls back.
Mrs. Bell comes tromping down the front steps, and I notice Mr. Bell following after her. He has a bushy graying beard, and he’s round around the middle from lots of good meals, and he’s wearing worn jeans and a plaid shirt. He has a kind face, and I can tell just with the one look he gives Medley how much he loves his daughter.
“Well, lemme finally get a good look at ya!” Mrs. Bell says as she immediately rushes over to Delta and wraps her up in a hug, wings and all. “Good Lord, these purple wings! So beautiful! I want a pair of my own so I can match my girls, I must confess,” she gushes as she cradles Delta’s face and looks up at her with such pure joy pouring from her that it makes my own throat grow tight.
