by Debbie Long
The men are not happy. After we told them what was happening and our role in this, the room exploded in male testosterone. Me, Violet and Clarissa sat there while they shouted over each other. We looked at each other and rolled our eyes.
Beth and Jade stand up, clear their throats and when that doesn’t get their attention, they pick up a pillow each and throw it at the two that are currently shouting which happen to be Cole and Ash. They turn towards us with a frown.
“You all done?” Jade asks, glaring at them. She looks good here, almost fits in with her long blonde hair and blue eyes. “You all sound like a bunch of girls. Now sit down and shut the fuck up so the girls can finish what they were saying.”
I snicker, drawing the men’s gazes towards me. They all have the decency to look chagrined.
“Now that you have all put your dicks away, I can carry on with what I was saying.” I stand up, gesturing for them to take a seat. I walk past Kyle. He gives me a cheeky grin, and I wink back at him. “Look, we have no choice to play in these games. Our kind depends on us winning, but we have another problem on earth. Lucifer has started something there. The world has gone crazy, and he has tipped the balance with the deal he made to have us taken here. He knew what he was doing, and he doesn’t care what happens to us. With us out the way, he can take over like he always wanted. We need some of you to go back to tip that balance back slightly until we can get back ourselves and kill that betraying fucker.”
“It makes sense.” Cole remarks. “He wanted power all those years ago and was stripped of his powers. Hades must have given them back to him. But how are we going to get past the guard? He is a big thing. I don’t even know what it is.”
“It’s a minotaur.” I start pacing. “We need you to go back.”
“But how are we going to help down there? We don’t have your type of powers.” Ash says to the group. “I don’t think it will help, but we can keep our eyes on Lucifer and stop him any way we can.”
“You are connected to us. Channel through us Ash, we share the same strength.” Violet replies to her mate.
“We don’t want to drain you while you are in that arena.”
“You won’t. Like we said, our fae powers won’t work in there.” Violet sits next to him, taking his large hand in her dainty one. “Look, we need eyes and ears there. We need all of you to go really.” When protests start up again, she shouts over them. “Shut it and let me finish!” To my surprise, they all go quiet again. “As I was saying, I know that you all want to stay, but that can’t happen. I suggest that River, Kyle and Theon stay. The rest of you, including the girls, will go back to earth and help in any way you can until we return.”
“That seems fair, and we don’t have much choice.” Ash says with a frown. “We will head out when he gets dark. You three need to go back to the academy before they come looking for you. We don’t need this plan going south before we have even begun.”
“Your right,” Violet sighs. She stands up, we all do. “We will be fine, trust us.” Ash pulls her to him.
“We do trust you, it’s them we don’t trust.” Damon growls. “What if they don’t keep their word? What if they decide to rid of you anyway?”
“They can’t baby.” Clarissa says to him. She walks to him, circling her arms around his waist. I watch him sigh, then dropping his chin to rest in her red curls. “They have a law here that even they need to abide too. They can’t go back on their word, but they can make it difficult for us in there.”
“That’s why I’m worried about.”
We are all worried, but we will make this work. We have too.
Chapter six
Cole
We have all waited until nightfall, and oddly enough, no guards have come to check on us. We can feel an excitement in the air, which is probably why we haven’t been graced the presence of those stuck-up assholes.
Those of us that are leaving change back into our regular clothes. I look at my brother Kyle seeing the grim look on his face. None of us likes it that we are splitting up. None of us wants to go and leave our girls here with no word of what is happening. As soon as we step into that portal, we are instantly cut off and have no way of getting back.
Lucas walks out of his room in the jeans and tee he came in. They are torn, like most of our clothes after the first battle, but they are clean. I regard the man in front of me. Out of all of us, he has been the quietest one. He is the one that is always standing guard, always taking in what is around us.
“You okay man?” I ask him.
He looks at me with the same grim look that Kyle has, in fact, they all do. “ I have a bad feeling that something will happen to the girls, and with us gone, we are leaving them vulnerable.”
“We all have that feeling teach.” Loki says back to him.
“No, it’s different. I keep seeing flashes — dark, fire and bloodshed on all sides, even the gods. On top of a hill, I see our girls looking down at us, but they don’t look the same. Then I see a different aspect, they are back home ruling the fae with love and respect. I wonder if Zeus has seen what they could become and has shifted the balance in the world. They can’t rule the gods and the fae at the same time.”
“They have made their choice. They will become queens of us, of our kind. They will never become rulers of the gods, that will end badly for them, for all of us.” I reply back.
“Then why do I see both futures? They would have to be thinking of the outcome of ruling the gods.”
“I don’t believe that they are. Morgan made it clear that all she wants to do is go home, finish school, go to college and then one day rule the elementals.”
“Same with Violet.” Ash joins in. “She just wants to have normal teenage experiences before ruling the shifters.”
“Then that leaves Clarissa.” I say to her men. I look at Lucas, “are you sure you saw all of them?”
He looks deep in thought before answering. “I saw Clarissa in the centre and her sisters next to her. Her wings were bigger, stretching past the girls like an avenging dark angel. Her eyes were black, but the other two remained the same.”
“It might not be Clarissa. Her wings aren’t as big as your saying, but her fathers are.”
“You think Lucifer has something to do with this?” Damon asks.
“Yes. And taking on what your father did to their mothers, I believe.” I rub the bridge of my nose. “What is he up to? What does he have to gain from taking on this world?”
“Power” Is all Lucas says.
“Then let’s go stop him before he gets our girls killed.” River growls.
“Let’s go.” I grab my bag, strapping it to my back. We have managed to get our hands on the weapons which we take. “Let’s move.” I give my brother a hug. “Be safe man.”
“I will bro.” Kyle pats my back and moves on the others.
I shake the hands of River and Theon, and they too move on to hug their fellow brothers and even hug the girls who have been quiet and subdued. We are all nervous and scared of what’s to come.
When we have all said our goodbyes, we head out into the forest behind the house where we have been staying. It looks eerie at night, foreboding.
I look back, seeing the girls looking around nervously as we enter the forest. I told them to stay in the middle of us and made sure that they were to stick together if we got separated.
We have seen others come and go, so we know it can’t be too far in. Why they have someone guarding the portal doesn’t make sense. I wonder if something is on the other side to ward off anyone that may stumble across it.
When we walk into the clearing, we see a shimmery mist in a stone archway. There are a few of them, and my guess is that they lead to different worlds. The one I have my eye on is the one marked earth. How I can read that confuses me because it isn’t written in English, it’s written in Greek. Maybe being around these people has rubbed off on me.
Before we get a chance to step to the portal we want, not one b
ut four minotaur come into view. I wasn’t expecting them to walk on two legs. They stand taller than us, maybe eight feet. They look strong, with their legs as big as both of mine put together. Their chest is bare, showing off the meaty plains of muscle that rival Marcus. They have demon-like features, with sharp teeth that protrude from their mouth, a snout that sniffs the air towards us and horns like a demon.
They stare at us through yellow eyes and clutch the spears with their clawed hands. “What business do you have here?” The biggest one booms in the wooded surroundings.
I step forward, sword loose at my side to show I mean them no harm. “We need to pass into the human world. We are respective people of our lands. Kings and Alpha’s of the fae and we need to go back home to our people.” I say to him.
He laughs, a resonating sound that shakes the floor. “And what makes you think we care?”
I look at him and the others, assessing the area and them. I look for their weaknesses and their strengths. Their hind looks tough, their skin and fur like armour, but they have a weak spot, and that is their head. If we can reach them hat is. “If you don’t, the worlds as we know will cease to exist. I’m sure you have people that you would like to go back home too. Aren’t you prisoners just like us?” I am grasping at straws, but they don’t seem like they belong here.
I see them look at each other. I try not to smile when I see the faces look back at me with a sense of curiosity. They cock their large heads, but their demeanour changes. I know I have said the wrong thing, or maybe I haven’t, and they have just stopped caring. When they snort and paw the ground with their hoofs, I know we must fight and win if we are to get back to earth.
I know when they are about to charge because they bow their head, raise their spear and aim right for us. Only one stays by that portal, guarding it. We all jump into action the moment they move. I grab Beth, throwing her into the trees and out of sight. She protests, but I don’t have time to argue with her right now.
My sword clashes with the horns of the leader as he tries to gouge at my side. By some miracle, I manage to throw him off. I raise my sword again when he comes back, harder and faster than before. I jump back, barely missing those horns again. I jump back again as he comes at me with the spear. He snorts in anger and roars towards me.
I hear a yell and turn as one of the others spears Trey in the shoulder. I see vines leap from the ground to stop another attack that would indeed have killed him. Still, the spear embeds into the hard wall of earth, and Loki who is in his demon form spews fire and lights the fucker up.
That moment of distractions is all it takes for the minotaur to come at me again. Knocking me to the ground with his meaty hand. I skid across the dirt, feeling stones and dirt imbed in my skin. I grunt, moving to stand but I am knocked down again. The beast towers over me, but it isn’t him that has my attention, it’s Beth. Dagger raised in her hand, she drops from the tree above and onto the beasts back. She battle cries before slamming the dagger into the skull of the beast.
I stare at her in shock as she straddles the beast’s neck. I scrabble backwards as it tips towards me and slams into the ground. Beth gracefully leaps off as it hits the floor with a thud.
“Don’t underestimate me again.” Beth says with a flick of her now long pink hair. Her eyes glow pink as she stares down at the dead beast by her feet.
“I won’t.” Is all I reply with before standing. I look towards the others, and they have stopped to watch us, even the other minotaur’s.
My friends are unhurt, but the minotaurs have taken a beating. I step away from their dead leader and head towards them. “Are we going to have a problem now or can we leave?” I ask them.
They all look at each other. The second biggest one steps forward and glances towards the portal to our left. “You may leave, and we will return home now that he is dead. He was a pain in the ass.”
We all stare in shock and burst out laughing. “Why do you sound so human-like?” Jade asks him.
“We have watched these gates for a long time and watched these gods come and go. Zeus made a deal with our king not to erase our kind. Now that the king is dead, we can return.” He looks at his former king with a frown. “I will tell them he died in battle. They won’t question me or rise against the gods.”
“Why is that?” I say to him.
He cocks his head, looking me over with those dull yellow eyes. “Because I am his brother and now, I am a king.” He shrugs those large shoulders. He gives his brother one last look, and I even detect a bit of disgust in there. “He won’t be missed.” He gestures to the portal we need. “Go now before they notice you are missing. I sense a stir in the air, one that I don’t like so we will leave shortly after and destroy the portal on our side so we can live in peace.” He moves out of the way so we can move forward.
“Thank you, and good luck in your world.” I stand before him, trying not to recoil when he holds out his hand to shake.
Never in my life would I ever think I would meet one of these creatures that I have only read about, let alone shake the biggest hand I have ever laid my eyes on. But I do, anyway, feeling an alliance forming with this kind.
“Take care young ones, this place isn’t what it once was.” With those cryptic last words, we all walk through the portal.
When we all exit, shivering slightly because it felt like we were walking through a sheet of ice, we all stop dead. Where we have been spat out is New York City, and it is utter chaos.
“Well shit, we have our work cut out for us.” Loki remarks. “I hope the girls know what they are doing because we have some serious ass to kick.
“And I have the perfect person in mind.” I answer back to him.
We all walk forwards into the dark energy that litters the air. Taking a deep breath, I let out some of my magic, just enough to calm the humans around us. They blink clearing their eyes from the fog they seem to be in. They all look to us as we pass, and that’s when I see their eyes are black.
Well shit, things just got worse.
Chapter seven
Morgan
We stand in front of this big doorway which leads to the arena. The twelve are stood in a semi-circle overlooking us with happy faces. Some look far too gleeful and keep casting knowing glances at some of the teams. I look down the line at the other teams and see an extra one that looks far too fierce and scary for my liking.
That makes seven teams, including us. They are planning something; I can feel it. When the team leader looks towards me, he smirks then looks away, dismissing me like an unwanted fly. He is the biggest out of all the guys, and even two girls are massive. I do wonder what these people eat to be so big. As if sensing me staring, the leader looks towards me again with dark eyes that seem to blaze with heat. He reminds me of a bronze hulk with his bulk and height. His jet-black hair curls around his face in soft waves and held down by a golden band. He also is wearing the white clothing, but the only difference is the black sash around his middle telling everyone which team he belongs to.
I tear my gaze away, feeling a sense of unease from him. I wonder if he is Hades son with the dark hair and eyes. Plus, I felt death coming from him. Maybe I am wrong because Hades isn’t here, and I thought he would have been to support his team.
Daphnae is stood to our left, she is the pink team. She is looking toward what the gods are saying, but like me, she is on edge. Since last night, we haven’t spoken and didn’t look at each other when we entered this room. The red hair guy and his team are stood to our right, Zeus’s son, Hercules. He looks nothing like his father with that red hair and blue eyes. He must have his mother’s features. He gives me a cocky wink before turning back to listen to his father drone on. He stands with is sliver team who look like they would rather be elsewhere then taking part in these games.
I know Violet is listening intently like I asked her to. It is my job, and Clarissa’s to look at the competitions and look for any weaknesses they may have. I have a feeling that the re
d team will be the ones to look out for. Each of them has a bow and arrows as well as a sword and daggers sheathed to their thighs. No one said we could bring more than one weapon, now it’s too late to go back to my room and grab my dagger. I think the leader of the red team is called Pan.
The leader of the blue team is Eirene, son of Poseidon. He has a cocky attitude and stands tall and erect like a damn statue. I resist an eye roll when I see his trident. Though he looks like he is carved out of marble, he is a dick. To prove that, he turns briefly to wink at me then I see him run his hand down his female team members backside. She stiffens, her jaw clenches, but she doesn’t pull away. He raises his brow, and I know then that I will take him out first.
Lastly, we have the gold team led by Hermonia, daughter of Ares. Her team all have golden spears. She doesn’t and hasn’t acknowledged my sisters or me. She stood talking to Daphnae when she came in and ignored us completely. I turn my gaze away from her, looking back at Zeus who is staring right at me.
