“They just showed up,” Celeste mouthed the words, in barely more than a whisper. “Apparently, they are staying here tonight because Grams wants the full college experience. Somehow, she even got my RA to agree. I don’t know how. I suspect dark, voodoo magic, or the promise of cookies.”
“Where are we all going to sleep?” Alaina asked. Surveying the cramped quarters, her features pinched like she had tasted something sour. “These beds are really small. My mass could easily take up two of them.”
“Terin’s bed is free,” Kendall chirped. Flopping down on the aforementioned bed, she folded her legs in front of her and situated her bag on her lap to continue riffling through it. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she decided to sleep at a friends the second she got a glimpse of Grams’ shortie robe.”
Celeste spun on her, nose crinkling in disgust. “The … ugh! Why? Why would you bring the shortie robe? You shouldn’t even have the shortie robe!”
“Because I’m a cougar on a college campus! Raaawwwrr!” Grams playfully growled, pawing at the air with fuchsia painted nails.
“Grams!” Alaina snapped her fingers in correction. “We had a deal! No growling outside of the zoo. You’re going to confuse the baby!”
Turning to face me, Celeste rolled her eyes skyward with such flair, I feared they would never venture down again. “Yeah, that’s why she shouldn’t make that noise.”
Ignoring the jab, Grams scooted around Alaina’s girth and clacked across the floor on beaded wedge heels. “Rowan! With that smile I bet you’ve charmed many a girl into odd sleeping arrangements. Go knock on the door next door and see if we can borrow their room for the night. Maybe they can shack up with friends. Tell them we have a pregnant one here that snores like a hibernating bear with a deviated septum and need the space. Bat the baby blues if need be. Heck, even give their tushes a squeeze if it helps!”
“Grams!” Celeste’s face morphed a brilliant flame red. “Stop telling my boyfriend to hit on other girls!”
“You don’t live with pregnant Alaina.” Puffing her cheeks, Grams expelled an exasperated breath through pursed lips. “It’s for the greater good, believe me. Just look at your brother.”
Groaning, Gabe rolled to face the wall.
“My snoring broke him,” Alaina admitted sheepishly.
“I don’t know what you’re complaining for. Just do what I do!” Kendall suggested. Pulling earbuds from her bag, she plugged them into her phone and thumbed her playlist to life. Next came a fuzzy pair of earmuffs that situated into place. A hunting hat with earflaps topped off the sensory deprivation layering.
“Because that looks comfy,” Celeste tsked.
“What?” Kendall yelled to hear herself over her muting muffs.
“I said, you look comfy!” Celeste shouted back with a wide smile and two enthusiastic thumbs up.
Merrily returning the gesture, Kendall pulled her stuffed zebra, Mr. Hoofington, from her bag and gave him a squeeze.
“So … the romantic evening is out?” I ventured, eyebrows raising.
“For so many reasons,” Celeste sighed, slumping against the frame of the door. “But since you brought friends, too, it seems you already knew that.”
“Since I what?” Following her gaze, I spun to find Kat and Chalky-eyes—Horitz, as I had since learned his real name—huddled together in the hallway behind me, staring at Celeste like they had just watched Beyoncé sashay into the room. “Excuse me for a minute.” I offered my beloved a smile before crossing the space to intercept the demons’ fangirl freak out.
“Oh, my countess! It’s her!” Horitz squealed whilst doing frantic jazz-hands. “I didn’t believe you, but I can feel her presence! It’s her!”
“You have got to shut up!” I hissed through my teeth. Ushering them farther down the hall, I risked a glance back.
Celeste pulled her chin in to her chest, staring back at the strangers gaping at her with open unease. I offered her an oddly timed salute as a form of comfort. Don’t judge me; I panicked.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
“You tore me from my pack leader, pirate.” Horitz’s attempt at a gravelly bellow lost intimidation points with his child-like voice.
“Your leader is going to think you are a creeper stalker if you don’t back off! Do you want her to run away and vanish? Because that’s all that comes from the clingy vibe.”
“No,” Horitz whined. “We need her! She must stay with us. We will make her stay!”
Straightening my spine, I blinked at his theatrics. “And that’s the stalker’s motto. What I need from you is for you to reclaim at least an ounce of your cool right now. Kat, can you help rein him in?”
I glanced to the goth-beauty in search of her calm indifference.
The response I received was buckling knees and free flowing tears which streaked mascara down her face. “I love her so much! I … I feel whole when I’m near her! I haven’t felt that in so long!”
Arms falling slack at my sides, judgment radiated from my stare. “Really, Kat? I expected more from you.”
Tossing yet another forced smile over my shoulder, I scraped Kat off the ground and shoved them both farther down the hall with more force than necessary. Out of ear shot had become my crucial new objective.
“Did I fail to mention there’s a Hellhound on the loose that you’re supposed to be hunting? You two keep this up and you might as well light torches and lead them straight to our memory deficient Chosen One!” Snarling through my teeth, I contemplated knocking their heads together.
Horitz couldn’t tear is dreamy-eyed gaze off Celeste, who turned away to help Alaina search for something. “We couldn’t detect the beast. So, we thought we would follow you and let you know … and then, there she was.”
“You looked for all of … what, five minutes?” I could feel the tendons bulging in my neck, yet couldn’t seem to claim an ounce of chill.
“I love you!” Kat screamed to Celeste. Clamping her hand over her mouth, she looked as surprised at her outburst as the rest of us.
Horitz rose up on tiptoe, craning his neck one way then the other in search of a better view of everyone’s favorite brunette. “There isn’t a trace of the hound’s scent anywhere within a five mile radius. Either it can take another form, has a killer cologne, or it’s gone. Do you think if I asked, she would autograph my—”
I halted him with one finger. “Be it body part, or scrapbook, the answer is no. And since you two have proved yourselves completely worthless, I will handle this myself. Can I at least trust you to guard the perimeter of the building and make sure no ravenous beasts venture inside?”
They nodded a bit too enthusiastically.
“Without coming anywhere near her or freaking her out?”
That answer took a bit more contemplation, and matching looks of self-doubt. After a pause, they both bobbed their heads in agreement.
“Good. Go. Start now, while I clean up your mess, children.” I motioned them away with a flick of my wrist. Then, stood firm with my eyebrows raised while they retreated like cast off mutts.
By the time I found my way back to Celeste, she was doing her best to stifle a laugh at our mess of a night. “New friends of yours? They seem … neat.”
“Yeah, they don’t … people well,” I admitted, watching them vanish down the stairwell. “Unfortunately, they did remind me of something I have to take care of tonight. Can we raincheck our plans?”
“Our plans to stay in and watch Magic Mike with my Grams? I can’t imagine why you would want to miss that!” she gasped, feigning shock. “You can raincheck that; I am fated to endure it.”
Curling my hand around the back of her neck, I pulled her to me and dotted a kiss to the top of her head. “Tomorrow night, I’ll make it up to you. Promise.”
“Are you gonna show me your best Channing Tatum moves?” she asked, biting her lower lip.
“I’ll make him look like a rhythmless cad.” I winked.
/> Glancing into the room, I watched the other Garrett women settling in for their cinematic treat of man-meat.
“Do me a favor,” I knew I needed to release my hold on her, yet couldn’t quite bring myself to do it, “just … promise me you’ll stay in tonight.”
“And risk missing out on a moment of this crazy party train?” Her lighthearted quip trailed off when she noticed my steely intensity. “I … I’m not going anywhere. Promise.”
With one final kiss lingering her taste on my lips, I ventured. The hero, hell-bent on saving his princess.
Chapter 4
Finding a vacant hallway, I poofed off in a wisp of smoke. My destination? The far reaches of the South Pacific. The good thing about mystical teleportation? Lightning fast travel time and never having to wrestle through airport security. The shit side of it? Never accruing any frequent flier miles. The demonic struggle is real.
Solidifying in a cave beneath the ocean’s surface, I said a silent prayer of thanks for the convenient air pocket within the grotto and shook off a shiver of claustrophobia.
“This place smells like sea water and yesterday’s catch of the day.” I cringed, trying to distract myself from the weight of the ocean pressing down from above with nothing but a layer of rock to protect me.
“Rowan Wade,” a husky voice growled.
I turned to find Malise, Queen of the Merpeople, soaking in a hot spring with her glistening silver tail flapping in the churning bubbles. Sentries perched on the rocky ledges on either side of her. The stoic men stood statue still, all bulging muscles and pointy sticks. Malise waved her hand in what I guessed to be a signal for them to unclench.
Head listing to the side, a lock of hair fell across my forehead and tangled in my lashes. “Malise, always a pleasure.”
That wasn’t a line. From the waist up, Malise was the loveliest specimen of the feminine form one could ever hope to lay eyes on. Wide turquoise eyes, hair a brilliant golden shade only found in the most dazzling of sunsets, and luscious breasts that would render the most skilled linguist into a babbling idiot. From the waist down, however, she was a fish. Sexually speaking, it was very confusing.
Rocking forward, she swam the length of the hot spring in two gentle splashes. Elbows on the edge of the rocky wall, Malise beckoned me closer with one curl of her finger.
Closing the distance between us, I crouched down with my forearms resting on the tops of my thighs. “Your Highness,” I stated with a respectful tip of my head and open leer.
Hoisting her upper body farther out of the water—which gave me a bountiful display of cleavage—she whispered in my ear, “Do you remember what I said I would do to you if I ever saw you again?”
Clearing my throat, I rocked back on my heels. Distance was imperative. “If memory serves, it involved slicing off my testicles and relocating them into my nostrils.”
Head tilted, she beamed up at me with a smile which could lure any sailor into her grasp. “And yet, here you are.”
“Please trust I am rather fond of that particular part of my anatomy and wouldn’t be here unless it was under the most dire of circumstances.”
Behind her, one of the guards snorted his amusement. Easy for him to scoff when it wasn’t his jewels in the vise.
Glancing over her shoulder, Malise exchanged cynical smiles with her protector. Begrudgingly, she turned her attention back to me. “Tell me, my salty sailor, what dire situation brought you here to beg for my help? Shall I assume it’s about a girl?”
Standing up, I shook out my cramping legs. “Why would you think that?”
“Maybe the firm set of your jaw and the protective flame burning behind your eyes?” One alabaster shoulder rose in a casual shrug. “Or, it’s because your species is insanely predictable. With human males it is always about a girl.”
Rubbing a hand over the back of my neck, my lips twisted to the side in a sardonic half-grin. “It could be said that the love of a woman can be traced to the root of all things good and evil. That said, I have a bigger, more foreboding problem brewing.”
Malise held up one hand to inspect her dagger-like opalescent fingernails. “And what makes you think I can be of any help?”
“Merfolk have been around since the beginning of time in one form or another,” I explained, shoving my hands in the pockets of my khaki slacks. “Your kind hovers beneath the surface watching what unfolds above with detached interest. Never intervening, no matter the situation.”
Malise let her head fall back, considering me through narrowed eyes down the bridge of her nose. “This is bordering on offensive, pirate. Do you have a point?”
Rocking back on my heels, I fixed my sapphire stare on her. “You’ve seen it all: the good, the bad, and the unmentionable. And it’s on the latter that I need your expertise—a sensitive topic even demons dare not speak of.”
“I’m intrigued.” Malise drummed the pads of two fingers against her bottom lip. “What could possibly make the bad boy of the Underworld nervous?”
“In a word?” I asked, hitching one brow. “Hellhounds.”
The elegant queen’s face fell, her complexion draining to seafoam white. “Those monstrosities? They’re extinct, and even then their reign of terror was far too long.”
In the distance I could hear the steady roar of rushing water, making my nerve endings twitch to teleport topside. “Pure bloods are long extinct, true enough. However, rumors of hybrids infected through a Hellhound virus aren’t exactly a new development.”
Slapping her hands onto the smooth cavern floor, Malise hoisted herself out of the water. Her tail flipped up, splattering fat droplets over the front of my shirt. Air moved, her fins shimmered, and a pair of long, delectable legs appeared.
My leer was halted by one raised finger.
“This friendship will only work if we have a no touching, no lingering gazes rule.” Before I could contest that declaration, Malise pivoted to address her guards. “Leave us. I can surely handle one randy demon, or I’m not fit to be queen.”
Dutiful nods, and both guards dove head first into the hot spring, which proved to be much deeper than it appeared. Malise watched their tails vanish, and every last ripple subside before dragging her stare back up to mine.
A thin layer of steely resolve could not mask the visible fear which bubbled beneath the surface and quaked through her tone. “Let me first say that if the Hellhound virus is active, you may want to set up permanent residence here, Mr. Wade. No place on earth will be safer. Those infected will have the same appetite for pain and violence as the original beasts, without the element of control. They will go for the anguish—making their victim writhe in agony before extracting their soul.”
“And each victim gets marked with the brand of the beast in the process,” I filled in, a knot of dread tightening in my gut.
Malise dibbed her head in regal confirmation. “If—by some slim chance—the hound fails to kill those bearing the mark, the infection will spread to them. In that case, expect an outbreak. Odd thing about this illness?” Leaning in, she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “Humans are the more volatile ones when infected. Demons experience a bit more … poetic control. They still kill, but with a more colorful flair. Something about those ailments combined creates a maniacally plotting rogue that makes Jack the Ripper seem like a nursery maid.”
“There has only been one victim so far. There isn’t enough evidence to pose any kind of guess if a human or demon is behind it. That bears the question …” I trailed off, unease catching the words in my throat.
“Question?” Malise prompted.
Clenching my teeth to the point of pain, I stared down at the damp rocks beneath my boots. “Have Hellhounds ever been known to target a particular family or person?”
“Like a Great White tormenting a family off the coast of Cape Cod?” She chuckled. Flipping her legs over the edge of the hot spring, Malise slid back into the water with barely a splash. The water flashed silver with
the return of her scales. “I suppose any creature could become fixated on a particular being or bloodline if so provoked. If you find that to be the case, you need to fill in the unfortunate target with the knowledge of what’s coming for them and convince them to run like hell. Once a Hellhound locks on a victim, it’s only a matter of time until they get what they are after. The beast will bat them around in a vicious game of cat and mouse before devouring them. In the end there will be nothing left. That treasured piece of us that moves on into the hereafter will be reduced to nothing more than a dog treat.”
Vehemently, I shook my head. “There has to be another way. Sh—They,” wincing at my mistake, I quickly corrected it, “can’t know about this.”
A knowing smile brightened Malise’s face with the brilliance of the first light of dawn.
“Ah, so it is about a girl. A pirate in love, sounds like a romance novel in the making.” Falling into a backstroke, she flutter kicked to the opposite side of the hot spring. “If you want to save your bonnie lass, your only option is to find the infected Hellhound, whoever or whatever it is, and kill them before the virus can spread like the toxin it is.”
An image of Celeste flashed behind my eyes. A memory of her surrounded by flames, her body battered and beaten, as she faced off against the Countess. She was a true warrior, a beacon for good in the swelling sea of darkness.
“She wouldn’t want me to hurt anyone.” I loathed to admit.
Bobbing upright, Malise fixed me with an icy stare. “Then you’ve already lost her. Don’t deny who you are, Rowan. The blood of innocents has already stained your hands. At least this time you’ll have noble intent behind it. Find the beast. Protect your girl. And don’t call on me again.”
Descent (Gryphon Series Book 5) Page 4
