Navigating Sanctuary

by Flynn Eire

“It is fun,” I agreed, smiling brightly at them. “See, you guys are so well behaved when you’re just you. You did forget someone.”

  They shared a look and blurted out together a thank you for Trevor for the present. They then spent the next ten minutes telling us all about it. I could see the Hales had next to no idea, and while I played video games now and again, I really wasn’t into them, so I missed some of it too.

  “So it’s interactive?” Ashton muttered, looking like his head hurt.

  “We can show you after school,” Luke offered, wincing when I cleared my throat. “After homework’s done. Can you come back for dinner?”

  I glanced around the table at all the smiles and nods, realizing they were just as big of softies as Trevor. “Yes, we can have dinner. How about after we play the game for a bit so you can show them? Or do you want to play outside before dinner?”

  “Outside,” they said together, beaming with hope.

  “Yes, I’ll teach you to throw a football,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “But stick with karate. That gives less injuries.”

  They had to get to school then, and after a round of hugs, they went over to Trevor and gave him one too. Mark glanced at Sebastian nervously and then went over to the man to give him one as well.

  “They are so adorable you just want to gobble them up,” Sebastian chuckled after they were gone.

  “Yeah, they’re awesome.” I swore under my breath. “I forgot to get them new shoes. I promised to handle it.”

  “Hey, one day won’t kill them,” Trevor comforted. “You’re an awesome big brother. Hell, you’re an awesome dad even though you’re not theirs.”

  I felt my cheeks heat at the praise, and instead of acknowledging it, I leaned in and pressed my lips against his ear. “Are you buttering me up for sex?”

  “Yes, because if that was the goal, I would have picked that topic,” he teased me, snagging a kiss. “Do you have training or clinic today?”

  “Actually neither,” I admitted after I checked my calendar. “I finished a few some are still wrapping up. Geir cleared me first since I had a lot of melee experience having played football. Plus I was in better shape than a lot of them to start with.” I batted my eyelashes at my mate. “Feel like teaching me archery?”

  “Um, I need to get my stuff first,” he muttered, staring at his food.

  “What happened?” I asked gently, wondering what the change was from yesterday when they were talking like they couldn’t wait. He wiped his eyes, and I took a leap. “You’re worried what your father did with the dogs you rescued, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” he admitted, and his brothers flinched. “We did what we did to help those here, but I was pretty sure I knew that meant sacrificing my dogs to stop the apocalypse, or at best one of our other cousins would get them to a shelter. I prayed for that, but now that I know he didn’t trash all our belongings, I realized last night I’m terrified to know what happened.”

  “Your cousin took them to a shelter and found them homes,” Castillo said from a few tables over. He didn’t yell it, but it was loud enough I heard it too. “And we can go today and end this state of limbo for all of you.”

  “Yes, please,” Sebastian sighed. “I just want some semblance of normalcy or familiarity.”

  “Amen,” a few of the brothers agreed.

  I met Castillo’s gaze, and his eyes went wide, hearing what was in my head. He gave a slow nod, and when I asked officially, seemed proud of my desire to help in that way. He muttered something to his mates and disappeared.

  “What are you up to?” Trevor asked quietly.

  “Hopefully easing some pain,” I muttered, shooting a quick glance to Gerald. After the party last night and the Hales had left, Tristan and some of the hounds had admitted the guilt and pain that came off Gerald when they talked about leaving home was horrible, as he’d made the final call as the oldest, walking away from being the prestigious Hale heir and all of that.

  And his father thought it was all because of angel bullshit. No, that wasn’t right, and I could be a good way of proving the brothers were right and Hale Sr. was the fucked up one.

  We agreed to meet up in an hour after Jared Magnus told us that was what Castillo said. I gave Trevor a quick kiss and hurried off with Jared, knowing he was going to get the rest of the Magnuses involved and I wanted Barry at my back for this. He had a fast reaction time, probably having learned that early to survive his fucked up family.

  And he understood fucked up families, which was why this mission was perfect for him.

  “You really hate bullies,” Barry chuckled several minutes later after I filled him in. “Yeah, I’m in, Brother. Let’s go kick some ass and fuck up some assholes.”

  I smiled widely at him. “Sounds like fun. We can exercise some more demons another time maybe going after my dad and that football coach.”

  He frowned. “I thought he was pretty decent to you?”

  I snorted. “His wife was a teacher and basically used me like a young stud, and he knew it. I was too young to get it all or understand how bad it was because of the situation, but I’d always been around fucked up, so I didn’t… She did damage to me, as that was my first sex. She also coached the cheerleaders—people knew, and instead of doing what they should, they passed me around like a sex toy.”

  “Yeah, we’ll definitely fuck them up another time,” he growled, having that reaction just about anytime I told him about my past. Which was why I didn’t tell him all that much. He had enough shit of his own. Then again, I’d helped him with that, so it was good he wanted to have my back too.

  We met up with all the Hales and the archangels, Michael nodding when I confirmed I really wanted to go with the plan. Then we were somewhere else, standing outside a fancy, fancy mansion… Along with all the Hales. Not just the Hales on our side, no, I’d had the archangels pull all the Hales alive there for this so there was no chance of people turning shit around later.

  I walked right over to Trevor’s dad, Michael showing me his face so I knew, and slugged him in the face. “Hi, I’m Dublin Carey, Nephilim and Trevor’s mate, so yeah, if a Nephilim is his mate, then he’s not on the wrong side of this, is he, Father?”

  “Holy shit, your mate’s got balls the size of Mars,” one of Trevor’s brothers whispered.

  Alexander Hale—their father—recovered and went for me. I just smirked when Barry clapped his hands and sent the guy and his whole litter flying.

  “You are not crusaders in some righteous quest to keep the balance,” I continued, moving towards them. “You were born Hellhounds, and yes, you are the repo man, but you were lied to about who to take. You knew you were forced to work for the cheating side because of the trap which you let your own wife fall into. That doesn’t make you loyal. It makes you just as evil.

  “You are not neutral, you are the pathetic wimp who becomes a bully too instead of being strong and fighting. Your sons fought. They fought against you. They fought against Hell and helped our side. You were born a Hellhound, but it was your choice to be the Devil’s fucking lap dog. And that’s all you are. You’re not king or some noble. You’re the lap dog who chose to be the puppet on his master’s strings instead of becoming a real boy.”

  “Release me so I can squash this bug,” he snarled, shooting a look at Barry that would kill if it could. “And you’re dead next.”

  “Well, sure, I’ll release you so you can do that,” Barry drawled. “Wow, you are dense.”

  “We need to move this along,” Castillo muttered.

  I glanced over my shoulder and frowned as I saw all the archangels acting a bit squirrelly. I flinched as I remembered, but Barry had told me about them doing that in the presence of their family. “You want to smite them?”

  “Oh yeah,” Chamuel snickered, shaking his head. “The eldest litter has souls so black it’s—they might rank in the top ten I’ve ever seen before. I didn’t have much to do with live souls, but still this is—”

  “
I did, and they’re top twenty-five for me,” Ariel drawled. “They’re somewhere right below Genghis Khan. They’ve done a lot more than collect souls. Demons can’t kill, but love to collect early. I have a feeling we found some of their henchmen.”

  “And I’m the embarrassment!” Gerald roared, launching at their father, but his brothers blocked him in time. “You didn’t even save our mother! Even the Devil has lines he won’t cross. Why on earth would I want to take over your great legacy? Hitman for Hell? Yes, such a fucking honor, you sociopath.”

  There was a list of obscenities that came out of Alexander’s mouth, but then Michael silenced him, rolling his eyes at the crazy that came out of the hound’s mouth. “The mate of your kin asked you all be brought here because your kin has been worried about you. I can tell from some of your hearts you have no desire to side with us. Understand you cannot be neutral. There is a trap before you retire to retire you. That is why Hales never retire.”

  “It’s true,” Gerald called out when people started muttering disbelief, his brothers releasing him. “Father admitted it to us. The Lundbergs know about the trap and have survived it. Only Dante’s family survives otherwise. If you do not believe this is about the apocalypse, please believe that and keep yourselves safe.” He gestured to me. “Look at his soul. It’s pure, but there is a standing order to collect his soul.”

  “And I did not sell it,” I said, getting where he was going. “You guys can all tell lies, right? You know I’m telling the truth. My mother sold my soul in a loophole a demon found. The whole plan was to make Nephilim or—I don’t know, I don’t get all of that. I do know that you guys are born into your jobs and there’s no shame in being the repo man, but there are souls you’re collecting you shouldn’t and Hell is cheating.”

  “Right, like that’s news to us,” one of the many Hales not on our side drawled. There had to be at least two hundred.

  Wow, they took baby making seriously. Then again, they were hundreds and hundreds of years old, so that was a lot of time to have babies. And when they could pop out five or six at a time… That was a lot of fucking Hales.

  “Then please think about switching sides,” Gerald implored them. “No one forced us to go. Hell sent humans with dark souls to attack the underage Nephilim and were killed so Hell could get more numbers. We are pawns to them. Even if you believe nothing else, you’ve seen that or you’re lying to yourselves.”

  “How do we know we won’t go from one side’s pawn to the other side’s pawn?” someone called out. “The Devil we know sucks but well…” The guy shot a nervous glance at the archangels as if clearly saying they weren’t known for being all that nice either.

  That was pretty fair actually.

  “We sort of deserve that reputation,” Ariel admitted, shrugging when her siblings sent her shocked looks. “We’re known for smiting. That would be worrisome as a factor too.”

  “Yes, but you also made it rain jelly beans for the class who all aced a math test,” I defended, glancing out at the group. “No side is perfect. Your family came at precarious times, and that was met with fear, but they ate breakfast at the cafeteria today, and people said hi, they waved. You have to make an effort, but that’s life.”

  “We have a set guard shift most every day, but they are not long shifts,” Ashton said, probably being more productive in saying what was asked of them. “And everything is provided for us. That is all they ask of us. Anything else is volunteer.”

  “We go with you, and we can’t ever leave again,” one female called out, and I sort of understood that. “We’ll be traitors and hunted just as you are. We’d volunteer for a prison.”

  “That’s not the plan,” Barry countered, gesturing to himself. “We’ve got an army coming, but until we are baptized and trained, yes, there—”

  “Some here plan to immediately report this and what they learn,” Castillo warned, looking at a few litters in particular. “Safety comes at a cost. That’s what we’ll say, but even if it’s a temporary prison—”

  “It’s a really nice fucking prison,” Sebastian promised. “I mean, awesome cooks and so much land to run around on. A super swank castle we stay at and just about anything you can think of. Fuck, the archangels have restaurant theme days, and there’s a theater. There’s a few libraries. Someone put in a nightclub, and I can’t think of what else it could even need. Coffee better than Starbucks, and fine, no mall, but how many of you ever go to a mall?”

  I went to add to that when I noticed Alexander and his litter looking like they were being repeatedly smacked against the ground. I realized it was Barry and stared at him with wide eyes. “Having fun?”

  He shrugged, cutting it out. “It’s not like we get a lot of live subjects to use our powers on. Not a lot of volunteers either since we’re figuring out more we can do every day. I’m not getting tired. I keep letting them up and knocking them back down and I’m not getting tired. Do I have limitless power? There’s gotta be a limit or battery if the angels have it, right?”

  “And things are never boring,” Gerald drawled, gesturing to Barry. “Yeah, they’re super evil and slipping shit into the water that bespelled us. Yesterday they had a huge party with a food slingshot to amuse us hounds while drinking margaritas. Most of you have never even been around demons, and believe me that once you are, you will beg to switch sides.”

  “You don’t have to decide now,” Trevor quickly added. “Think on it and contact us.” He quickly glanced at Ariel who smiled.

  “Yes, we now know who will call to lay a trap and won’t answer them. The others have only to call for one of us and we will come.” Her eyes turned dark as she looked out at the group. “But not alone. Don’t be stupid and forfeit your lives in a ploy for Hell because if you call us and try to trap us, you will not survive it.”

  “Okay, so not limitless power,” Barry admitted, giving Castillo a worried look.

  He chuckled, and suddenly Alexander and his whole litter were bound with seriously big chains and a bunch of locks. “That will keep them occupied. We have all of your belongings and brought them to the Lundberg ballroom.”

  “Then let’s go,” Gerald muttered, turning away. Then he spun around and faster than I could track, raced over to his dad and kicked him in the face. “That’s for Mother and our aunts. They were family even if she wasn’t your mate. You don’t deserve a mate, you piece of shit. You didn’t even deserve Mother.” He spat in his face and turned back to us. “Let’s go home.”

  “This was your home,” Alexander snarled. “You are now banished from it. I disown all of you!”

  “This was home when Mother was alive,” Trevor sneered. “It was a prison the moment she died. A prison with an insane tyrant of a warden. You act like disowning us is a bad thing. Fuck, I hate being your son. You look down your nose at us, embarrassed with us, but the feeling is quite mutual, Alexander.”

  And with that we left, scoring a major win for the good guys. At least a moral one.

  Fuck bullies and their bullshit. They’d get theirs in the end. They always did even if it wasn’t in life.

  9

  “You know I thought Barry exaggerated a bit at how hot you guys run, but he really wasn’t,” Dublin muttered as I snuggled against him.

  “Is that your way of complaining I’m too clingy?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I said,” he drawled, rolling us so his body was smushing me into the bed. “Is that better? Is that what you wanted more of?”

  “Brat. Absolute brat,” I gasped, trying to laugh and talk at the same time.

  “Yup, that’s me. Make sure I hydrate more because I’m seriously going to sweat all night with the space heater name Trevor invading my bed.”

  I pinched his side. “I was invited. It’s not invading then.”

  “Well, it’s only temporary until you guys figure out what you’re building and build it.” He turned so we could see each other. “What were you whispering about with Mark and Luke at dinner?
That’s becoming a theme the past few weeks, and I’m not sure I like it.”

  “They want us to build Hogwarts, I swear they do,” I admitted, letting out a giggle. “Now they want a dining hall that’s glass and can have a projector that changes like in the books. They want a pool with real fish to swim along. Frogs too because the frogs need somewhere to hang out and we can make the lily pads.”

  “Oh gawd. They do realize it’s not their mansion, right?”

  “Castle. They’ve been very clear it has to be a castle.”

  “Is that what Gerald was talking about with them too?”

  “Yes,” I chuckled, laughing harder when he groaned. “All of my brothers have been talking to them about it as if they have secrets or wild ideas that mates would like so it’s ready for when they find their mates. And kids since Tiffany will live there with her litter. There was a lot of debate on that too, but like seriously, she’s not moving across state lines. We’re talking about buying an abutting property and extending the safe land.”

  “I heard part of that. I don’t blame her for saying they’d stay with you guys because the Lundbergs are too volatile. It’s like the only way they know how to talk is to argue or fight. I heard it’s getting better, but still, that’s not good for kids to be around.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes, because we’re all right on top of each other in the castle. They watch it at meals with the kids, but most times we eat together in Geir’s mansion. I mean, yeah, I hear you, and even the tension they can feel as hounds, but it’s not a bad environment. We argue too. That’s normal. They just blow up.”

  “It’s good you guys are really settling in though,” he murmured, nuzzling my neck. “Anything you want to tell me?”

  I winced, clearing my throat nervously and opening my mouth. I let out a long moan when his hand moved between my legs. He said the spell, and I gasped as I was instantly ready. “Okay, so I’m not in trouble if we’re having sex, right?”

  “Maybe it’s angry sex?” he challenged, turning me on my side and thrusting into me hard all in one go. “Maybe I’ll just stay like this until you tell me as your punishment for my having to find out from other people?”