by Helen Scott
“Here.” She gestured to the rock formation and a door appeared as though it had always been there.
I took a second to peek inside. There was nothing except a ledge carved out of the wall that could function as a bed or seat. Nothing for Hel to use to try to escape. My worries eased slightly at the thought.
Cottus outstretched his arm, and his hand barely fit through the door as he deposited Hel’s form onto the bench. Megaera started to close the door, and something in me shifted.
“Wait, I need to get the Helm of Darkness out,” I said as I stepped toward the door.
“You realize she will wake up?”
“It’s a risk I have to take. I may need it to claim the throne, and if I don’t claim the throne, the Underworld will remain susceptible to invasion and destruction.”
Megaera sighed and said, “Be quick. Maybe you can get out before she realizes what’s going on.”
I nodded. “If something happens and you need to leave me in there with her, that’s fine. Just don’t let her escape, no matter what.”
“Understood.”
I stepped in and moved her limp form around on the bench until her head was facing the wall and was the closest thing to the door. It wasn’t like the cell was huge. I should be able to get out before anything happened, but there was no use in taking needless risks.
Just before I reached for the helm, foreboding smacked me in the gut, but it wasn’t to do with her. It was the tickle in the back of my brain that I’d had since we’d left the castle. We had left the throne room unguarded. Now, it was almost as if I could feel it. Someone was in there who shouldn’t be.
I reached for the helm and gently pulled it off her head, unsure when the connection would break between her and whatever vision she was seeing. I turned and had one hand on the door when my whole body froze.
“What just happened?” Hel’s voice scratched along my skin.
“You put the helmet on.”
She spun my body so I had to face her, and I could feel the anxiety coming off Megaera behind me, even off Cottus. I didn’t respond, instead reaching into my power and pulling it to the surface. All I had to do was concentrate on her dead half, and she would stop moving. As soon as I did, I knew she felt it, because her eyes widened and I could feel her struggling against my power.
“Let me go and I’ll do the same for you,” I said calmly.
The non-dead side of her face sneered at me while I pulled the dead side of her mouth into a smile. It felt as if I were playing with clay. Just a little push or nudge, and it would get where I wanted it to go. I began to focus so I could test a theory and prayed that she didn’t have the same powers I did. The pinky finger of her dead hand was front and center in my thoughts, and I willed the bone to go in two different directions.
When I heard a crack and her muffled grunt, I knew I was successful. If I wanted to, I could break every bone on the dead side of her body, and she would be powerless to stop me.
“I won’t ask again,” I said quietly, letting all my malice bleed into my voice.
When she still didn’t release me, I did the same thing to her ring finger and waited to see if she would or could respond in kind. Nothing happened to me, though, so I knew I could keep working through her bones as I pleased until she let go. I felt her reach for her agents, the ones fighting on the bridge, to try to bring them to herself, but just like I couldn’t move through the shadows to get in or out of Tartarus, she couldn’t bring her minions to her side.
A frustrated grunt escaped her. “You think I haven’t broken these bones a million times before? They are dead. The only thing that keeps this half of me from collapsing is my blood flowing through it, so you can torture me all you want, but it’s not going to make me release you.”
If breaking her bones wouldn’t work, then maybe something else would. I could try to use fire, or maybe I could force her to pass out. I willed my fire to flare to the surface. I didn’t have as much control over it as I would have liked, but training hadn’t exactly been a priority. It was enough to make a flicker of flames appear over my hand, and I saw a flash of fear on her face. It made me wonder what else the helm might have shown her.
“I think you’re forgetting that I’m a goddess. Fire won’t kill me,” she snarled.
It might not kill her, but it could hurt her. I didn’t really care about that, though. All I wanted was to get out. That meant that I needed to see if my control over the dead was delicate enough to apply pressure to a specific blood vessel. I hoped it was. All it would take was restricting the blood flowing through her, and it would cut off the supply to her brain, at least some of it, which would hopefully incapacitate her, or at least leave her off-kilter enough to release me. As soon as I acted on the idea, she could tell. I felt the adrenaline and panic rushing through her system; well, the dead half at least.
She glared at me for a long moment, but as the blood stopped flowing to her brain, I felt her hold over me slipping. Slowly, I moved what I could and backed up out of the room, only releasing her when I found myself on the other side of the door. It was easier to control her dead side without my guys around. I had been so worried about them before that my brain couldn’t focus on anything. This time, though, it had done exactly what I’d needed.
“Thank you,” I breathed to Megaera. “Can you keep her locked up in here?”
“Of course. Cottus and I will both stand guard until the battle is over, unless you would prefer us to be on the field, Your Majesty?”
“Guard her, please.”
With a nod from the fury, I took off running. I couldn’t lose. Not now. I’d just beaten a goddess for crying out loud, but I could tell something was happening in the throne room. I needed to find out what.
25
Poppy
As soon as I reached the top of the ramp, the guys all picked up on my distress. Concern washed over them, and I wanted to stop and explain, but if I did, it was more time wasted, and I’d already wasted enough.
“Throne room,” I said as I wrapped the shadows around me as soon as I crossed the barrier between Tartarus and the rest of the Underworld.
As the smoke finished swirling around me, I caught a glimpse of it twining around them as well. When I appeared in the throne room, I knew what was going on as soon as I opened my eyes and saw the back of a blonde head.
Alpha members surrounded the throne with the woman who had approached me in the bathroom and attacked Derek, what felt like a lifetime ago, facing it before she sat and faced me. A large smile spread over her face.
“You lose,” she said as she began to inspect her manicure.
“No. You do,” I said as I called some of the spirits from the place between realms to my side.
“I’m still on the throne, darling.”
“You’re sitting on some rock, but you haven’t claimed the throne. You couldn’t without this.” I held up the helm in my hand and shook it in her direction.
As soon as the spirits started arriving, they attacked, along with my hounds and judges. We rushed the members of Alpha. I hunkered down behind Knox for a moment as I slipped the helm back on, hoping that it really did make me invisible as the lore said. Once it was on, I stood back up and looked over at the woman. Her eyes scanned the brawl and seemed to be looking for me. When they didn’t immediately lock on, a flash of hope surged through me.
“Where is she?” the woman yelled.
The members of Alpha who weren’t already on the ground looked around for me, and I froze, waiting for one of them to see me and try to grab me, but no one moved. I eased away from the fight, trying not to get in anyone’s way as I moved up to the throne.
Alpha was losing members left and right as my guys took them down, leaving only the woman standing. When the last man went down, she turned and claimed her seat on the throne. The guys advanced toward her, looking as if they were bent on destruction.
“Get off the throne,” Hunter growled.
“Make me,�
�� she said as she gripped the hound-shaped armrests. “Besides, it’s not like your girl is here to claim it, is she?”
I almost snorted in my laughter. Did she really think she could withstand my men? Before Nolan and Cass had to forcefully remove her from the throne, I stepped closer and blew in her ear, earning a startled yelp. I twirled behind the throne to avoid her reaching hands. It was almost as though she suspected I was there. Maybe she wasn’t as ignorant of the lore as I’d thought?
When I did the same thing on the other side, it had the desired effect of getting her up and off the throne. As she stood glaring at my men, practically daring them to try to take her away, I slipped behind her and pulled the knife and gun from the holsters on her belt before kicking her in the back of her knees and bringing her down to a more manageable level.
I tossed the gun and knife out of reach and wrapped an arm around her neck while I wrenched the helm off with the other hand. My guys all smiled at me, and their lack of surprise made me wonder if they could see me, or at the very least, sense me even while I wore the helm.
“You guys have something to tie her up with?” I asked as she fought my grasp.
“You’re not going to kill her?” one of the ghosts asked.
“No, I want to send her back to the human realm, and I’m hoping when she does die, her spirit doesn’t come back here, since I don’t particularly want her here.” I shrugged. It was the truth.
Nolan came over and took her from me, he and Cass holding her out of reach while Hunter, Knox, and Emmett approached me.
“Take the throne my queen, before another disaster strikes.” Emmett laughed, but there was an edge of worry to his voice.
“How?” I whispered.
Hunter kissed the back of my hand before flipping it over and running his thumb nail across the delicate skin. “With blood, of course. The throne wants to know you’re you, that’s all.”
“But she already bled on it,” I said, pointing to the red smears on top of the hounds’ heads. I hadn’t noticed them until I’d been able to focus on something other than her, but it looked as if she’d brought that blood she had stolen from me with her and had attempted to use it.
“I imagine it needs to be fresh,” Knox rumbled before kissing the back of my other hand and producing a small dagger from his belt.
Emmett gently reached around me and picked up the helm, which I had set on the throne before, and put it on my head.
“Am I still invisible?” I asked quietly.
They all shook their heads. “You control when you are and when you’re not,” Hunter said.
The three of them stepped away from me then and anxiety flowed through me like a waterfall. I didn’t want to mess up. We had all worked so hard to get here, and now that the time had come, all I could do was hesitate.
Shadow approached me after a moment and took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze before bringing it to his lips. “We are all still going to be here for you. This is just making it official, that’s all. Nothing is going to drastically change once you claim the throne other than the people who are trying to kill you not being able to anymore.” He brought his other hand up and cupped the side of my face before giving me a quick peck. I leaned into his hand and wanted to close my eyes and ignore everything, but I couldn’t. “You’ve got this, and we’ve got your back, forever and always.” He gave me another peck, squeezed my hand, and stepped back.
I smiled at him in thanks. He knew exactly what I needed to hear in that moment, and I appreciated it. As I took a deep breath, I sat down on the cold, hard stone of the throne. Energy thrummed through me from the stone up to the helm. I held the blade that Knox had given me and made two quick slashes, one on each palm, before dropping the knife in my lap and placing my hands on the throne.
Power flowed through me. What had been just a vibration before was now an onslaught. I felt younger, more energized, and healthier than I ever had in my whole life. My body was buzzing with vitality and power.
The helm shifted on my head, and I wanted to reach for it, but somehow, I knew I shouldn’t let go, that the connection between myself and the throne wasn’t completely solid yet. As the metal piece that had been over my nose shortened, I could feel the pieces over my ears doing the same. The weight seemed to lessen, and I shot a curious glance to my guys, only to find they had all taken a knee and their heads were bowed.
My own power reached back into the throne and seemed to twine around it until they melded and became one. I opened my mind’s eye and looked at my bonds with the guys. Each one looked as if it were forged from the strongest material on earth with just a shimmer of their color over the top. Strength and beauty. That just about summed up our love.
I could tell when the link between myself and the throne had finished forging, because it felt as if someone had struck a tuning fork. Just a pure tone, a resonance throughout my whole being. One that told me I was in the right place, that I was fulfilling my destiny. I hadn’t realized that I had closed my eyes at some point, but when I opened them again, I saw all my guys looking at me with giant grins on their faces.
“Long live the queen!” Hunter shouted. Echoes of it bounced around the throne room and grew even louder as the other guys called out as well.
“Will you please go check on your comrades on the bridge?” I asked the spirits who had witnessed me claiming the throne.
When we were alone, with the exception of the woman from Alpha, I let my smile out. All the guys except Nolan and Cass rushed over, smiles spreading from ear to ear on each of them.
“We did it!” I squealed.
Derek was the first to reach for me, wrapping me up in a big hug. “I’m so proud of you, baby girl.” Before he stepped away, he dropped a kiss that was altogether too short on my lips.
Shadow was next, wrapping his ridiculously large arms around me and murmuring in my ear, “I bet sex is even better when you’re a queen.” We both laughed, and it felt good. Plus, he was right. Somehow, I just knew sex would be amazing like this, as if sex with them wasn’t already the best I’d ever had.
Emmett butted in next, earning an annoyed glance from Knox. “Remind me never to cross you,” he joked. “Taking out a goddess and Alpha in one day? Only a true queen could do something like that. I am honored to serve by your side, my queen.”
He kissed me, and it was swift but sensual enough that it made me ache for more. By the gods, I hoped the bed in the palace was big enough for all of us.
Cass was there as Emmett stepped away, and I looked over to find Derek and Shadow holding the woman so she couldn’t escape. “You’re beautiful. I always knew you’d make it.” He leaned down, and some of his hair that had come loose surrounded us while his mouth gently pressed against my own. His kiss wasn’t as sensual as Emmett’s, but it made my heart melt nonetheless.
Nolan was there as soon as Cass stepped away, much to Knox’s annoyance. “I guess I have to change your nickname now, huh, princess?”
“I guess so.” I laughed with him as he wrapped his arms around me.
“I hope there’s a mirror in your bedroom,” he said with a sly smirk on his face as he reminded me of the first time we were together before he kissed the daylights out of me.
Knox finally got too impatient and pushed Nolan aside, grabbing me around the waist and swinging me into the air. I squealed and giggled and probably didn’t sound very queen-like at all, but that might have been his point. When his mouth connected with mine, the ember that had been quietly humming away thanks to the attention of the other guys flared to life. I wanted to wrap my legs around him and ride him until both of us were sweaty messes, and then invite the others to join us.
When he released me, he spun me so I was facing Hunter. Tears shone in my auburn-haired hound’s eyes. “I should never have doubted you,” he whispered so only I heard it.
I reached out and cupped his face, forcing him to look me in the eye. “You had every right to doubt me. You lost so much, but you’ve
gained so much as well.”
“I love you with all my heart, Poppy.” He sighed. Before I could respond, he stepped into me, and his mouth was on mine in an unforgiving, panty-melting kiss that left me gasping when he pulled away. All my men were perfect, and I couldn’t wait to take them all to bed again and get to know every single thing about them.
“So what now?” I asked, even though I didn’t want to.
“Well, we need to figure out what to do with her.” Hunter nodded at our prisoner, who had been surprisingly quiet through the whole thing. “Then we need to let everyone know that you’ve successfully claimed the throne and have the crowning ceremony so everyone can bear witness to your magnificence. Oh, and we should probably get all your things moved to the castle at some point, if they’re even still at our place and weren’t destroyed.
“This is for her. Well, most of it, anyway. Some of it is for Hel,” I said, pulling the bottle of water out of the small bag I had at my belt. “Make her forget and drop her back in the human realm. Oh, and can we contact someone from Hel’s pantheon to come pick her up? Does that work for you guys?”
There were nods all around, and I handed off the bottle to Emmett.
“When does the crowning ceremony take place?”
“We should do it as soon as possible,” Hunter said.
“Would tomorrow be okay? Give everyone a chance to recover from the fight?”
Hunter looked at Knox, and the two of them nodded.
“Good. Now, let’s go find the bedroom. I’m exhausted.”
We started to leave the throne room, and I heard the woman from Alpha refusing to drink.
“Drink it or I’ll make you drink it.” Emmett’s voice was cold and hard, so different from what it had been a moment ago.
I paused and turned just in time to see him open her mouth and pour some of the water in, careful not to get any on himself. As soon as the water from the river Lethe hit her lips, she relaxed and her eyes glazed over.
“I’ll meet you guys in the bedroom,” Emmett said with a wink as he looked at us before wrapping his arms around her and calling the shadows to them.
