by Katie Reus
Ian shook his head, his expression grim. “There’s a huge crater to the west and a sinkhole of sorts to the east. Either direction would add days to our trip and increase the likelihood of us being injured. This is the fastest route.”
“Let’s go then.” Raw energy hummed through her. There was no time to waste. She could deal with a couple jerks making rude comments.
Bo moved behind her as Ian and Rory fell back into their formation. She started to pull out her blade, but decided against it. She’d never tried focusing her energy into a weapon before. Not really. Usually she just let the leash on her chaos slip and things went pear-shaped.
Whenever she’d asked—translation: begged—her mother to teach her how to control her power, her mother had refused. For multiple reasons. She’d wanted Nyx to embrace her heritage. But just because her mother was the goddess of Chaos didn’t mean Nyx shouldn’t be able to control her powers. Part of her thought that the reason her mother had never taught her was because she was such a huge disappointment. Not violent and crazy enough apparently.
As they stepped into the clearing she was stunned by the raw beauty of the place. Sharp, jagged rock formations rose up in a clearing that had to be the size of two football fields. The odd-shaped formations stretched out in every direction, so at odds with the lush jungle they’d just stepped from. That was another thing about realms. You could literally move from one season to another in the span of a couple steps. The weather was still the same mild temperature but the landscape was wildly different.
She heard the low murmur of male voices before she saw the males Ian had been referring to. Next to one of the spiky rock growths, three of them were indeed eating over a fire. They all stopped talking, eyeing Nyx and the others. But mainly her.
And it wasn’t a curious thing. Like she was clearly not a demon so they wanted to know what she was out of normal nosiness. Nope. It was more like they wanted to stick her on a spit and roast her—after doing some horrible things to her.
A shiver rolled down her spine as she felt their gazes raking over her. She was covered pretty well with the tunic and pants but it didn’t seem to matter. It was as if they thought if they stared hard enough they could see past all that to her naked skin. Maybe they could. At that thought she had to actively resist the urge to cross her arms over her chest.
Unlike Bo and his brothers, these males had small horns protruding from their heads. Their skin was more of a bluish-green than the pale blue of Bo. They had tattoos though too. Very different looking from Bo and his brothers. The tattooed pattern down their arms was thinner and looked more like vines than the unique symbols on Bo’s body. And their eyes were a creepy red. If they weren’t staring like such jackasses maybe she wouldn’t think it was creepy but as it stood—gross.
She knew she needed to keep her head up though. And screw them anyway. She was a demigod. A freaking demigod. Sometimes, more often than she wanted to admit, she had to remind herself of that. The gods and goddesses in her family had often reminded her of how weak she was, how pathetic, to the point that some days she felt like she didn’t have anything special about her.
Nyx stared at the one in the middle. He had his hand on a stick he’d been roasting over their fire. The dead animal impaled on it looked a bit like a rat. Yuck.
She eyed him as they grew closer to the males, letting her leash slip just a bit. With all these rocks she didn’t want to let her chaos completely loose but she was going to try something. Because Rory’s words earlier had made her think. Maybe she really could focus her gift into making something explode. She’d tried before but she’d always been frustrated when she did. It had gotten to the point where she simply held her gift inside, never let it out.
“Rory, Ian,” the male on the left said, standing.
They grunted a hello, kept moving. She did too, with Bo sliding up next to her. He wasn’t keeping the formation and he wasn’t hiding that she was his. Not if the possessive way he placed his hand on her shoulder was any indication.
The male who’d spoken shifted his position quickly so that he was in front of them. He held his hands up in what she guessed was supposed to be a peaceful gesture, but it failed when the other two males stood and fanned out as if preparing to attack.
“Where’d you get the female? What is she, human? She smells…” He let out a shuddering sigh, stroked the front of his pants once for good measure. “Sell her to us.”
“Oh, gross.” She lifted an eyebrow when he looked at her in shock.
As if he couldn’t believe she’d had the audacity to speak. Dickhead. She glared, focusing all her chaos on his face, imagining what it would be like if his brain started melting into nothing. Maybe she was overreacting by attempting to attack this guy but she was going to go with her gut. These guys weren’t good and if they bought her or any female she didn’t want to think about what they’d attempt to do.
Frowning, he lifted a hand to his head, shook it once, as if trying to clear cobwebs.
That was when Nyx realized Bo was growling next to her. Full on growling.
“Female’s not for sale. She’s ours. Now move.” Ian’s voice was deadly, savage. Gone was the laid back male.
“Come on, maybe we can share her. We’ll pay you for a few hours with her. My men are—”
He never got to finish the rest of his sentence. A thick reddish stream of liquid started pouring out his nose and ears as he fell to his knees. Shock punched through her. She’d done that. She blinked, watching as his mouth opened in a silent cry of agony.
Before he’d even hit the hard surface, Bo had moved into action.
He raced at the nearest male about fifteen feet away, striking out with slashing claws. Bo in warrior mode was beautiful—and scary. And she’d seen her fair share of gods and goddesses in battle mode. Usually over something petty because that’s just how they were.
This was different.
The male Bo attacked tried to defend himself, letting his own talons unsheathe, striking out at Bo’s midsection.
“No!”
But it was as if Bo barely felt the attack. He reared back, punched the guy full-on in the face. She heard the crunch of bone, winced at the cracking sound it made. Not because she felt sorry for the male, but wow, that was brutal force.
Ian sprang into action as well, moving for the third male who was trying to run. Rory stayed next to her like a sentry. It took a moment for her to realize he was standing guard, to protect her. But his body was tense and unless she was wrong, he was holding himself back from jumping into the fray.
A rustle of movement from behind them made her turn. Two more bluish-green males wearing harem-style pants with dead animals slung over their backs. They must be coming back from hunting.
They immediately dropped the animals.
“I’ve got the one on the left,” she said, unsheathing her blade. Nyx didn’t actually think she could take this guy on with a blade. That was her backup in case she failed.
Focusing all her energy again, she stared at the male, imagining his insides burning. Flames licking and melting everything in their path.
“What…” He screamed as fire and blood poured out of his eyes. Holy insanity. She would analyze what she’d done later, but for now she just had to go with it.
She was vaguely aware of Rory beheading the other male. As the male she’d attacked fell to his knees, Bo was there like an avenging—demon. It didn’t matter how beautiful he was, he’d never be mistaken for anything other than what he was.
He sliced off the screaming male’s head with his talons. Immediately the pressure in Nyx’s skull eased, her energy evening out as the focus of her chaos died.
Bo looked at her, a mixture of shock and awe on his expression. The awe did strange things to her insides. She hated being looked at as weak. For as long as she could remember that was all she’d ever been considered. Being here, actually helping, fed something inside her she hadn’t realized had been missing.
&n
bsp; “We need to get out of here,” Rory said as he and Ian moved to stand next to them. “Fast. If they have a bigger hunting party, fighting them will slow us down too much. We’ve gotta get to the exit before darkness.”
“But we’re going to talk about what you did later,” Ian said.
Bo ignored them both, running his hands—sans talons—down her arms. His eyes were lit up in that now familiar supernova, his chest rising and falling erratically, but she could see the concern in every line of his expression. “Are you injured?” he asked quietly.
“I’m good. Promise. Are you okay?” Her gaze flicked to his midsection. His tunic was shredded and the blood was definitely his. While she wanted to take care of him, she also knew that if his half-brothers were worried, they needed to get out of here now. They could patch him up later—though it would probably be unnecessary anyway given his healing capacity.
“Fine. I swear. That was…impressive.” Before she could respond, he looked at Ian, nodded, and they took off at a jog in the same formation as before.
The backpack was stupidly annoying but before she could dwell on it, Bo snatched it off her shoulders.
“I’ve got this,” he said. “You’ll move faster without it.”
She wanted to protest, but she didn’t want to slow the group down. “Thank you.”
He grunted, cast a quick glance over his shoulder as they raced through the rock formations to the other side of the clearing.
As they breached the line of red-trunked trees a shudder raked through her. Her entire life she’d been sheltered. All she’d wanted was to leave her old realm far behind, have some adventures, make some friends and definitely lose her virginity.
And now she wished she was anywhere but here.
Chapter 9
“We’ve got maybe one hour to go and we’ll be there,” Rory said quietly, barely turning around to tell her and Bo as they made their way down a crystal clear, lavender-tinged stream. “We’re making incredible time.”
They’d been traveling for pretty much eight hours straight. With the exception of the half-demons they’d killed and a few ballsy animals who’d thought to attack them along the way, they’d all been relentless in their trek. Ian and Rory had told them it would take nine or ten hours total to reach the exit so they should have an hour of padding at this rate. Still, she wanted to make it to the door with plenty of daylight left. Because in this realm there was only ten hours of light.
The two males hadn’t been kidding about cutting it close. She understood why they’d wanted to leave right at daybreak.
There weren’t any animal sounds in this part of the jungle and the canopy above them was so thick it was almost as if it was nighttime. Without the peeks of sporadic light filtering through the thick trees she’d have wondered if it actually was. Her pants and shoes were soaked from the water, but according to Ian, this was the quickest way to their destination and it helped cover their scents. She knew that he meant hers specifically since she was the one with the apparently alluring smell.
“How are you doing?” Bo asked behind her.
She shot him a quick half-smile. “Good. Ready to be home, take a hot bath.”
Bo’s eyes brightened with raw hunger. “Maybe we can take one together.”
She blinked at the bold statement and even he seemed surprised that he’d said it. After the way he’d been keeping her at arm’s length, both physically and emotionally, his words took her off guard even as they sent a rush of heat to her cheeks—and other places.
Without responding, she turned back around. Because right now she couldn’t answer him. He was definitely the king of mixed signals. She wanted to ask him what the hell he wanted, but talk about inopportune timing. Not only would his brothers overhear them, but she wanted a serious talk.
The stream started to thin, the water getting lower and lower even as the river bed itself grew wider. It was odd, but the scent filling the air was pleasing. It reminded her of fresh blooming jasmine.
As she stepped up onto a bed of flat blue rocks, following directly in Ian’s path, a sharp, haunted cry filled the air. “Stooooop!”
She froze, turned back to Bo, her eyes wide. He frowned, scanning the surrounding tree line. She tracked his gaze, scanned as well but just saw the same thing they’d seen the past hour.
“Come on,” Rory murmured.
She looked at Ian and Rory, both standing impatiently on a formation about a foot higher than the one she was on. “What was that?” Because it had sounded human and female.
“Sometimes the creatures in this area will set traps,” Rory said, disgust on his features. “Play on those stupid enough to have emotions.”
Bo was next to her in an instant, a growl rumbling in his throat.
“I didn’t mean she—you,” he said, looking at Nyx, “are stupid. I just meant what you’re hearing isn’t real.”
“Stop! Help us!” The screams were agonizing now, making the hair on Nyx’s arms stand up.
“Bo, we need to at least check it out.” Because she couldn’t walk away from that gut-wrenching cry. She simply couldn’t.
Rory and Ian stepped back to them, indecision on their faces. Which meant they weren’t sure the cries were fake either.
“That sounds real,” she murmured as another cry, this one weaker, cut through the air.
They all looked to the east, in the direction of the fading cry.
“We shouldn’t get off the path…” Rory trailed off, not even sounding convinced of his own words.
Nyx didn’t care what they thought, but she did care about Bo’s opinion. “What if it’s a female in trouble and we do nothing?” Because half-demon or not, Bo respected women. It was one of the things that had drawn her to him originally. He adored his sister and now that she knew what had happened to his mother, it made sense.
Jaw clenched tight, he looked at his half-brothers. “Can you walk away from females potentially in trouble?”
Their answer would tell Nyx everything she needed to know about them. To her relief, both males shook their heads, Rory letting out a curse. Instead of continuing down the stream, they moved toward the woods. They all spread out, though Bo stayed right next to her.
“Look for traps on the ground or in the trees,” Ian warned as they moved.
Nyx’s heart beat a staccato tattoo against her chest as her feet sank into the mushy ground. She ignored the gross feeling of mud and whatever else that squished into her shoes and between her toes.
The farther they walked through the forest, the more the trees started to thin and definite male voices filled the air. And females crying.
Worry hummed through Nyx. From what she knew this wasn’t a place for females of any species. She glanced at Bo and saw the same concern etched on his sharp features. Shelving all her mixed emotions right now, she reached out and grabbed his hand, linking her fingers through his.
His eyes widened, but he simply squeezed her hand, held tight. The feel of him grounded her, eased her fear of whatever was through those trees. The louder the voices and laughter grew, the four of them slowed and Ian and Rory moved toward them with an incredible stealth.
She could see smoke and sunlight through the thinning trees, but it was still darker under the awning of foliage.
As the two males reached them, Rory made a bunch of hand signals she took to mean they should wait while he did some recon. It was clear Bo and Ian didn’t like it, and neither did she, but it made more sense for one of them to scout as opposed to all of them. And the brothers had way more knowledge of this realm than Bo or her.
After they all nodded, Rory slid through the trees like a wraith, seeming to blend with the shadows.
Blood rushed in her ears as the seconds turned into minutes. Bo never let go of her hand as they scanned the trees, waiting and watching. It was as if an eternity passed but Rory was back in less than ten minutes, his expression grim as he hurried toward them.
“It’s an old castle, mostly rui
ns. Koighans are running it. Three female captives. One is in the leader’s quarters, two are in cages. The ones in the cages look like they’ve been there a while.” He swallowed hard, his jaw clenched tight as he looked at his brother. They seemed to be having some sort of wordless conversation.
“So what’s the plan?” Bo asked quietly, interrupting their non-conversation.
“The female in the leader’s quarters is in bad shape, but I think we can get her out undetected. At least for a little while. The only way we’ll get the other two free is with a distraction.”
“How do we do that?” Nyx looked between them. Her battle tactics were pretty much nil, but she could create some havoc. “Should I bring down a wall of the ruins?”
“Yes…” Rory trailed off, looking at Bo warily. “That might work. There’s only one thing that will distract all of them completely.”
“No.” Bo didn’t raise his voice, but the savagery in that one word was unmistakable.
She frowned. “What is it?”
“You.”
Chapter 10
Victoria linked her fingers through Drake’s as they strode down the cobbled streets of the Quarter. Even though they were a few blocks back, they had a perfect view of the back façade of St. Louis Cathedral in the distance. It was one of the oldest cathedrals in the United States and she’d been in it many times over the years. Unfortunately they weren’t in New Orleans to visit, but to see a magic man.
“I don’t like going in here without any recon.” Drake glanced around the street they were headed down.
Vehicles lined the curb and a few people strolled down the sidewalks, but not many. A Clydesdale horse pulling a small buggy with no customers in the back clomped past them. The driver nodded once, slightly tipping his hat. She smiled back. There was a parade in another part of the Quarter so they’d gotten lucky that there wasn’t much traffic this time of day. There were a few shops and cafes nearby but mainly it was a residential street, which also helped.
