The Burn of the Underworld

by Meg Xuemei X

  Sure, I could fuck him back for the whole night. I had never thought riding a cock could feel so good, so liberating, and so delicious. But I didn’t believe we had every night.

  One night would be all we were going to have.

  And wait. What had he just called me?

  The archangel tensed and pulled me even closer, even though there was already no space between us.

  A wolf howled outside the apartment, and I recognized it as Ash’s warning. Were Max and my tiger here as well? I’d sent Max to help my brother.

  Worry rained down on me at the thought of Sebastian.

  “We have unwelcome visitors,” Elijah snarled.

  I blinked at him. “Ash and Max? I thought they were your friends.”

  He gave me a pained look, his magnificent golden wings folding tightly behind him. “The emperor’s courtesans and spies are coming. Let me get rid of them, and then we’ll resume.”

  He pulled out of me slowly and regrettably, then he grabbed a towel to swiftly wipe between my thighs before he cleaned himself.

  Somehow, that considerate gesture warmed me.

  He opened a drawer, took out a red velvet gown, and handed it to me before he went to gather his own attire from the floor.

  “We’ve just found you, Ayanna,” he said, brushing a kiss on my lips, searing my skin. “We won’t lose you.”

  We? Did he also mean Ash and Max?

  CHAPTER 9

  _____________

  A cacophony of shouts poured into Elijah’s apartment from outside the bath chamber.

  Before I could make the red gown fit around my breasts, someone shoved open the door.

  A gorgeous, mature woman faced us, taking in the scene. She gave Elijah an appreciative onceover before training her bright gaze on me. I hissed in possessive jealousy.

  Over a dozen women, all beautiful and dressed in fine silk, stood behind her. They stared at me, unblinking, instead of gazing upon the gorgeous archangel.

  “What is this?” Elijah, fully dressed now, snarled. Cold fire burned in his storm-gray eyes.

  The leading woman flashed a syrupy smile at him and bowed.

  “Lord Elijah,” she purred. She had a rich, sweet, and sexy voice, in contrast to my harsh, smoky one. “Please forgive our lateness to the party. I’m Lady Willow, the mistress of the emperor’s courtesans. We saw that you staked a claim to Lady Calamity in the gladiatorial arena, so we came forward to allow you to claim any of us as well. You can have all of us, at your pleasure.”

  I glared at her. Elijah gave me a glance, evidently sensing my boiling rage. I was one breath away from punching the lead courtesan’s pearl-white teeth out.

  Then I blinked. When had I become so territorial? The archangel didn’t even belong to me. All we had was one fuck, and nothing else, though I very much wanted to fuck him again.

  “I’m not interested in claiming any of you,” Elijah snapped. “You can all take your leave now.”

  My breath eased. He didn’t want them, no matter how beautiful they were. Of course, they were all pampered. While I dug in the tunnel of ruin day and night, with dirt and grime in my fingernails all year long, they were wrapped in silk and enjoyed luxury. All they had to do was open their legs to the emperor and his high-ranking demons.

  A sudden feeling of shame slammed into me. I had no right to judge them. My father had gone to a great deal of trouble to hide my gender so I wouldn’t end up being one of them. And when I saw the bruises on the necks and arms of the girls behind Willow, my heart bled for them, and rage beat within me.

  We were all slaves in different positions, despite the fact that some of them, like Willow, didn’t have a slave brand on their temples. I wondered why.

  “We can’t leave just yet, Lord Elijah,” Willow said. “If you send us away before we have a chance to please you, His Majesty will punish my girls severely. No one has turned down Emperor Cain’s gifts before. Isn’t it also a Sváva tradition for many unmated females to join a worthy warrior’s claiming ritual?”

  This Willow knew how to talk.

  “Knock yourself out then,” Elijah seethed. “Just don’t get in my way. My servant Saphyira will bring you refreshment. And all of you must leave in an hour.”

  Willow blinked. “You don’t want any of us to pleasure you, Lord Elijah?”

  “No,” Elijah said in a clipped tone. He was losing patience, yet his heat still radiated toward me. I could feel his raw need. He wanted to bring me to his bedroom and finish what we’d started.

  He had mentioned mating fever, and it still rushed and burned in my bloodstream.

  “But you let Lady Calamity pleasure you,” she said, her tone confused and innocent and flirty at the same time. “I don’t know what she has that we don’t have. My girls are all well-trained in sensuality. I bet—”

  Elijah moved. He wanted to strike her down, but I stepped between them. I wouldn’t let him kill her just because she was outspoken. Even though I felt like she was invading my “territory,” I admired her nerve in talking to the archangel this way.

  Just then, a flash of memory hit me and told me that she’d been the first one who’d called out in the arena, “Calamity lives!”

  Our gazes met, and she knew that I’d recognized her voice. She smirked slyly.

  When her chocolate-brown eyes darted between Elijah and me, and the other girls did the same, all sense of my former self returned to me in a blink.

  I’d let a Sváva take my virginity. All my life, I’d hated the Sváva more than anything. Though Elijah seemed to be different from any of them, he was still one of them.

  Unspoken shame rained down on me in sheets, particularly as I realized that I still wanted his cock to be inside me more than anything.

  I stepped away from Elijah, and instantly my body screamed at me for putting distance between us, and an unexpected physical pain stabbed into my belly.

  Elijah stepped toward me to reduce the space between us, but I turned to glare at him over my shoulder, warning him to stay away. An expression of hurt flashed in his gray-blue eyes, soon swallowed by the heat burning in their cold depths.

  He was stubborn. He wouldn’t let me go before he had his way with me multiple times, and my heart fluttered like the butterfly’s wings again.

  I had once believed that Sváva had no souls.

  I could be wrong with Elijah.

  “Lady Calamity needs rest,” he said harshly. “I don’t care if you were sent by the emperor. Get out of the way.”

  “I’m afraid that we’ll have to make Lady Calamity presentable first,” Willow said, flourishing a makeup kit in front of her. “We need to put some makeup on her, so she’ll have sexy, smoky eyes and rosy cheeks. It’s this year’s fashion in the Underworld.”

  Before I turned down her offer, Elijah grated, “She’s beautiful enough without any makeup.” He stretched a hand to me. “Come, Calamity, I’ll lead you to your room to rest.”

  I didn’t take his hand.

  “Emperor Cain is coming here,” Willow said. “The emperor’s taste might be different than yours, Lord Elijah.”

  “Why do I give a fuck what the demon emperor likes?” I snarled.

  Willow stepped forward and held my hand. Before I could shake her off, something pressed between our palms. She was giving me a signal.

  She wanted to be alone with me and help me.

  “The emperor’s royal guards have secured the perimeter to prepare for His Majesty’s arrival,” whispered a dark-haired beauty with heavy mascara.

  As if on cue, the courtesans rushed into the bathroom as one, separating me from Elijah and ignoring his hisses and growls. Elijah, despite his harsh manners and threatening words, seemed to be a gentleman and refused to shove the ladies away roughly.

  While a dozen courtesans tried to cling to him and he tried to fend them off, Willow and three courtesans, including the dark-haired beauty, whisked me toward the spiral stairs. A few moments later, I was in a spacious downsta
irs study.

  “Quickly!” Willow ordered as she closed the door.

  Were they going to attack me?

  I formed fists at my sides, ready to punch back without mercy.

  Her courtesans pulled out bundles from under their dresses, unfolded the packages, and revealed travel outfits, boots, and a couple of days’ rations of water and food.

  I blinked. My throat was parched. “You’re helping me escape?”

  “Yes, Lady Calamity,” Willow said. “You must leave soon. Now, change.”

  “The emperor will kill you all if he knows that you helped me,” I said. “He won’t just kill you quickly. The demons will torture you first. I’m a dead woman anyway. I won’t have your blood on my hands and on my conscience.”

  “We won’t taint your conscience,” Willow said with a grin. “It’s a precious commodity nowadays, since few still possess it.” She turned to a blond. “Siobhan, you ready?”

  The blond courtesan nodded nervously, but she managed to put on a brave face. I darted my gaze between Willow and Siobhan with confusion.

  “Ready for what?” I demanded. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Siobhan squinted, her long lashes fluttering rapidly. “Just do it, Octavia. Anything for Lady Calamity.”

  The dark-haired beauty raised her fist and punched Siobhan in the jaw, and Siobhan’s head snapped back. I grabbed Octavia’s wrist before her next punch landed on Siobhan.

  “Stop,” I said in a menacing voice. “Or I’ll punch you and see how you like it.”

  Octavia grinned, all nice white teeth, and her other fist rammed into Siobhan before I could prevent the hit.

  Siobhan fell backwards, and Willow caught her and gently laid the unconscious girl on the floor. Purple bruises blossomed all over the blond courtesan’s beautiful face.

  “We had to do it this way to help you escape,” Willow said. “Lydia and Octavia will be your guides and guards.”

  She nodded at the dark-haired and the redhead courtesans, and they stripped their gowns and revealed their travel outfits inside.

  The redhead was Lydia, then.

  “What about you?” I asked Willow.

  “The girls will also beat me, gag me, and tie me up,” Willow said. “Siobhan and I will wait here to be found. We’ll be all tears when they find us and tell the horrible story of you taking advantage of our naivety and kindness, hitting us, and making your escape.”

  “You’ve gone to great lengths to plan this,” I said. “Why? You know I can never repay you. Even though you think it might work, you still might get yourselves killed for helping me.”

  “We have our reasons,” Willow said.

  “Your reasoning isn’t sound to me,” I said, not wanting to owe them a life debt like this. Besides, part of me was unwilling to leave the archangel. “And Elijah said he’d take care of—”

  “The archangel will try to buy your freedom,” Willow said, her voice turning hard. “But you’re not going to count on him, or any Sváva. You got me? Emperor Cain has marked you, and he’ll never allow you to walk out of here alive and free.”

  She was telling me the hard truth. No matter how powerful Elijah was, the emperor ruled the Underworld, and he had an army of demons.

  Even if I succeeded in escaping, I’d leave loose ends behind. I’d leave Willow and her courtesans at the mercy of the demon emperor. I would probably never see Elijah, Max, or Ash again.

  And I wasn’t the kind of person who believed in sacrificing many so one could live.

  I shook my head. “I can’t do it.”

  “What do you mean you can’t do it?” Willow demanded, her voice no longer syrupy but harsh. “You showed us courage and defiance. You showed us it was worth fighting for freedom. You’re the ember in the dark jungle. You lit something in us, something long-forgotten, something we didn’t know had survived all the darkness and horror in our souls. And now you’re going to abandon us and snuff out the only spark of life and fire? Now you’re going to turn into a coward?”

  “I’m no one’s hero, Willow,” I snapped. “I never was and never will be. I have a brother, and he’s sick. They’ll take it out on him. They’ll make him an example if I flee. And where can I even flee to? This is the demon realm.”

  “Your brother escaped,” said Octavia, the dark-haired beauty. “Someone helped him. And we’ll bring him to you.” Over my suspicious look, she added, “I vow on my future children’s lives, if I’m lucky enough to have any, that I didn’t lie to you. We do have a place to go. We’ll bring you to the Prophet.”

  Max must have reached my brother and taken him under his wing.

  I swallowed in gratitude. If Sebastian was safe, I wouldn’t need to look over my shoulder and constantly fear for him.

  A sliver of hope rose in me, yet I wasn’t completely convinced that I should go along with their plan.

  “The Prophet?” I asked.

  “Lydia will tell you everything on the road,” Willow said, eyeing the redhead.

  “Who are you exactly?” I asked.

  “We’re the Thorn Rose,” Willow whispered. “We’re the underground rebellion force. Our network exists to serve you, and we’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.”

  Everyone was mistaking me for someone else.

  “I’m Octavia.” The dark-haired beauty winked at me. “Lydia will be your guide, and I’ll be your guard.” At my dubious look, she added, “I was trained with weaponry. I’m a courtesan warrior, and we all have different roles.”

  She brought out three daggers from a leather bundle, one of them an angelblade.

  I lunged at the sword, grabbed the hilt, and studied the runes on the edge of the silvery blade. It looked so familiar, yet the meaning danced on the edge my perception.

  I couldn’t dim the glint in my eyes. “How did you get hold of an angelblade?”

  Willow regarded me. “We stole it from a red-winged Sváva.”

  “Do you know that it’s the only weapon that can kill a Sváva?” I asked.

  “How did you know that?” Willow asked. “You’ve been a slave your entire life.”

  I smiled at her. “Yet you’re risking your life for me.”

  “You know things,” Willow said, “but you don’t know everything, including our Thorn Rose operation. We don’t have time to teach you. Now, you need to hurry up.”

  I scanned them. “Some privacy?”

  Willow snorted in exasperation. “We can’t afford modesty now. Change, Calamity.”

  I didn’t want them to see my marks, but then they were risking their lives for me. I had to trust them a little. Let them see the magical marks on my body if they had to.

  I turned my back toward them and pulled the red gown over my head, but Willow spun me around just in time to see the icons on my arm, one of them still glowing. At her touch, a violent wind blasted out of me, sending her crashing against the wall.

  It had acted without my command, just as the flame of my icon had slammed into Elijah, though it hadn’t hurt him but imprinted him.

  “I’m so sorry, Willow,” I said, scrambling toward her to help her up. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I had no control of my—power.”

  The icon beamed with dark gold light. The wind must have come from its power. It’d reacted with possessive protectiveness outside of my will.

  “Your magic would have broken me if it truly perceived me as your enemy,” she said with a smile. Then tears streamed down her beautiful face as she gazed at the blue flame twirling inside five white petals at the top of my left breast.

  Elijah had called it the Queen of the Night.

  Lydia and Octavia also glued their widened eyes to the mark.

  “It’s her!” Lydia whispered and dropped to her knees. “It’s really her. My queen. Our queen.”

  Willow and Octavia also knelt in front of me, tears flowing down their cheeks and their eyes brightening with burning hope.

  Yet hope was a dangerous thing.

&n
bsp; “We thought we’d lost you.” Willow wept with joy. “There was no trace of you ever existing. But here you are, our queen. You’re right in front of us.”

  My blood only went cold at their pronouncement. I wouldn’t be a fraud just to comfort these poor women. I refused to offer anyone false hope.

  “I’m not a fucking queen,” I said harshly as I pulled on the clothes they’d brought me and inserted my feet into the hunting boots.

  “Then are you a slave?” Willow asked.

  “I was, but no longer,” I said, holding the gaze of the mistress of the emperor’s courtesans. “I’ll be damned if I ever allow anyone to define who I am.” I lifted my chin. “I declared my own freedom in the arena. You heard me. You were there watching the bloody sports, too.”

  “Exactly,” Willow said, placing a handheld mirror in front of me. “Look at yourself, Queen Calamity. Your power has awoken. It’s burned the slave mark from your temple, something no one else could do.”

  “Just as the Prophet said,” Lydia confirmed.

  I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The slave brand was gone. I touched my temple. It was all smooth skin, as if the symbol of double shackles that had branded me when I was a toddler had never existed.

  “You’re the queen who’s promised to us,” Willow declared fiercely, “the queen who’s come for us, the queen who’ll burn the Underworld and shatter our chains.”

  “Now we must preserve the Queen of the Flame.” Octavia, my self-appointed guard, picked a blade and handed the other to Lydia. They let me keep the angelblade, which delighted me. “We have to go.”

  “How do we fight our way out?” I asked. “You mentioned that the emperor’s elite guards have secured the perimeter to prepare for Cain’s arrival. Three of us can’t fight a horde of demons. We’ll be slaughtered.”

  Willow smiled. She rose to her feet and sauntered to a closet. Then she pressed something on the wall inside the closet, and the inner wall opened a crack. She pushed it with her shoulder, and I hurried to help her.

  “It hasn’t been used for over a century,” she murmured.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” I said, and she smirked at me.