The Burn of the Underworld

by Meg Xuemei X

  He was the only one chortling. When he finally stopped, his gaze shifted between Ash and Max in pity.

  “You think my sister marked a high-ranking Sváva and bound him?” he asked. “You really believe Calamity is half archangel, with mystic runes on her arm that bond not one but four powerful mates?” He chuckled again and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “I’m sorry to break the news, but you’ve got the wrong dame. You came all the way from the Upper Realm, left your warm beds and hot meals, and got stuck in this hellhole for the wrong girl.”

  I sighed, understanding Sebastian’s denial. Part of him hated the idea of anyone taking me away from him.

  “I helped bathe my sister when she was little,” Sebastian said, deadly serious now. “She doesn’t have any marks on her entire body. She isn’t your fancy princess heir, but it doesn’t matter. She’s my little sister, and she’s under my protection.”

  “They’re actually right about the marks,” Octavia said to Sebastian quietly. She and my brother seemed to have grown close while I was out cold. “I saw the symbols, too. That’s why Willow and all of us from the Thorn Rose recognized her as our promised queen. It makes sense that the Upper Realm warriors came for her. We believe in fated mates in the Underworld, and they’ve come to hell for their queen and mate.”

  I regarded Octavia drily. The courtesan warrior wasn’t only a cult member; she was also a romantic.

  Sebastian narrowed his unhappy eyes on her.

  On a sigh, I drew up my right sleeve. Four icons, half-circles embracing each other, lined up vertically on my inner arm, strung together by a glowing glyph of an ivy vine. A dark golden icon in the middle beamed, though not as brightly as when Elijah was around. Two other icons glinted faint purple-gold and silver-gold. The one at the far edge faded on and off like a dull coin, inactive.

  Sebastian stared at the icons on my skin, his jaw dropping in shock.

  “They weren’t there when you were a kid,” Sebastian accused.

  “They first appeared when I went through puberty,” I said, giving him a nonplussed look. “They faded in and out. Xavier warned me not to show my marks or let anyone know about my magic. I listened to him, since I was terrified of bringing the demons to our door and endangering Father and you. And I didn’t want you to think I was a freak.”

  “Whatever you are,” he said, “you aren’t a freak. You’re my beloved sister.”

  “The glowing icons are so beautiful,” Octavia said from her place beside him. “I wonder what kind of magic they possess.”

  “They’re the mating bond for each of Ayanna’s mates,” Max said.

  And my mating bond had once sent Willow flying across the room when she’d touched me without permission.

  “Where’s the fourth one?” I asked, sending a sultry glance at Ash and Max—I couldn’t help it—before I pulled back my sleeve to cover the icons. The last emblem must be my mating bond to him. “I only saw three of you get off the ship.”

  “Merlin is your fourth mate,” Max said. “He’s the one who sent us and the one who’s waiting on the other side for you.”

  CHAPTER 14

  _____________

  Max pulled a long, slender blade from a leather sheath behind his back. His wings had vanished. He leveled the blade and let the sword rest on his palms.

  “This is Dreamkiss, an angelblade, and a gift from Merlin,” Max said. “It can align with your magic and cut into anything.”

  “How could he know about my magic?” I asked. “He hasn’t even met me.”

  But I was quick to take Dreamkiss from Max’s possession. I was afraid that if I acted a bit slower, he would take it back.

  Max chuckled.

  “The demigod druid shielded your mother against Atlas’s dark angels,” Ash said. “And he’s always had a way with magic. He’d better stay on the other side all the time with his she-dragon. And he’d better prepare a decent hot meal and a warm bath when we get there, or he won’t win a mate.”

  Was this a courtship?

  My blood drummed at the romantic notion, even though our situation was still dire in the danger-infested Underworld.

  As soon as I took the sword, the crimson runes on its blade flared, and I felt an instant connection to Dreamkiss. This blade was indeed made for me. It felt right and perfect in every sense in my hand.

  I brandished the blade, jumped back and forth, and swung it left and right to test it. A spark of red lightning appeared on my fingertips, rushing to the end of the blade and shooting into the nearby ground.

  Everyone stared at the square of dried grass burned by my lightning. Sebastian hurried to drag the pack away, as it was dangerously close to the scorched patch of land. His wild eyes darted between me, Dreamkiss, and the two warriors who had come for me.

  I smirked smugly. “Never seen this side of me, have you, Bas?”

  But I turned the tip of Dreamkiss toward the sky, in case I shocked anyone with my next outburst of lightning by accident.

  Sebastian didn’t smile back. A look of hurt shone in his eyes.

  “Both Xavier and you kept your warrior side from me,” he said. “He trained you in secret and didn’t let me into your inner circle. He should have trained me, too, so I could go to the arena instead of you. So I could protect you better. I was worried to death, lying on my sickbed and cursing myself, knowing you were fighting in the arena. I never want to experience that terrible, helpless feeling again.”

  If he’d gone to the arena, he’d be dead, and I might never have met Max, Ash, and Elijah, my promised mates.

  But my brother’s hurt still got to me, and a spear of guilt pierced me. I seemed to be the cause of his every misfortune, and I’d also taken the love and devotion of our adopted father from him.

  Xavier had excluded Sebastian from fine education and martial arts training, despite my constant protest. He’d said he didn’t have the energy to take care of both children, so it had to be me. In the end, I’d just accepted it, believing it was because I was a girl and that Xavier needed me to have all sorts of skill sets to have a surviving chance.

  Sebastian spread his arms in anger. “I did everything Xavier asked me to do, but he kept so many secrets from us. He must have known our heritage and never said a word about it. He might be the one who smuggled us to the Underworld as slaves. Now that I come to think of it, I don’t feel any gratitude toward him anymore. He might be the one who ruined our lives and robbed us of our birthrights. That bastard is a kidnapper!”

  Xavier had kept a lot of secrets. I’d known that as a kid. A small part of me had resented him for that. But I wouldn’t allow anyone, including my brother, to show any disrespect toward our father. Though, in the end, it broke my heart to realize that Xavier wasn’t all I’d thought he was—my hero.

  “Stop, Bas,” I barked back. “Don’t ever call him that! He raised us and sacrificed everything for us.” Mostly for me. “I won’t allow you to show our father any disrespect. You got me?”

  My gaze flickered to Ash and Max for a second. I felt their intense focus glued on me. It must have something to do with the way I swayed my hips. I quickly returned my furious stare to Sebastian, letting my big dragonian brother know where I stood.

  Sebastian blinked, looking stunned. I had never taken that tone with him before.

  I’d always let him be the alpha and decide everything for us after Xavier died, but now I was my own person. I’d become this new Calamity the day I’d stepped out and gone to the arena in his place. I did not live in my brother’s shadow anymore.

  Ash chuckled. “Take care how you talk to Ayanna if you don’t want your dragonian ass to be burned by her fiery spirit.”

  Sebastian glared at him.

  Max nodded with approval. “Our mate is a spitfire for sure.”

  They liked my spark, and I was pleased.

  “Your sister is the Queen of the Flame,” Octavia chimed in, not liking to see Sebastian being scolded by two alpha males who didn’t seem
to be very sensitive toward others, except to me. “You should be proud to have such a sister. You can learn to get used to her new fiery side.”

  “The diggers in Lethe worship you,” I said to my brother, softening my former harsh tone. “Your pals Diego and Brooklyn followed you everywhere. Xavier had reasons to worry that you might let something slip if he told you anything. You’re impulsive, Bas. You aren’t good at keeping secrets.”

  “That’s not true. I kept your secret that you’re a girl,” Sebastian said.

  “Because of your love for me,” I said. “And you knew the consequences if you ever told anyone about it. In the end, you can only trust family.”

  “It’s useless to argue with you. You always win,” he grunted, running a hand over his tired face. “I now understand why Xavier trained you and was devoted to you. He must have known you’re the lost heir to Atlantis. But I’ve got a purpose, too.”

  Ash arched an eyebrow in amusement. “And what is that, Prince Darken?”

  Sebastian stared hard at him. “Get my little sister home.”

  “That’s our job,” Ash said. “That’s why we came here. You can hitch a ride, too, for her sake. And since both of you have gotten your family drama off your chests, we need to move on in a hurry. We don’t have space for any extra emotional baggage.” He turned to me, his fiery eyes giving me another once-over. “When we get to the Upper Realm, Blossom, you’ll need training to tame your wild magic and learn how to properly channel it, or you’ll burn a lot of holes in unintended targets, like our chests.”

  My mind immediately drifted to the images of their bare torsos and how I would lick every delicious inch before I kissed all the way down to their massive shafts.

  I blinked, my face flaming and my body searing with raw need. Ash and Max gazed back at me with the same need, sparks flying between us.

  This journey was going to be a trial.

  “Uh, guys,” I said, tearing my gaze from them to look at the dark horizon, “shall we get going?”

  Killian yawned in answer.

  He rolled from the ground, stretching his body to a good length before he came to my side to rub my legs with his huge head. He was all for moving along after he had eaten a demon and had a long nap. At his demand, I scratched the spot behind his furry ear.

  ~

  “I don’t give a fuck about the Prophet or your thorny flower network,” Ash said, waving a hand at Octavia dismissively and ignoring Sebastian’s glare. My brother had grown very protective of the courtesan warrior.

  Our dynamic had changed overnight. Apparently, I was more powerful than Sebastian, and thus I’d lost my status as the little sister who needed his orders and protection.

  “We’re not going to see him,” Max also confirmed.

  Octavia stared hard at them. She’d been a bit nervous around them in the beginning, but no longer. “It’s Lady Prophet, and it’s Thorn Rose!”

  I hadn’t known that the Prophet was a female, but I folded my arms across my chest while they argued. That was the thing with a group: people liked to argue all the time.

  “Like that’s going to sway my decision.” Ash snorted. “Our priority is to get Blossom to the Upper Realm as soon as possible, before the demon army descends on us. If the fucker Cain realizes who Ayanna really is, he’ll move Heaven and Hell to get his claws on her. So, no, we aren’t going north. We aren’t crossing those barren hills and plains to see Lady Prophet. We’re going south, straight ahead, until we reach the exit point of the Underworld, where the only hidden leyline exists.”

  “What if the demon army follows us to the Upper Realm?” Sebastian asked.

  “That’s not for you to worry about, dragonian,” Ash said. “Just prepare for the free joy ride. As I said, Merlin and our supernatural army are waiting on the other side. The druid knows how to seal the portal. Well, he’d better handle it.”

  Sebastian sent Octavia a sheepish look. He wanted more than anything to return to Atlantis to tend to his sick father. We’d thought we were orphans, and then all of a sudden we had family in the Upper Realm, who wanted us and missed us so much.

  My parents had even abandoned their kingdom to look for me. Tears welled in my eyes as I thought of the parents I’d never known.

  “This isn’t right,” Octavia said, shaking her ponytail in the wind. “Queen Calamity needs to go see Lady Raven first, as the prophecy said that the Prophet would show the queen the way to victory, or we’d fail. We can’t skip that important step.” She turned to me, desperation brimming in her eyes. “You can’t just abandon us, my queen. You came for us. You’re supposed to save us. You’re the Queen of the Flame, who’ll burn the Underworld and melt our chains.”

  “My mate isn’t going to serve your rebel cause,” Ash snarled. “You and your flower network will only get her killed if she stays.”

  I glared at him for growling at my friend, then I turned to Octavia. “I’m sorry, but I can’t go along with your plan. I’m sorry for disappointing you and your friends, but I need to go home to see my mom and dad first. If I hurry up, I might still catch up with them before they leave Earth. If I don’t go back now and my parents leave, I might never see them again. I can’t give up on that chance. But I promise I’ll come back for you, for all of you. I’m the heir to the great kingdom. I can bring an army to the Underworld, supposing we can get out of the realm in the first place.”

  “We’ll make sure you go home, Ayanna,” Max said. “Even if we don’t get out, you’ll go home.”

  Twice now he’d mentioned that he’d stay behind to make sure I got out, and I didn’t like it one bit. It sounded like a bad omen.

  “Don’t ever say things like that,” I snapped. “If we go, we go together. If we’re stuck, we’re stuck together.”

  Max smiled at me, his hand brushing against mine. Blood roared in my veins as heat charged my body. I wanted his hand to explore me completely.

  Ash grinned. “Does that mean you’ve already accepted us as your mates?”

  My face flamed. “This matehood has to wait. Our first priority is to survive and flee this hell. I also need time to figure out this fated thing between us. I don’t like anyone or any force to decide my path.”

  Ash and Max shared a look.

  “It’s fair,” Max said. “We’ll give you all the time you need.”

  “Just don’t take too long,” Ash murmured, sending Max a harsh look. “We’re all burning here.”

  As Max had announced, the fae prince had a shorter fuse.

  “The plan of returning to my true home sounds logical at the moment,” I said, giving Max and Ash a warning look, “so I decided to go with you. But don’t for a second think that you can make all my decisions for me, even though you might think it’s best for me. I’m my own person.”

  “You got it, doll,” Max said with an indulgent, sexy smile.

  My stupid heart fluttered. Was that how they charmed other women in their world? Were the women in the Upper Realm very different from me?

  “We’ll go to Atlantis first,” Sebastian said and turned to Octavia. “But we’ll come back with an army to squash the demons, I promise.”

  Octavia swallowed and nodded. She couldn’t argue with that.

  Max touched the screen of a device on his wrist, and the needles and arrows inside twirled wildly before they aligned.

  “What is that?” Sebastian asked suspiciously, leaning closer to Max.

  “A magical compass,” Max said, yet his amused eyes stayed on me. “Never seen one before?”

  “How does it work?” Octavia asked before I could.

  “Earth is a big magnet that interacts with other magnets,” Max explained. “It draws the north end of a compass to align with its magnetic field.”

  “But we aren’t in the Upper Realm,” Sebastian objected, as if he knew science.

  “So we got a magical compass, boy,” Max said.

  Sebastian glared at him, not fond of being called boy. But he couldn’t b
ully or tower over Max and Ash like he did the other diggers.

  I appreciated their resourcefulness. These males had come prepared.

  “We can’t just blindly follow the direction indicated by the magical compass,” I reminded them. “We’re in the demon realm, and the demons can be anywhere.”

  Max nodded. “Clever thinking, doll. We’ll have to avoid all the main roads, as the demon sentinels will be waiting for us at every outpost.”

  “Don’t call me doll, Max,” I grunted.

  I’ve never called any woman doll except you, doll, he said in my mind.

  I shook my head. I’d found that it was often pointless to argue with either him or Ash.

  “I’ve learned by heart the geography of the Underworld,” Octavia chimed in. “That’s our first training. We all prepared ourselves for this day, to serve the Queen of the Flame in every capacity.” She surveyed the area. “We’re now in Cocytus, the land of lamentation. In which direction will you decide to go, Lord Max?”

  Max flashed her a grin. “Just Max will do,” he said. “I have no penchant for the title of lord. We’ll go south.”

  “That will be Acheron, the land of woe,” Octavia said.

  Sebastian smiled at my courtesan friend. “It’s good to have you with us, Octavia.”

  She beamed back. It seemed their romance was going to bloom before mine did.

  I stole a quick glance at Ash and Max, only to find that they were watching me. I turned away and marched ahead, determined to return home before Mom and Dad took off to the far galaxy.

  CHAPTER 15

  _____________

  “It’s not that way, Blossom,” Ash said with a chuckle.

  “It’s dark,” I complained. “Who knows which way is which.”

  It wasn’t that dark, but I didn’t want to admit I was still overwhelmed by what I’d learned about my heritage and the danger that lay ahead.