Page 45

Harlow

A week later

Sunday Night

Third Floor Common Room

W atching Kol and Monty react to The Rocky Horror Picture Show was the best entertainment I’d had in years. They both looked downright startled.

Since they refused to leave me alone for a second after my sudden heat, or let me leave the floor, Drake had set us up in the common room, connecting his laptop so we could at least watch a movie.

My body still ached from a week of glorious sex but I’d felt more settled in my skin and my bond than ever before. It changed everything, brought us closer together, and I was grateful we had this.

They were everything.

Even now with this simple night of recovery, I couldn't help but smile to myself.

Had someone asked me a year ago if I could see myself watching this with a gargoyle and a demon commander beside me, I’d think they were the crazy one.

Hiro was tired and went to bed early, and Drake had been hanging with his mom before going to bed. Layne and Crew had vacated the floor for my heat to give us space. Someone even sent the nurse away.

After everything, I couldn’t sleep, so here we were.

It was hard to give into exhaustion when you didn’t know what was coming for you. If I wasn’t paranoid before, I definitely was now. The moment the heat fog faded the worries came crashing back down on me.

“What is this?” Kol questioned.

“You guys have never seen a movie before?” I asked innocently. Monty was loving it, cracking up from the moment the red lips sang on the screen.

“I was frozen in stone,” Kol deadpanned. “Not a lot of time for movies. Is this what they’re all like?”

“No. This is meant to be campy and funny,” I explained with a laugh, grabbing the popcorn bowl and offering it to him. Of course, he turned it down.

“I don’t eat food,” he said absently. I froze at his words.

“Wait... what?” I knew they never joined us for meals but they had to feed somehow, right?

“We don’t eat at all,” Kol confirmed. “Or drink. We do breathe, though.”

“But I watched Stravos eat fries,” I said in shock.

“He’s got more humanity than we do. He always has. Stravos doesn't have to eat, he just likes food, I guess,” Kol said with a shrug.

“Can you eat food, Monty? I know you guys live on emotion, but can you eat food, too?” He leaned forward and scooped up some popcorn before popping it into his wide mouth. It was fascinating to watch him eat. His teeth gnashed at the kernels, yet he somehow made no mess.

When he swallowed it down, he finally answered. “We can, we just don’t. We don’t exactly have feasts in Helheim.”

“This is not how humans dress,” Kol said as he pointed at the man on screen in tiny gold shorts and nothing else. He was oblivious to our continued conversation as he fell under Rocky Horror ’s spell. “I’ve never seen you wear this.”

I bit back a laugh, knowing he would be so much more confused once the movie progressed.

This movie was a whole experience.

A scream echoed from the TV, then was joined by one in the hallway. A door slammed open, and we jumped to our feet, knocking over the popcorn and racing down the hall.

Sarah was hysterical. I shoved past Monty and Kol to reach Drake who had just walked into her room again.

“Mom, Mom, it’s me. Drake. Calm down.” She relaxed at that, though her chest was rising and falling rapidly. Sarah was still groggy but something had definitely spooked her.

“I’m sorry,” she rasped out. “I thought I saw a ghost, but it was just your father, Drake,” she reassured him, patting his cheek.

“Dad wasn’t here, Mom,” he said. “You were sleeping, I would have noticed if he was here.”

Monty shifted me aside and moved in. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

“There was no demon here.”

“He was here,” she insisted. “Just like always.”

“Was it a dream, Sarah?” I questioned in a soothing tone. She looked at me and shook her head.

“No, he wakes me up from my dreams,” she said.

“Then why did you think it was a ghost, Mom? You screamed,” Drake pointed out.

It was like pulling teeth to get answers out of her. She just shook her head and repeated herself.

“Usually he’s not so transparent,” she said around a yawn when she’d finished rambling. She gave little bits of real coherent thoughts between the jumble of nonsense. “I’m sorry, it was silly of me, I didn’t mean to wake you all up.”

“You didn’t wake us up, we were watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show ,” I reassured her. Sarah’s eyes lit up and she sang “Time Warp.”

“Can I watch, too?”

“Of course,” I said. “We just might need to make more popcorn. Some gargoyle knocked mine over.” I gave Kol a playful glare and she laughed like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard.

I appreciated her easy laughter and quick smiles, it was refreshing. If it calmed her down, I was happy to let her crash our movie night.

I turned away and ushered the guys out so we could get snacks going again.

Maybe we could wear her out so she’d actually sleep.

“Mom,” Drake’s alarmed tone had me turning back. Sarah’s eyes had turned white and she moved toward me, hands seeking me out until she latched onto my wrists. Her fingers were so icy they stung my flesh. Her hold was stronger than should have been possible in her weak state.

“Harlow. The time is coming. Your destiny is here. It’s time to make a difficult choice. It’s the only way. Your true protector will be taken, leaving you vulnerable. You can’t let the deceit take you by surprise. You can’t hide from destiny.”

Her speech was choppy and stunted, an echoing quality to her voice had a shiver running down my spine. My body trembled as I tried not to let that fear take hold.

“Sarah?” I asked. Her words were settling like bricks on my chest, making it hard to breathe. My arms ached where she gripped me, the hold too tight to get her off of me.

Monty was at my back and Drake was trying to shake her out of it.

Even as they fought to break the trance, I couldn’t look away from her depthless, white eyes.

“Drake, what’s going on?” I hissed.

“I have no idea.” He sounded as shocked as I was.

Monty was the calm one this time. He put a hand on my back to calm me.

“She’s a seer. Intertwined with fate. If she saw a demon who wasn’t quite solid, I would say she’s got a connection with someone in Helheim who can’t come here.”

“Is that even a power the demons have?” I questioned. “I’ve seen Hel come to me in the same way but she’s the only one.”

“It would have to be one of the higher demons. Very few of them, if any, have that power. Hel keeps us separated. Everything she does is calculated, so it’s likely I don’t know him. Helheim is a big place.” He paused for a moment, glancing between mother and son. “Actually. That could explain why Drake’s demon is so much stronger than most half breeds should be.”

“Can we focus on what the fuck is going on with my mom?” Drake growled.

She was repeating her message like a broken record, and I didn’t know what to do to snap her out of it.

“Mom!” Drake screamed loudly enough it echoed in the small room, but she didn’t react or startle.

Then she shifted, moving even closer. “Your protector will hear your pleas but cannot answer your call. You have to save him if you want to take the power. The answers are there among the ice.”

Sarah finished speaking before she collapsed, her eyes closed before she fell. Drake caught her and carried her to bed.

She was sleeping soundly again by the time he lifted her cover over her small frame.

We shuffled out of the room and back to the common room. It was only then that her words had sunk in. My stomach churned and bile rose, so I ran to the bathroom.

I barely made it before I emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet. The dry heaving continued as my panic continued to bear down on me. The light dimmed as shadows moved in behind me. Fuck them. I didn’t need this right now.

Every bit of hope I clung to that this wouldn’t come to pass was gone. I knew in my heart that my true protector was Monty. Hel already had access to him, and I didn’t put it past her to not snatch him away.

My demon and I may struggle from time to time, but I’d raze the world... or Helheim, for him.

Like he’d do for me.

It was her line about choosing that struck me to my core. The sacrifice had to be willing and it was my choice to make.

If I had to make it, it would be to save one of my men. That was the only way.

“Hey.” Drake’s voice was much gentler than it usually was.

“She wants me to kill myself for her, Drake. Hel wants me to give up everything I fought for. Three months of happiness and it just gets to be ripped away? How the fuck is that fair?” He didn’t flinch at my hysterics, simply running soft touches down my back.

“It’s not and I’m not going to let you do it,” he said. Drake meant his words, but it didn’t matter.

“False promises. Every one of you has them for me but you aren’t the one who has to make this choice.”

“You’re not fucking making this choice, do you hear me?!” He yanked me to my feet, hands clenching my arms so I couldn’t escape. “Look at me. You aren’t going through with this.”

His words were a low, venomous growl.

“Drake, what else can I do?” I questioned around a sob. “I can’t lose my mates.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if sacrifice was never the right choice? What if instead you were supposed to kill someone else? It could all be wrong and your death would be for nothing.”

“Well, there’s one way to figure out what’s going on,” I said. Moving away from him, I went to the sink and washed my hands, then brushed my teeth.

He followed as I walked to the elevator, not even bothering to look at the common room and offer any explanations. His protests fell on deaf ears.

Kol shoved his way in next to me, followed by Monty, then Roman, then Drake. Apparently, I wasn’t going alone. Hell, I wasn’t even sure where Roman had come from, but the commotion was likely enough to wake the dead.

“Where are we going?” Roman asked. His voice was still rough with sleep.

“The courtyard. It’s time to have a conversation with Hel.”

Monty let out a cold chuckle, but neither he nor Kol argued. In fact, Kol took my hand in his. I think it was hard for him to face Hel, to know he’d dedicated his life and given years to stone for her, just to be betrayed.

It was strange holding hands with somebody that had long claws but I intertwined my fingers with his regardless, soaking in his strength. All of our scents mixed, a blended smell that brought back memories from my heat. We were truly a pack now, and I could lose it all.

I knew there was no turning back from this point forward.

Whatever Hel said would solidify the battle to come.

“Any luck finding the warden?” Drake asked.

“The warden?” I questioned. At the mention of his name, there was a foggy memory in my brain but I couldn’t manifest it completely.

“Somebody drank too much and forgot,” Drake teased but it held no humor. “The warden tried to attack you and Layne in the basement. Kol saved you guys.”

“Holy shit.” I grimaced as the memory finally popped in my head. “What a fucking twat.”

“Agreed,” Roman said with a chuckle. The fact we could find humor in a dark situation spoke a little too loudly about the trauma we’d all endured.

The elevator door opened and we walked out, stopping abruptly as Kol spread his wings, blocking the rest of us from whatever was on the other side.

The warden spoke. “Hel would like an audience with Harlow. Alone.”

“You see,” I said, stepping around my gargoyle, though he put a hand on my shoulder to keep me from going after the warden. “I no longer give a single fuck about what Hel wants from me. If she wants to see me, she sees us all.”

He smirked at that and there was a promise of pain in his voice. I should have stopped him right then, refused to go altogether. But I knew it was useless to turn her down. She didn’t take no for an answer.

“As you wish.” The world faded and when it came back into focus, we were standing in the throne room. This time I could feel the smooth stone floor under my feet and an icy chill in the air. My body shivered uncontrollably against it, and Kol wrapped his wings around me.

“Holy fucking shit,” Roman breathed out. “Hiro is going to freak out when he reads about this.”

Heels clicking on the floor drew our attention to Hel as she stood and took a few steps away from her imperious throne.

“I knew you wouldn’t come alone,” she said. “It seems you don’t trust me anymore, Harlow, which hurts, seeing as how I chose you.”

My laugh was bitter. “Chose me for what? A life of suffering? I don’t care what you think you’ve done for me in my life, because it was literal hell on Earth until I came to Dark Haven and I refuse to have it ripped away from me now.”

We were about to go around in circles again, her demanding and me refusing. The whole dance was getting really fucking old.

“I see we’re still stubborn.” She sighed as if I were exasperating. “I’ve also heard that a seer of mine has decided to have another vision. Have you stopped giving her medicine, Drake?” There was so much in that statement she wasn’t saying and the implications had my mouth dropping open in horror.

Drake lurched forward but Monty pulled him back.

“Don’t be stupid, half breed,” he hissed.

“You knew what my mother was? You drugged her and hid her away in that place?” he seethed. I’d never seen my half demon angrier, his demon form taking over as fire burned in his hands.

“Your mother was important to me,” she argued, putting a hand to her chest like she was genuinely hurt by his accusations. “You see, I was in need of a seer and after I found her, she gave me a prophecy. Which I’m currently watching unfold.”

She glanced pointedly at me as if we were too stupid to keep up with what she was saying.

“I was afraid I might need her again and so I tucked her away. But it was too late, she had fallen for her bodyguard, the one I had so kindly sent to protect her. She was so deeply in love with him it clouded the visions. So, I did the only thing I could do, gave her medicine to dull her mind and formed Dark Haven to be a safe little sanctuary until I needed her again.”

“Safe little sanctuary?” I questioned. “You gave her medicine she didn’t even need, and you thought that was okay?”

“Oh, she needed it. I don’t know why you humans always jump to accuse me of giving you mental health issues. You guys have those all on your own. I just use your viable minds to my advantage.”

“That’s even more fucked up!” I yelled, throwing my hands up. She was like a petulant child, refusing to listen to reason or think past herself.

She laughed and waved me off like I was being funny. There was nothing amusing about the situation. Poor Drake had even lost his fight, looking more defeated than anything.

“Who is my father?” Drake asked. I’d never heard him sound so lost, and Roman and I moved over. When I wrapped my hand around his, he squeezed me hard enough it hurt. I would never protest. He needed me. “You let me believe all this time that he was some monster taking advantage of a sick woman. When, in fact, you’re the one who made her this sick.”

“I didn’t make her sick, I just made it a little worse. It kept her safely in her own mind. No harm, no foul, isn’t that the saying?” She was so narcissistic she couldn’t see past her selfish whims.

“The saying is that you’re a fucking monster,” Roman said. “Haven’t we all suffered enough? Humans are not here to just be used by you and your sick, twisted games.”

“Oh, but you are.” She laughed coldly. Now Monty and Kol were holding us all back. This bitch and all of her audacity needed to be knocked down several pegs.

“Who is my father?” Drake ground out again.

“I have a feeling you’ll find out soon enough. You don’t need me for that. Now. I believe Harlow came here with a question.”

Ice trailed down my spine, making me shiver even harder against the cold. There was no turning back now. This was my chance for final confirmation, to force her to admit what she’s asking of me. Not that she’d care.

“Am I supposed to sacrifice myself to close this portal?” Her smile stretched across her face. It was downright wicked, even contorting the skull side in a true show of emotion.

When she spoke again, there was a hint of relief in her voice.

“See, I knew you’d come to the conclusion eventually. I gave you a dagger for a reason, Harlow, it’s almost time for you to use it.”

The cold way she said it was a blow in itself. I knew she only cared about herself and the realm, but it hurt to know she thought so little of my life.

Everyone yelled at once and I could barely make out who was holding who back.

“Guys,” I growled, stopping the noise for a moment before turning back to her. “Tell me one good reason why I should lay my life down for this? Do you truly think they’ll all just take this without protest? Hell, the human world gave me nothing but pain, why should I try and save them? You don’t get to just use me.”

She studied me for a moment like she couldn’t comprehend my refusal.

“We all have a role to play in this. Your role just requires a bit more pain.”

Kol moved in front of us again. “Why betray us? Why would you give me a mate just to rip her away with no second thoughts?”

The pain in his voice had my chest warming. The Kol I met the first night he woke up was far different than the gargoyle I was listening to now. This one had true emotions, had formed connections.

“She’s no longer the leader you thought she was,” Monty said with disgust. “She’s not a great Queen of Helheim, in fact, she’s nothing more than a desperate bitch.”

Hel moved with a preternatural speed to square off with her former commander.

“I’ve done everything I can for this place! Do you think I asked to be thrown down in Helheim to spend my days among demons and souls, never to be seen by anyone again? Of course, unless they need something from me, right?”

She was so bitter, her tone so harsh and full of disgust. She’d finally revealed the true crux. She hated this realm with everything she was and the gods who threw her down here. Hel was full of disgust, hate, and regret.

That was a dangerous combination.

I couldn’t hold my tongue. “What good is closing the portal, then? How does that help you? Why would you be compliant to the gods’ wishes?” It was so fast I thought I imagined it, the corner of her mouth tipped up.

She wasn’t being honest, there was something we were missing. And every secret we missed could mean our death. Or mine.

“There’s no turning back now, everything’s in motion. It’s all turning out exactly as it was foretold.”

“The future is always changing,” I said, but there was no real conviction there and she knew it.

“You’re dismissed,” she said, waving her hand.

Suddenly, we were back in front of the elevator again.

Of course, the warden was nowhere to be seen.

“This isn’t happening, Harlow. I don’t give a shit what she wants you to do. You are not going to kill yourself for her,” Roman bit out.

“I’m not,” I agreed. “She’s hiding something, though. Did anyone else see the smirk on her face? It was right when I asked why she was doing what the gods wanted. There’s something else, something bigger than this.”

“Bigger than demons infiltrating Earth, killing humans, and causing havoc? What could be bigger than that?” Roman questioned.

“I don’t know, and I don’t necessarily want to find out.”