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Hiro

Helheim

T he silence in the room as I stared off with my former host was unsettling. Neither of us knew what to say or feel about this strange turn of events.

We’d never had the chance to exchange words back and forth in any way other than by journal.

“So, I’m a gargoyle now,” Roman said. His voice was deeper than I’d thought it would be. The husk to his voice more intense, yet it was still similar to mine in tone.

This is fucking crazy.

“And I’m... something,” I offered with a nervous laugh. The truth was, I had no clue what I would be, at this point. I looked human and was standing here, in my own body.

“You’re permanent,” Roman said with a definitive tone.

Those words hit me hard.

The one true thing I feared in this life after discovering I was the alter was becoming obsolete, disappearing from existence. Before we found out the truth, I worried Roman would.

We were a team, two halves of a whole.

And now we were separate. Permanently.

“I am,” I said, testing the words out loud. They felt… right. “And you’ve got fucking wings, Ro.”

His lopsided grin was accented by fangs. He was more of a hybrid gargoyle than full beast. His skin was several shades lighter than theirs but still appeared like stone. He had fangs and wings, but his hands and feet remained humanesque. A perfect mix of the species, more of a half-breed than anything.

More than that, he was truly an alpha now. His strength, stature, and his scent were a dead giveaway.

Me? I looked the same as I always did. Leaner than I was when we shared, yet I’d always seen myself differently in my head.

This was my version.

My hair was longer and shaggier, shoulders less broad, and features softer, more fitting of a beta. My scent was more subtle than before and I felt right in my body for the first time in my life.

It was as if Loki looked into our heads and turned us into who we truly wanted to be. The beta and alpha. Two separate souls.

Roman struggled with the need to protect. This change gave him advantages he didn’t have before.

I may not have changed into some supernatural monster, but I was permanent. Forever. There was no going back.

This body was also new. Untouched. All of the trauma we’d endured was left in an old life and I was ready to embrace my new one.

“We have to find Harlow and the others,” I said, pulling myself out of my thoughts.

My omega was my top priority. The need to hold her in my arms was overwhelming. I just needed to experience her for myself, in this new form.

Even though I was worried about my alpha, too, I knew Drake could handle himself. He was part of this realm and I was positive he was still alive. I refused to think anything else.

The absence of our bond killed me. I wanted to fix that. Now.

“Drake’s bound to be tearing this realm apart.”

I aimed to laugh but it fell flat between us. There was no humor in our murder, even if the end result was more than we could have ever dreamt of.

“I want to see the outside of this room, too, but Loki didn’t give us a way out,” Roman pointed out as he stood and started pacing, gesturing at the blank walls as he went.

Our current room was more of a cell. Two beds, an attached bathroom with a shower, and that was about it. There was no escape in sight.

“Loki doesn’t do anything by halves. This is probably his way of making us face this shit,” I muttered. That god knew far more about us than he should. “How the hell are we supposed to wrap our fucking heads around this? We’re two different people. What if Harlow doesn’t like me as I am now? She’s used to me looking like you and now I’m a different person.”

“No you aren’t,” Roman argued. He stopped pacing to glare down at me. The sight nearly made me smile. He looked exactly like I pictured in my mind. Well, with a gargoyle upgrade. “You’re still the same, just a new body. This is a second chance for us, a way to exist as our own people.”

But that wasn’t the main issue.

I just couldn’t seem to get past the loneliness I was drowning in. A hollow feeling had settled in my gut, like something was missing.

Maybe it was all in my head, we were all crazy after all, but it felt wrong not to have someone else in my head with me.

Between that and the missing bond… I was a mess.

“I don’t know how to be alone,” I finally admitted.

Roman blinked at me a few times before understanding dawned in his now gray eyes. He slumped down on the bed next to me, his leg touching mine to offer comfort.

“It’s weird, isn’t it? I feel empty without having another presence in my head. We couldn’t exactly talk, yet I knew you were always there. But now? We get to actually talk. No more blackouts, and that trauma that created us? It feels like a whole other lifetime,” he explained. He was right about that, there were good and bad things about the split.

Or maybe I just hated change.

“What more can we do here, then?” I bit out, gripping my black hair in frustration. “We get it, everything is different. This will obviously not be something we get over in an instant, it’ll take some getting used to.”

“What’s the real issue here? Why are you so angry, Hiro?” Roman sounded hurt at my reaction, and I had to take a few calming breaths to continue.

“I’m a human still, Roman. She’s going to be some type of goddess, surrounded by demons and gargoyles. Then there’s me. Unchanged. Forever the weakest link.”

My voice rose with each word, all semblance of calm slipping away as the panic took over. I jumped up and started to pace, letting it consume me.

How could I be enough for her now? I was nowhere in the same league as the rest of them.

“Uh, humans can’t do that,” Roman called out as a fierce wind whipped into the room. It sounded like my brother was far away as deafening winds swirled around me, encasing me within them.

It stunned me enough that the anger slipped away, and with it, the storm.

I did that. Me.

“So... maybe I’m not a human?” I said as I glanced around. “But I’m still a freak. Is it weird that’s oddly comforting?” Roman’s laughter echoed in the space as he lost it.

“No, I get it,” he said as he shook his head. “But do you think you could maybe bust us out of here with that power?”

Hope sparked to life inside of me. Not only had Roman, an alpha, turned to me to help. But I finally felt useful.

If I could pull it off.

“Uh... maybe?” I stood against the far wall and held out my hands, hoping something would happen. I even went as far as mentally willing whatever magic or power I had to blast the wall open.

Nothing happened.

“You were angry. Maybe high emotions help you channel it. Think about that asshole that killed us. Or about our past.”

Shaking out my shoulders I turned back to the wall, breathing evenly as I drew up every bad memory I could muster.

The fear I felt, the helplessness when Vance tried to touch me before Roman took over. The fact that Roman had to be strong so many times for me.

Each memory that built had the hair on my arms standing on end and an electric charge dancing along my skin.

The magic felt so foreign yet familiar, like it belonged and was a part of me. I had no clue what Loki had done to change me, but I was grateful. Now I could be an equal, I could offer my mate something more than just comfort.

I could be the protector I always wished I could be.

The storm thrummed violently around me, and I used every bit of focus I had to shove it at the wall, hoping it would obey.

Our room shook violently as stone and plaster rained down around us. Roman didn’t try to protect me this time, and I took each painful hit with a wicked grin on my face.

I was officially a badass. A pang of sadness hit me that my mates weren’t here to witness it. My alpha’s smile would be proud and hungry, my omegas excitement making my own twice as potent.

Fuck, I missed them. We had to find them.

As soon as the dust settled, we were met with our first view of Helheim. The realm that was now our home. I wasn’t sure if it was temporary or not, but there was no life for us outside of Dark Haven. As long as we found Drake and Harlow, I was fine with staying.

Roman bent down, lifting a huge chunk of rock like it was nothing, so we could pass. The look of excitement on his face was adorable and I felt the last of my frustrations draining away.

This was a new life. One we were both ready to embrace.

We were in the middle of a city. Though, no city I’d ever seen before. Every building was made of a material that reminded me of bone, and seeing as we were in the afterlife, it was fitting.

Stone braziers burned brightly with a mix of Helfire and orange flames that gave the city an ethereal yet warm aesthetic. With the obsidian roads and shining white buildings, it was breathtaking.

Mix that with the swirling galaxy of light overhead and it was every bit the mythological realm I always thought it would be.

The overbearing darkness beyond the city made the bonfires even more inviting. I almost didn’t want to leave the light, but I would without hesitation for them.

It took a few minutes of gaping at our surroundings to realize that we weren’t alone. A slew of gargoyles were staring at the building in confusion, watching as we emerged slowly.

I scanned the crowd, hoping to spot a familiar gargoyle but Kol was nowhere to be found. In fact, after sharing Dark Haven with gargoyles for weeks, I realized I didn’t recognize a single one.

Were these gargoyles the rest of Kol’s army?

“Is Kol here?” Roman called out as he stepped up behind me, wings outstretched as if he were my personal bodyguard. It was a warning to the others, though they only looked more confused, not ready to fight.

“He hasn’t returned from the human world,” a gargoyle answered. From the jagged crown on his head, he was someone of importance. “I am called Achar, the original gargoyle forged from Hel’s hands herself. Who are you?”

This gargoyle was twice the size of Kol, towering over his brood easily. His skin was rough and his eyes burned a violent blue. I didn’t doubt his origin for a second.

“I am Roman, and this is Hiro. We were brought here by Loki upon Hel’s departure,” Roman explained in a strange formal tone. He was matching their energy and if my heart wasn’t trying to escape my chest, I might laugh.

I’d take this version of him over the man who doubted his abilities to protect us all. It was as if his new wings and body gave him copious amounts of confidence.

Strangely, I wasn’t jealous, but proud. My brother and host had earned peace of mind, and I was happy he was getting it.

“The new queen is looking for you, I believe. Word is traveling fast. She’s refusing to do anything until you are returned to her side,” Achar said. “Are you her missing mates?”

“As are Kol, and Ivar,” I answered. The gargoyle turned and studied me, though his stone expression gave nothing away.

“Interesting.” That was all he gave before sweeping a hand to the horizon.

What seemed like miles away, a castle jutted into the sky. The only reason we could see it here was the moat of fire that surrounded it, making it a beacon in the night.

“That’s going to be a journey,” I said with a sigh. We couldn’t exactly fly; I was wingless and it would be a bit much to ask Roman to carry me to our destination.

“I’ll lead you. It’s my duty to meet the Queen. I was heading there soon. You’re welcome to travel with me. We can go on foot,” he said, casting me a look that said I was the issue here.

“It’s appreciated,” I said without a hint of embarrassment in my voice. Maybe the old Hiro would have cowered under that stare. But I was important to their Queen, and Roman was right, this was a second chance.

I would prove that I belonged here.

What other choice did I have?

Monty

The Scourge

Time stretched on here in the Scourge. If not for the demon across from me, I’d have lost my mind altogether.

All I could think of was Harlow and how she was handling her new role. I hated I wasn’t there to guide her, to protect her from the gods who I knew would come knocking.

I had to get the fuck out of here.

My pacing likely drove the other inmates crazy, but I was relentless, it was all I could do in this five-by-five room.

I didn’t need to sleep or eat to survive, all I had was movement.

“What happened on Earth?” It was the same demon who had been drilling me for information for days. I’d given him nothing and my patience was wearing thin.

“Hel betrayed us, opened a portal to Helheim, and let the demons loose on the world at large,” I said as I leveled the demon with a glare.

“Hel is gone?” he asked. There was a strange relief in his voice. “It makes sense. I knew that prophecy sent her over the edge of insanity. She locked me away because of it.”

He knew of the prophecy and the seer? Just who was this demon?

“How do you know about any of that?” I demanded, standing against my cell bars to see him better.

When he finally moved into the light, I knew exactly who he was. This poor soul was unlike the demons I knew. His horns and tail, even all-black eyes. Now the stories I’d heard from Harlow made sense.

This was Drake’s father.

I’d leave that one for later. See it play out in person.

“Trusted advisers only lasted until Hel feared what we knew. She never did like anyone to have too much leverage over her. This place is full of her failed trust,” he said. The fact there was no longer bitterness in his tone spoke to how long he’d been here.

That eased none of my frustration.

Every day that passed without my powers, weakened me. I didn’t like the feeling of not being able to call my shadows.

But even worse, was my loss of Harlow. The bond was severed, and I could no longer feel my omega, not after she died.

There was a hint of her when she arrived in Helheim, but that felt like weeks ago.

We both looked up as fresh screams echoed in the distance. A daily occurrence here, though the guards never came our way. Hel was the only being to grace these halls since I’d arrived and I had a feeling she would be the last.

There had to be a way out of here. Her powers were not infallible, and her warden was egotistical, not meticulous.

But if this demon had been here Drake’s entire life, what hope did I have as someone who just arrived.

And how could Harlow survive this harsh world without me?