Page 51

Harlow

Top floor - The Castle

H elheim was enormous. Even from the top of Hel’s... no, my castle... I couldn’t see an end. It was miles upon miles of frigid wasteland and stone structures. The blue fires burned bright enough it seemed to be a strange mix of night and day at all times.

“My Queen, we have what you requested. It’s in your chambers,” Zetta said as she approached, startling me.

It was unsettling how everyone here moved so quietly.

Even more unsettling was my lack of humanity. I was never tired, or hungry, and the lack of downtime made every day seem never-ending.

“Thank you, Zetta,” I offered as I looked out again, feeling more lost than I had in years. And that was saying something.

Maybe it was the way I had everything in Dark Haven and then it was ripped away, but I was feeling resentful more than interested in this new world.

I wanted my mates. My bond.

“Of course, do you need anything else?” she asked with a low bow that had her loose hair brushing the stone floor of the attic.

“To find my men,” I said, letting out a heavy sigh. “But nothing you can help with yet. I’ll call you if I do.”

She stood from her bow, nodded, and left. At least she was not running away as she did the first few encounters. The other servant souls were moving around and visible now, which made the castle seem far less empty.

Though, if I truly was going to be stuck here in Helheim then there would be some major redecorating happening. I wanted to bring life to this realm, to celebrate my human side and give these souls a real afterlife.

Hel was a bigger bitch than I thought to torment the sweet souls who ran her castle. Every one of them cowered and startled if Drake or I walked close enough. Zetta reassured me it would get better with time and I hoped that was true.

The halls were empty and barren. The walk back down to my own rooms was filled with cool blasts of wind and too much gray.

If I had Monty, I could have him pop over to the human world and bring me something.

Hell, I’d settle for my favorite hoodie I stole from Hiro.

Fuck, I’d much rather settle for Monty himself. The lack of my commander was making me feel far too vulnerable.

The demons would likely push back soon, and I doubted very much the rebellion just died off when Hel left.

No, she left me with a war and no real knowledge of this realm.

The only mate I had with me now was Drake. Currently, he was bent over, hands braced on the war table, as he took in the map resting there.

It was one thing that I’d requested from the staff, and from the smell of fresh parchment, someone had drafted this for me specifically. At least that meant Hel herself hadn’t messed with it.

“It looks like there’s a gargoyle hub over here to the west. That could be where Kol woke up,” he said without even looking up.

“How do you hear me coming in, but I can’t hear anyone moving around this godforsaken castle?” I muttered.

He chuckled and finally looked up at me. It was still so strange to see him in this form, a permanent demon, though he held onto slivers of humanity as I did.

Neither of us were forged from Helheim, but thrown into it.

“I can feel you,” he admitted. “Your presence alone is part of me now, some sort of bond we have.”

“Why can’t I, then?” I snapped. “Why is everyone here full of mystery and power and I’m little more than human? She set me up to be eaten alive.”

“You’ll come into your power. There’s no way you’re not going to outpower us all, Harlow,” he said before turning back to the map.

I appreciated he refused to allow me to dissolve into self pity. We had bigger problems than my lack of magic and a real mentor.

“Well, the gargoyles would be a good way to start. Is it safe to just walk across this land? Is there any form of travel?” I asked him like he’d have any answers. He was just as new to this world as I was.

“I have no idea. But you still have Hel’s dagger. The demons shouldn’t be bold enough to attack their queen.” His words said one thing, but the doubt on his face said another. He quickly turned away so I couldn’t see it but he wasn’t quick enough.

“That’s reassuring,” I muttered.

“We all know you’d kick my ass if I lied to you,” Drake countered, turning around and pulling me in.

The moment his hands were on me, that bond he spoke about flared to life: his need to reassure me, his love for the person I was and am, and the worry of how we would fix this. Not how I was going to, but us together as a team.

“I would,” I choked out before slamming my mouth to his. Drake let out a chuckle but didn’t argue as he put his hands on either side of my face, tangling his fingers in my hair so he could hold me closer.

The moment our lips were locked together something snapped into place between us. It felt the same as my bond with Monty and Kol, and just as intense. This wasn’t just a bond between an alpha and omega, but one determined by fate. We were always meant to be together, Hel’s seer was right about that, but this couldn’t happen until we were here and we’d accepted our new life.

My mind didn’t stray for long. His overwhelming presence demanded my attention.

Just being this close, feeling his lips on mine, I felt like myself again. Even though I’d changed, I was still the girl that Drake wanted, the one who’d suffered in a human life and was given a second chance here in Helheim.

It was strange how the most random moments could tip the scales in a new direction.

I was still focused on finding my mates, but I also needed this connection more than anything.

Needing to feel his skin against mine, I ripped at his clothes, not caring if a soul walked in on us. Drake was just as hungry and desperate, ripping the dress from my body until I was exposed to him.

He abandoned my lips to trail kisses down my neck and over my collarbone. As my head fell back, a mirror caught my eye. I’d been too afraid to look into one so far but now I couldn’t look away.

My hair was shimmering silver in the light, a bluish tint to it that made me feel like a true goddess. Drake was my opposite, dark wings and horns contrasting with my pale appearance.

We were glorious together.

My attention was brought back to Drake as he sunk his teeth into my breast. There was no lead up to my alpha claiming me, we’d done that once, now it was a feral need to be connected again in every way.

The pain radiated through me as he plunged two fingers into my pussy. Each thrust of his hand counteracted the pain his fanged bite left behind.

He chuckled when he realized I was wet for him. His tongue flickered out, sealing the bite. I was his again.

Not that death had changed that… but now it was so much more. Just a touch from this demon and my body was melting for him, burning from the inside out, begging to be taken, knotted, claimed thoroughly.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured as he picked me up and laid me across the table, sweeping the map out of the way.

As my head reached the edge, I knew I was taller than before. It was so strange to discover new things about a body you’ve had your entire adult life.

All normal thoughts melted away as Drake dove between my thighs, licking, sucking, and teasing every inch of my greedy cunt. He groaned at my taste as he always had, drinking me in and savoring me in a way only a true mate could.

It made me hungry for his taste but I knew he wasn’t done with me yet.

My moans echoed off the empty walls, and I didn’t bother to mask them. Two mates reconnecting wasn’t something I’d shy away from or mute for others.

This castle could use a bit of noise.

“Fuck!” I cursed as he bit my thigh and licked at the warm blood seeping out. He couldn’t bond me more than the first bite, but he seemed to be desperate to mark every inch of me in some way, from bite marks to bruises his warm mouth left behind.

“Come for me, My Queen,” he ordered, an alpha bark in his voice. Even if I was a queen now, I was no less of an omega. My pussy clenched around him as he swirled his tongue over my clit one last time. It was no more than a single breath before my stomach was tightening and my orgasm rocked through my body.

Spirals of pleasure surged over me, filling my entire being with waves of it until it felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. It wasn’t just my own pleasure, it was my alpha’s as well. His smug satisfaction and a bone-deep devotion that echoed my own.

If this was what sex in Helheim was like, that was one point in favor of this realm.

“Holy shit, I didn’t even come and that was incredible,” Drake said around heaving breaths.

His eyes were barely focused on me as he climbed over me, positioning himself between my legs and slamming in unceremoniously.

All thoughts of sweet love-making were tossed aside and I was reveling in the rough fucking he was giving me now. Drake had never been the sweet one but here he was almost feral, rutting into me in a way only a demon could.

Punishing thrusts were met by my nails dragging down his skin. We were a clash of blood, screams, and bursts of pleasure that left us nearly unhinged with need.

For every thrust, I met him with one of my own. We were frantically fucking now, like this could be our first and last time.

“Roll over,” he demanded as he ruthlessly pulled out of me. He flipped me before I could follow his command and pulled me to my knees as he plunged into me again.

This time, I had to grip the table to keep from being thrown off of it as he used me for his own gain.

“God, you feel so fucking good around me. That hot pussy of yours demanding another orgasm as soon as I give you one. You’re such a little slut for your alpha. It’s never enough for you, is it?”

“No,” I complained and was met with his fingers once again pinching and teasing over my clit as his pointed teeth dragged down my spine.

I arched away from the pain as much as I craved it.

He was no longer in control of any humanity hiding within him, and I wasn’t sure I missed it at that moment. This demon was as demanding as he was giving, and I craved more. So much more.

“Then come for your alpha, Harlow. Give me everything.”

A keening whine escaped me as a fresh wave of slick leaked around him. My body was so fucking sensitive I wanted to scream, my mind blank of everything except us, our pain, and our pleasure.

This time when I came, a storm raged around us, the wind whipping my hair and cooling our sweat-laden bodies. The more we focused on each other, the stronger it grew until I could see nothing but him in the eye of the storm.

“Still worried you aren’t powerful?” Drake questioned with a dark chuckle. “This isn’t me, Harlow.”

With his leathery wings stretched at his sides and the horns rising into the air, black eyes staring down at me imperiously, he was like a god in his own right.

Fuck, I might come again just from this sight alone.

“If I say yes, will you punish me further?” The low chuckle was met with bruising force as he gripped my hips and did just that. The pain was so intense I screamed against it. However, that only amplified his pleasure as it weaved with mine.

It was hard to know where his desires ended and mine began.

“Good girl,” he growled as he filled me with his cum. My pussy clenched around him, as if he demanded me to come again without words.

My whimpers were pathetic this time, the overwhelming emotions and sensations reaching a crescendo.

The aftermath of our sex was pure chaos. The map was the only thing still intact, somehow, and only because it had fallen under the table.

Every other item in the room was in shambles.

The storm had ripped the wood apart in splinters. The few chairs and rugs that were in here were now in pieces and all I could do was laugh.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to clear the room next time,” I mused as I climbed off and picked up the scraps left from my dress. “And find new clothes. All I have are Hel’s remnants and it’s definitely a bit too imperious for me.”

“It’ll have to work until we get the others and go back to Dark Haven,” he said.

The anxiety in his voice had me stopping.

“We’ll go back for them, I promise,” I told him. “Your mom, Layne, Crew, the patients, they’ll all be okay.”

He nodded but said nothing further, and I hated that I couldn’t give him the same reassurance that he’d given me, inadvertently or not.

With nothing left to say, I went to my room to change. We had the bond, we no longer needed words. The closet was full of a ridiculous amount of jewelry and dresses. All designer and fancier than necessary.

Hel certainly liked the finer things in life.

But I was raised by monsters and the streets. I didn’t need the extravagance, nor did I want it.

Right then, I couldn’t complain. Clothes were clothes.

I flipped through the dresses that ranged from scandalous to modest, satin to shimmering lace. Finally, at the back of the closet I spotted a tight-fitting outfit that was a mix of leather armor and riding pants.

It was the best I’d get, so I snatched it from the hangers and pulled it on. Somehow, like everything else here, it fit like it was made for me.

I stood in front of the mirror and a wide smile spread across my face. It was sexy but covered me, the black leather and soft fabric was a stark contrast to my silver-blonde hair. Even I could admit I looked like a badass.

When I walked out of the closet this time, it was with a whole lot more confidence.

Feeling a fraction more like a normal person went a long way in this place.

Until a knock rang out and Zetta let herself in.

“My Queen, someone is here to see you.”