Page 54

Harlow

The Scourge

T he Scourge was essentially where Hel sent anyone who pissed her off to rot for eternity. Cells of the forgotten line the bottom floors. I could barely tell what was behind the bars. Shadows stirred but they didn’t come forward.

If it wasn’t so dark in here, I may have been able to make something out. Sure, I could try to conjure some fire, but I wasn’t positive I wanted to see what lurked there if I was being honest.

There was no real justice here in Helheim. Hel was judge and jury. Sentencing was a joke.

Every new hallway I’d walk down, every new floor, was full of endless desolation and darkness.

This was truly the hell I’d always heard of.

The only thing missing was the screams of torture.

With the guards standing down, the wails had turned from pained pleas to forlorn calls for help.

“Monty, what do I do?” I whispered to the demon who refused to leave my side. The shadows were slowly coming back to him, but were mere whispers of what they were before. “I don’t want to release something awful unknowingly.”

“You can’t act with human compassion. You’re a queen now.” His words were blunt, and I couldn’t ignore the validity.

“That’s why I’m asking for your opinion… as my commander.” I could feel his smugness just from the title alone. “Hel was too corrupt to trust her judgment. And I don’t know how this realm works. She didn’t exactly give me a guide.”

“There’s no way to know. There are no records in Helheim. I doubt many know why they’re here. But... not all souls are good souls. Judgment happens here just like the humans on Earth feared.”

“So, I either risk imprisoning innocents or possibly letting out the malicious ones,” I concluded. “Fucking great.”

I’d really like to keep any riots at a minimum. We still hadn’t closed the portal on Earth, meaning Dark Haven was likely overrun.

One problem at a time.

“You need a warden,” Monty said. “Someone who can be here and monitor and can watch over the souls we bring back.”

“How do I appoint someone? I know about five people in Helheim, and one is a wraith at the castle.”

This time, I turned to Elkan since he was here during Hel’s reign.

“Zetta?” He had a soft smile on his face that grew when I nodded.

“She’s the only one that’s given me answers,” I admitted.

“She was my sister in a past life. Hel never appreciated her,” he said with a sigh before shaking away whatever memory he was lost in. “Your power comes directly from the realm. You simply pull on it as you would use it, then send it to the person you’re appointing. It’s easier said than done but that will give them access to a small portion of the realm’s power. That’s how your commander, here, has the gifts that he has,” Elkan explained. “But remember, once it’s given, you cannot take it, only temporarily bind it or lock it away like Hel did to us.”

“I guess that explains this place,” I said, feeling even more lost than before.

I started walking forward again as I thought over his words, despite my stomach turning at every sight.

The issue was the two demons behind me were falling behind. Both looked near death. I slowed down, then stopped altogether as something shifted in the air.

“Harlow.” My name was a mere whisper, and I wasn’t sure it was said out loud.

More than that… I felt it in my soul .

If I even had one anymore.

“Kol,” I breathed out his name, spinning around and wishing I could see beyond the bars. It felt as if it were coming from all around me. “He’s here. I can’t fucking see.” My last words came out as an angry growl.

“Are you a Queen?” Monty mocked. It was half-hearted at best but enough to annoy me into producing fire. My frustration had me setting the entire hallway on fire. Monty and Elkan barely made it to my side as flames engulfed the edges of the floor, flickering up the bars.

“Well, that certainly worked,” Elkan said as he peered into the cells. Most demons were curled in on themselves and impossible to see. Not one even bothered to cower from the flash of light I provided.

“He’s not here,” I said as I looked in each one, desperation clawing its way up my throat, making my voice shrill.

“Yes, he is,” Monty said as he walked through the flame to one of the cells. I dissolved the bars for him, my brows scrunched together in confusion as he approached a pile of rags, and a small body curled up underneath.

That was too small to be my gargoyle.

Then Monty lifted the dirty cloth and a scream tore its way from my throat, the flames growing even brighter in my fury and pain.

It wasn’t a demon, but a chunk of my mate. His neck and half of his torso, a single arm and wing tucked tightly to the stone slab that was his former body.

His presence shifted around me again, begging me to find the rest of him. There was endless pain and sorrow in our weak connection, a desperation I felt echoing in my own chest.

I threw the cloth aside completely as I fought back the tears threatening to fall. I’d already shown too much emotion for the Scourge, I couldn’t risk another sign of weakness.

“Find him, there are more pieces,” I said as I dragged the stone to the hall. It was insanely heavy, a statue broken to pieces, but I refused to stop.

The demons were too weak to help and I growled anytime a guard approached my mate. They had allowed this to happen and right now I was near feral in my pain.

I worked in silence, barely able to stay upright, but didn’t stop until my gargoyle was complete... except for his head.

What had Hel done?

“Are you sure you even need him?” Monty drawled. I didn’t respond to him as I looked around again, knowing he was simply adding fuel to my fight.

“The warden’s office?” Elkan proposed. “It’s likely Hel left it there as a prize for her precious warden.”

The bitterness in his voice told me I wasn’t the only one who wanted to eviscerate that demon.

“If it makes anything better, I took the warden out with me when I died,” I told him with a smirk.

Elkan let out a low chuckle that morphed into a cough.

“It does,” he said with a weak smile. I had to get them out of here. “The warden’s office is on the top floor.”

“How am I going to get him down here?” I groaned.

Despite my new body and abilities, moving those stone slabs was difficult. My muscles still ached from the effort.

“Bring it down here like you brought yourself to this prison,” Monty suggested. “You’re mastering your powers.”

“Or take this and your commander with you and do it there, you can lock yourselves in while he recovers,” Elkan pointed out.

“What about you?” I asked. If I left him here and something happened, I’d feel awful. Despite Monty reminding me I’m not human, I couldn’t leave my morals behind.

“I’m going to recover and see who is left down here,” he promised. Reaching for a lantern on the wall. I grabbed it first, lighting it and handing it over before going over to Kol’s broken form.

The entire thing took far too many trips, but Elkan was right, we’d already amassed the attention of the guards, and this wasn’t something Kol would want witnessed.

My commanders and I needed to be respected, feared in some senses, and that would not start by seeing his broken form.

“Should we go in?” Monty asked. I’d simply gone to the hallway outside of the warden’s office and left Monty there to go back for the rest despite his protests. For once, his magic wasn’t strong enough to stop me, and that might have been my main motivation.

My commander could use some humbling. We were on equal footing these days.

“Yes,” I said confidently. My entire body was tense as I pushed the door open. So far, this place had been full of nightmare fuel, I didn’t have high hopes for what was beyond this door.

“Even I find this fucked up,” Monty said. The haughtiness in his voice had a startled laugh escaping as I took in the bones that lined this place. Every piece of furniture was carved from the white bones of the fallen. I wasn’t sure who they belonged to and I didn’t want to know.

“You know it’s not like I expected warm fires and prestigious books,” I said. “But this took me by surprise.”

“There’s your head.” Monty laughed. Sitting right on a bone-clad pedestal, presented like a trophy just as Elkar expected, was my gargoyle’s head.

It looked purely stone and not quite like him, but I recognized the curved scar over his right eye from one of our recent battles.

Monty let out an exaggerated sigh. “Again... do we really need him back?”

“Yes, and then I’m going to fuck and claim you both so you can feed off my energy and be yourselves again, because this old-man demon thing isn’t so sexy, Monty,” I teased as I moved Kol’s head to the ground, barely stopping myself from dropping him.

As if it would prove something, Monty dragged in the rest of my gargoyle, helping me piece his body together until a stone gargoyle lay at our feet.

It was so wrong and twisted. How dare she do this to my mate.

I expected something to happen to his body. A burst of flame and him pulling together like magic, but there was nothing, not even a hint of movement.

“Uh? I don’t know how this works but why isn’t he forming? This isn’t a fairytale, a kiss isn’t going to fix him,” I said with a frantic look at Monty.

Of fucking course, it couldn’t be easy.

“Give him some energy,” Monty instructed.

The more I called on Helheim’s source of power, the more connected to it I felt. It was strange how I could feel and even hear the steady thrum of magic that filled the air around me now that I’d experienced it.

Now it was almost eager, reaching out for me as much as I reached for it.

The magic swirled around me in a light caress before seeping into me, fueling my own power until it felt as if I were bursting with it.

Once I had a tight leash on it, I pushed it toward the stone. The pieces of Kol shook on the ground, quivering as the light surrounded it, before the cracks started to mend, disappearing as the stone became one.

It wasn’t an instant transformation. Each crack was slow and purposeful. I barely breathed as I watched on, waiting.

Even after fueling my gargoyle, my body was brimming with this power. I’d taken too much in my haste and it was making me feel too full.

“Feed off of me,” I told Monty—ordered him, rather. He let out a low growl at my tone but didn’t hesitate to move forward and sweep me off my feet.

I always had trouble discerning Monty’s body through his shadows, but here in Helheim, he was more corporeal, shedding his robe to expose his full physique.

Monty’s skin was coal black and the well-defined muscles on it were delicious. He was humanesque except for his face, claws, and size, but that I was used to.

This was still the monster I’d fallen in love with and I wouldn’t change that, even in this new life we had together.

For the first time since we’ve come together, this wasn’t a frenzied sex. Monty moved me to the ground and took his time. Our bond flared to life, the one carved by fate, and I nearly sobbed in relief. He didn’t hesitate to sink his teeth into my neck, claiming his omega as unceremoniously as Drake had.

This new bond was different, more intense. A pressure pushed at my being, as if my body was being rewired to accommodate this new bond. Thankfully, that strange shifting was soon replaced by his presence. I no longer felt as hollow as I did when I arrived.

Even in this realm they were a part of me.

What shadows he had, he used to trail over my skin and bring me back in the moment. The familiar cool brush had my nipples hardening and goose bumps erupting everywhere.

I shivered against the feeling but my legs fell open, begging him to fuck me. I needed my alpha’s knot, a reminder that we were truly together again and this wasn’t another twisted scheme of Hel’s.

My demon didn’t disappoint. He let out a low rumbling purr that radiated through my body, relaxing me as his claw tipped fingers teased over my pussy.

When I met his eyes, he gave me a feral grin, his long tongue poking out for me to see.

For the first time, he moved between my legs and tasted me.

His tongue was more impressive than most men’s cocks and I was writhing under him as he and the shadows worked in tandem, teasing wherever he wasn’t.

My voice cracked on a scream as he slammed his tongue inside of me with a force that left me shaken. An electric shock straight to my clit didn’t soothe me, but pushed me over the edge. My orgasm left me clinging to him, body shaking and muscles tight as I shouted out his name.

Monty was relentless, lapping at my slick and fucking me with his tongue through every second of my release.

He was hungry now, pulling one orgasm after another from my body, lapping up my release like it was the essence of life that would fix him.

Maybe he was on to something. The more he fucked me, the stronger he grew.

The shadows darkened and appeared less transparent. They moved around his body and clung to him like they always had before.

It was as if Helheim itself was producing armor for him and it was falling back in place.

The familiarity of it was nice but I had little time to appreciate it as he was sliding inside me, splitting me open with that huge cock of his. He didn’t bother to gently work in his knot, he locked me into place right away, pushing my poor bruised body to its limits.

Pain wasn’t something that was left behind in my old life and I screamed against it. The shadows didn’t let me hurt for long, brushing over my clit and rolling my nipples between them. The icy-cold paired beautifully with the pleasure and pain, soothing and heightening every sensation.

The pleasure was so intense I could barely form a coherent thought or words.

“Seriously?” Kol’s gravelly voice had me letting out a sob of relief, my head falling to the side to take in my gargoyle.

He seemed bigger here, his body more stone than it was before, but he was still the same gargoyle that had crashed into my life and demanded everything from me.

I meant to make him work harder for it then, but the truth was, we were made for each other, just as Monty and I were. I knew the moment I touched him again our own bond would be back.

I’d missed these two more than words could describe. From the desperate growls and constant touches, I had a feeling it was mutual.

Monty wasn’t the least bit put off by Kol watching us. For once, there was no fight between them, we were all too desperate for this connection.

Kol didn’t stay away for long, dragging himself to me and pressing his lips to mine. It was always a strange sensation to kiss stone. The grittiness of it with only a hint of softness was something I’d grown to enjoy.

Now was no different.

I reached up and cupped his cheek, a soft moment, even as Monty railed me on the stone floor.

“I missed you,” I said as fresh tears ran down my cheeks. “I heard you calling for me.”

His lips shifted into a grin as he gazed down at me, his silver eyes piercing into my soul. “I wasn’t sure if you would. I couldn’t feel you the same once I arrived here. After what felt like weeks of far away sounds and movement, I thought I’d remain like this for eternity.”

“Hel made sure you couldn’t reform,” I admitted, swallowing down the pain of the memory.

Monty tweaked my nipple to reassure me, or likely to remind me who was fucking me.

With an annoyed growl, he pulled himself out of me and flipped me over, pulling me to my hands and knees before slamming back in.

This time there was no ignoring him as he fucked me with a bruising force.

Good thing we came to this room instead of giving an audience to Elkan and anyone else who might have been around.

That and it felt right to violate the Warden’s office like this. A giant fuck you to the man who thought he’d break me.

But the best part?

My demon was back.

“Come for me again, Harlow,” Monty demanded as his voice vibrated with his purr. His shadows made sure I obeyed my commander. I was already so turned on, it didn’t take much more than a few brushes of the icy tendrils for me to come undone.

Monty’s sharp teeth sank into my shoulder, piercing through skin until blood was trickling down around it. He didn’t let up until I was fighting back against the pain, shoving him off of me in an attempt to dislodge him.

Monty was unshakable and knotted inside of me, there was no chance but he loved the fight. He wasn’t like fucking a human or hybrid, everything about him was cold, including his release that left me shaking as he claimed me, inside and out.

Finally, he pulled away and licked the wound clean, a rumble of satisfaction at how he’d marred my perfect skin. Between him and Drake biting me everywhere, I knew their marks would always be on display.

The moment Monty’s knot released me, I crawled over to Kol. He hadn’t gone far. My once strong gargoyle only managed to drag himself to sit against the desk to recover.

I straddled him, brushing a kiss over his cold lips before shifting back far enough that I could stroke his cock with my fingers, working him up before sinking on top of him.

Seeing a gargoyle’s eyes roll back was satisfying. It made me feel sexy and powerful. Two things I’d never considered as a human but in this new life, I was embracing them.

Gargoyles might not feed on emotions and heightened senses like Monty and the other demons did, but Kol needed a boost, regardless.

As I rocked my hips, I pulled on Helheim’s power and fed it slowly into him as we fucked.

When I couldn’t focus any longer, I let it fall away and shamelessly rode him as I chased another orgasm.

Monty’s eyes were locked onto me as his shadows traced over my skin. If not for his intense gaze, I might have thought the touches were unintentional.

Kol slowly came back to life underneath me. At first he simply watched me, his hands barely putting pressure on my hips. Now they were digging into me, his hips slamming up into me as he took over.

Sex with him was bruising and I knew if I were still human, he’d have to hold back. Now he didn’t bother, knowing my body could take it.

In fact, I fucking loved it. Every connection I was forming was fueled by desperation and need.

Kol bit down on my other shoulder, marking his omega with a satisfied grunt. His cock twitched inside of me, his orgasm pushing his knot against my sensitive walls, forcing me to come with him.

As we slowly came down from our releases, his hands trailed over my skin, carefully learning my body all over again.

Our eyes were locked together, molten silver getting lost in me, radiating the love I’d missed as his presence filled me. The bond was stronger than ever, settling right alongside Monty and Drake.

The scars Hel left in her wake were ones that wouldn’t heal quickly. But we were healing all the same, growing closer and stronger. Now, I had most of my guys back and I wouldn’t rest until I had them all.