Page 6

Harlow

Saturday Early Morning

The Third Floor

T he sound of my name being called jolted me from a dead sleep. I sat up, eyes bleary still from being woken abruptly and sleeping like shit. Even after I finally did fall asleep, my dreams were filled with Vane’s awful face and his hands on me.

My room was empty and silent, the door closed tight just like Layne had warned me to keep it. The lights in the hall spilled through the tiny window on my door, but there was no one on the other side.

At least from what I could see.

“Hello?” I called out lightly, despite my better judgment.

For once, no one answered. But I had that creepy feeling of being watched. The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and I pulled my cover tighter over me before laying back down.

“Cozy place, isn’t it?” Monty’s voice taunted just as I was falling back asleep. The sound of his voice alone was enough for indignation to take over. We still hadn’t talked about him abandoning me and now felt like a perfect time.

Rage boiled in me as I sat up, glaring at him. All my grogginess was gone in an instant.

“So much for meeting me inside, huh?” I growled, shoving my cover off and standing, turning when I didn’t see him.

“I did meet you inside,” he drawled. I spun around, fighting a shiver as I glared at him perched on my desk. His skeletal face was pulled into a look of amusement that didn’t help my anger.

This was not funny in the least.

“I called out for you to save me from that monster,” I bit out. Angry tears burned my eyes, and I had to fight them back with everything I had.

I felt betrayed. I’d let this hallucination of mine get a bit too close.

“Well, I didn’t hear it.” He shrugged, completely unaffected by my obvious hurt over this. Rage burned brightly in my chest, and I picked up a book from my desk and chucked it at his face. He blinked out of the way just as it passed him, slamming into the wall and causing plaster to rain down on my desk.

“Fuck you, Monty! You’re always leaving when I need you, so you can just go now. I’m good. I don’t need anyone!”

His low chuckle echoed in the room, like nails on a chalkboard. A smarter person would have backed down when facing off with a large monster. But in my anger and pain, I didn’t give a damn about who this hallucination thought he was. Because right now, he was just like everyone else in my life, a fucking disappointment.

My breath caught as he materialized in front of me, his scent clouding my senses. It held a hint of fury that I refused to acknowledge. He towered over my five-seven height and bent forward until his fiery blue eyes were boring into me.

“What part of the horns made you think I was a guardian angel, Harlow?” he asked in a deadly calm voice.

“He hurt me,” I said harshly, my voice shaking with rage and disgust. It wasn’t the first time I was used for my body or the choice was taken altogether, but I’d promised myself never again.

Yet here I was, facing it once more.

“And?” Monty asked. My mouth opened to spew more hate at him, rage blinding me at the easy dismissal.

“And, you didn’t save me! You’ve said before you’d save me, but was that all a lie, too?” I raged on.

“I’m not your savior,” he said, serious now. His expression shifted from amusement to annoyance. Like I was getting on his nerves by demanding he answer for this.

“You aren’t,” I said sadly, shaking my head. “You’re like the rest of the people in my life, putting me in shitty situations, then abandoning me when I really need you. My grandmother also reminded me that I was a burden. So, just go. Clearly, you won’t be here to save me if anyone else decides to put their hands on me, or rather dick in me. May as well look out for myself.”

I paused my rant as I took in the change in my personal monster. He was no longer paying attention to me, his eyes were now a violent blue, burning brighter and more fiercely than I’d ever seen. His body rose another two feet at least before he gave a pathetic ‘sorry,’ then blinked out of existence.

What the fuck.

My emotions were a chaotic mess, and his disappearance just proved what I’d said. I was on my own.

Thanks to that little confrontation, sleep was out of the question, at least for now. My gaze shifted to the door and the warning I’d been given about going out at night flashed through my mind.

Which only made me curious. Why couldn’t I leave at night? The bathroom was down the hall, and I wasn’t avoiding it any time after dark, that was unreasonable.

Not to mention, it was something to focus on other than my life that was currently falling apart.

I shouldn’t care what a hallucination thinks or does. But I do care… far too much.

No, it’s best to focus on something, anything , else.

Quietly walking to the door, I pulled it open. The first thing to hit me were the sounds. Disembodied wails hit me first, and I swear I heard my name being called again. The screams weren’t just ones of fear either, I could hear the difference. Pain, sadness, euphoria, fear, all of them twisted together into a macabre symphony that sent icy shivers through me.

Every windowed door I passed as I started down the hall showed movement inside. Dark shadows danced beyond the glass, and the light from the hall gave just enough to make the shifting forms even more terrifying.

“Hiro,” I breathed out as I noticed his door was ajar. Roman couldn’t protect him in his sleep. Or at least I didn’t think so.

Not to mention, I had no clue what I’d find beyond this door.

Everything in me screamed to stay away, to go back inside and go to sleep, but I couldn’t. Even if I barely knew him, he was the gentlest out of all of us, and the idea of something being wrong with him had me moving forward despite the fear.

He was also my scent match. That had my omega protective and ready to slaughter anything that tried to hurt him.

A low, eerie groan filtered out of his room. It was chilling, the kind of thing only my mind could concoct, yet it was real. It had to be. Even I couldn’t make all of this up.

Right?

“You shouldn’t have come out of your room.” A cold, rasping voice was in my ear, and I jumped, spinning around. A scream bubbled up, but the creature slammed a hand over my mouth, and pinned me against the wall.

My eyes were wide as he leaned in, giving me an even better view of his terrifying form.

He resembled Monty in some ways, a pale-blue light burning under the skeletal ribcage that made up his torso. His arms and head were more humanlike in the sense he had a gaunt face and thin arms.

They were covered in charred skin and burning fractures that cracked through it. His eyes also burned with fire, but he had a sharp nose, thin lips, and fanged teeth glinting as he grinned down at me.

The horns on his head were short and pointed, tapping against the cinder block wall as he loomed over me.

“Don’t scream, you don’t want to attract attention, do you?” A long, bluish tongue darted out of his mouth and over my cheek.

My skin burned in its wake and fear rocked through me. As my panic amped up, he breathed it in, a soft glow filtering between us as if he were drinking it in.

“Wh-what are you?” I stuttered as I pulled his hand away. I don’t know why, but my fucked-up sense of curiosity had me talking.

“A nightmare,” he said as he ran his nose along my neck, breathing me in again. My head spun as he did, and I hated myself in that moment for not heeding the warnings I’d been given.

I definitely shouldn’t have left my room.

“Monty?!” I called out, but of course, again, there was no response.

“No one can save you,” the creature promised as he easily lifted me and flung me over his shoulder. I fought against him, pounding into his skeletal back. The fire licking the bone didn’t burn me, in fact it felt more cool than hot.

He also was unaffected. By the time he threw me down on my bed again I was feral, kicking and fighting. Each ounce of effort I put in was countered by him breathing deeper and deeper, the tendrils of glowing smoke between us thick and foggy in the air.

My energy waned until my vision started to slip away. The creature leaned down, giving me a toothy grin that would haunt my nightmares for weeks.

“Goodnight, human, thanks for the meal.”

Monty

Helheim

Rage. Annoyance. Frustration.

The emotions warred within me which only made them amplify as I blinked out of my little human’s room and into Hel’s castle.

The throne room was empty, making the large, pale stone walls and glittering marbled floors seem even more immense.

Hel’s throne was carved from bone, jutting into the air to accommodate her large frame. It was currently unoccupied.

She’d know I was here, she always did.

Heels echoed off the stone floors, and I waited in my position until the lady herself stalked around me. The human half of her face was contorted into annoyance, her skeletal half as indifferent as ever as she glanced back.

She was wearing one of her long, black gowns, the train of it following her as she walked away. Hel was taller than me in demon form and would look downright enormous next to a human.

Her mere existence exuded power and confidence, and she was not someone I would cross. If anyone thought an omega couldn’t be intimidating and terrifying, they had never met a goddess like Hel.

Though, she was my queen, the reason I existed, so I would be stupid to challenge her anyway. A death wish.

We were already in Helheim, there was no death beyond this.

Her skeletal beast padded just behind her, a loyal pet who was never far from her side. It was the size of a lion which meant it only reached her knees. He was forged from the same bone and fire we were.

Unlike us, he was used to dole out her punishments, erasing any demon or soul who crossed her from existence.

Vibrant blue fires lit the torches around the room as she walked past them, a fresh fire roaring to life in the fireplace and the braziers hanging above us, giving a sense of life to the castle I stood in.

Ironic, since we only dealt with the dead.

“Why have you come here?” she demanded. The Lady of Helheim looked fierce, dark hair billowing around her as an icy breeze cut past. I barely noticed the cold anymore, especially since I was created from it.

This was her realm now, her portion of the afterlife, and she had created my army and me from its bones.

The stone, ice, and cold fire burned within me, connecting me to this realm, and its ruler, forever. I’d have felt trapped by that fact if not for the ability to infiltrate the human realm.

Our portal at Dark Haven gave us just enough power to feed there, to exist outside of here, to keep our sanity. The deal we struck with Vane to keep us fed, strong, was the only reason he still lived.

“My lady. I need to speak to the human. Our deal is suffering because of his actions,” I said.

That had her pausing for a moment before finally perching on her throne. Her pet, Skoll, looked at me as it passed—as if its annoyance at my interruption mattered—before settling at her side.

She stroked his bony face and coarse fur like she was petting a puppy as she studied me.

“And how has he caused harm to our deal?” she asked coldly. She always had a strange way of speaking, slow yet purposeful so you had to concentrate to catch each word.

She was beautiful, terrifyingly so, a mix of impeccable human beauty and glittering bones. I could see why she was locked away in this realm, it fit her well.

“He’s touched what’s mine. Dared to claim her body like it was his right.”

She let out a cold chuckle.

“The human child?”

“She’s no longer a child,” I said in a snarl that had her laughter filling the room. “He knows not to cross me, yet he touched what is mine. It is my right to kill him.”

“You won’t.” It wasn’t a challenge but an order.

“My Queen,” I argued. “She was gifted to me .”

“By me . And I make the laws here. Don’t you forget that, Ivar,” she warned me. Her demeanor changed from impartial to angry. I thought she was beautiful before, now she was equally as intimidating. But I wasn’t the type to cower.

“I’ve followed your treaty with him, and you’ve allowed my army a way to feed, but she is not part of that deal,” I reminded her firmly. “You know she’s far too important.”

She sat again at my warning, muttering something until Vane was standing next to me. The sight of him had me rushing forward, but I was quickly bound by bones protruding from the ground, imprisoning my feet before I could maul the man like he really deserved.

It was a test of my loyalty, of my ability to heed her warnings, and I’d failed. The bones were sharp and dug into me, but I barely registered the pain, my anger was all-consuming, and I let it fester within me, overwhelming everything else.

“Don’t test me, Ivar,” she warned me.

“My Lady,” he said with an exaggerated bow, though his eyes cut nervously to me several times.

Hel said nothing in response, letting him worry over what he was summoned for in the middle of the night. “What can I do for you?”

“We have a problem,” she said simply, sweeping her hand my way. In his haste to please her, he forgot about me.

I didn’t have to move to flex my power, wrapping the suffocating shadows over him and lifting him in the air. His face turned purple as he clawed at his throat, unable to break the hold.

“Ivar.” Hel’s words were sharp, and I was forced to drop him. We both knew I was testing my boundaries and position with Hel, but she seemed to sense the importance of this and was giving me mercy.

Something I was grateful for.

Hel’s fury was swift and cold, and I wanted no part of it.

The human alpha was shaking in fear as he pushed himself off of the floor, my gesture getting through his severely inflated ego.

Good.

“What have I done to displease you, my Lady?” he rasped out, coughing and sputtering for air now that he could breathe again.

“We warned you that Harlow was different,” Hel said. A foreboding filled the air, oppressive and acrid as she stood again, letting the full brunt of her displeasure hit us. Satisfaction burrowed into my chest. “Yet you took liberties with her that were not yours to take. She is mine. And a gift for the commander of my army.”

If possible, Vane paled further as he took several steps back. For a man who ran the institute with a twisted, yet confident dominance, he looked nothing but an insect now. Insignificant. Terrified. Small.

Good.

“Let me kill him?” I begged Hel. She considered it for several minutes, going on long enough that Vane’s breathing turned erratic, his fear filling the air until I could easily breathe it in.

The creatures in my army needed those high emotions to feed. I didn’t require it to continue living, but I could enjoy it, nonetheless.

“P-p-please, my Queen,” he stuttered out. Spit flew from his lips and he fell to his knees, cowering before her. He hardly looked like an alpha now, his scent tainted with his fear, turning it sour.

“No, Ivar. Not yet,” she said finally. “But you need to remember you are easily replaced, Vane. Touch her again and you’ll be signing your warrant. I assure you that my commander is not the only one after your life.”

“Y-yes, my Queen,” he promised before she waved a hand and he disappeared, likely pissing himself in his own room now.

As he should. Let him fear her. Fear me.

“Hold your anger, Ivar. Things are unfolding as they should. He won’t dare touch her again, but she is not merely yours,” she reminded me with amusement. Our leader could switch emotions just as quickly as the humans we fed from. It was unnerving. “My gargoyle warriors are coming.”

“The gargoyles have not awoken,” I reassured her, or rather myself.

She’d told me from the moment Harlow was gifted to me that she was fated to be the link between us demons and her gargoyles, protecting the human world and ours in the process.

The stone protectors had yet to show, though. Which was for the best. Sharing wasn’t my forte, and killing them would mean my death as well. But Harlow was mine. She always had been.

“Their time hasn’t come.”

“It will, Ivar. It’s been a hundred years since the seer foretold it. We waited for Harlow to show and now the future is imminent,” she reminded me. “Only she can stop the balance from breaking our world. She’s forged from my bloodline even if it is diluted with human blood. But she cannot do this alone, and you cannot leave those halls or this one for long. There will be many in her guard.”

A low growl filled the room as I fought back words I would regret. I didn’t need to be reminded of my limitations.

Or Harlow’s supposed destiny.

I could be her guard, all she needed.

“You will have to learn to share, Ivar, and not just with the gargoyle,” she continued on like I hadn’t made a sound. She was unaffected by my anger, the only one who could be. Even my army cowered under my anger, my power, but she was the one who gifted it to me and the one who could take it away.

Pushing her further could mean my ultimate death.

“I’d sooner kill them all.” My words were full of promise, and she narrowed her eyes.

This time it was me who was cowering under her power, my entire body engulfed in flames as pain overtook me, my cries involuntary as they tore from my chest.

A reminder of my place here.

At her feet.

At her mercy.