Page 60

Harlow

Dark Haven Institute

D ark Haven was a shell of its former self. The courtyard was barren and coated in embers and ash. The air was stale and smoldering as the blue fires licked the walls, not burning it but marking it as the connection to our new realm. A shining beacon to call the demons home, though they ignored the call.

“It’s too quiet,” Hiro said. His voice was low like he couldn’t help but whisper among the lack of noise in the air. Even beyond Dark Haven, I couldn’t hear sirens or traffic.

“Agreed,” I muttered as I wrapped my fingers even tighter around my spear. Unease settled in my gut, but I pushed myself forward regardless, stopping by the door to ensure the others had made it through.

When Monty was the last to step through, I pushed open the door to enter the first floor.

The space used to be brightly lit and buzzing with activity. Now it was devoid of any signs of life and covered in debris.

“What the hell happened?” I breathed out. “Kol, there are no gargoyles here?”

The demons all likely ran out of the walls, but the gargoyles should still be standing vigil.

Kol pulled out the horn I hadn’t realized he’d brought back to this side of the portal. He put it to his lips and blew.

There was a hiss down the hall, at least one demon here, but no strong beating of wings or rumble of heavy stone men rushing to our aide.

“They’re gone,” he confirmed in a somber tone. “I just don’t understand how.”

“Wait,” I said, suspicious. Pushing my way through them and outside again, I glanced up at the rooftops. My stomach sank at the sight of the piles of rubble that stood on top. “Could the demons have really done that?”

“Demons are their enemy and likely could, but why,” Monty said. “Not when freedom was this close. I have a feeling this was also Hel.”

“Then why haven’t they reformed?” I shot back. “Take me up there.”

My power and connection to Helheim still thrummed through my veins but it was muted. I’d rather save my energy for an actual battle.

Kol wrapped one arm around me and flew me to the top, setting me down among the debris.

Or body parts.

Even if they were stone, it was a pile of arms, wings, heads, legs, and torsos.

Someone had made swift work of ending them. It seemed impossible anyone, even low level demons, could harm a group of alpha gargoyles in one fell swoop.

“She likely attacked them through the portal,” Drake pointed out. “Their job wasn’t just to stop demons from escaping, it was to keep anything from crossing the portal and out to the world. Like Hel herself.”

“Then we need to get them back to the portal,” I said, fighting off my empathy. Monty constantly told me I had to lose it, but I couldn’t… no, I didn’t want to.

My magic was weaker here but I tried to draw the power through the portal and wrap it around the stone. Sweat formed as I did what I could, but it wasn’t until an icy coldness spread around it and I glanced up to Monty’s shadows helping, that it actually worked. We were stronger together.

We worked with the gargoyles flying down as many pieces as they could carry. When the roof was cleared, I had Kol and Roman sweep the grounds for more, only moving on when they came back empty the last time.

I hoped the demons or gargoyles they stationed outside would give them space to heal.

“We need to move on,” I said, voice hard even though inside I was a mess. Every new and awful scene we uncovered had more hate forming for the awful Queen who caused it.

“The elevator likely won’t work,” Roman pointed out as we walked back inside. The electricity here was out altogether.

“This place has generators,” Drake said. “After we check the third floor we can head downstairs and check on them.”

“I’m worried about them,” I admitted. I was no longer confident they were alive. The entire building felt empty and devoid of life. How would Sarah or Layne have survived this?

“We don’t need stairs,” Monty said, breathing in deeply as if our fear was aiding his magic. His shadows wrapped around us and in a blink we were standing in the common room.

Or what was left of it.

This floor was also dark and broken into pieces. The furniture was obliterated and splintered, much like it was after we took it back the first time.

Something stirred down the hall and hope bloomed in my chest.

“Layne? Sarah?” My voice echoed loud enough I winced. When a door creaked open and a dark-haired woman peeked her head out, I let out a sob.

“Harlow? How?” She gasped as she pushed the door open and we ran at each other. “I watched you die,” she sobbed the last part into my shoulder as I held her tight.

From the smell alone, it hadn’t been easy and she looked absolutely broken. Even her sweet banana split scent was sour with despair.

“You’re back.” Stravos’s voice was solemn as he stepped around her, and I was relieved he was here to protect them. She wasn’t alone.

No one stepped out after him. Where was Crew? My heart broke at the thought of him losing his life to protect them. He wanted nothing to do with the demons.

“Crew left.” Layne’s words had me pulling back to study her face. The sadness and pain there had my heart clenching. “But Sarah is okay. I knew you guys would want me to keep her company.”

“Thank you,” Drake said sincerely, surprising us both by giving her a gentle hug and entering the room.

“Death changed him,” she muttered. The broken laugh that followed turned into another sob. “Harlow. I saw him kill you all.”

“Apparently Hel was right. It wasn’t the end for me. The others are alive because of Loki. And you should meet someone,” I said, pointing at Hiro and Roman.

“Roman... you’re a gargoyle?” she gasped before her eyes narrowed on Hiro. She took a bit longer for recognition to dawn on her face but then it split into a wide grin. “Oh my god. Hiro? You’re alive and your own person!”

“I am,” Hiro said with a toothy grin. “And a lot less human, apparently.”

“Sign me up. Fuck being human,” Layne muttered. “We’d have starved if not for tall, dark, and winged over there.”

She hooked her thumb at Stravos who looked more than a little shell-shocked.

“Catch us up to speed?” I asked. It wouldn’t be easy to get through but hopefully she could fill in more than a few blanks. “Like where did Crew go? Why is Dark Haven empty and out of power?”

“The moment you guys disappeared, the portal exploded. It was like a tidal wave of shadows and demons, and they rolled right over Dark Haven and into the city. The gargoyles were destroyed but I don’t know how they had time to do it,” she said, pacing back and forth.

I missed my playful, smart friend. This was a shadow of herself, like her darker thoughts consumed her already. Gods, I wished I could take her to Helheim, let her be reborn, but death wasn’t something I could inflict on her either.

“That was likely Hel,” I admitted. “She escaped and put me in her place.”

Layne raised her eyebrows. “So, my bestie is a goddess now?”

“Queen, goddess, whichever you prefer,” I teased. “I’ve got some badass powers, but I never eat or sleep. Bonus, I’m no longer crazy?”

“That is a bonus,” she muttered darkly. “Stravos managed to get me meds or I’d be a fucking mess.”

“I’m so sorry.” She stopped and gave me an unamused look.

“Yeah, because you wanted to watch them slaughter your guys and then die,” she snarked.

There she was.

“How is Sarah?” I questioned. That brought a smile out.

“Strangely, when the demon flood stopped, she changed. She’s a person again,” she explained. Then her smile fell. “I think that was the final straw for Crew. Everyone was gone, he saw you guys die, too, then she was miraculously better, or mostly there.”

“And he was still the same,” I said, coming to the same realization. “You can’t just get rid of impulses and mental health disorders without dying. Sarah was different. Hel admitted to essentially making her crazier for her own gain.”

“Of course, she did. What a bitch,” Layne muttered. “I haven’t seen him since. I don’t know if he’s alive or not. The city has been really quiet but the news is terrifying.”

“How are you watching the news?”

“The diner across the street. It still has power and a freezer of food. We go there for meals. Or at least Sarah and I do while Stravos watches from Dark Haven freaking out that he can’t join us,” she admitted. “I’d leave the owner money if I had it, but I haven’t seen another soul in weeks.”

“How long were we gone?” I gasped. Weeks? It felt like we just woke up in Helheim.

“Remember, time is different between worlds,” Monty stated.

“It’s been months,” Layne told me. “How long did you think it was?”

“Maybe a few short days,” I said with a shake of my head. “This whole new life thing is fucked up.”

“Why are you back? Why come here?” she asked.

“You. Sarah. And I have a portal to close. Somehow,” I admitted. She sagged in relief that we’d come back for her, and I hated that she’d been so alone.

“Harlow!” The urgency in Drake’s voice had the rest of us piling in the small room.

Sarah looked different. Less haggard and more aware. But the moment I saw the pure whites of her eyes, I knew she was having a vision or whatever it was.

“An even exchange is the only answer. They loom on the sidelines waiting for their chance. Gods are angry. You are the hope.”

Sarah’s prophecies were always choppy and disjoined, but I’d assumed it was her mental health. Now I was realizing it was how her powers worked.

“An even exchange?” I muttered. “I can’t exchange my life again, it’s gone.” The frustration had me growling, and I stepped away from Sarah so I didn’t freak her out.

Dark Haven had always been surrounded in riddles and now was no different.

The gods being angry was not news to me. But I didn’t know who was on the sidelines and how I could exchange anything to close the portal.

At least, I assumed she was referring to the portal.

Always more questions than answers.

“Well, we have to go see the damage in the city,” Roman said. “Or rather I need to see how bad it is.”

“I’d like to as well,” Hiro admitted. “I feel responsible in some ways and it’s going to give us the urgency.”

“Doesn’t matter how urgent it is out there. Closing the portal is priority and I have no fucking clue how to do it. Nor do I know how we get back home if I do,” I argued.

“It’s never truly closed,” Monty explained. “Kol was here when it was technically closed. I’ve been going back and forth for years. If you’re tied to both realms, by orders or in your case, your humanity, then traveling isn’t an issue.”

“How do I close it, then?” I asked, throwing up my hands. “Why can no one ever fucking tell me that?”

“Because we don’t know,” Monty said dryly. “You’re the leader now. No one else can help you but apparently, you need an exchange.”

“Again, I’m already dead and soulless,” I pointed out.

“Have you tried just manifesting like you do in Helheim?” Drake’s question seemed so simple I felt stupid for not trying.

My connection here was smaller. It wasn’t as easy using magic here.

“No,” I admitted. “I could barely get the gargoyles’ remains through. Odin made it so I can come through the portal, but not so I can fully function here. He’s likely waiting on the sidelines to see if I fuck this up.”

“I don’t think so,” Stravos said. “Things down there are quiet, but not empty. The demons are converting humans to their side. There’s a literal militia out there of demons and humans. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they likely made them demons somehow. They’re changed.”

“Is that possible?” I looked at Monty in horror. If they could turn humans somehow... well, it didn’t look good for the world.

“No. The most they could do was use their influence. Think of it like mind possession. With enough strong demons pushing at weak minds it could seem that way.”

“That’s where Crew is.” Stravos’s words hung in the air, and I looked at Layne who looked horrified. “I’m sorry, Layne. I saw him last night and didn’t know how to break it to you.”

She sniffled softly. “I already knew in a way. Where else would he go?”

“Then we’ll add getting Crew back to the list,” I vowed. “The ever-growing list I don’t have a clue how to manage. But there’s no other option.”

“Can we even leave the grounds?” Kol asked. “I’ve never been able to before.”

“The gargoyles were bound to the grounds,” Monty said. “You, Roman, and Stravos may have to stay behind.”

“I can’t leave,” Stravos confirmed. “I watch from the rooftops.”

“Then we separate,” I said, shaking my head. “There’s no other choice. We have to get to Crew, and we have to figure this out.”

“At least you’re saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I,’” Kol said with a laugh.

I gave the gargoyle a smirk. He was right. I relied on them more than ever now. One person may lead a kingdom, but they never worked alone.

Helheim was connected to me, but it had claimed them as its own as well.

“I’m going to the portal,” I said as I turned. “I have to try before we go any farther. If we cut off the demons, they’ll lose their power. Right now, it’s unstoppable.”

Monty whisked me away again, leaving the others behind.

“Really?” I deadpanned. He let out a low chuckle and caressed my cheek with his shadows. It was a rare, loving moment with him. I cherished those, my omega swooning for her alpha.

“They’ve been around too much lately. They’ll find their way here in time. You can do this, little human,” he pointed out. The old nickname had a bit of my worry fading as I faced the portal.

The fires pulsed with Helheim’s presence, and I reached out with my mind, trying to hold tight to that feeling and separating it from Dark Haven. Maybe it was the wrong approach, but I was trying to manifest ripping them apart and closing the portal.

The power never shifted. It didn’t react to my will at all. In Helheim, I was using it to create and adjust things it had already created or claimed. Here, it was unwilling to budge. The hold on the realms ran deeper than any powers I might have.

“Well, that failed.” I sighed. “I guess we get to figure out what exactly an even exchange is.”

“One thing at a time. You’ve always loved biting off more than you could chew,” Monty countered.

“I’m not the sit-around type. And now, not only is the fucking world depending on me, so are people I care about.”

“So, what do we do first?” he asked.

“We go into the city, find Crew, and kick his ass for being stupid.”