Page 62

Harlow

Dark Haven Institute

T he demons struck Dark Haven the moment we reached the gargoyles. We had yet to have to fight, they hadn’t made it past the blue flames.

It was as if they couldn’t comprehend the fact they no longer were in control here, or had access to the portal. Helheim had rejected them and no amount of throwing themselves at the flames would change that.

Seeing my work laid out before me and actually going as I intended was amazing. Pride and determination filled my soul and I felt it reflected back at me through my pack bond.

The demons below were on limited time. They were now a dying species. That was what would save this world.

If they gave up long enough for me to figure out the portal, at least.

The demon army below outnumbered us at first. With the gargoyles back, that was no longer an issue. I just hoped this gave the humans in the city a moment of peace from the hell they’d been living in.

With the demons’ focus on us, they couldn’t torture or kill.

Crew stood in the street with the demons, glaring up at Dark Haven as if it were the reason for his pain. The reaction only solidified my suspicions.

He mentally unraveled while he was here and they took advantage of that, using all of his inner dark thoughts against him, twisting them until it was all he knew.

After that, he was already in their pocket. He was an easy target.

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Layne’s whisper was so full of sadness I couldn’t help but pull her into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to fix this,” I admitted. “He’s not Crew anymore. But I’m going to try if I can.”

She sniffled and nodded as she backed out of my hold. I hated that my best friend was still dealing with the inner battle on top of being abandoned by someone she loved. And that was all after witnessing our deaths and not knowing we survived.

The only thing I could do was bring her back to Helheim with Stravos, but to do that, she’d have to die. Killing my best friend was not an option.

Though, if she stayed in Ridgefield or Dark Haven much longer, the choice would be taken from both of us. She had no medical care here, no support outside of Sarah, and with the portal closed, I wasn’t sure Stravos could stay.

Layne and I watched as another row of demons ran at the flame, turning to ash on impact. There was a moment of angry outcries before the next row moved into place.

They clearly weren’t the brightest adversaries, but they were relentless. Even if it resulted in them dwindling quickly without us having to do the work.

“This is going to end at some point, right?” Layne’s words were more of a plea than a question.

“It has to,” I answered honestly. There was so much more at stake than she knew. I didn’t give her a rundown of Odin’s encounter and my impending death if I didn’t close it. She didn’t need more stress.

“Fuck this,” Drake growled as the next wave of demons ran to the flames. “I’m not standing up here and waiting for something to happen.”

Without warning, he dove off of the building, not caring there was way too much distance to the ground. I shouldn’t have worried. He hit the ground with ease and ran forward, sword slicing through the front row.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered before turning to Monty. “Get me down there.”

“Gladly,” my commander obliged, wrapping shadows around me and carrying us to the battle below.

I was ready the moment he cleared them, running into the fray with my spear out, stabbing into a row of demons and cutting straight through three in one go. Pulling it back out was just as easy.

I didn’t stop moving, sending a silent thank you to the quartermaster who’d given me my weapon as I fought. It was cutting down demons as if they were nothing more than shadows.

Soon the streets were so full of smoke and ash it was impossible to see. Thanks to the new bond, I could feel my men and where they were so there was no accidental maiming involved.

At some point, Drake and I reached each other, fighting side by side until Hiro joined us.

We fought in a triangle, protecting each others’ backs as we went. The demon attacks slowed until, finally, we stood alone.

The only demons still standing were Crew and his ghastly entourage.

For the first time, Crew looked shaken. His eyes were wide but his face was twisted in fury.

“You’ve lost, Crew. Are you really going to stand by them still?” I questioned. “Do you not see that you chose the wrong side? They’re not family, they don’t care about you. Not like we do.”

“Don’t even begin to think you know me, Harlow,” he growled out my name like a curse and I narrowed my eyes.

“I do know you. You were the guy who cared enough to make me feel welcome when I arrived. In fact, you were the first kindness I saw in more than ten years of hell. You cared about Layne and wanted her safe. This isn’t keeping her safe. You’re hurting her all over again.”

“She found someone to replace me!” he bellowed, cutting me off before I could remind him of his humanity and what he’d left behind. His outburst meant I was getting through to him, that somewhere underneath the twisted human was the old Crew.

“If you think it was a replacement, then you’re a dumbass,” I said. It was blunt and pointed, but necessary. “Do you really think I replaced Drake with Hiro or Roman? Them with each other? Monty with any of them? Everyone else for Kol?”

“I’m not going to sit here and fight with you about a human girl that doesn’t matter,” he said in the coldest tone I’d heard from him yet.

The words did their job, igniting an even stronger response in me at the blatant dismissal of my best friend.

I launched at him but Drake and Hiro held me back. Crew laughed bitterly and dismissed us by turning his back on us and walking away.

Monty didn’t give us a choice to follow, slamming shadows around us, and soon we were on the roof again.

“Harlow,” Hiro said gently. It was then I realized tears were tracking down my cheeks as my anger boiled over into other emotions. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this, I was a queen now, a leader, and this was weakness.

Ignoring their protests I stalked away, slamming through the door and down the staircase.

We hadn’t explored and cleared the debris from much of Dark Haven, so it was a bit more challenging to wind myself downstairs to the portal.

The courtyard was blessedly empty.

My tears had dried along the way and my emotions were settling, but I still had no clue what to do here. We’d killed so many demons but it didn’t give me any answers.

Helheim seemed to feel my distress. The familiar brush of its power soothed over my jagged edges. It couldn’t speak with words but I felt its intentions as it offered me reassurance.

Then something more powerful filled the air. It was like an electrical storm, buzzing along my skin and making every hair stand on end.

Odin.

He materialized in front of me, and my stomach sank, but Helheim didn’t retreat. It was clinging to me like armor. If he couldn’t see that the realm chose me now, then he was blind.

“Interesting,” he mused as he looked between me and the portal. His power flared out. It was forceful and angry, a menace I’d never forget from our first encounter. The onslaught was strong at first, then ebbed as Helheim strengthened around me. “I’ve never seen a realm react to its leader like this.”

“I’m not treating Helheim like a prison,” I said, my voice muffled by the wind he’d caused.

Odin circled me like a shark, hyper-focused on something I couldn’t see. I wondered if he could see the power I felt.

“You know… I was being kind, giving you this chance to fix the portal,” he drawled. The boredom in his voice was infuriating and my final breaking point.

My filter was gone and I didn’t care I was smudged with soot and likely had tear tracks on my face. The audacity of this god was unreal.

“Are you kidding me right now?” I demanded. Now that I started, I couldn’t stop. “I never asked to be a part of this. It was never in my plans to die for a goddess that was selfish enough to cause all of this bullshit. I didn’t even know what Helheim was a few months ago, but I embraced it. I’ve tried to learn everything I can while picking up the pieces Hel shattered, including my own mates. Now, we fight our way here to Dark Haven, slaughter hundreds of demons to protect the humans and the portal while we figure this out. And you’re here to what... tell me I’m not fast enough?”

Finally, reality sank in and I snapped my mouth shut, though the damage was done. Even then, I wouldn’t take it back. It was the truth.

The bearded god glared at me as if he couldn’t understand my audacity either. I doubted very much anyone talked to him like this, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut no matter how hard I tried. He needed a reality check in the worst way.

“I’d watch your tone with me, girl. I’ve killed gods for less.” He rose in height as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring me down in an obvious intimidation tactic I met in kind.

He wasn’t the only one with powers now.

“I’m sure you have,” I agreed. “I also know that you don’t have the time to deal with this. I’m killing myself to figure this out with zero knowledge of your world. I wasn’t a god, I was a human. You were all fictional characters to me before all this. Now here I am cleaning up the mess of gods.”

His lips twitched in amusement. I was fucking lucky he found me amusing and didn’t smite me where I stood.

“As far as I know, you’ve already been told how to close it. Was there not a prophecy?” Of course he already knew about that as well.

“Oh, you mean a riddle that told me nothing useful?” We lost our angry stances and relaxed.

I didn’t let my guard down, though, I was dancing over the line and his patience was likely to end swiftly.

“Prophecies are not meant to tell you step by step how to do something. You’re meant to be smart enough to figure it out.” He walked closer to the portal and peered inside, shuddering slightly before stepping back. “It seems Helheim approves of you. That’s something.”

There was a pulse of magic, as if the realm was backing up the god’s words.

Odin studied me for another long moment, and I stared right back, head held high, refusing to show him anything but confidence. I very much doubted that simpering and bowing at his feet would solve anything.

“I have one question. And it might determine your fate,” Odin said. I didn’t doubt the threat in his words. “Do you resent the realm that you were given?”

My answer was immediate, I didn’t even have to think before the words fell from my lips.

“No. I may have had to die to become what I am, but even I’m not naive enough, or stupid enough, to disregard what Helheim has given me.”

It saved us all in our own ways and gave me far more than this world ever had. Sure, it came with a few extra responsibilities, and I hadn’t quite wrapped my mind around immortality yet. Most days, I was barely treading water.

But it wasn’t like I didn’t have literal centuries to figure that shit out. Even with as little time as I spent there, I could see the importance of this balance and what the realm stood for.

Helheim wasn’t a prison, it was eternal life and a place of peace for those who’d earned it.

Odin said nothing else. He studied me as if reading my thoughts and nodded once before disappearing altogether. The courtyard descended into silence again and the sudden change left me shook, but proud.

I had a strong feeling the god’s intentions were never to put a stop to this. He could easily destroy this world if he wanted to, I had no doubt he had the power to do so.

I didn’t want that and neither did he.

Odin wanted me to fix this and run Helheim, not resent it. Apparently, the gods were ready for a few changes and I was the first phase of that.

His approval was humbling. I’d already accepted Helheim and my fate, but now I was positive I could do this.

Closing the portal would come to me eventually, like it had before. Now I wasn’t alone, I had my pack back, and the realm behind me.

Failure was never an option, but even less so now.

Soft footsteps had me turning away from the blazing portal to find Hiro approaching. His eyebrows were drawn and he offered me his hand, which I quickly took, intertwining our fingers together.

“Are you all right?”

“I am now,” I admitted. “Odin paid me a visit.”

“That would explain why I couldn’t open the door,” Hiro said dryly. “You’re still standing here, so I take it the meeting went well?”

I snorted at that. “Shockingly, I think it did. My lack of filter might have gotten me killed on a bad day, but he let me live this time. Or whatever you call this version of living.”

Hiro picked up a strand of my silver-blonde hair and let it fall, a cloud of dust billowing from it. “It might be a bit dirty, but I’d still call it life.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say no to a shower. Care to join me?”

A smile spread across his face at my invitation, and he was already pulling me to the door.

“Hell yes, I do. Wait, can we still use that phrase?” I laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood as he led us back to the third floor.

It was our sanctuary in this world once again. Though I felt connected to both worlds now. It was as if my conversation with Odin had taken the last of my reservations so I accepted the realm fully.

Hiro locked the bathroom door behind him—not that it would keep anyone but Layne out—before turning back to me.

We didn’t break the silence as he peeled my clothes off of me before doing the same to himself, tossing them all aside. They were ruined and I didn’t care what happened to them, we’d conjure more.

“It’s so strange. I feel more like myself than I ever have. You’d think it would be a weird transition to go from one body to the next, having random powers I don’t understand, but I feel like this is who I was supposed to be,” he said.

The vulnerability had me brushing my hands down his arms. It wasn’t the sexy moment I had expected but I had a feeling my beta needed to get that off of his chest.

“It’s the same for me. I’m literally connected to a realm, Hiro. I can feel it and sometimes it feels more sentient than we are. It conveys thoughts and messages to me, and not in the psychotic hallucination way like before. Now it’s like it chose me back.”

“Because it knows your worth,” he whispered, pushing my hair out of my face and bringing his lips to mine. “We all do.”

His kiss wasn’t rushed or sweet, it was possessive and purposeful. As if he were learning me all over again.

“I love you, Hiro,” I said. The urge to let him know was so strong I couldn’t have held the words back if I’d wanted to.

“As do I, My Queen,” he teased. “I’ve loved you since the moment I got to know you.”

Hiro backed us into the shower, still claiming my mouth as he adjusted the hot water. Steam filled the air and we only broke away long enough for the water to wash away the remnants of the battle.

The moment I deemed myself clean enough, I dropped to my knees in front of him. His breath caught as I wrapped my lips around his hard cock.

“Harlow, that’s not—” His protests broke off into a moan as he hit the back of my throat. And I didn’t let him protest further as I pulled back and swallowed him down again, sucking hard and setting a mind-blowing pace I knew he couldn’t resist.

We didn’t get enough moments like this, just me and my mate and the world closed away. I wasn’t going to waste it on talk, I needed to taste him, to own him, to feel him.

My hands were braced on his ass, likely leaving my fingerprints as bruises.

A part of me hoped Drake would get to see them later, and I wondered how he’d react. Hopefully by being the possessive alpha we both love.

Hiro was babbling out praises that were barely comprehensible which was a sign I was doing something very right.

Our bond was blown wide open now. The pure bliss Hiro was feeling radiated through it. My pussy ached and slick trickled down my thigh without a touch from him.

The steam concentrated our mixed scents, the ice and smoke and our combined sweetness, had us both panting.

Sex with a mate was so much more, and the moment Drake claimed Hiro, brought him fully into the bond, I knew it would grow.

Hiro clutched desperately at my hair, slamming down my throat twice more before he came, crying out my name in a hoarse, desperate call that had a smile forming on my lips as I pulled away.

It was funny how he’d been so submissive as a human, but now that he’d left his baggage behind, he was claiming this new body as his own.

It made sense. This one never suffered from Vance’s assault, never was beaten and broken. It was new and all his.

He yanked me to my feet and pushed me to the wall, his body pressing to mine as he claimed my lips with renewed desperation. I barely drew in a breath before his tongue was dancing with mine, tasting every inch of me as if committing it to memory, not minding his salty taste on my tongue.

My cries were the ones echoing from the walls as he kissed and bit his way down my body until he was on his knees and throwing one leg over his shoulder so he had access to my dripping pussy.

Hiro knew me now, his tongue flicking over my clit while two fingers slid into my core. He sucked hard on my clit before teasing it slowly with his tongue, making sure I was on edge but couldn’t crash over it.

It wasn’t until I was the one begging to come that he relented. Soon he was tongue- and finger-fucking me so intensely my orgasm was like a storm, blowing me over with a deafening hit before receding. A loud whine escaped me as I tensed, feeling everything so much more.

I threw open my bond with Drake, hoping he could feel his mates. A little torture was good for a demon.

I’d just hit the aftershocks when he pulled me out of the shower and laid me on the bench, positioning himself and sinking inside of me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, clinging to him and holding on the best I could. He was hungry, feral, and I was ready to be wrecked by him.

He held me in place as he fucked me so hard the poor bench might not survive. This was a joining based on instinct and need. Our bond guided us, feeding the flames until they consumed us completely.

Hiro knew what I needed and gave it to me. I returned the favor, just as desperate to see him break.

I may be the new Queen of Helheim, but my men were the ones holding me together.