Page 39

Dove

The stray demons on the surface were nothing compared to the legions below. The demon horde lined up and prepared to exit as soon as the Hellgate broke. And based on the dimming flames and growing armies, we didn’t have long.

The endless lines of demons stretched farther than the eye could see. If I thought outside had been bad, then a massacre approached Earth. And not just Lethe was in danger.

Enko, Kairos, Seven, and Rhys entered behind me. The demons hadn’t noticed us yet. What were five kitsune warriors to the masses of demons?

“Dove, this isn’t safe. We need to get back outside,”

Kairos began.

I shook my head, dashing to the side where it was darker. Where we might have a chance to remain unseen as we rescued Damon. “You can go back if you’re afraid.”

“We’re not afraid, vixen. But we need more kitsune if we’re going to fight this,”

Rhys argued.

“No, what we need is Damon to return the Hellgate to its full strength before these demons are unleashed onto Earth,”

I whispered back.

“Even if we do make it through, how are we supposed to find him in this mess, little fox?”

Enko asked.

“I know where he is. I can feel him. They’ll keep him in the lower dungeons, where the stronger supernaturals are kept.”

We crept into one of the small tunnels that skirted around the edge. I had no idea where it led, but some mysterious feeling within me guided our way. I searched for Damon in the mindspace, but only found a weak pull in the right direction. He had been down here for at least two days, and the imprisonment sapped his strength.

A forked path stopped us and I hesitated, testing both ways before choosing the right one. Just in the nick of time too, because pounding footsteps came from the other, a pack of demons heading to join their army.

We watched and waited before moving forward again.

“Close one, Fated,”

Seven said, moving to my side and gripping my arm. I welcomed the cool air drafting around him, the Shadow he called to pull me into the Vale if needed. And I knew then that he had planned to save me if needed. He didn’t have the power to bring all of us to the Shadow Vale and get us out. He had planned to sacrifice the rest and save me.

I glared. “We’re all getting out of this, Seven. Or we’re all dying. I will not leave any of you behind. And you will not interfere to save only the two of us.”

Enko growled, “We’re not going to let you die, little fox. Even if you’re the only one to survive.”

I reached a hand up to his cheek, gazed into his feral eyes, “Then know that I’ll follow shortly after.”

Kairos and Rhys glanced at each other, keeping their thoughts to themselves. My four mates' shoulders stiffened, keeping their hands on their weapons and their eyes peeled as we continued down the path.

“How do you know we’re going the right way?”

“I have a feeling.”

“Yeah, Rhys, she has a feeling,”

Seven quipped. His eyes flicked all around us, looking for any sign of an attack and was more uncomfortable than before I had spoken.

But the deeper we got, the more I prayed to the goddess that I was going the right way. If I get all of us killed…

“We trust you, Dove,”

Kairos said as he heard the thought.

“You, maybe. Did you forget she’s just a kit who just got her first tails?”

Seven whispered, shrugging when I sent a scowl his way.

The path devolved into a large opening, where there were at least a dozen options of where to go and I froze.

“Which way?”

Enko asked.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the feeling of Damon’s mind to guide me, but the minutes passed and nothing came. When I opened my eyes, all the guys were staring at me with worry coating their expressions.

I panicked, keeping my expression tightly under wraps as I stroked my blade for comfort.

A white gold light shone in one of the tunnels and I blinked to ensure I wasn’t hallucinating.

She appeared like a ghost, her hair blowing in a nonexistent breeze, a small smile gracing her lips. Her weapon was sheathed and her eyes were serious.

“This way,”

the goddess whispered as though she were by my side instead of across the subterranean corridor.

“There,”

I pointed, glancing at the others. Just a perk of being a Disciple.

“How do you know?”

Seven whispered. “Did the goddess tell you?”

“How the fuck would the goddess tell her? She’s been dead for a thousand years,”

Kairos asked.

I gave a look of disappointment at my dark mate, but he shook his head. “Oh fuck no, don’t put this on me. They deserve to know, Fated. That you hear the goddess. That she speaks to you.”

Enko, Kairos, and Rhys all looked at me with different levels of ‘Is she crazy?’

“Let’s go,”

I demanded as I jogged toward the correct tunnel, “Before any demons use these passages.”

We continued forward, and the tunnel led even deeper into the pits of Hell, but then I felt him nearby and I sped into a run, causing the guys to try to keep up with me. The cages came into our sight and breathed a sigh of relief, glad the goddess hadn’t misled me.

I began checking each of the cages, so engrossed in finding my Fated mate that when Enko and Kairos zoomed past me I twirled around in shock.

“Akuma!”

I screamed at him. Akuma, a word for the worst kinds of demons. Archdemons. The purple-skinned demon stopped before us in the tunnel, tilting his head. “Why in the devil’s name are you back? We had a deal.”

“Deals off, Emperor Sutoku Tenno,”

I told the archdemon, my brain not so clouded from starvation this time.

His face shuddered as I spoke the name, eyes flaring and smile fading, shaking his head.

“Kill him now,”

I ordered, my feral voice taking over, and my Fated males launched into action, taking him by surprise. Kairos’ mace smashed into his face, no mercy for the Tier V.

Kairos shifted into his fox—involuntarily—killing the Tier V had granted him his sixth tail. His tails sparked with lightning, leading the way past the dead demon, the burning flesh giving off a strong odor of brimstone.

We stopped in front of Damon’s cell, and I could feel his pulse within. I grabbed the gate, only to remember we needed a key, but Seven appeared behind me, holding up the demon iron key that looked centuries old.

“Got it off the guard before it could burn with him,”

Seven mused as he pushed it into the lock and the door clanked open. It was a nicer cell than the one I had been put in. It had a sink and a stone hard bed that Damon rested on. Somehow, in the pits of Hell he had remained somewhat clean.

I rushed inside, falling to my knees beside Damon. His heartbeat was weak, his breath shallow, but he was alive.

I slowly lifted his head off the ground, my hands cupping both his cheeks. “Damon, wake up—”

“No time, Fated. There’s more demons coming this way,”

Seven reported from outside the cell.

Enko reached down, gripping Damon. The movement awoke my mysterious mate and his eyes met mine with panic. “What are you doing here, Dove? You’re supposed to be safe.”

“So are you,”

I muttered, frowning. “I refuse to lose any of you.”

“Vixen, we’re out of time, let’s go.”

Enko picked up Damon, and despite the Lord of Nightmares' resistance, he let my giant mate carry him. Enko had to turn to get out of the cell with Damon, and then we were back in the long hallway.

I led the group the way we had come, but Rhys and Seven kept at my side, with Kairos bringing up the rear in his fox form. Enko walked between us, keeping Damon safe within.

“I can walk,”

Damon muttered irritably.

“Not fast enough,”

I said as we picked up the pace.

“Which way?”

Rhys asked as we came back to the room with a dozen tunnels. I easily picked the correct one this time without the goddess’ help.

“FIND THE KITSUNE! The Emperor is dead!”

some demon yelled from behind us, and we were running toward the dim blue fire of the Hellgate. When it came into sight, I realized it would not be so easy to exit as it had to enter.

I pulled out my sword, while Enko passed Damon over to Rhys. Neither was happy about the arrangement, but I ignored their complaints as Rhys wrapped an arm around Damon's shoulders and helped him hobble along. Enko’s sword lit up and Seven slipped into the Shadow Vale. In the light of hellfire, a shadow could be seen around him, not allowing him to fully hide within Hell.

“Let us handle this, Fated. Stay with Rhys and Damon.”

I ignored my dark mate, positioning myself for the first wave.

I didn’t even bother to categorize the demons, they were too fast, too many, all different types and colors, some types that I had killed before. But my odachi drank up their blood indiscriminately as I slashed through them.

Enko and Seven tore a hole in the horde with me, while Kairos flung lightning from his tails in fox form, calling down the clouds even underground to scare away the lesser demons as his rain began to shower upon us.

My movements were smooth and practiced, my blade an extension of my own body, dancing through the demons as I felled them. I didn’t bother to count as we slowly moved through the packed crowd of our enemy blocking our escape.

With each demon down, we moved forward, the four of us circled around Rhys and Damon, until we finally made it to the gate. Enko sent a whip of fire out of his sword handle as we dashed through, safely reaching the other side.

The blade of a kitsune from Damon’s troops almost whacked into us, but they stopped a hair from our faces.

“Archfox, Disciple,”

the kitsune bowed as he saw Damon behind us, “Lord of Nightmares, what were you all doing down there? Nevermind, get out of here to safety. We’re guarding the gate for now.”

“Good,”

Rhys responded, striding past, supporting Damon's weight, though now the Lord of Nightmares desperately tried to maintain some amount of decency and walk on his own two feet. “Have you alerted the Council of Elders?”

The kitsune nodded. “They are sending more backup.”

“The Lord of Nightmares will get the Hellgate back up as soon as he’s recovered. Hold them off until then.”

The kitsune warriors nodded as we hurried by them.

The Archfox commandeered a vehicle, and we all scurried inside, me in the backseat with Damon’s head on my lap. I stroked his hair, finally feeling like my heart wasn’t about to fall out of my chest. Knowing he was safe. That they were all safe.

“Little fox,”

Enko whispered, gazing at me with feral eyes, his body stiffening. “Your eyes are glowing.”

From the front seat, Rhys glanced back at me. “Fuck. She’s going into heat.”