Page 5 of Shadowed Spirits (Haunted Magic #2)

CHAPTER 5

IZZY

S tepping out of Levi’s rift, I glance around the barren plane. I’m not sure what I expected Hell to look like, but a vast ocean of red rock, a glowing electric blue sun in a neon green sky, and hardly anything in sight all fit the dystopian vibe I thought it would have. We’re on top off some sort of cliff, and heavy wind gusts kick up red dust and dirt at us, stinging my skin.

Archer surveys the barren landscape before turning to Levi. “Where to from here, demon eyes?”

Levi sighs deeply. “Still not a demon.” He points off into the distance where I can just make out a city. “We’re headed to the city there. That’s where my brother lives. It shouldn’t be more than a five-hour walk.”

I barely manage to hold in my groan. There are a ton of things I’d rather do than walk for five hours, like give a goldfish a perm, watch paint dry, or bathe a feral velociraptor. But it’s my fault we’re here in the first place, so I just have to suck it up and get it over with. Hiking my small dark purple backpack up farther on my shoulders, I follow Levi as we begin our trek.

We’ve been walking for a few minutes when something occurs to me. “Why can’t we just portal to your brother?”

“Acheron is the capital city of my realm, which is known as Infernus, so it’s heavily protected. That includes not allowing portals within roughly fifteen miles of the city. I opened a rift as close to Acheron as I could.” Levi briefly glances back at me and gives me a half smile before looking out into the distance again.

His answer only leaves me with more questions, so I quicken my pace to walk even with him. Levi and I are now in front, with Cain and Bishop directly behind me and Luca and Archer behind them. Now that I don’t have to shout to be heard over the wind whipping through the rocky landscape, I ask, “Why is it so protected?”

“Many wish to rule Infernus , so there have been countless attempts to capture Acheron. Not allowing rifts makes it easier to see an attack before it reaches the city,” Levi explains.

I tilt my head as I consider the city while slowly, so freaking slowly, getting closer. “Who currently rules?”

“Hades. He has for a couple billion years at this point.”

I choke on my spit at Levi’s casual answer. “Hades? Like the Hades? He’s real?”

Levi chuckles at my shock. “He’s very real, but he’s not a god, nor does he rule over death.”

Archer jogs up to walk even with us and jumps in before I can say anything. “Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. Exactly how old are you?”

“As I’ve told Izzy, I’m billions of years old. After a while, the years blur together, and it becomes hard to keep track of my exact age.” Levi’s voice has a wistful quality to it, like he wishes he could remember everything from his shockingly long life better. I can’t even wrap my mind around living that long.

Archer’s eyes are as wide as saucers as he looks at Levi in utter and complete shock. “Holy shit. That’s fucking pre-prehistoric, demon eyes. Did you meet any dinosaurs? Did you have a pet T-Rex?”

I can’t help my laugh at Archer’s questions. Of all the things to ask someone who is almost as old as time itself, the boy wants to know about dinosaurs. At least he has his priorities.

At Archer’s silly questions, Levi seems to shake himself out of his thoughts of, and perhaps longing for, a different time. I don’t blame him for longing for a time before he met my complicated ass. “No, I didn’t have a pet T-Rex, but I did see dinosaurs. This realm and Earth have been intricately connected since your planet first spawned life.”

Archer bounces up and down on his toes in excitement. “On one hand, lame. You totally shoulda domesticated the shit outta a T-Rex. On the other hand, that’s cool as fuck that you’ve seen real-life dinosaurs. I bet you have some crazy stories to tell.”

Levi shakes his head at Archer but can’t help the ghost of a smile that flits across his face. “I do, pup.”

Before Archer can bombard Levi with any more questions, I ask, “Why are our realms intertwined?”

Seeming to debate how to answer, Levi stays silent for a long moment. “That’s… a complicated question. Let’s get through meeting with my brother, then I’ll try to explain it all to you.”

He makes it sound like meeting his brother will be an ordeal. Here’s hoping it will go smoothly, unlike everything else today. I wonder if he’s close with his brother, but he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it. Since I have so many questions for him, I try to forget my curiosity about that. “Will you show me what you are then?”

Levi eyes me warily, like he doesn’t know how I’ll react to his show-and-tell. “Yes, little raven, I will.” His eyes flick back and forth between mine for what feels like an eternity, but is probably only thirty seconds, before he releases me from his otherworldly stare.

We walk in companionable silence, each of us lost in our thoughts, as we make the long trek through the red dust and rock to the city.

“Halt!” a loud voice booms from the rampart above us. It was hard to see from a distance, but the entire city of Acheron is surrounded by a massive defensive wall. The red stone wall has to be at least fifty feet tall, with watchtowers dotted across its entire span.

We come to a stop as we wait for further instructions. I admire the intricate scrollwork on the heavy gate and stare at the deadly looking spikes at the bottom with trepidation.

Pounding footsteps announce the arrival of, presumably, the man who yelled at us to stop. My eyes widen when all nine feet of him come into view. He looks like a walking, talking tree. Instead of skin, the man is covered in brown bark with limbs that look like tree branches. His head has small twigs topped with leaves sticking out, kind of like hair.

“What is your business—” The tree dude stops mid-sentence when his gaze lands on Levi. His moss green eyes light up as he stomps toward him. “Leviathan! Good to see you! I didn’t know you were planning to return. I would have prepared a feast for you!”

Levi is short for Leviathan? Huh, the more you know, I guess. That’s a super cool name, though. I wouldn’t go by a nickname if I had that badass of a name.

“Terminus, it’s good to see you. This trip wasn’t planned. I have a… problem I need to sort out with my brother.”

“I hope it is nothing too serious.” When Levi shrugs his shoulders noncommittally, Terminus sweeps his assessing gaze across the rest of us. “And who have you brought with you?”

Levi looks at me with a small smile before turning back. “This is my mate, Isabel Gallagher, and her other four mates.”

Terminus’s eyes widen before he breaks out into a grin so wide, I’m worried it will crack the bark of his face. He pulls Levi into a bear hug that lifts Levi’s feet off the ground. A snort escapes me at the image of my tall, buff, super powerful mate being picked up and hugged by a tree.

Well, at least my life is interesting. Weird, violent, and stressful a lot of days, but interesting. It could definitely be worse.

Eventually, Terminus releases Levi and turns to me. I stiffen, expecting to get picked up by the tree, but he instead lowers himself to one massive knee and bows his head. “Isabel Gallagher, mate of Leviathan, I am at your service. Whatever you require, I will aid you in any way I can.”

I gape at the strange tree man, wondering what in Satan’s name is going on here. When he doesn’t move or get up, I realize I have to say something. “Um. Thank you?” My voice gets high pitched toward the end, making my statement come out more like a question.

I hear someone behind me snicker at my awkwardness, but I keep my eyes trained on Terminus. He looks up at me with a grin before lumbering to his feet and turning to Levi. “Do you require an escort through the city?”

Levi shakes his head. “No, we’ll be fine.”

“Once you speak with your brother about your problem, stop by the guardhouse to catch up. It has been too long.” Terminus claps Levi on the back and nods to me, the wolves, and Bishop before disappearing back into the red stone turret.

I want to ask Levi about how he’s such good friends with the gatekeeper of the capital of his plane, but I’m pretty sure that falls into the category of problems we don’t need to deal with now. I’ll wait until we’re somewhere calmer to ask.

The iron gate screeches as it slowly starts moving up. As the city behind it is revealed, I suck in a surprised breath. From the castle-like wall and Terminus’s antiquated garb, I expected Acheron to look like a typical medieval town. Instead, it looks like someone threw a modern city and a thousand-year-old town into a blender, pureed it on high, and dumped it out here. Skyscrapers are bordered by small stone buildings with thatched roofs, narrow cobblestone paths intersect massive, paved highways, and horse-drawn carriages trot alongside brand-new cars.

When I tear my gaze away from the structures of the town, I notice the inhabitants for the first time. My jaw drops as I take in the hodgepodge of different species. While there are quite a few people who look human, for the most part, there are a ton of creatures that look like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

A small blue man with three eyes, a long tail, and wings on his back waddles past us. He notices my staring and narrows his eyes at me. “What are you staring at, blondie?”

My eyes get even wider as I’m called out for gawking. Before I can formulate a response, Levi steps up next to me. “Be careful who you speak to like that, portentum .”

The tiny blue man opens his mouth to blast Levi before getting a good look at him. Once he does, his eyes widen, and he trips over himself to apologize. “I didn’t see you there, sir. I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t.” Levi’s voice is as cold and harsh as I’ve ever heard it. Glancing over at him, I notice that his skull mask is flickering over his face as he stares down the strange man. When Levi doesn’t say anything further, the blue dude scurries off. Levi turns to me. “It is unwise to stare at creatures of this realm. Many perceive it as a grave insult.”

“Fucking noted, screech owl. I’ll keep my eyes to myself.” Unless I’m looking for a fight, of course. I’m at least sixty-six percent certain I could’ve taken the small blue guy in hand-to-hand combat.

I wonder why the winged man reacted so strongly when he saw Levi? The best I can guess is that his Grim Reaper party trick scared him off.

“What was that guy?” Archer asks.

“That, pup, was a demon.”

Archer’s mouth opens and closes a few times as he tries to figure out how to respond. “Holy shit. No kidding when you said you weren’t a demon. Are they all that small?”

“No. Now, let’s go. I don’t like you being out in the open any more than necessary, little raven.” Levi waits for a carriage to careen through the black cobblestone pathway in front of the gate before leading our group to a sidewalk next to a bustling, paved thoroughfare.

I try to keep my head down because every time I look up, everyone is staring at us. Surely, we don’t stand out that much. There are a ton of humanoid people interspersed with what look like demons, satyrs, nymphs, and other creatures of mythology. Most of the gazes are filled with curiosity, but some of them hold animosity.

With all the attention we’re getting, my mates organize themselves into a protective circle around me. Levi’s in front, Luca and Cain are to either side of me, and Bishop and Archer are behind me.

Their protectiveness is kind of sweet, but I’d much rather get myself hurt than let any of them get injured. I try to walk up beside Levi. I don’t get very far before I’m pulled back by my backpack. I turn to glare at Luca, who smirks down at me. “Nice try, wildcat. Stay between us.”

I open my mouth to tell Luca exactly where he can shove his order, but Bishop sighs loudly behind me. I twist to look at him over my shoulder and am super impressed I don’t trip while doing it. “Now is not the time for a fight. Just let us protect you, Izzy. You promised to let us in. And stop provoking her, Luca.”

I huff at Bishop but turn back around because he’s right. I did promise to try this whole teamwork thing.

“I’m not provoking her,” Luca grumbles.

I grin and stick my tongue out at him because he totally got called out too. He just rolls his aquamarine eyes before facing forward again. We walk silently for another minute until we come to a stop at a grassy area in front of a pitch-black river. Only, the grass is neon purple instead of green. The bright plant life reminds me of the spirit realm, which seems a little ominous.

Dragging my gaze from the river, I look up and up and up at a massive castle made entirely out of obsidian. The shiny black stone seems to glow from within, casting a soft purple light across the river that I’m just now realizing is a moat.

I wander closer to the river that’s probably fifty feet wide, pulled in by an invisible force, as I call over my shoulder, “How are we going to get across?”

“The ferryman will take us.” Levi’s voice sounds kind of far away, but I don’t pay much attention to it, as I’m transfixed by the river that I swear is whispering to me. I reach out a hand to touch it when Levi’s voice lashes out like a whip. “Don’t! Don’t touch the river, Isabel! It can kill you.”

His panicked shout breaks me from my trance. I shake my head to clear it as I stand back up to head a safe distance away from the creepy river. Taking a step away, my foot slips on the slick purple grass, propelling me back at the jet-black waters. My arms windmill as I try to regain my balance, but it’s no use as I fall backward.

Oh fuck. This is how I die, isn’t it?

My terrified gaze meets Levi’s. His mouth is open on a shout I don’t hear as I close my eyes and brace myself for impact.