Chapter 31 – Dark Realm
Maeve
In the midst of the shadows, I watched my dream unfold.
“He’s a malevolent demon!” I turned to Remington.
“Hugo should be serving his punishment atop Notre-Dame,” Remington told me as he eyed the priest. “Asmodeus has freed him for a purpose.”
“Why did he attack Dori in the museum?”
“He didn’t attack the old gal. His aim was meant for the Silver Queen, but Kit-kat deflected it.”
“And the humans couldn’t see it.”
Remington never spoke her name in my dreams. It was always the Silver Queen. I knew I was sleeping, but I wasn’t sure how many days had passed. It had been at least a month, but I seemed to lose track of time in this realm. Sometimes, my dreams felt real, like I was transported to a place in time. In other moments, I felt like a voyeur watching it play out.
They had moved from the Louvre to a place I recognized from history books—Place de la Concorde.
“Do you sense that?” Storm asked. Her eyes swirled as she scanned the surrounding area, looking for something.
“Sense what?” Lukas replied.
“I don’t know… Some kind of energy shift,” she said pensively as if trying to solve a riddle.
A low chuckle caught in my uncle's throat. “She’s brilliant.”
“Can she sense us here?” I questioned, rubbing my still-growing belly.
“A very strong energy,” Rex agreed, looking up at the obelisk in the middle of the plaza. His beautiful blue eyes shifted in our direction for a split second, and it felt like he was looking right at me.
“Lots of people were beheaded in this area,” Dori told them. “It could be bad juju or the ancient energy of the obelisk.”
“The obelisk has energy?” Flaym asked.
“This is an authentic Egyptian Luxor obelisk,” Dori explained. “I saw its twin when I was in Egypt. They were created during King Ramses’ rule and flanked the entrance of the Luxor temple.”
“Did it have the same energy?” Storm asked, walking around the monument.
“Ramses was one of the most powerful mages of the millennia,” Dori continued. “The tips of the obelisks were believed to have been covered in gold to reflect the sun, but I think he used them as some sort of talisman.”
“The old gal might just be as brilliant as her great-granddaughter,” he smiled. “I really like her.”
“Everyone loves her,” I replied before I asked the burning question. “Is it the power of the obelisk she’s sensing or you?”
The corner of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “Both.”
Dori snapped some pictures with the obelisk, and then she took some of the hieroglyphics. She mumbled something about sending them to Balthazar to interpret. We watched as she crouched to get a better photo of the plaque marking the spot where the French Queen, Marie Antionette, and so many others met their end at the guillotine during the French Revolution.
I noticed the way Ranger held Sol close beside him, and then I noticed the mark on his neck. Sol also had a mark on her neck… he had claimed her.
“They’re chosen mates,” I whispered.
“Fated mates,” Remington corrected me just as my eyes narrowed in on Selena’s neck. She was marked on both sides of her neck. “It’s almost time,” he told me.
“Time for what?” I asked.
“It’s a shame they didn’t preserve the guillotine in this spot. That would have been fun to see,” Dori said before she shoved her phone back into her big purse. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. Let’s go find some bouillabaisse or beef bourguignon.”
The obelisk faded, and I was returned to the comfort of the room I had spent the last month sleeping and resting in. The bed was extremely comfortable, and I couldn’t help wondering if it seduced me into comfortable long periods of sleep because of demon magic or if I was naturally tired all the time because of the growing pup. Either way, it felt like heaven.
I wasn’t happy about being tucked away in a corner of the castle, but my uncle assured me it was for my safety.
Asmodeus was a malevolent demon plotting to overthrow the Demon King, and Remington didn’t want either of them to know who or where I was. I wasn’t clear about his relationship with the Demon King or Asmodeus, but I knew he was a high-ranking Demon because he commanded others and had a hellhound. Jinx returned with us and practically lived in the doorway of my room or at the foot of my bed. I knew what he truly was, but he preferred to stay in his less conspicuous form, and I liked him that way, too.
Most of my time was spent sleeping, eating, or bathing in a magnificent bathtub the size of a plunge pool. Kit insisted I stretch in the water and perform yoga exercises to help take care of myself. Mars frequently appeared with food and snacks to ensure I had everything I needed.
To my surprise, Cadbury had found a retired pack doctor from the Crescent Moon Pack willing to help me. Doctor Ross was a kind old man, but his granddaughter had gotten into trouble two decades ago and was locked in the dungeons at Crescent Moon by the previous LaRue Alpha. In exchange for his silence and service, Remington had agreed to collect his granddaughter from the dungeon and allow her passage into Asphodel Meadows instead of Tartarus, where she was destined to go.
“Remington?”
He stood silently beside my bed, staring at the fire in the hearth. “Hmm?” He replied with a hum.
“What’s the significance of a melting moon?” I recalled what they were looking for at the Louvre, just after they found the painting of the Moon Goddess’ mortal mate, Endymion, who seemed to have a strong resemblance to the LaRue males.
“A melting moon represents the Moon Goddess in distress.”
“You mean like an S.O.S. signal of distress?”
He looked thoughtful for a brief moment before rushing to my door. “I need to go check something. Stay in this room, Maeve.”
I threw more pieces of wood into the fireplace and paced the room, thinking about what I had just witnessed in the dream. I knew it wasn’t a dream but more like realm jumping. They were in Paris, and I remembered hearing about a mating ball being planned at Versailles.
“Did they move the mating ball up?” I muttered to myself. Cadbury had explained that time was moving unusually slower than normal in the Dark Realm, but I wasn’t sure exactly how slow. Could my month here be a year there?
If Sol and Ranger were mates, there would have been no reason for them to come to Paris for the ball. Every time I saw Rex, he was alone. No girlfriend or mate. Then again, it was only in my dreams, and I had been able to conceal our pup from him.
Sometimes, when I missed him a little too much to bear, I found myself watching him while he slept. In my dream, I found comfort in running my fingers through his thick jet-black hair and breathing in his clean amber and woodsy scent. The light purring sound in his chest when I stroked his hair told me his beast also enjoyed my touch.
“Think he’s coming back tonight?” I asked Jinx, who replied with an ear twitch.
I wasn’t even sure if it was night or morning anymore. The sky outside my window always looked like twilight—never fully dark or day.
I thought about Ranger and Sol. They were both marked… and the way he held her close to him. I was happy for my friend, who had always harbored a crush on him, happy and envious. We spent most of our youth secretly pining after our crushes.
Ranger and Rex were several years older than us, but Ranger was always attentive and kind to her. Rex had maintained a cold distance from me and was busy with other girls his age. I had assumed it was because Sol was the daughter of the Royal Zeta and Selena’s younger sister. They were practically family, and everyone loved Sol.
In a pack of over three thousand people, I was not someone Rex would have or should have noticed. I was the orphaned granddaughter of an Omega who worked in the kitchen. I was no one special and preferred to be alone with my books. Brianna had become my best friend thanks to Nan’s relationship with her mother. Persephone took notice on my first day of school when I was assigned the seat beside her.
Flaym was the only male who noticed me when I was little because of my hair and freckles. My red hair was darker than his, but no one dared to make fun of me because Flaym was a redhead. The one time Ruby said something to me about my freckles, Flaym rubbed poison ivy all over her swimming towel.
The baby did one of those leg stretches that made my belly twist up like an alien lifeform trying to break free. I rubbed my hand over the tender spot and decided to lie on the bed. Doctor Ross thought I had a good chance of survival because of the magic in my blood, but we already knew what Mother Shipton had seen.
I was planning to return to the human realm to have the baby, but Doctor Ross reminded me that once the pup was born, a family bond would likely alert the royal family. I wouldn’t be able to hide unless I stayed in the Dark Realm, or found a way to break the bond.
Remington was convinced there was a secret entrance to the Fae Realm, but he was still trying to figure out where. The entrance through the faerie pools was still sealed, and we were running out of time. The baby was developing fast, and I was in the final weeks of pregnancy. If I drank from the spring of life, then it would increase my chances of survival.
When Doctor Ross shared the details of how the Luna Queen survived giving birth to three lycans, my uncle started plotting an emergency plan to abduct Luna Eudora. She had given birth to Lukas, then Rex and Storm, and was still human. The pearl on her finger was no ordinary pearl. It was a Tahitian black pearl of life granted to Alpha Ares by the Goddess of The Sea.
I didn’t want to steal it. I just wanted to borrow it for a few days. If she found out I was having her first grandbaby, there was a good chance she would give it to me. The only problem was that I didn’t want to be dragged back to the Moon Realm. I didn’t want to be forced to see Rex with his mate for the rest of my life. It would be a slow torture my heart wouldn’t be able to handle.
I rolled over and pulled the blanket up. Jinx was still lurking in the room, and I didn’t want him to see me crying. My heart ached, and all I wanted to do was bury my face in his chest. I closed my eyes and thought of Rex. I thought about his chiseled jaw, full lips, heated eyes that set my panties on fire, and the way his throat bobbed when he swallowed. I thought about his broad chest, strong hands, and muscled thighs.
In the softness of my bed, my body felt like it was floating.
The scent of lavender body wash reached me before I heard the sound of a running shower echo. Somehow, I was standing naked in the corner of a large locker room while the steam of multiple shower heads filled the space. The mouthwatering sight of his naked backside greeted me.
He was at some posh club or gym locker room, but no one was there except for him. His head was tipped forward, rinsing the shampoo from his hair. My eyes found the crescent moon mark on the back of his neck, reminding me that Rex was not only a powerful lycan but also an elemental shifter.
The tattoo on his back held one black wing and one silvery white wing. The left side held the black feathered wing, with one white feather in the middle, while the feathered wing on the right side was the opposite. Storm also had the same tattoo on her back. Some thought it represented the light and dark sides of the moon, of lycans and werewolves. But I knew it reflected the bond Rex and his twin shared—yin and yang.
I continued with my appraisal, and the sight of his naked ass and strong legs made my knees weak. His lower back held the double Apollo dimples that reminded me he was a descendant of the golden wolf and had the blood of the Gods in his veins. His head tilted back, and I heard a low moan leave his lips as if it had been moaned into my ear.
“Mmmm,” he groaned again, and I somehow found myself moving closer. I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
His eyes were closed as the shower heads continued to spray over him. I moved another step closer when I stood frozen in place. My mouth ran dry, but at the same time, heat pulsed through me. I should probably leave, turn around, and find a way to wake up, but I seemed to be immobile.
Dear Goddess, the effect this man has on me.
One hand braced against the marble tile while the other reached low. I took another step closer, giving me a better view of what he was doing. His hand was curled around his cock, stroking his length while he fantasized about something. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes took it all in, and I wanted him. I wanted him not only in this way, but in every way.
“Maeve…” he whispered in a low groan, his hand moving faster.
The whisper of my name sent a surprising thrill through my body. I took another step closer and could see every inch of him. It was bigger… thicker than I remembered. I had repeatedly replayed the night of the new moon in my head, and I wasn’t sure if the swelling I felt was real or imagined. The growing knot at the base of his shaft shocked me, and I realized what had occurred at the hot spring, the soft patch of grass by the river, and again in my room that night.
Knotting was normal in wolf form, but I had never heard of it in human form. Then again, lycans could shift any body part at will. My body’s reaction and my lack of restraint when it came to Rex scared me.
“Maeve,” he breathed in a low groan that sent a wave of heat between my thighs.
I watched as the muscles of his forearm flexed with his movement. His hips rocked forward, and his posture tightened. The sound of his rugged breathing and groans was doing things to me. I licked my lips, hungry to taste him. Through the steamy mist of the shower, I could see the glistening moisture leaking from the tip of that magnificent cock. He was close.
“Fuck, I want you so bad,” he rasped and stroked faster.
“Goddess, I want you, too,” I whispered.
His jaw clenched, his eyes shot open, and his hand stopped moving. The thundering in my chest made me feel like I had just been caught doing something I shouldn’t. I held my breath and waited in silence. Rex turned his head, and the swirl of his lycan eyes met mine.
“Maeve?”