Chapter 3 #2
“If they don’t contact us soon, I say yes,” Atticus said.
“First, let’s go see what Master Edison suggests.
We have no way of knowing that who or whatever we heard was them.
It could have been someone else completely, and the last thing I really want to do right now is run into a not-so-friendly hellhound. ”
We didn’t get a chance to swipe our badges at the door—Alpha Sergei opened it for us. “Your packmates are here. They arrived while we were in Chile. They are not alone.”
We quickly entered the building, waving to both Slater and Spencer at the front desk. “What time is it?” I asked, pulling out my phone. “It says 10:48, but I don’t think that’s right.”
“We need to discuss that and more,” Alpha Sergei said. “It is just before six in the evening here.”
I glanced at my phone again. What was going on with that? It usually updated to the correct time when we changed time zones.
We followed Alpha Sergei into conference room three, and I was honestly surprised at how full it already was.
“How is it that we’re the last ones to arrive when we left the Nexus first?” Augustus asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said. I moved to stand against the wall beside Atticus, who was staring at Damien.
Warwick joined us and leaned close. “We were in some serious Twilight Zone shit while we were gone.”
I looked at my packmate, a bit confused.
Actually, I was a lot confused. “I’m sure that will be explained.
Tell me who Damien’s new friends are,” I said as I nodded toward the other side of the room.
I was actually very surprised that not only were two new hellhounds inside the council building, but the three demons that we’d caught.
“Damien called the one Titus. He seemed as if he knew him quite well. The other one said his name was Azar.” Warwick gave me a look that was easy to understand.
“They’re our missing hellhounds,” I whispered.
“It would seem so, yes.”
“What?” Augustus said as he leaned around me. “I was half listening.”
“If you all would give us just a few moments, we’ll do a quick briefing, and then everyone can be on their way,” Alpha Sergei said. He turned to the hellhounds that were standing with Damien. “What are your names?”
“I’m Titus,” the one standing closest to Damien said.
“And I’m Azar, Alpha,” the other said.
“How long have you been in the Nexus?” Alpha Sergei asked.
They looked at one another before they redirected their attention back to Alpha Sergei. “We do not know. We were banished here to the shifter realm quite some time ago,” Titus said. “I was in Damien’s pack in our realm all that time ago and was banished not long after he was.”
Azar shrugged. “I cannot tell you how long I’ve been here. Not nearly as long as Titus has. As for how we got into the Nexus, we do not know, Alpha. A portal opened, and we were then suddenly in it.”
“Do either of you know where you were when the portal opened?”
“Sorry, no,” Titus said.
“We think somewhere in the southern hemisphere, but we aren’t really sure,” Azar added.
“What if there is somehow a link between New Mexico and the Atacama Desert?” Master Edison asked.
Alpha Sergei nodded. “I would not rule that out. Especially since our enforcers were there and could not get any sort of service.”
Master Edison glanced over at Alpha Dane and Chief Daegal. “We can organize a team to head to Chile to look if you feel it might be beneficial,” Chief Daegal said.
“Possibly,” Master Edison said before he turned his attention to the three demons, who were sitting closely together, not saying a word. “What are your names? Why were you in the Nexus?”
“We do not have names, Master. We have not been given them yet.”
Master Edison looked up at us in question. “We were given names because we were pets,” Atticus said. “Demons aren’t treated nearly as nice as we were.” He shrugged. “We were all treated like dirt, but the demons were treated worse.”
“Why were you in the Nexus?” Master Edison asked again.
“We were to be gifted names and then the permission to search for our mates if we passed the obstacle.”
“The obstacle?” Alpha Sergei asked.
The demons all looked to us.
“It is a game for our creator,” I said. “Demons are gifted a name and a mate if they can escape the hellhounds in the Nexus. Our creator watches and waits. When demons find the opening back into our realm, they pass.”
“What happens if they don’t?” Master Edison asked.
“They die,” Atticus said. “If the demons return before the hellhounds, the hellhounds are either banished if they are lucky enough to have been a favorite, or they are killed by the rest of the pack.”
There was such silence in the conference room that if I didn’t know better, I would have thought I was back in the Nexus.
“That’s barbaric,” said Master Ambrosius. “Who treats their children that way?”
“My brother.” We all turned at the sound of a familiar voice.
The demons gasped and immediately pushed from their chairs.
They would have tried to run if not for the fact that Atticus, Warwick, Augustus, and I surrounded them.
“I mean you no harm,” the goddess told them.
They relaxed, but you could tell they weren’t comfortable.
The goddess turned her attention to the created ones.
“You have demons among you now. You have a choice to either end their lives or figure out how to integrate them into the council,” she said.
“They will be loyal, but I will leave that choice up to you.” The goddess looked directly at us.
“Your pack is complete. I see that you have found your last two hellhounds.” She offered a smile.
“Thank you, goddess,” several of us said.
“Your pack will grow though. You already have three young ones that will one day be able to run with you,” she said.
When she looked directly at me, it took a great deal of effort to not lower my gaze.
“Your pack will grow even more soon,” she said.
“Embrace the gifts that the fates give you,” she said, looking around the room.
“You might feel undeserving, but you are here for a reason.”
I glanced at Augustus and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. “Don’t look at me,” he said quietly. “She’s talking about you. You’re the one who is ignoring your mate.”
I felt all eyes zero in on me. I was going to kill Augustus. I had talked to him about Banner in confidence. He wasn’t supposed to share anything at all about me having a mate.
The goddess laughed, which pulled the attention off me. “Do you wish to have names?”
The demons all nodded. “Yes, please. We will serve you however you wish. Do we call you master as well?”
“No. I am not like my brother, which is most likely why he was sent where he is. Most call me goddess.” She glanced around the room.
“Some have quite specific names for me.” She shrugged.
“You shall be Ravi,” she said, pointing to the one who had been most talkative.
“You are Elio,” she said as she gestured to the demon sitting in the middle.
“And you’re Jordi,” she told the last one.
“When you are deemed trustworthy by my children, you will be given your powers. Until then, you would probably do well to spend time with Atticus and his pack. They will understand you more than others will.”
With that, the goddess simply disappeared. There were groans from some of the created ones, and Augustus and I looked at one another, confused more than I think either of us had ever been.
“Adding demons to the council in some capacity has never been in the plans,” Chief Daegal said.
“No,” Master Edison added. He sighed. “You three might as well follow me. I assume the three of you would be all right with sharing a house for the time being?”
“Where are you going to put them?” Master Ambrosius asked.
“We have not filled Warwick’s old place. They can stay there. It is furnished and is near Augustus and Dante.”
“What about Titus and Azar?” Alpha Sergei asked.
“Come along,” Master Edison said. “We will figure out places for everyone.”
The demons and two new hellhounds followed closely behind Master Edison, with Alpha Sergei and Chief Daegal following up behind them. How had things changed so drastically in a matter of minutes?
“We will need to have a meeting with the rest of you tomorrow morning,” Alpha Vitomir said. “We need to figure out why it is that for you, the timeline was only minutes, but in reality, it has been weeks.”
“We left on the twenty-second,” Augustus said, then looked at Atticus. “I guess that’s why your mate was yelling in your ear.”
“Ledger isn’t exactly happy either.”
“Cecil and the twins have been staying with us,” Alpha Vitomir said.
“I will be by shortly to collect my mate and children,” Warwick said. Alpha Vitomir nodded before he left. The five of us stood there in what was most likely disbelief.
“Something is going on. I just don’t know what,” Atticus said.
“I’m all for figuring it out, but I really need to get back to Ledger. It’s understandable that he’s upset because he’s had no contact with me for close to a month.”
That was unbelievable. How? Why? We all left, I’m sure wondering much the same things.
Like Augustus, I didn’t have anyone waiting for me, technically, but I did wonder if there was a possibility that Banner had thought about me while we’d been gone.
I quickly squashed those thoughts. He wasn’t for me.