3. The In-Laws
CHAPTER 3
The In-Laws
Rez
I shake off the chills from the encounter with Zeke. I know he wasn’t in his right mind, and it just shows how everyone needs to take care of their needs, especially Zeke. My poor vamp can’t be starving himself.
“So you’re the lucky lady that has stolen my son’s heart,” Sierra teases as she leads the way down the hallway, pulling me out of my thoughts.
My cheeks heat, and I’m lost for words for the moment.
“Mom!” Lynx chastises while Sierra laughs.
“I’m only teasing, sweetie,” she says, winking in our direction.
‘Sorry,’ Lynx apologizes, and I can’t help but smile. I finally get to see the shoe put on the other foot. It’s his turn to be embarrassed by a parent.
‘It’s okay. I love seeing you be the target now.’ I wiggle my eyebrows in hopes of being devious, but I probably look like a spaz. Either way, I get the desired effect because Lynx laughs and squeezes my hand.
We follow Sierra down the short hallway and into an open-concept living room, but before I can take in the decor, we turn to our immediate right. With my stint of medical needs recently, I easily recognize the hospital setting. The all-white walls with cabinets and shelves fill the room. I catch Lynx scrunching his nose at the smell of the cleaning supplies, but it’s the table in the middle of the room that my eyes focus on. Laying on the table is Knots with his blue wings stretched out to his sides, and Lynx’s dad leaned over him.
“Is he okay?” I asked, rushing to Knot’s side and dragging Lynx with me.
“Relax,” Lynx’s dad says calmly. “I’m stitching up his head. For some reason, his powers aren’t doing it for him down here. Is there something you two need to tell me?” he asks, taking a moment to peer over at us before continuing his work.
I swallow around the dry lump in my throat as I think of where to even begin. Then I decide to leave it up to Lynx because I’m too exhausted to think straight and he looks up to it.
“Just the fact that he’s dying, and we need to get him out of Hell ASAP,” he rattles off and shrugs.
His father jerks his head back at us and blinks owlishly for a moment. It would be comical if it wasn’t true.
“Well,” he clears his throat. “That is something. And here I thought you were going to introduce me to the woman you’re with. Is this the one you left for so many years ago?”
Lynx lets out a nervous chuckle and runs his free hand through his hair, and now I’m starting to feel uncomfortable.
I feel someone poking at the edges of my mind testing my walls, trying to find any weakness, so I reinforce my barriers. I’m sure it’s Lynx’s family just testing that I’m good enough for their son. I can see how it would be something any father would do to their child’s mates. That doesn’t mean I should give them easy access though.
It dawns on me that I know nothing about his family. I have no idea how they felt about him leaving home at such a young age, or their stance on me not being a shifter, or how they’re going to feel about me dragging Lynx through…well, HELL with me.
My stomach knots up as I go clammy, and I desperately seek out Lynx through our link.
‘HELP! I’m freaking out here,’ I manage to get out.
‘I got ya.’ He squeezes my hand and steps closer to the bed, dragging me with him.
Yep, bring me closer to your father…that will solve my freaking issue.
“Yes. This is Nerezza, my mate,” he says with pride, wrapping his arm around me and tucking me into his side. His action brings me more relief than I could imagine, and I find myself leaning into his heat.
‘It’s okay, Rezzi. They will love you. Nothing to be worried about. Promise.’
‘Swear?’
‘You can rename my balls if I’m wrong,’ he promises.
‘Damn. A ball promise? You must be serious,’ I tease.
He glances down at me with his eyebrow quirked. ‘Deadly.’
Sierra smiles from the other side of Lynx’s dad as she observes us. “Well, it’s nice to officially meet you, Nerezza. I’m glad our son could find you.” She grabs a wet cloth and wipes away some of the oozing blood from Knot’s head wound while her husband does the last stitch. “So, who’s this gentleman, and what do you mean about needing to leave Hell?”
“He’s just our Door Knight at Purgatory Prep,” Lynx mumbles.
I scoff and give him a jolt in the rib with my elbow. “Stop it, Lynx. That’s just rude. He’s more than a Door Knight,” I scold him and look up to see his parents looking at me with emotion in their eyes.
His mother quickly walks around the table, being careful of Knots’ wings, and stands before us with her jaw open as if she’s trying to find words.
‘Is your mother okay? Did I say something wrong?’
She raises her hand to touch Lynx’s face but pauses, and his father quickly joins us around the table and draws her into his arms.
“Mom?” Lynx hesitantly questions.
Fuck this. I’m getting weirded out.
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask, and my words seem to break the spell for Sierra.
“Did you name him?” she asks, almost desperately.
“Yeah, but I was six,” I try to explain, but she waves away my excuse.
“No, dear, you did nothing wrong.” She sniffles. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I love the name,” she says, wiping away a tear that breaks free from its hold.
“I’m sorry. What’s going on?” I ask, a bit confused.
Lynx’s dad turns Sierra towards him and quickly kisses her forehead before she smiles up at him and nods. She gives us a watery smile and leaves the room without a word.
Okay, I’m not freaking out at all here.
Lennox waits until Sierra is out of the room before turning to us. “Sorry about that. Sierra has been really emotional lately, so I thought it would be best for her to have a moment. Plus, I asked her to fix up some Leamux Tea for your Door Knight. It will help heal him while he’s here.”
I don’t know where to start in my processing. First, it didn’t even occur to me that his parents could possibly communicate like Lynx and me. Second, I wasn’t sure how to bring up the fact that nothing was going to heal Knots until we got him back to Purgatory.
“Why did mom act like that?” Lynx asks, obviously as bewildered as I am.
His dad—Lennox, if I remember correctly—smiles and goes about cleaning up his supplies as he answers.
“You might not remember, which I don’t hold against you since you were just a baby when you left, but Storm Shifters are treated differently depending on their sexes. Although we are rare, our tradition is to name our females at birth while the males earn theirs from their mates when they receive their calling.”
My mouth drops at his explanation. “Oh man. I am so?—”
“Don’t,” Lynx cuts me off, placing a finger against my lips. “I love my name,” he says, and I reply with an annoyed look.
‘You didn’t say that when we first came to Hell,’ I remind him.
‘Yeah, well, I also didn’t remember who the fuck I was, now did I?’ he says and sticks out his tongue.
‘Touché , ’
Lennox clears his throat and brings us back to him. “So, don’t worry about your mother. She had tears of joy that you kept the tradition even if you didn’t realize it.”
I hug Lynx quickly before approaching Knots and gently moving his hair out of his closed eyes while I reach out to his shield.
It feels as if it was shredded. I reinforce it as much as I can but feel myself weaken, and Lynx wraps his arms around me.
“Take it easy, Rez. You need your strength too.”
I give him a small smile and nod. I know he’s right, but I can’t lose my Door Knight. I can’t lose any of my guys; they each mean so much to me.
I turn to find Lennox giving us a thoughtful look.
“He’s more than just a Door Knight,” he says as a statement.
“Yeah. He’s mine, and what Lynx said before is true. He’s dying,” I choke out past the urge to vomit. “And the only way he’s going to get better is by getting back home, to Purgatory. He can’t be here in Hell. The longer he stays, the greater risk he takes of dying and possibly being stuck here without being able to leave,” I explain, trying to hold back the tears I feel burning my eyes as Sierra walks in carrying another mug. “He’s not a fallen angel,” I pause, waiting for the room to shake from speaking Hell’s equivalent of blasphemy, and take a mental note that it doesn’t before carrying on. “He’s a pure angel like the original demons before they came here. He truly was pushed out of Heaven, so he’s experiencing negative effects down here. He needs to leave,” I insist.
Lennox gives me an understanding nod and smiles. “Well, the good news is, he’ll be able to heal here.”
A sigh of defeat rolls out of me as I shake my head. Lennox didn’t understand.
“Dad. He’s only going to get worse here,” Lynx tries to make him understand.
Lennox chuckles. “No, you guys don’t understand,” he says as he walks over to a cabinet and pulls out a thick blanket. “Even though we are in Hell, this place”—he pulls his arms wide, indicating the room—“is neutral. That means we have no pull from Hell’s influence,” he explains as he carefully covers Knot’s torso.
A weight dares to lift off my shoulders at his words, leaving something behind. Hope! Knots won’t be affected here? He can heal?
“Well, that’s great for the hunk of wood, but what about the others?” Lynx asks, and I’m thrown back into our other dilemma.
“What others? Your group in the waiting room? They seem fine, if not a little worse for wear.”
I notice Sierra walking into the room with a smile as she brings the tea for Knots.
“L.A.M.B.,” a weak voice coughs out, and I immediately jerk at the roughness, sounding like music to my ears.
“Knots!” I shout before carefully leaning over him and focusing intently on his face.
His tongue darts out to lick his dry, cracked lips, and a ghost of a smile graces his face. “Rez,” he whispers, and his brown eyes peer up at me.
“Here,” Lennox states, handing me the Leamux tea. I bring the warm liquid to Knot’s lips as Lynx helps raise him up enough to take a few sips.
Knots tries to get out of bed, but I gently push his chest back down so he lays back. “Just try to rest for a moment.”
“Let me raise the bed for you,” Sierra offers.
We get Knots more comfortable before he starts asking questions.
“What happened?” he asks, gingerly probing his stitches.
“Careful there, you don’t want to cause an infection,” Lennox cautions Knots and holds up some gauze. “May I?” Knots gives his consent, and I introduce him to Lynx’s parents and explain that we’re inside of the door that we found.
“Thank you for fixing me up,” Knots addresses Lennox before he reaches for my hand. “I’m sorry for giving you a scare, Rez.”
“It’s fine.” I give him a smile. ‘I’m sure I’ll come up with some other way for you to repay me.’
‘I have no doubt,’ he chuckles.
Sierra steps up next to the bed and looks at Lynx. “If your friends out in the waiting room aren’t the ones you’re worried about, then who were you talking about?”
“Like Knots said, L.A.M.B.,” I say, shifting my weight.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. If you needed to go home, why didn’t you just take the portal, and why would you be concerned with L.A.M.B.?” Sierra asks, looking flustered.
“Pfft.” Lynx spits out. “Wish it was that easy,” he says under his breath.
“Why wasn’t taking a portal an easy option?” Lennox repeats.
“Because Asmodeus closed them, and we need to travel the Trail of Worth to open them up again,” Lynx explains.
“Oh dear,” Sierra says, grabbing her chest. “Lennox!” she cries as tears gather in her eyes.
“It’s okay, Sierra. Why don’t you make some soothing drinks for our son’s friends? I’m sure they could use it after traveling the tunnels.” Sierra sniffs and nods before rushing out of the room.
“I’m assuming by her reaction, The Trail of Worth is as bad as we’re thinking,” Knots guesses.
“Yes. There’s some serious work to do if your plans are to run the course,” Lennox says, looking over all three of us before resting on Knots. “If it’s true that you’re a pure angel, and the portals are closed, then I might be wrong and you might have bigger issues than I first realized. But there’s still good news.” He gives us a slight smile. “Think of this area as Limbo for you, so while you’re here, your angelic coil will be able to heal and you will gain back your strength before your trip. As you are now, you are barely holding on by a thread.” He hands Knots the mug of tea. “This will help slow the process and being in this neutral area will allow your natural healing abilities to do their job as long as they haven’t been destroyed. Considering how your body is already trying to heal from my stitches”—he pauses and assesses Knots’ injured head—“I would say you have nothing to fear in that department.”
“Thank you, that’s good news,” Knots says before sipping his drink.
“So, what do we need to know about the Trail of Worth?” Lynx implores his father.
Lennox chuckles. “Nice try. Before we get into that, Son, we need to address something. Whe?—”
A piercing scream rings through the room, and Lennox’s eyes go wide. Without an explanation, he flies out of the room with Lynx on his tail. My entire body tenses as my jaw drops while I look after Lynx, but my arm reaches out for Knots’ forearm. Shit! I don’t know what to do. I’m torn between following him or staying with Knots.
‘Go! I’ll be fine.’ Knots says, giving me his permission.
“Thanks,” I say, giving him a reassuring smile and kiss on the forehead before bolting after Lynx.
I find Lynx in the middle of the living room, frozen in place as Lennox is doing something on the other side of the fireplace. From the looks of it, Lynx’s father is wrestling a creature that has a nasty temperament. He finally gets the monster to quiet down, and he slowly turns with a blanket restraining the creature. He looks up at Lynx with relief in his eyes and a small smile that spreads as he steps closer.
“Lynx. Meet Tempest, your sister.”
My jaw drops as I hear “Fuck,” and the thud of Lynx hitting the floor.