Chapter 6
Effie Harlow
“Are you sure this is what I should wear?” I asked. Not that I thought the outfit was bad in any way…but it wasn’t really my normal style, so I worried it looked weird on me. Mainly because of the cropped shirt.
For so long I’d worn baggy clothes to avoid attention, and I really had no reason to do that now.
I knew my mates would always keep me safe and protected, plus I knew they loved how I looked…
it was more of a mindset that had stuck with me.
One that warned me that any type of attention resulted in violence or unwanted advances, and at the time I really hadn’t known which was worse since both were awful in the Whitepaw Pack.
“Listen. If I can’t go,” Aanya drew out dramatically from where she was sitting cross legged on her bed, sorting through a series of bags she had delivered from shopping yesterday, “I need to know that you’re wearing something certifiably badass for this type of mission.”
And I wouldn’t lie, her calling it a ‘mission’ did make it seem more badass.
“Plus, it’s fairly hot down there, like high 80s if not 90s,” Ruby said as she came out of the closet wearing her own new outfit, bending down to slip on and lace up her combat boots. “Humid also—nearly tropical in some parts. Except at night. Then it gets cold, and the rainstorms can be insane.”
Aanya and I stared at her in confusion, and she shrugged. “It’s a temperamental place.”
Apparently.
“So will this work?” I motioned to my outfit and looked in the mirror once again.
The crop top was kind of like a vest made of a ribbed material in lavender that came to sit right above my belly button.
Then the shorts, a black cargo style, hit right under my belly button.
The outfit was definitely cute, but it made me feel a lot more exposed than I probably actually was.
It didn’t help that the shorts, while hitting mid-thigh, were tight enough that my butt looked…well, not how it normally looked. I turned around to check it out in the mirror one more time, deciding that I liked the outfit—I just wasn’t sure I was completely comfortable in it.
Or maybe that wasn’t it. Maybe I just wasn’t confident enough to pull it off.
With that being said, Ruby was dressed essentially the same for this ‘badass mission’ into the shadowlands, so I’d trust her and Aanya and go with it. Plus, I needed all the confidence I could muster right now. In the face of traveling to a new realm, my newfound confidence was wavering.
“Yes, plus it’s mainly for travel,” Ruby said. “Once we get to Reaper’s family castle there, they’ll have clothes for us to change into. It’s a bit more…old fashioned down there.”
“I’m thinking I’m glad I’m not going now,” Aanya teased. “Although playing dress up does sound sort of fun considering I’ll probably spend most of the time angry at my mates for putting their foot down on this.”
She fell dramatically back onto the bed and then offered us an amused smile.
Unlike last time, I didn’t see actual frustration there.
I wasn’t positive how it happened or why, but I had a feeling she’d started to accept her mates’ protective edge as of late.
A few of the comments she’d made throughout the day and the way her mates were being more vocal about their concerns only contributed to that feeling.
But I also hadn’t been around them a ton… so maybe I was wrong.
“You would hate it,” Ruby agreed before looking towards me with a bright smile. “But I am excited to be showing you around the shadowlands, Effie, especially because you didn’t even know it existed until recently!”
“I think I just thought it was ‘hell.’ Didn’t you say that’s the mythos that humans attached to it?
” I looked towards Aanya and she hummed a sound of agreement, having filled me in on that little connection.
It made a lot of sense that the concept of hell had been pulled from somewhere.
I didn’t follow human religions very much, but the idea of hell was pervasive in television and in books.
In a lot of ways I felt far less prepared than everyone else on this journey, although that wasn’t terribly surprising—I still felt like I was playing catch-up after years of being essentially shut in my bedroom all day long.
Despite that though, my mates and friends had been doing their best to explain everything to me, and while I hadn’t been involved in the logistics like deciding what to pack and our plans once we got there, I felt well informed on what we were about to face and what to expect.
Although the travel aspect was still throwing me a bit—apparently we were using a portal? I’d never heard of anything like that before, at least not outside of books and movies.
Despite my concerns, I knew this was necessary and would be completely worth it if we could open the gate and fix everything—and at this point I wasn’t willing to consider any other options.
Not when we were about to take such a giant step.
A step I was really glad to have my mates by my side for.
I couldn’t imagine any of this without them.
I also could tell they weren’t exactly thrilled about this journey into the shadowlands, so I was hoping it was not only successful but fairly easy.
“Yep,” Aanya agreed to my statement about hell. “Although in mythology I suppose it could have also been the underworld. Either way, it’s always considered something ‘evil’ and ‘bad.’ To be fair, until recently I’d mostly thought the same even though I knew what it was.”
Ruby and Aanya shared a look, making me know that whatever tension had been between them before was resolved now.
I knew that Aanya’s concern came from a place of worry and affection, but I also could tell that Ruby had good judgment.
I mean, she approached literally everything with caution, even from when I first met her.
I highly doubted that she would continue to go to the shadowlands if it wasn’t safe.
Or as safe as somewhere like that could be.
“Kitten—”
Ryder froze in the doorway, heat turning his eyes a bright gold before his gaze narrowed on his sister, who just shrugged. Before I would have been insecure about his reaction, but as I was learning about Ryder, he never thought I looked bad…he was just possessive.
“She looks great.” Aanya got up and sashayed past Ryder and into the hall, Ruby following. Just like it did any time we were alone, the energy around him shifted and my toes curled as I tried to control my reaction to the way he looked at me.
“That was never in question.” Ryder’s commanding tone had me blushing, and when he curled his finger towards me I didn’t hesitate to walk up to him and lean against his large frame.
I loved the sensation of his large hand sliding over my waist and onto my butt, gripping me possessively as I savored how hard he was against my much softer, curvier body.
I didn’t know how to explain it fully, but I loved knowing how easily he could take control—how easily he could dominate me.
“Plus, Ruby said that it’s warm down there, so I would be more comfortable in this…and then your sister said it was a badass outfit,” I explained.
“I don’t disagree with either of those statements,” Ryder rumbled as he looked me over, his hand tightening on my butt again. “Just going to do my damn best to stay focused instead of staring at your ass the entire time.”
My cheeks lit up as I turned out of his arms in a quick movement, offering him a small smile over my shoulder as I stepped into the hallway. “I wouldn’t mind that though.”
I knew it was bold of me and more than flirty, but after the man had said he loved me and, well, after everything we’d done, it was easy to slip into that. Natural.
I was immediately rewarded for my words when Ryder caught me up against him and pressed me against the wall.
His hand ran over my throat and tilted my head back to plant a hard, possessive kiss to my lips.
His other hand tightened on my waist, and I savored the moment loving how he held me, how much need he pulled from me.
“Then I won’t bother controlling myself,” he growled against my lips, causing me to tremble.
“I would prefer if you controlled yourself for now though,” Caedmon drew out from the end of the hall, just a hint of amusement to his voice, “or else we may miss our opportunity to go to the shadowlands.”
“Wouldn’t want that,” Ryder grumbled as he released me.
I slipped ahead, tossing him another smile as I walked towards Caedmon.
The man took my hand gently, brushing his lips over it, as the three of us walked down the somewhat familiar hallway towards the greenhouse, my body still buzzing from his touch as I tried to focus.
“Why the greenhouse?” I asked.
“The ceilings open, which means Reaper can easily open a portal without attracting too much attention from humans,” Ryder explained, “I don’t fully understand how his magic works, but from what he explained he pulls on the energy from the new moon to create the portal.”
“Knowing the humans, they’d probably claim it was an alien abduction or something along those lines.
” Caedmon chuckled softly, the sound causing my chest to squeeze.
He was probably right, too. I didn’t know what this portal looked like, but I could only imagine what humans would think of the magic.
“By the way, I really like the greenhouse,” I said, looking between them. “I didn’t even know you could have a garden indoors, which probably sounds silly, but it’s the best of both worlds. Even if it’s snowy outside you can have somewhere beautiful to sit and feel like you’re outside.”
Ryder’s eyes lit with interest as Caedmon murmured, “Should add one to the London house.”
“That’s an option. In fact, the entire top floor is mostly storage space—we could transform all of it.”
I felt a surge of excitement that I couldn’t completely contain as I nibbled my lip. “I mean, only if everyone else thinks it’s a good idea.”
“I just care what you want,” Ryder countered.
“And if that’s what you want, then you should have it,” Caedmon agreed.
“I would love that then. I would love a greenhouse.” And I was loving my ability to sound so firm when it came to expressing what I wanted—so decisive. It wasn’t a quality I was used to.
“What would you love?” Tore asked, stepping into the hallway through the greenhouse doors. He was dressed similar to the other two in a casual shirt and jeans, but he wore combat boots like me, which made me feel even more confident in my outfit choice.
Moving past my two mates, I wrapped my arms around Tore’ neck as I pressed a kiss to his lips, his massive frame having to lean down to meet my lips.
I pulled back before I wanted to and flashed him a small smile before slipping into the room, knowing I couldn’t handle another conversation about ‘giving Effie anything she wanted’ without turning bubble gum pink again.
These men were just…something else. In the best way possible.
Most of that fell away though as I walked into the room, a cool wind brushing over me through several glass panels of the roof that had been lifted to let in the smallest of flurries—the dark new moon sky above us standing in contrast to the snow.
Dakota motioned for me to come stand between Julian and him, the first kissing the top of my head and the second wrapping a secured arm around my waist as I snuggled in between them.
I wasn’t fully positive about what was going on, but it seemed Reaper and Ruby were having a serious conversation. My friend looked over everyone, making sure we were all accounted for, before offering a nod to Aanya and her mates who closed the greenhouse doors.
“Alright,” Reaper said, calling the attention of the room.
“When I open the portal, you will need to enter in groups of two to three. From there, it will go completely black. There is no way to control where you go or how you’ll land, so when you feel like the space around you is growing warmer and you start to see light, I suggest bracing yourself for impact.
Especially because you don’t have the type of magic that the shadowlands will recognize. ”
Then Reaper turned around and looked upwards, not wasting any time in creating what could only be described as…well, true magic.
Reaper stood in the center of the room, and in a quick second his form was shed for something much larger and made mostly of shadows that darkened the edges of the room.
The dark void-like sky seemed to converge on him all at once, the shadows gathered on his outstretched hands in a black orb that grew with each second.
One of my mates cursed and pulled me back against him as the orb grew so large that it was double my height.
I stared wide-eyed as a snap sounded and the orb turned into a swirling vortex that seemed to solidify on the edges and stand on its own.
It was beautiful and clearly lethal.
“I’ll go first.” Reaper looked back and took Ruby’s hand, her other holding onto Eryx. “Make sure to follow in groups of two to three like I said—more than that could be dangerous.”
I stayed securely between Julian and Dakota as Aaren, Vox, and Warwick followed Ruby’s group through the portal. Then it was our turn.
I turned around, addressing all of my mates. “I love all of you. Please be safe.”
It was the first time I had said it that boldly and out loud, but I didn’t overthink it.
I needed them to know it was true, for all of them, before we stepped into the unknown.
And when Julian and Dakota led me forward and through the inky texture of the portal, I was glad I’d done so…
because everything went absolutely silent all at once.
This was truly the unknown.