Chapter 34
Dean
The human realm has always reeked of death and greed. It clings to the air, thick and suffocating. No wonder I hate coming here.
Humanity went downhill hours after its creation, and they still haven’t fixed their shit. Honestly, I don’t think they ever will. The Horsemen exist for a reason.
The ocean behind us churns, dark and restless as we lose more daylight.
When Hazel told us about merfolk’s link to the oceans in the human realm, something clicked. The Tetrad kingdom is surrounded by water, yet every time I came close to the oceans here, a strange darkness crept in.
It makes sense now since I know the worst of supernatural beings live beneath those waves.
“Ready?” I step up behind my mate, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and pulling her into me. I kiss her temple, taking one last moment of peace before everything turns into chaos.
“Yeah.” Hazel clears her throat when her voice shakes.
She’s fidgeting nervously, but she knows we’re prepared to take Tiberius down. We’ve planned for everything, and by sunrise, I’m going to shove those plans up that Octopus King’s ass.
I turn her to me and hold her face as the last sun sets behind her, bathing my siren in a golden hue. I almost wish I could freeze time right here, where I can keep her safe, but we need to do this.
She can’t keep worrying about Tiberius and what he might do next. That’s not the kind of life I want for us. She deserves to be at peace and start living the life she always dreamed of.
“Hey. We got this. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I kiss her forehead and feel her relax into me. “The Shrimp King is not seeing another sunrise.”
Hazel laughs softly, rubbing her cheek against my chest and settling in as I hold her there a little longer.
I know she’s nervous; hell, so am I, but we just have to get through tonight. Once we bring Tiberius to his knees, we’ll be able to focus on our future and all the good things that will be coming.
Grace waddles toward us, one hand resting over her swollen belly as the baby shifts restlessly like they can feel how important the next twelve hours are for us.
“Alright, here we go.” Grace steps in the middle of the circle we’ve created around her, handing each of us a small vial. “This will fortify the mental walls Anxo built. It won’t make you immune to a siren song, but it’ll give you enough strength to resist their command and fight back.”
I yank the wooden cap off the vial and down the awful potion in one go.
Seiji gags at the taste, and honestly, I barely keep it together myself. I trust Grace. I know whatever she drummed up is going to work wonders, but why does it taste like dirt in a bottle?
Maybe it’s the baby. Her sense of smell and taste has been abysmal for the last few weeks. I don’t even want to think about the combination of foods she’s been eating, or I might actually throw up.
When Grace steps back, Harvey is already there, his arms coming around her waist to steady her, his hand resting over her growing bump.
Once the plan was laid out, we all agreed that Harvey should stay back with Grace instead of joining us to break into the Eldoris kingdom. There was no way Grace was coming, and none of us felt comfortable leaving her alone at this stage in her pregnancy.
Harvey hasn’t left her side in months, and even if he came with us, we knew he’d be constantly worried about his mate.
Hazel was offended when they tried to apologize for not coming along. In her mind, it wasn’t even up for debate. She’d risk us losing rather than putting them in danger.
Grace has already done more than enough by helping us with the potion. And the only thing I want from Harvey is to keep my daughter and grandchild safe.
“Your turn.” Grace nods, and all attention shifts to Hazel as she pulls out her dagger.
While we were planning a strategy, I suggested we could sneak in easily; we just had to be stealthy. Hazel laughed at me until she was blue in the face.
Apparently, you can’t just swim down to the gates and expect them to open. You need merblood in your veins to enter. So Grace and Jackson spent days figuring out ways to trick the protective barrier around Eldoris.
I didn’t expect this much effort because usually, I just teleport wherever I want, but the dome around Eldoris blocks magic. Hazel assured us that once we’re inside, we’ll be able to access our Divine again, so at least I won’t be fighting someone with sticks and stones.
Hazel grips her dagger and slices her palm without hesitation.
Jackson slides a brass bowl under her hand to collect the blood, chanting spells as he soaks a cloth in her blood.
When he’s done, I take her hand, wiping away the dried blood before pressing a kiss to the healed skin.
Jackson closes his eyes, chanting under his breath as he drags the blood-soaked cloth across each of our wrists, forming a thick ring. The air hums as I feel her magic settling into me.
The area where he swiped the cloth starts tingling, and the blood ring fades, replaced by a red symbol on the inside of our wrists that swirls with different patterns.
I clear my throat. “You sure this doesn’t make us blood relatives?”
Jackson laughs, while the other try and fail to hide their amusement.
I’m such a good man for making everyone laugh and relax at such a stressful time. They should give awards to people like me.
“The blood is on your skin, Dean. Not in your veins,” Jackson says.
Since there’s too much to do in too little time and everything has to be synced perfectly, we split into two groups. I’ll go with Anxo and Seiji, swimming to the depths of the oceans until we reach the place Hazel escaped from, and force our way through that abandoned corner of the kingdom.
It’s been ten years since that memory, so we don’t know what we’ll find there, but it’s a risk we have to take so the second group can do their part.
Despite every argument I made or how many times I begged her, Hazel is in the second group with Jackson, Nevaeh, and Khatri. I know she’s the key to their entrance, but it feels wrong to send her into that place alone.
I promised her I’ll be with her when she faces her past, and it guts me to break it.
The second group will walk straight into the lion’s den by going through the proper channels, posing as Timor’s soldiers returning with their prize. Hazel.
We’re counting on Hazel being enough of a distraction that no one notices that there’s something off with their scents.
Since Anxo and I are crowned Horsemen, and I’m the Grim Reaper, Grace and Jackson couldn’t mask our Divines no matter what potions or chants they tried.
After a lot of trial and error, they managed to mask Khatri and Hazel. And with Nevaeh already suppressing her Divine since she was a kid, they’re the only ones who can pass as merfolk after getting stamped with Hazel’s blood.
Seiji and Nevaeh could’ve switched places, but I need my daughter with Hazel. When shit goes sideways, I trust my unhinged spawn and her equally crazy Divine to get them out safely.
If everything goes according to plan, my scythe will be at Tiberius’s throat before anyone can inform him about Hazel, then Eldoris will fall.
Hazel glances at Anxo, unease written all over her, but he meets it with a steady, reassuring smile.
She shakes out her arms, trying to burn off the restless energy, humming softly as she steps toward Anxo. She hesitates for a second before pressing a kiss on his forehead, sealing the protection that will let us swim faster and breathe underwater.
When she turns to Seiji, he immediately backs up, hands raised. “Whoa, lady, at least buy me dinner first.”
Hazel throws her head back with a groan. I really appreciate Seiji being a goof right now because my mate was trembling with nerves before, but now, she’s just irritated.
“Look at her, she’s dying to kiss me! Dean, watch out, gay or not, she’s falling for my charm.”
Anxo smacks the back of his head. “Stop pushing your luck before she snaps.”
Seiji grumbles but steps forward, lowering his head so Hazel doesn’t have to stand on her toes. She hums as she kisses his forehead, sealing the protection around him.
“I still can’t believe how much you’ve changed. You would’ve cut my hand off if I tried to touch you before, but look at you now, you’re kissing me.”
“To protect you,” Hazel growls.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
Seiji backs off with a smirk. “And the balance is restored.”
My mate turns to me next, and I pull her into my arms again without wasting another second. I don’t know how I’m supposed to stay focused knowing she’ll be on the other side of the kingdom in enemy territory.
Hazel kisses my forehead, lingering until I cup the side of her face and pull back. I expect to see worry, maybe even a little fear about being forced to confront the root of her nightmares, but all I see is quiet acceptance.
She’s already made peace with what needs to happen so we can finally stop looking over our shoulders.
Something in her cracked the night Tiberius tried to hurt us. She blames herself, and I can tell the guilt still lingers inside her.
After seeing how he’s willing to hurt us to get under her skin, a fire ignited in her. This isn’t fear anymore. It’s vengeance. And she won’t stop until everything he’s touched is ash.
I take her lips in a kiss, pouring everything I can’t say into it—belief, trust, certainty. She could’ve put the bastard in the ground alone… but now that she has all of us? He doesn’t stand a chance.
I press one last kiss to her head, then force myself to step back, turning away before I can change my mind and switch places with Khatri so I can stick to my mate’s side wherever she goes.
Anxo, Khatri, and I exchange a final nod and head into the ocean, pushing forward until the water swallows us whole. The deeper we go, the more distorted everything becomes. I don’t know whether it takes us hours or minutes to finally see a faint pulsing light in the distance.