Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Theo
O f all the mates in all the realms across time, I got saddled with the unhinged human with a savior complex and a death wish.
Never mind how hot she looks stomping after Montejanus with a repeat-action pistol crossbow. Guns won’t do much in the hell dimensions thanks to a trick of the magic. My mate has improvised, and she’s done a ridiculously good job of it. She steps through the parted flames, firelight glowing red and orange across her skin even as the green of the other realm pulses through the room.
“Val.” I roar her name while tossing injured cyclops off me. I’d like to believe my claws and horns did the damage, but the mini crossbow bolts sticking out of them proves who tipped the odds in my favor. The two clinging to my wings look like hairy voodoo dolls.
Another cyclops barrels into the room. I’ve lost count of the fuckers.
Where did they even portal from? How did they get past the resort’s wards? Ora and my least favorite witches set these protections spells.
“What closes the portals?” Val asks in a yell.
“Same as opens it.” I can barely breathe after shouting at her with the ten tons of monster weighing down on me. “Demon royal blood.”
She wrinkles her nose, and I wonder how she can still smell the stench as overpowering as it’s been since the first cyclops showed up. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Then don’t. Take Montejanus and run.” The only thing louder than the pain screaming through my body is the instinct to protect my mate.
Val shoots a cyclops off my cousin with a loud pop and dodges those wrestling with me. “Hold still.”
“Busy right now.” I don’t hide my growl.
She swipes a hand over my wing. “Ugh.”
Her shudder has me questioning how I woke this morning wearing her. Did I misread the situation then? Or now?
Except she pulls her hand away, dripping with my blood. “Should be plenty to close a portal,” she says.
“Don’t—” I can’t say the rest, not with a cyclops punching me in the gut. What could she be thinking? Knowing her, she’s not. She’s acting first and will come up with a plan afterward. Claws tear into my left wing, and agony rips through me. Still, I push toward her, fighting through each excruciating step forward and dragging multiple cyclops with me.
Val steps closer to the portal with her hand outstretched, palm facing the opening and her fingers spread wide. With the other, she keeps the pistol crossbow raised. Montejanus flies beside her, and with blue blood dripping down her wrist, she commands Shadowvale like she’s been the castle’s mistress for decades.
If I didn’t want to haul her to safety and then spank her ass red for daring to put herself in this much danger, I might admit she’s the perfect candidate for a future queen of hell—brash, courageous, and completely reckless.
A shriek of pain from Dupree has her snapping his way, firing quick crossbow shots at the cyclops pummeling him. “ Owww, ” my cousin howls as one of the bolts hits him instead of the beasts.
“Oops.” Val’s eyes go wide, her hair flying around her face. “Sorry.”
In front of her, the home dimension of the cyclops looms. Tendrils of green mist snake through the opening. In the distance, I can see an army of monsters heading our way.
“Close the portal,” I yell.
“How?” she asks. Before I can answer, she says, “Shadowvale, a little help here?”
The castle floor ripples, lifting her into the air beside her dragon. Val throws her arms out, whether to sling blood at the portal or simply keep her balance, I don’t know. Blue droplets fly into the void.
I call on any of the old gods who might be listening. “Close. For the love of the seven circles, fucking close.”
A horn trumpets in the distance. For a pounding heartbeat, I worry that the horde will descend any second if that damn portal stays open.
The cyclops trying to muscle off my wings suddenly stops, whipping his top-heavy body toward his home realm. Another pauses in its chokehold that has me gasping. The third I’m pummeling goes still. All of them race to the portal.
“Val, look out.” My attempt at a warning yell comes out weak, the words dragged over the raw burn in my throat.
Montejanus headbutts my mate, forcing her to stumble and run. Shadowvale tugs the floor as if magicking a conveyor belt to move her faster. The two of them rip her away from the tear between worlds as cyclops rush through it to return home before the portal closes and leaves them stranded here. The last hurries into the other realm as the opening winks to a silvery close, severing the hairy, four-toed foot that didn’t make it through. It falls with a wet thud.
Val gags, lifting her hand over her mouth before seeming to remember it has my blood smeared across it. “Ew, ew, ew.” She drags her palm against her clothes, wiping it frantically while having a complete melt down.
There she is. My mate. Savior of the realm. Wielder of a magical crossbow. Vanquisher of the cyclops. Framed in dragon fire from the fiercest soul guardian in existence. Freaking out at having a little blood on her.
Dupree’s groans steal my attention for a moment. My cousin rises to a kneel, his bent tail tucked between his feet, a wing hanging at an odd angle, and a small arrow sticking out of his shoulder. If he’d known a portal between realms had been about to open, he would’ve found somewhere else to be. He certainly wouldn’t have stuck around for a beating. There goes any legit basis for Gilly’s accusation that he’s been the royal opening the portals. I’d had hope for her theory, especially the way he looks at Val as though he wishes she was his mate. Although maybe not so much now.
Of course, she did shoot him.
I take petty pleasure in that.
“Val, are you hurt?” I ask, noting Dupree’s gaze has already gone to her. We could leave the arrow in him. Or I could twist it deeper to remind him that she’s not his destined mate.
“No.” She raises her shoulders toward her ears and gives a full-body shake. “There isn’t enough soap in the world to wash this away. But are you all right? Oh my god, Dupree, I can’t believe I shot you. I?—”
“He’s fine,” I answer. “Right, cousin?”
With a grimace, he pulls the arrow from his skin. “Sure. I’m only one lowly spare to a dozen other spares to the heir. I’m peachy.”
Ora hurries our way. “Help is coming.” The dwarf tugs a vial from her apron pocket. “I have a healing potion here.”
“Give it to Dupree,” I tell her. “I’ll wait.” I owe him that much for stepping between my mate and one of the first monsters to come through.
I push to a stand and move toward Val. A million things I could say run through my mind. Do you think I’m weak for being unable to protect you? Do you know how hot you are when saving the realm? Thank you for shooting Dupree since I’ve wanted to do that for years. I should’ve been better, faster, stronger. I should’ve stopped the portals before now and you wouldn’t have been in danger. What will it take to make you realize you’re mine forever ? I settle on, “You sure you’re okay?”
She stares up at me, not flinching away despite me being in my demon form. I guess after the cyclops, I might not seem like the very worst sort of monster…for now at least. “I don’t know. I mean, for years I thought the paparazzi, viral social media scandals, and constant press scrutiny were the biggest scary things in my life. I had no idea literal monsters could come pouring out of a portal thing.” She gestures to the space where the doorway between dimensions had been.
“You’ve had a lot to deal with since we met.”
A bitter snicker comes from her. “Since you snatched me?” She shakes her head. “I thought going to hell was the worst thing that could happen, but it wasn’t, was it?”
I hate the torment in her voice. I’m the reason she sounds so hopeless. I brought her into the supernatural world. Sure, the Fates chose her as my mate, but I could’ve left her in the human dimension, could’ve left her friends there but for my ambition. “No.” The truth tastes like ash on my tongue. “The realms hold untold horrors, and until we get the portals under control again, the threat will remain.”
“I’ll help,” she says, so softly I almost miss it. Montejanus nudges her with his snout, his wings fluttering, and she holds out the crossbow for me to take so she can pet him. “I won’t let anyone scare me away. Not whoever’s controlling the portals. Not these cyclops and their godawful smell. Not your mother. I’ll help you figure this out, and then I’ll get my friends and me back to our normal lives.”
I lean so close that our cheeks almost brush. “Nothing about you has ever been normal, Val.”
She holds onto me as if steadying herself, and I bury the pain. I won’t show a single hint of hurt if she’s braving the blood and whatever else the cyclops left streaked across my skin. Val doesn’t even seem to mind I haven’t slipped back into my human glamour. “Are you insinuating that I’m a lot?”
“I like you being a lot.” When she blinks up at me, I press my point, wanting more of whatever this is sparking between us. “I particularly prefer you being vicious. It’s my favorite nickname for you, Vicious .” I swear her sharp inhale taunts me as much as any flirty comment could.
“You didn’t use your magic.”
“And risk it hurting my mate? Never.”
She ducks her head for a moment before yanking her gaze back to mine. “You’ve gotten yourself stabbed…again.” Her accusation comes out breathy.
“But not by you.”
Worry has her brows drawing together. Worry for me. “I didn’t even know they had knives.”
“They didn’t, but they had claws which are just as bad. Yet another reason you should’ve run instead of charging into combat when you didn’t know the stakes.”
“You’re welcome.” Her concern flashes to anger, and I have to fight a smile at the familiar edge. This is the Val I’ve come to crave.
Shit. A churning deep inside having nothing to do with my wounds burns through me. I’ve developed feelings for my mate. I can’t deal with this while I’m steeped in cyclops’ blood.
But the lust rolling through me? That I can handle.
A kiss. An all-consuming, desire-drenched taste of her might be enough.
She wants it. Her body reads like an invitation, from her parted full lips to the way her pupils swallow the ice blue of her eyes. The adrenaline rush pouring off her sizzles over my skin like an electrical pulse. I could bleed out here and be okay with it if I could just have her.
Gods, what has mating magic done to me? I’m addicted to the possibility of watching this woman with all her passion—she’s a force of nature. I need to see her come undone on my tongue, my fingers, my cocks.
I’ll simply take one drugging hit. What could it hurt?
“Theo?” Nic runs into the room with several residents following close behind. Fucking mood killers, all of them. “Healers are on the way, and I—” She stops short of the row of Montejanus’s flames, the only fire dangerous to demons.
“Shadowvale?” I call. “A little help?”
The castle swallows the blaze into the floor, leaving embers and scorch marks behind.
“Val, are you okay?” Nic rushes toward us, and I tug my mate closer, savoring whatever touch she’ll give me before we’re pulled apart for the healers.
“Just overwhelmed.” Val strokes her fingers over Montejanus’s head, and I’m instantly jealous of the soul guardian, except his flames kept her safe. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful. “Theo and Dupree are the ones who need your attention.”
I’m not letting her hide her true amazing self from anyone here the way she does on her family’s show. “Val closed the portal,” I say.
She ducks her head. “But I accidentally shot Dupree.”
“Well done,” Nic announces, and I’m not sure which of my mate’s two accomplishments she’s more impressed by.
“Don’t let anyone touch the scene,” I tell Nic. “I’ll see Val to the suite where it’s safe and come back to search for clues as to who?—”
“Not without me, you won’t,” Val argues. “I think I’ve proven with the whole portal closing that I can hold my own against whatever’s out there.”
Nic clears her throat. “Neither of you will be looking into anything regarding the portals right now.” Her gaze locks on mine. “Father has ordered you to the throne room in an hour.”
“I’ll take Val upstairs…” I trail off when Nic shakes her head.
The room goes the kind of silent that signals a storm coming, and a heat having nothing to do with the soul guardian’s recent fire surges through my blood.
My sister presses her lips into a firm line that has my skin going tight. “Father commands you to bring her with you.”
Fuck .
I’d rather battle another cyclops than risk Val facing my father.