19. Mébh
I sprintedheadlong through the very trees I had run amongst just hours before with Gray. The claiming was everything to a werewolf, and foremost it was irreversible. Yet with his hurtful words, he had ended us without a backward glance.
What the fuck?
I felt worthless as my paws pounded the ground and every step took me further from my mate, the demon whom I thought I loved. I raised my snout and howled sorrowfully, letting all my pain and emotion out in my song as I ran.
My mind raked over the past few days and everything Gray and I had shared together, hoping to understand where it went wrong. He had been resistant to it at first but had soon caved, unable to keep his hands or his forked tongue off me. How could he just be done with me?
Getting caught by Nicodemus had been one of Gray’s worst fears. Yet now that I thought about it, he had just stood there, solemnly captured, and then he turned on me. It made no sense. Something just wasn’t adding up.
I sensed movement to my right and came to an abrupt stop, dropping into a defensive stance. The foliage rustled. So far, the forest had been rather quiet as I ran through it, my own racket likely scaring anything in my path. However, this seemed to be a larger creature, but I felt no malice, only curiosity. It smelled canine in nature.
Suddenly I smelled many more, all but surrounding me, though I still saw nothing. They approached silently and watched from the shadows.
The leaves parted and a large black demon-dog creature stepped out. His silver eyes held mine. He had stubby horns on the top of his head, a long narrow snout, and I could see all his ribs and muscles beneath his short fur. He was smaller than me in my Wolf form but oversized for a dog.
This had to be a hellhound. A wild one.
He came closer still and whined softly. We reached out and touched noses. Then he licked the underside of my jaw in playful submission. He was saying he didn’t mean any harm, and neither did his pack.
He sat on his haunches and threw his head back in a keening, more coyote-sounding howl, and I understood. They had heard my howl, my song of sadness, and had come to my aid.
Sorrow-filled yips and cries went up all around us and I added my song to theirs, our voices intertwining together to create a marvelous harmony. We sang for a long time. Until the rage had quieted within me and the tears had dried up.
I ended my howl finally and slumped down onto the forest floor. My Wolf was equally cried out. I began shifting back to my human form. My body shrunk and reshaped itself in a wave of pain, my fur disappeared beneath my skin, and my jaw reshaped itself so I could talk out loud once more. The hellhound shrunk away from me in fear at first.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m still me.” I held out my hand for him to sniff and he reluctantly came forward, looking at me with suspicion until he realized I smelled the same. He licked at my hand, then I ran it over his dark furry head between his ears and tiny horns. He was a boney creature, like a sighthound, but he started drooling as I petted him.
“Do you have a name?” I wondered out loud. The hellhound just kept drooling as I scratched him. “Is this the first time you’ve ever had someone pet you?” But then I realized it likely was since he was a wild hellhound. “I think I am going to call you Drew, in honor of all your drooling!” I couldn’t help but giggle at that.
I stopped scratching him, and Drew cocked his head questioningly at me. “Well, I guess I can keep petting you. I don’t really have much more of a plan.” Drew gave my whole face a big lick, and I giggled again.
Drew whimpered and from every nook and cranny around us, black furry, boney hellhounds appeared. He had given the pack the all clear to approach and chillax with us. One by one, they came up and sniffed me. About a dozen hellhounds circled us now, some lying down casually, others foraging around. All were relaxed yet loosely on guard, even at rest.
Drew laid his head in my lap, and I took up scratching behind his ears and horns again.
“What is my plan now? What should I do?” I asked rhetorically, knowing Drew and his fellow hellhounds had no answers. “I don’t know anyone.”
Drew growled in indignation.
“Okay, I don’t know anyone in this dimension besides you and your pack.”
He chuffed and batted at my hand with his paw, asking for more pets.
I’d created a monster.
As I scratched at Drew’s soft ears, I considered my options. “Well, I can’t mist, so I have no means of returning to Earth and my sister without the help of another demon.” Drew was drooling again. “I have no idea how large this realm is.”
“If I can find a city, I might be able to barter my way home from there.” Drew perked up. “Can you lead me to a town?” I asked him specifically.
Drew got to his feet and stretched before he began walking away. I hesitated to follow until, as if on cue, all the other hellhounds took note and fell in behind him. I followed, and slowly the pack encircled me. They were very protective, and I appreciated the sentiment. It reminded me of the closeness of my pack back home.
We hiked several miles more through the blue-tinged landscape until a small demon village with a curtain wall surrounding it came into view down in the valley below.
“Finally.” I took a step forward, but Drew and his pack didn’t follow. I turned back around to face him. “Are you not coming?”
Drew chuffed, and I took that to mean no.
I reached out my hand to give him one last head scratch. “Thank you for leading me here.” He nuzzled my hand and then turned on his heel, disappearing back into the forest, his pack following in his wake.
I’d enjoyed the company and was very aware of how alone I was as I made the journey down the hill by myself. I stole what had to be a demon child’s dress from a washing line, but it was the only thing I could find that would fit me. The wool was itchy against my skin, but at least I wouldn’t offend anyone or draw way too much attention to myself by walking into town buck naked.
The village was quaint once inside the massive wall, but I couldn’t read the demon script on any of the signage. I had no idea where I was going or who to ask for help. How the fuck was I supposed to get one of these demons to mist me back to Earth with nothing really to trade or barter with other than my own body? I wasn’t sure I was willing to go there.
I walked around a corner and found myself in a large, open area with a beautiful stone fountain. This had to be the main square of the town. All around me, demons peered in my direction. Confusion was on most of their faces. It made sense—I didn’t see or smell anything other than demons. I am sure a random werewolf walking through a private dimension with only demon access was not something they saw every day.
A hand suddenly closed around my forearm, and I was dragged into a house nearby, the door slamming closed behind me. My Wolf howled in discomfort.
I rounded on my would-be kidnapper, the only being in the room, with my sharpening fangs out, and stopped short, fear racing through me. “You!”
The deer-horned demon peered down at me. He wore human street clothes and a black sash. He released my forearm, and I scrambled back.
“I don’t mean you any harm, your majesty,” he said, raising his empty hands for emphasis.
That gave me pause, and I stopped short.
“You don’t mean me any harm? And why did you just call me ‘your majesty’?” I asked him, perplexed.
His eyes dropped to the healing mark on my neck. “You bear my prince’s mark, therefore you are my princess.”
My jaw dropped. “What are you talking about? Aren’t you part of Nicodemus’s army? Aren’t you trying to capture me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “My name is Warwick. I worked for Prince Grayson for many years as the captain of his personal guard, until Lethe dismissed me. She and Nicodemus are traitors to all demon kind,” he snarled. “We were given a new beginning each—a new vocation—when we fell from heaven and a chance to not repeat the same mistakes again. She and her father before her did not see it that way and used their powers to brainwash and control the court for their own ends. I’ve been assembling a group of those of us still loyal to my prince, but it’s taken a lot longer than I planned after Lethe’s death.”
“Hang on, so when you and your demons were chasing us in the Portland underground, you weren’t trying to capture Gray and me?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. I had intended to talk with Prince Grayson to find out what he did remember and to offer my help in evading Nicodemus. But he didn’t remember who I was, and when Eli grabbed you, I knew my prince had found his mate by the way he reacted. My apologies for frightening you accidentally. That was never my intention. And Eli was punished for his out-of-line behavior.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t angry at getting grabbed. I was more processing the fact that we hadn’t needed to run from Warwick when he tracked us to Gray’s Portland apartment. How different things might have been if we hadn’t assumed he was working for Nicodemus. “That’s okay.”
“Where is Prince Grayson?” Warwick asked. “If you are here, he must be nearby. He would never leave his mate unprotected. That’s why I pulled you in here.”
I shrugged and folded my arms over my chest defensively as I looked away, tears filling my eyes.
“What happened?” he demanded.
I shivered, hating even retelling the story. “Nicodemus found us after...”
“After what?” he urged, and then his eyes went wide. “Oh, after mating?”
“Yeah, he found us this morning and bound Gray in a magic chain of some kind.”
“Then how did you manage to get away?” He cocked his head to the side, studying me with worry creasing his brow.
“Gray told me it was over between us. He said I was a fun fuck, and that was it.” I choked as a sob escaped my chest. Fresh tears spilled down my face.
Warwick remained silent, looking at me with a serious expression. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “And you believed his words and ran?”
“Y-yes,” I sobbed out around a fresh wave of anguish.
He gently lifted my chin. “Do you really believe he is done with you? You bear his mark—do you think he would give you up so easily?”
“Well, yeah because he said—”
“Who the fuck cares what he said? Nicodemus let you go. That was all that mattered in the moment.”
It was my turn to cock my head in confusion. “Huh?”
“I am sure he was trying to keep you from being captured with him, princess.”
“He did it on purpose?” I said, afraid to believe Warwick’s words, despite the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something was off. I’d known Gray wasn’t acting like himself.
“Yes.”
A million things ran through my mind upon hearing that one word. Was Warwick right? Did Gray say what he said in order to keep me safe from Nicodemus? If so, he was a hell of a lot stronger than I would have been in that situation. I still wanted clarification from Gray—he owed me a damned apology for his hurtful words—but the stupid demon was mine, and he was in need of some help.
“Then we have to go save him!” I shouted and bolted for the door.
Warwick slapped a hand on the door and prevented me from opening it, no matter how hard I pulled on the handle.
“Let’s be smart about this and make a plan.”
“Fine,” I harrumphed but stopped pulling. “Do you know where Nicodemus would have taken Gray?”
“The castle dungeon, most likely.”
“How many demons do you have behind you who are still loyal to Gray?”
“I have about a legion’s worth. Many are hiding within Nicodemus’s own army, working as double agents.”
“Okay, that’s good. If we mount an attack, his army will be weakened when a portion of them join our side.” I thought fast, dipping into every attack tactic I could remember from pack training.
“We will need more firepower if we are to attack the castle,” Warwick mused.
I had connections with several supernatural factions back on Earth. I was forming an idea in my mind, a devious and dangerous one. Gray had once helped Cassius find Jenny in Shoal. I bet I could convince the pious vampire commander to return the favor and help Gray. Returning to Polaris HQ would also give me the opportunity to ask Molly questions about what she really knew regarding what happened to my mother. Finally, it was a long shot, but Gabriel might be willing to help; it was mate-related now after all, since Gray had marked me. All I could do was ask, right?
“I’ve got an idea, but it’s going to require some misting. Can you take me back to Earth?”
“Yes, my princess. But what are you thinking?”
“Take me to the Polaris Clan’s headquarters first and then to Gabriel MacTirelock’s pack, please. I have some convincing to do.”
“Even if you gather reinforcements on Earth, I cannot mist armies into Shoal,” Warwick said in a worried tone.
“I’ve got a certain witch to ask about boosting your signal, so to speak.” I was banking on Madelyn being able to do something magical to help, but that was step two. Step one was just convincing Cassius and Gabriel to help in the first place.
Warwick held his arm out for me, and I placed my hand in the crook of his elbow.
“My name is Mébh, by the way. I’d prefer you call me that,” I said, feeling awkward being referred to as “my princess.”
“Very good, my princess.”
I rolled my eyes on a sigh as the house around us dissolved into blackness.
~ Gray
Nicodemus cackledcruelly above me and backhanded me so hard I tasted blood. Had I not already been on my knees, I would have landed on them. The chain imprisoning me was shackled to the wall in a cell in the castle’s dungeon, just down the stone hallway from the guards’ room, where Lethe had all but imprisoned me. She told me it was my room, and that’s the place I lived in and brought conquests to fuck, unless Lethe had need of my spy telepathy. This cell was a fitting punishment for the fact that she had me sit there and watch as she brainwashed my own demons, forcing me to check her victims’ minds for her control holding. All to secure her rule over Shoal.
The gold chain was impossibly tight around my torso, preventing me from shifting or moving much at all with my arms trapped at my sides. My wings groaned in protest, still awkwardly crunched against my back. At least one of Nicodemus’s demons put some loose sweatpants on me, so I wasn’t naked anymore.
I didn’t fight.
He had finally captured me, and I’d had to break my precious princess’s heart to ensure her safety.
“Not so cocky now, are you?” he taunted.
When I didn’t react, he punched me again, and I felt my nose break under the assault. Blood poured down my face, the taste of copper filling my mouth. I spat to the side and faced the fucker again, an “Is that all you got?” expression on my face. My wings fluttered in my agitation—or they tried to, but only caused more pain.
Nicodemus narrowed his eyes on them as I gritted my teeth. If I didn’t know the fucker so well, I would have missed the flash of envy. “Those mating wings aren’t much help now, are they?” he gloated. “Damn, you’re a heartless son of a bitch. Mate or no, you only hit it once.” He said it with masculine awe and chuckled.
I didn’t give him anything, keeping the stoic mask on my face. I refused to let him see how my heart was crumbling into ash over my actions. When I got free and found her, I doubted she would give me another chance after what I’d said. I’d broken her heart right along with my own.
Nicodemus punched me in the stomach, and I folded in on myself with a wheeze. He abruptly turned on his heel and stormed out of the cell, apparently finished bullying me for now. The metal door clanged shut, and I struggled to sit upright again. “Now, you stay here—obviously. I’ll be back later with the new council for you to approve.”
A council of region leaders of his allies, no doubt. He was too dumb for me to even bother explaining how much that would bite him in the ass. The regions elected their own representatives, or they didn’t stand by them when push came to shove. Nicodemus needed me alive to officially rule as co-regent. I was the appointed ruler, even if I was being used as a puppet from a prison cell. He nodded to each of the guards posted outside the cell door as he passed... and then he was gone.
At least my nose had stopped bleeding. There was a sharp pain and then relief flowed as my supernatural healing snapped the broken bone back into place. I sighed, my body feeling heavy, imprisoned within the chain, as I remained in the kneeling position. Until I figured a way out of the magical restraint, I had little chance of escaping.
I don’t know how long I stayed there like that. I lost track of time staring at the filthy stone floor in front of me until steps outside my cell drew my attention.
The guards on either side of my cell door suddenly slumped over and landed heavily on the ground, one letting out a huge snore.
I stuck one leg out in front of me and warily got to my feet.
There was a clatter to my right in the cell, and I turned to find the angel I had worked directly under for so many years in heaven before my fall from grace. The Archangel Michael stared at me with raised eyebrows.