CHAPTER FOUR
Drak
All eyes were on me as I reached for my phone and found Howar’s number. Unlike the bear who had no problem calling his king and putting him on speaker-mode, I wasn’t so keen on doing it with Howar. Especially since I was having some disconcerting feelings about my cousin—which in and of themselves did not sit well in my stomach. The idea of not being able to trust my monarch, who was also family, was like a stake to the heart.
And yet, something in the back of my mind told me not to trust him. Not completely anyway.
“I’m, uh … I’m going to ask him where a portal is in private,” I said, standing up and heading for the front door, knowing they were all watching me walk away.
Even putting that small bit of distance between Omaera and me created a slight nausea in my stomach. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t ignore or push past, but I was aware of its presence.
Melissima, thankfully, was able to compound and spell a new batch of pills for me so I could be somewhat civilized around Omaera while she continued to bleed and not attack her like a rabid beast.
She did smell incredible though. Even from across the room, her signature scent of lilacs, honeysuckle, and cayenne was intoxicating, but mix that with the scent of her blood and I was practically salivating.
Once I knew I was out of earshot of everyone, I punched in Howar’s number, knowing that he’d have to be bound and gagged not to answer a call from me.
“Drak,” he answered after just two rings. “What news do you have for me? How is our queen? How is her human friend?”
“The Queen is fine. Her human friend is … she’s no worse.”
“That’s good. That’s good … Tell me, what is your location? Where are you, cousin? The coordinates Raver gave me put you in the middle of nowhere. The mage you’re staying with must have some very strong cloaking spells over her land for me not to be able to find you. It’s not like you to be off the grid. I’d sleep easier knowing where you were.”
There went that niggling sensation at my nape again.
Something told me not to trust Howar, and I hated that there was even a voice in my head murmuring such things. What did it say about me that I was having suspicions about my king?
“I need a portal location,” I said, not answering him directly. “We need to venture to Hell.”
“Why on earth do you need to go to Hell? You know what the portal does to you when you pass through it, right? It’s not fun. It’s certainly not pleasant.”
“I’m aware. But it’s necessary. We need to find a demon to train Omaera, and we’ve been told there’s one in Hell who is willing. A … a, uh, a female.”
Why was I lying?
“Hmm … do you have a name?”
“No name. But we’re told she’ll be waiting for us when we get there. It’s all being arranged by the healer-mage here. She has connections in Hell. Listen, Howar, we’re just outside of Reno, Nevada. Do you have the location of a portal nearby?”
“Reno, hmm? Let me check. Hang on a moment.”
Even though typically all Realm leaders knew of all portal locations, it was no surprise that Zandren’s father wasn’t up to speed on the whereabouts. He wasn’t your typical ruler. But Howar would know, as would Queen Anysa .
“Ah, yes. Here it is,” Howar replied. “I’m texting you the coordinates now. What time do you think you’ll be there?”
“Later today, I’m sure. We have no time to waste. Omaera needs to learn her powers. She got lucky with Lerris, but they’re still very out of control.”
“Have you bonded yet?”
“Not since we spoke yesterday, Your Majesty,” I gritted out, regretting my irritated tone the moment it came out. “My apologies. It’s just been a very stressful time. Bonding is the last thing on my mind right now.”
“Bullshit.”
I startled at my cousin’s cavalier use of profanity. “I beg your pardon?”
“I know when you’re lying, Drak. Don’t even try. And you’re lying right now.”
I swallowed. “Uh … I am?”
“Yes. It’s the only thing on your mind. I’m guessing that you’re in a mild bit of pain right now, having stepped away from her. It has gotten so bad that unless you’re in the same room as her, you’re experiencing some kind of pain or discomfort. Am I right?”
I exhaled in relief and dropped my gaze to the ground. “You’re right. I can’t lie to you, Your Majesty. I am in pain. But this distance is bearable.”
“I know the Fates won’t allow a forced Mate Bond, but maybe if you’re honest with her, she’ll soften toward you, and it could happen sooner rather than later?”
Why was he pushing the bonding if he was secretly rooting against Omaera? Was I wrong about the King? Could I trust him?
“I’ll give it some thought,” I murmured. “Thank you for the portal location.”
“Be careful crossing through. If you let your thoughts wander, they can get lost and disorganized as the molecules rebuild on the other side. I’ve heard of people getting to Hell and having their memories all jumbled up. They remember things that never happened, and can’t remember things that did. You need to keep your train of thought clear and one-track.”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Good advice. Thank you.”
“Send me your coordinates again. Maybe Raver got them mixed up. ”
I cleared my throat and raked my fingers through my hair. “Uh … yes. Yes, of course.”
“Be safe, Drak. Let me know when you’re back from Hell.”
“I will.”
We disconnected the call, and I closed my eyes, letting the warm wind with the faint scent of cayenne, honeysuckle, and lilac sweep across my face.
I knew she was there before her hand landed on my shoulder. The pain in my stomach instantly disappeared the moment she touched me.
I stowed my emotions and faced her. “Yes?”
“Are you keeping something from me?” It wasn’t anger that shone back in her emerald-green eyes, it was hurt, and that gutted me more than any medieval torture I’d endured through the years ever could.
Swallowing, I regarded her tired face. Dark smudges hugged the skin beneath her eyes, and those eyes were rimmed with red from no doubt a lot of crying over her human friend. But I also knew that fatigue was from a night filled with passion involving Maxar. If I hadn’t heard them from the door, because my own curiosity got the better of me, it would have been easy enough to discern, given how quickly he healed. Sex magic was real, and it was powerful.
They didn’t mate-bond though, which was interesting.
“If you want us to eventually mate-bond, you need to stop keeping secrets from me. And I overheard Melissima talking to Maxar last night. She said the two of you are being stubborn and keeping something from me. Maxar’s secret was that he can’t be touched by another female without experiencing immense pain until we bond. What’s your secret? Is it the same?”
I shook my head. “It’s not the same.”
“So what is it then?” She reached for my hand and gods, I’d never felt anything so wonderful in my life. Melissima’s pills were more powerful than Monjol Fiddleman’s because before, when she was bleeding, I still would have been slightly feral. Now, I was … almost normal. Almost. “Drak?” She probed, squeezing my hand. “Tell me.”
I opened my mouth, not sure if the truth was going to come out or not, when my phone buzzed in my free hand. It was a text message from Howar with the coordinates of the portal, along with a reminder to send him the coordinates of where Melissima’s cottage was located. “We need to get moving. Howar just sent the coordinates of a portal outside of Reno, Nevada. We need to move.” Then I headed into the house to go rally the troops.
“I don’t want to leave Gemma,” Omaera said, following me back into the cottage. “Why do we have to leave now? Can’t we wait until I see that she’s improving? Until I know that when I get back, she won’t be dead?”
“We can’t waste any time,” I said, ignoring her sentimentality. “We need to get your powers under control and learn how to set a trap for a demon.” We also needed to know sooner, rather than later, if Howar was going to double-cross me. I was setting a trap of my own by deliberately telling him we were further away than we were. We were, at a minimum, seven hours from Reno. Melissima said the nearest city center to us was Eugene, Oregon. I randomly selected Reno as a point of reference for Howar to find me a portal. Now we’d see if he sent anybody there to ambush us, or if he let us cross into Hell in peace.
Melissima had several vehicles that she loaned out to people, or that belonged to those who came to her for help, but were too far gone and perished while under her care. So we planned to borrow the dark-blue Ford SUV parked in the garage behind the cottage. The bear was outside making sure it ran properly and didn’t need an oil change, or new spark plugs, or whatever. The mage was packing up some clothes for everyone, food as well as fresh dressings for his injuries, and the pills Melissima made me so I wouldn’t go completely savage on Omaera while she bled.
“You really shouldn’t go in there,” Melissima said, resting her hand on Omaera’s shoulder as they stood outside the door to the infirmary. “Your magic is too powerful now and could drain Gemma of my magic that is trying to heal her. We can’t risk it.”
“I … I just want to say goodbye,” Omaera protested, her bottom lip wobbling and tears welling up in her green eyes. “Wh-what if I never see her again? What if something happens to us and we can’t get back here from Hell, or … or she takes a turn?”
Melissima’s gaze met mine, sympathy swimming among the different shades of blue speckled with flecks of white.
I didn’t have an answer. The logical part of me—which was most of me—said that it was impractical and irresponsible for Omaera to go in and see Gemma, no matter how badly she wanted to. But then, if it were Omaera lying in that infirmary, and I knew there was a chance I may never see her again, you’d have to knock me unconscious to keep me out of there.
“What if Melissima goes in and rolls Gemma’s bed to the window so you can see her closer and say goodbye that way?” I suggested softly. We needed to get moving. We had no idea where in Hell the portal was going to drop us. It could be a day’s journey or more to get to Kenvin Jol’s place. And then it could take even longer to convince the grumpy old demon to help us.
“Would that work for you?” Melissima asked her.
Swallowing, Omaera nodded. “I guess, yeah.”
Melissima nodded and stepped through the door while I waited with Omaera on the other side, watching the healer-mage roll the gurney through the sterile hospital room toward us.
“She looks so … weak,” Omaera whispered. “I barely recognize her. Her skin is paler than normal—and she’s a pale little ginger.” She snickered mirthlessly at her attempt to soften the moment with humor. Glancing up at me, tears now blurring most of her eyes, she swallowed. “She’s never going to be the old Gemma, is she?”
“I don’t know.” Agony for my mate’s agony burned like a hot coal in my chest. Before I could stop myself, I was lacing our fingers together, channeling my strength and resilience into her. Her gaze flicked down to our twined hands, and for a moment, I thought she might let go, but she didn’t. She squeezed my hand and hope flooded me. Then we focused back through the window that was half the size of the door and Gemma’s frail body beneath the blankets.
“This never should have happened. She’s hurt because of me.”
“She’s hurt because your uncle is a sadistic, homicidal maniac with an inferiority complex and a penchant for chaos. It’s your love for her that saved her. That kept him from killing her. This isn’t your fault. This isn’t her fault. The fault lies solely with Lerris. ”
I had hunches it laid elsewhere as well, but I wasn’t ready to put those suspicions out into the ether by voicing them. Not yet.
Lifting her free hand and pressing it to the glass, she allowed the tears to fall freely down her cheeks as she stared at her sleeping friend. “She’s not in any pain, is she?”
I shook my head. “No. Melissima will have made sure that Gemma is comfortable. The pain would only hinder her healing. And with us out of the cottage, all of Melissima’s energy and magic can be channeled into Gemma so she will heal faster. Even us just being here is confusing her magic and pulling it away from Gemma.”
Omaera met my eyes again, tears running down her cheeks with abandon. “I’m going to kill him. And I’m going to make sure he knows why I don’t plan on showing any mercy.” Her nostrils flared and pure fire glimmered back at me through the blobs of tears in her eyes. She steeled herself, released my hand, sniffed, and wiped the tears away. “All right. Let’s go to Hell.”
“How far out from the portal are we now?” I asked for probably the twelfth time since we left Melissima’s house nearly seven hours ago.
The bear was driving while Omaera sat in the front, and the mage and I sat in the back. I’d have much rather shared the back seat with my mate, but there wasn’t much arguing when she climbed into the front and the bear slid in behind the steering wheel.
Zandren growled. “About fifty miles now.”
“Dude,” Maxar said turning toward me, and fighting a yawn, “you’re wired as fuck. What’s your deal?”
Omaera spun around in her seat, settling her gaze on me. “He’s keeping something from us.” Her brows rose. “More than one thing, but we’ll address that part at a later date. Right now, I want to know why you’re wound tighter than a fucking top. This isn’t you.”
My gaze shifted between Omaera, Maxar beside me, and Zandren’s probing brown eyes in the rearview mirror. I wasn’t sure if it was better that they knew about the potential ambush, or if their surprise would feed into the narrative that we truly didn’t suspect Howar to double-cross us. How good could these people act?
“Fucking tell us, man,” Maxar said, his voice a darker growl than I’d ever heard from him. “I’m not keen on having my entire body ripped to shreds, then reassembled. So if there’s something we need to know before we walk through this fucking portal, then spill.”
“Is that what happens?” Zandren exclaimed, swerving the SUV as he jerked his head around to gape at the mage. “We’re ripped to shreds, then put back together?” The bear looked like he was going to drive off the road and run into the woods with his tail between his legs.
Omaera leaned over to him and rested a hand on his thigh. “Pull over, Pooh Bear.”
He growled, grumbled, but acquiesced to her request, finding the next wide shoulder to park on. Then he spun around in his seat, glaring at both me and the mage. “What the fuck are you talking about? Is going to Hell painful?”
“Unimaginably painful,” Maxar said blandly. “I take it you’ve never been?” That next bit dripped with sarcasm.
Zandren growled, and his nostrils flared.
“Hang on,” Omaera said, squeezing Zandren’s thigh. “Maxar, please tell us exactly what happens when we walk through the portal. What are we to expect? What happens to our bodies?”
Maxar took a deep breath. “It’s not like walking from one room into another. Time and space are literally bent when someone walks through the portal. And in order to keep people from coming and going from Hell to Earth and back, they made sure it wasn’t easy. When you step through, it will feel like a bomb has exploded inside of your chest, bursting your body into a million different microscopic pieces. They call it ‘body dust.’” He smirked. “Though it’s too wet to be dust, if you ask me. So it’s more like pink mist.”
Zandren’s low, angry growl brought the mage back to the discussion.
“Right. Anyway, it will feel like you’re traveling through a wormhole or being sucked into a vacuum, all one million pieces of you. Then, toward the end of the vacuum, your cells will begin to find each other again and you’ll start to reform. By the time you reach the end, you should be reassembled. The reassembly isn’t painful, just … weird. Like you know you’re missing a toe and you’re just waiting for the molecules of your toe to navigate back to your body and reattach.”
“Let’s circle back to the word you used a moment ago,” Zandren said. “‘Should.’ We should be reassembled. Are you telling me there’s a chance we won’t be reassembled?” He instantly looked down at his lap. “There are some very important parts of me I’d rather not have exploded and turned to pink mist, let alone never reattached to my body.”
Maxar snorted. “You and me both, brother. But that’s the way it goes.”
Omaera’s gaze landed on me. “Have you ever been to Hell?”
“Once,” I replied. “We were escorting a prisoner—a vampire—who was found guilty of treason. You have to go in one at a time, otherwise you risk body parts or memories reattaching to the wrong person. So it was me, another member of the security team, and the prisoner.”
“Why the hell didn’t you just execute the bastard?” Maxar asked, giving me a look of disbelief. “Or drain him? Vampires are good at that.”
My fangs dropped just slightly from his dig, but I refused to bite to his antagonizing. “Ordinarily, we would have. But she is of royal blood.” I shifted slightly in my seat, meeting Omaera’s probing green gaze. “It’s the Queen Mother. Howar’s mother.” I swallowed. “My aunt. The same war that killed Howar’s father, my father, and your grandfather. She was … she is the reason the shifter and vampire war started.”
Omaera’s eyes widened, and a thousand questions burned in the emerald fire. But I wasn’t willing to answer any of them right now. Particularly since I didn’t have all the answers.
Zandren made an angry noise deep in his throat. “What can we do to ensure every part of us reassembles? Can I like … hold on to it ? ”
Maxar’s laugh was brittle. “You can try. Won’t do you much good when your arms and hands are exploded off your body and turned into mist. But sure, hold your junk and see what happens.”
The bear lurched in his seat a little, growling. But the seatbelt and Omaera’s hand on his thigh kept him from launching his fangs into the mage.
“Can we get moving again, please?” I asked.
“Not until we know what secret you’re keeping,” Omaera said. “I’d rather get to the portal in one piece before we’re exploded into a million pieces, thank you. And Zandren seems close to driving off the road in a panic with all this new terrifying news.”
I was quiet for a moment, collecting my thoughts. Who knew how the bear and the mage would react, let alone Omaera? She questioned me back at the cottage about what I was keeping from her and it had to be the Mate’s Ache. It’s the only thing that made sense.
I wanted to tell her about it, but I was also really enjoying that she was seeking me out, touching me, and getting to know me without the forced element of my debilitating condition. I wanted her to mate-bond with me because she wanted to. Not out of a sense of obligation. Not that the Fates would allow it anyway.
“Drak?” she probed. “What are you hiding?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m concerned that Howar is not being honest with me. That …” Gods, the words tasted like rotten blood on my tongue. I was about to accuse my king of treason out loud. Up until now, I’d simply thought about it. But now I was putting it into the air, telling people. This was something I could never take back.
“That what?” Maxar exclaimed. “Spit it out, Fangs!”
“That he’s secretly working against us. Against Omaera. I’m worried we’re headed into a trap.”
Three sets of wide, surprised eyes stared back at me.
Then the bear roared. “And you’re telling us this now?”
I wasn’t so much worried about the bear or the mage being upset with me. I could handle that, but the look on Omaera’s face, as if I’d betrayed her, was damn near unbearable .
“I deliberately did not give our coordinates to Howar when we were at Melissima’s, and I instructed Raver not to give them to him as well. I asked Howar for the location of a portal far away from Melissima’s, which is why we’re on our way to Reno. He thinks Melissima’s cottage is near Reno. I expect there to be an ambush where they’re going to try to kill Omaera. I worried that if I told you about the expected ambush, we would set off alarm bells and Howar would know we’re on to him.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Zandren rumbled. “And you know how I feel about using the Queen as bait.”
“It means he’s worried we’re shit actors,” Maxar said with even more sarcasm coating his tone. “And when the ambush happens, we’re all going to go, ‘Oh my goodness, an ambush? How surprising and scary. This wasn’t expected at all. Whatever shall we do?’” Then he pretended to swoon like a damsel with the back of his hand on his forehead.
“Is that the only reason?” Omaera asked, her voice soft, gaze still conveying her feeling of betrayal.
“It needs to look real. Like we had no idea. If they have any sense that we were prepared, then we hand power over to Howar. I need him to think that we’re still in the dark about his betrayal. If he doesn’t suspect that we suspect, we can use that to our advantage later on. Possibly even to trap Lerris. To trap Howar. Once you’ve had some more training.”
“You think Howar and Lerris are working together?” Terror replaced the betrayal in her eyes.
“I don’t know. At this point, I don’t know much—”
“Now you’re speaking the truth,” Maxar muttered.
I ignored his jab. “But I’ve had this feeling in my gut about him for a while now, and I just can’t ignore it any longer. If there’s no ambush, then maybe my gut is wrong. But I need to test my theory.”
Her nod was slow and stiff, but she seemed to be coming around to my plan. “For the record though, I’m a terrific actor.” She pointed to herself. “Poker player, remember? Fantastic at bluffing.”
That made me smirk and the tension in my chest eased enough that I could take a deeper breath. “Fair enough. I stand corrected.”
“So, what? We just let a bunch of fucking vampires attack us?” Zandren asked. “Not going to happen.”
“I never expected you to lie there and take it,” I replied. “I expect you to fight back and win. We need to vanquish this ambush and get through the portal. There’s really no other option.”
“Do you have any idea how many vampires are going to be sent to trap us?” Maxar asked. “A little heads up about the ratio would be cool.”
“When I was part of Howar’s army and we were sent to do similar things, we’d usually dispatch twice as many men as we expected to encounter. Outnumber them two-to-one. So we should expect at the very minimum, eight.”
“There you go again with that word, ‘should,’” Zandren murmured, shaking his big, shaggy head. “Maybe we should expect twelve, since Howar knows how powerful Omaera is now.”
I nodded. “Perhaps. He also knows her powers are erratic, and she hasn’t had enough training to control them. So he may think she’s easy enough to overpower. I can’t say for certain. But perhaps you’re right and we need to expect a three-to-one ratio.”
Maxar clapped his palms and rubbed them together until green flames flickered between his fingers. “All right then, let’s go roast some vampires.”
That sickening sensation returned to my stomach, along with the intense, nauseating taste of rotten blood on my tongue. I would know every single vampire in that ambush. I would have trained some of them, fought beside them. And now, they were going to try to kill my mate.
Not if we killed them first.