“Looks like it’s morphin’ time, boys.” Jax rubs his hands together, a crazy smile on his face as he eyes up the large demon.
Axel looks at him like he’s lost his damn mind. I guess their bonding only went so far.
“We’re not the fucking Power Rangers.”
“But you knew who I was talking about?” Jax nods, a smug smirk on his face.
Axel narrows his eyes on him, a slight swirl of steam coming from his ears.
I share a smile with Kai.
“Exactly, dude.” Jax moves, shifting into his wolf before Axel has time to reply.
Axel turns to Luka, shaking his head. “How the fuck are you two related?”
He doesn’t wait for a reply as he steps forward, flames engulfing his entire body as his dragon emerges.
They both head straight for the old demon first. Just as Jax hits the horde, instinct kicks in and my power surfaces and strikes, clearing a path for him.
I hear the guys chuckle beside me but stay focused on Jax and Axel.
“I guess we’ll just wait this one out.” I glance at Kai just as he smirks at me.
Turning back to the scene in front of me, I focus on the horde, ripping through any that get too close to either of my mates. By the time Axel and Jax have destroyed the old demon, the horde is already gone.
I pull my power back to find three proud mates smiling back at me.
Soren raises a brow. He opens his mouth but stops himself, shaking his head. “Let’s get this over with.”
I glance around at the destruction left behind, the ground now scorched by the horde remains and a large pit of flames where the large demon once stood. We avoid it as we make our way closer to the large black gates.
Axel and Jax have already shifted back and are eyeing up the monstrous thing.
This close up I can see each detail vividly, with black ornate carvings and strange shapes. Two large black snakes sit on each side, curling around the strange symbol designs as if alive and moving.
“I don’t suppose you have the key?” Jax raises a brow at Soren.
Soren glances up to the darkened sky as if he’s contemplating his life choices. “No key would allow you to open these gates, nor spells or trickery. Only Orthis can allow you to pass through.”
“Right. Well, Orthis seems to be taking a little vacation right now, so how do we get in?” Jax looks at Soren like he’s the idiot here. I bite my lip to stop the laugh bubbling up my throat. I didn’t think Soren appreciated Jax’s sense of humor.
Jax sends me a sly wink as if knowing, making me smile.
Soren starts pacing up and down, lost in his thoughts. We group together, letting Soren have his moment and try to figure out how to get through the gates.
“Any ideas?” Kai asks.
Axel eyes up the gates. “Maybe if we work together, we might have enough power to destroy them?”
Soren sighs, loud enough for us to hear him. “You can’t destroy the gates. They’re impenetrable.”
Axel scoffs. “Like you can come up with anything better.”
Soren narrows his eyes on him. He opens his mouth but quickly shuts it before turning and walking further away from us, mumbling something about foolish kids.
“Looks like the old man has finally lost it.” Jax fist bumps Axel’s shoulder, smiling. “Good job. I was wondering how long it would take him to crack.”
“He doesn’t look that old.” Maybe a few years older than us. But I guess you could never really tell with supes. He could be a few centuries old, for all I know.
The guys all swing their narrowed gazes at me, growing quiet.
“What?”
Kai sighs, shaking his head, while Rion shares a frown with Luka. It takes a second, but it finally dawns on me what conclusion they’re jumping to.
Idiots.
“I wasn’t looking at him as another prospective. Fuck, guys, tone down the possessive streak a little.”
“What do you mean, another prospect? As in there was someone else?” Jax’s brows reach his forehead as he steps closer to me, Axel right by his side.
I guess the bromance is back on.
I give them all a look; the others back down realizing how stupid they’re acting but Axel and Jax continue to stare at me with murderous glares, waiting for a reply. I glance over at Soren, finally getting it.
They are fucking children.
“Well?” Axel pushes, still waiting for a damn answer.
I don’t bother looking at him, instead I glance back at the gate and wonder how we all ended up here, talking about shit that doesn’t matter when the world is going to hell. Literally.
“Rion? Does the heat damage brain cells while you’re down here?”
Kai and Luka chuckle while Rion gives me a smile. “Unfortunately, not. Whatever damage done was always there.” He gives Axel a look full of humor. Axel does a double take, not used to Rion joking with him before glaring at him.
Jax joins him, the bromance still on for now.
Over their idiotic cave man display, I walk over to them and hit Axel upside his head while Luka does the same to Jax.
“Stop being fucking idiots and let’s figure out how to get into the next realm.” I move closer to the gates and away from dumb and dumber when arms come around me from behind. Jax’s woodsy scent hits me before he places a kiss on my head.
“I will not apologize for being a possessive ass. No one gets to touch or even look at you unless it’s one of the five of us. But I will apologize for jumping to conclusions and thinking you would ever want anyone more than us.” I open my mouth to tell him to just forget about it. I knew signing on to this would involve their possessive asses being idiots every now and again, but the fucker continues talking, not letting me get a word in.
“I mean, we’re fucking perfect, so why would you?”
“You’re a dick,” I tell him, making him smile.
“Yes, but your dick.” The playful tone in his voice has me smiling for some stupid reason. He catches it, making his own grow. He hugs me tighter before letting up, but still wrapped around me.
“Now, what can we do about these impenetrable gates?” Kai glances up at the colossal thing, frowning.
Jax glances from the gates back to Kai as if just realizing something. “Aren’t you a descendant of Cerberus? Can’t you just…I don’t know…Open the gate?”
Kai gives him a deadpan look. “It doesn’t exactly work like that.”
“But maybe it can.”
We all turn to look at Soren, a glint of glee in his eyes as he stares at Kai.
“After all, you are a descendant of Cerberus. In theory, you should be able to open the gates.”
“In theory… should… All things that are just possibilities. Doesn’t mean I can do it.”
But it was better than nothing.
“It’s all we’ve got right now,” I tell him.
Kai sighs, his gaze moving to Soren. “What do I do?”
“Shift and move before the gates. Then let your instincts take over.”
Kai sighs before rolling his shoulders back and stepping forward. His body quickly expands, giving way to his hellhounds.
I’ll never get used to seeing just how magnificent all their beasts are.
Soren splutters, his eyes growing wide. “He… He has all three heads?”
“He only recently grew into his third.” Jax shrugs, as if it’s no big deal.
Soren ignores Jax, turning to the rest of us. “How does he have all three heads?”
“Is that a bad thing?” I glance back at Kai as he moves toward the gates.
“What does it matter?” Kai is stronger now, harder to kill. That has to be a good thing.
Soren exhales a long breath. “It matters because it means he’s a lot closer to Cerberus’ bloodline than we thought.”
“Is that good or bad?” Luka asks, frowning.
“It’s neither. Just tell me how he—”
Axel cuts him off. “Kiarra gave us an upgrade. Once we completed the bond, we all grew more powerful.”
“That so?” Soren’s gaze veers to me, his eyes piqued with interest. He nods to himself as if answering his own question.
“Let’s hope this works.”
Let’s.
I turn to watch Kai as his beasts move closer to the gate.
KAI
Like a magnetic pull, I’m drawn to the gates, wanting to protect them like they’re something precious. My legs move as if on their own, closer and closer, until I’m standing right in front of them.
As if by instinct, I close my eyes and focus on the energy the gates are emitting. The energy snaps out before slithering around me. It tests my energy, only pulling back a moment later, satisfied by what it finds.
Opening my eyes, I watch the two large black snakes on the gates begin to move as if alive.
“What the—” I hear a familiar voice but stay focused on my task at hand.
The snakes slither up and over to the other side, disappearing before my eyes. The two gates morph to become one translucent gate with dark shadows slithering throughout it.
“Quick, before it closes again.” Another familiar voice calls out, reminding me of my family. I look down and watch as my brothers and mate move through the shadowy gate.
I start to follow them but stop when instinct that comes from bloodlines before me rises up and demands I stay and guard the gate.
Stay. Protect. Guard.
The command rings inside my beast’s heads, urging us to stay and protect the gate. I turn to stand guard against all who dare enter.
“Kai.”
I pause. That voice. My mate. I turn and glance down. So small from up here. She looks fragile, but I know she’s anything but. Her power is vast and still something we don’t understand.
Nevertheless, I need to protect her, to protect them all. If I stay here, I won’t be able to do that. I move to follow them when a pulse of energy shoots through me, trying to anchor me to stay where I am. I pull back from it, but it’s like moving through thick quicksand. I only get so far before I have to stop the pull drawing me back. I glance over at the gate and then back down to my mate and brothers. I’m frozen on the spot, like I’m stuck between two worlds.
Stay. Protect. Guard.
The pulse shoots through me once more, the need to stay by the gate growing the longer I stay here.
I glance back down at my mate, her green eyes the beacon I need that draws me to her, holding nothing but warmth and patience.
As if she can sense my indecision, she reaches out to us. “Please come with us. We need you. I need you. Always.”
She needs me… us. Those three little words are all it takes to break whatever power the gate has over me. I move toward her, our mate, our light in a world of darkness, and follow each step she takes.
She glances back at us a couple of times, but I’m not going anywhere. The thought of leaving her too much to bear.
Once my body enters the shadows, I shift back and take a step into the next realm.
I glance over my shoulder, watching the gate morph back to the large black gates as it was before, the two snakes now slithering from this side over to the other.
“Are you okay?” Kiarra asks me, that worried look in her eyes. A worried look that I put there. My chest turns tight with the thought of ever leaving her or them, the thought itself sickening me.
“I’m fine.” I take her small hand in mine, holding it tight as I glance back to the gates, now slowly disappearing as if they were never there.
The connection of energy slowly drifting away until it leaves me completely, making me feel nothing but relief. With the pull of the energy gone, I feel like I can take a deep breath again. I look around at my brothers, each one of them mirroring my expression of relief.
Rion comes over and grabs my shoulder. The look in his eyes tells me he knows what just happened.
As we have done since we were children, we silently communicate with one another with just a look.
I nearly left her… left you all.
I would never have let you. None of us would.
I nod. The relief spreading to every limb in my body, slowly taking the weight of guilt away. He’s right. They would never have let me stay.
I glance down at my mate. Her worry is now gone, a soft smile on her face easing the last bit of nerves in my body.
“Where are we now?” she asks, looking around at our new surroundings. The place is empty, not a soul or demon to be seen. Destruction is all around us like the aftermath of a war that’s already taken its toll on everything.
Most of the tall dark buildings are crumbling or nearly completely gone.
“The Infernal Kingdom. A realm that is slightly more civilized with the main population being higher level demons.”
“Civilized doesn’t always mean better. It just makes them smarter about how they kill you.” Rion gives Kiarra a look. One that tells her to stay close and not try anything foolish.
She smiles, shaking her head at him before pulling me along with her as we move further into the realm. I grip her hand like a lifeline, knowing she’ll always be mine. No matter how strong we all are or pretend to be.
Movement from our left catches my eye. I glance over but find nothing there, not even a shadow.
I catch Rion looking at the same spot. He nods, telling me he saw something too.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” I tell everyone. Unlike the Shadow realm and Realm of the Damned, there are higher level demons here that are smarter, more sly, and stealthy about their movements. And even though we were strong, I wasn’t taking any chances in the Underworld. Everything has its limits, including us.
The words are only out of my mouth when chaos descends around us, and we’re surrounded.
Men in full-body black armor and a red crest of a snake wrapped around two swords, form a circle around us, their weapons all pointed at us.
Soren gives them a bored look. “Is this really necessary?”
The guards ignore him, not moving from their frozen positions.
I inch closer to Soren, blocking Kiarra from view while keeping an eye on how close the guards are to my family. “Who are they?”
“Higher level demons, guards of the Infernal Kingdom.”
Kiarra moves around me, narrowing her eyes on me. But there’s no anger in them, only warmth. “What do we do? Fight or?”
“We go with them.” Soren rubs a hand down his face. “We’ll get answers quicker if we do.”
Axel narrows his eyes on the guards. “If anything happens—”
“Yes, yes, you chop me up into little pieces and feed me to one of your beasts.” Soren rolls his eyes before turning to the guards. “Lead the way.”
The guards move as one, parting to make way while also keeping us within their formation. Jax and Luka move to each side of Kiarra, while Axel moves in front of her, Rion moving behind her.
Kiarra narrows her eyes on us, knowing exactly what we’re doing. I give her a look, telling her to let us have this one.
We’re all on edge right now and having a damn army near the one person we need in this damned world isn’t helping.
I glance over at the others and catch each of their eyes flicker over to Kiarra before returning to the guards closest to them.
I knew we could easily take them. Any of us, especially Kiarra, but putting her at risk when this can be done peacefully was acting foolish.
We quickly make our way down the long road, coming to an open area with high pitched red tents.
The guards part, with two staying to the front and another to the back of us. They usher us inside the largest tent in the middle. I stay close to Kiarra as we walk inside. There’s a large table in the middle of the tent with a half a dozen stationary guards along the walls.
Two men in similar black armor are hovering over the table, though they look more like the leaders than a soldier. One is older, with a gray streak through the side of his head. His dark eyes are shrewd as he looks at each of us. The other is about the same age as us, or at least looks it. His brown hair and matching eyes narrow on me.
Soren dips his head to the older man. “Ivor.”
Ivor steps around the table. “Soren. Things must be desperate if you’ve come back here.” He chuckles to himself, clearing his throat when no one laughs.
Soren ignores Ivor’s joke, getting straight to business. “Orthis wasn’t at the gate.”
Ivor’s expression grows distant until his eyes find Kiarra. They widen slightly but he covers it quickly, clearing his throat to focus back on Soren.
“We know, but it was locked.”
“Where is he?” Soren pushes, a hint of anger in his tone.
I share a look with Rion.
Let’s see how this plays out…
Rion nods his eyes at Kiarra and the guard closest to him.
Ivor ignores Soren’s rise in temper. “Tell me how you made it past the gates?”
Soren clenches his fists by his side. “Tell us where Orthis is and we will.”
The temperature in the room shifts as the guys around me narrow their eyes on Soren. I keep my smile to myself at their protectiveness.
Kiarra moves closer to me, gaining the attention of Ivor once more. The guys cover their smirks and chuckles as she tries to block me from Ivor’s view.
Warmth floods my chest as I look down at her slight frame, someone half the size of the men around her and still she stares each one down without an ounce of fear.
I take her hand, pulling her beside me. She glares up at me, her eyes demanding I let her look after me. But if it’s between me and her, I’ll always pick her.
Besides, Soren isn’t that stupid to hand me over. He’s seen what we can do, and even with an army around us, we’d rip this place apart if we had to.
“As stubborn as always.” Ivor moves over to Soren, slapping him on the back. Something Soren doesn’t appreciate, but Ivor doesn’t seem to notice or care.
“Orthis is in the Prison realm helping out with an incident.”
“Why would he—” Soren begins but Ivor cuts him off.
Ivor’s face ages in an instant. “The Lords of the Underworld are dead.”
