So much pain. Those fucking angels! They killed my mate. They killed MY CHILD! And then they tried to kill me. I had enough power left within me in order teleport away from them to the edge of Tartarus. But I was bleeding heavily from a wound that eviscerated my stomach and just missed my heart. Otherwise, I would have died right then and there. I used all the power that I had left to make my way through the cyclopses, the hydra, the river of fire. And then I make my way down the labyrinthine walkways, looking for my first love. Only she will have the power to heal me. Only she will have the power to bring me back to what I was before. I don’t know how long it took for me to get to her. How much blood flowed from my body. How much pain I felt. How low I had to get. I laid on the ground, covered in dirt, dehydrated, and weak. And then I feel someone push me with their foot.
It’s been two months. Two months since we left Valhalla. Two months since we ran away with our tail between our legs. Two months since I found my mate. Two months since this shit should have been done. And what do I have to show for it? A semi comatose mate that basically had to restart her entire goddess making process when we moved from Valhalla to the Underworld. A rowdy and often undisciplined army that has been on ice for two months. Traitors and defectors on all sides. And the worst case of blue balls that I’ve had my entire life. To say that I’m a bit on edge is the biggest understatement of the millenia. The worst part of all of this by far is the fact that Valhalla ran on a timeline outside of the human’s timeline on Earth. It was faster. But the Underworld runs under the same timeline as Earth’s.So yeah, two months to get Nyx back to where she was when we left. That would have taken two weeks in Valhalla. But in the Underworld, it’s fucking two damned months!
“Nate, man. Let’s go for a run. You’ve been cooped up in this library for a week. Your wolf has to be going crazy. Let’s go for a run. Maybe a shower and a meal that isn’t brought to you in a bag,” I say to my best friend. He has been searching for a way to get into any of the three possible places where Nyx could be without someone like Hermes who can get us in and out of different realms since we’ve returned home two damn months ago. He only comes out when Dev or Arya force him to for training, or when Slade or Naomi use their alpha or luna tone on him. It was rough going at first. We didn’t realize that he wasn’t doing all the things. You know, the things like bathing. Eating as often as he should. Sleeping. Leaving the damn library. I mean, I’ve been a little caught up in the mating frenzy that comes with the matebond with Zoe and Kaia. It was slightly extended because of the battle that we had at the gates of Valhalla and I didn’t get to check in on my bestie dur
I wake up to the feeling of sparks all over my body, as well as the heat of my mates. I give a little moan, automatically feeling my core starting to get wet. They have this effect on me every damn time. I hope that I never get used to it. My thighs flex with the need that is starting to build up. There is a groan from in front of me and calloused hands roam up my leg to hitch it higher on the thigh of the male in front of me. From the calluses of his hands, I know that it’s Alexander in front of me. It makes me realize that I’ve rolled in my sleep, since I fell asleep with my head on Jacob’s chest. The slight movement, along with the sparks, have caused Alexander’s body to react too. I can feel his hard cock pressing on my inner thigh, just short of my pussy lips. I can’t help it. Push myself closer to him, feeling his cockhead push through my lips and rub against my clit. “Fuck!” I whisper as his head pulls back slightly, dragging along my clit. “How are you already so
“Dad, we still can stop all of this. You don’t have to give me the title yet. We’ve got another six months. Just finish out your term as best as you can. I’ll be here to help,” Finnegan says as I work on his tie for him. As calm, organized, and bright as my son is, tying a tie has always been a bit beyond him. “Son, we’ve talked about this. Your mother and I are done with our leadership roles. With Ba’s death…” I have to stop speaking, the words choking me up. Tears form in my eyes, obscuring my vision. “Dad.” Finnegan pulls me into his arms. “I know that it’s hard for you. I’m not trying to force anything on you,” he whispers into my ear as he helps me hold myself together. “I just don’t want your reign as an alpha to end in a way that you regret.” I nod into his shoulder, sniffing as I pull myself away from his embrace. I had told myself that I wouldn’t let my depression over the loss of Gregory get in the way of how special this day is. Finnegan deserves that.
“There’s several different things that you’re going to have to do in order to complete your induction. First, you are to go onto the astral plane and receive Hecate’s approval and her prophecy for your reign. Jaiden will be with you so that there is proof and a second set of ears to hear the prophecy,” I say to Freya. She rolls her eyes. “Why don’t we just have her come see me? She’s in Valhalla, but we can get a message to her. It would make things so much easier.” I know that it’s her anxiety that’s talking, so I take a deep breath before responding. No use magnifying both of our anxiety. “It’s not just about speaking to Hecate, Frey. It’s also about being about to get into the astral plane, finding Jaiden, and then getting into Hecate’s presence. It takes a disciplined and powerful witch to get into the astral plane by itself, but to find another and to find Hecate? That’s another level of power.” I take another deep breath. “Plus, if you were to see Hecate’s real fo
I feel so much better after the run. Letting my wolf out. Hunting down a deer with my packmates. Filling my stomach full of meat and my heart full of the touch and presence of my friends and family. It was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate myself and galvanize me for more of a search in the library. And I hate myself for it. I feel so damn guilty because of it. Why am I allowed this respite when she isn’t? I can only imagine the awful things that are happening to Nyx wherever she is in Lucifer’s care. I know that she isn’t going to be hurt physically, at least not yet. But the emotional toll that this has to be taking on her tortures me every second that I’m awake. I dream about it when I am asleep. I can’t get away from the thoughts of what she’s going through. This library that I’ve holed myself up in? It’s the biggest, most expansive collection of occult knowledge in America. It has to have a way to help me figure out where Nyx is. There HAS to be something.
“Mom, seriously? We can do this together. Or I could get Jaiden or Nora to help me. I doesn’t have to be Nathan. He’s already got enough going on,” I plead with my mother. You would think that at 20, nearly 21, I would be able to stand up for myself without resorting to whining. But when Bella Martin has it in her head that she’s gonna do something, there’s very little that will change it. Including her daughter’s anxiety disorder. “Frey, Nathan is the most powerful witch/wolf combination in existence. He also has powers that are very similar to yours. And it’s not like you don’t know each other. You basically grew up together. By the Maiden’s blood, he’s changed your diaper. You’re basically siblings,” Mom says, arranging the food in the cooler for me to take with me. I groan, not only because I question my mother’s wisdom in letting a seven year old change an infant’s diaper, but also because she has to remind me that Nathan was the one that did it. If it isn’t comple
So much pain. Those fucking angels! They killed my mate. They killed MY CHILD! And then they tried to kill me. I had enough power left within me in order teleport away from them to the edge of Tartarus. But I was bleeding heavily from a wound that eviscerated my stomach and just missed my heart. Otherwise, I would have died right then and there. I used all the power that I had left to make my way through the cyclopses, the hydra, the river of fire. And then I make my way down the labyrinthine walkways, looking for my first love. Only she will have the power to heal me. Only she will have the power to bring me back to what I was before. I don’t know how long it took for me to get to her. How much blood flowed from my body. How much pain I felt. How low I had to get. I laid on the ground, covered in dirt, dehydrated, and weak. And then I feel someone push me with their foot.
It’s so hard to believe that the war is over. All of that build up and fear for just one, admittedly epic, fight? I guess I just never realized how much war is about waiting for something to happen. Hermes says that it’s really like that, but it’s still hard to believe. The angels are all up in a tither worried that they haven’t been able to find evidence of Lucifer’s body being gone. We haven’t heard anything from their god, so I’m assuming that he’s not worried about it. I mean, it’s been two weeks and nothing. Gabriel has even come to Jacob and said that he can start the process of detaching from the Christian god and giving up his powers. Though, halfway through Gabriel’s instructions on how to do that, Michael showed up and basically begged Jacob to remain a Throne for another six months. Just in case Lucifer came back. After meeting with Maeve, Dougal, and Win, the results were mixed. Maeve hated being a Throne.
A parent should never have to bury their child. Ever. Even though Nyx wasn’t of our blood or even of our species, she was just as much our child as Jared, Summer, and Chris. Even though she was only with us for a less than a year, she was our pup. And this is the worst pain that I’ve ever experienced, aside from the pain of losing Charlie. I stand with Kayla, Brandon, Jared, Summer, Rowen, Chris, and Esteban. Little Lilianna sits on Chris’s lap, the two year old not understanding what is happening. Neither do the triplets, Nixon, Natalie, and Nolan. Each are sitting with the parent that they seem to gravitate to the most: Nixon with her little hands trying to wipe the tears from Kayla’s face, Natalie in my arms and giving me hugs and kisses to try to comfort me, and Nolan sitting stoically in Brandon’s arms though he has his hands wraps around his father’s fingers. No, our pups don’t know what has happened, but they know that something is wrong. Nathan stands on Kayla’s othe
I immediately know when Lucifer has been slain. We all do. There’s a power in the air that just dissipates. It’s there one second and then it’s gone. And then the enemy either surrender or run away, dropping their weapons as they go. Oh, there are a few die hard proponents of what Lucifer was trying to do, but they don’t last long. They are quickly overrun by fae, witches, wolves, shifters, supernaturals, or angels. Within an hour of Lucifer’s death, all of the fighting is done and the medics have flooded the field. Gods and goddesses either heal right there on the field or teleport those that need immediate medical attention to the surgery tents. Arya and I quickly turn to the Elite and pups’ mates, and our friends. “Summer! Jared!” Arya says, looking up from healing a nasty bite to Tomas’s leg that is already showing signs of infection. “Here!” Summer shouts out in a pained voice. I turn to see
All three of us see the Morning star leaving the palace and stepping onto the field with the angels and we know that time is running out. We have to hurry and get to Nyx and sever her bond with Lucifer so that he is weak enough for them to kill him. No one else seems to be guarding the castle, at lest not on our side. I can see that demons and gods are getting into ranks and preparing to get onto the battlefield. The problem is, they’re too slow. The angels are already hear. They have breached the walls that surround the castle, their armor and very skin gleaming, their swords and battle axe’s, and spears coated in the multiple colors of blood that each of these evil beings possess. “We need to get inside while they’re all occupied,” Rowen says as we run towards the gates. “And before anyone comes in as reinforcements.” “Anyone see how to get the gates open?” Alexander says, his eyes rapidly taking in the structure in front of us.
The second that we make our way through the gate into the Underworld, we’re all ready to start fighting. I mean, that’s the logical thing to do, right? Problem is, we seem to have gone into a gate where there are minimal guards. Like, this gate seems to have been forgotten completely. There's two there and they were taken out by the blast that opened the gate. Either we got really fucking lucky. Or we’ve walked into a trap. Angels pour into the hole behind us, creating a perimeter to keep us safe from behind. No, they won’t be able to stop Lucifer, but they are cannon fodder that will slow him down. Yeah, that sounds really fucking shitty to say it like that, but they knew the score when they were assigned to the role. It is what it is. From the gate, I can see Hades’s palace, where Lucifer and his new queen, Nyx, have been staying since they were kicked out of Valhalla. We’re coming in about five miles to the south and three miles above the palace. The gate is in
It is killing me to wait here with the gods while my mates are all in three different spots right now. I’m so agitated and distracted by this fact that my winged shoes are making me float about a foot off of the ground. Josefina is with her parents, fighting near the front lines. What I hate is that she doesn’t have any powers to fight with. She’s just got her strength and skills as a warrior and a wolf. Thank fuck that the wolves take fighting seriously, so she has a ton of skill. But that only helps me feel just a little bit of relief. She is definitely the mate that I’m most worried about. But then there’s Alexander. He and his twin are escorting Nathan to get to Nyx so that he can kill her and the child in her stomach. Hecate had told us that Nyx is in labor starting this morning. So they have to get to her quickly. Of course, that means finding the right time to get past the enemy army ahead of the rest of our allies and then fight whoever Lucifer has guarding the
The contractions had been happening off and on for the past two days. “Braxton-Hicks,” Persephone assured me. “It’s just your body’s way of getting ready for birth. It can happen for a long time before you actually go into labor. I really wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.” But I knew better. I could feel this evil thing’s elation as it could feel me preparing for birth. It had been tossing and turning in my stomach, moving into position for birth. So when I woke in the wee hours of the morning today, feeling strong achy bands of pressure all around my stomach. I let out a wheezy, breathy screams as the feeling took my breath away. I had been laying on my left side, my head pillowed on Lucifer’s arm, his other arm keeping me pulled into him. When I had woken in pain, it woke him up as well. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Lucifer asks, his eyes are wide, but his voice is laced with aggression and protectiveness. He had moved over top of me, caging me against t
The screeching sound that comes from above us sounds like a combination between the howl of a wolf, the cry of some kind of bird of prey, and a woman’s scream. We look up and there are seven of these…things. They have the body of a woman, looking heavily pregnant and near giving birth, talons for feet and wings like a giant eagle, and the head of an enormous rabid jackal. But the belly is actually full of the babies and men that they’ve eaten. They are wearing what looks like a skull bikini, a skull covering each breast and her vulva. It’s fucking weird and looks very uncomfortable. In their hands, each carries one knife made of fire and another made of ice. The Lamashtu. The seven aspects of the Mesapotamian Goddess of evil. Think Hecate, but in seven different bodies instead of sharing the same body. And when I say that she was evil, I mean EVIL. Evil just for evil’s sake. One of the few goddesses in all of the various pantheons who didn’t have a reason to be evil. S