“They’re here,” Lex said with a growl as he, Desiree, Zach, and Lydia crept along the dark corridors of Khan’s castle. The smell of sulfur and dirt tingled his nose. Even though Lex had a home in the Underworld, he didn’t spend much time there. Not since Khan had taken over, anyway. “The hounds are separated and masked with a spell.”
His keen sense of dark magic came from his Death Demon half and his connection to Hecate—Goddess of Witchcraft. Khan may believe he’d hidden Teddy-Bear, but not from everyone. The fool bastard.
Lex fisted his hands. It took every fiber of his being to hold onto his control. The hounds couldn’t survive spit apart for much longer. As Siamese twins, their magic and souls were linked. They were growing weaker by the moment.
Reaching out to mind link with the hounds, he found Teddy first in a room a few feet away. Then he heard the faint thump, thump of the hellhound’s heartbeat.
“He’s alive. Thank the goddess.” We’re coming, buddy.
A low growl from Lydia at his back told him she wasn’t pleased with the hounds being apart. “Do you know where they are?”
With a short nod, he advanced down a hallway in quick strides. He uncurled his magic, letting it flow wildly within and waited for an attack. Lydia, Zach, and Desiree followed, having to fall into a light jog to keep up with him.
“Things are too quiet.” Zach spoke in a hushed tone; concern and fear of what was ahead of them drifted from him. Dark, elfin magic rose within the male and reached out to Lex’s senses.
Yeah, things were too quiet.
Stopping a few feet down the hall, Lex stopped and faced them. He flicked a hard stare to the door they had stopped a few feet from. Cold, lethal power rose in his veins. The hounds were his family—what little he had left—and he’d be damned if Khan got away with harming them. “Teddy is in there. Zach and Lydia, you get him. Desiree and I will get Bear. We’ll meet at the Divinity House.”
The reason for not busting down the door and freeing Teddy was that Bear’s heartbeat sounded stronger. Teddy would need Lydia’s healing touch. Lex figured it’d be quicker to rush down the hall and collect Bear while Lydia healed Teddy.
When they reached the door, Lex didn’t bother to check the lock. He just plowed through the thick wood, tearing the thing off its hinges. The room was empty except for a large cage in the center with Bear standing in it, teeth bared.
The hound met Lex’s gaze and snarled, “The place is going to blow.”
“How long?” Lex snapped the lock on the cage with quick efficiency, not surprised that Khan had set the trap. One reason it was so quiet and they were able to get in without Regal guards coming down on them. Should have known.
“Not sure. Maybe two minutes or less.”
Fear gripped his heart and squeezed. They had to get out of there. He wouldn’t lose Desiree when he’d just found her.
Desiree moved to the opening and stuck her head out. Lex moved closer to her, too aware of her whirlwind of emotions: Anger, fear, and a desperate need to find her son. “Bear, go find your brother and get out of here.”
“What are you doing? There’s no time.” The hound paused once they’d exited into the hall.
“We’ll get out. Get Teddy, Zach, and Lydia out,” Lex barked, then grabbed Desiree’s hand and tugged her down the hall in the opposite direction that he’d sent Bear. A growl at his back was Bear’s final protest before the hound took off to find the others.
Desiree tensed up next to Lex but didn’t jerk her hand from his. In fact, she seemed to accept his touch with ease, like it helped soothe her anxiety. Good. He needed her touch just as much. Needed to know she was safe.
Her power was close to the surface, nipped at his own. He ignored it. “Can you sense Mathew?”
She trembled at the mention of her son’s name and shook her head. “For a moment, I thought I could. But he’s not here. At least, not anymore. We need to get out of here.”
She didn’t need to tell him twice. Focusing on his home, he teleported them. Materializing in his living room, he released Desiree’s hand and stalked to the bedroom, needing to put some distance between them. The female made him ache with need. The urge to take her in every way possible was almost overwhelming.
Fuck. He didn’t want a mate, yet he’d found one. The pull to Desiree was too strong. He wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off her much longer.
Boom! The house shook from the blast of Khan’s castle. Closing his eyes, he searched for the connection he had with the hellhounds. Relief flooded him when he felt them, alive. They made it out.
Suddenly, a rush of power rippled across his skin, and he whirled around to meet Desiree’s stare. Standing in the doorway of his bedroom, wide-eyed she said, “All the portals just opened.”
“Hecate,” he called out.
She replied back telepathically. “I felt it, and I’m handling it. You have to find Khan and get the Dark Sinew from him. However, once I close the portals you’ll have to find another way to return Earthside.”
Then the goddess was gone, cutting the telepathic connection. He sighed. She’d have to use the power of three plus the Sinew to close all of the portals. As far as he knew, no one but the gods could cross from one realm to another once they were locked. But Hecate had said to find another way out.
He had no idea how to do that.
Returning his attention to Desiree, he said, “Hecate will be closing the portals. We will be stuck here for a while.”
Stuck in Hell with a Death Demon without the earth her Divinity half craved... The magic in the Underworld was heavy and dark. She needed to get home.
Folding her arms, she glared at Lex while trying to tamp down the rush of desire his presence caused. “I hope you know of a way to get back home.”
He grunted and pushed past her as if ending the conversation.
Oh no, he doesn’t. She whirled around and followed him through the living room to the study across from his bedroom. “There is another way out, right?”
Another grunt was her answer.
She pursed her lips and studied him as he pulled several books from the shelves. “What are you looking for?”
“A way out.”
Well, didn’t that answer her questions? She rolled her eyes and left the room. Fine. If he weren’t going to talk to her, she’d search for her own way home. Pushing out the back door, she scowled at the gloom of the Underworld. The air held hints of rosemary and sulfur. Reminded her of Samoan’s scent, only not as sweet.
Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes and called her Porter half to the surface, beseeching the lost souls she felt in every shadow of the Underworld to aid her in crossing to the natural realm. Instead of helping her, they attacked. Rushed around her, through her, raging like angry beams of light.
What the fuck? There were too many of them tearing at her. They called her a witch and thought she was responsible for trapping them there. Many even screamed in her mind. She curled into a ball on the ground, her arms wrapped protectively around her head.
Pain rocketed through her, and she screamed out as she blasted the spirits with everything she had stored up and hadn’t gotten to use at the castle. Instantly, they vanished.
Uncurling and pushing to her feet, she met the green eyes of a hellhound. He watched her with eyes much too humanlike. Then a shudder went through its body as it…shifted?
A moment later, Mathew stood in front of her. My son. Her heart lurched in her chest and tears filled her eyes. “Matty,” she breathed, making the kid narrow his eyes in curiosity.
“No one calls me that. Who are you?”
Chest tightening, she knew he wouldn’t remember her. Yet, she had to try. Tears filled her eyes. “I’m your mother.”
When she stepped forward, he backed up, shaking his head. “My mother’s dead.”
Anger rose up then. Samoan would die when Desiree found the bitch. “Samoan lied to you like she lied to me.”
Just then, darkness settled around them, making the gloomy realm almost lightless. The air grew heavier with black magic. It was as if something had changed the Underworld.
Matty looked at the sky and scowled. “It has begun.” Then he took off into the forest.
She charged after him but stopped short when Lex materialized in front of her. “We have bigger issues. This,”—he pointed to the black clouds swirling in the sky—“isn’t part of locking down the portals. Too much energy is building, and possibly leaking into the other realms.”
“What?” She stared at him.
“You said Khan was making a dark version of the Sinew.”
She nodded and then froze. Fuck. “He succeeded.”
“It seems so.” Lex scrubbed a hand through his long, black hair. “Hecate said we have to find it.”
It was her turn to scowl. “Our best bet for finding Khan just got away.”