Zeke

  The mountain came alive at night. Out of view of the camp and without the human noise of cars and day-to-day life, like children playing, carrying up from town, it felt like the wilderness had taken over. I drew in a deep breath, taking in the bite of the wind and the fresh smell of pine and cool earth. The smell of home. As hellish as my brother made it for me, I’d never wanted to leave. Cooper’s brother had offered me a place with him when he’d split from the pack. Billy had been the good sort. I’d turned him down because this was where I belonged.

  Taskmaster Jaxon grabbed my arm and twisted so my palm was up. Then he shoved the spell book into my hands. “Get to work.”

  I glanced at the pages once again. I’d already proven my location spell worked when they made me test it, drawing power from the mountain and pushing it into the spell as per their instructions. I was amazed that it worked and that it was so easy to do. It reassured me that it’d been the right thing to do, collecting all those magical artifacts. If anyone else had accessed power so easily, they could’ve used them, too. But I shook off those thoughts. This time, I had to draw from the magic in the mountain to get to Hell. That would be far more intense than a location spell.

  Cooper and Del stood behind the foot-tapping Jaxon. Cooper’s arm curled around her, his head buried in her hair like he was memorizing her scent. My wolf perked his head up, and I smacked him down. As much as I teased her about being my demon, I knew she belonged to Jaxon and Cooper. And I didn’t need to know Cooper well to understand those deep frown lines and the downturned lip meant he felt bitter about this. He was saying goodbye. With a mate bond, there had to be a hell of a good reason for him to stay behind.

  None of that was my business, though, unless it interfered with my plans. All I had to do was get to Hell and murder this damned sorcerer, and I didn’t need any distractions. No matter how much my wolf whined, they were welcome to the damn demon and could do whatever they wanted once we were through the portal.

  I shifted through the pages in the book, finding the gateway spell I’d marked. The first thing I’d done after they agreed to my deal was translate the contents page, but the gateway spell was fairly obvious from the diagrams of moving from one place to another. It required a token, something that belonged to the place or person you wanted to go to. But we’d already discussed that. I looked around. “Who’s got the token?”

  Jaxon took a rucksack off his shoulder and threw me a balled-up pair of leather pants from inside. I grinned, remembering the feel of them and the look of them around Del’s ankles when I’d taken her back at Tup’s. Good memories. Shame this spell would likely ruin them.

  I placed the trousers at the 12 o’clock mark in the circle I’d dug into the earth. That was what we were pointing to. I flexed my fingers and walked to the magic’s source hole. I knelt and checked my spell’s prep work before drawing the magic into me. Little by little, I felt more awake, more powerful, until I felt like I could fly or move the stars. That had to be enough. I shook my head and broke the connection, then went back to the spell circle.

  If I didn’t want to kill the sorcerer, this would be the perfect time to knock these guys out and make a run for it, but it was time to face down that asshole and get justice for what he did to me and my pack. So I wouldn’t run. At least, not yet. I tried to ignore it, but I even felt a tug toward helping my demon get her sister back. It wasn’t even a tug from my wolf. Her determination to help her people was something I’d not had for years. She was a perfect example of what a family should be and do—risk everything for their people. I respected that, admired her for it. It was more than I could say about my own family.

  Shaking my head, I cleared my mind. I had to concentrate on this.

  First, I sat within the circle. I pushed magic into its lines until it thrummed with energy. Then I waved over Del and Jaxon. “Now or never.”

  Cooper kissed Del long and hard, their hands laced tight together. I smiled at the embrace despite myself. It was so different to the hard and fast flings Cooper had always had—and the awkward way he had of dealing with the women once he was done with them. Usually, I had to inform them he was done to sweep up that mess. In a way, it was refreshing to see him stick with one woman and seem so pleased to have her. She must be special.

  Del tore herself away. Her head jolted as if to look back, but she kept her focus firmly on the circle and stepped inside. Jaxon held her hand, steadying her, and they both watched me.

  Show time. I sat back on my heels and said the words of the spell, pushing the last of the magic it’d need into the circle and focusing on the token I’d planted. We were to go to the home of the token and nowhere else. I tried to imagine what that would look like based on Del’s description and closed my eyes as the air scratched me, yanking the oxygen from my lungs.

  I tried to draw breath but choked. I looked around to see darkness. Complete, unrelenting blackness. I felt like I was spinning, my ears making me feel like I was dizzy. I threw my hands out for balance and found the hands of someone else.

  “Del? I croaked. I barely had any air, but I had to know who else was here.

  “It’s me.” Her voice soothed my fears, and my heart beat a little slower. She was okay. “It’s a portal. Bad trip. Be okay.”

  I couldn’t waste any more breath with a reply, so I squeezed her hands and held on as we passed through the darkness and slammed into the wooden boards of a large room. No windows and bloody hell was it hot. My wolf yowled as I yanked off my coat and looked around at the carefully arranged furniture.

  “Is this the right place?” I asked. It looked like a bachelor pad. There wasn’t anything personal lying around anywhere, and there were chairs clustered together like the party had just left. The ceiling rose high over us, and rough wooden stars lined it. Someone had made them by hand, swiping them with white paint. I frowned. Who would put something so personal in a room this stark?

  Del stood and dusted off her pants. “Yes. It’s my basement.”

  I frowned at her, admiring the fit of her pants and trying to connect that luscious woman to the wooden stars. Maybe her kid sister had made them. If demons really had childhoods like the rest of us. I opened my mouth to ask but closed it again. I had one job here: get the sorcerer. Nothing else was important.

  “We just need to get to Tarzi’s,” Del said, “and we can get out of here.”

  “And the sorcerer?” I’d rather go straight to him than fool about looking for Del’s little sister. It wasn’t my job to babysit. I flinched at my own thoughts. That was harsh, even for me. Maybe I could hold back my revenge a little. But they had to know where the sorcerer was, right?

  Jaxon growled. “Lucky for you, the sorcerer is supposed to be going after Amma. You’re most likely to find him if you come with us.”

  The way he side-eyed me, I was pretty sure he’d have made me go with him whether that was the case or not, but Hell was new territory for me. Exploring it with them—at least at first—made sense. And if my wolf liked the idea of keeping close to Del’s side while she found her pack? Well, I could deal with that later.

  “Okay. Which way?”

  Del pointed to the stairs. “I’ll go grab us a portal maker. You two wait upstairs in the living room.”

  Jaxon hurried after her, mumbling something about her safety. I smirked. The man was whipped, running after her like she was as fragile as glass. Didn’t he see how strong she was? She was the first on her feet after that gateway, and she’d torn her way through both our packs. This was her home turf. She’d be more powerful than either of us here. We weren’t demons, and we had no idea what most of them could do.

  I frowned. Maybe it was a good thing the sorcerer was gunning for her family after all. At least if Del was around, she could tell me what I was up against. I stilled on the stairs, realizing I trusted her to keep me safe. But I couldn’t. She’d give everything for her sister, but she didn’t owe me anything. I had to keep to the plan: find the sorcerer, kill him, and get away from these guys before Jaxon gave me a death sentence.

  Del

  The short portal demon wasn’t a talker. He laid down his hoop in my living room and gestured for all three of us to jump in. I took Jaxon’s hand and grabbed Zeke’s.

  A strange smile crossed Zeke’s face, and it was almost as if his whole body relaxed. His hand was warm and strong in mine, and my succubus just about purred.

  Then he shook himself, and it was gone. He disappeared under his mask again.

  “Something wrong?” I asked. My succubus craved a few hours alone in a room with him so she could peel back all those layers. She was sure there was something tasty hiding under there.

  “No,” he growled. “Let’s get going.”

  I shook myself. I didn’t have time to be crushing on Zeke right now. I should be satisfied with the mates I had. Besides, Amma needed me, and maybe Jaxon too, from the way he was looking. He was a touch too pale around his flushed cheeks. He hadn’t taken the last trip well. But he’d hate me asking if he was okay in front of his brother, so I pushed reassurance down the mate bond. That had to be enough.

  “Everyone ready?” the portal demon asked.

  “Yes,” I answered for us.

  I concentrated on Tarzi’s house, the vines around her door, the garden beyond, the way the rooms oozed calm, and the faint smell of chamomile or peppermint tea. Then I swung our hands, and we jumped.

  This trip wasn’t so bad. It was still dark, and something like fronds tickled every inch of my exposed skin, but it wasn’t more than a feather-light touch. The journey was over in less time, too, so I didn’t need to hold my breath so long.

  But as soon as we landed, my heart clenched. Tarzi’s place looked so quiet. The windows were dark, and the trees didn’t chatter as we approached the door. The trees always chattered.

  Were we too late? We had no way to know when the sorcerer had that conversation with the demon lord. They could’ve already put their plan into action.

  Zeke nudged me with his elbow and nodded to the door. “Anyone going to knock, or should I?”

  I blew out my breath. Annoying, but he was right. I’d not learn anything standing on the grass, so I led us up the steps and rapped the knocker, hoping with all I had that we’d gotten here in time.

  Tarzi opened the door, and at the sight of us, her neutral expression collapsed. I knew then my instincts had been right. We were too late.

  Tarzi’s eyes sparkled with tears. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight, my head buried in her shoulder as I patted her back. This wasn’t her fault. She’d have done everything she could. Everything. That’s the kind of friend she was. She was practically an aunt to Amma. But my heart still broke for my sister. I was like a mother to her, and I’d let her down.

  When Tarzi’s hiked breathing settled and I felt like I could stand on my weak knees without support, we let go of each other. She looked beyond my men, scanning the road, then ushered us inside.

  My eyes darted everywhere, looking for Amma like I didn’t believe she was gone. Maybe she was hiding in the trees and would step out any minute. This couldn’t be happening.

  “You got here by portal?” Tarzi asked, crossing to the kitchen.

  “I thought that was safest,” Jaxon said.

  I nodded. It’d been sensible. Anyone could’ve been watching the roads, and I hadn’t wanted to lead demons right to Amma if she was safe. But she wasn’t safe. I leaned against the overstuffed couch. My head was spinning, and I was sure I wasn’t asking or doing the right things, but I couldn’t seem to string anything together in my mind beyond Amma’s gone.

  Tarzi put the kettle over the fire and readied four mugs without asking if we wanted tea. It wasn’t so much for us as it was to calm her nerves. It didn’t dull my panic though, even seeing her go about her usual habits.

  We’d failed Amma; we hadn’t gotten here soon enough. I glanced up, meeting Tarzi’s eyes, and saw my own guilt reflected there.

  “I’m so sorry, Del,” she whispered, her voice choked.

  I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.” It wasn’t. I knew my friend. She’d done everything she could to get us here on time. “We need to get her back.”

  Jaxon rested his hand on my back, his strength and support always there. “What happened, and when?”

  I nodded to myself. Yes, I should’ve asked that, but my mind was so scattered. Jaxon could always be trusted to cut through feelings and get to what mattered. He’d help me get Amma home. I could feel the love and support pouring down the mate bond from Jaxon and even faintly from Cooper. My men were there for me.

  Tarzi’s hand shook as she took the boiling kettle off the heat and poured water over the tea bags. “Yesterday. When our food delivery arrived, she charmed the delivery guy and freaked out. She went to walk off the weirdness in the garden. Someone took her from right under my nose!” Tarzi placed the kettle on the counter with a hard thunk. “I should never have let her out of my sight.”

  The haze in my mind lightened with outrage. No way should my friend be blaming herself like this. “Tarzi, a hundred yards or so barely counts,” I said. “Besides, you couldn’t have stopped her if she was in one of her moods.”

  I knew from experience that Amma was getting well into that awkward teenage age where emotion was like an all-encompassing thunderstorm. Sometimes she had to just leave a situation and walk in a quiet space to get through it. That’d be a million times worse now her powers were coming in. She’d feel at once invincible and overwhelmed. Not a great combo with wild teenage hormones.

  Tarzi waved her hand, dismissing me. “You know what I mean.”

  “And if you’d interfered, they’d have you too.”

  Jaxon took the tea Tarzi offered him, sniffed it, and placed it on the counter.

  Yeah, alpha-man Jaxon wasn’t likely to enjoy chamomile, but he was polite because he respected me and my friend. I leaned into him, needing him now more than ever. My sister was gone, in the hands of a demon lord, and who knew what was happening to her? I needed someone who knew how to take charge when I couldn’t, when I was drowning in worry and fear.

  “What can you tell me about who took her?” Jaxon asked, nodding to the garden which was lightening with the first hint of dawn. “How did it happen? What kind of demon were they? Did you hear or see where they might’ve gone?”

  I smiled weakly. My mate instantly knew what to do, how to figure out the next steps. My emotions bubbled inside of me, and I wanted to lash out, jump up, and run off to attack. I squeezed my hand into fists, trying to think rationally. I had to be strong too. Amma needed all of us.

  Tarzi passed a mug to Zeke, but he didn’t move to take it so she gave it to me. Glancing up, I met Zeke’s eyes over her shoulder. Fury bubbled in him too. Not the hot anger that Jaxon so tightly controlled, keeping him in alpha-planning mode, but a sharp, electric anger. The dark kind of fury that would be driving me to madness if I hadn’t pulled on my mate bonds to keep my cool. Why did he care? He was just here for the sorcerer, wasn’t he? And if that roared in him too, how did he ever keep a mask in place?

  I blew away the steam from my tea as Tarzi finally settled enough to sip her own drink.

  As stupid as the tea ritual seemed, she needed that moment of normalcy to talk about this. To get through the emotion. Hell, my nerves felt less frazzled with a hot drink in my hands, too. She’d say that was down to the herbs, but I think it was my demon blood’s love for heat.

  I shook my head. I couldn’t afford to bury myself in tangents and irrelevance. I had to face this head-on, like Jaxon did, no matter how painful it was.

  “I heard Amma scream. That’s the first I knew something was wrong,” Tarzi said. “I ran to the back door, threw it open, and tore down the garden, but they were already dragging her through a portal. They were well organized. In and out in under five minutes, I’d guess.”

  Jaxon nodded slowly. “A well-trained team, with a prepared getaway.”

  “They’ll be much harder to face,” Zeke stated. The roughness in his voice was harsh if you didn’t see the fire in his eyes. He was assessing the threat as much as Jaxon.

  He was also stating the obvious. I glared at him. I knew that. We all knew that. But we needed to do something. My hands gripped the mug tightly as I tried to parse my thoughts. “A portal maker? We could track him down?”

  Jaxon nodded. “Any idea who this demon was?”

  “No.” Tarzi sighed. “He was average looking for one of their kind and not someone I’d worked with before. I’d hazard a guess he either works with this extraction team or the demon lord, rather than being open to general requests.”

  So he would be well protected and difficult to find. “How about the sorcerer’s dreams? Could you get back into them, see where he’s gone?”

  Tarzi grimaced. “If you want to wait a few nights until I’m able to get the info we need.”

  The unsaid words came through loud and clear: they could do anything to her in that time, put her somewhere I’d never find her. I pulled my hand down my face and looked around at my team. Jaxon was brimming with restrained energy but thoughtful and considering. He wanted to think it through first, and I wanted to run out the door. Zeke was pacing his corner of the kitchen, his lips turning down when I looked at him. Did he sympathize with me? I wondered after the look he’d given me earlier, but no, couldn’t be. He wanted the sorcerer, and no sorcerer was here. I got it. Tarzi was . . . still dazed but coming back into herself. I’d need her totally focused on this.

  I met Tarzi’s eyes. “We have to go to the demon lord.”

  She laughed so shrilly it was almost a shriek. “Are you mad? You want to go there and confront him? That dream I showed you was a nightmare for a reason. You can’t just walk into the demon lord’s palace and demand answers.”

  “I can’t sit here either! He has my sister!” I hauled in a breath and dialed in my frustration. “If we confront him, get in his face, maybe he’ll let something slip.”

 

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