Page 59 of Underworld

I grin as we continue down the hallway. The enemy will pay if they have harmed my Hounds. I am the Queen of the Underworld, and it is about damn time people understand that.

Jace slams through the front doors, and we follow behind, slipping into formation. I wasn’t prepared for the utter silence that greeted us. There are no Hounds. Anywhere. The doors behind us shut, then there's a click. What the fuck? I turn to find Alec trying to rip the doors open, but nothing happens. Our doors should not lock on their own. The only people controlling anything in this compound are in the security room.

Fucking hell . . . someone must have hacked into our system. The only way anyone could hack into the system is from the inside. No one could get through Howe’s protections . . . except if they had access from the inside. Which means we have another snake in our cave. Son of a bitch!

I look over to Howe to find his eyes glowing with rage. Someone on the security team betrayed us.

I hear the scuff of boots and look around to find we are no longer alone. Fuck . . . Guess we found the gang that is trying to take control. We’ve found the leader. Men pour out of the fog around us, and the guys shift closer to me. Fuck. FUCK. FUCK!

We are surrounded. No security. No Hounds. Just us.

FUCK . . .

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Jane

A lone figure walks out between the crowd of people surrounding us. The man is wearing a Persian mask; at least, I think it's a Persian mask. I remember briefly that the Persians were enemies of the Greeks, which makes this whole situation ironic but also highly irritating.

His voice sounds distorted as he says, “Seems the rulers of the Underworld are about to fall.”

“Says who?” Jace snarls.

The man gestures to the people behind him. I’m not sure how many people are followers versus people he conned into working with him. Although, at the moment, that doesn’t matter. He has the numbers.

We weren’t expecting an ambush from the gang we had been trying to track down for weeks. We should have been notified that they were out here, but that would be hard, considering no one was out here to notify us. I look around, hoping to see any of our Hellhounds. They should be here by now. Which means something is very wrong. Silas and Jax should have been here by now as well.

The gang leader takes a step forward, moving closer to us. His crooked smile shining through the mask. “Are you looking for your Hellhounds?”

Jace sneers. “What the fuck do you mean?”

He points to me, then to Jace. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re wondering where your backup is.” The guys behind him snicker as he continues, “We’ve created a bit of a . . .” He uses the tip of his gun to make a swirling motion in the air. “Diversion.”

He waves a few of his men forward, and we all instantly crouch down in a fighting position. I feel Howe at my back instantly as he takes my six. Zane does the same to Jace. Alec takes the spot right next to me. I huff a sigh. Fucking hell. Here’s to hoping Tony did a great job creating our weapons.

The guys had let it slip that Tony had made my new daggers. He had also made Zane a scythe, and I have to admit, I’d never seen that man smile as big as I did that day. For Howe, Tony had made custom double daggers attached with a chain so he could throw and swing them around. What makes them even better is that the blades look like the bottom jaw of a Canine. The sharp points look like canine teeth. Tony had given Alec a sharp as fuck spear, but he left it inside the compound. At the moment, I was glad he had several guns strapped to him. Jace also was given a weapon, but I haven’t gotten the chance to see it. He also has several guns and knives strapped to him.

The gang boss laughs as he gestures to his goons. “Play fair, boys. Don’t kill them too fast.”

The men close in to begin their fun. I begin slicing. I fight off as many as I can without breaking our huddle. But there are too many of them, and I’m slammed to the ground. Jumping back up as fast as I can, I find the others now feet away from me instead of inches. The men try to push us even further apart from each other as we fight off multiple assailants.

My breaths are coming quickly as I fight with everything inside to cut down the men attacking me. It's as if they are a hydra. Once I cut down one, another takes his place. I can hear the grunts and yells of my men around me. No longer able to see me, or I them. I’m suddenly pushed onto the ground, and a body slams down on top of me, holding me down. I scream in frustration as my daggers are ripped out of my hands, and a boot slams down on my head, smashing my face into the dirt.

“Oh, let the Queen up enough to see her men.” the gang leader says with a laugh.

The body on top of me shifts so he can pull my arms around my back. He pulls them high, and I have to hold back my groan of pain. The boot on my head lifts, and I’m about to fight until I feel cold metal press against my head. Fucking hell.

Growls from my guys echo around me, and I try to peek through the curtain of my hair. Well, those fucking hair ties were shit. My stomach drops at what I see. All of my guys are being restrained, granted it’s by several men. But . . . restrained nonetheless, and they won’t do anything with a gun to my head.

My eyes narrow when I hear the gang leader laugh. “Seems the demons of the Underworld can be tamed after all. All I needed to do was take their Queen.”

I grunt and snarl, “Who the fuck says you have the fucking Queen?”

The leader looks in my direction, then snaps his fingers. The metal kissing my head is removed, but I scream when I’m pulled up by my hair. I gnash my teeth and growl, trying to fight until the bite of metal is against my temple.

The leader smirks at me and continues his evil monologue, “As I was saying. If I want to take over the Underworld, I need to take the Queen.” His eyes shift from me to Jace. “But we all know that although the Queen may hold the power of the Demons, the King holds all the power of the Underworld. So if I want the Underworld, I need to take both.”

He points his gun at Jace for a second before sighing. “But this seems so very anticlimactic so . . .” He points to the guy standing beside Jace and the guy holding him. “Let’s see what happens when he slices his throat open.”

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