Page 32 of Releasing Darkness

“King Varos.”

I jerked my head back as I came to a complete stop. “What the fuck did you call me?”

“I am your mother’s personal guard, though I pretend to work for the false king. I have been waiting for you in the case that you might need help with safe passage through the portal.”

I studied the man as he knelt before me, his blond head still bowed reverently. A flicker of memory flitted through my mind, one from when I was younger. This guard was always near, and the way he looked at my mother was far more intimate than a guard should ever look at their superior. But he wasn’t just a guard, was he? My brothers and I had known, though our mother had never confirmed our suspicions.

“Asmodeus.” My voice was thick with emotion, barely a rasp as I said the name of the demon who I knew had sacrificed his own throne to stay by my mother’s side as her protector. How long had they been in love without the ability to show it freely? “My mother…”

He stood then, lifting his head proudly as he looked me in the eye without flinching. “She is well, my King. I have seen to it.” There was a hint of anger and defiance, and I knew that the suspicions we’d had as young men were true. Lucifer had hiseye on our mother before he even came of age. As a demoness, she was still young in appearance and far more beautiful than most. She also held great power and position as one of the first demons to be created. If he had her as his mate and consort, most wouldn’t dare oppose him.

I glanced down at Sasha, noting the wound that was struggling to heal. “We were attacked. The harpy that sliced into her was wielding a strange metal on her talons.” I shook my head and looked back up at the demon who I had respected as a boy. I need to get her help immediately.

Asmodeus looked at Sasha with sadness. “I am sorry for your mate, Varos. I have heard of this metal. Lucifer has been experimenting with weapons, and I am afraid he finally found one that is capable of killing even those with the ability to heal from any wound.” He shook his head slowly, defeat lining his face. “I don’t know of a cure.” He turned to look at the portal and then back at me. “The Fates were clear that you should return to your brothers. Perhaps it is possible they have foreseen this as well and know there is a way to heal your young mate.”

The sound of hoofs had both of us turning, Asmodeus with his sword already raised for battle and myself with my teeth bared and wings extended. Without looking at me, Asmodeus snarled, “Take her through the portal. Now! I will not allow a single enemy through.”

I spun and ran toward the distorted ring of black iridescent light but paused just before taking the step needed to enter. “Thank you. Tell my mother?—”

“I will! Now go before they see you and know where to find you!” He bellowed.

Without another word, I stepped through the portal, hoping that he was right and that the Fates would take me to a cure for my mate.

As the world changed around me, I stumbled to a halt. Everywhere I looked was something new to see. The walls were of some material I had never imagined, and the floor was made from wooden planks that gleamed under a type of lighting that wasn’t emitting smoke from a flame. Ahead was a large metal door that had a seem down the middle and a panel of round disks next to it that I could only surmise were controls of some kind. The demon who stood before me with his mouth agape as he stared at me in shock began to pull something small and rectangular from his trousers pocket.

As I snarled at him, not knowing if he was a friend or foe, he held up a hand and demanded, “Stop! What are you doing with Sasha? Is she alright?” He took a step forward to get a better look, but I jerked back, holding her closer to my chest, not wanting this male to even look at my mate.

“Get my brother! Get Varek immediately!” I roared, satisfied when I saw him flinch.

“Oh… fuck. Okay, I’ll call him now.” He held the rectangular device to his ear and began speaking again, only I didn’t think he was talking to me. “Boss. Sasha is back, and it looks like she’s really hurt.” He kept his eyes on me as he lowered his voice. “There is a guy here who came through the portal and is holding her. He looks… like you.”

I grew impatient as I waited for him to do something other than to speak to himself. “My brother! Now!”

The demon swallowed and put the device back into his trousers. “Okay, man. Okay.” He turned and pressed one of the disks on the wall, and it immediately lit up. I growled as I watched his movements. A trill came from near my ear, reminding me that Sasha’s pet still rested on my shoulder. The demon stiffened when he noticed the sonwhen. “Hey! You're not supposed to bring anything through from the Underworld.” He took a step forward aggressively, and I instinctively swung mywing forward, pinning him to the strange wall behind him with the sharp tip of my wing and the shadows that belonged to me.

“You will not touch him.” I let out a snarl, baring my fangs and ready to rip out his throat if he made another move. There was a quiet sound like that of a bell, and the metal panels beside us slid open.

“Brother, can you let my guard go before you kill him?”

The sound of a voice I heard only in memories, one of the voices that kept me sane in the darkness, pulled me back from the blood lust I had been falling into. As I turned my head and met the green eyes of Death, I nearly fell to my knees as they became weak. Somehow, even after traveling with Sasha and hearing her tales of my brothers and the promises of seeing them, a part of me doubted. But there he stood with so much relief radiating from him at seeing me that I felt myself cracking. Piece by piece, all the jagged pieces of self-protection that I'd built around my hopes and dreams of one day being free again began to crumble and fall away.

“Brother,” I gasped, stumbling back. “She saved me. She brought me to you.” I felt my eyes sting as my whole body trembled. “She saved me,” I whispered again as I glanced down at my mate lying in my arms, bleeding. “Please, brother. Please help me save her.”

Varek stepped forward as a drop of water hit my mate’s cheek and rolled down to her chin before disappearing. “I’ve got her, Varos. We’ll help your mate. I promise you, we will save her.”

As he gently took her from my arms, my knees collapsed, and I hit the floor with my head bowed in either defeat or relief. I wasn’t sure what I was feeling as the emotions swarmed over me, biting and stinging my insides. I bellowed my pain, but it was only inside my head. I found myself in too much pain to let it out, lest it never stop.

A small hand touched my shoulder as I knelt on that floor in a similar position as the one I’d been held in for so long, my chains no longer visible but weighing on me just the same.

“Varos, my name is Juliette. I’m Varek’s mate. I can take you to a room so you can rest.” The softly spoken words had me lifting my head. The female I saw was small, even smaller than my mate, with long white hair. She had a jagged scar that ran from above one black eye to below, pulling her lower eyelid down.

As I took in her disfiguration, I knew that this female knew what pain was. It wasn’t the visible scar, it was in her eyes, one black and one green, that held the depth of her experience within them. I nodded once, then pushed up with one hand on the floor to stumble to my feet. Exhaustion filled my limbs as I stood before my new sister as she smiled gently at me.

Juliette took my rough hand in her small one and led me through the metal panels and into a small cube. As the doors closed nearly soundlessly, I tensed. The gentle squeeze of the female’s hand gave me the reassurance I needed to ignore the way the box moved and jerked under my feet. Within seconds, though it felt like minutes, the floor stopped moving, and the metal panels opened again. As we walked through them to a long corridor, I turned to see my brother waiting at an open door with my mate still in his arms.

I rushed to her side, glancing down to reassure myself that she was still breathing. “Can she be saved?” I asked the question that I hadn’t dared voice out loud in the hours since she’d been attacked.

Varek carried her into the room we were in front of and walked to the bed, carefully laying her down. Max immediately jumped to the bed and trilled softly as he curled up by her side. Varek lifted the bottom edge of her shirt to expose the wound,and I had to bite back a snarl at another male being so close to my mate, even if it was my brother.

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