Page 19 of Another Underworld

The bile rose in my throat as Candy Vargo continued to pour her blood into their bodies. Pandora chanted and joined Abaddon by Candy’s side as they held up the Keeper of Fate. It felt like hours, but was more likely minutes when putrid black smoke turned white and everything stopped.

Staring at the carnage in my living room, it looked like nothing had survived the expulsion of the death magic. Not the lifeless-looking Dagon and Shiva. Not even Candy Vargo. The powerful Keeper of Fate had collapsed on top of the Demons as soon as the black thread-like smoke had dissipated. I blew out a long, slow breath as the magic left the room.

I shivered, rubbing my arms, as the air suddenly became lighter. The suffocating magic was completely gone, and I could breathe easily again.

“Are they...” I pursed my lips, bracing myself for bad news.

My mouth dropped open as Dagon wheezed his first inhalation, Shiva’s chest rising and falling as well. The Demons wounds, old and new, began knitting back together with alarming speed.

“Motherfucker,” Candy choked out, crawling off the prone bodies of Dagon and Shiva. Abaddon helped her to her feet. She coughed and hacked for a few seconds, clutching her chest as if she were holding it all in. Her eyes were full of blood, blinding her—a side effect of the magic, probably—and rasped, “Did it work?”

Pandora squatted down and placed a hand on each of the Demons’ chests. “It did.”

Candy Vargo rubbed her eyes, and they went back to normal. “That’s better,” she said. “At least I can see again.” She narrowed an assessing gaze at the two Demons, her eyes shifting back and forth between them. After a few seconds, she threw her head back and barked a laugh as she collapsed, hitting the ground with a thud.

I sprinted over and took her in my arms. “What do you need? What can I do?”

She opened one eye and groaned. “I need to sleep this shit off for a while. You got a guest room?”

“Yep,” I said, helping her back to her feet.

She was bleeding from her hands still, and it smelled of sulfur and rot. “My guestroom is yours for as long as you want,” I told her. “There’s a shower in the ensuite if you want to clean up first.”

She waved off the suggestion. “Gonna need someone to watch over me and the idiots on the floor,” she instructed. “Don’t move those fuckers. They’ll get up when it’s time.” She fumbled her hands over her shirt, her hands shaking badly.

“Who are you looking for?” I asked. “Let me help, okay?”

Candy Vargo shook her head as she managed to pluck the toothpick holder from her pocket, but she dropped it.

I picked it up and opened the box. “How many?” I asked.

“Six,” she replied, her voice weaker than I’d ever heard it.

“Got it.” I put the six toothpicks between her teeth and waited for her to chomp down hard before letting them go. “Who do you want watching over you? Fifi? She’s pretty badass too.”

“Nah.” Candy grimaced as she shifted her weight. “Get my buddy Tim,” she said. “He might seem mild-mannered, but he’s a beast. He’ll protect the three of us until I’m up and at ‘em.”

“On it,” Cher said, whipping out her cell phone. She went to the kitchen to chat with Tim. When she came back, she had another pile of sandwiches. “Tim’s on his way. He’s bringing a casserole.”

Candy Vargo groaned, then said, “I supposed it can’t be helped.”

Great. More company in my small two-bedroom bungalow and...Shit. My bedroom was a torn-up sex den. Where would Tim sleep?

Abaddon, who could apparently read my mind, gave me a wink. “I’ll clean the house.”

I gave him a grateful smile. I might have a shitload on my plate, but expecting Tim, who was coming to help, to sleep on a torn-up bed was rude. Rudeness to people I liked wasn’t in my wheelhouse.

“When shall we leave?” Pandora asked, looking wildly unsure of herself.

I understood the feeling. I had a lot of uncertainty about what we’d come up against once we got to the Darkness, and, unlike Pandora, my castle hadn’t been destroyed, and my name wasn’t a curse. Even so, avoiding our duty wasn’t going to get the job done.

“As soon as Tim gets here, we’re out,” I announced. “Everyone, eat up. We’re going to need our strength and then some.”

No truer words had ever been spoken.

CHAPTER SIX

The transportinto the Darkness had been painful, but I’d come to expect it. Everything in the Immortal world came at a steep price. Getting from one place to another with magic was one of those events that was never free or easy. Back in the old days—a month ago, to be precise—I thought an ingrown toenail was agony…

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