Page 68 of Queen of Darkness
Once she was gone, we could truly begin to explore these feelings and what they entailed for the future. We just had to survive plunging into the Underworld first.
Drakul just grunted, adjusting his sword in its sheath.
“Whatever,” Aaron muttered dismissively at the crusty old vampire. “Let’s move out.”
As a group, we approached the portal. Hands were linked to shoulders, ensuring we stayed connected and all ended up at the same place.
Heat washed over me like a wet cloth, the first confirmation I had that we’d succeeded in reaching the realm. Bright red-orange light was the next, the sky the same color as the land around us.
We emerged onto a flat, blasted hellscape that stretched for miles in every direction. The ground was dried to the point of cracking, a maze of spiderweb-like fractures spreading out endlessly around us. There wasn’t a tree, shrub, or bush to be seen. Ahead of us rose mountains. Behind …
I shuddered at the inky gray-black that marked the edge of Hades’ realm. What happened if someone stepped out there, I didn’t know. Nor did I have any interest in finding out.
“Long way from where we need to be,” Jaxton said gruffly, glaring at Fenrir.
“Did you want me to bring us out in the middle of some of his troops? Near a well-used entrance, perhaps? I’m sure that would have gone over well.”
“Might have saved us time,” I said, starting forward. “It won’t be long before he realizes I’m here anyway. That way would have simply meant we had an answer sooner. We don’t have time to waste trekking across this.”
Yet, we advanced into the wasteland anyway.
“Out here, the lord of this realm will have to send someone to intercept us,” Fenrir explained, carefully not using Hades’ name to avoid drawing his immediate attention to us. It wasn’t wise to use any god’s name within their realm unless you were on good terms with them. “They’ll likely not want to fight all of us, being more willing to carry a message back to him.”
“He might have a point,” Fred said. “Out here in the badlands, nothing ever happens. If his highness isn’t paying attention, he’ll send a minor demon to investigate. That might actually work in our favor.”
“Still should have told us,” Aaron said.
“Nobody asked,” Fenrir retorted with a shrug.
It bothered me how distant Fenrir had grown. What was going on with him? Maybe we hadn’t been best friends, but he was withdrawing from everything around him recently.
Ever since he met Drakul …
I mused that over for a bit, wondering if the answer could be as simple as I thought it might be. If it was, perhaps I should go easier on him. After all, there were others who had acted like this. Were they for similar reasons?
My eyes shifted back to Aaron.
Fred grunted. “We have a problem.”
Instantly, all attention was on the vampire who always seemed to know a bit more than he let on. I didn’t have time to worry about that now because my gaze was fixed on the tip of his outstretched finger. On the “problem” he’d pointed out.
A problem soaring through the sky toward us, on wings blacker than night.
“Either he’s really far away …”
“Or he’sreallybig,” Aaron finished as the figure in the sky grew larger.
And larger.
“Yep, we definitely have a problem,” Fenrir said, shuffling sideways.
Away from me.
“So much for sending a minor demon,” I said, watching what could very well be my doom approaching us, knowing there was very little I could do about it.
Just standing there and taking it would be hard enough. As the giant approached, he brought with him a dark and oppressive energy. Its presence slammed down through the stifling heat, slapping me and the others to the ground. Not even Fenrir could resist the might of such a being.
My wolf was going crazy, trapped inside my mind, howling at me, begging to be let out. She was faster; she could run away from this. Take us to freedom, anything that would stop the fear from his presence spreading through us.
