“Hfmph,” was the only response Rian received, but he was determined to have the crazy old dragon hear him out.
Starting at the night on the beach when he first saw Audrey to their fight in the yard not long before, the Dragon Leader explained in explicit detail everything that had happened. When he was finished, there were several moments of utter silence. The looks on his brothers and brethren’s faces all said they were digesting everything he’d just said, even those who’d heard it before. Something about hearing it all at once with no interruptions had left them speechless.
Rian felt it too. The true magnitude of the situation was daunting to say the least. The list of things at stake was unimaginable. Should they fail to bring Audrey home, Rian was doomed to a life of loneliness and an early death. If Kayne fell into the hands of not just Adramelech, but any Demon Lord, the world as they knew it would never be safe again. If the Focus Stone fell into the hands of anyone in hell, dark magic could overtake all they’d ever known.
Love was what had brought Rian to this fight, but now there was so much more at stake. Audrey was and would always be his number one priority, but he couldn’t turn his back on his kin. Thankfully, Lance’s question pulled him from his thoughts before they turned dark.
“Well, damn. I’m not the last Golden Dragon. There’s a chance Kayne is still alive.”
“I was sure you would lose your mind when you found out,” Rory teased.
Shaking his head, Lance chuckled. “Nah, actually I’m kinda glad. I always hated the idea of being the last golden, ya’ know? I mean I’m sure Doc and I will have little ones but it feels right to know there’s another out there.” He grinned his patented shit-eating grin a split second before turning to Rian with a straight face and adding, “What freaks me out is that the Universe actually made a woman strong enough to deal with your shit.”
Laughter erupted. Even Maddox had a smile on his face as the laughter died down and he spoke. “I see you had your reasons. I think you should’ve come to me, but I can see why you didn’t. Your dad lost his mind when he found Riona, too. Seems like you O’Reilly boys fall hard for your women.”
The crazy old dragon winked at Royce before continuing, “I haven’t forgiven you. Don’t know if I ever will trust you again, but I understand why you did it and I’ll help get your mate back and bring Kayne home. Just don’t make me work with Eleanor. That witch makes my skin crawl.”
“No worries. Kyra, Calysta, Alicia, and the McKennons will be helping with all things witchy,” Royce said as he stood and stretched.
A brief look of panic flashed across Maddox’s face when Royce named the white witches aiding them in their rescue mission. Rian had to wonder what had the old dragon on the run but thought better about asking. The peace between them was tenuous at best. The Dragon Leader stored it away, deciding to pursue it later.
“Okay, now that we’re all playing nice again, I’m thinking we need a plan. I’ll take the book and find out everything I can about the River Lethe and how to get to it. I’m thinking after grabbing your mate and slaying the Chancellor,” Brannoc nodded to Rian, “we’ll be off to get Kayne out of whatever hole they put him in and we need to know where in hell we’re going. Then, all that will be left will be to get some hair from a Hellhound’s belly and we’re headed back topside.”
“You make it sound like we’re baking a cake.” Kellan’s low raspy voice only added to the humor of his flat statement.
Laughing aloud, Rory added, “Only you would equate a trip to hell with baking a cake, Kell.”
“I like cake,” was all the scarred Guardsman said as the group once again howled with laughter.
Only dragons could make a party out of going to hell…
6
Magic sucks! Just sucks! That’s all there is to it.
Audrey had resorted to talking to herself during her down times, also known as her ‘BTB’ – between the beatings. After the first good thrashing Adramelech gave her, the princess thought her death was a forgone conclusion. She’d said her goodbyes to the man who owned her heart—even if it was only to the glimmer of the bond they shared buried deep in her soul, told the Universe thanks for the opportunity—sorry it didn’t work out—and had given a big ol’ zerbert to the rest of the world, who she wasn’t really thrilled with anyway.
Words could not describe Audrey’s fury when she woke up chained to a stone slab and well on her way to being completely healed. To say she was livid would’ve been the understatement of the year. She’d thought for sure her days in hell with the Chancellor and his many inventive forms of torture had come to an end. Had welcomed it. Prayed death would be the eternal equalizer she’d always been told it was. But for some reason, Fate or the Universe or just the same stupid dumb luck she’d had her entire life had seen fit to allow Adramelech to work his magic to keep her alive.
Once she’d come to tenuous terms with her deliverance from the afterlife, the mysterious absence of the Chancellor for the next seven days became glaringly obvious and very welcomed. At least she thought it had been a week. Time moved differently in the Underworld; it was one of the many things Audrey had never truly gotten used to. But before she’d been caught sneaking topside, Adramelech had always made sure she had a calendar. It helped to know days were actually passing and she wasn’t in some sick time loop that never ended.
Not that my life is all that different from a never-ending circle of insanity. Cue the maniacal laughter.
She knew it was just another mind game in his vast bag of tricks. He’d even told her so and said he had hoped that if she couldn’t count the number of days she’d been under his control, she would eventually give up her fight and become a willing servant. What he didn’t count on was the passing of time actually fueled the fight within her.
Luckily, since she was away from her room and her calendar, and lost as to how long she’d been comatose, Audrey heard a random demon say the Full Moon Celebration was still two weeks away. Simple math meant that on top of being strapped to a rock for the week she’d just lived through, there was the week before that, in which she’d been unconscious and healing since she’d been flogged on the night of the last full moon. She was shocked to find out the Chancellor had left her alone for so long. Of course, no sooner had she thought it than he showed up and the beatings resumed.
He was back to being careful of her face and only beating her to the point where, with the help of his nasty black magic, she would be fit as a fiddle and ready for more abuse in four days. Today would mark the third day of rest for this round, and if she was keeping up with her dates, the full moon was only five days away.
“Well, aren’t you looking no worse for wear, princess darling?” For the millionth time Audrey prayed to be deaf to the sound of his voice. It truly was the most irritating sound in the Universe.
Deciding to play along and get the beating over with, she snorted. “It was nothing a little rest and black magic couldn’t cure. Of course, we could avoid all this nastiness if you’d just finally kill me. I mean, what’s the problem, big guy?”
She gave her best imitation of Mae West and even winked when she called the Chancellor big guy. Audrey may have been locked in hell for a century, but if there was one thing the occupants of the Underworld loved, it was pop culture. She’d been kept apprised of every trend from the flappers of the nineteen twenties to the Cosby kids of the eighties and most recently texting on an iPhone. Naturally, Adramelech would have none of it. He kept her in petticoats and wanted her to retain the olde world style of speech, but to the latter, Audrey had flatly refused.
When the Chancellor didn’t answer, the princess pushed harder. “Don’t have it in ya’?”
Adramelech took a long, slow breath. Audrey could almost hear him counting to ten to keep from striking her where she lay.
