He faced her fully and his expression was anything but kind or patient.
Gods, she was screwed.
Her tongue snaked out to moisten her dry lips. Bravado had never been so hard to force. The distrust on his face grew and the shadows he kept tucked tight around his shoulders unfurled to the width of the hallway.
She wasroyallyscrewed.
Nyx was scrambling to form her next lie when screams filtered in from the levels below. They were guttural and desperate. Some rang of pain while the others tainted the air with desperation. Daemon were dying in Club Hel and if she didn’t find a way to convince their creator that she was useful, she would be the next swimming in the river Styx.
Chaos was a flash of shadows and fury as he stormed down the hall toward the screams.
“Wait!” Nyx called after him. Which was stupid. Of course, he wouldn’t fucking wait. Nyx forced her body to move and pounded down the hallway on his trail. She wasn’t sure what her next move was, only that she couldn’t lose him. She was no stranger to life threatening situations, but running after the deathless god was a new one even for her.
Xia stood on the cold bathroom tile and stared at her gilded prison. Hate was but a burning ember in the pit of rage fueling the monster within.
Take it all,she told it.We are done being its slave.
A dam broke inside her heart and there was no holding back the power trapped behind it. Xia had feared that power her whole life, locking it down to protect the world from its cruelty as she took the brunt of its punishment. It ate at her as she forced it to wither, sentencing her mind and soul to the most painful kind of death an immortal could face. Never again would she subject herself to torture for the sake of others. She was done punishing herself.
And the Lord of Nightmares? Returning the favor of his treatment would seem like a mercy after she was finished with him.
She recalled the way he’d held her head under the water. The times he made her rewatch her sisters die and then twisted their mutilated corpses until they spat venom at her feet. All of the times he pressed his skin to hers to deepen his hold. The chaos he’d ripped to fuel his disdain for the world around him. The way his cock pressed into her hip as he laid beside her and reveled in the misery he caused.
Those memories curled like a grove of razor vines through her body, nicking and slicing until she was left in bloody tatters. But this time was different. Xia didn’t run from the pain. She welcomed it. The agony she’d felt when her sisters were slain, the despair she’d nearly drown in when he laughed at her tears. Every shiver of disgust, the longing she felt for a man she could never have. The collision was soul-shattering and Xia embraced every shard.
She would never allow herself to be numb again.
Never. Fucking. Again.
She used every miserable moment of her life to encourage the monster to rise. Her jaw ached as she seethed, her face twisted into indescribable fury as tears streamed down her face. All of the agony… all of the suffering, and all of the rage ripped from her throat in one guttural scream. Everything she’d ever felt poured into one moment.
The sea thrashed and roiled as her chaos called it forward. It lunged in crashing waves against the glass, the surface fracturing and spewing foamy water as it fought to get to her. She screamed until her lungs had no air to give, her nails digging into fisted palms and face flushing from the force of her anger. Xia stared with intent, urging the water to fight for her until the final chime of redemption rang through the air.
It reminded her of clinking ambrosia flutes as the cracks in the wall ruptured.
The monster within smiled, canines fully extended and dripping venom as the confines of her prison shattered.
Only one thought ran through his mind as he raced toward the screaming patrons of Club Hel.
Find her.
Help her.
Saveher.
Brooks jumped through shadows and shoved past the panicked mobs of people. He had no idea where the shadows had taken him. Only that when he heard that scream, heardher, chaos exploded in shock waves that rattled the Earth. Her unique essence left a tinge of sunshine in the air, a hint of sea salt on his tongue.
He didn’t know how to navigate Club Hel, but it didn't matter. If he couldn’t find Xia through his shadows, he would become the storm to clear a path to her no matter the consequences. He followed the lingering smell of her hair and the sound of herheart through the darkness. He wasn’t sure if he had a soul, but she called to something deep within.
Brooks' feet pounded against the hallways of Club Hel. Lights flickered all around as the foundation shuddered. Jagged cracks splintered up the walls as the building groaned under pressure. He stopped to gather his bearings and listen for where her chaos called. It brushed against his skin like a warning, the sweetness of her light sparking to an ember before lashing out like a solar flare. Her rage was palpable, a craving for death that spoke to blood rushing through his veins. His Siren was a goddamn force to be reckoned with.
Gilded cages hung from the ceiling with panicked females begging for someone to let them out. Some were scantily clothed while others wore nothing but a shimmering oil on their naked skin. They gripped their chests and wiped at their eyes as they screamed, but he didn’t have the luxury of time or concern for them.
The walls were lined with doors, some blocked with large pieces of the fallen ceiling while others appeared unharmed. Some of them were covered in black spatters that seemed to darken as the drone of red lights flashed across. Strings of flashing black and ruby crystals hung low from the ceiling catching the light at all angles.
A loud, rupturing boom rumbled through the floor as fissures webbed down the walls and spread toward the floor.
Brooks made to run but was so focused on finding the source of her power that he didn’t notice the clutter on the floor. When he stepped forward, his foot caught and he stumbled to the ground, his knees hitting the unforgiving marble as his hands landed in a pool of black oil.
