I curse under my breath when her eyes flash gold, but before her Divine can unleash the monster inside, she forces it down, taking steady breaths to rein in her anger.
“And her?” He nods toward Nevaeh.
Of course, they wouldn’t buy that Nevaeh is a merwarrior.
Jackson slings an arm around her, winking at the guard. “She’s for me.”
The guard’s grin turns predatory, and disgust crawls up my throat.
I force myself to look down before I punch him in the throat.
Khatri clears his throat. “Orders are to take her straight to the king.”
The guard finally looks away, and the burn of his attention fades with it.
If someone told me one day, I’d willingly return to Eldoris with my wrists bound, I would’ve laughed in their face until I popped a vessel.
I fixate on the patterns drawn in sand as my breathing grows shallow, and it gets hard to take a full breath.
Humans see art in these patterns. They take pictures, admire them, completely unaware that they’re standing over the gateway to a realm deep underwater.
The guard scans the beach, then gestures for us to step into the center of the pattern before beginning the chant to bring the gates to life.
“Abyssus abyssum invocat.”
The sand twists into a rising spiral, and the pull of Eldoris wraps around me tight and suffocating. Like it remembers me. Owns me.
The guard taps my forehead twice, harder than the others before shoving me forward.
Sand burns my eyes, and when I blink it away, I’m there. Back in his kingdom.
I wish I could call what I’m feeling nostalgia, but it’s pure dread.
I try to breathe, but the scent of this place makes me gag, reminding me of every reason I hate this place. The traditions, the people, the walls that held me captive.
Anxo and the King of Hell want to give Eldoris a chance to fix their current stance in our world, but I don’t know if they deserve it. Sometimes it’s better to burn it all and start over than to let the rot fester.
And it’s not just him. Everyone here is corrupt and vile. His warriors, the residents who sacrifice their daughters and mates to him.
They can claim it’s survival until their dying breath, but I would die before I let a predator take my child from me.
The only reason Tiberius can do whatever he wants is because people here are spineless. They’d rather cower than take a dagger to the heart and die like a warrior fighting for what’s right.
“Hazel…” Nevaeh’s hand presses against my back, grounding me, pulling me out of the hate trying to swallow me.
I fight the chokehold this place has on me and start humming, my power spilling outward, wrapping around Nevaeh, Jackson, and Khatri to hide their scents.
“Everyone okay?”Khatri asks through the link as Jackson moves ahead to check if our path is clear.
No one answers. The link stays quiet, my stomach sinks.
Fuck. What if I sent them straight into a trap? What if they got caught?
I told Anxo my insight on this kingdom is wildly outdated, but he wouldn’t listen. What if I was wrong? I can’t even imagine what I’d do if something happened to them because of me.
Before I can spiral further, Anxo’s voice cuts in.
“We’re good. Hazel was right about the entry point. Two guards saw us, but we handled it. We’re slowly moving around the slave quarters now. Everything is good so far.”
