“Or maybe, my dearest daughter—” His voice starts changing and becoming higher. His skin darkens, as his hair grows longer and turns pure white, and his eyes change before me. “You’d prefer me as Anwen better?”
I stumble back and bump into something, but my eyes don’t leave the Fate I met in my first week in this world.Talk about the ultimate fuck you.
An…wen?
Wh-what—No.Bile burns in the back of my throat as my stomach hardens with horror. Thoughts of our past interactions run through my mind, and I question it all. Was any of it real? Was what Anwen told me about my purpose real if she was really Aaron? What is going on? I am so lost…
“Fate got your tongue?” Anwen/Aaron says. What do you even call someone like this? I sure as hell am not calling him dad. Monster maybe. “Let’s talk.” They hold out their hand and gesture back to the shadows where Cain sits, looking slightly frustrated at the interruption.
‘Stay in the light.’
“About more lies?” I challenge, slightly turning my head and seeing a portal shimmer in the light behind me. I don’t know who conjured it; it could’ve been Cain for all I know. But the look on Aaron/Anwen’s face is worried as they see me notice it.
“Wait! Nerezza, don’t g?—”
I don’t wait to see what else they say. I step back and fall into the portal, trusting that wherever I land, it will be better than here with my sperm donor.
CHAPTER 30
Where’s the Respect?
Ryker
Istep outside of the cave and take a deep breath in and exhale. The smell of brimstone reminds me of home. Well, second home. I’m not too familiar with the area, though. The only places I was really allowed to go were Mom’s house and the supervised places she allowed, like the training gym, L.A.M.B.’s residence, and the royal hunting grounds. This place doesn’t look like it would be allowed in her approved books at all.
Although there aren't anyhardrules about where the Gauntlet can take place, we have up to a week to finish it. Technically, they wouldn’t send us anywhere that could mess with the time, so we have to be on Level One in Hell. But we’re definitely nowhere near where I grew up.
Judging by the setting sun, it’s late in the day, and we need to find some shelter, which is easier said than done, since the land is barren from what I can see. The ground is black and red with deep-looking crevices, as if it’s never seen a drop of water in over a century, and there’s not a lot of trees around for coverage. Hell, I can count the few here on both of my hands, which doesn’tbode well for us. Off in the eastern sky, there looks to be some structures, but it’s hard to tell what they are from here.
“Well, this is definitely a different welcome since last time,” Lynx says, looking around with his hands on his waist, looking like a douche.
“Wow, it amazes me that she puts up with you still,” Knots retorts as he walks by.
“It’s because of my cock. It outshines all of yours. And if that wasn’t glorious enough, I’m the oldest friend, so I outrank all of you.” He presents the widest smile ever, and I roll my eyes before looking behind him to find Rez to knock him down a peg.
Instead, Reaper runs out with his leash trailing behind him, and I shift my weight as I get a bad feeling in my gut.
“Where’s Rez?” I ask, looking around JP as he comes out of the cave.
He stops short and points over his shoulder as he looks at me wide-eyed. “She was right behind me,” he says, turning to look over his shoulder to search deeper into the tunnel. He looks down at Reaper and his leash, and his eyebrows jump to his hairline before he turns and runs back in. Knox grabs Reaper and focuses on him. I’m sure he’s trying to work out what happened, but I can’t wait. I take off with Zeke on my heels.
“I don’t see her, Ry,” he exclaims. I know his eyesight is definitely better than mine, so I don’t question, but I have to know for myself.
“She was just fucking here,” I growl out. I turn back and stomp up to Knox, getting into his face.
“You can feel her, right? Can you tell where she’s at? Tell me she’s okay, tell me she's still alive,” I demand, my heart’s pounding out of my chest, but I need some kind of reassurance.
Knox looks at me and nods.
“Yeah, I can still feel her and tell that she’s close, even though I don’t see her. It’s as if she’s here in Hell, but cloaked. It’s hardto describe, but wherever she’s at, she’s annoyed but not hurt,” he reassures me, even though he carries a frustrated expression.
“Is there anything else you can pick up with your link?” I probe, and Knox cocks an eyebrow at me like I’m daft. “Yeah, I know that was a stupid question too,” I admit with a sigh as Reaper breaks free of Knox’s hold.
He growls and jumps into the air a few feet away, but instead of landing on the ground as I expected, he hangs by his jowls from something unseen before his flames flare, causing a wave of effects of chaos. A small cyclone of gray color ripples around Reaper's flames, and I catch the shimmering of the glamour as a scream rips through the setting sun. All eyes turn to focus on our little Reaper as he growls and paws at the cloaked figure, who appears out of nothing before us.
The nails in his paws lengthen to gouge at their chest cavity as he rips through their armor and into their flesh, cutting off their screams. What seems to take a good five minutes is truly over in a few seconds, to the point I barely have time to process what happened, let alone discover who our attacker was.
“D— Did Reaper just save us?” Chester asks, pushing up his glasses.
