Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight
Sorrow and Starlight: Chapter 43

I tumbled through a sea of stardust, floating past fluffy, colourful nebulas that were bigger than my mind could ever really comprehend. Then my feet hit the ground back in a misty woodland where the moonlight cut through the trees in angular shafts.

I flexed my fingers where my Phoenix fire gauntlets were wrapped around them, the clink of metal and heat of the flames within them sparking a thirst in me for a fight.

Caleb twirled his twin blades in his grip before sheathing them, one on each hip, and pushing his fingers through his gold curls, looking like a movie star ready for his close up. Just beyond him, Max brushed his hand over the metal bow strapped to his back then folded his arms, the blueish tint of his scales rippling across them and an arrogant slant to his lips that could have melted panties from fifty feet away. I turned my face to the wind, letting it tousle my half-braided hair as I glowered into the distance, ready to take on the damn world and win.

“Are you all quite done posturing like a bunch of peacocks at a tea party?” Geraldine snapped, looking between us Heirs with narrowed eyes.

Xavier and Tory shared a smirk at our expense, and I scoffed.

“It’s not our fault we’re naturally radiant,” I said.

“Naturally arrogant, you mean,” Tory corrected, arching a brow at me. She was wearing leather pants, plus a scowl deep enough to cause real bodily damage, and was looking all kinds of badass herself – she just needed to work on her signature pose and she’d be good to go. I could see it now on the front of a magazine. Bitchy Flame Eyes in beast mode.

“That too,” I agreed with a sideways grin, and she almost cracked one in response.

Oh shit, Xavier needed a team name too. I looked him over, from his athletic frame to the doom clouding his once-bright eyes, to the dark, floppy hair which glimmered with purple glitter and I instantly had my answer. Twinkle Stud.

“You are still posing like the last daisy in the meadow before a merciless winter, you heinous hound.” Geraldine darted forward, clapping me around the ear, and I yelped like a scolded pup before barking at her. She barked right back, and I straightened up to my full height, ready for a brawl, but Caleb pulled me back by the shoulder.

“Enough, we need to go,” he said firmly, and I fell under the spell of that deliciously dominant voice he kept using with me lately. Or maybe it was just that my cock was paying more attention to it these days. I’d have butted chests with him and gone Alpha Wolf on him in the past, but now…fuck, I always thought I was an unwavering Dom in the bedroom, but when it came to him, I could play Sub sometimes. Though the idea of having Cal beneath me, showing him exactly how much fun two guys could have together was seriously appealing too.

Oh my stars…I’m a switch.

“But she’s doing that thing again with her words,” I grumbled.

“I love that thing,” Max said, grinning as he stepped forward.

He leaned in to kiss Geraldine, but she ducked away from him, twirling wildly to keep out of his hold. She was the only one of us who’d decided to wear full armour for this mission, and the sharp points of the metal encasing her tits nearly took out Xavier’s eye as she continued to spin and prance away. She whipped out her flail and pointed it at Max.

“Do not distract me, you cad of a codfish. We have a duty to our dear, sweet Queen Darcy, her noble brother, and her fine fellow Orry man. We cannot dither and dother here any longer. Come – yonder!” She turned, marching off into the thick woodland, and Tory took to her side as we followed.

Xavier had a taut look on his face, and I drifted to the back of the group to join him, sensing he was all up in his feels and in need of a little Seth snug. I slipped my arm around his shoulders, but he shrugged me off, making me whine at the rejection.

“Don’t,” he muttered.

“But you’re sad or angry, or maybe both. Hang on, I’ll ask Max.” I opened my mouth to call out to my friend, but Xavier elbowed me in the ribs, and I cursed.

“Lionel is going to be so close to us today,” he said darkly. “How am I supposed to just keep away? I want to kill him, Seth. I want to make him pay for taking my mom and Darius from this world.” His hands trembled and vines curled around them, his earth Element spilling from him in his rage.

I nodded seriously, my heart sinking for him. “Dante will fry the motherfucker good. He’ll cook him up like crispy tofu, and we can get a Cyclops to pull his memories out later so we can watch it all in slow-mo on repeat with a bag of popcorn in our laps. But before that, we have to save our friends so we don’t lose anyone else.”

He looked to me, the anger in his eyes melting like hot candle wax and shifting to determination instead. “You’re right. We have to get them out.”

“That’s the spirit, Twinkle Stud.”

“What did you just call me?”

I just smiled, knowing he’d heard and that he definitely loved it. You’re welcome, Twinkle Stud.

We followed the others up to an ancient tree standing at the heart of a clearing, the bark knotted and gnarled, huge roots spreading out beneath it. There was a symbol etched into the bark of the tree in the shape of a Hydra, the little fella looking pleased to see us in the moonlight.

Tory moved forward, placing her hand against the symbol to open a secret door, and adrenaline buzzed through my veins. The dark tunnel beckoned us, and I could have sworn I heard a war drum starting up deep underground, urging us on. Or maybe it was just the frantic pounding of my heart.

I glanced up at the sky between the thick trees one last time, a meteor choosing that exact moment to speed by, heralding the event which had drawn us here. The Hydrids meteor shower grew in intensity in the heavens above, and my lips parted in awe at the beauty of the meteors streaking across the sky in blazes of celestial light.

We descended into the passage, casting Faelights to see by, and following Tory’s lead into the depths of the Savage King’s secret tunnels.

When we met a fork in the path, Tory turned to us, her sword in her grip and her eyes glinting with Phoenix fire. “We go left here, and you guys go right. Come back here as soon as you have Gabriel. Remember not to plan any of our enemy’s deaths, no matter how goddamn tempting it is. We can’t let them use Gabriel to see us coming.”

“Of course, my lady. I shall not think about how I wish to impale that terrible toad of a Dragoon Mildred on the pointiest stick I can conjure.” She whacked herself over the head hard. “Drat, there I go thinking of it. Well, it is gone now, I assure you I have no plans to make it come to fruition. Not this day, at least. But one day, I shall avenge my dear Angelica. Alas, it is not this day.”

“Be careful,” Max said to us, his gaze lingering on Geraldine.

“We shall be the most careful of caterpillars, crawling in lame Lionel’s back doors and claiming our valiant friends from his clutches,” Geraldine said with a firm nod.

“Good luck,” Caleb said, and every one of us took a quiet moment to stand in that goodbye, knowing deep down that there was a chance some of us might not make it out tonight. But we weren’t going to put a voice to any of those fears in case the stars listened in and decided to play havoc with our souls.

Max, Xavier, and Tory headed off into the dark tunnel to the left while Geraldine, Caleb and I went right, a whimper in my throat as I looked over my shoulder and silently wished them the best of fortunes.

We quickened our pace through the passage, and I inhaled the damp air, moving closer to Caleb and jolting as our hands brushed. His little finger curled around mine for the briefest of eternities, and I forgot how to draw air into my lungs, but then our hands parted again and I wasn’t sure it had even happened.

The Faelight hovering above Geraldine didn’t cast much of a glow back here, and as I glanced over to try and examine Caleb’s expression, I found him already looking at me. His features were heavily shadowed, and I wasn’t sure what to think as our eyes met and my heart rioted. I used to touch him so liberally, never thinking anything of wrapping my arms around him, nuzzling his face and neck. That was me. It was the way I was with all my friends. But now, every time my skin made contact with his, it felt forbidden. Like I was crossing some line, but I didn’t know what the line represented.

Everything had changed now, and somehow, I still had no idea where I stood. I was living in a torturous paradox, where on the one hand, I couldn’t bear the emotional pain it caused me after we’d pushed the boundaries of our relationship into friends with benefits, but on the other, I wanted Caleb to use me in any way he saw fit and feast on the scraps of his attention whenever he tossed them my way.

I had never experienced anything so hot as watching Caleb Altair fall to ruin for me, and I had never come so hard as I had with his hand wrapped tight around my cock. I was an addict for him now, and there was no hope for me. If he came to me again, I wouldn’t say no. I should have had more pride, should have protected my heart with dignity and shielded myself from the inevitable destruction that was coming my way because of this. But I was a willing sacrifice, walking into the shrine of unrequited love and handing him a knife so he could cut out the pounding muscle in my chest and devour it whole. I could think of no better end for my heart than one delivered by him anyway.

“Avast,” Geraldine hissed, and I almost crashed into her as she came to a sudden halt. “We have reached the innards of the palace. A doorway layeth here, I sense it in my brandycocks.” She ran her hands over the wall ahead of her and a grinding of stone sounded as it started to slide open.

I tensed, ready for an attack, while Geraldine raised her flail and Caleb took a dagger into his grip. Silence washed over us from an empty hallway beyond the hidden door, a navy carpet running the length of it and giant silver mirrors hanging on the walls.

Geraldine stepped out into the palace, and we followed, keeping close together while I lifted a hand to cast a silencing bubble around us along with an air shield.

“Jiminy crockpot,” Geraldine breathed in awe. “My eyes are not worthy of the beauty housed in these halls. I will scrub them with seaweed and salt upon my return to our safe haven.”

“Which way to the Seer’s chamber?” I asked.

“Yonder!” she cried, taking off at a gallop, and Caleb and I shot after her.

She was damn fast, moving like an alley cat with a feral dog on its tail, sprinting out into the next corridor before hanging right and leading us through a maze of luxurious lounges and tea rooms, then skidding to a halt in front of a grand wooden door, cupping her ear against it.

We gathered close at her back, and Geraldine caught a fistful of Caleb’s shirt, yanking him nose to nose with her.

“Put those bat ears to good use and use your auditory aptitude to gauge the danger awaiting us beyond this door, good fellow,” she commanded, grabbing onto his ear and yanking on it to get it closer to the door.

“Argh. Stop that.” Caleb knocked her away, rubbing his ear, then moving nearer to listen anyway.

Geraldine leaned close, pressing her ear to Caleb’s other ear which wasn’t against the door.

“Perhaps I can use you as an ear trumpet,” she whispered to herself, and I sniggered.

“It’s clear,” Caleb announced, stepping back and opening the door, nudging Geraldine away from him as he did so.

My heart jumped into my throat so hard it nearly knocked some teeth out as we came face to face with Stella beyond the door, her eyes widening in alarm.

“For the true queens!” Geraldine cried, leaping forward with her flail held high, swinging it toward Stella’s head without a moment’s hesitation.

Stella cried out, but her voice didn’t reach us, revealing that a silencing bubble surrounded her and in the next second, she shot backwards several feet with her Vampire speed, avoiding the brutal swing of Geraldine’s flail.

Caleb moved in a blur, rushing to catch her before she could disappear with a burst of her Vampire speed. But Stella didn’t even try to run, letting Caleb take her arm and raising her other hand in surrender.

I extended my silencing bubble over her, and she let hers pop so we could hear her.

Geraldine lunged forward again, swinging the flail like a woman possessed, rolling her hips as she went.

“Wait,” Stella gasped, her fangs winking at me from her mouth. “I can help you.”

Caleb threw an arm up to block Geraldine’s strike, the chain of the flail snapping around it, spinning around tight, and he growled through the pain.

“By the moon, Cal, are you alright?” I lurched forward, unwinding the flail from his arm, and healing away the marks.

“How dare you?” Geraldine cried, holding a hand to her chest in shock at what Caleb had done. “My flail was destined to crush the skull of this wench! She is a callous cockroach, a hag of a hornet, a-”

“Cunt of a caterpillar?” I offered.

“Precisely!” she cried. “And I shall smite her down this day in the name of her brave and fearless son, who has taught us that even a shamed creature such as he can rise back through society under the name of love, virtue, and honour!”

“She helped us before,” Caleb said and I guessed he had a point, though Geraldine also made good points. I was inclined to end Stella for her treatment of Orion alone. He was my moon friend after all, and what kind of moon friend would I be if I didn’t kill his treacherous, black-hearted mother now that the opportunity had presented itself?

“I dunno, Cal. I think her face would suit her better if she wore it on the back of her skull,” I said darkly, stepping up to Geraldine’s side. “I’d like to have the honour though.”

Caleb’s throat bobbed as he took in my words, and Stella looked to me in horror.

“I can help you,” she said quickly. “Tell me what you need.”

“We’re here to rescue our friends, of course,” I said.

“Hound, shut your flapper trap this instant,” Geraldine snapped. “Do not divulge our plans to this crustacean of a crout.”

“It’s fiiine. She’ll be dead in a sec anyway.” I slowly circled Stella, a Wolf hungering for a kill, and she twisted her head to watch me go, her eyes glittering fearfully.

I loved the power this game fed to me, and I could feel Caleb being tempted into playing along. He wanted to see me do it. He’d enjoy every second. Because we may have lived in a civilised society, but we were animals at our core. And the promise of death had all of our inner natures coming to the surface.

Caleb flashed his fangs at me in a warning to keep back, and I smiled demonically. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.

“She might be useful like last time,” Caleb said, like he was trying to talk me down, but I just licked my lips.

“We don’t need help this time,” I said. “We have a plan. What can she really offer us?”

“The whelp has a point,” Geraldine agreed. “Let us cast this wench from the world before we are found dithering here like a pot of begonias upon a doormat.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Find ɴøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Listen to me,” Stella growled. “You can take the others, but my son cannot leave here. He has-”

“Silence crone!” Geraldine threw out a hand, casting a wedge of soil into Stella’s mouth and making her choke and splutter.

I gnashed my teeth by Stella’s ear, and she flinched away from me so forcefully that she almost fell over, only remaining standing because of Caleb’s grip on her. I laughed and Geraldine sucked in both of her lips to hold back her own laugh, recomposing herself quickly.

“We must do the honourable thing by our dear professor,” Geraldine said, puffing out her chest. “We must put his mother to death.”

“Look, no one is more bloodthirsty for her death than I am,” Caleb said, his fangs out and proving he meant every word of that. “But she was useful when we went to Acrux Manor before. She might be a despicable mother to Orion, but something tells me she’s got cold feet on her evil bitch business.”

“I dunno, Cal,” I said doubtfully. “She’s probably just stalling to give Lionel time to come find her.”

Stella scraped the last of the soil off of her tongue, hissing angrily and glaring between us.

“Listen to me, Lance has taken on the burden of breaking Darcy Vega’s curse,” she said, a tremor in her tone, like she really gave a damn about her son. “He’s made a deal with the Shadow Princess. You cannot take him from this place.”

“And why would we believe you?” I snarled. “You just want to keep your son here so you can try and corrupt him again. But we corrupted him first. He’s ours. You can’t have him.”

Her lower lip trembled. “Yes, I know I lost him a long time ago, but I’m trying to protect him now. He made a Death bond with her.”

“A Death bond?” Geraldine gasped, throwing a hand to her heart. “No, it cannot be. Not my lady’s sourplum. Not her dear Orry man.”

“She’s lying,” I barked, and Stella flinched again. “Give her to me, Cal. I’ll make her tell us the truth.”

“We’re wasting too much time,” Caleb said, his brows drawn tight.

He raised his hand, slapping his palm to Stella’s forehead and casting a sleep spell on her before she could stop him. She collapsed in a heap at his feet, and Geraldine shrieked.

“I do not wish to flail her face in while she slumbers! I wish to fight her like Fae, like the glorious Gadrivelle in the war of seven soothsayers! Rouse her this instant,” Geraldine commanded, lifting her flail threateningly.

“No,” Caleb said, drooping down with a surge of speed and picking Stella up. He vanished in the next second and returned empty-handed from the direction we’d come from before we could do more than whirl around to search for him.

“Where is she?” I demanded.

“Sleeping in a chair somewhere far away from us. We’re leaving her alive, her death belongs to Orion. Besides, we’re not killing a woman who surrendered to us,” Caleb said, a ring of authority in his voice.

“But she’s awful,” I pushed, my hackles rising as I lunged at him, my chest slamming against his. “You had no right to make that decision. You’re not in charge of us.”

Caleb bared his fangs at me, his eyes sparking with a challenge, and heat coursed through my veins. He wanted a fight? I’d give him a fucking fight.

“We have a plan, and we have to stick to it. If we kill her, Vard could see it, then how long do you think we have until we’re found, huh?”

“You don’t just get to make the call. You’re an Heir, not a king,” I hissed, butting my forehead against his and growling deep in my throat. My instincts were making me feel entirely Wolf, and Caleb rose to meet the beast in me with a beast of his own.

“You’re looking to get put in your place, pup,” he warned.

“And where’s my place? Because last I checked, it was at your side, not beneath you.”

“That’s not how I remember it,” he said, a smirk tilting his lips, mocking me right fucking there in the open with what we’d done in secret.

It struck me like a bolt of lightning to my chest and I howled in rage, rearing back and slamming my fist into his face. He stumbled away with a curse, but as I went for him again, he moved with his Vampire speed, coming up behind me and locking his muscular forearm around my neck, yanking me back against him.

“Submit like a good pup,” he growled in my ear and my cock liked that a lot, but my Wolf didn’t.

I threw my elbow back hard enough to wind him, and he shot away again as I turned to get hold of him.

“IMBECILES!” Geraldine crowed, diving between us and slapping a hand to each of our foreheads as Caleb came at me from the front. She looked from me to him with her teeth bared and eyes wild. “You two have danced the four-legged mongo long enough! It is as clear as a summer’s day on a Tuesday morn that each of you are twitterpated with the other like bucktoothed rabbits gazing into the lambent glow of a thousand Faeflies. My eyes may be open, but if they were welded shut with the solder of sun steel, I would still perceive it as plainly as an unbuttered bagel. Seth Capella, you resemble a bloated cagafrog when you gaze upon this toothsome behemoth before you, and Caleb Altair, it appears as though your jaw might fall from the corners of your face and shatter against the flagstones every time you glance yonder at your merry mutt. So stop this unendurable foxtrot and lay your truths upon the chantry of each other’s fervour this instant!”

We both looked at Geraldine in dumbfounded confusion, and my mind ticked over the crazy words she’d just spewed at us. My brain was stuck on the four-legged mongo, and I couldn’t figure out what the hell she was on about. I glanced at Caleb, wondering if he was any closer to understanding her than I was, but he shook his head to confirm he was clueless too.

“Um, what?” I balked.

Geraldine threw her head back in frustration, tossing a hand to her forehead. “I couldn’t be any clearer if I knitted you both a jotsom scarf and threw you into the river of Meul. Alas, I cannot wade a single step more in this quag, it is time to we focus our attentions on our beloved Gabriel and return to our friends with him in tow post-haste. If Stella’s ramblings had any trueness to them, then we must quicken our strides and see what can be done about Darcy’s Orry man. But the sands of time are already slipping through our fingers, chaps, so we must seize the hour and forge onward.”

She took off at a furious pace, and I shared a glance with Caleb that said we were going to drop this argument for now. Geraldine was right; we had to get a move on, but I had every intention of finishing that fight with him later.

We jogged after her, following her down a hall where gleaming swords were mounted on the walls, then she stopped abruptly in front of an engraved wooden door and pointed at it dramatically with her flail.

“The Royal Seer’s Chamber,” she breathed ominously, and I drew our silencing bubble in tighter around us. “What misery shall we find our Gabriel in? What lays yonder may never be unseen.”

I moved to open the door, but Geraldine karate chopped my hand away from the handle with a ‘yah!’.

“Ow,” I cursed, narrowing my eyes at her. “Was that really necessary?”

“Your unworthy paws cannot handle the intricacies of opening such a door.” Geraldine moved forward, raising a hand in a theatrical movement then slamming it down on the handle and opening the door like a normal fucking door.

“How was that intricate?” I asked in frustration, but Geraldine was already gone, marching into the room with her flail raised high.

I followed her inside with Caleb, taking in the beautiful room where portraits of long-dead Fae stared down at us from the walls, my eyes falling on the glass throne at the centre of the chamber. It was stunning, a work of art in itself, with silver gemstones inlaid all over it, mapping out the constellations. At the far end of the chamber, a portrait of Merissa Vega hung, her face tilted towards a night sky, the beauty of her so similar to that of her daughters.

My heart sank like a stone in a well. The room was empty, nothing but chains around the chair to even suggest Gabriel had been here.

“Blaggerflooks,” Geraldine cursed, running over to the chair and dropping down to run her hands over the seat. “It’s as cold as a winter’s eve. Not an echo of the warmth of his dandy buttocks remains. He has been gone some time. Or perhaps he was never here at all.”

“Let’s head to the tower,” Caleb said decisively.

“Yeah, I’ll lead the way,” I said, throwing him a look that said ‘stop being a bossy asshole’.

“How about I carry you both and speed this shit up,” Caleb suggested, eyes glittering.

“I can walk just fine,” I said stubbornly.

“Nonsense you nincompoop.” Geraldine slapped me around the back of the head. “We shall ride upon our fangly steed and quicken this escapade up a notch. Let us head thither at once!” She leapt onto Caleb’s back, wrapping herself around him and Caleb opened his arms for me.

“Hey, how come I have to ride in your arms like a baby? I’ll go on your back. Get down Geraldine.” I moved forward, grabbing her leg, but she kicked out like a new-born foal, her boot slamming into my dick.

“Motherfucker.” I crumpled with a howl of pain, and Caleb took the opportunity to scoop me up in his arms and shoot off into the palace. I wasn’t being held like a baby at all – I was a motherfucking purse hanging limp beneath a grandma’s arm.

“Left, right, left,” Geraldine called the directions to him, tugging on his ears to drive him like a racehorse while I craned my neck to scowl up at them.

“Stop that,” Caleb hissed, but Geraldine ignored him, steering his head this way and that, and he couldn’t do anything about it while his arms were wrapped tight around me.

We soon entered the tower and started circling up the dark spiral stairway so fast that my head spun.

“Avast!” Geraldine roared the order to stop, and Caleb came skidding to a halt at the top of the tower, right before a door. We were on a dark landing with black brick walls and a worn wooden floor. The single window high above us let in little of the moonlight, and I didn’t think it was worth casting a Faelight in case it drew attention.

I pushed out of Caleb’s arms and Geraldine jumped down, rushing forward to feel out the area for defensive spells.

“Drat, there’s a security ward here. I shall try to disable it. Come, Caleb, lend me your power.” She snatched his hand into her grip, and I pursed my lips at them as he offered her power and the two of them got on with their little job together.

“Fine, I’ll just stand here like an unwanted almond,” I said loudly, but they ignored me. “No one likes an almond.”

They kept their backs to me, and I growled, moving further along the wall that blocked our way into the room, brushing my fingers over it with the hand that held the ring Tory had gifted me, hoping there might be a secret passage which would let us in so I could save the day.

“Even almonds don’t like almonds. They’re the eggplant of the nut world,” I muttered. “Actually, I don’t think they’re even a true nut. I’m pretty sure they’re a seed posing as a nut. Fucking undercover little seedling bastards.”

I left them with their own silencing bubble as I moved further away, casting one around myself and continuing to delve deeper along the shadowy passage.

A grumbling of stone made me pause and I whipped around, hoping to find a doorway opening in the wall, but instead just one single brick slid aside, giving me a view into the room beyond. I shuffled in close to the wall, peering through it, looking for Gabriel, Orion, and Darcy with hope nearly making my heart burst.

It was dark in there, and there was a smell like ash and death that made my instincts prickle with warning. My throat thickened and I squinted harder to see through the gloom, lifting a hand to cast an enhancing spell over my eyes. The room became clearer, and I froze at what I saw in there. Lavinia was writhing in a nest of shadows, chewing on a severed head that had such life in its eyes that I could have sworn it was somehow aware of what was happening to it.

Nausea gripped me as Lavinia suddenly rolled onto her back, spreading her legs wide and revealing a gaping black hole where her vagina should have been.

I screamed, the sound trapped within my own silencing bubble and slamming back into my ears triple-fold. A thing; a horrid, massive, thing was crawling out of that hole, shadow and blackish blood everywhere as that monstrous demon creature dragged its way out of her body and into this world.

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” I said in horror, backing up, wanting to claw my eyes from my face to try and unsee what I’d seen. But there was no unseeing it, no unseeing it at all. “You’re not Darcy. Not Darcy at all.”

Lavinia bent over backwards like she was made of rubber, her legs spread wide and some awful chant leaving her lips as she birthed a monster. The power in that room was unimaginable, the pressure of it making my ears pop and the magic in my veins sizzle. It was too much. We couldn’t fight it, couldn’t go near it without falling prey to those terrible shadows seeping out of her nest. They were drifting this way, coiling out like tentacles coming to take hold of me and drag me into a pit of desolation. Or worse, Lavinia’s vagina.

I forced my mind to click into gear and jerked backwards, taking my hand from the wall so the brick slid into place again. My heart was beating furiously and all I knew was that we had to go. Run as far as we fucking could from this room and never, ever, ever look back.

I sprinted to the others, panting as I merged my silencing bubble with theirs.

“I saw through the wall,” I blurted, and they turned to me.

“By the stars, are you alright?” Caleb asked, moving closer in concern. “You look seriously pale.”

“Yeah good, great, dandy. But let’s go. I saw some stuff. Some really not good stuff. Gabriel’s not here. No one’s here. Well, someone’s here. But it’s not our friends. We need to just…just go. Because I’ve seen something and, and…and…”

“Goodness, he’s as shaken as a twoddle stick,” Geraldine murmured to Caleb.

“What did you see?” Caleb pressed, but I shook my head, vowing upon every drop of love I possessed in my heart for him that I wouldn’t subject him to knowing what I’d seen. I’d tell them all about that freaky shadow baby when I could, but now was not that time.

“We just need to go. Please, trust me.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and Caleb frowned, nodding his agreement.

“Okay, let’s head back downstairs and find the others,” he said. “Maybe they’ve had more luck than us.”

Geraldine jumped on his back and I let Caleb lift me into his arms, curling into him and pressing my face into his shirt, trying to process what I’d seen. I didn’t think a day would ever pass now when I wouldn’t think of it. I was changed, altered forevermore.

Stars save me from the unholy demon vag.

We made it down to the ground floor and Caleb came to a jolting halt that nearly sent me flying from his grip like I was in a car crash. Thankfully, his arm remained latched around me like a seatbelt, tugging me back tight against his side. I frowned at the corridor ahead of us where heavy footsteps were pounding this way, but Caleb was already moving back in the direction we’d come.

“Fuck, there’s Nymphs everywhere,” he cursed, clearly picking up on them with his Vampire hearing. He darted into a closet before the Nymphs made it this way, and our silencing bubble closed in around the three of us.

“By thunder, we can’t stay here,” Geraldine whispered.

“Well, we can’t go out there, there’s too many of them. Look.” Caleb pointed at the keyhole and I wriggled out of his arms, lowering down to peek through it and spotting the lines and lines of Nymphs heading past the door and into an open lounge across the hall. Yup. That was death’s door right there, and death was standing outside it, twirling a finger on his key and whistling for us to come running.

Some of the Nymphs were in shifted form, while others were in their Fae-like form, sipping tea like it was going extinct and clearly in no rush to move on.

“Kaboodles,” Geraldine cursed. “We’d best wait here until they move on. Even with my flail, your daggers, and the mutt’s claws, we would cause too much of a stir if we attacked them, and we mustn’t alert the dastardly Dragoon to our presence before our dear Dante has had a chance to rain down a death storm upon his noggin.”

I sighed, dropping down on my ass with a huff and burying my face against my knees, finding only a demon vagina staring back at me in the gloom. I shuddered, but as Caleb dropped down beside me, his hand found mine in the dark and warmth spread up my arm and deep into my heart.

Alright, maybe hiding here in a closet wasn’t so bad. I just hoped Max, Tory, and Xavier were having more luck than we were.

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