They all converged on the cemetery; two Romans, four mutores, and a pissed-off Brit, but all Nicholas wanted was to be the one who was able to make it past the enchantments and into the portal. He couldn't believe Kate had gone into Hell without him. He knew how badly she wanted to find Ladd. He knew her maternal instincts were undeniably strong, and he didn't fault her for that. But they were partners, goddamn it. True fucking mates! She had no right to risk her life without consulting him first-without having him at her back when she did it.
She would feel his wrath.
But he had to get to her first.
A foot in front of him, Lycos reached the gravesite, and without a word made an attempt to cross it and get to the headstone. But after one step in he was thrust back by an invisible force. He cursed, landed on his ass, and muttered, "I'm guessing I don't have demon blood."
"I warned you," Raine said, moving to stand near Nicholas, who had stopped where Lycos had stood a moment before. "If you would just wait for Cruen to come to me-"
"I'm not waiting for the cockroach to emerge from the dark," Synjon said, coming up beside Raine. "I'm going in with my bloody brilliant headlights on and forcing him out of the crack he's hiding in."
"I hate cockroaches," Nicholas heard Phane mutter to Helo as the pair stood behind them. "Unfortunately, my bird has a real thing for them."
"We all have our vices, bro," Helo returned.
As if he weren't listening to anything but his own stream of consciousness, Synjon barked at the mutore beside him. "Take me in."
Raine gaped at him. "I cannot. As the wolf male said, only demons can get through the portals."
"My mate is no demon," Nicholas said, his eyes on the gravestone. "How did she get through?"
"I don't know."
"Can someone without demon blood piggyback on one who has it?" Synjon asked, his gaze shifting to Nicholas.
Nicholas grinned with quick understanding. "My twin brother is part demon, which would mean I have it within me as well."
"That's good enough for me," Synjon agreed, moving closer.
"'Course it is," Lucian uttered, standing a good five feet away from them. "You've got a death wish."
Syn growled at him. "This is none of your affair, Frosty."
"Bullshit," Lucian returned. "None of you know anything for sure. It's like walking outside without knowing if it's night or day. A fucking crapshoot."
"He's right," Raine told them, his tone grave. "Without knowing for sure you could both end up dead. Before you even reach Hell, you could both be nothing but ash."
Synjon shrugged. "We'll see."
Raine turned to Nicholas, his eyes imploring him to think rationally. It was one of the few times in his life where that objective was virtually impossible. Clearly the mutore before him had never experienced a mate running straight into danger.
"Perhaps," Raine suggested with conviction, "your mate didn't walk into the hellfire. Perhaps she is back home in New York or at Erion's castle."
"No." He'd already been in contact with both, and Kate wasn't there.
"Sod off, you bloody git," Syn snarled. "We're wasting time."
Continuing undeterred, Raine said, "Perhaps she did try to get into the Underworld. Tried and failed."
A low, foul snarl exited Nicholas's mouth. That thought, that abominable, impossible version of what happened to his mate, would not even be considered.
"Don't listen to this knob head." Synjon moved to Nicholas's side and gave him a questioning look. "Shall we join hands or make this a true piggyback experience?"
"You could be jumping to your death," Raine told him.
"The possibilities are endless."
"Hey, London," Lucian called to Synjon, though he stared hard at Nicholas's back, "that ain't the way."
"Life and death is my way," Syn returned hotly.
"You're being an idiot," Lucian said to Nicholas, then turned to Syn. "And you. Are you seriously going to risk death? Risk leaving Cruen here to live?" Lucian lifted one pale eyebrow.
With an irritated growl, Synjon patted the blade at his hip and eyed Nicholas. "Is your demon blood ready to go?"
"My demon blood wants to leave your sorry British ass behind." Nicholas grabbed the paven's arm and yanked him close. "But unfortunately, I may need backup."
Hellen advanced on the vampire female. "Release him, or I will make you do it." She raised an eyebrow. "And it'll hurt. A lot."
The blond female had thrust Ladd behind her, turned, and was now flashing an impressive set of fangs. Unfortunately, Hellen mused, conjuring up the magic that hummed within her, the vampire female had no idea what stood before her-what was truly protecting the boy. Hellen wasn't so sure either. But she knew that whatever she had unleashed back in the theater, it was impressive and raring to go again.
"Back off, demon," the female said, her tone hard and wary. "I have no fight with you. I just want to take the balas."
"It will be a fight to the death if you take that balas." She raised her hands. "And I will win."
Erion moved past her to stand between her and the vampire female. "Hellen, wait."
She stared at his concerned expression. "She wants the boy."
"She is his-"
"Guardian," the female provided with deep irritation.
"What?" Hellen stepped to one side and studied the female. Tall, beautiful, with yellow hair, and strong in mind and body. "I don't believe you."
Erion glanced over his shoulder. "Kate, I'm sorry."
"It's all right," she answered.
Jealousy poured through Hellen and she felt her hands curl into fists. Erion knew the female. This blond, beautiful vampire female. Were they lovers?
The growl that erupted from Hellen's throat made both Erion and the female turn to face her.
But it was the boy who spoke.
"She is my Kate." Ladd stepped in front of the female and spread his arms wide. "She takes care of me, like a mother. And she's very good at her job."
The boy's words, his care for the female, had Hellen pulling in a breath. What was happening here? She backed up a foot. She glanced at the female, Kate. Her eyes were wet with tears, but she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.
What was this? Was this the boy's mother? The one Erion made the child with?
Ladd eyed her, not with any trace of anger, but as one who was protecting something he loved. "I won't let you hurt her, Hellen."
Shock barreled through her. "You know my name."
He nodded, his eyes flashing with momentary mischief.
Levia or Polly must've told him, she thought. She drew back another foot. "I wouldn't hurt her, Ladd."
But if she has been with Erion, cares for Erion, I may have to get her out of Hell immediately.
Kate got down on her knees and faced the boy. "I think we are all trying to protect you," she told him. "Your friend Hellen didn't know who I was, and she was afraid some crazy lady was stealing you."
"Oh. Well, that makes sense, I guess." He grinned at her. "Sometimes you are crazy."
She laughed. "True, balas. Very true."
"Then everything is okay?" he asked, turning to look at Erion.
Erion granted the boy a sturdy nod, then turned to Hellen. "This is my twin brother's mate." He looked at the vampire female, regarded her with a surprised expression. "Kate, how did you get here? You need demon blood to enter Hell. Is Nicholas with you?"
She stood, looked tired and worried. "I waited for Nicky, realized as I stood there that he would have the blood to get through. But he didn't come." She glanced at Hellen. "Something else did, though. A blue specter, a ghost-I don't know how else to describe it-came shooting through the portal. It took one look at me and was headed back in. I panicked. All I could think about was getting to Ladd. I flung myself at the thing, gripped on to its strange mass of light, and I was here."
"It must have been a rogue demon," Hellen said. "They try to get through the portals, cause trouble, but they can't survive long up there. You were very lucky."
She put her hand on Ladd's shoulder. "Yes, I am."
"Hellen!" Levia rushed inside the room, followed by Polly. "There you are. We were so worried. You looked terrifying."
Polly grasped her around the waist. "Oh, Hellen. We didn't know what he was forcing you to do. How you protected us. We thought you wanted the mating, that you felt it was a good match." Tears fell onto her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Hellen soothed, her heart breaking for the loss of her sisters' innocence. Damn their father. He could've had what he wanted, had two daughters who feared him but didn't know the absolute truth about him-that he was a loathsome monster who would sell them off as easily as blinking.
"He was going to kill Erion and Ladd." Levia stared at her, horror-struck. "He would've killed you too, Hellen. His own flesh and blood. I saw it on his face. We all saw it."
"I never thought he loved us," Polly said sadly. "I wasn't silly enough to think that, but I believed he had a trace of something good deep within him." Her eyes locked with her sister. "When he spoke to you on that stage, how he treated you, all that he said and did-I realized my beliefs weren't based in truth, but in hope."
"Oh, Polly," Hellen said, shaking her head.
"No, don't. I'm glad you did it. I'm glad you showed your power, and I'm glad he's gone." She looked at the group before her, Erion and Ladd clinging to Kate. "Are you leaving? Going aboveground?"
"Yes," Hellen confirmed.
"Then we're coming with you," Levia said.
Hellen felt a pull inside her, a responsibility to the citizens she was leaving without a leader. To this place she'd always called home. To her mother's memory.
She looked at Erion, Ladd, and her sisters. She wanted to be with them. For once, couldn't she choose what she wanted? Couldn't she be done with the role of perpetual sacrifice?
"Let's go." Erion took Hellen's hand and motioned for her sisters as well as Kate and Ladd to follow.
But it wasn't Hellen who refused the call. It was Ladd.
"I don't want to leave," he said, his lower lip jutting out. "I want to see more of the Underworld."
"Come, Ladd," Kate urged, pulling at his hand.
The boy shook his head and held his ground. "I like it here. I feel good here. Strong. Kate can stay here with us. Right, Erion?"
Shock registered on Erion's face. He looked first at Hellen, then back at Kate. The vampire female looked completely unsure what to do.
Finally, Erion released Hellen's hand and went to the balas, knelt down in front of him. "Someday we will return to the Underworld."
The boy's eyes brightened. "Tomorrow?"
"No," Erion said softly. "Not tomorrow. But someday."
Ladd's eyes flickered with frustration. "You promise?"
Erion nodded, then got to his feet and headed for the door, taking Hellen's hand once again. "Ready, demon girl?"
She nodded, smiled with relief. "Let's take the west corridor. The one you and I took before. Remember? It's the safest." She glanced over her shoulder. "I don't know what we'll encounter with the citizens of Hell. We need to go quickly to the nearest portal."
As they hurried down the corridor, the sound of the crowd leaving the theater hummed through the walls. Hellen led the way with Erion at her side, and all were quiet as they wondered what, if anything, they would encounter or have to fight off to get to the portal.
Time moved rapidly, as it does in anxious times, and when they finally reached the archway leading outside, Hellen forced them to slow down and listen. "I think it's best to try to go through together. We will all touch, hold hands. There is more than enough demon magic here to get us aboveground."
They all nodded their agreement, and Erion squeezed her hand for support.
"See the rock just a few feet away, the dark purple?" she said, pointing. "That is a portal. Take each other's hands. Now. On the count of three, we're going to run for it. I'll be out in front. Levia, Polly, take the rear. There shouldn't be any problems. Just hold on to each other."
No one nodded this time; they were all focused and ready. The countdown was quick, and within seconds, the group charged toward the rock. Out in front, Hellen stretched out her hand, ready to push straight through the rock and sail upward.
But something happened.
Something unexpected and breath-stealingly painful. A force field hit her full on, a smack so strong it sent her flying backward, into the rest of the group.
"Shit!" she uttered, struggling to her feet.
Erion was on her in an instant, checking her for bruises or breaks. "What was that?"
"No idea," she told him. "Levia, you try. Don't run into it, but see if there's something there. Maybe it was just me."
The female nodded and slowly moved toward the rock. Every step she took was calculated. Hellen watched, and in seconds, her sister seemed to bounce off the surface of the air and land a foot backward. Levia turned and shook her head.
"I don't understand," Hellen breathed. "This shouldn't be happening. It's not possible-"
"The portals were your father's, created by his magic."
They all whirled around. Eberny, Abbadon's right hand, stood behind them. The hybrid stared calmly at Hellen. "When he died, the magic died with him, closing all the portals."
"Eberny," Hellen began. The hybrid had worked closely with Abbadon. There was no love or even care, but there was respect for his position in the Underworld, and Hellen wondered what the hybrid thought about the actions taken by his daughter. "Are you going to work against us?"
Hellen waited for the answer, waited to see what emotion, if any, worked within the hybrid's gaze. "Or do you see the reason behind the action I was compelled to take?"
The hybrid didn't say anything for a moment. There seemed to be some consideration of Hellen's words, then a slow nod. "You are firstborn, Hellen. If you wish to open portals to the world above, you must create your own."
Hellen stilled. Levia and Polly turned to look at her, their eyes filled with shock. She felt Erion's gaze on her back, but she continued to address Eberny. "How?"
"I will show you."
"Good. Let's begin."
Eberny didn't move. "It can only be done at the birth of day."
Behind her came muffled gasps and many soft-spoken questions. Hellen shook her head. "We can't stay here."
The hybrid appeared confused. "Why not? It is your home. No matter where you travel or for how long, the Underworld-this compound-is your home."
That statement brought Erion forward. As much as he'd given Hellen space and leadership in finding and traveling the portals, at his core he was her number-one protector.
"The scene in the theater," he said in a rough voice, "what Hellen was forced to do by that male who dared to call himself her father-surely she is an enemy of the people now. We must leave right away. I will not see her or her sisters harmed."
Eberny rarely showed emotion, but Hellen saw a flicker of insult. "We do not think as you do in the upper world. There is no mourning, no anger or resentment for a lost leader. Only the fact that another is needed." She turned back to Hellen. "The compound is secure. I have seen to it. All spectators to your mating have gone."
Hellen couldn't believe what she was hearing. No retaliation? No anger? No justice for their leader?
"There is no other way out of here but the portals?" Erion asked, his tone heavy with concern.
"No," Eberny told him.
Hellen turned to look at him. There was distrust and wariness in his diamond gaze, and she understood it. She felt it too. But what was their alternative? She took his hand. "We must stay for the night."
His jaw worked and his eyes narrowed. "But only for the night."
She nodded.
"Come," Eberny said, loud enough for all to hear. "We have rooms for those who do not live here, food for all, entertainment if anyone wishes it."
"I've had enough entertainment for one day," Erion growled as they followed the hybrid back inside the compound.
"Can we play our flying game, Levia, then conjure the puppies afterward?" Ladd asked. Before the female could answer, he turned to Kate. "Wait till you see the puppies! They're so cute. If we have to go back aboveground, maybe we can take one with us."
"We'll see, Ladd," Kate said softly, her voice a thread of soft worry.
Hellen remained close to Eberny and spoke under her breath. "In the very first call of day."
"Of course," said the hybrid, clearing the archway and heading inside the dark corridors once again. "You will find your power, Hellen, create portals with the deep magic you possess, for all those who wish to leave."
Erion came up alongside them and stated in a very cold voice, "That will be all of us, hybrid."
Eberny said nothing while rounding the corner.
He had been a prisoner here.
Now he was a guest.
Erion left the room where Ladd and Kate were staying and walked down the long hallway toward the corner room that had been assigned to him. The boy was surrounded by females: Kate, Hellen's sisters, and the two pups they'd conjured for him. He was in heaven.
The irony of that thought made his lips thin.
He was glad the balas held no fear in the Underworld, and yet it worried him how attached Ladd had become to Hell. It didn't surprise him, because he too felt the pull here; he too felt stronger, clearer, better here than he did aboveground. Clearly it was part of having demon blood. But that didn't mean it was where they belonged.
Once they left this place, once they had a chance to live as a family, everyone would settle. Ladd could have Nicholas and Kate and get to know Erion as a father. Perhaps the boy could even come to care for Hellen.
Hellen.
She had left after the meal, wanting some time to herself. Erion had given it to her. But as time ticked on and his mind conjured thoughts and fears and wants, he couldn't remain closeted for much longer. They were a pair, connected on too many levels to count, and he needed to see her, touch her, hold her against him. He had to make sure she understood how he felt, that she belonged to him, and he would love and care for her always.
The word love inside his mind felt strange. He'd never experienced romantic, possessive, needful love. It made him both fearful and anxious. It made him want to rip the door off its hinges and find her, and it made him desperate to kill anything male that might venture to look in her direction.
"Do you need help finding your room?"
He turned and found Polly walking a few feet behind him. "No. Thank you."
She nodded solemnly and was about to walk past him when Erion's next words stopped her.
"But I do need help in finding her room."
Polly turned, her amber gaze regarding him coolly. She didn't like him, he could tell, and he wondered why. It couldn't be just that her sister cared for him.
"I believe she is resting," she said haughtily. "I didn't see you eat at mealtime. I'm sure you are hungry. I can have something sent to your room."
He grinned at her meaning. "The only thing I require is blood. Do you have that on tap in the Underworld's kitchens?"
"Absolutely not." She looked utterly repulsed. "So that is why you wish to find my sister? You want her to feed you?"
Just the thought made Erion's body go up in flames, made his cock stiffen and his fangs drop a few millimeters. But Hellen wasn't vampire. He would never ask for or expect such a sacrifice from her. "Not to worry, Polly. I will take care of my needs when we return tomorrow."
She looked relieved.
But Erion was only more determined. "Now, are you going to tell me where her room is, female? Or do I need to use my nose to scent her out?" He lowered his voice. "It shouldn't take long. I know her scent very, very well."
Color stained the demon's cheeks and she stepped back. She was a pretty female, but nothing compared to her extraordinary sister.
"I don't think this is the time," she said. "After what's happened today . . ."
"This is precisely the time," he countered, drawing closer to her. "She needs the soothing and care and love of her mate. Don't pretend you didn't hear her claim inside the theatre."
She frowned, her eyes suddenly melancholy. "I heard many things."
Erion felt pity for the female and all she had learned about her father and his plans for her, but it was Hellen who needed him now. "There is nothing to do but move on and embrace the new challenges of our lives."
She looked down at her shoes.
"Listen, sister-for that is what we are now, whether you like it or not." Her gaze slowly lifted, and Erion softened. "Hellen and I have chosen each other. We belong to each other now."
"She might not want to see you."
He laughed softly. "Then she will tell me that herself. She is anything but coy, yes?"
The female's lips twitched. "You know her."
He nodded. "I know her and I love her. Now take me to her room."
