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“I could see it being difficult to distinguish between reality and your illness, but I assure you, this is no hallucination, Harlow,” she promised. “My demons are real, and the feeding is necessary. We have to keep their power strong so the portal stays closed. Letting them out would be inadvisable.”
“No shit,” I snarked. “I imagine not.”
“Let me be frank, I hate this beating around the bush thing you humans do. I’m Hel, I rule over my realm and the souls sent there. My demons and my gargoyles keep the souls in line. And now it’s time for the gargoyles in Dark Haven to awaken, to ensure the demons stay in line. That’s where you come in.” A shiver ran through me as I remembered the figure on the roof, the gargoyle statue looming over me as I hid from the rain.
“Why me?” I asked. She merely gave me a warning glance this time before continuing.
“Because I chose you, Harlow. You don’t just belong to this world, but mine as well,” she said as if that answered my question at all.
“That doesn’t make sense,” I sighed, sitting down on the roof despite it being covered in a layer of dirt and leaves. “I’m no one. A reject.”
“You’re my chosen champion, Harlow,” she said. The pride in her tone didn’t make sense, hell, none of this did. “Enough of this self-deprecation, get up and act like someone blessed by a goddess.”
“Blessed?” I seethed, standing up and facing off with her like a true idiot. This could mean my end, but I refused for her to sugarcoat my fucking existence. “I spent years homeless and on the run, had a family that could rival the worst demons you could imagine, been tortured and used, and fought for every fucking thing I have ever had.”
“Exactly,” she said in a far gentler tone this time. “I wouldn’t have chosen a weak champion, but one forged from hardship, one with a mind willing to believe the unbelievable. You’ve had my strongest companion by your side most of your life, that was all the intervening I could do.”
“Why? What do you need me for? A champion for what?”
Hel paced the roof and shook her head, refusing to answer. She only stopped next to the gargoyle I’d hidden underneath the night I woke up here.
“Things are going as they’ve been foreseen, Harlow, you just have to open your mind. You’ll never be alone again, you have some that are determined to help. It’s up to you to keep the portal closed, protect your world and mine, I can’t be in both places.”
“How? I’m literally in a prison of sorts,” I pointed out.
“You don’t need to leave to do this job,” she said. “Keep vigilant, Harlow. You’ll find your answers soon enough.”
She was gone then, leaving my head spinning, but before I could even think, the door opened with a squeak and Vane was bursting out in a rage.
“I hope it was worth it, Harlow, you’ll be spending a week in solitary for this stunt.”
Harlow
Friday Morning
Solitary
The drugs in my system were wearing off, but I couldn’t tell if Monty was here or if it was someone or something else that was lurking in the corner of the room.
My head was pounding, and my body ached from the hard mattress on the rickety bed.
I pulled myself up to sitting with a groan. There was nothing else to look at but padded walls and the creature waiting for me to make my move.
“Who are you?” I asked. When I got no response and didn’t feel Monty’s presence, I chalked it up to yet another hallucination.
In the hours or days I spent under whatever sedative Vane and his orderlies shot into my veins, my meds had worn off completely.
The hallucinations were creeping back in. So was my heat. My body was craving my mates and sweat lined my skin.
I needed them as much as I needed to be myself again. The room was wrong, devoid of any comfort, and their scents were absent.
A pitiful whimper escaped me as I curled into a ball. This was the worst form of torture.
The door opened and a nurse came in. Her scrubs were ragged, and her hair was frizzy to the point it almost looked as if she stuck her finger in a socket. She was wearing a medical mask, and her eyes were cold and overlined in eyeliner, making her seem half-crazed.
She froze when she saw I was up. “I’ll get Vane.” That was all she said before stepping out and leaving me alone again.
My stomach was empty to the point of nausea, and I had no real idea what day it was.
