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Prologue
The rain was still falling when I came to. Somehow the overhang of the roof kept my face semi-dry but the rest of my body was drenched. My fingers were loosely wrapped in someone else’s. I sat up, confused, blinking down at Drake’s unconscious form.
Then everything came back to me.
The portal fracturing further. A row of corpses bleeding out. And the gargoyles coming back to life.
Just the mention of gargoyles had that electric buzz flitting across my skin.
“Drake!” I called out, shaking the man beside me. “Wake up!”
He didn’t stir, but a gravelly war cry echoing from the courtyard had me scraping my knees on the rough surface of the roof as I crawled to peer over the edge to take in the damage below. I couldn’t pull myself to my feet, not yet. My body was shaking too intensely to function on that level.
It was a massacre below. Monty, the gargoyles, and the few loyal demons Monty had left, were fighting for their lives against an ever-growing horde of demons. The flow didn’t stop, the portal spitting them out to the point where it was packed wall to wall.
“Monty!” I screamed out as one dove from on top of the nearest column. He looked up in time to slice the demon in half before turning his attention back to the battle.
A ragged cough had me turning around to see Drake pulling himself to his knees. His demon form was struggling to take over—horns on his head and his skin shifting color, from tan to rust.
“Drake,” I said, drawing his attention. Before I could say anything else a figure flew onto the roof and fell between us.
“Mate,” he growled as he crouched down in front of me. The man was made of what seemed to be stone, but I knew it couldn’t be quite so hard. He was wearing dark pants and that was it, the rest thick muscles. Claws tipped his fingers and toes scraped at the ground where they stood.
“Who are you?” I breathed out.
“Kol. The commander of the gargoyles. And you are my mate.” It was said with such finality that Drake rasped out a laugh behind me.
“You better watch making demands. She’ll eat you alive.”
“I don’t need advice from halflings. Hel offered her to me the moment I woke. She’s mine.”
“I’m not,” I argued. “I have other mates.”
He smirked when I said other, meaning I was already acknowledging his words. But even I couldn’t deny the pull this creature had over me. His fangs and claws didn’t scare me away, I was used to monsters. Hell, Monty was already mine.
Kol was different somehow. There was an electric buzz that danced along my skin every time he was near. And now it was so intense I couldn’t explain it away.
“You don’t get to make demands of me. And shouldn’t you be fighting?” I argued.
He nodded once. “I’ll return to the fight. But I will come back for you.”
“Don’t threaten me, gargoyle.” He merely let out a huff of laughter at my words.
Kol flew off, and I stood there stunned until Drake finally snapped me from it. “Come on, we have to go find the others and get the library secured. This is only going to get worse.”
Was that even possible?
ChapterOne
Monty
Friday Afternoon
Hel’s Castle
Sköll was pacing back and forth in front of Hel’s empty throne, as if daring me to step any closer to his queen’s place. The creature of fire and bone had never seemed so intimidating, but I ignored him, nonetheless. I had no intention of crossing that line. Not when she was in such a bad mood. Dark Haven had gone to hell, and I no longer trusted her. A fact I was not bothering to hide.
Hel’s ice proceeded her, frosting every surface it reached as she stalked in the throne room. Her face was a mask of pure fury and her robes billowed behind her. I’d never seen our queen so disheveled. Everything about her seemed dull, from her hair to her clothes. It was a sure sign of the times.
