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“Erus was adamant that he doesn’t want you to follow him.”
“And since when do you listen to him? Or anyone for that matter?”
“Good point.” With one last dispassionate stare, he turned around and poofed out of freaking existence.
Great. Bloody fantastic. Now what the hell was he supposed to do?
Ten minutes had passed since he had returned to the Manor. Which meant Erus had been in the Underworld for ten whole days. Orrin still didn’t know exactly what a Keres was, but they sounded dangerous. Possibly deadly. And his mate was far beyond his reach, hunting these creatures, fighting them.
Determined to find someone to help him, he slapped his hand over the elevator call button. Maybe Skye could do something. At the very least, the female could possibly point him in the right direction.
“Someone get in touch with Elliot Church.” The famed necromancer was another solid bet.
“What should we tell him?” Aksel asked.
“I don’t care. Just get him here.” He didn’t often give his Guard orders, and he damn sure never barked them. Apparently, it was a night for many firsts. “Tyr, Sindri, come with me.”
Both shifters took a step forward at the same time the lift doors slid open behind him with a chime and a quiet whir. Then, the next thing he knew, he was being dragged backward by his hair with enough force to pull him off his feet.
His Guard cursed and rushed forward, but they looked confused, unsure of what to do without a tangible force to fight. Tyr dove for him, his fingers scrabbling for Orrin’s foot, but before he could catch hold, Orrin was dragged out of reach and into the elevator.
Once the doors slammed closed, however, the cab vanished, and his first indication that he was no longer in the hotel came in the form of the jarring cold.
It wasn’t a superficial kind of frigidness, either. It bit at him, burning his exposed flesh, before penetrating deep to gnaw at his bones. His breath caught in his chest when an icy wind whipped across his face, and his entire frame shook violently as his body tried in vain to warm itself.
Instead of the elevator, he stood on a dark shore that overlooked a still river. This was no ordinary river, though. The water sparkled and glowed, casting a faint blue hue over the onyx sand beneath his feet. Overhead, blackness stretched across the sky without relief. No stars. No clouds. No moon. It was like staring into a void, an endless abyss that threatened to devour him.
Weathered and warped, a long pier stretched over the water. Something told Orrin it wasn’t used for fishing.
Wrapping his arms around his midsection, he rounded his shoulders against the wind as he tried to get his bearings. He had a pretty good idea he was in the Underworld, but he couldn’t begin to guess how he’d gotten there. He also didn’t know where to start looking for his mate.
The little village at the top of the hill, however, looked like a good place to start. Although, “village” was a generous description. It was more like a collection of primitive buildings surrounding a skyscraper that looked wildly out of place.
Instead of neon or fluorescent lights, windows were illuminated by flickering candles, while oil lanterns lit the cobblestone streets. For whom, he couldn’t say, because he didn’t see anyone wandering through the town. He didn’t hear music or laughter or conversation, nothing that would make him think the place was inhabited.
Still, he had to start somewhere, and it was either the village, or find some way to cross the river. He’d take his chances with the ghost town.
Slipping and sliding, he trudged up the sandy slope until he finally managed to crest the hill. Now that he was closer, he could see that the cottages and huts lining the streets were actually business.
Breads and cakes were proudly displayed in the front window of what he could only assume was a bakery. Colorless, shapeless clothes filled another storefront. Shoes. Tools. A grocer.
Where did the food come from? Did dead people eat? Who owned these businesses? Did they sell their goods or trade for them? If they sold them, where did people get the money to buy the products?
The more he learned about the place, the more questions he had.
“Hello?” he called down the empty street. “Is anyone here?”
No response.
Frowning, he wound his way to the center of the village, to the towering skyscraper. Unlike the shops that surrounded it, the place appeared new, modern, though torches rather than lightbulbs brightened the area around the entrance.
“Hello!” he called again. “Can anyone hear me? Hello?”
Still…nothing.
“Orrin?”
Orrin froze, his feet rooted to the ground. A shiver traveled up his spine that had nothing to do with the cold, and his heart hammered, knocking painfully against his ribs. Every cell in his body ignited with recognition as his mate’s voice drifted into his head.
