He placed the long knife inside a pocket which Lily knew shouldn’t have been able to hold the large object, yet it fit, much like Greg’s now-turned-satchel hoodie pocket.

  Also like Greg, Lane pulled out a pair of sunglasses that looked like a cross between fashion and steampunk, and set them on his nose.

  A hand reached inside the front pocket of his jeans, and a single lollipop was removed. It was one of the cheap ones given out at Halloween with a fruit decorating the white wrapper declaring a vague resemblance to the flavor of the spherical chunk of solid sugar.

  Removing the wrapper, Lane pocketed his trash and placed the sucker between his teeth and cheek before giving Lily a playful salute and then disappearing with a thick cloud of black smoke.

  Lily watched in disbelief at the man Ulric had called Lane Hamilton.

  “I made that agreement mere hours ago, and here you are!” Ulric said with faux exasperation in his voice. “He did not even have to leave Hell to bring you to me.”

  “It’s no fun to be on the receiving end, is it, Ulric?”

  The dramatic Ulric did something unexpected and simply looked at Lily with a flat expression. Only his eyes gave away the anger the man felt at being bested, especially in front of Lily.

  “Why have you come?” Ulric asked flatly, turning his torso to first inspect a groaning Greg, who had sustained several injuries by the creature known as Lane.

  Lily looked around from atop her blooddragon, seeing all the prying eyes and listening ears. It seemed everyone wanted to know why the strange woman had come to Tartarus.

  Taking in a deep breath, Lily began pulling in her manifestation as she thought about what to say.

  She knew that the priest and hidden archangel had sent her to Hell to find Ulric under false pretenses. But she also understood it was for something that needed to be proposed by Ulric himself, instead of offered. He needed to be in control and come up with the outlandish plan all on his own. Otherwise, he’d never believe it to be anything other than a trap.

  Once her feet touched the ground, Lily pulled in the rest of her manifestation and forced a casual walk to where Ulric awaited. His curious, intelligent eyes studied her every move like a predator stalking its prey.

  Stopping only a few feet away, she whispered, “Not here.”

  “Hmmm,” Ulric purred, lifting a finger to pursing lips as he looked Lily up and down. “Could you be seeking a reunion of a more…intimate nature, perhaps?”

  Lily took note that Ulric had said the words a little too loudly for just the two of them, and flicked her gaze left and right. Souls and demons alike stood there gawking.

  “Perhaps,” she responded equally as loud while running a finger up his torso and to his face, where she lightly booped his nose.

  “Very well,” Ulric said for the oblivious audience. “To my chambers, then.”

  “Can I bring my friend?” Lily asked playfully as she latched on to Ulric’s side, resting her chin on his shoulder and pointing to Greg.

  “The more the merrier,” Ulric responded flatly, albeit a little quieter than before.

  Lily pretended to squeak in excitement as she stooped over to pick up Greg, who was shaking his head in an attempt to steady the kaleidoscope of his vision and thoughts.

  “What happened?” Greg groggily asked in his normal tone. Lily saw that his wild hair had lost the staticky look and his eyes had returned to normal, and assumed the altered state was over.

  “Later,” Lily whispered. “We found Ulric.”

  “Found me?” Ulric asked quietly, both perplexed and amused in the same instance. “How intriguing.”

  Lily stared up at the man who peered down at her with assessing eyes.

  “Shall we?” Lily prompted, still playing her part for the audience but growing tired of the game. To her, it would be easier to just cut this bastard’s head clean off rather than play nice with him.

  “Indeed,” Ulric purred, bending down to extend an elbow to the crouching maiden.

  Ignoring the gesture, Lily helped Greg to his feet and threw the arm that wasn’t broken over her neck while Ulric opened a portal.

  Leaving behind a gathered crowd of souls and demons, the three of them entered, and so the game began.

  18

  MAGNI

  The clown, born from unspeakable nightmares, stared down at Magni. Ludvig’s face was crudely attached to its head, a permanent, horrendous smile stretched by the same staples that lined the flesh. Fresh blood dripped down, indicating it had been a recent kill.

  “Dad…” Magni croaked, mind mere seconds away from fracturing into absolute insanity.

  There was a moment that Magni experienced as he stared at the clown with Ludvig’s face. A crystal-clear instance in time that those in recovery referred to as a moment of clarity. Either you continued to tumble down the mountain and toward a rock bottom shrouded in shadow, or you picked yourself up and began the long climb back into the light.

  Quivering lips tightened into a fine line before slowly spreading to reveal clenched teeth. The space between Magni’s eyebrows, which had been reaching toward his hairline, dropped to a fierce scowl as if a support line had been cut.

  Hands that rested in the dirt formed fists that could have crushed coal into diamonds.

  “You’re not my dad,” Magni growled as he began pushing himself to a standing position.

  In response, empty sockets stared back as a hand rose to the brightly colored face and began peeling the flesh back, revealing a grinning, bloody skull underneath.

  The distorted circus music began shifting into the family-friendly version, as if the musicians were correctly tuning their instruments as they played.

  The bloody skull seemed to notice, and once again tilted its head to the side in curiosity.

  “I’m in control! You hear me?! I am!” Magni declared confidently as he took a step toward the faceless clown.

  All around, the forest dulled to a blur, and the circus music faded.

  The clown righted its head, held out the bloody face, and vanished, leaving the mask to plop on the ground.

  Stepping forward, Magni lifted a knee up to his chest and stomped on the face. He repeated the process over and over again, spittle flying from his mouth as he screamed between stomps, “This. Is. Not. My. DAD!”

  With the last slam of his foot, a ripple shot out in all directions, growing as it went.

  The blurred forest wavered before disappearing, leaving Magni alone in the darkness.

  A writhing feeling of panic attempted to move its way up from the pit of his stomach with the intent of strangling Magni’s heart, but a warm hand rested on his shoulder, dissipating the anxiety like scattering roaches when the kitchen light was flipped on.

  A visibly hurt Ludvig stood at Magni’s side, the father resting a large hand on the son’s shoulder. But he still had his face, just as Magni had known in his heart.

  “You’re hurt!”

  “It could be worse. Dey almost got me. But you stopped dem.” Pride was evident in his words, even if his tone told the tale of pain he had endured.

  Magni wrapped his arms around Ludvig’s thick torso and squeezed him tight.

  “I can’t stay,” Ludvig said, turning his head to look at a spot in the darkness as if something was there.

  “Don-don’t leave me!”

  Turning back to Magni, Ludvig grabbed both of his son’s shoulders, pulled him close, and whispered, “Use your head, and you’ll prevail.”

  “Why are you leaving?”

  “I grow weaker wif each passing moment and must return to Valhalla. I cannot fight de Effer again.”

  “You are real!” Magni cried out, managing to squeeze his arms even tighter around Ludvig.

  “Magni, listen to me. De Effer will try different ways to trick you. Keep your head clear and don’t fall for de deception. It is in your body. Do you understand?”

  “I…I think so.”

  Ludvig released his grip and then clapped both of Magni’s shoulders like a proud father.

  “Good. After you beat dis monster, I will see you again.”

  “Promise?” Magni asked, slowly pulling away to look up at his father.

  “Now is not de time for mush. Now is de time for war.”

  Magni wiped at his face before a steady calm stilled his heart and a trained professionalism primed his muscles with the memory of countless hours of training at the hands of both Ludvig and Taylor.

  “I got this.”

  “Good,” Ludvig declared with a smile. “I will see you on de outside.”

  With that, he faded from view, leaving Magni alone to face his deepest fears.

  19

  JOHN

  The sheet of rain fell for what could have been ten seconds or ten minutes. It was hard to tell as I stood just inside the kitchen, my eyes locked onto where Depweg and Meli had just been.

  Once the practically solid block of water dropped its payload, a steady rainfall took over as I watched floodwaters rush away from the mansion, which was intentionally higher than the surrounding lands.

  Depweg was gone. Only rushing brown rapids remained where he had tackled Meli to the ground in an effort to protect her, using his body as a shield.

  “DEPWEG!” I screamed, quickly setting down Tim and grabbing the edge of the mansion, preparing to launch myself into the waters that had destroyed our protection spell.

  “John, don’t!” Locke urgently said, forcefully grabbing my arm.

  I could have easily jumped free from his grip, but the logical part of my brain shrieked to listen to him.

  The sound of skin slapping on stone floor caught all of our attention, and Locke, Russell, and myself all looked at one another before rushing to the foyer.

  A portal closed five feet in the air, with Depweg lying on the ground next to Meli.

  “Ow,” Meli wheezed as she lay still. I could see one of Depweg’s massive arms still under her, and I cringed as I realized the heavy, muscular Depweg had landed on top of the considerably smaller Meli.

  Depweg was breathing heavily, but I knew it had to be from barely escaping death and not from exertion.

  “Depweg!” I barked, eyes wide as I examined his body for injury.

  “And Meli…” Meli groaned as she pushed herself up, joints popping as she moved.

  “Not the first time that big hunka-hunka burnin’ were has been on top of ya, huh?” I joked with a tone that was still nervous.

  “Huh?” Meli asked, turning her attention to me and staring into my face, which I was pretty sure had drained to the color of a marble statue.

  “John!” Depweg barked between clenched teeth.

  “Um, wrong time line? Heh, heh…?”

  “What is he talking about?” Meli asked Depweg as she got to her feet, no longer paying her minor injuries any mind.

  “We don’t have time for this!” Locke burst out, surprising us all with his intensity. His hands flailed out in front of him as if to disperse the subject like it was a small cloud hovering at the center of where we all stood in a circle.

  Tim finally romped into the room from the kitchen, yipping in excitement and breaking the tension with his adorable distraction.

  “That-that-that rain just destroyed the protection spells and wards! That’s like breaking into Fort Knox!” Locke continued with wide eyes and palms pointed to the ceiling held out in front of him as if pleading for our focus.

  “He’s right,” I added, grabbing my hips and closing my eyes in frustration as I came to terms with the situation. “We have to go to Faerie—now—or risk biblical cataracts on Earth.”

  “Do you mean catastrophes?” Meli asked with a look on her face that resembled one made after smelling a powerful fart.

  “That’s what I said; cat-trophies.”

  Depweg looked at me with an investigative expression before he understood what I was doing. His face went neutral as he slowly pivoted from me to Meli before glancing back at me and squinting. Meli had been thrown off the trail of my blunder in revealing the weres alternate time line lives, but would she let it go completely, or had I simply bought us a little time?

  “John!” Locke cried out, slapping me on the arm with an open palm.

  “Ow, jeeeez!” I whined, rubbing at the spot through my coat. It hadn’t hurt as much as startled me, and my body had reacted with what it thought I should be doing based on the loud volume produced by the slap.

  “You need to shift us to Faerie, right now. Do you understand?” Locke demanded with a tone and expression that offered no room for hesitation or negotiation.

  It was time.

  “Are you coming with us to save Magni?” I asked the air, unable to look Depweg in the eyes or even in his general direction as I spoke, but he knew the question was directed at him. I hadn’t planned on asking him to join us, content to give him space to heal from his recent and incredible heartache. However, the opportunity felt right with him standing only a few feet away from me, having barely survived a direct attack on us. It almost felt planned.

  More importantly, it was a pivotal moment in our relationship.

  If he said no, that meant he hated me for making him into a were-pire and bringing the man who had slaughtered his family straight to them. It would mean that he loathed me enough that he would let Magni die if it meant not having to be in my presence. With how badly he had gone insane before wreaking havoc in Mexico after losing Joey and Dawson, it wouldn’t surprise me if the death of his mate and child turned the man into a walking pyre of hatred that scorched the Earth everywhere he walked.

  On the other hand, if he said yes, it could mean that he still hated me, but was putting his pride aside to help our friend in need.

  “Well, of course we are going,” Meli said.

  All eyes locked on her as she shifted her focus to Depweg and nodded her head in search of unanimous agreement between the two of them.

  My damn mind filled with the image of Meli lying in her grave as the freshly reanimated Depweg summoned his first were-pire manifestation and buried his family with an obsidian shovel.

  “Um…” I began, holding up a finger as I desperately thought of an explanation as to why she should remain behind. How could I tell her that I didn’t think Depweg could possibly bear losing her twice without fully going insane? I mean, she was probably the only reason he hadn’t already gone feral. My fear was that he would lose his shit and make what he did in Mexico look like the equivalent of going door to door during Christmas and joyfully singing Christmas carols.

  “Yes,” Depweg said in answer to both mine and Meli’s questions. “We will help save Magni, and the rest of the world.”

  There was a determination in his voice that gave me pause. Because I knew that in the shadow of his confident words lurked the slithering, dark fear of losing her again.

  “I’m going, too,” Russell spoke up shyly, taking a step closer to form a proper circle. Or maybe it was a pentagram, with Depweg, Meli, Locke, Russell, and myself making up the five points.

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, kid,” I told him, reaching a hand up to grab the back of my neck as my face slightly cringed at the thought of bringing the young troll to his almost certain death.

  “No one here knows that castle like I do,” the troll countered, shifting his gaze to Depweg before continuing, “Not even you.”

  “What cho talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” I asked, crossing my arms and pursing my lips.

  “The kids used to play in the secret tunnels and wall spaces that Taylor told me led all over the place,” Depweg explained.

  “You never went through ’em?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “How could anyone possibly resist going through the secret tunnels of a freaking castle?!”

  “Taylor never showed me, and I never asked. Didn’t think I needed to know with Taylor and Lily protecting Faerie.”

  “Plus, he’s too big,” Russell added. “Only the agile elves were meant to use them. Not even the dwarves could fit through the hidden doors.”

  “But you could?” I asked.

  Russell moved a hand over his extremely thin frame with an expression that strongly said, duh.

  “And Magni?”

  “He did barely fit when we played. But he isn’t nearly half as wide as the dwarves or the wolf.”

  “Where…” Locke began, his face projecting an expression of deep thought. “Where do the tunnels lead?”

  “All over,” Russell said, gaining an almost excited tone as he realized he could be useful in a way that only children being asked to help their parent with adult stuff could express.

  “Like where, exactly?” Locke pressed, fully turning his body to the troll and listening intently.

  “Um, let’s see. The throne room, for one. The, ah, dining room, kitchen, armory, courtyard—”

  “Armory?” Locke interjected as his hands moved in front of him, forming a rectangle. Smoke filled the air as his fingers moved, and once there was a dark cloud thick enough where his hands were no longer visible, he stopped moving.

  The smoke thinned and dissolved completely, leaving behind a book in Locke’s grasp.

  Supporting the back cover in the palm of his right hand, Locke let his left fingers dance, and the book opened without him even touching it. Pages flew with a rustling sound before abruptly stopping a third of the way in.

  “Was this in the armory?” Locke asked, gripping the book with both hands now and turning it so Russell could see what was on the page.

  The entire group stepped in and around to better see what Locke was showing.

  “I…I think so,” Russell answered hesitantly, his words no longer exhibiting the confidence of mere moments ago.

  “You think? Or you know?” Locke asked, pushing the book closer to the troll’s face.

  Looking at the tome, I saw a bookmark with a handwritten note scribbled across it in cursive.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34