Chapter Ten

Mayhem

I have died before, but it never felt the way this does. Nothing else even comes close. Having Cari ripped from my arms is the worst pain I have ever known, even compared to hundreds of years of torture in Hades.

"No! Azazel, I will kill you! I will come to Hades and end you!"

The fire that flickered moments ago, that I started to warm us after the cool rain, flickers out. It goes ice cold in the cottage. I try to get the fire going again, hoping I can use it as a portal to go back to Hades, but it does nothing but spark.

"I will come for you, my love," I shout at the darkness. "I will never let him have you!"

Closing my eyes, I focus as hard as I can. With a whir of air and a pop of sound, I find myself in an unfamiliar room. It is in the castle atop the hills of Moon Haven. It is Gareth's home. I will need his help to get back to Hades, to go after my beloved.

"Gareth! Luci! He took her! I need you both!"

Pounding footsteps sound before the double doors on the room fly open. Luci comes first, running towards me, her gown billowing after her. Gareth comes after but somehow reaches me first. He gathers his wife to his side, shaking his head.

"Not her. My wife will not go to Hades, not with our child in her belly."

"Yes, I will," she fires back, staring up at him defiantly. "That is my sister, my blood, my best friend. We swore, the three of us, that nothing would ever come between us. That includes men, or Hades, or whatever monster land Azazel took my sister to."

"Absolutely not. Not happening. You're staying here."

"Can we not waste time, please? I hate that I had to come to you, to drag any of you into this, but, I have to get her back."

"We're a family," Luci shouts, gaze flying between us. "We will protect each other no matter what. That is what family does. I am going. Bessi is going too, I will get her here. We've been training, and together the three of us will be powerful."

Sighing, Gareth nods as he relents. She speaks the truth. Together, the three of them will be a force to be reckoned with. One that Azazel will never see coming. He will just expect me so having others on our side will certainly be a surprise.

"We have to find a portal, I cannot remember the ones here on earth, as I have not used them in hundreds of years."

"I can create one," Gareth tells me as if telling me it's going to rain again. "I have had to come to Hades before."

Luci looks at him as if letting him know she will want that story another time. Without a plan other than getting down to Hades with this weird, multi-mystical family of ours, we head out. We find Edon and Bessi outside waiting for us because it seems all the sisters can speak without needing words.

We all follow Gareth deep into the woods. The darkness swallows us up as we maneuver through thick underbrush and twisted limbs. In an overgrown corner surrounded by towering stone is an oval that looks manmade but is nature's creation.

"While I humored you ladies a little, neither of you will be coming through to Hades with us," Gareth announces. "We will go to get them both. Standing our ground up here is the safest bet to victory. Battling him in Hades is just asking for a massacre. We will do it on our land, on our earth, our terms."

"Gareth is right," I agree, nodding as we step towards the portal. "We will bring him here, where we can fight him together. I will not stop until she is free of him. I swear to you both," I make another promise to a Mills' woman, one that I will not break just as I will not break any of the ones made to the woman I love.

Watching them as we step through the portal, I see the fear in their eyes. It is clear how much they love her. How much they love each other. It might be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Thinking I might get to be close to that for the rest of eternity is enough to prepare me for what we're about to face.

Because that kind of love is worth dying for.

"Azazel plays games. It is how he tortures his pets. It was near impossible to beat him because he changed the rules as we played the game. Cari is a clever, cunning Nymph, he will not be able to trick her."

"We will bring them both back with us, Mayhem. We made a promise to the girls, one we will not break."

Nodding, I lead him the way from the portal towards the lands Azazel will be. Hades is not just fire and brimstone. It is whatever we want it to be. Which means it can be a hell of a lot scarier than most could imagine, no pun intended.

"Mayhem...do you truly not remember your life before?"

"I recall very little. I know what I did to be cursed to live eternity in Hades. I was a monster of a man, so I am a monster in death. I recall I had a farm. I loved horses, I think. It was so long ago, up top has changed so much. It is much faster."

"That is true. It took some getting used to. I got to watch it happen, but it still sometimes is a lot to take in. I remember you, your first go-round in Moon Haven. You were a farmer. A very wealthy farmer who hated most folks. You did, however, take a fancy to the bride you had been promised. I suppose that is why you did what you did."

"What do you mean? You knew...you knew me as a man?"

"We crossed paths a few times, yes. I do not expect you to remember, we did not get along too well. I was in my...darker days of magic at the time. I frightened most folks. You were never afraid of me. I think it was why I took a liking to you."

"I had a betrothed?"

"Oh, yes. You were to be married before winter. It was the talk of the town. Mostly because she was having an affair with another in front of everyone, but you didn't seem to notice until it was too late. You crossed lines, sure, but you were all alone, your bride was breaking your heart, and so...I think you were just driven to the edge. An edge we often straddle in life."

Standing on the filthy soil of Hades, I almost collapse. It was wrong what I did. I had no right to hurt that man, to end his life, but at least it turns out I might not be the monster I once believed I was. I was alone for so long, and I was excited about getting married, starting a family, and having a wife.

Now I know I did not love that woman, because what I feel for Cari is wildly different. I do love her, down to whatever is left of my broken soul. I would kill twenty men for her. I would start a war for her. Coming for Azazel may do just that.

"Ah you have come home, pet," Azazel's voice rings out, echoing in the darkness.

"You know why I am here. I told you I would kill you if you touched her," I whisper back, knowing he will hear me.

"Such a pretty little thing. But she does not like my games, handsome. She will not play with me," he taunts, and I hear the pout in his voice. I almost laugh. Of course, she will not play his stupid games with him.

"Come up top and we will play some new games."

"Do you think I am stupid!" his voice snarls right beside me and I feel his claws sink into my shoulder, piercing my flesh. "You cannot trick me, Mayhem."

"His name is not Mayhem. His name is Marshall Hale. He should not have been sent to Hades, so you do not have power to keep him here. Once he left to find Cari, you realized he could come and go as he pleases, because he should not be here."

Blinking in shock at Gareth, I hold my breath. Then, as if being hit by blow after blow, I see it all. Being on the farm, my mother and father there calling me Marshall. Us planning the wedding before I found out the truth about my betrothed. I gasp as the waves of memories hit me, filling me the sensation of being whole, of being a human again.

"Yet here he is. And here he will stay. I will give her back, but he must stay. I prefer my pets...playful," Azazel snarks before he waves a hand, and there she is.

Growling as I see her lashed to a huge, gnarled, twisted tree, I run towards her. Her skin is marred by red marks from his whip—his favorite toy—but she stands defiant, staring him down without fear. That's my girl, my sweet little flame.

"Oh, my love," I gasp, ripping the limbs holding her captive apart. "I came for you. I will always come for you."

"I know," she whispers, smiling through tears. "I was waiting for you, Mayhem. My sweet Demon. I knew you would come, I was not worried. Can we go home now?"

"Yes, we can go home. I am taking you home and starting a life with you, just as I promised. I am Demon, but I will be a good husband and a good father someday. I will give you everything you could ever want. I love you. I love you."

"Did you just propose?" she teases, winding her arms around me.

Laughing, I lift her close, turning to head towards the portal. Gareth watches Azazel closely, knowing we're not just going to walk out of here. Surprising me, he moves in front of us as if to shield us from the Demon. Before I can blink the air shifts as Azazel moves to stop us.

"Come play with us up top," Cari taunts him. Good, clever little Nymph. He will not be able to resist playing games. "Unless you doubt you can beat any of us."

Before we get to the portal, he makes his move. With him at our backs, we do not need the portal to go up top. Swirling through darkness and fog, we land on warm dirt as we're sent back to Moon Haven. Azazel is there, laughing down at us as he perches in a tree, eating an apple.

"Adam and Eve were idiots," he chortles as he takes a big bite, spitting it out in a flurry of pieces.

Setting Cari on her feet, I take a moment to look over her body. Her skin is red from his whip, the blanket we were wrapped in when he took her tied around her in a tattered mess. Seeing the lashes on her skin enrages me.

"I will rip your flesh from your bones," I roar as I face Azazel, tucking Cari behind me. "I told you not to touch her. Not to come back for me. I am not coming back to Hades. My place is here, with my mate."

"Your place is on your knees, begging me not to ram my cock down your throat for fun. Not up here, not with her."

"Holy shit he's jealous," Cari laughs at him and we all turn, stunned at her bravado. "Jealous that I am the one you're giving your beautiful dick to now. That I am the one who gets to watch you come. I am the one who will give you babies and live with you until the end of time. You will not change that, Azazel. No man or monster can," she roars the last words, rushing forward.

Before I can move, a hum begins, loud, roaring, as a bright, white light floods the clearing we're stood in. I can hear Edon and Bessi's howls from somewhere close. Gareth reaches out and I see Luci, doing a double take. She is a source of the humming. Cari is the source of the light. Bessi comes sailing into the clearing, bringing a whirl of wind.

"What is going on?" I wonder aloud even if all I want to do is rush to protect the woman I love.

"They were right all along. We might have some magic, friend, but those three together are the real magic. They do not need us," Gareth says with a laugh as we stand watching them face down a Demon.

"What is this? Is it playtime?" Azazel mock as he drops down from the tree, sauntering towards them.

Garth and I spread out behind the girls, Edon joining us. Edon jerks his head, and I can see four wolves on the other side of the clearing. Azazel is cornered and he has no idea.

"Oh yes," the girls seem to answer in one voice. "We came to play, Demon. We will have a good time...you, not so much."

Azazel lets out a roaring laugh before he wiggles his fingers in their direction. Bolts of energy soar across the field towards the girls. Nothing happens. They do not writhe in pain or go up in flames. Then I hear it. They're laughing. Laughing at his weak show of power. I was wrong about their magic.

All three of them are Nymphs. They're just different forms of the magical creature. Cari, the oldest, is one with the earth and the woods. Luci, the middle sister, wields the power of the air, the winds. Bessi controls the streams and water. I watch as they unite as one powerful creature.

I was braced for a long war—it seems it will be decided by this battle alone.

"They're all Nymphs," Gareth muses, shaking his head. "All this time I just thought...well, I thought my wife was just pure magic. I was wrong."

"As was I, friend," I agree, shaking my head in awe.

Watching the clearing, I wait for Azazel's attack. I am not sure where it will come from. How he will lash out at them for insolence. Steeling his spine, he throws his hands out again, gray strokes of power shooting from his fingertips once more.

"Is this how we play? This is no fun, Azazel," the girls mock, their tones teasing, their faces smiling as they march towards him. Luci raises a hand on the left and Bessi raises hers on the right. Blue and white crackles of power zip through the air to crash into his chest, sending him hurtling back.

It lights up the whole clearing as they stalk him. Cari lifts her hands, and a crackle of purple energy joins her sisters', and I hear something I have not heard enough in all my time in Hades. Azazel cries out in pain.

Crumpled on the dirt, he shudders as their attack continues. I would tell them to show mercy, but he has not earned it. Besides, they cannot truly end his miserable existence. Demons exist until the creator above or the creature below decides otherwise.

What they can do is hurt him. Just as I did once, tearing half of his body apart. They can rip him to shreds. And they do. Together, the twist his body and tear parts of the ruined bits of his soul apart. He is whimpering and shuddering at the end.

"Not how I thought this would go," Gareth admits, sharing a look with me.

"Yeah. We uh...we need to be cautious with our women, my friend. Thank you. Not just for coming with me to get her without asking questions. For all you told me about myself. I am not that man now, but I do not want to be. I want to be better. For her. For our children."

"Ugh, children? Will they be more Demon or more Nymph?"

It takes me a moment to see he is teasing me. I laugh. As our women taunt the cocky Demon from Hades right back to where he came from, I am laughing with my new witch friend. Edon joins us, back in his human form after sending his pack home, and he is just as awed by the ladies as we were.

"Were they hiding that from us or..." he trails off as the ladies come back to us.

"We were not hiding it. None of us knew we could do that before we did it. It was the first time we had to protect each other that way. You all mentioned our magic, but I don't think any of us had any clue it was...this."

Cari comes to me, and I scoop her up, cradling her close. Her soft body still hums a little, her skin shining in the moonlight. Lowering my head, I drag my mouth over hers, breathing in her sweet scent.

"My love. You battled a Demon with ease. I suppose it means you will be able to live alongside another Demon without too much trouble," I tease her gently.

"He wanted to play games. While I was in Hades, he played games for fun. We decided to play by our rules. Ones that we made up as we figured out who we truly were. We're all Nymphs. It makes so much sense now. Our connection is bigger than us being sisters. We're three halves of the same spirit. Nothing can hurt us while we're together."

"No, nothing on earth or anywhere else can hurt you if you're together. I would reckon little could hurt any one of you on your own either, my love," I tell her proudly.

Cari flushes and dips her head, brushing her lips over mine. We go back to the castle instead of us splitting up. The girls do not want to be apart after all they just went through. I think it is something we will have to accept. They may never want to be apart again.

If they choose it, we will make it so.

Back at the castle, we all gather around a fire as the girls snuggle close to each other, barely making room for the men. We don't mind. They're safe, they're happy, and they're at peace being with each other.

We stay by the fire until the sun begins to lighten the dark corners of the castle. It is then we retire to our own spaces, ones I think we all best get used to for a least a little while. Because it will be some time before the girls want to be without each other after this ordeal.

"I love you, little flame," I say once again, and I will say it a thousand more times if she chooses. "You're the most special creature on this earth. And I do not deserve you, but you are mine," I remind her as I strip her of the blanket she was wrapped in all night.

In the early morning sunshine, she is so stunning I cannot take my eyes off her. Her skin is perfect again, the marks gone soon after their battle. When she preens beneath me, drawing my hand to her belly, I am not prepared.

"I saw a lot of things tonight, Mayhem," she whispers with the biggest, sweetest smile. "I saw something I did not expect. You said we will have babies. We do. We will, just as you said. Our babies will all come together. They will have a bond more powerful than the one I have with my sisters. They will come at the same time, Mayhem. We're going to have a baby."

Going to my knees between her spread thighs, I begin to weep. In another lifetime, I did a sinful thing. But I was just a man, a scarred, lonely man who made an awful mistake. I may have deserved my time in Hades, but I believe I deserve this new chance.

"I love you. I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman. You have become my entire world and now...now you've made it bigger. We have a family with your sisters, with their mates. Now a baby...you have given me everything. I will spend the rest of eternity earning it. I love you, little flame."

"I love you, Mayhem. I heard him tell you your name. Do you want me to call you that name?"

"No. I am Mayhem. I am the Demon I am now, a Demon who is devoted to you, who adores you, who will go to Hades and back for you or our family. I am your Mayhem."

"Yes, I think it suits you. Come here, my love," she purrs, drawing me close to her, settling her soft body beneath mine.

Fitting close, I thrust inside of her, both of us growling as I fill her deep. Clasping our hands together, I pin the above her head as I start to claim her. To take from her body as I give from my own. I kiss her hard and soft, I bite at the mark that bonded us together, as I drive into her again and again.

We make love for hours. It seems after a battle, my sweet Nymph is insatiable. Not that I mind. As I cradle her close once she is sated at last, I thank the Gods that I heard that voice. A voice that I now think was not her, as I suspected. It was the being that comes from all three sisters being one.

They knew she was alone. That she needed someone who would love her, be loyal to her, sacrifice anything for her. I will love her until the end of time. I will never love another, never even look at another. I would trade my life for hers, I would have gone back to Hades if it had come down to it.

"I love you, little flame. You're the magic. My own magic."