9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Hawk

M y draguta stared at the God with curiosity and determination. She stood tall in my arms, no mean feat given her tiny frame. I wanted to protect her, take care of her, love her.

It was strange. All I'd known for the last few centuries was the darkness of the Depths. Endlessly floating, surrounded by misery and agony, enough of it to drive me to the edge of madness.

Then there was this light. This feeling of pure energy that wrapped around me. It reached for it, wanting so desperately to grasp it. To hold on to her. There was so much I could suddenly feel . It overflowed and I knew I would do anything to keep hold of that. I threw everything I had at reaching out to her and holding on, calling out her name and just willing her to want to save me. Hoping that I'd be worthy of being saved.

The moment she pulled me towards her was euphoric. Then I'd emerged and all I'd felt was wildness and chaos. The mania at my core breaking free until I couldn't contain it and I'd exploded from my humanoid form, breaking down into a purely elemental wisp.

It was only the soft melody of her voice that had calmed me enough that I could shift back. She had chosen me to save, and I'd be forever linked to her. Forever bonded in a moment of grace and hope and I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I would give up everything to save her if I needed to.

"So, little witch," Hades began, his charm radiating through him now that he'd been put in his place. "I have a task for you."

"So you've said. I'll do it on one condition."

I chuckled. She was definitely ballsy making a deal with a Devil.

"You've already demanded Hawk," Hades said, his head cocked to one side. "And I'm not happy about that. He should be serving punishment for his crimes."

That was a crock of shit. I'd done nothing wrong. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I'd been judged and executed before you could snap your fingers. "That is a lie. I committed no crime."

Hades' attention whipped towards me, his gaze suddenly cold and assessing. "Even if you weren't guilty of that murder, you were running rampant and ravaging villages and cities through Europe. You were risking everything. You were a wildness we couldn't contain, and I needed you out of the way. Our existence depended on it, Moroi, so don't you dare tell me you didn't deserve it."

I'd had a lot of time for reflection down in the Depths and I knew he was right. I'd been a monster, a creature of nightmares with no care for my existence or that of any other supernatural creature. I'd spent so long living I'd grown dissatisfied with the world and I may have snapped a little.

"Hawk, look at me." Raevyn's soft voice pulled me from my thoughts. Every time I saw her, she took my breath away. I wanted to take her scent deep into my lungs, sink my teeth into her neck and devour her whole. I'd never felt this depth of need before. It was all consuming and all I could think about when I looked at her.

She stroked her hand across my chest, over my frantic beating heart. Which in itself was ridiculous. My heart didn't beat unless it'd found its true mate. She was mine. I just wasn't sure what that meant where the other men were concerned because I could feel their bond with her too.

It was only then I realised my shadows were creeping around her, circling her limbs, and binding her to me.

"Sorry," I grumbled, and pulled them back into me. They acted instinctively and I wasn't always aware of what they were doing.

"That's okay," she replied, her eyes dark and wide. "I didn't mind."

An image flashed in her mind of her naked and wrapped in nothing but my shadow, her body pinned to the bed and writhing beneath my mouth.

Fuck .

She grinned up at me, the little minx, knowing exactly what she was doing to me. I growled and gripped her chin before lowering my mouth to her ear. "I will get you back for that, draguta . You'll be begging and screaming before I'm done with you."

Her whole body shivered as I pressed a kiss over her pulse in her neck. Gods, I was so fucking hard for this woman.

"You can keep Hawk, but if he starts murdering again, I will come for both of you," Hades quipped, his high and mighty tone grating on my ears. "And believe me when I say, I'll greatly enjoy sending you to the Depths and watching as your souls disintegrate in the most imaginative way I can think of."

"Fine, but that wasn't what I was going to ask for," Raevyn said.

"My, we are demanding this morning, aren't we?" Hades drawled.

Raevyn's voice dropped deliciously low and violent. "I want revenge on the Raathmore coven. I want to watch them burn."

Hades' eyes flashed with fire for a second and I knew that meant he liked the idea. His eyes only flashed with fire in moments of euphoria, something I'd seen first hand when we'd been close. But that was many lifetimes ago and we were very different beings now.

"Done. I love a bit of revenge. Especially when it's served hot." The grin that grew on Hades' face made even me feel uncomfortable. There was an ulterior motive here that I wasn't sure I wanted to know about.

"What of the task you need us to complete?" Korbin asked. Still the leader, even now.

"Thane has got himself into a spot of trouble and G.R.I.M is closed for business whilst he's under investigation," Hades explained, a grim set to his mouth.

"Ooh, are we going soul hunting?" Nox asked, his signature blade twirling through his deft fingers. Still the same love for that thing that I remember from years ago.

"Of a fashion. I've got the Royal Guard taking over the general reaping. I need someone to go after the more challenging ones. The ones causing havoc topside."

Casimir seemed to catch Raevyn's confused expression. She wouldn't know who any of these people were. He stepped closer and threw himself into an explanation. "G.R.I.M stands for General Reaping Inc, Miseriae and that's run by Thane, the Grim Reaper. He and his team of Reapers and Hell Hounds are responsible for collecting souls of those who died, the ones of the damned and those that refuse to cross over."

Raevyn smiled at him warmly, her hand reaching for his. "Thank you." Then she turned back to Hades, her fingers still entwined with Casimir's. "So, exactly who are we going after?"

Hades' grin turned feral. "I'll send you a list."