27. Darius

27

DARIUS

" F ucking hell that's awful." Nash's face was nearly green as his knees started to buckle. He didn't fall down or vomit though, so that was something. He was still getting his earth-side sea legs, so teleporting was probably extra fucking awful for him right about now. The moment he caught his balance, he was bent next to Nika, calming her. Attempting to, anyway.

"You're welcome for the free ride," I muttered. They were rare. Wait until he got a load of how much plane tickets cost.

I turned to Eli, Atlas, and Wade, who'd brought Claude and Nika, making sure nothing catastrophic had happened to them on the trip over.

Nika didn't appear to have eaten any of them during the shift here, so I was counting that as a win.

Arnell set up the meeting and we'd left as soon as Dec was certain Max made it to the woods, that she'd be gone for a few hours.

She was staying behind, begrudgingly, as was Ro. It was a precaution in case shit went down and we needed help getting out of here—or keeping Max distracted .

Nika snapped when Nash touched her, and for a moment I thought she was going to go full evil dead and try to kill us all. Do The Guild a favor.

Instead, her eyes darted to each of us, lingering longer on me and Claude, like she recognized us. Almost.

Thick chains cuffed her hands and legs, a brace around her neck to keep her from attacking—but she hadn't yet.

Nash raised his hands, approaching her slowly this time, like she was a wounded puppy and not a feral, overpowered vampire who wanted to drain every ounce of blood from his veins.

Love was a veil sometimes.

Still, when he caught her gaze in his, some of the tension eased from her shoulders. Maybe he was right, maybe she was getting a little better, the balance righting itself—if only just slightly.

"I still don't see why we needed to bring her," Wade mumbled, quiet enough that only me and Atlas heard him. "Seems like an unnecessary liability in what is already a tense, risky situation."

"She deserves revenge on the people who did this to us, who did this to her," I said, keeping my voice even. I owed her this. We all did.

I held my breath as Nash unlocked her chains, unsure whether the odds were higher that she'd bolt out of here or attack her twin. Or me.

She did none of the above, thankfully, choosing instead to continue watching us all like hawks—a scavenger selecting its next meal with care.

I shrugged. It was the best-case scenario, though I'd be lying if I said it didn't sting, seeing her like this.

Growing up, she was the loudest, gentlest, happiest of us all. Now, she was a shell of the girl I knew, frightened and cornered into a wild violence that would have broken her heart .

It broke mine now. Fucking cruel what this world had done to her. What I'd done to her, however unintentionally.

"We're meeting them at the site, it'll take us a few minutes to walk there, can she make it?" Atlas asked, tone matter-of-fact. He was in mission-mode, as Max liked to call it.

Still, as collected as he sounded, I saw the threads of yellow in his eyes.

The wolf was at the surface. Good. We needed him.

Nash shot him a look, voice tense. "She'll make it."

He whispered something in her ear as Eli and Wade led us forward, blades hanging loose in their hands. Their steps were quiet and sure, like they walked these grounds in their sleep.

When Nika started to follow, I let go of the breath I'd been holding.

It was a risk, bringing her, but it felt right. Including her in this. She deserved revenge as much as we did for what The Guild had done to us all, for what they'd forced us to become.

When her dark eyes met mine, my stomach tightened at what I saw. It was brief, but it was there—a flash of my best friend.

That small flash disappeared quickly though, as she let loose a low, guttural growl, her teeth bared as she lunged towards me.

I didn't flinch, didn't back away. I let her fingers grip onto me, so tight that she'd have snapped bone if I were a human.

"Easy, Nik," Nash cooed, calm and steady, like she was a toddler. "That's Darius. He's a prick, but he was your friend."

My brain latched onto that word—was—but I didn't fight him on it. Instead, I held her gaze, as we kept walking, like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Eventually, she loosened her grip. Her muscles rippled and tensed as she resisted the deep urge to feed on me. She didn't.

"Good." Nash's face lit up with a smile as he caught my eye—a shared recognition in her progress .

It took him a minute to realize he was sharing that moment with, well, me, and he dropped his gaze when he did.

He was right not to abandon her, to hold onto hope. She was still in there, buried deep under the blood lust.

She had better control than I had when hunger took over.

Eli whistled when the forest opened into a clearing. "She really did a number on this place."

He grinned, brows raised, impressed.

Wade grunted. "Damn right she did."

The council's underlings asked for a meeting spot. I suggested their old headquarters. A bit of a petty power move on my part, perhaps, bringing them to the scene of a battle they'd clearly lost.

The grounds were covered in the charred remains of the cabins, and I could smell the softest tinge of smoke damage in the air, even months later. The building I'd spent years in was burnt to a crisp, looking more like the site of ancient ruins than like the state-of-the-art ‘research' center that it was. Good riddance.

It wasn't just a site of destruction though.

The woods had started to reclaim the grounds as their own.

There were new patches of grass, wildflowers budding in the cracked, fractured concrete, and more than a few nests of refuge built by the local wildlife.

It was beautiful in its own way. I much preferred it like this at least.

There were seven large vans about a hundred feet away, untouched by the brutal scorch of Max's fire.

In a succession of unnecessarily loud slams, protectors poured out of them, most in full riot gear.

I stiffened, even though I'd known they would be here.

I felt Claude do the same at my side.

It was against our nature to willingly meet protectors, especially when we were deeply outnumbered .

They'd agreed to the terms Arnell had conveyed. Seven of us would meet here, but they were bringing fifty of their own.

If I had my way, that would leave the grounds anointed with the blood and entrails of fifty bodies when I was through. I didn't trust a single one of them.

Honestly, I was just impressed they'd all managed to pack themselves like sardines in those seven vans and keep it to the number they promised.

"Here we go," Eli muttered under his breath, fingers flexing over the handle of his dagger. He looked at me from the corner of his eyes, his mouth twisted into an arrogant grin. "Try not to lose your shit too quickly, eh vamp? Just remember if you get cut, I get cut."

I winked. "Like I'm not deeply aware—at all times—of how often your recklessness has resulted in getting me injured."

Truthfully, I forgot all the time, and was more than a little thankful for the reminder. Max didn't like it when we were hurt.

"Serves you right, binding yourself to a fucking protector," Claude muttered.

"Was the full patrol really necessary?" Wade's lip curled in disgust as the protectors made their way towards us, many of them carrying dart guns likely filled with cartridges of the poison I was only too familiar with.

But it was the last arrival that had my pulse beating a bit faster than I'd have liked.

It was a frail-looking girl, her ankles and arms bound. Even from here, I could see that her eyes were pitch black, the reddish curls framing her face kept waving into a smokey-shadow.

I swore. "They brought a fucking drude. Where the hell do they keep getting them from?" They were supposed to be nearly extinct. I'd never even come across one in my particular pocket of hell, yet these assholes kept trotting them out like they were as common as bad opinions.

Atlas stiffened beside me, and I was filled with a renewed anger on his behalf.

"A drude wasn't part of the deal," I said, my voice tight.

The girl's expression was drawn, half dazed, and there was an unhealthy grayish tinge to her skin that made her look half-dead, translucent. She didn't have a good hold on the human form she was in, but she was being forced to embody it anyway. Caged in flesh. Starving.

She'd feed the first chance she was given. I couldn't even blame her.

That's how the council was controlling the druden they'd captured. Starvation. Desperation. The druden were so in need of feeding on nightmares, on pain, that when given the chance, they didn't think twice—there were no options, other than killing whoever was within reach.

"Drude?" A thin white man, dressed in a standard, poorly-fitted suit took a few steps towards us, distinguishing himself in the crowd.

Claude bristled, but I had a feeling it was more so because he was offended by the man's fashion taste than anything else.

The man arched his brow, and followed my line of sight. "Is that what you call them?" He shrugged, his gaze swinging back to Atlas. "Apologies, Mr. Andrews, I hear you are intimately familiar with their powers. One can never be too safe these days and we're not exactly evenly matched. Consider its presence an incentive to keep the peace today. If it's any consolation, the creature's keeper assures me that it can't attack until unbound. Our restrictive technology has improved exponentially in the last year—truly marvelous discoveries are made when the stakes are high." His lips narrowed as he parted his hands in a peace offering. "Let's just make sure it remains unnecessary, shall we? "

Nika vibrated with barely-constrained tension.

Nash insisted she was gaining better control over herself, but I wasn't so sure.

I shot Nash a look, imploring him to keep her from pouncing. We needed to get what we came here for first, then she could have her fill—a buffet of asshole if she wanted.

He grabbed her wrist and whispered to her. She didn't calm completely, but I could tell she was implementing more restraint.

"So," the man clapped his hands together, as his lackeys filed around him in some super-agent formation I was certain they'd practiced for hours. "Arnell told us you were finally ready to negotiate—to give up the girl."

A low growl emanated from Atlas, one I felt mirrored in my own chest.

The man's thin lips stretched into a slimy, greedy smile, and I had the sudden urge to make sure Nika didn't drain him dry when the time came for it. Sometimes you could just tell when a dude had rotten blood.

His focus was reserved completely for Atlas, Eli, and Wade—his entourage busy with throwing tentative, fearful looks at the rest of us.

I flashed fang, just for the fuck of it, grinning when two of them flinched.

"Then you misunderstood. We're not giving her up." Wade took a step forward. "We want to discuss the Council's future goals—or, rather, what they should be."

Of all of us, Wade was the most level-headed, the best at keeping his emotions in check. We'd decided early on that he'd handle most of the conversation. Incubi were always useful to keep around for social and political manipulations.

I heard the gentle suggestion of power in his words. The kid was getting good at controlling his new magic tricks.

The man's smile twitched before re-fixing itself to his face. " It's good to see you boys again. I haven't set eyes on you myself since you were," he gestured to waist-height, "about this tall."

"I'm assuming," Wade pressed, ignoring the man's awkward attempt to relate, "that you agreed to meet with us because, like us," Wade's focus shifted, his gaze cutting to a few of the other protectors in the assembly, like he could sense which ones truly held the power here, "you know that the council doesn't have The Guild's true interests at heart."

"And tell me, Mr. Andrews," a tall, muscular woman took a few steps forward until she stood shoulder-to-shoulder next to Sir Slimeball. "Whose interests are you committed to these days?"

‘You may not have noticed, but the world is quite literally hanging on the precipice of collapse." Wade grinned, a reserved, political sort of grin, though I knew him well enough now to see the hatred packed behind it, to feel the pulse of his power fighting for restraint. It was rare for lust demons to have much power in the waking world, especially when they weren't in hell. Since we'd strengthened the bonds to Max, all of our strengths had been slowly enhancing. "We are invested in keeping as many people alive as possible. As are you, I'm sure."

"Of course, of course," Slimeball cooed. The woman next to him merely nodded, expression tight.

"Good," Wade's eyes narrowed, just a fraction, "I'm glad we are agreed on that at least. Especially given that the current council seems to only be focused on power. Not for The Guild, not for humanity. For themselves."

Several of the protectors bristled and tensed, a few of them darting glances at each other.

"We don't agree with everything The Guild stands for," Wade continued, "especially not with how things have been handled lately. But our own values and beliefs aren't important right now. We're willing to work with you, for the sake of survival, but we are not willing to work with those who put their own thirst for power ahead of the safety of others."

"Are you suggesting a coup, Mr. Andrews?" The woman's brow arched, and she exchanged a look with another weasel in their ranks, her lips betraying the small start of a smile. She was interested. Very. "That you'd work with a different council—one more aligned with your values, perhaps?"

"We've noticed that you only have two council members left," Eli said, his voice deep and devoid of its usual snark and arrogance. So he could turn it off when he wanted to. "That no others have been appointed to the vacant slots. It seems they are invested in keeping the power they've—found," he stalled on the word. Stolen. The power they've stolen. "For themselves. And so long as they keep that power, you aren't strong enough to take them out. Not alone, anyway."

"And you are?" Some faceless dickhole in the crowd yelled out.

I ignored the urge to march over and disembowel him immediately. Instead, I played out the fantasy over and over on a loop in my mind.

Max would be proud of my restraint.

"We are," Wade said, somehow maintaining his smoothness, despite how fucking obnoxious these raging dildos were.

"What do you suggest, exactly?" Another one of their minions asked, finding the courage to speak. "What's in it for us?"

I bit back a groan. This was going to take forever to get them slowly to our side of things. My brain was going to rot with how slow and vapid they were.

"We'll take out your council problem," I took a step forward, delighted when a few of the protectors closest to me flinched back, hands instinctively flexing over their weapons. Try me. Please. I'd love an excuse to feed one of them to my dear friend Nika. "If you tell us where to find them, and where to find the stone they are keeping. Then, you're all free to fight over however many council spots you want. Hell," I shrugged, "make yourselves kings and queens for all we care. Divvy up your internal power however suits your fancy. We give—and I truly cannot stress this enough—precisely zero fucks."

"Darius," Eli mumbled, "what the fuck are you doing?"

"Speeding things along," I whispered back. "We only have so long to make this happen, and they're being offensively obtuse. I'm simply stating things in a way they'll understand. You know, keeping things under three syllables, removing all metaphors."

"I do admire your directness." The creepy dude coughed out a laugh that was so fake it made my stomach turn. "And while we might be able to point you to the council members, the stone must remain with us. It's a sacred relic of our people. We were charged with protecting it and must remain so."

I snorted. Protecting my ass.

"That's not going to work for us." Atlas's voice was soft, but it carried through the field, even and cold, and laced with a growl that ushered no question whether the man was a werewolf. "The stone is necessary to stabilize the realms."

"Ah, but we can help with that process, can't we?" The man turned to the woman, to the rest of his peers in question. "We can help the girl—take her burden."

Take her power, they meant. Greedy fucks.

They nodded in assent, avarice etched into every last one of them, like a virus. It had become an epidemic, something those high up in The Guild could never escape—the thirst for more power.

Even if we did let them live, it was clear their fight for those new sparkly council positions would be a battle of death and deceit. The only one who didn't look excited was the drude, and that was because she was half dead and their prisoner .

"And how would you do that, exactly?" I asked. "Take her burden, I mean?"

The two proto-leaders shared a glance, silently assessing each other's thoughts.

The woman took a step forward, still choosing to speak to Atlas, Wade, and Eli, and ignoring the rest of us like we were nothing but used gum on the underside of a desk. Pricks. "She is a siphon, but she does not need to remain one. We can use the stone to bind her to us—to forge bonds just as we have between protectors for years. She is still one of us after all, this is no different." My teeth ground together as I bit back my retort. "Then, once we have access to her power, we can remove it from her, and thus her role in this. Once we are strong enough, once we've survived the injections of shadow magic?—"

"How exactly are you injecting magic you've stolen into protectors?" I asked.

His nostrils flared "That's none of your concern, and it's not stolen."

Several of his lackeys eyed the drude with discomfort.

Ah. So it was through their recent acquisition of druden. That explained why they'd grown to rely on them so heavily.

"Once we are closer to her level," she continued, "our power will grow when connected to hers, she need simply relinquish it to us. Then, the seven of us who are anointed can act as siphons. We will repair the barrier between worlds, as has always been ordained. If we're careful, between the seven of us, it should be enough to stabilize and stitch the realms closed. With our presence, our expertise, the notes from our elders detailing the original ritual—we can mend the rift. We can keep her alive."

Claude grumbled. "And keep everyone trapped in hell, until the magic of the realm destroys them all, you mean."

The hell realm wouldn't be the only place to suffer. Giving them access to Max's power would put the whole world in even more danger than it already was. These fuckheads cared for nothing but themselves.

"We were told there was a way to simply pull down the veil separating the realms, remove the shadow magic barrier altogether," I said, though my instincts had been screaming at me that this was a crock of steaming shit from the moment I'd heard it.

"And let demons roam freely in this world?" Slimeball let out a sound somewhere between a wheeze and a gasp. "No, that's not possible. It's against everything we stand for. Our ancestors would never have created such a provision."

Bingo. The Guild, surprising exactly no one, never had honor.

I ground my teeth together, but kept my urges to kill, maim, and decapitate at bay when Eli shot me a warning look.

"If you were told otherwise," he continued, "I apologize. it was merely an attempt by Jarrod or Xavier to pacify you and secure your chances of working with them. A lie, nothing more. But if you work with us, we can save the girl. And you have our word we will harm none of you. You may live your lives in this world, as if you were human."

How mag-fucking-nanimous.

Of course the council had been lying. About everything. From day one.

All they cared about was obtaining more power, even if it killed them. It had already killed two of them.

They were addicted to the mere promise of it, the possibility. And, council members or not, these dickholes were no different.

I would deeply enjoy watching Nika have her fill of them, now that I was confident in the truth: they needed us, we didn't need them.

The only thing they had to offer in return was death and destruction—greed could lead to nothing else .

Hell, their greed caused this whole mess, it wouldn't fix it.

"We were wrong." I whispered, quiet enough that only our side could pick it up. "They were never going to even do the ritual. Temporarily stabilize the barrier, maybe. Buy some more time for their brutal reign to regroup. This was always just about stealing her power, even if it kills them in the process. They can't help her. Not really. But I think we can. When the time comes."

Atlas's theory that six was better than one when it came to the ritual was promising. It would either save her, or take us all out too.

Either way, when it came down to it, she wouldn't be alone.

And our way of attempting to save her wouldn't kill off or condemn an entire realm of people.

We just had to figure out how to do it.

Wade studied me, his jaw clenched tight, expression unreadable. For a second I thought he might push back, fight me on this. Instead, he nodded, almost imperceptibly, before turning back to them.

"Deal," he lied, voice loud and clear. "You can take her power, if that will save her. I suppose we have no other option."

I grinned. Translation: we did, we just weren't letting these fucktwats in on it.

"Tell us where to find the stone and the council members and we'll bring you Max," he added, lips pressed into a firm line as he tried to contain his cool for a few more minutes.

A rancid smile carved its way across the creep's face, one that was mirrored on several of his cronies as well. They were so consumed with greed, with the promise of dipping their toes in pools of stolen power, that they weren't thinking straight.

He pulled a small piece of paper and a pen from his pocket. Silently, he scratched a few lines onto it, before stepping midway between his group and ours. "These are the coordinates. You'll find the stone and Jarrod's hideout there. But we'll need something in return, collateral to guarantee you won't betray us."

Wade stiffened, narrowing his eyes. "What kind of collateral?"

The woman tilted her chin forward, her posture straightening. "We require that three of the girl's current bonds come with us, and agree to take power dampeners. Just until your end of the bargain is upheld and we have inherited the girl's burden."

Yeah, so not fucking happening. On any level.

"Just to clarify," Eli's hand flexed around his dagger, "the world's literal survival is at stake here, and your number one concern is still maintaining the upper hand?"

The woman's eyes narrowed, just a touch, but her fake-ass smile remained plastered to her face. "We have no reason to trust you, Mr. Bentley, this merely gives you a reason to hold up your end of the bargain. We are doing this for the greater good."

The greater good of her pockets, maybe.

So, basically, if I understood this right, the TLDR of their ‘greater good' plan: steal Max's power, kill off every creature in hell, be the strongest beings in the world, and reap congratulations for saving humanity.

And that was assuming they managed to do all of the above without accidentally killing everyone off in the process. Something I had no faith in.

I fought back the tremendous urge to roll my eyes.

Instead, my focus locked on that small square of paper, gripped in the man's greasy fingers. He'd given us the coordinates, we just had to trust that they were accurate, that they weren't fucking with us on this one thing at least.

Which meant that all we needed to do here was remove it from his grasp…or remove his hand from his wrist. I didn't mu ch care either way, though one certainly sounded more exciting.

A small flutter of noise, both loud and soft at once stole the attention of a few of their minions. They bristled and gasped, fear rippling over them like a wave.

A man had materialized at the edge of the forest, his expression grim.

"Councilmember Xavier," the woman said, her voice wavering with fear, despite her attempt to contain it. "We weren't expecting you here."

"Clearly," he said, "but I see you've done one useful thing and drawn most of the girl's bonds to one place. How convenient."