My stomach roiled as I nodded. So much unnecessary death—it was horrifying, and it took a long time for me to clear my head. We went deep in the maze of tunnels, going through a steel door that looked like it hadn’t been opened in the last decade, and entered a wide tunnel brightly lit with torches shoved into the grooves of the wall. Hunter stopped in front of a door up ahead, a circular steel one.
I bit down on my lip, sensing something was off. Like the air had suddenly turned stale, and it was hard to catch my next breath. A nervous sensation crept into my core like a thousand little ants.
Daemon stopped in front of me, stretching out an arm as he cocked his head to the side. Muscles up and down his spine rolled with tension. “There’re a lot of Arum beyond that door.”
Hunter smirked as he faced us. “I’ve told you. There are thousands down here.”
I couldn’t believe it. “How can there be so many? These are just subways.”
The Arum placed a large hand on the door. “They’ve created a world here, little one.”
I got hung up on the odd endearment. “Little” was the last adjective I’d use to describe myself.
“Lotho has been down here for years with many of the Arum, carving out an underground city with the help of those who are loyal to them. They come and go as they please, but they always come back.” He reached for a heavy lever. “The way they live is a bit archaic, so what you’re about to see—”
“Will probably result in my needing therapy later?” I nodded with a sigh. “Got it.”
One side of his lips kicked up, and then he looked at Daemon. “Ready?”
“Let’s get this over with.” Daemon reached for my hand, circling his around mine, and I didn’t mind.
I knew that what we were about to see, what we were about to walk into, was beyond dangerous, and we were going to do this together.
Hunter hesitated for a moment, like he really didn’t want to be doing what he was doing, and then his biceps flexed as he opened the door. There was another hall, but this was different. The walls were wooden beams filled in with drywall sheets. The torches were on poles, something like totems with weird loopy engravings that reminded me of Celtic knots. At the end of the wide hall was a wooden door that reminded me of something straight out of a Renaissance fair.
The moment we stepped into the hallway, and before Hunter reached the door, it flew open, clanging against the wall as another Hunter appeared.
Ah, there was the third triplet.
Even though he looked like another Hunter, with the exception of hair that was longer and pulled back at the nape of his neck, he reminded me of a pirate. And not the fun Disney version, either.
This brother bled animosity into the air and breathed hatred. He took one long look at his brother, and then his icy blue eyes drifted over us. I shivered as the temperature dropped. Goose bumps raced across my skin, and as I expelled my next breath, it formed a puffy, misty white cloud.
“You really shouldn’t have brought them here,” the brother said. Hearing his voice was like being pelted with freezing rain.
Hunter inclined his head. “And I really don’t need your permission, Sin.”
Sin stared at his brother for a moment and then chortled. “Whatever.”
Daemon had tensed, as if preparing for a battle to get through that door, and he didn’t relax when Sin pivoted on his heel and disappeared. Neither did I. The bad feeling I had from the moment Hunter started talking about Lotho had increased to epic levels.
Archer appeared at my other side, and the three of us followed Hunter through the door. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I saw.
Underground city? No joke.
It was like stepping into a different world. There seemed to be no ceiling, even though I knew we were still deep underground. As far as the eye could see was scaffolding that climbed up, creating dozens and dozens of walkways circling the wide chamber. Doorways were visible on the lower levels, and thick, furry-looking material dangled from some of the railings. The whole setup kind of reminded me of a prison made out of wood.
God forbid anyone got clumsy with a match.
My eyes were wide as we made our way down the center of the room. There were handcrafted tables in amazingly rich detail and cribs scattered along the edges of the room, mixed among tall and wide cabinets. A few were open, revealing normal contents—canned food, paper towels, sodas.
“This is so weird,” I whispered to Daemon.
He nodded. “I had no idea any of this existed.”
“It must be kept that way,” Hunter said over his shoulder. “As much as I’m not a fan of Lotho, he’s built something here for our kind—a sanctuary of sorts. No matter what happens, you cannot share this with anyone.”
“We won’t,” Archer swore. “We have no need to tell anyone about this.”
“Okay.” Hunter reached for the door. “Let me do the talking. That means don’t open your mouth, Daemon. Seriously.”
Daemon frowned. “That’s not insulting.” I raised my brows at him, and he sighed. “Fine. I’ll stay quiet.”
We left the room and entered yet another hall and went through another door, but we could hear talking and laughter mixed with shouts and what sounded like banging. I had no idea what we were going to see beyond the door, and I tried to prepare myself for anything as Hunter pushed it opened, revealing a massive chamber.
Holy Arum babies, there was a buttload of Arum in here. They were everywhere, seated at long wooden tables and standing among them. My steps ground to a halt, and Daemon’s hand tightened on mine.
Every Arum in the room stopped talking and literally seemed to freeze. Some had been in the process of standing. Others had huge cups that looked like medieval goblets halfway to their mouths. There were even women holding swaddled babies. All of them were pale. Most had pitch-black hair, and paired with their pale blue eyes, it was a startling combination. A few had bleached their hair blond or even bright punk red.
They all stared at us.
Oh boy, the hair along the back of my neck rose as icy fingers trailed down my spine.
“What in the hell, Hunter?” boomed a deep voice from behind us.
I spun around and sucked in a deep breath as my eyes almost bugged out of my head. There was a large wooden dais that overlooked what was obviously a dinner hall. The steps leading up to it were few but steep, as in I’d probably break my neck coming down.
A man was seated up there, and even though he wasn’t standing, I could see that he was Jolly Green Giant size. The Arum was massive, broad in the shoulders and chest and thick in the thighs. He sat lazily, like he was barely awake, but there was a keen sense of acute observation in his pale blue eyes.
He was . . . he was handsome in a cold, unreal way. His features were sharp as if they’d been carved out of marble, lips full and expressive, nose straight and cheekbones high. His hair was bleached white, but his brows were dark. Somehow the odd combination worked. He gazed at us as he held a glass goblet full of amber-colored liquid in his right hand.
So this was the Grand Poo-Bah, as Luc had called him? I was reluctantly impressed.
Hunter stepped forward while I got a good look at what Lotho was sitting on, which appeared to be a throne made out of . . .
Holy run for the freaking hills and don’t look back, were they actual bones? They were strange, though definitely not human. They were thinner and seemed more flexible, as if the cartilage could be shaped and reshaped over and over again, and they had a faint, luminous blue sheen—
Oh God.
They were Luxen bones.
This was bad, real bad.
“You know what is going on up there,” Hunter began, but he didn’t get much further. “Luxen have—”
“I know what is going on up there,” Lotho interrupted, sipping his drink when I expected him to down it. “Luxen have come. Killed a bunch of humans and blah, blah, and a ton of other crap I don’t care about. But that doesn’t explain why y
ou’d bring them here.”
Hunter opened his mouth.
“Unless you are bringing us dinner.” Lotho smiled, flashing white and oddly sharp-looking teeth. “If that is the case, thank you and the horse you rode in on.”
“We’re not here for dinner,” Daemon said, voice as cold as the room, and I winced. “Nor are we dessert. We’ve come here for your help to fight the invading Luxen.”
Wow. I looked at Daemon, sort of proud of him that he even uttered those words without a hint of sarcasm.
But Lotho looked like he might choke on the drink he just took. “Help?”
There was a rumbling of laughter all around us that echoed off the walls and caused my heart to pump too fast.
“Yes.” Daemon tipped his chin up as his smiled. “Help. It’s a pretty easy word. I could give you the definition if you like.”
Whelp, there went the sarcasm-free Daemon.
The glass shattered in Lotho’s hand.
Daemon frowned as shards of glass tinkled to the floor. “And that is why we can’t have nice things.”
I choked on my snicker, because I was pretty sure if I did laugh, the Arum might decide to snack on us.
There was a long stretch of silence, and I could feel the Arum rising from their seats behind us and pressing in close. Chills radiated down my spine and that suffocating feeling was back, weighing on my chest.
Sin crossed into my line of vision and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “What do you want done with them?” The eagerness in his voice as he glanced over at us creeped me out.
Lotho smirked. “Kill them all and let their God sort them out.”
17
{ Daemon }
Well, shit balls for dinner on Sunday.
That was the worst-case-scenario response.
I moved forward, positioning Kat between Archer and me. If I had to light this room up to get her out of here, so be it. And then what? This mission would be an absolute failure, the government would start e-bombing the crap out of cities, the world would decline into a place I sure as hell didn’t want to be in, and worse yet, I would lose my sister. Forever.
Perhaps I should’ve just kept my mouth shut?
Lotho stood to his full height, which had to be damn near seven feet tall, and he eyeballed me like he wanted to chew me up and spit me back out. “Did you actually expect a different response from me?” He tipped his head back and laughed. Several of the Arum snickered around us. “That any of us would help a Luxen? Or a hybrid or whatever the hell that thing is?” He gestured at Archer. “You’re either incredibly arrogant or seriously stupid.”
Irritation pricked at the back of my neck, causing my skin to hum with electricity. I knew I needed to keep it cool, at least until they made a real move against us. As much as it sucked, we needed them.
“What?” Lotho came down a step, and I stiffened. “You don’t have something smartass you want to add?”
My eyes narrowed. “Give me a second. I’ll come up with something.”
Hunter groaned.
Small hands pushed into my back in warning. “I didn’t expect any of you to hold our hands and sing ‘Kumbaya,’” I said, and Lotho arched a brow. “I didn’t expect any of you to actually welcome us here, but I did expect you all not to be a bunch of idiots.”
“Oh God,” Kat murmured behind me as she dug her nails into my back.
“That’s not going to win you any friends.” Hunter looked at me as if I were a few brain cells short of a complete set.
His brother, Pinky or Binky—I had no clue because I’d forgotten both of their names—appeared as if he was ready to go find himself a bib.
I took a deep breath. “You guys do realize what’s going to happen once the Luxen take over Earth, right?”
Lotho’s expression said he couldn’t give two craps. “Do you think we care about humans? They are . . . useless to us.”
I seriously began to question his intelligence. “Once they take over and subjugate every human here, they’re going to come after you guys. They may not be worried about you now, but they will. And the last time I checked, the Luxen owned the Arum.”
Lotho snorted. “They did not own us.”
“Is that so?” Archer chimed in. “Because you’re here on Earth, underground, living in subway tunnels. Just thought I’d point that out.”
“He kind of has a point there,” I added, smirking. “By then, they’ll have learned how to fight your kind,” I continued, hoping at least one of the Arum down here could make sense of logic. “Right now, they have no clue. It will be like a damn buffet for you. But later? After they’ve dealt with an Arum here and there? History is going to repeat itself.”
“History will not ever repeat itself,” sneered a female Arum. “They will never have control of us again.”
“Keep telling yourself that while you hide down here,” I retorted.
Pinky—I think it was Pinky—started to shift. “We are not hiding.”
“Totally looks like you guys are hiding.” Kat peeked around my shoulder, and Lotho’s gaze slammed into her in a way that made me want to pull out his larynx and shove it down his mouth. “I mean, from an outside observer, I’d say you guys were hiding.”
Hunter squeezed his eyes shut like he suddenly had a headache.
A heavy footfall later, Lotho was within ass-kicking range. He wasn’t looking at me. My hands curled into fists.
Cool it, Archer warned me.
“You’re not just a casual observer,” Lotho said to Kat, voice as thick as the shadows gathering around him. “You’re a whore of the Luxen who hides behind them.”
I stiffened. “What—”
“Hold up. Excuse me.” Kat darted out from behind me and raised one hand. “First off, the last time I checked, I’m not a whore for anyone. Secondly, I didn’t cower behind him. Unlike some people.”
Lotho cocked his head to the side.
“And thirdly? Not one of you in this room—not a single one of you—caused the destruction of your planets, right? Is anyone in here old enough that they had a hand in that war between your two kinds?” When no one answered, she shook her head. “You guys are ridiculous! All of you.”
Cold blasts of air hit from several directions. Not good. “Uh, Kitten . . .”
“Shut up,” she snapped, and my eyes widened. “You’re just as bad as they are.”
“What the what?” I said.
Hunter’s clone raised his brows. “I kind of want to hear where this is going.”
More snickers from the peanut gallery.
“You two hate each other just because of what you are,” Kat all but shouted.
“Well, they were kind of created to destroy us, so. . . .” I trailed off.
“And they committed genocide on our kind and enssslaved our people,” Lotho said, his voice becoming snakelike.
“Waah, waah, waah. Whine. That’s all I hear.” Kat threw her hands up. “Let me give you a brief history of mankind. We have constantly, systematically screwed one another over religion and race, doing far worse than what your two kinds have done to each other, more often than a history teacher has time to cover in class. Since the beginning, we have hurt one another over the stupidest things.”
“Well, that’s a glowing endorsement of humans,” Hunter’s brother said drily.
“You don’t get it.” For a second, I really thought she was going to stomp her foot. “Even though so many races on this planet have so much bad blood between them, when the shit hits the fan, we always come together. Always. Why? Because we know there are some moments when we have to fight together, and so we do. Then, when it’s all over, we go back to hating on each other. And everything is right in the world.”
Lotho’s form solidified as he stared at her.
“God!” Kat did stomp her foot then. “Why can’t you all act like humans just once?”
Silence, and then Lotho asked, “You’re wanting us to forget everything that they have done to us an
d continue to do?”