“And ye said it escaped the Underworld?” Alexander asked as he took a measured sip of his wine.
Bobby nodded. “‘Abaddon’ means destruction, and he leaves it wherever he goes. He had been imprisoned in the Underworld for a millennia until a certain … incident … broke him free.”
“What incident?” Bash asked, his blue eyes burning brightly.
“That’s none of your business,” Fenrir scoffed.
“I think it’s definitely our business,” I growled. “What incident?”
“Just tell them,” Raven sighed. “There’s no point hiding it.”
Fenrir clenched his jaw before loosening it with great effort. “My sister was imprisoned in the Underworld and I … set her free. In doing so, she freed Abaddon. Accidentally I might add.”
I choked on a laugh. “So this is your fault?”
Fenrir growled, “Watch it, little wolf.”
“I’m just saying. If this is your bad, why are my people suffering because of it?” I inquired. “Where’s your sister? Shouldn’t she be handling this situation?”
There was a ponderous silence before Raven finally admitted, “I killed her.”
I pressed my lips together and wisely remained quiet. Man, and there I thought I had family drama. I wasn’t even going to try and piece that story together. Not my monkey, not my circus.
“Well … uh …”
Crickets.
Each person around the table studiously avoided each other’s gaze. I was getting absolutely no kind of help in this awkward situation. Damn them.
“Long story.” Raven rolled her eyes and went back to eating.
“Anyway,” Fenrir broke the tension, “back to you. What could Abaddon possibly want with you, little wolf?”
Ugh, back to this? Hell if I know!
“I’ve been pondering this all night,” Bobby said. “The real question should be, how does he know about Mackenzie?”
“She’s sort of well-known among the supernatural.” Bash shrugged as if the answer should be obvious.
Bobby shook his head. “But not to a demon. They’re different from us. They’re not interested in humans, which is why they stay away from them; they consider them bland and distasteful. Quite literally.” He shivered. “It’s why they hunt supernaturals. But even so, how would he have heard of her, and what would have attracted him to her?”
“Her recent accession to the throne?” Alexander suggested. It made sense. The demon only made himself known once I was slated to become Queen.
Fenrir shook his head. “Demons don’t care about titles.”
“It’s something she has in her possession,” Ophelia spoke up for the first time tonight. We all turned in her direction.
“If ye know what it is, now is the time to speak, ye ol’ hag,” Ranulf grumbled.
Ophelia smiled demurely, undeterred by the old guard’s snide remark. “All will be revealed in due time.”
Ranulf slammed his palms on the table, making the silverware bounce. “But if ye know—!”
“Stop!” I cut him off. “She doesn’t know,” I said, staring at Ophelia’s milky white eyes. “She hasn’t seen it yet.” She nodded in confirmation. “Whatever it is, I’m most likely not in possession of it yet.” I couldn’t be. I had nothing of value to my name right now, unless you counted what was passed down to me from the crown. But if so, then why didn’t the demon come after Alexander since he was in possession of everything before me? None of this made any sense.
“If that’s the case, then why hasn’t he come for Mackenzie directly? Why go after the Highlanders?” Bash asked.
“He does nae know it’s her,” Ophelia answered. “He is only wandering aimlessly, attacking creatures that enter his path.”
“How do we kill it?” I asked, pushing my plate of food to the side. All this talk of demons and whatnot was making me nauseas. Impending death was a real appetite killer.
“You can’t kill it,” Fenrir explained. “The only option we have is sending it back to the Underworld. That’s where Bobby comes in. It’s why I need him.”
My nostrils flared in anger. I wanted to shout and yell with every fiber of my being, but I somehow managed to hold it all together. This could’ve been avoided if they would have just told me what was going on!
I wiped my mouth with the cloth napkin and tossed it on the table, irritated. “Fine; then we send the thing back to hell. When do we start hunting?”
Fenrir laughed. “It’s not that simple. Do you think I’d still be here if all I had to do was go on a hunt? Abaddon is cunning, and the bastard wears a human face while in this realm. We don’t even know what he looks like.”
“Then we have to find out where his next attack will be and catch him in the act.” I turned to Ophelia. “Can your oracles sign up for this task?”
Ophelia nodded. “This would be a good opportunity for ye to practice as well.”
“Fine, I’ll work with you,” I said begrudgingly.
We moved on to lighter topics and the remainder of dinner passed in a more relaxed manner. I walked Fenrir out of the castle with William and Liam following closely behind.
“So I guess we’ll be working together after all, little wolf.” Fenrir put his hands in his pant pockets as we leisurely strolled through the castle.
“We should have been working together from the start, but you always have to do things ass backwards, don’t you?” I smirked.
He grunted, “I still vote that we kill you. Getting rid of you seems like the logical solution.”
William and Liam growled behind me and I smiled quietly to myself.
“Easy, boys.” Fenrir waved them off. “I won’t touch your precious Queen. You have other enemies closer to home that you need to worry about.”
I stopped walking and turned to Fenrir. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He turned and grinned, pleased that his comment made its mark. “What? Did you think I was the only one after the crown?”
My face darkened as I glared at him. “What do you know about that?”
Fenrir chuckled. “What don’t I know, should be your question, little wolf.” He booped me on my
