“This is the entrance to the Underworld.” Raven stopped before the door. “Once we go in, we must stick together. No one can get separated. I’m the only one who can open doors. If you get separated, you’ll be stuck without me.”
We all nodded.
Raven turned back to the door and grabbed the knocker, wrenching open the door. The stench of something burning wafted out and made me wrinkle my nose. We passed through the door, entering the Underworld to be completely enshrouded in darkness. Ghastly screams echoed throughout the cavernous space, filled with anguish and despair. I gripped Bash’s hand even tighter.
“Those are the screams of the sinful souls being tortured. Try to tune them out,” Raven winced. As if that was easy.
We walked down a narrow walkway that spanned across a fiery pit. If I took the smallest step to my right, I’d fall to a burning death. Up ahead, dark mountains loomed with a spindly set of stairs that wound around all the way to the top. From our vantage point I could see thousands, maybe millions of people teeming, constructing and chipping the mountain into even more stairs.
“How are we supposed to find anyone here?” I asked as I scanned the area in disbelief. If this was hell, it was definitely how I imagined it.
“They’ll come to us,” Raven said. “Just be careful with your steps.”
Bash wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tucked me under his arm. He was in overprotective mode. I could feel it.
An old man stood ahead, his back to us, but he stiffened and I could tell he sensed our presence. “Valkyrie … you have returned,” he said, his voice frail.
“It’s good to see you, too.” She stopped just a few feet before him. “I hope you’ve been well.”
The old man turned around, his white, stringy hair falling over his wrinkled face. “I have. I see you still hang around the same crowd.” His gaze traveled to Fenrir and then back to her. “I hope you’re staying out of trouble.”
Raven nodded. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m actually here to see if you can help me … us,” she clarified. “It seems one of your princes is missing. Abaddon.”
The old man’s upper lip twitched. “Hmm … I see. Is he in Midgard?”
“Yes. He’s in the human realm causing havoc,” she answered.
The old man frowned. “Causing havoc to humans?”
“No, to supernaturals. But that shouldn’t matter. It’s still a problem.”
“I see,” the old man said, and his eyes fell on me and Bash. “And who are your friends?”
Raven motioned to me. “This is the Queen of the Lycan, Queen Mackenzie MacCoinnich and her mate, Prince Consort Sebastian Steel.”
I was surprised she knew our formal titles, but it made sense that she and Fenrir did their homework before coming here.
“Are they who Abaddon wants?” the old man asked.
“She is who he is after,” Raven corrected uneasily. She knew the truth but couldn’t openly say so.
“There would only be one reason why Abaddon would bother to return to the human realm,” the old man started, “and that would be to reclaim his human shell.”
Fenrir choked out, “Excuse me, what? Human shell? Why would a demon want a human shell?”
The old man clasped his hands in front of him. “Has he been killing without reason or purpose?”
We nodded.
“He does it because he needs their souls to survive in the human realm. There’s only one human shell rumored to be strong enough to hold a demon permanently.”
Bash’s hand tightened on mine. We knew exactly where this conversation was going.
“And what’s that?” Fenrir asked, the only one of us out of the loop.
“There are rumors of a hybrid. A human with lycan and fae blood,” the old man declared.
Fenrir’s gaze whipped in my direction accusingly. I tried very hard to keep my expression neutral. “Little wolf … is there something you’re not telling me?” Fenrir asked. “You’re the only hybrid alive.”
He thinks it’s me.
Then again, Ophelia told him Abaddon was after me because of something I had. It would be easy to misinterpret her words.
“He wants to use you as a human shell …” Fenrir murmured. “But why?” He turned back to the old man. “Why would he want to remain in Midgard?”
The old man waved around the Underworld and looked back at us. “Would you want to be here? He might be a prince of the Underworld, but even he has limitations here; whereas in the human realm, he has unlimited freedom. Add a powerful body on top of that, and you have a recipe for disaster. Just as he likes it.”
I looked down at my feet as they continued to discuss the demon’s motives, my mind spinning around the knowledge that Abaddon wanted a sliver of my baby’s soul. Now I knew he needed it to survive. That was why he asked for it. Who knew how many more people he killed that we didn’t even know about? That mass murder would probably sustain him for a long time, but how long would it last? We must be able to protect ourselves from him. I had to be strong enough to protect my baby from him.
“Mackenzie,” Bash whispered beside me.
I looked up at him. “Hmm?”
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
I furrowed my brows. “You can’t make those kinds of promises, Bash.” He really couldn’t. We didn’t know what Abaddon was capable of.
“Where did he dwell?” Raven asked.
The old man lifted a curved, bony finger up in the air and pointed. “You will find his residence up that mountain.”
“Thank you.” Turning on her heel, Raven motioned for us to follow.
The trek up to the mountain was long and
