Realm of Darkness Read online

  “Four,” came from Gray. They both turned to him, and he cleared his throat. “I’m technically a Scion. Different world, same deal.”

  Daphne was dubious, Tria wasn’t. “He is.” They’d seen him in action for a minute. No mortal could be that fast; no mortal would have held their own against three Scions, minors as they had been. Then, to actually be fair, she had to add, “Just even less in control of his power than the rest of us.”

  It was obvious that he didn’t have a clue how to use his powers, if he had any.

  Tria had been raised by her mother, who’d taught her a fair bit before she left; in turn, she taught Daphne to focus her own power. Jason figured some of it out himself. But something her mother had told her a long time ago rang truer and truer as time went by: they hadn’t even tapped into one percent of their potential. Their kind wasn’t expected to before they were a century old, or more. At twenty-six, twenty-four and twenty-two, they were baby gods. Ajax was more in control, hence why they’d opted to run.

  Tria wasn’t certain of Gray’s age, but she saw that he wasn’t even trying. She hadn’t even seen him for what he was at first, because he wasn’t tapping into his own strength at all, for some reason. She bit her lip, feeling like she was trying to crack a case open while missing half of the information.

  “Okay, three and a half of us, seven hundred of them. The odds are so much better.” She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. We need to go, and lie low.”

  Tria nodded, a thousand different potential directions flashing through her mind. She knew she needed to stop by California, for one. And Knox probably deserved a phone call. The guy had always been helpful, so she needed to warn him that some psycho was trying to control the world.

  “He’s attacked the PIA’s headquarters,” Daphne stated the obvious. “That means he’s declared war now. He’s ready. He would have everything he needs by now.”

  “Actually,” Gray interjected again, “not too sure about that. I heard some of them say they were after something. A Trident.”

  The silence following that declaration was heavy, and full of electricity. “What did you say?” Daphne growled menacingly, protectively.

  Understandable.

  “Hey, chill. Besides, Ajax can’t have gotten his hands on it. It’s not in the headquarters. Let’s say the PIA had it. They would never have stored it there with you in the building. You would have felt it.”

  It took a while, but Daphne stepped back, breathing deeply.

  Tria had thought he was entirely focusing on Sheila, but Jase said, “If they want the Trident, it can only mean one thing. They’re after the Infernal Three.”

  Right then, Tria understood Daphne’s anger, because white-hot waves of rage burst through her as she imagined Ajax with his hands on her legacy.

  “Excuse me, but would anyone mind letting the rest of us know what the hell you’re talking about?” said Ralph.

  Daphne rolled her eyes. “No. We need to go – and leave them here.”

  Tria had been against it, but now, she didn’t think they had a choice. If Ajax was after the three, they needed to get to them first. Right now.

  “I want to know,” said Shay, softly, her voice weak. Everyone turned to her, and she shrugged. “What? I actually died today. My heart isn’t beating. It’s cold. I want to know what the sicko who did this to me is after. And I also want to know how to stop him.”

  That was fair.

  Jason immediately spilled. “One Lightning Bolt, one Trident, one Helm. The Infernal Three are instruments the three most powerful gods used to focus their power. If someone was to wield them all, we’d fall at their feet and obey their every command without question. It would be the end of free will. The end of everything.”

  “In theory,” Daphne amended. “It doesn’t actually work that way because no one can wield them all. Still; I’m not letting them put their hands on the Trident.”

  They’d all probably come to the conclusion separately, but Tria said it out loud. “If they’re after the three, we need to stop them. Now. That means each one of us going after one of the Three.” Her cousin seemed to be on board. No surprise there. “Daphne, you know where to go?”

  “I think?” She didn’t sound sure, but none of them were.

  “Jase?”

  He nodded. “I mean, I’ll be chasing rumors, but, yeah, I heard things.”

  “Right. I also have a vague idea of where to start. As for our new friends,” she gestured to the three outsiders, “we can either kill them – which would be highly counterproductive after I busted my ass bringing them back – or bring them with us. They know too much to get caught.”

  Daphne grumbled, but didn’t protest out loud. “Daphne, take Shay; Jason, take Gray; I’m taking Ralph.”

  Her plan was sound; at least, that way they wouldn’t have been distracted by hunks they fancied. It appeared that her wisdom was lost on just about every single person in the room, though.

  Protests broke from everyone, making her head hurt. She didn’t even get headaches.

  “Alright! Jason with Shay. Daphne with Ralph. Gray with me. Whatever. See if I care. We need to go, and now. Ground rules: don’t use your power more than necessary in this world. It leaves a clear trace that won’t be hard to track. Take regular transports. Once a month until this is over, you need to update your social media status somehow, or we’re coming after you.”

  “And then what? If all of us succeed, if we actually have the Infernal Three, what is that going to change?”

  She knew what Daphne was asking, but she didn’t need to answer. It would change everything. If the daughters of Hades and Poseidon, and the son of Zeus, had their parents’ power in their hands, they would be practically invincible.

  Tria saw the world the three of them would build. It wasn’t flowers and rainbows. There was blood and terror in that vision. The blood of those who’d imprisoned them. The terror of those who could never hope to go against them.

  They’d be tyrants. There was no other way; it was in their blood.

  “Then, we’ll kill Ajax.”

  The rest was better left unsaid.

  Familiar

  Gray came out after a pee when Ralph appeared right in front of him.

  “Bathroom’s free.”

  “I know, I’m not here for that,” he told him, speaking low, before looking behind him. No one seemed to be paying attention to them. He grabbed Gray by the sleeve and dragged him back into the bathroom.

  “Wow, man, I’m not into that sort of…”

  “Please don’t make this weird, Gray,” Ralph whispered, before holding up a knife. “Grabbed it in the kitchen. Look, these guys seem cool and all, but I don’t know them. And we’re supposed to go with them without communicating. That’s okay, given the fact that they seem to be on their way to save the universe, but still, I think we need to make sure we can still touch base.”

  After a second, Gray pointed to the knife. “Sounds good, but what does that have to do with it?”

  Ralph was more of a show than tell guy, but Gray didn’t expect him to actually stab himself in the hand. He held his bloody fist up, before handing the blade to Gray.

  Fuck. He wanted them to form a bond; the sort of bond that made men more than friends - brothers in every sense of the term, practically twins.

  It wasn’t a small thing. Gray looked at his partner, only hesitating a second, before he drove the knife into his own palm, muffling his grunt. Shit, that hurt.

  They squeezed each other’s hand, feeling some warmth spread through, infusing them.

  “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  Gray was catching up quickly, and lesson one of Tria Winters seemed to be, she wore the trousers. Her cousins were badasses, and even those two didn’t argue with her. Which was one of the many reasons why watching her arguing with a cat was entertaining.

  “You’re fucking staying right here, you idiotic furball!”

  The black kitten stretched languorousl
y, indifferent to the insult.

  “You wanted this house? It’s yours. I’ll even sign the deeds. Just get off my backpack.”

  The cat rolled on his back, and started to purr, his gigantic green eyes begging for a scratch. Gray had no clue how Tria resisted. She stomped her foot. “Cats don’t like leaving their territory!” she informed him, and the kitten meowed, as if to say, “watch me.”

  Everyone chuckled, except Jason, who seemed worried.

  “Did you bring him back?” he asked, an edge to his voice. “Was he dead?”

  Tria sighed. “Not quite. Just passed, like the dog and Ralph. There was a litter full, and every other cat left just fine, but this one has latched himself onto me,” she grumbled. Then comprehension lit up her features. “You’re worried about Shay.” She sighed. “I warned you, Jase.”

  The man nodded, looking at the ex-receptionist, who was holding a blanket tightly around her shoulders and looking out the window, next to a silent Daphne.

  Shay was a good friend; at least, a colleague she’d had really liked.

  “I just want to know what we’ll have to deal with,” Jase replied.

  “I don’t plan on getting on my back and demanding scratches,” the woman said, although they talked softly. She lifted her head. “My hearing is better than it was, by a lot.”

  It wasn’t the only difference; just physically, Gray could note quite a few things. Her hair for example. She’d always been a redhead, which was unusual and striking for a woman of African descent, but her curls weren’t copper anymore. They were vibrant, darker, stronger. Her green eyes blazed. Her light brown skin seemed to glow. But the beauty had an unnatural tone, something he couldn’t quite place. She looked like a vampire.

  “Besides, I don’t think your cat acts like this because of anything you did. It’s your familiar. I can tell.” She smiled sadly. “I’m still a witch. I think.”

  Tria seemed absolutely astonished. “Can someone tell me why my familiar is a cat? I don’t even like cats.”

  She was done packing bags now; she’d divided the cash around the house into six neat piles before stuffing it in the identical backpacks she’d somehow had handy. Then, she’d added some weapons, basic clothing for the girls, whatever food and packets of instant coffee she had handy.

  “I’ll have that bag!” Ralph announced, pointing to the one on the left. “You put an extra pack of cookies in it.”

  “I’ll take the extra coffee,” Daphne countered.

  Gray didn’t point out that, with the tens of thousands in cash she’d put in each bag, they could probably afford to buy some cookies and coffee along the way.

  Giving in on the cat issue at last, she managed to fit in a pack of dry food on top of one of the bags. “I’ll take that one,” he said on principle, because it was going to be heavier.

  Daphne rolled her eyes. “Chivalry is all well and good, but she can bench press a car, honey.”

  Ignoring her, Tria passed him the bag. “I don’t have any dog food, so we’ll have to get some along the way.”

  He smiled, appreciating how her cheeks flamed. “Remus will manage with human food until we can stop somewhere safe. He’ll eat basically anything.” Then he made the mistake of attempting to scratch the head of the pretty little black cat, who stopped purring and posturing, taking up hissing and spitting instead. He had to laugh. “And what is this little spitfire called?”

  “Cat,” Tria deadpanned. “And everyone’s ready. We’ve been here for,” she checked her watch, “an hour now. Ajax and his posse are probably looking for the Trident, but as soon as they figure out it’s not at the headquarters, they might decide to come after us. We need to move, now. In different directions. Let’s only contact each other if there’s no other choice.”

  Nods all around. She’d used the sort of tone that didn’t allow for anything else.

  Then Tria opened her arms, and Gray felt like he was witnessing something as intimate as it was rare, when Daphne rushed to hold her tight. Jase stepped in, wrapping an arm around each of the girls.

  The trio separated, and didn’t exchange another word. Tria was the first to leave the house, her backpack on her back, a little black kitten licking his paws on top of it. Gray turned to Ralph, and bumped his shoulder. “Don’t die. Again.”

  “Roger that. And Gray?” he measured his words carefully. “I don’t know how you went from mildly kicking ass to being seriously fucking impressive earlier. You can have your secrets, that’s cool. All I wanna say is, do that again, bro. Do it until we all get out of this mess alive.”

  Drive

  She should be used to it by now; leaving her home.

  In her childhood, her mother had done her best to train her for it. They’d moved regularly, once every few months, until she was able to adapt and fit in just about everywhere. But Tria had lived in Boston for ten years now. It was home. More importantly, prickly Daphne and steady, loyal Jason were home.

  “So, where are we going?”

  Pulled out of her thoughts, she realized that she’d been absentmindedly caressing the smug little cat on her lap. She frowned, annoyed at herself for encouraging the creature.

  “I get it - you’re compartmentalizing information. But given the fact that I’m behind the wheel…”

  She’d expected him to protest a little more when she’d stolen the car, but Gray hadn’t even batted an eyelash.

  “I don’t know yet, exactly, but keep heading south, west, towards Cali. I need to make a pit stop somewhere, and we need to speak to someone; not sure where he’ll want to meet up.”

  “Somewhere, someone.” Gray seemed amused. “Very specific.”

  She had to give it to him: he really was good at rolling with the punches.

  Now that they were on their way, outside of Boston, and she couldn’t feel a trail on them, she didn’t mind opening up a little. “We’re heading towards Lakesides, the territory of a pride of shifters. There’s one person I need to speak to there. A child with more power than me in her fingertip.” Gray lifted a brow. “She’ll be affected by the whole mess happening, especially if she doesn’t know to prepare herself for it.”

  He bobbed his head. “Alright. Lakesides it is.”

  “And the ‘someone’ is Knox.”

  His eyes widened; of course, he recognized the name. Most sups did. “The Wolf?”

  “Yep. If anyone has information about where we should be heading, it’s him. Besides, he needs to know about what Ajax is up to. Knox has the largest sup organization in the world, and the Shifter Council in his pocket. Ajax will want to either recruit him or take him out.”

  Gray didn’t like that very much. “What if he decides to join Ajax?”

  Tria laughed. “Let me guess, you’ve never met Knox. No way is he ever going to swear allegiance to a guy calling himself the Master. A sane person wouldn’t even ask.”

  The man kept his eyes on the road, and stayed silent for a few minutes, but finally he observed, “It’s quite the gamble. Assuming Knox isn’t going to tie you up and serve you on a silver platter.”

  She was smiling a little too broadly, perhaps, because he asked, “What?”

  “Nothing.” Then she chuckled. “You know, I’m just imagining someone trying to tie me up.”

  They wouldn’t live to tell the tale.

  It was Gray’s turn to laugh. “No paddles and floggers for this lady, then? I’ll make a note of that.”

  Was she blushing? Yep. Yep, she was.

  “Right, we have a forty-hour drive ahead of us, if you want to drive all the way to Cali. Given that we have a lot of time, I have a fundamental question to ask you, Tria Winters.” She steeled herself, ready for the inevitable. What are you? “Jazz or blues?”

  A relieved chuckled broke out of her throat. “Jazz, if those are my only choices. Blues make me sleepy, and it’ll be my turn to drive in a minute.”

  Gray put some blues on. “It’s almost midnight. Catch some sleep. I’ll wake you up whe
n I need a break.”

  Sleeping was tricky for her. If she didn’t feel safe, she could stay awake for days at a time, completely exhausted but unable to take the rest she needed. With some enemies potentially looking for her and her cousins far away from her for the first time in ages, she shouldn’t have been able to get any sleep at all.

  Her eyes closed and she fell into a deep, profound slumber almost the instant her head hit the headrest.

  Which made zero sense. Gray was a mess, he couldn’t take care of himself, let alone anyone else. But apparently, her dumb subconscious felt safe with him. No. It couldn’t be because of him, right? She was just exhausted after reanimating Remus, Ralph and Shay. That was all.

  * * *

  When she woke up to her phone vibrating in her pocket, it was daylight.

  Tria groaned, cracking her neck and stretching. Her back had been spoiled by her amazing mattress and down pillows for the last decade.

  “Morning, sunshine.”

  Gray was grinning like something was highly amusing to him, and looking past her forehead to her hair.

  She slapped his forearm before opening the mirror in front of her to assess the damage. She sighed. Yep, it looked like a bird had made a nest in the mess on top of her head overnight.

  “Not a word, Gray.”

  “Why? It’s cute.”

  “I’m not cute.” Her tone held a real warning. She was redoubtable, kick- ass, and astonishing. Not cute, dammit.

  “Right. Of course. Excuse me, I didn’t see all the fierceness hiding behind the thick layer of cute camouflage.”

  “Ar. Ar. Ar.”

  Fetching her phone from her back pocket, she blinked, looking at the time. Past eight in the morning.

  “You should have woken me up.”