Hellfire Crown by Meg Xuemei X.
CHAPTER 21
Tessa
“We stay where we are for now, so we won’t get lost,” I told the pack. I blinked a few times. Even with my Titan and Fae sight, I couldn’t see through this kind of dark fogginess.
“Let’s wait out the fog and see what the fuck is coming, and we’ll deal with it. Right now, I want us to count numbers to make sure no one is missing. I’ll count one. The next wolf’s howl will count two. We keep going until Raina counts six. Do not panic. Desperate people do stupid things, and we don’t want to be desperate. Keep your eyes open and your ears listening. We won’t react before we know what’s going on, and we won’t react kindly when we do.”
I used the same pep talk I’d always applied with my team to ground them and get panic under control.
The wolves whined, but they sounded calm now.
“One,” I counted.
A wolf howled. Then a second howl followed. Third. Fourth. Fifth.
“Six,” Raina called out.
“One,” I started again, moving a few steps to the left, listening to my instincts as I sent out my magic to probe whatever it could.
The wolves were great at detecting smell and sound. I wasn’t a shifter, but I came from the top three supernatural bloodlines, so I could keep up with them. I could also sense imminent danger and approaching magic.
Our calling and counts faded off, and a vision of my future suddenly presented itself in front of me.
I watched myself die, a black, shining blade piercing my heart. A magical collar clasped tightly around my neck, binding my power and rendering me useless.
Ragnarö took my corpse, defiled me, and turned me into the living dead as his permanent, mindless pet.
I was no longer Tessa Morrigan, but a pitiful being, a thing strung and patched together. Earthlings had a name for that kind of creature: Frankenstein’s Bride.
My kingdom had fallen completely, turning into the Kingdom of Abominations at my demise. My people’s last hope died with me.
On Earth, Loki found his new queen—a woman who wasn’t me but wore my face.
Watching him fuck her vehemently and whisper sweet, wicked things to her as he’d done to me undid me.
My heart broke. My body remained forever ice.
My mate stayed with that imposter for long months, never knowing she wasn’t me.
Not even on the day when she took his head for Lucifer.
He perished, believing I’d finally betrayed him while he trusted me and gave me everything. The last accusing look in his midnight eyes shattered my soul.
I wasn’t able to escape the nightmare that kept streaming in front of me, even though I kept telling myself that it wasn’t real. The scene was so real that I hated to admit it could be reality if I couldn’t beat the sadistic game, as my enemies toyed with me.
Icy tears flowed down my face. One of the worst parts was seeing my mate with another woman. That was something I could never get over—being replaced like that.
Then, deep in my psyche, something registered. My enemies were planning that dark, horrific fate for me. And all the hostile forces had aligned against me. I couldn’t shake off the chilling feeling that something sinister was waiting right outside the fog.
Then I felt a spark of heat coming from the mating bond, from the flame Loki had given me. I had no means of knowing if he could sense my turmoil or terror at the moment, but I’d take any support I could get.
With the combined embers of my mate’s flame and my own wrath, I battled the probing magic of the Wild Hunt until cold clarity reclaimed my mind. I banished the nightmare of the unbearable alternative reality.
While I still shuddered from the chill, my mind turned to my pack’s whimpers of horror and abandonment. They were not alone as they suffered from their worst fears and the nightmares the Wild Hunt imposed on them.
They had me.
I started singing a battle song. Raina stopped wailing and joined me, then all the wolves joined me with their howls of defiance.
The pack magic washed over me for the first time, and my power rippled over to them as the pack bond formed solidly between us.
When our song expelled the last trace of the potent black magic, the wolves howled the song of victory.
“I lead,” I called the pack. “You follow. We’re leaving this damn place.”
My senses probed ahead as I wrapped a shield around us. Though it was thin, the wolves felt its protection. Their minds nudged mine in appreciation.
As one, we prowled through the fog.
When it lifted, we found ourselves on a narrow path within a different maze. Murderous black vines crawled over rows of hedges that were seven feet tall.
A twist of thorny vines lashed out, grabbed a wolf roughly by the paws, and lifted her into the air, turning her upside-down.
The silver wolf yelped while trying to bite at the vines. The more she struggled, the tighter the vines cut into her. Several threads of thick vines surged toward the other wolves.
“Enough!” I shouted, tossing my ice magic at the vines.
The vines twirled and twisted, but then the knots around the silver wolf’s paws loosened. They dropped my pack member. Thorns had punctured her hide in a few places, but she would be fine.
I recognized the black vines as native to the Underworld, unlike the hounds and the field of cornstalks, which had been transported from somewhere else by the Wild Hunt.
Something had changed in me after I’d mated with the King of the Underworld. I could sense the essence of the realm of inferno now. I could feel my connection to the vines and thus could command the plants.
I was the king’s mate, his uncrowned queen.
“Withdraw,” I commanded. “Do not harm my pack!”
The thorny vines hissed.
“Go!” I put more force into my command. I wouldn’t tolerate disobedience.
“My queen,” a phantom voice that seemed to have come alive from inside a nightmare addressed me. “It’s my great honor to inform you that ahead are cannibal corpse plants that are even naughtier than my sister thorn vines. The cannibal corpses like to eat their prey from the inside out. First, the cannibal corpses plant a seed inside the victim’s organs, then…”
The wolves shuddered.
“Thank you, but I don’t need to learn more of their methods,” I said firmly. “If you can reach me like this, you can send them my order. My pack shall not be harmed in any way.”
“As you wish, my queen,” the voice sighed and faded.
Goosebumps rippled across my skin. Where had the voice come from exactly? I had a lot to learn about the Underworld. The realm was full of layers of dark secrets and mystery.
“That’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard,” Raina murmured. “We’re fortunate that you’re with us, Alpha. We now know the Wolf God is also… the king, and he’s chosen you as his queen.”
The shifter beta had pieced it all together now.
“Let’s move,” I said. “The sooner we find the crown, the sooner we can get out of here.”
Only the true Queen of the Underworld shall find the Hellfire Crown, a voice said in my mind. Follow the rabbit.
It wasn’t a rabbit but faint, nearly translucent hellfire in the form of a tiny rabbit bouncing on the path ahead of me, beckoning me forward. Suspicion rose in me, as I thought that it might be a trick of the Wild Hunt. But I felt connected to the trace of hellfire, as it was part of the Underworld, part of my mate.
When its warmth tugged me again, I followed.
However, I was curious if I was the only one who could see the hellfire rabbit.
“Did you see anything unusual on the ground?” I asked Raina.
She darted her eyes around. “What am I looking for?”
The rest of the wolves also put their noses to use and sniffed around.
“We’re going to find the crown,” I said, leading the wolves toward the end of the passageway.
The Underworld was helping me to counter the force of the Wild Hunt.
One lane opened up in front of us, and the other lane immediately closed. The hellfire rabbit led us through the winding passages of the maze. When we stepped out the exit, the rabbit vanished.
A black building with dark windows lined up along the uppermost, seventh floor loomed ahead, emitting such ominous vibes that chills slithered up my spine.
I squinted at the scarlet letters of hellfire at the dark entrance.
Welcome to the Seventh Hell. Enter at your peril.
