“Go ahead and eat your weight in ice cream. You’ll just give him more of you to love.”
—Haidee, former keeper of Hate
GALEN, THE CHRUNO, refused to take Katarina and the dogs to Bratislava, where she could find a new place to live and start over. Instead, he took her little ragtag group straight to Keeley and Kaia. According to Galen, Keeley had horrifying powers her enemies feared so greatly, they wouldn’t even speak her name except in hushed whispers, and Kaia could chew through an entire army without breaking a sweat. Details Baden had left out during intros.
This was another perfect example of why Katarina needed a book of who was who to whom in the worlds.
Not that Baden would provide such a tome now.
The backs of her eyes began to...no, surely not...but she couldn’t deny—or fight—the burn for long. Trembling, she patted her cheeks. They were still dry. Good, that was good. She would not cry for him. Her parents and Peter deserved her tears. Her precious dogs deserved her tears. Baden did not.
Suck it up. Move on.
“Here. She’s your problem now, ladies. Protect her if you want. Or not. My part is done.” Galen vanished without another word.
Keeley stared at her, confused. “Who are you?”
Was that a joke? “You know me. We hung out just last week.”
Keeley shook her head. “No way. I’d remember. Wait.” She rubbed her temples. “The deets are coming back to me. You’re Baden’s girl... Katrina. He absconded with you after the attack on our home.”
A pang in her heart, the burn returning to her eyes. “I was Baden’s girl.” She pointed to a cozy spot in the corner, and the dogs trotted over to lie down. “We decided to part ways because he’s an asshole. And my name is Katarina.”
“Katrina is better,” Kaia said with a nod. “Fewer syllables.”
Katarina gave her a false smile. “I’ll call you KiKi, then. It’s prettier.”
Got to make the best of a bad situation.
She took in her surroundings. The decor could have been plucked from the set of a porno. Dark, intimate and suggestive, with mirrors on the ceiling and walls. “What is this place?”
“A nightclub for immortals,” Keeley said. “Known as Downfall.”
Appropriate. According to the hours of operation displayed on the wall, the bar wasn’t set to open for hours. Well. No wonder it was currently devoid of other patrons.
“Why are you here after hours?” she asked.
“Long story short, I was testing the club’s security, seeing if it was possible to break and enter. Hint: it is.” Kaia moved behind the bar and mixed a concoction she named the Shame Spiral. “Slight hiccup. I didn’t actually tell the owners I would be doing them such a massive favor. Here. Drink.”
“I’ll be honest with you,” Katarina said. “This might as well be cardboardeaux. I can’t tell the difference between a well-mixed drink and a piss-poor one.”
“Then you’re probably the only person in the world who will appreciate the enormity of my talent.”
Well, then. “Bottoms up.” She downed her glass in a single gulp and coughed as her throat and stomach burned. The room spun for a moment. “I think we should rename the drink Bad Decisions.”
Kaia fist-pumped the air. “Change approved! Now drink another.” She slid a second glass in Katarina’s direction. “It’ll help get your mind off things.”
“If I’m arrested for stealing liquor...” The first drink she could justify. Just had my heart crushed. This second one? Not so much.
“Dude. The worst Thane will do is stake us to his front lawn. He’s one of the three owners, and staking is a specialty of his.” Kaia flicked her mass of red hair over her shoulder. “But he’d have to catch us first, and that ain’t happening.”
Keeley nodded with enthusiasm. “My girl speaks true. I can flash, and she can fly like the wind. Besides, you’ll lag behind, and he’ll turn his efforts to you. We’ll be forgotten.”
So comforting. “Your immortality isn’t fair.” And she wasn’t jealous. Really. That ship had sailed.
The pink-haired vixen tapped her chin with blunt-tipped nails painted ivy-green. “There’s got to be a way we can even the playing field and make you immortal.”
“Baden said the same thing.”
“He’s right. I mean, Hades has the ability, and I’m stronger and better than him. I’m almost certain I did something to Gilly...”
Wait. “The girl who got sick and had to marry a goat-man to survive?”
Kaia ran her finger across her neck in a dude, shut your piehole motion. “We aren’t supposed to talk about that, Keys.”
“Someone got sick? Why am I always the last to know?” Keeley downed her newest drink then motioned to Katarina to do the same.
She obeyed, the heat was more delectable than painful this time, causing fireworks to explode and spew flames in her head. “I don’t want to have to marry a monster.” Or a beast.
Longing leveled her. Going to wipe Baden from my memory. Never going to think about him again. Or crave him. Or dream of him. Or fantasize about him. Nope. Never. He’d pulled the he-man card, and she’d had to exit the game.
“Oh! I remember now.” Keeley pouted, saying, “How was I supposed to know helping Gilly become immortal would maybe possibly harm her?”
Kaia threw her arms into the air. “Uh, maybe because you told me, Kaia, this might harm Gilly right before you secretly slipped the elixir in her drink.” Speaking of drinks, she poured another round. “You considered the risk worth the reward. Aka William’s eternal happiness versus his eternal hatred.”
Keeley shrugged. “Win some, lose some.”
Katarina stared at her new drink in horror. “Did you elixir me?”
“No! Or probably not. I’m pretty certain I’ve learned my lesson.” Keeley reached over the bar and grabbed a black bottle labeled Ambrosia. She popped the cork with her teeth and spit the thing across the room. “Only time will tell.”
Kaia wagged a finger in Katarina’s face. “What is confessed at Downfall stays at Downfall. Snitches get stitches.”
“Understood. Trust me.” Otherwise, William was likely to murder both women for their deeds. “In case I haven’t made myself clear, I’ve decided I don’t want to be immortal. No matter how many perks come with the transformation.”
Keeley drained half the bottle then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Baden messed up that badly, huh?”
“He ordered me to do his bidding, no matter how I felt about the matter.”
“Well. I say take the high road,” Kaia said with a nod. “That way, you won’t clog up the low road. I prefer a free path.”
Katarina drained her glass. If she was elixired, she was elixired. She’d deal. Besides, continuing to drink was an excellent idea. The best! Her brain was now a strobe light!
Keeley bumped her shoulder, nearly pushing her to the floor. “All our names start with a K. Coincidence? Or are we part of a secret club and just didn’t know it?”
“Secret club.” Kaia clapped. “The girls most likely to steal candy from a baby.”
“No way.” Keeley thought for a moment. “The girls most likely to cause an accident due to their stunning good looks.”
The debate continued.
Kaia: “Girls most likely to become president of the PTA. People That Amaze.”
Keeley: “Girls most likely to attend an Immortals After Dark convention. Dibs on Lothaire!”
Kaia: “Girls most likely to skinny-dip in public.”
Keeley: “Girls most likely to make a coffee run after killing an enemy.”
The two girls wrestled quite brutally over who was right and who was wrong, drawing blood, before Keeley decided Katarina would look so “amazeballs” with a “ward.” Something to temporarily prevent pregnancy. “Someday you’ll thank me for this. Trust me.”
“Can Baden even—never mind.” She wasn’t with Baden anymore. He wasn’t her boyfriend, and she wasn’t his girlfriend. They would never have sex again. One day, she’d have a new man in her life. A new story. “Give me the ward.”
For the other man, she thought, defiant.
Keeley pulled the necessary equipment out of a giant purse—or suitcase. “I never leave home without the proper tools.”
The ward, as it turned out, was nothing more than a tattoo on the back of Katarina’s neck; the swirling black symbol would be hidden under her hair whenever she left the wavy mass down. She wasn’t sure how it would prevent pregnancy—or if it wouldn’t prevent pregnancy—but what else was new? At least the pain of the etching helped distract her from her troubles.
“Whenever you’re ready to pop a few buns out of your oven,” Keeley said, “we’ll fill in the ward. Oh! I can give you a protection ward. And a locator ward, and oh! Oh!” She jumped up and down. “I know. A ward to prevent anyone from using their powers against you.”
“Nah.” She didn’t want another ward until she’d learned more about them. “I’m good.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” Kaia piped up, “but I invited my older sis Taliyah to join us. I think I hear her in the courtyard. She should pass through the door any—”
The front door swung open and a tall, slender blonde strode into the club, two huge men flanking her sides. Both males had large white wings with striations of gold, the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. Must touch!
The dogs had other ideas. Awake and alert, they raced over to take a post in front of her.
“Boo hiss,” Kaia called. “You told me you’d be alone.”
Taliyah hiked her thumbs at the guys. “These jerk-offs were on the way to bust up the festivities. I had a choice. Kill them or invite them to tag along.” Her pale blue gaze landed on Katarina. “Excellent. The woman I’ve been hunting. I owe Baden a little payback, and you’re going to help me.”
“Hey.” Kaia stomped her foot. “You can’t murder my new friend.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I soooo can. But where’s the fun in that? She’s a puny human.”
The dogs snarled.
Katarina snarled, rage bubbling up from a cauldron of hurt. That—was—it! She wasn’t puny, weak or feeble, and she was sick and tired of being labeled as such.
Taliyah stopped. Kaia and Keeley regarded her warily.
“I. Am. Not. Puny!” She threw the words as if they were daggers, her gums and the tips of her fingers and toes burning. She looked and discovered her nails had lengthened, thickened and sharpened. They were claws. Claws! With a flick of her tongue, she learned her teeth had undergone the same metamorphosis. She had fangs.
Shock was a cool cascade inside her, but it wasn’t enough to calm her.
“Someone get Baden,” Kaia said. “Pronto.”
“No!” Katarina snarled. “The first person to leave is the first person to die.” Issuing threats now? What the hell was happening to her? Was she finally morphing into a hellhound?
Keeley’s eyes went wide. “Uh, I’d go out on a limb and say our Katarina isn’t exactly human. The hellhounds did something to her. But how? Hellhounds are extinct. Hades killed them.”
Hades. Everything always came down to Hades. “You knew the pups were hellhounds?” she demanded.
“Keys, you’re not really helping,” Kaia said.
“Oh! I remember! I knew they were hellhounds from moment one,” Keeley replied with a shrug. “I wasn’t with Hades when he first began his war with the packs, but I was with him before it ended. I hid as many as I could find. Pets are adorable. And I knew Hades would one day thank me.”
Katarina growled. Baden thought she would thank him for his domineering attitude. He was wrong!
In a blink, both Harpy sisters were hanging from the ceiling in the far corner of the room. The winged “jerk-offs” pulled swords of fire out of the air.
“We’re best friends, remember, Katarina?” Kaia called. “You love me.”
“Katrina,” Keeley corrected. “I remember how much she hates being called by the wrong name. And maybe I should flash in Baden, despite her protests?” She chugged from the bottle of ambrosia, as if she hadn’t a care. “Wait. If she were to kill him, Torin would be upset. All right, that’s a no-go.”
Katarina pointed a claw at her. “Do not go against my wishes.”
“We have to do something,” one of the winged men said. “Without hurting her. Hellhounds weren’t always evil. Once, they retrieved and saved souls from the underworld.”
The two looked to be in their midthirties. One was white and scarred from head to toe, his only spot of color his crimson eyes. The other was bronzed with rainbow eyes. Both were as beautiful as their wings in an eerie nonhuman way.
“What to do, what to do.” Keeley brightened. “I know! I gave her a ward to prevent pregnancy...and a ward that’s essentially an off switch. Because I’m awesome, and I always think ahead. Three cheers for me!”
What! “You tricked me.” And she would pay.
“Well,” Taliyah snapped. “Flip the switch!”
Katarina swiped out her arm, intending to claw through the pink-haired beauty’s throat.
Keeley smiled at her. “Sleep,” she said, and a second before contact, it was lights out for Katarina and both of the dogs.
* * *
Music filled the nightclub as a live band played on stage. Crowds of people—scratch that, crowds of immortals—packed every inch of the place. Katarina sat at a corner table, pre-hungover but post-buzz. The dogs lounged at her feet, licking her ankles every few minutes to let her know they were on guard.
She’d awoken from her impromptu snooze about an hour ago and found herself and the dogs in an unfamiliar but lavish office, sprawled across a plush leather couch. She’d remembered what had transpired in the bar and had gone in search of Keeley, grateful for the preemptive measures the girl had taken, a lot miffed, but desperate to apologize. For one brief moment, she’d wanted to kill the girl. Kill her. As in, end her for all eternity.
If she’d done so, Katarina never would have forgiven herself.
Was that the same kind of struggle Baden endured on a daily...hourly...basis?
She’d discovered she was still inside Downfall and though Keeley had taken off, Kaia, her sister Taliyah and Bjorn and Xerxes—Sent Ones, the winged warriors were called, a species in charge of angels—had still been present, preparing for the club to open.
“Don’t worry about the Red Queen,” Bjorn had said. “She’s already forgotten you.”
“Sit, relax,” Xerxes had said, escorting her to the table she now occupied. “Enjoy the show.”
“Aren’t you worried she and her canine entourage will eat your guests?” Kaia had asked. “I mean, they’re hellhounds! Do you know how many of my clan died because of those things?”
Was Katarina to be hated, even ostracized? “I can go.”
Taliyah had patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t be dumb. I’m thinking about becoming gay for you. You’re worth knowing now. And as long as we keep your secret, no one will come after you and your dogs.”
Now Katarina watched the happenings inside the club with wide eyes. These people—immortals—partied like rock stars high on a cocktail of crank, adrenaline and top-of-the-line steroids. They danced with abandon, hands wandering, bodies gyrating. Some of the creatures had wings, but every set was different and specific to each immortal. Some wings were feathered while some were made of membrane and bone. And the colors! Everything from snow-white to jet-black. Rainbows everywhere probably wept with envy.
Some of the immortals had horns. And not just on their heads. Some had snakes rather than hair. Living snakes. An instinct she hadn’t possessed before the pups changed her told her not to look those snakes in the eye. Some of the immortals had fur rather than skin. It was as if every fairy tale she’d ever read was represented here. Mythical creatures she would have sworn were the product of an overactive imagination—or nightmares, yeah, mostly nightmares—walked by her.
The most startling thing? She now belonged among them. She might not fully shift into a hellhound, and she might still be susceptible to age and death, but she was too dangerous to be around humans, her temper a little too hot to handle. If ever she lost control and used her razor-sharp teeth and claws...
She was strong enough for Baden, physically and every other way. Not that he would ever know it. The bastard! But...
The truth was, she already missed him, and tristo hrmenych, she still ached for him. Was he thinking of her? Regretting his commands?
The burn returned to the backs of her eyes, though once again, no tears formed. Deep breath in...out.
She studied her new world more intently, grateful for the distraction. Whatever the origins of the immortals, none of the beings were afraid to throw down. In fact, three fights had already broken out. The worst one had begun when someone shouted “son of a troll whore.” The biggest guy Katarina had ever seen had broken things up with only a look.
Baden could take him, she thought with a stab of pride.
Ugh. Have to stop thinking about him.
A vampire approached her table and licked his lips. His fangs were bright white—had he used strips?
“Hallo, pretty. Fancy a rub and tug?”
Her defenses kicked into high gear. “Not interested.”
Bjorn and Xerxes swooped out of nowhere and “escorted” the vampire away. Such sweethearts, she thought, smiling when they returned to her side.
Bjorn tugged on a lock of her hair. “You are a new participant in the war, and you’re on our side. We will allow nothing to happen to you while you’re here.”
“But I’m not a participant in anything. I’m just—”
“Say cheese.” Taliyah snapped a few dozen pictures of their group on her cell phone. She winked at Katarina, saying, “Thanks. I think that’ll do the trick.” Then, as quickly as she’d appeared, she was gone.
Xerxes sighed. “The girl hopes to cause trouble.”
“Don’t they all,” Bjorn remarked.
On the dance floor, Katarina caught a glimpse of—Baden?
Her first thought: He’s come to apologize!
Heart drumming erratically, she jumped to her feet. “Excuse me, gentlemen. Stay,” she told the dogs, not wanting them to become lost in the crowd or to be overlooked and stampeded. She stalked across the room, pushing her way through the crowd...but Baden wasn’t where she’d seen him.
Frowning, trying not to wilt with disappointment, she spun, searching for him. There! In the back, by a closed door. She raced forward—but Baden wasn’t at the door, either. Inside the room? She tested the knob. No lock. Tentative, she entered...an office. Different than the one she’d woken in.
“Hello?”
No response.
There was a desk, two plush chairs and a wall of monitors showing different areas of the club. As she stepped deeper inside, a gust of wind slammed the door shut, and she gasped.
A tall, leanly muscled man with dark hair—no, light hair...no, dark...no, red...no, light again—stepped into view. He wore an expensive suit tailored to his body, and to be honest, he was probably the most beautiful male she’d ever seen. He exuded sex and sophistication and yet, something about him made her shudder with distaste.
“Greetings, Katarina.” His voice was as seductive as the rest of him and drew another shudder from her. “So nice to meet you in person at last.”
“Who are you?” The way he’d just changed his hair...realization struck. He’d pretended to be Baden, hadn’t he? He’d led her back here on purpose. But to what aim?
“I’m the man who wants to help you.”
“Why would you want to help me?”
“Perhaps I misspoke. We can help each other.” He eased into the chair behind the desk and kicked up his legs, revealing Italian loafers. “You might know me as Lucifer.”
Hades’s enemy. Baden’s enemy. Basically: the devil she’d heard about in church.
“Please, have a seat.” He waved a graceful hand. “I’m here to bargain with you, not hurt you.”
Any bargain this male offered would profit him alone, no matter how amazing it seemed to her.
Deception was his specialty.
“No way, no how.” She shook her head in negation. “I’m not interested in anything you have to offer.”
He smirked at her, as if he knew a secret she did not. “The stories about me are exaggerated, I assure you.”
Would say anything...
“You have no interest in saving your man from death?” he asked.
In lieu of an answer, she grabbed the door handle and twisted. Of course, now it was locked.
“Maybe this will change your mind.” He waved his hand a second time, and between one second and another, a dead body appeared on the desktop.
She gasped, horrified. This was a fresh kill, blood still wet and dripping.
Lucifer held up his pinky, a long nail growing from the tip. Gaze on her, he dug the sharpened end into the dead man’s eye socket. As her stomach roiled, he popped the eyeball into his mouth and chewed.
She barely stopped herself from gagging, knowing instinctively he would enjoy such a reaction.
He smiled. “The gooey center is always my favorite. Would you like a taste?”
She ignored the offer, saying, “If only you could see the world through your victim’s point of view.”
“Oh, I can. I do. And I savor every second.”
He’s worse than I expected.
“I’ll never bargain with you.” How did one fight a liar? With truth. Time to hit him where it hurt. “Why would I? You’re weak.” She, better than anyone, knew just how sharply that particular taunt could land. “You failed to defeat the king of angels and got yourself thrown out of the heavens. You can’t even defeat Hades, or you’d have done so already.”
Smoke wafted from his nostrils as he jackknifed to his feet. “You would do well to fear me, little girl.”
“Fear is your way in. The door you sneak through. I choose to remain at peace.”
He stepped around the desk, his body nothing but a husk for murderous rage. “I want to help your man. He and his friends fight their darkness when they should embrace it. Only then will they know true freedom and strength.”
True strength. The way to Baden’s heart.
The burn returned to her gums and fingertips, reminding her she wasn’t helpless. She was armed. “What do you know of freedom? You, who are bound to your pride, want only to enslave others.”
Biscuit, Gravy. Come!
“I will bring Baden to heel. I owe him,” he said. “Perhaps I’ll start by giving you to my army, allowing them to sate their baser needs with you. The warrior will be distraught, I’m sure, and—”
The dogs burst through the door, wood shards raining in every direction. They stopped to flank her sides, strange buzzing sounds accompanying their growls. She looked down, praying the pups were okay.
Flabbergasted, she reeled back. Their teeth...their teeth moved. They had two rows up top and two rows on bottom, and both rows spun round and round like the blades on a chain saw.
Lucifer looked at the pups, then at Katarina. His eyes narrowed with calculation. “I collect information, and I’ve heard things. If you want Baden to bend to your will, I can arrange it. I can also make you immortal.”
The bend to her will thing? Not just no, but never. What a hypocrite she would be, superseding his right to choose. But the immortality thing... Was only fooling myself when I said no, letting fear lead me.
Fear this male must have sensed.
Because, if she’d agreed to try, but Baden couldn’t find a way, she would have to live with disappointment and he would have to live with failure.
“What do you say, Miss Joelle?” A slow smile bloomed. “Shall we bargain?”