The Rise of the Underworld Read online

  I’d never recover if I lost Max.

  I was already shattering inside.

  I pushed Ash away. When he reached for me again, I shoved him back. Blinded by a curtain of tears, I couldn’t see clearly who was in front of me, and I didn’t give a damn. I shoved them all away from me, not wanting their comfort.

  I was inconsolable.

  “I’m going to look for them,” I hissed. “Do not stand in my way. I’m not going to lose Max.”

  “My queen, you can’t go. Please. It’ll take hours to go back, and they might not be there anymore.” Many sorrowful voices pleaded with me to stay.

  I shook my head. I’d let no one stop me.

  Red lightning bled out of me, and I could sense my eyes glowing crimson.

  “My queen, please don’t abandon us. Don’t leave your people.” It sounded like Raven’s voice, and then Willow joined her, begging me to listen to reason.

  Willow had come through. All of them had come to safety, except Max and Merlin.

  They sacrificed themselves so others could live.

  But I couldn’t bear their sacrifice. I wasn’t going to take this blow from life or fate.

  My eyes were wild, my heart bled, and my thoughts were numb.

  I lost it.

  I could no longer be reasoned with. All I knew was that I needed to get to Max and Merlin.

  I wouldn’t lose my vampire mate who had come to Hell for me.

  I had already lost Elijah. I’d lost too much.

  Ash pulled me further into his arms despite me shoving him back, and he was yelling at everyone around us.

  “Let me handle it,” he snarled. “I’ll take her, and I’ll bring her back.”

  I stumbled ahead blindly with Ash guiding me, his strong arm around my waist to support me. And then we reached the entrance of the tunnel. We’d go back to Nightingale.

  My tiger followed us, growling at everyone who tried to come to me, knowing I was beyond upset.

  We entered the tunnel with Killian guarding our rear.

  I wiped the tears with the back of my hand and started running as fast as I could. I’d memorized every turn of the tunnel, so I wouldn’t hit the rocky wall racing like this. If I was fast enough, I might just reach Max and Merlin.

  We’d run over four miles before I saw the path was completely blocked. Ash moved faster than a flash and pulled me back before I crashed into the rocks.

  “No, no, no,” I cried, struggling free of Ash and lunging at the rocks.

  I pried them away one by one, trying to dig a way out, but they were endless.

  I just kept grabbing rocks and throwing them out of the path.

  My fingernails had broken a while ago and my hands bled from clearing away the rocks. This pain didn’t matter. My heart hurt more. Ash was shoveling the rock beside me with his bloody hands.

  We dared not use our magic, for fear the tunnel behind us would collapse.

  I didn’t know how long I’d been picking up rocks before Ash grabbed my hands to stop me.

  It was a futile effort to dig a way out.

  “Stop, Ayanna,” he said. “The tunnel ahead has collapsed. We won’t get through.”

  “I must find him. We must find them,” I protested.

  “I know, baby, I know,” he said, pulling me into his lap.

  I sobbed into his solid shoulder.

  “I won’t survive it if anything happened to Max,” I sniffed.

  Ash straightened his back and stiffened in my tight embrace.

  He pulled back and rolled up my sleeve, revealing the four icons that lined up on my inner arm.

  They pulsed with a faint light. The silver-gold, my bond to Ash, shone the brightest. The second brightest was the purple-gold, which signified my link to Max.

  “They’re alive,” Ash said, letting out a breath, his eyes brightening with tears. “If they had perished, the icons on your arm would have gone completely dark.”

  And my heart would go completely dark. The darkness had been hovering over my heart ever since we learned that Elijah had turned on us.

  “Max’s icon isn’t as bright as mine, since he isn’t as close as I am to you at the moment,” Ash explained. “I feel the bond to them, too. They live. Take heart, Blossom. All of your mates are very hard to kill.”

  “That’s good to hear,” I sobbed, trying to rise from his comfortable lap. “Let’s go to them.”

  Ash pulled me back toward him. “It’s more pragmatic for them to come to us. They’ll find you. If they return and find that anything has happened to you, you’ll break Max’s heart and mine. Merlin’s, too.”

  Hope arose in me, yet anxiety still battered my every cell.

  Ash threaded his fingers into my tangled hair to smooth it, and I quieted and calmed against his chest. I almost purred at some point. He kissed me tenderly and pulled me up.

  “We need to go back, baby,” he said. “Your people need you. Don’t let them down.”

  I nodded, reason returning to me.

  I couldn’t be so selfish. If I insisted on going to search for Max and Merlin no matter the consequences, I’d probably plunge blindly into a perilous situation. I might lose Ash.

  People have a habit of taking for granted the ones near them to pursue the unattainable instead. I wasn’t going to be that idiot and not see the valuable ones right in front of me.

  “Thank you, Ash,” I whispered. “I love you.”

  He was silent for a second. Was it the first time I said that I loved him?

  His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed back thick emotions.

  “I love you more, Blossom,” he whispered back. “You have no idea how deep my love goes for you.”

  “I have an idea,” I said. “But are we going to argue over who loves whom more?”

  He chuckled, his fingers entwined with mine, and we ran back together toward the cavern, where our people were gathered and waited.

  CHAPTER 18

  __________________

  Sebastian, Octavia, Willow, Guy, and two of Guy’s men met us midway down the tunnel.

  “Calamity!” Bas barked. “You can’t just run off like that.” His voice then softened a notch, filled with concern. “Are you all right?”

  “My queen,” Octavia called. “What can we do to help?”

  “They’re alive,” I said, sniffing and fighting back my tears. “My mates are alive. They’ll find us.” They’d better find me.

  “But—I’m sorry, Calamity,” Willow said. She’d seen too many lives lost. She’d had this haunted, hollow look ever since she returned to Nightingale.

  “My brothers live.” Ash affirmed.

  When we emerged from the tunnel, the seven clans of Nightingale all dropped to their knees.

  “Our queen!” they called, overjoyed and relieved that I’d returned.

  This was the first time all of them showed me their fealty.

  My heart warmed. For years I’d had no one except Bas, and now I had mates and a people.

  “Rise,” I said. “Tomorrow, we’ll go into the Shades as one people. Difficulties and dangers will await us at every turn. While we might lose some loved ones in the process, we’ll prevail. We’ll reach the Upper Realm, where honey and milk flow. And we’ll rebuild Nightingale in Atlantis.”

  Raven led the cheer, and the soldiers cheered louder.

  “All the slaves from the Underworld will join us,” Willow shouted. “They’ve all risen to fight for Queen Calamity. Uprisings are happening everywhere.”

  That was probably due to my rebellious speech in the arena and Willow’s hard work at getting the word around. I’d defied the emperor and his Sváva, and I lived. The slaves had seen hope for the first time.

  “Please return to your current tasks,” I said. “And everyone needs to rest well tonight.”

  I didn’t spend the night in the cave with the rest of the clans, although the women from the Desert Belle had set up a tent for me. I joined Ash and the scout team above the cave
to keep watch. No matter how often my people called me their queen, I was a warrior first, and I would always fight on the front line.

  I tried to stay up late to wait for Max and Merlin, but at some point, I dozed off and curled up on the hard ground.

  The icon—the third one—flared with warmth on my skin. Before I could open my crusty eyes, Max was upon me, pushing the blanket off me and gathering me into his strong arms.

  “Ayanna,” he whispered.

  I clung to him tightly, as if holding on to my lifeline.

  He planted hot kisses all over my face.

  Joyful tears flowed down my cheeks, and Max kissed them away, too.

  “I said I’d always come back to you, doll,” he said with a laugh, pleased with my passion for him. “I like to keep my promises to you.”

  “I won’t be separated from you ever again,” I said with a sob. “From now on, we’ll always be together.”

  Merlin looked over at us while he conversed with Ash. Longing for me seared his violet eyes, but he was giving Max and me our moment alone. And he knew that while I might have forgiven him, it would take a long while for me to warm up to him. We both knew that I wouldn’t accept him as a mate without him truly making amends to my satisfaction, no matter how my body reacted to him and no matter how hard the mating call drove me to the brink of insanity to push me to finish the mating ritual with my last mate and complete a full circle.

  With Max and Merlin having returned, the mating heat coursed in my veins like a flux of lava. It wouldn’t cool off unless I fucked my mates.

  Max’s eyes glowed molten gold, pure male desire rolling off him in waves, melting my already soaked panties.

  The air between us was charged with electricity and high heat.

  Ash gazed at me a few paces away, his eyelids hooded, his lust heavy.

  Another current of heat hit me in full force. Merlin looked at me as if I was the most desirable thing in the world. He balled his fists at his sides, restraining himself from eliminating everyone between us and claiming me right there.

  His steely will might have won for the moment, but he couldn’t stop his magic, which was more susceptible to his carnal need, from leaking its true desire and intention.

  I turned to fix my attention on my vampire mate, who held me in his arms.

  “Max,” I whimpered, shivering with want. “I feel so hot.”

  We couldn’t just mate like beasts in the open, as the soldiers were grouped around us. Yet one of my hands was tempted to touch my slick, aching pussy, and the other hand wanted to stroke his cock.

  “My feelings for you are beyond the mating fever, doll,” he said. “I want you more than anything and anyone, even if there’s no mating bond between us. You’ve awoken everything in me, everything primal and male.”

  He scooped me into his arms, his wings spreading, and he took me to the sky.

  I pressed my breasts against his chest as I pictured ripping off his clothes.

  “Where can we go?” I asked, gazing down to search for a spot where we could mate.

  There was no shelter on the ground but the dry, cracked land sprawled beneath, the vast cave occupied by the clans, and the black mountains on the horizon where we’d have to pass to enter the Shades.

  “I’ll fuck you in the sky,” Max said.

  Elijah had mentioned that in this realm, the sky extended infinitely.

  “But—”

  “You’ll enjoy it,” my vampire mate promised.

  I wondered if he’d done that before, but I suppressed the thought before unnecessary jealousy overcame me. No matter how many lovers my mates had had in the past, the men belonged to me now.

  “My cock is so hard for you, it hurts. I need to fuck your hot, tight pussy as soon as possible.”

  My blood heated, and I was dripping wet.

  The only thing in my mind now was to get Max’s big cock inside me.

  Max slanted his mouth over mine, and I gasped, wanting more of him. Wanting all of him. Our tongues mated in an erotic dance. His scent of cypress and masculinity dominated me, enveloping me.

  While he kept flying high, I worked to get his cock in my hand.

  It was silky and massive in my palm. I gave it a few short, hard pumps, and Max hissed in pleasure. His one hand held my buttocks to support me, the other cupping my breast before sliding down.

  His hand slid into my trousers and found the slit.

  Max chuckled darkly. “You’re so ripe for me, doll.”

  “You have no idea,” I sighed and moaned.

  “When we reach the Upper Realm, I’ll feast upon your lovely pussy every night. And I’ll buy you thousands of panties and dresses.”

  My blood raced in my veins in anticipation at the wicked promise.

  Max brushed open my folds, fondling my tender flesh before thrusting a finger into my heat. His calloused thumb rubbed my swollen clit.

  I arched my back and moaned as pleasure hit my nerve endings; the pressure of needing urgent release pushed me to propel my ass toward him, riding his thick fingers.

  “You’re killing me by being so responsive, doll,” Max gasped over my lips. “I need to fuck you now.”

  He lifted my hips, pressed my entrance to the head of his thick shaft, and pushed into me. If I wasn’t so soaked with lust and need, the size might be a problem for me, no matter how many times he fucked me.

  He glided in inch by inch to savor our joining, then he drove home and rammed into my molten core with the rest of his steel rod. I felt so full and wanted, and the heavy weight of his manhood inside me felt delicious. He gave me a moment to adjust to his size before he started to thrust, withdraw, and thrust back in vehemently.

  “Max, it feels so good,” I moaned breathlessly. “How can it feel so good?”

  “Because I’m fucking you, woman.” He groaned as he drove deep into me.

  There were only us in the high sky, the land a brownish patch beneath.

  “No one can see us,” Max said. “You can scream all you want, doll. I’m gonna fuck you real hard. Think you can take it?”

  “Bring it on, vampire,” I breathed.

  He thrust into me, raw and hard. It was marvelous.

  The only sounds were our fucking, kissing, the wind, and the flapping of Max’s obsidian wings.

  Max drilled into me again and again, relentlessly and mercilessly.

  “Yes,” I half-moaned and half-screamed. “Your big cock is so deep inside me, Max! Yes, just like that. Fuck me just like that, vampire. Claim me again.”

  “I love fucking this tight pussy more than anything in the world,” Max growled and thrust into me with his hybrid strength.

  I cried out another round of pleasure as he combined long thrusts with short, rapid ones.

  I tried to ride on the length of his hard shaft, but I had limited room to maneuver in the sky.

  “Let me do the hard work, doll,” Max said, chuckling, picking up his speed until his thrusts were a blur of movement. “You just enjoy being fucked by your horny mate.”

  I stared down, watching my pussy glove his cock and pull it in possessively.

  “Will you fuck me forever, Max?” I let out another lustful moan.

  “I’ll never let you go.” He panted, his thrusts erratic. “You’re mine. Mine to cherish and mine to play and fuck.”

  Pressure built hard in me. Max pounded into me faster, if that was even possible.

  Just as I thought this was the peak, my mate brought me even higher.

  “I’m coming, Max!” I moaned breathlessly.

  “Not yet, little mate,” he said. “Only after I fuck you sideways, then fuck you from behind.”

  He pulled out of me. I was about to protest vehemently, but then I also wanted to experiment and be fucked sideways in the sky. Max turned me around at a ninety-degree angle as if I weighed no more than a feather and lifted my leg.

  My pussy was now exposed to him sideways. He gazed down at my sex, letting out a curse that soun
ded so carnal and base it boiled my blood. He aimed his cock at my slit and thrust in brutally. I cried out at the slight pain and great pleasure.

  “Like being fucked sideways, woman?” he asked roughly.

  “I like however you fuck me. I liked you bending me over and screwing me on that bronze bathtub, too.”

  “You dirty little minx. I like you talking dirty. When we get to the ground, I want to thrust my cock down your throat and see how dirty you can get.”

  His eyes turned all dark. His cock grew large and harder, stretching me to the limit. I could no longer move as I hung in the air, supported by his one hand as he thrust into me again and again, for his full enjoyment.

  I was at his mercy.

  “As dirty as you want,” I challenged.

  “Is that so?” he said, and slammed his cock into my depth, sending another wave of pleasure to my horny core. “I need to pierce your neck and drink from you. May I have your permission, little mate?”

  He’d held back for so long. I knew that he couldn’t go on without feeding anymore, especially after today’s battle.

  “Do you have to ask, you stupid, horny vampire?” I said. “Just give me the big orgasm you promised.”

  I felt a sharp pain on my neck as Max’s fangs punctured my skin. But the next second, incredible pleasure tossed me high into the peak of heaven.

  Max drank from me while he thrust wildly in me.

  I could no longer hold back the dam. The pressure and pleasure were too much, hitting my every nerve until I exploded around his cock and screamed his name.

  Max extracted his fangs and licked the wound in my neck to seal it.

  He thrust into me with bruising speed and great strength, riding through my waves of climax.

  As my pussy milked his cock mercilessly, his eyes rolled back and he roared my name, finding his release.

  I rested my head on his shoulder and laughed in joy.

  CHAPTER 19

  __________________

  I slept in both Ash’s and Max’s arms in a fairy garden full of bright flowers under the starlit sky, an illusion Merlin provided as a gift for me. The druid sent Guy and his men back down to the cave and guarded us alone.