Takeo stood rubbing his temples in front of his esteemed leader, trying his best to figure out why he had sent Wayland and Phoenyx out on their own to track down Crypt. He might as well have handed the demons a serrated knife to cut out their own hearts.
It didn’t make any sense to him at all.
Crypt might be on the stupid side, but his strength made up for that. Panahasi just sent the foul bastard his next meal.
“Do you know where they went?” he asked, trying his best to remain calm. Wayland had been his only friend. He had none in Baku, and Wayland had chipped away at Takeo, breaking him down and going in for the kill of friendship.
The crazy bastard was like that. Relentless. He knew for a fact that his friend wasn’t going to just spot Crypt and then come running home. He was going to try and take him down. That was who Wayland was, and that was how his brain worked.
Kamiko was down in Kane’s apartment with the other mates, waiting for Takeo to return. He knew that if he went down there, Kamiko would insist on coming along. This was far too dangerous for his mate.
He had to leave now.
“They are on the outskirts of hell.” Takeo’s head snapped up, rage filling him at those words. Only someone insane ventured that way. Even as a warrior, Takeo tried to steer clear of the outskirts as much as possible.
Panahasi really had lost his fucking mind.
Takeo spun around, exiting the leader’s penthouse as he walked into a shadow and ended up by the outskirts. He spotted Wayland and Phoenyx right away. They were engaged in battle with the sentinels.
And it looked like the sentinels were winning. His eyes widened when Wayland was thrown into the gates, his body bouncing off of the iron and then hitting the ground. He pushed to his feet, shaking his head, and then charged after the creature.
Either he was brainless or he had balls. Takeo wasn’t sure at this point. He fisted his hands as he closed his eyes, concentrating hard.
When he felt the surge of power course through his veins, Takeo opened his eyes to see ten Takeos surrounding the sentinels.
“I was doing just fine,” Wayland shouted as he was thrown into the iron gate once more. Yeah, it looked like it.
Takeo raised his hand. All ten of the other Takeos parroted the move. Takeo had to concentrate to keep his mirror images in place. It wasn’t easy, but the trick seemed to be working. The sentinels looked around, confused at all the Takeos surrounding them. It was a trick that came in handy at times like these, but it was mentally and physically draining.
Takeo spun to his right, the images doing the same. The sentinels let out a loud snarl as they advanced. There were two of them, snarling as smoke billowed from their nostrils. Their skin was molten, small sparks of fire igniting randomly from their flesh in various places. They were a hideous pair, and Takeo knew better than to let either of them touch him.
It wouldn’t be pleasant if they did. He could see the burn marks riddled all over Wayland already. “Come get me,” Takeo taunted as he took a step back, waving his fingers toward his palms as he taunted them.
They advanced as Wayland and Phoenyx snuck over to the gates.
He again wondered what in the hell Panahasi had been thinking. This had
suicide mission
written all over it.
Just let me make it back to Kamiko.
Takeo stood there fighting air, moving his arms and legs as his images did the real battling. The sentinels didn’t seem to know the difference, and Takeo was fine with that. It meant he didn’t have to touch the bastards. He could smell them from where he was standing and wondered how the other warriors weren’t on their hands and knees puking their guts out.
He saw Wayland and then Phoenyx slip inside the gates and knew he had to haul ass in order to follow them. He continued to fight, moving closer to the gate as he swung his arms in a boxing move, threw a left hook and then a right until his back was to the gate. Takeo gave one last roundhouse punch before slipping inside.
He was exhausted as he pulled his mirror images back inside his body. It felt as though he had been run over by a damn freight train.
Every muscle on his body hurt.
“Thanks,” Wayland said as he appeared at Takeo’s side. “I had it under control, but…”
Takeo shook his head as he glanced around. Humans had no clue what hell really looked like. Images of fire and brimstone weren’t what hell was about.
Takeo saw the streets of Baku right before his very eyes. The large gate surrounding the city was still in place, as were the scum of the earth as they approached Takeo, their hands out as if they wanted to tear him from limb to limb.
“It’s all in your mind,” Wayland said as he pulled Takeo by his arm. “Don’t dwell on it.”
Hell was a place that made people relive their worst nightmares over and over again. Takeo had never come here before, and if he could help it, he would never return. It wasn’t a vacation spot. That was for sure.
The difference between the detention cells and this place was that here, one could be attacked and killed, only to awaken and start the nightmare all over again. In the detention cells, everything was from memory.
Fears were played upon here, the shadows dwellers digging through people’s minds and pulling out their worst and deepest nightmares.
“Kamiko?” Takeo cocked his head as his mate walked toward him, anger filling his eyes as his lips pulled back into a fierce snarl.
His mate slapped him in the face as he spit on him.
“You are the worst mate ever! You allowed me to be kidnapped and tortured. I hate you, Takeo. You’re worthless. I want our bond severed so that I don’t ever have to see you again. You disgust me.
You’re a failure, a coward, and not worth the air you breathe. Your mother raised you as a joke!”
Takeo felt just like he had all those years ago when he lived in Baku when his mother had abandoned him, leaving him at an early age to fend for himself. She had told him that he had been a mistake and that he wasn’t even lovable. His anger exploded at the cruelty of this place. He didn’t want to be here anymore.
“Takeo!” Wayland shouted as he grabbed him from behind. Takeo hadn’t even realized that he’d been fighting. He took in deep drafts of air as he tried to calm down. That wasn’t his mate.
Kamiko loved him.
Kamiko wanted him.
“Let’s get moving. Ignore what you see,” Phoenyx said as he ushered them along. The scars of his abandonment were freshly opened, and Takeo felt raw, exposed…worthless. He felt like a frail child all over again.
“There,” Phoenyx whispered as they ducked into an alcove. Takeo could see Crypt playing with some poor soul, torturing him with a satisfied glee in his eyes. Takeo rubbed his sternum, trying to rid himself of that raw feeling welling up inside of him from Kamiko’s words. He knew it wasn’t really his mate, but the words had struck a chord.
“Now what?” Wayland asked.
“Now we leave. We’ve confirmed where he is at,” Phoenyx stated as he starting backing away. “We can’t take him down, even if it’s three to one.”
Takeo was in total agreement. He wanted out of this place as fast as his feet would carry him. He felt as though all his happiness was lost, gone, taken from him and never to return. He knew it was this place, but that didn’t help him to extinguish the feeling.
He needed to feel Kamiko in his arms again, to assure himself that his mate was really his. With that thought in mind, Takeo hightailed it back toward the gates. He wanted the hell out of here.
“Damn it, Takeo,” Wayland snapped, “slow the fuck down.”
Nope, not happening.
He had places to go and people to see—like his apartment and Kamiko. Nothing else mattered. Takeo saw the gates looming up ahead of him. He put on a burst of speed, seeing freedom in a set of grungy, rusty iron gates.
Takeo almost dropped to his knees and screamed in frustration as Panahasi and a line of demon warriors suddenly appeared between him and the gates. He decided he was going to run right through them, but something in Panahasi’s eyes stopped him.
Takeo’s worst fears came crashing down on him. “Kamiko?” he whispered.
“Your mate is safe, Takeo. He is currently enjoying a picnic with Alpha Zeus’s pack and a contingent of warriors. I have called in a favor from a friend. If danger appears, Kamiko will be shimmered to safety.”
“Not good enough.” Takeo clenched his hands as he growled, taking a step toward the demon leader. “He needs—”
“He needs you to remove the threat from him.” Panahasi pointed to something beyond Takeo’s shoulder. “You need this also. Your soul will not settle until you know your mate is safe, and I believe your soul now belongs to Kamiko.”
Takeo turned to glance over his shoulder, afraid he knew what Panahasi was pointing to. He was right. Crypt had seen them. And he was pissed and lumbering toward them. Takeo swallowed hard.
Damn, that monster was huge. He had to stand at least twelve feet tall.
And fuck if he wasn’t immune to all of their powers. They’d have to take him down by brute strength alone.
Takeo drew in a deep breath of courage. Well, they had done it once. They could do it again. He hoped. Putting Crypt back in prison would take one more threat to Kamiko away. Takeo just hoped he lived through the battle.
“Okay,” Takeo said as he psyched himself up for the coming fight, “let’s do this.”
Kamiko eyed the elf that Panahasi had assigned him. He liked Panahasi, really he did, but he only trusted Takeo. If Takeo said the man was kosher, then fine. But he hadn’t. In fact, Kamiko was starting to wonder where his wayward mate was. He hadn’t seen Takeo all day, and it was starting to worry Kamiko.
Kamiko glanced around, wondering who he could ask about Takeo’s whereabouts. He didn’t want to ask the elf, even though he thought the man might know, or at least know who to ask. The elf was unlike any of the elves he had ever heard about. And truthfully, Kamiko was a little scared of the man.
It might have been different if the elf would say something to him, anything. Kamiko didn’t even know the guy’s name, which was stupid considering the elf was supposed to be his ticket out of here if trouble arose.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
The elf smirked as he looked Kamiko up and down. “Elf.”
“No, really, what’s your name?”
“Elf.”
“Seriously?” Kamiko felt like punching the guy. “How am I supposed to call you if something happens?”
“What?” The elf crossed his arms over his chest, arching a pretentious but perfectly manicured eyebrow. Did every damn one of them have to look so perfect? It made Kamiko feel positively grungy.
“You can’t say
elf
?”
Even Kamiko was shocked by the low growl that came out of his mouth. He didn’t know he had it in him. Maybe Takeo was rubbing off on him. He grinned when he saw the elf’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline.
“Now, look here, elf boy,” Kamiko started as he walked toward the infuriating man. “I don’t give a damn who you are or where you came from. That’s between you and Panahasi. But a little use of manners couldn’t hurt—”
The elf’s eyes widened as he suddenly looked beyond Kamiko. He reached for and grabbed Kamiko’s arm. “Time to go, little man.”
“But—”
Before Kamiko could finish, the air around them shimmered in and out. Kamiko pressed his lips together to keep from throwing up when his stomach started to roll. When the air settled back into place, they were standing in front of the demon warriors’ apartment building.
“What are we doing here?” he asked in confusion.
“I can’t shimmer inside.”
“Uh…what?”
The elf rolled his eyes. “Panahasi told me to take you somewhere safe if shit started. It did, and I did, but I can’t get you inside the building. There must be some sort of spell on it or something.”
“Oh.” Kamiko looked up at the tall brick building. “Now, what do we do?”
“Well, we can’t stay here. It isn’t safe.”
“Takeo is safe.” Kamiko knew it without a doubt. Takeo would always keep him safe. Even if he got taken for a little while, Kamiko knew Takeo would move heaven and earth to get him back. “Take me to Takeo.”
“I don’t know about that,” the elf said as he looked up and down the street with trepidation. “Panahasi told me to bring you here.”
“Well, obviously,
here
isn’t going to work.”
“Look—”
“If you take me to Takeo, you can leave.” Kamiko really wanted to see Takeo. “I’ll be safe with him. You can leave and go wherever you need to with a clear conscience.” The elf huffed. “But Panahasi and I made a deal. If this fucks things up with him, I’m going to shimmer you somewhere that you’ll never get back from.”
“Fine.” Kamiko grinned and took the hand that the elf held out to him. He didn’t know what deal the elf and Panahasi had made, but if it meant he got to be with Takeo, he would agree to anything, too.
The air began to shimmer again. Kamiko closed his eyes and hoped he wouldn’t barf. His stomach was rolling so much he swore he could smell blood and decay. It was disgusting.
Kamiko jumped when he heard a loud scream that made him shiver in fear. His eyes snapped open and dread filled him just as his stomach heaved. Oh gods, the shimmer hadn’t caused him to smell blood and decay. The battle around him had.
Where in the hell had they landed?
“Get him the hell out of here!” Panahasi roared. Kamiko stood there with his jaw lying on his chest. There was a creature so big, so ugly, and apparently winning the fight that all Kamiko could do was just stare.
“I told you this was a bad idea,” the elf said as he reached for Kamiko. Kamiko ran before the elf could touch him. There was no way he was leaving Takeo here to battle that hideous thing, even if he had the entire demon warrior fleet here to help.
“Get back here,” the elf shouted as he gave chase. “If you screw my deal up, you’re going to be shimmered to the moon!” Kamiko spotted Takeo. He had swords in his hands, battling the creature with an impressive fierceness. Kamiko swallowed hard as the thing disarmed his mate and then tossed him twenty feet away. Takeo jumped to his feet, ready to run back in until he spotted Kamiko.