Prologue
Somewhere among all the dark jagged rocks and the streams of glowing magma, there once stood a cabin. Somewhere, there had been a wood shed and a small workshop; but not any longer.
Somewhere, out there, lay the remnants of a place he had called home; but no longer. Tall, dark mountains lit by the lava that fell down the falls, charred trees, and crumbling rock; a vast wasteland with nothing but fire for as far as the eye could see.
The Null was a nasty place, and yet, as the Demon looked on through the looking glass, he felt more at home than ever. Well, it would feel like home, if his mate were home and safe.
“Fuck!” Nyx shouted out, and his fist came down upon the looking glass and the thing shattered. The pain seared through his hand as the heat began to rise, and the blood began to trickle.
It was all he could do to control the rage within him, sulk away in the shadowed halls of The Null, watching the world pass him by through those stupid.
“Another one?” Came a familiar voice, but Nyx felt the shudders as he tried to stop his fist from sailing. She was female, and that would have ended, very badly, for both of them.
One did not go around hitting Ladies, especially not ladies with big ass, mind-warping ‘I am all that is Vampire’ mates. As if Markus and his attitude weren’t bad enough.
“I’m not in the mood, Navina!” He grumbled, but would not turn to look at her. “I have seen more of your moods in the last twenty-four hours than I have since I first met you!”
She cocked a brow at him and reached out for his hand. “I have survived them all, and will survive this one too; now let me look at it!”
“It’s just a scratch!” He growled at her. “I’m not a child!” “No, you’re not! You’re a warrior, chained back from the battlefield.”
“Then let me go out there and fight!” He cut in, shaking his head. “Let me do, something!”
“A warrior, who’s lost his mate!” That was the final straw, and a moment later, Navina was against the wall and Nyx’s hand was about her throat.
“She is not, lost! I know fine well, where my mate is...” He growled, “And you, won’t let me go after her!”
“Let me go, Nyx!” She told him, her eyes so green.
“Then let me go!” He replied with another growl, but the next thing he knew, he was up against a wall, and the eyes glaring back at him were a meaner shade of green.
“That there, is my mate!” The male growled back at him, before tossing the Demon to the floor.
“Son of a bitch!” Nyx roared, and the fight was on. One Demon, standing at roughly six foot four, maybe five; and the Sire of all Vampires at six foot six.
Add in a good six hundred pounds of pure muscle, two heads of dark hair, and two sets of glowing eyes bearing down on one another. It was one hell of a wrestling match going down outside Lord Eroch’s study, and Nyx was showing no signs of backing down.
“I may not remember, my mother...” Lync started to reply, but Nyx’s foot to the back of his knee had him shouting again,
“But I assure you, she was not a bitch!” He tore towards the Demon. Nyx felt the impact as Lync’s shoulder impacted his stomach, and his back hit a nearby wall.
The asshole was still going hard, and this delighted him, for he had so much more to get out.
“You, ever... touch my...” Lync growled at him, but Nyx left out his fist and chuckled as it connected with the Vampire’s face.
“My mate is stuck in that hell hole!” He roared, as the fist came down hard against his chest.
“And you think, that you...” Another shot, this time to his shoulder. “... are going to...” “What the fuck?” Nyx heard the Vampire shout, and then there was a thud, as he shook his head and opened his eyes.
That last hit was a doozy, but despite the raging headache he had, he was more than ready for round two.
“Get your pansy ass, back here!” He roared, though the fist that flew at him next, was not the Vampires.
It wasn’t long before the Demon looked up at the stone ceiling, and then at the stone walls.
“What the fuck?” He let out, taking in the sights around him.
“Hey? Someone gets me the fuck out of here!” Thick, dirty, rancid-smelling stones surrounded him on three sides, metal bars on the fourth with a tiny hole for light.
Fuck off! He knew exactly where he was, and someone was going to pay for this, dearly.
“This shit is so not, funny!” He growled and tossed a rock across the small cell.
“Hello? Nissa? Madrina?” Wouldn’t it be so bad if Lord Eroch hadn’t gone and made the place impenetrable? There was no blinking in and out, for anyone; not even Nyx.
He was stuck, behind bars, in a prison where he worked in. This, was his domain; so what the fuck? Whose hair-brained idea was to lock him away in a cell below the keep?
Were they stupid, or just looking for a signature on their death wish?
“Neither really!” The voice crept out from the shadows, and Nyx was on his feet in seconds.
“Who the fuck said that?” He let out, spinning around so fast he almost fell back on his ass. “Chill!” It came again, and Nyx stopped short, watching as the female emerged from the shadowed corner of his cell.
“Where’d you come from?” He growled at her as she let down her hood.
“Belvaya?” He added, a little shocked as the long white and blue hair fell about her shoulders.
“I didn’t come, from anywhere!” She laughed and tossed a satchel towards him.
“I’ve been here, waiting for your ass to wake up!” “Well, someone’s going to have to explain the whole ‘how I fell asleep’ part!”
He grumbled and opened the satchel.
“Yeah, about that! I’m sorry!” She blurted out, and Nyx cocked a brow at her.
“I didn’t think it would knock you out the way it did!”
“Wait, you? You did, what now, to me?”
“She knocked, you, the fuck out!” Another voice sighed, and then another female emerged from the shadows. “
Well, she hit you, I only added a little umph!” “I’ll say!” Belvaya giggled.
“And you are?” Nyx growled, glaring at the second female. She looked incredibly familiar, though, there was something different.
“You don’t want to know my name, but you do want to give me that lemon square, that Belvaya here, tried to sneak into you!” The female grinned, and Nyx found his hand dipping into the satchel and pulling out a small container.
“Ambrosia?” Belvaya gasped and stood between the female and the Demon.
“That is his!” Nyx had to think a moment, watching the female take off her hood and the short brunette hair that bobbed at her shoulders. No, something was different.
“Wait, Ambrosia?” Nyx muttered, lost in memories, searching for any mention; and then it hit him.
“Oh, hold up! You stay the fuck away from me! I know who you are and you don’t play fair!” He growled.
“And you absolutely cannot have my lemon square!” “Ugh! You’re the one who said to lock him up!” Ambrosia shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“I thought maybe, in a room upstairs? You know, behind a locked door?”
“That is a locked door!” The female laughed, “And besides, I can’t take him to a room; the male’s off limits!”
“Why was I locked up?” Nyx inquired, taking the last bite of the lemon square.
“Because you, were a very, very bad boy!” Ambrosia grinned at him.
“And very bad boys, need to be chained and dealt with!” She added with a hiss, and her hair changed, right before his eyes.
“You like them dark-haired, don’t you?”
"Fuck, me!” He groaned and then shook his head. “You’re twisted! You know that, right? Fucked up in the head!”
“That’s only because you, my friend, are lost in that little thing called love!” She smiled back at him. “You have boundaries, whereas I do not!”
“Whatever!” Nyx was trying to avoid eye contact at all costs, but he was losing, hard.
“Being free, as I am, I can be, any, little, thing.” She groaned, her body growing taller, her hair getting longer; her breasts so full and...
“Shit!” Belvaya sighed and pushed herself away from the wall.
“Ambrosia, that’s enough!” “You said lock him up and keep him busy!” Ambrosia grumbled.
“Where is the fun you promised?” The female threw up her hands. “I’m so bored, Belvaya!”
“We will return to Khia’s manor, soon enough! You can play to your heart's content when we get there!” Ambrosia whined and opened the door to the cell.
“I’ll be upstairs!” She huffed and took off out of sight.
“I am sorry about all of this!” Belvaya sighed before Nyx had a chance to say anything.
“She has her way of doing things!” “Yeah, I’m well aware of that!” Nyx chuckled and made for the door.
“Don’t forget your satchel!” Belvaya reminded him. “More lemon squares?”
“A few gifts, from Kember and Mist! I am told you know what to do with them!” She told him.
“One is for an endless sleep, and the other is a poison for the enemy!”
“So, don’t mix them up?” He laughed, but Belvaya glared back at him. “If you get in there, we won’t be able to help you! Only in death, can Mist help you!” She smiled.
“Or some shit like that!” “Thanks, I think!” The Demon let out, and the female took off out the cell door as he rummaged through the bag. He found two little bottles, a handful of daggers, and a note that said nothing more than find them!
Oh, he’d find them alright; both Mia and Malice. One vial, the one with the frowny face, would suffice to coat the daggers against anyone who stood in his way.
The other, which had a smiley face, would be his ticket out of there; but when and where he had no clue. There was no turning back now.
Lord Eroch was still pawning over the Queen's sword, with Lady Ellaria at his side; so he alone would have to rescue his mate, his mates!
