Red Blooded
Page 48
She shrank back from his anger, but before she could answer, the wall wavered and the spell melted away to reveal a door.
“See.” Selene had a grim smile on her face. “I told you I could break it.”
Ray came up from behind and guided Selene by the waist, maneuvering her out of the way, and remarkably, she let him. “Great,” he said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Once she was relocated, she placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t need to treat me like a child. I’m strong enough to take my alter ego down on my own.”
“We’ll see about that,” Ray said, his face set. “We go in first, and if we need your assistance, we’ll let you know. If that lady in there is anything like you, it’s going to be one pissed-off clone.”
I glanced at the door warily. He was right. I’d already defeated Selene once and I had no desire to do it twice. “Is this the front door?” I asked Lili.
“No,” Lili answered. “We are entering from the back. If this other… woman… is indeed his new mistress, she will be keeping his house in the main rooms. If we go quietly we might gain a small advantage. Certainly she will sense us at some point—if she is indeed that powerful.”
Spoken like a true woman scorned.
Ray stood in front of the door. I glanced behind me. My brother’s face was set and Rourke appeared ready to do some damage. “Okay, let’s go,” I said. “The smell out here is killing me.”
My brother waved his hand in front of his face and then leaned over to sniff Rourke. “Jesus, dude, you need a shower.”
“Working on it,” Rourke growled. “There’s not exactly a public restroom nearby.”
“The Prince’s rooms are palatial,” Lili replied. “You will be able to clean up once we are inside.”
Ray edged his shoulder up against the door and grunted as he pushed. It gave, but only about an inch.
“What’s wrong? Is it too heavy?” I asked.
“No.” He pulled back. “There’s something blocking it from the inside.”
“If you can, try to pry it open it a little more so I can see what it is,” I told him, craning my neck around, trying to get a good angle.
Tyler nudged by me. “Let me see,” he said. “You go stand next to stinky.”
I chuckled, letting him do it, moving back by Rourke. I didn’t care how bad he smelled. I leaned my back against his chest and sighed. “Nothing can cover your natural scent for me.” I inhaled and grinned like a besotted teenager. “Molasses and cloves. Just the way I like it.”
His body rumbled with pleasure as his arms enfolded me. He leaned down to my ear. “You’re a handful, you know that?” His fingertips electrified me, sending currents of energy racing through my body.
“Mm, I know,” I replied, laying my head against his shoulder, gazing up at him. “But that’s the way you prefer it. If this were easy, you’d be bored. I know you adventurous types like life filled with action and I’m happy to oblige.”
He chuckled. “I could take nice and boring with you right now.” He growled low and ran his lips across my neck. “Long, boring… and slow.”
Chills raced up my spine and my heart skipped a beat, right as Ray shouldered the door again. He pushed his weight against it and there was a snapping sound as the door finally moved in a few inches.
“What was that?” I asked, moving reluctantly out of my mate’s grasp to investigate.
He growled his displeasure, but let me go.
“I don’t know,” Tyler said. “It sounded like broken bones to me. I can’t really get a good look.”
Ray changed positions with Tyler and glanced into the opening. “I have no idea what the hell that is, but we need to start referring to this entire place as the Mad Fucking House of Horrors, because there are no explanations for what goes on here.” Ray grumbled, peering into the doorway again. “I think that’s… a remnant of a human being of some kind, but I can’t tell either.”
Ray stepped aback and I moved in. It actually resembled a mummy, of all things. “What”—I paused as Ray pushed the door open a little more, ignoring the crunching sounds, to expose what appeared to be a withered-looking human—“is that thing?”
Lili cleared her throat from behind us. “That is a golem. A human golem.”
We all stared at her.
“It’s like every time you speak, it’s in tongues,” Ray snipped. “What exactly is a human golem?”
“The Prince has taken a liking over the last century to necromancers. He’s lured quite a few to the Underworld with promises of riches and as many dead souls as they’d like. But he ensnares them and makes them do things… such as this.” She gestured at the mummified broken thing behind the door.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered. “That dead human was resurrected as some kind of guard? Looks like it did a band up job. It broke into pieces at the first attempt to get through the door.”
Rourke shook his head and moved into the doorway, examining the golem. “No, it didn’t break because of that. It broke because it was linked to the door spell. It was a two-for-one combo.” He glanced at Selene. “Did you know you were disarming this thing when you broke the passageway spell?”
“I didn’t know what it was specifically,” she countered with some hostility. “I felt something back there, so I did what any witch would do—I sent a spell backward to fry whatever it was.” She raised her eyebrows. “It didn’t really have any brains to fry, but it worked anyway.” She looked smug.
“It sure did,” I commented. “But that thing doesn’t look like it would’ve put up much of a fight anyway.”
“It’s only the watchdog,” Lili said. “It was supposed to alert its master if someone broke through the spell.”
“Well, Selene seems to have circumvented the alarm,” Ray snorted, “so what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
Rourke led the way through the narrow chambers. Tyler stayed behind and made sure the passageway door was firmly shut. We traveled through several short tunnels before we ended up in a small atrium. It held a huge bed in the center, draped in ornate cloth. The color scheme in here was decidedly feminine: the room was decorated in rich gold and yellow hues. The walls were covered with tapestries that appeared to be from our plane, and likely priceless at that.
“See.” Selene had a grim smile on her face. “I told you I could break it.”
Ray came up from behind and guided Selene by the waist, maneuvering her out of the way, and remarkably, she let him. “Great,” he said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Once she was relocated, she placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t need to treat me like a child. I’m strong enough to take my alter ego down on my own.”
“We’ll see about that,” Ray said, his face set. “We go in first, and if we need your assistance, we’ll let you know. If that lady in there is anything like you, it’s going to be one pissed-off clone.”
I glanced at the door warily. He was right. I’d already defeated Selene once and I had no desire to do it twice. “Is this the front door?” I asked Lili.
“No,” Lili answered. “We are entering from the back. If this other… woman… is indeed his new mistress, she will be keeping his house in the main rooms. If we go quietly we might gain a small advantage. Certainly she will sense us at some point—if she is indeed that powerful.”
Spoken like a true woman scorned.
Ray stood in front of the door. I glanced behind me. My brother’s face was set and Rourke appeared ready to do some damage. “Okay, let’s go,” I said. “The smell out here is killing me.”
My brother waved his hand in front of his face and then leaned over to sniff Rourke. “Jesus, dude, you need a shower.”
“Working on it,” Rourke growled. “There’s not exactly a public restroom nearby.”
“The Prince’s rooms are palatial,” Lili replied. “You will be able to clean up once we are inside.”
Ray edged his shoulder up against the door and grunted as he pushed. It gave, but only about an inch.
“What’s wrong? Is it too heavy?” I asked.
“No.” He pulled back. “There’s something blocking it from the inside.”
“If you can, try to pry it open it a little more so I can see what it is,” I told him, craning my neck around, trying to get a good angle.
Tyler nudged by me. “Let me see,” he said. “You go stand next to stinky.”
I chuckled, letting him do it, moving back by Rourke. I didn’t care how bad he smelled. I leaned my back against his chest and sighed. “Nothing can cover your natural scent for me.” I inhaled and grinned like a besotted teenager. “Molasses and cloves. Just the way I like it.”
His body rumbled with pleasure as his arms enfolded me. He leaned down to my ear. “You’re a handful, you know that?” His fingertips electrified me, sending currents of energy racing through my body.
“Mm, I know,” I replied, laying my head against his shoulder, gazing up at him. “But that’s the way you prefer it. If this were easy, you’d be bored. I know you adventurous types like life filled with action and I’m happy to oblige.”
He chuckled. “I could take nice and boring with you right now.” He growled low and ran his lips across my neck. “Long, boring… and slow.”
Chills raced up my spine and my heart skipped a beat, right as Ray shouldered the door again. He pushed his weight against it and there was a snapping sound as the door finally moved in a few inches.
“What was that?” I asked, moving reluctantly out of my mate’s grasp to investigate.
He growled his displeasure, but let me go.
“I don’t know,” Tyler said. “It sounded like broken bones to me. I can’t really get a good look.”
Ray changed positions with Tyler and glanced into the opening. “I have no idea what the hell that is, but we need to start referring to this entire place as the Mad Fucking House of Horrors, because there are no explanations for what goes on here.” Ray grumbled, peering into the doorway again. “I think that’s… a remnant of a human being of some kind, but I can’t tell either.”
Ray stepped aback and I moved in. It actually resembled a mummy, of all things. “What”—I paused as Ray pushed the door open a little more, ignoring the crunching sounds, to expose what appeared to be a withered-looking human—“is that thing?”
Lili cleared her throat from behind us. “That is a golem. A human golem.”
We all stared at her.
“It’s like every time you speak, it’s in tongues,” Ray snipped. “What exactly is a human golem?”
“The Prince has taken a liking over the last century to necromancers. He’s lured quite a few to the Underworld with promises of riches and as many dead souls as they’d like. But he ensnares them and makes them do things… such as this.” She gestured at the mummified broken thing behind the door.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered. “That dead human was resurrected as some kind of guard? Looks like it did a band up job. It broke into pieces at the first attempt to get through the door.”
Rourke shook his head and moved into the doorway, examining the golem. “No, it didn’t break because of that. It broke because it was linked to the door spell. It was a two-for-one combo.” He glanced at Selene. “Did you know you were disarming this thing when you broke the passageway spell?”
“I didn’t know what it was specifically,” she countered with some hostility. “I felt something back there, so I did what any witch would do—I sent a spell backward to fry whatever it was.” She raised her eyebrows. “It didn’t really have any brains to fry, but it worked anyway.” She looked smug.
“It sure did,” I commented. “But that thing doesn’t look like it would’ve put up much of a fight anyway.”
“It’s only the watchdog,” Lili said. “It was supposed to alert its master if someone broke through the spell.”
“Well, Selene seems to have circumvented the alarm,” Ray snorted, “so what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
Rourke led the way through the narrow chambers. Tyler stayed behind and made sure the passageway door was firmly shut. We traveled through several short tunnels before we ended up in a small atrium. It held a huge bed in the center, draped in ornate cloth. The color scheme in here was decidedly feminine: the room was decorated in rich gold and yellow hues. The walls were covered with tapestries that appeared to be from our plane, and likely priceless at that.
