Page 130 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

They were likely awaiting a fresh wave of demons, but I knew Hel wouldn’t send me down here for that.

The scent of fire and crisp cold permeated the air as it raged on. We all waited for it to escalate as the fires raged on, shooting out of the cracks in the earth.

Anxiety laid into me with its unrelenting grip, each moment we stood there—with our weapons in hand—had it settling in further until I was ready to scream.

With higher emotions and stress came the fucking shadows, joining the array of creatures already standing around in the courtyard. It was quickly becoming a blended blur of reality and hallucinations so I could barely make sense of it.

At least Roman and Monty were solid as they stood beside me. The scent of fire and storms surrounded me, a balm to my anxiety.

A blast of icy wind slammed out of the portal with enough force that it threw us away from it.

If not for Roman, I’d have hit the ground. As it was, I slammed on top of him stealing his breath.

“Shit, sorry,” I groaned, rolling off of him as I tried to inflate my own lungs.

“I’ve got you,” he promised in a strained voice as he struggled to his feet and helped me stand.

We froze as Monty dropped to his knees, along with every gargoyle in the place. My demon wouldn’t meet my eyes now but I felt his rage blooming through our bond.

What the hell just happened?

As the smoke cleared, two demons stood before us.

They weren’t like the other demons I’d seen before, but large and imposing like the commander.

One wore black leather armor that clung to his muscled frame. The charcoal skin peeked through and was lined in scars that burned with the embers of Helheim’s blue fires.

Like Monty’s face, his held a bone mask, this one resembling a large ram, thick horns curling on either side of his head.

The second demon was smaller and lithe, his robes billowing and white which stood out intensely against his coal-black skin. His fire wasn’t as strong as the larger demon, but it smoldered under the surface and in the eyes of his skeletal bear mask.

“Rise,” the smaller man called. His voice was high-pitched and grating, and I winced at the sound.

“This must be the girl we’re meeting,” the second answered in a deeper voice. His gaze was on me now, oppressive, as if it were urging me to my knees.

Fuck that.

“I’m Harlow,” I said with confidence despite my nerves. “And you would be?”

“Askaal, the warden of Helheim,” the bigger demon said, giving me a bow that had me even more confused.

“And I’m Gravik, Hel’s adviser,” the second answered with a bow as well.

And that brought an army of gargoyles and Monty to their knees?

“Why are you here?” I asked. She said they’d have answers, but I wanted to know what demons that garnered this sort of respect were doing this side of the portal.

“As blunt as Hel herself.” Gravik chuckled. “I’m here to make sure you do the task you are destined to do, and Askaal is here to protect us.”

“And what task is that?” I asked, not giving anything away. He eyed me, studying me closely with his head slightly tilted. It resembled a dog, and it might have been funny if this whole encounter didn’t have me so on edge.

“Shall we go somewhere we can talk?” he asked.

His formal way of speaking was throwing me off guard. I’d been around the brutish and possessive demons, and here he was acting like a strange form of a gentleman.

Roman stepped behind me, telling me silently he wasn’t leaving my side. I appreciated that he was willing to face this with me.

“Sure,” I hedged, turning to Monty. “Ivar?”

---