Page 132 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

“I’m just asking a simple question. It was not a threat. I’m grasping at straws since everyone seems to think I’m just supposed to know about portals and their mechanics, when all I’ve known is the human world,” I countered as I tucked the dagger away.

Roman was in my periphery, his body so tense I could almost mistake him for one of Kol’s gargoyles. He hadn’t said a word, but I could tell he was watching, learning these new demons, and listening for unspoken signs.

I was glad he was here and not Hiro. Roman would stand aside and not dive into the fray.

Hiro... I wouldn’t put it past him lately. Especially not after diving onto a demon the day before. He’d started to get reckless like he was proving he was alive with each new, crazy action.

“No. Sacrificing us would be unwise,” the warden answered. “This meeting is over for now as long as you are going to make a mockery of it.”

I laughed out loud at that. “Apologies, I didn’t know you’d be so fragile. I assure you that I am taking this seriously. Far more than you. My friends are dying in this place at the hands ofyourrebellious demons. Someone is sacrificing patients that look like me as an intimidation tactic. My patience with this smoke and mirrors is wearing very, very thin. So yes, let’s end this. You acquaint yourselves with these halls, and just know that you willnotharm a single human during your stay.”

I half expected them to argue, but I stood and walked past them before they got a chance, dismissing them with not just words, but actions. My head was high and my body rigid with confidence.

This was now at a critical point where I had to hold the power. They needed me for this to play out the way Hel wanted, and I doubted they’d do anything to jeopardize that.

They were likely forbidden against it by Hel herself. That alone was my saving grace.

Otherwise she might have ended me before now for not working fast enough. Yet she offered no way to move forward.

“That was so stupid,” Monty hissed at me the moment the door closed behind us. Twisted delight colored his words, giving away his true feelings. “But so fucking perfect.”

“You should be careful,” Kol countered. “Those two demons are not who you think they are.”

“No one is.”

“I’m unsure what Hel is intending here, but I do not like this,” Kol said in a low voice.

I half expected Monty to make fun of him, to snap at him, something. Instead he nodded in agreement.

Though, he was reluctant about it.

A tension still hung in the air between them, but the more Kol integrated himself into our fold, treated me with respect, and kept us safe, the easier it would be between them.

“Be vigilant. I have a feeling Harlow’s life depends on it.”

Drake

Saturday Evening

Third Floor

After hearingabout the meeting I’d missed and the supposed answers Harlow never got, I was angrier than usual. It had been a shitshow, and I felt like everything was building like a powder keg, ready to explode at the first hint of a spark.

“Harlow?” I called out as I opened the bathroom door.

“Knock much?” Layne asked, crossing her arms and cocking a hip to the side. At least she was clothed this time, though I doubted any of us would have cared.

“What are you doing in here?” Harlow asked in amusement. She’d been moody after the meeting, too, so laughter was good to hear from her.

“I’m going up to six.” I let the words hang in the air as she pieced them together, then lit up like I offered her the world. Fuck, that did things to me. After years of building walls and keeping the world out, having someone else care about Mom was strange, but nice.

“I’ll meet you by the elevators,” she agreed, waving me out as she threw on her clothes. By the time I walked to the elevator and leaned against the wall, she was darting across the hall to her bedroom. No less than five minutes later she was walking out, clothed and with a smile on her face.

She was different than anyone I’d ever met. She made me want to earn smiles and push her limits, fight with her, fuck her, and give her everything.

“Stop looking at me weird,Alpha” she protested, slapping me in the arm as she passed. She emphasized the word in a sensual, tasing way. I let out a growl that had her laughing as she hit the button, not afraid of me at all.

That right there made her stand out. Everyone feared me. It was likely instinct, I was half demon, but she met me fire for fire.

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