Page 137 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

A loud knocking tore us from the bubble we’d created, and I groaned internally.

“The advisers are looking for you, Harlow,” Drake called out. “Put your tits and Roman’s dick away and get ready. Time to show these demons who is the real boss around here. I don’t think they got the message last time.”

“Not me,” I muttered, making Roman chuckle. We both knew that was no longer the option. I was the chosen and had to show I would not be pushed around.

If they didn’t eat me alive before I got the chance.

Harlow

Thursday Evening

First Floor Conference Room

Tensions rose as I had a silent standoff with the adviser. The warden was apparently off securing the grounds, which I doubted even needed done with the gargoyles and Monty keeping watch.

It was an excuse to avoid me, or a reason for the adviser to have me alone. I didn’t know them well enough to tell the difference yet.

Someone had cleared out the conference room and replaced it with a formal dining room. It was over-the-top and a show of station and power, one I had no interest in.

From the silver dishes and the gaudy decorations, they’d spared no expense.

Expenses that we shouldn’t be wasting. Not when devastation was overtaking Dark Haven.

It was impossible to tell if it was to show they were above me, or trying to pretend I was an equal. But I had no interest in either.

“This is ridiculous,” I finally stated. “What is it you wanted to speak about? Just speak.”

Gravik took off his mask. It was likely another moment to unsettle me but I’d seen far scarier demons in both my head and reality. I raised an eyebrow, staring into his void-black eyes. He was worlds apart from Monty in looks, but he still had the jagged fangs and dark, blue-black skin.

His nose was long and hooked, narrow like a bird’s beak. His mouth wasn’t as wide and leering as Monty’s but his fangs stuck out farther, making me wonder how he even spoke. It looked like quite the mouthful.

No one came out to deliver food and I wondered if this was like a prop in a play. Who knew demons were so damn dramatic.

“Hel has high expectations of you,” Gravik said. “I’m simply trying to ensure that her confidence isn’t misplaced.”

“She still has yet to clue me in on what she expects, other than closing the portal. I am a human, one who thought that the demons were part of my hallucinations until a month ago. So, if she expects me to do anything, I’m going to need some more information,” I stated, giving nothing away as a mask of indifference portrayed on my face.

“You figure it out. That’s your destiny,” he said, as if that gave me a single fucking answer.

My laughter surprised us both, but I was done being nice.

“Then your demons will escape. One dagger and a vague call to action is hardly enough to change realms.”

“Failure is not an option,” he said. His calm exterior had finally given way, the dull fire now flaring to life as he stood, throwing his chair to the wall. Monty and Kol were next to me and stepped forward in warning. “Too much is at stake for you to fail, human. Stop being a fucking child and do your job!”

“Then tell me what my fucking job is, you useless bastard!” I screamed right back, standing so abruptly my chair fell to the floor, and I slammed my hands on the table as I leaned over it. “But if this is how you’re going to conduct things, count me out of these little meetings. I owe you nothing. Honestly, I owe Hel the same. You both crashed into my life, demanded impossible things of me, and are acting likeI’mbeing stubborn. All the while you’re setting up fake dinners and doing little shows of useless power. Fuck you for ever thinking I’d be some compliant little princess doing your bidding. That wasnevergoing to be me.”

Monty snorted out a laugh next to me; that had Gravik turning sharply.

“A commander who has failed his post continuously does not get to laugh at me!” His anger culminated into a fiery blast he launched at us. Kol swept me out of the way as Monty dodged the attack.

My demon grew until he barely fit in the room, expanding his form to match his rising anger. Gravik kept his actions neutral, almost bored, and that was enough for Monty to slam his shadows toward him. There was a rise of cursing but my monster simply laughed.

“You can lie to yourselves about what is truly going on here and where your loyalties should lie. But I am no failure. If you need me to show you your true place, I will gladly do so.”

A choking cough followed but Monty gave him no time to recover. His shadows filled the room, blocking out my view that wasn’t already obscured by his magic.

When they finally fell away, we were alone.

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