Page 195 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

“The favor that you still have yet to show me you did? I have not seen my men,” she growled.

Harlow was swiftly reaching her breaking point. I couldn’t resist anymore, reaching forward and slipping my hand in hers, putting us shoulder to shoulder. I missed feeling her through the bond.

Loki waved his hand in dismissal. “My price is that you make a place for Hel here. I’m going to find her before the gods do. You’ll ensure she doesn’t die.”

“Can I even do that?” Harlow asked in disbelief. “I don’t even know how to get around this castle, let alone ensure life or death, Loki.”

“You have time to figure it out,” he said.

The ‘or else’ was left unsaid. Loki didn’t cast a glance back before he walked away, disappearing mid-step.

“He didn’t even fucking tell me where Roman and Hiro are!” she screeched.

“It’s Loki. He said he saved them, that’s all his obligation extends. It’s up to us to find them, Harlow,” I said, offering a small smile. “Wewillfind them.”

“Fucking gods and their bullshit,” she seethed. The skeleton dog rushed to her side, and she bent down, loving on him as she let her anger deflate. “We may as well start our search in this castle.”

“There’s a hallway here,” I said as I led the way past her throne to the illusion wall built behind it.

The jutting crystalline walls made it impossible to tell where the hallways branched out. It isolated the throne room and likely kept Hel’s guests confused.

“This place is wild,” she muttered beside me. This time she took my hand as we started down the hallway.

Everything in the castle appeared to be carved from the icy crystals growing in the realm. Even though it looked like ice, it wasn’t cold in here. Honestly, it felt as if it were a warm spring day on Earth.

This was a realm that defied logic and we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

“I can’t stop feeling guilty. She chose me and I dragged you all into this mess. They’re dead because ofme. You’re no longer human, because ofme,” she whispered.

I stopped walking and pulled her into my arms. She gave herself a moment to break down and cry. I had witnessed only a portion of what she did that night in the courtyard.

Fuck, my poor omega.

She already had trauma, and now it was tenfold.

“It doesn’t help that we were all bonded. I didn’t realize how much a part of me you all were until everyone was ruthlessly ripped away. My soul feels... incomplete, and I don’t know if they’re even alive in any form.”

Another sob escaped and her entire body shook in my arms. I needed to bond her sooner rather than later. She needed the connection as much as I did. My alpha was restless and needy, begging with every cell in my body to be as close as possible. To make her ours.

This time it wouldn’t be ripped away by betrayal.

“They’re here somewhere, Harlow. Loki told us as much,” I reassured her. “They’ll likely be just as changed as we are,but they’re alive. Kol will regenerate. Monty has to be here somewhere.”

“I was outside the castle, Drake. This realm is huge,” she said, throwing her hands up. Harlow pulled away and glared at me with watery eyes, wrapping her arms around herself as if she could hold her broken pieces together. “There’s no way we can just walk around and randomly find them. It’s a fucking wasteland. Would Hel even bother to throw Monty in prison, or would she simply kill him?”

“Look,” I growled, backing her into the wall. If I let her give into these thoughts she might not recover. We may have escaped our humanity but we are the same people inside, our thoughts could be just as damaging. “I’m trying to be fucking supportive here, but now is the time to grow the fuck up, Harlow. We’ve suffered, but no one here is going to hand us the answers. Wewillfind them. He’s still alive. You’ll figure out your powers, and we will do what we have to here, but you have to stop this fucking pity party before you get us all killed. And, guess what? Death here? It’sforever, Harlow. If you piss off the gods we won’t save anyone.”

Her eyes flashed again but she didn’t argue, simply pushed me away and stalked down the hall, opening doors and checking inside before moving on to the next.

We spent the next two hours scouring the castle. Most of it was empty, barren rooms.

Among the empty rooms were a few lounges, a large pack suite we could claim as our own, a library, and the servant halls.

The more she acquainted herself with her new home, the more she relaxed. It was obvious our lives were forever changed but I meant every word I said. No one would hand her things here.

Not Loki. Not the demons and gargoyles who dwelled in these lands. And certainly not Odin.

This was her chance to prove to the universe that she was strong, capable, and it would be stupid of them to underestimate her.

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