Page 223 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

“My Queen,” another unfamiliar voice rang out and I turned to watch a giant of a gargoyle drop to his knees. The castle floor rumbled in protest but Kol broke the silence that followed, striding forward and helping him back to his feet.

“Achar!”

“Brother.” The gargoyle I knew as Achar stood. “When I heard you were involved and we had a new queen, I had to come pay my respects.”

“The new queen is my mate,” Kol said, chest puffed out. My gargoyle alpha was adorable. “After Hel’s betrayal, it’s high time for a change here.”

Achar shifted from foot to foot as he looked at Kol, then over to us. “Most of us here have no knowledge of what happened in the castle. Outside of her trusted few, our former queen had secluded herself. The shift in demons was obvious but she kept the gargoyles in the dark.”

“Because you would have tried to stop her,” Kol said bluntly. There was no use hiding secrets anymore and they deserved to know the extent of her betrayal. “She opened the portal on Earth and made sure the gargoyles she had there had no chance of stemming the tide and keeping them in check. The demons rebelled against Ivar on Hel’s orders, though she kept that hidden as well. Overall, it’s chaos and she was at fault. Then she fled and left the realm to Harlow after forcing our collective death.”

“Then let me welcome you to Helheim and offer you my loyalty and that of the gargoyles. We’re here to serve,” Achar promised, a fist over his chest as he bowed his head slightly. “We only want justice. Hel has neglected these souls for far too long.”

“I appreciate that, Achar,” I said with a bow. His eyes widened at the gesture and again I was reminded I had no real knowledge of the status quo here.

“I’ll leave you to your group and will protect your castle as you adjust,” he said as he turned to leave.

“Keep an eye out, another demon that was loyal to Hel, Gravik, may try and barge in,” I rushed out.

As far as enemies went, he was now my biggest worry. It was an unknown I didn’t love.

“Hiro killed him, actually,” Roman informed me.

My eyebrows shot to my hairline as I turned to him. I’d thought it strange he looked like a human still, but apparently, there was more to him than met the eye. Now the explosion when we kissed made more sense. I thought it was my doing, maybe it wasn’t?

Hiro looked both proud and a bit unsettled by it. “Apparently, I can explode, like I did earlier, but with more damage.”

“Good to know.” I laughed. “Glad we’re a bunch of misfits still, even in this realm.”

We’d have to be careful when we did have sex, I had a feeling it would be even more explosive.

“Can you really be an outcast and be a queen?” Drake joked.

“Ask the demons who have lived in this realm,” I said. “I doubt they’re embracing my human side with open arms.”

“You’re not a human. Former human, now a goddess, and you were chosen by Hel herself,” Roman reminded me.

“They do have a point,” Monty said. “Leave my demons to me. Now that I’m back and healed, it’s time I dealt with them.”

“Where are the demons?” I questioned. We had been through a few locations in Helheim so far and not a single demon outside of the warden and those in prison had appeared.

Even in the castle it seemed only wraiths frequented the halls. The only exception were the two demon guards at the front doors.

“They have their own gathering place in Helheim,” Monty explained. “There are barracks and training grounds. I always wondered just what she was training us for. Didn’t expect it to be to fight our way through gargoyles at Dark Haven.”

The betrayal had clearly gotten to Monty, and I made a mental note to check in with him when I could. Maybe when I convinced him to take me along with him to the barracks.

“I’ll be back.” Monty’s declaration was followed by a quick kiss and a swirl of shadows, then he was gone.

“I’m going to go reacquaint myself with the castle and my old quarters,” Elkan said. “I’m around if either of you need me.”

Drake didn’t protest as his dad walked away and I wasn’t going to turn down some time with my guys. We had pressing matters, but we also could do nothing on empty. We had to be a united front, and even if Monty stepped away, he’d be back soon enough.

“This castle is awful,” Hiro noted as Drake led us down the hallway to the set of rooms we’d claimed. “Hel expected to thrive here like this?”

“I manifested clothes, maybe I can manifest some fucking light and color,” I deadpanned. “In reality, when we figure out this shit, we better figure out how to power game systems and laptops. I miss movies already. Eternity is a long time.”

“I’d kill for a new system,” Roman said with a fanged, lopsided grin that softened the hard alpha edges. “Thank fuck I don’t have claws like Kol. He gets his own controller.”

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