Page 243 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

Soon the streets were so full of smoke and ash it was impossible to see. Thanks to the new bond, I could feel mymen and where they were so there was no accidental maiming involved.

At some point, Drake and I reached each other, fighting side by side until Hiro joined us.

We fought in a triangle, protecting each others’ backs as we went. The demon attacks slowed until, finally, we stood alone.

The only demons still standing were Crew and his ghastly entourage.

For the first time, Crew looked shaken. His eyes were wide but his face was twisted in fury.

“You’ve lost, Crew. Are you really going to stand by them still?” I questioned. “Do you not see that you chose the wrong side? They’re not family, they don’t care about you. Not like we do.”

“Don’t even begin to think you know me, Harlow,” he growled out my name like a curse and I narrowed my eyes.

“I do know you. You were the guy who cared enough to make me feel welcome when I arrived. In fact, you were the first kindness I saw in more thantenyears of hell. You cared about Layne and wanted her safe. This isn’t keeping her safe. You’re hurting her all over again.”

“She found someone to replace me!” he bellowed, cutting me off before I could remind him of his humanity and what he’d left behind. His outburst meant I was getting through to him, that somewhere underneath the twisted human was the old Crew.

“If you think it was a replacement, then you’re a dumbass,” I said. It was blunt and pointed, but necessary. “Do you really think I replaced Drake with Hiro or Roman? Them with each other? Monty with any of them? Everyone else for Kol?”

“I’m not going to sit here and fight with you about a human girl that doesn’t matter,” he said in the coldest tone I’d heard from him yet.

The words did their job, igniting an even stronger response in me at the blatant dismissal of my best friend.

I launched at him but Drake and Hiro held me back. Crew laughed bitterly and dismissed us by turning his back on us and walking away.

Monty didn’t give us a choice to follow, slamming shadows around us, and soon we were on the roof again.

“Harlow,” Hiro said gently. It was then I realized tears were tracking down my cheeks as my anger boiled over into other emotions. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this, I was a queen now, a leader, and this was weakness.

Ignoring their protests I stalked away, slamming through the door and down the staircase.

We hadn’t explored and cleared the debris from much of Dark Haven, so it was a bit more challenging to wind myself downstairs to the portal.

The courtyard was blessedly empty.

My tears had dried along the way and my emotions were settling, but I still had no clue what to do here. We’d killed so many demons but it didn’t give me any answers.

Helheim seemed to feel my distress. The familiar brush of its power soothed over my jagged edges. It couldn’t speak with words but I felt its intentions as it offered me reassurance.

Then something more powerful filled the air. It was like an electrical storm, buzzing along my skin and making every hair stand on end.

Odin.

He materialized in front of me, and my stomach sank, but Helheim didn’t retreat. It was clinging to me like armor. If he couldn’t see that the realm chose me now, then he was blind.

“Interesting,” he mused as he looked between me and the portal. His power flared out. It was forceful and angry, a menace I’d never forget from our first encounter. The onslaught wasstrong at first, then ebbed as Helheim strengthened around me. “I’ve never seen a realm react to its leader like this.”

“I’m not treating Helheim like a prison,” I said, my voice muffled by the wind he’d caused.

Odin circled me like a shark, hyper-focused on something I couldn’t see. I wondered if he could see the power I felt.

“You know… I was being kind, giving you this chance to fix the portal,” he drawled. The boredom in his voice was infuriating and my final breaking point.

My filter was gone and I didn’t care I was smudged with soot and likely had tear tracks on my face. The audacity of this god was unreal.

“Are you kidding me right now?” I demanded. Now that I started, I couldn’t stop. “I never asked to be a part of this. It was never in my plans to die for a goddess that was selfish enough to cause all of this bullshit. I didn’t even know what Helheim was a few months ago, but I embraced it. I’ve tried to learn everything I can while picking up the pieces Hel shattered, including my own mates. Now, we fight our way here to Dark Haven, slaughter hundreds of demons to protect the humans and the portal while we figure this out. And you’re here to what... tell me I’m not fast enough?”

Finally, reality sank in and I snapped my mouth shut, though the damage was done. Even then, I wouldn’t take it back. It was the truth.

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