Page 38 of Outcast

At some point, Drake and I reached each other, fighting side by side until Hiro joined us. It was only then I realized despite their numbers, the three of us, along with Monty, on the sidelines had cut through every one of them.

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? That you’re becoming everything you hated about Dark Haven? 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 than ten years of hell. You cared about Layne and wanted her safe. This isn’t keeping her safe.”

“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 only 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 still blessedly empty.

My tears had dried along the way and my emotions were settling, but I still had no clue what to do here.

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.

I felt Odin before I saw him. He materialized in front of me, and my chest tightened, but Helheim didn’t retreat. The god had promised me a chance to fix this, and my heart sank at the sight of him, afraid this was the end of the line. I was flying blind and he knew it.

“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 was strong 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 choked out. 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 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. “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 men. 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?”

The bearded god glared at me as if he couldn’t understand my audacity either. I doubted very much anyone talked to him like this, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut no matter how hard I tried. He needed a reality check in the worst way.

“I’d watch your tone with me, girl. I’ve killed gods for less.” He rose in height as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring me down in an obvious intimidation tactic I met in kind. He wasn’t the only one with powers now.

“I’m sure you have,” I agreed. “I also know that you don’t have the time to deal with this. I’m killing myself to figure this out with zero knowledge of your world. I wasn’t a god, I was a human. You were all fictional characters to me before all this. Now here I am cleaning up the mess of gods.”

His lips twitched in amusement. I was fucking lucky he found me amusing and didn’t smite me where I stood.

“As far as I know, you’ve already been told how to close it. Was there not a prophecy?” Of course he already knew about that as well.

“Oh, you mean a riddle that told me nothing useful?” We lost our angry stances and relaxed. I didn’t let my guard down, though, I was dancing over the line and his patience was likely to end swiftly.

“Prophecies are not meant to tell you step by step how to do something. You’re meant to be smart enough to figure it out.” He walked closer to the portal and peered inside, shuddering slightly before stepping back. “It seems Helheim approves of you.”

There was a pulse of magic, as if the realm was backing up the god’s words.

Odin studied me for another long moment, and I stared right back, head held high, refusing to show him anything but confidence. I very much doubted that simpering and bowing at his feet would solve anything.

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