Onyx Eclipse (The Raven Queen's Harem Book 5)(2)

I drop the curtain and step in the darkness of Dylan’s sleeping chamber. I pull my shirt over my head and slip my pants over my hips. His arm is around me before I’ve hit the soft mattress. I steal his breath. He gives me his body.

Together, we survive.

*

The stairway that leads to the dungeons beneath the garage is dark, musty, and cold. Hildi stands at the entrance. Our only prisoner occupies the center cell. There’s nothing in Anita’s tiny alcove but a basic cot, a tray from her dinner, and a functional sink and toilet.

“How is she?” I wrinkle my nose at her scent. Anita needs a shower, but that’s a privilege she hasn’t earned.

“The same. Silent one minute, crying the next,” the Valkyrie says. “In the end, she gives me nothing.”

At the moment, the woman sits with her back against the stone wall and stares into space, her face emotionless.

“I can’t thank you enough for this,” I say. Somehow Hildi got caught up in our battle against the Morrigan. She helped capture Anita the day Bunny betrayed us and my Guardians went missing. Since then, she’s taken over the role of watching Anita down in the dungeons.

“My Goddess does not approve of the Morrigan’s ways. She’s pushing her will and destruction on all of us. I’m at your service until this is resolved.”

I smile. “Thank you. We’re running short on people we can trust.”

“Your home is comfortable. Your servants, Davis and Sue, have been very accommodating. It’s not an inconvenience.”

I take a side glance at Anita, uncomfortable speaking freely near her. She seems completely oblivious. “Are you sure you don’t have family you need to attend to?”

“My partner is aware of my obligations.”

“Make sure he’s aware of the dangers out there—with the virus. No one is safe.”

A smile ghosts over Hildi’s lips. “She is aware. I’ve told her to take precautions.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have presumed.”

“It’s okay. We did originally meet over my jealousy of your relationship with the Raven Guard.” She smiles wider. “I’m not picky with the gender of my lovers, just that they are worthy of sharing my bed.”

You learn something new every day, I think to myself, leaving Hildi and walking down the narrow hallway. I keep clear of Anita’s reach. I’m not sure what her actual powers entail, but I do know she has been in and out of the portals, traveling between realms. I need to know how to open a gate that will take me to the Morrigan’s castle in the Otherside. As much as I’d like to see Anita dead, keeping her alive seems like our best chance.

“Good morning.” I approach her cell. Anita is a beautiful woman, one used to extreme wealth and luxury. Or rather, she was. I can see a glimmer of her beauty beneath the stringy, dirty hair and her blank, soulless eyes. Her nails are chipped. Her skin is ashy and dry. Her treatment may be uncivilized, but what is owed to a woman whose intent is to help destroy the world?

She doesn’t reply, so I bang on the bars of her cell. “Hey, girl, wake up.”

I’d been born as a human vessel for the Morrigan’s earthly rise. Anita and her brother had the misfortune to be born as sacrifices to the Morrigan’s dark plans. Xavier was already dead—the first victim of the new plague. Anita became a carrier, spreading the virus throughout the city. Dylan is sure there is only one way to stop the virus from becoming the apocalypse: opening the gate and killing the Morrigan. But there have been other plagues brought on by the Morrigan in the past, other cures. I’m not willing to give up on any option.

The main problem is we do not have the abilities or skills to get the gate open, much less find one. The Raven Guard spent their lives keeping the gate shut, and although Dylan had crossed back and forth, it was in his shifter form, an ability he lost when we mated.

My patience has run thin and I drop down to a squatting position to make eye contact. Her gaze never changes but I start talking anyway, like I have every other day for the past two weeks. “Tell me why Bunny betrayed me.”

Blank stare.

“Tell me what she did with my Guardians.”

Nothing.

“Tell me your role in all of this.”

Zero.

Rage consumes me. I know it’s irrational. She’s never going to tell me what I want, but I have no one else to ask. Nowhere to turn. I pull the key to the lock out of my pocket and shove it in the keyhole.

“Morgan,” Hildi warns.

I fling open the door and step inside, yanking Anita’s frail, limp body off the floor. I may not be at my strongest but I’m far more powerful than she is at the moment. When she’s on her feet I raise my hand and slap her across the face. Nothing changes. Not even in the depths of her eyes.

“I know you’re in there, fool, and you will help me. You’ll stop this insanity and you will help me bring my guardians home, dead or alive.”

The last sentence sparks something and her eyes narrow. There’s a red mark on her cheek and her mouth splits into a deranged grin.

“What?” I ask, desperate for anything.

“You think she killed them?”

Grief wracks through me but I pull on it and use it to feed my rage. “I’m not afraid of the truth.”