Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• forty-five •

//song: Venus in Furs - Velvet Underground

Mehnit.

In danger.

I couldn't leave the Underworld without her.

I wouldn't.

"I'm not leaving her," I whispered. I squeezed Asmo's hand as I held it to make my point. "We rescue her. Tonight."

I watched him for a moment. I could see the gears turning in his mind. He was going over the options we had.

He nodded once and gently guided me into the other room again.

He went first, his coat billowing as he stepped inside the dim room again. His voice was deep and dark when he spoke. "Get out."

As I entered, I noticed two men conversing in the corner. I suspected they were weighing their options to Mal's proposition like the others were.

When they didn't move as as he would have liked, Asmo's hands balled into fists at his sides. As soon as he did, a pulse of power moved through the room. The men fell forward and were pushed out of the room. One the toes of their boots cleared the threshold the doors slammed shut behind them.

Asmo turned to me. "We don't have time. Any of them will be taking her up on her offer any moment now." He took his mask off as he looked down at me. Distant cousins or not, Asmo was almost as tall as Damien was. And Damien was well over six and a half feet tall. "Can you tell if Mehnit is here or not?" When he saw my confusion, he elaborated. "She might have brought her to show her off rather than taking any of her new followers back to the Keep."

I nodded and closed my eyes. I concentrated, leaning against the wall behind me.

I pictured her in my mind. I imagined running my fingers through her soft coat while I studied in the old days. I held on to the memory of her purring and pressing her nose against my fingers. Slowly, I felt her energy but she wasn't close by.

I tried to see where she was and could suddenly see the walls of the Keep around me. I could feel the immense protective power of the Keep's ebony walls. There was something else and it made my blood run cold.

"She's at the Keep." I shut my eyes forcefully, fighting back the sadness I suddenly felt. "She's so scared." I shut my eyes tightly, fighting the tears that flooded me unsuccessfully. I wiped the back of my hand against my eyes. I realized I failed miserably when I opened my tear-filled eyes again and looked up at him. "We can't leave her there, Asmo."

I saw his eyes linger on the tears that fell on my cheeks. "You're certain she's at the Keep?"

I nodded fiercely. "Yes." I wiped my cheeks again. "It's somewhere with a lot of security--I felt like I was being bound up. But definitely the Keep."

His hand pulled me by my middle and against him. Suddenly, I was in in his arms, my face tucked against his shoulder. My feet swayed and when I looked around the room, it transformed from the dark lounge room we were in and into a bedroom I didn't recognize.

He let me go and walked to a door directly behind him.

The room looked ancient. Almost everything in it was untouched. It didn't look lived in except for just the bed that had a blanket hanging off its side. The large four-post bed was exquisite with carvings in the dark wood.

The room was dark at first but the longer we stood in it, the brighter the lights grew.

He stood close to the door with his hand flat against it.

I watched him in silence as he tilted his head. "There's no one in the hallway," he whispered. He looked at me. "You should take off your shoes. We need to make the least amount of noise as possible."