Wrong Side of Hell (League of Guardians 0.50)

“We don’t have time for this, Kira.”

The way he said her name made her feel hot inside and more than a little shaky. She couldn’t let him rattle her. Not now. She needed the truth.

“You told me I was dead. I don’t get that.” Kira whirled around and ate the squeal that sat at the back of her throat. He was much too close. Much too large . . . and much too male.

“In the human realm, your body lies in a morgue at the Regent Institute.”

“The human realm,” she repeated. Right. Because this was so not the human realm.

Light flashed inside her head as pain lanced across her skull. She groaned and doubled over, hating the pictures that ran through her mind. Mergerone. His hands. His face and smell. The new orderlies. Their glee at her pain and their relentless attack.

“No,” she whispered in horror as she backed away. Fists pounding against flesh rang in her ears and a sob escaped from between her lips. “I tried,” she whispered. “I knew they wouldn’t let me leave that room alive. They were too big and too strong and they . . .” Her eyes sought out Logan’s. “They weren’t human and there was . . .”

“Go on,” he prompted, his voice as gentle as it was going to get.

“There was someone in the shadows. I couldn’t see his face but I felt him. Felt his sadistic joy.” She let out a shuddering breath. “Why? Why would they want to kill me . . . ?” Her voice trailed into nothing as she stared at him.

Logan moved closer yet, and this time she welcomed the energy and strength that he gave off. Kira watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. She inhaled the earthy, exotic scent of him, and for one brief moment wanted nothing more than to move into his arms and forget everything.

“I can’t answer your questions.”

Of course.

Kira had never felt so alone. “Can’t or won’t?” she said bitterly.

“Both” was his curt reply. “I need to get you out of here alive and take you back.”

“Take me back? Where? To your so-called human realm? But if I’m dead, then what?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

His eyes narrowed. “You don’t need to understand.” He leaned forward. “You need to listen.”

The dog began to bark once more.

Kira exhaled stiffly and tore her eyes away from his. He made her nervous. The man was much too intense and held too many secrets.

Could this be one of her nightmares? It seemed plausible. She rubbed her temple and winced as the beginnings of a headache erupted. There was no alternative but to go with it and see where she ended up. Was she alive? Dead? Or somewhere in between?

“Okay.” She pulled away. “What’s the plan?”

“We find the portal.”

“Portal?” This was the stuff of science fiction novels.

“Do you remember where you were when you first arrived here?”

“No, not really.” Kira shook her head but then she paused. “I think I was here in the market.” Her brow furled. “No, no, that’s wrong . . . hold on.” The pressure inside her head was incredible, pressing behind her optic nerves with a ferocity that left her dizzy. Blotches of color, the sensation of soft cotton sheets and floating on air surrounded her. It was blurry at first, then like water receding in the tide, the mist cleared. “My first memory of this place was at my house. I was in my bedroom in Beverly Hills.”

“Do you remember where the house was in relation to this market?”

“No.” Panic set in and she began to pace.

“Do you remember any sounds or maybe a smell? The gray realm is constantly shifting but smells linger and we might get lucky.”

A thought crossed her mind. “How did you get here?”

“That path is closed.”

“Why?”