Wrong Side of Hell (League of Guardians 0.50)

“Yes.”

Kira moved beside him—she barely reached his shoulders, though the determined chin and squared shoulders made her seem taller somehow.

He knew it was a front . . . her fear hung in the air like a wet towel, its scent cloying and thick. For the hundredth time he cursed Askelon—or Bill, as the little fucker wanted to be called. This mission was a hopeless mess and at the moment he had no idea how he was going to get both himself and Kira to safety.

Time was ticking and he knew his window of opportunity was fast leaving.

Logan whirled around. “Where’s the exit?”

Kira ran to the door and swung the deadbolt into place. He arched a brow. If the girl thought that would stop the mass of trojans she was sadly mistaken.

“I don’t . . . I don’t think there’s another door.”

His gaze moved over the entire room and he realized she was right. There was no door, no changing rooms. Nothing.

A loud moaning rent the air and his beast shifted once again, the pull painful as fire ripped across his shoulder. The trojans were restless, waiting for the command from their master. As of yet, Logan couldn’t see the fucker, but he sure as hell smelled him.

It was the traitor. The one who’d ended Kira’s life in the human realm, and Logan still had no idea who it was. If not for the human, he’d sure as hell find out. But he couldn’t chance anything. Her life was on the line and she was much too fragile.

“There has to be another way out of here. You need to think and do it fast.” He motioned around the store. “All of this means something to you. That is what the gray realm does. It brings to life bits and pieces of your soul . . . of your memories.”

She shook her head, not understanding.

“You’ve been here before.” He stepped toward her. “Think!”

The keening noises from outside grew louder. “They’re not gonna take a smoke break while you dive through the mess that is your mind.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Old news.”

She tugged a long piece of hair from her eyes and whirled around. She was completely still for a moment and Logan’s anger reached near boiling. He’d do whatever it took to get her out of the gray realm, and then he was going to find Bill and kick his sorry little ass all over the fucking place.

“There!” She ran behind the counter that held the cash register and disappeared from his sight. “You were right. I was here when I was, like, eight or something, with my mother. It’s a shop in Paris.”

Logan reached her just as she drew back the carpeting behind the counter and grinned up at him to reveal a trap door. “When I was here with mother there was an attempted robbery, I think, or something.” Her brows furled and fear replaced the excitement. “Someone was after me . . . a man.” She glanced up at him. “His face wasn’t real. It kept changing.”

Sounded otherworld to him.

She shook her head. “I don’t understand, but I remember the clerk sending us down here.”

Logan grabbed the edge of the trap door and ripped it back. Dank, stale air rose up and he didn’t bother to look down. What was the point? He nodded into the darkness.

“You ready for this?”

“Hell, no.” She tossed a quick smile his way and he watched, surprised, as Kira jumped down. Logan followed suit and tugged the heavy door behind him.

He landed in ice-cold water and it took a bit for his eyes to adjust. His nostrils were full of Kira, of old, dead air, and wet cement. A heavy rumbling was heard and the foundation began to vibrate. It was subtle at first but within seconds they were both struggling to keep their balance.

Logan’s eyes, now well adjusted, bored into Kira’s. “We’ve no time.” He pointed to his right. “That way. I’ll follow.”

Her eyes were wide and though he smelled fear, he saw determination. She nodded—a quick, curt move—and took off at a good run.

They were in an underground sewer system and their breath misted into clouds that disappeared almost immediately. The walls were rounded—dark gray wet cement—and the pipes that ran overhead glowed an eerie green color. None of this made sense, but Logan had learned long ago that not much in either the lower or upper realms ever did.

The gray realm was a total mind fuck. All of this was part of Kira’s past, and even though he knew she wasn’t technically crazy, she wasn’t untouched either. She was part of the otherworld, whether she liked it or not.

An unearthly screech sounded somewhere behind them and Kira stumbled, this time the fear evident as she glanced behind them.