Chapter Seven

This whole infected bullshit needed to come with an instruction manual.

If I ever met this Vivi-whatever, I'd straight up tell the bitch. How the hell was I supposed to know how to ghost through the barrier, or anywhere for that matter?

After learning I could bypass the barrier as a shadow, I'd retreated back to my room and stood there for a whole two hours trying to figure out how to go shadow. I closed my eyes and concentrated, felt the energy build up inside me and flow into the palms of my hands, into my feet. I felt magic pulsing through my veins, ready to be used, but when I realized it wasn't doing anything, I let go and the magic faded.

I cursed, pacing the room while the kittens danced around my feet and Aria watched from the corner of the room.

At least that was one thing that hadn't happened.

Supposedly, anyone who'd been infected killed their pets and wiped out their past. So far, I still had my colorful history book and I had no urge to kill my cats. Thank fuck for that.

I slowed down to a stop in the middle of the room, folding my arms over my chest and glaring straight ahead.

Shadows became infected with the darkness. Basically, as you slipped deeper and deeper into that darkness, you became more of a shadow. A shadow of your former self, everyone said. Sounded like dramatized bullshit to me, but if going darker brought out more of the shadow in you...

I went to the bathroom and pulled open my drawer of razor. I popped one out, frowning as I glanced at the clock. I usually didn't cut any other time of the day. It was just part of my morning routine. Brushing my teeth, taking a shower, throwing my clothes on. It felt odd to do it in the middle of the day.

I looked down at the razor as it gleamed in the light, then rolled up my sleeve. I took a moment to study the scars that were building up. Hades could try and get rid of as many of them as he wanted to, but there were always going to be more to take up the space. And he'd only healed the ones on my wrists. He had no idea I hacked at my legs and stomach too.

I took a deep breath and made a cut on my wrist, watching the blood well up. I frowned, though. The blood was darker than usual. I cocked my head and made another slice further up. The same dark, dark blood came rolling out over my skin and falling into the sink. Wasn't that part of the whole infection? Black blood? And here I thought it was an abrupt thing. Apparently it was gradual.

I made a few more cuts, then threw the razor out and let the cuts bleed out into the sink. The dark red blood sailed into the sleek gray and black marbled counter, slid toward the drain and vanished from sight. I glanced at the clock, then looked back down at my wrists.

"Theo, what do you think you're doing!"

I slammed my eyes shut, sucking in a sharp breath as I remembered the first time I got caught by one of my brothers doing this shit. It was the usual for me. I didn't think anything of it, which is why I didn't close the bathroom door. I left it wide open, knowing Malachi was showing up with Abel to sort out some bullshit paperwork to create a road connecting our cities.

Malachi had walked in on me, rushed inside, snatched my wrist and bent it awkwardly aside as he took the razor from me and dropped it on the floor.

"Ow," I protested angrily as Malachi gripped the wrist decorated with cuts, and he'd immediately let go, only to grab further down so I couldn't get away, "Get off me!"

"What is this," Malachi demanded incredulously, gesturing to my arm, "How long have you been doing this? Are you mad?"

"I'm perfectly sane. This is none of your business! Release me or I'll break your face open on my countertop!" I snatched my arm from him and turned my back to him. In the doorway, I caught a glimpse of Abel watching. He looked so pale, mortified really. I wondered if perhaps he was remembering that birthday he came to check on me and the door was shut and I told him to go away. I wondered if he was thinking back to that time, realizing why I wanted him gone.

I'd managed to divert Malachi's attention with enough banter and bitching that he'd ended up leaving in a huff, promising me he'd be the one to cut me if I ever showed him my face again. Abel had gone after him, looking utterly disturbed and frustrated.

I opened my eyes now, looking down at my wrists, only to go still when I saw myself breaking up into pieces. Literally, every part of me was darkening until I was nothing, but a transparent darkness. Molecules separating and expanding, fading away. I felt weightless. Light. Airy. I blinked and looked up in the mirror, but I was blended in with the darkness of the bathroom. I was practically invisible.

A slow smile spread across my face.

Perfect.

I left the room, and almost smacked into the doorframe on the way out, only to realize I could morph right around it. I couldn't go through it, but I slid around it, like water just rushing around an obstacle in a creek. I slid through the hallway, keeping to the darkness of the walls. It felt so easy to move around. I had no weight, and not just physically, but mentally. I felt strangely free. I wanted to laugh, but I withheld it because I had no idea if people could still hear me.

Not that that was a problem, considering I'd fired all of my staff, except Rowan and Aasimah, so they were the only ones who could catch me. And apparently they were still with that Simon guy in the main entrance. So I went around the back of the mansion and slipped out through the servant's quarters by the kitchen. I came out into a small chain link fence area where the dumpsters were along with other trash cans and the trash shoot that hummed softly. The sky was getting dark.

Midday was transitioning into twilight, the stars making an appearance in a sky that was half nighttime and half setting sun dipping below the horizon of the city.

I slipped through the chain link fence and headed down toward the city, maneuvering the security dear old Dad had set up around the property. And fuck, those guys sucked. Not a single one of them turned to look at me as I slid past them I stuck to the shadows and was practically invisible as I crept just past the fencing around the royal property.

In a matter of minutes, I was home fucking free. I stood on the other side of my property, looking up at the mansion that glinted in the fading light like a black gem. I waited to see if anyone was going to bombard me, but nothing happened. I had to cover my mouth to resist the urge to laugh out loud.

From there, I shot across town and holy shit, that was fun as hell. Even though I was a shadow, even though I blended into my surroundings, I could still touch things. I tripped a business guy walking through the shopping district, and he whipped around to shout, only to realize he didn't see anyone there who could've done it. I stole some candy from a shop, didn't even set the alarms off. I put some unpaid for product in a chick's bag and she set the alarms off and security was on her like flies on shit. I busted some of the street lights, scaring people away as I blended into the shadows and headed toward the other side of the city.

This time, I let myself laugh as I maneuvered the many dark alleys.

That was fantastic! I could do whatever I want, whenever I wanted. And granted, that was already a given before, but I always had to worry about my brothers or Hades climbing all over my ass for doing shit like that. Now, I could do it and no one was the wiser! Man, no wonder people went darkside. Fuck the cookies over here, they had some great perks!

I ghosted my way to the brothel and stood in the alleyway beside the building. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breathes. I wasn't sure how I knew it would work, but it did. I opened my eyes and I was solid again. I looked up at the three-story brick building with a neon purple sign that read Tricks 'n' Traps, glowing images of a high heel and a bear trap on either side of the name. Not many windows, and what few windows there were, heavy black drapes hung in front of them. A neat little barrier went around the place to prevent people from breaking in and snatching up the prostitutes.

I pushed my way in through the heavy wooden front doors and entered the lobby. A basic black on black with brightly lit posters that featured the prostitutes, their specialities, and their pricing. The cheapest whore here was six thousand credits, and for some reason, that gave me a moment of satisfaction. Six thousand creds was not cheap, by any means. Which meant all these guys were living cushy lives somewhere in the city and did the job because they enjoyed it.

I went to the front desk where a young blonde female was working the computer and talking to someone via her headset. She was talking as she looked up to greet me, only to go tongue tied when she realized who I was. She choked, coughed hard, muttered a goodbye to someone named Janet, and hung up.

"M-My lord," she managed, then bowed quickly, "How may I help you?"

"I have an appointment with Teren," I stated. She nodded quickly and typed some things into the computer before she handed me a silver glittery card.

"Here you go, my lord. His room is 104 on the second floor. And might I remind you that discretion is our policy and no one will know you were here. We keep our client information as hardcopies. And we ask that you please do not harm our workers."

"Nope," I answered, "I know the rules. I'm the one who implemented them."

"Right, right, of course, my apologies, my lord. Please, enjoy your night." She bowed once more and I followed the sign from there, taking the stairs two steps at a time. I was still feeling a giddy rush from the whole shadow thing from the mansion into town. I felt pretty fucking great, actually. I rolled with it as I came to a stop in front of a door that read in fancy gold letters my whore's name.

I knocked, heard a deep male voice invite me in, and I pushed my way inside. Another giddy rush shot up my spine as I looked around the room.

Hot damn, this place was nice. The sleek wooden floors, the smooth black walls with heavy red drapes running along the places, an entire wall dedicated to sexual instruments from toys to gags to restraints. A massive bed, probably fit for a foursome if you really wanted to, with thick fluffy pillows, a heavy duvet, dark wood furniture.

I felt a weird moment of pride.

Once upon a time, prostitutes had to do their job in the shadows, in dingy alleyways or run-down buildings, moldy mattresses and dirty surroundings. Now that it was all legalized and protected, they could live in the glory they deserved to live in. After all, they worked hard and well.

I looked up at the sound of the bathroom door opening, and my eyes widened with interest.

Teren was definitely not small, not that I thought he would be given his profile on the website, but hot damn, the real thing was so much better. He was massive, from head to foot, his skin a rich dark shade of mocha, his dark eyes almond shaped, and his muscles rippling under the lights with a sheen of shower water. He was decked out in a pair of tight black leather pants that hugged his long muscular legs all the way up to his narrow waist and firm ass.

The moment he saw me, his eyes widened and he started to bow, but I held my hand up and he froze in place.

"Tonight, I am not Lord Theo. Tonight, I'm just Theo," I responded. Teren was hesitant for a moment, then slowly rose to his full height.

"Oh," I added, "And you have immunity tonight as well. So I want you to do everything and anything to me. If I think you're holding back, I'm going to have you fired." Teren pressed his lips together in a thin line, then inclined his head. I relaxed, glad we got that shit out of the way before I came over to stand in front of him, cocking my head to the side to study him.

"Fuck," I muttered, reaching up to touch his strong square jaw, "You're really hot." Teren studied me, like he was trying to figure me out, or maybe trying to figure out how to get out of this shit. I smirked at that, backing up until I could sit on the end of the bed.

"What? You chickening out?" I asked. Teren blinked, and then his expression changed. His jaw locked, his eyes hardened. He was done being a pussy, and I was ready to get down to business.

"Shut up," he commanded. I smiled slowly.

"You sure? I'm really good at annoying the shit out of people. You want me to talk more? I can talk more. I can tell you my entire life's story," I pointed out. Teren moved across the room with long fast strides, drew his hand around, and backhanded me hard across the fast. I moaned as my head snapped to the side, my jaw immediately exploding with pain. I tasted blood from a cut in my lip, licked it, and looked back at Teren hungrily.

"Do it again," I purred. Teren narrowed his eyes and reached out, snatching at a handful of my hair and yanking my head back.

"I'm calling the shots here," he spoke in a low menacing tone, "Your mouth should be busy somewhere else."

"Where?" I murmured. Teren kept his hand tangled in my hair, yanking out strands in the process of hoisting me up off the bed and shoving me down onto the floor on my knees. He unzipped his fly and dropped it, freeing a thick huge cock partially erect. I licked my lips and peered up his body at him, and he glared at me.

"Suck me off," he commanded, shoving my face at his cock. I parted my lips and took the tip of him in my mouth, watching him bite his bottom lip. I laughed softly, blowing at him gently.

"What? You getting off on watching your prince suck your cock?" I asked. Teren punched me in the face and my head snapped back on my shoulder so I fell back against the bed. I gasped, blinking rapidly as blood gushed from my nose and down my lips. Teren was frozen for a moment, like he thought he'd totally pushed me over the edge. Instead of getting pissy, I moaned and tilted my head back against the bed.

"Fuck the foreplay," I purred, opening my legs to him, "Get inside me already, fuck me raw until I bleed." Teren blinked a few times, clearly trying to get over the shock of what was going on before he lunged down, snatching me up by the arm and dragging me up onto the bed. He shoved me back and ripped open my shirt. He roughly yanked my jeans down my legs, tossing them aside with my boots. He flipped me over onto my stomach, bending me over the bed and his hand sank down into my hair, twisting in tight. He smacked me hard on the ass and I jumped with a gasp, pressing my face in against the sheets, clutching at them as he smacked me again, and again, until I swear I was going red. I could feel the stinging heat creeping up along my back and I moaned, savoring each sharp slap, the crack of skin again skin echoing in the room.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I felt him spread me apart and press his cock again me. I twisted my fists in the sheets, seething at first as I felt him push in, slow and steady, prolonging the pain that stretched and broke me open. I cried out at last as he slid completely inside me, filling me up until my toes curled and my arms trembled.

"Talk to me," I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut, breathing hard as I struggled to adjust to the size of him. Yeah, he definitely put Sept and Rowan to shame. He might as well have shoved his whole fucking arm in me.

"You're tight," Teren ground out through clenched teeth, gripping my hip with one hand while the other twisted up harder in my hair, "Fuck, you're not a virgin, are you?"

"Oh, hell no," I responded breathlessly, "Just been a while. Gods, just move already, rip me apart."

"Why?" Teren asked. I blinked, then peered up at him, my vision blurry now as the pain seeped into my muscles, making me tremble.

"It doesn't matter, just fuck me up already. I'm tired of feeling everything else," I answered in a wobbly voice. Teren frowned for a moment, then nodded. He jacked my hips up, drew back, and slammed in hard. I screamed, clutching at the sheets, arching my back as he yanked at my hair, drawing my head back off the bed so my body was awkwardly bowed as he began to piston his hips.

My breath came in harsh pants, my legs trembling, unable to stay on the floor. He practically fucked me right up onto the bed completely. He twisted me around, shoved me back down on the bed, grabbing me by the throat and plunging himself back in. I gasped, reaching up to grab at his wrist as he tightened his hand around my throat, pounding himself inside me. I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes, vision wavering as I wheezed, my lungs aching and chest hurting.

"More," I choked out. Teren eyed me and when he realized I wasn't going to change my mind, he went to work. He grabbed me by the balls and gripped and I shouted out in pain, slamming my eyes shut again. He slapped his hand against my ass, dragging his fingernails up my sides, leaving behind a hot set of trails in my skin. He leaned down and bit at my bottom lip, ramming himself into me the whole time. He sank his hands into my hair, yanking my head back and he dove for my throat, sinking his fangs down into my skin.

I cried out, coming in a hot blast of ecstasy that rode through my system, sent my muscles spasming. I trembled, grabbing at Teren and yanking him down on top of me, breathing hard as I pressed my face against the side of his head.

"Oh fuck, yes, yes," I panted, riding out the tail end of my orgasm, "Gods, you're so good. You're so damn good. Oh yes!" Teren wrapped his arms around me and finished with a growl in my ear. I held onto him, even when he was spent, both of us breathing hard. I kept my eyes closed for a while before I dropped my arms and Teren stood back, looking down at me with a frown.

"I have some medical supplies in my bathroom," he said, getting off the bed and stepping back, "I'll grab--"

"Don't you fucking dare," I snapped, my eyes flashing open and Teren went absolutely still, "Keep that to yourself. If I wanted to have someone babysit me, I'd just go back home." Teren said nothing as I sat up slowly. Pain ricocheted up my spine and I moaned, clutching at my back, then hissing when I brushed the claw marks there. Teren made a move for me, but I bared my fangs at him and he went still. I stood up slowly, wobbling for a moment before I cleared my throat.

"My clothes," I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat as Teren went around the room and scooped up my clothing. He handed it to me and I took it with a nod, sliding everything back on. Once everything was in place, I took a ticket out of the back pocket of my jeans and handed it to him.

"What's this?" He asked with a frown.

"Your five thousand cred tip," I said, and his mouth fell open in shock as he looked from the ticket, back to me, "Keep your schedule open. I might be back very soon." Teren worried at his bottom lip as I moved for the door, limping a little.

"Are you sure you don't want some ointment at least? I can--"

"I said I'm fine," I interrupted him, then paused to take a deep breath as I stood at the door, still feeling a little shaky and somehow, a little nauseous, "Thank you. Seriously. I've been dating the same fucker for almost twenty years and he never fucked me like you did just now." Teren looked concerned with that, but I didn't stick around to spill my sorrows or some bullshit like that. I gave him a two-fingered salute, then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind me.

Gods, every part of me was sore. My ass burned, my back stung, my face felt like it'd been hit by a goddamn train, not a fist. And yet, as all that pain settled in, my cock started to harden again. I shuddered at that, but didn't feel like sticking around. I went through the back way to avoid any awkward confrontation with the female at the front desk.

I walked out into the frigid cold alley and took a deep breath of air that burned my lungs, it was so damn cold. It felt good on my nose, though. I was, like, twenty percent sure it was broken, or at least fractured somewhere. I reached up to touch it, then hissed. I drew my jacket in tighter around me and started down the dark alley, wondering where to go next.

Definitely not home.

Maybe the bar?

Yeah, that sounded nice. I needed a drink.

A nice cold--

A pair of muscular arms wrapped around me like a pair of gigantic boa constrictors, heaving me up off the ground as if I weighed nothing more than a kitten. I shouted, but a hand clamped over my mouth. I went to swing my elbow back, but didn't connect with a set of nads, meaning whoever had me was either really tall or a female. But my bet, judging from the smell of spicy male cologne and masculine growling, was a really all dude. So I swung my feet back and twice kicked my target, resulting in the sound a kicked puppy might make.

I was immediately dropped to the ground where I rolled sharply and shot to my feet, spinning around in preparation to attack... Only to see Cerberus doubled over in pain, kneeling in a slushy snow puddle.

"Holy shit," I snapped angrily, putting my hands on my hips, "You don't jump a guy in the dark, asshole!" Cerberus's response was unintelligible, and given how hard I kicked him, it was gonna be a couple minutes before he could even lift his head up. I rolled my eyes, folding my arms over my chest as Cerberus took deep, shaky breaths to ease the nausea of having his balls kicked up into his esophagus. He looked like a total dork kneeling in the puddle, decked out like a Gothic badass in knee high buckled boots, leather pants, v-neck t-shirt, sweater, leather jacket, scarf decorated with skulls, and fingerless gloves. His long black hair fell in waves around his ducked face, nearly brushing the dirty puddle he was in.

Finally, he sucked in a particularly deep breath and rose slowly to his feet. His normally dark olive skinned face was now pasty, sick, and his red eyes promised death.

"Fuck," he said after a moment, sounding a little higher than usual, "Did you have to go for my balls?"

"What the hell are you doing here, lurking around in the dark?" I demanded. Cerberus gave me a droll stare, rubbing at his balls a little longer.

"The alarm was set off back at the mansion. We couldn't find you, so we're all over the city looking for you. I know you, though, you don't go anywhere unless you have a destination in mind. Hacked your computer with help from that Rowan guy and Aasimah and what'd ya know, Theo forgot to erase his browser history, so he had like two hours worth of brothels up in that shit and an appointment reminder for tonight at this location," Cerberus explained. I rolled my eyes and stepped back, reaching up to brush the hair out of my face.

"Gods, you're such a fucking--"

"Jesus Christ," Cerberus breathed, making me blink and look up at him with a scowl, "What the hell happened to your face?" I sighed, almost reaching up to rub my nose, then remembering it was probably broken. Cerberus looked at me, then the brothel, then back again another time before he started for the brothel, a look of murder written all over his face. I cursed and ran after him, getting in front of him. He started to go around me, but I blocked him and punched at his chest hard with both hands, which didn't really knock him over, but it sure as hell stopped him.

"Fuck off," I snapped, "I gave the guy immunity. I asked for this." Cerberus looked at me incredulously.

"Are you kidding me? Theo, there's a huge difference between fucking cutting yourself and paying someone to beat the living shit out of you."

"Not really. I instigated both of them and they both got me off, which was my goal in the end."

"Okay, ew, I don't need to know that."

"You asked."

"Goddamn it, Theo," Cerberus groaned, wiping his hands down his face before glaring at me with glowing red eyes, "Why can't you just deal with breakups like everyone? Some crying, a nasty Facebook post, some Hallmark channel movies, and some Häagen Dazs." I folded my arms over my chest, annoyed with his assumption.

"Okay, first of all, I already ate some Häagen Dazs. Didn't really do anything, but make me puke. And second of all, I'm not sleeping with a prostitute because of Sept... I'm sleeping with him because of Rowan," I deadpanned. Cerberus looked at me, clearly weirded out and confused.

"Rowan?" He asked.

"I told the guy to fuck me, and he stops in the middle of it, decides it's morally wrong or some shit like that, and I'm left there with a boner that won't quit. And I'm not really in the mood to go right-hand for the rest of my life. How am I supposed to move on if no one is letting me?" I demanded. Cerberus glared at me.

"Sleeping with every guy you come in contact with is not getting over it, Thee. It's digging yourself an even bigger grave," he said, and tsked, giving him the finger and moving past him to head to the bar district, and what'd ya know, Cerberus was right on my tail, "Listen, I know it's hard, I broke up with a chick way back before I met Blaine and, man, it was really rough."

What about my situation made people think I wanted to hear about their situations? Even worse, my own brothers experiences. Gross, I didn't need to hear about how Abel banged a dude and moved on, or how Cerberus fell in love with a prostitute, or what he thought was love, and realized he really just liked her cheap price and constant attention. None of those things were like what I was going through. None of it.

My brothers didn't ruin their relationships like I ruined mine.

None of them ruined a relationship because of who they were. Fuck, not even Hades knew what it was like, because everyone else he dated was a dickhead. Except maybe Persephone. Even that was pushing it.

"Whatever," I said, cutting Cerberus off and he sighed, "I'm going to get a drink. You can come with me or you can try and drag me back home, but we both know I'm not gonna make it easy on you. My ass may be torn apart, my back hurts, my head feels like someone tried to yank all of my hair out, but I will throw you down so fucking fast your head will spin. Got me?" Cerberus groaned out loud in frustration and moved around to get in front of me to block my path, making me narrow my eyes on him.

"Theo, you can't be wandering around in the city, especially at night. Dad already gave us the deets on what's going on. You're not on lockdown because we're trying to hurt you. You're on lockdown because someone is trying to hurt you. For all we know, it could be those shadow people. You have no idea how dangerous they are."

"Oh, please. We fought the Titans and the Atlanteans. And technically, Atlan was a primordial deity."

"Yeah, except Hannibal was the one who took Atlan down because he, A) had destiny on his side, and B) his beast. Not to mention most of the universe. This time it's different. You haven't seen these things and what they can do," Cerberus said angrily. I frowned, eyeing Cerberus. He was totally serious, freaked out to the max. It wasn't hard to freak Cerberus out, and he definitely wouldn't be gung-ho for locking me up if he didn't think it wasn't that dangerous. He was wigged out, and it made sense, I guess. He had run into the shadow things.

Dad went on a mission not too long ago into the shadow realm where Viv made her home, and Cerberus had come back and hadn't left his house in a couple weeks. It wasn't easy to spook him, but clearly the mission had done just that.

At the same time, he had no idea that I was a shadow. Soon, my blood would turn black and I'd want to leave my life behind me. That was how it worked, right? You forgot your past life, started a new... and suddenly, that didn't sound so bad to me.

"Maybe I don't care," I said at last, making Cerberus scowl, "Maybe I don't care if Viv sends her people to kill me, if that's even what this is about. For all I know, it's just another dude I pissed off on April Fool's Day come to exact his revenge and yada, yada, yada." Cerberus stared at me.

"Theo, you're annoying as fuck, but I don't want you to die," he said, looking stunned by my words, "Christ, what happened to you? Is this about more than just your break up with Sept?" I shook my head, moving around him and continuing down the alley.

"It doesn't matter. It's none of your goddamn business. I'm going to the bar to get wasted, then I'll come home and play your stupid little game, and just leave again tomorrow. Oh," I said, holding a finger up over my shoulder as I paused, "And if you even think about hurting that whore of mine, I'm going to go to your house and see just how fertile your hubs is." Cerberus growled menacingly, taking angry steps toward me. I turned partway around to smirk at him, my hands shoved in the pockets of my jacket.

Cerberus was no more than two feet in front of me, prepared to grab me up and throw me against the wall, I'm sure of it, but he stopped abruptly and I frowned. We fell silent, listening to our surroundings, and while everything seemed fine, something felt off. The sounds of music in the distance, the smell of food and booze, sweet rancid trash from the dumpsters and garbage disposals, the bitter cold winter air with a slight breeze that sailed through the alley, ruffled up a newspaper, rolled an empty coffee can.

But someone was there. I could feel it. The hairs on my neck prickled and Cerberus's growl became threatening as his red eyes glowed and he swung around. I came over to stand beside him as a shadow moved in the darkness, and a moment later, four people stepped from the darkness.

"Son of a bitch," Cerberus cursed. I smirked.

"About time you fuckers showed up," I greeted the shadows. Three males and a female, and none of them looked amused. They were fully prepared to fight, and I was just salivating to crack some skulls open. There was really no time to chat and catch up on what the hell they were doing here, because I heard the crunch of stones and turned to see that three more had appeared behind us.

"Fuck me," Cerberus bit out, reaching for his phone in his pocket.

"Scared?" I asked him as he texted without looking down.

"You're about to find out why," he seethed at me. I raised an eyebrow at that, then frowned as Cerberus put an emergency text out to Hades and the others. I sighed, then turned around to glare at the shadows as they advanced.

"Gods, you're pissing me off," I said, "I finally get out of the house and you assholes have to show up and ruin everything. Do you have any idea how much my dad is gonna freak now? Not only is he gonna lock me the fuck up, he'll probably just fucking eat me like his daddy did him so you guys can't get at him. Do you think that's a thing, Cerby? Since dad's dad had a gut realm, he might too?"

"I don't fucking know, Thee," Cerberus snapped, then looked around at the shadows, moving slowly so he could put his back to mine and we had a perfect view of all the shadows around us, "Let's talk about inherited genetic traits after we kill these things."

"Fine by me," I said, lifting my hands and pushing my fingertips together eagerly, "If I'm gonna be locked up for eternity, I might as well kick my ass before I'm out of commission. Come get some, you little bitches!" The first one attacked and Cerberus caught the guy, throwing him over his head and swinging him into a brick wall that sent the shadow down to the ground. Two more attacked Cerberus and two went after me.

I grinned, waiting until they were close enough before I spun around, landing a solid roundhouse kick to the face for shadow A and shadow B came lunging at me from behind, but I ducked and rolled, popping up onto my feet and spinning around to snatch a flying punch from the guy. I snatched him forward and smashed my elbow into his face, making him shout in agony. The lone female shadow came at me next and she flew like a goddamn ninja, his fists flying at my face. I ducked and dodged, spun and blocked, and she wasn't even slightly breathless.

"Hey, you would've made a great second-in-command," I said, making her narrow her eyes, "You in the business for a new job that doesn't require you to be a total cunt?" She swung her fist up and caught in the gut, making me gasp and double cover. She went to grab me, but I latched onto her arm, dragged her close, and popped back up to slam my head into her chin, knocking her head back. I swung her around and sent her flying into a brick wall just as another shadow came at me from the side.

"Yo, Thee! On your right!" Cerberus shout as he picked two shadows up and smashed their heads together. I swung around, prepared to attack, only for the attacking shadow to bring up an empty trash can, smacking me right upside the head with it. My ears rang and I hit the deck, breathing hard as I clutched at my nose, which was definitely broken now. I bared my fangs, snapping my head to glare at the shadow, who actually hesitated for a second, like he was freaked out.

I lunged at him, catching him around the waist and throwing him on the ground. I straddled the squirmy fucker and grabbed the front of his jacket, punching him repeatedly in the face. Even though the blood was black, like a fucking oil spill in the alley and on our clothes, somehow I was still seeing red.

I was pissed the hell off. My face already hurt to begin with, and I didn't like pain I had no control over. That shit was not cool, and worse still, one of the shadows had latched onto Cerberus's back. Out the corner of my eye, I watched the fucker whip a dagger out.

"Cerberus!" I shouted, launching myself to my feet.

Too late.

The dagger sank right into Cerberus's side, and Cerberus snarled, baring his elongated fangs before he sank down on one knee. Another shadow came at Cerberus's face, kicking him square in the jaw and knocking his head back so he went over like a goddamn redwood. I darted away from the shadow on the ground and went at the shadow with a dagger. The thing swung around to slice me, but I ducked and sent an uppercut to his jaw, then caught his wrist and snapped it, knocking the dagger away.

"Incoming!" Came a shout from overhead, and I stepped back to see Nikias come out of nowhere, landing on top of the shadow in front of me, smashing him right into the ground and landing a front kick to an oncoming attacker.

"Cerberus is down," I told him, and he winced as we looked at Cerberus, who was clutching his side and breathing hard, "Keep the fuckers off him--"

"They're not after me," Cerberus spat, "They're after Theo! Protect Theo--"

"You're the one who's stabbed in the fucking kidney, you hippie trash can son of a bitch--"

"Theo, behind you!"

I spun around and went to launch at kick at a shadow I could've sworn I already put down. He looked perfectly okay as if he'd never had his skull smashed in from a series of punches. Just a little bloodied with black blood, and that was about it. He caught my kick and yanked my leg out from under me, swinging me around and throwing me clear across the alley so I slammed into a couple of trash cans, the back of my head flying back against a brick wall.

My vision clipped out for a second, bathing everything in darkness as my head bobbled on my shoulders. I groaned, reaching up to touch my face, feeling blood pour anew from my busted nose and from my mouth. I swore I felt the trickle of blood coming from my ear too.

"Theo!" I couldn't tell if it was Cerberus or Nikias who shouted my name. I blinked rapidly, looking up as two shadows converged on me. They had no weapons, though, and there was no intent to kill me, just injure me. Knock me out...

They weren't here to kill me, I realized as I watched them stalk forward.

They were here to kidnap me.