Feros and the Underworld Prince (6 page)

“
We go to Alam’s hideout and politely ask him what he knows and then we not-so-politely kill him?” Reyna suggests.

“
Sounds like a plan to me! To Irkalla!” Jason exclaims.

“
After you put on some clothes that aren’t cooking related.” I say.

“
What!? And deny the Babylonian honeys all of this!?” Jason says while turning around and motioning to his ass. Reyna giggles in response.

“
Yes.” I bluntly reply.

“
Fine, I’ll go take a shower. Care to join me, Reyna?” Jason seductively asks.

Reyna looks completely torn. Part of her looks like she really wants to go, but the other part is reminding her that she is supposed to like girls.

“
That would probably be a good idea to conserve time.” I tell her. Her face flickers for a moment before she nods seriously and follows Jason to the bathroom.

“
Do you want to use the other shower? They will probably be in there for a while.” Jericho suggests from his position with his head resting face down on the table.

“
Yeah, that would probably be best. Want me to get you some water or something before I jump in the shower?” I ask.

“
I’m good; I’ll grab a bottle when the lights stop making me nauseous.” Jericho replies.

I grab a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of water, and set them on the table next to Jericho before walking off to the master bathroom to take a quick shower.

The sounds of Reyna moaning seep through the bathroom door as I pass by on my way to the master bedroom. In the mirror of the master bathroom, I notice that the Haglaz is on my shoulder blade as well; it’s almost as if the Haglaz penetrates through my chest. I also notice that my face has changed in the past year; my jawline has grown more defined and my cheeks are sharper… it actually looks like I’m in my twenties instead of in high school. I take a shower, get dressed in my battle gear, and head back out into the kitchen. Jericho is sitting at the table, looking like Ray Charles with those sunglasses on.

“
Now all you need is a heroin addiction and a piano.” I say from across the table.

“
Racist.” Jericho mumbles and we both laugh.

About forty-five minutes later, Jason and Reyna walk out of the bathroom and into the other guest bedroom; ten minutes after that, they both step out of the room fully equipped and ready to go. Reyna is trying to be professional, but her face is still a little flushed. Jason isn’t even trying to hide the ‘Hell Yeah!’ grin on his face, nor the bite marks on his neck. I think I’m starting to see how they ended up having sex in the first place.

“
So, are we ready to go?” Reyna asks.

Chapter 8: Is a head really necessary?

After the black mist dissipates, I look up and see the black and green sky. It looks like different districts do have different colored skies after all, which is good because the cityscape looks identical to Adlivun.

“
Okay, now we need to go to the building on the corner of 4th street and Kur, according to my mother’s information.” Jason informs us.

“
Why didn’t we just port there?” Reyna asks.

“
Because porting can be sensed by gods and certain magical items if it is done within about a mile of the god and/or item.” Jason explains.

“
Yeah, having the element of surprise on our side would be nice. So why didn’t we do that last time?” I ask as we start walking.

“
I didn’t know about it until my mother told me while you were unconscious.” Jason replies. So Hel must suspect that a god is behind this… as we are walking, I realize something.

“
If we’re in the Babylonian district of the Underworld, why is everything in English?” I inquire.

“
It’s not. Upon entering the Underworld, everyone is given the Gift of Tongues so that they read and hear things in their native language, even if something is written in ancient Sanskrit.” Jason answers.

About two miles later, we arrive outside of an unmarked building. We start scoping the place out from an alleyway across the road, and oddly enough, there are no guards.

“
Is there a chance that your mother’s Intel was wrong?” I ask.

“
Doubtful… you two stay here while I go check it out. If things get rough, I can always port out more easily without you two.” Jason says seriously.

“
Be careful.” Reyna softly says.

Jason grins at her and runs toward the building. Something seems to be going on between them… an attachment that is more than just sex, that is.

“
Hey, wha—” I start to ask before Jason’s swirl of black mist interrupts me.

“
Okay, wow. First off, it’s clear; second, follow me… hey Cole? For that information probing thing that my mom was saying you could do, does that require the person to be alive… in the laxest of definitions?” Jason asks as we walk into the building.

This place looks like a furious version of me had already been here; blood is coating the walls, and most of the bodies aren’t even recognizable as bodies anymore. We walk to the back of the building where I see the most complete body we’ve come across, sitting on a golden throne.

“
Or have an unexploded head?” Jason finishes as I realize that the guy on the throne must be Alam.

“
Yeah, I’m pretty sure they need to have an intact head at the very least.” I answer.

“
What could create this kind of destruction…? Besides Cole, that is.” Reyna says.

“
Continue with Ahriman’s plan.”

“
The Persian spirit of destruction. I’m really thankful that the fine art of the monologue wasn’t lost on Alam or I wouldn’t have any clue about Ahriman. You guys, this blood isn’t very old so we should probably leave before the auth—” I reply.

“
FREEZE!” the authorities shout as a team of five guys storms in, armed with two FAMAS assault rifles, two Uzi submachine guns and a PKM light machine gun. I’m totally expecting to get shot again, but then Jason steps forward.

“
Hi there, I’m Jason, Prince of Niflheim; is Nahid still in command of this unit?” Jason asks politely as he moves closer.

“
Ugh! It just had to be him! Colonel: shoot him in the leg, but make it a grazing shot.” I hear through an earpiece from across the room as I twist my right ring and slash open my left palm in case things get complicated.

“
Umm, ma’am? I’m almost positive that this is actually the prince of Niflheim and I can’t shoot him; it would be like shooting Tony Stark!” The Colonel whispers into his headset.

So Jason is known as a billionaire/ playboy/ philanthropist in the Underworld? Or a brilliant actor with a prior cocaine problem? My guess is the first one, as unlikely as the philanthropist part seems, because his possible cocaine problem is anything but prior.

“
Colonel, what part of ‘shoot him’ don’t you understand?” the woman, whom I assume is Nahid, and probably Jason’s ex, says.

“
Core concept?” the Colonel responds.

At this point, the entire team has taken a more relaxed position with the exception of one soldier with an Uzi who looks like he might be the ‘trigger happy’ type.

“
AUGH! CORPORAL SHOOT THAT MAN!” Nahid shrieks in the earpiece of the ‘exception’ and he responds by snapping his Uzi up.

I’ve anticipated something like this, so I’m already flashing forward once I hear Nahid’s shrieking. I stick my left hand over the barrel, push some of my blood down the barrel, and solidify it into silicon carbide, before taking a step back.

“
If you’re smart, you won’t fire that.” I warn him as he sneers and then pulls the trigger with the gun aimed at my stomach.

“
I clearly warned him.” I say calmly with three guns trained on me while the corporal is on the ground, screaming and holding his hand.

“
Sorry Nahid. Knowing Jason, he probably did something stupid and totally deserves a grazing shot to the leg, but I’m the reason he’s dead in the first place so I feel a bit protective of him.” I say loudly enough for her to hear through the headset.

“
*Sigh*… Alright everybody, stand down. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.” Nahid says in everyone’s earpiece.

“
Thanks for the assist with Nahid; I’m Saquib.” the Colonel says while sticking his hand out.

“
No problem, I’m Cole. Won’t you be reprimanded for disobeying orders though?” I ask as a soldier injects something into Mr. trigger-happy.

“
No, Nahid and I are both Colonels, it was just decided that she would coordinate the team while I would lead it in the field.” Saquib explains. Is it just me, or did Saquib appear to be slightly cross as he said that?

“
So, what exactly happened here?” Saquib asks about five minutes later.

“
As far as I can tell based on the destructive pattern, Ahriman came through here and killed everyone, including the only lead we had on an investigation regarding the increase in vampire combat abilities. Since Ahriman had some reason to kill our lead, he has now become that lead.” I explain.

“
Well then, I’ve got good news: Ahriman is here in Irkalla. He came in this morning and is scheduled to return to Duzakh tomorrow.” Saquib says.

“
Thanks for the information.” I reply.

It looks like we will be planning for a raid tonight. An attractive Middle Eastern woman with short, spikey, black hair and brown eyes walks into the building wearing army green cargo pants and a black tank top; she’s the same body type as Sara, if you add two inches to Sara’s height.

“
Is this the one?” Nahid asks Saquib while gesturing to me; he nods in response.

“
Hmm, he’s cute…” Nahid says with a flat face and then a smile flashes across her face as she gets a devious glint in her eye. Thanks to Tia, I am rather familiar with this glint so I brace myself.

Nahid throws her punch toward my throat with a follow up to my solar plexus. She’s fast; without the glint that indicated her intentions, I never would have seen the first punch coming. She’s at least as quick as Tia and the ‘red’ vampires, but I’m still faster. My vision kicks in and I discover why she is so fast: Nahid is a demigod.

I block the punch to my throat, but I allow the shot to my solar plexus to connect so I can gauge her strength and enjoy the confusion on her face when she punches the ‘brick wall’ of my jacket. Both her strength and her resulting confusion are considerable. I unzip my jacket and shrug it off before slipping off my holster.

“
I don’t want to have too much of an advantage.” I boast and Nahid smirks in response before engaging me again.

Based on the frequency of her attacks to my body’s major vulnerabilities, her use of her elbows and knees, and her use of pre-emptive strikes, I’d say she is most likely trained in Krav Maga. I continue to block and dodge as she presses her attacks with her men cheering her on. I’m in a bit of a rough situation. I can end this fight relatively easily because I have her beat in speed with an equal amount of strength and skill. I want to show her and her men that I’m not someone to mess with, but I don’t want to ruin the confidence that the soldiers have for her by destroying her outright. However, I also can’t throw the fight because I get the feeling that it would be a grave offence if I allow her to win.

I start slowing down and allow her punches to hit my face, but she catches on immediately. I watch as Nahid becomes angrier the more her strikes connect. Yeah, throwing the fight definitely won’t fly so I start striking back while avoiding her face and looking for a way to end this fight without harming her too much. She clocks me good with a powerful fist to my temple that allows me to see stars.

Nahid is following up with two more punches that will likely put me down so I duck down and to the right to deliver an accurate strike to her left ulnar nerve, her funny bone; I repeat for her right. With both arms immobilized momentarily, I sweep around behind her as she tries to throw her left knee into my groin. I squat down slightly and put her in a headlock while sweeping out her right leg. I straighten up while bending backwards to relieve some of the strain from her neck. She kicks back with her legs to try and get me in the balls, but I’m out of her range and she can’t do anything else offensively without her arms. I wait until Nahid’s eyes flutter closed as her body goes slack, and then I immediately let up on the chokehold and gently lower her to the ground.