Goddess Of The Underworld (Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Noah

Elliot and Macey were out cold on the same blanket. She’d fallen sideways against him somewhere between cartoon chase scene and moral–of–the–story; he’d shifted just enough. to let her settle. Fergus the bear was mashed between them like a truce flag. Their hands had found each other in sleep and stayed. Envy stood with me in the doorway and watched them breathe. I could feel her decision before she said a word, steeling, then softening. Hawk pressed forward in my chest, head low, ears pricked. Protective. Content when they were both in sight.

“I want to take him home tonight,” she whispered. “To the Underworld. It’s safer, and I’ll actually sleep if he’s under our wards.”

“Then we do it,” I said, just as softly. I nodded toward the pair. “And we take her too.”

Envy’s mouth tipped. “You’re sure?”

“I’ve had big love for that pup since the day she told me my boots were ugly.” I watched Macey’s lashes flutter, watched Elliot’s chest rise and fall steady as tide. “She’ll panic if he’s gone when she wakes. They stay together.”

Boots scuffed behind us. Xavier came up first, quiet as a habit, with Haiden and Levi in his shadow, all three of them reading the room the way wolves do, temperature, tension, threat. There was none of the last. Only sleep and sugar and the faint metallic ghost of

earlier.

“We’re taking them to the Underworld,” Envy told them, still watching the blanket. “Just for the night.”

Xavier nodded once. “We’ll stay here, keep the rotations tight. If anything twitches, you’ll

know.”

Haiden hooked his thumbs in his pockets and leaned a shoulder against the doorframe. In the blue light he looked younger, and then I remembered he used to be the kid under the blanket. “I’ll keep the south patrol moving. No patterns. No easy guesses.”

Levi tapped the frame with two fingers; the ward–lines brightened, then settled. “I’ll mirror your loft wards from here and anchor the alarm lattice to me and Elliot both. Inner

3

1/4

1

|||

O

<

13:30 Wed, Sep 3

Chapter 115

net stays keyed to him. If anything touches the seams, it will chirp for me like a smoke alarm from hell.”

“Perfect,” I said. “I want the room to purr when he breathes.”

A caretaker glanced over, read our faces, and gave a little nod. She draped one more blanket over the two lumps that were our kids, then stepped back to give us space. We moved like thieves stealing only what belonged to us. Envy went first, a practiced scoop, one arm under Macey’s knees, the other cradling her back. The girl made a tiny sound, more sigh than protest, and burrowed under Envy’s chin, Fergus crushed heroically between them. I slid my hands under Elliot and lifted. He’s taller every week, heavier with sleep and trust, and I swear my bones remembered him at half this size and asked when that had happened.

We opened the portal together. The air curled back like a page being turned, color bleeding to shadow, heat to a cool, clean hush. The Underworld received us with that familiar low hum, kingdom heartbeat, steady and sane. For a moment, all I heard was breathing: theirs, mine, Envy’s, the stone. Elliot’s corridor recognized us. His door did too, Levi’s clean latticework humming under my palm, Elliot’s wild vine–work braided through it. The wards peeled back for us and settled again as we slipped inside. His room held night like a favorite song. The sky he’d made drifted, stitched with constellations and one lazy comet on loop. The music he’d set the walls to hum with, wind chime, music box, heartbeat, kept to a hush as we crossed the floor, then swelled the smallest bit in greeting. I laid Elliot on the bed; the mattress cupped him like a palm. Envy tucked Macey down beside him, laying Fergus on the pillow like a sentry. Without waking, Macey’s fingers searched; Elliot’s found them. Their hands stayed.

13:30 Wed, Sep 3 GR

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify