Page 19 of Jackal's Pride

“That would explain why she isn’t here.” August entered the room, letting his presence be known in his typical manner—loud and obnoxious. “Maureen never misses an opportunity to beat us at something, even if it’s showing up at the castle first.” He was right. She was normally here first when we were all called, but since Barron summoned us, maybe he left her out on purpose. August strode over to his brothers. “So where is she, Barron? Considering she’s not here, she better be all right.”

Barron’s skin rippled. “Maureen’s fine. She collared Jackal.”

August’s mouth quirked to the side. “Collared?” I shared his amusement, only I was better at concealing mine.

“It has some sort of magic in it granting her control of him.” Barron smirked. “I saw it for myself.”

Sebastian said, “We need to speak with Jackal—”

Barron interjected, “He can’t do what you ask of him.” Sebastian’s shoulders slumped, and Barron continued, “He can create plagues, but he’s never reversed one.”

“Then he only needs to try,” Sebastian said still hopeful. “Certain parts of the human world are already seeing famine and disease. It’s only going to get worse.” The human world always experienced some sort of turmoil since its beginning, but Sebastian was right. What was happening now was caused by the vortex Harvest created. If it hadn’t been for Sebastian and Isabella, Harvest would have succeeded in ending everything then.

Our win hadn’t really been a victory. Instead, it left us with a sobering fact—the end was coming sooner than prophesied. All we did was to extend its date by eight months. It was all the time we had to change fate, but that wasn’t something easily changed—if ever.

That’s why it was called fate. It wasn’t supposed to be in anybody’s hands, but we were all reaching desperately for it. I wouldn’t die when the end came like the Reaper family would, but even so they were my family. My parents were their best friends. I lived and breathed most of my days with these immortals. I wasn’t willing to give up, so I clung to hope for them and the fate of the humans we spent our lives protecting.

Funny how that all worked.

“I haven’t met Jackal.” Grim entered the room with Melanie, his wife, by his side.

The powerful entity loved his family above all others. He didn’t care if anyone in the Underworld saw the sentiment as weak. For an entity that lived hundreds of years, I could understand why he adored his family. It took him a long time to find it. Love was a lock and only the right key would open it. Sure you could try to unlock your heart with any key. But in the end, only the one destined for you would fit. If you failed to find it, you’d end up lonely and feeling flat—if anything at all. You might begin to wonder if out of all the millions of souls in existence, was there one meant for yours.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Joy faded into the room, her dirty blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she bent down to adjust her boots. “I got caught up in the human world.”

Even worse was when love breathed down your neck, and there was no choice but to push it away. Not because you feared it. Not because you hated it. But for another reason that had nothing to do with love and everything to do with pain.

Grim announced, “You’ll meet with Jackal, Sebastian. Determine what kind of man he is and convince him to heal what he can with the human world… If he can.”

I moved to the edge of the room unnoticed. Or at least I had hoped, but Joy had a knack for finding me no matter where I hid. Her gaze tried to meet mine, but I focused on Grim.

“Better yet, send Maureen a text and have her bring him here tomorrow,” Grim said. “We’ll determine what kind of entity he is. Whether he’s unswayable and just as dangerous as Harvest, or if he can be tempted to our side like Fear.” Grim smirked in my direction at the mention of my father. “Or at least be a decent demon most days. We wouldn’t ask for anything more than his help.”

I shook my head. I was well aware how much all of them liked to goad me about my parents. It was obvious how devious and reckless my parents were compared to me. They were reformed villains after all. They couldn’t change who they were, and I never expected it. Their wild traits shaped me into an adult who sought out a purpose like Grim’s instead of spending my time running The Den. I spent one too many nights anxious for my parent’s well-being even while knowing how strong they were.

More than anything, I knew how different I was from them, but it didn’t change how much I loved them. Despite their tempers and craziness, I couldn’t imagine having any other parents. It’s why I was never curious about who my birth parents were—only about what species I was.

“Where’s Isabella?” Sebastian asked Melanie.

“She’s in the kitchen,” she told him.

He slipped by his mom and planted a kiss on her cheek before disappearing to find his witch.

“Payne,” Joy’s meek voice called out to me.

I pushed myself off the wall. “If that’s all, I’ll be going.”

I didn’t even bother waiting for someone to answer. I knew the conversation ended once Grim made his decision. I pressed the portal chip in my jeans and ported.

Chapter 5

Jackal

Twenty-four hours spent with this female was more like a lifetime. By the twenty-ninth hour, I was no closer to getting the collar off. She was determined to act indifferent to me never leaving her side, but I knew the truth. The air surrounding her was no different from the air surrounding me. She was irritated yet after watching her the last day; I knew there was no changing her mind.

She was like an impenetrable fortress. Unwilling to submit or open to the fury we both felt at being together.

But I was the same. I’d never give in to leaving, not when she wanted that. Nor would I as long as this collar was on me.