KING OF THE UNDERWORLD (Earthbound Book 1)

Even surrounded by chaos, I sense her the minute she steps outside. I resist the urge to turn and look at her. I want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattle, demanding to know what the hell she thinks she’s doing. Doesn’t she realize how dangerous this is? Anything could happen to her, and I wouldn’t be able to get to her in time if my men decided to cause her harm. Most of my men are Naturals; they could easily tear her apart in seconds. What made her think to come out here, anyway?

I want to walk over and demand answers, but I force myself to remain where I am and order my men to fetch the doctors.

The injured are coming in thick and fast and if I don’t get things under control, I will lose more of my men than I already have. The doctors finally arrive and rush off to work on the men who are most severely injured. There aren’t enough uninjured to help all my men, but at least the ones in peril are being treated.

The voices around me drop to a murmur and I notice a look of admiration spreading across Damien’s face. He nods to whatever’s happening behind me, and I turn to look. There, on the ground, Scarlett is sitting and tending to one of my men.

Aside from Nathan, Jaden is the oldest vampire I know. He’s been with me for two hundred years. He’s also one of the deadliest and for him to be injured in such a way tells me all I need to know about how bad the ambush was. It looks like he’s losing blood rapidly, and that alone is a danger to not only the witch tending to him, but to any who may cross his path. I step forward, getting ready to drag her away from him but stop when he places his hand over hers. In that moment, I know she is safe. I can’t hear what he says to her, but whatever it is, she’s clearly shocked by it. I watch as she stands and moves to another of my injured men.

LUCIEN

^{NEXT DAY}

^{LUCIEN’S OFFICE}

Fuck, I’m shattered. Being up all night will do that to a man, Natural or human. Chamuel still hasn’t responded to my phone call or to my message. Usually, even if he doesn’t pick up when I call, he will still respond within a few hours. I have no other way of contacting him and I’m frustrated at having to wait for him to get back to me. I can only guess at how long it will take. My brother is a remarkably private person. He works beside me at my request. Few know of our relationship, it’s nobody’s business. If people were to find out, it could raise a lot of questions for the both of us.

Last night had been a clusterfuck, totally catastrophic. I lost a lot of good men, and many others are injured, though some more severely than others.

One of my most loyal men, Duncan, hadn’t survived the attack. As a human, he stood little chance against the siege. He left behind a young wife and son, and I intend to make sure they’re well taken care of. According to Ben, they were on their way to the rendezvous point when they were struck by unknown attackers. The description Ben gave made little sense. We destroyed those fuckers a long time ago! What the hell is going on!?

Tony also survived the attack but is still unconscious. I will have to wait for him to come to so I can get his account of what happened, but the other men’s reports closely matched Ben’s. Once Jaden got his bloodlust under control, he was able to fill in some of the gaps.

Then there’s Scarlett. I don’t even know what to think about her. How had she known to show up outside? At first, Damien and the rest of my men were displeased by her presence, their distrust had been more than evident. It hadn’t stopped her from helping, though. She followed any orders thrown her way, even to the point of helping get the injured into the on-site hospital.

Blood had been everywhere, limbs missing, skin torn. The sight would have turned even the hardest of stomachs. I know it turned mine. I would have thought she would run from such a sight and was utterly shocked when she did the opposite. Without batting an eye, she tended to every injured man my doctors had been unable to get to. By the time the sun rose, Scarlett had gained the hard-earned respect of my men.

According to the latest report, fifteen are dead and thirty wounded; eight of them critically injured. They know as well as I do that they’re lucky to be alive. I’ve already sent the order out for all patrols to be doubled. I won’t put my men in more danger than necessary. What worries me most about the attack is my men’s descriptions of their attackers. I’ve been trying to convince myself they were mistaken, but the feeling in my gut is telling me otherwise. It just doesn’t make sense. No one has seen or heard from them in years. Fuck, as far as we knew, they were all dead.

I’m struggling to come to terms with the events of the last few days. Witches we believed to be wiped out turned out to be living on my fucking doorstep. Aria has a spy in my ranks, and she attacked and nearly killed Allison. Nathan has doubled his patrols and clearly knows something is happening. The list of shit hanging over my head is endless.

The only positive thing to happen were the responses from Jacob, Reid, and Archer, the other territory leaders I’d reached out to. All three accepted my invitation, though they requested to bring more of their men than usual. I agreed. There’s definitely something going on, and even if they don’t know exactly what it is, they sense something coming. I sent messages to the leaders of some of the smaller territories as well, and three of them let me know they would be here.

I’ve yet to receive a response from Nathan or Gil-Galad, though I expect to hear from Nathan today. I’d be surprised if Gil-Galad acknowledges my summons at all. Jasper and Rowan haven’t checked back in, though they radioed in the previous evening just before entering the Fae’s territory. For the time being, I’m considering them MIA and I don’t feel confident that situation will change.

It isn’t unheard of to gather so many territory leaders together for a meeting, though it is rare. Both councils have gotten wind of our little gathering and requested an invitation, making it clear they weren’t really asking. They acted like I had no choice but to agree, clearly forgetting I once sat in one of those seats. I reluctantly agreed, knowing I didn’t need to add a pissed off council to my growing list of concerns.

The meeting is in five days, which means I have enough time to get extra security in place before everyone arrives. All weapons will need to be turned in and everyone will go through digital image screening prior to being permitted into the meeting. One can never be too careful as you never know who may try to double-cross you.

A rapid banging sound brings me out of my thoughts. It sounds like whoever is at the door is trying to break the bloody thing down. I know it can’t be Damien, he’s off making sure everything will be in place for the meeting. Besides, he doesn’t usually knock. I call out for them to come in and take a sip of the scotch I’ve been savoring.

“Boss?” Alex questions in a tentative tone as the door swings open. “Sorry,” he apologizes, stepping inside the office. “She wanted to talk to you,” he indicates Scarlett, who’s standing directly behind him.

She moves around to stand beside him, lifting her chin boldly. Her gaze locks onto my own, her face unflinching. She’s more confident than she ever has been in my presence. This isn’t the human standing before me. It’s the witch. I take in her dark auburn hair that’s piled atop her head, making her look taller than she is. There are a few curls hanging down from where they escaped the bun. Tight black jeans hug her curves and low-heeled black boots make her look like she’s ready to go to battle. The jade-colored top brings out the green in her eyes and contrasts perfectly against the red of her hair. The fierce expression she’s wearing makes her more compelling to me than ever.

“What can I do for you, Scarlett?” I keep my tone even as I lean back in my chair and cross my feet at the ankles. I have a feeling she heard about the meeting and that she will likely want to attend with her sisters, but I can’t allow it. If the other leaders got even a whiff of the witches I have living freely in my territory, all hell will break lose. I have way too many things to deal with to add pandemonium amongst the Naturals to my plate.

“What the hell happened last night? Your men were fucking attacked, some of them killed, way too many injured. What are you hiding from me? How can I trust that you can keep me safe or protect my family when they arrive?” She fires the words at me, hands on her hips and a frown marring her face. She waits a few seconds for my reply and when none is forthcoming, she huffs softly before walking closer. My eyes are drawn to her swaying hips, and I have to force myself to focus on her next words.

“Have you found the soul keeper yet?” Her eyes narrow on my face, and she leans forward, planting her hands on my desk.

I take a sip of my scotch and watch her. I know the longer it takes for me to respond to her questions, the more enraged she will become. Her green eyes flash at me and I can see her trying to rein in her anger. I wonder what it would be like to see her explode. No doubt it would make those incredible eyes glow like green embers. Sometimes she seems to be able to peer down into my soul with them, almost as if she can see my demon.

If she thinks I will allow her to demand things from me, she has another thing coming. I got information about the soul keeper last night, but with everything that happened, I hadn’t had a chance to share it with her yet.

Standing from my chair, I place my hands on the desk next to hers and lean forward. “Don’t think you can come in here, throwing out demands.” I’m positive my eyes flash red as I grind the words out between clenched teeth. I pull back and relax a little. “Seeing as you helped my men with their injuries, I’m going to overlook your insolence. This time.”

“I’m not throwing out any so-called demands. I want answers and you promised to keep me in the loop. What the hell happened to your men? Hell, do you even know what attacked them?” She spits the words at me, standing her ground and not showing even an ounce of fear. Even though I have no intention of telling her, I feel my respect for her grow.

“My sisters will be arriving soon,” she says, as though I, Lucien Sinclair, need to be reminded that I’m not only allowing fucking witches to live safely in my territory, but that I invited them into my club. I know it will eventually get out that I have a witch living under my protection, in my home, and I know it will cause me innumerable headaches when it does.

She continues, “There had better be some extra protections in place to keep them safe. And they will want to be updated. If we get even a whiff that you aren’t being completely honest, our agreement will be null and void.”

“You might want to watch that mouth of yours, Scarlett,” I warn in a deadly quiet tone. I feel my demon stir inside of me, his excitement rising, fighting to come out and play. I feel my eyes flash again as my skin flickers, the texture changing.

Her beautiful eyes widen, and her mouth drops open as she stumbles back in shock. From the corner of my eye, I see Alex take a step towards us, and my demon growls a warning to stay back. My beast will not harm her; nor will I. While I haven’t completely come to terms with the feelings that have been growing inside of me for her, my demon has, and neither of us wishes any harm to come to her.

“Don’t overstep, Scarlett. I can only allow you to go so far before I have to teach you a lesson.” I rake my eyes over her menacingly, showing her I mean business. “Your sisters will be safe while they are in my care, but anything that happens to them outside my compound is outside of my control.” I shrug and ease back down into the seat behind me. My demon is still right near the surface, and I shove him back, taking full control.

I turn my attention to Alex, who has stood silently throughout the entire exchange, watching and listening. “Alex. Jacob will be coming to the meeting. As you know him best, I want you to handle the meet and greet. Make sure they leave any weapons they’re carrying in the storeroom designated for that purpose. You can let them know their weapons will be returned to them when the meeting has concluded.” He nods, his expression neutral.

“Jaden will deal with Nathan, and Ben will be assigned to the Fae, if they accept the invitation. Also, both councils requested an invitation and six members from each will be attending, as well as a few of my regional leaders.” I run one of the larger territories and I’ve appointed leaders to some of the regions within my territory to help me keep a handle on things. Aria is one of them. All of them answer to me, and they all know that I can take their regions back from them with a snap of my fingers. Most of the territories are run in a similar manner.

I turn my attention back to Scarlett, who is now sitting in one of the chairs in front of my desk, watching me give Alex the orders. Her expression betrays no sign of surprise at hearing of the meeting.

I decide, then and there, to allow her and her sisters to attend the meeting. I know it is going to cause issues and that I will have to handle the questions that arise, but I have a strong feeling in my gut that they need to be in attendance.

Scarlett is still visibly angry, but news of the meeting seems to have shut her up for the time being. Hopefully, she can push it all to the side while I share the information I gathered about the soul keeper. I now know where he’s staying and have gathered a group of my men to collect him and bring him back here. I warned them of the danger they were facing by going after a soul keeper and given them the option to back out. Every last one of them assured me they would be on guard at all times and that they were up to the task. If the soul keeper manages to get his hands on any of them, it will be nearly impossible to reacquire their souls and put them back in their bodies. I hate sending my men on such a dangerous mission. I don’t want any of them injured or dead, especially when the loss of my men from the night before is still with me.

“Alex,” I call over to him, not taking my eyes off Scarlett. “Go to Damien and let him know I’ve assigned you the task of rearranging the storage room for our visitor’s weapons. Tell him I want to use the room next door for the meeting. I need you to make sure the storeroom is ready and that everything is in place for their arrival. Choose a few men you trust to help you. Damien will brief you on how to handle collecting weapons and how to work the digital scanning system. If you have any questions, Damien is in charge.”

He looks at me, then at Scarlett. I can tell he’s hesitant to leave her alone with me, that he takes his role of protecting her seriously, even against me. He doesn’t know that I have no intentions of harming her, and I admire his commitment to the task, although he should know he’s completely outmatched against me. Normally I would simply order him to leave, but I’m willing to give him a little bit of leeway. It’s clear he’s grown some attachment to her and it’s likely that attachment goes both ways. I’ll let it slide for now, so long as it doesn’t go any further than a friendship. There are questions in his eyes, and I can see him trying to gather the courage to speak them. I decide to answer without him needing to ask.

“Alex, you have my word she will be safe.” I meet his eyes and watch as a muscle twitches in his jaw. I know he wants to say more but is aware that questioning me would have dire consequences. He swallows roughly and nods.

“Scarlett,” he calls out, breaking eye contact with me to look at her. “I’ll see you later, okay?” He says with a smile, before nodding at me once more and leaving the room. The door shuts behind him and I relax in my chair, taking a sip from my glass.

I turn my full attention to Scarlett. I know she has questions she wants answered and I plan to answer them as honestly as I can. She’s still hiding information from me, and I’m going to expect some answers of my own.