Desert Heat (Complete)

{Allie’s P.O.V.}

After Dorian, Jed, and Dani left the laboratory, it was just me and Luther. I looked at him questionably, trying to decipher whether he really came because of his mother and Celinda or if he was just trying to clear his own conscience.

“Luna, I know what you’re thinking, and believe me when I say, I regret what I did to my family,” he said to me.

“How did you know that’s what I was thinking?”

“Please do not take this the wrong way, but you were never one to hide your facial expressions when it came to doubt.”

“Touché.”

“Luna, please, will you mind link my mother?” I gave him one more look before doing as he asked.

Dr. Quinn, I know you can hear me. I need you to come to your personal lab at the hospital. It’s urgent.

Luna, please, I do not want …

It’s an order, Dr. Quinn.

Very well.

I cut off the link with her and shook my head. I hated having to use my Luna voice on her, but she needed the push. Luther and I sat around for a few minutes as we waited for her to arrive. The door suddenly burst open, and I whirled around to see Dr. Quinn. I gasped when I saw the good doctor. She looked like she hadn’t seen any sunlight in weeks and appeared sickly. She also reeked of booze.

“Luna, why have you commanded me to come here?” she asked me with unabashed hatred in her voice. I was taken aback by the hostility in her tone. She was always so friendly and kind when she spoke to anyone. Before I could answer her, she gasped, and her eyes darted right behind me.

“Lu…Luther!?”

“Hi, mom.”

“Oh! Oh! Ah! Ah!” she cried as she ran to him and hugged him. She grabbed his face and looked him over about a hundred times as tears just came rushing down her face. “Is it really you!?”

“It’s me, mom. I’m so sorry.”

“AHHHH!!!” Dr. Quinn screamed and embraced him with all her might as she cried and wailed. She couldn’t contain herself as she jumped up and down while crying her heart out, seeing the son she was convinced she had buried now alive and well right in front of her. I cupped my hands to my face and couldn’t stop my tears. A mother’s love knows no bounds—that was something I knew all too well.

Dr. Quinn pulled away from him, and before I even knew what happened, I heard a deafening slap. “Oh my god!” I exclaimed at what I just witnessed. Dr. Quinn was never one to ever use violence, but she literally just slapped her own son so hard that it echoed in the lab.

“LUTHER JULIUS QUINN! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!”

“I deserved that,” was all Luther could say.

“Luna, will you please excuse me and my son?”

“Sure, just please, try not to kill him,” I replied to her and walked out of the lab. I shook my head and was a little concerned with the fact that I just left a very pissed-off Dr. Quinn with a guilt-ridden Luther Quinn, but I had faith that they would sort it all out.

As I was waddling my way through the hallway that led straight back towards the packhouse, I felt a sudden presence behind me. Before I could even react, I felt a hand over my mouth and felt my body being transported. Having shimmered with Dani a few times, I knew that I was being shimmered somewhere. After I landed, whoever had a hold of me pushed me away. I stumbled a bit but luckily didn’t fall flat on my face. Which was a good thing, since my balance was starting to turn to s**t being three and half months pregnant.

“WHAT THE f**k!?” I screamed and turned around. I was shocked to see a familiar face in front of me. “You!? You were the one that bid against me at the auction!”

“Yes, that was me,” she replied.

“What do you want?! Do you have a f*****g death wish!? Do you even know who I am!?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Very well, I might add, Mrs. Allison Shaw.” She smirked when she saw that I was a little rattled at the fact she did actually know who I was. “Now that I have your attention, I have a proposition for you.”

“You’re a demon.”

“Is that supposed to be a question?”

“It’s a statement. I can sense how evil your soul is.”

“Why thank you,” she replied smugly.

“It wasn’t meant as a compliment,” I sneered.

“Well, I’ll take it as one either way. Now, back on topic. The reason I have kidnapped you is that I want to make a business deal with you.”

“And why the f**k would I make a deal with a demon!?” I snapped back. “Do I look stupid to you?”

“No, you don’t. I know you’re not stupid, and I know you have the right to question my motives, but I promise you, I’m not here to harm you. Quite the opposite actually,” she responded. I glared at her questionably. “I need your help.”

“And why would a demon need help from a werewolf?”

“You and I share a common enemy, Luna.” I lifted an eyebrow at her. “Heather. Hamilton.” Mercury stirred at the name. “Mmm … I see I have your undivided attention.”

“What’s your name?”

“Is that important?”

“Not really, I’m just curious,” I replied. She scowled at me and then smiled.

“For someone who is heavily pregnant, you sure have guts,” she said. I growled at her underlying threat to my pup. “Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you or your baby.”

“And why should I believe you?”

“Because, I may be a demon, but I’m not a monster. I don’t harm children or babies. Demons may be soulless, but we care about the future as much as any other species.” I relaxed a bit seeing that she wasn’t lying. “Good, now can we get down to business?”

“What could you possibly offer me that would make me want to help you?” I asked her curiously.

“Information on Heather’s whereabouts.” Both mine and Mercury’s ears perked up at this. “I see I have your attention again”

“Stop beating around the bush! Where is that b***h!?”

“Patience, Luna. I will give you all of the information you desire on where she is and how you can find her. But, you must promise me something first,” she responded. I glared at her and thought about it. Teaming up with a demon may be an awfully bad call to make right now, seeing as how I was not on my own turf but on hers.

Mercury, what do you think?

We can’t trust her, Allie. She’s a full-on demon. Demons are treacherous and cannot be given the slightest bit of slack. They kill without remorse.

But if she really does have information on where that cunt Heather is, then what do we have to lose? She wasn’t lying when she said she wouldn’t hurt me or the pup. And you can’t fake that hatred she had in her eyes when she said Heather’s name.

Tread carefully, Allie. Do not turn your back on her.

“What the hell was that?” the demon chick asked me.

“I was talking to my wolf. Since I’m on my own here, she was the only other conscience available to get an opinion on.”

“Okay, did you two make a decision?”

“Let me ask you this first, why are you so keen on helping me catch Heather? What did she do to you?”

“She ruined my f*****g life, that’s what,” she seethed in anger. I was right, she hated Heather as much as I did.

“That’s something she’s rather good at. What did she do to get under your skin?”

“That’s none of your business. Now, do you want my help in catching her or not!?”

“Fine, I’ll hear you out, but if you even so much as think about double-crossing me, I’ll rip your head right off of your body,” I threatened.

“Right back at you,” she replied. I nodded my head. “Heather is in Utah. She’s living in an underground lair and is heavily guarded by some of the strongest demons the underworld has to offer.”

“Underworld? Is what it’s really called?” I asked in shock.

“Yes, I know, you’re asking because of the show Charmed. Trust me, whoever wrote that script was definitely supernatural. Anywho, back on topic. Heather is protected because she is of great value to the Demon King.” My eyes widened at what she just said.

“Why is she important to him?”

“Because … she’s his future queen.” I gaped at her as her words just replayed in my mind. Heather was the future queen to the King of Demons?

“Wait, hold on …” I bit my l*p and started to think back to what Adrian had said to us when they came to visit last time. Then I thought about the phone call I had with Britney and how freaked out she was when I told her what Adrian had said. Then everything clicked. Britney had said the Demon King’s name to me. “Gideon?”

“So, you do know his name.” I turned towards the demon-chick. I started to tremble in utter fear as things started to piece together. Heather had something about having a mate at the charity event. The man she was with that night was named Gideon as well.

“Oh god …” I gasped out when it all made sense.

“Ah, there it is. The fear someone shows when they realize they’ve met the lord of all evil.”

“Wait, wait, wait, this doesn’t make any sense. Why would you betray your king and queen?”

“SHE’S NOT MY QUEEN!” she screamed at my face, making me flinch. Then I saw the flash of hurt in her eyes.

“Oh my god, you’re in love with Gideon, aren’t you?” She looked at me and scowled before turning her head away. “Does he know?”

“YES, HE KNOWS! OKAY!? I have confessed my love to him, daily! We make love all the f*****g time, but he never stays with me. He always goes back to her! He will always choose her over me! And it’s all because of your goddess! Your stupid moon goddess!”

“What does the moon goddess have to do with any of this?”

“She created Heather specifically for Gideon! That’s what!”

“What!?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? Your moon goddess and the other higher powers made an agreement with Gideon at the beginning of his reign. He would be mated to an impure wolf that would give him an heir, a son, so powerful that he would reign the underworld long after Gideon is vanquished.”

“This heir … Rumor has it that it will be powerful enough to wipe the entire supernatural race,” I told her.

“That’s what the prophecy, the Seer, told Gideon. No one knows how true it is, but Gideon wants to know more than anyone, for obvious reasons. But Heather ruined that for him when she had an abortion and a hysterectomy.”

“She what?”

“The hysterectomy was fixed with dark magic, but no matter how much Gideon f***s her, she hasn’t gotten pregnant again.”

“I don’t get it; how did Gideon even find her?” I asked.

“When Heather was 16, the Seer had a vision of Heather and told Gideon to prepare for his Queen-to-be. Gideon wanted her as soon as possible, but the Seer told him he had to wait until she was at her most vulnerable moment in life.”

“Death row,” I replied.

“Exactly. When you and your pack captured her last year, the Seer told Gideon to get her at that specific point.”

“He’s the dark force of magic that my Wiccan friends sensed.”

“Yes. Gideon is the king of all evil. Of course, his aura would linger.”

“I don’t understand. Why the f**k would Selene and the other powers-that-be promise Gideon an impure wolf that he could procreate with, and risk killing out every supernatural being there is!?”

“Again, I don’t know if that part is true. But Gideon is also a higher power and the only one without children of his own.”

“What are you talking about? Aren’t you considered a child of Gideon’s children? You’re a demon, aren’t you?”

“That’s not how it works for demons. We procreate the way humans do. Gideon isn’t the father of all demons. He’s the king of all demons, but he is not the god of demons.”

“There’s a god of demons?”

“There was, he’s dead. Rumor has it he was cast out of the Lunar Kingdom where all the gods and goddesses of the supernatural reside after he betrayed your moon goddess.” I c****d my head to the side. Why did that tidbit sound familiar? “That’s beside the point. Gideon wants children, and in exchange for leaving the human world and forever remaining in the underworld, he asked for a mate of his own to procreate with.”

“I don’t see what the problem is. Heather’s human now. Just kill her.”

“I can’t!”

“Why not? Are you afraid of what Gideon would do?”

“Because if I kill Heather now, Gideon dies with her!” I looked at her in confusion. “Before Heather became human, she marked Gideon the way you wolves mark your mates. It doesn’t work the same way it does for you. If a demon becomes marked by another species, it intertwines their soul to the one who marked them.”

“Hold up, are you saying …”

“If Heather dies before her mark is removed from Gideon’s neck, he dies with her, and I can’t have that,” she replied as her voice cracked. Was this chick crying? Her pain and sorrow were real.

“You really do love him, don’t you?” I asked and she just nodded as a stray tear left her eye. She quickly wiped it away. I slumped my shoulders and let out a sigh. “What’s your name?” I asked her again.

“Aria.”

“It’s a beautiful name,” I said genuinely.

“Thank you.”

“I don’t know how to help you, Aria. I believe in the bond more than anyone, but I don’t know how it works for demons other than what you just told me. Normally, I can feel the bond between two souls, but you said that demons are soulless.”

“It works the same as humans. We pick and choose who we want, and at first, I thought Gideon would choose me. But then, Heather showed up, and even though Gideon still makes love to me, he keeps choosing her. He even told me he loved her over me.”

“Oh, Aria, I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t want your pity! I want your f*****g help! How do I get rid of her mark on Gideon!?”

“You can’t!” She took a sharp intake of breath. “A werewolf’s mark is for … Wait a minute …” I stopped myself when something dawned on me.

“What? What is it?”

“Heather is an impure wolf. Or was, I should say.”

“So?”

“When she marked Gideon, did she do it with his consent?”

“Not that I know of. He was actually a little pissed she marked him, so doubtful.”

“There may be hope for you yet, Aria.”

After speaking to Aria a little while longer, I had to make sure understood that my theory was just that, a theory and nothing more. She understood, even though she wasn’t happy, but she was content with it. After we came to an agreement, she shimmered me back to the front of the packhouse. She barely landed on her two feet before she shimmered away.

I opened the door to the packhouse, and it looked like a bunch of circus animals had gotten loose. Pack members were scurrying all over, and no one had even noticed me standing in the doorway. All of a sudden, one of the adolescent pups stopped in the middle of the floor and stared straight at me,

“Hey, mom! There’s the Luna!” he shouted. Everyone halted at their tracks and stared at me as well.

“Uhhh … What’s going on?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Allie! f*****g hell!” Simba shouted at me. I looked at him confused. “The Alpha is about to tear down the packhouse because of you!”

“Why?”

“Wh … What do you mean why!? Allie, you’ve been missing for nearly five hours!” My eyes widened like saucers. I had no idea I was with Aria for that long. I looked up towards Dorian’s office, and all I could say was, “Oops.”