Falling

Chapter 23: I smell subterfuge

Chapter 23: I Smell Subterfuge

ASH POV

Three stories and two song later the cubs are finally asleep. I smile softly and pull the blanket over them and Liam who's at the bottom of the puppy pile. Liam grunts but doesn't stir. Abel is wrapped in one of his arms while the girls are on the other side with Caine and Ainle behind them. The love I feel in this moment almost overwhelms me. I look up when I feel Con place his arm on my shoulders. I snuggle in for a moment as he speaks.

"You should try to sleep too." I shake my head.

"Bran's going to take me on a tour and give me a run down on hell hounds. We're going hom after the party my mother is throwing. I know Riki needs to talk to me about something but she's trying to give me some time to adjust to everything and I think she'll relax when we get back home." Con chuckles softly and kisses the top of my head.

"Your getting astute there Kitten." I smack a hand on his chest.

"Shut up Con." I pull away and turn to walk to the door. I jump when Con smacks me on the ass. I look over my shoulder and raise a brow as he chuckles and shrugs. Jeez he is such an alpha male. I open the door and see Cer, Re, and Bruiser standing there. I roll my eyes.

"I take it you three are coming with me?" Bruiser eyes me a moment before speaking.

"Where you go we go." I glare at him as I brush past him and walk out the door. The triple threat follows close behind.

.................

"Bran?" His head jerks up and I see his eyes are blood shot. He stands up from his place on the floor and smiles weakly.

"Hey sis." I blink back the sudden urge I have to cry as I stare at him. Sis. It really hits me then.

"I have a brother." He throws an arm over my shoulder and leads me down the hallway as he speaks.

"And a mom and dad. I saw what happened with dad." I bite my lip as we stop at the top of a stairway.

"I'd have hit him harder." I let out a chocked laugh and Bran pulls me down the steps.

"Hey Bran? Why'd he do it? Say that stuff about my pups?" Even in the darknened stairs I can see his grimace.

"Dad doesn't go above ground as much as the rest of us. He...has to be hard with the souls. They aren't nice people. This is the underworld after all. He forgets...how to be human....how to love. It got bad after we couldn't find you and he stayed with the souls a lot more. Just give him time." We stop at the bottom of the steps and I hear screams and cries coming from the left and right. I look up at Bran.

"Is this..."

"Hell? Tartos? Prison? Yep this is where all the evil souls go." He leads me to the right and I can't help but look at the jars and jars with tiny black orbs in them. The slam against the glass as we walk past.

"Are those souls?" Bran nods.

"The worst of the worst are trapped in jars. The lesser evils are in cages in human form."

"What if their's a mistake?" Bran catches my eye.

"It happens but rarely. Either a Spiritual comes for them or I figure it out. If they escape....well...that's where you Ainle, Bruiser, Cer, and Re come in." I blink.

"What?" Bran pulls open a door and leads us into a large office. I glance at the rows and rows of file cabinets and grimace. "You have to do paperwork?" Bran smiles and sits in the chair behind the desk as he pulls open a drawer and starts to rummage through it.