Callie Rose [Rose - Fallen University: Year Two: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

Copyright 2019 by Callie Rose

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

* * *

I dont think were in Kansas anymore.

or, you know, a remote mountain range between Russia and Mongolia.

Hannah scrunched close to me as we sat on my bed, staring out of the window at the dark landscape beyond. It was definitely not Mnkh Saridag.

Wed been here all night, keeping a strange, silent vigil. We had talked a little, but not much. Enough for her to know that Owen was responsible for transporting us here. And that he was dead. Nothing else seemed important right now; at least not until we knew whether or not we could ever get back home.

We arent sure this is the underworld though, Hannah said after a long, bleak silence. There was a hopeful, almost desperate lilt to her voice. Maybe the school just fell through a collapsed cave or something. Were probably still on earth, right?

I didnt want to point out that a collapse like that would have felt like the worst earthquake ever, or that this transportation had been completely seamless. The tone of her voice suggested she already knew those things but just wasnt ready to face them yet.

I guess well find out soon, I said, trying to keep my voice calm and even. If a sun even rises out there.

My window had shown me nothing but pitch black throughout most of the night. Now, in what seemed to be the early hours of dawn, an eye-shaped swath of black in the distance was turning gray. Hannah blinked and rubbed her eyes, craning her head forward slightly. I did the same. Wed been up all night; it was entirely possible we were both hallucinating.

But we werent. As the light outside got brighter, it also got way more red. Super red. Not like the old sci-fi interpretations of Marsmore like the angry, dull burn of a dying star. Shadows began to take shape in the deep darkness outside, and I could finally interpret what I was looking at. We were in a cave, or something similar. Shit, maybe whatever spell Owen had used to transport us here had gutted a mountain. There were certainly plenty of those to choose from, at least, on earth. I had to imagine the underworld was the same.

The red light streaming through the eye-shaped hole in the distance illuminated the landscape inside the cave. It truly was a cave, but it was so massive it almost didnt feel like one. It was so wide and tall that I couldnt even make out all the walls, except for the one with the hole in it. And the terrain around us was well

Oh, God, Hannah whispered.

Yeah, I dont think he can hear you from all the way down here, I muttered, not taking my gaze off the sight outside.

Massive slags of black slate rose like jagged teeth across the blood-red horizon. Bubbling black bogs spread across the land in front of us.

I saw an image of an aneurysm once, I said quietly. Back in college. A big black splat with snaking arms. It looked like death. It looked just like those.

She shuddered beside me, reaching out with a trembling hand to point into the distance. Are those trees?

They looked more like bones, leafless and gnarled. Great white fingers pierced the ground, reaching up for the sky as if they wanted to claw the blood from the clotted clouds.

I hope so, I said. If theyre not, I dont want to know what they are.

She was silent for a long moment, but I could practically hear her thinking, her brain whirring as she tried to figure out how to fix this. I hadnt known Hannah long, but wed gotten to know each other very well, very fast because of the intense circumstances of our meeting. Being turned into demons together will do that to people.

Finally, she turned to me, her amber eyes shining. Do you think Toland knows how we got here?

I shook my head. Im not even sure how we got here. And I never got a chance to tell Toland anything before we were sent to our rooms yesterday.

The school had been placed on lockdown as soon as the admins and staff had realized where we were. We had all been sent to our rooms and told to remain there until morning, when wed have an assembly to address this new development.

A knock sounded on the door. Confused, I glanced up at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see that it read 8:50. Dawn had just broken, but I guessed time worked differently here.

Come in, I called.

Jayce and Kingston entered the room, which didnt surprise me one bit. Id known who it was even before I saw them; I could sense each man like I was a radar attuned to their energy, just as I could sense my other two bonded mates. Kai was lurking down the hall somewhere, close by but also a bit removed as usual. Xero was more difficult to feel. His particular vibe had been obscured for me since the moment wed come to this place.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked the two men over. Jayces blond hair was a mess, and his cobalt eyes were bloodshot and dull. His posture, usually so relaxed, was tense.

You look like hell, I said.

Thanks, you too. He paused for a moment, then his eyes widened. I didnt mean that

I know. I waved his half-formed apology away with a smile. Dont worry about it. Were all a little fucked up this morning. Well, except for you. I turned my attention to Kingston, who looked like he had just spent a day at the spa instead of killing a rock monster downstairs.

His dark hair was perfectly combed and his emerald eyes were clear. Where Jayce had clearly been awake all night, Kingston must have slept like a baby.

Whats up with you? I frowned, squinting at him. You look almost cheerful. Its obscene.

Kingston shrugged. Is being trapped in the underworld really that much different from being trapped at the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere?

Hannah squeaked in dismay and gestured at the window. Look at that! Do you see where we are?

Kingston looked out the window and nodded, lifting his eyebrows slightly. Nice view. Lucky. My window faces a rock wall. Seriously though, tell me one thing about this thats different from what we were doing before.

Hannahs honey eyes bulged. She leapt off the bed, golden hair flying behind her. Well, for one thing, were in the goddamned underworld!

I rose from the bed and put an arm around Hannahs shoulders. Its all right, babes. Remember, hes a reptile. I stuck my tongue out at Kingston.

He winked at me, his eyes glinting with a hint of something sinful. Careful where you point that thing.

Oh, shut up. Get out, both of you, so we can get dressed. Well meet you outside.

I squeezed Jayces shoulder as he turned to leave. Poor guy seemed stunned. I hoped Kingstons blas attitude would rub off on him, at least a little bit. I didnt want to admit it, but I sort of agreed with the dragon shifter. Sure, the landscape was scary as fuck, and we could be beset by demons at any minute. But Mnkh Saridag was also scary, and the fallen had been getting increasingly bold back on earth. Our sudden transplant did nothing but put us behind enemy lines, and so far, they hadnt seemed to notice. Maybe we could use that to our advantage.