Blood Ascendant (Sons of Navarus #7)

by K. M. Scott

  He began to ask why she thought he’d forget they loved him, but before he could, they disappeared from in front of him. Alone, his emotions began to swirl inside him as he wished so much to see his parents again.

  Filing away his mother’s advice with Nyx’s, Theron took a deep breath and walked out of that room. But instead of entering the hallway he’d walked to get there, instead now he found himself in a cavernous room of black obsidian walls. He craned his neck to look to the ceiling and wondered what this place was.

  “It’s my throne room, and I intend to have it stay mine, little boy,” a deep voice said, sliding over him like silk.

  Theron looked around for any sign of Hades since that voice hadn’t been in his head this time, but he saw no one. He was alone in that empty room.

  “Not much of a place for your throne, it seems,” he said, knowing his insult would land just as he intended.

  “Didn’t your daddy tell you that nothing is what it seems in this place?” Hades taunted him.

  Looking over toward the right corner of the room where the voice sounded like it came from, Theron tried to locate the god but couldn’t. Best to keep him talking.

  “He said something about this entire place being bullshit, if that’s what you mean. I think he must have been referring to your need to play your little games. Personally, I’d say they’re a bit beneath a god, but whatever floats your boat. I imagine having to be stuck down here all the time makes you go a little crazy, so maybe that’s how you get off.”

  Hades didn’t respond immediately to his insults, but when he did, Theron knew the time for joking had ended. The god appeared before him sitting on his black throne in the middle of the room, and along with him stood hundreds of his daemons around him.

  The god sat back on his throne and draped his right leg over the arm. He looked perfectly casual, even though Theron sensed he’d roused his anger with his last comment.

  “You lack the requisite respect you should have for a god, little boy,” he said slowly, pronouncing every word perfectly.

  Theron studied Hades for a few moments and couldn’t help think he looked like a cross between a vampire and porn star. Knowing he would read his thoughts, he simply smiled and never broke his gaze as he waited for a reaction.

  Surprisingly, the god of the Underworld didn’t react angrily. He didn’t snap or lash out. In fact, he seemed pleased by the thought, if the smile on his face was any indication.

  “I’ll take half of that as a compliment. The other half is trash, but I don’t expect much better from the likes of you. What do you say we get down to business and stop all this foreplay?” Hades said, chuckling as he finished speaking and waved at one of his minions.

  The young male wearing only a loincloth brought a male and female into the chamber and positioned them near Hades’ throne. “I think you know one of my guests, but I feel like introductions are in order for the other one. My lovely whore is Noele, your mother, and this strapping young vampire with the oh-so-honorable look is none other than your father. Theron, meet Thane. Now you’re all one big family.”

  Theron’s blood began to boil at Hades’ name for his mother, but he remembered his mother’s advice telling him not to let his emotions control him, so he took a deep breath and pushed down the rage he felt for Hades. It took a few seconds for him to comprehend the other half of his statement. Why the hell did he think this male was his father?

  “You’ve got your facts mixed up, dude. My father is named Ramiel, not whoever this guy is.”

  But one glance at his mother’s face told him something was wrong. She didn’t look sad or worried. She looked…guilty. Why?

  He’d never invaded his mother’s mind because he had trusted her implicitly, but now as he stood there confused as to why she didn’t speak up and correct Hades, he focused on her thoughts and in them he found the truth that had been hidden all his life from him by every vampire he’d ever met.

  He wasn’t Ramiel’s son. The one vampire he’d always looked up to as a model for how he wanted to be wasn’t his father but just someone his mother loved.

  Theron tore himself from his mother’s mind as she stood crying and looked over at Thane. It didn’t take more than a few moments for him to see how similar he looked to himself.

  All this time, everything about his life had been a lie.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The sound of Hades’ laughter filled the throne room, echoing off the obsidian walls as Theron tried to control his emotions about what he’d just learned courtesy of the god of the Underworld. Inside him, rage began bubble up, making him want to lash out. All his fucking life everyone around him had known the truth, and not a single one of them had thought to tell him who his real father was?

  The list of names of those who had lied to him over and over by hiding this marched through his head. Did Dante know? Of course he did. Theron had no doubt every one of the Sons and their loved ones all knew.

  But it wasn’t their responsibility to tell him. He had parents, and even though his mother was taken early in his life, she’d had more than one chance to tell him Ramiel wasn’t his father. Or even more, why hadn’t he told him himself?

  He watched as his mother sobbed, but even seeing her cry didn’t change the betrayal that filled him. The male standing next to her who he now had to accept as his true father leveled his gaze on him as if he was studying him. Theron intruded into his mind to find out what he thought and disliked what he learned immediately.

  They’d never been in love. She’d loved Ramiel but the Prophecy of Idolas required her to sleep with Thane. He hated having to do it, especially since he had finally fallen in love right before with Sasa.

  For a second, Theron tried to figure out if he’d misunderstood what he’d seen in Thane’s mind. Wasn’t Sasa Vasilije’s vampire?

  Thane’s memory of that time told him what he and his mother had done had been based on responsibility and nothing more. They had to have sex to make sure he came to be. Once they performed their duty, their time together was over.

  “Let’s bring the man who lied to you all your life in too,” Hades announced and waved at his minion in the skimpy clothes.

  Ramiel was brought in and stood next to Noele and Thane. Unlike the two of them, he didn’t look guilty or upset. He held his chin up and met Theron’s gaze evenly, as he always had.

  Reading his father’s mind, he found out what his mother and Thane remembered was exactly what he thought of that time. Like the two of them, he hated having her sleep with a man other than himself, but also like them, he did it out of duty.

  “Don’t let him confuse you, son. I’m your father and always have been. Your mother and I raised you as our son, and that’s who you’ll always be,” Ramiel said with that same strength in his voice that had always made Theron feel safe.

  Hades laughed, as if anything he’d heard sounded even remotely funny. “Says the man who lied to you all your life. Sounds like you can’t trust anyone. No wonder you’re so screwed up, little boy.”

  “Do you plan to insult me to death? Is that how this is going to go? I can’t imagine how the Prophecy of Idolas explained that in all its lofty words.” Opening his arms out wide, he mocked him. “The god of the Underworld shall bore to death the one who will fight him. All those around shall be put to sleep by his awful insults.”

  While Theron couldn’t help but be amused by his jab, Hades didn’t enjoy it at all. A low growl began to come from him, and before long, he showed just how angry he could get. Lifting Noele, Thane, and Ramiel into the air, he flung them against the walls of his throne room. They hit the stones with a thud and stuck there, all three crying out in pain as they slowly melded with the walls until all that was left were their faces protruding out from the stone. They looked like the ones Theron had seen on his walk into the Underworld, but now the agonized expressions he saw tore him up inside.

  “Let them down!” he ordered as Hades chuckled with glee.


  Looking on his handiwork, he shook his head. “No. I like them there. Should I let you hear the sounds of their cries? I might like that.”

  With a wave of his hand, the sound of Noele, Thane, and Ramiel’s tormented sobs filled the room. They cried out for him to help them, to defeat Hades and save them. Each second that passed, their pleas ripped at Theron’s heart, creating a rage in him he hadn’t felt since that night his father was taken from right in front of him.

  And then something inside him that had lay dormant for every moment of his existence came alive. His rage morphed into something wilder, something more terrifying even to him, but he had no control over it. It was as if the seed of whatever he was destined to be had been planted long ago, and the sound of their agony brought it to fruition.

  Pain radiated out from the center of his body, down his arms and legs, until he let out a scream that stopped every daemon near him. They looked at Theron in horror as the creature inside him found its way out, changing his very appearance. His skin turned deep red, and he felt like he possessed one hundred times his strength.

  Hades watched in horror, his eyes wide and full of fear. Theron screamed again, bellowing so loud the walls of the throne room shook, and then he couldn’t hold back any longer.

  The daemon closest to him experienced his wrath first. Like what he’d done to the two that night Ramiel died, he tore this one limb from limb and ripped his throat open with his teeth. He didn’t know if what shot out of him was blood or something else, but it didn’t matter.

  This wasn’t about feeding. This was about slaughtering all those who served the god of this realm.

  One by one, he eliminated each daemon, leaving a trail of carnage behind him. When they tried to run, he scooped them up in one hand and ripped off their heads with the other. Their high-pitched screeches when he tore one apart warned the others their time was coming soon. He stalked each and every one of them around that throne room until the only thing left other than him and those he loved trapped in the rock above him was the god of the Underworld himself.

  He liked those odds.

  “Time for your reign to end, Hades.”

  Theron looked around at the room and reveled in the sight of nothing but daemon blood and body parts. Only one more to go before this place would be his to rule.

  “Not so fast, little boy. Tearing into daemons isn’t the same as defeating me,” Hades warned.

  And then just as Theron’s beast inside had finally come, so did the god of the Underworld’s. In seconds, he grew to ten times his normal size, and Theron realized why this throne room of his had such high ceilings.

  Looking down, Hades shook his head and smiled. “You see, my monster is bigger than yours, so I just don’t know how you can possibly win. But it’s been fun playing your game, little boy. Time for you to die and spend the rest of eternity in the pit.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Theron saw Nyx hiding in the corner of the room. For the first time since they’d met, he hoped she’d read his mind and knew if she ever wanted to help him, now was the time.

  Hades’ hand swooped down, but he jumped out of the way, barely missing being leveled. While the god had the benefit of being larger and stronger, Theron could run around and avoid him much easier at his size. That couldn’t go on forever, though, so he hoped whatever Nyx had in mind to help happened sooner than later.

  “Run away, little boy. I’ll find you, though. There’s nowhere for you to hide here. This is my kingdom, and I know every inch of it.”

  As he spoke, Hades stomped around his throne room, squashing daemons and anything else that found itself in his path. Theron hurried over to where Nyx stood in an alcove, barely hiding himself before the god saw him.

  “Why aren’t you doing anything?” he asked as he kept a watchful eye on his enemy.

  “I was waiting for the right time.” Nyx stopped and then said, “I figured when you turned into this, you might not need my help.”

  Theron turned to face her in disbelief. “I don’t know what the hell all this is, to be honest. It just happened. But I’ll have to deal with being red at another time. Now I’ve got bigger problems, and if you have anything that will take down a giant god of the Underworld, I wish you’d bring it out. If not, I have no idea how I’m going to defeat a hundred foot Hades.”

  From the other side of the room, the god himself called out, “Maybe I’ll amuse myself by playing with the decorations on my walls. That should be fun.”

  Terror raced through Theron. He knew just what decorations he meant, and he couldn’t let him do that.

  He moved to leave, but Nyx caught him by the arm. “He’s doing that to draw you out. Don’t worry about them. They’re fine.”

  “They’re stuck in a fucking wall and screaming for help. Can’t you hear them?”

  She shook her head and smiled. “It’s all an illusion. Most of what happens in the Underworld is. They can’t feel anything. They’re here. They’re already dead, Theron. What’s he going to do? Kill them again. What you’re hearing and seeing isn’t real. Remember that.”

  “Like I was supposed to remember to use my emotions? You’ve got a lot of useful suggestions, don’t you, Nyx? If you can’t give me some help, don’t bother me again, okay? I’ve got a god to defeat here. I don’t have time for bullshit.”

  She touched his arm, instantly calming him. “I’ll help. Give me a couple minutes and I’ll be back with reinforcements.”

  “Great. In the meantime, I’ll play hide and go seek with Hades. Any chance there are secret passageways anywhere around this room?”

  “Not that I know of, but don’t worry. You don’t need them. I’ll be back.”

  She hurried out of their hiding spot and left the throne room without Hades noticing. He was too busy abusing Thane’s head by flicking it with his giant god fingers. Theron watched for a few seconds, trying to convince himself of what Nyx said about nothing being real, but his screams of pain and pleas for Theron to stop him made that next to impossible.

  He had to get out there and distract Hades before he ripped Thane’s head off.

  “Is this really what gods do when they’re upset? Don’t you have a bolt of lightning or some major power to move the earth to use? It feels like flicking someone’s face as they’re stuck in the wall isn’t much of a power,” he yelled up at him, hoping it would make him focus on something other than Thane’s nose.

  Hades spun around and grimaced. “Lightning bolts and controlling the seas are my brothers’ powers!” he barked, clearly angry.

  Theron had hit a nerve. Good. He need to do more of that to keep him away from Noele, Ramiel, and Thane and to pass the time until Nyx brought reinforcements, whatever they might be. He just hoped they were big.

  “Oh, so what’s your power? Getting tall and stomping around like some asshole? Doesn’t seem very special at all. I feel like out of all the gods, you got the shaft.”

  For that, he got a hand swinging so close to his head he felt the breeze as Hades just missed lopping off the top half of his body. Theron took off behind him and ran around the back of the room. The god tried to follow him, but his size meant he had to maneuver too slowly to catch him.

  Looking up, Theron saw his mother crying out in pain, but she no longer made any sound. She looked like some still from a horror film, and he had to look away as he silently promised her he’d rescue all of them as soon as he could.

  As soon as Nyx brought back some help. One hundred foot help would be needed to defeat a hundred foot tall god. Where she’d get that, he had no idea, but she seemed confident whoever she was getting would be worth it.

  “Come out, little boy. Come out, or I’ll go back to torturing your family again. This time, I think I’ll choose your mother. I’m coming for you Noele.”

  Theron cringed. Hades sounded like every horror film monster he’d ever seen. Before he could stop him, he had removed his mother from the stone wall and had her in his hand. She screamed for him to
ignore what he was doing to her, but he couldn’t.

  How could he be expected to just let her be tortured?

  “Run, Theron! It doesn’t matter what he does to me. You’re still alive. Run from this place and go back to your life!”

  The terror in every word that came out of her mouth struck him to the bone. He couldn’t just leave her there with Hades for him to punish her. It didn’t matter if none of this was real or she couldn’t die again. He couldn’t do that to his mother.

  He had no choice.

  Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and stepped out where Hades could easily see him. Waving his arm, he yelled up, “I’m right here. There’s no point in bothering with her anymore. Let her go. Take out your anger on me.”

  Hades threw his head back and laughed. “I knew you’d never be able to let her suffer. It’s part of your weakness, boy.”

  “Then put her down and deal with me. If I’m such a little boy, you shouldn’t have any problem defeating me.”

  Theron watched as Hades thought about his suggestion, and he silently hoped for Nyx to return at any moment before the god squashed him under his heel. Then, as he looked up and waited for him to focus all his attention on him and leave Noele alone, Theron saw Hades drop her from nearly a hundred feet up. He watched helplessly as she fell to the stone floor of the throne room, her body limp and broken.

  “Okay, I put her down. Now get ready to meet your end, and when I kill you, I’ve got the perfect place for you to spend the rest of eternity. You’ll be with the rest of your fucking kind, and you vampires will finally know your proper place in this world.”

  For a few seconds, Theron struggled to think of a way out of his predicament. He had no idea why Kali had ever thought he would defeat Hades and take over control of the Underworld. Maybe at his normal height, but as a giant, he was too much for anyone to overcome.

  Just as he admitted to himself these were probably his last moments alive, a loud noise startled him. He looked over at where he’d last seen Nyx and there she stood surrounded by pieces of the cavern wall scattered around her and a creature standing behind her with dozens of heads and even more hands. It stood as tall as Hades but looked far more terrifying.