by Meg Xuemei X
“She tipped off the Dominions to my presence in Crack, didn’t she?” I asked drily.
I’d thought they came for Circe and Jasper, but that had been a smokescreen. They’d wanted me. To make it happen, she’d nudged a demigod to come along, knowing he would sense my power. And she’d chosen Axel, the youngest, least experienced, and the most hotheaded demigod. And he’d done just as she’d expected—dragged me to the Academy.
All my life, she drilled it into my head to stay away from both the demons and the demigods—but that was before she thought I was ready to meet either.
“We had to wait,” Loki said. “She left after she was sure you’d become your own person and wouldn’t be easily influenced by any power. We can’t afford to let anyone control you.”
“That’s your privilege, right, to use, manipulate, and control me?” I sneered. “Only neither of you expected the demigods to get to me first. You hadn’t thought that they would take such an interest in me.”
“Power attracts power,” he said darkly, feeling no remorse for his actions and his “grand design” for me, but angered at the demigods for getting in his way. “I should have expected that those assholes would be drawn to you. For centuries, all they have done is sabotage my plans at every turn.”
“So you came to take me away. You tried to abduct me when you realized that the demigods were going to snatch me away.” My voice dripped with sarcasm. “Why didn’t you come for me earlier, before the demigods made their moves?”
“I can’t afford to let anyone know our connection,” he said, running a hand over his thick, medium-length hair in frustration. “And I do not have the means to break the seal to your Titan power. Only the Ritual of the Blood Runes could remove it. So I planned carefully and drew no attention to you. But we underestimated your power. It’s not like I’m an expert in your kind of magic. I thought you’d just be like any other Olympian descendant and receive your power quietly. Who would expect it to create an explosion at the ritual? After all, the Olympians came from the Titans.”
None of the demigods had expected the Ritual of the Blood Rune to go crazy when it spotted me either. I’d believed that I was a human and wouldn’t survive the ritual. But I lived through it—only, however, after burning badly until Axel had shielded me and taken the burning into himself, and then Zak and Paxton had poured their powers into protecting me and averted a disaster.
“I got burned awfully!” I hissed. “You have no idea how painful it was!”
Loki nodded, but there wasn’t much sympathy in his dark eyes. “I’m sorry.”
And the fucker didn’t sound sorry at all. He was a half-witch from an ancient line, but his demon half dominated his vicious nature.
“You need to compensate me for all the wrongs you’ve done to me,” I said, “if you ever want me to work with you.”
Although we both wanted Lucifer dead or gone forever, I couldn’t work with him if all he would do was manipulate me.
He arched an eyebrow. “How am I supposed to make it up to you, Princess Celeste?”
“Help me escape to Earth this very second,” I said. “Return me to my mates.”
It was the first time I’d openly declared that the demigods were my mates—and I’d announced it not to just anyone but the demon prince. In the Dreaming, I learned that they’d accepted me unconditionally, no matter what I was or who I was. They’d welcome me into their embrace!
I needed to go to them before they took a dangerous course of action, like coming here, and got themselves killed.
“We still have time to get out of Hell,” I said. “You can take refuge on Earth, and I’ll vow to you that my demigods won’t harm you. We can wage war on the god and devil from the demigods’ headquarters. We have a Dominion army! And between the demigods, you, and me, we might just take out Lucifer. Your dukes and your halfling army can join us, too, if they’re loyal to you.”
“It won’t work,” he said. “You can’t leave. Hell’s mark has been burned in you. You can never reach the surface from this realm—my father has made sure of that. When he and the god cut you open, after they failed to take your power, they put extremely potent spells in you to bind you to Hell and prevent you from ever escaping.”
“Unless I kill the ones who bound me.”
“They can’t be killed, but they can be unmade.”
“I can’t unmake them without the Living Flame.”
I had to reveal some of my secrets. He knew the Living Flame was in me. He’d mentioned it when he’d tried to abduct me on the grounds of the Academy.
“You’ve regained a part of your power, despite their spells,” he said confidently. “You’ll grow into your full power at Hell’s Academy. We’ll speed up the process. I’ve tailored special courses for you—”
My eyes burned with rage.
“You idiot, you don’t understand my magic. No one does, not even Ares and Lucifer. The only one who knew how to guide me was killed and consumed by your monstrous father.” I sobbed at the memory of the horrific ending of the elemental. “For my Living Flame to be activated, I need to mate with the demigods. They’re the four elements to my fifth.”
Loki looked shocked for a second, but I had to tell him this. He wanted me to ignite the Living Flame as much as I did.
“But you’ve fucked them already, according to my intel.”
“Your intel is inaccurate,” I snapped, feeling such regret that I hadn’t had sex with Paxton yet due to my pettiness in wanting him to suffer a little longer.
That one grudge was costing me dearly.
“Not all of them,” I said, annoyed. “I haven’t mated with the Demigod of Sea.”
“Why the hell not?” Loki shouted in disapproval. “I read the report saying you two didn’t get along in the beginning, but then he started to court you and put up with all your shit.”
I glared at him. “Loki, relationships are complicated.”
“I don’t give a fuck how complicated it is,” he said.
I doubted the dark prince understood the concept of a relationship. For him, it was probably fuck or be fucked, and nothing else. And while it was my relationship we were discussing, he had the nerve to snarl at me for how I handled it.
“Our plan has just changed,” Loki grated. “You need to fuck the sea demigod as soon as possible to activate your Living Flame.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re nuts.”
“Not really,” he said, a ray of hope lighting his eyes, turning them green like mine. “On the contrary, I’m now in an incredible mood as we’ve just found this shortcut. You should have told me when I got you out of that coffin.” He waved at me dismissively to prevent my next protest. “I’ll bring the sea demigod stallion here, and you’ll ride him and get it over with. That is our priority.”
“No, you won’t.” I’d gone to great pains, even stabbing myself, to prevent the demigods from following me to Hell so that I could keep them safe. “If you bring them here and jeopardize their lives, I’ll kill you.”
“Relax, cousin,” he laughed. “I know what I’m doing.”
The Hell horse brayed, sending his master a warning signal.
Far beneath us, cries, groans, begging, and screams reached up to me. I peeked down, and for the first time, I saw what the Earthly regions controlled by the demons looked like—partly Hell and partly human metropolitans slammed together grotesquely.
Clusters of fire and plumes of smoke adorned the broad landscape, and skyscrapers stretched to the half-gray, half-scarlet sky.
Horned demon sentinels patrolled the occupied streets, ignoring rape and other violence on the blocks, especially when it was other demons committing the atrocious acts.
Humans were oppressed, enslaved, and treated like trash and meat. No one was on their side. My heart went out to them. Rage beat in my veins.
“We should make a stop,” I hissed.
“You can’t help them,” Loki said, his face a blank mask. “And if you’re late
for your first class, you’ll be severely punished. They’ll find every excuse to break you. Don’t give them any. As for humans, not all of them can be saved. They treat each other worse than the demons treat them. Even the victims you see will turn to human monsters in a heartbeat if given the chance.”
I swallowed. I knew many humans fought for the devil as well.
We passed through a few more regions—miles of shade and dark fire and desolation, abandoned towns, rampant gangs preying on their fellow humans while trying to avoid the bigger predators, the demons.
I vowed that no matter how many bad humans occupied the Earth, one day, I’d change this. I would bring down the Great Merge, even if it was just for a handful of good humans and their children.
Smoky neighed and shot toward a fortified military compound at the end of the landscape by a black sea.
“That’s Hell’s Academy,” Loki said. “Survive, cousin, until I come for you.”
CHAPTER 13
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Black waves crashed onto the black beach. Behind the dark sea, a mountain spewed red lava. A sheet of the lava splashed into the edge of the glass-like ocean, sizzling, vanishing, or flowing with the dark water.
It was a spectacular view, fitting my mood.
“Hell isn’t all bad,” Loki said fondly. “I like it here more than on the surface.”
“If you prefer Halloween all year long,” I said.
He laughed. “When all this is over, I hope you’ll settle here with me.”
“No, thanks.”
The prince wanted to replace my demigods and have us rule this realm together. He wouldn’t demand it, though, knowing it’d cause a war between us.
“I don’t give a fuck what Hell needs,” I said.
The horse raised his head and neighed again, puffing out a long stream of smoke with sparks of fire in it. His front hooves kicked hard in the air.
“I hope Smoky stops doing that,” I said, irritated. “I’m not a fan of second-hand smoke. Does he know it will cause lung cancer? Maybe you should train him to be environmentally conscious?”
“Picasso doesn’t give a rat’s ass about lung cancer,” Loki said. “Now he wants you to shut up and jump.”
“Like hell I’d let you toss me out again,” I warned as I leapt.
But the prince was fast. He pulled me to his side. So I jumped with him from twenty feet in the air, my hand on his arm to steady myself when I touched down on the hot sand.
I could never have done this when I’d believed myself to be human.
Loki looked at me with an appreciative smile. “You’ll always have fun with me, Celeste.”
“You call forced jumping fun?” I asked, jerking my hand away from his arm. “You should get your head checked, prince. But I doubt Hell has any good doctors since this realm is all about killing, not healing.”
“Now you spoiled the fun,” he said.
Smoky wheeled his head and shot out a cloud of smoke toward me.
I dove to avoid it, but the smell of brimstone and burning wood still got into my hair.
“Fucking animal,” I said without heat this time.
When I see you again, Princess, I hope you curse less. Smoky snorted and disappeared over the ring of volcanic mountains.
All this time, the horse had understood me perfectly.
I stared hard at Loki. “Was he serious? The talking horse that pretended to be mute gave me pointers on manners?”
“Picasso thinks he’s a good judge of character,” Loki said. “Let’s go to your class. There’ll be no orientation in the Academy. You’ll have to navigate the dangers all by yourself and survive on your own. There will be no rules either, except for obeying the demons who rank higher than you. In Hell, our hierarchy is strict. And the instructors can kill students if they see fit.”
“Peachy,” I said.
“You sound as if you’re looking forward to it, Celeste,” he said almost admiringly. “Lucifer and Ares couldn’t even scar you, and they’ve broken everyone else.”
Including him.
“Oh, the fuckers left scars, and they’ll pay for those.”
I had every intention of living through Hell’s Academy so I could see my mates again, even if only in the Dreaming. Eventually, I’d find a way back to them.
I’d abandoned all hope when I was in the Ever Realm facing the devil and the god. Back then, I’d accepted that I was done.
But my demigods had assured me in the Dreaming that I was still their beautiful monster, now and forever. They’d even fed me and let this monster drink their blood.
They’d given me back the light, and now it shone in me. That was the spark Loki had seen.
So, I was adapting and changing my strategy.
I wouldn’t fight with rage and desperation; I would use them to fuel me, like how I’d use the light and hope my mates offered me to push myself forward. Equipping myself this way, I wouldn’t allow the devil and the god to turn me and break me. I’d almost let the insane rage inside me take control, turning me as dark and evil as my enemies.
Rage and hate were the demons’ primary language, but I’d hone my weapon of light and let it pierce the murky dark.
“You’re your mother’s daughter,” Loki said. “She’d be so proud. She could never dream to be as powerful as you are.”
Mom was in another realm, trapped in the Void.
Loki led me toward the end of the beach where a military compound loomed, its large, dark gate stretching into the purple, red sky.
“Affiliating with me won’t win you any friends in Hell,” Loki warned.
“You think I don’t know that?” I said. “Don’t worry. I won’t wave your banner around like a fancy flag. And I’d bet I’m already a target just for being seen walking with you to class. Thank you very much for helping.”
I’d seen how the prince was regarded. I bet only by his will, might, ruthlessness, and viciousness had he risen to the status of the heir. I bet he’d gone through numerous battles to win that title. His tight circle was all halflings, and his army was mostly half-bloods as well.
His father respected nothing but power, brutality, and his usefulness.
Loki raised a dark eyebrow. “Would you prefer to walk alone to your first class, Celeste?”
“It’s too late to not be seen with you now,” I said. “Plus, you said not to give them an excuse to take me out if I can help it, and I’d hate to ask those ugly demon guards where my class is.”
I studied the horned guards who patrolled the area. They were glaring in our direction, axes and chainsaws in their clawed hands.
The vast iron gate behind them looked just as vicious as they did.
“Don’t trust anyone,” Loki said.
“I don’t even trust you,” I said.
“Especially those who pretend to be your friends, but will stab you in the back the first chance they get.”
And I turned to give him a once over.
“I didn’t mean me,” he said exasperatedly.
“You want to rule Hell,” I said coolly. “You don’t really want to destroy Earth. You don’t hate humans as much as your father, though you disdain them to no end. And you still have an ounce of humanity in you. I can work with you until our common enemy is done with, cousin. But don’t expect me to ever end up in your and your dukes’ beds, no matter what you promised them. And if they want to keep their dicks—”
“Their dicks are very important to them.”
We bantered as if we weren’t going to my battle class, and I tried not to get all worked up for the upcoming battle call.
A howl rose in the distance, and my hair all stood up. A massive, two-headed black hellhound, blacker than midnight, charged out of the gate toward us.
A red tongue rolled off each of his two jaws, exposing fangs longer than my hands. His two pairs of eyes glowed crimson, fixating on me. The hellhound was even more formidable than the demons.
Had the demon guards set a
hellhound on me?
In an instant, I drew my swords as I calculated my moves. I’d duck at the last minute, then send my blade sailing toward one of his heads. How would the hellhound react to having only one head left? While he wailed and brayed, I’d jump onto his back, stab my sword into the skull of his remaining head, and claim my victory.
I’d probably spit on his corpse just to show my contempt toward Lucifer and his demons.
The hellhound, however, changed direction and slammed into Loki.
Well, then, I’d let the prince display his skills. I stood by, my swords ready.
Loki rolled on the sand with the hellhound, wrestling with the beast, and then he let the hound pin him down and lick his face in affection.
“Cerberus,” Loki said, “that’s enough. I don’t have time for this today.”
The hellhound rolled his tongues over his fangs, stepped away from the prince, and grinned at me.
I didn’t grin back but stared hard at the beast to warn him not to come near enough to take a bite out of me. I didn’t want him to lick me either.
“Is he yours, or is he Lucifer’s pet?” I asked, my hands remaining tight on the hilts of my swords. “According to mythology, Cerberus also serves as a spy.”
Both Loki and Cerberus rolled their eyes at me.
“This isn’t the original Cerberus,” Loki said. “He’s the second generation, and he grew up with me. I think he also likes you.”
“Like hell he does.”
“Do not give him attitude,” Loki said sternly. “Do not hurt his feelings. He’s extremely intelligent and sensitive.”
“You said that about Smoky, too.”
“Picasso only puts up with you.”
I snorted. “Smoky assaulted me with fiery smoke.”
“That’s how he shows his fondness,” Loki said. “For fuck’s sake, this is Hell. They’re creatures of Hell. Pardon them if they don’t act like puppies gamboling in an earthly garden.”
“Pardon me, but I’ve never had puppies.”
“Now you do,” Loki grunted. “Neither of them likes many people, but they took a liking to you. Be a good sport and give him good scratches behind his ear.”