“Because your power is unmatched.” My mind jumped to the demon from the other night. He had way more power than I did.
Coal gave the tiniest shake of his head. He knew just what I was thinking, and the look he gave me said I had better not say anything.
“Why would it matter if my power is so great?” I asked. I eyed the teakettle, a cup of cocoa calling my name. I didn’t do well with tricky situations. All I wanted to do was drown myself in hot chocolate.
“Well, I’m not exactly sure why he would want you gone. It’s not like you can kill him, only I can.” I squinted my eyes at nothing in general. Her words hit hard. Even though Hades wanted nothing to do with me, I still didn’t want her running in and taking what was mine. “My guess is that he doesn’t want Lucifer getting a hold of you,” she mused, shoving one hand in the pocket of her leather pants as if she were bored. I was glad one of us was laid back and comfortable with the situation because I sure wasn’t.
“What would it matter if Lucifer got a hold of her?” asked Coal. I jumped at the gravelly tone in his voice––Scylla was not on his list of worthy people. His eyes traveled over her body, his top lip turning up in an almost snarl.
“Well, as many souls as she produces for Hades, I can only imagine what Lucifer would have her doing.” It made sense, but that hardly seemed a reason for Daddy wanting me dead. Her face was hard to read, and she crossed her arms over her belly as if closing herself off to us. Did she know something else and wasn’t telling us?
Daddy wanting me dead couldn’t be because I was getting more and more powerful. I was able to kill hundreds at a time if I wanted to. You would think he would want to take me in, nurture me, train me, mold me into what he wanted to keep his numbers up.
You see, each religion believes they are on top, that their story is true. That their god is the best, and their devil is the worst. In reality, they all exist, each cult with their following, fighting to stay on top, fighting to have people piss themselves at the thought of them.
Daddy was the big man on campus, the one everyone feared, until Christianity came barreling down the timeline.
Lucifer was a ruthless SOB, and he would stop at nothing for control. He didn’t want just the Underworld as a whole. He wanted the topside as well. He’s thirsty for power and is gaining, waiting until he can open the gate.
So much so that they created a council, think of them as the UN, there to keep the peace between the under realms since the gods are too busy upstairs with their worshippers to give a crap. The council members do the sniffing, making sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to, keeping a log of everything. Making sure one isn’t more powerful than the other but even they are struggling to keep up.
The Lords, like Daddy and Lucifer, and all the others were getting restless. They were tired of having all the power and being unstoppable when all they could do with it was torture souls and rule their portion of the Underworld. They want more. They’re starting to take even the good souls that would be going upstairs rather than down. Which quite frankly, I didn’t care either way, but the thought of any of them coming topside, especially Lucifer, sucked. I liked my little life, and I didn’t want them to ruin it.
Plus, Daddy tried to kill me and was currently planning to kill me if no one got to me first. He had to go down before coming topside and taking over was even an option for him.
“So, why are you looking for me?” I figured it was the best place to start since she had yet to answer the question.
“Well, my mother, Hecate, or adopted mother, I don’t know my actual mother, was a witch.”
“Hecate raised you?” She nodded, but her eyes went sad.
“The very witch Hades used to have me killed and you created.” So, technically I did have a mom and a bad ass one at that. In a way, we did have the same parents. Did that mean we were sort of sisters? I let the conclusion stay with me so she could finish her story. I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about it. “He couldn’t leave me alive in fear that I would one day succeed in killing him and take over, but he couldn’t kill me and have people question where his spawn went either. So, he went to the woman who raised me, begging her to kill me and to create a child for him.”
“But I didn’t have a childhood,” I said. The words forced a hard swallow from her, like she wasn’t expecting my challenge to her story.
“That was the only thing she couldn’t do.” For the first time since we had started talking, she had a sincere look on her face, and it was a frown. “She couldn’t have a child running around with your sort of power under Hades’s control. That would make him too powerful. So, she made you, drawn from the shadows, dark and ruthless,” she said the words like she was just trying to fan my ego. “But an adult, able to make your own deductions on the world. Something to keep him on his toes but not fully able to kill him on your own.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “That was his clause, or else it was a no-go. In return, Hades offered to protect her family from being swayed by Lucifer and his men. Which was more of a gain for him rather than her.”
I sat back on the couch, listening intently. Coal followed Scylla with burning irises as she paced while she talked. She made no eye contact with either of us. She was that lost in the story or working that hard to fabricate her lies.
I wondered what it would be like to be a child and have Hecate telling me stories, telling me of my heritage, no matter how dark. What would it feel like to have a mother? A sister? Hell, even a father that gave a shit. I tried not to let myself go there. It would only be depressing, especially if she turned out to be lying. My life was troubled enough. I didn’t need the added drama of a maybe sister turning dark.
Curious, Coal asked, “So, how are you still alive?”
“Hades was so wrapped up in her and keeping her a secret,” pain, and perhaps jealousy, flashed across her features, “it wasn’t that hard for Mother to keep me alive without him knowing.” In my head, I called bullshit. This was all too weird. “He didn’t wait around to see me murdered. She figured, raised in the right hands, she could use me for good. That is until Hades found out about the dagger. Hecate’s failsafe.” Whelp, there it was. She knew about the dagger.
My eyes ticked over to Coal. He sat still as a statue, not even looking at me. Man, he had a fantastic poker face. As in just about every other aspect of life, I had a lot to learn from him.
Feeling smart and remembering not to act like I knew what she was talking about, I asked, “Failsafe?” She nodded, then pressed her back to the wall and lowered herself into a squat. I tried not to let her comfort in the situation make me complacent. I needed to keep my guard up, learn as much as I could from her. If anything, we could use her blood to find the dagger. A thought I’m sure Coal had already covered.
“That’s where you come in. She created a dagger, the only thing that can kill daddy, aside from me. Just in case he was to ever find out about me and somehow end me––the one being that could maybe be strong enough to kill him. She needed something else that would kill him should his reach ever be overextended and he made it topside.” She stopped thoughtfully. A barely-there smile started forming on her lips but vanished just as fast as if it were never there. “But here’s the catch, it’s hidden where no soul could ever go. I’ve been searching for the last millennia for it.” Her ocean green eyes went murky and filled with tears. I couldn’t help but question the integrity of the waterworks. “He killed her when he found out about the dagger.”
“I’m so sorry.” I almost felt for her. I knew what it was like to be lonely, not to have anyone. To make your work your life’s mission when everything else lets you down.
“It's okay because I’m going to kill him, take over the Underside, and put it back on top, like our pathetic father hasn’t been able to do.” To me, that was the first actually genuine thing to come out of her mouth. Maybe because Coal shifted, his stone-cold features settled just a little. Excitement permeated the air. My heart raced at the th
ought of reigning the Underside, at the idea of killing Daddy and making myself a superweapon. Without him to bring me down, the possibilities were endless.
Would it be a race as to who gets to him first? Would I be fighting her as well as him?
“I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to figure out where it was that no soul could go. I used a spell that Mother used, with my blood, thinking it would lead me to the dagger since she used Hades’s blood to bind him to it. Instead, it led me to you.”
“To me?” I jabbed myself in the chest, feeling giddy. Why, I wasn’t sure, but imagine a world where you were tied to the one thing that could kill a Lord? Cool right? Maybe things were starting to look up. My smile died as soon as I met Coal’s eyes. He was set on not giving away too much information and didn’t seem the least bit excited for what we just learned. His quietness was a bit unsettling.
Did he know more about the dagger than he led on?
No, Coal is a friend. He is here to help. My inner bitch started, and for the first time, I let her. I had to try to trust Coal, especially now that our possible list of enemies was climbing, and he had his judgments of her that I would surely hear later.
“Yes, you. The dagger is someplace where no soul can go. And I have been boggling my mind trying to figure out how to get the dagger if no soul can go. I’ve been following you for weeks, and then it dawned on me. I can’t see your soul. You don’t have a soul.” She kept saying it, and every time, her elation grew.
“I am the only one who can retrieve the dagger?” Her eyes lit up, emerald oceans swirling with a buzz so strong the air zapped around her. I wanted to believe her, to believe that she was here for the right reasons. But the fact she thought I was the key to getting the dagger also meant that I could be dying very soon and never get my chance to kill Daddy.
“Precisely, you are the key to ending Hades.”
“Way to go, Hecate.” I had to admire her handy work, though I was still skeptical.
“Way to go, Mama, indeed.” She halted her pacing and came to a stop directly in front of me, her eyes wide. “Are you in?”
“You bet your sweet ass I’m in.”
Coal groaned long and low, looking very uncomfortable. She shot him a look. I slapped a hand on his thigh and said, “Chin up, it's just getting good.” He tightened his jaw and just stared at me. I turned to Scylla, “So, where is the dagger?”
“The core of the earth, under the West Mata Volcano.”
I froze. “As in where the Mata bats live? The bats that believed to be as big as him?”
“Yes.”
“I’m out.” Her eyes snapped to me. Coal grumbled, and they shared a look. I jumped to my feet, then turned into the kitchen for some water, my throat suddenly dry.
“What?”
“You heard me. I’m out.”
“Unbelievable. Over some bats?”
“Giant,” I emphasized, pointing to Coal once again. “As in huge bats that could eat me. Little bats are creepy enough. I’m not interested in seeing giant ones. Nope, no way. Uh-uh.”
“So, it's not the magma pools, eruptions, or the fact of being in the core of the earth that bothers you. It’s bats.”
“Yep.”
“So, the shadow has a fear.”
“Sure do.”
“Pussy,” she mocked.
“Am not.”
“Are too.” I stuck my tongue out at her and stomped my foot, getting carried away and letting my guard slip just a little.
“I’m not going.”
“Unbelievable,” Coal said, way too exaggerated, as he stood. His massive body blocked the sunlight from coming in.
I whipped my head around to him, giving him the shut-up eye. “Unbelievable what?”
“I can’t believe you’re not going to go. This bastard deserves to die. He robbed you of a childhood, created you, left you alone. He had his daughter killed, leaving her without a father. Now he wants you dead. Not to mention what he’s doing to the good souls that have been sent to the Underside instead of where they deserve to be. Not that that matters to you, but it does to some of us.” Ouch, I was almost offended.
Jaw gaping open, I just stared at him, trying to get a feel for why the mood changed all of a sudden. There was no way he went from a cold-hearted statue, who didn’t flinch when Hades killed Hecate and Scylla had tears in her eyes, to interested in jumping into a cave full of life-sized bats. “This bastard deserves to die. I figured you of all people would be jumping at that opportunity.” He didn’t let an ounce of his facade slip. He was good.
I pondered his words, working them around in my noggin.
There was no risk.
Or Scylla could be lying, and this all could be a ruse. She could be working with my father as well. He could’ve gotten to her and convinced her to retrieve the dagger, knowing full well I wouldn’t do it for him. What, did he promise her control of the Underside once I was out of the picture? This could be some elaborate plan to take me out then her. With both of us gone and control of the dagger, he would be unstoppable.
Maybe Daddy Dearest wasn’t as pathetic as we thought.
My mind was racing, and once again, I didn’t know who to trust. I didn’t want to trust anyone, but at this point, I had no choice. Coal was turning out to be a good partner, though I wasn’t sure of his change of heart. I’m sure I would find out as soon as she left. And Scylla had all the answers I needed, but getting tangled with her could end up in my death in more ways than one and Daddy accomplishing what we were setting out to stop him from doing.
I took to pacing again. Killing I could do. Soul snatching, I got ya. But trusting someone, I was well out of my comfort zone on this one.
I glanced to Coal, who instantly made eye contact with me. He didn’t have the eyes of a liar, did he?
Then, there was Scylla. I wanted so badly to believe her. To know that I had real family out there. But was she family? We had no actual blood bonds. Nothing tied her to me or stopped her from the ultimate betrayal. She did mention how badly she wanted to reform the Underside and put it back on top. How far would she go to do just that?
Would she want me by her side when she did, or would she take me out also? I grunted, wanting to rip every hair from my damn head. This was so frustrating. My stomach was in knots, and I doubted myself. Feelings were so gross.
Chin up, buttercup, you’re a badass. No matter what she may have in store for you, Daddy Dearest wants you dead.
And that meant he needed to die.
Either of them could betray me. That’s fine. I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. I was a shadow, a one-of-a-kind bitch, and this world was my oyster.
“I’m in.” I caught Coal’s gaze, then looked to Scylla. Her eyes were unreadable, but her smile told me I gave her the answer she wanted to hear. Hopefully, it wasn’t one that was going to lead me to my death.
“We are going to be great together,” she beamed, and I got the feeling it was a little bit of a stretch. There was still a chance I could get the dagger and use it to take her out if I needed to. Only time would tell. I smiled on the outside, but on the inside, I would remain guarded until we saw this thing through. Someone was going to die, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me.
Coal stretched his long arms, then dropped them to his sides. “I’m in, too,” he said, his head slowly moving about as he scrutinized Scylla’s face. I shot him an approving smirk and clapped him on the shoulder, glad he was in. Though I’m pretty sure as long as it involved getting my father back, he would be there regardless.
“To the bat caves we go,” I said with a grimace.
16
“You don’t trust her,” I said.
“What’s Thanksgiving?” Coal asked as if the entire conversation with Scylla hadn’t taken place. I opened my mouth, totally caught off guard, then closed it, unsure exactly what to say. The only holidays I bothered with were Christmas, I was good at giving myself gifts, and Halloween, giving out the oldest, mos
t stale candy I could find to all the little shitheads.
“Thanksgiving, uh … well, it's something to do with pilgrims and Indians and turkey. Lots of turkey and food and crap. Another reason for humans to celebrate by slaughtering countless animals. It happens every year in November, a big family to do, everyone is off of work.”
“Lots of food sounds right up your alley. Do you celebrate it?” I laughed. What did he think?
“Well, considering it involves a family that I don’t have and cooking, definitely not.”
“Oh, right, sorry,” he sobered.
“Hey, no skin off my back. I’m very much used to being on my own.” I pulled out a barstool and poured myself a glass of vodka from the bottle Coal bought during a trip to the store the other day.
We officially had food in the apartment, which consisted more of him walking through and cataloging things we needed, then making them magically appear on the countertop once we arrived back at the apartment. The cupboards were full of insanely processed stuff like macaroni and cheese cups and TV dinners––lots of bread for sandwiches, cereal, and Pop Tarts. He even refilled my cocoa stash since he had taken a liking to it, and he, of course, couldn’t have just one. It had to be an amount proportionate for him. We had to find him the most oversized mug possible so that he didn’t break mine. It fit him appropriately, shaped like a Chewbacca head.
We were living like bachelors, but hey, it was food.
He peeled the plastic wrapping off of a dinner and popped it in the microwave.
“I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to just pop a hole in that, Betty Crocker, not take it off. The microwave will be a mess when it starts popping shit everywhere.” He gave me a dry look. I smiled––like I cared or bothered to clean the microwave. Since he had been there, he had cleaned the oven, filled the cupboards, wiped down the bathroom, vacuumed and dusted, and disinfected the microwave. He was a real Susie Homemaker and didn’t like my gross ways of living. He grunted and put his lips to the vodka bottle.
Pawns Daughters of The Underworld Book 1 Page 15