“Since I know Latin, I will keep that in mind. Thank you for the tip,” Viktor replied. “Though, Calin might want to reconsider the knives he lines his coat with. I have a lot of experience with blades from my time in the military. I think I can make a few helpful suggestions.”
“I’m all ears,” Calin said excitedly.
I’m glad to see you trying to get along with the other Nachtghuls, Anjali said privately to Viktor when she saw Hades enter the hall.
I will do my best to get along with them, for your sake, but please do not expect me to be friends with them. I will support them and fight alongside them, but I am here for you, not them, he said bluntly.
I know, she sighed. Give them time; you might change your mind. Looking up at Hades’ mask of hatred, she prepared herself for the worst. I need to deal with this, and trust me, you don’t want to see how ugly it can get between Hades and me, especially since we haven’t spoken about why he sent his Harpies after me in the first place.
I’ve heard some interesting things about him. Good luck, Viktor said as the other Nachtghuls bowed to Hades before leaving the hall.
The Predznak followed suit and left her alone with Hades.
She crossed the room and sat upon her throne. She held her breath and waited for him to begin his tirade now that he’d put Hell back in order after resting for part of the previous day.
He cleared his throat and adjusted his blue tie. “I assumed that your head is back in the game now that the matter with Viktor has been settled and Haydn is in his room plotting my death as we speak. I must say, I do enjoy having so many murderers back under one roof,” he said disdainfully. He crossed his arms and glanced up at her. “Jared said that you wanted to speak with me. I’m ready to deal with whatever inane conversation you wish to have with me. I will take this moment to remind you that I was on your side in regard to Viktor despite you holding a burning hot Celestial Sword to my throat.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I had the sword at your throat to distract Aello and make her feel sympathy for you, which worked by the way. Had you killed her centuries ago, it would have never happened. As far as siding with me against Lucifer, you did it to save your own ass. I know you well enough to understand that you threw me a bone to appease me. I want to know how long you thought it would take me to remember that you sent your Harpies to attack me. You can lie to me if you wish, but I have my memories of the attack. They killed my mortal lover, the same lover you just helped to save, so I suggest that you watch your tone with me. I kicked the shit out of your monsters, but I still owe you an ass kicking for sending them after me. Just to be clear, I don’t buy Lucifer’s lies about wanting me to draw Celaeno out into the open so that you couldn’t use her to overthrow Hell. Lucifer wanted me to learn the truth about what you did to me, Hades. For some reason, he wants me to kill you, though I’m unclear as to why that would be. Regardless, now that I know the truth, I believe it invalidates our truce.”
Hades appeared indifferent to her story. “I had hoped that you would never remember,” he said glibly.
Anjali put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow at him. “That’s all you have to say?
Hades steepled his fingers and looked at her from over the top of them. “Your ring was removed before the fight with the Harpies, was it not?” he asked casually.
Dumbfounded, she nodded her head. “The Harpies made the mistake of removing my ring, so what?”
The corner of Hades mouth curled into something mimicking a smile. “Zeus feared you, dear Lady Black. If you destroyed the world, he would have no one to worship him. He was too vain and power hungry to allow that to happen. As a double agent, I constantly had to prove my loyalty and my worth to the Rogue Angels. When Zeus decreed that you must die, I volunteered to send my assassins. As I have told you before, I believe in what you are destined to do, so I knew I had to send a foe that you could defeat. I had spies following the Council during that time since I feared they would skewer me if they thought I had turned on them. It was a dangerous time for everyone. There was a constant witch-hunt. My spies found out where you were through Gabriel. I knew you were in mortal form, but I needed your location. All it took was the mention of Zeus searching for you and Gabriel ran to your side. With your location in hand, I sent my Harpies.
“I assumed that some part of you would find a way to fight unnatural creatures, as long as your ring was removed—another tidbit I learned over the years. For the record, even I didn’t know how resilient the Harpies were at the time. In truth, I had hoped you would kill the beasts. I detested them, but they were my responsibility. Had I killed them at the time, Zeus would have questioned my loyalty during a critical time in the war.
“When Celaeno returned to tell her tale, I had to explain to Zeus that the Harpies had failed, but I lied and told him that I finished the job myself and killed you. Zeus was so mad at the Harpies that he hit Aello and Ocypete with lightning bolts. Celaeno was spared since it was clear she had put up a fight based on her injuries.
“I swear to you that I thought Aello was dead until a few days ago. I kept Celaeno hidden away and tried to tame her appetite. Over the years, I moved her from place to place to keep her hidden, but apparently, Aello found her. The two of them kept Aello’s existence a secret so that they could remain together. Aello’s hatred of me grew because I didn’t protect her from Zeus. Celaeno’s unwavering loyalty to me earned her a reprieve from death for years, until I saw what she and Aello were doing to the people in that town. The rest of the story, you already know.
“Regardless of what you think of me, Lady Black, I kept you safe from Zeus and the other false gods,” Hades said proudly. “I didn’t speak of the incident with the Harpies because you would have killed me. Don’t bother saying that you wouldn’t have killed me because we both know it would be a lie. You have to admit that I have always tried to do what was right at any given time, including when you were turning Lucifer into a crying mess,” he proclaimed.
Anjali scrubbed her face and tried to calm her thoughts. “Only you would believe that sending Harpies to kill me would be considered a way of keeping me safe. We need to work on your understanding of the word ‘safe’,” she said.
Hades shrugged. “You don’t want to know what Zeus was planning to send to kill you. It was much larger and able to breathe fire, so be grateful I sent a few Harpies after you. Clearly, they were not worthy opponents for the Destroyer. As far as killing Viktor is concerned, he was a mortal and mortals die,” he said, waving his hand as if to dismiss any other reason for her to hate him.
“There are so many things wrong with that explanation, but I would need a year to be able to explain to you in depth so that your demented mind would understand,” she complained.
He shrugged indifferently and put his hands in his pockets, something she had never see him do before. He almost looked like a child who was trying to get out of a punishment.
“I assume that our truce is still intact, My Lady,” he said formally as he glanced up at her timidly.
She was so shocked by his innocent expression that her anger faltered. She debated if she could trust him, at least for the foreseeable future. She was so desperate to talk to someone about the incident with Demyan that she considered confiding in Hades. He had proven to be an ally today, and according to her Nachtghuls, he had been uncharacteristically worried about her when she had gone missing.
“I will agree to the terms of our former truce if you answer me one question, Hades,” she said softly. She hoped that she wasn’t misplacing her trust in him.
Hades was caught by surprise when it sounded as if their truce might truly be over. He expected to see anger in her eyes as she looked up at him, but instead he found fear. Did she actually fear him now? He hoped not, since he had been the one with the Celestial Sword at his throat, on top of coming to her aid during her fight with Lucifer. He had stuck his neck out for her, literally, which thankfully did not result in his
neck being struck by Lucifer’s sword.
He was intrigued and nervous when her eyes were wider than usual and she appeared to question whether or not she should ask her question. Remembering his drunken conversation with Miguel in the bar and the vow he had made to find a way to win her trust, he couldn’t help but step forward and answer whatever question was plaguing her.
“If our truce depends upon it, then ask me whatever insufferable question is buzzing around your head,” he said. He cringed at his snarky tone, but he still had to keep a healthy distance from her until Lucifer was run over by a flaming dump truck or had finally done something stupid enough to earn him a place in the Hall of Shadows.
She hesitated and fidgeted with the beading on her dress. His curiosity was ready to boil over while waiting for her to speak. He had never seen her so at odds with herself before. He caught himself before he took her hands in his and begged her to ask him anything.
“You know a lot about Celestial Bonds because of the Hall of Shadows prisoners and from personal experience, right?” she asked tentatively.
He was immediately on edge at the mention of the despicable bonds. He worried that this was some kind of trap that would result in him being locked away in Shadows. “I have experience with them, yes,” he said curtly.
Taking a small step toward him, he checked her hands to make sure that she was unarmed.
“Has anyone ever escaped them before by using their powers or somehow breaking them?” she asked so quietly that he almost didn’t hear her.
“They are inescapable, Lady Black. Teeth and fangs are still at the disposal of the prisoners, but they are usually too weak to pose much of a threat. I have seen all manner of beast restrained by the bonds and the only way to escape is to fool a stupid or reckless guard into freeing a prisoner or threatening their lives. The bonds are powered by Father’s wrath. There are a few creatures who cannot be contained within them, such as the Syankas or even the Harpies, since they were created by unnatural means. The false gods were all spawned by the Veteres, which were created by Father, so they can be held in the bonds. You have seen with your own eyes what happened to Fenris, the Wolf God, when he was returned to his bonds. Even with his immense strength and power, he was unable to stand up on his own,” Hades said. He wasn’t sure why Lady Black was suddenly afraid of having the prisoners escape from Shadows.
She nodded absently, but it didn’t appease the worry on her face.
“Lady Black, the prisoners are contained. I’m not sure what this is about, but we are safe here,” he said gently. He cursed himself for acting kind to her, but she was rattled by something.
Averting her eyes to stare at the mirror behind them, she leaned in closer. For a split second, he thought that she was going to kiss him, but he quickly controlled his wild thoughts when he saw that she was afraid to be overheard. Since there were no servants in the room, he had no idea why she was worried.
“Do you swear upon our pact that you will never repeat what I am about to tell you?” she asked in all seriousness.
He was stunned by her question until he saw that her delicate hands were shaking. The most powerful woman he had ever come into contact with was terrified of something, which should have made him end this conversation and walk away, but he couldn’t help himself. She was asking him to trust her and accept whatever she was about to confide in him. He should have told her to fuck off, but he couldn’t. So help him, he couldn’t turn away from her terrified face.
“I swear that I will neither repeat this conversation nor hold it against you in the future,” he said quietly so that only she could hear him.
She paced back and forth a few times, which almost made him laugh since she reminded him of Gabriel when he was fretting. He held back his amusement and waited patiently for her to continue.
She finally stopped and moved so close to him that the bottom of her dress brushed up against his suit pants. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed to keep his eyes locked on hers rather than anywhere else on her body.
“Demyan tried to kill me. I don’t mean that he tried and he missed, I mean that he had me within his sights and should have sliced off my head, just as Tabbris did to him. I was bound and had been for days. I was exhausted and weak. I saw the sword coming toward me and knew that Demyan would not stop, yet I am standing in front of you to tell my tale,” she said vaguely.
Hades was furious that a Celestial Warrior had dared to strike her down, but calmed himself when he remembered that Demyan was dead and he couldn’t seek vengeance upon a headless corpse. He quelled his rage and allowed himself to move to the next logical step. He wondered how she had stopped Demyan.
“Go on. Tell me the part that has you so upset since I doubt you are disappointed that he didn’t kill you,” he said indifferently. He held his breath, waiting to hear how she had escaped death.
“You may not believe me, but I used my power, Hades. In a last ditch effort, I removed my ring, though it wasn’t enough to save me. I was so angry and outraged that he had condemned me to death that something inside of me snapped. I no longer felt like Anjali, I felt like the Destroyer. All I saw was a Celestial Warrior breaking his oath to protect God’s creations and I refused to allow him to kill me. It wasn’t within his right. My rage somehow broke through my restraints and blew him across the mountain we were standing on. I flattened the trees all around us and permanently moved the path of a river. The Destroyer didn’t seem to care that she was supposed to be bound. She stopped Demyan’s sword with her power and I don’t know how she did it,” Lady Black said as if she were speaking about someone other than herself.
Hades forgot how to breathe for a moment. No one in the history of time had ever accomplished such a feat to his knowledge. No wonder she wanted to keep their truce intact. Without it, he would have no leverage against her. He would have no way of stopping or containing her if they were to feud. She was protecting him by offering to maintain their ceasefire.
Unsure of how to respond, he rearranged his features to appear as if he were contemplating what she had said, even though his mind was blank. He nodded thoughtfully and tried to formulate the correct response, if there were one.
“Hades, this isn’t the first time it’s happened, though it is the first time that I can remember the incident,” she said as her voice trembled.
His mind raced to figure out when she could have done the impossible a second time. It was one thing for the incident with Demyan to be a fluke, but it was a very different thing if she had done the unimaginable twice. He reviewed everything he knew about her history, as limited as it was due to the information black out from the Council, but he was able to come up with a possible occurrence.
“You killed Farouk after you were captured by the warriors and locked in bonds for your return to Heaven for your trial,” he guessed. “I don’t know the details other than Gabriel arguing that it was an accident.” He felt numb as he thought about the implications. If she had killed a warrior on purpose, everything that he knew about her would forever be altered. Killing a helpless warrior would be punishable by death. Immediately regretting his decision to listen to her story, he wanted to disappear into the floor and provoke Lucifer so that he would remove his head. The Bringer of the Apocalypse by her very nature was a murderer, but she was meant to smite the wicked, which was a kinder and more acceptable way of saying that she would obliterate the mortals and the Mortal Realm. He couldn’t bring himself to think of her as a cold-blooded murderer.
“Hades, Farouk tried to sexually assault me after sending Demyan to the village. He had me pinned beneath him and there was no one to save me. I can’t explain how I did it other than to say that I was scared and angry. I searched for any way to get myself out of the situation. There was an explosion and the trees still standing after my initial storm were shredded. I didn’t mean to kill Farouk or rather; I believed it was an accident. I know now that Farouk was less than honorable and had attacked a mortal woman befo
re, which led to him stabbing Haydn with a Celestial Sword. I can only say that the Destroyer must have recognized Farouk’s past sins and retaliated, but I swear that I didn’t want to kill him, only punish him,” she said, breaking down into sobs.
Without thinking, he took her into his arms and let her cry into his lapel. He was at a loss for words though he did believe that she hadn’t intended to kill her attacker. For the second time, he was grateful that a Celestial Warrior was dead. He would’ve had no mercy upon Farouk if he were still above ground.
“It seems that the Council punished the wrong person,” he said when his brain restarted and searched for an appropriate response.
She sniffled and stepped away from him. He handed her his handkerchief, which was more ornamental than anything.
“I guess they did,” she snickered.
“I would advise you not to tell anyone other than those close to you, though I would avoid telling Gabriel. Plausible deniability would be prudent in his case. He fought for your innocence in the matter, so it’s best to let him believe that. He needs to remain ignorant and neutral in case he is ever called into question regarding future incidents. He is your biggest supporter. You don’t want him lying to the Council about your ability to be bound, if needed,” he said judiciously.
She nodded and blew her nose into his blue handkerchief. “Why do you think I am able to do this? Keep in mind that I’ve never been able to do it the other times I was bound.”
He reflected on her question and pondered the reason behind it. “You were being threatened, My Lady. I believe that if you had been bound when I tried to take your head, you would have done the same. You proved to me that day, not only how powerful you were, but how I did not have the right to kill Father’s greatest gift to the world. I would suggest that you use this ability wisely and only in great times of need, since you will need to keep up appearances if you are ever bound again. I would also warn you not to rely on the fact that you might be able to connect to your power. I believe that it will work only during times of imminent danger or great bodily harm. Farouk attacking you was a despicable act indeed, but I truly believe that he would have killed you had he succeeded in violating you. He most likely would have released you from your bonds to draw you into a fight that you could not win. The Destroyer likely sensed the same thing since deception and death are well within her understanding,” he said, following Lady Black’s use of the third person while talking about her darker side.
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