by Bella Klaus
“I believe we’ve heard enough.” Hades released his fists.
The Mage King convulsed and fell onto his back, his arms and legs splayed. Red light glowed from deep within the Mage King’s concave stomach, spreading up his chest and throat.
Burning flesh reached my nostrils, and nausea surged through my gut, hitting the back of my throat. The memory of Aurora’s molten flesh filled my mind—the Mage King was burning from the inside out. He probably had been this entire time, and Hades just blocked the other man’s pain receptors so he could make his confession.
I turned from the sight of the man on fire to the Demon King who stared down at me with an expectant smile. “How long had you suspected the Mage King of working with Kresnik?”
Hades paused, his lips thinning. “I suspected that there was a spy at the highest level of the Supernatural Council. At first, I thought it was King Valentine—”
“Because of his father?” I asked, trying not to bristle.
“It was mostly his constant attempts to sway the Council into lenience for fire users.” Hades’ gaze swept down my form. “Now that I think about it, King Valentine likely suspected you were a fire user and engineered your public and humiliating break-up to give you an excuse to leave Logris.”
“You’re wrong,” I lied.
Hades tapped his chin. “It did seem unusually cruel for the Vampire King, who always ensured his women were well treated. Peculiar since his fascination with you continued until after his death.”
I clenched my teeth, keeping my features even at the Demon King’s pathetic attempt to suggest that Valentine was promiscuous. “When did you stop suspecting my fiancé?”
“Not until my undercover jaunt in the Flame, where I discovered Kresnik could detach his shadow.” Hades shrugged. “It wasn’t enough to connect the Mage King with Kresnik, but I had always wondered how he’d managed to rise to power with no family connections, political acumen, or common sense.”
I tilted my head to the side, my brows drawing together into a frown. That still didn’t answer my question. Not every evil thing or act of ambition that took place in the world was because of Kresnik. “So how did you connect the two?”
“When you told me that King Valentine had been betrayed, I immediately knew who was capable of prioritizing petty revenge over defeating the largest threat to the Supernatural World in a thousand years.”
I shook my head and turned at the Mage King’s corpse. His torso was now a blackened ribcage, with a charred skull sitting atop his skinny neck. Only his arms and legs remained intact, their interiors turning molten and hollow.
A hiss filled the air, and Namara walked past spraying an unmarked aerosol can toward the ceiling. It was probably an air freshener powerful enough to mask even the most diabolical of sins.
“At least that’s one powerful ally of Kresnik defeated,” I said with a sigh.
Hades nodded, tilting his head to the side and surveying the burning Mage King like he was a fascinating work of art. He leaned forward, blowing a stream of air into the burning corpse that accelerated the flames and covered it with a thick layer of ash.
“It explains how Kresnik had such an intricate knowledge of our workings,” he said between gusting breaths.
“And how he knew in advance which children would be snatched.” I stepped back several paces and chewed on the inside of my cheek. Hades seemed a little too practiced in burning corpses.
Hades stood in silence for a few moments, waving his fingers until the Mage King’s entire structure collapsed into a pile of ash.
A sharp breath whistled through my teeth, and I reared back. Was that what being the Demon King entailed? Securing the souls of wicked supernaturals in Hell, maintaining the veil between the worlds, and impromptu cremations? At times like this, Hades’ cold-bloodedness could be terrifying. Not for the first time, I thanked myself for using my blood to resurrect him, which reminded me…
I turned to the desk Namara had occupied, my gaze fixing on a silver letter opener. “Let’s bring him back.”
He wrapped a hand around my wrist. “What are you doing?”
“Resurrecting him so he can face punishment,” I said.
“I already cast his soul to Hell,” he said. “Forcing those ashes to resurrect will only create a soulless husk.”
“Right.” A shudder ran down my spine. We didn’t need any more like Brother David wandering around.
“There is one dilemma that plagues my conscience.” Hades smoothed down the front of his silk dressing gown, his fingers accentuating the contours of his chest.
My eyes narrowed. If the Demon King had a sense of morality, he was in the wrong job. “What’s this all about?”
“How on earth will you explain the death of yet another Supernatural Council monarch at your hands?” he drawled.
The blood in my veins turned to icy sludge, and my mouth dropped open to release the contents of my lungs. “What?”
“You murdered a man.” Hades pointed at the pile of ash.
“You helped,” I spluttered.
He wagged his finger, flashing me an inhumanly wide grin.
“But you set me up…” My gaze darted to Namara, who sat behind the desk and shrugged. Then I turned back to Hades, who stared down at me with raised brows.
Hades leaned toward me, his features reflecting a smug superiority I longed to slap off his face. “How could I have predicted you would activate a weapon for which you have no training and use it to murder my erstwhile colleague?”
My body temperature rose, and the pounding in my head amplified to a deafening boom that shook my eardrums. The scythe in my hand reduced to the size of a flick-knife, slipped from my fingers, and fell to the wood floor with a soft click.
I’d been outmaneuvered.
They must have known I would lash out at the Mage King for what he did to Valentine. The worst part was that Hades could have held back my flames until the Mage King confessed his involvement with Kresnik to the rest of the Council.
Hades could also have kept the other man’s soul tethered to this plane and forced it to confess but he did no such thing because he was a manipulative bastard.
I couldn’t even complain about his actions because this kind of underhanded behavior came with his job description. The way Logris worked, it was probably my fault for associating with a demon.
“Why?” I asked from between clenched teeth.
The fire burning in his irises flared with triumph. Hades leaned closer, pulling the loose cravat from around his black dressing gown and revealing his muscular chest. I turned my gaze to find him dropping it from his fingers. The red fabric seemed to hover in the air for several heartbeats. It was either an optical illusion, blind panic freezing time, or him trying to impress.
My throat dried. I took a step back to put some distance between myself and Hades, but my ass hit the desk. Moving as subtly as I could, I crept around its wooden edge, keeping my gaze fixed on the demonic predator looming over me.
“Miss Griffin,” he said in a voice that plucked at my nerves with sharpened nails. “Did you or did you not murder a monarch of the Supernatural Souncil?”
“You helped,” I snarled.
He widened his eyes in faux innocence, turning to Namara, who had taken his seat on the other side of the desk. “Where was I when this young criminal slayed the Mage King?”
“You retreated to the mezzanine because Miss Griffin threatened to burn off your testicles, my lord,” she replied.
“No—” My mouth clicked shut, and I shot the horned female a glare. “Wait a minute, you weren’t even in the room at the time.”
Hades shook his head and tutted. “A disturbed young woman with violent tendencies and a proclivity for violence against the Supernatural Council. We see this all the time.”
I balled my fists, clenched my teeth, and snarled. “If you tell the Council about that pile of ashes, I won’t be the only one suffering. It doesn’t matter if you get Namara to
do it because whatever punishment they give me will backfire on you. Besides, you held back my magic for enough time to satisfy your curiosity, yet you let him burn. Isn’t that aiding and abetting?”
“And I will live with my failure to defend the Mage King from the raging phoenix for the rest of my life.” He placed a hand on his chest and bowed his head.
The muscles of my neck tightened, and I clenched my teeth hard enough to grind them into dust. Hades was even more annoying than the Mage King. “Will you stop being a dick and tell me what this is about?”
“I want a favor in exchange for my silence.” His gaze flicked down to my lips and back to my eyes.
My jaw clenched. Hadn’t he learned his lesson from when I threatened to burn off his balls? “If this is another attempt to—”
“Unspecified,” he said with a wide grin.
“What are you talking about?” I snapped.
“The favor I request in exchange for my silence is unspecified until the time of my choosing.”
Breathing hard through flared nostrils, I met his self-satisfied grin with a glower. This was the worst kind of devil’s bargain because Hades could ask for anything from my firstborn, to Valentine’s heart, to my soul. Even humans had cautionary fairy tales to deal with instances like this, such as Rumpelstiltskin.
I prodded him hard in his chest, making sure to add a flare of fire to my fingertip. “What would the Supernatural Council say if they knew how we really met and the exact nature of our bond?”
All the smugness melted from his features, and his eyes sharpened. “For your sake, you will keep that information confidential.”
“Is that a threat?” I snarled.
“Merely a statement of fact.” He stepped back, his lack of presence easing a layer of tension off my shoulders. “My enemies would love to use our connection as a means of getting rid of me.”
“Then stop trying to dominate me and let’s work together.”
Hades folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve been trying to work with you since we left the Flame.”
I shook off that comment. Our definitions of cooperation were wildly different and there was no point discussing the concept of fairness with a Demon King. “You said Valentine’s body was safe.”
His eyes narrowed. “I did…”
“Will you ask whoever’s watching over Koffiek to bring him?”
“Not until you give me something in return,” he said.
“Bugger that,” I spat.
His brows rose. “I’m impressed that a young woman of your sensibilities would even know about pegging.”
I had no idea what he was talking about and didn’t care to admit it. It was probably a kinky sex game involving clothes pegs or something equally as painful. I sidestepped the Demon King, cast my gaze around his mahogany-lined office, and paused at the cheval mirror large enough to accommodate a woman-sized phoenix.
At least an hour had passed since my twin bodyguards had helped me escape the coffee shop, and I needed to find Valentine before someone decided to discard his body or incinerate it.
“What are you doing?” Hades drawled, sounding thoroughly bored.
“Going back for Valentine,” I said. “Nut? Geb? Are you there?”
A warm hand landed on my arm.
“Whatever Valentine promised you, I’ll double it if you come with me to collect his body.”
“You don’t want to do that,” Hades said from behind.
“Valentine can pay.” I glared at him over my shoulder.
Hades perched on the edge of his desk with Namara behind him, massaging his broad shoulders. Her hands slipped over his collarbones and beneath the silk of his dressing gown. My lips thinned. Didn’t the Demon King have the decency to wait until we’d left before demanding extracurricular services from his poor secretary?
As Namara wrapped her lips around the shell of his ear, he said, “If you’re unable to pay Nut and Geb, they will eat your organs.”
“That’s fine.” I turned away and headed to the mirror with Nut’s hand on my shoulder.
Hades grabbed my wrist and spun me around, so our gazes met. “An immortal phoenix should tether herself to an equally immortal being, especially one with whom she already shares a bond.”
I dropped my gaze to the hand still wrapped around my wrist and met his smoldering eyes. “You’re not my type.”
He flinched, dropping me as though I’d spouted flames. The part of me that might have cringed with guilt at having rejected him stood tall, staring down the Demon King. How dare the wretched creature try to blackmail me after everything I’d done for him? After all the bullshit lies he told so I could risk my life freeing his ashes?
Nut’s hand wrapped around my shoulder, and she guided me back to the mirror. If this trip with the demonic bodyguards didn’t result in Valentine rising from the ashes, it was time to say goodbye to my internal organs.
Chapter Three
A riot of butterflies broke out in my stomach, threatening to fly up my gullet and spill from my lips. I knew better than to make a deal with a demon, let alone two that would consume my heart. Shudders ran down on my back and settled into my gut. Would eating my heart also destroy my soul? That would mean losing Valentine forever.
I stood in front of the gold-framed mirror, breathing harder than a racehorse. Its rippling surface reflected a red-haired woman whose crystal-blue eyes shone with fiery determination. Her skin was as pale as mine, but she radiated a strength and beauty I’d only ever seen in the powerful.
This had to be an illusion. She couldn’t possibly be me because I had no idea if I’d be able to bring the man I loved back to life after he’d lost his head. On the inside, I wanted to vomit. Vomit, curl up around Valentine’s heart, and spend the rest of eternity with Valentine in the void.
A long breath heaved from my lungs, releasing none of the tension around my chest. Escaping wasn’t an option. Valentine was probably still lying on a coffee-soaked floor with his disembodied head floating in a fountain—or worse. There was still a chance I could save him, considering his heart was still intact.
My fingers twitched toward the pocket of my reaper cloak, which contained the sphere encasing his heart, but I curled my hand into a fist. Hades was behind me, most likely glowering daggers into my back and cursing me for resurrecting him with my blood. The last thing I wanted was to let him know I had the heart.
Nut’s fingers curled around my left shoulder, indicating that it was time to go. I turned to the invisible demon and nodded. She was right.
“Not so fast, Miss Griffin,” Hades said, his sneering voice grating on my last nerve.
I clenched my teeth. “What now?”
“You couldn’t possibly walk into Irdu’s stronghold and steal a man twice your size.”
“Why not?” I glowered at the Demon King over my shoulder. “It’s not like I’m going alone.”
“According to my spies, you reduced Irdu to ash, along with Prince Draconius of New Mesopotamia,” he drawled, sounding as though he was explaining the finer points of politics and etiquette to a troll. “That makes you the enemy of two powerful groups eager to punish you for mortally maiming their masters.”
My throat thickened, and I swallowed hard. That was an understatement considering their ashes had probably mingled with all the coffee spilling down from the broken fountain. “It’s not like I have a choice or an army of allies.”
Hades huffed a weary breath. “I suppose if I let you venture out without a means of protecting yourself, any injuries you sustain might backfire on me?”
I whirled around, my eyes flashing. “If you’re thinking about imprisoning—”
“Calm yourself, Miss Griffin,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m sure a resourceful young woman like you would chew her way out of any prison I could fashion so I could feel the brunt of your injuries.”
Annoyance tightened my skin, my muscles, down to the sinew. Why was I sticking around to listen to Hades? He was pr
obably stalling so that one of his demons would spirit Valentine’s body away, causing me to run back to him and offer him anything to get Valentine back.
Nut tapped my shoulder, most likely thinking the same as me.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Hades raised a hand, materializing a rusty helmet from thin air that radiated an angular power that reminded me both of a light mage and Kresnik. He crossed the room, offering the piece of headgear to me with a grimace.
“What is that?” I leaned back and frowned.
What I’d originally thought was rust was a burnished copper that looked like it had been fashioned from pinhead-sized hammers. The metal had aged to a lustrous patina.
Unlike some of the ancient helmets I’d seen in movies like Troy or Clash of the Titans, the only thing ornate about this one was its metal. It was rounded and without a crest or ceremonial markings. Its brow was decorated with a ridge that ended in a long nosepiece that separated its almond-shaped eye holes. A pair of cheek guards swept down the sides, looking long enough to cover the wearer’s jawline.
“The original Helm from my Mount Olympus days,” he said.
A breath caught in the back of my throat. I wasn’t a Greek mythology buff, but even I knew about the Helm of Hades. “You’d really lend something like this to me?”
“You know its history?” he asked.
“Only what I’ve read on Wikipedia,” I said, my voice breathy with awe.
“Kresnik turned out to be no better than my father,” Hades muttered. “I suppose Titans are destined to consume their own children in one way or another. After he ejected my siblings and me from his belly, we bided our time, pooled our magic, and allied with powerful creatures to overthrow the old gods.”
My pulse raced and I glanced from Hades’ maroon eyes to the Helm. “Did you wear that during the coup?”
His laugh was as bitter as burned coffee. “It was a ten-year war, and the world would have been a different place without this Helm. Now, you will use it to become invisible and save a man unworthy of your devotion.”