Vicious (Fated Sight Book 2), page 11
That’s when I hear her and a conversation I’d rather not, which sours my mood and poisons the blood in my veins.
“You’ll make her queen?” The shrewd voice echoes up to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard Demeter. I should have known that this was one of her meadows.
There are some gods and goddesses I avoid, and for good reason.
“Yes.” His lecherous voice sends a chill through my body. I don’t know him, but I know his kind. Mortal kings all seek one thing and one thing only—power. “She will have to bear me seven sons before our contract is full.”
I glance down, watching as Demeter’s false beauty shines with an inner glow. I learned long ago that beauty only goes so far.
Most of the goddesses are beautiful, with their flawless skin and bodies created for men’s imaginations, but it is their hearts, which are nothing but cruel, bitter, and nonexistent, that reminds me of why I don’t involve myself with the others.
At times, they are worse than men and kings.
“Of course.” Demeter flips her hair over her shoulder with a shrug, showing off her bare skin that draws the man’s eyes. A strategic move on her part.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes, lest I lose my balance and fall from this tree.
“She’s still a virgin?” The lascivious king licks his lips.
Now, I’m not one to involve myself in the mortals’ ordeals. I get enough of that shit on their death day when they come for judgment. So many of them are disgusting, foolish creatures, taking what they want at any cost.
They don’t yet realize there is always a price to their actions, especially this foolish notion that they can marry off their heirs without approval.
“Yes, my liege.” Demeter is laying it on thick. “Persephone will be yours with the first blooms of spring.”
Persephone. I roll her name around my tongue as I watch the king’s eyes fill with greed. No doubt, he’s planning just how he’s going to get those seven sons.
“Mine, yes,” he murmurs as his eyes drift to the meadow that lies just beyond the tree line.
Not if I can help it.
My first mistake was assuming she needed saving, my second mistake was assuming she wanted saving.
She didn’t, and I live with those consequences daily.
A thud resounds throughout Asphodel, lighting up the barrier again.
“What’s going on?” Nessa’s voice, heavy with sleep, rolls over me, rooting me to the present and the genuine danger my little halfling is in.
I can just make out her hand as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. If I still held the favor of the Underworld, I could make out each curve and line of her body as it moves toward me. Opening my arms, I pull her naked form to my side, where she snuggles.
A snort and a mutter from Greyson rolls over to us a moment before there’s a thump as he falls off the bed. Curses spill from his lips, just as another thud pulls our attention to the barrier.
We’re running out of time.
“What’s that?” Awake now, Nessa presses her body to the glass, her round ass pushing into my groin.
At least I dressed myself. With a snap, I dress each of us in dark clothing, including Apollo, who scowls at me. He can go back to his jeans when we are safely in Tartarus, or more accurately, the pit of Tartarus.
“That, Cupcake, is the safety net falling down.” Apollo’s teeth gleam in what little light there is. The sick fucker is looking forward to whatever comes next.
“I thought the barrier couldn’t fall?” Alarm blares in her voice, and I want to do everything in my power to keep her from that fear. Though, as I scent the air, it isn’t fear that burns my nostrils, it’s anger.
No, our little dragon is hungry and pissed.
I don’t hide my smirk. The others can’t see it anyway.
“It would appear that Persephone found a way.” Again, the barrier flares.
“What happens when it falls?” she whispers, and I already hear the thread of anticipation in her voice.
“You are an untrained shifter.” Apollo tugs her around to face him, and I can just make out the outline of his enormous frame as he sinks down to look her in the eye. “You still leak power, though this time, the Underworld absorbs it into the atmosphere, nullifying your unconscious mind’s ability to wreak havoc. You burp flames and you have a gut reaction to kill before thinking.”
“I will have you know that I have never killed a creature in my entire life.” I can hear the pout in her voice along with the saturation of indignation.
“No.” Greyson ambles over to us. His grunts come out in low tones, along with the thuds of him bumping into things. “But you would in a heartbeat.”
“I…” She pauses and nods to herself, accepting that he’s right. “What happens when the barrier falls?”
“Then all the revenants and the creatures come out to play,” Pim answers without remorse. Aside from me, he’s the only one here who spent long stints of time in the Underworld. He knows how it works, what makes it tick and function.
“I thought the revenants could come out in the day here?”
Before she can get suspicious that we aren’t telling her the truth, I say, “They can. The suns in the Underworld aren’t like the suns on Earth. There, they will fry. Here, they won’t. But many prefer to hunt along with the other creatures that come out during true night.”
“Okay, so beyond the barrier are these creatures you talked about before.” Her sigh wafts over me, teasing the hair on my arms. Goosebumps break out along my flesh, and I long for her touch, even as danger looms over us.
“The Underworld is home to many creatures.” Although I say the words, I know I have said them before.
“Fine.” She huffs out an annoyed breath as she pats herself down. “Any unicorns, we bring them along.”
“Why do you want to drag a vile creature to Tartarus with us?” Apollo sounds affronted by the suggestion alone.
“Because I know I’m about to get hungry.” The flapping of wings alerts us to Elliott’s presence a moment before he blows out a breath of fire and whines at the barriers coming down.
“Hunting.” Greyson chuckles. “You want to hunt them before they hunt you.”
“Of course I do.” She claps her hands and moves around the room with an efficiency the rest of us don’t have. “What’s the plan?”
“The same as it was before you slept, Cupcake. We get you to Tartarus.”
“Yes, yes, so I can swan dive into the pits of my grandfather for a catch-up session.” I swear her eyes glow gold in the dark as she growls at the god. I don’t know what she sees in him, but I believe it’s the fight. “What do we do right now?”
For a moment, her body shimmers with the hint of golden scales. Speechless, I stare at the hidden beauty of her soul that peeks through in the darkness.
“Babe, you’re lighting up like a bug.” Greyson sounds just as affected as I feel.
“That makes me your flashlight.” Her eyes flare with gold.
“Your control still isn’t up to par.” Apollo’s mocking tone doesn’t mask the wonder he, too, feels as he slips for just a moment at the end. Coughing, he turns back toward the window.
“Come on, there isn’t much time.” Despite what Nessa wishes, I fully intend to get her to Tartarus as quickly as possible.
As a last resort, I’ll flash us there and risk alerting Persephone to our intentions. Her power grows weaker, and though her tearing down the barriers of Asphodel isn’t one of the Underworld’s rules, I cannot imagine the world will let it go unpunished.
In fact, I look forward to it.
A death for a death isn’t just a physical death, but the intent to strike against someone who hasn’t struck against you. The Underworld forces its living residents to stand up to others. It despises weakness.
With a plan in mind, I rush to the hall. The elevator won’t work, and it’s far too risky, so I lead the others to the stairwell, where red, hazy lights guide the way down to ground level.
“Why are there lights here?” Greyson questions as he stands to Nessa’s left, her delicate hands shimmering with a golden hue.
“No windows.” It’s a partial truth. I installed these emergency lights after too many shades fell down the stairs. Sure, they don’t die, but they complain, and they do it in tandem. Like lemmings. They protest, and they do so as loud as they dare to get my attention—my attention, not Persephone’s, because she wouldn’t care either way.
My flaw is that I care, though I can’t show them I care.
So I threw myself down the steps and installed the lights. I don’t think my actions went unnoticed though.
“Weapons?” I look back at Greyson. He clenches his fists, and his shoulders tense, those icy eyes of his darting all around him.
Apollo takes up the rear with Pim, looking far too casual, even in the clothing I dressed him in.
“They will only draw attention.” I focus on the stairs, counting the floors as we pass.
We came from the thirteenth floor, and we’re at seven. I’d much rather be out of this apartment building and in the fresh air. I feel like a sitting duck in here, and there’s no telling which creatures Persephone bribed to attack us.
“I want to hunt.” Nessa pokes me in the back.
I ignore her because she hasn’t a clue what she’s asking. Those who live here are harder to kill than any other creature she’s dealt with.
I know all about her best friend and the lycans she’s mated to. They are mere pets compared to the beasts and monsters that dwell here. Mortals would lose their sanity if they ever learned that the creatures of their nightmares reside here, and right now, Persephone is about to allow them free rein on the shades.
Living out their days in Asphodel is hell enough. I built that barrier for reasons other than to give them a forever they could tolerate, with the physical and mental pleasures they once knew. I erected it to keep the creatures of the Underworld out, to keep them from ripping through their flesh. Because though they may be nothing but smoke and ash, once the monsters that lurk here touch a shade, they turn fleshy.
We pass the door for the fifth level.
“And you will, Cupcake,” Apollo assures her, returning us back to the conversation at hand. “All in due time, and that time isn’t now.”
I swear Apollo whips his moods back and forth just to fuck with us. One minute, he wants Vanessa all to himself, and I know it’s due to something he and he alone wants, then the next, he is against Vanessa wanting all of us. That, however, fell away fast last night with his sensual torture.
Smelling Vanessa’s arousal unraveled the binds I wrapped around me to keep her away. If they were going to enjoy her pleasure, then so would I.
Level three.
“Soon?” Nessa questions, flaring golden power to illuminate the dim stairwell.
That’s going to be an issue. She pulses like Earth’s lightning bug. While it’s cute in this stairwell, it’s going to pose a problem when we hit ground level.
Rust dusts under my palm as a boom sounds through the city, and my feet falter on the steps to the first floor.
“The walls are down.” I look back. “Hold on to the railing and wait for the backlash.” There’s no telling how long it may take. Minutes, seconds, or maybe even an hour.
I poured my heart and soul into that barrier, my gift to the neutral shades that the Underworld saw as an act of kindness. The sentient world viewed my barrier as breach of rule one.
The dead may not return to the living once they breach the River Styx.
I feel the backlash ripple across Asphodel. It moves like a sonic boom through the world. The walls tremble, and I know without a shadow of a doubt it will rip this city apart.
“Fuck!” I turn to the others, my gaze landing on Nessa, who takes in the hard edge of my tone with wide eyes.
“What’s about to happen?”
I just wanted more time with her, just a little more time.
“He’s going to absorb the magical backlash and knock himself out,” Apollo states with a bored tone before he saunters down the stairs. “Don’t say I did nothing for you.” He grabs my hand with a vicious snarl before threading his fingers through Nessa’s, and she nods in understanding. “Not the mortal, the mortal will die.”
“The mortal would like a say,” Greyson mutters, but he also takes a cautious step back.
“You can’t, we don’t know what this will do.”
“You’re mine, Hades.” Nessa smiles with glistening white teeth, her chin jutting out with pride. “We stand together or we fall together, your choice.” She links her hand with Pim’s, who radiates confidence with a roll of his shoulders and a tilt to his head.
“You’re all insane,” I mutter as I hear screams in the distance.
My head jerks to the side as I listen to the familiar song.
“Harpies?” Pim laughs like a lunatic. “So much for them being on your side, Death.”
“Don’t call me Death.” I flex my fingers and widen my stance as anger rolls through me. The harpies were always loyal to me.
Not anymore.
It’s time I show the Underworld why it chose me as king.
11
Vanessa
I watch Hades and recognize the moment he puts on a mask. I feel it the second he pulls away from us, dropping his hand and flinging open the door to the stairwell, denying our help. That shouldn’t bother me as much as it does.
“Foolish god.” Apollo shakes his head as we file out into a small hallway. At the end is a vast, opulent lobby with gold inlays.
They can’t see like I can, and even now, as my dragon shifts beneath my skin, I filter through scents. The others don’t understand just what Hades has to do right now.
He built a haven for neutral souls, and Persephone just destroyed that haven and sent harpies after us—along with the revenants she spawned, I’m sure—but more than that, this is a direct hit against Hades and the vision he had for the Underworld.
Everything I knew about the cruel god shattered when I met him. I believed he was cold, ruthless, and unbearable, but then I met him, and I could feel myself easily falling for him.
Right now, however, he saunters toward the glass doors where shadows pace beyond, and I can smell the anger rolling off of him, the burnt amber of it strong as it fills my nostrils. I can also feel his need to prove himself as his shoes clip along the tile floor.
The walls rumble again, knocking off mirrors that crash to the floor. For a moment, I worry he won’t be able to absorb the magic he placed into that barrier.
Outside, red bolts of lightning crackle before piercing the ground just outside those doors. I take a small step forward, only to have Greyson hold me back.
“I wouldn’t,” he mumbles, linking his hands with mine. “I don’t think this is going to go well.”
He tries to pull me farther away, but Hades opens the doors. The wind whips around him, keeping them ajar. Behind him, Pim and Apollo stand as sentinels. They are beasts at Hades’ back, and it’s an image I never want to forget.
Thunder rolls in the distance, and the harpies screech and clatter to the ground, landing on their knees. Hades splays his hands to the sides, lifting his chin to the sky.
“You dare defy my will?” he roars to the sky, and several harpies back away from him. In the distance, windows shatter as the magical backlash rolls over Asphodel.
I don’t hear the harpies as they cry over the roaring wind. Needing to hear more, see more, I tug Greyson closer.
“Vanessa, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
I glance up at Greyson and press a palm to his chest to calm his racing heart. “Trust me?”
“I followed you to Hell. I’m pretty sure that’s more commitment than any mortal ever gives.” His eyes shine as he gazes down at me, and despite his fear and his gut reaction to run from danger, he relents. Together, we step closer to the storm.
I turn my head in time to see the same red lightning crackle from Hades’ palms to strike the ground in front of him. Concrete flies up, scattering like shrapnel.
“I bet he goes supernova,” Pim says with amusement. Crossing his arms, he turns to Apollo, who regards him with a cocked head.
“What are we betting?” Apollo tucks his hands into his back pockets and turns toward Pim just as Greyson and I walk up.
“What are the odds of him going supernova?” Greyson questions, though he clutches my hand with a sweaty palm.
Are they seriously betting on this?
Pim glances at us and holds up a finger. “One, he’s allowed Persephone’s shit to go on for far too long.” He holds up a second finger, pauses, and shakes his head before announcing, “That’s it, that’s all I’ve got.”
“He’s rolled over and allowed her to slap his ass while calling her mommy.” Apollo nods to himself, though my jaw drops. “I’ll take that bet.”
Greyson looks down at me mouthing, “Calls her mommy?”
“I don’t know,” I mouth right back.
“No, man, he’s going to go supernova,” Pim replies, just as Hades’ lightning crackles toward the sky. For a moment, Pim frowns at the display of power.
I have an entirely different reaction, one that reminds me that Hades did not conjure me panties.
“What are we betting?” Apollo questions again.
“I want in on this.” Greyson steps up between them, leaving me to peer through their arms.
“Either he goes supernova or he doesn’t, mortal,” Pim scoffs.
“There’s a third option.” Greyson holds his ground between the two gods. “He goes supernova but also holds his ground.”
“Fine,” Pim relents. “We bet time with Angel.”
“Done.” Greyson nods, looking back at me with a smile.
“I’m in,” Apollo agrees.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” I push between their large frames to stand in front of the three of them. I don’t enjoy it when they all push me back behind them.
