The Fire of the Fated (The Chosen Series Book 3)

by K. C. Hamby

  Don’t let her come in, I tell Nina when I hear rustling outside. Tell her to wait just a minute.

  Hurry, Fal.

  “She did what?” I growl as if this disgusts me.

  “Aye, she dinnae have much choice in the matter, though.”

  “Wait, she didn’t have a choice? I’m confused. Either she did or didn’t. Make up your mind.”

  “Ed found the lot of Poachers responsible for killin’ her family. But they caught her when she went for them.”

  Hold on, Fal, Nina whispers and I hear the group’s murmurs outside of the door. Eddie says there is no way Raven could know about the Poachers kidnapping her unless she was talking to the Poachers because Eddie didn’t tell anyone other than Ash, Nina relays.

  “Hm.”

  “Those Poachers did all these dirty things to her.” Her eyes sparkle, pure evil in the depths. “I’m sure she enjoyed it, though. She always enjoyed when I did dirty things to her.”

  The door bursts open and Eddie flies in, eyes full of fire and set on Raven’s throat. She leaps over the table and tackles Raven to the ground.

  “Ash!” I yell, acting concerned.

  Mostly I’m concerned that Eddie will kill Raven before I get everything out.

  Ash runs in and yanks Eddie off Raven, holding her in a vice grip as he pulls her back toward the door. But not before Eddie swipes sharpened claws at Raven’s face.

  “You fuckin’ scabby scrote!” Eddie roars. “You’re dead, Raven!” she manages to get out before Ash slams the door behind them.

  I sigh, shaking my hand. “Sorry about that,” I say as I pull her off the ground and help her sit back in the chair. I study her face. “Ouch, I’ll have Nina heal that in a minute.”

  Because Eddie slashed her nails across Raven’s entire face.

  “Ach, it’s fine,” Raven growls and wipes dripping blood from her lips. “I’m no Jessie.”

  “Anyway,” I groan and plop myself down in the chair on the other side of the table. I pull my knife from my boot and pick at my fingernails as I place my feet on the table, relaxed.

  Time to show my hand.

  “You’re friends with Poachers.”

  Raven’s brows furrow, shock flashing in her irises.

  “I…what?”

  “Well, Eddie didn’t tell you about her getting captured. And everyone who knew about it was killed. I’m sure some of the other Poachers knew because they wanted revenge, but no one else was privy to that information. So, you would have had to know either before or somehow during her capture. I’m assuming you were friends with the Poachers. Or at least one of them.”

  “I dinnae say I was friends with anyone,” she argues, slamming her closed fist on the table.

  “Well, in my experience, if you aren’t friends with Poachers, they try to kill you.”

  “Aye, well I…”

  “So, in order for them to tell you anything about Eddie, you would have to have had a previous set relationship with them of some sort.”

  “Wait...”

  “A relationship strong enough to last years, since you helped them attempt to catch her when you drugged her not too long ago.”

  “Now you’re talkin’ oot your fanny flaps,” she spits and licks her lips.

  I drop my feet from the table and lean over it. “Am I? Or are you? Are you saying you didn’t drug her and attempt to help the Poachers catch her again?”

  “I dinnae have to tell you anythin’ and I dinnae havetae listen to this shite,” she yells and jumps up, heading toward the door. Blood drips from her face, staining the floor. “Hecate will hear aboot this.”

  I smile to myself. “No need for that.”

  I Move in front of her, blocking the door.

  She screams and falls back on her ass.

  “What in the fuck…you fuckin’ freak!”

  I laugh low and watch her stupid face morph into fear. “Yeah, I am. But you know what else I am? A Shadow Reaper. Correction, the Shadow Reaper. The goddess of Death. My job is to take insufferable, evil souls out of their current misery and down to Charon so he can deliver them to the deepest pits of the Torture Fields of Tartarus.” I walk toward her as she crawls backward across the floor. “You ken?”

  All she does is swallow hard and trip over herself.

  “So,” I say and pull out my scythe rod. “You should start telling the truth because I’m really not in the mood for torture right now and I’ll just send you to hell and let them handle it.” I spin the rod and let the sharp blade of the scythe scrape out.

  She stays quiet, eyes caught on the gleaming blade.

  “You have about five seconds,” I prod.

  “Piss off!”

  “Three seconds…” I take a step toward her and allow the shadows always following me to multiply, darkening the room and creeping across the floor. They listen to me as their master, loyal and begging to help.

  “Okay! Fine!” She breathes hard and swipes her hair out of her face, smearing the blood from the gashes all over her skin. She kicks at the shadows curling closer to her legs and scurries backwards to get away. “Hecate dinnae invite me here.”

  “No shit,” I snap, letting the blunt end of my scythe tap the ground.

  “Zeus did, though. I was tellin’ the truth aboot that. My drug dealer was a Poacher back when Ed and I ran together. Still is who I get the drugs from. I did help the Poachers when I drugged Ed. Their friends were the ones she killed in Scotland and they wanted revenge.”

  “What the fuck does that have to do with you?” I snarl, wanting to scare the rest of the information out of her. I take another step closer.

  “Fuck! Gimme a fuckin’ minute to explain!” She takes a deep breath, eyes roaming around the room as if she is trying to remember the story through her panic. “I was pissed when Ed was trynae get oot of the scene and away from me. She was mine. Sure, she slept around with others, but she. Was. Mine. She was the best part about me and the only person who made me feel less alone. And she thought she could just leave. She belonged to me and only me and she was tryin’ to leave?”

  “After experiencing your wonderful personality, I can understand why.”

  “Ach, fuck off. I dinnae ask you to deal with me. This is your own fault.” She sneers, lifting a lip and showing normal teeth as she gestures to the fuckery of a situation we are currently enduring.

  She can’t shift anymore. Not even her teeth.

  Goddamn.

  “My anger led me to do bad things to Ed, I’ll admit. And I gave my dealer the tip aboot Ed lookin’ for them. She’s the one who told me aboot that. She looked all the while we ran together. She often went on drug induced hunts for the bastarts.”

  Shame drifts in the air from outside the door. Can I sense all dark emotions from those around me now?

  “With my helpful tip, the Poachers caught her. We had made a deal that I was gonnae ‘rescue’ Ed from them so she could see she belonged with me, boot the next thing I know, she went mental and killed all the goddamn Poachers. I dinnae hear from her at all after that fuckin’ mess.”

  “Okay, where the fuck does Zeus come in?” I snap, my patience growing thinner the longer I look at Raven’s annoying face.

  “I’m gettin’ to that part, you numpty rat.”

  She flinches when I growl at the insult.

  “Zeus got in touch with me…after I slept with him and I dinnae ken it was him.”

  “Not shocking,” I grumble.

  “I dinnae ken why he chose me, boot he told me he needed me to spy for him. Maybe his reasoning was because it was obvious I wasnae loyal to Hecate anymore because of all the shite she put me through. Boot when he was explainin’ all the reasonin’s for me to spy, he seemed to have it in his napper he was being betrayed. A bit paranoid for a king if you ask me.”

  “I wasn’t asking you,” I state, holding on to my scythe so hard my knuckles strain at the force in my fingers.

  All Raven does is shrug. “So, I came to Greece
at Zeus’ insistence and found Ed on a flyer about their little band’s gig. It was hard nae to. The damn things were everywhere.”

  I must stop myself from chuckling. Yeah, Lilith knows how to advertise alright.

  “I figured I could kill two flies with one dagger, if you get me?”

  Do all Scots make up their own version of American sayings?

  “I figured I could find oot information for Zeus and win Ed back in the process. Before I visited Olympia, I got back in touch with my dealer about my plan to get Ed. He then got in touch with the Poachers who were searchin’ for Ed to exact their revenge. I convinced them all they could get their revenge and destroy the High Council in the process. That way the ones who dinnae give a shite about Ed would still have a reason to storm Olympia. The Poachers came to Greece as I did. We met up and I told them I would help them find Ed if they would give her back to me when they were done.”

  “You do know their form of revenge was killing her, right? Among other horrible things.”

  “I figured that oot later. It wasnae my main plan.” She sighs, sadness coating her cigarette-scented breath. But then she grows angry. “But I find oot she has a Mate and it pissed me right off. Obviously, I ken Mates were real. Zeus told me so. So, I ken Ed wasnae jokin’ when she said she had a Mate.

  “She was mine. And yet Hecate gave her a Mate? She was never gonnae be with me. How could a goddess who is supposed to be so lovin’ and carin’ allow me to feel heartbreak so strong? So, I wanted Ed’s whole goddamn life destroyed and Hecate to suffer too.”

  All I can do is shake my head. There is so much rage in the air emanating from Raven. My hands are shaking from the contact. I somehow can understand why she was so angry at Hecate.

  “Zeus told me actin’ as Hecate’s Prophetess would be the easiest way for me to get in. Somethin’ aboot one of the Council members dinnae believe Nina was the real Prophetess. I was right surprised when the plan worked, to tell you truly. But after a while of bein’ here and Thane unknowingly showin’ me where the wards were with every tour of Olympia he gave, I disabled them around the island before I left so the alarm wouldnae go off when the Poachers attacked. I helped them find the island after that.”

  She sighs, gritting her teeth. “I dinnae care anymore if they killed Ed. I was done. She’s better off dead if she’s nae with me.” Her jaw works in her anger. “I was leavin’ after shootin’ that wench when the deranged ginger twit grabbed me and drug me in here.”

  “The woman you shot? Her name was Althea. She showed you kindness and you disrespect her by not using her name. I hope you know you actually did her a favor,” I grin, seeing another path I can take to piss off Raven.

  “How’s that?” she asks, confusion furrowing her brows.

  “She now gets to be in the Elysian Fields with her Mate.”

  Raven’s eyes widen before she slams both fists on the wooden table. It groans with the strain but stays intact.

  She doesn’t even have the strength of a Lupi anymore.

  According to her story, does this mean Angus was Zeus? Nina whispers in my mind, shocked. Wait, Eddie and Ash agree about Angus being Zeus. Apparently, something weird happened while we were in Oregon? Anyway, was Hecate one of the goddesses that ‘betrayed him’ since she created Mates?

  She must be.

  Then who is the other…? Nina asks as I glare down at Raven.

  “You know, I’ve dealt with a lot of disgusting people in my life. But you may be one of the worst.”

  “I dinnae give a damn what you think of me, Reaper.”

  I chuckle darkly. “That’s fine. We are done here, anyway.”

  Send her in, I tell Nina.

  The door opens and Eddie walks in, outwardly calm, but her fiery rage fills the room in an instant.

  I give Raven a little smile when Eddie clamps her hand around the bitch’s throat and lifts her, slamming her head into the wall.

  “Oh, Reaper? One more thing,” Raven chokes out with a skewed laugh, staring her end in the face. Sweat begins to fall from her forehead…

  I turn my full attention to her with a raised brow.

  “He knows,” she whispers with a smile, but it’s barely more than slurred words. Her skin…

  Starts to fucking bubble.

  “Wow, specific,” I mutter as I watch Eddie burn Raven alive from the inside out.

  My skin tingles as soft fingers grip my upper arm.

  Nina’s eyes are wide when I look down at her.

  Something is wrong, she whispers in my mind. I can feel it.

  Shit.

  Raven is boiling now, but she still manages to keep the demonic smile on her face as skin slides away from muscle and falls to the floor. All the while, Eddie is calmly holding her by the throat, her stare not wavering in the least.

  She’s facing her demon and burning it alive.

  “Zeus knows about your Nina. I heard you both tellin’ Ed and Ash Selene is her ma.”

  Purple smoke manifests in the corner of the room. Hecate steps out a moment later with wide eyes, fear I’ve never seen before etched onto her face.

  “Nina,” she whispers. “I unraveled the vision.”

  My heart drops into my ass as Eddie turns to me with wide eyes flicking between me, Nina, and Hecate. Nina’s grip strengthens on my arm and I reach out to grab her waist.

  This is bad. This is really fucking bad.

  “And he knows about Nina’s da,” Raven rasps out.

  Panic grips me, but I can’t tell if it’s just mine or Nina’s mixed in through the bond.

  “No,” is the whisper gasped from Nina’s lips as her legs tremble beneath her. I grip her waist tight and pull her to my side.

  “Burn in Tartarus, you wench,” Eddie growls and the hand holding Raven off the floor catches on fire.

  Hecate breezes over to us, paying absolutely no attention to Raven, and grasps Nina’s face in her hands. “Angus is Zeus and Zeus changed your vision. He knows of you and your father.”

  The stench of burning flesh and the painful gurgles of Raven’s death are almost an afterthought as I catch a petrified Nina in my arms before she hits the floor.

  Acknowledgements

  Hoooooly shit. It’s about time I finished this book.

  To wifey, you’re my best friend. Thank you for always being my muse, fan, someone to catch my draft when I want to throw it through a window, and the best wife in the world. I love you so very much and love doing life with you.

  Arielle, my dude. You are the absolute best person ever. You helped me SO MUCH with finishing this book and I seriously appreciate you letting me bounce ideas off you. You’re a great Beta reader and best pal. I love you very much and appreciate all your help.

  To the ‘rents. I love you guys as always. I’m glad you are both my forever cheerleaders.

  To all the people who are fans of this series, THANK YOU. Your patience has been a goddess-send. I know this is way late and I hope it was worth the wait.

  And to Covid-19, you can fuck right off.

  XOXO,

  K.C. Hamby

  About the Author

  K.C. is a bunch of contradictions wrapped up in one, small person. She frequently refers to herself as Persephone, for she enjoys both the light and dark sides of the world. This is where her different style of writing comes into play. She becomes frustrated when books forgo speaking in detail about trauma and the not so romantic parts of life. She continuously strives to write about the dark subjects plaguing us all, bringing attention to topics such as trauma, depression, sexual assault, drug abuse, violence, etc. She knows the world isn't all a happy love story where everyone lives at the end of a long battle without emotional scars. She keeps her characters real and validates their pasts and the wounds they must carry afterward.

  She is originally from Georgia (the south, y'all) and her southern accent comes out when she's angry or too excited. She lived for a short while in Washington D.C., but cities make her feel boxed in and, sinc
e she is from a place so familiar with wide open spaces, this was not the forever home for her. K.C. and her wonderful wife then moved to Utah (Yes, Utah) where they both fell in love with the mountains.

  You can find K.C. writing furiously at her book-filled desk at home, being a vampire at a hospital by night, or trying to control her three cats and one dog from killing each other or from stealing literally anything left on the counter (looking at you, Dave).