by Bella Klaus
“And not leave?” I asked.
She nodded, rose to her feet, and turned to the taller of the dryads. “Could you fetch Her Majesty one of the panacea seeds, my dear? I wish to see if her latest efforts are enough to heal this prisoner’s wounds.”
Prickly heat rose to my cheeks. Healer Iaso probably thought I’d been working tirelessly every hour to develop my power, but so many things had gotten in the way.
“I’ve only been practicing my plant magic for an hour,” I muttered under my breath.
“Let’s hope it results in dividends.” She turned to the prisoner. “Would you like to start communicating with the pollen, Your Majesty?”
I nodded and placed both hands on the man’s chest. Instead of imagining the pores, I sent them a mental command to show me themselves.
An image formed in my mind’s eye of an orange ball covered in hundreds of uneven spikes. It was exactly as I had imagined pollen would look in a microscope, but the ball collapsed in on itself and became concave. Now, the spikes resembled a maw of teeth.
My breath caught. Was this how the pollen was eating Hades’ lungs and the internal organs of those prisoners? I shook my head, staggering at how Mother could have developed a weapon as insidious as it was hideous.
“Good work,” I messaged the pollen in my mind.
It rolled forward and then backward, mimicking a bow.
“But it’s time for you to stop,” I said.
The pollen tilted itself to the side, as though asking a question.
“You’ve completed your mission,” I told it. “Stop reproducing and stop consuming tissue.”
It hesitated for several moments, seeming unsure as to whether or not to stop attacking the prisoner’s lungs. I clenched my teeth. It probably only had one purpose—to eat through living tissue, and now I was taking that away. Tough luck. It needed to stop.
“I order you to hibernate.”
The pollen closed its eyes and went still.
I opened my eyes and turned to Healer Iaso. “It was a bit stubborn, but in the end, I had to put it to sleep.”
She leaned forward, placing her hands on the man’s chest, filling the cavity with white magic. “Well done, Your Majesty,” she said. “Now, I would like to see how far the panacea can heal damaged tissue when the pollen is no longer hampering my efforts.”
The smaller dryad handed me a pyramid-shaped seed. Thanking her, I rose to my feet and walked to another side of the clearing, where the taller dryad held a large pot of sandy soil with both hands. She puffed out her little chest, her arms straining over the weight of her burden.
“Put it on the ground.” I gestured for her to lower it.
She released it with a sigh.
This time, I used what I’d learned from working on the daisy shower to visualize exactly what I needed from this aloe plant. The ultimate magical healer. One that would counter the effects of poisons, venoms, pollens, and other microbes. It would be four times more potent than the previous batch I grew from seed and would help restore lost tissue.
I placed the seed onto the soil and pushed my magic into it, guiding how it sprouted and developed into a smaller plant. As it expanded, I urged it to pull on the atmospheric magic and to focus on giving the person who consumed it maximum health.
The plant grew to two feet in height before I commanded it to stop. Power radiated from its serrated leaves, which were a vibrant green that reminded me of the smaller dryad’s eyes. Unlike the weaker panacea I had germinated earlier and the hybrid forms the dryads had made, this new plant had thicker leaves with sharp spikes along the edges.
I broke off one of the smaller leaves and brought it over to Healer Iaso, who knelt beside the other unconscious test subject. He was a middle-aged man with long black hair and a white beard that had turned pink from being spattered with blood.
She offered me a warm smile. “It already looks more potent than the other batch.”
“Hopefully, this is the version that will heal your patient,” I murmured.
“Which is why we’re testing it on this fellow over here.”
Healer Iaso stretched out her hand, and I placed the leaf into her palm. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she inhaled a sharp breath. “I feel your influence in the sap.”
“What about the previous version?” I asked.
“Not so much.” She drizzled the leaking plant over the second prisoner’s parted lips, letting the healing fluid enter his mouth. “This is the difference between plants made by ordinary supernaturals and those made by gods and goddesses specifically attuned to the botanical sciences.”
I stood with the dryads on either side of me, waiting for the healer to give the man enough panacea to fix his lungs. Butterflies flapped in my stomach, making me feel queasy. Hades really needed this cure.
As if synchronized, each dryad took my hand, giving my fingers a firm squeeze. I glanced down at them and smiled. Somehow, I think their earlier fussiness had been on purpose to push me toward creating stronger and more useful plants.
“Thank you for helping me develop my magic,” I said to them.
They both turned their heads up at me and grinned.
“What other things could Persephone do?” I asked.
“Fucking bitch,” roared a gravely voice.
My gaze snapped back to the prisoners. The dark-haired one’s arm shot out like a cobra’s and he grabbed Healer Iaso by the neck, letting the panacea leaf drop from her fingers. He squeezed tight, making the older woman’s face turn purple.
“I’ll kill you.” Red spittle formed on the sides of his mouth.
I released the dryad’s hands and stormed across the clearing with my fists balled. “Let her go.”
He turned to me and sneered. “Who the hell do you think you are? I’m Commander Cruach of the Demon Enforcers.”
“Who was also trying to defect to the Second,” I snarled.
Cruach squeezed tighter around the healer’s neck, completely cutting off her air.
Panic thundered across my heart, and my hands sparked with lightning. If I attacked with a blast of electricity, it would affect Healer Iaso. But if I did nothing, he’d continue strangling her and she’d die.
I glanced around the clearing, looking for anything—a shovel, a knife, a gardening tool someone might have dropped, but all I could find were dryad-sized peach trees. An idea formed in my mind, and I snapped a twig off the nearest plant, silently apologizing for the violation.
Pointing the pencil-sized piece of wood at his chest, I snarled, “You’re going to stop this, right now, or I’ll impale your heart.”
“How’s a gardening nymph going to stand up to my power?” he said with a harsh chuckle.
I shot my magic into the branch. It expanded into a lance with a pointed tip and impaled his chest.
The man’s eyes bulged, and he released Healer Iaso. She fell to the ground onto her hands and knees, gasping for air.
Now was probably a good time to use my lightning, but with the healer so close by, I still didn’t want to risk her getting hurt. Instead, I pushed more magic into the twig, which now expanded into a branch. Smaller stems grew from its sides, leafing, blossoming, and producing fruit. Ignoring the developments, I glowered into his wide eyes.
“How did you do that?” he rasped.
“You committed treason, and then you attacked an important healer,” I said through clenched teeth. “That is unforgivable.”
“That bitch shoved shit down my lungs,” he snapped, spraying blood everywhere. “I should tear her in half.”
I clenched my teeth. If he had committed any other crime, I might have listened to him, but he had wanted to help Samael—a hideous Demon King who thirsted for so much power that he didn’t care if uniting Hell and conquering Heaven would destroy the world.
Commanding the branch to continue growing, I released it and stepped toward the prisoner. “Why did you try defecting to the Second?”
“People are talking about ho
w King Samael already controls the Fifth,” he blurted. “And no one has seen King Hades for days. Some say he’s dead, others say he’s still shagging his new queen. Either way, he’s screwed.”
“Why?”
“Because when King Samael unites the Factions of Hell, everyone who stood against him will become mindless slaves. Those who supported his rise to power will be princes in the new Hell.”
Branches shot out of his mouth, his eyes, his ears, making my stomach lurch. I turned my head, glad that the dryads had already run and hidden.
Healer Iaso rose to her feet and pressed her hand on his head, filling him with black magic. “Results of this experiment are inconclusive,” she said with a tired sigh. “Let’s take a break before resuming.”
“Didn’t the pollen get deactivated?” I asked.
“There’s so much plant matter in his body that examining the state of his lungs will take time.”
I gulped. “What about Hades?”
She smoothed her hands down her robes. “His Majesty is in an enchanted sleep and healing under the influence of your weaker panacea. Now that we’ve established you can remove the pollen, we’re one step closer to his complete recovery.”
“Should I remove it from his lungs?” I asked.
“Not until I’ve tested your strain on a few more subjects.” She rubbed her neck.
“All right, then.” I glanced in the direction of the peach trees. “I’ll go and check on Hades.”
“Your Majesty?” she said.
I met the healer’s gaze. “Yes.”
“He tends to become excited in your presence,” she said. “Perhaps it would be beneficial for his health if you waited for his condition to improve?”
My chest tightened as I remembered each time he’d coughed up blood because we’d been intimate. “All right.”
The older woman offered me a tight smile. “Let’s reconvene in a few hours.”
Nodding, I brushed the soil off my dress. There were still a few things I needed to do, such as pick up Dami and Macavity from the doctor. They were probably furious at me for getting them poisoned by Mother as part of her plan to capture me and for leaving them in the cat hospital for so long.
I glanced around the greenhouse and frowned. I also still didn’t even know the location of his establishment, but I knew who would. After bidding the healer goodbye, I teleported to Namara’s office, only to find Lucifer waiting when I stepped through the door.
He rose from his seat and grinned. “What a coincidence,” he said with a grin. “I never imagined I would meet you here.”
Chapter Thirteen
I stepped backward, my gaze fixed on the tall, dark, and handsome Demon King, and bumped into the corner of the leather sofa. We’d barely been apart for forty-eight hours. What on earth was he doing here?
My gaze darted to Namara, who leaned forward, resting her elbows on her mahogany desk and raising her brows. Shit, even though I had explained everything to her, she probably still thought I was having an affair. I’d been so excited about her news from Azriel that it hadn’t occurred to me to give her the full details.
Turning back to the Lucifer, I said, “If you’re looking for Hades—”
“What I want is standing in front of me,” he said in a voice like dark chocolate. It was rich, velvety, and utterly sinful. Despite this, it reminded me of overindulging in cocktails and made my stomach lurch.
“Do you have some news about Samael?” I asked.
He offered me his arm. “Interesting you should mention the King of the Second. He sent an emissary to my place of business.”
I gulped. “What did he say?”
“Just the usual innuendo.” Lucifer paused, waiting for me to loop my arm around his. When I didn’t, he took my hand and laid it in place. “But he did say something intriguing.”
My brows rose. “What?”
He walked me toward the exit. “I thought we could discuss it over lunch.”
“No, thank you. I need to collect a cat from—” My traitorous stomach took that moment to growl, and I pressed a hand over my belly, urging it to stay silent.
Lucifer chuckled. “Ah, the spirit is willing to resist temptation, but the body is weak?”
“Are you paraphrasing from the bible?”
He flashed me a grin. “Darling, I was one of its greatest antiheroes.”
I followed him to the door, sending Namara an apologetic grimace. “This isn’t what it looks like,” I told her into the link. “Samael has sent me on a mission to seduce Lucifer, and we’re playing along until we can work out a way to help Hades.”
“All right,” she replied, sounding hesitant. “But I’m sending His Majesty some paperwork later today. If he asks—”
“Don’t hold anything back,” I said. “Hades knows what I’m doing.”
“Remember to be careful, Your Majesty. Women who get entangled with Lucifer always lose their souls.”
My stomach churned with guilt about once again not telling Hades about my plans. Before I could do or say anything, Lucifer brought my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on my knuckles, making me meet his flaming eyes.
“Has anyone ever told you of your fiery beauty?” he asked. “You have the look of a phoenix goddess.”
“Have you met Queen Mera?” I asked.
He gave me an absent nod. “Only from afar.”
We walked through the hallway of St. James’s palace, Hades’ residence in the Supernatural World. Burgundy carpet lined the walls of the upstairs hallway, muffling our footsteps as we passed gilded paintings that depicted various landscapes within Hell. Hades hadn’t yet had the chance to give me a grand tour, but I recognized the river of lava, the punishment pits, and some of the villages that made up the Asphodel Meadows.
As we travelled down a staircase of gold banisters, I caught Lucifer gazing at the side of my face. The expression on his features was longing. He seemed less adept than Hades at hiding his emotions, but that could have been due to his curse or having once been an angel.
Enforcers and office workers streamed through the building’s ground level, a space of marble floors and ivory walls illuminated by several crystal chandeliers. They bowed as they passed, and I glanced at Lucifer, wondering if they were acknowledging his presence.
“Do you come here often?” I asked.
“Hades was my closest acquaintance among the Demon Monarchs,” he said. “We’ve socialized together on occasion.”
“Was?” My brow furrowed. “That implies you’re no longer friends.”
He inclined his head. “Whereas the others were either happily mated, like Isis and Osiris, or happily single, such as Hel from the Sixth, Hades and I were quite similar. Bachelors who yearned for something more.”
I nodded. For the first two thousand years after the Great Divide, Hades had been committed to restoring Persephone. From what Lucifer had told me, he was laboring under a curse that made him fall for unavailable women. My gaze wandered to a pair of women dressed in similar fitted dresses as Namara, and I wondered if they were also demonesses wearing a glamor.
“Now, I consider Hades a rival,” he said.
Irritation tightened my skin. I turned to Lucifer with a scowl. “You can’t be serious.”
He moved his hand in a see-sawing motion. “These fixations don’t usually last long. Eventually they burn themselves out.”
“What can I do to speed up this process?” I asked from between clenched teeth.
The corners of his lips curled into a devious smile. “I can think of a thing or two.”
We approached the double doors, where a quartet of seven-foot-tall enforcers stood shoulder to shoulder, barring everyone from entering or exiting without their permission. Lucifer waved a hand, and they parted without question.
“After you.” He made a sweeping bow.
The first thing I saw when I stepped out into the warm afternoon was the huge lake that separated St. James’s Park from Buckingham Palace. A
warm breeze meandered through the trees that bordered the water, filling my nostrils with the mingled scents of leaves and flowers.
Lucifer chuckled. “You look like a woman who hasn’t seen nature in days.”
“I can’t remember the last time I took a walk out in the Human World.”
Lucifer leaned into my side. “Samael’s spies are everywhere. Let’s take this moment to give them something to report.”
An irritated huff escaped my lungs. He was right, but part of me wished we didn’t have to play these silly games. Samael needed a swift killing, and Mother needed to be taken down. And while we were at it, someone needed to break Lucifer’s curse.
He cupped the side of my cheek. “Is something the matter?”
I forced a smile. “Doesn’t it annoy you that Samael holds so much power over us? Was he even your superior among the angels?”
Lucifer snorted. “Hardly.” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on my cheek. “But Samael was more ambitious.”
“What do you mean?” I stared up into his glowing eyes.
His lips curled into a smile. “Accompany me for a spot of lunch, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know about my fellow fallen.”
We strolled toward the water, where weeping willows formed uniform lines. Their leaves rustled in the breeze, filling the air with a sound my ears founds strangely melodious. My breath caught. This had to be a manifestation of my plant power.
“Where shall we eat?” I asked.
“There’s a traditional pub in St. James’s Park I’ve been wanting to try for a while. Did you know they place sawdust on the floors?”
A giggle burst from my chest as I pictured something so peculiar. “Why would they—”
One of the willow trees’ branches wrapped around my middle, yanking me from Lucifer’s side. I ground my teeth. “Mother!”
Lucifer pointed a finger and burned the branch with Hellfire, and a pained howl made my ears ring. I whirled around with my hands raised. “Don’t hurt the trees.”
Frowning, he stared down at me and said, “Look lively then. One of the weeping willows has uprooted itself and is heading your way.”
