by Bella Klaus
His haughty features morphed into wide-eyed surprise. “Where are factions Two, Three, Four, Seven, and Nine?”
“What are you playing at?” Shango’s deep voice sounded like thunder. “If you are going to drag us to this room, then be a man and drag us all.”
Osiris burst into an impromptu round of applause. “Well said.”
Shango puffed up under the other monarch’s praise. I wondered if they knew each other from before the natural disaster that had torn apart the realms.
Azriel cleared his throat, reached into his inside pocket, and pulled out his computer tablet. His brows crinkled as he scrolled through its screen. “I sent off the invitations at the same time, and they would have reached you all simultaneously—”
“I have a quorum,” rasped a voice that made all the lining of my stomach ripple with disgust.
Footsteps clopped toward us, and Samael’s hooded figure stepped through the room. Mother walked at his side, clad in a white gown that hugged her curves. Behind her was a flaxen blonde with Mother’s features, only she looked like someone had filled her with too much air. Standing next to the young woman was a red-haired man with a body shaped like a pumpkin.
“Bloody Hell,” I muttered under my breath.
“Those are Demeter’s offspring?” Hades asked into the bond.
“Who else could they be?” I replied. “She got herself pregnant with an elixir and gave birth within days. It would make sense that she also accelerated their growth using something equally as dark and nefarious.”
Hades shook his head. “For fuck’s sake. I know she’s a fertility goddess, but they look like shit.”
I swallowed hard. The children reminded me of vegetables people would grow to huge sizes on television just to show off that they could produce monster-sized produce. Nobody ever saw people eating the item because they were full of water and starch.
My breaths turned shallow, and I placed a hand over my roiling stomach.
Mother hadn’t told me what she had done, but Samael had handed me a fertility elixir when he had ordered me to seduce Lucifer. It hadn’t fully registered until now that she’d cultivated these new demigods in such an inhumane manner.
“How could she do this to her own children?” I asked.
“Did you forget the past twenty years of your life?” Hades asked.
“She never disfigured me.”
He squeezed my hands. “She violated your mind. Scooped out the souls of the babies she purchased so she could have a pet. If Demeter hadn’t stopped trying to push me away, we could have joined forces to put you together.”
“Did she know you had my body?” I asked.
“She never gave me the chance to say,” Hades replied. “But she must have known because someone tried to steal your body. She also allowed Samael’s avatar to bring in an object that scattered those infernal seeds.”
Nodding, I remembered how Hades had managed to get through the wards to speak to Mother, only for her to chase him away with a dagger coated in her blood. If he hadn’t stepped out of stabbing range, he would have died.
Azriel spluttered. “What is the meaning of this?”
Samael pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing his doctor disguise, only it had already started melting around the edges. A shudder of disgust ran down my spine, making me want to spit.
“It’s as I told you,” he drawled. “I have a quorum, and I arrive whenever I please.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
“The invitation was designed to drag one or two monarchs to the meeting place,” Hades said.
“Right.” I nodded.
“Samael and his family constitute three factions: Two, Three, and Eight.” He counted them off on his fingers.
My gaze jumped to the young man standing beside the blonde daughter. “And what about him? I’m sure that’s the boy Mother said she was expecting.”
Hades squeezed my hand. “No doubt Samael will regale us with something shocking.”
Samael rocked back and forth on his feet, his face splitting into a grin of serrated teeth. “As of this morning, my youngest child, Agori, took over the Fourth Faction. Central America is now under my domain.”
Azriel’s mouth dropped open. “You—”
“Yes,” Samael drawled. “Between me and my extended family, we now control Two, Three, Four, Five—”
“Not Five,” Hades snapped.
Samael’s gaze darted to where we sat, his eyes glinting with malice. “I thought you might betray us, Kora, which is why we formulated a contingency plan.”
I reared back. “What are you talking about?”
Samael stepped to the side and swept his arm toward the exit. “When your mother told you she was having a boy, she neglected to mention that she was expecting fraternal twins. Meet my beloved daughter, Koritsi.”
A red-haired woman stepped out from the door, clad in the type of green-and-white wrap dress I had worn the day Samael had forced me to step through the mirror and into Lucifer’s office. She was slender, unlike the other two of Samael and Demeter’s offspring, with large breasts and curvaceous hips.
Bile rose to the back of my throat. It was almost as though they had designed her to look like me.
Hades barked a laugh. “Agori? Koritsi? You’re the least imaginative set of naming conventions. Why not translate their names to English and call them Boy and Girl?”
My gaze returned to the Persephone clone, who held a leash, but I couldn’t see if she was pulling in a demon, a Hellsteed, or a Hellhound.
“Come along.” She tugged at the strap of leather.
Hades’ barbs faded into the background with the roar of blood rushing through my skull.
Stumbling into the room was a pale-haired, dull-eyed Lucifer.
Chapter Eighteen
Gasps spread across the room. Even Hades hissed through his teeth. Somehow, they’d managed to reduce the King of the Seventh Faction into… I had absolutely no idea.
All the color had leached out of Lucifer’s hair and skin and eyes, leaving him looking like a living, breathing statue. Every few heartbeats, he blinked, but apart from the slight rise and fall of his chest, there was nothing left of him. The white suit, shirt, and tie they’d put him in only made the effect more horrifying.
Tears stung the backs of my eyes, and my breaths became ragged. They must have taken advantage of his curse to get at him, but I still asked, “What did you do to him?”
The red-haired woman in the green wrap dress turned her head in my direction. Malice glinted in her green eyes, an emotion that reminded me of Mother. Her thin lips curved into a smirk.
“You must be Kora.” She even sounded like Mother.
“Who are you?” I asked, even though she’d already been introduced as Koritsi.
“The daughter I deserve.” Mother sashayed across the room and wrapped an arm around Koritsi’s shoulder. She stared down at the smaller woman with the kind of warmth I’d only recognized from my memories of being Persephone.
Preening at the attention, Koritsi fixed me with a challenging glare. This was probably some form of sibling rivalry, but she was too young and too brainwashed to realize that Mother wasn’t worth having as a parent.
I turned my gaze back to Lucifer, who stood a few feet from the doorway, his eyes staring sightlessly ahead.
“What did you do to Lucifer?” I asked.
Koritsi tossed her hair. “He’s under my thrall.”
“You can’t put another monarch under any form of control.” Azriel waved his computer tablet. “The Handbook of Hell clearly states—”
“Blah. Blah. Blah. Will you stop bleating about the rules,” Samael snapped. “They have more loopholes than a badly-knitted codpiece. Nowhere does the Handbook of Hell govern the activities of family members of its monarchs.”
Mother beamed at her new favorite, her eyes gleaming with pride.
“And Koritsi is the only member of our family who bargained her
way into her throne.”
“Shit,” Hades said into my mind. “No one could have predicted they’d make another girl to ensnare Lucifer.”
I gulped. “They must have thought of a different way to get at him.”
He shook his head. “She was probably working on him the entire week I kept you recuperating in Hell.”
My chest ached, and I gazed at the shell of poor Lucifer, who looked even more lifeless than the women in his typing pool. What on earth had they done to him, and could it be reversed?
The other monarchs sitting around the table remained silent. I guessed they were waiting for Azriel or some other angel to strike, but nothing happened. Azriel stared at Samael, who stared back, daring him to speak.
I leaned into Hades’ side and murmured into our bond, “Should we do something?”
He squeezed my hand. “Not yet. We’ll swoop in when the time is right.”
Nodding, I turned back into the stand-off. Samael and Azriel stood three feet apart, their gazes locked. Mother and Koritsi hugged and preened at their side, while the other two children waited behind them, looking nearly as lifeless as Lucifer.
Azriel sagged, seeming completely and utterly defeated. “Why have you done this?”
Samael puffed out his chest. “As I said, I have control of five factions through my immediate family.”
The angel gulped. “Has Lucifer split his throne with Koritsi?”
“Naturally.” Samael flashed him a grin. “He’s completely enchanted by my darling daughter. And who can blame him?”
Koritsi clapped. “Oh, Daddy, you say the most flattering things!”
“Why is that one so normal compared to the others?” Hades muttered.
“Black magic?” I raised a shoulder. “Are you sure we should wait? Azriel looks like he’s going to cry.”
Hades released my hand and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “When you told me Azriel had set up this meeting and would waive the no-killing clause, I thought it was a ploy to trick me into inciting the wrath of Heaven.”
“Why us?” I asked.
“We don’t exactly get along, and having us killed would protect his dirty secret. If the angels caught him consorting with a demoness, he’d end up in a condition worse than Samael.”
I gulped. “You might have a point. And now?”
“If Samael declares himself the leader of Hell, I can guarantee Azriel will forget about any plans to set us up and focus on destroying Samael.”
My breath grew louder, heavier, and I wished time would speed up so we could finally get to the battle. I glanced toward the doorway at Lucifer, looking for signs of life, but he continued staring straight ahead.
Those bastards would pay.
“Here’s how things will work.” Samael flicked his hand and turned one of the tables into a high podium, complete with stairs. He offered Mother his arm, and they strolled across the room as though they were walking through a masquerade ball. “I rule half the Factions of Hell via my family, and it’s only a matter of time before I install more members into the thrones.”
“You’re not coming near mine,” Shango yelled.
Samael chuckled. “Did I ever tell you my darling wife is a fertility goddess? She might carry around cornucopias, but part of agriculture is about ensuring the fecundity of the land.”
I rubbed my dry throat. Most Greek gods governed more than one aspect of life.
“What are you saying?” asked the King of the Ninth.
“That I can replace any member of your harem with one of my offspring, who will turn you into a thrall like Lucifer. Or I could leave you to the tender mercies of my wife’s flesh-eating plants.”
Shango turned to Azriel and snarled, “What were you angels doing while the Third was taking control of Hell? You foist all these rules on us, yet you allow Samael to murder my colleagues.”
Azriel shuddered. “The situation is under control.”
“How?” Hel snapped.
The angel remained silent.
I balled my hands into fists, my breath coming in shallow pants. “What’s Azriel doing?”
“He had better not be waiting for us to rush at Samael,” Hades muttered. “I want him dead more than anyone, but I’d be buggered if I let those white-winged bastards trick me into becoming cannon fodder.”
“You’re right, but Samael’s completely dominating Azriel right now.”
Hades pressed a kiss on my temple. “Patience, Kora.”
I gulped down a breath and forced myself to nod. This was probably all politics and posturing. The kind of verbal theatrics people used to size each other up for a fight. I sat straighter in my seat, tensed my muscles, and readied myself for battle.
Samael leaned back in his seat with his elbows perched on the armrests, and steepled his fingers. “As the controller of Two, Three, Four, Seven, and Eight, which constitutes over fifty percent of Hell, I can now send my demons to each of your Factions.”
“They will die,” Azriel rasped.
“You would slaughter half the beings who exist for the sole purpose of guarding the souls of the wicked?” His rasping chuckle made my skin crawl. “Why, without demons, those sinful spirits could split out into the living world.”
I turned to Hades. “Why haven’t they turned him into salt?”
He furrowed his brow. “I always wondered why they bothered to split Hell into nine divisions when they could have killed him. Maybe they tried and failed?”
Koritsi’s giggle pulled my attention away from Azriel and Samael. She tugged at Lucifer’s leash, making him stumble out of the doorway and back into the room. She flung her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss on his cheek, leaving a smear of pink lipstick on his face.
“What will we do about Lucifer?” I asked.
“We’ll take him to a healer as soon as Samael’s dead.”
“Is there anything left of his soul?”
Hades gave me a comforting squeeze. “Don’t worry about Lucifer. He’s a tough bastard.”
Footsteps thundered through the doorway, and a quartet of white-haired gladiators entered the room, each wearing bronze armor and holding glowing swords. Their wings were shorter than Azriel’s but looked thicker and more streamlined for combat.
“Are these archangels?” I asked.
He rose off his seat and pulled me toward the wall. “High-ranking foot soldiers. Those assholes came to earth just after the Great Divide, picking off dying gods and flying off with them.”
“Like Valkyries?”
“Only they weren’t taking them to Valhalla, and where they were going wouldn’t have any feasts.” Hades raised a hand, and the air surrounding us thickened.
The other monarchs also stood and backed away from their tables. Azriel stepped closer to us as the angels pointed their swords at Samael’s podium. With a blast of magic, they filled the room with white light.
An explosion sounded across the room, accompanied by the thuds of debris landing against Hades’ barrier.
Squinting, I clutched the handle of the bident. “They remind me of thugs.”
“Enforcers,” he said. “And they’ll probably die.”
“But we won’t help them?”
Hades’ laugh rang through my head. “Samael is a problem of their making. If the angels think we’re going to do the heavy lifting for them after they destroyed our homes and tore apart those we loved, they can get fucked.”
As the light faded, I blinked away the glare. Samael drifted down on a pair of battered wings and landed on a black scorch mark on the floor. The only thing left of the quartet of angels were a few charred feathers and their bronze breastplates.
I sucked in a breath between my teeth. “What the hell just happened?”
Hades wrapped an arm around my waist. “You see why I said we should wait?”
With a silent nod, I turned to the room’s far left, where Mother stood with Lucifer and the three children. Agori brushed dust off his pristine white suit and
pouted.
“That’s your opening move?” Samael drawled. “The willful destruction of furniture? You’ll have to do better because it’s only a matter of time before my family infiltrates Heaven.”
Azriel turned toward us and thrust his arm toward Samael. “Monarchs of Hell, seize him before he takes your thrones.”
As one, the Demon Kings and Queens folded their arms across their chests. Hades and I did the same. If the angels just died trying to kill Samael, the consequences for us would be the same.
Samael waggled his fingers. “If you expect my esteemed monarchs to lift a finger and help, they won’t. Each one of them has witnessed the pettiness of your wrath, and they’re afraid you will strike against them.”
The next quartet of angels to come in had to bend over double to enter the door. Each stood eight feet tall, wore silver breastplates, and carried tridents. They crowded the conference room and stood in front of Samael.
“This should be fun.” Hel, the Queen of the Sixth, clapped her rotted hand against her healthy one, the lips of one side of her face curled into a smile.
Before Samael could react to the newcomers, one of them lanced him through the stomach with their trident. Samael’s belly sprayed black blood, but he burst into a maniacal laugh. “You’re all so predictable!”
With a shudder, I turned my gaze to Mother, who hugged the larger of the children to her chest.
“Are these archangels?” I asked Hades.
“No,” he replied, his voice grim. “Archangels are extraordinarily handsome beings like Lucifer.”
My gaze darted back to Samael. “Those tridents won’t kill him.”
Hades didn’t reply for a few heartbeats. I glanced up at him to find his eyes burning with hatred. “I’m beginning to think he’s indestructible.”
Samael placed a hand on the trident’s handle and turned it to salt, making the giant angel step back. His three companions launched their weapons at him, but he reduced them to flame with a flick of his hand.
