by Bella Klaus
“Feel free to include that in the IOU. Then I can auction it to the highest bidder.”
“You complete and utter dickhead.” Hades shook his head.
Lucifer took my hand, pressed a kiss on my knuckles, and winked. “Until next time.”
When he teleported away, I turned to Azriel and asked, “Can I make another request?”
He nodded.
“Since we couldn’t have saved your hides without Lucifer’s help, I think you should break his curse.”
Azriel stepped back, his eyes wide. “Lucifer was an archangel. I’m just an administrator.”
“Then you can escalate the request,” Hades growled.
His eyes went vacant for several moments before he turned to us and said, “Heaven’s answer was no.”
My shoulders sagged. “Lucifer just got rid of its greatest threat, and this is how you repay him?”
“I knew angels were miserable bastards,” Hades snarled. “But I had no idea you could also be such wretched ingrates.”
Azriel lowered his lashes. “I reported Lucifer’s contribution to our problem with Samael, but unfortunately, I don’t make the rules.”
A portal opened up into Namara’s office, where the secretary stared down at three babies lying on her desk. Mother’s statue hunched by the window, forever frozen by the loss of her magic.
“So long, shit head,” Hades said to the angel. “See you before the next Devil’s Ball and not before.”
“Shit head?” I murmured. “That isn’t up to your usual standard.”
Hades gave me a long, lingering kiss on the lips. “I’ll have to do better next time. Once we’ve sent your mother and those brats to the healer, you and I are going to celebrate.”
As he stepped through the portal and into Namara’s workspace, I melted in his arms. Less than a month ago, my biggest dream had been to lose my virginity and fall in love before I succumbed to corporality sickness.
I hadn’t thought such a thing possible, but I’d already had everything I wanted—power, immortality, and the love of a thousand lifetimes. It was all thanks to Hades, the Demon King who had abducted me twice and stolen my heart.
21
TEN YEARS LATER
Hades stared at me throughout the entire elevator journey, the heat of his glower warming the side of my face.
I drummed my fingers on my swollen belly and suppressed a smile. We made this journey every Spring Equinox for the nine years since we destroyed Samael, and each time, he would huff and puff and complain. No matter how many times I told him I could go alone, he insisted on accompanying me.
Hades’ growl reverberated across the confined space.
I stifled a giggle. It was only a matter of time before he began his rant.
“Explain to me again why we don’t just allow her to fester,” he snarled.
“Because she sacrificed herself to save us,” I said. “Because someone has to take care of my brother and sisters. Because if we don’t feed her, she’ll revert back into a statue.” I turned and met his sullen gaze.
Even when scowling, he was a vision. I couldn’t decide which of his features I loved the most: the eyes that smoldered with the intensity of his emotions, or those full lips that gave me endless pleasure. It didn’t matter that I saw him nearly every day. He was still as breathtaking as I’d found him the afternoon our eyes had met.
“She wasn’t trying to save me,” Hades muttered.
“Admit it. If Mother hadn’t attacked Samael, we wouldn’t have gotten the opening we needed to take him down.”
He sniffed. “You and I both have different recollections of events.”
“Then your memory is glitching.” I gave him a peck on the cheek.
“You’ll have to do better than that to appease me.”
“How about a foot massage?” Holding onto his bicep for balance, I stuck out my sandaled foot and wiggled my toes.
“And that benefits me, how?” He rubbed a slow circle on the small of my back, sending ripples of pleasure up and down my spine. “I’m sure this is just an excuse to have me kneeling in front of your spread legs.”
“Any objections?” I asked.
He peppered my neck with gentle kisses that sent sparks of electricity across my skin. “Absolutely not.”
He took my lips with a passion that made my mind swim. His lips were dominant, demanding, and toe-curlingly delicious. Moaning into his mouth, I melted against him as his tongue swirled around mine. His large hand cupped my sensitive breasts, and a pleasant shiver ran down my back and settled between my legs.
The baby kicked.
I broke the kiss and stared up at him, my eyes wide. “Did you feel that?”
Hades placed both hands on my belly and chuckled. “Zagreus probably wants you to return home and forget about visiting the Fire Queen’s new brat.”
“We’re not calling our son Zagreus,” I said.
His eyes twinkled with mirth. “We’ll see about that.”
I prodded him in the chest. “Mera and Valentine are expecting us.”
“Correction.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “She is expecting you. The Vampire King, who is a possessive bastard, will be haunting the parlor as her chaperone.”
A laugh huffed from my chest. It didn’t matter how much those two fought. Hades liked Valentine almost as much as he liked Lucifer. At the thought of our former colleague, my chest filled with warmth. Lucifer had finally managed to break his curse, and if anyone deserved a happy ever after, it was him.
The elevator stopped, and its doors hissed open into a driveway overgrown with weeds. Standing in front of us was the mansion where I’d spent the first twenty years of my life as Kora, the young woman who believed she was dying of corporality sickness.
It had now fallen into disrepair. Ivy sprawled across the mansion’s entire stone facade, including the two-story columns and its triangular roof. Moss covered most of the windows, making the place look like a living, breathing plant.
Hades scooped me into his arms and cradled me to his chest. “You’re not walking on that mess.”
“But a stroll around Hell is fine?” I gave his chest a gentle pat.
“There are no magic-stealing plants in the Fifth, and I don’t trust the proprietress of this shit hole.” He carried me across the courtyard and to the mansion’s front steps, which were covered in mildew.
I shook my head. “Why doesn’t Mother get help?”
Hades snorted. “Nobody could stand her except for that Pirithous wanker, and look where loyalty to Demeter got him.”
He flicked a hand, and the doors swung open, revealing the once black-and-white-tiled marble hallway. The scent of ripe fruit filled my nostrils, coming from the climbing peach trees Mother had planted by the walls.
“Next year, you’re charging up a bag of crystals, and I’ll send them to her via Hermes.”
“Then I wouldn’t get to check on my brother and sisters.”
“Those little brats are fine.”
Someone giggled from behind the door of Mother’s receiving room, where she used to entertain guests such as the Witch Queen and the rest of her coven. Hades and I had decided to leave them in the basement as statues, and we had told Azriel to dispose of Zeus’ penis. It was probably at the bottom of the ocean now, or in a volcano, where it would burn for an eternity.
Hades placed me on my feet and rapped on the door. “We’re coming in.”
We went into the receiving room, which Mother had converted into a huge bedroom. It was painted pale blue, with cotton clouds on the walls instead of pictures. Paper birds glided beneath a white ceiling, some of them landing in a potted tree she’d planted in a corner that grew every major citrus fruit imaginable.
Mother emerged from the door that led to the kitchen, clutching a basket of lemon muffins. Her flaxen hair was now as white as the clouds, her cheeks sunken, and all the bulk and beauty she’d once had given way to the features of a crone.
I sucked in a
breath through my teeth. The magic I had given her should have been enough to sustain her for at least a year. Had she been experimenting with magic again?
Her eyes widened, which were the only features she shared of her former self. Crystal blue with flecks of gold and green that still reminded me of the earth.
“Kora.” She stepped back, her gaze darting to Hades, who stood at my side. “Is it Spring already?”
I nodded. “How have you been?”
Her lips curved into a weak smile, and she carefully avoided glancing at my belly. “The children keep me busy.”
Giggles filled the air, and three sets of tiny feet rushed in from behind us. I glanced over my shoulder to find Persephonia charging across the room, her arms outstretched, her blonde ringlets bouncing with her movements.
Koritsi crawled behind her, wearing a white onesie that matched Agori’s, who took up the rear.
“Here you are, my darling.” Mother handed the little girl an oversized muffin before placing two on the floor for the twins.
Pursing my lips, I suppressed a sigh. After the explosion, Healer Iaso had examined the children’s deflated bodies and told us they would be forever stuck as toddlers. At some point during the explosion, Mother had given up her immortality to keep them alive. It was why, no matter how much Hades protested, I couldn’t let her die.
After extracting three sippy cups from her pocket and placing them in front of the children, she walked toward us, her eyes shining with hope.
“Kora, I was thinking of awakening your aunts—”
“No,” I said.
She flinched. “You didn’t even allow me to finish.”
“If you’re asking for more magic to revive your coven, the answer is no,” I said.
Mother’s lips thinned, and her eyes narrowed into slits. I raised my brows. It was hard to believe that I was once the woman imprisoned in this mansion and subject to the mercies of someone more powerful.
“Count yourself lucky we’re keeping you animated,” Hades snapped.
Mother bowed her head. “I did not mean to sound ungrateful,” she said through clenched teeth. “May I please have my power?”
I grabbed her by the arm and pushed a pulse of magic through her skin, making her draw back with a gasp. Over the years, I had regained all the memories I’d lost, including those from when I had inhabited previous bodies, as well as the times when I had been a disembodied soul.
Hades had been right about Mother—she had extracted Zeus’ magic and bound it to my fragmented soul, both to fix the damage I had sustained during the Great Divide and to provide her with a source of magic she could absorb. It had kept her and the coven powerful for two centuries. Prior to then, they’d had little more magic than an apprentice witch.
The softness of Mother’s skin returned, but her hair remained white. She stared down at her smooth hands and murmured, “Thank you, Kora.”
I cast my gaze back to the children, whose faces were now smothered in chocolate. “Well, have a nice year.”
Mother swallowed. “Kora?”
“Yes?”
“Will you permit me to see my grandchild?”
“You never showed much interest in Macaria,” I replied.
Her shoulders sagged.
I didn’t feel an ounce of pity. Mother hadn’t once asked about my eldest daughter or reached out to see her, even though she was easy to contact through the Enforcer Division. She still worked there, even though she spent a lot of her free time in Hell. And I’d managed to get her to stop calling Hades by his formal title.
He gave my ass a playful pat. “Give those brats a kiss, and let’s go.”
After hugging my little brother and sisters goodbye, Hades escorted me through the hallway.
“Zagreus will never enter this home,” Hades growled.
“Agreed.”
He scooped me up into his arms again and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
“What was that for?” I asked with a giggle.
“A warmup,” he said in a deep voice that made my nipples tingle.
“For?” I gazed into his smoldering eyes.
“After dinner, we’re staying the night at Kensington Palace.”
My brows drew together. “Do Valentine and Mera know, or do you expect me to sneak into their room again without their permission?”
His wicked chuckle made every nerve ending in my body dance with delight. “Don’t worry. The butler has arranged an exact replica of the room from ten years ago. This time, there will be no cock-blocking vampire to interrupt our fun.”
END OF HADES AND PERSEPHONE
READ LUCIFER’S TRILOGY
Also by Bella Klaus
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I had a one-night stand with the devil. Now he’s tracked me down to my mother’s house and is demanding my submission!
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Mera and Valentine’s Story
He Broke My Heart… Now He’s Returned For My Blood.
I’m no one—just a magic-less woman who fled the supernatural world after being dumped and humiliated by the most powerful vampire in Britain.
That was a long time ago. I got over the betrayal. Now, I’m on the mend.
But when an assassin tracks me down , claiming that a deadly power thrums beneath my veins, only one person is strong enough to save my hide:
Valentine Sargon—the Vampire King who stole my virginity and broke my heart.
He’ll help, but only if I move into a safe house. With him.
Valentine is as handsome as the devil, silver-tongued and seductive as sin. I don’t trust him or the way he hungers for my blood. But I’ve run out of choices and can’t refuse.
He’s going to protect me from the assassins, but who’s going to protect me from him?
READ ALLURE OF THE VAMPIRE KING
Lydia and Fenrir’s Story
Fate made me an outcast. My true mate marked me for death.
As the daughter of my pack’s lame wolf, I’m an outcast, a social reject considered unsuitable for mating. My life is a daily grind of drudgery, humiliation, and abuse.
Then during a ceremony to our god, Fenrir, fate made me the alpha’s true mate.
But when I shift, I become a monster.
Horrified at what I’ve become, the other wolves attack. They cast my broken and bleeding body on the altar as a sacrifice, leaving me to die.
When Fenrir comes to claim my soul, he sees something in me that’s precious and takes me to his lair.
He offers me the power to get revenge, but in return, I must help him destroy the world…
READ SACRIFICED
