by Meg Xuemei X
He leapt back in a hurry, and I laughed as I jumped out of the suspended coffin.
I had no idea why they’d used an iron coffin to confine me since I wasn’t a fae. Iron didn’t weaken me.
My fire fried Ares’s lush golden hair that he’d so carefully slicked back. I bet he shampooed it daily and applied expensive gel on top. And I bet he had never gone bald before.
His damaged face was already regenerating, though not as fast as when he was on the surface of Earth. His once sensual lips, now deformed, twisted into a nasty snarl.
“Aren’t you pretty, Ares?” I laughed. I was in a good mood now that I had more energy and I’d burned the god. “Pity you can’t do a selfie. You shouldn’t have turned me into Celeste. Marigold might be a sweetheart, but Celeste is more than you can chew.”
“You think I can’t handle you,” he hissed, “you green-eyed demon spawn? You’ll learn not to cross a god.”
A golden shield and a spear appeared in his hands.
“And you’ll learn some manners, prick,” I said, throwing up my hands.
Only this time, my fire didn’t blast out.
“What the fuck?” I yelped.
My limbs went cold, ice filling my core. A realization hit me hard. Somehow, the venom was no longer in my system, but the spells from both Ares and Lucifer still bound me.
My fire was only a one-time thing and I’d just used up any residual magic I had. Their spells gripped me again, sealing my power and rendering me useless.
I darted my eyes around, seeking anything sharp that I could use against Ares, though it was a futile effort.
The war god laughed sardonically. “Who will learn manners now, little girl?”
I balled my fists.
Ares raised his spear. The god was known for his terrible temper. He would impale me to punish me and inflict as much pain on me as possible.
“Bring it on, bitch,” I spat. “You’re a petty little man.”
He sneered in rage and stalked toward me.
The door behind him tumbled down with a loud thud. A dark flash zoomed in toward me in the form of smoke. Before I could dodge from a possible new attack, the thick smoke formed into a giant figure.
Loki stood between Ares and me, legs braced apart, a black shield and a glinting longsword in his hands.
“Hello, Ares,” Loki purred. “Haven’t you had enough of my pet?”
Both Ares and I hissed at his question, but I wasn’t foolish enough to challenge the prince now. I would wait for him and Ares to fight first. I had no magical juice anyway.
I was lucky that Hell’s prince had shown up just at the right time to prevent the war god from piercing me with his spear. I doubted that would kill me, but it would hurt horribly.
“You’ll defend the little whore against me?” Ares said, narrowing his angry eyes.
His spear shifted toward Loki.
“She’s mine to deal with under the current contract,” Loki said. “I don’t like to inherit damaged goods, and you’ve already done enough of that. And yes, I’ll always defend what’s mine, even my pet. So I suggest you put away your sharp toys. I’m the heir to this realm, and I hate to remind you that your power is greatly reduced on my turf. You won’t win if you want a fight.”
Ares sneered but lowered his spear.
“She isn’t yours, Loki the trickster,” Ares said. “Remember that even under the new contract I made with your father, she’s only on loan to you for three months. Fail to tame her and whip her into the shape we want, and you’ll have to answer to your father and me. After three months, no matter if she’s ripe or not, I’ll be coming to collect her.”
I let my icy rage sink down.
“Get out,” Loki said coldly. “Your business is done here.”
Ares’s laugh was equally cold. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re protective of your little stepsister.”
His menacing gaze landed on me as I tried to conjure up my fire to give him a parting gift. I was curious to see how the once gorgeous god looked without a nose in addition to half-melted lips and a bald head.
To my bitter fury, my fire remained impotent.
And a glacier took root in my center and spread to my limbs, freezing me all over.
“I’ll return, doll,” Ares said, ogling me over Loki’s broad shoulder.
I grinned at him savagely. “Can’t wait. Bring a camera. You might look prettier next time.”
Aggression rolled off the war god.
“Ares,” Loki warned.
In a flash of a violent wind, the god was gone.
Loki wheeled to me with a chiding expression and a sigh. “Must you always rile up people, Princess?”
“He isn’t a person,” I said, breathing out a stream of frosty air.
Loki nodded. “Fine, he’s a god, and that’s even worse.” He regarded me. “Why are you exhaling frost in the hottest Hell?”
Fires had been my core magic and filled my being before, but now without my mates, I was turning into a block of walking ice.
“Are you going to experiment on me as they did?” I asked.
He’d regret it if he tried. I’d make all of them pay. I didn’t know how yet, but they’d all pay dearly.
“I’ve told you I’m not like them, and I’m not in the habit of repeating myself,” he said, gesturing toward the door. “I came to retrieve you, cousin, but since you’ve figured out how to get out of the iron box without my aid, it’s saved me the trouble of giving you the energy to revive yourself.”
Giving me energy? The idea of feeding from anyone except my demigods made my stomach flop with a queasy feeling. Would I stoop to that?
“I don’t need your demonic energy,” I said harshly.
“You haven’t even tried it,” he said, shrugging. “You might like it.”
I snorted, then ignored him to show my contempt.
I followed him out of the dome and took in the barren terrain to a distant black mountain. Lava spewed into the dark red sky.
My nose wrinkled at the reek of fire, smoke, and brimstone permeating the air.
My three former jailors weren’t in the vicinity. Loki must have dismissed them for some reason.
My skin was cold, my eyes colder.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“My fortified castle,” he said. “You’ll get acquainted with my dukes first. We’ll replace your demigods as your new leading men. And that will be the new beginning of your life in Hell.”
So, Loki intended to be the head of my new “harem.”
“Dream bigger, prince,” I said, pulling my lips back as I bared my fangs.
Loki tilted his head back and laughed.
“That’s not the worst thing on the horizon for you, Princess,” he purred.
CHAPTER 5
The Demigod of Sky and Thunders
__________________
My Rosebud had taken her own life.
We couldn’t reach her in time. She plunged the damned flaming blade into her heart, and our hearts shattered into pieces. When we finally broke through the barrier and charged into the hidden realm, it imploded. The shockwave threw us back. Had we been mortals, we’d be dead.
There was nothing left of the realm, of our mate, except for fairy dust drifting like snowflakes.
Paxton sank to his knees. The cold bastard, who hadn’t shed a single tear in his existence, wept. Axel darted his bloodshot eyes around, seeking something to destroy. I bet he was looking for his father to ram a blade into the murderer’s guts.
I punched my fist into a rock, sundering it. My heart was cold. Soon it’d return to its former frozen state. My Rosebud had awoken me not long ago, only to leave me in the void again.
She was gone. There was nothing for me on this planet.
Except for revenge.
I would slaughter the devil and the god and their armies. Then I’d follow her to wherever her spirit had gone.
I didn’t give a fuck about Ear
th anymore. I no longer cared about defending the innocent and the defenseless.
I’d never told my woman that I loved her. I wasn’t used to showing emotions. I’d thought she should have known—whenever I looked at her, my every cell swirled alive in brilliant sunlight.
I’d been wrong. We’d all been fucking wrong. Our mate had never felt safe with us, so she’d kept a secret. She didn’t know how much she meant to us and that no matter what her heritage was, she’d never need to fear us.
It shocked us to a stupor to learn about her demon blood, but that didn’t matter to me. She was my Rosebud, my love. If we’d shown her just that, she wouldn’t have taken her own life.
Her last words haunted me. “I’m the lost demon princess. I’m sorry I kept my secret from you. Forgive me and forget me.” Her stunning green gaze had caressed us before the light winked out of her eyes. “I love you, all of you.”
Her repentance cut me deeper than a blade could.
She’d never need to ask for forgiveness, but we should have. It was too late for us now.
We’d failed her.
The Dominion soldiers all around us pulled away, giving us a wide berth. We—the formidable demigods—had failed to protect our only woman, and now we were like wounded beasts, ready to slaughter anyone and anything in our wrath if they got in our way.
I thought of destroying the world I’d once defended.
Héctor remained still, his eyes empty and dead, his wings limp behind him. A second later, a spark of dark fire warmed his gaze.
How could he? The son of a bitch! We’d just lost our mate forever.
Or had he gone mad?
Her demise should have undone him. He’d bonded with her first and deeply. He’d never touched a woman until her, his destined mate.
She was the only one he could ever have. She’d given him his world back, only to take it away after their brief union.
All three of us—Paxton, Axel, and I—had resented the death demigod for stealing Marigold from us, until she’d also accepted and loved us.
“It’s my fault,” Paxton whispered, his scratchy voice breaking the heavy silence and grief. “If I’d told you about her half-demon heritage, we’d have prevented this. She wouldn’t have taken her own life. She would still have hope .... I just wanted to keep her for myself. I wanted to have a special bond with her by protecting her and her secrets from all of you....”
Axel and I rammed our fists into the fucker’s face.
This piece of shit had cost us our mate! He should have died instead of her.
We punched him repetitively and brutally, wanting him to rot and burn. Paxton didn’t fight back. He just knelt there as if he enjoyed our vicious beating, wanting the pain to soothe his blackened, broken soul.
Blood streamed down his face, but we found no satisfaction or comfort in hurting him.
Héctor trained his eyes on us, seeming like he wanted to join us in beating the crap out of Paxton. But instead, he shoved Axel and me off of our cousin and stood between us as if all of a sudden he was the sea demigod’s shield.
Bring it on, fuckers, my thunders roared in my head, pain blaring through my skull. Let’s battle. Let’s tear each other apart!
“I’ve known about our mate’s demon origin as long as he has,” Héctor said. “I wanted her to trust me enough to come forward and confide in me. I wanted to give her time to trust us all. I was a fucking moron. We’re all morons. We don’t deserve her. We let her feel so alone and unsafe that she had to ask for an outsider’s assistance.”
My cold, empty gaze swept to where the ancient tree—the portal to the hidden realm—had been.
A glimmering pulse caught my attention, and I sucked in a breath. It was the elemental, or what was left of it, still tethered to this world.
It was what my Rosebud had come for.
My cousins’ violent arguments brushed past my ears until I heard the death demigod whisper calmly. “We haven’t lost her entirely. I’m cursed with death’s touch, but I’m also blessed with gifting one life, just once in my existence.”
Paxton’s and Axel’s attention snagged on Héctor, a light of desperate hope swirling back to life in their bloodshot eyes. Power visibly coursed through them once again.
A spiderweb of lightning shot out of me, striking the twilit sky.
The image of my woman writhing beneath me flashed before me.
She moaned breathlessly as I drove into her depth. I wanted to be gentle with her, but she turned me into a rage of lust. She loved a fierce fuck. She loved me fucking her brutally.
I pounded into her, watching her face radiate in ecstasy, inhaling her scent of sweet rose.
Her lovely pussy, tight and hot, gloved my cock perfectly. After three thrusts, I already needed to cum and pump my demigod seed into her warm womb. Only she could do that to me—make me lose control.
I’d give everything to have my Rosebud back, to fuck her raw and hard, over and over, and love her.
I strode toward the dying elemental—a being that’d helped end my mate’s life. I’d interrogate it, punish it, and finally destroy it.
Then the spark flared and exploded again. It tore into four parts and shot toward us. Each beam hit one of us and blasted into our bloodstreams, alien energy flowing into our veins.
A voice rang in our heads.
She killed herself to protect all of you, said the voice of the elemental. She believed if she was captured, you would go after her and get yourselves killed. So she did what she thought she had to do: sever all bonds to help you move on. Foolish girl.
“Get the fuck out of us,” Héctor roared. His vanished wings whooshed out aggressively.
Quit it, it said. Your bellow hurts my ears. I don’t know how she put up with you, but we have work to do. You boys won’t be able to get her back from Hell. You’ll need my help to pass into the realm of the Void.
We traded surprised, determined looks, our emotions churning.
We’d do anything to get our mate back.
At least say thank you, for a start, the elemental added. I’ve just given you the last pieces of my dark essence. You can call me Septum.
CHAPTER 6
__________________
Barefoot, I padded beside Loki across the barren land. The heat emitted from underneath my soles, yet it didn’t bother me. I felt only cold in every inch of my body.
I breathed out another frosty breath.
Loki gave me a measured look, and I ignored him.
I gazed upon the distant black mountains and the lava spewing into the reddened sky.
“Is that your home, Loki?” I asked. “Is that where you’re taking me for more interrogation and torture?”
“I don’t dirty my hands torturing people,” he said. “I’m the future ruler of Hell. I have better things to do. And you think I’d live in the mountains like some beast?”
I shrugged. “How would I know? I don’t know anything about Hell or you. I’m a stranger in a strange, hostile land.”
“You’d know if you knew how to access other parts of your memory.”
I doubted that I’d like any memories connected to my demon past. Part of me was still in denial.
“I don’t give a fuck,” I said.
“You may not give a fuck, but I do,” he said lazily. “And you aren’t as uncaring as you pretend to be. At this very moment, you’re dying to know what’s happened to the demigods who defiled you, who took your maidenhead.”
“That’s gross,” I said. “Who talks like that?”
Yet a stabbing pain shot into my heart again. I nearly doubled over, but I let the pain pass through me and kept moving. The sharp, tiny rocks and hard dirt beneath my feet became too much, biting into my skin. I didn’t whimper. I wouldn’t show my pain, physically or emotionally, in front of my foe.
Loki laughed, then he glanced at my nearly naked form, his gaze lingering on my breasts, which were marred by crisscrossed scars.
I’d bet that my t
ormenters had opened my chest more often than other parts of me. The heart was the most vital organ. It defined a person. I just hadn’t expected the heartless god and devil to be so interested in mine.
I had only a thin pair of underwear on. I had no way of knowing if I’d been defiled or raped, but I wouldn’t waste time ruminating over it. I had one single purpose in Hell—I would survive whatever shit came my way, I would grow stronger, and then I would destroy the god and the devil and slaughter everything that moved in this realm before I went down and never rose again.
Once you quenched fear, subdued hope, and no longer expected a future, nothing could ever stand in your way.
My heart hardened to steel. I breathed out icy air.
“You were experimented on,” Loki said softly, his gaze turning solemn as he averted it from my breasts. A flash of dark rage flitted by his eyes. “But you weren’t defiled. I insisted on that with all the power I had. That was part of my terms. I’m to reform you, to make you Lucifer’s and Ares’s tool and weapon, and finally their bitch and consort. They, however, were gracious enough to allow me to have the first sample of you.”
A wave of chill iced my bones; nausea twisted my stomach. Ice crystals formed under my feet on the hot land.
I was a walking incarnation of cold rage, but it didn’t faze the demon prince.
“They don’t care about my means,” he said, watching me closely. “They want results.”
“Aren’t they a bunch of delightful dicks that eat dicks for breakfast?”
“Never heard of that funny expression. Anyway, demons and gods don’t think like humans, and you’re still conditioned by human morals and concepts, Celeste, even though you aren’t one of them.”
“They expect you to use your way to beat me into submission?” I asked, a blank mask on my face despite my fury. “Are you the worst of the worst in Hell, Loki?”
He grinned savagely and seductively.
“The worst of the worst in any universe, cousin,” he said. “As I said, I have a reputation to maintain, and Hell isn’t like anyplace.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I said, putting sarcasm in my tone and pushing down my fear as I let my formidable will dominate and fortify my every thought.
