by Meg Xuemei X
“I’ve never taken an unwilling woman into my bed,” he said with a taunting smile as he eyed me expectantly. “I never need to. They crawl to my bed, begging to be fucked and always screaming for more.”
Loki was extremely attractive. He was every bit a dark prince of Hell. While Lucifer was all golden, despite how mythology mistakenly describes him as a dark, shiny being, his heir was all dark and gorgeous—jet black hair, obsidian bedroom eyes with fire that could melt panties, and dark bronze skin.
I suspected that many people mistook Loki for Lucifer, and I don’t think Loki was particularly pleased by that.
Hell’s prince could also change his appearance at ease, but I knew this one was his true form. For some reason, he wanted me to see his true form, and it’d always been that way with us.
He wore a pair of designer denim jeans and a thousand-dollar gray shirt, sleeves rolled up, revealing his muscled forearms and a thick, white-gold bracelet. No one would’ve thought he was a half-demon in any human social setting. He looked every bit a powerful billionaire from a dark romance novel.
He wasn’t lying about his appeal. I didn’t doubt that women of different races and species would beg him in bed and scream for him in pleasure. None of them could recognize him for what he was, and I doubted any could sense the ruthless and merciless demon beneath his skin before nightmares seized them and tossed them into the pit of Hell forever.
I wasn’t one of those women and never would be.
His charm and spells didn’t work on me. Lust didn’t beat in my bloodstream when I stared at him. His dark beauty and incubi charisma didn’t touch me either.
It was laughable that Lucifer had assigned this champion to seduce, bend, and break me when they’d failed to do so after two months of slicing me open.
I snorted. “Keep at it, cousin—never take an unwilling woman.”
Somehow, I also trusted his declaration that he’d never been a rapist, despite that he was a half-demon. Demons lie, but I hadn’t detected Loki lying to me. Perhaps he still had a trace of decency left.
“A woman who always speaks her fierce mind.” Loki chuckled. “I might be the only one in Hell to appreciate your daring, Celeste. No one has ever annoyed the hell out of Lucifer and Ares until you came on the scene. It was priceless to see the black rage on their faces when you pissed them off without a care.”
I kept letting him call me Celeste. After parting with my mates, I didn’t think I could bear to hear anyone call me Marigold. She’d died in the Ever Realm with the elemental.
Bleakness engulfed me.
I’d left the past behind and I had no future.
I was a shadow and wraith of revenge.
And I hated my present existence in this reality, every second of it.
“You’re all grown up now,” Loki said, knowing my mood yet choosing to ignore it. Undeniable heat glimmered in his eyes, turning their color to bright green.
He raised a hand. For a second there, he seemed to want to graze his knuckles across my cheek to show his affection. I stared back at him blankly, my breath frosting the air.
He dropped his hand to his side, and the heat he’d displayed sank into the depths of his eyes, which returned to obsidian.
Good call.
I would bite his fingers off if he dared to touch me.
He gave my half-nakedness another casual glance.
“If you could ask me for anything, what would you ask, Celeste?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “I’ll ask nothing from you.”
A rough patch of the hot land burned into my feet.
“Whatever you ask me for, as long as it’s reasonable, I’ll give it to you,” he said. “I’m not your demigods, but I’m better. They left you to die, but I came for you.”
He could keep going with his illusions. In the end, they wouldn’t do him good.
A black wind swirled around me, caressing me. Before I wheeled to attack Loki, the wind had dressed me. In an instant, I wore a combat-ready outfit of red leather and thigh-high boots, with a sheathed dagger against my hip.
“From this day on, your life will be all about battle and survival, as befits a princess of war,” he said. “I won’t always be around, but I won’t leave you weaponless.”
His words were full of contradictions. He seemed about to throw me into the arena and then posed as my protector.
“Make up your mind, Loki,” I said. “What is it you want from me? You’re wasting your time playing games with me.”
“I’ve had a use for you since you were born,” he said as if he knew about my childhood, the one I didn’t have any memory of, “but I need you to survive first and grow into your powers. We aren’t a threat to each other. Soon, you’ll learn about your purpose.”
“I don’t give a shit about your purpose, mine, or anyone else’s.”
He only smiled. “You might not care now, but it’ll affect you every step of the way on your path to true awakening. You’ll take part in your first trial tomorrow at Hell’s Academy.”
My heart skipped a beat, and my cold heart pounded painfully.
It hadn’t been that long ago that I’d been forced to go through the trial of the Blood Rune in the Half-Blood Academy, though it’d felt like centuries passed while I’d headed up the marble stairs toward Axel in my robe. I’d held a grudge against the Demigod of War for tearing me away from my old hunter’s life and dragging me to the Academy for a brutal trial meant for the Olympian descendants.
I’d been burned, yet survived the trial. The gods’ blood runes had broken the seal that’d concealed and leashed my Titan power, thereby shattering my illusion that I’d been a human all along.
Now his fucking demon prince was informing me that this was just the beginning of my misery and I’d be forced to go through a trial again—but this time, in the fucking pits of Hell.
What would Hell’s trial turn me into?
I drew in a ragged breath and calmed myself the next instant.
I would survive.
I flexed my fingers, calling for my power, but it was a spark under ashes.
“Mimic the trial from the Half-Blood Academy?” I sneered. “I thought Hell would at least try to be original.”
“Hell’s trials have nothing in common with the blood ritual you went through, cousin,” Loki said.
My back stiffened.
Only the Olympian descendants knew how the Ritual of the Blood Runes ran. How could Hell’s prince know about it? Axel had insisted that there were moles among the ranks of the Dominions. Just when I was about to question Loki, it dawned on me that the God of War was the biggest traitor of all. He’d sold out Earth and the demigods a long time ago while he pretended to be a superhero and basked in the mortals’ worship.
“The demigods’ trials are child’s play compared to the Hell’s,” Loki spat. “You’ll have to prowl through carnage tomorrow. The weak will be cut down brutally, and you’ll prove to me and all who are watching the game that you aren’t weak. Tomorrow, five hundred contenders will be culled to one hundred, and those one hundred strongest will be admitted to the Academy. Tomorrow, in the middle of the arena, you’ll be their main target.”
“Is it in your best interest that I survive?” I asked.
“Do you have to ask?” he said softly.
“Then why are you still making me walk long distances with no food or drink?”
I swallowed hard. I could no longer feed from my demigods. But somehow, Hell didn’t let me fade, unlike what happened on Earth.
“I thought it’d be nice for us to have some alone time,” he murmured, then put his fingers into his mouth and whistled.
A neigh rippled through the air.
A hot wind gusted over me, tossing my hair into my face.
A stallion with shining black hair appeared in the sky and shot toward us, a chariot hurling behind. He exhaled a plume of smoke, and his hooves galloped along hellfire.
I stumbled back and ducked. If
his flaming hooves hit my head, it would crack my skull.
Loki’s large hands grabbed my waist without warning. Just as I was about to punch him in the face, he lifted me and tossed me onto the seat of the chariot.
The next second, he stood beside me, cocked his head back, and laughed.
“Why is this funny, fucker?” I hissed. I was so not in the mood.
“I aim to impress, Princess,” he said. “Your adventure in Hell just started.”
“Adventure my ass.”
The sadist was going to throw me into a pit and let me fight my way out of the carnage tomorrow.
Hell’s psychopathic prince only laughed harder and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
The stallion soared into the burning sky while I tried to find my balance at the sudden jerky motions. The horse had to be doing it intentionally.
“Fucking animal,” I said.
“Picasso won’t appreciate name-calling,” Loki warned. “He’s very sensitive.”
CHAPTER 7
__________________
The black stallion with the ridiculous name of Picasso snapped his head at me over his massive shoulder, his eyes glowing crimson. Then the Hell horse sent a stream of smoke with sparks of fire to my face.
“Fuck!” I yelped and ducked behind Loki, rubbing my face against his muscled back. To my surprise, the heir didn’t smell bad, like demons were supposed to. On the contrary, he smelled of sandalwood and rich spice.
I’d spared my face by dodging, yet a side of my hair had been singed by the strong sparks in the smoke, and the smell of smoke was now in my hair.
Loki chuckled in delight. “Picasso, behave yourself. You’ll treat Princess Celeste with kindness and respect unless she assaults you first.” He slanted a sidelong glance at me as I straightened myself. “I told you he’d be offended.”
Marie, my former Dominion guard, had been right about trouble following me. Even a horse wouldn’t leave me alone. Ever since I’d left my hunter life behind in Crack, I’d always had bad luck. And I’d always been hunted.
I gnashed my teeth. I wasn’t going to let a horse bully me.
“Which moron named him Picasso? He’s everything but Picasso. Does the horse even know who Picasso is? This hellion horse should be called Smoky or Toasty.”
Smoky snorted. Then he started descending abruptly instead of going forward.
I frowned at Loki. “What’s his problem now?”
Loki arched a dark eyebrow. “I think he’s going to ask you to get off his chariot and walk to my castle on foot. You’re lucky he hasn’t tossed you out already. I warned you that he was intelligent and sensitive, and you thought I was bullshitting you. Celeste, you’ve gotta learn to trust me.”
“Trust you? And if your horse won’t give me a ride,” I said bitterly, “I’ll just find a place to crash for the night.”
I looked around and down. We were above a ridge of black hills with streams of bubbling lava filling the cracks.
“You had a reputation of antagonizing everyone even when you were at the Half-Blood Academy,” Loki sighed. “You need to check your attitude when facing a superior opponent or you won’t get too far.”
I snickered. “Right, I’m looking for a great career in Hell.”
Loki chuckled again. This was another bad day for me, but it was a good day for the prince. He’d acquired me, and it was his ambition to tame me.
“Just apologize to Picasso, and all will be forgiven,” he advised.
The horse let out a bray of agreement.
“I’m not going to fucking apologize to a horse,” I said. “Smoky can have his tantrum.”
Loki sighed. “You put me in a tough spot, cousin, but we’re running out of the time.” He turned to Smoky. “Picasso, you’re the better person. Forgive the princess this time, and let’s get the bloody hell out of here.”
I didn’t comment for fear the Hell horse would leave me behind. Not that where I was heading to would be much better, but I didn’t want to be toasted in this part of Hell.
Smoky neighed as if he’d been wronged so unfairly.
With another bumpy move—which I bet was intentional again—he raced across the sky, leaving the volcanic mountains behind in a blink.
An image of Héctor flying me over Manhattan with my legs sneaking around his waist and my face snuggling into his warm chest burned behind my eyelids. He’d taken me to his skyscraper apartment, bathed me, and fed me.
Those days were like a faraway fantasy I could never reach again.
I shoved down the image of my mates and my longing for them with a cold, sheer will.
I couldn’t afford to dwell in the past. If I wanted to get my revenge, give my demigods a chance to level the playing field against the god and the devil, and secure Earth’s final freedom, I had to kick myself into survival mode.
First, I needed to adapt to the role of a demon princess. I had to become Celeste.
A scarlet castle loomed ahead with a river of lava flowing on the far side.
“Is lava the trademark of Hell?” I asked.
“Hell will surprise you if you truly see it, instead of still seeing everything through your human eyes, princess,” Loki said. “Hell has more than Earth. It has seven levels. We’re in the second dimension right now.”
“Whatever.”
“Now we jump,” he said expectantly.
The magnificent rooftop rolled beneath us, but we were still twenty feet high.
“Are you crazy?” I said. “Just order Smoky to land properly and smoothly, and we’ll step off—”
I thought I was going to be this hard-ass bitch Celeste, but my whining habit proved to be too ingrained. There’d always be a bit of Marigold in me no matter what.
Loki had his hands on my waist, and the next moment I was airborne. The fucker threw me out of the chariot.
I wheeled in the air. The stallion brayed a laugh as he vanished. The roof, made of light green quartzite, rushed to meet my face. I managed to do a few flip-flops to slow my fall before I landed in a crouch.
As I turned my head, I found Loki leaning against the red doorframe that led to the stairs, smirking.
I bared my teeth, fuming. He’d teleported while I had managed my free fall.
“There, you handled it well,” he said, stretching a hand toward me, seeming friendly. “Let’s get down to the dining hall. You must be hungry.”
I straightened. I wouldn’t take his hand and consort with him that way.
He was just like psychopathic Ares, and here I’d started to think he might be slightly less of an asshole.
His smile dropped. “I’m not like that fucking god,” he hissed. “Never compare me to him.”
He seemed able to skim my thoughts. I clenched my jaw. I needed to reinforce my mental fortress. But it wasn’t a completely lost cause. I’d found out how to irritate Hell’s prince.
“Picasso doesn’t like to land on any ground or roof,” Loki said. “Let’s respect that.” The animal lover paused for a second. “I have no intention of damaging you. I was merely trying to get you used to anticipate the unexpected at every turn. Hell’s like no place else, princess. Those fuckers in the Half-Bastard Academy didn’t train you well, and now I’m suffering the inconvenience.” His tone turned merciless, the former amusement in his voice dropping to zero. “In Hell, you won’t get any training before they send you to the slaughterhouse. Every second must be used to forge you, and not by the ways you are familiar with. You can either cooperate and grow into your power or learn the hard way.”
I didn’t sense lies in his words, even though he was the son of the greatest liar and deceiver in the universe. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, but he wasn’t deceiving me at the moment.
He didn’t want me to die, despite his brutish manners. And I didn’t believe in the slightest that he truly wanted to make me a perfect weapon for Ares and Lucifer, as he had promised Ares in front of me, claiming it was all on the contract.
Demons never considered anyone’s benefit except their own. They were all born violent, bloodthirsty, power hungry, and extremely self-serving.
Loki had his own agenda.
I knew that he hadn’t ratted me out to his father after he’d found me on Earth. He’d wanted me all for himself right from the beginning. And whatever his plan was, he was determined to make me stronger and more powerful. So our goals were the same. I would use him as he used me until the day we met on the battlefield as opponents.
I jogged toward the door, my fists relaxing at my sides.
“I love to learn the hard way,” I said. “Why don’t you show me the ropes?”
“Alpha to the bone,” he said, heat flashing in his eyes. He stepped half a pace from the door and gestured. “Ladies first.”
“Why don’t you go first?” I insisted, peeking into the stairwell before darting him a contemptuous look.
I wouldn’t show my back to anyone who wasn’t one of my demigods or friends. Besides, he’d mentioned tests and sick twists at every turn. The stairs could drop right out from under my feet since Hell played by different rules. If I walked behind Loki, at least I could leap onto his back and use him to cushion the impact if the stairs vanished.
He arched an eyebrow, amusement dancing in his darkly handsome face.
“Trust much?” he said mockingly.
I sneered. “You’re one to talk.”
“You sneer a lot, Celeste. It’ll eventually screw up your face, and then people would call you Princess Sneer instead of Princess Pretty.”
“There are no people, just demons here, with your Daddy as their chief.”
He shrugged and headed downstairs. I followed, keeping two stairs between us. Loki suddenly turned to grab me. The predictable fucker was going to throw me off the stairs, then laugh his stupid ass off when my face hit the black marble.
I dodged and swung my arm at him. I would hit him and let him kiss the stairs first.
A gust of black wind swept over me, spinning me inside a twister. When I landed with a curse leaving my lips, I stood in a vast banquet hall.
