by Claire Marta
Cuddling it to my chest, I sit down, releasing a deep sigh. “I thought I was going to lose them too.”
The men gathered cheer, taking something good out of the events of the day. We need it right now. Something positive after all the mayhem. Soon enough our thoughts will be turned toward future battles.
“Breanna…” The rough voice draws our awareness to two men watching nearby.
“You know this Fury?” Lucifer questions, his companion smirking when my soldiers draw their weapons.
Raziel, his right-hand man nods, gaze glued to the female at my side. “We fucked a few times. I picked her up at a demon bar.”
The Devil cocks his head, the intelligence behind his emerald green eyes calculating and keen. “You slept with him to gain information on my daughter. You’re the one who took her from my dungeon, aren’t you?”
Breanna doesn’t deny it. “And he made it so easy.”
Raziel swears long and low, cracking his knuckles in anticipation of violence. “I’m going to gut you for taking her then keep your scalp as a trophy.”
“Bloodshed between us will not get Cassandra back,” I announce, handing the small pup to one of my warriors and rising before they can clash.
I’m loathed to leave my Kingdom and the new pups in such a state, but the Devil and his servant pose a threat I can’t ignore. War with Hell now is something I need to avoid. Especially with Zeus on the loose, threatening existence itself.
“Take the puppies to the palace and see to them until I return,” I command, accepting the flask of water someone hands me. “And arrange to have Cerberus’s body transported home. She deserves a proper burial.”
Breanna gestures to a dozen men to obey. “Yes, my King.”
Tipping the water over my arms, I scrub most of the blood and mucus from my skin. “I request a parley.”
Lucifer strolls closer. “I’d rather rip out your spinal column and hang it in the main hall of my palace as a decoration.”
“We need somewhere neutral to talk because your daughter is no longer here. She’s been taken by a madman.”
The deadly light in the Devil’s eyes dims. “Very well, I will hear what you have to say before I kill you.”
“Cease fire. It’s somewhere we can talk without worrying about retaliation,” Breanna suggests. “Neutral territory.”
The Devil nods his approval. “We will take this conversation there.”
Breanna takes my hand. In a thought, she teleports us to our destination. The place is overcrowded with people, noise, cigarette smoke, and the scent of stale alcohol. Wood paneling decorates the walls.
Pushing off a stool, a black-haired woman dressed all in black comes storming over. “How dare you leave me behind.”
The Devil tenses, turning swiftly to meet her. “My Flower, you know I love the way you do things but marching in with guns blazing was not what I planned.”
“Everybody get the fuck out,” a brawny long-haired blond man bellows from behind the bar. His words have the desired effect. Scrambling up, chairs hit the floor as everyone moves at once. It takes only a few minutes for the place to empty.
“Who’s the chick and the scarred tattooed dude?” He points a finger in my direction.
“Hades and Breanna, a Fury. They had Cassandra, but now they don’t,” Raziel explains, liberating a bottle of whisky from a table. “We’re here to parley, and this was the only neutral place any of us could think of. Frankly I still think it would have been better to physically beat the answers out of him.”
Rounding the end of the bar, the man comes toward us with a grim look. “Ok, Hades, I won’t be explaining this twice. I’m the archangel Gabriel, and I run this joint. Number one, you can beat the crap out of each other, but no one winds up dead on Cease Fire soil or you join your victim’s fate. It’s what this shit usually descends into.”
“Are you done?” Lucifer asks, cocking an eyebrow.
The archangel itches his chin in consideration. “I guess there’s no point mentioning the other rules. They don’t really apply to a situation like this.”
The Devil drags out a chair to take a seat, gesturing for me and Breanna to join him. “I have one fuck to give and right now your dry humping it. Start talking.”
“Where the fuck is my sister?”
“At a guess Mount Olympus,” I tell the feisty female, sinking into my own seat. This must be Mavi StClair. The King of Hell’s mate. Apart from a fleeting resemblance to Cassandra, I see nothing else of my little Dove in this woman.
Gabriel grunts, folding his tattooed arms over his broad chest. “That place has been abandoned for centuries.”
“It’s where Zeus would take her.” Accepting the glass of whisky Breanna pushes toward me, which Raziel pours out for everyone, I down it in one go, letting the liquid burn its way down my throat to my stomach.
“Right, let’s go.”
“Mavi you can’t just go stomping in.”
“Why? Are you going to stop me?” she questions, rounding on Gabriel with bold determination.
“Zeus is an ancient elder God. He’ll be expecting that. Frankly I’m amazed he still exists. I thought he was dead.”
Refilling my tumbler, I stare down at the amber liquid pensively. “Since he murdered my wife, I’ve kept him imprisoned torturing him for his actions. He’s quite insane. He now has an army of Greek monsters fresh out of Tartarus at his beck and call. Saving Cassandra won’t be easy.”
It feels surreal, sitting here with my immortal enemies. Not exactly how I’d ever pictured our meeting. Then again, events have unfolded completely out of my control.
Planting her hands in front of me on the table, the Devil’s mate places her face menacingly inches from my own. “Tell me. Why did you take my sister, and what the hell have you been doing to her the weeks she’s been your prisoner?”
Gaze unwavering, I smile blandly. “I’m not sure you’ll like the answer to that.”
Her eyes become empty of emotion. “You’re going to tell me everything, you ugly scarred son of a bitch, even if I have to torture it out of you.”
A tense silence sweeps through the room.
Leaning back in my chair, I keep my concentration locked on the deadly female. “I collared her as my own. Took her virginity and innocence to claim her. Trained her to be a good pet. All in retribution for your lover murdering the last of my family. Oh, and I wouldn’t worry. I can assure you your sister enjoyed every minute of her time in and out of my bed.”
She makes a sound halfway between a snarl and a groan. “I’ll have your balls as a stress toy.”
Vaulting over the table, her weight hits me dead center of my chest sending us crashing backward. Flinging her off me, I roll at the same time. Back flipping with the ease of a gymnast, she unsheathes the knife on her belt.
Breanna rises from her own seat, taking on a defensive stance to mirror Raziel’s.
Gaining my feet, I’m in time to block Mavi’s fast punch but not the glide of her weapon.
“Enough!” Gabriel roars. “This is not going to solve any problems.”
“It will make me feel better seeing him bleed,” Mavi hisses, crimson bright on the edge of her blade.
Raising my hand, my thumb skims over the stinging cut on my scarred cheek. She’s a little wild cat.
“Mavi put the knife away.”
“For once Gabriel is right, put your weapon down, my love. Hades still has his usefulness.” A green-eyed gaze slices my way. “I had nothing to do with the death of your blood relatives. That was down to the stygian witches who manipulated you with false information. They fed you nothing but lies.”
Hands clenched into fists, I search his expression for a hint of a lie. Cassandra’s words ring in my head. Her visions of their betrayal. It makes me curious how much he knows. If my great granddaughter is still alive, where is she now? My thoughts whirl with possibilities.
“If you’ve been keeping your brother prisoner all this time, how i
s it he now has regained his powers?” Lucifer continues smoothly, all business.
It’s the same question that’s been plaguing me. “Faith. Someone must be worshiping him again somehow…”
“You mean like this?” Raziel supplies. Holding out a phone, the screen is lit with an eye-catching website. “Someone set up a new craze on the internet with an old God and humans are obsessed with new trends. It looks like one of those addictive social apps. You can like what each other posts and follow profiles. He’s gaining quite a lot of attention. It’s quite ingenious.”
“Jasper,” Breanna mutters, eyes flashing sparks of venom. “That blue-haired techno freak. That’s how Zeus must have been building up his strength over time. Humans follow his profile, and it gives him some form of worship.”
Smoothing down the lapels of his crisp fancy suit, the Devil smirks. “It looks like events were set in motion long before Hades took Cassandra. Fate has set us on this path, and whatever the outcome, we must see it through. This is a game of survival now. Sides will be chosen, and lines drawn.”
“Then we make an alliance.”
“We don’t need you,” Mavi spits, cleaning the smear of blood off her blade on the end of her black t-shirt. “I’ll kill you before I ever let you touch my sister again.”
“Only a God can slay another God, and how many of us do you have?” I point out softly. “Lucifer may be powerful, but he isn’t one of us. It takes a Greek deity to kill another of our kind.”
I’ll rescue my sweet Cassandra. They’ll be no distance too far to keep her out of reach. My little Dove will fly again, but I’ll never return her to Hell. They’ll only double-cross me at an opportune moment anyway. I may be ancient, but I’m not naive.
“Hades is correct,” the Devil tells his mate with a dark lethal look. “He will have his alliance until Cassandra is home where she belongs. Then all bets are off.”
Epilogue
Cassandra
Howls and laughter echo through the hollow shell of what once must have been a gleaming beautiful realm. The fog it's steeped in blurs it like an old oil painting. Streets that have laid empty for centuries now filled with life.
Feet aching, shackles weighing me down, I’m dragged toward a white columned citadel that has seen better days. It looks more like a ruin than a grand palace. All the buildings around me are so high the tops disappear in the swirling white clouds.
Fear is my constant companion, hope holding on by a thread.
I’m in the hands of a true monster.
I’m so far from home, from the ones I love.
A dove with blood on her wings, fading into the dark.
Zeus pauses before the broken, cracked steps. An army of monstrous creatures stretch out in a mass of twisted hideousness behind us.
A blond archer smirks at me, one eye concealed by an eye patch, the other burning with cold blue hate mirrored in so many others.
I shiver from a combination of the chill in the air and the weight of the gaze of the God who holds the chain connected to the collar around my neck.
“Cassandra. Every moment has been bringing you to this.” His rough finger traces the contours of my cheek. “Stardust in your veins and sweet hellfire in your soul. I want to set free the madness in your mind and bend you to my purpose. This is the reason you were born. I’m the one who’s going to set you free.”
Flames.
They flicker through my mind in a powerful vision. The world around me melts away. Instead I stand barefoot in a burning city. Fires rage through the buildings and streets. Screams fill the air in a terrifying chorus of hopeless chaos. Hate ravages the survivors burying thorns deep into their innocent hearts.
I sense a presence corrupting them, spreading from person to person. The essence of a God enslaved just as I am but no longer in a human form.
Ares.
He seethes through their blood and bones only gaining in strength.
Battle cries ring through the air.
The screams and shrieks build in my head until they’re all I can hear. I can’t close my eyes to the horrors pouring into my mind.
There’s no way to stop them.
My mind cracks with the force.
No chance to stop it.
I’m at the point of no return.
War is here.
The End for now.
The Dove & the darkness Playlist
Control - Halsey
Scars - Boy Epic
For This You Were Born - Unsecret, Fleurie
Running For Your Life - Unsecret, Butterfly Boucher
You Say - Lauren Daigle
Rescue - Lauren Daigle
War of Hearts - Ruelle
Dogs of War - Blue Saraaceno
Point of No Return - Unsecret, Sam Tinnesz
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About the Author
Claire Marta has a passion for writing and finally took the plunge and became published with her first book, Frostbite, Book One in The Hunter Chronicles.
She has always been a fan of everything paranormal, especially romance books.
A native Brit, she lives in Italy with her husband and daughter. When she is not writing, and drinking copious amounts of tea, she enjoys taking photos of her adoptive country, trying to stay fit with running, reading amazing books and being a stay at home mother.
Also by Claire Marta
PNR Books
The Hunter Chronicles
FrostBite
Dark Desires
Claimed By Magic
The Serpent’s Kiss
Twitch
Lamar’s Angel
Blood Moon Rising
CeaseFire Series
The Devil You Know
The Devil’s Plaything
From Ashes & Embers
A Hellion Heart
The Dove & the Darkness
Sandman
Immortals of The Damned
Heart Of Darkness
Gods Reborn Series
Beauty’s War
Apollo’s Protection
Bullets & Bloodlust Series
Bloody Ties
Carnal Pleasures Series
Bane
Layla
Guarded Hearts Series
Morgan
Casey
Raven
Riley
Darcy
Contemporary Books
His Salvation - Cavalieri Della Morte
