“Don’t wait for him to come to you, then,” she said, lowering her voice. “There’s a way to destroy the gods, you just said it out loud. Now you need to figure out how to bring that plan to fruition.”
Hellbringers.
The mythical creatures who could supposedly kill a god were never far from my mind. The one weapon that I might wield.
“It’s too late now,” I murmured. “I can’t get back into the underworld. Well, even if I could, it’s literally littered with gods who are probably not very happy with me. They’re not going to let me stroll in there and find the very beings who can destroy them.”
Mab smiled, a little intriguing smile. “There is another road into the underworld, accessible by the living. It will be difficult and dangerous. You’ll have to take a journey that no supernatural being has survived before, and you won’t be able to do it alone. But you can survive this.”
“Will you help me?” I pushed.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I wish I could say yes. I want to help you more than I can tell you. But I’m sorry. I can’t. I can’t be trusted with original magic, and it’s littered throughout that place. Just … trust me, it’s better I’m not there.”
I wanted to ask more questions about that, because there wasa lotshe wasn’t saying. But this wasn’t the time.
“So who do I need?” I asked. “Asher?”
She paused. “Yes and no. He will be vital to this journey. But he is not all you need.”
Fuck’s sake, Mab. This shit was like trying to pry secrets from the dead.
Thankfully, before I could lose my shit at the ancient, powerful, possibly crazy fairy, she started to talk again. “Right now you’re not ready, but you will be soon. The path will open to you when the time is right, so for now train your powers and bond with the other two born of both worlds.”
Useful. Thank you. “How long do I have to train?”
Her eyes glazed over. “I don’t see everything. It looks like there’s one time only that the doorway will open for you. I sense that you’ll be nudged in the right direction. When the timing is perfect.”
I sighed. “You can’t give me more information?”
She shook her head, focusing on me again. “No, I can’t. As I said, I don’t see everything, and I also don’t want these words to reach ears they shouldn’t. Evil lurks in the darkness. I have faith, though, that you’ll learn everything when it’s time for you to know.”
Ah, yes, that old caper. Pretty sure it was time for me to know now. Or even five years ago.
Before I could say another word, Mab vanished, doing her too-powerful-for-her-own-good thing. To be perfectly honest though, I was glad she’d found me. Her visit had lifted a weight from me, only a minute amount but the sliver of hope that she’d given me cracked some of the darkness in my psyche. If Mab said there was a shot at defeating the gods, then I would trust her.
A shot was more than I’d had ten minutes ago.
Chapter 2
“Holy gods,” I gasped, head thrown back, hands clenched around two pillows as my legs moved against my will. “Ash, seriously. Fucking hell.”
He laughed, lifting me with both hands and pulling me onto his lap. “You’re just so responsive.”
I shoved him. “You know I hate being tickled.”
More of his laughter rumbled across the room and I felt my heart swell. Just having him close like this was the best way I could think to spend my birthday. After Mab’s shock appearance last night, I’d continued on to the Atlantean mansion, and the six of us had watched movies for hours.Lord of the Rings—my usual birthday movie marathon.
When Asher finally got me into bed, he’d loved me until I couldn’t breathe or remember my name. He knew exactly how to touch me to drive me crazy, destroy my control, and my soul.
Fuck. I didn’t care. It belonged to him anyway.
“What time is it?” I asked, straightening my top. I’d started the tickle wars, but he’d finished and won in spectacular fashion. Definitely my fault for insisting no powers be used. I was disadvantaged against his long-ass arms, and without my abilities…
“Just past 1 P.M.,” he said, pulling me back to the bed, his body covering me, as a low moan escaped my mouth.
His lips pressed firmly against mine. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, pulling him closer, our tongues tangling together as we kissed like it was the first time we’d ever touched. It didn’t matter that I’d kissed Asher so many times now I couldn’t count them. The butterflies in my stomach never faded.
The need I had for him only grew stronger.
