I snorted. “I mean, the lava is a nice touch, but also, what a way to be a cliché,Hellhound.”
Asher didn’t answer, he was on alert, scanning the lava fields below. “The path remains,” he finally said, when he was satisfied that there were no immediate dangers. “Stay close to me.”
Now wasn’t the time to argue, so I didn’t point out what a bossy asshole he was.
I might have thought it though.
We sailed across the land, heat turning me into a sweaty mess. It was the first time since entering the underworld that I’d felt anything remotely normal like sweat. The dead didn’t have skin to sweat, but I did, and it was as hot as balls in this section.
“Where do you think they are?” I murmured, feeling an urge to stay quiet.
Maddison…
I was growing used to voices in my head now. Not just Asher, but the multiple energies existing within my own. I could feel the Atlantean five and my brother. I knew they were alive and not in pain. It was something I was growing to love and appreciate.
But this … the being calling my name was not family.
It wasn’t completely unfamiliar either. I’d heard it the last time we took a back entrance into the underworld, its enticing tones urging me to step out into the darkness.
“It’s calling me,” I told Asher.
His head jerked toward me, gold threading his eyes. “I don’t hear anything. Not in your thoughts, or in my own head.”
Yeah, and he was not happy about it.
“It called me last time as well, only I didn’t realize at the time that’s what it was.”
We’ve been waiting for you…
I shook my head, and Asher’s eyes were even brighter. “What did it say this time?”
Turning to him, I moved closer. “You heard it?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head, “but I saw the change in your eyes. They shimmered. Briefly, but it was enough for me to guess it was in your head again.”
I swallowed roughly. “It said that it’s been waiting for me.”
If thunderclouds had a face, it would have been Asher’s in that moment. “Why are they so fixated on you? Why is everyone so fixated on you? I don’t like it, Maddi. I fear what this will mean if you allow these creatures too close.”
I wasn’t without my own fears, but really… “What other option do we have?”
It was a genuine question. If Asher could think of one other option to try to defeat the gods, I’d be all over it. I’d been trying for months to find a solution to our problem. We kept coming back to this.
If Asher’s jaw clenched any harder, he was going to break some teeth. “Fuck. I’m not sure this is the right thing to do.”
I captured his hand. “I need you to promise that if I lose control of them, you will stop me before I hurt anyone. You have the power of destruction and creation in your energy. What you did with Sonaris and Axl … I need you to do the same for me. Don’t let me turn evil.”
There was no chance for him to answer because a burst of light and power slammed into us. I was shot back toward the veil we’d just used to enter this world. Usually I would have been able to slow myself in seconds, but the invisible force didn’t fade, pushing us further.
My natural protections kicked in, and I managed to counter some of their energy, shooting my own back. Not that I could see who we were fighting.
Was it the Hellbringers?
“Maddison!” Asher’s shout sent another jolt through me, a literal jolt that strengthened me, allowing me to break through the force holding me. Finding Asher through the energy, we linked hands together, taking off along the path still trying to lead us to the Hellbringers.
“What attacked us?” I asked breathlessly, trying to get myself under control.
Asher was grim faced. “The gods. They’re not out yet, and that means they’re still in…”
