“Our children,” Lotus said, her thick hair ruffling in the wind. Despite the sound of the storm, she was easily heard. “We’ve been waiting for you to return. It’s time now. Time to finish what we started ten thousand years ago.”
“What did you start?” Louis asked casually, not at all concerned when he drew the attention of the five.
Lotus jerked her head in his direction, her eyes running across him. “You have some god energy,” she said softly. “Somewhere in your family line.” Her voice was purring now, and I really wanted to punch her in the throat. “But you are no match for us, mortal. You should leave now, before it’s too late.”
Louis crossed his arms nonchalantly. Dude was bad-freaking-ass.
“What do you want from us, Lotus?” I snapped, whatever control I’d had over my emotions vanishing. Just seeing her smug fucking face … knowing she had killed Asher … it made me want to wrap my hands around her throat.
I probably needed therapy, but whatever.
“I want you to release the Hellbringers,” she said in her even, twinkling tone. “Only you three have the power.”
“I want to return home,” Draconis said. “That part of the underworld has been barred to me for a very long time.”
Axl shifted right behind me. That meant something to him, but now wasn’t the time to ask what it was.
“What exactly are the Hellbringers?” I asked, hoping for some new information.
Lotus grinned. “Ah, well, that, my dear, is not your secret to know.”
Yeah, bitch. Well, I already know some shit about them, so you’re not as clever as you think.
“Enough!”
That came from the man who stood at the back of the god pack. Like it had been choreographed that way, the other four parted and allowed him to stroll casually through the middle. A hot, sharp spike hit my chest and I gasped softly, trying to figure out what was about to hit us.
“Maddi,” Asher breathed, his voice lower than usual. “Don’t go near him.”
“Why?” I hissed from the corner of my mouth. “Who is it?”
The god stopped a few feet from me, standing six and a half feet, dressed all in black—shitkicker boots and everything. His jeans were ripped and his shirt hung off a heavily muscled body. He kinda looked like a punk rocker except his hair was short and white-blond, flopping lazily across his forehead. Icy blue eyes, almost husky blue, locked onto me and didn’t let go. He looked like sex on legs and every bad decision a woman could make.
“Sonaris,” Axl murmured, and I choked.
Sonaris shot me a slow smile. “Hello, lovely.”
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I was flipping him off before I could think about the consequences of annoying a god.
He laughed. “Stands to reason I’d have a feisty mate.”
This time my gasp was loud, echoing around the empty city. “What did you just say?”Mate?
My eyes hit Lotus, who was smiling in her smug way still. Sonaris chuckled again, drawing my attention back to him. “Are you wondering about the bond you feel?”
“No!”Yes.
He shrugged. “Lotus and Draconis are your parents, but when you were created, I helped a little.” Another shrug. “I gave you some of my power, but you’re not DNA-related to me.”
Asher’s chest was rumbling, and my head was spinning. “Sounds like you’re grasping at straws there, Dad,” I said, trying to throw Sonaris off.
He just laughed harder. “Ah, my little power storm. Even if I was biologically related to you, that doesn’t bother gods. It makes no difference.”
Okay, so breaking news: gods were fucking gross.
“Why did you give her power?” Louis asked, his face still unreadable, but there was something in his eyes. “Gods are weakened by parting with their power. You never get it back.”
Sonaris didn’t take his eyes from me. I don’t think he’d looked away once since he’d stepped forward. “To ensure that we would have a bond. My aim was never what these assholes wanted. I just wanted a true mate.”
