Emmet and Garrison mumble their agreement as they close in on me. I can feel their underlying apprehension. It matches my own. I snag Garrison’s hand wishing that we didn’t have these metal gloves separating us. I go to say something to them all but am interrupted by a loud horn reverberating with a sharp wail announcing the enemy’s arrival. My voice gets stuck in my throat, swallowing the words I meant to say. I wonder if this will be the last time all of us are together as several more horns take up the call like a stack of dominoes broadcasting our imminent demise. I take a moment to memorize each of their faces. Flashes of our night together play before my eyes, and the warmth of that love we share wraps around my heart in a tight squeeze as we turn to face our common adversary and possible doom.
I see the moment Chaos rides up to the front of the line on a black horse also fitted with armor. He’s flanked by Persephone and the seven sins on each side. The black helmet he wears is in the shape of wings on the side of his gray scarred face. Power crackles from his fingers and I feel the rage boiling up in my gut.
That’smypower that he’s flaunting. I want to rip his smug little face right off him.
I harness my anger, falling in line with the rest of the army. Demons and mortals loyal to my father.
Why hasn’t Hades come down here yet? I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, nerves churning into a maelstrom inside me.
The boys slide up beside me. I’m grateful to them, deciding to fight with us. I see Skye a few rows ahead of us, her armor a perfect match to mine. I squeeze through the line, feeling the guys following me closely.
“You ready?” I ask as a torrent of butterflies erupts in my stomach.
“Not in the slightest.” My sister replies, turning to face me. Lukas, Graham and Sloan close in joining the rest of us. We stand together, the nine of us awaiting our fate. A horn blasts three sharp blasts and Chaos and his legion of demons charge at full speed weapons drawn.
CHAPTER60
Chapter Sixty
PERSEPHONE
SONG: VILLAIN BY ALEXA DARK
Isit atop my horse, thighs digging into the saddle as we trot out in front of the line. This is my moment. That freedom that I so desperately crave, is just out of reach. All these years of careful planning have brought me here.
Hades had returned from the mortal world faster than we anticipated, decimating the traitors at Hell House. All that planning I’d done to bring Leighton and his secret society together to carry out my plans above to ready them for when I had the box? All gone with a snap of Hades’ fingers. They’d been thrown in with the souls, now writhing in pain for eternity. The bastard made me watch as he pulled The Society’s souls from their bodies. I’d been in the midst of talking to them from the mirror when Hades showed up. He froze me to the spot and wrung out the truth from them.
If I could just remove the box from that witch’s wretched hands, I could have it all. I know she has it on her. I can feel its power radiating from here. A whole army separates us, but I will happily cut them down to get what I want. I picture myself opening the box as the power fills me, decimating anyone that’s my enemy. The thought gives me hope that everything will work out just like I want.
Chaos rides up beside me, helmet affixed around his horns, matching the ones on his horse. Lightning flashes above us as if the weather has decided to come out to play as well. We have the numbers, the power, and the sins on our side. They don’t stand a chance.
Horns blare signaling our arrival. My horse taps its hooves along the ground, rearing up onto its hind legs. I hang on with one hand and sword drawn in the other as I let out a bellowing cry. We charge down into the sea of demons waiting for us. Chaos leads us, the sins flanking us, united as one.
Medusa rides beside us on her horse. She’d specifically gouged out its eyes for the occasion. As she rides, hordes of demons in her wake are turned to stone. They fall into a broken pile of rock, forever frozen in horror.
I throw my head back and let out a resounding laugh as I cleave heads from soldiers bodies, letting their black and red blood coat me with every slash of my sword. The stench of death lingers in the air. It smells like freedom.
I stab through the armor of a demon, but as he falls my sword gets stuck behind his ribs. He pulls me down while falling to his death. I manage to land on my feet, the disarray of the battle closing in around me. The sins fly past me killing anyone who is unlucky enough to be in their way. Managing to dislodge my blade from the fallen demon, I run into the fray, teeth bared.
I would find that fucking box and rip it from the girl before I remove her head from her body, letting her join that wretched mother of hers in the Lake of Despair. I’ll enjoy ending that mortal bitch. It’ll be the icing on my cake.
CHAPTER61
Chapter Sixty-One
SKYE
SONG: THE CAPTURE BY ANETA WRZOS, BEN SUMNER
They’re getting closer by the second. How did I get here? Never in a million years did I think I would be thrown in the Underworld having to fight in an all-out battle against demons to help save the mortal realm. All I wanted was to go to college. Get an education while I painted. And now? Now I’m with my sister and our boyfriends, staring down an enemy with a sword in my hand and my magic pulsing in the other.
Hades stands in the middle of the battlefield, looking regal with his crown firmly in place as if he’s taunting Chaos and Persephone to try and take it from him.
My stomach cramps, and I feel a gush of blood drip into the cloth. What a time to be attacked by my own uterus. Too bad my magic couldn’t stop that from happening. I tried.
Line after line of our men fall. Plowed over like they’re nothing but rag dolls. I swallow hard, holding the line, watching in horror as they get closer.
“Whatever you do, don’t look at Medusa.” I say loud enough to reach over the screams. Bodies crumple and some are tossed into the air like they weigh nothing. Lightning cracks across the sky and my magic thrums in my veins, begging to be let out.
