“Great fuck,” Raza muttered. “As if we don't have enough to deal with.”
“All we can do is prepare,” my father said.
“Yes, I agree,” Tiernan said. “Look for paths it might take. Anything open to magical exploitation.”
“Uh, while you're all preparing, I need to go to Hell.” I looked around the table, meeting my husbands' stares.
“Is Daxon on a scry?” Raza demanded. “He should be a part of this conversation too.”
“Oh. Uh. No, I wanted to warn you and Dad first about the threat to your kingdoms.” I looked at my father. “Do you have your scry phone, Dad?”
“Yes.” King Keir pulled out his scry phone. “King Daxon Tromlaighe of the Fairy Undergrounds.”
As we waited for Daxon to answer, Raza glared at me.
I met his glare. “Don't look at me like that, Raza. It has to be done.”
“King Keir?” Daxon said, stopping Raza's reply.
“Hello, Son. We're in a meeting, and Seren wants to discuss going to Hell. I'm going to turn you to face everyone.”
“Oh, for Goddess' sake,” Daxon muttered as he was turned to face the center of the table. “Oh, hello, Your Majesties.” His stare lifted to me. “And my dear wife. Severriel? You're back in Fairy?”
“Yes, I'll scry you later and fill you in,” Sever said. “Thank you for your hospitality, King Daxon.”
“My pleasure.” Daxon slid his swirling eyes back to me.
“Dax, you know I've got to go.” I motioned at Raza, Kill, and Sever. “You all know this must be done.”
“What are you referring to, Seren?” Raza demanded. “Hell or its King?”
“Okay, I'm going to tell you what I told Tiernan.” I leaned forward, one hand propping up the scry phone. “I'm done feeling bad about Astaroth. One good thing that came out of the blight was the clarity it gave me. I saw how foolish I've been. I should have handled this shit at the start instead of letting all of you bully me into abandoning Astaroth.”
“Bully you?” Raza growled.
“Yes, Raza. You bully me with your love. You made me feel so guilty, over and over, that I ignored destiny for you. I even felt righteous doing it, as if I were proving my love to you byabandoning an entire planet. But why the fuck do I have to prove anything to you?!” I leaned closer to Raza. “I certainly shouldn't have to prove how much I love you.”
Raza grimaced and sighed. “You don't. But that doesn't change the fact that none of us want you with Astaroth.”
“I don't want to be with Astaroth either. And it wouldn't have been a problem if you had just been cool with me having Star as a friend. But you didn't trust us, so I stayed away from him for you, for all of you, and in doing so, I stayed away from Hell. I could have fulfilled the prophecy by now and been done with it. Instead, this situation has dragged on until it has eaten away at my heart and mind. It's turned me into someone I don't recognize. I hide things from the people I love. I want things I shouldn't. I see connections that aren't there. Well, I'm done being that woman. I'm going to handle my shit whether you like it or not. I'm going to Hell, and I'm going to help the Cavern Demons return to the surface. Then I'm going to come back here, and we will get on with our lives.”
“I don't trust Astaroth with you,” Daxon said.
“Yes, I know. But do you trust me?” I held his stare.
Daxon stared back. “Yes, I trust you.”
I looked at the others.
“Fine. You do you, Twilight,” Kill said.
I looked at Sever. He nodded crisply.
I turned the scry phone to get Tiernan's answer.
“Yes, go. I trust you,” Tiernan said. “I just want this finished.”
Finally, I looked at Raza.
