“You speak as if you are indestructible and feel no pain,” the giant comments as he runs his fingers in the wave.
“I am a queen, and queens turn pain into power.”
He drops his hand as I push the fire from my uninjured body and extinguish it along the edges of the wave. The steam bellows around the room. He drops to one knee and bows his head. “I will fight for you, Pandora, you have my legion at your disposal.”
“Good girl,”Archan comments.“You have them.”
I hand Lucifer the trident before I descend the few steps, and more and more demons follow like dominos. “Aye,” they shout as one, making the hairs on my arms rise. I stand in front of Hagrid and clasp his arm. His black eyes meet mine.
“Do not fight for me, fight beside me. I need you on your feet, not your knees.”
He rises, clasps my arms, and grins. Demons must get good dental care. “Together we shall lay waste to the disease that is Zeus,” he states.
I nod. “Your name?”
“Morpheus,” he states.
I blink. “Like The Matrix?”
He laughs. “No, like the god.”
“You’re a god?” I swing my gaze behind me, looking to Lucifer for confirmation.
“I am.”
“But you command legions in Hell?”
“I followed Lucifer when he was given his task of managing Hell and Tartarus.”
Morpheus points at a burly bald guy with muscles for days. “Phobeter is my brother. Somewhere in the castle is my other brother Phantasus—he will be where the women are, but will stand by my decision.”
Lucifer claps his hands and people erupt from several doors carrying various platters of roasted meats. I feel like I’ve fallen back in time. Tables from the sides of the room are pushed to the center, chairs following, allowing the demons to sit around the trays of food and chat amongst themselves.
“We did it,” I say. “We persuaded a room full of demon warlords to fight with us.”
“We did nothing,” Zee says, scanning the room as females pile in and take over the laps of the lords.
“What is happening?” I ask as music pulses around the room. I arch a brow at the choice—Imagine Dragons’ “Whatever It Takes”.
“They need a night in a woman’s arms to ensure they have something to return to. It will keep them well rested this evening, then tomorrow, we end this,” Lucifer says, scanning the room of merry demons.
I close my eyes. By tomorrow the curse will have turned me mortal. He’s right—one way or another, this will end.
37
Chapter Thirty Seven
Archan
The art of war isn’t to kill your demons, it’s to outsmart them.
Mortal or immortal, Natia Waterford will remain a goddess. My goddess. The truth of the soul bond has shaken my core. They are rare—and so much more than she realizes.
Natia laughs at something Morpheus says and shakes her head. Humans believe He banished Lucifer to Hell alone. The truth is, many of the gods followed him. Holding Tartarus together and building Hell was no mean feat.
Natia spins to face me, her eyes sparkling with amusement and a wide grin on her face. It’s a taste of how she will look without the weight of the world on her shoulders, although something tells me my little badass won’t be laying down her sword any time soon. She sways over to me, her lean, tanned leg slipping through the dress that should be illegal.
She grips my tie and pulls my mouth to hers, searing my lips with a scorching kiss. “So I guess if the rest of them are spending the night with a woman, that’s what we should do?” she mumbles.
