Behind me, Asher whistled. “Ding dong, the witch is dead.”
Chapter
Forty-One
DAHLIA
My mother’s bell-like giggle grated on my nerves before I even realized she’d trapped me in my own head.
“Can’t you just fuck off already?” I groused.
“Someone sounds like a poor loser.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, what should I sound like?”
“Grateful, for starters. I’ve allowed you to live. That’s not nothing.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “The last time we faced off, you were banished into oblivion. What’s it like to live in a delusion of your own making?”
She waved my statement away. “But not before I got what I needed. And is it considered delusion if you’re ultimately successful? Look around, Dahlia. This is my apocalypse.”
“It’s not over yet.”
That tinkling laughter filled my head again, and I gritted my teeth. “Tell that to your mates. Oops, your pirate’s being eaten by a demon over there. And poor Tor. He’s trapped in his own personal hell by Sloth. Did you even know the Princes were here?” She squealed in delight. “How could you? I trapped youalmost immediately. It’s an absolute slaughter. That cute little army you all thought you had amassed. Dropping. Like. Flies.”
She was holding out her skirt and doing a little jig. She could have been a princess in a children’s movie if not for the dead bodies littering the ground around her.
My mother was fucking demented. Which was par for the course, really, because I was hardly the poster child for mental health.
“We aren’t alone this time,” I managed.
She paused her dancing to glance over her shoulder at me. “Weren’t you listening, sweetie? Neither are we. Princes. Knights. Demons.” She started holding up fingers as she ticked off the various names. “It’s only a matter of time, really. You could end this silliness now and just give me what I want. Or if it makes you feel better, we can play out this whole stupid battle, and then I’ll just take it. But that way you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that you tried your very best.” She said the last in a high-pitched baby voice.
I wanted to stab myself in the ears.
“What is it you want?” I forced out through a tight throat. I knew what she was showing me was an illusion, that my mates weren’t really being harmed, but what was happening in reality?
“Your power, silly goose. And I’ll get it one of two ways. Through your loyalty, or your life.”
I swallowed, taking a beat to make her think I was actually considering her asinine plan. In reality, I was shoving my nails into the palm of my hand, hoping the pain might somehow pull me out of this. I had no way of knowing whether what I did to my body in this place translated to my actual flesh, but I was hoping the intention behind the act might jump-start my autonomy one way or the other.
“Ugh. Fine. You always want to do things the hard way.”
After blinking a few times, my vision cleared, and I saw she wasn’t right in front of me after all. My mother stood about a hundred yards in the distance, her blonde curls blowing in the breeze. She waved like we were old friends being reunited and then blew me a kiss.
“Good to have you back, babydoll,” Hades murmured. “I was afraid I might have to come in there and find you.”
“What happened?” Caspian asked.
“She got into my mind. She wants my power.”
“What else is new?” Tor growled, his face a menacing glower.
“Well, she cannae have it.” Kai was still partially shifted into his dragon form, scales along his neck and wings folded back.
“I have to get to her if I’m going to kill her with this,” I said, pulling out my dagger.
“Aye. I can fly you to her.” Kai reached for me, but I stopped him.
