“Well, it was a good try.”
She turned the phone around and pointed to a pulsing purple square on the screen. “Do you see this?”
“What is that?”
“It’s the icon for the Arcane Assist app. It’s something the Goddess of Tech made, but it is still in the testing phase. It was recently given to me to try. There might be a chance it could work in here.”
Curious, Mordecai shifted closer and watched as Lana tapped the pulsing purple square on the screen. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, the display went completely black before the wordsArcane Assistbloomed across the screen in large, luminous purple letters.
The letters shimmered as if alive, each stroke brightening before dissolving into a curling puff of violet smoke. The vapor swept across the screen in a graceful swirl, leaving tiny sparks in its wake before completely fading away. A moment later, new words appeared, bright against the dark background.
Welcome to Arcane Assist-Beta Version, your magical assistant app. Having trouble with something magical? Arcane Assist is here to help! Are you in need of assistance?
She immediately clicked the bigyesbutton, then a new message appeared.
How may I assist you?
Lana began typing in the black space provided with a speed that showed just how familiar she was with the device. Mordecai had never used a cell phone before, but he had to admire the skill. When she was done typing, she clicked another button, then rested the phone in her lap.
“What now?”
“I asked the app to contact Kingston for me to tell him that I urgently need to speak to him. Now, we wait to see if it can contact him or not.”
They didn’t have to wait long.
A few seconds later, Kingston Spencer appeared in front of them. Glancing around, he let out an exaggerated groan. “Oh, man. Don’t tell me you dragged me back to this godforsaken prison!”
“Trust me, we would rather not be here either,” she said as she and Mordecai got to their feet.
Kingston grinned. “So, you two found each other. Congratulations!”
“You knew we were mates?” Mordecai asked, surprised.
“A God of Fate told us. We can consider bringing you two together payback for when you saved my life in this hellhole.”
“You survived well enough. Godhood looks good on you,” Mordecai commented.
“My mate is the goddess. I just got a power boost because of her. Even though we knew you were mates, we had to let you meet on your own. You know, rules of fate and all that. But actually getting the two of you together turned out to be a big pain in the ass. Especially since you refused to use the Arcane Assist app,” Kingston said, sending a pointed look at Lana.“Which meant we had to get creative regarding how to get the two of you to meet.
“So, instead, you sent me to the prison on the day Death decided to destroy it? Thanks a lot,” Lana said dryly.
Kingston’s glowing eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
“Death of the Four Horsemen came here and broke through the wards to kill a celestial inmate,” Mordecai said blandly.
“That can’t be,” Kingston sputtered. “I was just with Brax and Devon a few hours ago. My mate and I had dinner with them at Guardian’s Gate. Now, Autumn is off working on one of her revenge cases, and they are—”
“Raziel, the original Death,” Mordecai cut in, finding it ridiculous that he had to keep differentiating between the two. Someone was really going to have to figure out what the hell was going on with that whole situation.
“But Raziel is in a magical coma right now,” Kingston countered, sounding confused.
“He wasn’t here in his real form. He was able to astral project his spirit into the prison,” Mordecai said. “Now, the safeguards are failing, the lower levels are cut off from the rest of the prison, and the inmates are rioting. Overall, it’s a shitstorm of chaos.”
“Fucking hell, I was wondering why it was so easy to teleport in here. We need to fix things before all the prisoners break out.”
A muffled blast sounded in the distance.
Lana nodded vigorously. “Yes, please do that. Right now.”
