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“For eternity.” Zora lifts her chin, her expression hard and unyielding.
“Eternity?” I exclaim in horror. “But Thalia… I want to visit her. She’ll have children one day.” I try to rein in my temper, but it’s not working. “I’ll have grandchildren one day. You can’t keep me from them.”
“I can keep you in the Underworld,” she retorts hotly, lightning crackling within the depths of her eyes and her hands curling into fists. I brace for her to strike, but instead she takes in a calming breath and lets it out. “Amell… Onyx wanted your powers stripped and you tossed from your throne. This was a good compromise.”
“Take my powers,” I growl, throwing my arms wide. “Take your fucking throne. Do not keep me from my child.”
Zora’s expression softens, and she reaches out to touch my chest. There was a brief time when we were lovers, and her mere touch could get me to grant her almost any wish. Now, I only feel a frustrated kinship for all we shared.
“I’m truly sorry, Amell. The decision is made.”
It’s no balm, her apology. Gods apologize for nothing, yet I hear the regret in her tone.
It means shit to me right now as my temper flares. I step away from her and pivot on my foot, leaving her presence without aby your leave. If she wants to strike me down for my insolence, so be it.
I stride out of her house, deciding to walk down the mountain before creating a door through the veil to go back to the Underworld. Once I step through, I’ll be stuck there, so I’m going to take time to enjoy the beauty of Switzerland.
A low whistle sounds, and I turn to see Maddox, casually leaning against a tree. The dogs are off in the distance, running down a grassy hill. “Boy… that’s harsh.”
Of course, the asshole eavesdropped.
I ignore him and head along the path, but he falls into step beside me. “I need you to do something.”
The request is so shocking, I stop and glare at him. Maddox takes two more steps before realizing he left me behind and turns back. “A favor,” he clarifies.
“Why would I ever grant you a favor?” I ask. We’ve hated each other from the moment Zora became a possession both of us coveted.
He shrugs. “Never hurts to ask.”
I just stare at him, waiting to hear what he thinks I might be able to do for him.
“I want you to reincarnate Lucien,” he says.
His demigod brother.
I laugh, shaking my head. “I’ll pass.”
Pushing around him on the trail, I walk again. He blurs, whizzing past and stopping before me. “Why not?”
“Because you’re a prick.”
Maddox cocks an eyebrow. “You don’t have the power to do it,” he surmises, but he can’t hide the hope in his eyes.
“Don’t I?”
“If you possess such power, then use it. It won’t cost you anything.”
“Again, that’s a hard pass.”
I start walking again, but his next words freeze me in place. “You’re jealous,” he drawls, and I glance back at him. “You can’t stand the fact I’m the one in Zora’s bed now.”
I’d given up the dream of being with Zora a long time ago, but I’m not going to waste this opportunity to needle the demigod. “Maybe you’re the one who’s jealous,” I lob at him. “Because I had her first. I took her virginity, you know. And she begged me to do it.”
All true. Not a lie within that taunt, and it strikes its mark true and bold. Maddox snarls and flies at me. I brace, locking my arms around him, and we tumble down the mountain path. We roll and bounce, throwing punches along the way.
I’m able to bound up from the ground when I reach a plateau a few seconds before him and aim a well-placed kick under his jaw. Maddox’s head snaps back, but it doesn’t stop him from charging like a bull. Lowering his shoulder, he catches me just below the ribs and drives me into a tree which is pulverized by our velocity.
I push him off, wings flaring, and launch myself at him. He meets me with full force, and the impact of our bodies colliding makes the mountain shudder.
