AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alexi takes a step toward me, his hand landing on my arm as Talon presses himself against my back in the same breath. It’s like they all need to keep touching me to confirm I really am here. It makes my heart break with the worry they went through, but at the same time it makes my soul soar with delight.
Placing my free hand on Talon’s, which rests at my waist, I glance past the group of us to see where we are. Gone are the creams and browns from where Noose took me, and gone are the reds and burgundy colors surrounding Nyx’s home. Instead, everything is black and navy, with a hint of sky blue seemingly breaking up all of the darkness and casting a shadowed light as far as the eye can see.
“Where are we?”
“This is the deep, dark, depths of Hell,” Malik states from beside me, squeezing my fingers as he speaks.
“There’s a difference?”
The question slips past my lips before I can stop it, and I almost feel stupid for asking it, but I don’t know anything about where we are.
“You bet there is,” Hades states, glancing off into the distance as he searches for something. “Nobody ever wants to come to these parts, isn’t that right, Nyx?” He doesn’t glance back at her with his statement, but when I look in her direction I see a knowing smirk on her face. A smirk that tells me she’s been here a fair bit. Like, for twenty-two years or something, but I couldn’t be sure, even if my gut screams that it’s the truth.
“Why are we here now?” My eyes shift to Adonis as he steps closer to his father, Rhea and the other Elites right there with him as Hades runs a hand down his face.
“Because this is where it seems Styx has been hiding. In those parts over there to be precise.” My body tenses at the mention of the name holding the target over my head, and I struggle to gulp as I search Hades’s facial expression.
He doesn’t give anything away, but the way Adonis scrunches his eyebrows together as he looks at his dad tells me there may be something I’m not seeing. Adonis lifts his hand toward his father’s arm, but before he can get far, a booming sound vibrates around us at the same time as a flare from an explosion flashes in the direction Hades was pointing in, drawing our attention.
Holy fuck.
“She knows we’re here. There’s no time to waste.” Without another word, a hint of direction, or a goddamn plan, he takes off toward the chaos, and like the crazy fools we are, we follow after him.
My men continue to frame me as we move, everyone keeping in sync instead of using any abilities they may have so we can approach whatever is lurking in the darkness with caution. As we near the flames that continue to roar from the explosion, I realize it’s almost like a cave system over here. The black and dark blue swirls weave in a way that keeps them mostly hidden, but now that we’re up close, it’s much more noticeable. Especially with the flames burning.
“Who did this?” Rhea asks, nodding toward the flames as she continues to search the surrounding area like the rest of us. Hades is still in the lead, but turns to glance back at us as he speaks.
“Her hounds.”
Before I can utter a single word to delve further into what the actual Hell that means, a howl echoes off every surface around us, sending a shiver down my spine as I notice a figure standing to the right of the explosion.
At first glance, it looks like the outline of a man, but as my eyes adjust, I spot the distinct furry features slightly blurring the frame. Dressed like a man, howls like a hound. Of course this is something you would find in Hell.
“Be ready,” Nyx hollers from the back before pushing up off the ground and floating into the air where she directs her magic toward the new target. My steps slow as I try to harness my constantly-developing magic. Thankfully, when I summon a ball of flames to my hand, it appears in an instant.
It’s my constant, my strength, and the core of my powers.
Rhea and her men dart to the right as Alexi stops in front of me, the four of us guarding each other as we look for any other threats heading our way. My heart races in my chest and I force myself to take a few measured breaths to gain control of it once more.
I must remain focused and be strong for my unit. They’ve always needed me as much as I needed them and now is no different. I’m their equal, I have the skills of a Fury too.
“To the right,” Talon bites, before a burst of white magic slips from the tips of his fingers in the direction, illuminating the target before obliterating the hound in an explosion of dust. My eyes widen in surprise, but at the same time, a sense of calm washes over me.
We’ve got this. We can do this. I repeat the affirmations to myself over and over as I watch Malik also bring down a hound without even breaking a sweat.
“Where is Styx?” I ask, eager to get to the important part. I look at Alexi, but startle when Hades appears in front of me in the next breath. He searches the eyes of each of my men before settling on me.
“She’s in the dark system behind you, through the open cave. You may have to go alone, though. I believe your fellow Furies are going to need to help me out here.” His words make me frown as I lean back, confused by everything he just said.
I completely brush over the fact he referred to Malik, Talon, and Alexi as my fellow Furies. “But there’s no one really out here, and I’m definitely not qualified to bring someone of her strength down by myself,” I admit, my hand falling to my chest with a slight tremble.
The incredulous look he gives me makes me freeze in place, and the way he tilts his head toward Alexi with a quirked brow only confuses me more.
“You need to get her up to speed with her abilities. Fast.” It’s an order, not a recommendation. I gulp so loud I can hear it echo in my own ears before he turns his gaze back to me. “And it has to be you so you can show your loyalty to Keres.”
He is gone in the next breath, leaving me panting for air as I try to wrap my head around what the fuck he actually just said. Turning to my left, I look deep into Malik’s eyes, hoping to find the answers waiting there for me without having to ask a single question, but there’s no such luck.
The sound of another explosion ricochets around us, the ground rumbling beneath my feet as I stumble. As the flames burn brighter in the exact same spot as the original mess, I notice the shadows approaching.
