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“This is where mortal souls come through once they die.” His calculating, cold smile forced bile into my throat. I waited for him to attack, anything, but he’d never seemed so relaxed. He pointed at the void. “Our high demons go to ensure the souls coming here never stop.”
I stared into stark blackness. “Why?”
“My demons.” He gestured around us. “They were created by your realm’s sins, fed by darkness, but they make good guards in keeping the bad souls in line,” he explained, too casually for my liking. “They require souls to keep, and I ensure more are brought here to satisfy them. Every action has a reaction. All we do is give people choices. If they choose to take the wrong path, then that was not me—or any demon.”
“You make deals with them?” I asked. I’d heard the folklore of people supposedly finding demons, coming to them in moments of pain or weakness and offering them what they wanted in exchange for something bad in return. “So they end up here.”
“We can’t have the otherworld filling up.”
I shook my head. “You’re despicable.”
“No.” He paced around me in a circle. “I’m honest. Everyone makes a choice. I created the underworld to keep the evil things from your realm, from the otherworld, to protect. I am your savior, and yet you come here, seeking to kill me.” He shook his head, making an indiscernible noise under his breath. “Do you believe Raiden will do better than I at containing this realm?”
I jutted my chin. “I think he wouldn’t try to lure innocent mortals here.”
“Any soul that ends up here is far from innocent. Let me assure you.”
I eyed the void. “So demons can get out through this void?”
“No.” He glanced at Thalia’s dagger, the blue reflecting in his silver eyes. “Things can only come in, not leave.”
“So your demons leave through the portal.”
Suspicion crowned his eyes. “Perhaps.”
“Where’s Raiden?” I asked, changing the subject.
“He’s been taken care of.”
My lips parted as waves of numbness swept through my body. My heart twisted, sending nausea through my stomach. “He’s dead?”
“He won’t be a problem anymore,” he said, evading answering directly. “Is that why you’re here? Why you became a goddess? So you could kill me, then take your place at his side, as queen of the underworld?” He cackled. “The silly things you witches will do for love.”
My jaw clenched. I felt like I was going to die. If Raiden was dead, then… Then all of this was for nothing… because Naomi was right. Everything I was doing was for him, even when he told me he didn’t want me—because my stupid, stupid heart tugged to him every damn time. “You forget I’m no longer a witch,” I spat through gritted teeth. If he had killed Raiden, then I was definitely going to kill him.
“Ah, empty threats. Forget not, Goddess, you are in my realm now.”
“Is Raiden dead?” I asked again.
He tapped his fingers against the dip in his chin. “His existence is neither here nor there. Back to you, my new goddess. You chose to be goddess of the hunt, which comes with responsibilities. It is no secret I have longed to replace my children with those worthy of being deities.” He arched a thin eyebrow. “Are you worthy?”
My eyebrows pinched. “How can you be so nonchalant toward your own children? How can you disregard them so easily, as if their souls mean nothing?”
His fingers curled. “They were given everything, born to serve the realms, to bring peace, unity, and love, and enforce the rules set by Estia and me for the good of your realm.”
I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh. “You have no idea what it means to be mortal or what’s good for our realm.”
His nostrils flared. “Perhaps you are more like my children than I hoped. We will see.” He pulled a small green bottle from his pocket and squeezed the atomizer. A glistening white powder puffed from the nozzle and into my face. I breathed it in before I realized what was happening, then crumpled to the marble floor.
I sat upright, feeling velvet covers around me. My gaze moved to the only shadow in my peripheral vision. “Raiden.” I couldn’t keep the relief from my tone.
He sat on an empty chair, propped his elbows atop his knees, and placed his head in his hands as he gazed down at the snake-green marble floor. “I told you to leave.”
I scratched the back of my neck. “I did, but I came back. I found a way out of this, for all of you.”
He slowly looked up, his blue-black eyes meeting mine. “What would that be?”
I looked around for the dagger, but Lucius had taken it. Of course he had. “Edmund, Maddox, and Nai are at the portal. They can seal it, Raiden. I killed Alexander. I can bring Thalia back. Edmund has the spell at the portal, and…” I looked around. “I wanted to stop you from killing Lucius and taking his place, but I see now I had nothing to worry about.”
