Chapter 18
Weariness washed over me after an entire day of negotiations.
Hades took some time to adjust to the Calamity fragment, which gave me a sense of satisfaction to see him struggle.
It had only felt cold to me, but I was the Champion. I was chosen to bear its burden.
Hades thought he knew what he wanted, but he would come to learn that Ares was right to put his faith in me.
Hades fascinated me, though. The muse-vampire hybrid looked no older than thirty-five as far as appearances went. He was well-kempt, attractive, and the dark, handsome type that some girls went for. But he was ancient.
So ancient that I didn’t think he realized the repercussions of trying to kill me or my mates. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to take out all my frustrations on him, now that I had someone to target.
But I needed him. And I hated to admit that even in his own twisted way, he was trying to do the right thing.
So I’d talked with him and Ares for the rest of the day. Orion had adopted a short-term illusion spell, one that I’d supplied, to darken his eyes and his freckles. It had allowed him to move Lucifer’s army while the twins remained my dutiful bodyguards.
We’d spent hours planning for the gathering at Derek’s manor.
Tonight.
With everyone.
It would require all of us to put a stop to this Echo of Calamity. I would do what no Champion had ever done before.
I would try to overwhelm it.
Asking for help wasn’t exactly my strong suit, but I realized that some things I wasn’t meant to take on alone. Fate had supplied me with a triple trifecta of mates to help me survive, to help me awaken my goddess spirit and face Calamity once and for all.
It was up to me to speak up and bring all of those impacted in for the battle. This wasn’t just my fight alone.
My mother, the Queen of Hell, would be there and have a chance at redemption. Her mates, one of whom was Hades’s son, would support her.
Every supernatural represented at the Academy, and the Dean, would attend.
As well as other species impacted by Calamity’s forces, such as the unicorn shifters. Although, Raze had insisted that the humans—or Earth, for that matter—still couldn’t know about them. I’d told him to wear a hood to cover up the scar on his forehead and his rainbow hair.
There wasn’t much he could do to hide his eyes. When I’d suggested colored contacts, he’d laughed and told me his body would reject those. Whatever that meant.
I was worn out after a day full of calls and summons—using both human technology and magic.
My mother had been reached through a portal, one that only sent sound and images through, not physical matter.
She’d known how to reach Evelyn, the Queen of the Royal Covens, too.
She’d promised to make sure she’d be there, along with her mates, one of whom was a god himself. I was curious about that.
The Incubus King had accepted a phone call and seemed pleased to hear I was alive. I never knew with him.
And reaching Raze had required making a rainbow, to my amusement.
Unfortunately, those I’d wanted to call most I’d had to leave off my list.
Logan, Dante, Hendrik, Cole, Kaito, and Asher were all in the Void, along with Balthazar, as Hades had said. I had no means to reach my Virtues there and I feared that if Seth or Balthazar found out I was awake, they would hold my Virtues hostage.
I’d already played that game. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
I still needed them for my plan to work, so I was going to have to pull them in manually when the time was right.
Meaning I needed to better understand how my Creation power worked, so I grilled Hades.
He was more open with me after being gifted the Calamity fragment. I learned that he was responsible for much of the supernatural world and what it had become today.
Apparently, he’d had a hand in creating some of the main species of vampires, witches, and other supernaturals who depended on Blood Stones to survive.
Someone who created new species and then removed himself for decades at a time wasn’t power-hungry. He wanted to see his creations flourish and he would make sure he had a say in how their futures played out, simply because he wanted to see them grow on their own.
He wanted to become a god.
I understood now why he wished to become the Conduit. He was limited by his own power. But Calamity would rip off the restrictions the universe had placed on him.
He could be the god he pretended to be.
He finally said it outright, surprising me with his bluntness. “I will be the containment for Calamity, if you truly wish for my cooperation. It doesn’t get banished back into some silly shifter forest. It goes into me.”
“Okay,” I finally said just thirty minutes before we were scheduled to go. I’d been arguing with Hades all this time, trying to convince him that he couldn’t handle its power alone.
His arrogance would be his downfall.
My twins stiffened as they stood sentry on either side of me. They hadn’t moved from my side as they had listened to all of the back and forth.
“Okay?” Ares asked with disbelief. “Even after what he did to you?”
I leaned back in my chair and blew out a breath.
“Especially after what he did to me.” I narrowed my gaze at Hades.
“You want to become the Conduit? You want to become my enemy? Okay, fine. We’ll see if you can handle it, and if not…
” I arched a brow in challenge. “This time you’re the one who gets to die. ”
He chuckled as if that amused him. “One can only hope, little goddess. If my time has finally come, I welcome it with open arms.”
Are you sure about this, my star? Orion asked in my mind as he entered the room, apparently having caught the end of my negotiation with Hades.
His eyes were dark from the illusion I could still see through, but his light was a little dimmer underneath it. Playing the part of Calamity’s henchman when he’d finally been freed was taxing for him.
I’m sure, I said, pressing my lips together.
I hadn’t been this sure about anything in my life.
It was time to end this.
It was time to win.