Chapter 20 #2
“The entrance to Purgatory,” she said. “It was meant to open here. Instead, because of Cole’s machinations, it opened in Hell and it’s likely it is several levels down, too… in Lucifer’s territory.”
Dante stiffened as Sonya shifted her attention to him. “This is where you come in, Hunter.”
He glared at her. “After everything I’ve been through, you want me to take care of your little Cole problem? I’ve been dealing with that shit-face from day one and I am done.”
As I took his hand, my mother’s gaze dropped to linger on that connection.
“She won’t be able to find her two lost Virtues on her own, not if they are as deep into Hell as I think they are. But Dante, you can help her where no one else can. You’ve traveled those tunnels for the better part of a year, have you not? Well into the lower levels.”
By his flat expression, she spoke the truth.
Turning to me, she added, “You’ll need all of your Virtues, and every last bit of help you can find to face what awaits. Luc has grown strong this past year and he has acquired a weapon that will be ready any day now.”
“Six more days,” I said numbly. Day one was already over since I’d gotten Cole’s warning.
Her expression went grim. “Then you know we have no time to waste.”
Dante stroked his thumb over the back of my hand, then squeezed before breaking free.
“Fuck,” he said, directing his words to Sonya. “Count me out. We’ll face Lucifer on our territory, not his. What you’re suggesting is suicide.”
He glared at me, his expression clear.
He didn’t give two shits about new Virtues. If they were anything like Cole, he hoped they burned.
He turned and strode for the door.
It hit me square in the chest, like he was abandoning me. Hendrik cast a look at me before moving to follow.
“Hendrik—”
“I’ll go after him,” he said over his shoulder. “Before he hurts himself or someone else.”
He firmly closed the door behind him, making it clear he didn’t want me following.
Along the bonds between me and the two men who’d just walked away, I felt the sting of their subtle rejection.
Movement had me looking up, but it was just Nate as he addressed my mentor. “We need to work out a squadron for tomorrow. Do you think you can get the Hunter in line by then?”
Kaito hummed in thought. “I don’t know. I’ll try in the morning.” He swiped his hand over his face. “Hendrik and Dante are best left alone in this state. Let them work out their issues, then I’ll see what pieces are left to salvage.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, but after everything Dante had been through, he deserved his space from me, at least for tonight.
Kaito bowed to the Dean. “With your permission, I will begin an assessment of the students to see who is fit for the excursion.”
The Dean nodded. “Give everyone the night, and in the morning take five of our best to escort you. The rest will stay here to defend the Academy.”
Five didn’t sound like enough, but then again, it depended on who was picked.
“Luke,” Sonya said, her eyes on me. “Go with Kaito.”
“He can find his way just fine on his own. I’m staying here.”
Ignoring them both, I went to a chair and sank into it, the weight of my wings feeling so much heavier for some reason.
“No. You’re going with Nate.” She sighed in exasperation. “I know you’re worried, but I’m safe here. My injury is almost healed—and he didn’t walk away unscathed. Don’t forget who I am.”
“Sonya…” he growled.
“Luke. You’re going.” Sonya’s voice made it clear she’d made up her mind. “I want to talk to my daughter… alone.”
An awkward silence fell, made even worse when the Dean abruptly cleared her throat and rose. “Well, I think I’ll make sure Nate and Luke don’t have any trouble finding their way, then. My lady.”
I watched as Kaito and the Dean left with my mother’s mates, my mentor casting me one assuring glance that everything would be okay.
I hoped it would be.
My mother sighed as she joined me. “It’s not easy, is it?” She brushed a strand of hair out of my face, her expression motherly and sweet. She hadn’t always been like this, based on those dark, foggy memories that lingered in the back of my mind. She’d grown and changed.
She’d accepted me, despite my faults.
“It’s not,” I agreed. “Calamity’s a bitch.”
She chuckled. “Oh, Calamity is a walk in the park compared to managing multiple mates. Each one of them thinks they know what’s best for you and it can be a nightmare trying to get them all on the same page.
” She sighed, her expression reminiscent.
“I didn’t bond with all of my mates, you know.
Some of them weren’t meant for me, and that was okay. ”
Shifting my weight, I met her ruby gaze. “You don’t think I should accept Cole as my Virtue?” I had been the one to call him. It felt like my duty to make this right.
Her elegant shoulders bobbed up and down in a shrug. “I’m not saying that. I just think that you have to be willing to give him up before you can truly bring him into the fold. He is your Virtue for a reason, Lily, but it doesn’t mean the future will always work out the way we want it to.”
She pressed her hand over mine, her innate heat as Queen of Hell bleeding into me. I found it comforting and reassuring, the warmth rejuvenating a dark part of me that constantly clawed to come out.
“I’m not sure what I should do.” If all worked out as planned, I would be venturing into the pits of Hell in the morning.
And that terrified the shit out of me.
“Follow your heart,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “I know you’re trying to be helpful, but if you haven’t noticed, my instincts haven’t been so great lately.”
She hummed in thought while she tapped her chin. “And what makes you say that?”
I gestured to the window where all Hell was breaking loose—literally. “I give you exhibit A, realm convergence central.”
She grinned. “Well, if you want my opinion, I’ll tell it to you.
I think this is a sign of everything working out as it was meant to.
” Her wings lifted behind her, the arches just as deadly as Cole’s but more elegant.
“Tell me of your Virtues, Lily, one by one, then I’ll let you judge if you agree with me or not. ”
Sighing, I started with Orion. “My demigod is a total man-whore, or he used to be, before he came around to settling down with me. He smells like sex and sunlight.” I bit the inside of my cheek, realizing I was talking to my mother, although she was a succubus, too.
There was nothing to be ashamed about when it came to sex.
She nodded thoughtfully. “So, it sounds like this demigod used to be struggling to find love, and then he found it in you. He even withstood the test of time living without you, proving his loyalty, not just to you, but to himself. Did that make him stronger?”
I frowned, because she summed up Orion’s long journey far too easily. There was so much more to it than that.
But was he stronger? I could only nod in agreement. I’d never seen him stronger in his godly powers.
“Next,” she said, snapping her fingers.
I went through the list. Logan had grown from a lone wolf into a proper Alpha, teaching not only wolves but other types of shifters to work together.
It gave him a sense of fulfillment and if I hadn’t been in his life, none of it would have happened.
There would not have been the need or the drive for Logan to step up like that and because he believed I would be back, he did everything in his power to be ready when I did.
“Those were the easy ones,” I warned, none too pleased how quickly she targeted my Virtues’ growth and improvement through their struggles.
“How about the mentor?” she asked, grinning. Her sharp teeth had a malicious glint to them. Her Queen of Hell form suited her well. “The Kami.”
I complained that he had been digesting evil, slowly slipping back into his old form.
Of course, she had a counter for that, too. Instead of denying who and what he was, he learned how to channel his natural form into positive uses. Because of Cole’s constant influence, Kaito had to learn how to walk the fine line of demonic power while not losing himself.
I’d never seen him stronger than he was now, I had to admit, and he was still the same Kaito I’d fallen in love with.
So we moved onto Dante, the Virtue I was certain she’d see had not improved during my absence.
“He’s been tormented for a year,” I said, shooting to my feet as anger curled in my chest. “Cole has been driving him mad with rage.”
My mother cocked her head at me, unfazed. “Just a year? I’ve seen torment, my dear. It’s my current occupation. That Hunter has been tormented all his life, and he’s been alive a long time, I presume.”
Unable to argue that, I went silent.
“Tell me about him, this Hunter of yours.”
I told his story—what I knew of it, anyway.
He had been sold as a baby to the witches and they’d changed him, experimented on him.
He could regenerate from nearly any wound, but it always left a scar.
He was adept at tracking and capturing, working as the Academy’s bounty hunter and recruiter for years before I came along, and who knows what else before that.
He held bitterness and rage deep within his heart.
That had been his default because of what the witches had done to him.
He hated what he was and I couldn’t imagine what the magic felt like constantly writhing under his skin like an itch he couldn’t scratch.
He wanted revenge and I knew that he scoured Hell’s tunnels looking for the lost spirits that had done this to him.
Cole had only capitalized on his rage and anger, making it all come to the surface.
“Making him deal with it,” my mother said decisively.
She was right.
I opened my mouth to argue, to tell her that she was wrong, but I couldn’t find a fault in her points.
So, I moved onto my most difficult Virtue… Cole.
“Tell me, daughter, what do you think he was like before you came along?” she asked.
I chewed on my lip before answering. “I know that he tormented the Dean’s lover, Lancelot.”
Sonya nodded. “Lancelot was not the only one, I’m afraid.
As a demon of rage—and an immortal from Hell’s royal line—tormenting and war has been all he’s ever known.
The world needs rage, my dear. Righteous anger has its place, but Cole couldn’t tell the difference between justified anger and all-consuming rage.
His interest in you has spread rumors across my realm faster than Hellfire because there’s something you’ve done that no other being has ever managed to do. ”
I perched on the edge of my seat, listening intently. “And what is that?”
She pressed a hand to my heart. “You made him feel. And to feel means to feel guilt for all the wrong he’s done.
Of course he’ll retaliate, try to find a different way, but in the end you’ll show him that even if it hurts, your love will overpower any emotion he’s ever felt before. Even his precious rage.”
I frowned. “But how can I love him after all that he’s done?”
She ran her touch down my arm and squeezed my fingers. “Only you can answer that. He must prove worthy of you, just as all of your other Virtues have proved worthy. Give him a test. See how he does.”
A test, I thought.
Cole had a penchant for setting me up for an ambush, or for running away when I gained the upper hand.
There was only one place where I could meet him on equal ground.
We held a psychic connection, one that came a little too easily between us, but perhaps that could work in my favor.
It was time to confront him in his dreams.