Chapter 31
My pulse pounded in my ears as I gaped at the Roderick sisters standing in the doorway like specters summoned from the shadows themselves, their presence filling the room with an energy that made the air feel instantly charged.
“Something tells me my definition of potential doesn’t exactly line up with yours,” I said, choosing to ignore the fact that they’d, yet again, materialized out of nowhere without so much as a whisper of warning.
At this point, asking how they kept getting into the house undetected felt like a waste of breath. The Roderick sisters moved through the world by their own rules, operating on a plane of existence that clearly didn’t concern itself with locks or barriers or the basic courtesy of knocking.
Anita’s smile widened, showing far too many teeth, the dark of her eyes glinting with something that looked almost like amusement. “Perhaps not yet. But give it time.”
A chill traced down my spine at the strange look in her eyes, but I forced myself to push past it. I had enough on my plate without going down the rabbit hole with the Roderick sisters and their weird, witchy ways.
“If you came to see Ares, he’s not here,” I said, my voice calmer than I felt. “But he’s safe.”
Arianna’s gaze slid over to me with that unnerving clarity that suggested she’d already watched this conversation play out a dozen different ways in her mind. “We know.”
I studied their faces, searching for any flicker of anger or disappointment that I’d sent the baby away.
That I’d removed him from their reach before they could sink their claws any deeper into whatever plans they had for him.
But there was nothing. No frustration darkening Anita’s expression.
No reproach pulling at Annabelle’s jaw. Just that same knowing calm that always seemed to surround them, as though they existed perpetually several steps ahead of everyone else.
Which meant I’d made the right call.
If they weren’t upset or concerned, it was because they’d already seen that this was how things would unfold. That Ares would be gone before they arrived, and that he wasn’t in any danger because of it.
Relief and unease warred in my chest in equal measure.
“If you’re not here to see Ares, then what are you doing here?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest in a futile attempt to put some kind of barrier between us. A measly show of bravado, even though I knew seeing them like this was generally never a good thing.
“We came to check on the anchoring spell to make sure the bonds are holding properly,” answered Anita as she pushed off the doorframe and glided deeper into the room.
Annabelle followed closely behind her, smiling coyly at Trace, while Arianna remained by the entrance, looking like she was somewhere else entirely, her amber eyes fixed on something only she could see.
The girl definitely hadn’t come back all the way right.
I glowered at Annabelle as Anita closed the distance between us. “Wait a minute,” I said, my gaze snapping back to Anita as my pulse picked up. I’d been too distracted by Annabelle eye-fucking Trace to register what she’d just said. “Are you implying there’s a chance it’s…not holding?”
That was the first I’d heard of that even being a possibility.
“The bonds are permanent,” Anita assured me, though her tone carried a gravity that suggested the answer wasn’t quite so concrete.
“Once forged, the anchor doesn’t dissolve.
At least, not easily. But we’ve never performed this kind of spell on a Nephilim before.
One can never be too careful with untried bloodlines and magic. ”
“Right.” The tension in my shoulders eased, but just barely. Different didn’t necessarily mean dangerous, but with the Roderick sisters, nothing was ever straightforward. “So, it is holding, right?” I asked her outright, needing to hear her confirm it out loud.
“Yes. The bonds are stable.”
As much as I wanted to feel relieved, I couldn’t quite let myself relax as Anita’s gaze lingered on me, scanning every inch of my face as though she was peeling back layers I didn’t even know I had.
“Well, since you’re already here, you might as well make yourselves comfortable,” said Dominic, his tone casual as he moved to the bar to fix himself another drink. “It seems we’re going to require your assistance again.”
Arianna’s unfocused gaze suddenly cleared, snapping to Dominic with startling clarity. “You want us to bring the wards down around Temple.”
I tried not to flinch at her shockingly accurate guess.
Dominic’s gaze cut to hers for a fraction of a second, as though he were just as disturbed by her accuracy as I was, before turning around to face Anita fully. “Is that something you’re capable of accomplishing?” he asked, before bringing his glass up to his mouth and taking a slow sip.
“Of course it is,” she answered, looking offended he’d even ask. “But you’re going to need a hell of a lot more than anchors and a ward disrupter to survive what’s coming.”
I straightened, meeting Anita’s dark eyes head-on. “Meaning what?” I asked, even though part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.
“Meaning this is more than a matter of vengeance.” She walked toward me, slow and measured.
“There is a war on the horizon that has the potential to not only shift the balance of power but destroy the very foundation that our world was unjustly built upon. For that, you need to be more than what you are now.” She paused, eyeing me long enough that an icy chill traced down my spine. “You must accept what you truly are.”
What I truly am?
“What’s that supposed to mean? What the hell are you even talking about?” I snapped, dread already pooling in my stomach as I was certain I’d already done this song and dance multiple times before.
“You’re really not quick on the uptake, are you,” sneered Annabelle, not even bothering to pretend to say it under her breath.
I gave her a flat look. “Yeah, my bad. I must’ve missed the class on vague prophecy delivery,” I said and then turned back to Anita with as much calm as I could pretend to have.
“What does any of that have to do with me? I’m not waging a war against the balance of power.
I’m waging a war against the people who hurt my family. ”
“They are one and the same. Don’t you see?
” Her chin lifted slightly, fixing me with that unblinking stare of hers.
“The blood you carry in your veins is no different than the one Ares carries. They will always fear you because of what that means. Because of what you have the potential of becoming.”
Deep down, I already knew that. I did. But hearing her confirm it out loud in the light of day made something brittle fracture inside me.
“That is precisely the reason they will hunt you no matter where you go. No matter how far you run,” continued Anita.
“Eliminating the Senior Magister will only cause another to take his place. The Order’s roots run deep.
Centuries of infrastructure, connections, power structures that extend far beyond Hollow Hills.
You cut off one head, two more grow back. ”
“Then I’ll kill them too,” I said, my voice hard. “Every single one who comes after my family.”
Anita’s smile inched wider, her gaze never leaving me. “And for that you will need an army.”
“Right,” I said dismissively. “I’ll start working on that just as soon as I turn in my chemistry homework.”
“You needn’t work on it. It is already yours to claim should you choose to.”
Dominic set his glass down with an audible clink, his dark eyes hardening as he locked his attention on Anita. “Explain. Now.” His voice carried that edge of threat that made most people take a step back, but Anita didn’t flinch.
“She is Lucifer’s heir, no more and no less than Ares is. Until the time comes that he can stake his claim, the throne of Hades will sit empty.” Her eyes locked onto mine, dark and depthless. “That is, unless you take it.”
The floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
“You have every right to claim it in his stead,” continued Anita, her voice edged like flint. “The throne cares nothing about destiny or age or prophecy. Only blood. Lucifer’s blood. And yours runs just as deep and true as Ares’.” She leaned closer. “All you have to do is take it.”
The words slammed into me like a freight train. My breath caught and the room suddenly felt too small, the air too thin.
“Claim it, and you’ll have an army the Order can’t touch.”
I felt like I was falling into an endless hole with no up or down, no solid ground to catch myself. The world had twisted sideways and I couldn’t make sense of which way was right anymore.
“How does she claim it?” asked Dominic, as though I would ever consider doing such a thing. As though it were even remotely a possibility.
“One declaration,” she replied. “Accept what you have been running from and embrace it. Accept what you are and speak the words. Per sanguinem patris mei, thronum vindico. By blood of my father, I claim the throne. That’s it.”
The image flashed through my mind unbidden. Me speaking those words, my voice claiming something ancient and terrible. My whole body recoiled, my stomach twisting around a revulsion that ate its way up my spine like rot.
I would never do that. That wasn’t who I was. It wasn’t who I wanted to become.
“And then what?” I asked, disgust threading through my voice. “I become some demon queen? Rule over hell with my army of demon minions?”
“You become what you were always meant to be,” said Anita, simply, as though we weren’t talking about claiming the throne to the literal underworld.
“Powerful enough that the Order wouldn’t dare raise a hand against you.
Protected by legions that answer only to the blood of Lucifer.
An army the Council has no magic to control or defeat. ”
She let the offer hang there between us, tempting and terrifying all at once.
Everything in me revolted against it. From the idea of accepting that part of myself I’d spent so long trying to suppress.
The darkness that whispered in my veins, that threatened to consume me every time I reached for my Nephilim power.
If I claimed this throne they were offering, if I spoke these words and embraced what I was…
I’d never be able to go back.
“No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “I’m not doing that. I’ll handle the Order without becoming…that.”
Anita tilted her head, studying me with something that might have been disappointment. “You’d rather fight them as you are now? Outnumbered and outmatched? When you could command power they have no defense against?”
“I’d rather stay myself,” I said, my jaw setting with stubborn finality. “I don’t want a crown or an army of demons. I don’t want any of that. We have a plan and it’ll work.”
It had to.
“Your plan will get you killed,” said Annabelle flatly.
“Maybe,” I said, lifting my chin. “But at least I’ll die as myself.”
Trace’s hand found the small of my back, silent support bleeding through our connection. Dominic moved closer on my other side, a wall of solidarity at my flank.
The sisters exchanged glances—some wordless communication passing between them that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“What do you care anyway?” I asked, frustration leaking into my voice. “So long as Ares is safe, what concern am I of yours?”
Arianna’s unfocused gaze sharpened on me, the color bleeding back into her amber eyes. “Because we’ve seen what could happen if you claim the throne. A future where you raise Ares without fear. Where neither of you are hunted every waking moment of your lives. Where you’re both…free.”
The words struck deeper than I expected and my breath caught.
Of course, that was what I wanted. More than anything. A life where Ares could grow up without looking over his shoulder. Where I didn’t have to sleep with one eye open, waiting for the next attack on our lives. Where we could just…exist.
But was I willing to pay that cost?
I looked at Anita, at the calculating gleam in her eyes, at the way she wanted this just a little too much, and something in me hardened.
They would benefit from this somehow. They always did.
And whatever future Arianna had seen, whatever peace she’d glimpsed, I couldn’t trust that that was all this was about.
That their endgame aligned with mine. Not after everything they’d done to get us here.
Not after the way they’d manipulated me and twisted my life to suit their goal.
I could trust them to fight against the Order with me because, for now, we shared that common enemy. Because it suited their purpose just as much as it did mine. But that’s where our alliance ended. I refused to trust them on anything beyond that and certainly not with Ares’ future.
“Will you help us with the wards or not?” I finally asked, letting them know the discussion was over.
Anita stared at me for a long, nerve-wracking moment before finally nodding her head once. “We’ll help with the wards,” she said curtly and then glanced at Trace and Dominic before returning to me. “Tomorrow night. But the rest is on you.”
“Fine with me,” I said, relieved that she’d finally dropped the queen-of-the-damned shit and agreed to help us.
Her smile turned cold. “And when you’re ready to accept your birthright, we will be there to help you with that too.”
The way she said it made it sound as though it were inevitable. As though it were just a matter of time. I wasn’t sure what alarmed me more—her certainty that I’d break, or the fact that some small, buried part of me already knew she was right.
“Great. I can hardly wait.”