Without warning, my magic surged forward, bones snapping in his body as he cried out loud enough to wake his brother. His brother, who offered me a terrified look that had me smiling. Yeah. You know, this wasn’t a terrible way to pass the time while we were waiting on my little rose.
7
Narcissa
There was nothing better than having a common enemy.
Seriously. There was a lot that could unite people. Their favorite food or sports team. The fact that pineapple did not belong on pizza, you weirdos. Oh, and that Carole Baskin totally killed her husband. You know, reasonable, sound facts that were essentially indisputable.
But something even more powerful than that? Having a common hatred of some motherfucker.
My father’s voice was angry and dark, making me realize where I may have gotten my temper from. “That dipshit has been trying to take over my throne for years now. I wouldn’t put it past him to have convinced his sons to try to take over New Orleans just to spite me.”
I arched a brow. “Does he know I’m your daughter?”
It must have only been around twenty minutes, but in the time that had passed, I had already explained the premise of what Nero was doing while not-so-subtly stating what a creep Asmodeus had been along the way. Was I possibly itching for him to suffer a bit more than Nero? Why do you ask? Yes. Yes, I totally was.
Alexander nodded with a confident smile. “Everyone knows that you’re our daughter. Well, down here at least. I mainly told the minor kings, but gossip travels, of course. I didn’t bother telling the hellhounds—not a very trustworthy group, if you ask me.”
My lip twitched as Alaric chuckled under his breath, making me know he was laughing at my father’s distrust of Draco. Who knew they had such a bad reputation, right?
Intertwining my fingers, I looked at my mom who was talking quietly to Jeremy, both of them offering one another flirty looks that had my stomach churning. Man. I was so, absolutely not ready for that.
“So,” I said, tilting my head, “I didn’t think this mattered but... if his father has been trying to take over your throne, then it may be applicable. Asmodeus, since we are around the same age, has had it in his head for a very long time that the two of us should be together. He’s been trying to get me down to the Demonic realm.”
Duke stood, looking furious. “His fucking son has been trying to marry you?!”
“Trying,” Dorian noted. “That’s the key word.”
“A very important key word,” Declan muttered, making Abel chuckle under his breath. Yeah, my men were still a bit worked up.
“You shouldn’t be getting married anytime soon,” Jeremy argued as my mother rolled her eyes. I almost appreciated that, because it was funny watching them attempting to put some level of control on my life, but I would let it go for now. I mean, it was a bit sweet they were trying to be so fatherly right now, I couldn’t deny that.
“The point is…” I drew out, “I think that they are all in with this plan. I mean, what are the chances that their father is trying to take your throne, Nero is trying to take my city, and Asmodeus is trying to marry me? That’s not a goddamn coincidence, right?”
Everyone seemed to consider that for a moment, my fathers looking thoughtful as my mother went to pour herself another glass of wine. I felt antsy. I still didn’t have a great grasp on time right now, and I needed to get back. Get back and take care of Nero.
I also wanted to see Raphael and Zachariah, but somehow I didn’t think that was the way to introduce the two ‘unknown’ boyfriends to my fathers. Like ‘hey guys, can we go back up to Earth, I miss my two fuckable men upstairs as well.’ Yeah. I needed to just talk as little as possible right now, that was the solution.
Alexander stood. “We are going up there and handling this. Guards! Summon King Louis to Earth realm. Come up with some bullshit or just force him, I don’t care. Get him there.”
“To Earth realm?” I arched a curious brow.
“Yes!” He nodded and then looked over the rest of us. “There is nothing stopping us from going up there, right? What better way to bond with your fathers than defeating your enemies?”
“I love that,” I admitted honestly and then smiled. “What’s our plan?”
“You have demonic hellion power now,” Jeremy pointed out. “The wards have broken, so that power has been released. Your grandma put that on when you were very young, so if your power ever felt off, that would be why. Your necromancer side probably got oversaturated a lot.”
My smile grew as Declan whispered, “Still going to make storm babies.”
“So that means…”
“You will now have necromancer and demonic power,” Duke announced.
Well shit.
My smile started to turn slightly evil, even I could admit that. “Because I’m a princess of Hell I get badass demon powers? What type are we talking about?”
“Want to see?” Duke asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement. I don’t want to stereotype, but Duke struck me as the one who liked being a guard the most in the group. Jeremy seemed a bit nerdier, and Alexander... I had no idea what the hell his deal was. Honestly, I was starting to think I got my weirdness from him.
“Absolutely!” I hopped up as he approached and offered me a hand. My boys tensed, but I didn’t worry too much. I trusted Duke even if I didn’t know him. I was a bit envious at how much of a badass he seemed to be, but that tended to be a trend with me.
Plus, let’s be honest, I was fantastic at gauging other’s intentions. Emotion? Nada. Intentions? Usually pretty good. Well, unless it had to do with seeing the obvious affection of the men who were by my side every single fucking day.
Fuck. Maybe I wasn’t all that good at this.
“Close your eyes,” he demanded as his right hand lit up with black flames. I did so instantly, and I felt heat flash over me before a heavy weight appeared on my head. My eyes snapped open as my hand flew up to find a heavy metal, warm to the touch. I turned, running towards a mirrored surface, because you better believe I wanted to look.
This. This was so badass.
“This looks absolutely spectacular!” I exclaimed, turning towards my boys. “I mean, look at this shit! It is fucking amazing.” The black metal was dark and heavy, glinting in the firelight of the room. The embedded rubies and amethysts only made it more luxurious.
“It really does look good,” my mother said softly as I offered her a tentative half-smile. I tried to push down any awkwardness. I was around this woman literally all the fucking time, so why was I feeling so weird around her? Maybe because I was feeling more sympathetic towards her? Maybe because I was finally understanding her point of view? I had no fucking idea.
I was becoming such a softie.
“Ready for the 101 on hellion powers?” Alexander asked, my grin growing at his obvious attempt at the lingo he thought I would recognize. He was sort of a dork.
“I do suggest we move this outside,” Jeremy provided as Alexander motioned towards a pair of massive doors that hadn’t been there before.
Honestly, I kept forgetting we weren’t on Earth realm, but as the door opened, the concept was very much solidified by the alien landscape. I could feel my men behind me as I slowly walked towards the door, the purple skies shifting with red clouds as inky grass and hedges breezed against the hot winds. My brows rose as I examined the demonic creatures lazily moving about the gardens.