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"She'll never agree to that," Lucifer shot down. "And I won't ask it of her. Aphrodite's out for blood."

"Who?" I asked, and was ignored.

"She's a goddess; she can handle it. Halwen can't."

Harvey flinched into me. "Stop it!" he yelled, so abruptly and raw that silence fell. "You don't know a damn thing about my mate," he snarled at them. "You don't know what she can handle, so don't youdareact like this is going to kill her. And what about my brothers? Do you think they'll be so easily murdered? We've been killed once before; death won't stop us. So shut your fucking mouths unless you have something actually goddamn useful to suggest."

I squeezed his arm.Well said.

The big, bald guy was nodding, his arms crossed over his chest. "Remember how fucked up we were when Lili was taken. But she handled it. Fuck, she broke herself and Is out."

"Not easily," a pretty, red-haired man muttered. "Any longer, and we might not have made it."

So their woman had been kidnapped; they should understand exactly why I needed Haley back, why my feral side threatened to rear its hissing head at any moment.

"We need toaskHera, at least," Renna muttered, throwing a scowl at Lucifer that should have gotten her killed for her insubordination.

"Hera," I echoed. I might not have known a lot about gods, goddesses, and titans, but even I knew Hera. She was Zeus's wife, and one of the most powerful gods. If she'd help us, Aphrodite wouldn't stand a chance.

"We'll ask her," Lucifer agreed with a sigh, glancing up when Lili rushed back into the room.

"I might have something, but he—it won't be ready for another day at least. Probably two."

"My family is kidnapped!" Harvey snapped, his fingers biting into my shoulder, claws drawing blood. "We don'thavetwo days."

"We'll find another way," I said calmly. "We'll convince Hera to help us murder Aphrodite—"

"It won't take much convincing," the bald man said under his breath.

"Let's use that as an incentive," the smaller, glasses-wearing one agreed.

"It might not work," Lucifer said, watching us sadly. "Even with her help, it might not be enough. That pin—"

"The pin I gave to Halwen, which is now inAphrodite'shands," Cerny muttered, his sour expression only melting when the queen settled against his side. At the sight of their little touches, their closeness, my heartscreamed,like it had been stabbed and now gushed blood.

My snakes shuddered violently, hungry for blood.I want my mate.

"It seems to indicate she's connected to Cronus in some way," Lucifer finished.

"That's a jump," Renna disagreed.

Harvey laughed, a low, animal sound that made my hairs stand on end."Everythingis connected to Cronus. We were killed because of him; we were captive in Alphaven because of him; we were sent into the fucking Labyrinth where we almost died because of him; andhewas the bastard who had my twin locked up this whole time. He's a spider with a hundred legs, and there'snothinghe doesn't touch."

"Harvey, calm down," I said, trying to summon Emlyn's tone—the firm, even one that always made me calmer.

But Harvey shook his head, tearing away from me, his body shuddering and on the verge of a shift. I didn't know how to pull him back.

"You're the fucking devil," he snarled at Lucifer. "If you can't stand up to a goddess, what's the point of you?"

"That's enough," Queen Lili said softly—but dangerously soft. She left Cerny's side to stand with the devil, an unyielding expression crossing her face.

I reached for Harvey, but he evaded me; my fingertips brushed fur as it erupted from long claws and raced up his arms.

"If you can't fight a goddess, what makes you think you'd survive a titan? He's going to kill every single one of us, including all of you useless excuses for demons."

"Harvey!" I snapped, panic splintering my soul. "I'm sorry, he doesn't mean that," I hurried out, eyeing the king and queen warily, waiting for them to throw us in jail.

I'd grab Harvey and flee before I ever let them lock us up, but losing their support? It would be a final nail in each of our family's coffins. Fuck, how would we do it without them? I didn't even know where Olympus was. I was an archdemon; what if I ended up in Heaven by mistake and withered away before I could ever find my mate?