Page 81 of Bride of Death

If he wants a fight, I’ll give him one. But he should know there will be consequences.

Such as other Alphas potentially joining the fray.

Alphas like Ares.

Violence calls to him. And I’m sure he’s spoiling for a good battle right about now.

A chill sweeps through the air as Hades engages his gifts, the death world responding to his call and coming right for me.

I deflect with an illusion of sunshine, bursting from the murky sky above and angling right at Hades’s eyes. He holds up a hand to deflect the intense light, giving me just enough time to mist to him and deliver a punch to his nose.

He curses.

I grin.

And then the real fight begins.

Lightning strikes the charcoaled ground as we slam into each other, our powers mounting with each hefty blow.

Hades strikes my arm, causing it to go temporarily numb—like it’s dead—and I respond by shoving him into another reality.

One filled with a million of those moss plants that Maliki loved so much.

A roar comes from the dream as Hades fights his way out of the illusion and back into reality, just as my limb begins to recover.

Only, he’s not alone as he resurfaces.

He brings the hounds of death with him.

I sigh. “You really want to do this?”

The growls coming from his three-headed creature tell me oh, yeah, he absolutely does.

So I whistle for Athena.

But she’s already on her way, her link to my mind informing me that she heard the call before I even finished thinking about it.

Howl—or is that Mort?—looks up right as my owl appears above. A loud growl leaves the hellhound-like creature’s snout, alerting the other two heads to follow his gaze.

And the animals go sprawling across the vacant landscape.

I smirk, only to find my neck in a twist, courtesy of Hades.

“Bastard,” I snarl, realizing he used our familiars as a distraction.

“Why did you bring her here?” he demands.

I assumeheris Serapina. “To teach her,” I ground out as he starts trying to twist my head off. I mist out of his hold, only to lose feeling in my legs.

Glancing down, I curse at the deadly trap Hades has left for me here.

It’s worse than the slug venom on Maliki’s blade.

This… this is truedeath.

A pit of souls like Pip, only these beings are not wearing cloaks.

And they’realltouching me.