Page 9 of Ignited Spirits (Haunted Magic #3)
He pouts, which looks strange on the guy who has a whole realm terrified of him. “You play dirty, earthling.” After a pause, Hades’s face transforms into a mildly unhinged grin. “I like it.”
“Of course you do,” I mutter to myself. Louder, I ask, “Do you have any idea what magic Archer might have?”
Hades studies Archer for a beat. “I have some ideas, but I need to cross-check them with my resources. Give me the day, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”
“That sounds good, thanks.” I scrub a hand over my face. We’ve had all this drama, and we haven’t even talked about the biggest problem we have to deal with. “So, what’s the plan with Lua?”
“Find her, kill her, enjoy the shit out of it,” Hades answers, like it’s that simple. Unfortunately for all of us, it’s not.
I raise my eyebrows at him. “Great. And how do we do that?”
He purses his lips but doesn’t say anything. I’m pretty sure he’s in the same boat as we are and has no idea how to deal with Lua. It took a bunch of powerful curae last time, and they only just managed to lock her up.
Now, she’s had hundreds of years to increase her power, which doesn’t bode well for us.
“First, we need to find her,” Luca chimes in.
I glance back at him, trying not to let the worry show on my face. Luca and I haven’t had a chance to talk after everything that happened with Archer.
I wouldn’t blame him if he’s angry with me, but it makes me unsettled not knowing where I stand with him. And I never like any of my mates being upset with me, despite how often I piss them off.
“How do we do that?” Cain asks, his voice steady and calm as usual.
Archer rubs the back of his neck as he stares off into space thoughtfully. “Can we use the necklace you got from Angerona to find her?”
I nod. “As long as we’re in the same realm as her, we can. The only issue is, we won’t be able to portal directly to her unless one of us has been there before or we can find a picture of the place.”
In other words, we’ll be constantly one step behind her, and we know how well that worked out last time.
Levi shakes his head. “I don’t think we want to portal anywhere she is while she’s there. We aren’t equipped to go against her yet. But I think observing her movements might give us a clue as to how we can stop her.”
“Do we have a hope of stopping her? Honestly?” I know I’m fated to stop her and all that, but it seems impossible right now. I don’t know what other options I have, though. Either I find some way to stop her, or she destroys every realm.
Surprisingly, it’s Hades who answers. He drops his typical irreverent attitude to stare at me seriously.
“We do, earthling. It won’t be easy, and I don’t know if all of us will make it through alive.
But we will find a way to stop her because we have no other choice.
The fates are also never wrong. If they say you can stop her, then you can. You just have to figure out how.”
My stomach drops when he says that we might not all make it through. I’ve already lost one of my mates, and I refuse to let it happen again. Even as much as he annoys me, I’m not willing to sacrifice Hades or any of his mate group.
If anyone’s going to die trying to stop Lua, it’s going to be me.
“So, I guess we should head back to Earth and figure out what Lua’s up to?”
Bishop chuckles as he walks over to stand in front of me.
“Not a damn chance, sweetheart. You’re not going anywhere near her until your magic is fully recovered.
” I open my mouth to tell him that I’m totally healed up when he silences me with a look.
“Don’t even try it, Isabel. We both know you need at least another day, if not a few, to be back to full strength.
All you’re going to do is get yourself hurt or worse if you try to go up against her right now. ”
I sigh because I hate it when he’s right. “Fine. So, are we chilling out here for a little, then?”
Bishop nods and leans down to press a kiss to my hair.
Hades chuckles. I turn around to look at him, wondering what he finds so funny. “I see you’re inviting yourself over to stay, earthling. But since I’m such a generous soul, feel free to roam around Levi’s or my quarters as you please.”
I snort. “I so appreciate your generosity, Hades,” I comment sarcastically.
He just smirks at me before turning around to head back to his dais.
I’ve got to wonder what he actually does all day because his throne room is always super empty. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he spends most of his waking hours hunting down and murdering anyone who pisses him off.
Spinning on my heel, I turn to leave and get the rest I’m reluctantly admitting I need.
Luca’s voice stops me. “Can I speak to you for a moment alone, Izzy?”
Closing my eyes, I hang my head. I already know whatever Luca wants to talk to me about won’t be good, but it’s not like I can really say no. “Sure.” I do my best to keep my voice steady, but I’m not sure I succeed by the worried looks Cain and Bishop shoot me.
Blowing out a breath, I turn back to Luca. He walks over to me and places his hand on my lower back. I let him guide me out of the throne room with my heart in my throat, hoping he’s not going to tell me he can’t be with me anymore after what happened to Archer.