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My whole body reacted to what I knew would be important to know. As if something was coming and I only knew the impact it would make, but not yet the cause.

“And did she ever get it?” I pushed the words out, and my questions were getting harder to ask. That was until, finally, Lerna gave me a gift in return for my silent suffering.

“No,” she said after taking my hand and squeezing it, a comfort she knew I would need. I even closed my eyes as I asked,

“Why?” A single word uttered as I felt my heart hammering in my chest.

“Because if he did, he would lose all control over her. Because he would no longer be able to hide his true intentions, would no longer be able to hide the truth of all he had done. All the manipulation, the lies told would be seen through his memories, for every barrier he had erected around her would crumble the moment they were intimate.”

I literally gasped as all the air left my lungs in one escaped breath. One that took time to return to me as she continued on.

“He would have potentially lost his weapon and he couldn’t trust that she would just continue to do what he asked without question.

Koro explained it all to me, how Garmr could never risk it, because he knew if she ever told him no, denied him or worse, turned against him, then he would lose everything.

” I let my emotions overwhelm me at this point, letting my head hang down as I uttered the words,

“So, he has never…?”

“No, for like I said, not unless he is ever willing to lose control over her. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t find another way.” I narrowed my eyes and asked with a single growl,

“How?” She released a heavy sigh before snatching back some of my hope and relief,

“He simply made her believe that he had.”

“What?!” I hissed through gritted teeth.

“He planted images in her mind, times of them together, making love. After that, he would plant other things there, like his ambitions for power, about making her his queen once he had taken over the realm. How he would punish our father’s wife for what she had done to our family.

And after so many years of it… well, it… ”

“It what?” I pressed when she paused.

“It changed her. She was no longer the sister I knew, Jared. And in the end, I barely even recognized who she had become,” she said, and the pain was easy to hear in her tone.

“He groomed her into what he wanted,” I conjectured, my jaw tight, gritting through the thoughts of what he put her through.

“He did and yet, every time I tried to get her to see the truth, it would only end up pushing her away from me. It was why I had no choice.”

“No choice?” I asked, making her shake her head as if she was replaying it all out again in her mind.

“To save her the way I did. To save her from herself. As I knew if given the choice, she would have just kept going back to him. She was in too deep, his influence over her too great to break through,” she told me with a sigh, swiping at the few tears that escaped and were making their way down her cheeks.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

She turned to face me and reached for my hand once more.

“Like I said, I wanted to protect her. Protect the person I once knew and loved. Not the bitter, resentful person he had turned her into. I didn’t want you to think of her like that, or anyone for that matter.”

I nodded in understanding, because I had done the same for love.

I had protected the memory of Lerna all this time, despite the doubt my brother tried to cast in my mind.

Because even he had tried to question Lerna’s actions when he first learned of what had happened and how I came to be his brother.

Cerberus may have been Hades’ first protector of the gates, his first HellBeast born, but he hadn’t been the last. My brother had just been appointed elsewhere.

That was until I found him.

“You’re a good sister, Lerna,” I told her, as it was my turn to offer comfort where comfort was needed. She looked off into the distance, her hand falling from my own after giving it a squeeze in thanks. But then she told me,

“And I will continue to be one, which is why it has to be me, Jared.”

I frowned, my expression easy to read as she turned back to me and explained, “I have to be the one to bring her back this time.”

I started shaking my head, but she grabbed my arm, preventing me from getting to my feet, telling me,

“I am not asking, Jared.”

I felt my gaze narrow at the sight of her resolve.

“She won’t hurt me, no matter what I do or say. She would never fight me, which means I am the only one that can get close enough to do whatever it is we need to do in order to make her sleep,” she said, because of course, she had heard the plan, no doubt through Koro, making me ask,

“And what does Koro think of this plan?”

This time, however, Lerna wasn’t the one to answer.

“He thinks it is dangerous and reckless… but, it is also our only option,” Koro said, adding this last part in a strained voice that spoke of his true feelings. Lerna’s hand slipped from my arm, allowing me to get to my feet, as she did the same.

“And if she is taken and used as a tool against Ella in case she fights back against Garmr? What then?” I asked him in a hard tone, one making him clench his fist by his sides. His jawline jumping as he gritted his teeth.

“That is why she will not be alone,” he told me firmly.

“And what if he sees you? Your cover will be blown,” I said, pointing out the obvious.

“It is worth this risk and, besides, I think by now that ship has sailed, as he has not yet received word back from me and it has been long enough to no doubt suspect my involvement here,” was his reply, making me sigh before shaking my head.

“I can’t let you risk it.”

“And like I said, I am not asking for your permission, I am just asking for your help to achieve our goal,” Lerna stated, her resolve easy to hear as it was the most demanding I had ever heard her.

“I don’t like this,” I told them both, raking a hand through my loose hair.

“No, neither do I, but we have to face facts here, because if she sees you, she will fight, and that could alert everyone to your presence, meaning your chances of getting her out, even after you have somehow managed to make her sleep, would be fruitless if you are caught,” Koro replied, being the one to point out the obvious.

“But if she sees me, she won’t fight, and I will have a chance at getting her out,” Lerna added once again and I knew I had no more arguments left to fight her.

I turned away and looked out to the place Ella had fought me for the second time, before finally conceding.

“Fine, but we still don’t know how we are going to get her to pass out, and quickly at that… it’s not like we have any mortal drugs that would do the trick,” I said and just like Koro, a new voice entered in on our conversation.

“No, but we do have magic,” Marcus said as he joined us, and well, naturally, he wasn’t alone.

“What are you all doing here?” I asked as Dom, Lucius, Keira, and Amelia also joined in the search for me.

“We have news from our spies,” Dom said, and I half dreaded hearing it, because I swear, we couldn’t take another hit to our army.

We may have been growing in numbers, but we weren’t the only ones.

Garmr had been doing the same with his army, and with Ella by his side, we would have no hope, regardless of how many we had fighting on for us.

“What now?” I asked, my frustration easy to hear.

“Something large has been spotted making its way through the veil between this realm and that of Helheim,” Lucius replied, before Dom added,

“And with it an army of unknown origins, one traveling toward Thanatos castle.”

“What is it? Do we know?” I asked, thinking what more could we be up against for fuck sake!

“We don’t know. It is covered under sails, but it is big enough that it takes hundreds of bodies to pull it,” Dom told me, making me question,

“A new weapon of war, perhaps?”

“That’s what I thought at first, but our spies think not,” Lucius answered, making me raise my brow.

“What makes them so sure?” I asked, my mind running on overtime just trying to make sense of what else it could be.

“One spy said that he thinks it looks… organic in nature,” Lucius replied, the strain in his words evident to how little he liked this.

“Then I suggest that our plan to rescue Ella happens as soon as possible, and before whatever this is arrives at the castle,” I told them, making Lerna say,

“Koro and I will be ready to leave as soon as we figure out the means for her to be put to sleep.”

“What about a spell of some kind?” Amelia suggested, making me reply with little hope,

“A spell against someone as powerful as Ella… it would have to be something made by a pretty strong witch.”

To this, Lucius grinned down at Amelia, who shared the same look before she leaned into him, crossed her arms in a cocky manner, and told us,

“Lucky for us…”

“…We know just the witch.”