I let my icy rage sink down.
“Get out,” Loki said coldly. “Your business is done here.”
Ares’s laugh was equally cold. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re protective of your littlestepsister.”
His menacing gaze landed on me as I tried to conjure up my fire to give him a parting gift. I was curious to see how the once gorgeous god looked without a nose in addition to half-melted lips and a bald head.
To my bitter fury, my fire remained impotent.
And a glacier took root in my center and spread to my limbs, freezing me all over.
“I’ll return, doll,” Ares said, ogling me over Loki’s broad shoulder.
I grinned at him savagely. “Can’t wait. Bring a camera. You might look prettier next time.”
Aggression rolled off the war god.
“Ares,” Loki warned.
In a flash of a violent wind, the god was gone.
Loki wheeled to me with a chiding expression and a sigh. “Must you always rile up people, Princess?”
“He isn’t a person,” I said, breathing out a stream of frosty air.
Loki nodded. “Fine, he’s a god, and that’s even worse.” He regarded me. “Why are you exhaling frost in the hottest Hell?”
Fires had been my core magic and filled my being before, but now without my mates, I was turning into a block of walking ice.
“Are you going to experiment on me as they did?” I asked.
He’d regret it if he tried. I’d make all of them pay. I didn’t know how yet, but they’d all pay dearly.
“I’ve told you I’m not like them, and I’m not in the habit of repeating myself,” he said, gesturing toward the door. “I came to retrieve you, cousin, but since you’ve figured out how to get out of the iron box without my aid, it’s saved me the trouble of giving you the energy to revive yourself.”
Giving me energy? The idea of feeding from anyone except my demigods made my stomach flop with a queasy feeling. Would I stoop to that?
“I don’t need your demonic energy,” I said harshly.
“You haven’t even tried it,” he said, shrugging. “You might like it.”
I snorted, then ignored him to show my contempt.
I followed him out of the dome and took in the barren terrain to a distant black mountain. Lava spewed into the dark red sky.
My nose wrinkled at the reek of fire, smoke, and brimstone permeating the air.
My three former jailors weren’t in the vicinity. Loki must have dismissed them for some reason.
My skin was cold, my eyes colder.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“My fortified castle,” he said. “You’ll get acquainted with my dukes first. We’ll replace your demigods as your new leading men. And that will be the new beginning of your life in Hell.”
So, Loki intended to be the head of my new “harem.”
“Dream bigger, prince,” I said, pulling my lips back as I bared my fangs.