She killed herself to protect all of you,said the voice of the elemental.She believed if she was captured, you would go after her and get yourselves killed. So she did what she thought she had to do: sever all bonds to help you move on. Foolish girl.
“Get the fuck out of us,” Héctor roared. His vanished wings whooshed out aggressively.
Quit it,it said.Your bellow hurts my ears. I don’t know how she put up with you, but we have work to do. You boys won’t be able to get her back from Hell. You’ll need my help to pass into the realm of the Void.
We traded surprised, determined looks, our emotions churning.
We’d do anything to get our mate back.
At least say thank you, for a start,the elemental added.I’ve just given you the last pieces of my dark essence. You can call me Septum.
CHAPTER 6
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Barefoot, I paddedbeside Loki across the barren land. The heat emitted from underneath my soles, yet it didn’t bother me. I felt only cold in every inch of my body.
I breathed out another frosty breath.
Loki gave me a measured look, and I ignored him.
I gazed upon the distant black mountains and the lava spewing into the reddened sky.
“Is that your home, Loki?” I asked. “Is that where you’re taking me for more interrogation and torture?”
“I don’t dirty my hands torturing people,” he said. “I’m the future ruler of Hell. I have better things to do. And you think I’d live in the mountains like some beast?”
I shrugged. “How would I know? I don’t know anything about Hell or you. I’m a stranger in a strange, hostile land.”
“You’d know if you knew how to access other parts of your memory.”
I doubted that I’d like any memories connected to my demon past. Part of me was still in denial.
“I don’t give a fuck,” I said.
“You may not give a fuck, but I do,” he said lazily. “And you aren’t as uncaring as you pretend to be. At this very moment, you’re dying to know what’s happened to the demigods who defiled you, who took your maidenhead.”
“That’s gross,” I said. “Who talks like that?”
Yet a stabbing pain shot into my heart again. I nearly doubled over, but I let the pain pass through me and kept moving. The sharp, tiny rocks and hard dirt beneath my feet became too much, biting into my skin. I didn’t whimper. I wouldn’t show my pain, physically or emotionally, in front of my foe.
Loki laughed, then he glanced at my nearly naked form, his gaze lingering on my breasts, which were marred by crisscrossed scars.