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The black stallionwith the ridiculous name of Picasso snapped his head at me over his massive shoulder, his eyes glowing crimson. Then the Hell horse sent a stream of smoke with sparks of fire to my face.
“Fuck!” I yelped and ducked behind Loki, rubbing my face against his muscled back. To my surprise, the heir didn’t smell bad, like demons were supposed to. On the contrary, he smelled of sandalwood and rich spice.
I’d spared my face by dodging, yet a side of my hair had been singed by the strong sparks in the smoke, and the smell of smoke was now in my hair.
Loki chuckled in delight. “Picasso, behave yourself. You’ll treat Princess Celeste with kindness and respect unless she assaults you first.” He slanted a sidelong glance at me as I straightened myself. “I told you he’d be offended.”
Marie, my former Dominion guard, had been right about trouble following me. Even a horse wouldn’t leave me alone. Ever since I’d left my hunter life behind in Crack, I’d always had bad luck. And I’d always been hunted.
I gnashed my teeth. I wasn’t going to let a horse bully me.
“Which moron named him Picasso? He’s everything but Picasso. Does the horse even know who Picasso is? This hellion horse should be called Smoky or Toasty.”
Smoky snorted. Then he started descending abruptly instead of going forward.
I frowned at Loki. “What’s his problem now?”
Loki arched a dark eyebrow. “I think he’s going to ask you to get off his chariot and walk to my castle on foot. You’re lucky he hasn’t tossed you out already. I warned you that he was intelligent and sensitive, and you thought I was bullshitting you. Celeste, you’ve gotta learn to trust me.”
“Trust you? And if your horse won’t give me a ride,” I said bitterly, “I’ll just find a place to crash for the night.”
I looked around and down. We were above a ridge of black hills with streams of bubbling lava filling the cracks.
“You had a reputation of antagonizing everyone even when you were at the Half-Blood Academy,” Loki sighed. “You need to check your attitude when facing a superior opponent or you won’t get too far.”
I snickered. “Right, I’m looking for a great career in Hell.”
Loki chuckled again. This was another bad day for me, but it was a good day for the prince. He’d acquired me, and it was his ambition to tame me.
“Just apologize to Picasso, and all will be forgiven,” he advised.
The horse let out a bray of agreement.
“I’m not going to fucking apologize to a horse,” I said. “Smoky can have his tantrum.”
Loki sighed. “You put me in a tough spot, cousin, but we’re running out of the time.” He turned to Smoky. “Picasso, you’re the better person. Forgive the princess this time, and let’s get the bloody hell out of here.”
I didn’t comment for fear the Hell horse would leave me behind. Not that where I was heading to would be much better, but I didn’t want to be toasted in this part of Hell.
Smoky neighed as if he’d been wronged so unfairly.
With another bumpy move—which I bet was intentional again—he raced across the sky, leaving the volcanic mountains behind in a blink.
An image of Héctor flying me over Manhattan with my legs sneaking around his waist and my face snuggling into his warm chest burned behind my eyelids. He’d taken me to his skyscraper apartment, bathed me, and fed me.
Those days were like a faraway fantasy I could never reach again.
I shoved down the image of my mates and my longing for them with a cold, sheer will.
I couldn’t afford to dwell in the past. If I wanted to get my revenge, give my demigods a chance to level the playing field against the god and the devil, and secure Earth’s final freedom, I had to kick myself into survival mode.
First, I needed to adapt to the role of a demon princess. I had to become Celeste.
A scarlet castle loomed ahead with a river of lava flowing on the far side.
“Is lava the trademark of Hell?” I asked.