“Hell will surprise you if you truly see it, instead of still seeing everything through your human eyes, princess,” Loki said. “Hell hasmorethan Earth. It has seven levels. We’re in the second dimension right now.”
“Whatever.”
“Now we jump,” he said expectantly.
The magnificent rooftop rolled beneath us, but we were still twenty feet high.
“Are you crazy?” I said. “Just order Smoky to land properly and smoothly, and we’ll step off—”
I thought I was going to be this hard-ass bitch Celeste, but my whining habit proved to be too ingrained. There’d always be a bit of Marigold in me no matter what.
Loki had his hands on my waist, and the next moment I was airborne. The fucker threw me out of the chariot.
I wheeled in the air. The stallion brayed a laugh as he vanished. The roof, made of light green quartzite, rushed to meet my face. I managed to do a few flip-flops to slow my fall before I landed in a crouch.
As I turned my head, I found Loki leaning against the red doorframe that led to the stairs, smirking.
I bared my teeth, fuming. He’d teleported while I had managed my free fall.
“There, you handled it well,” he said, stretching a hand toward me, seeming friendly. “Let’s get down to the dining hall. You must be hungry.”
I straightened. I wouldn’t take his hand and consort with him that way.
He was just like psychopathic Ares, and here I’d started to think he might be slightly less of an asshole.
His smile dropped. “I’m not like that fucking god,” he hissed. “Never compare me to him.”
He seemed able to skim my thoughts. I clenched my jaw. I needed to reinforce my mental fortress. But it wasn’t a completely lost cause. I’d found out how to irritate Hell’s prince.
“Picasso doesn’t like to land on any ground or roof,” Loki said. “Let’s respect that.” The animal lover paused for a second. “I have no intention of damaging you. I was merely trying to get you used to anticipate the unexpected at every turn. Hell’s like no place else, princess. Those fuckers in the Half-Bastard Academy didn’t train you well, and now I’m suffering the inconvenience.” His tone turned merciless, the former amusement in his voice dropping to zero. “In Hell, you won’t get any training before they send you to the slaughterhouse. Every second must be used to forge you, and not by the ways you are familiar with. You can either cooperate and grow into your power or learn the hard way.”
I didn’t sense lies in his words, even though he was the son of the greatest liar and deceiver in the universe. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, but he wasn’t deceiving me at the moment.
He didn’t want me to die, despite his brutish manners. And I didn’t believe in the slightest that he truly wanted to make me a perfect weapon for Ares and Lucifer, as he had promised Ares in front of me, claiming it was all on the contract.
Demons never considered anyone’s benefit except their own. They were all born violent, bloodthirsty, power hungry, and extremely self-serving.
Loki had his own agenda.
I knew that he hadn’t ratted me out to his father after he’d found me on Earth. He’d wanted me all for himself right from the beginning. And whatever his plan was, he was determined to make me stronger and more powerful. So our goals were the same. I would use him as he used me until the day we met on the battlefield as opponents.
I jogged toward the door, my fists relaxing at my sides.
“I love to learn the hard way,” I said. “Why don’t you show me the ropes?”
“Alpha to the bone,” he said, heat flashing in his eyes. He stepped half a pace from the door and gestured. “Ladies first.”
“Why don’t you go first?” I insisted, peeking into the stairwell before darting him a contemptuous look.
I wouldn’t show my back to anyone who wasn’t one of my demigods or friends. Besides, he’d mentioned tests and sick twists at every turn. The stairs could drop right out from under my feet since Hell played by different rules. If I walked behind Loki, at least I could leap onto his back and use him to cushion the impact if the stairs vanished.
He arched an eyebrow, amusement dancing in his darkly handsome face.
“Trust much?” he said mockingly.
I sneered. “You’re one to talk.”
“You sneer a lot, Celeste. It’ll eventually screw up your face, and then people would call you Princess Sneer instead of Princess Pretty.”