She was me.
I staggered back, but Loki held me in his vise-like grip.
Easy, Celeste, he said in my head. I blinked, and I was with him again.
“Take my daughter. Do as you promised, Loki,” the woman said.
“I’ll make sure she lives,” Loki said. “She’ll end his reign, Queen Lilith.”
She gave him a feral smile and pushed the toddler through a liquid mirror that suddenly appeared between them. Loki took the baby and held her carefully.
He gazed at the green-eyed girl with a broad, doting smile.
She regarded him with curiosity, then got bored, and struggled in his arms, twisting her little body around to seek her mother. When she found only a black stone wall, she wailed, realizing her mother was gone.
“Momma!” she shrieked.
“Shush, Celeste. You must be quiet,” Loki cooed. “Everything will be all right. I’ll take care of you, and you’ll live and stomp the Heaven and Earth.”
Her eyes burned with rage as her tiny nostrils flared. When he started to grin at her ferocity, she rammed her small fist into his left eye.
“Ouch,” he cried, nearly dropping her. “You do know how to hit hard, little hellion. Your momma bound your Titan power, but she forgot to rein in your temper.”
The toddler cried as if knowing and afraid of what lie ahead of her.
The pressure in my head was suddenly gone. Loki released his palms from my temples, and I was back traversing with him across Hell’s sky.
I wheeled to him, staring into his bottomless, abyssal eyes. If I kept looking at them, I might not find a way back, so I blinked hard.
The horse picked up speed. We were now gliding above a dark, satin-like lake.
“Now you’ve returned to me, Celeste,” Loki said softly. Instead of holding my gaze, he looked ahead, staying alert. “And we’re going to finish what we started before your birth.” He paused for a second. “We can speak freely within these two hours in the sky.”
Which meant Hell’s prince was being watched and his castle was rigged. I didn’t even need to ask him to confirm it. We were living in the age of wars.
“Tell me about—my mother,” I said.
“I can only give you a brief version as we’re running out of time. Queen Lilith was Lucifer’s sister and queen. They fell from Heaven together. In human mythology, he was once named the brightest morning star, but in fact, she was brighter than him. Even in the story, they robbed her of her glory.”
“Because she’s a woman,” I said.
Loki glanced at me appreciatively. “History was all written by males of every species in every era. They still try to do the same. No matter, they’re insignificant. Lucifer adored Lilith yet envied her for her power and talent to no end—even though she chose to fall with him to build their version of a kingdom and to pursue freedom. But she didn’t have a submissive bone in her body and wouldn’t accept a position as his second. She fought to command their army as his equal, but he suspected that she wanted the throne to herself. Her fatal mistake was to fall for him, setting love above all, as many women do. He fell only for power. Lusting for ultimate power and glory in the universe was the reason why he’d been banished from Heaven.
“When she realized that he had become the Father of Lies and Betrayal, it was already too late. He struck before she did, leading her inner circle to betray her. He tricked her, robbed and stripped her of her power. She then fled into the Void, where he dared not follow.”
“I was born in the Void,” I whispered.
Loki nodded. “The Void is where the Titans have been imprisoned since the ancient times, long before humankind started to emerge in the universe. In the Titan king’s prison cell, your mother mated with your father and bred you.
“It was an impossible deed. But Lilith was Lilith, the true Queen of Hell.” Admiration dripped from his voice. “She understood what must be done. She challenged the laws of the gods. Such a mating between a demon and a Titan is forbidden. A child from this union is deemed an abomination of the universe, aberrant to all natures and laws.”
“Who are they to play jury and judge?” I sneered. “I’m no more an abomination than they are. The gods are but leeches and dicks.”
“That was what Queen Lilith said,” Loki said. “You’re your mother’s daughter. There is a prophecy about you. Once you fully blossom into your birthright, you can unmake anyone. You’ll unmake the gods and all the worlds.”
“That’s why the two fuckers tried to cut me open again and again for months, thinking they could steal my power.”
“They failed,” Loki said with a cold smile. “But they won’t admit their failure. They’ve enacted their backup plan, and it started with getting you into Hell’s Academy.”