“Right,” I said, cold fury buzzing over my skin. “To try and see how they can break and own me.” I turned to peek into his eyes. “But why do you want to risk your future helping my mother and me? What’s in it for you?”
Loki shrugged. “Simple. If I help you beat them, I get Hell. I don’t want to be merely an heir forever. And I have some brilliant ideas about how to properly run the realm.”
He was only telling me half of the truth. I sensed his ambition beating in his veins, but there was more than that. There was a personal reason that he wanted to bring down his father, but he’d buried it deeply in the dark cave of his emotions.
He’d pulled me into part of his memories, and I wanted to see more. Since my mates had fed me in the Dreaming, I was strong enough to attack Loki and dive into his memory bank by force.
I latched my magic onto the dark prince’s mind, just as I’d once gotten into Ares’s. I needed a peek into the prince’s dirty secret to see if I even wanted to deal with him.
A boy of roughly eleven was chained, pierced, and spread-eagled. His bony body didn’t have an inch of intact skin left.
The sound of iron whips landed on his back again and again. He bit into his bottom lip, bleeding it, trying not to cry out. He tried to be brave, but in the end, he screamed. Shameful tears flowed down his bloodstained face.
His tormentor moved to the front and stared down at him in rage and disdain.
It was his father.
“Boy,” Lucifer said, the thorn whips in his hand dripping with his son’s blood. “I do not dirty my hands to discipline any others, but if you want to be my heir, you have a lot to prove, especially when it comes to absolute obedience and loyalty. I asked you to carry out a simple task—to kill your birth mother—and you hid the weak, unworthy bitch. You disobeyed me....”
Utter fear, helplessness, and hatred vibrated in every bone of young Loki’s body.
A black wind pierced my skull like knives, slamming my head back, and I was thrown out of Loki’s darkest memories.
A powerful hand grabbed my throat, lifting me until my feet dangled in the air.
“Never, ever, do that again, Celeste,” Loki snarled, his eyes turning completely black.
I stared back at him, yet I did not counter with my hellfire.
Lucifer’s heir hated more than anything for anyone to see his weakness and vulnerability. After all these years in Hell, he still had an ounce of humanity in him, for he could still feel grief. For that, I’d work with him and finish off his father.
I wasn’t a fool either. I had no illusions about his predatory nature. He wasn’t exactly a good guy, unlike my demigods. Demons would always be demons, even a half-blooded one. They’d always prey on humans and other weaker beings. But compared to his father, Loki was an angel. I could deal with him, and Earth could tolerate him.
I eyed him, saying silently,Are you going to dangle me here forever? You said we didn’t have much time.
He let me go, and I landed beside him.
“You’ll never be safe either, Loki, heir or not,” I said. “As soon as someone else comes along who’s stronger than you, he’ll discard you. He might even ditch you for me, if I do his bidding. My bloodline is stronger than yours.”
“You won’t be a threat to me, princess,” he said, a faint, mocking smile tugging on his sensual lips.
“Sure,” I said. “I have bigger fish to fry. You showed me a memory of my mother because I passed your tests. I haven’t broken under torture, and I’ll never bend for my enemies. You saw that I was fearless when I attacked Lucifer in the pit. No one dares to oppose him in Hell, but I didn’t give a fuck that he is the ultimate devil. I’ll kill him and the war god.”
He gave me a sideways glance while I grated my teeth thinking of my immortal foes.
“I only hope you’ll use a better strategy than blunt force, my hotheaded cousin. Think before you attack. Be smart if you can.”
“Certainly, it’s ideal to stab them in the back. Who doesn’t like to play dirty? But no one can stab those two fuckers in the backs. It’s not like I haven’t tried, but they’re sneakier and more powerful than anyone.”
“For now,” Loki said. “You need to blossom into your power at lightning speed.” He paused for a second. “I noticed that your sparks have returned. You met them in the Dreaming before I woke you up, and they fed you, right?”
My heart rammed against my ribcage. If he ratted me out—
“Always distrustful, Celeste,” he said mockingly. “You and your mother share the same talent. It can be very useful. Your mother used to reach me in the Dreaming. That was how we kept in touch and arranged to get you out of the Void.”
“She’s never come to my dreams.”
“You’re on the surface of Earth. There’s no leyline from the Void to Earth.”