Tartarus tried hard not to crack a smirk. Spineless he was, but he was bored out of his wits babysitting the Titans.
“The Titan demon brat is very mouthy,” Ares said, stepping up to advise his father. “She and my son are the most annoying urchins I’ve ever had to deal with.”
“I don’t even understand half of what she was talking about,” Hades admitted. “Do all the references she mentioned have to do with Earth culture?”
My joke was lost on the suckers. If I couldn’t intimidate them, at least I’d confused them.
Staring down the Olympians and their cronies, I quickly evaluated the situation in front of me. I could go head to head against the three gods with my Living Flame, and my mates could take down Tartarus and Ares. But I wasn’t sure if my Flame could harm the sentinels of the Eternal Prison. Tartarus bragged that he and his guards were immune to all magic as they were commissioned to police the realm of Tartarus. Not to mention the angry Titans in the back.
I felt invincible with the Living Flame in me, but I wasn’t delusional enough to believe that I was all-powerful. I needed to win this war without losing any of my men.
Judging from how the original gods’ nostrils fumed, I realized I wouldn’t stall them for long. I picked up some bad habits and strategies from Hell that wouldn’t work on the gods. The demons and I had always thrown obscenities at each other before we fought. The gods were different species, though they weren’t fit to teach the demons any manners.
“Hey, douchebags,” I shouted at the army across from me again. They glared at me and waited for me to deliver my speech before the battle, and I blinked regretfully. “Oh, I forgot the next lines. But shame on you, cockroaches.”
“See, she’s very annoying,” Ares explained. “I should have slain her a long time ago when I could, but I was drawn to her power. I thought I could control her.”
“You were wrong, Ares,” Zeus scolded. “Sometimes you’re overambitious.”
Ares bowed his head and stepped back. He had tried to work with his uncles to dethrone his father. I don’t think Zeus had forgotten that.
I ignored them.
“So, Tartarus,” I said. “You just let the Titan psychos out because the three jackasses told you to? No pride in your job anymore? I thought you were an independent agent, not some lapdog.”
“My hands are tied, Princess Celeste,” Tartarus said wearily. “The fight is inevitable. I hope you don’t take it personally.”
“Everything is personal,” Héctor said. “Walk away, Tartarus.”
Tartarus studied us, gave it a thought, and stepped back. “Fine. I won’t fight you, but I can’t order the other sentries to step away. They were originally the royal guards to the God of Sky, the God of Sea, and the God of Death.”
Lightning flashed in Zeus’s steely eyes as he turned to give Tartarus a seething stare.
“Sorry, Zeus,” Tartarus said. “I’m an independent entity. So I’ll do what I’m best at—lock up the losing side in the cells. And I do have my pride.”
Poseidon narrowed his eyes. “You think we’ll lose, jailor?”
“I’m not a prophet,” Tartarus said.
“Then we have no quarrel with you, Tartarus,” I said.
“Father, the demon girl’s trying to plant discord and stir up shit while she stalls us.” Ares stepped up again and said to Zeus. “I recognize her strategy. If we wait, she’ll bring more trouble. I’m talking from personal experience. We need to end her now before she twists the outcomes and tips the scale of fate to her side.”
“Ares is right,” Poseidon said. “My nephew has good instincts when it comes to war.” He looked at Paxton with disdain.
“Well,” Hades said, stroking his beard where the shadows danced. “We should give our half-bloods a final chance to make the right choice. I haven’t seen my heir since I left Earth. He’s been exposed to bad influences in my absence.”
His scathing stare at me indicated I was that bad influence.
“Do the math, Hades,” I couldn’t help but blurt out. “I’m only twenty-two, and Héctor is ancient. So who’s the bad influence?” I gave Héctor a doting look. “Not that I mind your bad influence.”
Héctor kissed me, ignoring that we were on a battlefield. I flushed in delight at his affection.
Poseidon looked at my mates woefully. “As demigods, you should leash your woman and keep her mouth shut.”
“That’s why you’re so popular everywhere, dude,” I said with a grin. “The historians even assigned swine as your symbol to reward such a misogynist.”
I made it up, but Poseidon wouldn’t know that.