“Dumbass Titans,” I called. “The original gods caged you like rabid dogs, and now when you have a chance to flee, you instead defend your jailors and abusers?”
The Titans gave me a glare. “We’re loyal to King Cronus. If he says you’re an abomination, then you’re an abomination. You’re illegal to exist.”
“Then you deserved to be locked up like the piece of Titan shit you are,” I said.
“Guard my daughter, Héctor,” Lilith called. “It’s more efficient that way.”
Lilith and Héctor flew up. When they landed beside me, their massive wings shoved away a few Titans and sentinels nearby before their blades found their victims.
“Hello, Belle,” Mom said fondly, her cool hand brushing my damp cheek.
“Mom,” I said in a strained voice as I put in everything I had to fend off the gods. “I’m busy.”
“You’re always busy, daughter,” she said, not dropping her smile. And then she asked, “Where’s Lucifer?”
“Why do you want to know where your ex is?” Dad chimed in. He was still battling Cronus. “If I see him, I’ll rip his heart out.”
“Believe me, you don’t want his heart, Hyperion,” Mom purred. “But I do want to cut off his head and spike it on the front wall of my tower. He knew Belle was my daughter, yet he still tortured her for months. I take it personally.”
“I see,” Dad said. “Let me know if you need any assistance, and you’ll have my sword and brain.” Then he bellowed in rage as Cronus slammed a fist to his nose.
“Focus, you old fool,” Mom scolded him.
Dad hissed. I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at Mom for calling him old and a fool, or at the false Titan king. If he had hissed at Mom, I needed to redirect the family conflict before it escalated.
“No one knows where Lucifer is, Mom,” I offered in a hurry. “Maybe you can go search for him?” The last thing I wanted was for the devil to join forces with the gods.
“Perhaps he got eaten by the beasts.” Paxton suggested hopefully.
It felt like we were having a family meeting in the middle of the battlefield when Mom and my four mates fought around me to prevent our foes from getting near me. We were still outnumbered.
“The beasts of the Void won’t have him,” Mom said darkly. “I know he’s somewhere, scheming against me. And I’m not paranoid. My daughter’s illusion of me living in the realm of pure energy and magic must have given him some idea and he’s planning to take it from me.”
I flinched. “Sorry, Mom. I wasn’t thinking of the long term when I lured him here.”
“You did what you had to do, my brilliant Belle.” Her voice brimmed with pride as she slashed a huge gash on a Titan’s chest.
The Titan, who was Cronus’s second in command, stumbled back and looked shocked.
“Fuck off, Titan, please,” Lilith told him. “I’m having a conversation with my daughter and sons-in-law. Learn your manners, or I’ll remove your head.”
The Titan shouted an obscenity at Mom and lunged at her, but Héctor buried his sword into his back.
I eyed my Héctor in appreciation. I was all for stabbing the evil-doers in the back.
“Thank you, son-in-law.” Mom beamed at him. “It’s good you’re a half-blood again. More useful that way.”
Héctor ignored her and lunged at a prison guard with a blood-curdling battle cry. He was all about intimidating and eliminating threats.
Mom frowned while she stabbed another Titan. “Are your mates always this loud?”
I blushed. I couldn’t help it. “Sometimes they are much louder,” I admitted.
They always roared when they came inside me.
My archangel-demon mother stared at my flush. I bet she’d never flushed once in her life.
“Mom, how can you be sure Lucifer isn’t dead?” I asked to distract her from fixing on the relationship between my mates and me.