Page 38 of Eternal Sacrifice
“He willed it to us upon his death. Through this,” I explained, hooking a finger into my collar to pull it down and expose the mark Lucifer had made on each of us. He had said it would mark us as his favorites. Clearly, it did a hell of a lot more than that.
“I pledge my loyalty to the new Kings of Hell,” Beelzebub announced before dropping to his knees and hanging his head.
“No fucking way,” I muttered.
With nervous side glances, the rest of the sins in the room, and their attendants, got to their feet before sinking to the floor, pledging their loyalty to us. They remained, silently staring down, and I looked at the guys to see if they had any idea what to do now.
Justice was bouncing on the tip of his toes.
My brows scrunched together.
“BOO!”Justice’s voice boomed inside my mind, and based on the startled screams of some of the sins, I knew they had heard him, too.
Jaspercradledmewithone arm as he walked down the hallway with the rest of the pack. We traveled in silence, heading toward the room where the fates lived as if it were the gallows instead.
The sins had offered a vomiting of advice for us as the new rulers of the Hell realm. One of the things that nearly all of them agreed on was that we needed to confer with the fates.
We traveled lower and lower through the castle. The stone walls became rougher as we descended. Moisture slicked the surface, and I could hear a steadydrip, drip, along with our echoing footsteps. I was thankful Jasper wanted to carry me now that the rush of the battle had faded into the cold hard reality that I now shared in the responsibility of caring for Hell.
We reached the bottom. A single wooden door stood guard, and Justice reached out to open it. The hinges groaned, the wood creaking like a door found in an abandoned house. Justice took a step and disappeared into the dark room. The rest of the pack followed with less enthusiasm.
My arms encircled Jasper’s neck, holding him tightly as we crossed the threshold.
A single worn wooden chair sat near the door, the only dry place where it could rest. Flickering candles barely managed to light the cave-like space. The rest of the room was filled with a silver-shining pool. The surface was flat, calm, and I leaned to get a better look. Dark swirls swam beneath the surface, growing larger as they approached.
A head appeared first, rising from the waters with soggy dark hair framing the stunning beauty of her face. Her eyes were a sightless milky-white. Two other heads appeared, all vague reflections of the same woman. One appeared older, but only in essence, while the other hosted a more youthful expression. They rose above the surface until their naked torsos stuck out like icebergs. I could still see swirling shadows twisting beneath the surface.
“Princesssss,” the youthful one hissed. Her eyes lit like golden coins, illuminating the darkness for a moment.
“King,” the one that appeared first spoke, looking directly into my soul before shining eyes of silver.
“Apoca-lypssse,” the third added. Her milky white eyes remained the same, seemingly unseeing, but I had a feeling she didn’t need to see with her eyes.
“You are the fates?” Justice asked, his tone filled with respectful reverence. “I tried to sneak in to meet you so many times!”
“We,” one of them started, yet none of their mouths moved, “know,” another one finished.
“Are we supposed to be the Kings of Hell?” I asked.
“You are the Kings,” the first fate answered.
“But is there someone else that should be ruling? Someone that might come and try to take the power from us?”
“One,” the fates answered, all at once.
“One?”
“One.” “Question.” “Each.” It was as if they all spoke each of the words, but they sounded from different corners of the room as three hardened gazes settled on me.
“Oh,” I breathed, now questioning whether my question was the right one to ask, now that I knew I only had one.
“Oh, powerful fates. Can you please share the future of the current Kings of Hell?” Jasper’s voice rumbled through the room and against my chest. He looked down at me a moment later with a smile. “You just need to know how to enter the prompt correctly, Princess.”
“Sssatan,” one hissed.
Something broke the water’s surface, making a small splash as it disappeared again.
“Your quessstion needsss time,” the nearest fate spoke out loud, her lips moving in time with her words.
