Page 16 of Ignited Spirits
He stares down at me for a long moment, his head tilted as he tries to figure something out. I hold my breath for what feels like an eternity as I wait for him to decide.
Archer doesn’t say anything, though his eyes slowly bleed back to their usual aquamarine color.
He blinks a few times before looking down at me. “Sunshine?” he asks in confusion. “When did you get over here?”
“Do you remember anything of what just happened?” I ask carefully, not wanting to make him feel bad. I’m not sure what’s going on with his new magic, but I doubt it’s a good sign that he can’t remember what happens when his power comes out.
His brow furrows. “What do you mean? Hades just said that Lua’s moves were calculated, and then you somehow got over here.”
I bite my lip as I try to figure out what’s going on. I don’t get a chance to say anything, because Hades interjects.
“You tried to attack me, pup. It was ballsy as fuck, but your mate refused to let you follow through. A shame, because I would’ve enjoyed the challenge.” Hades flashes Archer a savage grin that has Archer gulping nervously.
I narrow my eyes at Hades for enjoying this whole fiasco. “I’m totally telling Seph about this.”
Hades’s eyes widen. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, but I would.” I flash him an evil grin, because I will absolutely tattle on him for egging on Archer. Or whatever mightbe residing in Archer’s body. I’m enjoying knowing he’s scared of Seph way too much.
He pouts, which looks strange on the guy who has a whole realm terrified of him. “You play dirty, earthling.” After a pause, Hades’s face transforms into a mildly unhinged grin. “I like it.”
“Of course you do,” I mutter to myself. Louder, I ask, “Do you have any idea what magic Archer might have?”
Hades studies Archer for a beat. “I have some ideas, but I need to cross-check them with my resources. Give me the day, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”
“That sounds good, thanks.” I scrub a hand over my face. We’ve had all this drama, and we haven’t even talked about the biggest problem we have to deal with. “So, what’s the plan with Lua?”
“Find her, kill her, enjoy the shit out of it,” Hades answers, like it’s that simple. Unfortunately for all of us, it’s not.
I raise my eyebrows at him. “Great. And how do we do that?”
He purses his lips but doesn’t say anything. I’m pretty sure he’s in the same boat as we are and has no idea how to deal with Lua. It took a bunch of powerfulcuraelast time, and they only just managed to lock her up.
Now, she’s had hundreds of years to increase her power, which doesn’t bode well for us.
“First, we need to find her,” Luca chimes in.
I glance back at him, trying not to let the worry show on my face. Luca and I haven’t had a chance to talk after everything that happened with Archer.
I wouldn’t blame him if he’s angry with me, but it makes me unsettled not knowing where I stand with him. And I never like any of my mates being upset with me, despite how often I piss them off.
“How do we do that?” Cain asks, his voice steady and calm as usual.
Archer rubs the back of his neck as he stares off into space thoughtfully. “Can we use the necklace you got from Angerona to find her?”
I nod. “As long as we’re in the same realm as her, we can. The only issue is, we won’t be able to portal directly to her unless one of us has been there before or we can find a picture of the place.”
In other words, we’ll be constantly one step behind her, and we know how well that worked out last time.
Levi shakes his head. “I don’t think we want to portal anywhere she is while she’s there. We aren’t equipped to go against her yet. But I think observing her movements might give us a clue as to how we can stop her.”
“Do we have a hope of stopping her? Honestly?” I know I’m fated to stop her and all that, but it seems impossible right now. I don’t know what other options I have, though. Either I find some way to stop her, or she destroys every realm.
Surprisingly, it’s Hades who answers. He drops his typical irreverent attitude to stare at me seriously. “We do, earthling. It won’t be easy, and I don’t know if all of us will make it through alive. But we will find a way to stop her because we have no other choice. The fates are also never wrong. If they say you can stop her, then you can. You just have to figure out how.”
My stomach drops when he says that we might not all make it through. I’ve already lost one of my mates, and I refuse to let it happen again. Even as much as he annoys me, I’m not willing to sacrifice Hades or any of his mate group.
If anyone’s going to die trying to stop Lua, it’s going to be me.
