Page 45 of Ignited Spirits
He notices me watching him and gestures at the rift. “After you, mate. I will ensure no one follows you.”
As much as I want to argue with him, I don’t. Instead, I bite my tongue and walk through, trying to trust Legion to follow through on his promise.
When I emerge on the other side of the rift, I’m relieved to see that it is, indeed, Levi’s living room. It’d be super awkward if I accidentally portaled us into my great-grandparents’ private quarters or something.
I let out the breath I’ve been holding when Legion walks through unharmed with no one following him.
Letting the rift close behind me, I turn to my very worn-out mates and family. “So, that went well.”
CHAPTER 16
IZZY
“We must have different definitions of ‘well’ because that was a shit show,” Rhys fires back, missing the obvious sarcasm in my words. Although, I can’t blame him for not being on his game after that clusterfuck of a rescue attempt.
Dad looks around the room before focusing on me. “We need to go back for your mother. They’ll go after her so they can use her to lure us back.”
“She’s already here, Dad. We got her out before we even tried to break into the council. She grabbed some of your stuff before we left.”
That reminds me that I should probably check on my mom and make sure Hades has been a good host. Although, I doubt he’d do anything to piss off Seph, so Mom should be good.
Dad sags in relief at the news that Mom is safe. “And where is here?” His voice is weary, and he looks like he could use a nap and some food.
I try not to drown in the guilt that my actions blew back on him because there’s nothing I can do about it now. All I can do is keep him safer going forward.
Walking over to Levi’s comfortable-looking gray sectional, I plop down on a center cushion and give myself a moment to decompress. “You know where Gran’s from? I opened a rift to get us there. It’s calledInfernus, and we’re in the castle that belongs to the king of the realm.”
Once I sit down, everyone else but Legion collapses on the various surfaces, worn out from the fight for our lives we really didn’t expect to get into. Or, at least, I didn’t expect to. I had hoped we could just sneak in and out without anyone noticing.
So much for that plan.
“Who is the king now?” Legion asks me from where he stands. He’s directly in front of me, peering down at me with his glowing purple eyes that have slitted pupils.
“Hades,” I answer, only somewhat surprised he’s familiar with this realm. It makes sense that he’s from here if the waters of the Styx allowed him to hitch a ride in Archer’s body.
His eyebrows raise in surprise. “He is grown now?”
I gape at him, wondering how old he is to remember Hades as a child. “Um, yep. He’s, like, billions of years old. He’s been grown up for a long time.”
Legion makes a humming noise as he processes the information. “A couple billion years here or there is nothing to my kind, mate. All the years blur together after a while.”
“And what are you?” I ask carefully, not wanting to piss off the older-than-dirt snake-dragon hybrid who could eat me for breakfast.
“A Lernaean Hydra.”
I nod like I have any idea what that is. I’ll have to ask Levi or Hades when I have a moment. “How did you end up in Archer’s body?”
He shrugs. “I do not know. My kind is not tied to a physical form. Instead, we are called forth to inhabit those who need us the most.”
While I still have a million questions, I don’t have the energy to ask any of them. Instead, all I want is Archer.
“Can I have Archer back?” I ask in a small voice, really needing to know he’s okay.
Later, when I didn’t almost watch everyone I care about die or get captured by the council, I can deal with Legion and the fact that I’m pretty sure he’s my mate too. But, right now, I just need to be surrounded by the people I love.
Legion’s eyes soften a fraction at whatever he sees on my face. “Of course. Anything to make you happy, mate. If you need me, I am here.”
Archer’s eyes fade from the glowing purple of Legion back to his normal teal color. Instead of confusion, like the previous times Legion has taken control, Archer just looks shell-shocked. “That was the weirdest fucking thing that’s ever happened to me.”
