Page 122 of Seeking Hades' Ember

"There better be a good explanation as to why you got out and to why Malachi was in my palace."

Dad and mom sat in the comfort of a love seat next to Loukas. Dad kept his glare away from Hades; he didn't want anything to do with my mate now. I felt his confusion, anger, and contemplative feelings about the situation. Mom must not know because she was too busy talking to Blaze, who had become a chatterbox with all the Wolves in my family.

"Master, you gave me free rein over the prison demons in the year 324AD, so they were under my command. I just had them release me and went to my room." Hades rolled his eyes and slapped his hand on his face.

"I meant to change that," he grumbled.

"Anyway, Malachi came in with the helm; of course, he came in undetected while using it. He brought in dark Witches, Sorcerers, and even some Vampires," Loukas mused. Mom growled in the corner. She has always said to treat everyone equally because not everyone is evil. Yet, Mom still had trouble shaking the thoughts of Vampires. All the ones she had met brought nothing but pain.

"Excuse me." She rubbed her throat. "Please continue." Dad rubbed mom's shoulders as she grew quiet.

"Malachi came in undetected and opened a portal. I tried contacting you through your office Fire Portal to speak to you, but nothing would go through. It was nothing but static, silence. I haven't used it in centuries, so maybe the spell had been broken."

"There's a disconnection," Cyrene walked into the room. "There is a ward around the Underworld, a powerful one." Cyrene brought in a glass ball and waved her hand across it. "Using a detection spell, I was able to find it; it has weakened me severely." Everyone glanced at Cyrene, who indeed looked worse for wear. Her eyes were sunken, and her fingers trembled. "It is a basic spell, one any Witch can do, but it is enhanced, enhanced so much I could barely find it with my own detection spell. The aura that was consumed to procure it was arduous."

The ball showed the Underworld in an entire glass dome. "This is where the barrier resides. How did you not notice that you were not receiving messages?"

Hades rubbed the back of his head. "Past thousand years, I've been a bit of a recluse. Besides, who wants to spend time with a god in a foul mood." My dad rolled his eyes while I pulled Hades down to a seat. He placed me on his lap while I cuddled closer to him.

"That barrier and your reclusiveness were used to their advantage. No one can contact you within unless it was with one of your own demons that you had frequent contact with." Cyrene leaned back on the couch. "You can send messages out yourself, just not receive. It was just enough for you to believe that there was no such ward," Cyrene concluded. "As for the writing on this spear, it is a basic poisoning spell. A lethal one to any supernatural. What the spell was laced with it is what is frightening." Cyrene clutched her fists. The room grew silent as Dante watched from the corner of the room. His fingers tapped on his arm.

"Dragon shifter blood."

"Dragon's blood? That's it?" Dad spoke out loud. "That type of blood magic was taken care of years ago!"

"A Shifter Dragon, big difference. Witches and Vampires have gone rogue in Bergarian again, and they have been hunting and it appears they have found a few vials. Remember all those years ago? The land of Vermillion was unsettled with their new Queen Diana taking on the throne. She was a hybrid, the first of her kind. Some are still fighting for their cause to rid her of the new heir, and it appears they found some leftover vials from the Dark War years ago."

The Wolf warriors guarding the room growled out. "More of it? We were in that war and saw the head warlock fall along with those bastards! "Father spat. “It was all disposed of!”

Cyrene shook her head. "This is just a small militia. There are small groups, and they plan to join forces once enough blood is found and take up arms again. They have experimented with the magic of pure virgin vampire blood in the past. That alone has made their magic stronger and helped regenerate their auras to fight longer. They must have finally got ahold of dragon's blood again to be able to hit and maim Hades for a good thirty seconds."

"More like ten seconds," Hades mumbled. "If it hit a lesser god, say someone, not of the first twelve, it would do damage," he stated. "It was intense, most potent I've ever had to deal with."

"Regardless, Dragon Shifter blood is hard to come by. They don't just bleed on a whim. Their skin is tough even in their human forms, and they must give it willingly. No dragon in their right mind would do that," Cyrene stressed. "Especially not after the Dark War; that is why I believe they are running low on supplies. They are trying to get rid of Ember for good if Lyle throws spears left and right. One shot of this dark magic with dragon shifter blood, and she would suffer."

Loukas tried to get up from his chair but was quickly sucked back down. "Can I at least move? My butt is numb.” Cyrene waved her hand, and he was released rapidly. Her weariness was happy she didn't have to worry about keeping him to the chair.

"What we extracted from Lyle makes me think that Demeter is hiding in Bergarian and not on Earth where she normally likes to dwell. If we are talking Witches and Vampires, then Vermillion is where we must go." Hades played with my hair. Hades raised his hand and pointed to Loukas. "What else? Anything said that would be of use to us?"

"They want her, Master. Ember. Whoever is controlling Malachi thinks Ember can find the Sphere. I don't think they are trying to kill her. I think they want to use her.”

"They are right." Hades stood. "In fact, Ember already found it." Everyone in the room gasped.

"The fire," Dad said. "That's why you stepped in."

I laced my hands with Hades. "It almost called to me. I felt very drawn to it." Hades pulled out the pebble; it was still misshapen, in no way was it a sphere. How could something so small be so important, to hold all of the world's matching souls in it? To see every single one and to watch them become one with one another.

Hades flipped the pebble over a few times. "I still don't believe it, all of this." He waved his hand at me. "I never thought a mate would be so precious. I was blind; I was blind for so long. And after finding her…." Hades pulled me in tight. "To know she is mine, and I couldn't ask for anything better." Hades eyes glistened while I nuzzled into his chest. The room stood silent as I put my hand up to touch the pebble.

My middle finger grazed the smooth surface. I felt the warmth in Hades' heart for me; the devotion had had to keep me protected and care for me hit me with all its might. My empath ability wall I had learned to create with Athena fell in an instant. With a flash of brilliant light, the room was engulfed in rays as white as the stars. Blinded by its brilliance, we all looked away until the warmth ceased to be felt on our faces.

Glancing back, Hades held the sizeable midnight-blue Sphere in his hand with tiny specks of grey and white silhouettes floating inside.

How did all these jumbled pieces come together? Being taken from Hades, missing gods, Dragon's blood, and the Sphere were all different, yet they all fit right in the same puzzle. We had our work cut out for us and looking into this Sphere was the first thing we had to do to find Selene.

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