Page 94 of Surrendering Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“Aaden is still digesting the fact he’s dating a goddess and that we are friends with gods.”

Aaden blushes, spins on his foot and heads towards the bedrooms. Emi stalks after him as I tug my phone out of my pocket.

“Now what?” Jed asks.

“You guys sort out food, I’ll call Ant.”

“What happened to the demon?” Duncan mutters.

I shrug. “He got upgraded when he rescued my ass from hell.” He winces. “Hey, I wasn’t having a dig at you. It’s not like there’s a bus to Hell every twenty minutes.”

Jed clatters around the kitchen as Duncan runs a hand through his hair, the curls flopping back into place. “I know, but I wish they had never taken you at all.”

“It wasn’t on my bucket list, but how many people can say they’ve been to Hell and come back?”

He sighs as I wrap him in a hug. “I’m okay.”

He tightens his arms, before releasing me and striding towards the kitchen with a determined look. Guess the food is about to get the brunt of Duncan’s frustration. There are worse ways of dealing with your emotions. I head towards my room, chuckling as I hear Emi bossing Aaden around behind his closed door. She squeals, delighted by something he’s said or done. I shut my door and collapse on the bed. I hit Ant’s name.

“Natia, what are you wearing?”

I glance down at myself and frown. What a weird greeting. “Erm, leathers and boots.”

“That will work.”

“For what?”

“I have figured out the things we need for our backup plan.”

“You mean you know how to kill a god?”

“I mean… I know you can kill a god, there is a big difference.”

“Okay.”

“For the first item, we will need to meet at Archan’s residence.”

“I’m going around in circles.”

“What?”

“I just got back from there. What is it we are looking for?”

“A set of twin blades.”

“Serrated edges, chained together?”

“You’ve seen them?”

“They aren’t at his house, they are in Reinheart and Hunter’s HQ building downtown.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I had my hands on them only a few days ago, and I put them back in his office drawer.”

He sighs. “That place is guarded like Fort Knox, I can’t get in, not without setting off every security measure they have.” I shudder as I remember the Minotaur.

I tap my fingers on my knee. I could ask Zac for them, however he isn’t likely to hand over something he knows can kill a god. In fact, it’s more likely he would tuck them somewhere I can never find them. No. For this, I will need stealth mode. We need to go back to basics… no magic, teleporting or gods involved. I need to get rid of Jed, he might be loyal but he isn’t an idiot.

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