Page 143 of Lucifer's Redemption

Now I have finally pushed Hera away from my heart, knowing she is mated to another, and hopefully, one day, I would be blessed with the a gift of a mate. Until that time, I will spend the rest of my days trying to make up for my transgressions.

“Zeus, thank you.” Her voice was so low, I barely heard it. “And I thank you for your apology. I hope you find what you are looking for in a mate one day.”

I cleared my throat, wiping my brow. The silence of the room broke as Ember snickered in the corner trying to cover it up with a cough. Hades shook his head, but said not a word as his mate’s face turned bright red.

“Sorry,” she whispered, putting her face into Hades’ chest.

As much as I wanted to run to Ember and beg her for what she knew, I kept my mouth closed. It was time to show some humility, take my faults, let go of any bitterness in my heart, and become the High God everyone expected me to be.

“Friends?” I held out my hand to Hera. who took it gladly, shaking it. Michael came to her side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. My hand extended to Michael, who also took my hand gladly.

My half-smile flashed around the room before I willed my battle attire to replace my tattered robes. With lightening in my fist, I nodded to the rest.

It was time to end this once and for all.

The Twelve were the only ones allowed to descend into Tartarus with Persephone taking Demeter’s place. Michael and Gabriel were reluctant to part from their mates but conceded to stand outside of the pit. Ember stayed within the confines of the palace with Blaze and Cerberus by her side. Hades willed his torture demons away, knowing many could not stomach their gruesome appearance. The stench alone was making me choke on my spit.

Our shallow breathing sounded much louder than it should during our silent walk to the depths of the pit, even more so with Poseidon. His unease ran down him like waves of thunder as he walked alongside me where the three high male gods stood together as a unit. Falling back, I nudged Poseidon whose body stiffened. I frowned at the weakness hiding in his eyes. He was the creative one, the one with the best ideas when we created the humans, suggesting we made them in our image. Poseidon even warned our darker sides would eventually show in them.

“Poseidon?” My voice whispered, trying to keep the conversation between us. “How are you?”

He raised his brows in confusion of why I would even talk to him at my simple question. Okay, sure, I was a prick for a long while, but I was trying to do better now. I was trying to finally understand the guy instead of writing him off as a lost cause or weird for staying away and hiding from us in that underwater bubble he liked to keep himself in.

“I’m fine.” He rubbed his beard. “Just ready to get this over with.”

It wasn’t a secret that Poseidon had issues stemming back to the days when he sat in darkness of Kronos’ stomach. He vividly remembered the stomach fluid eating them, causing mental scars, and weakening their powers, but Poseidon was never normal. Then again, I guess I didn’t really know what his ‘normal’ was because he was older than I am.

Pulling Poseidon aside, I wanted to rectify some of what he went through. If it was any inclination, a lot of his problems extended to his memory of everything that had happened on the inside. No one else remembered, and no one else talked about the years they sat there. Poseidon only brought it up once when we sorted through the positions we would have in the Celestial Kingdom.

The group formed a circle around the opaque box that held Kronos. Inside, black sludge coated the glass, inching its way to the bottom. It looked like a giant explosion of tar coated the walls. Hades and Ares cupped their hands to look inside, only growling in disgust as they stepped away.

I looked to Poseidon. “I want you to land the final blow.”

Poseidon’s fear emitted from him as I gave him a choice. Standing back to hit the blackened cave walls, he shook his head. “I don’t want any part of it.” His voice shook. “I just want to be left alone in peace.”

“Will you get peace?” I stepped forward, grabbing his shoulders. “Will you ever get peace if you don’t have a hand in it? Look what he has done to you.” I looked up and down as he leaned his head back against the wall. “Look what power he has over you, and he hasn’t touched you for thousands of years.”

My brother shook his head again, trying not to spill the unshed pain in his eyes. I could not imagine what he went through, what he still goes through in the night, in the dark. He didn’t deserve it. Out of all the gods, he was the one that most deserved nothing but good. Sure, he created creatures behind my back, but Fates, he did it out of love. He only wanted to have companions he could trust after so many of us used him for his creativity, just to create creatures to destroy. Poseidon only did it for friendship.

Fates only knows if he has ever laid with a woman.

“This is an opportunity for you”—Hera and Athena's heated stares on my back comforted me. As heated as those stares were, I knew they only expressed concern over my forcefulness of Poseidon—“to know that you ended him, and he will never manifest again.” I turned, pointing to the rest of the gods. “To know that he will never return to hurt you or any of them again,” I said louder. “He has hurt you most of all. It is your time, Poseidon.”

Dropping my hand from his shoulder, I grabbed Hades’ hand. The circle was almost complete. Each god glowing brightly, radiating their power. Eleven gods stood before the glass box, ready for our souls to destroy the one that help created us. Hades squeezed my hand, his head nodding for me to pull Poseidon once more.

Even if Hades and I had our issues, he surely is a good brother.

My hand outstretched, beckoning Poseidon. Kronos’ screams from within the box could be heard loudly. Cursing, yelling and more black tar inched down the box as Kronos tried to break free. Kronos’ face leaned against the glass, watching Poseidon step forward.

“Oh, the God of the Sea,” he hissed. “Dare he try to destroy me? Don’t worry, I’ll always be with you in your dreams.” Kronos chuckled. The deep rumble in his voice quaked the bloodied soil beneath us. “All of you are nothing but worthless pieces—”

Poseidon grabbed my hand, placing his other in Hera’s. The radiating smile she gave him only encouraged him to let his power flow as we channeled our powers to him. With a loud roar, he unleashed the magnificent surge of power with a blinding light, draining us all as he poured it into Kronos.

The box contained the loud explosion of dust and tar. It was so loud and heavy that cracks of lightning echoed until one final explosion had the entire box stop in time. Tiny particles of dust halted with the lightning frozen in a perfect picture. We all stared in awe at the new piece of art before us. Seconds passed by until it all dropped to the floor in a heap of ash and dirt that littered the ground with what was once Kronos.

Chapter 62

Uriel

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