Page 93 of Blood

“Yes, he will.” Athena nods sharply. “Which is why it’ll come as a surprise when she arrives at the destination alone.”

“Fuck, no!” Cal snaps, jumping to his feet. Black oozes into his normally vibrant eyes, eating away at the brown I’ve come to know and love. Inky veins expand across his red wings as he battles with the dark fairy inside of him. “You’re not going alone!”

“Fomorians are some of the only creatures in existence who can enter and exit both Hell and Mount Olympus in the blink of an eye,” Athena begins gently. “We’ll remain here for exactly five minutes and then poof into existence behind Violet.”

“What? No!” Vin snaps.

“Give it ten minutes,” I interject. When Athena turns to stare at me with an arched eyebrow, I explain, “Zeus is probably going to monologue. It’ll be a bit.” This time, everyone turns to look at me with varying expressions of disbelief etched across their faces. I hold my hands up defensively. “What? It’s true! He’s an evil villain, and evil villains always give monologues.”

“You could be dead in ten minutes!” Jack—wait no, Hux—hisses, shoving at a strand of inky black hair to display the scar bisecting his cheek.

“I can protect myself,” I reassure him.

“Perhaps we could come to a compromise?” Dimitri drawls as he steps farther into the room. Anyone who didn’t know him would think he’s utterly unaffected by the topic of conversation, but I can see the tightening of the skin around his eyes and the twitching of his pillowy pink lips.

My god.

Dimitri’s terrified.

“What do you have in mind?” the White Stag asks, speaking for the first time since this meeting began.

Dimitri, surprisingly, turns to Balor. “Have your soul follow Violet to the meeting place. You’ll provide protection for her if anything were to happen before we arrive.”

“What?!” Balor and I both exclaim at the same time.

“You’re practically invisible when you’re in that form,” Dimitri continues. “Just a ball of light. You can protect Violet.”

“Um, he’s more likely to stab me in the back than protect my back,” I point out, glaring at the monster in question.

“She’s right about that,” Balor barks. But then he heaves out a sigh and relaxes back into his seat. “However, I hate Zeus more than I hate you, Violet Dracula. I’ll help you.”

“Um...”

“He’ll protect you,” Memphis interrupts from where he’s sitting in the corner of the room, once again attempting to type on a computer to take notes for the meeting. “That’s not what you should be worried about.”

“What should I be worried about, then?” I demand, but Memphis is already focused on his task, his huge claws batting the keyboard incessantly. Fucking seers.

“You know, there’s more of a risk to me than there is to you,” Balor snaps. “If you die, you at least get to go to the afterlife and live a happily ever after. When a Fomorian dies, we simply...die. There’s no afterlife for creatures who rule the afterlife.”

My stomach sours. “What happens to you?”

Balor shrugs. “No one really knows. We just...end. It’s believed that our energy is used to create a new Fomorian—a new member of the Wild Hunt. Sometimes that energy will be consumed by a soul. A lot of times that energy enters another Fomorian’s womb, helping to fertilize the egg there.”

“Wait...wait...wait. So, you’re saying that you may be your own daddy?” I cover my mouth to keep my giggles in check.

The glare Balor throws me could melt skin. “Of course not. Fomorians procreate just like any other monster pairing does. However, the baby only comes to fruition with the energy of a deceased Fomorian.”

“So, you could be your own daddy?” I repeat.

One of Balor’s eyebrows begins to twitch. “Remember, Violet, that I’ll be the only help you have for ten minutes after you arrive. You’ll do well to remember that.”

“You’re right.” I nod seriously. “Wouldn’t want you to impregnate your mom.”

“For fuck’s sake—”

“And while one team travels to Mount Olympus to take down Zeus, two of us will be heading back to Prodigium Academy,” Dimitri interrupts, pulling all attention back to him. His ice-blue eyes crawl over all the men and women present before stopping on first Vin and then Frankie. “You two.”

“Us?” Vin snaps. “Why the fuck would we—”

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