Chapter 38

CATALINA

I woke up full of nerves. Today, we were going to seek out my fathers, starting with Hades.

Nyx believed that once we killed him, the rest of the pieces would fall into place. Zeus and Poseidon would know who killed him and know they’re next.

She was hoping they’d take refuge together to make it easier to find and kill them. I had never willingly sought after someone to kill them, but for my family, I would.

I wanted us to live a peaceful life, not raise our child looking behind our backs all the time.

Nick shuffled next to me, his eyes opening slowly. He sighed when he saw I was awake.

“I wish you would stay here and let us handle this.”

“You heard my mother. She needs my help.”

“Personally, I think she and the god-killer can handle this.”

I flattened my hands across his chest, just savoring the moment. The arm around my waist tightened. Now Mateo was up.

“I second that statement,” he mumbled in my ear, barely awake. Well, one part of him was ~very~ much awake.

I pouted. “You’re always supposed to be on my side, Mateo.”

“And I always will be.”

“Before we leave, I want to put a spell of protection around the baby.”

A warm hand touched my stomach. I looked up at a very determined Nick.

“Do you think it’ll interfere with my magic? The baby does that enough already.”

I had never really given much thought to having kids. I guess I should’ve started as soon as I slept with my third mate. At that point, getting knocked up was inevitable.

“It shouldn’t.” His hands glowed a soft green, and warmth entered my body.

Nick’s magic always had this warm, relaxing feeling—like sitting in a hot tub without the water.

Mateo rolled out of bed. “Let’s get dressed. The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

Nick sat up, forcing me up as well. “Can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I miss the devil’s lair.”

I hid my smile at the name. But he was right—I missed it too. After hunkering down there for so long, Luce’s place had become a home to us. Not that he was okay with that.

Well, I was fine, but the others he’d probably eventually kick out.

Thirty minutes later, we were gathered in the dining area. Kol insisted I eat before we left, so we were a little bit behind schedule, and it was driving Dante crazy.

“We’ll miss our window if we wait any longer—just bring the food with you.”

Kol growled at him. “We’ll sit here till she’s finished.”

I slurped my soup as quickly as I could without choking. The longer I took, the more likely a fight would break out.

Dante was about to respond when Nyx cut in. “Allow her to eat in peace. She’ll need her strength.”

“About that,” Lucien started. “We decided collectively that my mate is only stepping in if absolutely needed,” he stated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

We? Apparently, I wasn’t a part of this conversation.

“Did she decide that, or did you imbeciles?” Dante asked.

I slurped my soup faster.

“It’s best she doesn’t strain herself unnecessarily. She is carrying our child, after all,” Mateo added in.

“He’s right.” Again, Nyx cut off whatever Dante was about to say.

Pushing the bowl away from me, I hopped up from the table. “All done—let’s go.”

“Gather around and hold hands. I’ll teleport us directly to Hades’ whereabouts,” Nyx instructed us, standing gracefully in the center of the room.

“How do you know where he is?” Lucien asked her suspiciously.

“I’m not the only magical being that lives here.”

Dante smirked, making my mates tense around me.

Before they could get into another dick-measuring contest, I cut in. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is we have his location now. Let’s not lose it.”

Nyx nodded her agreement, signaling us to hold hands.

We formed a semi-circle around her, everyone holding hands. I ended up between Dante and Sebastian.

~No matter what happens, stay close to one of us.~ Lucifer warned.

I nodded my head.

Suddenly, we were drifting through time and space. Everything blurred like it was zooming past us, yet we hadn’t moved.

Then it stopped, and we were standing in front of a movie theater.

“A movie theater?”

It looked abandoned. Why would Hades be here?

Nyx stilled, her eyes scanning the area. “They’re all here.”

Kol swore. “What do you mean they’re all here?”

He looked around, as if expecting someone to jump out at any second.

“I can feel them.”

Immediately, my mates surrounded me, taking up a protective formation. Even Dante positioned himself with them.

“They don’t know we’re here yet.” She looked at me. “If you want to leave, we can.”

I weighed my options. Our plan was to take out Hades alone and hope the other two came after us. Was it smart to attack all three at once?

Could we handle all of them at once?

For once, my mates didn’t make the decision for me. They waited patiently as I decided what to do.

Surprisingly, my hand went to my stomach. I’d never know peace unless I got rid of the men in there. I didn’t want my child growing up with the kind of life I had, with everyone trying to control you behind closed doors.

“We’ll never get this opportunity again,” I started.

“Whatever you want to do, kitten, we’re right here with you.”

We’d been through so much together, never getting the chance to just catch our breath and enjoy being mates. And dammit, I wanted my happily ever after.

I looked at all of them, ready and willing to fight for our peace. Ready to fight for me, without question. And I was ready to end this shit, once and for all.

My eyes scanned the movie theater again. Nyx said they didn’t know we were here, but the location itself felt like a trap. Why were they hanging out at an abandoned building on Earth?

“I have a feeling we’re walking into a trap.” I voiced my thoughts.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Kol agreed, pulling out a lollipop.

My grin was vicious and slightly unhinged. “Let’s give them hell.”

“No pun intended,” Dante chuckled.

The moment we stepped foot into the building, I knew it was a trap. It wasn’t because of the dozen or so armed men and women standing around my father. No, it was the fact that Lucifer and Kol didn’t make it in.

~Guys?~ The distress in my voice alerted them immediately to the situation.

~Don’t show it’s affecting you, little wolf. Pull it together,~ Nick warned when he felt me hesitate.

~Where are they? How are they not here?~ My panic slipped through the bond, yet Kol didn’t react to it or respond. He ~always~ responded.

~They’ve blocked our bond somehow,~ Lucien swore. ~They can’t reach us.~

~I knew we shouldn’t have trusted her.~ And by her, he meant my mother.

~You think she set us up?~ If that was true, then I’d put all my mates in danger.

~No, she didn’t.~ It took me a second to place the new voice. I forgot Dante could hear us. ~She needs you just as much as you need her.~ He continued when no one answered him. It was comical how we all forgot he could hear us.

Lucien growled in annoyance. ~Fuck off, leech.~

I frowned in confusion. ~What did Sebastian do?~

The feeling of amusement filled the bond. ~Why would you think he’s talking about me?~ Sebastian drawled, his tone teasing. I tried hard not to blush at my assumption.

~I can understand why she would come to that assumption.~ Nick snickered, and seconds later, Mateo joined in.

~What the fuck is wrong with you people? Let’s focus on the enemies still in the room with us,~ Dante cut in, bringing our attention back to the problem at hand.

~If Nyx isn’t a part of this, then how did they know we’d be here?~ I questioned him.

~Second guy on the right.~ I looked in that direction, seeing an ordinary-looking guy. ~He’s the God of Dreams. One of you must’ve dreamed about the plan. Your fathers must’ve been keeping a tab on you and your mates ever since they spoke to you.~

Mateo swore, making it known that he was the one dreaming of the plan.

“What do we have here?” Zeus smiled, taking a casual step forward. Poseidon and Hades flanked him on either side. None of them had a weapon, but I guessed their magic was weapon enough.

“The incubator and the child.” He gave me a disappointed look. “I had hoped you would join us, daughter.”

Nyx was calm and composed, giving nothing away. I tried to match her vibe.

“And the sperm donors,” she replied smoothly.

Hades laughed abruptly, startling some of the gods with him. I gave them all a once-over.

~Do you know all the gods here?~ I asked Dante, since he was educated on who the God of Time was; maybe he knew the rest.

~A few of them. They’re the weaker ones. Unfortunately for them, I took out the big players already.~

~Then taking out the rest by yourself should be easy for you?~ Nick chimed in. ~Good to know, the rest of us will focus on keeping Catalina safe.~

Dante didn’t deny Nick’s words. He simply said, ~I’ll need a distraction.~ Could he truly take out the dozen or so people by himself? If so, I’d be very impressed.

~I’ll be the distraction,~ Mateo volunteered. I shuffled closer to him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

“Be safe.” I didn’t care that everyone could hear us. I felt better saying it out loud instead of in our heads—almost like a prayer. His cheeks flushed from the kiss just as he nodded.

In the blink of an eye, my dragon shifted into his red dragon. My father took a step back in shock. We watched as Mateo’s belly started to glow, flames crawling up his throat. Nick yanked me to him and out of the way, just as a stream of fire filled the room.

Not wasting any time, Dante made a beeline for the god closest to him. I watched in shocked amazement as he slit the guy’s throat. Before the body could even hit the ground, he was on to the next one—and the next one. A golden wisp followed him after every kill, looked to be absorbing into his body. Was that how he took their powers?

Nyx made a sound of distress next to me. I looked over to see she was watching Dante with a worried look.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. He seemed to be fine to me.

“For every power he takes, he loses six months of his life.” My eyes widened. Why hadn’t he mentioned this before?

I counted the remaining gods, doing my calculations. He’d lose three years of his life if he killed them.

A fierce feeling of protectiveness overcame me. He was killing himself to help us. These gods weren’t worth his life.

My hands flared, my feelings becoming too much. I threw my hands out, palm up, at the other gods. Electric purple light blasted out, hitting them all in the chest. They dropped like sacks of potatoes. Well, that was new.

~Little wolf, you’ve been holding out.~

~I have no idea what that was.~

Dante stopped his killing the second he realized the rest were dead. Without hesitation, he made his way back to my side.

“Well, that was very anticlimactic,” Zeus drawled, seemingly bored. He looked over my gathered mates.

“Her mates are her weak link—let’s kill them all.”

Hell broke loose at his words. Poseidon threw a wave of water at us, knocking everyone apart.

I sputtered, spitting water out of my mouth and nose. ~Guys? Check in now!~ I panicked when they were no longer close to me. They quickly assured me that they were fine, Sebastian moving back to my side in an instant.

The wave of water forced Mateo to shift back to avoid crushing us. He was stark naked, but Lucien threw him a pair of sweats. And honestly, once he put them on, it was kind of a distraction.

“This is only the beginning,” Hades laughed. The ground beneath us started to shake.

“Time for some real entertainment.” Right before our eyes, the floor split. A deafening growl filled the air a second before Cerberus appeared.

~Damn, not this fucker again,~ Lucien growled. I seconded that statement. We barely survived him the first time. He shifted quickly, preparing to fight him. I readied myself as well, ready to back him up when needed.

~Help your mother, she’s moving in,~ Dante’s voice stopped me. For a second, I was torn. Help my mate or my mother? I gave my mother a guilty look, then ran behind Lucien as he went in for the attack.