Page 72 of Underworld
“Luke,” Sonya said, her eyes on me. “Go with Kaito.”
“He can find his way just fine on his own. I’m staying here.”
Ignoring them both, I went to a chair sank into it, the weight of my wings feeling so much heavier for some reason.
“No. You’re going with Nate.” She sighed in exasperation. “I know you’re worried, but I’msafehere. My injury is almost healed—andhe didn’t walk away unscathed. Don’t forget who I am.”
“Sonya…” he growled.
“Luke. You’re going.” Sonya’s voice made it clear she’d made up her mind. “I want to talk to my daughter…alone.”
An awkward silence fell, made even worse when the Dean abruptly cleared her throat and rose. “Well, I think I’ll make sure Nate and Luke don’t have any trouble finding their way, then. My lady.”
I watched as Kaito and the Dean left with my mother’s mates, my mentor casting me one assuring glance that everything would be okay.
I hoped it would be.
My mother sighed as she joined me. “It’s not easy, is it?” She brushed a strand of hair out of my face, her expression motherly and sweet. She hadn’t always been like this, based on those dark, foggy memories that lingered in the back of my mind. She’d grown and changed.
She’d accepted me, despite my faults.
“It’s not,” I agreed. “Calamity’s a bitch.”
She chuckled. “Oh, Calamity is a walk in the park compared to managing multiple mates. Each one of them thinks they know what’s best for you and it can be a nightmare trying to get them all on the same page.” She sighed, her expression reminiscent. “I didn’t bond with all of my mates, you know. Some of them weren’t meant for me, and that was okay.”
Shifting my weight, I met her ruby gaze. “You don’t think I should accept Cole as my Virtue?” I had been the one to call him. It felt like my duty to make this right.
Her elegant shoulders bobbed up and down in a shrug. “I’m not saying that. I just think that you have to be willing to give him up before you can truly bring him into the fold. He is your Virtue for a reason, Lily, but it doesn’t mean the future will always work out the way we want it to.”
She pressed her hand over mine, her innate heat as Queen of Hell bleeding into me. I found it comforting and reassuring, the warmth rejuvenating a dark part of me that constantly clawed to come out.
“I’m not sure what I should do.” If all worked out as planned, I would be venturing into the pits of Hell in the morning.
And that terrified the shit out of me.
“Follow your heart,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “I know you’re trying to be helpful, but if you haven’t noticed, my instincts haven’t been so great lately.”
She hummed in thought while she tapped her chin. “And what makes you say that?”
I gestured to the window where all Hell was breaking loose—literally. “I give you exhibit A, realm convergence central.”
She grinned. “Well, if you want my opinion, I’ll tell it to you. I think this is a sign of everything working out as it was meant to.” Her wings lifted behind her, the arches just as deadly as Cole’s but more elegant. “Tell me of your Virtues, Lily, one by one, then I’ll let you judge if you agree with me or not.”
Sighing, I started with Orion. “My demigod is a total man-whore, or he used to be, before he came around to settling down with me. He smells like sex and sunlight.” I bit the inside of my cheek, realizing I was talking to my mother, although she was a succubus, too. There was nothing to be ashamed about when it came to sex.
She nodded thoughtfully. “So, it sounds like this demigod used to be struggling to find love, and then he found it in you. He even withstood the test of time living without you, proving his loyalty, not just to you, but to himself. Did that make him stronger?”
I frowned, because she summed up Orion’s long journey far too easily. There was so much more to it than that.
But was he stronger? I could only nod in agreement. I’d never seen him stronger in his godly powers.
“Next,” she said, snapping her fingers.
I went through the list. Logan had grown from a lone wolf into a proper Alpha, teaching not only wolves but other types of shifters to work together. It gave him a sense of fulfillment and if I had been in his life, none of it would have happened. There would not have been the need or the drive for Logan to step up like that and because he believed I would be back, he did everything in his power to be ready when I did.
“Those were the easy ones,” I warned, none too pleased how quickly she targeted my Virtues’ growth and improvement through their struggles.
