Page 73 of Underworld
“How about the mentor?” she asked, grinning. Her sharp teeth had a malicious glint to them. Her Queen of Hell form suited her well. “The Kami.”
I complained that he had been digesting evil, slowly slipping back into his old form.
Of course, she had a counter for that, too. Instead of denying who and what he was, he learned how to channel his natural form into positive uses. Because of Cole’s constant influence, Kaito had to learn how to walk the fine line of demonic power while not losing himself.
I’d never seen him stronger than he was now, I had to admit, and he was still the same Kaito I’d fallen in love with.
So we moved onto Dante, the Virtue I was certain she’d see had not improved during my absence.
“He’s been tormented for a year,” I said, shooting to my feet as anger curled in my chest. “Cole has been driving him mad with rage.”
My mother cocked her head at me, unfazed. “Just a year? I’ve seen torment, my dear. It’s my current occupation. That Hunter has been tormented all his life, and he’s been alive a long time, I presume.”
Unable to argue that, I went silent.
“Tell me about him, this Hunter of yours.”
I told his story—what I knew of it, anyway. He had been sold as a baby to the witches and they’d changed him, experimented on him. He could regenerate from nearly any wound, but it always left a scar. He was adept at tracking and capturing, working as the Academy’s bounty hunter and recruiter for years before I came along, and who knows what else before that.
He held bitterness and rage deep within his heart. That had been his default because of what the witches had done to him. He hated what he was and I couldn’t imagine what the magic felt like constantly writhing in his skin like an itch he couldn’t scratch. He wanted revenge and I knew that he scoured Hell’s tunnels looking for the lost spirits that had done this to him.
Cole had only capitalized on his rage and anger, making it all come to the surface.
“Making him deal with it,” my mother said decisively.
She was right.
I opened my mouth to argue, to tell her that she was wrong, but I couldn’t find a fault in her points.
So, I moved onto my most difficult Virtue… Cole.
“Tell me, daughter, what do you think he was like before you came along?” she asked.
I chewed on my lip before answering. “I know that he tormented the Dean’s lover, Lancelot.”
Sonya nodded. “Lancelot was not the only one, I’m afraid. As a demon of rage—and an immortal from Hell’s royal line—tormenting and war have been all he’s ever known. The world needs rage, my dear. Righteous anger has its place, but Cole couldn’t tell the difference between justified anger and all-consuming rage. His interest in you has spread rumors across my realm faster than Hellfire because there’s something you’ve done that no other being has ever managed to do.”
I perched on the edge of my seat, listening intently. “And what is that?”
She pressed a hand to my heart. “You made him feel. And to feel means to feel guilt for all the wrong he’s done. Of course he’ll retaliate, try to find a different way, but in the end you’ll show him that even if it hurts, your love will overpower any emotion he’s ever felt before. Even his precious rage.”
I frowned. “But how can I love him after all that he’s done?”
She ran her touch down my arm and squeezed my fingers. “Only you can answer that. He must prove worthy of you, just as all of your other Virtues have proved worthy. Give him a test. See how he does.”
A test,I thought.
Cole had a penchant for setting me up for an ambush, or for running away when I gained the upper hand.
There was only one place where I could meet him on equal ground.
We held a psychic connection, one that came a little too easily between us, but perhaps that could work in my favor.
It was time to confront him in his dreams.
Chapter 21
Lying in bed after the day I’d had felt like a luxury.
