Chapter 6

Being mortal definitely had its downsides. It took time to make sure I ate enough so my stomach stopped complaining, and I was already feeling tired.

There was no way I could go to sleep, though, even if the sun had gone down. Too much had happened.

Plus, the damn crystal Seth had forced on me was practically screaming in my ears.

Logan was cleaning up the dishes, doing things the old-fashioned way, after Kaito had helped him cook us all a meal. The only magical part of the evening had been summoning ingredients, but the guys seemed like they didn't want to use too much magic while we were on Earth.

Not only did it tap into limited reserves, but it could draw attention to us. So Hendrik had used some of Dante's pain to summon the food, and that was it.

I still wanted to know how and why Dante could now bleed on demand and why that talent seemed to reopen his previously healed wounds.

He was a Hunter. His body healed any injury—literally any kind at all, even a slice across his throat—but it left a scar behind.

I wanted to ask him about it, but now the crystal was making it clear that the first quota needed to be supplied before the twenty-four-hour window was technically up.

Stupid Seth, can't even follow his own rules.

Although, to be fair, I'd given the crystal a small dose of pain when he'd anchored my soul inside my body. It felt unnatural, like a heavy weight inside my chest as if my soul had been wrapped in chains.

Perhaps that little bit had fed the crystal, and it simply wasn't enough. The deal was for their pain, not mine.

And it concerned me that we hadn't defined a quantity or a limit. How much would it want?

Taking it out of my bag, I frowned at it. The dark blacks and flicks of gold inside the translucent walls swirled angrily, whipping against the insides of the crystal as if trying to get out. I stuffed it back into the bag.

"I'll feed it first," Asher immediately offered.

"No," multiple males said at the same time.

He crossed his arms, looking determined as his perfectly angled jaw hardened. "You guys want to let me in on this little cool-kids club? Let me go first. I'll prove I'm on your side." His slate-gray irises flicked to me. "On her side."

I sighed, but I had a lot of questions for the incubus anyway. "Asher can go first," I decided aloud.

Everyone looked at me like I'd grown two heads.

"You're not going to be alone with him. You do it here," Cole said, stabbing the point of his tail into the table, leaving a mark. That table had likely cost more than everything I'd ever owned.

Which wasn't much, if I thought about it.

"No," Asher and I said simultaneously. I glanced up at him, finding myself blushing again.

Did I want to be alone with the incubus? Probably, and not entirely for innocent reasons.

But I wanted answers, not sex.

Okay, maybe I wanted sex. But that would probably kill me, so not worth it.

Right, yes. Not worth it. Totally.

Clearing my throat, I knew I had to hear Asher's history, and I needed to have privacy for that conversation. There was no way he could spill his whole story to me if the others were interrupting him every two seconds.

"Dante goes with them," Kaito offered as he set a plate in the sink and began scrubbing it. It was kind of surreal to see him do menial work like washing dishes. He looked like a demon god, his horns glinting against the soft light from the chandeliers while his tattooed arms flexed. He had rolled up his sleeves to keep them from getting wet and that did all sorts of funny things to my insides.

Dante nodded. "Fine with me."

Cole remained silent, and he looked like he was ready to stab someone with his tail instead of the table, but silence was compliance.

I grabbed Asher by the wrist before any of them could change their minds. "We'll go to one of the bedrooms," I said without thinking. But it wasn't like there was an office, at least not that I'd seen. And I didn't know what kind of pain the crystal wanted; it might require blood. So a room with an attached shower was probably not a bad idea.

Although, the second I said the words, the temperature in the room seemed to drop. I wasn't even sure which of my Virtues had done that.

Logan gave me a little waggle with his brows. "Have fun."

I blew out a breath when I found the farthest bedroom and ushered Dante and Asher inside. I closed the door, then locked it for good measure.

"Oh yeah, that'll keep a pair of pissed-off demons out," my Hunter said with a smirk.

I puffed out the side of my cheek, then blew out the trapped air. "You're right. Can you seal it?"

His grin vanished as Asher choked on a laugh. "You really want to lock us in here?" Dante asked incredulously. "You know there are more than just two demons out there, right? There's a wolf shifter and a Dark Mage, too. Hendrik will have my ass if something happens and he can't get in here."

"Does that happen often?" Asher asked with a wicked glint in his eye. "Hendrik having your ass, I mean."

I rolled my gaze skyward, then noticed the mirrors on the ceiling. Why were there mirrors on the ceiling? "That's why you're here," I told Dante, looking back down at the disgruntled Hunter. "He needs to trust you. If he doesn't, I don't even know what we're doing here in the first place." I let my bag drop from my shoulders, then knelt to take out the crystal. It hissed as I grabbed it, the whispers exploding in my head. "We made a bad deal with Seth. I should just feed this thing myself."

Asher moved faster than I would have given him credit for, suddenly at my side and resting his hand over mine. I blinked up at him, surprised at the serious look on his face. "No, love. We all made the deal with Seth, meaning we're just as liable as you, if not more so. You will not take our burden for us." He glanced up at the Hunter. "But she's right. We don't know what kind of magic this will give off. We don't want any supernaturals picking up our location or anyone interrupting the process."

I realized this was why Asher had been the first to volunteer. He somehow knew it would be risky before we worked out the kinks.

But that didn't explain why he was so willing to help. Even if I suspected it, he wasn't really one of my Virtues.

Right?

"Hmm," Dante said, flexing his jaw before he drew his blade. "I'll seal the room, then. But if anything happens, I'm giving Hendrik your ass to take his hatred out on."

Asher grinned as if that idea sounded fun to him. He was an incubus, so it probably did.

Dante made quick work of sealing the room. He drew runes along the door with his blade, setting the surface on fire before it vanished, leaving behind no damage at all. But I felt the heat just underneath the walls all the same.

It made the room warm, which was nice. I hadn't noticed how chilled I felt.

It was strange being human. But I'd gotten used to the sensation of being cold with two realms having drained me for so long.

Now, I tried not to think about how Hell might be surviving without me to feed it. Or why the Netherworld had been taking my magic, too.

Balthazar had been responsible for that bit, no doubt.

Once we dealt with the immediate problems, I wondered if there would even be realms left to save.

Asher released my hand, then peeled off his shirt, revealing a perfect body that had my jaw dropping. Especially when I caught the glint of piercings on the male's nipples.

"Don't gawk, Lily. It's rude," Dante chided from behind the incubus. He'd started pacing like a predator without prey to sink his teeth into, looking anxious.

"She can gawk all she likes," Asher said with a disarming grin. He tilted his head to the side, sending his dark hair falling over his slate-gray eyes. "I am one of her Virtues, after all."

We both froze.

I'd been rolling the idea around in my head ever since I'd realized I was attracted to him, but to hear it aloud was a different story.

It made it real.

"And what makes you think you're a Virtue?" Dante asked, his words dangerously low and threatening as he leaned into the incubus's ear. He trailed the blade up the male's side, nicking the first rib he caught.

Asher didn't even flinch.

"Because I bonded her before she bonded any of you," he said without looking away from me.

I blinked at him a few times, wondering if he was insane or if he was telling the truth.

"Surely I would remember that," I said as I palmed the cold crystal. I found myself drawn to him and I ignored Dante's threatening growl. I wasn't sure if it was meant for me or for Asher, but I didn't respond to it.

Dante didn't scare me, even though he probably should.

The whispers inside the crystal shrieked as Dante nicked another one of Asher's ribs, drawing blood. I realized he was feeding the crystal small amounts of pain to test it out. So far, so good. The crystal immediately drank in the whiff of pain, then demanded more in my head.

But I was too engrossed in what Asher said next to listen to it.

"Your father always knew what you were, Lilith. You're a reincarnation."

"I didn't reincarnate," I said with a frown. "I died and was then resurrected. There's a difference… I think."

He shook his head. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about before you were conceived by the Incubus King. Do you think it was just happenstance that he made you with the power of a Blood Stone? Blood Stones are made with souls. And he had to find a very particular one to make you, and before that, you existed—at least the divine part of you did. I'm talking about when you and I were together, Lilith. When you were just a goddess."

My eyes widened. This time, Asher grunted when Dante pierced his blade between the incubus's ribs.

"Dante," I warned. I wouldn't have him stabbing the poor incubus to death, no matter his claims.

"I'm just doing what we came in here to do," my Hunter said, glancing down at the crystal, which had gone quiet. It released a soft vibration, seemingly happy as it drank in Asher's pain. "And I don't think I care for this liar's pretty words, trying to seduce you." He growled in Asher's ear. "You want to taste that pretty pussy of hers? You think you can lie about being her Virtue and some made-up shit about her having a past life where you happened to be the star of the show?" He shoved the blade in farther.

Asher's eyes flashed with metallic gold, revealing there was more to him than met the eye. I stared as he gripped the Hunter by the wrist, then forced him to withdraw the blade. Blood rushed out and spilled onto the floor. "I'm not lying. Don't insult me."

Reacting on instinct, I reached out to put pressure on Asher's wound, but I realized a little too late that I'd used the wrong hand.

Dante grabbed my wrist, holding up the palm with the brand on it. "What the hell is this?"

I winced. "It appeared after Seth bound my soul. I think it links me to the crystal."

Dante dropped my hand and put himself between me and Asher. He stabbed a finger into the male's chest while he gripped his bloodied dagger until his knuckles turned white. "Is that why you volunteered to feed the crystal first? Are you making some sort of fake Virtue connection with her? Come on. Tell the truth, incubus—or whatever the fuck you are."

I blinked at the scars along Dante's back that had begun to bleed.

"Dante," I warned.

Voices sounded on the other side of the door, asking if everything was all right. The doorknob jiggled, but of course, I'd asked Dante to seal it.

No one was getting in, or out.

Now I wasn't so sure that had been a good idea.

Asher didn't back down from Dante's threats or accusations. "I'm her Virtue, Hunter. You don't have to like it, but that's the truth. She was a goddess a long time ago and I fell in love with her. I worshipped her, and when she died, I mourned her."

The crystal sputtered as if there had been a rush of pain for it to feast on, but Dante wasn't even touching Asher now.

"Dante," I said, this time more urgently.

He glanced back over his shoulder and narrowed his gaze at the crystal.

"It's feeding on his pain," I said under my breath.

Everything Asher was telling us was the truth. He still mourned me.

When I'd lost a life I couldn't even remember.

Asher collapsed onto the edge of the bed and hung his head. "I don't let myself think about it. She's still dead; she's still gone." He glanced up. "You're a new soul now, Lily. One I'm still connected to." He chewed his lip. "When you… when you were gone, I never let my incubus feed again. I thought it had withered up and died. Derek hadn't been very happy with me, but I'm almost as old as he is. I don't give a fuck what he thinks. I served under Ares for a while, acted as his liaison until… Until I learned what Derek had done. He still wouldn't let me anywhere near you, and you were basically a child, so I kept my distance. I didn't want to hurt you or confuse you. You deserved to discover who you were without my influence." His eyes shifted with golden energy, the gray having vanished as an inner light seemed to take over.

It reminded me of Orion and how his inner magic behaved.

What is he?

"You're only part incubus," Dante concluded.

Asher nodded.

"Who was your father?" I asked. He had told me his mother had been a succubus, leaving it open-ended as to who his father might be.

"Ares," he said, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. "And now that my uncle, Apollo, is dead, I think the universe is trying to fill in the gap… with me."

I didn't know much about the lore of male muses. Dante did, though, and I was glad when he spoke his thoughts aloud.

"I'm a Hunter. I know a creature when I see one," he said with a growl. "And there's something not right about you. Muses aren't made; they're born. Were you born this way, creature?"

Asher gave the Hunter a steady, knowing glare. "Yes. But I didn't start showing powers of my other side until Apollo was killed."

"Because Apollo's death rocked the foundation of everything the Academy thought it knew about supernaturals," Dante said, acknowledging Asher's words with a nod. He glanced at me, stretching the bleeding scar along his neck as he strained. "Did you perhaps pay attention in Supernatural Studies, babe?"

I worked a swallow down my throat. "My professor attributed Calamity to be the reason Apollo was killed, but the other male muses were left alive."

"And why is that?" Dante pressed, making me wince.

I hadn't paid attention that well.

"Male muses are supposed to be brothers," he supplied. "Fate chooses when it's time to pass the torch. But"—he turned his haunting gaze back to Asher—"it seems that destiny didn't want to wait around for that to happen when Calamity was still on the playing field."

"What does that mean?" I asked, my eyes going wide as Asher looked at me. There was a deep pain in his eyes that glittered, making the crystal sputter again as it tried to drink up his pain.

"It means that destiny chose me as your final Virtue, love, because I'm the only one who knew you before Calamity was unleashed." He reached around Dante, ignoring the fact that the Hunter was wedged between us as he dug his fingers into my hip. My body surged with electricity and fire at his touch, making my breath catch as he continued. "I'm the only one who can awaken a part of you that is still asleep. And I'm going to do that for you, even if it breaks my heart all over again."