“Have you lost your mind, Hephaestus?” I glared at the God of Blacksmiths. “What if Hades happens to come out to his backyard for a stroll with his hellhound?”

“That’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Hephaestus insisted. “The blade must be forged in the boiling lava at the Hell Gate. This is the only location that has the right temperature and magical elements.”

Alaric snarled. “I won’t put my mate at risk.”

“Your little mate brought all of you here for a reason,” Hephaestus said. “She found me, didn’t she?”

“Let’s get her out of here,” Pyrder hissed.

My mates closed in on me, about to whisk me out of the cave.

“Stop!” Hephaestus called.

Alaric wheeled, the tip of his flaming sword pointing at the God of Blacksmiths.

Hephaestus shrugged. “Hades hasn’t used this gate ever since he kidnapped Persephone from the Field of Flowers in Sicily and carried her through this cleft to his netherworld. The gate is abandoned. We’re safer in this forgotten land than in any other place at the moment. Olympians won’t come looking for your mate here, either.”

“I’ll gut you if you put my girl in jeopardy,” Alaric said.  

Hephaestus’s jaw clenched. “I’m not afraid of you, bastard son of my father. But I won’t hurt Cass. She and I come from the same dark place. We are swaths of the same fabric.” He tossed his tools to the hot, rocky ground. “Is it too much to ask for a little faith?”

When no one answered him, he grumbled and treaded toward a furnace with burning lava inside, the end of a long steel rod protruding from the opening of the boiler.

“I have work to do!” he declared.

He was right. We’d come here to forge the blade, and we’d get the job done. And it wasn’t a good time to piss off the God of Fire. I didn’t want him to make a half-assed blade because he was in a foul mood.

I scurried after him. “Hephaestus, let’s get the blade made.”

Alaric and Pyrder flanked me. Lorcan positioned himself on a strategic spot between the entry of the cave and the wide bank, keeping guard. Reys moved stealthily to the perimeter to scout.

The interior of the volcano cave was surprisingly spacious, though the smell of sulfur filled the air and our lungs. A river of torrid lava rushed past, occasionally surmounting the stone blocks and spewing onto the bank.

Hephaestus put on a pair of special-made gloves and grabbed the end of the steel. He pulled it out to take a quick look, then shoved it back into the depth of the lava.

I peeked into the furnace.

Light of maroon—Hephaestus’s signature magic—hovered over the steel.

“The steel of the gods has gone through the transformation in the blend of iron, sand, lava, and my magical ingredients,” Hephaestus said, lifting the lid of the furnace to let me have a better look before he slammed it down. He did take pride in his work. “It’s forming. The blade has been in my furnace for two days now.”

“What are the magical ingredients?” Alaric inquired.

Hephaestus sent Alaric a displeased, sidelong glance. “You think I should just reveal my trade secrets to you?”

“I asked it on behalf of my mate,” Alaric said. “Cass would want to know.”

My sly demigod thought Hephaestus had a soft spot for me. He was wrong. If the God of Blacksmiths was that sweet on me, he wouldn’t have demanded to have Alaric’s sword as his payment. But then, we might still get out of the deal and give Hephaestus half a bag of the golden coins.

“In that case, I’ll first explain to Cass some of my technique,” Hephaestus said. “At the first stage, the steel is called a billet. It must be heated above two-thousand degrees and then hammered thin before being placed back into hotter fire.” My eyes glazed over as he droned on, gesturing at the forming steel and unseen magical ingredients like he was a damn good instructor. I believed I missed a few paragraphs already when he got to the part: “... clay the spine of the sword and heat it again in the lava. Shita... must be repeated eighteen times over.”

My eyes widened a little. “Shit must be repeated eighteen times?”

Alaric chuckled loudly.  

Hephaestus sent him an annoyed look. “I’ve drawn hundreds of diagrams for the Blade of Five Elements, ever since the vision was revealed to me alone.”

He’d said that intentionally to get our attention.

I didn’t even bother to ask him who had sent him the vision. Gaea, my manipulative goddess grandmother, had been meddling in all matters, but Pyrder couldn’t suppress his curiosity and popped the question.

“I can’t just tell you my dreams and vision, panther,” Hephaestus snapped. “What kind of person am I if I betray such a sacred trust?”

I rolled my eyes.

The God of Blacksmiths was also a prick, and I wouldn’t blame it all on an unhappy childhood.

But the scroll indicated that only the God of Blacksmiths and Fire could forge the blade for us, so we had to put up with him.

While he bragged, I felt a chill that I’d never felt before slithering up my spine. I felt an ominous power unlike any other seal the mountain.

Cold sweat formed under my armpits though the cave was hotter than an oven with all the lava, fire, and steam. 

My eyes darted around, searching for the source of my dread, searching for the Gate of Hell. In my mind, it had a dark iron door with inscriptions marking the entrance to Hell.

“You can’t see it,” Hephaestus said. “The portal is hidden.”

“This place doesn’t feel right all of a sudden,” I said. “I think someone is coming. Let’s just stay quiet, can we? No one wants to attract Hell’s attention.”

Hephaestus, the only one who was having fun here, chuckled. “Not so eager to meet Daddy?”

“I have no daddy,” I hissed. “Never had. Never will.”

“Then we shall correct it, shall we, Daughter?” A deep bass voice boomed as a vast black gate materialized and swung open from the middle across the river of lava, and a giant male with dark wavy hair down to his chin strode through.

My heart leapt to my throat.

Hades, the God of Death, had just come out of his Underworld.

I hadn’t been wrong when I’d had the bad feelings crawling over my skin. I’d sensed his immense power before his appearance. 

He looked even more gorgeous and glorious than the God of War, yet in a very dark way. Of course, death and darkness were his essence. 

He had pale skin, the palest I’d seen. My face was also pale, but it was creamy like porcelain. His eyes were darker than the blackest sea and the darkest space. Dark light glinted in them, which could swallow all the stars.

My eyes, however, were violent and golden like living fire.

I had once thanked the fates that I did not resemble Jezebel. Now I thanked the fates again that I didn’t take after Hades, either, except for the curly hair. But then mine was tri-colored—shades of blue and red weaving through the stark silver.

Our gazes held, and he smiled. I blinked, not expecting Death’s smile would be so striking and enticing. So otherworldly, like something beyond the universe.

My mates had all gathered, surrounding me in a protective half-ring.

I bent my knees slightly in a defensive pose. A lick of black fire twirled up my arms and into my hair, hissing at Hades.

He laughed. “I like it, Cass. The fire has your spirit, but it comes from me. I can teach you so much more about the death fire and your other powers, as you’re the heir of the Underworld.”

He’d come to play daddy. Yet instinctively I knew how deceitful and deadly he was.  

Hades was rumored to be the cruelest, most power-hungry god.

Phobos’s mocking rang in my ear. “He’ll take your power and cage you. The God of Death doesn’t show mercy, even to his own blood.”

I swallowed as I fought to keep my fear at bay.

“I’m doing fine myself,” I said in a clipped tone. “And we’re very busy now. I think you should come to visit another time.”

“My daughter is shrewd,” Hades said, his grin widening. “That trait comes from me, too.”

I nearly rolled my eyes, but acidic anxiety pounded in my stomach. Hades was too lethal, and now with the Hell Gate open, a horde of demons could emerge at any time. We must get the blade and retreat as soon as possible. 

I stole a quick glance at Hephaestus. The blade was still buried inside the furnace, unmade. I needed to know how soon it’d be done and how long I needed to stall Hades.

Hephaestus stood very still, face pale, eyes wild, the point of Alaric’s flaming blade pricking against the hollow of his throat. The demigod’s sword couldn’t kill the God of Blacksmiths, but it could cut him and hurt him.

According to the scroll, only the Blade of Five Elements could kill a major god, and the wounds it inflicted on a god wouldn’t heal.

Please don’t let Hades know we’re forging the lethal blade, I murmured my own prayer under my breath.  

“How dare you set a trap to ensnare my mate,” Alaric snarled. “I’m going to gut you first!”

“No, no!” Hephaestus shouted, his throat bobbling at the sword point, a trail of blood dripping down his neck. “I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t betray Cass. I’m not associated with Hades in any way. I actually put up my own ward and concealment spells over the gate for double safety to prevent him from getting a sniff.” He turned to Hades, his dirty green eyes flashing in irritation. “What the hell, Hades? You aren’t supposed to pop up! You haven’t used this deserted gate for an eon.”

“This is my realm, or did you forget, Hephaestus?” Hades said with a half-smile. “Not even a fly can come and go without me knowing it. Even Zeus, your loving father, failed to sneak into my domain unnoticed.”

Frustration and worry fogged Hephaestus’s eyes. “But we’re outside your gate.” 

“You mean the gray area between my border and Earth’s realm?” Hades said. “Only my daughter, the heir and the new ruler of the Earth, has the right to dispute with me, though she’s the heir to the Underworld as well. So it’s pretty much a family issue.” His eyes landed back on me, studying me predatorily. “Cass, you’ve grown into a beautiful woman, and you make me so proud.”

I stared hard at him. While he and Hephaestus argued, I hadn’t come up with a brilliant idea to drive him away. “Whatever,” I said. “I think you should get going, or we’re leaving. We have another engagement. Please call my secretary to make an appointment.”

I needed to assign a secretary.

He ignored me. “As soon as I knew you were born,” he drawled, “I began searching for you.”

“For what?”

“You’re my daughter. It’s my responsibility and right to care for you, to bring you up and get you trained as heir to the Underworld.”

“It’s too late for that now,” I said. “I’ve grown up after being locked in a cage for thirteen years!”

“I heard,” he said. “And I’m sorry for your mistreatment.”

“I’m doing extremely well now,” I said. “My mates are taking good care of me. So, what exactly do you want, Hades? Let’s get this over with so we can part ways. As I said, we’re very busy today.”

I really needed to get the God of Death off my back. The forging of the Blade of Five Elements couldn’t afford to be disturbed.

My mates stepped closer to me, their knuckles white on the hilts of their swords. They could all draw their weapons at lightning speed. But none of their blades could do much to Hades. Not even Alaric’s lightning bolts could hurt the death god. The King of Gods, Alaric’s father, couldn’t defeat the death god with his mighty thunder and lightning, either.

His eyes glinting dark night that threatened to extinguish all lights, Hades walked across the river of lava. The expensive black robe draping over his armored shoulders glided over the lava behind him. It didn’t catch fire.

“Stop your advance! Hades!” Alaric shoved Hephaestus aside and thrust his sword toward Hades, flame sizzling along the blade.

“You’re still tiresome, bastard son of my brother,” Hades said, not slowing his approach. “I thought my daughter had mellowed you down. Your blade won’t do a thing to me. Haven’t you tried and failed?”

So, they’d battled before.

So far, Hades hadn’t mentioned anything about the new blade Hephaestus was forging.

Lorcan sent Hephaestus a warning look to remind him of guarding the blade, and Hephaestus nodded subtly. While the blade was still in the process of being made, even the God of Blacksmiths and Fire couldn’t transport it somewhere else. Or all this effort would be in vain.

As soon as Hades crossed the river of fire, a stone slab rose behind him, bridging it. Then a horde of demons poured out of the Hell Gate.

Sweet Daddy didn’t just come to talk.

Reysalor whistled loudly to summon the warriors guarding outside the cave. We’d need them to fight the demons. In no time, our warriors rushed into the gigantic cavern.

Hades chuckled. “This is going to be fun, isn’t it, Daughter?”

He halted in front of the bridge on our side, his hand outstretched. “Come, my heir, come to my realm and fulfill your role.”

“Thanks, but not now,” I said. “I’ll have my secretary—”

Hades blinked in disbelief, then snarled. “You said no to me?”

“Back off, Death,” Lorcan warned.

“No one rejects my invitation,” Hades said, the dark light in his eyes chilling even the lava at his feet. “And I won’t suffer my own daughter’s insolence. So, I say the party is over.” He waved a hand back toward his horde. “Thanatos, take the princess to Starfall Palace.”

A god with massive black wings stepped onto the bridge, a pair of wicked daggers in his armored hands. His skin was bronze. Could he get a suntan in the Underworld? Or maybe the hellfire did the job.

“The one the queen won’t frequent?” Thanatos asked.

Hades’s eyes flashed dark light again. “Where else?”

“Got it,” Thanatos said, and raised a dagger into the air in a battle bellow, and the horned demons behind him echoed and charged after him across the bridge.

“Teleport Cass out of here!” Alaric barked at Pyrder.

“No!” I barked back. “We’ll then lead them to where we live and bring death to Boone and the others. Wherever we go, they can trace us. Besides, if I leave, lots of you will die here. So I say we fight until they fucking leave us alone!”

“Lorcan,” Reys called. “Don’t leave Cass’s side. Your main job is to protect our mate.”

Alaric brandished his flaming sword and lunged toward Hades.

I should have gone after Hades, but I knew my power wouldn’t counter his since he was my blood. I was a novice, and he had eons of experience. And in a swordfight, I wouldn’t be his match, either. It was better I stayed away from him than be snatched by him and taken to Hell.

Hades knew I was also Earth’s heir and came prepared. I doubted that my Earth power could overcome him. The myth said that Gaea had battled the Olympian gods and lost.

My dragon fire was hotter than hellfire, and it came from the legendary Dragon God. I had no idea how the power skipped a generation and forsook Jezebel but embedded in me.

The combination of the three powers was formidable, yet I hadn’t learned to master them all. I’d just discovered the existence of my new powers as I unfolded my heritages one by one. 

Alaric had battled the King of the Underworld before, and my mates were the best fighters, more lethal than anyone on Earth.

The best move was to have Alaric stall my father, while I watched all of my mates’ backs. I would sneak up on Hades and strike him with my dragon fire while Alaric kept him preoccupied.  

Right now, my focus trained on Hades’s second-in-command. The winged god flew straight for me, but Reys intercepted him, his flaming sword meeting Thanatos’s wicked daggers.

Demons of blue, red, and green skin surged onto the bridge like a flood, and our warriors crushed into them like mighty waves in the middle of the bridge. Celeb, Hector, Xihin, and a few fae warriors shouted blood-curdling battle cries and fought at the front line.

Xihin shouldn’t have been in the cave above the lava, since vampires, except for their high lord, couldn’t tolerate high heat. But the vampire warrior was fierce and stubborn. I wouldn’t bruise his pride by calling him back when the battle had just started, but I would watch out for him. When it became too much, I’d order him to the back line.

Our first defensive line endeavored to push the demons back to their Underworld before they could cross over to our side. The hybrids, fae, and vampires had coordinated well. Their demon opponents were lacking organized skills in comparison. 

The warriors swung their swords, hacking left and right as they pushed the demons back inch by inch. While the fae warriors focused on stabbing their adversaries and producing more holes in the enemies’ bodies, Celeb and Xihin developed a penchant for tossing the demons into the river of lava.

Screams of pain echoed through the stone cave.

Our side suffered losses, too. They got slashed here and there. I had to shout “Careful! On your left! No, your right!” to them while sending my fire and air to aid them.

Alaric’s hybrid team fought at the base of the bridge as the second defensive line, picking up the demons who had passed our first defense.

The demons just kept coming, pouring out of the dark Hell Gate.

We had to retreat as soon as the God of Blacksmiths could remove the blade from the furnace.

My heart hung in my parched throat. Yet I fought to keep my head cool on the frenzied battlefield, not allowing fear for my mates, my friends, and our warriors to paralyze me. It was my job to watch everyone’s back.

The vampires held the last line of defense before me. They couldn’t get near the river of lava, since heat would damage them.

Ambrosia was assigned to guard Amber outside the cave. I shouldn’t have let my seer friend persuade me to come with us. If anything happened to her—no, I wouldn’t let myself dwell on the dreadful thought.

Lorcan guarded me like I was a frail damsel, terrified of me being hurt or taken. And he insisted on me attacking the enemies from behind the safety line instead of letting me charge to the front line.

But there was no safety line.

Lashing out with my current, I levitated into the air, a ball of blue Earth fire twirling on my left palm and a sphere of red Dragon fire hovered over my right hand.

Hephaestus guarded his workstation, his eyes darting wildly between the battlefield and me as he pulled out the steel to check its state.

At the question in my burning gaze, he mouthed, “Almost!”

A warlock hybrid guarded him and the furnace. 

My gaze wheeled to Hades.

Every minute cost lives. If we could cut the head of the snake, the body died.

But I hadn’t been able to find an opening to sneak behind Hades and attack him, and I doubted my powers could easily disable him.

Stalling was what we were doing, until we could take the Blade of the Five Elements.

Alaric and Hades crashed together again. Orange flame roared on the demigod’s blade, and black fire hissed on Hades’s.

Their blades crossed beat for beat, left and right, up and down. There was no room for either of them to make a mistake.

They were equally matched. While Alaric was a better swordsman, Hades had his death power.

I’d never seen Alaric move that fast, faster than lightning. He struck at Hades, his lightning bolts shooting toward the death god, moving in sync with his sword.

Yet Hades deflected the demigod’s every assault. Alaric was the whirlwind of steel, and Hades was the dark firestorm.

“You’re quite dashing, I’ll give you that, my bastard nephew,” Hades said. “Are you trying to impress my daughter? She’s watching us with her jaw dropped and mouth agape.”

I immediately shut my mouth and thinned my lips.

While he was distracted by my gawking for a second, I found an opening at his five o’clock and shot a stream of my blend of tri-fires at him.

I wasn’t at the peak of my power, but a girl’s got to try her best.

A dark gold shield shaped like a catcher’s mitt formed in Hades’s free hand. While he fended off Alaric’s blows, his shield snapped open, swallowing my attacking fires into its pit.

“That’s my little girl’s first gift to her daddy,” Hades chuckled, ducking Alaric’s swing of his blade.

I clenched my teeth.

Well, I’d soon find another suitable gift for him, then.

“Talk less, Death!” Alaric growled and sailed his blade toward Hades’s neck. “I don’t like you annoying my mate.”

Hades brought his weapon sideways and blocked Alaric’s strike.

The impact of the blades made both swordsmen grit their teeth. When they broke apart, Alaric’s blade turned direction and slashed across Hades’s forearm, and the tip of Hades’s sword left a gash in Alaric’s right thigh.

They’d left quite a few cuts on each other’s body. While their wounds healed fast, their armor didn’t.

The demigod and the death god engaged again, flame against shadow, faster than the eye could catch.

A new wave of the demon horde gushed out of the Hell Gate and flooded the bridge.

Our first defense line faltered.

Lorcan rushed to aid them while keeping an eye on me. Where his sword rose and fell, heads rolled down from the demons’ necks by the dozen.

I tossed a blast of red fire toward the demons, sending a squad into the boiling lava. The King of the Underworld didn’t flinch at the lava under his feet, but his minions weren’t immune to it. 

Screams rose from the white-hot river until the boiling lava swallowed the demons.

My eyes glowing, I swept my gaze across the battlefield, seeking my next prey.

I found the winged god.

I’d sent my fires his way when he had fought to reach me at his boss’s command to take me to the gloomy and burning Underworld, but his death power shielded him from my flames.

Death gods were different than the Olympian gods. I’d thought of getting near Thanatos to sip his energy, but I might drink death into me.

My fae mates whipped their swords around Thanatos to stop him from getting to me. They were the fence between the fearsome death deity and me. I sniffed a little at how my mates defended me, at how every warrior formed solid lines between our enemies and me.

Reys fought in the front most of the time, and Pyrder was obsessed with hacking at his opponent’s massive black wings.

Nasty Thanatos wasn’t shy using his spike-like wings as weapons to propel the twins away. I hoped Thanatos didn’t dip his lethal wings in poison before he came out of the Hell Gate, but my mates were smart enough to not allow the enemy’s wings to touch their fine skin.

Reys sailed his blade toward Thanatos’s neck, lethally accurate, and Pyrder dropped his height and veered his sword to cut off Thanatos’s ankles. The death god avoided both strikes at the last second, snarling.

He thrust his daggers toward the fae twin’s vital organs. At the same time, his wings struck.

Pyrder twisted away, and Reys parried.

While Pyrder wheeled back and lunged at the death god again, Reys leapt into the air, his hunting boot landing on Thanatos’s wing, his other foot slamming into the side of Thanatos’s face. I heard the sound of his neck breaking, but Thanatos snapped his neck back in place and charged Reys in rage.  

Increased shouts and cries rose from the bridge. I’d thinned the demon horde, but what poured out of the Hell Gate now weren’t demons but things between solid form and shadow.

“What the fuck are those?” I hissed, still levitating in the air.

“Wraiths,” Lorcan snarled, rushing back to my side to defend me.

The wave of hell wraiths hit Hector, Xihin, and Celeb first.

Celeb charged to meet the freaks, bellowing, his longsword piercing a wraith’s chest, but the wraith moved through his blade and slammed a clawed hand into Celeb’s jaw, sending him flying toward the blistering lava.

A fae warrior dashed toward Celeb in a futile attempt to save him from being cooked alive. He was too late, but I wasn’t. My icy air rushed out, lifting Celeb before he hit the lava and placing him on the bank. Celeb turned to me with a grateful glance before charging back into the fray.

My tri-fires blasted toward the host of wraiths, burning them to nothingness.

But a couple of seconds later, they popped up again.

“Your fire can’t really harm them in this realm, Cass,” Hephaestus shouted from his station. “You can only hold them back in the Underworld as their princess.”

I blasted another wave of fire at the wraiths, incinerating them, but they reappeared after a couple seconds. A yellow-horned demon used the chaos to lunge at Hector from the fae warrior’s blind side, ready to bury his axe between Hector’s ribs. I tossed him into the river, and Hector dragged his blade out of a demon’s chest, wheeled, and buried the blade into another demon.

The warriors fought an excellent fight, but the enemies’ numbers were endless. The wraiths soon breached our defensive lines and flooded everywhere.

Lava spewed into the air. The smell of sulfur poisoned every breath we took in. The warriors coughed while they bravely fought the demons and wraiths.

We wouldn’t last, not while we couldn’t kill the fucking wraiths. We couldn’t even hold them at bay, and we were largely outnumbered.

I turned a frenetic glare to the God of Blacksmiths, but he shook his head ruefully.

Three more minutes, and then we still have to etch the runes, he mouthed.

We didn’t have three minutes. We couldn’t even retreat now.

“Hades! Stop!” I screamed.

Then I saw both Celeb and Xihin fall. And then more warriors were cut down.

Tears traced down my face, licked by my fire.