Chapter Thirty-One

The meeting room was a large open space just near the river.

The room was huge with columns etched with hieroglyphics running around the length of it. A large long table was set up in the middle with plush chairs set up around it. Thankfully, the table was one of those fancy touch screen types that required no use for one of those huge projection screens. Upon entering, I saw Seth and Mictlantecuhtli already inside. Seth shot me a dirty look the moment I came in, but I merely flashed him a smirk and Mictlan shook his head at us as I approached.

"Who else should we expect to this meeting? I need to know in case someone wants to kill me." I added, looking at Mictlan, because Seth looked like he was preparing a whole list of enemies. Mictlan noted that and nodded, taking a small touch screen phone out of his pocket, making both Seth and I arch a brow.

"You know how to use one of those?" I asked, perplexed. Mictlan was one of the few gods that refused to accept modern technology. Most of his stuff was ancient or anything before the 21st century, which to me was still ancient.

"The fact that you even have one is appalling." Seth commented. Mictlan looked miffed, but said nothing about it as he cleared his throat, scrolling down a list.

"Much like a United Pantheon meeting, we have a god from each realm that has agreed to fight with us. We also have Nemesis, Nyx, Philotes, and Erebus arriving shortly." He informed. I nodded, but Seth made a noise of supreme disgust.

"Nyx? Are you kidding? I'd rather have a hippo on my face than have her here." He declared, making Mictlan look at him oddly. Apparently he knew nothing of Seth's disagreement with the primordial goddess.

"Seth is technically a primordal god," I told Mictlan, who looked at me, "He and Nyx went head-to-head during one of the first battles between our pantheon. Seth just hates her because she turned into a man and screwed him to get information about their battle plans. I thought it was hilarious." Mictlan stared at Seth, who blushed angrily.

"It was a stupid, conniving thing to do and she's a psychotic bitch who can rot in the darkest depths of--"

"Whoa, babe, that's no way to talk about a lady." A voice said, making us turn to see Nyx arriving with her family in tow. Erebus looked less than pleased by Seth's cursing, making Seth clench his teeth. Nyx approached us and gave me a peck on the cheek before raking Seth's body with a hungry stare, tapping her long black fingernail against her chin.

"Mmm, that was a tight body, Seth. Maybe we should do it again sometime." She said. Seth stiffened and subconsciously grabbed his backside, making Nemesis laugh. Seth glared at her and Nemesis just gave him a friendly wink before she came over to stand beside me.

"We're here to join the party. Come sit by me." She said, pulling me over to a sit. I sighed and sat down, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. I still had a headache from the conversation with Lucifer, which still ran rampant in my brain.

It had been completely immature of me to walk out before he had a chance to finish, but I was so tired of hearing people pour excuses in my face. I shouldn't be pissed because Lucifer was cursed, and he couldn't help it. I probably would've done the same thing as him, choosing a god that could live no matter how much blood he took. And judging from the fact that that was a problem, he had trouble stopping once he began to drink. I hadn't noticed it before, which meant he'd done his best to control himself, which was admirable, but not when I was the one being used.

I was a little tired of being someone's convenient fuck. For once, I was so not horny.

"You're hurt." Nemesis said, keeping her voice low. I glanced at her, frowning, resting my cheek in my hand, elbow on the arm of my chair.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's stupid." I muttered, closing my eyes to shut her out. I could still feel her watching me though. I didn't want to talk about it. It was me being stupid. I hated it. I hated doing stupid things like this. I'd already had reality slap me across the face hundreds of times, and yet, I kept crawling back. It was like being trapped in the desert and mistaking every mirage for reality, even though I knew it wasn't real.

"It's not stupid to feel." Nemesis pointed out.

"Oh, it is, trust me." I replied under my breath, turning my head away from her. She sighed, exasperated and thankfully quit badgering me about it. I watched as a few more gods arrived, one of which included Hermes, who looked less than pleased to see Nemesis, who just glared at him when he started to sit near us. He changed his mind and sat on the complete opposite end of the table. I avoided Lucifer when he came in. Even worse, he sat across from me, staring directly at me now. I pretended not to notice.

"Are we doing that thing where we pretend the person who hurt us doesn't exist?" Nyx said in my ear, appearing beside me. I twitched, covering my ear and glaring at her.

"Don't sneak up on me like that. I'm going to have nightmares." I hissed at her. She grinned at that and took a seat beside me with Erebus on her other side, and Philotes sat on Nemesis's other side. Seth and Mictlan sat across from us on either side of Lucifer, who continued to stare at me, obviously trying to get my attention.

"Wow," Nemesis commented, glancing at me sideways, "He's awfully persistent. You should be flattered. No one chases you like he does."

"Zeus does."

"Zeus is a whale penis." Nemesis deadpanned. I gave her a weird look and she just grinned before Seth rose to his feet, calling for the silence of the gods, as well as the demigods that had shown up.

"All right," Seth announced, "We are here to discuss strategies against the Titans. As far as we know, the Titans have been plotting to create an entire army of artificials. However, it seems those plans were put off now that Hades as returned to us. Since Hades has been beyond those walls as well as knowing his own realm, he should be able to give us a layout of the area." He looked at me and I stood up to take over, avoiding Lucifer's probing stare. I swear to god, I was going to rip those eyeballs out if they didn't stop following me like a painting in Scooby-Doo.

"Lucifer's palace is completely overrun. Several guards prowl each of the halls as well as the outside and the city, which is basically a ghosttown. Between Lucifer's palace and Inferi in my realm is the Black Sea. It's a bottomless black sea made of ice cold water. They probably crossed it via ships, which means they have water access. My realm has been completely overthrown. The palace is blocked off by a wall of bodies. At the time I was inside, there were no guards due to a trap being set. Right now, I'm sure it's crawling with their soldiers as well as occupied by Cronus while Rhea has taken over Lucifer's palace. Their guards are made up of undead soldiers who fought during the Titanomachy and slaves. Which brings me to say we should probably stop the whole slavery thing, because they're taking this chance to revolt. At least pay them or something." I explained dryly, folding my arms over my chest.

"We'll debate the slavery issue later," Seth said flatly, "What about artificials?" I shook my head, then paused to frown thoughtfully.

"They might be able to create their own with the notes left behind in Lucifer's palace as well as my own. They managed to use my own weapon against me, which brings me to mention another thing. If they used my god restraint gas on me, they can use it on everyone else as well. I have an idea how to create a gas mask that'll filter out the gas as well as smoke, and I can probably hook up a communications device to help us keep in contact." I told him. Seth's eyes glowed at the idea and Mictlan stood up with a nod.

"I say we put Hades in charge of weaponry and battlesuits. His are probably the most hightech right now. It'll not only protect us, but our people as well. The land of Mictlan will be happy to provide you with whatever materials you will need to create our suits and weapons." Mictlan announced. A few other gods spoke up in agreement, and I was honestly surprised by it. They must be really desperate to want my help.

"So now that we're in agreement on that, we'll start designing sketches of the main points of entry to both the palaces. The best way to launch an attack against the Titans is a sudden one. This requires stealth." Seth explained. Nyx stood up, flashing Seth a smirk that made him shudder.

"Oh, baby, if you needed my help, you could've just said so." She said.

"Honey, stop teasing him," Erebus said, then paused when Nyx pouted and he looked at Seth with eerie black eyes, "I think he's trembling." Nyx grinned. Seth blushed angrily, mouth opening and closing as he tried to come up with a counter-response, but Nyx didn't give him a chance as she smacked her hand down on the table to get everyone's attention.

"Aight, we'll do the Bully Seth After Party after this party. Lucy, Hades, bring up a 3D map for mama, so she can your fun houses." She announced. I smirked and Lucifer grimaced. I touched the table and opened up my personal files, before touching the sides of the table and dragging the image up into a 3D model of my palace, then dragging more photos in to put together an entire 3D model of my realm before shrinking it down a bit so it didn't take up the whole table. Nyx whistled, impressed. Lucifer did the same with his palace and the surrounding city.

"Hm," Nyx mused with interest, leaning in to poke the 3D model that lit up bright blue, "Oh gosh, I love this whole technology thing. It's so neat. Anyway, it looks like most of the corridors are pretty huge. You guys can't live in a normal house? Like, is a little white picket fence and a Victorian era house too much to ask for? Seriously?"

"We're gods, not the typical American family." I told her flatly. Nyx shrugged, turning the model around so she could study it.

"Well, the hubby and I were looking at Victorian houses, but not the pink and blue kind. Nah, there's this really neat purple and black one just down the street from where we live. I want it, but the hubby doesn't want to live in a purple house." She huffed, casting Erebus a scornful glare that made him tilt his head innocently.

"Nyx. The war. Titans." Seth said tightly.

"Oh, keep your cock on, boy, I'm working," Nyx told him sternly, making Seth grimace and cover his face, "This place is a little big. It might take some work to figure out an attack plan. For now, I say let Erebus and I do some scouting on these models. But we'll definitely need some back up hiding in those mountains beside both palaces. It's always good to have some back up. Hades, you'll need to create some catapaults. Or some high-techy version of it, for the ones hiding in the mountains for our back up plan. Think you can handle that?"

I only scoffed and Nyx smirked at me. Seth appeared pleased that the meeting wasn't going to last too long, probably anxious to get the hell out of the same room with Nyx. We made a few more plans, another scheduled meeting, before the meeting was adjourned and everyone went their own way. I decided to head down to the lab to get to work on those gas masks. Thankfully, no one followed me, so I was allowed a little time by myself.

And nothing relaxed me more than tinkering with new toys.

I did a sketch of the gas mask. A black cup shape that held over the chin, mouth, and pointed up over the nose, and just slightly over the jawline with a strap that held it onto the head. I added filters to the front design, then attached a communications device that ran the length of the band and positioned in the ear. It took a good six hours before the prototype was finished and I used the call box to call Alexion downstairs, who was accompanied by Charon and Ambrosius.

"I didn't ask you to bring company." I deadpanned when I saw them. Charon didn't say anything. He looked oddly uncomfortable, making me frown. Had he run into Nyx? What had she said to him? I didn't want to ask in front of his brother or lover, in case he wanted to keep it quiet, but I made a mental note to ask him to stay behind.

"I wanted to see you poison yourself." Ambrosius deadpanned, arms folded over his chest. I gave him a droll stare before shivering.

"Oh, don't talk to me like that. It gets me all warm and fuzzy inside," I told him dryly, making him wrinkle his nose before I turned to Alexion, "Did you bring it?" Alexion nodded and withdrew a canister about a foot tall made of glass with steel caps. Inside was glittering gold dust swirling around. I took the canister from him and went to one of the test rooms with a large glass window and a matching door. I stuck the canister into a slot and typed in the information and turned to Alexion as I picked up the gas mask from the counter.

"I want you to start it as soon as I give you the go ahead. Think you can do that?" I asked. Alexion gave me a droll look.

"If I can master the microwave, I can master this contraption." He assured. Doubt it, I thought dryly, but didn't make a comment.

"Are you sure this is safe," Charon spoke up suddenly, making me turn and frown at him, "What if the mask doesn't work and you're killed?" I rolled my eyes as I strapped the mask on over my face and moved the switch to turn on the microphone that allowed me to speak through the mask, my voice distorted.

"Don't worry; I won't do anything to rupture your precious balance." I assured him. Charon glared at me. But I ignored it as I stepped into the room and shut the door behind me, listening to the seals lock behind me. Ambrosius and Charon stood in the window, peering in. Alexion stood near the keypad, waiting for my cue. I gave him a nod and he hit the button. The room filled with a cold gust of air, pushing the god restraint dust into the room. I stood there, breathing in through the mask as the dust floated back. I waited to feel the painful sting, my eyes closed to avoid getting them burned.

After about five minutes, there was no reaction. I couldn't feel the god dust burning my lungs. All I received was fresh, clean air. A smirk spread across my lips.

Ah, that was a confidence booster. I finally did something right.

I gave Alexion a thumbs up for him to suck the gas out of the room and back into the canister. I waited until I heard a knock on the glass before opening my eyes and stepping out of the room, unbuckling the mask from my face.

"It works," I stated, watching Charon sigh in relief, "But the god dust could still harm the vision. I'll have to make a set of goggles to go with. I might actually be able to program the goggles to trigger a night vision setting as well as infrared." Alexion stared at me and Charon blinked.

"That's amazing."

"And you guys thought I just sat around taking baths all day... That only took up four hours of my day." I added, making Alexion roll his eyes. Charon looked thrilled.

"Can I stay and watch? I won't interfer or speak." He added. I gave him an odd look.

"You're normally not this enthusiastic about other things." I said. Although, this was a good chance to let him know about Nyx, if he didn't know already, so I didn't say anything more. Ambrosius frowned, picking up the mask as I set it on the table.

"It took you six hours to make this," He said after a moment before looking up at me, "You can't make thousands of these before we launch an attack." I shook my head as I got out a pair of goggles from one of the cabinets to use as a base.

"I'm not making one for every single member of the armies. I'm making them for whoever is going into the palace. Also, tell Philotes I'll be needing her down here to start me on dialysis to get the poison out of my body while I work." I explained. Ambrosius frowned.

"Why Philotes?"

"She's the only one I trust not to kill me by dumping more poison into my blood. Now hurry up. We don't have time to be standing around chatting it up." I commanded. Ambrosius rolled his eyes and muttered obscenities under his breath before stalking off. Alexion watched him go, then looked at Charon.

"Should I stay with you?" He asked, glancing past him to eye me warily. I rolled my eyes and looked away as I went to work with the goggles. Charon shook his head and offered him a small smile.

"We'll be fine. In case you've forgotten, I also have a strong connection to the Source. Killing me isn't on anyone's agenda." He assured. Alexion still looked distressed at the idea of leaving Charon alone with me, but he reluctantly decided to leave. He gave Charon a quick kiss before shutting the lab door behind him on his way out. Charon moved around to the other side of the counter to take a seat while I pried apart a small electronic toy that had been hiding in one of the drawers.

"So, Nyx is here." I said flatly. I saw Charon hesitate out the corner of my eye before he spoke carefully.

"Yes. I saw her."

"She talk to you?"

"A bit."

"About what?"

"No offense, but why do you care?"

"Don't." I replied briefly. That was a lie, but he didn't need to know. He was silent for a few more minutes as I tested the electronic chip that would hopefully trigger the night vision and infrared. Charon swallowed tightly, looking down at the counter.

"She apologized."

"Did you accept it?"

"What choice did I have?"

"Uhm, not accepting it."

"She's my mother."

"And Rhea's my mother. Doesn't mean I'll forgive her when she says oh, baby, so sorry I fed you to daddy, tried to kill you on three different occasions, tortured you in your dreams for centuries, and beat the living shit out of you and your sons. Sorry may fix some things, but it certainly won't fix that." I explained dryly. It wasn't that I was talking Charon out of forgiving his mother. That was his stupid choice; however, he shouldn't forgive her for the sole reason that she was his mother. Forgiveness went to those who earned it, not to those who thought they deserved it.

"So, you're saying I shouldn't have forgiven her?" Charon asked curiously as I connected the chip to one of the computers and started to type in the data, a frown creasing my brow.

"No," I said slowly, "I'm saying you shouldn't forgive her just because she's your mother. Forgive her because that's how you really feel about it, forgive her because you think she's earned it, or deserves it. But not because she's your mother. That's a stupid reason. Mother is a title, just like father, or son, or daughter."

"Would you forgive her?"

"I don't know the whole story. So I can't say." I answered, removing the chip and applying it to the goggles before I decided to do a little adjusting to the appearance of it. They were a bit on the clunky size. It'd be better to have sleeker goggles that were black to match the mask, with the lenses that changed depending on the lighting... Oh, this was gonna be fun.

"They just left," Charon said suddenly, making me blink and look up to see him frowning at the counter top, "They didn't participate in the Titanomachy either. Once they heard about it, they told me to prepare for something big. I wasn't sure what that meant. And one day, I just woke up and they were gone. I searched the underworld, but they were nowhere to be found. And then you showed up a week later." I frowned.

"She didn't give you a reason." I stated. Charon shook his head.

"She said it was necessary. I wasn't sure what that meant, still not sure what it means. What's necessary about leaving me behind? I don't understand." He said solemnly. I averted my eyes at that, then looked back down at the goggles as I continued to work on them.

"Parents suck." I stated. Charon gave me a half-smile, but it was disheartening.

"Sometimes. You have your good days."

"Oh, stop it. You're just being nice," I said flatly, removing the lens to study it before shaving it down to a sleeker size, "I know I'm awful. I don't need you to tell me the obvious." Charon shook his head.

"I'm not. A lot of the time, we don't see you. You're hiding in your palace. And when we do see you, you're sarcastic and cruel. Maybe sometimes we get lucky and you're what you call merciful, or just too tired to argue. Those days you aren't that bad. You could be worse. You could be like Cronus." He offered, making me grimace at the comparison. It reminded me of Nyx's little spiel about being gods and parents.

Mortals probably thought being both would make things easier, but it only made things a hundred times harder. As a mortal, you just worried about taking them to school, letting them hang out with certain people, changing diapers, buying formula, debating whether to ground them or spank them.

I'd give anything to have that sort of parenthood over this one. Debating whether to smite them, banish them to another realm. Whether murdering a murderer was a bad thing or watching the destroy monuments, start storms that could kill hundreds of people. Gods, the list went on. Things were different in this world than in other worlds. And I knew I was a terrible parent, despite Nyx's attempts to cheer me up. My punishments, taking Zelios's voice, making Blaine blind, were considered lenient compared to other godly punishments, but it still made my stomach churn. Wanting to smile at them, but knowing that being their father meant nothing and they could still want to overthrow me.

It wasn't about stealing my credit card or having a party at the house while I was away.

Granted, that was Theo's idea of being a bratty kid, but other children of gods had done worse things. Christ, Zeus and I had overthrown our own parents, sent them to the darkest abyss in our world, and took over their throne. My children could just as easily do the same thing. Sure, they were from a different time, but it didn't matter. It could be worse.

Basically, being a parent suck, and so did having parents.

I envied Nyx and Erebus for not having any. Not really. They had been coughed up by the dark void of Chaos, the Source. The constantly moving and growing energy of the Source had spewed them out, amongst others. They didn't have to worry about being abused or betrayed by their own family. Because the only family they had was the one they created. Nemesis and Philotes being two of them. And even for not having parents, Erebus and Nyx managed to raise a smart family. Nemesis wasn't cruel and vindictive or bitchy and heartbreaking. She was proud and beautiful, intelligent and caring. Philotes, even for being a god of affection, of sex, didn't flaunt her body and act like a prissy stuck up snob. She was humble and polite, loving and, well, affectionate.

God, I'd never realized how much I envied their family until now.

"You know," Charon said suddenly, snapping me out of my thought process to look up at him to see him studying the empty sarcophagi in the corner from his seat before he looked at me, "You'd probably be better if you told us what happened to you." I frowned, irritated.

"It would change nothing. It won't make you love me, it won't make you hate me any less. It would be useless information." I told him sternly, looking back down at the goggles as I popped the lenses back in and connected the chips on either side before holding them up. I clicked a small button on the side before handing them to Charon.

"You can test these," I told him, making him blink and take them with a look of awe, "Tell me how they work." I stood up and went to the light switch, shutting them off. Of course, without my powers, I couldn't see in the dark to see if they worked, but I heard Charon breath in amazement.

"These are so cool! I can see everything."

"Can you see me? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three."

"All right. Hit the button that I hit on the side, near the left lens. It'll shut off the night vision and switch to infrared."

"Okay... Oh, wow."

"It works? Do you see the color spectrum indicating my body and... say, the empty sarcophagi?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. Now hit the button again and it'll return to normal, clear glass. I'm going to turn on the lights and the lens should automatically tint." I informed, then snapped the switch on. Charon blinked and looked over at me, giving me a nod. I smirked, pleased as I came over and Charon took the goggles off, handing them to me.

"Those are amazing. I had no idea you did this kind of thing in your spare time."

"Not many people care to listen to me talk about this sort of thing. It tends to put them to sleep." I replied briefly, holding the lens up to the light to study them. I'd added scratch proof and fog proof sealant to prevent anything with screwing with the vision of the person wearing them. I set them beside the mask, cracked my knuckles, just as the door to the lab opened. We turned to see Philotes coming in, carrying a medium sized metal box with two wheels and several clear tubes. Charon frowned at it, but said nothing as Philotes set it on the counter beside me.

"Sorry it took me a while," She apologized gently, untangling the tubes, "I ran into Lucifer on my way here. Have you discussed the idea of having him clean out your system for you?"

"I think I'd rather suck Seth's dick than do such a thing." I deadpanned. Philotes blushed and Charon grimaced. I cleared my throat, uncomfortable that I'd been so rude to Philotes even though she was always so sweet. I was normally mean to people, but something about Philotes innocent reactions made me feel guilty and I hated it. I wished she'd hurry up and leave. She held my arm out onto the counter and inserted the needle into my arm, making me clench my teeth at the slight pinch. She looked at me.

"You know, someone drinking your blood would be much faster than this."

"Thanks for the tip, but I think I'd rather do this," I muttered, picking up my sketchbook to work on the battlesuit plans, "If you want to talk to Adrian, he's probably upstairs in the guest lounge. You can take Charon with you. I'd like to work alone for a while." Philotes nodded. Charon sighed, but didn't complain as he followed Philotes out of the room. I watched them go, then looked back down at my sketchbook, teeth clenched tight.

I knew they were right. Dialysis would take too long. We didn't have two weeks to do this. We were barely going to have a week. It'd be faster if Lucifer could drink my blood and clean my system out for me, but I'd owe him. Even though he wasn't the type to ask me to have sex with him for it, I knew he'd be thinking it or something along the lines.

If there was one thing I'd learned over the millenia, it was that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

I started sketching the battlesuit plans, but I was getting extremely tired and sick from the dialysis. I wasn't accustomed to it. I was more accustomed to a pair of fangs sinking into my throat, drawing my blood out.

Fed up, I yanked the tube out, pressed a cotton ball over the spot and shut the machine off. I crumpled up the fourth piece of crap drawing and threw it away before leaving the lab and heading upstairs to find Lucifer.

I went to my room, and sure enough, he thought it was ours, so he was in there at the desk, making notes on something. He frowned and looked up, then went still when he saw me. I shut the door behind me, swallowing down the last shred of pride and dignity as I approached him.

"What?" Lucifer asked. He sounded irritated. I clenched my teeth.

"The dialysis isn't working fast enough. It was a stupid suggestion." I seethed. Lucifer narrowed his eyes.

"You want to try it my way, then."

"Because I know it works."

"I don't want you to do it because you have to, Hades."

"Well, too bad. We don't have time to play with petty feelings, Lucifer..." My voice trailed as he stood up and faced me, looking positively pissed.

"My feelings are not petty, and neither are yours. I won't do it if you feel like you have to. I want you to want to do this. Because you trust me. Because..." His voice drifted. I narrowed my eyes, curling my lip as I backed away from him.

"What? Because I love you? Yeah. Like that'll ever happen. I'm incapable of love. And incapable of being loved. Stop screwing around, Lucifer. We're at war. We don't have time for this. You can bitch at me after we save the realms." I said tightly. Lucifer clenched his teeth. His refusal was pissing me off, so I reached up and sank my fingernails into my throat and tore as hard as I could. Pain shattered me and I seethed, stepping back. Lucifer cursed, grabbing my wrists and glaring at me in disbelief.

"You idiot! You're mortal! That could kill you!"

"Not unless you stop it." I seethed. Lucifer clenched his teeth.

"Hades."

"Do it," I commanded, breathing hard as blood poured from my throat and down my torso, soaking my cropped shirt, "Do it, Lucifer." Lucifer gripped my wrists tightly, his celestial blue eyes glowing bright blue before flashing deep red. His fangs elongated as he parted his lips. He slid his hands along my arms, grabbed me by one arm and sank his hand into my hair, yanking my head back. His fangs pierced my throat and I hissed, sinking to my knees and Lucifer went down with me, pushing me onto my back. My breathing became ragged and I grabbed his biceps, squeezing hard as pain and a small sliver of panic rushed through me at being on my back. I panted for breath, eyes frantically searching the room, waiting for Lucifer to go further, to tear my throat open, but much to my surprise, his bite on me loosened, became gentle.

I breathed out a sigh of relief as he loosened his grip on me, running his hand through my hair, sliding it across my cheek and down my throat to my chest so he could brush his fingers over my nipple. I moaned, arching my back as his hand trailed over my exposed stomach and to the low ride pants I wore. He ran his finger around the waistband, teasing me. My fangs throbbed in my gums, my head spinning both from the blood loss and his butterfly touch.

He drew his hand back up and pressed his wrist to my mouth. I parted my lips and bit down on his skin, moaning at the rush of hot clean blood that flooded into my mouth. I savored, taking deep gulps of it. I felt a small burning sensation at the center of my chest, my magic steadily rushing back into my system as the poison was withdrawn through Lucifer's bite.

I felt like I was trembling from the euphoria flooding my veins. I bit down harder, whimpering low in my throat as I arched my hips up to meet Lucifer's. I could feel his hesitance, but it didn't last long as I ground my hips against his. He growled against my throat, fangs reaching further into my throat.

And then a shudder wracked my body and I cried out against his wrist, grabbing at him close to me.

Holy shit. Was that what I thought it was? And it only came from a little biting!

I squeezed my eyes shut as Lucifer lifted his wrist away from me and propped himself up above me, staring down at me, blood smeared across his mouth. I blinked, staring up at him breathlessly, feeling the burn of magic rocket through my veins to heal the damage to my throat.

Neither of us spoke. I don't think we knew what to say.

He slowly pushed himself up off me and took me by the hand, lifting me to my feet so I was standing in front of him. He studied me, frowning slowly. He reached up and brushed his knuckles by my cheek. I clenched my teeth and stepped away from him. He dropped his hand.

"Looks like you'll be able to fight in the war now." He stated. I frowned. Lucifer stared at me for a moment longer, then left the room. A shudder coursed through me the moment he left. An exhaustion overwhelmed me so suddenly that it drove me to my knees and I slumped over on the floor, breathing hard as a wave of dizzy spread through me and I felt like vomiting, but I was even too tired for that. I felt the heat of a fever claiming my skin, making it sweaty and clammy.

Son of a bitch.

Recharge and Lucifer was mad at me.

Great.