Page 1 of Redemption
Chapter One
Olivia
“Canwegobackto the voice? What kind of voice?” my father asks, a hint of trepidation tingeing his tone.
Reluctantly, I pull my gaze from Maximus, the burgeoning heat building between us snuffed out at the reminder that my father—myparentsare here. That’s something I’ll have to get used to.
My father’s sea-green eyes, so like my own, hold the shadows of fear as they meet mine, sending cold tendrils of dread down my spine. The voice hadn’t seemed like it meant to hurt me, but what if my father knows something I don’t? An echo of the throb in my temple pulses back to life, but it’s gone in the next second, reminding me of the dark, ancient, all-knowing presence that had filled every crevice of my mind.
Break the link. Offer it your blood.
My blood soaked into the blade, accepting my offer and linking our power.
My lips part, and I’m about to explain more when two figures begin to appear, stealing the words off my tongue. A silent wind swirls around them, their bodies reforming before us. I pull on that ocean of power within me, and the warm, comforting flicker of flames heats my palm in preparation.
Anger sends a scorching heat over my skin as I make out the faces of our unwelcome guests. Titus and Kallen.
Mateo tenses, the tight muscles of his back bunching as though he’s preparing to get up. For some reason, the simple movement seems to trigger the memory of what Seraphina told us in the cave moments before she sacrificed herself for the sake of her people and her land so that the heart could move to her court, her mates.
Vale entrusted theDescent of the Darkwith Titus, knowing today’s events would unfold. If Titus wasn’t on our side, he would have never brought me back to the infernal realm, let alone given me that very book that allowed me to locate the dagger and in turn, Seraphina. Still, I can’t be too sure about Kallen.
The god of storms shifts uncomfortably as I narrow my gaze on him. He glances around the group nervously, and I can only imagine the assessing glares he’s receiving from the others too. He helped Titus in the fight against Romulus’ followers, but that doesn’t mean we can trust him, not yet.
“Hey,” Titus says, breaking through the tension enveloping our group. “I must’ve missed the memo about the family gathering.” He feigns his usual cocky tone, but I don’t miss the hint of apprehension.
Silence sweeps over us, as though each of us is too shocked by their appearance to say anything in response, so Titus continues.
“I see Mateo is as healthy as a horse ... and still as large as one. Maybe lay off the protein, buddy. You’re going to make the rest of us look bad,” Titus says, nodding to Adrian and Kyros sympathetically like he’s sure they should be on his side. Instead, Adrian crosses his arms over his chest, narrowing a glare on the god of vengeance, while Kyros pins him with a disapproving look.
Mateo shifts to his feet and reaches out a hand to help me up too, but before he can say anything, Maximus steps in front of us all, a growl emanating from his chest. He rolls his shoulders back, his muscles tensing beneath his tight shirt as he goes toe-to-toe with my brother.
“Hey now, your hulking, bolder-like muscles were never in question, man. You put us all to shame, no doubt about it,” Titus snickers. I’m sure I’m not the only one who catches the nearly imperceptible throat bob, betraying his nerves at the closeness of my god of destruction.
“You still talk too much, Titus,” Maximus grinds out, his fists clenching at his side. “How dare you show up after what you tried?”
“What?” Titus asks, but before he can say anything else, Maximus stalks forward.
His massive hand reaches out, and I launch into motion—about to come to Titus’ defense in the biggest twist of the century. But I stumble to a stop as Maximus clenches the front of Kallen’s black shirt and twists it in his firm grip, lifting him a few inches in the air to meet his emerald glare.
“How dare you even show your face here?” Maximus growls, his lips curling in disgust. Kallen’s eyes widen and he thrashes in Maximus’ hold, but he doesn’t budge, merely managing to flail around like the weasel he is.
He did fight on our side.Damn conscience, why do you have to make an appearancenow?
Thunder cracks in the distance, pulling my focus from my thoughts. Storm clouds sweep in, snuffing out the last flickers of the setting sun shining in the distance. Their ominous crackle of electricity flashes amongst the nearly pitch-black haze, reminding me of where exactly we are and what the consequences could be if both of these gods unleashed their cataclysmic forces here.
“Try it, I dare you,” Maximus hisses, shaking Kallen like a rag doll as the earth rumbles beneath us. “I’ll dump you in a hole so deep, it’ll be centuries until you see the light of day again after you claw your way out.”
“Max,” I breathe, stepping closer and placing a soothing hand on his arm. Mateo grips my other hand as though he’s about to stop me, but lets his hand drop from mine and sighs in defeat, clearly coming to the same conclusion. “Can we hold off on the burial, at least until we find out what they want? Besides, the students …”
Lightning glints off the marble dome of the school in the distance, the barest glimpse still visible over the tops of the trees. The flash draws Maximus’ gaze from his captive, and I feel some of the tension ease from his muscles as he lowers Kallen to the ground.
“Stop your storm, Kallen,” my father demands, stepping up on Maximus’ other side along with my mother. “Or else you’ll have more than Max to answer to.”
Maximus keeps his grip on Kallen’s shirt while the clouds dissipate, clearing as quickly as they swept in, the roaring thunder a distant memory as the lightning, too, blinks out of existence. The ground stills beneath us, and Maximus releases his grip, reluctantly letting his arm fall to his side. Kallen stumbles back, but in his haste to put distance between them, he trips, falling backwards, arms flailing wildly as he tries and fails to regain his balance.
“Oof,” Kallen huffs as he falls into the grass, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. I can’t help but wince in sympathy for him. Today is not his day.
Kallen hurriedly clambers back to his feet, but I can’t help but notice the small mound of earth poking through the grass, slowly creeping back down to blend in with the smooth ground.
