Sin & Surrender (Demigod of San Francisco #6)(86)

Alexis had been silent since they’d left the destroyed meeting hall. She’d allowed him to lead her down the hallway, past the flocks of staring people, and out the closest door into the sunshine. All of their people had followed at a respectful distance, stunned out of their fucking minds.

Hades had given Alexis Demigod magic and therefore Demigod status.

Hades had been training her!

Hades!

After Hades left, Magnus had fallen all over himself reminding Kieran that he was the one who’d guided Kieran through feeding Lexi energy via the soul link. The power boost had allowed Alexis to handle the Soul Stealer situation on her own.

But wow, to see a guy like Magnus yapping at Kieran’s heels…that was surreal. All of this was surreal.

Souls lingered in the trees. Kieran could feel them now. Alexis’s magical boost had bled through the soul link, giving him more of her magic. Which likely meant she’d be able to access more of his abilities, too.

She waved her hand and her magic rolled through the trees. People groaned and someone screamed.

“Crap,” she whispered, curling her fingers. “I need to get used to the heightened power.”

She stopped dead, staring at nothing for a moment.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Kieran…am I a Demigod?” She paused for a moment. “Was that really Hades? It wasn’t Harding, I know that now, but…was it… It couldn’t have been…”

She continued to stare at nothing, and he couldn’t help chuckling. None of their team said one peep, not even Daisy. He took a deep breath and pulled her into his arms.

“It was really Hades, yes. And yes, love, you’re now a Demigod. I can’t imagine there is a story like this in all of the history books—a woman born to nothing, discovered on the streets in a forgotten place, and then crowned by Hades himself as the best Demigod the world had ever known.”

She pushed away from him and delicately touched the golden crown sitting atop her head before she started walking again. “The biggest clusterfuck Demigod the world has ever known, you mean.”

“Yes. That’s probably better.” He laughed, feeling so light, like a huge weight and been lifted. They wouldn’t need to be so vigilant about her protection now. If anyone did attack her, she would be equipped to handle it by herself.

She would need some help with money matters, though, and political maneuvering, and all the things he’d been learning since he was a boy. But they had time for that. Being god-touched would grant her at least a few decades of high status. The vultures would forgive her almost anything in those first years. It would give her time to prepare, and Kieran had every confidence that he was right. She would be the best Demigod the world had ever known.

He glanced back, finding Jack in the middle of the pack, his face turned up, his eyes closed, and a serene smile on his face. Daisy walked next to him, her arm looped within his, and Mordecai had taken the other side, contentment plain in his movements.

“Is this real life?” Lexi said softly, and she must’ve plucked those words right out of Kieran’s head.

“That’s my line,” Dylan said, directly behind them. “I just saw the almighty Zeus, lord of the gods. He said I was a better subject than the Demigod I was sworn to. He chose to save me and not her.”

His voice held all kinds of awe, like a boy who’d shaken hands with his hero.

Kieran shook his head, looking over the clearing at the wide-open ocean. Poseidon resided in there, somewhere.

His chest constricted with emotion.

How many guys could say their mother was a favorite of the gods?

He looked at beautiful Lexi.

If they had a son, there would be one more.

“Give us a minute,” Kieran said over his shoulder. “Actually, head to the lodge. We’ll meet you there.”

Kieran pulled Lexi into the trees and then beyond them to an empty bench hidden within a beautiful array of flowers. When he was sure the others had moved on and they were alone, he took her into his arms and kissed her.

“I need to teach you how to mark me,” he murmured against her lips. “To make it fair.”

He flitted his tongue into her mouth, and she yanked at his belt, her movements hurried and desperate.

“I can probably figure it out,” she said, panting, the air between their mouths heated. “You need to teach me the blood magic thing. I don’t want to live forever by myself.”

A swell of passion and emotion raged through him. He bunched her dress over her hips and ripped off her panties. She moaned as she pushed down his pants, allowing his hard length to spring free.

“Take me,” she begged, wrapping her arms around him.

He held her tightly against him and thrust, plunging into her. Her fevered lips were on his, their tongues swirling together.

She swung her hips into him. He clutched her tightly, plunging as deep as he could go.

“I love you,” he said, their bodies retreating and coming together in a delicious dance of lust and power. Their connection spiraled and blossomed, deep and solid. “Be mine for the rest of time. Together we’ll never go wrong.”

“Yes!” She swung and retreated, passion and love drenching their soul link. She groaned, and then fire sizzled across his skin in the most sensuous of ways. Her mark. “I’ll always say yes.”