Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(79)

Arianna looked confused. “I don’t follow.”

“The Order is confident that they can bring the walls back up,” offered Gabriel. “They feel it’s best if Jemma uses this time—the weakness between Realms—to ready herself for her real mission.”

“Still not following,” she sang with frustration.

“I’m going to Hell,” I said plainly. “And I don’t mean figuratively.”

Trace snaked his hand through mine.

Her lids fluttered as she processed the information. “Then it’s true?” she asked, her eyes thinning with curiosity. “You really are the Daughter of Hades.”

“The one and only,” answered Dominic.

“And what exactly is it that you intend to do on this mission?”

“I’m going to vanquish Lucifer, once and for all. It’s the only way to stop what’s coming and the only real chance I have at ever living a normal life.” My gaze instinctually gravitated to Trace. My future. My forever love. “My uncle’s putting a team together as we speak.” Hopefully a team good enough to ensure we got out of there in one piece.

“Jemma, do you trust your uncle?” she asked me suddenly.

My eyes boomeranged back at her strange question. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Because,” she said, her brown eyes thinning. “I’m pretty sure he’s trying to kill you.”

And there went all the air in the room again.

“That’s quite a weighty accusation,” said Dominic, crossing his arms over his chest as he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Why do you think he’s trying to kill me?” I asked, my nails digging into the back of Trace’s hand as a fresh wave of panic scraped its way through my entails.

“Because, this mission you’re going on,” said Arianna, taking a step to where I stood frozen in place. “It’s a suicide mission. You won’t get out of there alive.”

“Why not?” I needed her to lay it out for me in black and white.

“Because it’s not Walmart,” she answered dryly. “We can’t just walk in and out of Hades when we feel like it.”

“Yes, but she’s a direct Descendant of Lucifer,” reminded Gabriel, refusing to accept that the Order would be setting me up. “Her blood is—”

“Yeah, her blood is special,” she quickly cut him off. “But she’s still only flesh and bone. Her body won’t survive the environment. None of us can.”

“Are you sure?” I asked her, my voice small but steady.

“Hades is a one-way ticket,” she said emphatically. “If you go there, you aren’t ever coming back.”





35. DRIVEN UNDER


“I knew it.” I slumped down on the chair to keep myself from spiraling out of control. “I knew I couldn’t trust him.”

Not only did my uncle make no concerted effort to deny trying to kill me at Taylor’s party, but he just openly tried doing it again. He never had any intention of helping me—none of them did. They just wanted to wipe me away from existence. To lock me away in a tomb with Lucifer for the rest of eternity.

I should have known better than to trust him. He was evil incarnate.

Then again, maybe he had the right idea. Maybe sacrificing myself for the greater good of all was the only way to stop the prophecy from running its course. The thought turned my blood into ice.

“So what now?” I asked, trying not to sound completely hopeless.

“It’s not hopeless,” answered Arianna. “We can still get the sire blood.”

“How?”

She looked over at Trace; my endless beacon of hope.

“I can get us into Temple, but I’ve never been inside the Necro.” His eyes flashed to me regretfully because he knew I’d know what that meant. If he hadn’t been inside the Necropolis, he couldn’t picture it, and if he couldn’t picture it, he couldn’t port us there.

“I’ve been there,” said Gabriel as he sauntered over to Trace, his expression haunted. “Just once.”

“One time is all I need.” He turned back to me, his dimples popping as something crossed his mind. “What about all that stuff your uncle said about her?” he asked cautiously, concern filtering through his expression.

I had my doubts before, but now, after learning that my uncle was in fact trying to send me to Hell on a suicide mission…it confirmed what I already knew in my heart.

“It was all a lie,” I stated boldly. “Just like everything else he said.”

Trusting my judgement call, Trace nodded and then turned to Gabriel with a sheepish look on his face. “I need to, uh, touch you while you think about the place.”

Gabriel nodded. “I know how this works.”

At the same time, they each reached out to grab the other one’s hand and wound up bumping fingers awkwardly. Trace pulled back first and then quickly grabbed a hold of Gabriel’s wrist. Once connected, they closed their eyes so that Trace could lift the memory from Gabriel’s mind and transfer it to his own.

A fraction of a second later, his piercing blues were back on me, glowing with success. “Done.”

“Great,” said Arianna as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “Now find her casket and port her back here.”