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CHAPTER ONE
KARA
Life can change within seconds.
I learned that one from the moment Maximus Kane first touched me. And tonight, from the way his hand tightened around mine as Hecate, the goddess of the moon and magic, invoked a string of stunning words.
You’re a bridge now, Kara. The gift of magic flows in you…and through you.
The statement, so serene, flowed from her, even as she faced off with Hades himself and saved the city in which I grew up. Los Angeles is still wrapped in a smoky pall far behind Maximus and me, but the memory of Hecate’s voice lingers like a steel girder on the air, making me feel like the cabin of the truck is the safest place to be right now.
I’m still reeling with disbelief.
How am I supposed to believe that her powers run inmyblood too? Blood that already belongs in part to my demonandhuman ancestry. Still, Hecate showed up at our family’s villa and fought for me to stay onthisside of hell when I needed it most. Without her, I’d be on my way back to the castle in the middle of the underworld right now. I’d be miserable, alone, and facing a lifetime of Hades’s whims. Instead, Hecate brokered a deal my heart will never stop aching over.
A soul for a soul. My freedom in exchange for my grandfather’s. Despite my protests, Gio Valari returned to Dis instead of me.
I clench my hands in my lap, trying to accept that I’ll never see him again. Trying to move on anyway. Feeling as if it’ll be impossible. Gone are the days where I could seek out Gramps to be a mental and emotional barometer on hard days—days like today, when my mind is still battling to process all that’s happened.
Like the fact that Gramps will no longer be just a car ride away.
Like the fact that Hades’s antics had Kell dragged into a human emergency center—with her half-demon blood nearly exposed to a lot of people who’d never understand.
Like the fact that Jaden is probably still trying to escape from Rerek, the demon who’s smitten with him.
Like the fact that I can’t do one thing about any of it. Not yet.
Not without Hecate’s help.
Maybe that’s why I’m so willing to follow her directions, scribbled in old-world feminine script on the piece of paper I’m holding in my hand.
But unlike the last time Maximus and I were on this part of Pacific Coast Highway, we’re not heading to a casual party. Hecate’s hest was clear: drop everything and come now. Maximus and I are still dressed in what we had on when we left his apartment so many hours ago, after a massive earthquake hit the area. A catastrophe caused by the very god Hecate defied for me.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Maximus’s tight tone betrays his anxiety.
“It’s all pretty clear. She wants us to continue up Topanga for two and a half miles.”
I leave the reply at that, refusing to give voice to my own anxieties. Though Hecate’s driving directions are seemingly leading us nowhere, I search inside for some extra faith. It’s not overly hard when her earlier words are still so entrancing, echoing in my heart. Reminding me of when they blew open my mind…
Kara Valari. You are of the earth. Your blood sings with the fire of the underworld, but your soul declares the words of the high spirits.
“Well, we did pass a few houses back there,” he states in the thoughtful baritone that zings along every inch of my nervous system. “But past this point, there’s a lot of nothing for a bunch of miles, unless you count some hiking trails and a lot of wildlife.”
I shake my head. Hecate’s voice lingers in my mind like a spell in its own right.
“I don’t think she’d have any reason to lead us astray.”
A frown crinkles his bold profile. “I’m still puzzled about why we’re driving at all. We both know that gods can travel a lot more efficiently.”
His jaw joins the expression, stiffening into a visible blade beneath his beard. He peers over the steering wheel as if his brilliant blues are enough to pierce the thickening darkness.
“Not too much farther now,” I assure him.
As the miles pass, I imagine Hecate occupying an off-the-grid cottage somewhere out in the canyon. A cozy little place where she’d be able to privately tutor me on this crazy new aspect of my DNA. The Virgil to my Dante, with better hair and shoes.
“Are we getting close?”
I blink out of my closet fantasies and glance at the paper, then up to the road.
