The Fire of the Fated, Chosen 3 Preface

Falen

It was a hell of a way to die.

When Hades snatched my soul out of my body, I mean. The scraping realization of being incomplete without my physical shell was more than I have ever bargained for. I would be absolutely okay with not experiencing such a level of wrongness again.
The immortality Hades and Hecate are offering me is tempting in that aspect, at least.

But now they need me to do to others what was done to me; Hades and Hecate want me to snatch souls right out of their physical hosts and take them, thrashing and terrified as I was, down to their eternal torture.

I suppose the souls being truly vile and belonging to Tartarus makes it better, but…

“Excuse me?” I snarl.

Hades rolls his red eyes. “I said, Falen, that you are the…”

“Shadow Reaper. Yeah, I fucking got it.” I clench my teeth as my feet move to pace back and forth and back and forth in the clearing that’s beginning to become one of my least favorite places on Olympia.

“Your mouth is, as always, terrible,” he growls. “You really ought to think about acting more refined.”

Hades stares me down like I haven’t played this game hundreds of times with Alphas who thought they were more dominant than me. I never back down from a challenge, so the white-haired, red-eyed asshole of a god is setting himself up for failure. I push my Alpha power toward him, letting my eyes dilate.

My predator stare.

All I was trying to do was have a nice day with my Mate after the hell that was Klythios the Giant wreaking havoc on our lives; I would like to have a day without someone trying to kill us maybe? Or even just a day where some divine someone isn’t telling me I have a path I must follow.

It’s too much to ask for, obviously.

Hades blinks and looks away from my glare, shaking his head, angry at this nonsense.

Same, honestly.

I smirk at the victory just to be an ass.

“Essentially, you will be a goddess of dark souls,” he explains to me after adjusting his black blazer and recovering from his embarrassment. “You will collect the most heinous of souls, and you will bring them down for Charon—the boatman who transports souls through the rivers of the Underworld to their rightful places—to take to Tartarus. Now, you will have added abilities other than those you currently have, Falen, but since we haven’t made a Shadow Reaper—and definitely not one of Lupi origin—before, we have no idea exactly what those abilities will be.”

“And Fal has no say in whether or not she does this?” Nina asks, flexing her hands by her sides, anxious and readying herself to blast Hades into next week if she must.

Hades seems to know this too as he eyes my Mate, hesitating slightly before he opens his mouth to speak.

Hecate glares at him to shut the hell up. “For once, be quiet!” she growls, and Hades raises a brow before shutting his stupid mouth. Hecate turns to me with apologies in her light gray eyes and an apologetic smile on her mauve lips. “Falen you will need to consent to this task.”

I have to consent? Finally, something I can get behind.

“No.” I wave my hands in front of my face to emphasize my absolute refusal. “Fuck no. I’m not doing this bullshit. I’m sorry, Hecate. Really, I am. But there has to be a point when I put my foot down. I can’t handle everything.” I turn and stomp in the direction of the apartments with every intention of ending the conversation.

“I understand you believe I have set a lot on your shoulders,” she acknowledges, and I stop my retreat but don’t turn around to face her. “And I know I have, indeed, put a grand amount of responsibility on you. But it is because I know you’re strong and can handle all that is put in your path.”

“Have you ever thought about what it does to her?” Nina asks and grabs my hand, pulling me back from my indignation. “Do you have any idea of the mental damage it does to have all of this constantly given to her to deal with?” She looks up at me with her beautiful doe eyes, sorrow slipping between her lips and mixing with her sweet breath. “I know she’s strong. I know that more than anyone. But when does it become too much?”

My heart fills to overflowing with the love I have for my Mate. Nina understands how hard everything has been for me and she still calls me strong. She has seen the worst in me and somehow believes I am good. She has felt my fear and holds my hand, telling me I am braver than anyone she knows. She has watched me carry so much weight for so long and wants me to rest and heal my soul.

“Being Lupi is not easy by any means,” Hecate admits and walks over to us with soft eyes contradicting the sharpness of the rest of her. “In order to make Lupi fight to banish the darkness attempting to upset the balance between light and dark, they must be consumed by the darkness they destroy. Falen is definitely no exception as she has been born from and into shadows. My love,” she whispers and looks to me. “Your entire life has been drenched in darkness. But it has not been to destroy you. It has been to prepare you for that which is coming. The darkness will recede and find its rightful place within you, but only when you choose to accept it as part of your soul.”

“I don’t want this darkness,” I tell her, plead with her, my eyes burning with the need for her to understand. “I don’t like what it does to me. It’s a constant in my mind, begging me to bow to it. I refuse. I will not become the Monster living inside my head. I won’t.”

“Oh, come now. Do this for me, will you?” Hades chides impatiently like he is scolding a disobedient child as he peers around Hecate.

For him? Do something...for him?

Hecate’s lips press together after she sighs. “I told you to be quiet.”

I explode and run at Hades until I’m right in his face.

“Do it for you? Why would I do a goddamn thing for you?” I shove his chest and he stumbles down a few of the steps into hell. “You just sat around while I was beaten, tortured, burned, and you have the audacity to think I should do something for you?” I give him my best eat shit glare, the one I save for the truly stupid people who think they should cross me. “Oh, I’ll do something for you. I’ll shove my foot so far up your ass, your tongue will taste the ground I’m standing on.”

He brushes off his jacket and locks those red eyes on me. “Yes, I allowed you to be tortured and I regret it. More than you know, Falen. It was a steep lapse in judgement, I admit. But you are not privy to both sides of the story.”

I scoff and shake my head, nothing but disgust in my glare. He sure as hell won’t get any sympathy from me.

“A steep lapse in judgement? Are you fucking kidding me? Your little hiccup nearly destroyed me. Sure, there are two sides to this story, but it seems to me that, any way I look at it, you are an asshole in both of them.”

He squints, the want he has in the claws of his fingers to step forward and wrap his hands around my throat is undeniable, but he is confined to the stairs; he is chained to hell where he belongs because of his kingly brother, Zeus. “Surely you could at least attempt to see my reasoning…”

“You know, I would try to see it from your perspective, but I don’t think I could stick my head that far up my ass.”

Nina grabs my hand, pulling me away from the entrance to the Underworld. I know I should stop insulting a god. I’m being a dumbass screaming at someone who could see me burn for eternity if he wanted.

But it seems I’ve forgotten where I hide my fucks to give.

Oops.

Hades made it to the top of my shit list very quickly and I’m not sure he will ever be able to escape it.

“Fine,” Hades snaps and throws his long hair over his shoulder as he walks back to the top of the stairs. “Do not do this for me. Do it for yourself. Because, if you refuse, the Monster you keep running from will chase you, nipping at your heels until you falter.”

I clench my jaw and he glares, regarding me with eyes seeing right through me.

He knows nothing of my Monster. He can pretend all he wants, but he knows nothing.

“And make no mistake. When that monster gets the chance, it will devour you.”