The darkening living room was blanketed by a heavy silence.
I waited in tense anticipation as Sally stared blankly into the air with a stunned expression—her previous nakedness concealed beneath the clothes I had conjured for her.
Not a single word had slipped from her lips since I finished explaining the true nature of the world to her, nor had she interrupted me even once while I was giving it. The fact that every mythology and legend humanity had ever conceived was just as real as the god who had fathered her child.
It was a speech I had delivered twice before. Unlike Audrey and Isabella, however, Sally did not look the least bit pleased by the knowledge I had shared with her.
It was to be expected.
For the demigoddess duo, discovering that the Olympian pantheon was not the only supernatural faction in existence was a revelation of liberation. It meant that there were alternatives to the pitiful lives they had been forced to live. Always running. Always hiding. For a human, it signified something very different.
Like all mortal parents of a half-blood, Sally had likely come to terms with the fact that she was a tiny fish in a big pond long ago. Learning that even the Olympians themselves were merely a small part of a far greater whole transformed that pond into a dark and deep ocean.
"You're a devil."
A shadow of uncertainty crossed my thoughts as Sally's hesitant voice filled the space between us. As someone who had grown up in human society, that word carried far more weight for her than it did for either Audrey or Isabella.
"Yes," I confirmed. "A half-devil, to be exact."
Sally's features tightened into an expression I had rarely seen on her usually warm face. "Poseidon told me they were just stories. He said no other pantheon but his was real."
"He lied."
"What about monsters?" she asked, a tightly restrained undercurrent of longing creeping into her voice. "Are there monsters outside the US too?"
"Yes."
The faint flicker of hope vanished from her expression.
"But they are different, and less numerous than they are here," I added. "They don't have the Mist covering for them, so they have to be more discreet to stay hidden."
My gaze drifted to her hands as she clasped them between her legs. They still looked far too human-like to be called claws, but they had undoubtedly changed.
Like the curved horns protruding from the side of her head, her nails were the color of bleached bone.
"I'm trying very hard to trust you right now, Ladora. So I need you to be honest with me."
"I will."
The sound of air filling her lungs reached my ears as she drew in a slow breath, visibly gathering her resolve.
"Would Percy be safer if I took him away from here?"
Her brilliant blue eyes burned with determination—the ready willingness to abandon the life she had so painstakingly built if it meant protecting her child.
Denying her the chance to prove that devotion almost felt like sacrilege.
"I don't know."
Unlike my prospective peerage members, Percy's role in their pantheon's future was a lot more prominent.
"His fate is tied to this country. Before his sixteenth birthday, he'll never be able to truly escape it. Neither is there any telling how the gods of those realms would react to his presence."
Sally fell quiet again, her gaze dropping to the stone table between us.
It was a situation we had found ourselves in many times before over the past few weeks. At least once a day, we would sit together at this table and she would tell me about her past. About the life she had lived before she met the god of the sea and bore his child. None of those conversations had ever felt as tense as this one.
There was a distance between us now that had not existed before today.
"Am I going to hell?"
"… What?"
"I've been living under a devil's roof." A complicated expression broke on her face. "You killed my husband—at my request. Doesn't that make me the textbook definition of a sinner?"
A shallow line formed between her brows, further adding to the vision of menace her supernatural features had granted her.
She was putting on a brave face, but I had long since learned to recognize her tell. There was trepidation hidden behind her expression. It was also the first time she had directly acknowledged what I had done to Gabe Ugliano since I informed her of his passing.
"That's not really how that works."
Ddraig made no effort to hide his contempt for the divine. More often than not, whenever I asked him about them, he either did not know the answer himself or simply refused to give one.
The more powerful a dragon became, the more solitary they tended to be. And at his peak, there had been only two dragons more powerful than the Red Dragon Emperor. Still, there were some things so fundamental to the supernatural world that even he could not avoid knowing them.
"What do you mean?" Sally asked
"Every human who lives in this country is destined for the Olympian version of the afterlife, regardless of their chosen religion."
This was likely the main reason why the Olympians did not care that only a fraction of their realm's mortal population actively worshipped them. As long as they defended their territory from hostile factions and avoided the fate they themselves had inflicted upon the native pantheon, their supply of faith was secure.
"Every human…" The fingers of Sally's left hand brushed against the side of her ivory horn. "Do I really still qualify for that title?"
I swallowed my initial answer before it could slip my lips. Even for a devil who specialized in temptation, there was no magic formula when it came to dealing with people. What worked on one person could just as easily yield opposite results in another.
I had eagerly embraced my own supernatural status, but it was clear that Sally would need to be eased into hers. Dismissing the loss of her humanity as casually as I had earlier had been a mistake.
"I offered you the chance to become more—something greater than what you were before."
My visions sharpened as my pupils narrowed into slits, matching hers, before widening into circles once more—taking my enhanced sight with them.
"The price was higher than I expected. Perhaps it was also higher than anything you would have been willing to pay had you been aware of it in advance. But regret won't undo the fact that I've fulfilled my promise."
If my guess was correct, the physical changes my bloodline had wrought upon her body would be the least of the transformation's effects.
Perhaps monsters would start to be drawn to her draconic presence.
Or perhaps they would flee from her like they did from me after my first major growth in power.
I truly could not tell.
She was the first of her kind.
"You're more than just human now."
She closed her eyes for a moment, visibly wrestling with the idea. When she opened them again, acceptance had replaced much of the apprehension that had lingered within them.
"What am I?"
"A dragon"
"What does that even mean?" She stared down at her sharpened nails before tugging on the seams of her new clothes.
They were now the only set in her possession that still fit her.
"Despite all of… this, I still feel like myself."
"Because you are."
My thoughts raced as I searched for the right word to make her understand what I had for her.
"I have an ability called Dragonification, which I used to transform you into what you are now. Your body is… different than it used to be, and so is the strength of your soul, but it did not change who you are at your core."
My hand shifted into the shape of a dragon's claws as I twisted it upward.
"You're still you, just… better."
Although I spoke with certainty, I honestly could not say whether that was truly the case. The long-term effects of her transformation were a mystery, even to me.
Not only was it an unprecedented procedure, but I also did not know whether it could be repeated.
The offering of blood and the ritual leading up to the human sacrifices were simple enough to replicate. Whether the soul of the person I wished to elevate could actually endure the process was another matter entirely.
"Then how… how could you have expected me to just brush past what you did to those people?" Her shoulders tightened like coiled springs. "Did you really think that's the kind of person I am? Someone who condones murder?"
"You're someone who would do anything to save the people she cares about," I retorted. "You gave up on your dreams to take care of your uncle. And you sacrificed everything to keep your son safe for as long as you could."
My fingers curled around my knees as I drew a calming breath, softening my tone.
"I thought you'd understand."
"You thought I'd understand?" she repeated, indignation twisting her features. "I have never made anyone pay the price for my choices. It is not a sacrifice if you make other people suffer for it."
"Would you still say that if I told you that I didn't kill them?"
Sally's eyes narrowed, bringing focus to her slit pupils as surprise gave birth to suspicion within them.
"What do you mean?"
"They killed themselves."
The words practically spilled from my mouth.
"All I did was talk to them. I gave them a choice, as I always do, and they chose to die."
"Why would they do that?"
Understanding dawned on her face before I could answer.
"Did you threaten them?"
The question was a testament to how drastically her opinion of me had changed in the past hour.
"They all died willingly."
The desire to be honest with her stirred within me. If only I could believe that she would understand why I had done it. The ritual was my highest priority, and I could not allow some stubborn old man to reduce the chance of its success.
"They were firm believers in the ruler of Heaven, despite being clear-sighted and having spent their entire lives confronted with proof that the Olympians existed. I told them that if they died for me willingly, they'd get to meet him."
"But you… you just told me that's not how that works."
"It isn't."
"So you lied to them?"
"I did."
It was clearly not the answer she had hoped for, but it was the truth nonetheless.
"You told me the goddesses of fate sent you to save me and my son." Her emotions became more difficult to read as her expression closed off. "Was that also a lie?"
"It wasn't," I replied without hesitation. "I always did my best to be honest with you, Sally."
The darker corners of my mind screamed at me to reach across the table and take her hands into mine. To use my magic and make her understand the sincerity of my words by any means necessary. To return her to the version of herself that had trusted me so implicitly before.
I ruthlessly squashed that urge.
"Why would they do that?" she asked, showing no sign of having heard the second half of my answer. "You're not one of them. I don't know much about… divine politics, but shouldn't you be their enemy? You're a devil."
"For us to be enemies, they would actually have to consider me a threat."
A humorless smile tugged at my lips.
Despite all my inborn talent, all my training and the god killing weapon attached to my soul, I held no illusions regarding my chances against even a lesser god. Not even I was arrogant enough to believe that a mere month worth of growth made me their equal.
"I'm pretty sure they just find me convenient enough to let me stay here."
Even though the only time they had actively made use of me so far had been to save Sally from being kidnapped by Hades. An intervention that had changed very little about the course of fate.
"I don't know what it is exactly, but I think they need me for something. I haven't spoken to any of the Olympians directly, but the fact that none of them have paid me a visit yet must mean they're in on it too."
Then again, there was a chance that they had simply been too preoccupied with their looming civil war to deal with me. My own strength might still be lacking, but given enough time to boost myself, getting rid of me could require more effort than they were willing to spare.
"Do they know you killed people under their protection?"
"Some do."
"And they just… let you?"
I barely managed to suppress a scoff.
Poseidon must have given her an incredibly distorted view of the gods and their relationship with mortals if that genuinely surprised her.
"I wouldn't be here if they didn't."
Her lips thinned into a fine line.
"Just think about how many people die at sea every year," I continued. "Or how many die because of war and alcohol. I don't claim to be familiar with all of them—or even most—but as far as I know, the number of supernatural factions that actually care about human lives is far surpassed by those that don't."
Even the Fates had only bothered warning me about staying away from Isabella, who turned out to be Aphrodite's favorite child. The humans I had already harmed had been far from their minds.
"So they're like you," Sally muttered, her frigid voice cooling the air between us like the breath of winter.
"Yes."
"Then why go through all this effort? Bringing me back to life. Transforming me. Telling me all of this…" She shook her head. "There has to be a reason. And don't tell me it's because I'm special."
"You are."
Her icy blue eyes grew colder still, finally giving me a taste of what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a draconic glare.
"You need me for something," she guessed. "Is that it? Like the Fates need you?"
"Is it really so hard to believe that I don't have any ulterior motives?"
"It is."
I understood where her suspicion came from. Even setting aside my race's dreadful reputation, she had just watched me admit to orchestrating numerous counts of ritualistic suicide.
That did not make her distrust any less irritating.
My actions over the past three weeks should have bought me more goodwill than this.
"Fine," I conceded. "You're right. There is another reason. One that is far more personal than simple affection."
The harshness slowly melted from her expression as interest thawed to replace it.
"I am half devil, but I was raised as a human. In an orphanage. It took more than a decade before I discovered my true nature."
A part of me wondered what kind of expression she would show me if she knew that only a month had passed since then.
Would she start treating me like the child I appeared to be physically? Or would my apparent youth make my actions seem even more monstrous?
"Since then, I've discovered that I'm the last surviving member of one of the Underworld's noble houses. One that has been declared extinct in my absence—which gives me reason to believe that the lands and assets I was meant to inherit have already been seized and divided amongst the other ruling houses."
"Why not just tell them you're alive?"
"I can't… not yet."
Her countenance softened with sympathy.
Even with her newly acquired inhuman features, the empathetic expression looked at home on her face.
"You clearly don't see yourself as a human, so why avoid them? They're your people, aren't they?"
"I don't—"
Razor-sharp fangs bit into the inside of my cheek as I changed the nature of my response.
"The only thing devil care about is strength. There's no telling if I'll be… accepted as I am now. All I know for sure is that they won't give me what I'm owed unless I force them to."
At least not without burying me beneath so many obligations and debts that my soul would resemble a mummy, wrapped from head to toe in strings that tied me to their causes.
"That is why I'm here, to grow stronger and find allies I can trust."
"I'm not the first person you've done this to, am I?"
Sally's eyes narrowed by a fraction as she leapt to a conclusion.
"You want me to be one of your soldiers."
"Do you really believe that?"
Several moments of silence passed as she refrained from giving an answer.
"The mark you put on me is gone."
Her gaze shifted to her right shoulder. It was hiden beneath a layer of blue fabric, but the memory of the unmarred skin beneath remained fresh in my mind.
"It disappeared during your… transition," I replied. "I'm not entirely sure why."
There were many things I did not understand about her transformation. Such was the danger of relying on devil magic. Knowledge and certainty were sacrificed at the altar of imagination and power.
Her spine straightened as she fixed me with an unblinking stare.
"I have one last question. Swear you'll answer it honestly."
"I will."
"What was it for?"
The fine lines at the corners of her eyes deepened.
She looked as though she dreaded the answer—perhaps even more than I dreaded giving it.
"It is—was… a mark of ownership."
No matter how much I tried to soften it, that was what it ultimately came down to. The reason I had been able to pull her soul free from her burning body was because I owned it on a conceptual level.
A flicker of disappointment passed behind her eyes before she closed them and offered me a small nod. When she opened them again, I could no longer tell what she was thinking.
Her gaze drifted past me toward the towering windows.
The sun had long since set, and the radiance of the stars was hidden behind an impenetrable layer of clouds. Yet, as always, the encroaching darkness was held at bay by the ever-present city lights.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me," Sally whispered as she rose to her feet. "I'm leaving now."
A sinking feeling settled in my chest as she stepped away from me and headed toward the elevator.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"And what will you do then?" I scoffed. "Like it or not, you're not human anymore." Frustration bubbled within me as she kept on walking. "Do you really think you can just return to your old life as if nothing happened?"
Her steps faltered for a heartbeat.
Still, she did not turn around.
"Wait!" I called, pushing myself upright. "Look, I admit I made a mistake. Many mistakes. I should have done things differently. But the Mark is gone now, and leaving won't bring those people back to life."
A sensation I had not suffered in over a month constricted around my throat as I watched her slip through my fingers.
"Stay. We can work this out. Together."
"It's not about that," Sally said, finally stopping. "I… I can't be a part of what you're doing here, Ladora. I can't."
She glanced back at me over her shoulder.
"My loyalty belongs to my son. The only reason I agreed to your offer at all was so that I could protect him better."
A strange emotion I could not name shimmered in her inhuman eye before she turned her back on me again.
"I'm sorry."
Those meaningless few words were the last thing she left in her wake as the elevator door slid shut behind her.
Once again, I was alone.
"How dramatic."
Green light ignited along my left arm as the Boosted Gear wrapped itself around it.
"Really bit your own tail there, Partner."
I dismissed my Sacred Gear—only for it to materialize again a moment later.
"But is there really any point in getting this worked up over it?" Ddraig continued without pause. "Just try again in a few decades. She's bound to have changed her mind by then. Greek demigods are infamous for their short lifespan."
A sharp breath escaped me as I was momentarily caught off guard by the sheer callousness of his proposal.
Ddraig's easygoing demeanor sometimes made me forget just what kind of being Heaven had fused to my soul.
"Was that supposed to cheer me up?"
"Did it not?"
"No."
A rumbling laugh echoed from the crimson gauntlet.
"You must have at least suspected that she was only using you for the protection you offered. Humans are always pleasant to be around when they need your aid. It's only once danger has passed that they reveal their true faces."
His tone lowered into something more serious when I did not respond.
"You're not the first Host of mine to have learned this lesson."
"Fuck you, Ddraig."
He was wrong.
The Fates might have given me the mission, but it was my decision to shield her from the monsters hunting her.
My decision to elevate her into a supernatural.
I had not been used.
"Why did you do it anyway?" Ddraig asked.
The sprawling windows slowly drew nearer as I crossed the room, contemplating my answer.
Far below, countless clusters of human figures moved through the city streets with busy purpose, like ants traversing their nests.
"To see if I could. As a gift. To liberate her from the wretched fate of being human in this world."
Perhaps all of those reasons.
Perhaps none of them.
"Not that it matters anymore."
"If it's any consolation," Ddraig began, his voice stripped of its previous humor, "she'll soon discover that life as a dragon comes with challenges of its own. We live in isolation for a reason."
Sally was a fighter, but none of the battles she had faced throughout her life had been physical ones.
The thought of the struggles awaiting her brought me no satisfaction.
"She'll have to—"
A blinding surge of light erupted behind me, setting the room ablaze with golden radiance.
It was about time they contacted me again.
I dismissed the Boosted Gear once again.
This time, it remained gone.
A slow smile tugged at my lips as I turned on my heels and banished the events of the past hour from my mind.
There, as though it had always been waiting for me, a simple white letter was hovering over the stone table.