My Life From Hell (The Blooming Goddess #3)

Mommy Dearest (Part 2)

Kiki tilted her head in agreement.

I grasped her hand, almost desperately. "Give it back. Please."

The difference his power could make, to our battle and to the safety of my friend's future was enormous.

Kiki's look was almost sympathetic. "I can't, Sophinchka. That was the payment. The balance. I gave a human baby goddess power. I had to take a god's power and render him human."

"Titan, not god," said Theo.

"Regardless." Kiki took another drag. "I can't just give it back." She looked shrewdly toward Theo. "But I think you know that already, don't you Prometheus?"

Felicia had used our little catch-up chat to toss back her drink and get another one. She returned to her chair already making headway on the liquor. "Cut to the chase. What do you want?"

"We're here to make a deal," said Theo.

Felicia gave him a totally fake smile. "Delightful. I want to hear my darling daughter offer it."

Like mother, like daughter. I pasted on a beaming, fraudulent smile of my own. "I'd like nothing better."

Our smiles were plenty broad but our gazes were combative.

"I grow old," Kiki said. "Speak already."

I kept eye contact with Felicia. "You wanted power?" I spread my hands wide. "It's yours. Original deal on the table. Kai and I take out Zeus and Hades, and let you rule." My throat caught as I choked that out, but choke it out I did.

From the way Felicia's eyes gleamed, she knew what it cost me to say it.

"Not quite," Kai piped up.

We all turned to him with varying degrees of surprise and—from me and Theo—a bit of suspicion.

"I want the Underworld." Kai's face twisted. "Hades is going down and I want him to know that I have everything he cared about. You can have Olympus and Earth. The Underworld is mine."

I exchanged an uneasy glance with Theo. This wasn't part of the plan. For a brief second, I worried that it would be a deal-breaker and that I'd come to Felicia for nothing.

But she lit up, thrilled. "Such bitterness. I can practically feel it eating away at you." She rested the rim of her glass against her bottom lip as she stared at Kai, thoughtfully. Then she set the glass down. "Don't worry, darling, it's an emotion I can appreciate. Agreed. The Underworld is yours. However, I'm simply burning with curiosity to know what's in this for you?" She swung her piercing gaze back to me.

I leaned forward. "Zeus and Hades warded up the ritual location in Eleusis. We need you to get us inside."

"Ah, my old stomping grounds." I swear to God, if she'd had a mustachio to twirl in evil glee, Felicia would have done it. "It seems that you need me far more than I need you."

Kiki tsked her, but a sharp look from Felicia kept her quiet.

I sat up straight. Beyond fed up. "Alright, Felicia. What's it going to take? You want me to beg? I'll beg. But despite how you feel about me, I know that you've always given a damn about the human race. So let's cut the BS and name your price, so we can stop this war on Earth and stop the human casualties."

Felicia crossed one leg over the other, as if we were enjoying a cozy chat. Her tone was anything but cozy. "Did you really think you could just waltz in here with old promises that you'd tossed away once before, and win me over so easily? Every action has a consequence. Something I've been rather lax in teaching you."

I ground my teeth so hard that I could hear the enamel destruction.

Felicia picked a piece of invisible lint off her sweater. "My price is this. When this is over, you never see Kyrillos again."

My breath hitched and, for a second, my heart stopped beating.

She smiled. "Yes. I think that will do nicely."

Never see Kai again? Intellectually, I knew I had to say yes. What was our love against the fate of the world?

But emotionally? My throat had closed up. A cold sweat beaded my brow and icy fingers of panic clawed at me. I couldn't say the words.

Kai had gone pale.

Kiki tsked again. "Demeter," she said, disapproving, "You of all people should not force this."

Something unspoken passed between them before Felicia relented. "Theo then."

My heart stuttered again. That was just as bad. Its furious pounding echoed in my ears.

"Done."

I swung to face Theo, who regarded me evenly. "This is bigger than us, Magoo."

"No!" I turned to Felicia, pleading. "Not Kai. Not my friends. Anything else." Hot tears pooled in my eyes. "I'll be your slave. Whatever you want."

"You can't give me what I want," she said. Felicia turned to Theo. "You'll stay away from Sophie?"

"For the rest of my life," he mocked.

She grimaced, not finding him funny. "Excellent. We have a deal. Swear?"

Theo nodded. "I swear on the Styx that I'll stay away from her."

I was crying outright now, trying to make her take it back, arguing that I hadn't agreed to it. But neither she nor Theo paid me any attention.

Kiki ground out her cigarette and gave my arm a sympathetic pat. "It is done, Sophinchka."