Thea

Dinner was delicious and only made slightly worse by the fact that I was the one who had to pay for it. Which was fair, I had completely forgotten about the money, and Bryce had been paying for everything since I ended up on the mortal plane.

In my defense, most of what I had wasn’t exactly liquid. I had maybe a thousand iron worth of coins, then the rest was all things like gems, enchanted jewelry, or in one case the deed to some dude’s house on the outskirts of Dis. I didn’t know the area very well, but what I did know made me think it probably wasn’t the greatest neighborhood. Besides all that, I still technically owed Esme half of everything.

Bryce offered to help us split it all up, but Esme shot that down saying that she’d be biased. After a bit of discussion, we decided to just split the coin, and wait until we were both on the mortal plane where Bryce had an accountant friend who could help.

Thankfully, the business discussions didn’t last all night, and the three of us just spent some time hanging out. Esme and Bryce even started telling stories and joking with each other, which made me indescribably happy. They hadn’t exactly started off on the right foot, and the fact that they were getting along so well was more than I could have asked for just a few days earlier.

Esme was going to head back to Hel in the morning, and we wanted to get back to Sami and Softie, so we ended up calling it a night early. We even got back to Chorus’s temple before most of the crowd was allowed in, but one of the many benefits of being friends with the big guy’s daughter meant we weren’t stopped on our way past the doors.

“When are you coming to visit?” I asked as Esme released me from a goodbye hug outside our room.

“Soon, but first, I'm going to get Raith settled into her new life and make sure Lilith doesn’t need me for anything.” She smiled down at me with a cocky grin. “Besides, I still have a fight to win, and there’s no way I’m passing up the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with a werewolf.”

“Don’t underestimate Lyscantra. I once watched her kill a woman twice your size with a single punch, and she’s not going to hold back just because you’re friends with Thea.” Bryce frowned at Esme, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how similar the look was to what Esme used to give me. “I was serious when I said you don't need to fight. We can just tell Lysc you were being controlled or something.”

“Bryce, I made a mistake. I need to pay for that, and it’s not like I’m just going to throw my life away. I’m a strong fighter.” Esme shot me a dirty look out of nowhere. “Hells, I used to be stronger than Thea, but then somebody had to go and mess that up.”

“That was definitely your own fault.” I stuck my tongue out at her before switching to a more serious tone. “But for real, Lysc is super strong and I like her. So, I don’t want to have to kill her just because you didn’t wait until after you were healed to fight.”

That caused Bryce and Esme to exchange a concerned frown, and I looked up at the two of them in confusion. “What?”

“It’s… nothing. Just listen to your girlfriend, please.” Esme gave me one last quick hug before turning back to Bryce. “Let me know when you need me for, well, whatever it is that you’re planning. I’m just a quick message spell away.”

“I’ll let you know, but hopefully that’ll be a while, because we could all use some time off.”

“Babe, you totally just jinxed us.” I poked Bryce in the ribs, which caused her to jump and Esme to laugh as she walked away. “What was that about, anyway?”

“What was what about?” Bryce asked as she opened the door and stepped inside. Thankfully, she had put more thought into imagining this room than our last. So, it was actually closer to a suite with an open living space, a small kitchen, and a properly sized bathroom.

“That look Esme gave you when we were talking about the fight with Lysc.” I followed her in as I took my brand new heels off to store them in my ring. Once we were inside with the door closed, I pulled out a set of black pajamas with adorable rainbow phoenixes patterned on them. We had found them back on Drassun and the outfit was too cute not to get, even if they were a bit too big on me and I had to use Bryce’s money to do it.

“Right, that.” Bryce paused midway through getting undressed to stare into the corner in thought. I left her to figure things out alone while I stepped into the bathroom to get cleaned up and changed.

It didn’t take her long to join me. I stopped taking off makeup to take her suit and store it in my ring before handing over her favorite pajamas. Which were of course, just a pair of comfortable black pants and a gray tee-shirt. “Thea, Esme and I are concerned about how aggressive you can get on our behalf.”

My first impulse was to just wave off her concern, and I probably would’ve done just that if it weren’t for the fight with Orrid. My blood still boiled at the thought of what that asshole had done, but it was coupled with the chill that ran down my spine at the idea of what Bryce did to bring me back. By all rights, I should have been dead.

I started storing stuff from around the sink before finally answering. “I know, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I should’ve let Lilith handle Orrid. It’s just that, Bryce, with what he did to you…” I shook my head as I stared into the sink. “I just get so angry and I can’t…”

“Thea, I’m not going anywhere.” Bryce gently wrapped me in her arms and I turned around so that I could do the same to her. “I’m not so fragile that a little thing like that would kill me. I can handle myself, and that’s extra true now that I have this ridiculous mantle stalking me.”

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“You’re going to be a god.” I separated from Bryce with a chuckle to wipe my eyes, but stayed close enough that she didn’t let me go.

She returned my chuckle as she leaned down to give me a quick peck on the lips. “I might become a god. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to complete whatever feat Chorus was talking about, and even then it sounds like there’s a good chance I’ll just have the mantle removed at the end of everything.”

“That’s not happening. If somebody tries to take this away from you, then I’ll…” I trailed off in response to Bryce’s glare. “Then I’ll let you handle it. Unless it seems like you need my help, then I’m going to be all over whoever is trying to bully my girlfriend.”

“Thank you, Thea.” Bryce pulled me into another hug, which we held while she continued. “I love you, and I know that your anger is a part of you. It’s not something you can just turn off. All that I’m asking is that you be a little more careful with who you pick a fight with.”

“I’ll be more careful, I promise.” We broke the hug, and I met her with one of my more mischievous smiles. “Speaking of fights that I’m definitely going to lose, there’s a certain goddess-to-be that tried to renege on her promise earlier today, and I have a bone to pick with her.”

Bryce rolled her eyes at me. “Alright, fine, but let’s brush our teeth first. That garlic bread at dinner was really strong.” She waved a hand in front of her face and I couldn’t help but laugh as I pulled both of our toothbrushes from my storage.

~~~~~

There was a loud knock at our door. Bryce got out of bed to answer it and I cursed as I pulled the covers over my head to block the incoming light. There was no way to know how long we’d been asleep, but it definitely wasn’t long enough.

Bryce came back a moment later, and when she didn’t immediately get back into bed, I cracked an eye open to see her searching around the room for something. “Babe, go back to bed. We can find whatever it is you’re looking for in the morning.”

“Good, you’re awake. Lilith is outside the door.”

That woke me up quickly enough. “Lilith? Is she back already? Did she find Malvoch?”

“I don’t know, because I can’t find my damn pants and I wasn’t about to answer the door half-naked.” Bryce stopped searching and looked at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes before pulling a pair of black cargo pants from my ring and tossing them to her. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no worries, but don’t forget to find your other pair before we leave. You don’t own nearly enough clothing to leave them behind.”

“I won’t.” Bryce pulled her pants on and started towards the door. “I’m going to invite her in. You should join us in the living area whenever you’re decent.”

Unlike Bryce, I slept in my pajamas. So, I was already ‘decent.’ At the same time, I wasn’t sure what Lilith wanted, and it was probably pretty urgent if she was banging on our door this early in the morning. Which meant I probably wasn’t going to be getting back to bed anytime soon.

I opted to risk it and just go out in what I was already wearing. It was mostly just wishful thinking, but I really didn’t want to give up on the thought of getting some actual sleep before we had to travel back to the mortal plane.

By the time I made that decision and got out of the room, Lilith was already standing inside the living area, talking to Bryce.

“Hey Lilly, what’s happening?” I asked as I joined the conversation by Bryce’s side.

“Thea, I’m glad to see you well.” Lilith met me with a smile that turned to a scowl. “But I’ve told you before not to call me Lilly. Being injured doesn’t provide you with a free pass to be rude.”

“Right, now I remember.” I looked up at the head of my household with a sickeningly sweet smile. “Sorry, my memory gets a bit fuzzy when people start banging on my door this early in the morning.”

Lilith seemed like she was about to object, but instead shook her head with a resigned sigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry for the early hour, but I need your assistance and the matter is quite urgent.” Lilith looked surprisingly grave, which made me feel a bit bad for teasing her.

“We’d be happy to help with whatever it is,” Bryce answered for the both of us.

“I managed to track down Malvoch in Tartarus, but he wasn’t with Persephone, and he’s denying any involvement in the kidnapping.”

“So you want me to confirm or deny whatever bullshit story he came up with?” I guessed, and Lilith nodded. “Sure, I can do that. Where’s he at?”

“I’m keeping him in an old safe-house I own on the outskirts of the city. Get dressed and I can take you to him.”

“Why do you… Whatever, yeah, we’ll be quick.” I half-sprinted to the bedroom to get dressed.

~~~~~

A little over an hour later and the three of us found ourselves standing in a heavily warded basement. Malvoch was sitting on a chair in the center of a binding circle. He was in rough shape to say the least. Both of his eyes were burnt out husks and he was covered in fresh scars. I knew for a fact that if those wounds were caused by Lilith, then they were never going to heal. I actually felt a little bad for the poor guy.

“Wake up.” Lilith demanded, and Malvoch lifted his head towards her with a cocky grin.

“Welcome back.” He coughed a few times before spitting a glob of bloody mucus onto the ground. “And here I was getting bored. What will it be? The daggers again, or are we mixing things up this time?”

“Just a few questions and who knows, maybe we’ll even be able to confirm your story.” Lilith’s voice was dripping in venom and was more than a little scary.

Malvoch simply smiled. “Ask away. I have nothing to hide.”

I was about to point out that he was lying, but Lilith shot me a look to stop me, so I held my tongue and let her ask the questions. “Were you involved with Persephone’s kidnapping?”

“This again? I already told you I have no idea who that is.” Lilith looked to me to confirm. I could only shrug. He wasn’t lying, but he also wasn’t actually answering the question.

Lilith growled in frustration. “Answer the damn question. Were you involved with the kidnapping?”

“We’re not alone.” Malvoch furrowed his brows, before coming to some sort of realization and chuckling to himself. “Imp, is that you? Tell me, how did it feel to kill your succubus friend? Did she suffer? Was it as satisfying as what I had planned for her?”

I took a step towards him and felt Bryce’s hand on my shoulder stop me short. “Thea, we need him alive.”

“Former executive Bryce Virra.” Malvoch directed his sightless gaze towards Bryce with a sinister smile. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. It’s not often that somebody is capable of foiling my plots, even if it was purely by accident. Although, is that a mantle? I may have underestimated you.”

“Can I try something?” I glared at Malvoch, and when Lilith gave me the go ahead, I stepped forward to speak his true name. “Dae’Volmach etfia’Trilgemex verunom’Falrum Sub Umbras, you will answer all of Lilith’s questions honestly, concisely, and without disguising any details that you believe she might deem important.”