Valkyrie's Sacrifice (Academy of Immortals 3)

“You know her?” I ask, eyes darting between them. Is this a trick? A trap?

“Yes.” He grimaces. “This is my step-mother.”

I glance at Marshal, who looks like he’s one step from slaughtering both of them.

“Excuse me?” I ask, needing way more information. “Your step-mother?”

“Everyone,” he says, gesturing to the woman on the altar. “This is Lilith. Lilith, I assume you know who everyone is already.”

She smiles. “I do. The Valkyrie, the Knight, and the Fairy. I’ve been waiting for your arrival. Take a wrong turn somewhere?”

She noticeably does not include Luke in that list. Maybe they really didn’t expect Luke to make it to the end-game.

“Did you say Lilith?” Marshal asks. “As in Lucifer’s first wife?”

“Yes,” Luke replies, keeping his eyes on his stepmother. “My mother was not allowed in hell—being human and everything. So Lilith raised me.” He exhales deeply. “It’s not like my father was doing much fathering.”

“Well, your father has a message for you.” She waves her hand and an envelope appears.

“Seeing that he sacrificed me to this bullshit apocalypse, I don’t have much interest in what he has to say.” He mutters a curse under his breath.

“You do realize it was an honor to have been chosen to fight for his realm, don’t you?”

Luke snorts. “Nice try. As usual, he just wanted someone else to do his dirty work. I’m not interested in furthering his control and domination.”

“Which is exactly why you’ve been summoned.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Summoned?"

He takes the envelope from her and peels off a thick wax seal. His frown deepens.

“Where?” Marshal asks, striding over to see the paper himself.

Luke willingly hands him the parchment while replying, “The City of Dis.”

The city of what?

“Who has the power to summon us?” Elizabeth asks. “This is the apocalypse, not a court of law.”

“Apparently, my father disagrees.” He skims the summons. “The apocalypse is taking place in the Lowerworld—specifically Hell—which is his domain. He’s determined that anyone opposing the campaign is a traitor and heretic.”

Elizabeth pales and says, “The King of Hell wants us to come to him.”

“Yep.”

“Where exactly is the City of Dis?” Marshal asks.

Luke grimaces. “It’s in the sixth circle of Hell, which sucks, except it could be the ninth circle so…three better?”

A very bad feeling rolls up my spine, and I look at Lilith. “Did everyone Lucifer consider a traitor get one of these?”

Gold hoops glint from her ears when she nods. “Yes, they did. Each person that enters the apocalypse will have to take the same journey traveling through the rings of hell. If you survive, you’ll face him at the City of Dis.”

> We all share a look. The Legion and our allies are ahead of us, but so are all our enemies. Can we survive the rings without them?

“What’s so special about Dis?” I ask.

“It’s where heretics are punished along with non-conformists and unbelievers,” Luke replies. “My father loves a bit of theater.”