Underworld Bride Trials 1 Playboy King - Meg Xuemei X. Page 0,30

woman. In his next breath, he criticized the cakes on the table.

An entitled jerk.

I stopped pacing the room and darted a glance at Mari. “She talked to the valkyries in the arena, but she isn’t one of them. That, I am certain.”

Mari stared back at me, looking momentarily confused, then jerked a thumb at Héctor.

“Your girl isn’t a valkyrie,” Héctor confirmed, stroking Mari’s cheek. He just couldn’t stop touching her, which was annoying as hell. I sympathized that he hadn’t been able to touch any woman until Mari popped up in his life, but couldn’t he just sit tight and have a normal conversation with friends?

Damn. Was I really starting to consider the death demigod a friend?

I shrugged. No, enemies are forever, as are friends.

“But we’ll get to the bottom of it tonight, if that’s your desire.” Héctor smirked, showing his perfect white teeth, as he enjoyed irking me. And he was the one who was always asking me to grow up?

“She’s exquisite and fierce and vicious, all at the same time.” I sighed. That was a lethal combination, exactly my type. “She might have a little Fae blood or a little valkyrie. You could be wrong, Héctor. But if she had either of those species’ blood, she should have pointed ears, which she doesn’t. Her ears are delicate and round, like a human’s. She’s definitely not a human though. She’s way too fast.”

“We already covered this subject a few minutes ago, Loki,” Héctor snapped and then yawned. Mari jumped from her seat to thrust a sugar-coated finger into his mouth. He caught her but turned her palm around and kissed her finger. “We should go home, Lamb, and take a nap. I can’t take being around Loki anymore. He’s been babbling about the same thing like an idiot for half an hour now. We have better things to do than listen to him pining for a girl.”

I snickered. Who took a nap in the middle of the day? The death demigod just wanted to get into Mari’s pants.

“We came here to support him, as promised,” Mari said. “And you need to practice being nice. Why don’t you use Loki as target practice, my love? If you can be nice to him, you can be nice to anyone.”

Had Mari just insulted me worse than her mate?

But none of her demigod mates would ever see me the way my little stepsister saw me. I was like blood family to her, but to the demigods, I’d been their enemy for centuries. I’d slain thousands of Dominions under my father’s rule, just as the demigods had slaughtered tens of thousands of demons.

“Why do I want to be nice to everyone?” Héctor asked, then on seeing Mari’s pout he softened and caved. No woman could ever wrap the insufferable and unmanageable demigods around her little pinkie except Mari. “Fine, we can stay a few more minutes.”

“My stepbrother needs to vent,” Mari added, “and we’re the only ones who will put up with him. Let’s take pity on him.”

I groaned. She had to put it that way.

Héctor scrubbed a hand across his face, the same one every Earth woman craved, as if he was making the ultimate sacrifice for me. “Make it quick then, Loki. And try to get to the point. My lamb and I don’t have all day!”

I shot him a glare. All the demigods were self-centered and self-absorbed like him, but Mari was right. I did need a pair of ears, even though Héctor wasn’t the best, if not the worst, conversationalist.

“Did you see the move she pulled on the first valkyrie?” I asked as I replayed the excellent fighting scene in my head. “What the hell do you think that was? And she tried to cover it up. I don't think anyone else noticed, but I sure did. As the King of the Underworld, nothing slips by my eyes.”

“Meridian,” Héctor said.

I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

“Meridian, the lost killing art,” he said impatiently. “Your girl somehow stole one of the gods’ secrets. I wonder who her mentor was. She hit the spot under the valkyrie’s pointed ear, then she made a swift move to cover that performance by slamming the heel of her palm into her victim’s jaw.”

“How did you know?” I demanded, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I’m a death demigod, and I’ve been around the block.” Héctor huffed and eyed the clock.

The demigod hated to explain himself. None of the demigods cared about their people skills unless they were dealing with their mate.