The Darkest Assassin: A Lords of the Underworld Novella Read online

  The Darkest Assassin

  A Lords of the Underworld Novella

  By Gena Showalter

  1001 Dark Nights

  The Darkest Assassin

  A Lords of the Underworld Novella

  By Gena Showalter

  1001 Dark Nights

  Copyright 2019 Gena Showalter

  ISBN: 978-1-970077-33-9

  Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Book Description

  The Darkest Assassin

  A Lords of the Underworld Novella

  By Gena Showalter

  From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gena Showalter comes a new story in her Lords of the Underworld series…

  Fox is a demon-possessed immortal with many talents.

  --Ability to open portals—check

  --Power to kill the most dangerous Sent Ones—check

  --Scare away any man who might want to date her—mate

  Now, the keeper of Distrust has been marked for death, a winged assassin with rainbow-colored eyes tracking her every move, determined to avenge the males she accidentally decimated. If only she could control the desire to rip off his clothes…

  Bjorn is a fierce warrior with many complications.

  --Tragic, torture-filled past—check

  --A wife he was forced to wed, who is draining his life force—check

  --Ever-intensifying desire for the enigmatic Fox—mate

  Never has he hesitated to exterminate an evil being. Until now. The sharp-tongued female with a shockingly vulnerable heart tempts him in ways no one else ever has, threatening his iron control.

  But, as Fate itself seems to conspire against the unlikely pair, both old and new enemies emerge. And Fox and Bjorn must fight to survive.

  And learn to love…

  **Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

  About Gena Showalter

  Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the spellbinding Lords of the Underworld, Otherworld Assassins, and Gods of War series, as well as three young adult series—The Forest of Good and Evil, Everlife and the White Rabbit Chronicles--and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series.

  In addition to being a National Reader's Choice and two time RITA nominee, her romance novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan (Red Hot Read) and Seventeen magazine. She was interviewed on Nightline and has been mentioned in Orange is the New Black. Her books have been translated in multiple languages.

  She’s hard at work on her next novel, a tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who brings him to his knees. Check her website often to learn more about Gena, her menagerie of rescue dogs, and all her upcoming books. https://genashowalter.com

  Also From Gena Showalter

  Click to purchase

  Gods of War:

  Shadow and Ice

  Frost and Flame

  Lords of the Underworld:

  The Darkest Warrior

  The Darkest Promise

  The Darkest Torment

  The Darkest Touch

  Burning Dawn

  The Darkest Angel

  The Darkest Craving

  Beauty Awakened

  Wicked Nights

  The Darkest Seduction

  The Darkest Surrender

  The Darkest Secret

  The Darkest Lie

  The Darkest Passion

  Into the Dark

  The Darkest Whisper

  The Darkest Pleasure

  The Darkest Kiss

  The Darkest Night

  The Darkest Captive

  The Darkest King

  Original Heartbreakers:

  Can’t Get Enough

  Can’t Let Go

  Can’t Hardly Breathe

  The Harder You Fall

  The Hotter You Burn

  The Closer You Come

  The One You Want

  Tales of an Extraordinary Girl:

  Playing With Fire

  Twice As Hot

  Acknowledgments from the Author

  A huge thank you to the wonderful ladies at 1001 Dark Nights: Liz Berry, MJ Rose, and Jillian Stein. Your friendship, support, kindnesses and business savvy make my heart happy!

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights

  Click here to explore

  COLLECTION ONE

  FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black

  CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham

  CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom

  DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake

  AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione

  NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones

  SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair

  ROPED IN by Lorelei James

  TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner

  COLLECTION TWO

  WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan

  WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham

  EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby

  MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair

  CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner

  ADORED by Lexi Blake

  HADES by Larissa Ione

  RAVAGED by Elisabeth Naughton

  DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James

  RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  DRAGON KING by Donna Grant

  PURE WICKED by Shayla Black

  HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye

  STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham

  KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster

  TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti

  THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  COLLECTION THREE

  HIDDEN INK by Carrie Ann Ryan

  BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Heather Graham

  SEARCHING FOR MINE by Jennifer Probst

  DANCE OF DESIRE by Christopher Rice

  ROUGH RHYTHM by Tessa Bailey

  DEVOTED by Lexi Blake

  Z by Larissa Ione

  FALLING UNDER YOU by Laurelin Paige

  EASY FOR KEEPS by Kristen Proby

  UNCHAINED by Elisabeth Naughton

  HARD TO SERVE by Laura Kaye

  DRAGON FEVER by Donna Grant

  KAYDEN/SIMON by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  STRUNG UP by Lorelei James

  MIDNIGHT UNTAMED by Lara Adrian

  TRICKED by Rebecca Zanetti

  DIRTY WICKED by Shayla Black

  THE ONLY ONE by Lauren Blakely

  SWEET SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  COLLECTION FOUR

  ROCK CHICK REAWAKENING by Kristen Ashley

  ADORING INK by Carrie Ann Ryan

  SWEET RIVALRY by K. Bromberg

  SHADE'S LADY b
y Joanna Wylde

  RAZR by Larissa Ione

  ARRANGED by Lexi Blake

  TANGLED by Rebecca Zanetti

  HOLD ME by J. Kenner

  SOMEHOW, SOME WAY by Jennifer Probst

  TOO CLOSE TO CALL by Tessa Bailey

  HUNTED by Elisabeth Naughton

  EYES ON YOU by Laura Kaye

  BLADE by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  DRAGON BURN by Donna Grant

  TRIPPED OUT by Lorelei James

  STUD FINDER by Lauren Blakely

  MIDNIGHT UNLEASHED by Lara Adrian

  HALLOW BE THE HAUNT by Heather Graham

  DIRTY FILTHY FIX by Laurelin Paige

  THE BED MATE by Kendall Ryan

  NIGHT GAMES by CD Reiss

  NO RESERVATIONS by Kristen Proby

  DAWN OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  COLLECTION FIVE

  BLAZE ERUPTING by Rebecca Zanetti

  ROUGH RIDE by Kristen Ashley

  HAWKYN by Larissa Ione

  RIDE DIRTY by Laura Kaye

  ROME’S CHANCE by Joanna Wylde

  THE MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT by Jennifer Probst

  SURRENDER by Elisabeth Naughton

  INKED NIGHTS by Carrie Ann Ryan

  ENVY by Rachel Van Dyken

  PROTECTED by Lexi Blake

  THE PRINCE by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  PLEASE ME by J. Kenner

  WOUND TIGHT by Lorelei James

  STRONG by Kylie Scott

  DRAGON NIGHT by Donna Grant

  TEMPTING BROOKE by Kristen Proby

  HAUNTED BE THE HOLIDAYS by Heather Graham

  CONTROL by K. Bromberg

  HUNKY HEARTBREAKER by Kendall Ryan

  THE DARKEST CAPTIVE by Gena Showalter

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights:

  TAME ME by J. Kenner

  THE SURRENDER GATE By Christopher Rice

  SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair

  TEMPT ME by J. Kenner

  Sign up for the 1001 Dark Nights Newsletter

  and be entered to win a Tiffany Key necklace.

  There's a contest every month!

  Click here to subscribe.

  As a bonus, all subscribers can download FIVE FREE exclusive books!

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  About Gena Showalter

  Also from Gena Showalter

  Acknowledgments from the Author

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights

  Foreword

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Six

  Discover More Gena Showalter

  An excerpt from The Darkest King by Gena Showalter

  Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights

  Special Thanks

  One Thousand and One Dark Nights

  Once upon a time, in the future…

  I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.

  I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and

  the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast

  library at my father’s home and collected thousands

  of volumes of fantastic tales.

  I learned all about ancient races and bygone

  times. About myths and legends and dreams of all

  people through the millennium. And the more I read

  the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered

  that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually

  become part of them.

  I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher

  and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I

  would not be telling you this tale now.

  But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off

  with bravery.

  One afternoon, curious about the myth of the

  Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to

  see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar

  (Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then

  sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written

  and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,

  the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand

  women.

  Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived

  in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged

  places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had

  never occurred before and that still to this day, I

  cannot explain.

  Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have

  taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can

  protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to

  protect herself and stay alive.

  Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.

  And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a

  point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.

  And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that

  he might hear the rest of my dark tale.

  As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new

  one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before

  you now.

  “I’m not afraid of the dark. I am the dark.”

  – Bjorn, the One True Dread

  “The best way to navigate the dark? With a sword.”

  – Fox the Executioner

  Chapter One

  What have I done? What the hell have I done?

  Vision blurry and ears ringing, Fox the Executioner stumbled around the ancient, crumbling temple. This was a warzone. She needed to focus but… So dizzy.

  How many enemies waited nearby? Hoping to ward off an attack, she waved her short swords wildly, metal whistling. A cool wind blustered past the temple’s pillars, the warm, wet blood that coated her hands and dripped down her arms chilling in an instant.

  She had portaled here only minutes before and…and…she had gone into some kind of trance and murdered…she’d killed… A cry of distress parted her lips. She’d killed ten demon assassins known as Sent Ones. Immortals who’d been bound and utterly helpless.

  Innocents.

  Killing wasn’t new to her. For centuries, people had paid her big bucks to slay their targets. As an equal opportunity assassin, she always welcomed a chance to take out liars, perverts, thieves, abusers, and cheaters. Even fellow exterminators. And she never failed to complete the job. No dead body meant no payment. No payment, no happiness.

  Money was her source of life, and she always wanted more.

  As a child, Fox had tasted the horrors of destitution. Without shelter, you were vulnerable to predators as much as the elements. Without food, you were rendered weak. Too weak to defend yourself. Without water and clean clothes, you were stripped of your humanity. Never again. She’d learned to save backup money for her backup money’s backup money.

  Today, however, she would earn no fee for her kills and derive no satisfaction from taking out bad men. The Sent Ones had been good. They had not deserved death. And yet, the moment she’d spotted them, something dark and insidious had overtaken her. She’d attacked.

  Something? Like she really had to wonder where to cast the blame. Not too long ago, the demon of Distrust had possessed her, and she’d let him. Hell, she’d welcomed him. Her people lived to the ripe old age of five thousand,
never any longer. As she’d neared the end, she’d sought true immortality.

  That was her first mistake.

  Her second? Considering herself too strong-minded to be influenced by her dark companion.

  Now, crazed, gleeful laughter rumbled in the back of her mind, disrupting her thoughts.

  Fox dropped her swords, a clang reverberating. Still stumbling about, she fisted her hands and punched her temples. Anything to make the hated laughter stop. But it didn’t stop. It never would. Evil didn’t play by any rules. It lied, cheated, stole, abused and murdered, the very things she’d spent centuries fighting against.

  Worse than the laughter, the whispers. The demon enjoyed wafting his poison into her mind, little suspicions quickly ballooning into huge over-reactions.

  She lies, kill her… He is setting you up for a fall, kill him… They cannot be trusted, kill them…

  Today had been no different. The Sent Ones hunt the demon-possessed, kill them…

  A shudder nearly rocked her off her feet. She should not have portaled here. But, she’d wanted to help her best friend and mentor, Galen, who’d hoped to save the woman he loved from a cloned god. Long story. The unarmed Sent Ones had occupied a far corner, as still as statues, locked in some sort of trance.

  The next thing she’d known… she’d moved through their ranks, decapitating each and every warrior. No one had fought back or even ducked.

  I can’t be trusted anymore. If she were to inadvertently harm her friends, because of her demon’s whispers…

  Horror consumed her in an instant. Won’t risk their lives. The time had come. After spending five thousand years with Galen, she needed to ditch him.

  Ready to sob, she planted her heels, going still, then blinked to clear her vision. She would return home, pack a bag, and go. A hot tear trickled down her cheek. I don’t want to go.