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  Their relationship might have had a rocky start, and they might have made a crap-ton of mistakes, but through it all, Bjorn had been a source of comfort, strength, amusement, and lust. He would forever be a source of comfort, strength, amusement and lust.

  With the Elite at her side, the future would be a wild ride, and she looked forward to every moment.

  Epilogue

  “Welcome, welcome.” Fox stepped back, moving out of the open doorway of her cabin. The one she now shared with Bjorn. Their home. She’d officially moved in, with the full approval of Clerici, Zacharel, Thane and Xerxes. “You’re only an hour late.”

  “We’re five minutes late,” Galen said.

  “No. If you’re not ten minutes early, you’re five minutes late. But, if you’re more than a minute late, you’re an hour late. The math checks.” Fox batted her lashes, all sugar and spice.

  The Sent Ones behind her laughed. They kind of loved her now. She’d sparred with Lucifer, and won, after all, and she’d warned others of his tricks. Was he defeated for good? No. But their chances for success were better now.

  Galen and Legion strode inside the cabin, hugged her and focused on Bjorn, who remained at her side. He liked to keep her within his sights. Apparently, when the big guy loved, he loved. He guarded her with his life, just as she guarded his.

  There were Lords and Ladies of the Underworld here, Pandora, Baden, and his wife Katarina, as well as a multitude of Sent Ones and a handful of Kings. They were mingling like old friends, and Fox loved every second of it.

  Look at me. Some kind of glamorous Underworld hostess. “Hey, you,” she called, pointing at William the Ever Randy. The real William. “Put down the motorized axe I’m building. It’s for Bjorn.”

  “I accept, thank you,” William said unabashed, sliding the axe under his suit jacket.

  “You,” Galen spat at Bjorn, forcing her attention back to the entryway.

  “Yes. Me,” Bjorn said with a nod, simply stating a fact.

  Fox smothered a smile with her hand. “Bjorn has more than made up for abducting me.” She patted her man’s muscled chest. “I invited you guys into our home because I’d like you to bury the hatchet, just not in each other.”

  Legion elbowed Galen and moved in front of him to offer her hand to Bjorn. When he accepted, she flipped him to his back, dropping him to the floor. Then she rubbed her hands together in a job well done and walked deeper into the cabin. “Are there whore-derves? I’m starved.”

  Fox couldn’t hide her smile this time. “My hors d’oeuvres consist of ambrosia-laced whiskey with decadent notes of take it or leave it.” She helped Bjorn to his feet.

  “Knew she was going to do that,” he muttered, wrapping an arm around Fox’s waist, and she laughed outright.

  “Sure you did, baby.” She patted his bulging biceps, maybe gave it a little squeeze, and nibbled on her bottom lip. Could they sneak off for a quickie?

  The two men faced off once again.

  No. No quickie.

  “Thank you for taking care of Fox as a child,” Bjorn said next, clearly shocking her mentor. “She told me everything you’ve done for her over the years, and I am in your debt.”

  What!?

  Galen narrowed his eyes. “Don’t think thanking me will save you from my wrath. You made me worry, and for that—”

  Fox swiped out her arm and flipped Galen over her head, just as Legion had done to Bjorn. She peered down at the closest thing to a father she’d ever had. “You made me worry over Legion. Bjorn made you worry over me. You’re even. Now, let’s all kiss and make up and get this welcome-to-the-family party started.”

  To her surprise, Bjorn helped Galen stand and Galen let him. Neither protested.

  “You didn’t let me finish. Now, then. As I was saying,” Galen continued with a grumble in his tone, “for that, you’ll have to deal with Fox for the rest of your life, you poor sucker.”

  She rolled her eyes, and Bjorn grinned. Actually grinned.

  “I do not have to,” her man said. “I get to.”

  And that, right there, was one of the reasons she loved him so much. She rose on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and whisper, “We are going to have the best life, baby.”

  “This, I know. With you, I can have nothing less.” He kissed her then, swift and sure, and she forgot their audience. Until said audience cheered.

  As she and Bjorn stopped kissing and started laughing, her heart swelled with contentment. “The party has been fun,” she called, “but it’s over now. Everyone go. Bjorn and I have things to do.”

  Everyone else laughed, too, and continued conversing with each other. Fox and Bjorn stood in place, watching their friends interact. Two groups who never should have been friends, now working together to take down the world’s greatest evil.

  She rested her head on Bjorn’s shoulder. “Thank you for gifting me with this.” A family of her own.

  “My pleasure, love. With you, it’s always my pleasure.”

  THE END

  * * * *

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights and Gena Showalter, discover The Darkest Captive.

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  The Darkest Captive: A Lords of the Underworld Novella

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  For centuries, Galen the Treacherous has been the most hated immortal in the Underworld. With good reason! This bad boy of bad boys has lied, stolen, cheated and killed with abandon. Possessed by the demons of Jealousy and False Hope, he has always lived for a single purpose: destroy everything.

  Then he met her.

  Former demon turned human femme fatale — Legion Honey -- sought to kill Galen, but ended up parting with her virginity instead. Afraid of their sizzling connection, she ran away…and ended up trapped in hell, tortured and abused in the worst of ways. Now she’s free, and a shell o
f herself, afraid of her own shadow.

  Galen's hunger for Legion has only grown. Now the warrior with nothing to lose must help her rekindle the fire that once burned inside her. But as desires blaze white-hot, will Legion run again? Or will the unlikely pair succumb to love at long last?

  The Darkest King

  Lords of the Underworld, Book 15

  By Gena Showalter,

  Click here to purchase!

  Read on for a special preview from the next book in Gena Showalter’s scorching Lords of the Underworld series featuring William the Ever Randy, The Darkest King.

  A merciless prince feared by all…

  Cursed by a vengeful witch, William of the Dark will die if he ever falls in love—murdered by the woman who steals his heart. His lone shot at redemption is a book filled with indecipherable code. Break the code, break the curse. Now, centuries later, he’s condemned to a string of one-night stands…until he finds the only woman in the worlds able to set him free.

  A rare creature of myth and power…

  One of the last living unicorn shifters, Sunday “Sunny” Lane works from the shadows as a cryptanalyst, on the run from assassins and poachers. Then the darkly seductive William abducts her, holding her captive in Hell. The closer they get, the more she hungers for his touch…and the stronger a mystical desire to kill him becomes…

  Both forever doomed?

  At war with his brother, Lucifer, and determined to become a king of the underworld at long last, William must resist the irreverent beauty who threatens his future. But every day Sunny tempts him more, his hunger for her unmatched. Will he risk his heart—and his life—or will the curse ensure his end?

  * * * *

  Sipping sugar water from a wineglass all classy-like, Sunday “Sunny” Lane meandered through a shadowy hotel bar teeming with youngish and oldish codebreakers, hackers and hobbyists. Most were humans who’d flown into New York City early that morning to network and party before the world’s premiere cryptanalyst conference kicked off tomorrow. Her longtime friend…er, acquaintance Sable remained at her side. The six-foot black beauty came from the same realm and ancient village as Sunny.

  They’d come to set honeytraps for any immortals who hunted their kind.

  A waiter approached with a bottle of white. “May I refill your drink, ma’am?”

  Ma’am? The worst insult known to womankind.

  Able to read auras, she easily distinguished immortals from humans. The waiter was human. “No, thanks,” she said. “As a self-appointed superhero and proud vigilante, I prefer to stay sober and scumbag-aware.” Asterhole.

  Sunny was born with an innate magic that prevented her from cursing, changing obscenities into flowers. “Daisy” replaced daisy. Argh! D.a.m.n. “Hellebore” replaced h.e.l.l. “Sage” replaced s.h.i.t. “Bluebell” replaced b.a.s.t.a.r.d. and b.i.t.c.h. “Aster” replaced a.s.s., and “freesia” replaced f.u.c.k.

  The waiter offered her an unsure smile before rushing off.

  “Here’s hoping the duality serves us well tonight.” Sable clinked her glass of sugar water against Sunny’s.

  Oh, yes. The duality. Half their nature longed to hunt and kill baddies, whether immortal or human. That part of her—Horror Show Sunny—worked as an assassin. A girl needed a purpose, right? The other half demanded they spread love, joy and peace. She’d dubbed that part Roses and Rainbows Sunny, and worked as a decoder.

  The two sides were forever locked in a brutal tug-of-war.

  “I posted online to let the world know I’d be here,” Sunny said, fingering the medallion that hung at her neck. Her most prized possession, capable of feats few could imagine.

  As an extremely rare “mythical” creature, they had to remain armed at all times. Poachers hunted them for sport, and collectors hunted them for pleasure. Little wonder Sunny trusted no one, not even Sable, and never stayed in one location more than a couple weeks. She constantly looked over her shoulder and rarely slept.

  “If anyone attacks,” Sable began.

  “They die screaming.”

  Crackling with excitement, Sable gulped back the rest of her water and set her glass aside. “Once we’ve eliminated the poachers and collectors, we won’t have to worry about being ambushed every second of every day. We can turn our sights to the underworld royals.”

  “All nine kings, and every last prince of darkness.” Two princes of darkness in particular topped her list. Lucifer the Destroyer, and William the Ever Randy. Even their names filled her with blistering rage. The terrible things Lucifer had done to her people…things he’d done while shouting, “For William!”

  The two might be at war now, but they’d been inseparable back then.

  Focus up. You’re here for a purpose, remember? Right. Sunny scanned the sea of faces. Some attendees ambled from group to group. Some remained in place, talking, laughing and generally clogging the pathways. Others stayed at their table, nursing drinks. Many were relaxed and at ease. Oh, to be so uninvolved, unconcerned and untouched by the world’s evil, as oblivious to the surrounding danger as everyone else. Sunny couldn’t recall a time she’d ever felt safe.

  Somewhere in the bar, glass shattered. Both Sunny and Sable jolted.

  Deep breath in, out. Good, that’s good.

  “I’m so ready to stop running and live without fear,” she muttered. She’d buy a house and plant a garden. Adopt a dog and a cat. The oldest, crankiest, ugliest mutt and tom at the pound. She’d go on a date for the first time in years…decades…probably centuries; she just had to find the right guy. Someone willing to put in the work to earn her trust. Then, she’d never again have to suffer through mating season alone. A time of clawing, gnawing, uncontrollable sexual arousal.

  The next one kicked off in only two weeks.

  “Me, too,” Sable said. “I’m ready to stop chaining myself in a locked room so that I won’t jump unsuspecting or unwilling males.”

  “Yes!”

  “One day, I’m going to melt those chains, and make them into a butt plug. I’ll gift it to Lucifer before I kill him.”

  Sunny snickered. “I like the way your mind works.”

  The deeper they ventured into the bar, the more perfumes that clashed. Flicking lights illuminated a sea of unfamiliar faces. Human. Human. Human. Vampire. Witch. Human. Human. Human. Werewolf. Though no one seemed to pay them any undue attention, Sunny kept a wary eye on the immortal trio.

  Until husky male laughter snagged her attention.

  Warm shivers raced down her spine, and she frowned. What a strange reaction to something so ordinary. Yes, his voice was sexy hot, but she’d heard hotter. Surely!

  Sunny scanned the bar—there! Him. Though she couldn’t see his face, she knew he was the one. He had thick black hair, broad shoulders and a unique aura. One she couldn’t read.

  He threw back his head, laughing again, and a new tide of shivers raced down her spine.

  “Daisy,” she muttered.

  The woman on his left leaned in to whisper in his ear. The woman on his right ran a hand all over his back.

  He was the meat in a flesh sandwich.

  Finally he shifted, presenting Sunny with his profile. She sucked in a ragged breath.

  A woman never forgot a face like his. Hello, William the Ever Randy, brother to Lucifer. The bluebell.

  He looked tailor-made, as if every feature had been chosen from a catalog. I’ll take that face, that hair and those eyes. Oh, and don’t forget those muscles. He had flawless bronzed skin, jet-black hair and eyes like a sapphire-diamond hybrid framed by long, spiky lashes. Broad cheekbones tapered to a strong jaw shadowed with dark stubble. Perfect nose, perfect lips, perfect everything—to everyone in the world but her.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Sage asked, already reaching for the dagger hidden beneath her sleeveless jacket.

  Rage sparked, quickly catching fire. “Look.” She motioned to William.

  Had he heard about their vendetta against his family and come to stop
them? Why else would he be here? And why not sneak up on them?

  “Speak of the devil,” Sable ground out, “and he appears.”

  Sunny had done her research. She knew William was an infamous mercenary and legendary womanizer who disdained the sanctity of marriage. A few years ago, he’d helped slay a god king. More recently, he’d gotten drunk at a nightclub and shouted, “I consider myself a pleasuretarian. I only eat organic pussy.” Cat. Only, he hadn’t used the word “cat,” like she had to do to bypass the stupid, magical filter.

  “If rumors are true,” she said, “he sleeps with a new woman every night, possesses a fiery temper, sometimes injures his friends for laughs and enjoys killing his enemies as painfully as possible.” So much to admire. So much to disdain.

  “In that case, I think we should rearrange our list of hits, and take out the royal first, while we’ve got the chance.”

  “Agreed. One way or another, William the Ever Randy will die today.” Vengeance will be mine! “Problem. I can’t read his aura. Can you?”

  “I…can’t,” Sable said, and frowned.

  Daisy! “Despite tons of research, I failed to learn his true origins or species, so I don’t know what strengths to guard against or what weaknesses to exploit.”

  “Well, no matter. We’ll find out.” Sable chewed on her bottom lip. “He’s beautiful, though, isn’t he?”

  “He is.” Beautiful beyond imagining. And oh, the admission grated. Sunny did her best to ignore the flutter in her belly. “He looks like an incubus, ready to lure unsuspecting women into his bed.” Was he an incubus?