The Darkest Torment Read online

  “Don’t need—”

  “I know. You’re strong.” He smoothed a hand over her brow. “And Rina?”

  “Yes?”

  “Kaia texted me about the change in you. The fangs and the claws.” He wished he’d seen the transformation. How beautiful she must have been. “The pups are hellhounds.”

  She stiffened, saying, “That was supposed to be a secret.”

  “Considering the questions you once asked me, I’m assuming they bit you at some point.”

  Defensive, she said, “They didn’t do it to hurt me.”

  “I know.” He knew Hades had been bitten by hellhounds, and now wondered if Pandora bore that part of him, thanks to the bands. The way Baden bore the Berserker. “If they’d wanted to hurt you, you would have been hurt. Badly. They must have done it to bond with you.”

  “Like the goat-man bonded with Gilly?”

  “In essence. I want you to know, whatever changes the bond causes, my opinion of you won’t be altered. I like you.”

  Destruction liked her, too, despite the hellhound thing. He’d been without her, and never wished to experience such a horror again.

  “No,” she said, sounding bitter, “you like me now that I’m stronger.”

  “You’ve always been strong.” He stroked his finger along her jaw. “I pretended not to see it so that I’d have an excuse to protect you. But even the strongest of warriors need a watchman. Let me have the honor of being yours. I know I would love for you to be mine.”

  Heavy-lidded eyes stared up at him, more green than gray at the moment. Her lips were red and swollen from his abundance of kisses, her cheeks pink from his stubble. “Maybe...maybe what just happened between us changed a few things,” she admitted, “but I’m still furious with you.”

  He blew her a kiss. “Don’t worry. That makes two of us.”

  27

  “The best defense is killing the other team’s offense.”

  —Bjorn, Sent One

  BADEN DID HIS best to barricade the desert palace from every immortal race—those who would attack from the sky, those who would attack from the ground and those who would attack from the underground. He built traps along the perimeter and stocked the arsenal with weapons Hades had given him. Weapons he’d never before seen and wasn’t yet sure how to use.

  When you had a price on your head, every weapon was welcome.

  After he’d told his friends about the bounty Lucifer had placed on Katarina, they’d decided to help William later and Baden now. They were here, in the Realm of the Forgotten, placing traps beyond the house.

  So far, no one had found a way into the realm without a key or an invitation from Galen. An invitation he hadn’t extended to Pandora.

  Yesterday, Baden met her in a neutral location: the rubble in Budapest. He’d flashed, the ability working again. He’d simply thought of Pandora’s bands, how they were part of Hades and now, part of Baden. She’d done the same.

  Another loophole? Maybe.

  Like him, she’d healed from her injuries and had suffered no other demon ambushes. They’d discussed their current predicament. How neither had a desire to kill Hades. Or each other.

  I don’t know how this happened, she’d said with more than a little disgust, but...I don’t hate you.

  Prepare to gag, he’d replied. Because I’m beginning to think of you as...a sister.

  She had gagged. I know—brother. Will these feelings change when the bands are removed? Or is Hades’s essence too firmly entrenched in us?

  She hadn’t known about the hellhounds or the Berserker, and Baden had explained before answering her question. Probably too firmly entrenched. How else would they survive the removal of the bands?

  And Hades would want them to survive. They were part of his family now.

  We must defeat Lucifer, Baden had said. Lucifer had come after Baden’s woman—our woman, do not forget again—and the bastard would pay for it.

  Mess with Katarina, suffer the consequences. Let the world know.

  When Pandora had mentioned the bounty on Katarina’s head—why does Lucifer want her dead?—Baden had almost killed her. The woman he’d just admitted was the closest thing he had to a sister. If she made a play for the human... But Pandora had merely laughed at him. Laughed. Because the situation put him at a serious disadvantage.

  She’d said, We’re currently tied. As distracted as you are, I’m sure I’ll pull ahead any day. For that alone, I wish your human well. I like you, Baden, but I still plan to trounce you. Because, if we’re wrong and Hades doesn’t feel affection for us, one of us will die. Again. I’m determined to live.

  As am I. He wanted a life with Katarina. Who would still age, despite her connection to the hellhounds. But that was a worry—a trial—for another day.

  Last night, after another assassin job for Hades, Baden had asked the male to make Katarina immortal. The response?

  Not going to happen, Red. Not now, not ever. If I turn your woman after refusing to turn William’s, my son would help Lucifer simply to spite me.

  Am I not also your son? he’d almost asked. Almost. But he’d held his tongue. Like Pandora had said, if they were wrong and Hades felt no affection for them...

  “What are you doing up there, Baden?” Katarina called.

  “My duty. My honor.” He was high in a tree, anchoring cameras to different limbs so that he would have a view of the desert from every angle.

  Katarina and the pups entered the backyard. The trio of glaring suns stroked her lovingly. And why not? She wore a white bikini that displayed her delectable curves to perfection; she was a temptation like no other.

  Destruction licked hungry lips. Must have her again.

  Must wait until she comes to us.

  Something they’d learned: Katarina’s willingness was the key to their pleasure.

  As Baden worked, his gaze returned to her again and again, his every muscle knotting, his shaft throbbing behind his zipper.

  Sunglasses hid her eyes, but he thought she might be watching him, too. She stretched out on the grass, rubbed her knees together and shifted restlessly. Her nipples were beaded and clearly defined as she poured a cup of water down her chest in an effort to cool off.

  “I want you, Rina.”

  She winced, all how embarrassing for you. “That’s obvious, drahý.”

  “And still you’re going to deny me?”

  “I mentioned my anger with you, yes?”

  “No, you didn’t.” Vengeful women were a nuisance. And sexy. Mostly sexy. “You mentioned fury. You must be cooling off.”

  She sputtered for a moment, before settling on, “Don’t you prefer me hot?”

  Must have her soon.

  Each day, Katarina and the pups had done their own thing. She’d taught them to play fetch and other games, had worked on their manners and obedience, and had even ensured they practiced biting and tugging on a padded sleeve. Her love for the animals was obvious. She constantly smiled at them, petted them and welcomed their sloppy kisses. Baden, she’d ignored.

  He missed her smiles. He yearned for her pets.

  “Where are Tweedledee and Tweedledum?” she asked.

  Galen and Fox. They’d helped him set many of the traps and had only flipped him off a dozen times a day when he’d double-checked their work. “They’re hanging cameras in front of the house.”

  Laboring with Galen had reminded him of the days they’d spent in Olympus, when they’d guarded Zeus. They’d fought together, bled together, partied and laughed together.

  Still can’t afford to trust him.

  Baden climbed higher in the tree to place the final camera—and movement just over the wall stopped him. He palmed his cell phone rather than a gun. Many of the traps he’d set were controll
ed remotely and with the press of a few buttons, he could blow sections of the realm to hell and back.

  His finger paused over the keyboard, and he watched, ready, but the scenery remained the same.

  He finished his work and dropped, landing with considerable force but absorbing impact without missing a beat. “Let’s go inside and—” His bands heated, emitting a soft red glow.

  A summons.

  As Destruction snarled with irritation, Baden said, “I’d like you to go inside. Katarina? At least until I return—”

  The backyard vanished and as usual, Hades’s throne room came into view.

  “Enough,” Baden barked. “If you wish to see me, call. Text. Now send me back.”

  “When have protests ever helped you?” The king was shirtless, blood and other things streaked over his chest. Bits of tissue hung from dark strands of his hair. He wore black leather pants that had been ripped at the knees, and he had on one boot, the other missing.

  Calm, steady. “I’d like to go back. Please.” Begging hadn’t worked with Katarina, but then, she was far more stubborn than the king of darkness.

  Hades stood a few feet away, giving Baden an up close and personal view of the tattoos covering his body. Like the ones on the Iron Fist, they moved, slithering like snakes. “Worried about your female, eh?”

  Something about his tone... Had he learned the truth about the pups?

  Will kill him if we must, Destruction said. Oh, how allegiances had changed.

  “Well, you can stop worrying,” the king added. “I’ve sent a message to those who think to hurt one of mine in order to collect Lucifer’s bounty. To harm the girl is to die by my hand. Or my mouth. I’ll make the decision on a case by case basis.”

  Hades knew. Maybe not everything, considering he was protecting Katarina rather than attempting to slay her, but he knew something. “My hand. My mouth. She’s mine.” Even Destruction bristled at the male’s claim.

  “Semantics. You are mine, and what’s yours is mine.”

  Be at ease. The more time Katarina spent in the Realm of the Forgotten, the more likely this world—this king included—was to forget her. “I’m not here to discuss her, I’m sure.”

  “True. I have your next task.” Hades reached into his pocket and withdrew the necklace Baden had stolen from Poseidon’s concubine. “Give this to the water king. If—and only if—he agrees to support me during the war. If not, you have my permission to cut him into little pieces. But you’ll need this.” He tossed a weapon; Baden caught the hilt. “Deliver the pieces to every other immortal king in existence.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me. He studied the new weapon. A mini-scythe, with a curved golden blade.

  “The weapon needs only a taste of your target’s blood,” Hades said. “After that, it can hack at the target all on its own. You have only to release it.”

  Nice. “Poseidon won’t agree. I stole the necklace. He’ll only want to fight me.”

  “That sounds like a you problem,” Hades said. Like father, like son. He clapped his hands. “Pippin.”

  The robed man materialized with his stone tablet and placed a pebble in Hades’s hand. Once Baden inhaled the ash, he gained the ability to flash directly to Poseidon. He also gained the ability to survive in the water-world, just in case Poseidon happened to travel there.

  “Before you go, we have one more piece of business.” Hades drummed his fingers together, a true evil overlord. “The coin.”

  Baden stiffened. His greatest failure. “I will—”

  “Aleksander has agreed to give the coin to Lucifer.”

  Aleksander still lived, then. Was still bound to Katarina. Destruction bucked like a bull before the blare of a horn. “I’ll stop him before he can keep his word.”

  “Lucifer has blocked your ability to flash to the male. And he’s already kept his end of the bargain, granting Aleksander an immortal army.”

  “Armies can be destroyed.”

  “Yes, and so can you.”

  The male worried for him. It was suddenly as clear as newly cleaned glass, and he wondered how he’d ever questioned Hades’s affection.

  No more waiting, he decided. The time had come to present his questions. “I know the bands make me your son. What do you plan for me—for Pandora—after the war?”

  Hades peered at him for a long while, silent, as if debating the wisdom of his next words. Eventually he called, “Leave us.”

  Pippin, the guards and every creeping thing Baden hadn’t noticed before—snakes, spiders and snake-spider hybrids—rushed from the room as if their feet were on fire.

  “I’ll give you the answer you seek.” Hades side-eyed him. “But I desire a boon in return.”

  Something he couldn’t command Baden to do? That should prove interesting. “You have my full attention.”

  “You know you are...bonded to me.” The admission came grudgingly. “And I know your woman trains hellhounds.” Those words—they came smugly.

  Both Baden and Destruction brimmed with anger—will protect, no matter the cost. “You will not harm her or the pups.”

  The king smiled at him. “I don’t want to harm them, Baden. I want to use them.”

  “I won’t involve them in the war.”

  “They’re already involved.”

  “No!” An explosion from Baden, accompanied by a snarl from Destruction. “Never.”

  “I can command you to bring her here.” Hades worried his jaw with two fingers. “If she denies me, I can threaten to kill you. She’ll change her mind fairly quickly, I’m guessing.”

  As Baden seethed with the urge to lash out, every muscle in his body locked up, preventing movement.

  The king sighed. “But such threats usually only work for a short while. She’ll look for ways to escape me. No. I desire her loyalty.”

  “Loyalty cannot be forced. Not even with the wreaths.”

  Hades flicked his tongue over an incisor, an action Baden caught himself doing. “One conversation with the girl. That’s what I desire.”

  If he resisted Hades in this, would the male force the issue? “You may speak with her as long as I’m present, but you must vow not to harm her or the pups in any way—or to allow anyone else to harm them—no matter her answer to you.”

  A stiff nod, as if Hades had expected no less but still resented the restrictions. “So be it. Now. Your answers.” He strode to his throne and sat. Every inch the royal, he said, “You aren’t my son...yet. But you could be. The potential is there. Everything hinges on you. The bands start outside your flesh but burn their way inside as your will supersedes mine. Once they’re fully entrenched, I’ll have no anchor for my power and lose my tether of control.”

  No anchor, but because of Destruction, Baden and Hades would be forever bonded—Destruction would forever be a part of him. “Branded, I’ll remain tangible to those with bodies?”

  “You will.”

  Baden reeled, and reeled hard. Both he and Pandora could supersede Hades’s will, becoming his children before the game ended. Hades would lose his control over them while they retained the benefits of the bands.

  That. That was what Baden wanted. His life once again his own—with the exception of the beast. But he’d already learned to deal with the creature, thanks to Katarina; they weren’t two anymore, but one.

  Hades waved him away. “I suggest you complete today’s task and prepare your woman for our meeting.”

  Almost giddy, Baden anchored the necklace in place and hid the mini-scythe beneath his shirt.

  “Oh, before you go,” Hades said. “Your methods have been a bit...rough in the past. You’re dealing with a royal this time. Try to be diplomatic.”

  “As you wish. Daddy.”

  Baden flashed. He ended up in a bedroom, the
walls painted black. There were two windows, and both peered into the bottom of an ocean. The water was clear and smooth, coral glistening and fish swimming. Above, the domed ceiling also revealed an open view of the ocean—and the mers raptly watching whatever was taking place on the bed. A four-poster with wisps of black cloth shielding every side.

  The race had always been big on public displays. Sex, punishments, disagreements, nothing was taboo.

  When the mermaids and mermen spotted Baden, they beat at the glass in an attempt to gain Poseidon’s attention. Judging from the increased moans and groans that drifted through the air, the sea king assumed his audience liked his moves and grooves.

  Baden debated leaving and returning a little later—bad form, interrupting a man before climax—but why risk flashing into an ambush after the people warned their king of his unwanted visitor?

  Destruction still seethed from the encounter with Hades. Concentrate! Finish this and return to Rina. Protect what’s ours.

  Yes. Striding forward, Baden tightened his grip on the scythe. He stealthily parted a section of the cloth and took in the scene. A naked woman was tied to the posts, spread completely, her body forming an X. Her eyes were covered with a mask and a ball gag was stuffed in her mouth. Not the forest nymph.

  Poseidon knelt behind her, pounding inside her with wild abandon. Was this a punishment or a pleasure?

  Either way, this was probably going to send Poseidon straight to Lucifer’s side.

  No. The mer king will die first.

  Cold-blooded murder wasn’t always the answer. But sometimes, in his world, it was.

  Baden threw the scythe—and the king swung around and threw a dagger. The scythe nicked Poseidon’s biceps, and the dagger embedded in Baden’s shoulder.

  He removed the weapon, dropped it to the floor, and like a boomerang, the scythe returned to him. He gripped the hilt and grinned as vibrations radiated up his arm. The weapon hungered for more; he could feel it.

  The water king paled when the weapon’s identity clicked. “You are Hades’s enforcer.”