The Darkest King Page 37

  Finally, the fiend moved on. Adrenaline dulled a twinge of pain as Sunny inched closer to the entrance of the throne room. She paused to let a group of combatants fight their way past her, then inched closer again.

  “You will cease this madness, Lucifer!” Hades roared, his voice seeping past the doors.

  Lucifer was here? Excitement melded with malice. He dies by my horn today!

  The bastard’s gleeful laughter echoed from the walls. “I will not cease until you know what it’s like to lose everything. Even now, my armies are gathering your allies. They’ll be brought here, where they’ll watch you and your precious William die.”

  Kill William? Like hellebore! She reached the entrance and peered through the crack in the door. Oh...daisy. More dead bodies. In the far corner, a contingent of Sent Ones punched their own temples and tore out hanks of their hair.

  A blonde woman in a tattered brown robe stood before the winged Warriors. She was pale, emaciated and dirty, but she kept her arms extended, her hands aimed at the winged warriors. Must be a witch, tormenting the males with her magic.

  Countless demons. A powerful witch. A hated prince of darkness. How was Sunny supposed to subdue them all? She needed William, her knight in shining armor. Her packmate. The one person she shouldn’t be around.

  As Hades bellowed a curse, the wrongness of her last thoughts hit her with the force of a baseball bat. What was she going to do, cower until he got here? Was she a coward or a unicorn? A fragile flower or a demon slayer? A loser or a superhero? She did not need a man to save the day. She didn’t need anyone. She could—and would—do this herself!

  Once again, Sunny peeked through the crack between the door and its frame. Demon hordes formed a circle around Hades and Lucifer, who still fought. The king’s army had been neutralized, the soldiers lying on the ground, either motionless or writhing in pain.

  Black smoke wafted from Hades as he spun and thrust two short swords at Lucifer, who blocked and slammed a massive ebony wing into Hades. As the king stumbled back, the prince did it again, spinning to hit Hades with a wing. This time, the membranous appendage swept the king off his feet.

  Sunny fit her fingers around the grooves in the medallion, the horn growing from the center. Time for the unicorn to step in.

  39

  “All hail the king!”

  William met up with Axel at the edge of the Sent One campground, as planned.

  “I was able to locate an injured Sent One,” Axel told him, a vein throbbing in the center of his forehead. “The demons hit hard, then flashed everyone away. The witness escaped, but not before he heard mention of Hades’s palace.”

  He stiffened. They’d flashed to Sunny’s current location. Demons...attacking his mate... “We flash to Hades’s throne room now.” Words he group texted to his every ally.

  As if he and Axel had been partners for centuries, they turned in unison, standing back to back, their swords at the ready.

  Hell vanished, total chaos coming into view. Lucifer and Hades fought in the overcrowded throne room, two tornados continually slamming together, moving so fast even William had trouble tracking them. Dead and dying soldiers carpeted the floor. The odor of old pennies, urine and waste, bowels emptying upon death tainted every breath.

  He’d entered a literal shit storm.

  Where was Sunny? He cast his gaze about...and found the missing Sent Ones, who appeared agonized by an invisible force.

  Gillian and Puck appeared beside them, took stock and launched into the fray.

  William’s boys appeared next. Then Pandora. Then a handful of Lords and Ladies, including Anya and Keeley. Even more Hell kings.

  For a moment, William stood paralyzed by an outpouring of gratitude that they’d dropped everything to come. Awed by the fearsome sight they presented. Humbled that they loved him enough to put their lives at risk to save someone he loved.

  As his friends got busy killing demons, William caught sight of a familiar face and sucked in a breath. Lilith. She had survived.

  He hadn’t seen her in so long. Now she stood near the Sent Ones, her arms raised. She looked as haunted and defeated as her half sister. Clearly, Lucifer had put her through hell.

  William waited for satisfaction to come...but it remained at bay.

  The medallion heated against his chest, even more magic seeping into his skin, into his blood, his brain...not dark magic, though, as he’d originally suspected, but pure magic. His muscles plumped another couple of inches, and his bones refortified, stronger than steel. His cells fizzed.

  Different colored lights began to glow from everyone. Auras, he realized. This is what Sunny sees?

  But how could the medallion affect him this way?

  Ponder later, fight now. He launched into motion, removing the head of a demon who approached.

  Other demons noticed him and Axel, and attacked en masse; claws swiped at him, fangs chomped and tails whipped. Determined to find Sunny, he swung at the next demon to approach and yelled to Axel, “I must find Sunny.”

  “I’ll guard your back. You lead. I’ll follow.”

  Now satisfaction filled him. Brandishing his swords, removing limb after limb, he surged forward. Axel remained close, guarding his back as promised. They left a trail of dead demons in their wake. Problem: their efforts made no difference. The moment one demon toppled, two others took its place. The fiends just kept coming, soon surrounding them.

  We might...lose?

  No! The key to winning a battle—be adaptable. “New plan,” he grated, stomping on a tail to halt a demon’s retreat, then lopping off his head. “We’ll free the Sent Ones from the witch’s magic. They can fly overhead and search for Sunny.”

  As they backtracked, the medallion heated against William’s chest. He was surprised his shirt wasn’t smoking. Why—

  Even though his fingers were not fitted around the medallion’s grooves, a sharp, bony protrusion grew, slicing through his shirt.

  He dropped a sword to rip the medallion free of the chain.

  A loud, booming war-neigh sounded, echoing off the walls. Demons went still. Actually, everyone went still, all eyes zooming to the doorway. A massive warhorse—no, a war-unicorn—came blazing into the room.

  Sunny.

  William’s jaw dropped. She. Is. Magnificent. Feral, neon red eyes. Large, sharp teeth. Her scarred flesh bore every color of the rainbow. A ridged black horn the exact dimensions of their spears protruded from the center of her forehead, a glowing, golden ring around it. The exact size of the medallion.

  He comprehended three startling facts all at once. The medallions were amputated unicorn horns. Her horn had activated his medallion, drawing the spear—horn—forth. And to see a horn on a living unicorn was to want—need—it for your very own, its magic like a potent wine, inspiring instant, unwavering obsession.

  No wonder Sunny had insisted on hiding her unicorn form.

  She galloped through the throne room, plowing into demons. With her horn, she ripped through scales, armor and bone, black blood dribbling down her face. After she impaled two demons, she shook her head, sending the pair flying, and mule-kicked the fiends behind her.

  This was not a woman who needed saving. Others needed saving from her, and he couldn’t be prouder.

  None of his enemies had managed to topple him, but love for Sunny might do the trick.

  Everyone else felt as he did—obsessed. No one could look away from the horn, everyone frozen by the sight. Even Hades and Lucifer went still, peering at her as if mesmerized.

  Sunny focused on the witch. Shouting with pain, Lilith beat her fists against her temples. At the same time, William’s spear heated, vibrating with a strange, new magic.

  No. Not new, and not strange. Lilith’s. His horn worked with Sunny’s, siphoning the witch’s magic. And Lucifer’s illusions apparently. The Sent On
es stopped pulling their hair, and the number of demons decreased by seventy percent, at least, every illusion vanishing.

  A corner of his mouth curved up. The smoke around Hades and Lucifer dissipated, revealing two bloody warriors with an array of gashes. Hades was panting and pale, obviously weakened. Lucifer was...no longer beautifully flawless. He’d changed in ways William had never imagined, his eyes sunken and bloodshot. His cheeks had hollowed, his skin sallow. His hair had thinned, and his shoulders had stooped. William’s smile widened. Deserved.

  The two predators circled each other. The remaining demons attempted to surround them, creating a wall, but William’s allies slaughtered each and every one. They created a wall.

  Frothing with rage, ready to end this, William pushed his way past the crowd and sneered, “My turn to play. Or are you a coward, ready to flash away?” Could the bastard flash, or had the ability been siphoned from him?

  Lucifer twirled a dagger between his fingers. “Why don’t we air our dirty laundry instead?”

  “You shut your mouth,” Hades snapped, pointing a finger at him.

  Lucifer grinned, smug, and eyed William. “Did you know Hades is the one you and your precious Axel were created by Wrathlings to kill? They took the most powerful traits of the most powerful gods and creatures to create you both, making only slight differences in your DNA. You’re almost the same person. As if the world needed two of you.” He laughed, bitter. “When Hades learned about you, he gave chase and killed the Sent One determined to hide you. But you and Axel escaped. So he hunted you and found you with the cannibals, intending to kill you. Only, he decided to raise you as his own instead, using your skills to aid his cause. I suppose at some point, he grew to love you. He feared you would learn the truth if ever you reunited with your brother, so he schemed, lied and gambled to keep the two of you apart.”

  Lies! Had to be. But as Lucifer had spoken, Hades had paled. And... William hissed. Searing heat rushed up his arm, invading his head. The horn he held... It was still connected to Sunny...a lie detector and a siphon. His magic drained.

  Magical walls tumbled down in his mind, childhood memories flooding him. Suddenly, he was a little boy, locked in a room with young Axel, being observed by multiple Wrathlings.

  Young Axel took his hand and whispered, “We’ll find a way out, brother. We will.”

  The image faded, a new one already taking shape. He and Axel were a bit older and bleeding on a floor, surrounded by a multitude of Wrathlings punching and kicking them.

  “Fight back,” one shouted. “Do you think the gods will go easy on you?”

  Again, his mind blanked. Again, a new scene formed. Young William struggled against the ties holding him to a table as a man in a white robe said, “Let’s see how quickly you regenerate, shall we?” and ran a dagger down his abdomen. He howled with agony, blood pouring from him.

  “Axel,” he screamed. From the distance, Axel screamed back.

  Blank. More images. William, sitting on the floor of his cell, his knees drawn up to his chest as he rocked back and forth, plagued by unshakable loneliness.

  Why did no one but Axel love him? Why did no one but Axel want him?

  The door to his cell opened, and the woman he’d assumed was his mother rushed inside. She dropped to her knees before him, placing her cold, clammy hands against his temples, forcing his gaze to meet hers. “Hades learned of your creation. He’s here, and he’s going to slay you. I’m going to hide your memories, yes? If you do not know who you are, he won’t know who you are. Then I’ll whisk you and your brother to safety. Yes?” she repeated.

  Present-day William stood rooted in place, everything he’d ever believed about his life crumbling like those magical walls. Parts of him burned; the rest of him iced. As he blinked into focus, rage and anguish cast a red haze over his line of sight. He inhaled sharply, exhaled heavily, his hands fisted. All that pain. All that loneliness. All the love he’d poured into Hades. And for what? Betrayal at every turn.

  He couldn’t bring himself to look at Hades.

  “Aw, did the truth break your wittle brain?” Lucifer taunted.

  With ruthless precision, William shoved the memories deep into his mind. Later, he would withdraw them for further study.

  He peered at Lucifer—and grinned again. “Long ago, Lilith predicted one brother would slay the other. I’m supposed to win our war. Why else would fate gift me with a unicorn? A horn of my own? The fucking genetics to get the job done?”

  Lucifer went pallid.

  The crowd parted briefly, Sunny entering the circle. She galloped between Hades and Lucifer, who looked ready to vomit. She stopped abruptly—and mule-kicked Hades, sending him stumbling back, out of the way, leaving an open path for William.

  That’s my girl.

  William and Lucifer circled each other. Despite the male’s abysmal condition, he wasn’t out for the count, still shockingly strong and fast.

  “If you want a piece of me, brother,” Lucifer spat at William, “come and get it.”

  “He’s mine,” William shouted to one and all. “I’m the only one who touches him. The rest of you can watch.”

  “Yeah, baby!” Anya called.

  “Make it hurt!” Keeley shouted.

  “Bust his balls!” Gillian cried.

  William struck, swinging the spear; Lucifer blocked with a sword. Whoosh. Bam. Bam. Bam. Again and again, their weapons slammed together, impact sending powerful vibrations up his arms.

  Grunting, Lucifer faked a left, then went right, stabbing William in the side. Blood gushed from the wound, pain overtaking him. Did he slow? No! He spun, going low, sweeping Lucifer’s feet out from under him. As the male floundered, toppling, William repositioned and slammed the horn into the bastard’s chest. Bull’s-eye. Right in the heart.

  Upon impact, Lucifer froze, paralyzed, but he recovered quickly, rolling to a stand. Enraged, he attacked again. Bam, bam, bam. Whoosh. Bambam. When one struck, the other blocked, but at a much slower pace than before.

  Lucifer jabbed a dagger at William’s face. He reared back, just not in time. The blade sliced a shallow cut in his forehead, blood trickling into his eyes, momentarily blurring his vision.

  Finish this! When Lucifer attempted another jab and slash, William parried and caught the blade. Even as metal sliced his palm and terrible pain radiated up his arm, he yanked the weapon free of his brother’s grip, leaving the male with a single dagger.

  Lucifer stumbled back, clearly stunned by the development. One of his eyes was swollen, his nose was broken and his lip split. A front tooth had been knocked out.

  Knowing the piece of shit would attempt a retreat, William shouted, “Axel!”

  “On it!” The Sent One rallied his comrades, who tightened the circle around them.

  Sunny trotted around the inner edge, huffing and puffing. Hades—

  Still not looking his way.

  William and Lucifer prowled around each other once more. “I’m going to enjoy killing you,” he spat.

  Lucifer hissed, past any sort of bravado, and threw himself at William. They crashed together, another brutal dance ensuing. They stabbed, ripped and punched. Though dizzy, William managed to fit his hands around the male’s neck, his claws cutting past skin and muscle, hot blood dripping. He tossed Lucifer to the ground, amused when he skidded to the edge of the circle.

  Anya kicked him in the temple, and Keeley stomped on his windpipe. Gillian punted his testicles. Gasping for breath, Lucifer jacked upright and lumbered to his feet.

  Too easy? Maybe. But William slammed one end of his spear into the floor and used it to vault and swing forward. His boots slammed into Lucifer’s chest, knocking him down a second time. William followed, a red haze falling over his eyes. He pinned Lucifer’s shoulders with his knees. Hurt him! Make him beg for death.

  With one hand, he whal
ed. With the other, he twirled the spear, preparing to deliver a death blow. Snarls collected deep in his chest.

  His brother bucked while doing something odd with his hands. No, not something odd. He’d unsheathed the blades strapped to his knees, hidden under his leathers. Now he stuck William in the side and back once, twice, thrice.

  William hissed in pain. No wonder the bastard had let himself get pinned. Too easy indeed.

  Suddenly acid attacked his every cell, weakness invading muscle and bone. Poisoned? Lucifer bucked him off easily and rose, standing over him. The shit bared his too-sharp teeth in a semblance of a smile as William tried and failed to stand. Then the bastard stomped on his face.

  More pain shooting through his jaw. Bones shattered. Stars winked through his vision, and nausea ravaged his stomach. Maybe, just maybe, the kick loosened a few screws in his brain. In that moment, he knew what to do. Always Lucifer used trickery to win his battles. Today, William would, too.

  Gleeful but hiding it... Maybe... He waited until Lucifer delivered a second kick. William caught his ankle and flipped him onto his back, even knowing his ex-brother would pop back to his feet. Cockroaches always came back.

  Look at me, Lucy. Too dizzy to stand. Blinded by blood. All pretense. From his spot on the floor, he swung the spear—and missed. Okay, maybe he wasn’t pretending. He was dizzy, and he was partially blinded, but he wasn’t out for the count.

  Grinning, Lucifer edged closer, expertly sidestepping the spear. He drew back his elbow, preparing to throw a dagger; testing the truth of William’s condition before he launched a death blow?

  Whoosh.

  William had to fight not to brace as the blade arced through him, sinking into his heart. A direct hit. The pain...more poison. Every beat of his heart sent a new cascade of acid through his veins.

  As his world grew dark, his friends shouted encouragements. They sounded miles away, but their energy helped purge the weakness. Another plan formed. William rolled into a ball, as if to protect his vital organs. An action meant to mask another.