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  Her legs wound around him, and she cupped his cheeks, staring deep into his eyes. "I need more of you."

  He entered her an inch, one blessed inch. Stopped, gave her time to adjust. He'd go slowly if it killed him. Make it good for her, the best.

  "Why do I not feel the need to master you?" she purred into his ear. She bit the lobe.

  Sweet fire. "That's how it was, before?"

  She nodded, arching her hips to take more of him. Another inch.

  He had to cut off a groan. "Perhaps because my heart is so completely yours, there's nothing left to master."

  "Oh, Geryon. Please." She stroked his horns, circling a fingertip over the hard points. "Take me all the way. Give me everything."

  He could deny her nothing. Releasing his fierce grip on control, he pounded forward and she cried out. Not in pain, but in joy, he realized. Over and over he filled her, giving her all of him. Their wills intermingled so completely, it was impossible to tell who wanted what.

  His nails raked the floor beside her head, his teeth even nipped her, but she loved it all, urging him on, begging for more. And when he spilled his seed inside her, her inner walls clutching him in her own surge of satisfaction, he shouted the words that had been building inside of him since the moment he'd met her. "I love you!"

  To his surprise, she gave a shout of her own. "Oh, Geryon. I love you, too."

  They quickly dressed. Kadence was still weak, but at least the pain had stopped.

  "Are they still at the gate?" Geryon asked.

  "Oh, yes. They're working it feverishly."

  He kissed her lips, and she reveled in another taste of this man she so loved. "Whisk us there, lock them in place, and I will do the rest."

  "I hope this works," she said, because she couldn't bear the thought of being parted from him.

  "It will. It has to."

  Otherwise, she feared they were both doomed.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  She flashed them as promised, and it took Geryon a moment to orient himself, inside a tavern one moment, in front of the wall the next. When he comprehended the carnage around him, he couldn't quite believe his eyes. The demons had worked so fervently, they had bled all over the stones—stones that had been shredded, almost paper thin. A hole was imminent.

  Worse, the horde of Demon Lords was still there. They were huge, all of them at least seven foot, their bodies so wide that even Geryon, massive as he was, would not be able to stretch his arms wide enough to measure them. Skeletons were visible underneath the translucent skin. A few had wings, and all were grotesque in their evil. Red eyes, horned like Geryon and fingers like knives.

  He must have made a noise, for one of the…things spotted them. Laughed a sound that raised every hair on his body. "Now," he shouted to Kadence.

  She glared over at them—nothing. Pointed her hands at them—nothing. Groaned with the force of her will—but still nothing happened. The Lords did not freeze in place.

  "I can't," she gasped out.

  "What's wrong?" He glanced at her, even as he moved in front of her, keeping his arm around her waist. She had paled, and her trembling had returned. Had his arm not been around her, he knew she would have fallen. Had the bonding not worked, then? "Talk to me, sweetheart."

  He watched the demons as they rallied together, watching him. Laughing. Imagining how they would kill him?

  "I'm bound to you and the wall. I can feel your strength, its weakness, and it's tearing me apart," she cried. "I'm sorry. So sorry. All of this was for nothing, Geryon. Nothing!"

  "Not nothing, never nothing. I have you." But for how long?

  Slowly the demons stalked forward, predators locked on prey. Eerie delight radiated from them.

  "You are the best thing that ever happened to me," Kadence said weakly, leaning her cheek against his back. "I do not care about my demise anymore, but I hate that I've placed you in grave danger."

  No. No! "You will not die." But even as he said it, the wall, so badly damaged, began to crack, to crumble, a hole appearing. Widening.

  Kadence's knees finally gave out, and he turned, roaring, easing her to the ground. I failed her. Damn this, I failed her!

  "Kadence."

  No response. No rising and falling of her chest, no moaning in pain. She was as still as death.

  "Tell me how to help you, Kadence. Please."

  Again, nothing.

  Tears burned his eyes. He had not cried for the wife that left him, had not cried for the life he'd lost, but he cried for this woman. I need you. She would want him to stop the demons from leaving this realm, but Geryon couldn't bring himself to move from her side.

  Something sharp scraped at his neck, and he jerked his head to the side. The Lords flew around them, cackling with glee. "Leave us," he growled.

  Kill her.

  Destroy her.

  Maim her.

  Too late. She's gone. More laughter.

  One of them swooped down and raked a claw over her cheek, drawing blood before Geryon realized what was happening. The rest scented the lifeblood and attacked in a frenzy.

  Geryon roared, throwing himself over her to take the brunt of their assault. Soon his back was in tatters, one of his horns chewed loose, a tendon severed. All the while he swung out his arm, hoping to slay as many as he could with his poison, but only one failed to dodge his blow.

  On and on the laughter and abuse continued.

  "I love you," Kadence whispered in his ear.

  His muscled spasmed in shock and relief at the sound of her voice. She was still alive. "I love you. Stay with me. Don't leave me."

  "I'm…sorry."

  He never would have brought her into hell had he known this would happen. He would have spent his entire existence at the gate, fighting to protect it. Her. "Go," he screamed to the demons. "Leave this place. The mortal realm is yours."

  As if the wall had merely been waiting for his permission, it finally toppled completely. Which meant—"No," he screamed. "I did not mean for you to collapse. I only meant for the demons to fly through." But it was too late, the damage was done.

  Gleeful, the Demon Lords flew into the cave, then disappeared from view. A new stream of tears burned Geryon's eyes as he gathered Kadence in his arms. What did he care about the mortal realm without this woman?

  "Goodbye, my love," she said, and died in his arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  She was dead. Kadence was dead. And there was nothing he could do to save her. He knew it as surely as he knew he would take his next breath. An unwanted, hated breath. Those stinging tears slid down his cheeks, mocking reminders that he lived—and she did not.

  She had wanted his help to save the wall, to save her. She had wanted his help to keep the Demon Lords inside hell, yet he had failed her on all counts.

  "I am so sorry, Geryon."

  At this newest sound of her voice, he blinked. What the—as he watched, her spirit began to rise from her motionless body. Hope fluttered inside his chest. Hope and joy and shock. Her body was destroyed, but her spirit would live on. Of course. He should have known. Every day he encountered such spirits, though none had been as pure as hers.

  He pushed to his feet, facing her, heart drumming madly. She smiled sadly at him.

  "I'm so sorry," she repeated.

  "Why?" When he'd never been happier? She was here, with him. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

  "I failed you. Had you been stationed at the gate as you had wanted, this would not have happened."

  "That isn't so. The demons would have ruined the wall, and thereby ruined you, but I would not have had the opportunity, no, the pleasure, of bonding with you. I cannot regret what happened." Not anymore. Not with her spirit just in front of him. "What of the demons?"

  "I suppose the gods will attempt to gather them, bemoaning me as a failure forevermore."

  He shook his head. "You are not a failure, love. You did everything within your power to stop them. Most would never even have en
tered the gates." His head tilted to the side as he studied her. She was as lovely as ever, like a dream of her former self. Before her, his life had been a wasteland. A moment without her would have been…well, hell.

  "Thank you, sweet Geryon. But even if the wall is repaired, even if the demons are somehow captured, I fear the gods will be unable to contain those demons here." She sighed. "They will always fight to escape."

  "The gods will find a way," he assured her. "They always do." He reached out to hug her to him, but his hand misted through her and he frowned, some of his happiness draining. Touching her was a necessity; he would not be able to live without her warmth, her softness.

  That's when realization hit him. He closed his eyes for a moment, steeped in quiet agony. "You are free, Kadence. Free from hell, free from the gods' commands. You can go anywhere you desire, do anything you wish."

  "Yes. But I do not have you." Tears filled her eyes. "I will leave you and wander the earth alone," she said with a firm shake of her head. Those tears splashed onto her cheeks. "I know gods and goddesses are allowed to choose where they wish to reside in the afterlife, but I have no desire to return to heaven or stay in hell. Unless…are you staying here? Would you like me to stay with you?" she asked hopefully. "If you would rather not have me, a being you cannot ever hope to feel, I will understand, but…"

  As she spoke, an idea sprang into his mind. A wild idea he did not discard, but rather embraced. "When I bonded to you, it was forever and another eternity. I will not give you up now."

  "But you will never again be able to touch me. You will never—"

  "I will. I promise." And with that, he sank his own poisoned claws into his chest, felt the toxin burn him, blistering, scorching. He screamed at the anguish, black winking over his eyes.

  When the pain eased, the blackness faded. His eyelids fluttered open and he saw that his body was gone, a pile of ash, his spirit floating beside Kadence. So many times over the centuries, he'd considered taking just such an action. Anything to end the monotony of his existence. But he had clung to life, for Kadence. To see her, to imagine caressing her and hope for the chance.

  Now, that chance was a reality.

  "I, too, am now free," he said. "Truly free."

  "You gave up your life for me," she sputtered through tears—and a grin she could not hide.

  "And I would do it again." He jerked her into his arms, grinning, too, because he could feel her again. "You are my everything. I am lost without you."

  "I love you so much," she said, raining little kisses all over his face. "But whatever will we do now?"

  "Live. Finally, we will live."

  And they did.

  When the gods realized that the wall between earth and hell had been breeched and a horde of Demon Lords let loose upon earth, they sent an army to repair the damage—but no one could catch the fiends. And even if they could, the gods knew that locking them back inside hell would merely invite another rebellion.

  Something had to be done.

  Though the stone barrier had fallen, the goddess of Oppression's body was still bound to the wall of hell. And so the gods built a box-sized prison from Kadence's bones, confident that the powers she had tapped into hours before her death still resided deep in the marrow.

  They were proven right. Once opened, the box drew the demons from their hiding places, holding them captive as even hell had been unable to do.

  The gods were pleased with their handiwork. If only they had not given the box to Pandora for safekeeping…but that is a story for another time.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-1754-0

  The Darkest Fire

  Copyright © 2008 by Gena Showalter

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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