The Darkest Whisper

“Unlike Amun, I’m not one to spill all my secrets,” Galen said.

“Well, until you do, I’m afraid I can’t believe you.”

He gave her another of those half smiles. “I’m devastated, of course.”

Gods, I hate him! She tapped a nail against her chin, as if she were deep in thought. She’d managed to distract him, and now she would piss him off. “Let’s see, let’s see. If I were a cowardly, jealous demon pretending to be an angel and I wanted to find and control an evil spirit, I would…what? Have others do my dirty work, definitely. Maybe even use children,” she said, gaze flicking past Ghost Boy. Her eyes widened as his narrowed. She’d meant to enrage him with the taunt, but she’d done more than that, she realized.

She’d found the answer. Somehow, some way, one—or more—of those Halfling children were capable of finding an otherworldly spirit. Maybe even Ghost Boy himself.

“We’ll take them from you,” she said, meeting Galen’s eyes once more. “Prevent you from using them ever again. We’ve won every other battle with you. This will be no different. I mean, we even have a Harpy on our side now. Have you perchance heard of what a Harpy can do?”

“You will shut your mouth,” the “angel” growled at her.

She’d gotten to him. Excellent. An emotional man was a man who made mistakes. “And you know what’s worse than a Harpy? Cronus, the new god king. He wants you dead. Did you know that?”

Galen straightened. “You lie.”

“Do I? The All-Seeing Eye—the Eye you lost to us—had a vision. In it, she saw you try and murder Cronus. Now he’s after you. I don’t know why he hasn’t killed you himself. I’m sure he has his reasons. But believe me, I’ve been his target. He won’t leave you alone until he has what he wants.”

Galen’s jaw hardened more with every word she spoke. “I would never hurt a Titan.”

“Wouldn’t you? You betrayed your closest friends.”

“They weren’t my friends,” he shouted, slamming a fist into the wall and rattling the foundation.

That’s the way, big boy. “Too bad they didn’t realize that earlier. But no matter. They still managed to defeat you. Just as they’ll defeat you every time you challenge them. It’s science, after all. You’re weaker.”

Fury sizzled from him, snapping under his skin. “Your precious Lucien wasn’t strong enough to lead us, Zeus’s elite army. He shouldn’t have been placed in charge.”

“So rather than challenge him like an honorable soldier, you convinced him to open Pandora’s box, then told the gods of his decision to betray them? You formed an army of your own and tried to stop him. Nope, that’s not cowardly at all.”

He stalked two steps forward before catching himself and halting. His hands fisted. “I did what I had to do. A good soldier wins by any means necessary. Just ask your friend Sabin.”

Push harder. You almost had him. “Ah, but like I said, you didn’t win, did you? Even though you knew what Lucien and the others were going to do, you weren’t able to stop them and prove them weak. You lost. You were made to look weak. You got cursed to house a demon inside you just like the others. You, you, you.” She laughed. “How humiliating.”

“Enough!”

“Want to hit me?” Again, she laughed cruelly. “Does the sweet little angel want to cut out Anya’s tongue? What would your followers think then, hmm? But I’m sure they’ve seen you do much worse. Or do you always have Stefano order that done, so you can appear merciful?”

For a long moment, he watched her, silent, not lunging toward her as she’d hoped. Then, to her surprise, he smiled. “Stefano’s not here, and I’m not feeling merciful. But don’t worry. This will only hurt for a second.” With that, he whipped a small crossbow from between his wings. Before she had time to duck, he fired two arrows, propelling her into the back wall. One cut through her left shoulder, the other her right, pinning her to the brick.

Pain exploded through her, her vision blurring. Blood cascaded down her arms, so hot it burned her. Sweat beaded on her brow and upper lip, but it didn’t cool her down.

The boy, she noticed distantly, had paled. His lower lip was trembling.

“I think it’s time for Lucien to join our little party,” Galen said. “He’ll watch everything we do to you. Strip you, take you, hurt you. Let’s see if he’s strong enough to save you, shall we?”

“Touch him,” she managed to work through clenched teeth, “and I’ll eat your heart in front of you.”

He laughed, and oh, how she despised the sound of his amusement. But his laughter was cut short as a boom erupted and the building actually shook.

“Looks like the cavalry’s here,” Anya said, grinning despite the throbbing in her shoulders. “I knew the others would come for us. I believe I mentioned the Harpy, yes?”

He looked at her, the first stirring of panic in his eyes, then turned his gaze to the door.

Another boom, another shake.

“This isn’t over. If she fights her way down, fine,” he told the boy as he stomped to the exit, “but do not let her out of this room.”

CHAPTER 28

Though Sabin and Gwen hadn’t been spotted by any Hunters or frisked by security—Doubt had earned its keep, making everyone around them doubt everything they saw—the flight to the States had been hard, in every sense of the word. Gwen had snuggled up next to Sabin, hour after hour, and he hadn’t been able to touch her the way he craved. And he wouldn’t, not in front of witnesses and not until she trusted him. Winning her heart and her trust was the most important battle of his life, and for once he’d decided not to rush it.

I will have her.

When they’d deplaned, Sabin, who was used to being around humans, having them stare at his height and muscled strength, hadn’t liked the way males had stared at his woman. Their desire had been obvious.

Drove him freaking insane. Which was why he’d allowed Doubt to swoop into those human minds and fill them with insecurities about their appearance, their prowess in bed—and why he’d been tempted to erupt into one of Maddox’s famous violent fits. He’d managed to control himself, keeping his eye on the prize: the safe return of his friends. But only because Gwen hadn’t seemed to notice the gaping, the drooling mouths, and the stopping dead in their tracks.

They’d immediately driven to the house the warriors had been staying at, a house miles from anything and everything. They’d watched it for a bit, ascertaining two things: one, the warriors weren’t there and two, Hunters hadn’t been there and planted little presents. Too bad about the lack of Hunters, if you asked Sabin. He was ready for action.

He and Gwen had loaded themselves with weapons, each grabbed a ball cap to hide their hair and shield their faces, and headed to the only other place he knew his friends would have gone. Now they walked the street in front of a row of buildings, and he knew he was close to the training facility, but…he couldn’t find it. Each building blended into the next. And each time he counted off, he lost track of their numbers.

Gwen paused and rubbed the back of her neck, staring up into the sky. “This is hopeless. We’re in the right place. Why can’t we find it?”

He sighed. Maybe it was time to bring out the big guns. If the god king would respond to him for once. “Cronus,” he muttered, “a little help would be nice. You want us to succeed, right?”

A moment passed, then another. Nothing happened.

He was just about to give up when suddenly Gwen gasped. “Look.”

Sabin followed her gaze, experienced a jolt of shock. There, on the roof of the building to their right, a building Sabin had somehow overlooked time and time again, stood the god king. The building seemed to shake beneath him. His white robe whipped around his ankles. After being ignored for so long, Sabin was being aided? And so easily?

“Now you owe me, Doubt, and I always collect.” Cronus disappeared a second later.

It would benefit Cronus for Sabin to win this day. The god should have been happy to aid the cause, not