The Darkest Pleasure

But Galen had planned to betray them all along, jealous for a reason that had nothing to do with the box. Lucien had been chosen by the gods as Captain of the Guard; he had not. Only later had they learned that Galen had used them to do his dirty work, the actual opening of the box. While they were carrying out his brilliant idea, he was mobilizing Pandora's army to help him cut down his 'friends' so he could capture the demons himself, take credit for saving the world—and usurp Lucien's role.

At first, everything had gone smoothly. Paris had managed to lure Pandora away, for even then females had not been able to resist him. The others had stealthily approached the box. But when they reached it, a cadre of soldiers rushed them—Galen among them.

A battle quickly ensued. Bloody, violent. In the end, the box was indeed opened, the demons released—all those demons, finally free. But despite Galen's best efforts—despite their efforts—there'd been no catching them. The demons were stronger than any of them had assumed. Worse, the box had vanished like a phantom of the night as the demons devoured the flesh of Pandora's guards, piranhas who'd been starved and desperate. The screams…they haunted Sabin still.

Though Galen had turned on them and 'helped' Pandora, he had played a role in the box's opening, and so the gods punished him alongside the others. Hosting the demon of Hope didn't seem like a harsh enough punishment to Sabin, but Sabin had been unable to deliver his own brand of justice. In the turbulent aftermath of their demon-curse, Galen had disappeared and Sabin had been both glad and furious. Vengeance would have been nice. Perhaps now he'd have his chance.

'How dare he do this?' Strider snapped. 'Wasn't one betrayal enough for him?'

'If he's controlling the Hunters, could he also be pulling the strings at that Hunter-infested Institute Ashlyn used to work for? She once mentioned that no one had ever seen its president because he never went out in public.' Maddox glanced around the room. 'Galen, do you think?'

'Maybe.' Sabin shrugged. 'Ironic that a facility that prides itself on human superiority could be secretly run by a half demon, half immortal. How do you think he manages to keep the Hunters from knowing the truth about him? They cannot know or they would revolt. And why would Galen want us dead, anyway?'

'Why did he convince us to open the box, and then turn on us?' Strider asked. 'He had to win, always, no matter the price.'

'Look who's talking, Defeat,' Maddox said.

'Perhaps he always planned to try to crush us, to rise above us—even the gods—and win the heavens.'

Sabin gripped the dagger sheathed in his weapon belt. 'Whatever his reasons, if you're right and we're about to have a cozy little family reunion, I'm going to take his head. His skull will look nice on my nightstand. Save me from having to get up to use the bathroom at night.'

Paris flicked him a wry glance. 'I tell the jokes here. Anyway, I wouldn't get my hopes up that he'll make an appearance.'

Grinning like the insane freak that he was, Torin clapped excitedly. 'Hopes up. Galen is Hope. Funny. Too bad I think you're right. For whatever reason, Galen hasn't yet revealed himself to us. He doesn't know that we know he's the leader of the Hunters.'

'Then let's send him a warm fuzzy card and invite him over. And by card I mean all of his Hunters in body bags,' Strider said.

'Oh, that's so wrong.' Meaning, it was right. Gleeful, Gideon rubbed his hands together. 'This is going to be absolutely yawn inducing.'

'So,' Torin said, fingers flying over the keyboard. 'Did we decide to let the Hunters inside or not? They want Danika, the All-Seeing Eye, and they'll be desperate because they think she'll be able to help them find the box, ending us. Letting them inside will place them closer to her.'

Sabin shook his head. 'Nope, not closer. Reyes is escaping with her. She'll be moving farther away, while the Hunters close in on us.'

'How's she an artifact, anyway?' Cameo grumbled.

'Gods, woman,' William said. 'Your voice is like death. Can you shut it until I leave the room? Please. Seriously, you're like the one woman in the world I want to resist.'

She glowered over at him.

'You had better 'shut it,'' Torin snapped at the warrior, no longer grinning, 'or you'll find yourself in one of Strider's body bags.'

Cameo's glare became the closest thing to a grin Sabin had seen on her face in centuries. 'Ashlyn said the artifacts are guarded by the monster Hydra, and Anya later confirmed it. No one has been guarding the girl.'

'Perhaps Hydra used to guard her,' Sabin said. 'Danika's had to be around since ancient times, but obviously isn't immortal so has had to be reborn. Maybe reincarnated. Or maybe the ability is passed through her bloodline, which is why, according to the gods, the entire family has be annihilated. Or perhaps Hydra simply lost her. Hell, maybe Reyes is Hydra. You've seen how he is with her.'

There was a beat of silence, then someone chortled, 'Reyes is Hydra,' then Lucien said, 'Let them in. We'll fight them here. Safest that way.'

Torin nodded, his fingers never slowing on the keyboard.

Itching with the desire to fight and fight now, Sabin studied the monitors, eight screens that spanned the entire hillside. Nighttime had long since fallen, moonlight allowing only the barest hint of light past the canopy of trees.

All of the Hunters were wearing black and had even painted their faces. But they couldn't hide from the heat sensors or even Sabin's trained eye. Besides the red blur, every rustle of leaves, every scattering of dirt gave them away.

'Shit. They're like locusts,' William said. 'I mean, seriously. Bugs. There's probably a hundred of them out there.'

'Scared?' Sabin asked.

'Hell, no. I think I just came.'

Sabin's kind of man.

'How long till they hit?' Strider asked. He shifted from one booted foot to the other, anticipation humming from him.

Torin shrugged, his long white hair shifting on his wide shoulders. 'Four minutes. Maybe three. Depends on how smart they are. Some already fell in our pits, and some were killed by the hidden arrows.'

As long as I get some, I'm happy, Sabin thought. 'They won't storm through the front door all at once. They'll split up. They know we know they're out there, so they're not going to try to be quiet much longer. Some will stay at ground level. Some will climb through windows. Some will probably come down from helis, just in case Danika obeyed orders and went to the roof.'

'Then we'll split up, as well,' Lucien said. 'My men and William will take the hill. Yours can have our leftovers.'

Sabin grinned. 'What you mean, is we'll fight the bulk of Hunters. I knew I loved you for a reason.'

A chorus of chuckles rang out, just as he'd intended. Lucien and his men took off then, grinning as they headed outside. They had lived here for hundreds of years. They knew the best places to lie in wait, knew every secret passage to secure.

Unfortunately, Sabin did not. 'Should we free Aeron? Let him join the fight? He's a good man to have at your side.'

'Hell, no,' Torin said. 'He'll go for our heads, as well as the Hunters. What's the matter? You scared? Well, don't be. I'll have a monitor trained on every floor of the fortress. Program your cells to vibrate and I'll alert you as the Hunters enter, telling you where they are.'

'How did I ever let you go?' Sabin asked him.

'You didn't,' Torin said dryly. 'I left you to follow Lucien.'

'Semantics.' He turned to his warriors and motioned to the hall with a tilt of his chin. 'Let's do this.'

Each of them nodded and stalked from the bedroom, withdrawing their phones as they walked. Sabin was behind them but quickly pulled ahead, his stride long and purposeful.

'Good day to die,' Kane said.

For Hunters, it certainly was. Sabin shoved his phone back into his pocket and filled a hand with his 9 mm. He