The Darkest Pleasure

Reyes smoothed a shaky hand over Danika's brow. 'Stay with me, angel.' Never had he felt so helpless.

'Always,' she said with another of those weak smiles. 'Love you.'

Oh, gods. The words, delivered now, nearly slayed him. 'I love you. So much. I cannot live without you.' He didn't turn away from her as he begged, 'Lucien, find a healer. Bring him here. Please.'

Lucien nodded and disappeared.

There were multiple fists against the door next to his, and then feminine commands could be heard. 'Open this door! You didn't have to lock us back in. We wouldn't have interrupted you. What's going on?'

'Danika. Danika, are you okay?'

'Let them in,' Reyes shouted, praying she would be strengthened by her family.

Someone opened the door, and two of the women rushed inside Reyes's bedroom. They spotted Danika in his arms, bleeding, and gasped. They were rushing to her side a moment later. The third, the grandmother, was in casts and had to be carried.

One of the warriors shouted, 'No, Aeron. No!'

Another growled, 'I don't want to shoot you!'

That's when Reyes saw that Aeron had stood. Having all four women in the same room must have heightened his bloodlust to another degree, giving him all the vigor he needed.

Danika's sister screamed as the warrior reached for her, missed as she scrambled away.

Her mother turned, splaying her arms to block Danika. 'Leave my babies alone, you animal!'

Hearing this, Danika struggled to sit up.

'No,' Reyes commanded. 'Don't move.'

Aeron strode forward. The warriors were jumping in front of him, trying to knock him down. No one shot at Aeron, though, as they'd threatened. Reyes couldn't blame them. In the end, he hadn't been able to kill his friend, either.

Aeron batted the seasoned warriors away like flies, getting closer and closer to the women. Legion was flying between the warriors, as well, biting them as she'd done Reyes. 'No hurt my friend.'

Unlike Reyes, they didn't remain standing and didn't grow stronger from the pain.

They fell, unmoving, the creature's saliva poison to them.

And soon there was no one standing in the way of Aeron as he bore down on his targets.

THIS IS IT. There's no more time.

Paris dropped to his knees for a third time in the center of his room. He didn't have to cut himself, didn't have to summon Cronus, for the god king appeared of his own accord the moment Paris hit the floor.

'I have already raised Sienna from the dead,' the king said. 'She waits in my throne room and can be here in seconds. She can be yours, if only you'll say the words.'

Oh, to hold her again. To touch her soft skin, to gaze into her lovely eyes. To have her delicate hands tracing his body with reverence. She hadn't liked him, but she had been attracted to him. She had allowed him inside her body, and it had been the greatest moment of his endless life.

'If you do not choose her, perhaps I will keep her for myself. It's been quite a while since I allowed myself a mortal.' Cronus shrugged, lifting the hem of his white robe.

Paris bit the inside of his mouth. He should have known better than to summon this god and beg a favor. The thought of Cronus touching her, kissing her, sickened him. She is mine! 'Why do you hate us so much?'

'Hate you?' Cronus laughed, but there was no humor to the sound. 'Hate is too simple an explanation. You could say I'm prone to dislike anyone who once served my enemies. And yet I admit I am still intrigued by you Lords of the Underworld. There is more humanity in you than I would have expected to see in men who are part demon. Even now, as the one called Aeron stalks toward his prey, he screams inside his mind to stop, to turn away.'

Paris stilled.

A sigh. 'He has surprised me, I must say. He had the grandmother in his grasp, had only to cut her throat. Yet he managed to suppress his bloodlust long enough to escape her. He even managed to wipe the memory from his own mind. The will-power required for such a thing…I marvel.'

But Aeron would not be able to make himself forget the slaughter of those four innocent women, Paris knew. From the beginning, the tormented warrior had known the act would change his life forever. And not for the better. Aeron would be eternally haunted.

So would Paris, knowing he could have done something to prevent it.

'I see the way your mind is churning,' Cronus said, crouching in front of him. Their gazes locked, blue against fathomless brown. 'Know that if you choose Aeron, you will never again see Sienna. I will make sure of it. Just because I can.'

'And if I choose Sienna?'

'Aeron will slay the Ford women. All but Danika. Her, I have decided to keep. The others are useless to me, so are of no consequence.'

'Why, then, did you damn Aeron's soul with the killing of them?' Paris asked, incredulous.

Cronus shrugged. 'I knew one of them was my Eye, my seer into the spiritual realms, but I did not know which one until recently. I thought to destroy the entire bloodline so it could not be used against me again. Therefore, all had to die. Yet now, having watched the youngest girl, I am reminded of all the Eye once did for me —before Zeus seduced her from my side and used her against me. Unlike her ancestor, Danika's heart has been given. She will not be swayed by other gods.'

'Why not simply free Aeron, then, if you no longer have need to destroy Danika and her family? If you want Danika alive? Why put his freedom in my hands?'

'Because you presented me with a question I have come to realize my humans face daily. Who is of greater import, a lover or a friend? And now, demon, I am through waiting for your answer.'

Paris gulped. The ultimate choice. He'd known he would have to make it, but here and now, in the moment of truth, he knew he would hate himself, no matter his decision.

'Choose,' Cronus said, his voice booming angrily. 'While Sienna paces the heavens, Aeron is even now upon the women. He is raising his dagger. Sienna is crying, uncertain of her future. Aeron is—'

'Aeron,' he said, falling forward, already mourning all over again the only woman he ever could have loved. 'I choose Aeron.'

WITHOUT WARNING, Aeron collapsed beside the bed. Legion curled into his side, stroking his face. Reyes watched, blinking in shock as a smile lifted the now-sleeping warrior's lips, and peace, such peace, smoothed the lines around his eyes.

What the hell had just happened? Aeron had been poised for the deathblow, Reyes unable to act. And then everything had stopped, frozen, no one able to breathe, to move. Then the sleeping, poisoned warriors awoke as if nothing had ever been wrong. And then Aeron had fallen.

Everyone turned and looked at everyone else, confusion scenting the air. Lucien arrived a moment later with the healer, a sputtering human who almost soiled himself when he spied the huge crowd of hulking warriors.

'Reyes,' Danika whispered.

Bending down, Reyes kissed her temple. 'No talking, love. Save your strength. The healer will—'

'I'm having a vision.'

He did not care about a vision; he cared about her. 'Try to push it to the back of your mind. Just stay with me while the healer patches you up, all right?' He turned to the man in question, commanding, 'Fix her. Give her Tylenol. Whatever you have to do, fix her.'

The human kicked into gear, rushing forward. 'Of course, of course.'

'I'm in heaven, lying on a marble dais.' Danika smiled, her eyes glassy. 'I'm covered in white and the angels are singing.'

'What? No, no.' He shook his head in violent denial as he realized what she was saying. 'Hold on, just hold on.'

The healer crouched beside her, already removing tools from a black case.

'Hurry,' he ordered the human. But he needn't have bothered. Danika's eyes closed and her head lolled to the side. She disappeared a moment later, and he was clasping only air.

His scream echoed through the heavens and earth, finally resounding in hell.