The Darkest Touch

The words and the truth they proclaimed so confidently—that the allegiance of the minions had been feigned—enraged Lucifer, and he tried to slash at her anyway. But the minions took the blows for her, shielding her from receiving so much as a scratch.

Hades released Torin, who quickly scaled the stairs.

In typical grandiose fashion, Lucifer announced, “This isn’t over,” before flashing away. Realizing he’d lost this round, and quite badly, too.

The minions fell away from her as Torin hacked through the length of her chain, freeing her from the throne. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, his heart galloping against her temple.

“You came back for me,” she said. Not that she’d ever doubted him.

“For you? Always.”

My sweet Prince Charming.

No. My king. My other half.

“As touching as this reunion is,” Hades sneered, “we have other things to do.”

He was right. And he’d come for her, too—which baffled her. He’d never been one to put himself out for another. Not even for payment.

Perhaps he had changed.

Did that mean she was ready to forget the past and start hanging out with him? No. Just that she might not make his murder as painful as she’d originally planned.

“Baden is here,” she said.

Torin stiffened as Hades’s long legs ate away at the space between them. The dark lord crouched in front of her, intent, saying, “Do you want this Baden returned to the Lords?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Then I’ll see that it’s done. He’ll be waiting for you at the fortress in Budapest.”

It was difficult, but she did it—she said the words Thank you.

He inclined his head. “You will spend the next two days in this palace. As my honored guest, of course. I will see to your every need, ensure you are utterly protected, as we wait for the All-seeing Eye to open the portal for you.”

Seeing no other option, she said, “Torin will stay, too.”

Hades worked his jaw with irritation. “There’s no need. I can return him now.”

“Torin will stay,” she insisted. “We’ll be bunking together.”

“There are more than enough—”

“We’ll be in the same room or we’ll leave,” Torin said. “I don’t care what we have to face out there.”

Hades did not look away from Keeley as he nodded stiffly.

She smiled at him. “You may show us to our accommodations.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

THROUGHOUT THE PALACE minions were doing things that made Torin want to scrub his corneas with bleach. Also there were countless red, beady gazes lingering on his fly as if he’d hidden a snack pack beneath it.

Hades opened a door and waved them inside a spacious chamber. “All yours. Shout my name if you need anything, and I will appear.” He spoke to Keeley and only to Keeley. But his menacing glare to Torin spoke volumes. “Shout his name and I’m not sure how I’ll react.”

Torin shut the door in his face.

Keeley hurried throughout the room, plugging peepholes and covering what had to be two-way mirrors.

“I know this is going to sound moronic coming from me,” he said, “but I kind of feel like I’m food for every STD in the underworld.” The place had probably seen more action than Paris’s pants.

Keeley said nothing, just walked to him with steely determination and claimed one of his swords. She cleaned it in the en suite bathroom, then removed her shirt and revealed her freshly branded back.

Fury detonated within him.

“Cut them off me,” she demanded.

First instinct: refusal. No way he’d hurt her.

But the scars were the equivalent of chains, leaving her vulnerable. And he knew how much she despised vulnerability. Someone had to do this and he’d be damned if he allowed anyone else to touch her.

“Lie on the bed,” he instructed.

She obeyed without hesitation.

Such lovely curves. Skin like satin. Elegant spine.

He gave his temple a hard punch, punch. This wasn’t sexy playtime.

Disease was strangely silent. Happy to be home?

“I’m sorry,” Torin whispered and got to work.

Never once did she cry out, but that wasn’t the blessing it should have been. It wasn’t because her pain threshold was high. It was. Or that this barely registered. It did. It was because she’d had to do this before. For years. Decades. Centuries. That’s how long she’d lived with so much pain—all alone. She knew what to expect and had steeled herself against it.

After all she’d endured, all she’d suffered, she’d still chosen Torin to be a part of her future.

I’m not worthy.

But he would be. He would make himself. He loved her with all of his heart, all that he was—every fiber of his being. He would be whatever she needed. Give her whatever she wanted.

He was trembling as he finished cutting out the ward. As carefully as possible he soaked the gaping wound in water, then bandaged it using strips of her shirt, the only thing currently available. He wished there were a potted plant or—

Head slap! She wasn’t only bonded to the earth. She was also bonded to Torin.

Although, despite their bond, she had still sickened every time he touched her. But she hadn’t reacted negatively to his semen when he’d come on her belly. That had to mean something. Maybe she wouldn’t react negatively to his blood, either. Might actually react positively.