The Darkest Touch

Don’t have the patience for this.

Sighing, Keeley released another stream of power, crushed the creature into a ball and flattened him like a pancake. Tiny metals parts flew in every direction.

Torin’s masculine scent drifted by on a tendril of wind, claiming her attention. He was close!

Come out, come out wherever you are.

As she sniffed, she picked up the scent of three other prisoners, as well. Two males, one female. Keeley bit the side of her tongue until she tasted blood. Who was the female to Torin? His latest girlfriend?

Probably. He was too pretty to spend his nights alone.

The thought annoyed her, but she couldn’t fathom why. Unless... Yes, of course. Mari had been forever denied a chance at a happily-ever-after, so Torin should be, as well. It had nothing to do with Keeley’s sizzling attraction to him.

An attraction that hadn’t lessened with the passage of time, but grown.

I’m too smart to go through another bad-boy phase. Yes? Please?

But it was becoming harder and harder to convince herself that Torin’s appeal centered around her desperation, that any male would have affected her just as strongly. Only one male had emerald eyes twined with different shades of green, each brighter than the last. Only one male had those sensuous lips... What would they feel like against her skin?

Did he prefer a soft press...or a hard demand?

No! No pleasure. Not from him. Only revenge. She—

Tripped on a strategically placed vine and stumbled. As she regained her footing, she heard another whoosh. About fifty feet away a crossbow was anchored to a branch that was connected to the vine. She caught the arrow by the shaft before the metal tip could sink into her hammering heart.

Well, well. Another mark against Torin.

Flickers of anger. Thunder booming.

Perhaps she needed to expand her Kill Torin plan. Find him, torture him for being so irresistible, and then slay the girlfriend in front of him.

In a word—perfect! Mari would have been proud.

Keeley’s shoulder drooped, her chest aching all over again. Actually, Mari would have scolded her for such a plot. The girl would have said, her tone gentle, “Keeley, love, you yourself have killed many people, and every victim had a best friend left behind. You know this. Do not hate someone else for committing the same sin. And do not wallow in the past. It’s like quicksand and will keep you trapped. Forgive and move on.”

So wise, her Mari.

But...could Keeley allow Torin to walk away from the travesty he’d caused?

Can’t do it. Just can’t.

Her heart was broken. Only vengeance would spackle the pieces together again.

As she motored along, lost in thought, she stepped onto a dilapidated board. The center snapped and she fell, crashing into the bottom of a pit before she even realized what had happened. Her ankle twisted, and her knees buckled. Sharp pains exploded through her, but they were nothing she couldn’t handle.

Gold star, Torin. He’d done his job well.

A shadow fell over her. “It didn’t have to be this way, you know.”

Skin prickling with an insane amount of heat, she glanced up. The diabolical warrior stood at the top edge of the pit, the barrel of a rifle aimed at her head. Breath caught in her throat—but not because of the weapon.

He’s even more beautiful than I remember.

He’s also a thief. He stole Mari. My sunshine. My happiness.

“Really, Torin? Really?” she asked, as though disappointed, hoping to mask her humiliating reaction to him. Blood, heating right along with her skin. Every cell singing, begging for a rush of sensation only the press of male hardness against female softness could give. Hands, itching. To touch him. No, no. To kill him. Of course. For Mari. Sweet Mari. “Bringing a gun to a power fight? Not wise.”

“You don’t want to know everything I brought, princess.”

“You’re right—because none of it will help you.” She flashed to the top of the pit and smacked the weapon out of his hand before he had a chance to fire. The fragrance of sandalwood and spice drifted from him, and her mouth watered. One taste, just one. And then...

I’ll want more.

How was he doing this? How was he sweeping her up in a maddening storm of unstoppable chemistry, causing anticipation to build inside her until she shivered? Just by nearing her!

He stroked his white-hot gaze over her. His breaths began to come shallowly, and he licked his lips.

He lusts for me?

He might as well have touched her, so strongly did she react to the darkly intoxicating thought. The ache...too much, too intense. Overwhelming.

No! Just no.

“Gotta say, Miss Keys. You’re looking very fine.”

Reveal nothing. Hide everything. “Obviously,” she said, then ruined the bold statement by self-consciously combing her fingers through her hair.

Since last they’d faced off, she’d scrubbed from head to toe with enough force to skin herself—again. Even though the dirt was gone, she had been unable to find new clothes and still wore the same tattered rag.

Keeley would rather start every conversation she ever had with “Do you want to see my big fat lady balls?” than not look her best. Her own people had found her lacking in every way, and Hades’s minions used to delight in teasing her about her odd coloring; she’d never quite shaken the heart-crushing sense of not being good enough, not fitting in.

“But what does that have to do with anything?” she finished.

“I’ll tell you...after you tell me how good I look,” he said, and he appeared to be fighting a grin.