The Darkest Whisper lotu-5

by Gena Showalter

  “I’ll do my best,” Gwen told them, and she meant it. But would her best be good enough?

  “TELL ME, what’s a goddess doing with a demon?”

  Anya eyed her lover’s sworn enemy: Galen, keeper of the demon of Hope. He occupied one side of her new prison, and she the other. His long white wings were tucked into his back, the top arches rising over his shoulders. His eyes were blue like the sky, and the more she looked into them, the more she would swear she saw fluffy white clouds. Those eyes were meant to lull, to relax.

  They only managed to piss her off.

  Ghost Boy had “escorted” her—damned kid had taken control of her body as if it were his own—into this small, sparse hellhole and left her. Where she’d waited. And waited. Alone, enraged. Now she knew the Hunters had left her for their leader—who had remained in Buda until he’d been told of the bounty here.

  Meanwhile, though, Gideon’s screams had echoed through the halls—and with his screams, gleeful laughter from his captors. Poor Lies. She felt a little guilty for kicking him earlier. Had he spilled any secrets?

  “Have you no answer, beauty?”

  “I’m having fun, that’s what.” They’d made the mistake of leaving her unfettered. Although Ghost Boy had accompanied Galen, of course. Apparently, he was their insurance policy. Well, they’d soon learn they should have picked a better policy. Without that strange metal walling her in, her strength was returning. Soon, she would be a living nightmare. And they would suffer.

  Was Lucien recovering as she was? Anya hated being away from him.

  Slowly Galen’s lips curled with amusement. “You’re feisty. I like that. Lucien is a lucky man. More than lucky. Such an ugly man capturing the heart of one such as you is nothing short of a miracle.”

  Even his voice was meant to calm. Actually, everything about him seemed purposely honed to offer hope, like a bright light in a room of darkness and fear. What he didn’t know was that Anya preferred the darkness. Always had.

  “He isn’t ugly,” she said, pacing from one side of the back wall to the other. The more she stayed in motion, the less her actions would be watched, she suspected. “He’s honorable and loving and wonderfully fierce.”

  A scoff. “But he’s a demon.”

  She stopped to arch a brow at him. “Well, yeah. And so the hell are you.”

  “No.” Patient, Galen shook his head. “I’m an angel, sent from the heavens to cleanse this earth of evil.”

  “Ha!” She kicked back into motion. “That’s a good one. Believing our own press, are we?”

  “I won’t argue my origins with a demon whore.” No longer did he sound amused or tolerant. “Now, tell me what the Lords know of the two artifacts that remain missing.”

  “Who says they’re missing?” she taunted.

  There were several beats of silence. “True. For all you know, I have one.”

  Bastard. Did he?

  “If they had all four, they would not be here, at my mercy. They would be searching for the box. Or would have found it.”

  She rolled her eyes, though she trembled inside. “Sure you have any mercy, angel?”

  His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “You’re alive, aren’t you?”

  Her heels clicked against the tile. “But then, I’m sure you think you can use me in some way.”

  He crossed his arms over his massive chest, stretching the fabric of his white shirt. His pants were white, too. Overkill if you asked Anya, but whatever. She doubted he’d want fashion advice from her. “I’m growing weary of you, goddess. Perhaps I should have Death brought in.”

  Meaning he’d rather amuse himself with Lucien’s torture? “Look, I’ll talk to you, tell you everything you want to know, but only if you get rid of the kid. He annoys me.” She didn’t want someone so young to be hurt by her hand.

  “I apologize if I gave you the impression that I’m foolish.” Galen’s mouth curled into a half smile. “He stays.”

  It had been worth a shot. Time for Plan B. Distraction, then fury. If she couldn’t fly at him, she would make him fly at her. The boy wouldn’t interfere with his leader. “Why do you hate the Lords so much, anyway? What’d they ever do to you?”

  “A better question is this: why shouldn’t I hate them? They want to ruin me. Therefore, I will ruin them first.” He splayed his arms, an it’s-that-simple gesture. “All these years, we’ve only been able to injure them, too afraid of releasing their demons. If that happened, the gods would curse me anew. I’ve already been warned.” He smiled faintly. “But we’re close, so close to changing that. Any day now I’ll know if the demon of Distrust was able to bond with my female. If so…I will lead the most powerful army this world has ever seen.”

  “Your spineless servant seemed to think you’d use weaklings and lock them away for the good of this world.”

  He shrugged. “However would he get that idea?”

  Okay, thinking cap time. He’d said he would be cursed somehow if he killed the Lords and freed their demons. But not, obviously, if he had somewhere to store those demons. Taking them from the Lords, though, would destroy the immortals. Destroy—kill—Lucien.

  The bottom dropped out of her stomach, and her blood ran cold. “How did you find Distrust? How did you capture it, a crazed demon?” Stefano had claimed they’d already successfully bonded the demon with another body. Clearly, he’d lied. Again. But the fact that they were trying to do so was just as frightening.

  “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 demanding favors in return.

  “Who was that?” Gwen asked. “How did he do that? And do you think my…Galen is in there?”

  Sabin explained about Cronus. “Galen…I don’t know. What if he is? Do you still want to do this?”

  “Yes.” No hesitation this time, though there’d been an edge to her tone.

  Was he asking too much of her? Sabin didn’t have parents. The Greeks had created him already fully formed. As there was no love lost between him and the former gods, he couldn’t even fathom a guess as to how Gwen was feeling.

  “I’ll be fine,” she added, as if she read his thoughts. “After everything he’s done, he needs to be taken down.”

  There at the end, her voice had trembled. Sabin decided then and there to intervene if Galen opted to join the fray—which wasn’t likely to happen as the bastard always cut and run, leaving his lackeys to do his dirty work. Hope placed himself before others, and always had. But Sabin didn’t want Gwen regretting anything; he didn’t want her to later blame him for her actions—or his own, he thought with a sinking stomach. He’d wondered before but couldn’t help doing so again: Would she hate him if he was the one to defeat and restrain her father?

  Only two things mattered to Sabin right now: Gwen and his friends’ safety. In that order. She came first, now and always. Nothing would change that.

  “Let’s do this,” she said softly, and trekked forward.

  “Before we go in there,” he said, keeping pace beside her, “I want to tell you again that I love you. I love you so much I ache with it. I just…I wanted you to know in case anything happens.”

  “Nothing’s going to happen.” She stumbled, caught herself. “But I love you, too. I do. There’s no denying that anymore. I’m still not sure about you, though. I, just, I don’t know. Doubt is like my pet now, and I like that. Really. I just—”

  “It’s okay.” She loved him. Thank the gods, she loved him. He drew her to a halt and pulled her into his embrace, hating her words, but understanding nonetheless. He should have trusted her. From the beginning, he should have placed her first. “We’ll figure all of that out later. I promise. I don’t want any worries on your mind right now. Distractions can get you—”

  “Killed,” she finished for him, smiling. “I paid attention to your lessons.” She tentatively wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head in the hollow of his neck. Her hair was soft against his skin. “You be careful in there.”

  Gods, he adored this woman. Her strength, her courage, her
wit. “You, too. Whatever you do, save yourself. Understand me?” he said fiercely. “I’d be lost without you.”

  “I will.” She gave a half-amused, half-strained smile. “That’s Harpy code, after all.”

  He kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him then, her lips puffy and red and he couldn’t resist. He meshed their mouths together, his tongue sweeping inside hers with a possessive thrust. Her hands lifted, tangling in his hair, and she moaned.

  He swallowed the sound, savoring it, letting it fill him up. Here was his life, in his arms, all he needed. But he forced himself to pull away. “Come on. I want to get this over with so that you and I can talk. Why don’t you go through the front door, and I’ll take the back. We’ll scope out each entrance, meet in the middle.”

  With another swift kiss to her mouth, Sabin started forward again. The sun burned bright, glaring down at him. He kept his face down, hoping he wouldn’t be recognized if cameras were scanning the area.

  Can you do this?

  Yes.

  What if you fail?

  I won’t.

  What if Gwen is hurt?

  She won’t be. He would make sure of it.

  “Pick up the pace, slowpoke.” A slight breeze caressed his face as Gwen jumped into hyperdrive and passed him, her wings giving her a speed he could never hope to match. That didn’t stop him from trying, though. He didn’t want her in that building alone. He quickened his steps and raced around back. There he found a fence with spikes that stretched toward the sky and electric wires that circled every slat.

  Usually he took his time and disabled such wires. Today, he didn’t have that luxury. He simply climbed. The shocks that worked through him would have killed a human. They were painful, stopped his heart twice, pushed the breath out of him continually, but he still didn’t slow. Up, up, he shimmied, until he was falling to the ground. His boots thumped into concrete, rattling him, and he took off in a run, already going for his guns.

  It didn’t take him long to reach his first quarry. There were three Hunters seated at a round table, an umbrella shading them. Had they not felt the building shake? Their bad. Finally. The party could start.