The Darkest Torment

by Gena Showalter

  Katarina used his distraction to her advantage, tearing out his throat yet again. Hades fell, the shadows disappearing, and Baden threw himself between the two combatants.

  His glamour girl tried to shove him out of the way, still snapping and snarling at Hades, who leaped to his feet, his throat already on the mend.

  Baden’s first thought: I’m still tangible.

  His second: Finish this.

  “You might be able to kill me,” Katarina spat at Hades, still trying to get through Baden, “but I’m going to take you with me.”

  The two were cut and bleeding, clothes tattered and stained. Both were panting.

  “No more,” Baden said, cupping the back of Katarina’s neck and drawing her into his side. As Destruction mewled, glad to have her near, he petted her hair and whispered words of praise in her ear.

  Gradually she relaxed against him.

  The dogs lined up at his sides, glaring at Hades, perhaps even preventing him from making another move against her.

  “Do you trust me?” Baden asked Katarina.

  Her gaze, now filled with a wealth of vulnerabilities, met his. “You know I do.”

  Someone had to win the war with Lucifer, and he would rather it be Hades. “If Hades agrees to our terms, will you allow him to live?” He wanted to kill the man—and still might—but better to err on the side of caution today. They could always kill him later.

  She drew in a breath, slowly released it. She nodded.

  Baden kissed her on the forehead before facing the king. “I’m no longer yours to command, but I’ll continue to be your ally in the war against Lucifer. In return, you won’t harm Katarina or the hounds. You won’t pressure them to aid your cause. If they forgive you for what transpired this day—and in the past—they forgive you. If not, it’s your loss. The choice belongs to them. You won’t get me any other way.”

  Hades looked Baden over with...pride?

  If he liked that, wait until he heard the rest. “You fought my woman, and I will punish you.” It would be bloody, and it would be violent. Hades had much to answer for. But it would happen after the war, when a worse enemy had been dealt with. “No bond matters more than the one I share with Katarina.”

  “Yo, Baden,” Pandora called. “I want in on this.”

  He couldn’t help with her bands. She had to find the strength to overcome them on her own. But he could give her something. “Pandora will be given a kingdom of her own to rule.” It was what she’d wanted, what she’d hoped for.

  Hades shocked him to the depths of his soul by nodding. “All shall be as you’ve asked. Your strength has proven your worth...my son.”

  * * *

  What happened next happened quickly. Katarina could taste the tang of copper in her mouth, could hazily recall what she’d done and how she’d viciously attacked and bitten Hades, so she was a little unprepared for the smile he leveled on her.

  “You’ve earned your immortality, girl. More than that, you have the strength to endure it. Pippin.” He clapped his hands.

  The old man in the robe removed several stones from his tablet and handed them to Hades. She thought...she thought she saw a gorgeous young man under the wrinkles. Perhaps she’d had a screw knocked loose in the fight.

  Each stone burst into flames, the ashes floating, floating toward Katarina, and then they were there, in her face, and all she could do was breathe them in.

  A wave of dizziness hit her, stronger than all the others combined. It nearly swept her off her feet, but Baden tightened his hold, preventing her from falling. She moaned, and the hounds moaned with her, each of them toppling over as if drunk. Were they becoming immortal, too, through the link?

  And was she immortal right now? Had the inhalation of ashes truly changed the makeup of her DNA?

  “William will hate me for this,” Hades said. “But you, Katarina Joelle, are worth the trouble. And yes. This means I’ll allow you to keep Baden. You’re welcome.”

  “You don’t control me, kretén, and you never will. But I appreciate the vote of confidence.” For once!

  “She is Katarina Lord now,” Baden proclaimed. “I claim her as my wife.”

  Maybe that would have been enough to make her immortal, the way Ashlyn’s bond to Maddox had made her immortal, but probably not. Maddox hadn’t been a spirit bound to wreaths.

  And neither was Baden. Not now.

  He peered deep into her eyes. “If you’ll have me.”

  Her love for him was a wild thing, and yet as pure as newly fallen snow. Denying him would have been tantamount to denying her body food. “I will.”

  He blessed her with a radiant smile, one so bright it made her eyes water.

  Would the waterworks ever stop?

  Hades cleared his throat. “You, Katarina Lord, will help heal the breach I created with the hounds all those centuries ago.”

  —Never.—

  Roar ran his paws across the floor.

  “The things you did to them—” she began.

  “Are hardly worth mentioning.” Hades waved a hand through the air. “I merely put all of their ancestors down—or thought I did—after they killed my—well. It doesn’t matter now. The past is the past. We march on toward the future.”

  A growl rose from her. So dismissive. I will—

  Baden stepped in front of her, meeting the gaze of his...father. Drawing attention away from her. “I want the seed of Corruption removed.”

  Hades protested, but Baden shook his head, adamant.

  “Very well.” Hades gripped his arms, and the shadows slithered from Baden’s arms to coil on Hades’s wrists.

  “Thank you.” Baden faced Katarina. “Let’s go check on your brother, krásavica.”

  She sighed. She knew what he was doing, and she was going to let him do it. There would be no more fighting. At least, not today. “Yes. Let’s.”

  “Afterward, we’ll go home.”

  “To the Realm of the Forgotten?” Where the slaughter of Alek and his army had taken place. Where...someone else lived. What was his—her?—name?

  “No. To my—our—friends. I want to share our happiness with them. You are happy, yes?”

  She wound her arms around him. “More than I ever thought possible, pekný.” He was the start of her story, and he would be the end of it. A happy tale.

  Once upon a time...and forever after.

  Epilogue

  BADEN RECLINED NEXT to the fireplace, a glass of whiskey in hand, watching as his beautiful Katarina taught Maddox’s children how to properly play with hellhounds. The entire group had moved into a new fortress—one located in Budapest, like the other, but higher in the mountains, hidden by a wealth of trees.

  Torin had paid the former owners a fortune to leave in a hurry.

  The Lords were already making memories here.

  Just last night, Katarina had given the entire hellhound pack a bath. The animals had protested, loudly, but she’d told them they weren’t allowed inside the new home until they were clean and flea-free. She’d stood in the backyard with a water hose and one by one the hounds had allowed her to do her thing.

  A funnier sight Baden had never beheld. Hounds feared the worlds over for their strength, prowess and desire to eat their enemies—as well as their friends—had trembled while a slip of a female lathered them with shampoo.

  His life was more than he’d ever dreamed possible, even though not everything had worked out the way he would have liked. The war in the underworld still raged, and it was only heating. No one had heard from Cameo. William hadn’t returned to the fortress, but word on the street was he had followed Puck to his homeland.

  Katarina’s brother had lived through the worst of his withdrawals and had started down the road to recovery. He’d apologized for
all the horrible things he’d done to her and her dogs, and Baden knew she’d begun to have hope for him and for their relationship, but as soon as he was released from the dungeon, he’d snuck out to buy heroin. Katarina had asked one of the hounds to follow and guard him, but in her heart, she’d let him go.

  After she’d overcome her own wreaths, Pandora had opted to stay in the underworld with Hades to build her kingdom there. Baden wondered if she’d stayed because of affection for her new father...or an attraction to one of the other kings. She had secrets and she wasn’t sharing them with him...her brother.

  Would he ever grow used to the term?

  Maddox plopped into the chair next to his. “Well, my friend. I can tell you’ve learned your lesson. No matter how dark and painful the present, the future can be brighter. You just have to hold on.”

  “This isn’t a Hallmark moment.” Baden flipped him off, earning a laugh. “No matter how calm the present, the future can be stormy.”

  His friend sobered, nodded. “Hades and Lucifer are still lining up their players.”

  “It’s only a matter of time before they finish and true combat starts.”

  Maddox reached out, patted his hand. “Our side will win. Then we’ll help you punish Hades for his battle with Katarina.”

  Baden’s chest constricted. “You’re a better friend than I deserve.”

  “I learned from the best,” Maddox said, and for a moment, Baden was transported back to their days in the heavens. When a Titan army ambushed the royal soldiers tasked with guarding Zeus.

  Maddox had been hit right away, a myriad of spears and arrows cutting through his chest and exiting out his back. More spears and arrows fell, ready to take out the rest of them. Baden could have run for cover, but he’d run to Maddox instead, carrying him to safety.

  “We have the artifacts back in our possession,” Maddox said. “We’ll keep searching for Cameo, Viola, the box and the Morning Star.”

  Only then could his friends be freed from their demons. The ultimate goal.

  Galen stalked into the room, gaze secured on Baden. “Think you can renege on our deal, prick?” His wings were larger than before, arching over his shoulders, snow-white down covering every inch. “I want my date.”

  “You promised to date him?” Maddox punched Baden in the arm. “Good luck with that. Katarina will protest.”

  “Katarina will demand they kiss in front of her—with tongue,” the girl in question called.

  Baden pushed to his feet. He wasn’t surprised Galen had shown up. He was only surprised Galen hadn’t shown up with Fox at his side. The girl hadn’t stopped texting Baden questions about Distrust.

  How do I know what’s instinct and what’s demonic paranoia?

  Are you plotting against me? Be truthful.

  Does the demon make me look fat in these jeans?

  This morning, after a little prompting from Katarina—you needed help with Destruction, would have probably perished without me, and now she needs help with Distrust. Do your part—he’d finally given in and agreed to be Fox’s mentor.

  “Take a walk with me,” he said to Galen.

  As they strode out of the living room, Baden looked back at Katarina and blew her a kiss.

  “Stop disgusting me.” Galen yanked him out the door. “And start talking.”

  Cool air brushed his bandless arms. “Aeron refuses to tell me Legion’s current location.”

  “So?”

  “So,” Baden added. “My wife happens to lead the hellhounds.”

  “I know, I know. She’s wonderful, and you’re the luckiest immortal in the history of the universe. What does that have to do with my plight?”

  “Those hounds tracked Legion.”

  Stopping abruptly, Galen gripped him by the shoulders and shook him. “Tell me.”

  “First, I need your vow. You cannot hurt her—”

  “Don’t insult me again. I would never hurt her. She is to me what Katarina is to you.”

  In this, Baden believed him. The man was utterly besotted.

  Baden rattled off the address. Galen jumped into the air a second later—and never landed. His wings took him into the clouds.

  Biscuit and Gravy came barreling around a corner, running straight for Baden. They plowed into him, and if he’d been a weaker man, he would have fallen. A laughing Katarina raced after them.

  “They didn’t want to leave you unprotected,” she said as he caught her in his arms.

  “They like me now?”

  “Not even a little. But they love me.”

  “As do I.” As the pups chased their tails and sprinted circles around him, Destruction rubbed against his skull, desperate to get his hands on her. “As does the beast.”

  She traced her fingertips over his temples. “Does he need me?”

  “We both do.” Baden bent and pushed his shoulder into Katarina’s middle, hoisting her up on his shoulder. “And we’re going to have you. Perhaps make you scream.”

  She laughed all the way to their bedroom, earning winks and good-natured jabs from his friends, but by the time he threw her atop the mattress, she was panting.

  “I usually keep my training sessions short and sweet,” she said, “but with my sweet Baduction...I think I’ll devote several hours.”

  “Oh, no, krásavica. You’re going to devote eternity. Nothing else is acceptable.”

  * * * * *

  Lords of the Underworld

  INSIDER’S GUIDE

  Dear Reader,

  I HOPE YOU’RE ready for a peek behind the Lords of the Underworld curtain. When Katarina asked Baden for a Who’s Who to Whom in the Underworld, well, the big, bad warrior demanded I take care of the task. That’s right. Me. As if I exist simply to do his bidding. I don’t. Really! When I threatened to leave him—to pull a “Katarina”—he laughed. And then he took off his shirt. I said, “When would you like the guide completed?” His response of “Yesterday” notwithstanding, I became a woman on a mission, determined to bring him—and you—the latest dish on the dark, sensual immortal warriors and their collection of “mine.” Not to mention their numerous enemies and the ever-heating war.

  Warning! Warning! If you hate alpha sexiness, stop reading. Things are about to get HOT in here.

  Love,

  Gena Showalter

  Who’s Dating Whom?

  Maddox was the first to fall, giving his heart to Ashlyn.

  The beauty’s sacrifice broke his curse and expertly defeated the villain.

  With only one dance, Lucien was snared by the wild Anya,

  and “you belong to me” became their favorite mantra.

  Reyes turned his sights to the protection of Danika,

  and it wasn’t long before the two were practicing his dark erotica.

  Sabin rescued Gwen and obsession quickly grew,

  and now there’s nothing the two will not do.

  Naughty Aeron taught the innocent Olivia how to sin,

  and in the process learned how empty his life had once been.

  Gideon and Scarlet shared a faux secret past,

  and soon realized their love was unsurpassed.

  Amun gave Haidee the worst of his hate,

  but she soon won him over...after all, she is his mate.

  Strider tried to ignore Kaia and the burn of lust in his blood,

  but love for the redhead rushed through him like a flash flood.

  Paris wanted Sienna but tried to resist...resistance that melted the first time they kissed.

  Kane was supposed to wed Josephina’s greatest foe,

  but Josephina won him at the very first hello.

  When Torin and Keeley met, they nearly came to blows.

  But it wasn’t long before they were tearing off
each other’s clothes.

  Baden could not protect himself from Katarina’s sweet heart,

  and now he’s vowed they’ll never be apart.

  What’s next for the Lords, we can’t really say.

  But with Cameo, William and Galen on the block,

  prepare for a little cray-cray.

  The Darkest Day

  Before sitting down to write The Darkest Torment, I drafted a scene to 1) get me back into the Lords of the Underworld universe, 2) let myself (and readers) know what’s been going on since the release of Torin’s book, The Darkest Touch, and 3) watch the sexy Maddox throw a punch or twelve. What? I did it for him. He needed to let off a little steam. Anyway. “The Darkest Day” is that scene. I hope you enjoy!

  —Mere days after Baden’s return—

  MADDOX HAMMERED HIS fists into the punching bag so fast and with so much force the chain ripped from the ceiling and the leather tore, sand spilling out as the bag flew across the gym. An-n-nd there goes another one. With a curse, he tore off what remained of the tape covering his knuckles. He needed to find a new way to let off steam. Today all he’d done was sweat. Droplets ran down his chest as he turned to his friend Strider, who sprinted on the treadmill.

  “Hit on me.”

  Frowning, Strider jerked the earbuds from his ears. “Excuse me? You want me to hit on you?”

  “Yes, please. And make it hurt.”

  “You mean hurt so good. Fine, but what happens in the gym stays in the gym.” With the press of a button, Strider stopped the treadmill and lowered the incline. “Is your dad a baker? Because you’ve got some nice buns.”

  Maddox took a moment to process the words he’d just heard. Misheard? He arched a brow at him. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Wait. I can do better.” Strider cleared his throat. “Are you a magician? Because whenever I look at you, the rest of the world disappears.”

  “Wow. You aren’t kidding, but you are a moron. You know that, right? I wanted—want—you to use me as a punching bag. Hit me with your fists, not your supposed man prowess.”