Lords of the Underworld Bundle

by Gena Showalter

  “Yes. Oh, yes. You believe. You see the truth.” Stefano stalked toward her, hate radiating from him. That hate transformed him from calm and friendly to menacing beast. “Death is a demon. Destruction is a demon. Disease is a demon. Every evil deed the world has ever known, every evil that has ever transpired, can be traced to their doorstep.”

  The closer he came to her, the more she shrank into the mattress. “Wh-what does this have to do with me?”

  “So no one you’ve loved has died? Nothing you’ve owned has been destroyed? No one has ever lied to you? Sickness has never plagued you?”

  “I—I—” She didn’t know what to say.

  “Still aren’t convinced of their treachery? One of those demons seduced my wife. She was all that was pure and right and never would have betrayed me on her own. Yet somehow, some way, the very demon spawn who tricked her into bed convinced her that she was evil, that she needed to die. So she killed herself, and I was the one to find her body hanging from the rafters of our garage.” Each word sharpened his voice. His jaw had become granite.

  Danika knew the pain of discovering a loved one dead. She’d been the one to find her grandfather after his heart attack, and the image of his pale, lifeless body still haunted her, tainting the memories of the vital man he’d once been. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  Stefano gulped, seemed to gather his composure around himself. “That loss gave me a purpose in life—one I share with thousands of others around the globe. While the Lords are darkness, we are light, and we were not meant to endure the evil they have brought into this world. Our world,” he added. He closed his eyes as if he could taste the delicious flavor of his hope. “Once we capture the Lords and contain their evil once and for all, things will be as they were always meant to be. Beautiful…peaceful. Perfect.”

  Keep him talking. Keep his thoughts off you. “Why capture? Why not kill them?”

  Slowly his eyelids cracked open, the happy glaze already fading from his irises. He stared at her, seeming to probe her soul. The sensation was eerie. “Killing them frees the demons inside them, allowing those vile beasts to roam the earth crazed and unfettered. We need man and spirit bound together.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care, but his gaze razored. “Until we find the box, that is.”

  “Box?” Trying to appear relaxed, she wiggled her wrists against the chains. They were still too tight, but her skin was wet with sweat. If she could just slip free…She could, what? Run? Demons were chasing her family. Not humans. Would her loved ones ever truly be safe?

  “Pandora’s box,” Stefano said, still watching her intently.

  Her eyes widened, and she stilled. Is this a dream, perhaps? Another nightmare? “You’re kidding, right?” Her grandmother used to tell her stories about Pandora and her infamous box. “That’s a myth. A legend.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, stretching the fabric of his shirt and defining the lean line of his muscles. Obviously he trained with weights and weapons, just like the Lords. “And demons do not walk the earth, I suppose?”

  Her stomach tightened with dread.

  “I’ll tell you a story, all right? Listen closely.”

  He paused, waiting. She nodded, hoping that’s what he desired.

  Obviously, it was. He said, “A few hundred years after the creation of the earth, a horde of demons escaped hell. They were the vilest creatures Hades and his brother Lucifer had ever spawned. They were uncontrollable, living nightmares. In a bid to save their world, the gods used the bones of the goddess of oppression to create a box. With cunning and precision they were able to capture the demons and lock them inside.”

  “I know the rest,” Danika whispered, the tightening in her stomach becoming a sea of sickness.

  Stefano arched a brow. “Tell me.”

  “The gods asked Pandora to guard the box.”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Pandora opened it,” she continued, because it was the most well-known version of the story. That wasn’t what her grandmother had told her, however.

  “No. That’s where legend is wrong,” Stefano traced a fingertip over the tattoo on his wrist. “Pandora was a warrior, the greatest female warrior of her time. The box was given to her for safekeeping. She wouldn’t have opened it, even upon threat of death.”

  Another tug against the chains, this one weaker. Danika found herself suddenly fascinated, listening despite her desire to leave. Stefano had just confirmed what her grandmother had told her, a tale unlike the one the world believed. “And?”

  “And the gods’ elite soldiers were angry that they hadn’t been chosen to guard it, their pride slighted. They decided to show the gods their mistake. While the one called Paris seduced Pandora, the others fought her guards. In the end, the soldiers won. Their leader, the one named Lucien, opened the box, releasing those vile demons upon the innocent world once more. Death and Darkness reigned.”

  Danika once again sagged into the mattress. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to imagine harsh, rugged Reyes as Stefano claimed he’d been. Prideful, jealous. When Danika had been with him, Reyes hadn’t seemed to care what others thought of him. He’d barked orders and snapped commands. He’d been surly and brooding. “And?”

  “The box disappeared. No one knew where it had been taken or who had taken it. Having no other alternative, the gods gathered the demons and placed them inside the warriors responsible for the travesty, then banished them to earth. Those men lost all threads of their humanity; they became their demons, bathing our world in blood. And they continue to be a blight upon us all. As long as they’re roaming free, no one is safe.” Stefano rubbed at his Adam’s apple, his head tilting to the side, expression intense. “I asked you before, but I will ask you again. Can you imagine a world without rage, pain, lies and misery?”

  “No.” She couldn’t. For the past two months, those were all she’d known. They’d been her only companions.

  “The Lords killed your grandmother, Danika. Are you aware of that?”

  “You don’t know that for sure!” she yelled, the words leaving her on a burst. Tears filled her eyes again, but she suppressed them as she had before. “She could be alive.”

  “She’s not.”

  “How do you know?” The question was panicked, hoarse. “You can’t know unless you’ve…unless you’ve…”

  “Seen her.”

  Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. No. Goddamn it, no! “Have you?” She barely heard herself, but didn’t have the strength to ask again.

  “Yes and no,” he admitted. “One of my men saw the creature Aeron carrying her limp body over his shoulder. The pair disappeared inside a building, or my agent would have followed.” Stefano pinched the bridge of his nose in regret. “At first, we planned to watch you and wait for the Lords to come for you again. We assumed you meant to aid their cause, and we planned to capture all of you at the same time. But you continually ran as if you didn’t want them to find you. That intrigued me.”

  Like she cared about his plans! Was her grandmother dead? A limp body did not a corpse make. Grandma Mallory could very well be alive, laughing, eating a bowl of her favorite soup. She pictured it and nearly cried out in longing, desperate for it to be true.

  The image soon morphed, a dagger protruding from her grandmother’s chest. No. No! She wanted to scream, to rail. Emotion does you no good. You know that. You cannot wallow or you’ll collapse.

  Hardly matters if I collapse, she thought, nearing hysteria. Not like I can run now.

  “You can help us capture them, Danika. Ensure that they never do to others what they’ve done to you and me. You can punish them for hurting your loved one. Your family can finally stop running. You can all be together again.”

  Without Grandma Mallory?

  This time, she couldn’t stop the sob. Her chin trembled and her jaw ached. Warm tears flowed down her cheeks freely.

  “Help me,” Stefano added earnestly. “In return, I’ll help you. I’ll guard you
and your family until every single one of the Lords is dead. Those demons will never hurt you again. You have my word of honor.”

  To know her family was safe and would remain safe…She wouldn’t have cared about the terms of the deal even if she had to sign her soul over to the devil. The hope that Stefano could help her mother and sister was irresistible. The thought of revenge was overwhelming.

  “What do I have to do?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ONE AT A TIME, Lucien flashed most of the warriors to an abandoned building. They were inside the fortress in Budapest one second, night all around them, and someplace sunny and warm the next.

  Lucien flashed Reyes last. Last time he’d been transported like this, he’d vomited. This time, his concern for Danika overcame even the slightest bit of nausea.

  Inhaling dust and crumbling plaster, Reyes opened his eyes. The silver stone of the fortress had disappeared, the comforts of hearth and home gone. Bare gray walls, cement floors and piles of lumber now greeted him. Several windows were cracked; black garbage bags had been taped to them but now fell halfway, as if bowing, allowing the men to peer into an unknown world of…silence and stillness, he realized, hearing nothing and seeing no one.

  The others stalked the building, searching for a hidden enemy, blades and guns raised and ready for action. All but Anya, who’d come in place of Maddox, wore expressions of confusion. A few muttered, “Where are the Hunters?”

  “Not here,” Lucien answered.

  “Where are we?” Reyes asked quietly. His own blades were pressed against his thighs. Urgency swam laps in his bloodstream.

  “The States.” Sabin closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “L.A. is my guess. No place else has the stench of Hollywood.”

  “Correct,” Lucien said with a grim nod.

  “Hunters have a large faction here.” There was relish in the undertones of Sabin’s voice. “A faction I despise with every ounce of my being. The leader and I have history, and he despises me, too, so be ready for anything. He joined the Hunters after his wife and I…” He shrugged, some of his anticipation muted by sorrow. “We were together, but I’m not good for humans and things ended badly. Hunters recruited him, and he’s been gunning for me ever since.”

  Sabin and his men had been battling Hunters far longer than Lucien and his group had. Paris, Maddox, Torin, Aeron and Reyes had split with Sabin, Strider, Gideon, Cameo, Amun and Kane several thousand years ago.

  Their friend Baden, keeper of Distrust, had been brutally murdered by Hunters. After revenge had been meted out, half of the Lords had desired peace. What was better for a battered soul than a cessation of the constant struggle between good and evil, darkness and light? The other half had desired Hunter blood spilling into the streets of ancient Greece, crimson rivers of pain and terror.

  Unable to come to terms, they’d gone their separate ways. Until Sabin brought the blood feud to Budapest, that is.

  Though Reyes had walked away all those years ago, he would not, could not, do so now. He was involved, the illusion of peace forever shattered. Hunters had recently cut Torin’s throat, attempting to weaken him and capture everyone else. Thankfully, those Hunters had failed.

  Reyes would not fail in his mission.

  Whatever he had to do to destroy his enemy, he would do. And if he had to destroy the gods who might very well support the Hunters’ quest, eventually he would find a way to do that, too.

  It was hard to know the gods’ ultimate goal, however. Fickle and mysterious, they were like a puzzle missing several key pieces. While the silent Greeks had angered Reyes with their neglect, the cryptic Titans edged him toward a murderous rage. They claimed to want harmony for the world, both in the heavens and below. They claimed to desire worship and adoration, freedom from death and destruction. And yet they had ordered Danika’s execution. They’d even ordered Anya’s execution, though they’d since changed their minds. And what they were doing to Aeron…

  Do not venture down this path. Not here, not now. Already his nails were elongated, pinpricks pressing into his palms. Red spots winked over his vision, and the demon whispered seductively: Cut yourself. Hurt.

  “No,” he gritted out.

  “This way,” Lucien was saying, but he paused when Reyes spoke and peered at him quizzically. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. I am fine.” When Danika was safe and tucked in his bed, he would feed his demon. Until then, there would be no hurting himself. Blood loss ultimately would weaken him, and he needed to be at top strength for the coming combat.

  But for every second he resisted, the demon would grow louder and louder. Reyes knew that well. He would become more and more distracted. That was the bane of his demon-curse. He needed to cut himself, but in the end he weakened like any other being when injured, albeit temporarily.

  “What were you saying?” he asked Lucien.

  Every gaze shifted to him.

  Lucien rolled his eyes. “The girl is being held one street over. Innocents fill the area, so we will have to be careful.”

  He didn’t care about innocents. Cold and callous of him, but then, he’d never been a soft, easy man. Well, that wasn’t true. In the years before his pairing with Pain, he remembered laughing and joking with his friends. “How many Hunters are with her?” A muscle ticked in his jaw as he thought of the suffering she might even now be enduring.

  Whatever was done to Danika, Reyes would retaliate a hundredfold when facing the Hunters. He might hate his demon for the torment he constantly endured, but he wouldn’t hesitate to hand over the reins of control so that the creature could unleash its powers. Not today. Pain could look into a human’s soul, find every vulnerability, even the tiniest chink, and systematically scrape each one with poisoned arrows until the human was screaming, writhing, clawing at his skin to stop the agony.

  “Earlier today,” Lucien said, “there were twenty-three in the building.”

  “They multiply like rabbits.” Sabin grinned, and the sight of it was pure wickedness. “Could be a hundred more by now.”

  Lucien motioned to the far window, his dark hair swaying at his temples. “We have several hours until nightfall. I will flash to the building, remain in the spirit world and listen. Observe. We need to know what she’s told them, and we need to know what they’re planning.”

  All Reyes heard was “several hours.” “We’re supposed to stay here?” he growled. “Do nothing?”

  “Yes.” Lucien eyed him now, those mismatched orbs swirling once more. “If they are monitoring the area, I will disable their computers. Then, at dark, when humans are less likely to notice your height, your build and your weapons and send policemen after you, you will walk there. I’ll be waiting for you in the shadows outside.”

  More inactivity. More waiting.

  The knowledge was both emotionally and physically painful for him. Reyes wanted to lash out, punch something, and that he couldn’t…the demon fed off that corporal agony and demanded more. Wanted control.

  Soon, he promised.

  This was one of the many reasons Reyes had sent Danika away and one of the few reasons he should not be here to rescue her. She roused him and the demon as surely as if she were rattling a stick against a hungry animal’s cage.

  If he gave his demon free rein as it craved, he would lose control of his actions. What if he hurt Danika? What if he enjoyed hurting her? Smiled while beating her bones to powder? What if he killed her, the very act he’d locked his best friend away for even contemplating?

  He wouldn’t be able to live with himself, knowing he’d destroyed something so…precious. Yes, he realized then. She was precious to him. She was the angel to his demon, the good to his evil. The pleasure to his pain. And she was inside a Hunter stronghold, bound, helpless…suffering.

  Once again red winked over his vision and rather than welcome it he now fought it. Damn this! There could be no giving over to his demon side, then, not even to battle the Hunters. Reyes would have to maintain comman
d.

  Someone slapped him on the back, jostling him from his musings. “Save it, my friend,” a female said.

  Calm, settle. Reyes turned his head and found himself staring down at Cameo, keeper of Misery and the only female Lord. He quickly looked away. With her long black hair, silver eyes and skin like peaches and cream, she was beauty incarnate. She was also a strong, fierce warrior despite her delectable little body. It was hard to face her, though, when all of the world’s unhappiness seemed to seep from her pores and into his heart.

  “We’ll retrieve her safely,” Cameo said, meaning to comfort him but only managing to make his chest ache. “Don’t worry.”

  Gods, her voice. He tried not to cringe while the demon inside him sighed, liking the pain she unwittingly inflicted. Why couldn’t Reyes have been attracted to her? Would have made his life easier.

  You’re hurting now only because the subject being discussed is Danika. Much as his demon enjoyed physical pain, Cameo represented an avalanche of emotional turmoil and dysfunction. So no, wanting her would not have been easier. Her tragic voice could drive any man to suicide and Reyes tried to kill himself enough already.

  “Hunters once abducted a lover of mine,” she said.

  Reyes rubbed his chest. Someone had actually slept with her? “And you were able to save him?”

  “Oh, no. He died horribly. They cut out his heart and mailed it to me.”

  Reyes blinked against a surge of panic, but didn’t face her again. That won’t happen to Danika. He scanned the building, breathing in and out, slowing his wild pulse, calming again. Lucien was already gone, and the others were sitting along the edges of the walls, polishing their weapons with lethal efficiency.

  Finally, he trusted himself to speak without screaming. “That little story is supposed to soothe me?”

  “Yes. They bested us once in this manner. We won’t allow them to do so again.”

  Small comfort. Even now, a fist could be flying toward Danika’s face, a foot toward her stomach. A whip arching toward her back. A knife sliding into her organs. She could be sobbing for him to save her. And here he was, close, but waiting, leaving her helpless.