The Darkest Touch

by Gena Showalter

  She faced him, mouth flailing. "Are you serious? You told me you would stay with me--lie. You told me I mattered to you--lie! Well, I told you I don't like liars, and I meant it."

  No. No, he wasn't giving up. Not ever again. "I'm sorry I hurt you, so sorry I lied. You'll never know how sorry I am. But you do matter to me. I've learned what it's like to be without you, and it's awful. The worst thing I've ever experienced."

  "Yes," she said, eyes narrowing. "I'm sure your time in strip clubs was just awful."

  "It was. And I know you said you'd never take me back and unlike me, you never lie. But I'm begging you to do it. Just this once. Just for me. Even though I don't deserve it. But then, you're a better person than I am. You're sweeter and stronger and smarter. So much smarter. Please. Please. I am nothing without you, princess. Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life."

  She shook her head, stubborn to her core. "No."

  He pressed on. "I didn't allow anyone to touch me, didn't touch anyone myself. All I could think about was you."

  Still she remained firm, saying succinctly, "No."

  "She doesn't want you, Disease," Hades snapped.

  "All I wanted was--" Torin continued, only to stop as sharp, intense pain lanced through him.

  Horror bathed Keeley's features and she screamed.

  Torin looked down at his chest. A spear had sliced through his back and come out his front.

  "Enjoy the poison," a familiar voice proclaimed. "Knew it wouldn't harm Hades or Keeley, but you...you it will destroy from the inside out and they'll suffer over your loss."

  Lucifer.

  "Have fun," the guy said and dematerialized.

  Torin's vision fogged, his knees gave out. He heard sounds of laughter...a struggle, growing distant...

  Then...nothing.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  KEELEY SCREAMED SO loudly even immortal eardrums probably burst. She flashed to Torin's side. She wasn't wearing gloves, but she pressed her fingers into his neck anyway. Skin-to-skin. At first, there was nothing. No beat to meet her. But then she felt it. A soft thump.

  Too soft.

  His damaged heart shuddered, his blood pouring out of his wound. The spear was helping to stem some of the flow, but if it was poisoned as Lucifer had said--and judging by Torin's reaction, she was sure it was--it had to come out.

  So, she jerked it out and tossed it aside.

  "What can I do?"

  Galen! She had forgotten he was here. "Your shirt!"

  He pulled the material over his head and handed it to her. She pressed against Torin's chest.

  He didn't even moan.

  She looked to Hades, desperate. "What poison would Lucifer have used?"

  Silent, he studied his cuticles.

  "Hades, please. I'll do anything you want. Just help me heal him."

  The dark lord faced her then and nodded. "It shall be just as you said. Anything I want."

  A second later, both Hades and Torin dematerialized.

  Keeley pushed to shaky legs, and it was a struggle because guilt pressed so heavily against her shoulders. Had it not been for her, Hades would not have locked Torin away and Lucifer wouldn't have been able to spear him. All my fault.

  Was this the guilt Torin had been forced to live with during their association? No wonder he'd left her.

  I have to forgive him, clear his ledger. For everything. Because I need him to forgive me, to clear my ledger.

  She knew she could not have one without the other.

  As she stood there, wondering if he would live or die, the hurt, pain, rejection, bitterness and anger she'd been harboring all this time--even in the face of his beautiful pleas--drained from her. Love for him filled her up.

  "Keeley," Galen said, drawing her gaze. His expression was agonized. "What else can I do?"

  "Tell the other Lords what's happened, that Torin will be returned just as soon as he's well." If he didn't recover... She cleared her throat to dislodge the lump growing there. At Galen's uneasy expression, she said, "Tell them the Red Queen sent you and that she'll be very displeased if you're harmed."

  He nodded, and she flashed him to the fortress.

  Then she flashed to Hades. He'd taken Torin to a laboratory of sorts. Cauldrons boiled over and steamed, shelves were littered with vials of things she couldn't identify, and overgrown shrubbery actually crawled up the walls--using legs.

  Torin was strapped to a table, his mouth held open by a metal hook. Beside him, an older male with a humped back mixed different liquids together. She rushed to her warrior's side, clutched his hands in hers.

  The other man glowered at her. "I'm Hey You. This be my area. Who you be? What do you here?"

  "I am the Red Queen, and I go wherever I desire."

  "It's true." Hades appeared at her side. "She does." He removed the hook from Torin's mouth--not a hook, after all, but a tube that had gone straight into his stomach.

  Hey You limped over and, while Hades held Torin's mouth open, poured the concoction he'd created down the warrior's throat.

  She watched Torin, waiting for a reaction. His skin remained pale, almost blue. His eyes closed. His form still. The wound in his chest, still open and leaking. "How long does it take to work?"

  "All night," Hey You said, now limping away.

  She'd lived so long, time meant little to her, but an entire night suddenly seemed like an eternity.

  She glanced at Hades, who was watching her intently. "You touched him. Skin-to-skin."

  "Anyone can, as long as they're immune."

  "You are immune?"

  A nod. "For a while."

  "What do you mean, for a while?"

  "I ingested his blood."

  "His blood? His infected blood?"

  Hades reached out, caressed her cheek, and because she owed him whatever he wanted, she had to stand there and tolerate it. But her expression must have reflected her dislike, because he frowned, dropped his hand.

  "If he shares his blood with you," Hades said, "you won't sicken when he touches you. At least for a little while. Just long enough for his blood to travel through your veins. Takes about a day, maybe two, then you'll need another dose."

  "But...you can't be right. He's shared his blood with me before, and still I sickened."

  Frown deepening, Hades pricked the end of one of Torin's fingers and held it out to her.

  She sucked the finger, and the blood, into her mouth, willing to try anything, however far-fetched. As an immortal, this type of thing wasn't foreign to her.

  "When did he share his blood before this?" Hades asked. "Why?"

  "The last time we were here, before I contracted the wasting sickness."

  "Ah. The blood would have worked if you hadn't been weakened already by the removal of your brimstone scars."

  "But my power returns with the removal of the scars."

  "Power, yes, because it's of a spiritual nature. But your body had just been cut up to a large degree and drained. Even Torin has trouble fighting off the demon's illnesses when he's been physically injured."

  "But...how is that possible?"

  "The demon is a spirit, infecting his spirit. But the evil is housed inside his body. A body that created immunities. Those immunities are found in his blood and semen."

  Magic semen? Torin could come inside her and save her from sickness? Or she could swallow him? "I've...well, I've tasted the latter," she admitted, her cheeks heating, "and still I sickened."

  "A taste might stave off the illness for a bit but not eradicate it. You would need a full dose. One way or the other."

  "But...why does his skin infect, yet the rest of his body does not?"

  "You know better than most that the skin radiates whatever is in the spirit. You are a spirit inside a body that doesn't belong to you, and yet that skin changes with the seasons, just as your spirit does."

  He was...right. Skin radiated the spirit, but fluids sprang from the body.

  Which meant...


  Finally! A way to have everything she'd ever wanted. Torin, health. A family. She only had to ingest his blood once a day. Or let him feed her the other thing...

  Shivers of excitement stole through her. This was Torin's every dream come true, as well.

  But reality returned, crushing her. She still owed Hades whatever he wanted--and she could guess what that was.

  "You love him," the dark lord said.

  "I do."

  "But you'll stay with me if I so decree it."

  She closed her eyes, nodded. A deal was a deal when she made it freely. "Is that your decree? That I stay with you?"

  Oppressive silence.

  She breathed deeply as she faced him. His chin was lifted, a pose of deep masculine pride, but his expression was blank. "Hades...please don't make me do this."

  "I won't." Tone gruff, he added, "You would feel trapped, and I did that to you once already."

  Hope unfurled soft wings. "Then what do you want?"

  "Obviously I am at war with Lucifer."

  "And?" she prompted when he went quiet.

  "And you will be on my side, help me every step of the way."

  It was more than she could have ever hoped. And in that moment, she saw the truth. He did care for her. He did want to make amends with her. He was truly repentant for what he'd done.

  "I forgive you." She released Torin and walked around the gurney, wrapping her arms around Hades. "Thank you."

  He hugged her back, hugged her so tight, as if he didn't want to let go, but then he did it--he let go and stepped away from her. He cleared his throat. "Take your man and get out of here before I change my mind."

  "I can't. He has wards."

  "He doesn't."

  He'd...cut the new ones off, as well? Keeley backtracked to lift the hem of Torin's shirt. Bronzed skin...scar free. Electric joy sizzled over her.

  Wasting no time, she flashed Torin to his bedroom in Budapest. She ensured his comfort before flashing to Anya to tell her what had happened--and to mention she would personally murder anyone dumb enough to enter before she'd given the go-ahead.

  Then she waited. And paced. And waited some more. She wondered if this was how Torin had spent his time while she'd been recovering from the demon's sicknesses and nodded. Yeah. Probably.

  Finally, though, after so many hours she'd lost count, he gasped in a breath and jolted upright. Keeley rushed to his side.

  "I'm here. You're okay. You're healed."

  He shook his head as if he couldn't believe he was actually seeing her. "Keeley! You're here." He jerked her into his arms, holding her with every ounce of his considerable strength. "You're here." Then he pushed her back so that he could peer into her eyes. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me. But if you do, I will understand. I will also stalk you to the ends of the earth. In heaven or in hell. There is nowhere you can go that I won't find you. You are mine--I let you get away once, and I'm not doing it again. Ever. So, try to keep yourself from me, I dare you, and I will wage war with you."

  "Whoa, warrior," she said with a laugh.

  The laugh seemed to unnerve him. He eyed her warily.

  "I'm not going anywhere," she said. "I was miserable without you. Hated every minute I spent apart from you. I don't want to spend the rest of eternity wishing you were with me just so I can prove a point and hurt you for hurting me."

  His arms banded around her again, holding her ever tighter. So tight she lost her breath--worth it! "I'm sorry for everything."

  "I'm sorry. And you don't have to worry about getting me sick. I--"

  "Wasn't worried." He kissed the hem of her shirt. "Will let you endure anything for me. I'm a giver."

  This. This was what she'd missed most. His teasing. Well, maybe not most. She'd missed her connection to him, too, and the intensity of him and the way he looked and the way he touched her.

  "But seriously," she said as warm tingles tickled her chest. Growing hotter. And hotter. "As long as I ingest your blood or your--I almost hate admitting this because I know jokes are going to follow--but...your semen at least once a day, I'll be immune to your demon's sicknesses. All of them. Of course, that means we'll need another means of birth control, because I want you all to myself for a while, but we'll find something."

  He lifted his head, gazed intently at her. "This blood and semen thing is proven?"

  "Yes. I touched your face after you passed out, ingested your blood and well over twenty-four hours have passed and I haven't sickened."

  His eyes widened. "Had the answer all along." He kissed her face, nipped at her lips. "Thank you. Thank you, princess. Thank you so much."

  "It's Hades we owe."

  "He's not the one who took me back and gave me another chance. And I'll make sure you never regret your decision," he said. "For the rest of my days I will do everything in my power to make up for my poor behavior." He released her, only to cup her cheeks. "I love you. You are my treasure, and you are worth anything. Worth everything. I would even eat raisins for you."

  "You love me that much?" she asked softly.

  "With all that I am, all that I will ever be."

  "Good, because I love you, too." She flashed one of her favorite leather chairs into the corner of the room, then flashed Torin into it. Along with the things men liked. A glass of Scotch and a cigar.

  He looked at both and laughed. "All I need is the crowd," he said.

  "And you'll have one. This is your throne, and it will be moved into our new throne room as soon as it's ready." She stood a few feet away, drinking in the sight of her man.

  My forever man.

  "Now for your punishment. You'll give me an orgasm for every day we were apart, and maybe, just maybe, I'll call us even," she said.

  A wicked smile curved his mouth. "Double that and we've got a deal." He drained his drink and snuffed out the cigar, setting both aside. He cocked his finger at her. "And, princess? There's no better time to start."

  EPILOGUE

  A FEW DAYS LATER, Keeley stood in the doorway of the dining room, peering inside, trying not to be overwhelmed. This was her first family dinner. All of the Lords and their families were here.

  And they were her family. Though she'd bonded to them, no one had gotten sick. Torin's demon wasn't part of the bond--he'd betrayed her so many times she would never have to worry about one forming--so there was nothing the fiend could do to any of them.

  What's more, those bonds had given her the power to defeat Hades--he'd been putty in her hands before Torin had gotten hurt. They'd fed her strength--and in return, she would make every dream the Lords of the Underworld had come true. She would find and destroy Pandora's box. She would claim the Morning Star.

  But that was a plan for another day.

  Only Pandora was absent from the festivities. She'd taken off without a word soon after she'd woken up. But even William and his kids were here. Though William couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from Gillian. It was almost embarrassing.

  The womanizer--former?--stroked his finger over his fork as if he were imagining stroking something else.

  Okay. It was definitely embarrassing. There was such intense heat in his eyes that even looking at him made her feel scorched by the sun.

  "Can you believe this?" Galen asked Keeley.

  He stood beside her, watching everyone with the same shock and awe she was feeling. Only Torin had forgiven him, but no one was trying to kill him so she'd consider it a win. Galen didn't seem to care about his less than enthusiastic reception, though.

  "I almost can't. It's like every real hope I've ever entertained decided to come to fruition in a single day." Well, not every dream. The Morning Star was still missing. But I'll find it. I'll never stop searching. I'll find it and use it and make these Lords as happy as they've made me.

  "Not all of mine. Not yet." His gaze returned to Honey. She was his only concern.

  She'd returned this morning, but she'd refused to speak to him, refused to be alone with hi
m; he wasn't pushing her, which was why he was still here. Plus Torin had invited him to the celebration, and though there had been some initial protests, everyone had gotten onboard when her man calmly announced, "The Red Queen desires it."

  It wasn't that they were afraid of her. It was that they knew the lengths Torin would go to make her happy.

  Her heart swelled with love as she watched him pass a bowl of peas to Urban, who grimaced and shuddered in revulsion, and then to Ever, who had the same reaction. Torin just laughed. He wasn't as staunch about maintaining distance anymore. Nor were his friends. It was amazing to behold.

  Kane and Josephina had come to spend the evening with them, thanks to Keeley's flashing power, and they were now engaged in conversation with Gideon and Scarlet, the women trading stories about their pregnancies.

  But as always, Keeley's attention returned to Torin. Earlier, she'd done a striptease for him while he'd sat in his chair. Afterward, she'd climbed into his lap and they'd made love. Then they'd taken a shower together. Their first. The first of many, she suspected. Their hands had been all over each other. She shivered, remembering how he'd whispered, "Do you need your vitamin D injection, princess? Or do you prefer to call it your medicine?"

  Funny man. He was so proud of his magical semen. She had a feeling he was going to tease her about it for the rest of their lives. Something else to look forward to, she thought with a grin.

  Laughter sounded. Blinking into focus, Keeley watched as Torin hooked Cameo under his arm and mashed his gloved hand into her hair, drawing the barest hint of a smile from her. Though the female had recovered physically from her time inside the Paring Rod, her mood was darker than ever, Torin had said.

  Torin must have felt Keeley's gaze on him because he glanced over and winked at her.

  She blew him a kiss.

  He stood and closed the distance, and her gaze swept lovingly over his T-shirt. This one read, "I Tangled with the Red Queen and All I Lost Was My Heart." The best one yet.

  He drew her into his embrace, saying, "Why aren't you eating? I know you don't think we'd poison you."

  "As if anyone would dare. I'm just enjoying the scenery."

  He kissed her temple, his lips lingering against her skin. "Have I thanked you for giving me another chance?"

  "A thousand times."

  "Have I told you I'd be lost without you?"

  "That, too."