Dark Beginnings: The Darkest Fire / The Darkest Prison / The Darkest Angel. Gena Showalter
are just the same.”
He looked down at himself. There were his claws, his fur, his hooves. “Are you disappointed?”
“No. I am overjoyed! I love you just as you are and do not want you to ever change. But you should not have given up your life for me,” she sputtered through tears—and a grin she could not hide.
“I, too, am now free,” he said. “Truly free. To be with you. And I would die all over again for just such an outcome.” He jerked her into his arms, grinning, too, because he could feel her again. She was not as warm, there was a coldness to them both now, but he was holding her. He could deal. “You are my everything, sweetheart. I am lost without you.”
“I love you so much,” she said, raining little kisses all over his face. “But whatever will we do now?”
“Live. Finally, we will live.”
And they did.
WHEN THE GODS REALIZED that the wall between earth and Hell had been breeched and a horde of Demon Lords let loose upon earth, they sent an immortal army to repair the damage—but no one could catch the fiends. And even if they could, the gods knew that locking them back inside Hell would merely invite another rebellion.
Something had to be done.
Though the stone barrier had fallen, the goddess of Oppression’s body was still bound to the wall of Hell. And so the gods rebuilt the wall and then created a box-sized prison from Kadence’s bones, confident that the powers she had tapped into hours before her death still resided deep in the marrow.
They were proven right.
Once opened, the box drew the demons from their hiding places, holding them captive as even Hell had been unable to do.
Of course, the gods were pleased with their handiwork and gave the box to Pandora, the strongest female warrior of her time, to guard. But that is a story for another time.
PROLOGUE
REYES, ONCE AN IMMORTAL warrior for the gods, now possessed by the demon of Pain and living in Budapest, entered his bedroom. He was drenched in sweat and panting from the force of his workout. Because he could not experience pleasure without physical suffering, the burn in his muscles had excited him. Was exciting him.
As always, his gaze sought out his woman, and he palmed the blade they preferred to use during their loveplay. She was sitting at the edge of their big bed, lovely features drawn tight as she studied the canvas in front of her. A canvas she’d propped on an easel and lowered so that she had a direct view. Blond hair fell to her shoulders in wild disarray, as if she’d tangled her fingers through the thick mass multiple times, and she was chewing on her bottom lip.
Sex could wait, he decided then. She was troubled, and he would be unable to think of anything else until he’d solved this dilemma for her. Whatever it was. He sheathed the blade.
“Something wrong, angel?”
Her eyes lifted and landed on him, worry in their emerald depths. She offered him a small smile. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, why don’t I help you figure it out?” Anything that bothered her, he would dispatch. No hesitation. For her happiness, he would do anything, kill anyone.
“I would like that, thank you.”
“Shall I shower before I join you?”
“No. I like you just how you are.”
Darling woman. But he didn’t like the thought of dirtying her pretty clothes. He quickly grabbed a towel from the bathroom and rubbed himself dry. Only then did he settle behind his woman, his legs encasing hers, his arms wrapping around her waist. Breathing deeply of her wild storm scent, he rested his chin in the hollow of her neck and followed the direction of her gaze.
What he saw surprised him.
It shouldn’t have. Her paintings were always vivid. As the All-Seeing Eye, an oracle of the gods and one of their most cherished aides, she could peer into heaven and Hell. And did, every night, though she had no control over what she witnessed. Past, present, future, it didn’t matter. Every morning, she painted what she’d seen.
This one was of a man. A warrior, clearly. With that muscle mass, he had to be. A gold collar circled his neck, cinching tight. He was on his knees, legs spread. His arms rested on his thighs, palms raised. His dark head was thrown back, and he was roaring up at a domed ceiling. In pain, perhaps. Maybe even fury. There was blood smeared all over his chest, seeping from multiple wounds. Wounds that looked as if his skin had been carved away.
“Who is he?” Reyes asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before.”
Then they would reason this out as best they were able. “Was he from heaven or Hell?”
“Heaven. Definitely. I think he’s in Cronus’s throne room.”
A god, then? A few months ago, Titans had overthrown the Greeks and seized control of the divine throne. So, if this man was in Cronus’s throne room, chained up, hurt, and Cronus was leader of the Titans, that must mean the warrior was a Greek. A slave who had been punished, perhaps?
“You saw only this image?” Reyes asked. “Not what got him to this point?”
“Correct,” Danika said with a nod. “I heard him scream, though. It was…” She shuddered, and his arms squeezed her in comfort. “I felt so sorry for him. Never have I heard so much rage and helplessness.”
“We can summon Cronus.” Cronus wasn’t too fond of Reyes and his fellow Lords of the Underworld—the very men who had opened Pandora’s box, unleashing the evil from inside. The men who had then been cursed to carry that evil inside themselves. But the god king hated their enemy, the Hunters, more, because Danika had seen Galen, the leader of the Hunters, chop off Cronus’s head in a vision. Now the god king was determined to kill Galen before Galen could kill him. Even if that meant soliciting the aid of the Lords. “We can ask him if he knows this man.”
A moment passed while Danika pondered his suggestion. Finally, she sighed, nodded. “Yes. I’d like that.” Then she surprised him by turning to him and offering the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. Well, all of her smiles were that way. “But it’s too early in the morning to summon anyone, and besides, I think you had other things on your mind when you entered the room. Why don’t you tell me about them?” she suggested huskily.
He was rock hard in seconds—that’s what she did to him. “That would be my pleasure, angel.”
She pushed him to his back, smile widening. “And mine.”
CHAPTER ONE
“BE STILL, NIKE. YOU’RE ONLY making this worse for yourself.” Atlas, Titan god of Strength, stared down at the bane of his existence. Nike, Greek goddess of Strength. And Victory, he inwardly sneered. She loved to remind him that many called her the goddess of Strength and Victory. As if she were better than him. In reality, she was his godly counterpart. His equal. His enemy. And an all-around grade-A bitch.
Two of his best men held her arms and two held her legs. They should have been able to pin her without incident. She was collared, after all, and that collar prevented her from using any of her immortal powers. Even her legendary strength—strength that was not on par with his, thank you. But never had a female been more stubborn—or more determined to fell him. She continually struggled against their hold, punching, kicking and biting like a cornered animal.
“I will kill you for this,” she growled at him.
“Why? I’m not doing anything to you that you didn’t once have done to me.” Motions clipped, Atlas tore his shirt over his head and tossed the material aside, revealing his chest, the ropes of his