The Darkest Touch (Lords of the Underworld 11)

He hacked a new wall of foliage to shreds, the tree limbs stretching toward him, ravenous leaves snapping. “After you.”

“My hero-villain,” Keeley said, moving past him. “Does your mother know you’re such a gentleman half of the time?”

An ache in his chest. “I don’t have a mother.”

“What?” She rounded on him. There was no pity in her eyes, only curiosity. “You’ve never had anyone tuck you in at night, either?”

Either? “I came into this world fully formed. What of you?”

“The old-fashioned way, though I don’t enjoy thinking of my emotionless mother and greedy father getting frisky”

Emotionless and greedy. He didn’t enjoy the thought of little Kee Kee subjected to such things. The Sugar Plum Fairy should have been pampered.

He reached up to smooth away the wet hair clinging to her cheek but ended up fisting his hand and dropping his arm. Can’t forget. Not for a moment. But it was becoming harder and harder to catch himself.

“They were cruel to you?” he asked, walking around her and taking the lead.

“During the best times, yes.” She stepped up to his side, keeping pace. “During the worst, they paid me no heed at all. Which is probably why I ensured there were as many ‘best’ times as possible.”

Breaking my heart. A daughter so neglected she would rather be punished than ignored. “I’m sorry.”

A faux-casual shrug as she said, “The past shaped me into who I am. How can I regret it?”

Not one for pity. Got it. But he wanted to know more about her. Wanted to know everything about her.

Because...shouldn’t admit it...can’t help myself...he was in total like with her. Stupidly, foolishly, but there it was. There was no question he liked her looks—his constant erection was proof of that. But more important, he liked her. Who she was, even what she was.

Never had a relationship been more doomed.

“I’ve heard Curators were created before humans,” he said. “True or false?”

“True. The earth was ours. But as you know, the fallen angels challenged the Most High, lost and came here. The Curators who bonded to them lost their light and it wasn’t long before most of the earth was infected.”

Most of, she’d said. “Not all?”

“There was a walled-off section, a garden, where the humans were created. But the leader of the fallen angels later found a way in there, too.”

Lucifer? “These lights,” he said. “I’ve heard talk of them, but I’m not sure I understand them.”

“Imagine Curators are lightbulbs. We literally glow. It’s an outward sign of the conscience we possess within.”

“And without the light?”

“Absolute darkness. No conscience.”

“How have you kept your light all these centuries?”

“What makes you think I haven’t lost it? I mean, you can’t see it. It’s hidden inside my body.”

“I thought you had. At first. Now?” Simplest explanation? “I’m still alive.”

Minutes ticked by without a response from her. “The truth is,” she finally said, “I did almost lose it. For a while, bitterness was my best friend and suffocating dark closed in. Then Mari showed up and chased it away. I could breathe again, could think clearly, and realized I would have endured a thousand imprisonments simply to meet her.”

And I took her away.

He thought he’d come to grips with that. But could anyone ever really come to grips after destroying someone’s only source of joy?

“Where will this doorway lead us?” he croaked.

“To the next realm.”

“Which is?”

“Someplace different than this one.”

Such a fount of information. “I want to go home.”

“No problem.” She blinked at him, all innocence. “Cut out the scars and I’ll flash you there.”

He was tempted. Extracting a pound of flesh no longer seemed to be her objective. But if she were to turn on him, the scars would be his only weapon against her. A warrior never surrendered his weapons.

“I want to go home without cutting out the scars.”

She expelled a breath. “Well, then, I’ve got good news and bad news.”

“Start with the good news.”

“Bad news,” she said, and he rolled his eyes. “Flashing is the only way to skip through realms. Well, that, and opening portals. But I can’t flash you, and I can’t open a portal without the necessary tools. That means we’ll have to travel from realm to realm until we reach your home, and it could take years.” She marched in front of him and held out her hand, stopping him. “But the good news is, we’ve finally reached the doorway.”

No way in hell. They stood at the edge of a cliff, a sea of nothingness stretching for miles ahead.

“Let me guess,” he said dryly. “We’re supposed to jump, and you’d like me to go first.”

She rolled her eyes. “Always thinking the worst of people is a disease, you know. Courtesy of your demon?”

“Courtesy of me.”

“Well, I suppose it’ll take someone nicer than me to cure you of it.”

“You’re nice.”

Please. “Flattery is just another form of lying and will get you a dagger in the gut.” How nice was that?

“A mean person wouldn’t have warned me. A mean person would have simply struck.”