The Darkest King (Lords of the Underworld 15)

Her cheeks pinkened. “So you noticed mine.”

“I did.” He’d noted every detail about her. My new addiction. “I just didn’t know what it could do.”

“Well, yours is different than mine,” she said, shifting from one foot to the other, “but, uh, still the same. If that makes sense.”

It did, and it didn’t. But why the sudden bout of nerves? Hoping to make her smile, he asked, “Do you wish to explore the realm before we go home?”

First, she brightened. Then she wilted. “No. The longer I stay, the harder it’ll be to leave.”

That, he understood. In the back of his mind, he scheduled a return trip. Once his curse was broken and Lucifer was dead, they could stay for weeks. Months even. Or as long as they were together.

Still think you’ll come to want another?

Unsure what he wanted from a woman for the first time in his existence, William led Sunny through the portal. He closed it and strode to the desk, where he plopped into the chair.

When she headed his way, he said, “I need to study, and you are too much of a distraction. Give me space.”

She stopped and blew him a kiss with her middle finger, but she made no protests. Instead, she busied herself with the photos of his book. Another surprise. Did she not want to spend time with him, her brand-spanking-new boyfriend?

Inner shake. What did it matter? He flipped on the desk lamp and bent his head over the medallion but...he failed to block Sunny from his thoughts. His awareness of her sharpened, and he spent the next half hour pretending to study his prize while covertly watching her, wishing she would ignore his request.

The more she concentrated on the photos, the more the crease between her brows deepened. A crease he longed to trace with his fingertip.

Patience eroded, he slammed a fist against the desk. “I’ve learned nothing new, and I’ve run out of time. I must go.”

“If the big, strong he-man had asked the sweet little woman,” she said, sauntering over to claim his medallion, “she would have shown him how to use it. Watch.” She pressed the medallion against her palm and curled her fingers into specific grooves.

A hard, black protrusion grew from the center. A spear, just as she’d claimed. When she pried her fingers free, the protrusion retracted. Fascinating.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I must pack a bag so I can move in. I’ll return sometime before midnight.” Thereby meeting the parameters of her request.

“What about our dinner with Hades?” She performed a twirl, her skirt flaring just above her knees. Those silken pink waves hung free, and he would give anything to fist the strands, angle her face and take her mouth. Holding out her arms, she asked, “Are my clothes appropriate or should I change?”

The ice-blue cloth molded to her curves, turning her into a fantasy made flesh with peekaboo slits. Desire seethed inside him.

“I go alone,” he told her. One, he had no idea what Hades wished to discuss. And two, she was a distraction he could ill afford.

“Oh.” Her shoulders rolled in. “I see.”

So forlorn. A pang ripped through him. “What exactly do you see, duna?”

She flinched as if he’d punched her. Why, damn it? Then she smiled without a speck of amusement, and he flinched. “Doesn’t matter.” She shooed him off. “Go. Have fun without me.”

What thoughts rolled through that cunning mind of hers? The temptation to stay and question her proved strong. Nearly too strong to resist.

In the end, William opened a portal to his bedroom. He would change his clothes, then head to Hades’s. He would not spend the evening agonizing over Sunny’s reaction.

He walked through the doorway. Without a backward glance—don’t you fucking do it—he waved, sealing the exit. Guilt attempted to devour him whole.

I won’t think about Sunny. I—

What would she think about my bedroom? He used one entire wall as a television screen. Video games and controllers littered the floor. The wet bar offered an assortment of ambrosia-laced whiskeys. Instead of a nightstand, he had a minifridge stocked with all his favorites—anything loaded with high-fructose corn syrup. Yeah, he had the sophisticated palette of a frat boy. So what? The bed was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, bigger than a king, but surprise, surprise Pandora lay in the center of it, flipping through a magazine.

A wave of affection washed over him, a side effect of Hades’s adoption. He strode to the closet, asking, “What are you doing here?”

She didn’t bother to glance up. “You sent me a message and told me to meet you here. So nice of you to remember.”

He’d never sent a message. “In other words, Hades expects you to act as my chaperone and ensure I’m a good boy who attends the family dinner.”

Page-flip. “If you knew the answer, why’d you ask?”

Two hellhound pups poked their heads out from under the bed.

William jolted back, already reaching for a dagger. Hellhounds could rip an immortal to shreds in a matter of seconds. And once a hellhound locked onto a target, nothing but the target’s death dissuaded it from a hunt. “Panda?”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, flipping another page. “Baden dropped off a couple hellhounds. They’re a gift from Hades.”

Baden, another of Hades’s adopted sons, as well as a Lord of the Underworld formerly possessed by the demon of Distrust. A male of honor who meant what he said and said what he meant. His wife, Katarina, trained packs of hellhounds for Hades.

My own hellhounds. William grinned as the pair ducked back under the bed. The first pup was a little cutie with white-and-black fur, two heads, two sets of red eyes and a single forked tail. The second was a larger female with dirt-caked fur of indeterminate color, one head, three black eyes and a wealth of scars.

How did Sunny feel about pets?

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He rushed to check the screen, just in case she had need of him.

Gilly Gumdrop: Liam, I’m so thrilled for you! I hear you found your decoder. Now you’re one step closer to being curse-less

He grinned as he typed, That I am. How about a celebration video game marathon? Torin created a Lords of the Underworld demon slaying game. As you probably guessed, the Slick Willy character is undefeatable.

Gilly Gumdrop: Puck and I would love to destroy Slick Willy! We’re currently locked in negotiations with Sent Ones. They’ve still got his brother locked away, and we want him back. As soon as we’re done, we’ll come for a visit.

William couldn’t wait to see her. She always brightened his life.

What would she think of Sunny?

As for Puck’s brother, Sin, they’d never get him back. Possessed by the demons of Paranoia and Indifference—the worst of the worst combination—he was

the one who’d bombed the heavens, killing hundreds of Sent Ones. He wasn’t just imprisoned; he was being tortured.

William might have to get involved.

He sighed, pocketed the phone and began packing an overnight bag to stay in the stable. “Have you ever spent an entire night with a lover?” he asked Pandora.

“No. Gross. I get what I want, and I get out.”

Exactly! To sleep with a woman, actually sleep, he’d have to trust her with his life. He’d never trusted anyone with his life, not even Gillian, whom he’d treasured. He’d seen too many friends fall victim to “bait.” Males and females who seduced in order to kill.

Sunny wasn’t bait, but she was destined to kill him.

Won’t leave her alone, unprotected. Can’t resist her charms.

Perhaps he’d use the nighttime hours to scheme ways to kill Lucifer and acquire Lilith. If she truly lived.

Or he’d just have sex 24/7 to prepare for mating season. Because yes, he would be taking care of Sunny.

At the thought, desire scorched him, inside and out, and he hissed a pained breath. I want her. I want her now. He’d been celibate since they’d met...what? Two days ago? That was two days longer than usual. And damn if it didn’t seem like he’d known her two years.

Was that how matehood worked? A day seemed like a year, and a year seemed like a day?

“Why’d you ask about the lover thing?” Pandora asked. “No, you know what? Never mind. Let’s just change the subject before I start barfing. So. You know Lucifer better than any of us.” While rocking her legs back and forth, her ankles crossed, she flipped another page. “Could he really keep the witch locked up for centuries and resist the urge to kill her?”

“I don’t know him anymore. I never knew him.” William stuffed a few shirts and an entire box of condoms in his bag, saying, “He’s always been a deceiver, changing personalities the way other people change clothes. But I’ll learn the truth one way or another.”

A straight-up invasion of Lucifer’s palace would be foolish. Lucifer was a master at rigging traps so that the one who broke in inadvertently murdered the one they hoped to save.