Wicked Abyss (Immortals After Dark 18)

Not that she would have made a difference. When he'd first busted her, she'd regretted not coming clean--until he'd revealed his true feelings. He'd never intended something more with one of Magh's descendants.

So why play with her? Why not just bargain to lose his seal?

Maybe he'd been so warped from losing his mate that he'd turned evil. Maybe he just loved his games. Maybe he was a typical Morior.

Why would she have rushed to volunteer information about her identity when he was such a fan of Rune's mission?

Fists clenched, she paced, her attempt to shut down her emotions failing epically. Think about escape, Lila. Anything other than Abyssian's treatment of her.

If she couldn't divert her mind, she would lose it. Once she started crying over him, she might never stop.

Even as her heart was splitting, fury inundated her. Fury was easier. It kept her standing. I fucking fell for him.

Abyssian wasn't the only target of her hostility. Saetth and Nix had set her up, leaving Lila at the mercy of a cruel demon. If Abyssian was to be believed, Saetth had been fine with damning her. No one had expected her to like it here in hell, trapped with a hated Morior.

She'd once been a powerless "hothouse rose." Then a pawn of Nix and Saetth. Then a demon's prisoner. Now she was queen of nothing.

After all of her struggles, was she right back where she started?

She stopped pacing. Saetth and Nix had targeted Lila because of her association with Abyssian in a past life. For deeds done eons ago, the demon had happily punished Lila.

She kept paying for Karinna's sins while enjoying none of that princess's advantages.

Karinna had been the heir to the Sylvan throne. If she and Lila were one and the same . . . then Lila had precedence over even Saetth.

Which meant Lila was the rightful ruler.

Which meant . . . Saetth was sitting on her throne.

I want it back.

Rulers who returned from war or exploration after being assumed dead always fought to reclaim their thrones.

Maybe I've just been exploring for ten millennia. I took a tour of the afterlife.

And those rulers executed anyone standing in the way. Would Lila? Could she finish the job her parents had started?

She had the mettle to become a king killer--her life in the fey court had been good for one thing--but logistics presented a problem. She'd have to escape this prison, then figure out how to reach Sylvan, even before she could face off against a lethal swordsman.

If she somehow defeated Saetth to take the throne, she'd then have to prepare Sylvan's defense against the Morior.

She'd figure it the fuck out. Step one, Lila. Escape. She inspected her cage for weaknesses--

Clickety-clack.

Her gaze whipped up at the sound. The fawn appeared not far down the dungeon corridor. They stared at each other.

Pulse racing, Lila asked, "Can you . . . free me?"

The cell door groaned open. Whoa.

When the creature seemed to be awaiting her, Lila swallowed. Three times in her dreams she'd refused to follow the deer over the edge of the cliff.

Something told her she was about to get one more chance. Could she accept whatever fate Graven had planned for her?

Lila sensed she was on the verge of discovering a great truth. Or at least of understanding why she'd been reincarnated.

The feeling that everything was connected struck her. Did the solution shimmer just beyond her fingertips?

Anticipation mixed with uneasiness as the fawn led her out of the dungeon. In the main part of the castle, the moving doors and corridors and stairways of the labyrinth took them deeper into Graven's heart.

At the lowest landing, the fawn disappeared into a wall. Lila didn't even pause, just walked right through it.

Her eyes adjusted to the light, her mind slow to register the sight before her. "Oh, my gods."

Within a massive atrium burned a blue inferno. The flames must be eight stories high! Black blooms swirled above them. Dark drops--blood?--rained down from some unseen source, hissing in the heat.

The fire seemed alive. Ancient and primal. Its shape swelled and contracted, like a beating heart.

How could anything be so beautiful?

Awestruck, tears welling, she breathed, "You're the hellfire that beckoned Abyssian's ancestor."

The flames soared even higher.

The fawn approached the inferno, never slowing as it continued into the fire. Blue flames closed behind it, the creature consumed.

Fear skittered up Lila's spine. She was supposed to . . . follow.

In a daze, she started forward. Was this a gallows walk? Or the solution to all of her problems?

At the edge of the hellfire, she squared her shoulders and ignored her pounding heart. She wouldn't refuse Graven again.

Holding her breath, she took that terrifying step. . . .

FIFTY-FOUR

The dimension of Tenebrous

Perdishian Castle

You knew," Sian bit out as he swung his fist into Rune's face. The archer went reeling from the unexpected blow.

Eyes black with rage, Rune charged him. Sian charged back. They collided in the middle of Perdishian's empty war room with the impact of two dragons.

"You knew she was Saetth's fiancee," Sian yelled. "And a spy!" This would be a close fight. Both could trace, both were around the same size. Sian was stronger than he'd ever been and older than Rune, but the archer was quick.

"Not at first." Rune traced forward, his fist a blur as it connected with Sian's throat. And again. "But I found out in time."

Bellowing, Sian blocked and struck.

Pummeling each other, the two crashed into the walls until the black-stone keep quaked. Their blows echoed throughout the room.

"Why would you not tell me?" Sian swung, catching Rune in the jaw. "You were my friend!"

Rune bared his fangs, shoving Sian back. "I still am!"

"Then why?"

"Because I wanted to give her time to tell you." Strike.

Block. "I never would have let myself feel more for her!"

"I didn't do this lightly. You forget--I wanted t

o put an arrow in her heart."

"You won't godsdamned touch her!" Sian roared and traced, launching his fist with all his new might.

Rune hurtled across the room, crashing into the glass wall.

A crack forked out across the blast-proof expanse. If that glass broke, they would be sucked into the ether. . . .

Lila woke to the plaintive howls of hellhounds.

Blinking open her eyes, she sat up. She was naked on the floor of the bedroom?

The last thing she remembered was stepping into the fire. She patted her arms, legs, and face. Not burned? How long had she been out?

The sun was low in the sky. She must've been unconscious for hours. So what had happened to her during that interim? And how had she gotten here?

She stood unsteadily, her head as heavy as a bowling ball. Courtesy of the fire, her brain had been saturated with new information, her body with magic.

Lila was . . . changed.

In her mind's eye, she could see every inch of this dimension and castle as though looking into a terrarium. This was how Abyssian viewed his realm! No wonder he'd been able to find her so quickly after her escape.

For some reason, she knew Graven hadn't transferred Abyssian's abilities to Lila. No, she had her own, equal to his--because she was the queen of hell, and Pandemonia was half hers. She felt it in every cell in her body.

Using her new talents, she searched for his presence. She detected Uthyr in the throne room, but the demon was gone. No doubt off to plan his fucking war.

The ground trembled as if with her fury. She frowned. Could she learn to control her surroundings? Closing her eyes for focus, she imagined one of Graven's staircases sweeping left. It obeyed! She shifted another one to the right.

As she got the hang of this power, she opened and closed moving walls like a kid playing with a car window.

She made a small volcano erupt--with just a thought. Amazing! She fanned the winds over the sea. When the terrace curtains fluttered, the late-afternoon sun struck the diamond on the mantel, the concentrated sparkle catching her eye.

The demon had pledged his future to her. He'd promised to let go of the past. How could he break her heart, without a seeming care?

What if he returned and tried to imprison her again? This is my home now. The castle had chosen her to challenge, and Lila had boldly stepped into an inferno. In reward, Graven had anointed her with power.

If Lila wielded magic like Abyssian's, then maybe she could banish him from this realm. Hell hath no fury like a hell queen scorned. She burned to make him pay.