The Darkest Torment (Lords of the Underworld 12)

The ceiling shook, more dust raining down. Where was Baden? Was he okay?

“I suggest you play nice, wife.” Alek attempted to scoot closer to her, but the chain stopped him. “Soon I’ll use the coin to dethrone Hades and take his place in the underworld. I’ll be a king.”

A king. Of the underworld. Aka, of evil. On paper, it was actually the perfect job for him. “That’s what the coin does? Buys you a kingdom?”

“It forces Hades to grant my wish, whatever that wish might be.”

“How did you get it?”

He hesitated only a moment before replying. “A gift from my mother.”

“You have a mother? Aw, is she proud of her murderous little sociopath?”

“She’s dead. I blame my father.” He smiled with a touch of mania. “But Papa got his in the end. I made sure of it. And if you want to keep your pretty tongue, you won’t speak of my mother again.”

The dogs barked, but remained in place.

Tongue removal must be all the rage among evil overlords. She’d noticed the winged devil had lacked one.

“Is my brother alive or did you kill him, too?” she asked, facing the wall to press her hands against the cold stone. There had to be a way out. Not that she doubted her safety. But the women and children might need her and the dogs.

“After the massacre at the chapel, I sent Dominik to my country estate. I won’t harm him...as long as you treat me with the deference I deserve.”

This. This would have become her life if Baden hadn’t showed up. Threats and coercion. She owed the warrior a debt of gratitude.

She managed to extract an already loosened stone.

“You think to leave me?” Alek rattled the chain as he tried to stand. “No. You will stay. Do you hear me? You will stay!”

She turned and lobbed the stone at him, only to gasp. His eyes...they were lit up with sparks of red.

Baden was right. Alek wasn’t human.

How? How was that possible? How had she not known?

“When I’m king of Hades’s realm,” Alek said, his tone low and silky now, “you will be my queen. Don’t you want to be my queen, princezná?”

“I’d rather be a servant for a good king than the queen of a bad one.”

“So...yes?”

“Hard no.” But...

Katarina drew in a breath, slowly released it. Right now, she was part of Baden’s world. He admired strength, and she’d often claimed to be strong. It was time to prove it.

If she couldn’t escape, she might as well go on an information hunt.

“Where’s the coin now?” she asked and winced. Too much too fast.

Another manic smile bloomed. “You can search the world, but you’ll never find it.”

He was so confident. Search the world...

So, where else could she search, if not the world? The underworld he’d mentioned?

No. Not likely. He wouldn’t trust the coin with anyone else. Not if it could do what he thought. He wouldn’t want it far from his reach. “As much as I hate you, I don’t want to be a prisoner, either,” she said. Can you relate, kretén? Blanking her expression, she said, “If I help free you, you must vow to take me with you. And let my brother go.”

His eyes narrowed on her, but he nodded. “So be it.”

Such easy capitulation? Liar!

She stood and took a step toward him, then pretended to rethink her decision and edged back. As he tensed, she took another step forward. “How am I to free you?” she asked, as if nervous.

“Pick the lock on the chains like you picked the lock on your bedroom door.” He practically vibrated with eagerness. “I can do the rest.”

Another step brought her closer to him. “In other words, I do the grunt work for little reward. No! I want the coin, too.”

Look at me. A pretend gold digger deluxe. Baden would be pleased.

“I’ll share it with you,” he said as anger clearly stirred inside him.

Another lie. “How do I know you really have it?”

“You’ll just have to trust me.”

She shook her head, adamant. “After what you did to my dogs? No. I don’t trust you.” There would be no bluffing her way past that particular truth. “You need to prove its existence.”

“I have it, I swear.” The edge of his voice sharpened to a blade-point. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Sorry, husband, but I have to see it.”

His lips peeled back from his teeth in a scowl he’d only ever turned on employees who’d wronged him. “Free me,” he commanded, “and then I’ll show it to you.”