The Darkest Craving (Lords of the Underworld #10)(74)
Author: Gena Showalter

No. Not him, he realized. Her. She had to go. He would call Lucien. He would send the warrior to pick her up, and have her escorted to the fortress in the Realm of Blood and Shadows, as he’d originally planned. Kane would stay away from her, and she would be safe.

The demon would be satisfied.

He pressed his thumb against his wedding ring, spun the metal. Soon, the band would be his only connection to Tink. He punched the building beside him, and the brick cracked. He never should have tried to create a normal life with her. Not until the demon was dead.

Disaster growled.

Kane turned the corner of the sidewalk. A window shattered as he passed. People shouted with fright and scrambled away from the sea of glass. “What are you doing now?” he gritted. “I’m giving you what you want.”

You give, even while you plot my demise. Perhaps it’s time I ended you, and freed myself.

“You’ll be crazed, mindless.”

Aren’t I already?

He wouldn’t panic.

An SUV slammed into a lamppost. A biker swerved, hit a curb. The bike flipped end over end and crashed into Kane.

Teeth grinding, Kane kept going. “You’re hurting innocents.”

I know. Isn’t it great?

“Stop.”

Let’s bargain. I won’t try to kill you, or others—if.

“If?”

See that woman over there? I want her. Give her to me.

Across the street, a pretty woman stood outside a shop, watching the chaos down the way.

“No,” Kane snapped.

The water main broke, liquid suddenly shooting into the sky. Two cars collided.

“No,” he repeated, wiping cold droplets from his brow.

A black bird careened from the sky, slammed into Kane’s chest before falling to the ground. There was a pained squawk as feathers rained in every direction. Struggling to breathe, he bent down to check the damage to the bird.

It died before contact was made.

The girl. Give me the girl.

Kane straightened, closed his eyes for a moment. He knew what Disaster really wanted—for Kane to betray his wife, ruin the trust they’d only just managed to build and destroy any hope for a future. Then, when Lucien carried Tink away, the distance between husband and wife would be more than physical. It would be mental, emotional. And it wouldn’t matter if Disaster died or not. The damage would have been done, all hope torched, Kane’s life ruined.

What better catastrophe was there than that?

I can’t do it, Kane thought. I won’t do it.

And yet, a second later, when a billboard fell from the side of the building, and humans rushed away to avoid being crushed, the word apocalypse reverberated in his head and he found himself crossing the street, approaching the woman.

Maybe your Fae will never find out, Disaster said, glee in his tone. It can be our little secret.

No. There were no secrets. Truth had ways of seeping out. More than that, he would never keep something like this secret from her.

In the back of his mind, he suddenly thought he felt another presence. Someone soft and gentle, sweet and innocent. Someone who smelled like fresh-baked bread.

Tink?

He frowned, searching the area for any sign of her, finding none. His guilt must be playing tricks on him. Either that, or Disaster was.

“I’m not going to do what you want,” he said.

Kiss this woman, and I’ll leave your Josephina alone.

Tink. Safe. “Ma’am,” he said, acid burning a path up his throat.

The woman looked up at him. Fear glazed her eyes. “What’s happening out there?”

“A whole lot of dangerous,” he said. “Why don’t I escort you somewhere safe?”

The window behind her shattered. Screaming, she threw herself into his arms.

A hand here…a mouth there…so helpless…

Memories hit him, swift and hard. As he fought the urge to jerk away from the woman, the past, to scrub himself from head to toe with steel wool, he gently detached himself from her grip.

KISS HER!

Sweat beaded on his brow. Behind him, the roof of a building caved in.

The woman trembled. “It’s the end of the world,” she whispered.

Like…an apocalypse.

Urgency rushed through him, joining forces with fear and panic. “Swear it,” he said to Disaster. “Swear you’ll leave Tink alone.”

“Who?” the woman asked.

I swear it.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Kane leaned down and kissed her. She stiffened, but she didn’t push him away; the urge to vomit hit him, and he straightened.

In a snap, the presence left him.

Disaster laughed. I was lying, of course. How foolish of you to trust me.

Kane punched the brick wall, uncaring when his knuckles broke upon impact. He should have known. The demon would do anything to ruin his most prized relationship—and had probably succeeded. And I went along with it, all for a lie. He punched the wall again.

“I-is everything okay?” the woman stuttered.

“I’ve been looking for you,” a male voice interjected from behind him.

The power that wafted from that voice startled him. Disaster, too. The demon yelped in sudden fear and hid in a far corner of his mind. Kane spun and met the gaze of a Sent One. The warrior wasn’t anyone he knew personally, but he recognized the green fauxhawk, the Asian features, the gleaming white robe and oh, yeah, the impressive white-and-gold wings arching over wide, muscled shoulders, sweeping all the way to the floor.

“Who are you and why are you here?” Kane liked the Sent Ones. He did. They’d helped his friend Amun, the keeper of Secrets, at the worst hour of his life. They were training Paris’s wife to lead the Titans out of darkness and into light. They hadn’t killed Aeron—not permanently, at least—when he married into the family. But now wasn’t a good time.

“Uh, who are you talking to?” the woman asked.

“I’m Malcolm,” the warrior said, acting as if she wasn’t there. “I’m here to check on you. We knew you were in hell, but heard you had escaped. I was told to find you and verify that you were indeed alive and well.”

“I’m alive.” But far from well. “Is that all?”

“O-kay,” the woman said. “I don’t care if you can save me from the end of the world or not. I’m out of here.”

Footsteps sounded but Kane never diverted his eyes from the Sent One before him.

Malcolm crossed his arms over his massive chest. “No, that’s not all. Six demons killed Deity, our king, and those demons are now living on earth, desperate to possess as many humans as possible. If you’re well, you are to help us find them.”