The Darkest Lie (Lords of the Underworld #6)(33)
Author: Gena Showalter

“Scar,” he whispered brokenly. “I—I—”

Still she couldn’t face him. She felt too exposed, too raw, as if she’d been scraped with a razor from the inside out. “What!” A scream.

“I understand, I do.” Meaning, he didn’t. “That sounds like the…man I knew. A king who—”

“Don’t talk to me about that bastard! You liked him, I know. You respected him, admired his strength. Before your possession, he was even good to you. As much as he was capable of.” And that wasn’t much. So the fact that Gideon defended him in any way… Suffer! “How did he treat you afterward, huh? He cursed you and he banished you! But you know what? He was never good to me and he was never good to your son.” The words were coming in gasping rumbles now, slashing at him.

She had to stop. Her sobs were threatening to escape. But how dare he question the validity of her tale? He should be pleading for absolution. Shouting to the heavens. Cursing. That he wasn’t…

“I’m leaving you,” she said. Though she’d tried for a calm, this-is-how-it’s-gonna-be tone this time, her own suffering was evident in every nuance of her voice. “You owe me a boon, and I’m redeeming it by asking that you don’t come after me. You’ve done enough damage.”

With that, she did it. She at last walked away and left her husband behind. She didn’t look back. Closure sucked.

YOU’VE DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE.

The words echoed through Gideon’s mind. Everything inside him screamed to jump up, to chase Scarlet down, to bind her to him in whatever way necessary, to do something, anything to soothe the wounds inside her, but he didn’t. He remained crouched on the ground, shaking, hot tears streaming down his already soaked cheeks.She was right.

He had done enough damage. At first, he hadn’t wanted to believe her. He’d scrambled for any possible scrap to disprove her. But the pain in her eyes had been too real, the wounds in her voice seeping crimson. Which meant not only had he abandoned his wife, he’d also abandoned his son. An abandonment that had eventually led to his son’s murder.

A murder Scarlet had been forced to watch, help less.

Why couldn’t Gideon remember? Why?

Rage beat through him, harder than fists of iron. Whatever he had to do, he would find out.

With a roar, he ripped off his necklace and tossed it aside. “Cronus,” he shouted to the treetops. “Cronus! I command your presence.”

It was the truth, but he couldn’t stop the words. Didn’t want to stop the words. Immediately, his demon screamed and pain slammed into his chest. Pain that doubled him over. Pain that spread through every inch of him, turning his blood to acid and his bones to bubbling liquid.

Pain he deserved.

Soon he couldn’t move, could barely speak. But over and over, he called, “Cronus. Cronus. Come to me. I need you.”

An eternity seemed to pass, the rain finally dying, though the moon never broke through the clouds and the sun never appeared. Where was Scarlet? Had she made it someplace safe to await the coming morning? Probably. The girl was resourceful. Well able to take care of herself. Look at everything she had survived.

She was stronger than he was, that was for sure.

Gods, no wonder she was done with him. She had to hate him. Did hate him. The emotion had drenched her final goodbye. He didn’t blame her, either. Just then, he hated himself. He’d left his own child to die. His own child.

He should be beheaded.

The tears stared flowing again, and he squeezed his eyelids shut. Darling Steel, saddled with horns and fangs, even scales. The ever-fastidious gods and goddesses had probably made him feel ashamed of those features. Features Gideon would have loved and fawned over. Cherished.

Scarlet had been right about something else, too. At one time, Gideon had liked and respected Zeus. The former god king might have been selfish and power-hungry, but in his way, he’d been good to Gideon. Until the Pandora’s box fiasco. After that, the Greeks had ignored Gideon and his friends, and as time passed, Gideon had found contentment with his new life.

Not his wife and child, though. They never had. Zeus had never been good to them, and for that, Zeus would suffer.

I will destroy the bastard. Once, Gideon had done everything in his power to protect his king. And how had he been repaid? His greatest treasures were taken from him. I will avenge my son. My wife.

Pandora’s box be damned. Vengeance came first. Now. Always.

“Tsk, tsk,” a male voice suddenly said, the quiet sound exploding through Gideon’s head.

He pried open his eyelids.

Cronus crouched in front of him, disappointment shadowing his ever-more-youthful features. “You are a fool, letting yourself decline like this. And for what? A single moment of truth?” He sighed. “Why did you summon me? Again. I just spoke to Lucien and received my daily update. I do not require another.”

“Zeus,” Gideon gritted out. “I want him.”

Lies screamed.

Another bout of truth. Another bout of pain, fresh and searing.

Cronus blinked in surprise. “Why?”

“I want him,” Gideon repeated, panting. He would not discuss Steel with Cronus. If the god were to remember the boy, were to bad-mouth him in any way, Gideon would be out for his blood, as well, and right now he needed the king as an ally.

“No.” Unwavering, certain. “You cannot have him.”

Gideon clenched his jaw as his gaze fogged over. Fight this. “He’s your enemy. Let me slay him for you.” He was so used to speaking deceitfully, he should have stumbled over the truth. At the very least, he should have had to think about what to say. Yet he didn’t. The truth flowed from him, already a part of him. Zeus would die by his hand.

“Why would you want to?” Cronus asked, genuinely curious.

“The fact that he’s breathing offends me.”

Lies whimpered. More, please more. Stop, please stop.

The king’s expression hardened. “Only after he has endured thousands of years of confinement will he be allowed the sweet taste of death. If even then. And I will be the one to deliver it. Now, is that all you wished to discuss with me?”

If Cronus wouldn’t help him willingly, the king would just have to help him unintentionally. All Gideon needed was passage into Olympus. Or whatever Cronus was calling the place. From there, he could hike into Tartarus. He’d spent centuries doing so and still knew the way.

That was one thing he hadn’t forgotten.