The Darkest Lie (Lords of the Underworld #6)(79)
Author: Gena Showalter

“Why—doesn’t—her mother hate her?” he asked, raising and lowering his voice as needed.

NeeMah rolled to her back, hissed in a pained breath. “My sister can’t help herself. She thought she loved Scarlet’s father, and yet he was only using her. He had a wife of his own and cast Rhea aside as soon as he learned of her pregnancy. Then the Greeks captured the Titans and threw us in prison, preventing her from gaining revenge against the foolish mortal.”

“So she—didn’t—blame Scarlet?” Bitch. He flicked the lighter on, off, as he waited for her reply, daring her to refuse him.

“Not at first. At first, she loved the infant. Or rather, loved the infant as much as she was able. But as Scarlet grew, looking so much like her father, Rhea’s love died. And it didn’t help that Scarlet was growing into such a lovely woman. Rhea had already had so much taken from her. Her throne, her power, her freedom. To no longer be considered the fairest in the realm was a blow her ego could not tolerate.”

Because of vanity, she’d practically gift wrapped her daughter for the monsters trapped inside their cell. Calling the woman a bitch, he realized, had been an insult to bitches.

“Don’t.” Gideon longed to return to Rhea, a knife in hand. He would slit her throat without any hesitation—then spit on her lifeless body. On. Off. Flames sparked, died. “Continue.”

“Then, when Strife was paired with her,” NeeMah continued shakily, “all of her feelings intensified. Her hate, her jealousy, her need to prove herself. She was compelled to cause trouble. As you know.”

“You were given a demon.” A statement, not a question. Not once had her eyes flickered with red. Not once had he seen a flash of undiluted evil behind her face. Oh, there was evil, all right, just not the demonic kind.

She replied anyway. “No. I was spared.”

“Why? Not,” he finished in a whisper. On. Off.

“Zeus chose who was paired with what demon, and each pairing was determined out of spite. A punishment of sorts. I had done nothing to harm him. Nothing he recalled, that is.”

Truth mixed with smug superiority.

Lies hissed.

Zeus had told some of the Lords why they’d been given their demon. Lucien received Death because he’d opened Pandora’s box, nearly leading to the demise of the world. Maddox received Violence because he’d killed the most soldiers in his quest to reach the box. Paris had seduced Pandora to distract her, therefore he’d received Promiscuity.

Why, though, had Gideon been given Lies? He’d been a good warrior for the king. He’d helped steal Pandora’s box, yes, but his part had been minimal because he’d felt so damn guilty for betraying his creator.

With that line of thinking, another question arose. Why had Scarlet been given Nightmares?

Lies began to purr.

Gideon frowned. Why purr? That spoke of affection. I thought you were over Scarlet, you fickle bastard. Not mine, Lies said. Which really meant, All mine.

You can’t do that, you little shit. You can’t keep changing your mind like that, wanting her one minute, discarding her the next. Not mine.

I should ask her demon to—

NOT MINE.

Wait. What? Her…demon?

NOT MINE.

His eyes widened as everything finally slid into place. Had the two demons been…lovers while inside that box? Or maybe inside hell?

The purring increased in volume, and he could only shake his head in wonder. All this time with his demon, and he hadn’t realized such creatures could form connections like that. But Lies and Nightmares must have done so.

That explained so much. Why Lies had wanted to stay with Scarlet, but hadn’t cared about Scarlet herself. Why Lies had been willing to do something abhorrent to him, like tell the truth, just to keep Scarlet nearby. Why Lies had responded to Rhea when she’d looked like Scarlet. The demon had only seen the packaging and had assumed Nightmares was inside.

Perhaps Zeus had known of the connection. Perhaps Zeus had also known of Scarlet’s desire for Gideon. Perhaps he’d given Gideon the demon of Lies as a…gift.

And you were trying to find a way to kill him. He might just owe the deposed king a big fat thank-you. He would rather kiss Scarlet, though. Damn it, where was she? What was she doing?

Would she go for his throat the next time she saw him? She thought he was screwing her bitch of a mother, after all. Or would she try to avoid him for the rest of eternity?

Even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to do so. She was tracking NeeMah and would eventually discover that the woman’s trail led here. So they would meet again. He would just have to make sure he was prepared. Fingers crossed she didn’t kill him while he slept or remove his head before he’d had a chance to explain.

Fingers crossed she even wanted to hear his explanation.

“Speaking of memory loss…I think it’s funny that you and Scarlet met again.”

NeeMah’s voice drew him from his thoughts, and he arched a brow at her. “Not—” whispered “—again?” Loudly.

“You probably don’t remember—” she smiled at that, fleeting, but there all the same “—but you came looking for her once. Well, a little boy you discovered was actually a girl. She was grown by then and you clearly liked what you saw.”

Fire ignited in his chest, then spread to his limbs. At first, Gideon didn’t know why. Then he realized Lies was storming through him, so agitated the turmoil seeped into Gideon. Why? “Do you remember?” the goddess asked him.

He remembered that little boy, and now knew that had been Scarlet. Yet he didn’t remember ever encountering an adult version Scarlet. Had his memory been screwed with?

“Anyway, for some reason, you never returned. You left her there.” She offered him another false grin. “Such a pity.”

He hopped up, panting with the force of his sudden rage. On. Off. On. Off. She had screwed with him.

“Oh, do you wish to remember? Give me your hand, and it’s done. Even with my collar, I can get inside your head.”

“One day,” he snarled, gripping the bars, shaking, the lighter clinking against the metal.

“Yes?” she asked, clearly thinking there was nothing he could do. She sat up, gaze never leaving him. “One day? What will you do?”

“I will—I will—” Nothing sounded violent enough.

“Will you kill me? Will you torture me? What can you truly do to harm me? Tell me I’m ugly? Tell me I’m powerless? Do it, then. And see how I punish Scarlet in turn. We both know she’ll return for me. I’ll convince her to hate you. I’ll convince her to kill you. I’ll convince her to sleep with man after man. I’ll convince her to kill herself. And there’s nothing—”