The Darkest Lie (Lords of the Underworld #6)(96)
Author: Gena Showalter

“You deserve to die. You’ve always thought so. You want to die. Remember?”

Fuck. “Not a foul. Not a damn foul!” Gideon tried to stand, but Cronus latched onto him and held him in place. Popcorn scattered. If Scarlet’s memories were tampered with, she’d—

“Scarlet used her demon,” Cronus said. “The goddess is allowed to use her powers.”

“But—”

Gideon watched in horror as Scarlet’s head canted to the side and her eyes glazed over. As she nodded. “Yes. I deserve. I want.”

“I hate you, devil,” he shouted. “Please, forget how much I hate you. Please.”

“You want to save me, because I saved you,” NeeMah said, voice stronger now as she continued to weave her tale. “I saved you from Gideon. He’s the reason you’re cut and bleeding. He’s the reason—”

“No.” Scarlet suddenly hissed. “No. These are my memories, and I love them. I do not want to save your life. I want to end it. I do not want to die. Gideon loves me. Me.”

“How can you be sure? You are—”

Scowling, Scarlet grabbed her aunt by the neck and twisted with one brutal slash. The woman’s spine was instantly broken, her body flopping lifeless to the ground. But she could recover from that, and Scarlet had to know.

Gideon opened his mouth to tell her she would have to find a way to remove the head from the body, but she beat him to it. She found a way. With her bare hands.

That’s my girl.

“That won’t kill her for good, will it?” he asked Cronus, just wanting assurance. Worked for immortals, but he’d never delivered the deathblow to a straight-up god or goddess.

“Time will tell,” Cronus replied cryptically.

Gideon would just go ahead and take that as “bitch was wasted forever.”

Panting all the harder by the time she finished, Scarlet straightened. He jumped to his feet and ran to her, the air shield gone, but just before he reached her, Cronus swept the two of them back to Gideon’s bedroom. So when he collided with her, they tumbled backward into his bed. A bed he never wanted to leave again.

“I did it,” she said, peering up at him through swollen eyes, split lips curled into a grin. “I really killed her.”

Gideon planted little kisses all over her face, careful of her injuries. “Not proud of you.”

“Thank you.” Shaky arms wound around him. “When she tried to get inside my head, I felt her this time. I knew it was her, and knew that what she was trying to convince me of was false. Because my real memories were so strong. And cherished.”

“Not glad, not glad.” He hugged her tight. “Gods, I hate you so much.”

Finally, she kissed him back. “I love you, too.”

This was even better than hearing her repeat his lie. She loved him. He seriously couldn’t ask for more than that. Oh, wait. He could. “And you’ll leave me, right?”

“I’ll stay,” she said without hesitation. “After all, it’ll piss off Mommy Dearest and as much as I hate to admit I have something in common with Cronus, I’m starting to enjoy messing with her. Or at least I’m not scared to cross her anymore. Look what I did to her sister. I’ll do the same to her if she comes near you. And who knows. Maybe I can help you find Pandora’s box and we can lock my mother inside. Now wouldn’t that be fun?”

Now this was the confident, vengeful Scarlet he so adored. They were going to be so happy together.

There was a bang at his door, and Torin called, “Stop playing around, you two. Amun, Aeron and William just returned home with Legion. And you’ll never believe who came with them.”

“How doesn’t he always know where we are and what we’re in the middle of doing?” Reluctantly Gideon disengaged from his woman. If he’d hadn’t missed his friends so much, if he hadn’t needed to see for himself that they were all right, he would have ignored Torin’s summons.

Scarlet stood beside him, a little wobbly on her feet, and linked their fingers. “Come on. Let’s check on them. Plus, you need to officially introduce me so they’ll stop trying to capture and kill me.”

Such a darling girl, and so understanding. “No deal.”

They strode out of the bedroom, down the hall, down the stairs and into the foyer, only to stop short at the sight that awaited them. A contingent of angels stood in a circle, murmuring to each other. Bright lights glowed around each of them, and they were so physically perfect it actually hurt to gaze upon them. Most were males, but there were a few females. No matter their gender, they all possessed white wings threaded with gold, stretching and invading every inch of space.

Determined, Gideon pushed his way through them. Where were— He spotted his friends in the center of that circle. They were lying on their backs, barely breathing. They were more ragged and injured than he’d ever seen them before. And shit, he’d seen Amun f**ked up pretty badly. They were covered in soot and countless bruises and abrasions and reeked of sulfur.

Olivia, Aeron’s female, had the warrior’s head in her lap and she was smoothing the hair from his brow. William was moaning, calling for Gilly, one of his arms nearly detached from his body. Legion wasn’t moving at all, just lying in a pool of her own blood.

Amun, though…Amun was the worst. He was clutching his ears and biting his lower lip, clearly lost in an agony even Gideon couldn’t comprehend.

“Do not look him in the eyes,” Lysander, leader of all the warrior angels, said. “His mind is infected.”

“With what?” Scarlet asked, suddenly beside Gideon and wrapping a comforting arm around his waist. She squeezed him, offering support.

“Demon,” Lysander replied.

Gideon just blinked over at him.

“We know that,” Scarlet said for him. “We’re all infected by a demon.”

“No,” Lysander insisted. “He is fully demon. You are merely bonded with one, but his mind is evil, no goodness is left inside it. If he looks at you, he will see into your soul and poison it with darkness.”

Oh, shit, Gideon thought. He drew Scarlet deeper into his side. He loved Amun, but he wouldn’t risk his woman. “What can’t we do to help him?”

“He means, what can we do to help him?” Scarlet interpreted.

He squeezed her this time.

“Kill him,” Lysander said matter-of-factly.

“Yes!” Gideon shouted. No!