The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld #5)(22)
Author: Gena Showalter

Finally full, she glanced up to offer someone the last remaining slice. Everyone was staring at her, and the food settled like lead inside her stomach. “I’m sorry,” she said automatically. What had she done wrong?

“Why are you apologizing?” Kaia asked. There was nothing malicious in her tone, only genuine curiosity.

“Everyone is watching me, so I thought…” More than that, Aeron was tenser than before.

“I’m with the Harpy,” William added, wiggling his eyebrows. “I love a woman who molests her breakfast.”

She had not done that. Had she?

Kaia slapped the back of his head. “Shut it, playboy. No one cares about your opinions.” To Olivia, she said, “In case you had trouble grasping my meaning, I’m staring at you because I’m curious about you.”

Just as Olivia was curious about her, she realized. The Harpies could only eat what they stole, lied unabashedly and killed with abandon. In short, they were the antithesis of the angels, yet they enjoyed life to its fullest, which was why Lysander had chosen to be with one.

Soon, I will enjoy life to the fullest, as well.

“Do you know Lysander, my twin sister’s man?” Kaia asked.

“Yes. Very well.”

The Harpy propped her elbows on the table, rattling dishes. “Is he as ironfisted as I think?” Disgust layered her voice.

“Probably more so.”

“I knew it! Poor B.” Sympathy darkened her features, but she quickly brightened. “I know. You and I can put our heads together, because two gorgeous heads are always better than one, and plan ways to loosen him up a bit. We can even get to know each other better. The girls of the house have to stick together.”

“Not possible. I’m taking Olivia into town.” Aeron’s hold, which had never fallen away, tightened further. “There’ll be no planning. No loosening up. Definitely no getting to know each other.”

Olivia’s shoulders slumped. Had Aeron always been so harsh and she just hadn’t noticed? Or was this attitude for her benefit? “Are you sure you want to get rid of me?” she asked him. “I’m good for you. I promise!”

“Because you can help me?” A question when it should have been a statement.

She wanted to shake him, the stubborn man. “Yes.”

“Well, we’ve got enough helpers here, so, yes, I’m sure.”

“I can also make you smile. That was my job, you know.” Her old job, anyway, and one she missed. “Would you like to smile?”

He offered no hesitation. “No.”

“I would.” William clapped. “I like to smile when I’m in bed and naked, so I say we keep her.”

Aeron’s nails dug past her robe and into skin, but she didn’t protest. If she did, he would remove his hands, and she liked them where they were. “Like Kaia said, your opinion doesn’t matter.”

“Besides,” Kaia added. “I doubt the big guy even knows how to smile.”

“I do, too,” Aeron snapped, causing everyone to laugh.

“Sure you do, Grumpy.” Kaia tossed her bright red hair over her shoulder. “Listen, there’s no need for you to take her into town. News flash—I’m taking myself up on my offer and getting to know her. I’m totally impressed by the fact that she got herself booted from the heavens, and I need all the juicy details.”

“As will I.” Cameo nodded to emphasize her determination. “Be getting to know her, that is.”

“You can include me, too.” William blew Olivia a kiss, and her cheeks heated with a blush. “No need to say anything. I already know what words are perched on your tongue. Stop me if I’m wrong, but my getting to know you will be your pleasure.”

Aeron growled low in his throat. “She’s not staying, and there will be no pleasure. As I said, I am taking her into town and leaving her there. Today.”

“But why?” Olivia asked. She might have hated her duties as a warrior angel and might not have ever made a kill, but that didn’t mean she was a complete pushover. “You said you didn’t want any more helpers, but I promise you, those you have can’t help you with the next angel sent to kill you.”

She expected someone to speak up and agree with her, but no one seemed to care that a heavenly assassin would be coming to snuff out their friend. Everyone at the table, including Aeron, probably assumed the Lord was invincible.

So of course, he remained stubborn. “I don’t care.”

She slapped the apple plate back where she’d found it, rattling the dishes far more than Kaia had. “I can also help you defeat the Hunters.” Truth.

“Olivia,” he said, and she didn’t have to see him to know he was gazing up at the ceiling and praying for patience. Except, if she wasn’t mistaken, the prayer she actually heard him mutter was for strength. “We are demons, and demons and angels do not mix. Besides, Legion can’t return until you’re gone.”

The one argument she couldn’t refute absolutely. “But…but…I’m willing to try to get along with her.” If he heard her panic, he gave no indication. “And I’ll be nice to all your other friends, too. How could I not? I gave up everything to save you.”

“I know.” The words were snarled.

“The least you can do is—”

“I didn’t ask you to give up anything,” he snapped. “So, no. There is no least I can do. You’re healed. We’re even. I owe you nothing.”

Cameo ignored him, propped her elbows on the table and leaned forward, closer to Olivia. “Forget about him. He just hasn’t had enough caffeine yet. Let’s backtrack a bit. How can you help us with the Hunters?”

Finally. Interest, even if Cameo’s tone was more morose than encouraging. Olivia raised her chin another notch. “For one thing, I know where other demon-possessed immortals are located.” Thankfully, lightning didn’t strike her at the confession, and angels didn’t appear with fiery swords raised. “You said you were looking for them, I believe.”

A moment passed in shocked silence, all eyes hitting—and staying on—her.

“Aeron,” Cameo said.

“No. It doesn’t matter,” his hard voice proclaimed. “We have the scrolls for that.”

“Yes, but they give names, not locations.” The female Lord’s stare became penetrating. “Sabin will want to talk with her when he returns.”