The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld #5)(31)
Author: Gena Showalter

Shit, he thought again. Danika had painted this woman in a scene set twentysomething years in the past, yet nothing about her had changed. There wasn’t an age line on her.

She wasn’t human, then.

Today she was dressed in black leather and strapped to a table, but she wasn’t struggling against her bonds. There was determination in her expression, her gaze following— No. Surely not. That couldn’t be… It wasn’t possible… But as Strider watched, he saw a ghostlike creature bouncing from one corner of the room to another. Its eyes were red, its face skeletal, its teeth long and sharp.

No question; it was a demon. A High Lord, like the very being that possessed Strider.

Strider stopped breathing, every muscle in his body clenching his bones.

“Baden,” Amun rasped in that unused voice of his, so much longing in his tone that it actually hurt to hear. There’d been something about Baden, something they’d all gravitated to. Something they’d all needed. They’d loved Baden more than they’d loved themselves. More than they loved each other.

Still did, despite his death.

“No damn way.” Kane shook his head almost violently.

Strider agreed. No damn way. That demon did not carry the essence of their friend. Couldn’t possibly. But there was something familiar about that ghostly being…something gut-wrenching.

“Enter her,” Galen commanded. “Enter her and your torment will end. You’ll finally have a host. You’ll finally be able to feel, to smell, to taste. Don’t you remember how wonderful that is? Finally you’ll be able to destroy, to shred human trust as you were meant to do.”

Shred human trust. As Distrust was meant to do. No, he thought again.

The spirit groaned, and its speed increased. Clearly, it was agitated. Did it know what was happening? Did it want another host? Or was it simply too crazed to understand?

“Please,” the woman begged. “I need you. I need you so badly.”

So. She was willing. That didn’t mean she knew what would happen to her if she got her wish. For the first century—at least—there would be no remnants of the person she was. She would be fully demon and many, many humans would suffer because of that.

“Do it,” Galen continued. “It’s what you want. What you need. All you have to do is touch her and relief is yours. What could be easier?”

Could the demon understand? he wondered again. As keeper of Hope, Galen could make anyone or thing crave a future they never would have wanted without his influence. Even a demon. That’s how he’d formed his Hunters, by convincing them the world would be a better place without the Lords. A utopia of peace and prosperity.

As Galen crooned persuasively, even Strider was affected. He wanted to touch the female. There would be relief…his future would be assured…better…

The demon darted toward the woman, changed its mind, then darted in the other direction. Oh, yes. It understood.

Don’t do it, Strider projected. He wanted his friend back, yes. More than anything in the world. And in some ways, the demon of Distrust was his friend. Essence of Baden or not. But he didn’t want his friend to be housed in the body of his enemy.

“Do it!” Galen snarled. “Do it! Now.”

On and on the spirit circled the room’s ceiling.

Impatient, Galen threw up his hands. “Fine. Forget it. You can spend the rest of eternity the way you’ve spent the last few thousand years. Miserable. Hungry. Unfulfilled. We’re leaving.” He reached out to release the woman’s bonds.

There was another groan, then a growl, and then the spirit was again darting from one corner to another, gaining speed, nothing but a blur. It fell…fell…and finally slammed into the female’s stomach.

Had she not been tied down, she would have hurt herself, so intense was her sudden thrashing. Thrashing that increased with every second that passed. She grunted and groaned, her muscles spasming, her features contorting. Then the screams began.

No. Godsdamn it, no. Strider nearly fell to his knees.

Galen smiled an evil smile of satisfaction. “It’s done. At last. Now all we have to do is wait and see if she survives.”

The door to the room swung open and a group of his followers marched inside. Such perfect timing. They must have been watching nearby on monitors.

“Do we return to the temple, Great One?” the one in front asked.

Galen’s answer was lost as the vision wavered, then disappeared altogether.

Time suddenly seemed suspended, caught in threads of horror and shock.

Sabin was the first to shake himself loose. “What the hell just happened?”

What happened? Hell’s gates had just opened, the repercussions he’d already contemplated suddenly real. If the woman survived, Hunters would now be out for blood, as Strider had feared. They would no longer content themselves with merely injuring the Lords. They would crave death. And if their demons were freed, those demons would be caught, paired with someone new, and Galen could build an army of demonic immortals all under his command.

“Bring the images back,” Maddox commanded. “Show us what followed the possession.”

“Such a tone will earn you nothing but discontent, Violence, for your enemy wants what you want. The Paring Rod.” The Unspoken One splayed her arms, her nails so long they curled back into her fingers. “We will choose whom to bestow such a blessing upon.”

Maddox popped his jaw before bowing his head. “My apologies.”

“What do you want from us? Name it, and it’s yours.” Strider didn’t care what they desired. He would give it to them.

She smiled, as if she’d expected nothing less. “If you wish to acquire the Rod, you will bring us the head of your king.”

There was another beat of horrified silence.

“Wait. You want…Cronus’s head?” Gwen swept her gaze over the Lords. “The god king?”

“Yes.” No hesitation.

Could Strider give that to them? The god king had helped him win several battles. The god king was on his side and would do anything to destroy Galen and the Hunters. So…kill him? Kill the most powerful immortal ever to live? And if he failed, make an enemy of him?

“Just how are we supposed to do that?” Kane demanded.

“I told you it wouldn’t be simple. But though he is a god, and destroying him will prove the most difficult task of your existence, he is very much like you,” the Unspoken One replied. “More so than you have realized. Use the knowledge to your advantage.”