The Darkest Secret (Lords of the Underworld #7)(59)
Author: Gena Showalter

Meanwhile, I’m the worst offender of the lot. Because of me, you died. Because of me, you came after Baden.

That was not the reaction she’d expected or wanted.

“Amun, I—”

He tore his gaze from her and pushed to a stand. If you want me to summon the angel, I’l find a way to do so. He can return you to your…friends. You don’t have to do this.

Don’t have to help me.

“I’m not leaving you,” she told him, angry now. “And you saw for yourself that you weren’t the one who kil ed me. You tried to save me. More than that, I blamed you when I—”

You blamed me, and rightly so! He swiped up the backpack, commanded it to provide clean clothes for both of them and then tossed her a shirt and jeans. The robes are good for the caves, but not for movement. You need to change. We’re leaving.

“Listen to me. I wrongly blamed you and—”

We’re done discussing this. Change. Now.

He’d never, ever treated her like this, even when they’d first discovered who the other was, and she had no idea how to reach him, how to make him understand. Shaking, Haidee removed the robe and tugged on the new clothing. “We—we can’t leave yet. Not until we know what we’l be facing.”

She claimed the backpack and said, “Give us instructions for successful y navigating the next realm.”

When she reached inside, she found a smal , yel owed scrol .

Without a word, Amun took the backpack and settled the straps over his shoulders. With every second that passed, he seemed even more removed from her, and stil she didn’t understand. She didn’t blame him for what had happened, so why did he blame himself?

Because he’d failed? Because he feared failing again?

“Amun,” she said, trying again to reach him. She had to reach him.

Come, he replied, striding from the cave, forcing her to fol ow or be left behind.

The scrol crinkled as she unwittingly tightened her grip. “I’m not going to let you shut me out,” she said, knowing he couldn’t hear her but feeling better just saying the words.

She forced herself to relax and trail after her man—and he was her man, there was no question of that now—as he headed into the unknown.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

VACATION SUCKED. Strider sat in the passenger seat of the caddy Wil iam had stolen, peering out at the barren landscape and waning sunlight. This was the road trip from hel .

After the debacle with the invisible girl, who just had to be Paris’s obsession, Sienna, Paris had flipped his ever-loving lid and attacked Wil iam for not preventing the god king from leaving with her. It had taken al of Strider’s strength—and a dagger through his friend’s broken heart—to defeat the hysterical warrior.

Afterward, bleeding and far from calm, Paris kicked Strider and Wil iam off his ranch, along with the strippers. But Paris had soon realized Sienna could escape Cronus again and return to him, and without Wil iam, he wouldn’t be able to see her. So, the injured Paris had tracked them down and insisted on coming with them. Not a difficult task since they’d merely hiked to the mailbox at the end of his driveway and decided to rest. For a few hours.

Ambrosia hangovers sucked as much as vacations.

They’d been on the open road for countless hours, and for most of those hours Paris had shouted for Cronus, issuing threats and general y annoying the hel out of everyone.

Final y, though, he’d quieted and now slept fitful y in the back seat, blood loss having drained him. Just before fal ing asleep, he’d vowed to cal Lucien and demand the keeper of Death flash him to the heavens when his injuries healed.

Paris was going hunting for his female.

That kind of obsessive desire for one specific woman wasn’t smart, and Strider acknowledged that he himself had been speeding in that direction with Ex. Unlike Paris, he had wil ingly given the woman up, and suddenly, he was grateful. Had he continued down that path, he eventual y would have fought Amun for her.

Fighting a friend for a woman was the epitome of stupid.

Wrong on every level.

One, he valued his friendships. Two, no woman was worth the trouble she caused when he knew he would one day lose interest in her. Three, a Hunter real y wasn’t worth the trouble she caused. Four, sex was sex. A man could get it anywhere, as proven by his time at Paris’s ranch.

He sighed and concentrated on the shitty scenery. Trees.

Rol ing hil s. And—oh, hel s yeah. A convenience store, dead ahead.

“Pul over,” he commanded.

“What?” Wil iam flicked him a now’s-not-the-time-to-joke glance. “We just got a little peace and quiet and you want to ruin it al just to piss? You’re such a baby.”

“Red Hots, dude.” He’d ruin anything for a mouthful of those.

“Now pul the f**k over.”

“Oh, Gummy Bears. You should have said so.”

The car merged right, hit the service road and final y halted abruptly in front of the twenty-four-hour shop. Burly truckers hustled in and out, as wel as families traveling the countryside.

Wil iam jerked a thumb toward the backseat. “What about sleeping beauty?”

“He’s not gonna kil himself while we’re gone.”

“Do you have any self-preservation instincts?” Ice-blue eyes glittered with sardonic humor. “I meant, what if he wakes up, steals our car and abandons us?”

“Easy. We steal a truck and play chase. I’ve always wanted to drive a big rig.”

“I like where your head’s at, Stridey-Man. Maybe we’l do that anyway.”

Out of habit, Strider performed a perimeter check before exiting. During the drive, when he hadn’t been lost in thought, he’d been watching for a tail. So far, so good. Not once had he spied anything suspicious.

To be honest, that was kind of disappointing. He’d expected Haidee’s boyfriend to come after him. Shit, the guy had sworn to spil Strider’s guts and remove each of his limbs. Oh, wel .

He and Wil iam entered the store side by side, then split up.

They stil wore their swim trunks, but they also wore T-shirts and flip-flops, so they weren’t total y inappropriate as they strutted down the isles, grabbing what they wanted. Stil .

People stared. Maybe because they were giants compared to everyone else, both in height and muscle mass. Maybe because of the tel tale bulge of weapons at their waists. Or maybe because Wil iam opened a bag of Doritos and ate while he shopped. Hard to tel .

“You see any Gummy Bears?” Wil iam cal ed.