The Darkest Whisper (Lords of the Underworld #4)(77)
Author: Gena Showalter

Sabin’s betrayal was an even bigger blow than the newfound knowledge of her father’s evil.

“Son of a bitch!” Bianka growled, stomping from one corner to another. Dark grains of sand flew around her booted feet. “He had all of our wings clipped before I even knew what was going on. He shouldn’t have been able to do that. No one should have been able to do that.”

“I’m going to hang him with his own intestines.” Kaia slammed a fist into a bar. It held steady, her strength basically that of a human’s now. “I’m going to remove his limbs, one by one. I’m going to feed him to my snake and let him rot in her belly.”

“He’s mine. I’ll take care of him.” The sad thing was, Gwen didn’t want her sisters to punish him. She wanted to do it herself. Yes, that was part of it. Also, despite everything—even her own desire to maim and kill him—she didn’t want to see him hurt. How stupid was that? As he’d locked her up, relief had blazed in his eyes, even alongside the regret, so he deserved whatever she did to him. Deserved all but softening from her.

It had taken her a while to piece the reasons for his relief together. But finally, she had. He’d gotten his wish: she couldn’t leave the fortress, and she wouldn’t be fighting Hunters. He’d considered that more important than allowing her her freedom even though his enemies had once done the same thing to her.

Gwen, too, slammed a fist into the bar. The metal whined as it bent backward. “Well, I’m going to—hey. Did you see that?” Shocked, she glanced down at her fist. There was a red line from the impact, but the bones were intact. Tentatively she punched the bar again. Again, it bent. “Oh, I am so getting out of here.”

Kaia gaped at her. “How is that possible? I hit it, too, but it didn’t budge.”

“He damaged our wings, draining our strength,” Taliyah said. Which had to have hurt like hell. “He only smashed Gwen’s until he released her into this cage. She’s as strong as she ever was. I wonder, though, how he knew to go for our wings and why he was so gentle with Gwen’s.”

The first part of her sister’s speech drained a little of her elation. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I didn’t mean…I thought…I’m so, so sorry. I told him. I thought he could help me train against it.”

“He’s your first love,” Bianka said, surprising her. “It’s understandable.”

Grateful as she was for her sister’s forgiveness, Gwen bristled at her words. First implied there would be many more. She didn’t like the thought of being with another man. Didn’t like the thought of kissing and touching someone else. Especially since she hadn’t had nearly enough of Sabin. Did she love him, though?

She couldn’t. Not after this.

“You don’t blame me?”

They gathered around her and hugged her, and her love for them swelled. Hands down, it was the best family moment ever. They supported her, no matter that she’d broken the rules and screwed up royally.

When they released each other, Taliyah gave her lower back a shove and motioned to the bars with a tilt of her chin. “Do it again. Harder.”

“Time to blow this joint,” Kaia said, clapping.

Gwen’s heart pounded as she obeyed, throwing her fist into the metal again and again. The bar bent and whined and bent some more.

“Keep at it,” Kaia and Bianka cheered in unison. “You’re so close!”

Pouring every ounce of her fury and frustration into the punches, she increased her velocity, watching as her fist hammered away, moving so swiftly she saw only a blur. Sabin must have assumed her utterly lacking in strength and wits because he hadn’t left a guard. Or maybe all the warriors were now off fighting, only the females and Torin remaining. Gwen hadn’t seen much of the reclusive Lord during her stay here, but Sabin had mentioned he never left the fortress, his link to the outside world the monitors in his chamber.

Was there a camera here? Probably.

Gwen didn’t allow the thought to slow her. Boom. Boom. Boom!

Finally, the bar snapped completely, leaving a gaping space to shimmy through. Success—and it felt damn good. They exited one at a time. When the Hunters spotted them outside the cell, they gripped their own bars in a frenzy.

“Let us out.”

“Please. Show us more mercy than we showed you.”

“We’re not evil. They are. Help us!”

The voices were familiar. She’d heard them for a year of her life—the worst year of her life. Hunters. Close. Hurt. Gwen felt her Harpy overtaking her, all but the colors of red and black fading from her vision. Hurt. Destroy. Under her shirt, her wings were flutteringly wildly.

These men had stolen twelve months from her. They had raped other women in front of her. They were evil. They were her enemy. Sabin’s enemy. Led by her father. A man who was not the benevolent angel she’d always thought him. She should kill him, too. He’d destroyed all her dreams. But the moment she imagined going for his throat, even her Harpy shied away. Murder her own father? No…no.

No wonder Sabin had locked her up.

“Help!”

The cry drew her back to the present, back to her rage. Why hadn’t Sabin killed these bastards yet? They needed to be killed. She had to kill them. Yes, kill…kill…

In the back of her mind, she was aware of her sisters grasping at her arms but they were too weak to stop her. Usually, she tried to stop herself. Not this time. No longer. She was learning to embrace her Harpy, right?

She pounded at the second set of bars, fists again hammering, mouth now watering. Teeth sharpening. Nails elongating. The sight of her must have frightened them, because the men backed away from the bars.

Enemy…enemy…

Finally, the bars crumbled under her ministrations and she burst inside the cell with a screech. One minute men were standing, backing away from her, the next they were on the ground, motionless. More…she wanted more…

Her Harpy cooed happily while Gwen panted, trying to catch her breath as a deep male voice entered her awareness.

“—Aeron and Paris are missing. Sabin, Cameo and Kane are in town, William and Maddox have the women in hiding, guarding them with their lives, so I’m the only one here and I can’t touch her because I’m Disease. So do me a favor and calm her down or I’ll have to do it and you won’t like my methods.”

The deep voice was unfamiliar to her. Good. Someone else for her to destroy. Where was…her gaze circled the room. Or rather, hallway. Oh, look there. Three bodies were vertical. They appeared feminine rather than masculine. All that meant was that they’d taste sweeter.