The Darkest Promise (Lords of the Underworld #13)

As they raced around burnt trees and maneuvered around sharp, gnarled limbs, Viola decided to belt out a song she couldn’t remember. “‘Running something something something. Holding something something. Trying something something something.’”

He expected her to spread her arms wide and twirl. As deceived by Narcissism as she was, she must believe no one and nothing would ever attempt to harm her—must consider herself too valuable to harm.

One day, someone would prove her wrong, and she would suffer greatly for it.

By the time their group reached the mound of boulders where they’d first arrived, sweat drenched him. His lungs burned.

Behind them, a dark cloud of smoke moved through the skyline, heading straight toward them.

Lazarus waved his hand while rubbing his thumb over the ring, creating friction, exactly as Viola had done earlier. Having read her mind, he knew to picture the realm he wished to enter.

Electric pulses cut through the landscape, creating a rift. Dust motes shimmered, dancing in a sudden burst of wind through the portal. He tugged Cameo through, and the goddess followed. The portal closed behind them.

Relief abounded. They’d done it. They’d escaped.

They stopped to take a breather.

“Wow,” Viola said. “That was—”

Another portal opened, the griffins zooming through.

“Damn it,” Cameo grated.

Well, hell. Lazarus tightened his hold on her, sprinted forward and whistled. A second later, the hiss of his sky serpents drifted across the land. A few seconds after that, the horde found him, hovering overhead, awaiting his command.

“Attack!” he shouted.

“Can your pets win?” Cameo asked between panting breaths. “They’re outnumbered three to one.”

“They can. They will. Poor griffins.”





13

“There are no second chances to kill at first sight.”

—Eternal Truths for Every Man

Cameo sensed a change in Lazarus as soon as his soldiers came into view. Any hint of softer emotion evaporated. He became a man without a hint of vulnerability. A man determined to kill anyone who might detect one.

What she’d learned from his fight with the griffin: if he decided to strike, his opponent wouldn’t survive.

Never, in all her days, had she seen more aggression, darker rage or twisted brutality. And she’d lived with eleven demon-possessed immortals!

Did Lazarus realize he’d smiled while he’d ripped the griffin to ribbons?

She’d been mesmerized by the beauty of him. His array of tattoos—the ones she could see on his arms, anyway—had glowed with life and vitality, and she’d longed to see the rest of him stripped bare. He’d moved swiftly, so expertly, and with such fluid grace he’d appeared to glide on water.

If he could mete such violence without a corporal form, what feats could he perform if ever he rejoined the land of the living?

At his shout, his men loaded up the tents in record time.

“Mount up.” He stored the griffin heart in a satchel hanging from his winged horse and leaped upon the saddle.

Cameo offered her hand, and he yanked her in front of him.

The wounds in her shoulder and midsection throbbed, but she swallowed her wince. No reason to make him feel bad—the way Misery always did to her—when he only wanted to help her.

“Where are the children?” Viola spun in a circle, her delicate features contorted with worry.

“Your future husband is here, goddess.” Urban trotted his horse to her side.

Ever rode behind him. “Your crush is officially creepy, brother.”

“Agreed,” Viola said, even as she exhaled with relief. “I don’t want to brag, but I would only ever agree to marry...myself.”

“I’ll change your mind,” the boy insisted.

Lord help the ladies when he became an adult.

Since their birth, Urban and Ever had been sheltered from the rest of the world. With their abilities, they’d had to be. Plus, whenever they were angered, horns sprouted from their heads and claws extended from their fingers. Bronzed skin morphed into colored scales, and their eyes turned neon red. As young as they were, they had little control of the transformation.

“You’ve got the ring. You can use it to take everyone to the portal. I’m going to meet you there.” Viola waved them on. “Go. Now!” Then she vanished before anyone could protest.

“Viola can flash.” Lazarus snapped the stallion’s reins. “Good to know.”

He collected information about others, just in case ally ever became enemy, she would guess.

I’m learning him, Cameo realized.

“I don’t want to use the ring while the griffins are so close,” he said.

“Agreed.”

As he led the charge away from camp, and the creatures out for their blood, she decided to monitor the battle and threw a leg over the horse’s head, careful not to impede his wings. Then she kicked her other leg around Lazarus’s waist, straddling him. Palming her semiautomatic, she scanned the sky and gasped.

Sky serpents and griffins collided with so much force a blast of heated air exploded, shaking even the ground. Fangs slashed. Claws cut. Griffins utilized their metal-tipped wings. Sky serpents used their tails like whips, sometimes lashing, sometimes wrapping around snouts, necks and limbs to wrench and break.

Before, the threat level had propelled her into survival mode, drowning out the demon. Now Misery demanded what he considered his due.

Sky serpents hate you, and yet they fight to protect you, simply because Lazarus demanded it. Many will die today. The survivors will blame you. And rightly so! How long will Lazarus’s desire for you last, then, hmm? One day you’ll look back and comprehend this is the moment you traded his affections for safety.

A pang of sorrow nearly sliced her in two. They protect him, too, she retorted.

Misery flashed an image inside her head. The last scene Cameo had spied in the mirror: Lazarus walking away, never looking back.

The sorrow redoubled.

“Are you literally watching my back?” Dark amusement layered Lazarus’s voice.

“Sir, yes, sir. Sergeant Cameo has reported for duty.”

“Duty...or desire?” He was hard, long and thick between her legs, his erection rubbing against her heating core as the horse galloped.

She moaned, unable to escape the delicious friction, the constant pressure.

“You are too precious, sunshine.” He bit into her earlobe, igniting a wave of shivers inside her.

Her? Precious? Not a description anyone had ever used for her. She softened against him. His beard stubble abraded her cheek. Her breasts swelled for him, and her nipples beaded. Shocking heat stole through her, languid and sultry.

So easily seduced. He wants his night, nothing more...

Her hands clenched on her daggers. Demons ruined everything!

“Tell me,” Lazarus commanded softly. “How did Misery cock-block me this time?”

“Why don’t you read my mind like usual?”

“Because I suspect you’ve got a bomb in there.”

Hooves thundered, faster and faster. She caught sight of a man who appeared in the midst of the sky serpents. Sky serpents he ignored. He arrowed through the griffins, using his wings to slice and dice limbs from those in his path.