The Darkest Promise (Lords of the Underworld #13)

The door suddenly burst open, and her breath caught in her throat. A visitor!

A black-haired, blue-eyed warrior stumbled inside, and heavens above, he was beautiful beyond compare, despite the hollows in his cheeks and the week’s worth of stubble on his jaw. Despite, even, the disheveled clothes he wore, the material ripped and stained with dried blood.

“Cameo,” he said. Or rather, slurred. “I came to hear your apology.”

Images of the warrior’s future played through her mind, teaching her much about him. He was William of the Dark, though his friends referred to him as the Ever Randy. His conquests were legendary. He’d bedded queens and goddesses, and he’d killed kings and gods.

He was the adopted son of Hades—

She huffed with indignation. Hades adopted a son? When? Why?

Siobhan scoured the visions for information about the mother...a petite blonde whom William seemed to be meeting for the first time in...she wasn’t sure when, the days, months and years blurring together.

A thousand new images poured into her mind, and she cringed. Every path led this man to the same end: death.

Like her, he bore the heavy burden of a curse. Unlike her, he owned a book written in code. He’d been told the code would free him. He had hope.

If I save him from certain death and help him fall in love, I could shave another hundred years off my sentence. Then...finally, blessedly, she would be free.

The prospect tantalized her. But...

Help Hades’s beloved son? Never!

Although...for freedom, she would do much, much worse.

Fine! She would aid him. But how? Before Lazarus had left, he surrounded her with an impenetrable illusion. William couldn’t see her...could he?

Peering at her, he dropped to his knees at the side of the bed. The bottle of whiskey rolled from his grip, what little liquid remained spilling across the floor. Torment and hope battled for dominance, tightening his features.

He knows what—who—I am, Siobhan realized with no small amount of surprise. Few ever did.

“There’s a girl. Her name is Gillian. She’s—” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “She was too young for me. Was. Now she’s not. She was abused by men who were supposed to protect her, has only seen the worst in us, and I want to show her the best. When she needed me most, I refused to bond with her. I didn’t want to risk being made human or watching her love for me turn to hate. That’s the only reason she would try to kill me as the curse predicts, yes? Because she hates me? Then another man came along, took one look at her and saw what I had seen from the beginning. A treasure worth waiting for. He did what I wouldn’t and now she’s bound to him, body and soul. I long to kill him but hurting him will hurt her. I can’t hurt her. Show me my end,” he croaked. “Show me who kills me. If I know...”

He assumed knowing would allow him to let Gillian go. He also assumed Gillian was the only one for him. And she was...if he made certain choices. If he made other choices, there was another woman...

If he knew about the other woman, he would kill her soon after Siobhan revealed her identity. Because, at this time, the woman was a stranger to him. She meant nothing to him. Was nothing—no, not true. In his mind, she was worse than nothing; she was an obstacle to a happily-ever-after with Gillian.

What to do, what to do. If Siobhan helped him and failed...

When the glass remained clear, William cursed and labored to a stand.

“Hades.” A softly spoken word, and yet, Siobhan reacted as if she’d been punched in the gut.

Would the king of the underworld come? Would she face her enemy at last?

Yes! He appeared in a haze of shadows, sending her heart into overdrive.

He was more beautiful than ever, and he had no right. Taller and more leanly muscled, with inky hair and matching eyes. Eyes so black they were endless pools. He wore a pin-striped suit, the perfect fit for his powerful frame, the only signs of his uncivilized nature the stars tattooed on each of his knuckles.

She beat against her prison wall—bang, bang, bang—desperate to reach him, to claw out his eyes.

“Like me, you have the power to see past any illusion, yes?” William asked his father.

“Oh, yes. The blow-up doll is a nice touch, though.”

“Cameo is unable to cast illusions.” William sniffed the air. “I scent Lazarus the Cruel and Unusual...and aren’t the Lords of the Underworld going to love their girl’s choice of dates.”

Hades continued to stare at her. “You are correct on both counts.”

“I know the mirror is what I think it is. I can see the power radiating from it. What I don’t know is how to activate it.”

“Her, not it. She decides who sees and who doesn’t.” Hades flashed, appearing directly in front of her, crouched atop the mattress. “The goddess of Many Futures is still trapped inside. I can feel her.”

She banged the glass harder. His hand shot out, touching where she touched, and she gasped. A stream of heat penetrated her ice-cold prison. As shudders racked her, the pane rippled.

Hades’s pupils expanded with excitement.

Bang, bang, bang. How she would love to replace his excitement with pain.

“Are you kidding me?” William tossed his arms up. “You’re getting a hard-on for a mirror? I doubt Taliyah would approve.”

Taliyah the Cold-Hearted? The vicious Harpy Siobhan had seen move in and out of William’s possible futures, because of his friendship with the Lords of the Underworld? Hades was dating her?

He deserves to suffer!

“Taliyah hasn’t spoken to me in weeks,” Hades said, his tone cutting.

Good girl.

Once again Siobhan opened her mind to the days and years to come, but this time, no matter how intently she probed, she saw...nothing. Not a single path, and she cursed. Hades’s future must be so intertwined with hers she couldn’t see anything that happened to him.

Well, well. Looked like her luck was finally turning.

“How did Lazarus acquire the mirror?” William asked.

Hades tensed, his spine snapping ramrod straight. “I’ll find out.”

“She’s our ally. We can’t steal from her without jeopardizing her allegiance and the allegiance of the other Lords.”

Hades rubbed two fingers against his clean-shaven jawline. “Perhaps we’ll offer a trade.”

Yes, please do. Did he know how much Siobhan hated him? Did he suspect she would only ever plot his downfall?

A sudden commotion in the hallway jolted both males. The pitter-patter of running children and the pounding footsteps of chasing parents.

“Do not stick another toy soldier in the toilet, Urban,” a woman shouted. “I mean it!”

Hades and William shared a look of determination before flashing away, leaving Siobhan alone...but she didn’t have to be the goddess of Many Futures to know she would see the father-son duo again...and very, very soon.





18

“To ensure your skills remain honed, make a new kill pleasure your woman every day.”

—Eternal Truths for Men Without Women

—The Art of Keeping Your Female Happy