Lords of the Underworld Bundle (64 page)

A moment later, something tapped his shoulder from behind.

He swung around. A fist connected with his nose. His head whipped to the side, and warm liquid rushed down his lips and chin.

“You better calm down, Death, or you're going to make me mad.”

He lifted the sword again, but it was knocked from his grip. With another roar, he leapt forward, grabbing the woman. He shook her, meaning to snap her in half.

“Lucien,” she said, and this time there was a calming, hypnotic quality to her voice. “Lucien. Seriously. I'm not a rag doll. Calm down. Tell me what's wrong.”

Finally a sense of awareness slithered into his mind and man raced ahead of demon. His captive's skin was hot—he recognized that heat. She smelled like strawberries and cream—he recognized that fragrance.

“Tell sweet little Anya what's going on in that fat head of yours,” she cooed. Soft hands caressed his cheeks. “Pretty please, with a cherry on top of me.”

Anya.

The name echoed in his mind, cracking the red haze and allowing light inside. He blinked his eyes and a perfect pixie came into focus. A snowfall of hair. Bright blue eyes. Pink cheeks.

“Anya?”

“Right here, lover.”

Dear gods. He glanced around the room, saw the destruction and the blood. His blood. He'd cut his hands, he recalled, when he'd punched the walls. Regret slammed into him.

Not again.

“Did I hurt you?” He returned his attention to the woman in his arms, studying her intently. Her skin was rosy soft, not bruised, and her eyes were gleaming. She wore a tight black T-shirt and equally tight black pants, neither of which were ripped. Glittery black heels encased her feet, open at the toes and showcasing black-painted toenails.

“Did I hurt you?” he repeated.

“Would you care?” she asked, head tilting to the side. “I mean, you've wanted to in the past.”

He pressed his lips together. He could not let her know how much he was coming to admire her. How much he was coming to
need
her.
I think your tongue on her clitoris told her plenty.
Only when he'd stolen that key from her and her life was safe would he admit to such feelings.

“Never mind,” she said airily. “The answer wouldn't matter anyway.” She turned her back on him, strode to the couch he'd hacked to bits and settled on the tattered arm. “Really, what was that about? I've never seen a more demonic display. Your eyes were red.” She shuddered. “Freaky stuff, and not in a good way.”

“I told you once not to make me angry.” Gods, he couldn't believe he had journeyed so far toward the dark side of his nature. He was always so careful. The thought of Anya hurt, however…He had to cut off another roar.

He would never have been able to kill her, Lucien at last admitted. Not even in the beginning. It was disgusting, really, how protective he felt of her. He was as bad as Maddox. “What do you want from me, Anya? Why did you come back?”

“First, to do this.” She was
tsking
under her tongue as she stood and sauntered to him. She gripped his chained wrist and drew it into a muted beam of moonlight streaming in from the window. With her other hand, she waved it over the metal.

A bright amber radiance glowed from between her fingers. He felt warmth, felt the chain snap open and heard it fall to the floor.

“The All-Key?” he asked, shocked.

“Yes.” She dropped her arm. “You going to tell me what made you so angry?”

“I saw you talking with Cronus.”

“What! You saw? How?”

“I do not know how, just that I saw you, in my mind. What did he say?”

She blinked at him. “He wanted the key.”

That damned key! “Tell me why it is a light that comes from
inside
you.” He'd expected metal.

“No. What I will tell you is that if you kill me, the key will drain your powers. There. Now you know. That's why Cronus wants you to do his dirty work. And before you say anything, I never planned to tell you because one, I had no intention of dying and two, you would have thought I was lying to keep you away. But now you know. You can't say I didn't warn you.”

He wasn't going to kill her, so the warning mattered little. “How is Cronus going to take the key from you if it is inside you?”

“You already know that part. You kill me, you weaken,
he
swoops in and takes it from my poor dead body.”

“So you have to die for someone else to possess it?”

“No. I could willingly give it.”

“Then give it to him, woman!”

“I give it to him,
I
weaken. Permanently. Worse, I won't be able to flash. Get it now?”

Oh, yes. Suddenly he
did
get it, and he almost vomited. He couldn't steal the key from her without killing her and she couldn't give it to Cronus without deteriorating, therefore Lucien had nothing to trade the god in exchange for Anya's life.
What in hell was he going to do?

Unaware of his inner turmoil, Anya glanced around the room. “While throwing your tantrum, did you destroy our supplies for the Arctic?”

“Yes.”

“I can't believe I once thought you were too controlled. Seriously, learn some self-discipline, for gods' sake. You should be embarrassed.”

“I am.”

“Good.”

Think about the key later, when you are alone and not consumed by the scents of strawberries and destruction.
“Before you left, you said you wanted to discuss something with me. What?”

“I forgot.”

He doubted she had—Anya forgot nothing—but he allowed the lie without comment. “Did you return to spend a few more hours in bed?”

Her cheeks colored prettily. “I'm here to get my stuff because I'm ready to start looking for those artifacts. I'm bored, after all, and it sounds deliciously dangerous, trekking through snow in search of an ancient relic.”

There was something in her eyes—too bright a gleam, maybe. A forced casualness, perhaps. Again, she was not speaking true. “You left me for Strider to find naked and chained to a bed,” he said to lighten her mood. Perhaps then she would tell him the truth. “Have I thanked you for that?”

“No, you haven't.” She grinned slowly, her amusement genuine this time. “Did he likie?”

“He must have. He took a picture.” Mortification heated Lucien from the collarbone up as he remembered.

Anya laughed outright, and the sound of that laughter was magical. His skin tingled, and he felt as if he'd just conquered the entire world.

“What did you wish to discuss?” he asked gently. “Tell me true.”

Her smile faded. “I wanted to tell you…I wanted to say…I'm not sure I like your attitude.”

“I am not sure I know what you mean.”

“Just, I don't know. Don't be so ooey-gooey nice to me. It's nauseating.”

“Nauseating?”

“You an echo now? Yeah. Nauseating. Jeez.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and peered down at her, confused. “Why are you acting like this? After the way you begged me to keep licking you?”

Her breath hitched, and she backed away from him. Just a step, but he didn't like it. “I realized that was a mistake, that's all,” she said.

What was going on here? “Do you no longer trust me?”

“No.”

“Why? I could have entered you then, and we both know it. But I didn't. And I think we both know you were close to asking me for more.”

Her eyes glowered up at him. “I was toying with you. Faking it.”

He, too, glowered. “I'll believe a lot of things about you,
sweetcakes,
but that isn't one of them. Not anymore.”

“That's the saddest thing I've ever heard.” She brushed a piece of lint off her shoulder.

“Do not make me prove my words.”

“Fuck you.” Another brush of her shoulder. Her hand was shaking, he noticed.

“You would like that, would you not? If I fucked you?”

Giving up her casual facade, she slapped him, palm dragging against his cheek. “One, you shouldn't talk like that. And two, don't make me state the obvious. I…I…felt sorry for you, obviously.” The last was croaked. Tears even sprang into her eyes.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He could feel the urge to hurt building inside of him again. Hot, hungry, begging for a chance to render more damage. To destroy. He'd have liked to tell himself that Anya was lying about this—he had felt her pleasure, her joy in his touch—but old insecurities died hard.

She was beautiful and could have her pick of equally beautiful men. Perhaps she'd wanted him earlier for the novelty of lying with an ugly man, didn't want him now that she'd done so, and thought this was the best way to cut him loose.

“I'm not going to try to kill you again, so you can cease trying to soften me,” he told her.

“How nice for me,” she muttered, looking away. There was a guilty flush to her skin.

“Just know that if you hit me again, I
will
hit you back,” he lied. He would never be able to hurt her, and he knew it.

“A girl can hope,” she said silkily, changing tactics.

His anger sizzled another degree. “Stay here or go home, but I'm going to purchase more supplies and I want to do it alone.”

Her shoulders squared, and her chin lifted. “I'm going with you, so there.”

“No. You are not.” He shook his head. “I am done with you right now.”

She ran her tongue over her lips. “Whatever. I know someone. He lives in Greenland, and he has everything we'll need. We'll pop into his place, borrow what we want and make our way into the Arctic.”

He.
The word pounded through Lucien's mind, stirring up a storm of jealousy. “Who is
he?
And why did you not pop us to him earlier rather than dragging me to Switzerland?”

“He's my friend, and I didn't take you to him because I wanted you to see my—I wanted to shop with you and thought we had plenty of time,” she said, kicking at a shard of glass on the floor. “Damn it! I'm looking at my feet again.”

“Well, stop.” She'd thought they had plenty of time, which meant she didn't think so anymore. Why? “Did Cronus threaten you?” The moment the words left him, Anya's behavior began to make sense.

She turned away from him, her back stiff. “As if I care about that bastard's threats.”

Oh, yes. Cronus had indeed threatened her. “What did he say to you?”

“Stop, just stop. Cronus said nothing important. Besides, what's between me and another guy isn't really any of your business, is it? Now, do you want to visit William or not?”

“Not. I don't want anyone knowing what we're looking for. Tell me what Cronus said to you.”

“William won't even know we're there. Promise. And damn it, Cronus said nothing.”

“You mean to steal from this William?”

“Yes. So are you ready or not?” she asked coolly.

He studied her. The woman in front of him wasn't the woman he'd kissed and tasted earlier. She was harder, more distant. He didn't like it, but did not know how to change her back.

Lucien wished he had the strength to challenge the god king here and now. He wished he had the strength to walk away from Anya for good. She was tying him in knots. But despite what he'd claimed a few minutes ago, he did not want to be alone. Did not want to be without her.

As if sensing his capitulation, she swung around and gave him a pinky wave. She was pale, her eyes sad, but her lips were smiling. “See you there, Flowers.”

Lucien didn't follow right away. He gathered his daggers and his Glock, checked the chamber, saw that it was loaded. No telling who this mysterious William was. To be honest, though, his identity didn't really matter. Lucien already hated him.

Maybe, while in Greenland, Death would be summoned to take the bastard's soul.

A warrior could hope, anyway.

And then, right on cue, Death
did
summon him. Unfortunately, it was to the States, so neither of them were happy. Lucien sighed. He quickly strapped on all his weapons and dematerialized. Anya and her mystery man would have to wait.

 

H
OW LONG CAN
I
KEEP THIS UP
? Anya wondered darkly. The hurt on Lucien's face when she'd claimed to have felt sorry for him had nearly undone her.

She'd actually felt like crying. Still did. Taking a page from Cronus's book, she'd determined his weakness and had exploited it.
If you can't resist him, you have to make him resist you.