The Darkest Touch

  Buoyed by them, she'd been able to locate the boy Anya cared about. He'd been living on the streets of LA, using his ability to go invisible to his advantage. But he'd refused to come stay at the fortress, and Anya hadn't wanted to force him, so the goddess was watching over him as best she could.

  Multiple times Keeley had tried to locate Pandora's box without success. She'd hoped against hope she could obtain the Morning Star and make Torin eat his words. But now...now she was done.

  Done with all of it.

  Her new life plan: make it through each day without crying.

  She was packing a bag, ready to strike out on her own despite her new bonds, leaving her chess pieces and origami flowers behind. Tears burned her eyes as she stuffed one of her gowns inside with more force than necessary. Stupid Torin.

  "So you're planning to leave? Just like that? I bet you weren't even going to say goodbye."

  Anya. Great! Can't ever catch a break. Keeley didn't bother to turn around. "Isn't that what you'd prefer? William tells me I'm supposed to steal his book from you, and if I stay, I'll do it. Well, I'll probably do it, considering I never actually agreed to anything."

  "How about I give you a page of the book, and we call it good?"

  "Fine. Whatever. Mail it to me."

  "For sure. I'll put half a page in the mail tomorrow."

  "But you just said--"

  "Don't worry. The post office is totally reliable. You'll get your quarter of a page no problem. So let's get back to this no goodbye thing. It's not very queenly behavior, is it?"

  "I don't actually care."

  "You should. You're a warrior, not a runner."

  Even warriors got hurt and needed time to heal. "You're two seconds away from a spine removal--through your mouth."

  "Better." Anya flounced over and threw herself on the bed, shoving the bag to the floor. The contents Keeley had spent an hour organizing spilled out. "You love him, don't you?"

  Him--like Keeley really had to guess the guy's identity. "Yes, but I'd still like to scoop out his black heart and eat it in front of him."

  "I did that to a guy once," the girl said. "I recommend you saute it in butter first. But guess what? We all want to kill our men. It's a side effect of living with an alpha."

  Keeley returned the bag to the bed, bent down and gathered the clothing and weapons and artifacts.

  Anya kicked the bag a second time.

  Deep breath in...out. "I'm not afraid to hack off both of your legs and beat you to death with them, goddess."

  "As fun as that sounds, I'm going to decline. But not for me. For you. You're going to need my legs." Anya stood. "Packing can wait. We're going out and we're doing filthy, dirty things. That'll get your mind off Torin and his leaving ways. He'll learn a lesson he'll never forget."

  "I don't want to teach him a lesson." Her lie-dar buzzed. I want to teach him. Bad. "But okay, fine. I'm in."

  "Great. You have five minutes to dress like a two-dollar whore while I gather my fave party animals. Kaia and Nike. Oh, and Viola! Forgot she's back. Be in the foyer and don't be late or we'll already be drunk and will probably forget all about you." Grinning, she flounced away.

  Keeley spent a full minute reeling. Was the goddess for real?

  She spent the next minute changing into a diamond-studded bra and shorts that arched above the curve of her bottom. She paired the "outfit" with six-inch stilettos. Then, because she had time to spare, she slathered glittery lotion all over her skin. But...no one was in the foyer when she flashed there, and as the seconds ticked by she had to wonder if Anya had tricked her. If this was to be the first nail in Keeley's battered self-esteem coffin.

  Knives stabbing into my already-wounded chest.

  But then Anya came flying down the steps with three women: Kaia, Nike and the gorgeously blonde Viola. They were dressed even more scantily than Keeley--in pasties, panties and garters.

  Anya fist-pumped and shouted, "Ho team...assemble!"

  It was in that moment Keeley bonded to the females.

  More and more power flowed through her, more than she'd ever known. It was intoxicating and wonderful.

  How am I going to live without these people?

  Maddox came striding around a corner but stopped when he spotted them. His jaw dropped, his eyes glittering with mirth. "Do your men know this is happening?"

  Kaia fluffed her bright red hair. "Of course. Strider picked my outfit."

  "Mine's so awesome I must have sewn it with my own two hands," Viola said, and she didn't look like a woman who'd recently been tortured. She looked happy and carefree. "Sewing is one of my many talents, I'm just sure of it."

  She didn't know? Huh. Maybe she had a Time Out box of her own.

  They drove to a nearby club, an underground playground for naughty immortals. It was dim, the darkness broken only by the colorful flash of strobe lights. There were multiple mirrors on the walls. Black leather couches where couples made out or just straight-out had sex.

  I miss Torin.

  No! Won't dare go there.

  As they strutted to the bar, Nike threw her arm around Keeley's shoulder and shouted over the loud, erratic pulse of music. "If you don't see a man you like, I'll pretend I'm bi-curious and we can go at it like little monkeys. Atlas wouldn't care--he'll just insist on details."

  "How kind. Thank you." Strangely enough, her reply wasn't mocking. "But I'm not interested in pleasure. Just...forgetting."

  If that's true, why haven't I utilized the Time Out box?

  Just because, that's why!

  Kaia offered her a sympathetic smile. "I've been there myself."

  At the bar, Anya ordered a round of something called Legspreader, and after a toast, they each downed the contents of their glasses at the same time. It burned going down but settled in her stomach like liquid rainbows with a pot of gold at each end.

  "More!" she demanded. And she was still commanding it eleven shots later. Clouds had settled in her mind, and the cold had melted from her bones. The numbness was starting to wear off, but instead of more rainbows and gold, she began to experience flickers of pain, her misery making itself known. She ignored it.

  "I'm amazing," Viola shouted to the world, throwing out her arms and twirling. "Drink me in!"

  Through the threads of the bond, Keeley felt the girl's extreme self-love, but underneath that... Oh, wow, Keeley had thought her own pain vast. This girl suffered.

  "I'm made of so much awesome it's probably illegal," Keeley said with a nod. "And Torin is a bastard."

  "Whooo hooo," the girls sang.

  Keeley tossed back two more shots.

  A group of immortal shifters came over, smiling like they'd just won the lottery. The one in the middle, the tallest, only had eyes for Keeley.

  "The moon isn't full tonight, but I bet you could make me howl," he said.

  "I could probably make you howl twice," Viola told him.

  But his gaze never left Keeley. "What about you, sweetness?"

  "I could make her howl twice, too," Keeley told him. "As for you, I've sworn off men."

  He spanned his hands across her waist and squeezed. "Give me a chance to change your mind."

  "I could change your mind," Viola said.

  "Do not touch without permission," Keeley snapped at the male. She backed away from him, thinking too much, too fast. And wrong. Torin had looked at her with adoration mixed with desire, as if he were memorizing every detail about her. This man wanted her, yes, but there was nothing but lust in his eyes. He would forget her the second he'd gotten what he wanted.

  I will be just as miserable.

  "You should totally give him permission," Kaia said, patting her on the shoulder. Pity wafted through the bond. "It's not like Torin has been flying solo."

  Keeley lost the ability to breathe. "What?" He'd already moved on? Wasn't lost in his own misery, lamenting his stupidity? Wasn't missing her as desperately as she was missing him?

  Anya slapped Kaia on the
back of the head. "He just went to a club," she said to Keeley. "That's what Lucien told me anyway. My honey saw him yesterday morning. He also mentioned the fact that Torin is a mess. That he looks horrible and has a raging temper no one can assuage."

  Torin in a club. Afraid to touch Keeley--but not others? On a bender that would make him reckless, uncaring?

  The walls of this club began to shake.

  When the shifter put his hands on her a second time, she shoved him away with a stream of power so intense it knocked him to the other side of the building.

  "You are one handy chick to have around," Nike said as people were knocked out of the way and into others, toppling bodies and furniture.

  Multiple fights broke out.

  "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Nike asked.

  "Absolutely. This is our cue to rule this school!" Kaia said, raising her fists.

  Keeley stood in place as the girls launched into action. Viola busted a Fae male over the head with a chair. Anya struck a vampire in the stomach with broken glass. Kaia reached inside the fiery mouth of a Phoenix and ripped out her tongue.

  On and on the violence continued, until finally the girls were the only ones left standing. Bloody and bruised, but standing. They high-fived.

  "May we go?" Keeley asked.

  A thousand conversations played between the girls as they made their way to the door, each new one beginning with "Did you see when I..."

  Outside, cool air caressed Keeley's overheated skin.

  "Majesty?" a feminine voice proclaimed.

  Keeley searched the area. The golden light of the moon blended with the white light of the streetlamps, illuminating a lovely Fae female with pale hair and big blue eyes. Common traits among the race.

  The girl raced forward and executed a formal bow reserved for the most revered of royalty. "The warrior Galen asked me to get a message to you. Told me you would pay handsomely."

  A message? "Tell me."

  Trembling, the Fae said, "Hades has captured him. Him and Torin. Locked them away."

  "What?" the other girls proclaimed in unison, their good moods plummeting.

  Like the club walls, the ground shook. Hades had Torin? Thought to use him against her?

  No matter how badly Torin had hurt her, she did not want him tortured. The thought of him enduring a single scratch still had the power to enrage her.

  "Give the girl one of the piles of gold in my room. I'll be back," she announced. She flashed directly to Hades.

  He was in his bedroom, the one in the fortress he'd built inside the Realm of Blood and Shadow, not the one he'd stolen from Lucifer. The curtain was drawn around his bed, but Keeley knew he was there. He was speaking, his voice low and seductive. A female moaned with pleasure.

  How nice. Keeley had been forgotten by him, too.

  The walls of the palace trembled forcefully as she shouted, "Hades. We need to talk."

  A feminine gasp of shock.

  A male curse.

  The rustle of moving bodies.

  "That's enough out of you, Tally," Hades said, and then he was pushing the curtain aside and standing beside the bed. He dropped the curtain in place before she could catch a glimpse of his partner.

  His hair stuck out in spikes. He was shirtless, his muscles on display. His pants were on but undone. His cheeks were flushed, his skin littered with bite marks and scratches.

  He tilted his head to the side as he met Keeley's gaze.

  "What's going on?" the woman--Tally--snapped, clearly irritated.

  He ignored her, saying to Keeley, "I'm logging an official request that you never wear anything but that outfit ever again."

  "You have Torin and Galen locked away."

  He didn't try to deny it, didn't even look ashamed to have been caught. "I do. Torin's manner displeased me. Galen was just in the way."

  "Release me," this Tally person demanded. "Immediately!" Chains rattled.

  Hades slapped the curtain. "I said enough. Remember what happens when my orders are not heeded."

  A mouthful of curses resounded.

  "Let them go," Keeley commanded.

  "No. And now that that discussion is over...would you like to join us?" He waved to the bed.

  Hissing outrage from the woman.

  "No, thanks," Keeley said. "Free Torin and Galen."

  "Why should I? Torin filled your eyes with pain."

  He couldn't be serious. "That's your excuse? You did the same!"

  "Yes, but I'm trying to make amends."

  "You want to make amends? Fine. Let Torin and Galen go."

  He frowned at her. "Is this part of your motivational speaking? Or can we call this nagging?"

  She waved her fist at him. "Do it."

  Stubborn, he crossed his arms over the wide expanse of his chest. "Torin will only hurt you again. Physically and emotionally."

  "Last chance," she said, the walls shaking harder...harder. "Release them."

  "If I do," he replied, his voice even, "I feel like you'll owe me."

  She ground her teeth. He'd once feared her power, had considered it greater than his own. Perhaps it was time to prove that was actually the case. "You brought this on yourself." She struck.

  *

  TORIN WOKE UP with hundreds of tiny men using jackhammers inside his head. He pulled himself upright gingerly, rubbed his eyes. Galen sat across from him, covered in dried blood and bruises. His hair was a mess, sticking out at odd angles.

  Torin's fingers snagged in a nest of tangles when he tried to comb his own.

  Memories rolled through his mind...the minions...claws snapping at him, whiskey spilling all over him, nips at his arms and legs, something slamming into his head again and again. Then...darkness.

  "Hades," Galen said. "Bastard locked us up."

  The walls of the palace shook, and Torin frowned. Was Keeley here? With Hades?

  Hell, no. He sprang up and raced to the cell door, then flattened his hands on the lock. It clicked open instantly. Thank you, All-key. He ran down a long, narrow corridor.

  "How the hell did you do that?" Galen asked.

  "Doesn't matter. We need to find Keeley. I think she's here."

  "I'm sure she's here. I sent one of the servants to find her."

  "Idiot!" Torin shouted. "You shouldn't have--"

  The wall in front of him utterly exploded, huge hunks of debris flying in every direction. Hades arrowed through the crude opening, and Torin doubted it was of his own volition. Dude rolled across the sea of broken stone, head bumping and banging along the way.

  Keeley floated in behind the male, and oh, what a majestic sight she made. Her skin--so much of it bared--was as pale as a white rose and literally glowed, streams of bright light glimmering around her. A mane of light pink hair with hunks of green framed her face. She was beautiful, yes, but also glorious. Like a warhorse of old. And yeah, okay, if he spoke the comparison aloud she might grind his bones to powder. But appearance had nothing to do with it.

  There had once been a time when men trained their horses for battle. Not just to charge into a fray, but to love it. Crave it. Those animals had felt no fear. They hadn't shied away from sword or spear or dagger but had flared their nostrils and stomped their hooves, daring the enemy to make a move--wanting him to. They hadn't cared if they lived or if they died, just as long as they had a taste of the action. That was Keeley.

  Haven't really been living without her, just existing.

  Hades lumbered to his feet, blood dripping from his nose and ears. One of his eyes was swollen shut. His condition only seemed to strengthen Keeley's mettle.

  "Think carefully about your next move," Hades said. "It might be your last."

  "Is that supposed to make me cower?" she asked calmly. "I know you feed on fear, that it makes you stronger. Too bad for you I have none to offer."

  The male glared at her.

  "Even if you could kill me," she continued, "I wouldn't die huddled in a ball, crying. No, when I go out,
I will go guns blazing...but I can't say the same about you." A bolt of lightning whipped from her palm and struck Hades in the chest, knocking him back.

  The male was warded, and yet as powerful as Keeley currently was, those wards did nothing to stop her.

  Torin put himself between the two, his gaze on the male now pushing back to his feet. He'd seen the guy fight. Knew he was holding back--shadows weren't flying out of him, surrounding Keeley, choking the life out of her while eating at her flesh. But that could change at any moment.

  Hades glared at him, his hands fisting. "Not smart, Disease."

  "I'm not letting you near her," Torin said.

  "You won't be able to stop me," Hades replied.

  "Bring it, then."

  "Enough!" Keeley shouted. She strode forward, the light no longer quite so bright. She pierced Torin with her raging baby blues. "This has nothing to do with you. Go home."

  Without her, he had no home. "I'm not leaving you."

  "Not the first time I've heard those words," she snapped. "Now go."

  He flinched. Deserved that. "Okay. How about this? I don't want to leave without you."

  Hurt in her eyes, though she dismissed him with a wave. "I'm no longer your concern, just as you are no longer mine."

  "Together or apart, you'll always be my concern."

  "How sweet." Hades sneered.

  "I said, enough!" She focused on the other male. "Hades, we don't suit and you know it. You'll always resent me for being stronger. You simply hate being told no."

  He glared at her. "And you're too stubborn, Keeleycael. I don't resent you. I'm proud of you. But despite your brave words about dying, you think you have all the time in the world, that the end will never come for you. Well, it can come. And one day, it will. For all of us. You need to let go of the past and grab onto the future with both hands before it's punted out of reach. I'm here. Grab on to me."

  Like hell.

  Hades's words were like an arrow through Torin's heart. They didn't have all the time in the world. The end would come. He had to grab hold of the future and never let go. Keeley was his future. Always had been, always would be.

  Without her, he had nothing.

  She'd told him "one day" would come and he'd regret what he'd done, and oh, had she been right. She just didn't know one day had come the very day he'd left her. He'd had a good thing going with her, the very best, and he'd given it up. Because of fear. Because he'd let it rule his thoughts once again, driving his actions.

  See the truth at last. No more running scared.

  "Grab on to me," Torin rushed out. "I made the mistake of letting go of you, but don't you let go of me. Please, Keys."