The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(50)

Once again, Aeron was staring at Danika. She was small, only reaching Reyes's shoulder. Light hair framed her face and her green eyes sparkled like emeralds. Her nose was uptilted like a queen's, as if she waited for her servants to grant her every desire. She was slender, a little too slender, with a face as dainty as an angel's wing - but her expression was not soft. Harsh determination radiated from her.

"You still want to kill me," he said.

"Yes." Her lips were red and swollen. Obviously, she'd been kissed, and very recently, too.

Aeron's gaze settled on Reyes's mouth. It, too, was well used. He would not have pegged the human as Pain's type. He would not have pegged Pain as her type, either. But he had sensed the tension between them the first time she'd come to the fortress. A tension that was stronger now, more intense. Reyes had even called the woman his.

They were enemies, yet they'd become lovers. How sweet, he mentally sneered. And yet, beneath the sneer, he could feel a tendril of...wistfulness?

Legion licked Aeron's cheek and then his tiny body was slithering around his neck, then down, where he perched his elbows on Aeron's knees. A favorite position of his, apparently. That forked tongue flicked out at Danika, a rattle sounding. "You familiar. Want to play?"

"The Darkest Pleasure"

She blinked, shook her head as if dislodging a puzzling thought. "You saw me yesterday. And no."

"Oh." The little fiend's disappointment was palpable. He flattened against Aeron's chest, his green scales fading slightly.

"You hurt Legion," Aeron growled, oddly offended by the fact. With the knowledge of the demon's unhappiness, Aeron's bloodlust threatened to explode, his tenuous control slipping. "Which means this conversation is done. Leave."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Danika rushed out, offering an apologetic glance to Legion. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Really. It was...a game. Yes, a game."

"Love gamesss." Relaxing, color returning, the creature added, "Ssseen you before yesterday."

Aeron, too, relaxed.

Danika shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you're mistaken."

"You fly in flamesss. Watch minionsss torture dead."

The girl blinked as she had before, a mixture of horror and astonishment in her eyes. "I do, but only in my dreams. How do you know? Have you seen my paintings? Wait, that's not possible."

"Don't answer," Aeron told Legion, an idea hitting him. He could use the information as a bargaining tool. And in the process, he could, perhaps, decipher the puzzle the girl had just presented.

Flames. Minions. Had to be hell, Legion's home and the only place the creature could have seen her. Aeron wasn't sure if the girl had somehow entered hell or if Legion was playing another of his games. But for the first time since the Titans had taken over the heavens and ordered Aeron to kill Danika and her family, the terrible command began to make sense. If the girl could travel to the dark underworld, could she also access the world of the gods? Could she watch them? Maybe even divine their secrets?

Why not smite her down themselves, though? Surely an easy task for any god. Why force Aeron to do their dirty work?

He glanced over at Reyes, who had paled. They must have put the same pieces of the puzzle together. If Danika were to be captured by godly enemies and forced to betray heavenly secrets, the gods would never leave her alone. They would not rest until she was dead.

There would be no saving her.

"I don't - I'm not - " She scrubbed a hand over her face, as if the action could jump-start her brain into understanding. When she stilled, her expression was carved from stone. "Stop trying to distract me." Her gaze moved to Aeron and stayed. "Where is my family?"

"We will trade information, you and I."

"Okay." No hesitation.

He watched as she slowly unwound her fingers from the bars, dropped her arm and reached for Reyes. The warrior slid his hand through the bars and captured hers, intertwining their fingers. They sought comfort from each other, Aeron realized. One silently asked for it, and the other silently gave it. Did they even comprehend what they'd done?

"What do you want to know?" she asked, her voice shaking. Her eyes slitted, and she cleared her throat. She asked again, and this time her voice was clear.

"Have you seen hell? And do not lie to me. One lie, and the conversation ends."

A moment passed before she answered, as though she were weighing her options in her mind. "Like I said, I see it in my dreams," she finally replied.

"Do your sister, mother, grandmother dream of hell?"

She shook her head, blond tresses dancing. "They've never spoken of it."

There was a hitch in her voice, but he pretended not to notice. If she had lied, he had, too, for he did not want the conversation to end. "What do - "

"We're supposed to trade information," she interjected with a steely edge. "So let's trade. Where's my mother?"

"In the States. A small town in Oklahoma."

Absolute relief suddenly lit up her lovely features, and she closed her eyes. A tremor slipped through her, and several tears beaded between her eyelids before sliding down her cheeks.

He didn't, couldn't, allow the sight to affect him. "Have you ever dreamed of the heavens?"