The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(83)

The other warriors laughed, as well, but there was unease beneath their mirth.

Sabin slapped Lucien's shoulder. "We haven't heard from him in thousands of years."

A shake of Lucien's head, those mismatched eyes intense. "This is not a joke. As Ashlyn informed us, Danika is the All-Seeing Eye. One of her paintings has revealed it as so. They asked her to go to the roof. They want to steal her from us."

The words, spoken so calmly, were lethal to Sabin's disbelief. Galen. Responsible for all of his torment. His greatest enemy. Once a trusted friend.

Galen had been the one to suggest they distract Pandora and open that cursed box. Galen had been the one to laud the merits of showing the gods their mistake. Galen had been their ally - or so they'd thought.

The gods did not trust us with the safekeeping of the box, Galen had said. Have we not proven our strength, over and over again? Have we not bled for them? Have we not protected them, all these many centuries? And yet they choose a female over us. She has not half our strength!

Cameo had taken offense at that and clawed Galen's face. The demented man had laughed. Cameo had also taken offense that Pandora had been the female chosen, rather than herself. So the warriors had rallied together, confident in their success.

But Galen had planned to betray them all along, jealous for a reason that had nothing to do with the box. Lucien had been chosen by the gods as Captain of the Guard; he had not. Only later had they learned that Galen had used them to do his dirty work, the actual opening of the box. While they were carrying out his brilliant idea, he was mobilizing Pandora's army to help him cut down his "friends" so he could capture the demons himself, take credit for saving the world - and usurp Lucien's role.

At first, everything had gone smoothly. Paris had managed to lure Pandora away, for even then females had not been able to resist him. The others had stealthily approached the box. But when they reached it, a cadre of soldiers rushed them - Galen among them.

A battle quickly ensued. Bloody, violent. In the end, the box was indeed opened, the demons released - all those demons, finally free. But despite Galen's best efforts - despite their efforts - there'd been no catching them. The demons were stronger than any of them had assumed. Worse, the box had vanished like a phantom of the night as the demons devoured the flesh of Pandora's guards, piranhas who'd been starved and desperate. The screams...they haunted Sabin still.

Though Galen had turned on them and "helped" Pandora, he had played a role in the box's opening, and so the gods punished him alongside the others. Hosting the demon of Hope didn't seem like a harsh enough punishment to Sabin, but Sabin had been unable to deliver his own brand of justice. In the turbulent aftermath of their demon-curse, Galen had disappeared and Sabin had been both glad and furious. Vengeance would have been nice. Perhaps now he'd have his chance.

"How dare he do this?" Strider snapped. "Wasn't one betrayal enough for him?"

"If he's controlling the Hunters, could he also be pulling the strings at that Hunter-infested Institute Ashlyn used to work for? She once mentioned that no one had ever seen its president because he never went out in public." Maddox glanced around the room. "Galen, do you think?"

"Maybe." Sabin shrugged. "Ironic that a facility that prides itself on human superiority could be secretly run by a half demon, half immortal. How do you think he manages to keep the Hunters from knowing the truth about him? They cannot know or they would revolt. And why would Galen want us dead, anyway?"

"Why did he convince us to open the box, and then turn on us?" Strider asked. "He had to win, always, no matter the price."

"Look who's talking, Defeat," Maddox said.

"Perhaps he always planned to try to crush us, to rise above us - even the gods - and win the heavens."

Sabin gripped the dagger sheathed in his weapon belt. "Whatever his reasons, if you're right and we're about to have a cozy little family reunion, I'm going to take his head. His skull will look nice on my nightstand. Save me from having to get up to use the bathroom at night."

Paris flicked him a wry glance. "I tell the jokes here. Anyway, I wouldn't get my hopes up that he'll make an appearance."

Grinning like the insane freak that he was, Torin clapped excitedly. "Hopes up. Galen is Hope. Funny. Too bad I think you're right. For whatever reason, Galen hasn't yet revealed himself to us. He doesn't know that we know he's the leader of the Hunters."

"Then let's send him a warm fuzzy card and invite him over. And by card I mean all of his Hunters in body bags," Strider said.

"Oh, that's so wrong." Meaning, it was right. Gleeful, Gideon rubbed his hands together. "This is going to be absolutely yawn inducing."

"So," Torin said, fingers flying over the keyboard. "Did we decide to let the Hunters inside or not? They want Danika, the All-Seeing Eye, and they'll be desperate because they think she'll be able to help them find the box, ending us. Letting them inside will place them closer to her."

Sabin shook his head. "Nope, not closer. Reyes is escaping with her. She'll be moving farther away, while the Hunters close in on us."

"How's she an artifact, anyway?" Cameo grumbled.

"Gods, woman," William said. "Your voice is like death. Can you shut it until I leave the room? Please. Seriously, you're like the one woman in the world I want to resist."