TARNISHED (Book 5.5, The Caged Series (Novella)) (5 page)

I could only hope that I wasn't too late.

Quietly, I rose from my bed knowing what I had to do. Preparations needed to be made for the journey I was about to embark upon, and even more importantly, decisions needed to be made. There would be no turning back from the choice, no way to undo it. I was about to seek the one no one ever sought and ask her to do the unthinkable.

My very soul depended on it.

The Queen

From all that I had seen, deals with the Underworld and those who reigned there never ended well, but I knew of no one else who could provide the service I so desperately required. That fact still tucked away in my mind, I found myself far away from civilization, deep within the woods, knocking on the door to her mother's house. Surprisingly, Persephone answered it herself.

Every bit the Queen of the Underworld, she exuded death and torture, all wrapped up into an eerily stunning package. She was shrewd, cunning, manipulative, and devoid of feeling. She was my near equal in female form, and I was loath to be anywhere near her, let alone asking her for help. But I had no choice.

“Aniketos,” she said, eyeing me curiously from head to toe. “It's been a long time.”

“It has.”

“But I can only assume that you are not here on a social call...” Her words were playfully feline, as if she was attempting to play with her food before she ate it.

“I need something from you,” I said flatly, still hating that I had to be in her presence, let alone in her debt, or soon to be.

Her dark brown eyes once again raked over me. It was plain to see what she hoped I was there for.

“Hades would not be pleased to know that you came here, searching me out to violate me,” she baited, draping her lithe body along the length of the door and pulling her hair from its braid to let her long black curls fall around her.

“I do not wish to violate you,” I growled, pushing my way into the home. “I am here because I need you to do something for me.”

“Ohhh...,” she replied in mock surprise. “You need a
favor
.”

“Yes.”

“But, Aniketos,” she chided. “You know I only deal in death. Not favors.”

“I know.”

“You are invincible,” she said curtly, her voice losing any hint of its earlier playfulness. “You have no death to offer me―no soul for me to take to the Underworld. In short, you have no currency with which to pay me.” She stalked toward me like a predator, eyes fixed on her prey. Stopping only inches before me, she dared to let a lone finger trail from my bare shoulder to my hand. “You do, however, have something of interest to me. Something else you could offer, though it would not be enough to warrant whatever favor you sought me out for. It would be enough to buy you answers...answers that could be terribly advantageous for you.”

“I have a death of sorts to offer,” I growled.

“Oh? Do tell,” she purred.

“You can have my invincibility.”

Her movement froze and she pinned wide, disbelieving eyes on mine.

“You wouldn't...”

“Will you do it?

“But why? What on Earth or in the heavens could possibly make you do such a foolish―” She cut herself off the second she realized the truth. A wide, serpent-like smile spread across her face; she was all too pleased with herself. “You are in
love
,” she said patronizingly. “Aw...that is just precious, Aniketos. The coldest warrior the world has ever seen has been warmed by love. Tell me, who is she? Who is this that could make you give up your birthright so carelessly? Clearly it isn't Sophie; those rumors have spread far across the land.”

“Will you do it or not?”

“I will,” she replied, reaching to wind her fingers through my hair. “But I want you to tell me who she is and exactly what you want in exchange for your invincibility first. Then we can work out the more minor details and discuss my other offer...”

“You do not know her. As for what I want for my invincibility, you will make certain that my lighter side, my mother's side, remains a part of me with no possibility of it fading away.”

She looked at me curiously before responding.

“I do not recall a lighter side, Aniketos. Show him to me and I will see what I can do for you.”

“You seem unable to bring him out,” I replied coolly.

“Do not play games with me,” she hissed.

“I would advise you not to do the same,” I barked, backing her up into a wall before grabbing her by the throat.

“Is this him?” she mocked through a strained voice. “This is worth the price of losing your untouchable status? If this is your softer side then I am certain that all the rumors I've long heard were not embellished, as I had assumed.”

“You will have to take my word for it that I have my mother's blood still coursing through my veins,” I said, dropping her to the floor. She grasped her throat, rubbing it as her lungs fought to recapture the air they had lost. Once composed, she straightened her garment as though nothing had occurred.

“We have a deal,” she said with an amused look on her face.

“Fine. Get it over with then.”

“Not so fast. You still have not told me of this woman who is so amazing that she alone can tame the beast.”

I fought to contain my growing rage. Just as I was ready to kill her, sending her back to the Underworld to be remade, the vision played through my mind like a final plea. Once those blue eyes looked up at me, I knew I could not cross or anger Persephone. She was the only one who could keep the image permanently alive in my mind.

“I do not know her name...”

“What do you mean?”

“We have never met.”

“Then how can you possibly want to do what you're about to do?”

“Enough!” I snapped at her, tired of her games. “You will either do this or I will bring such pain down upon you that you will beg for me to end it. Is that motive enough for you?”

Her eyes widened in fear for a moment before regaining their composure, which then bled to a desire burning brightly within them.

“Testy, testy... There's no need for threats, Aniketos. You know that I have a soft spot for you. I will do what you ask, but you will remember that later when I ask you for something in return?”

“Deal.”

“Well then, shall we get started?”

She motioned for me to sit at the table, coming around behind me to rest her hands on my shoulders. I felt the heat flowing through me slowly, growing in intensity. Just when it felt as though my insides would be set aflame, she let go and I felt nothing.

“It is done. You will retain whatever goodness you've found, whatever goodness you were born with.”

“And in return?”

“And in return, the one you believe you are unable to kill will be the only one who can take your life.”

The second those words left her mouth I realized she'd lived up to her reputation too. She was evil and manipulative and picked the only individual on the face of the Earth who I would not want to have that ability—Ares. My hair bristled as I shot to my feet to stare her down, wishing I had smashed her face in when I had the chance.

“And still, I don't get to see this softer side,” she mocked before laughing heartily. “You're angry; I can see that. Perhaps I can offer you an outlet for this newly acquired frustration. You did agree to the terms and condition of our deal, might I remind you, and you also agreed to do something for me in return.”

Words would not leave my mouth. All my energy was directed toward not killing Persephone as she stood before me, her mannerisms egging me on.

“It seems that you may have yet another problem on your hands, Aniketos. What of Sophie? Does she know that she's been replaced? Will this new love take to you, knowing that you have another? Perhaps you hadn't planned to tell her, but I can assure you, that never ends well. Honesty is always the best policy.”

Her laughter broke out the instant those final words left her poisoned tongue. But she was right. There would be no having the girl in my visions with Sophie around. She was under the protection of the PC and bonded to me personally. Though I chose her so very long ago, given the choice again, I would not have repeated the act. Sophie appealed to me on the darkest of levels, feeding my soulless void with notions of domination, greed, and violence. Everything about her called to those parts of me that I was determined to find balance with. I could not return to her, but I saw no way to be rid of her either.

“I can help you with that,” she said as though reading my mind. “I can make sure that she knows the truth about what will happen here tonight. No woman likes to be overlooked or outdone. I will be certain that once we are finished she is both of those things. Perhaps then she will run to Ares as she always does and have him lift your marital bond. I'm afraid she'll still be bound to the brothers; that I cannot help with.”

“What is in it for you?” I snarled, knowing that with Persephone there was always a catch. “What twisted angle are you working now?”

“Such unparalleled beauty with the mind to match,” she said, seductively working her way back over to me. “I've heard of Sophie's...
predilections.
It seems as though she and I share the same ideas about being with a man. Hades, though one would never presume this, is a tad boring in the bedroom. I'm not interested in having sex with a pussycat, Aniketos. I'm interested in being fucked by a warrior.”

“That is all?” I asked, my tone incredulous. “You want me to fuck you like I fuck her?”

“No,” she purred. “I want you to do much worse than that. The rumors, though colorful, are not quite as
violent
as I was hoping for. I want you to make it
hurt
. I want you to own me in every way possible―and leave your mark.”

My chest rumbled, though I tried to make it stop. She, like Sophie, was appealing to that darkness within that could not be denied forever.

“You want pain?” I asked, the corner of my mouth turning up ever so slightly as I stepped toward her.

“Yes,” she replied, her voice catching in her throat.

“I can give you that.” I tore off her robe and slammed her face first against the wall, pressing her chest tightly against it. “Now, you're going to be sure that Sophie knows of this, aren't you?”

“Yes,” she breathed in response.

“And you are going to be sure that she's counseled to ask Ares to dissolve our bond, aren't you?”

“Of course...”

“Good. Now, you think you want to feel pain?” I whispered in her ear as she writhed under my hold, practically begging for what she thought she wanted. “I will give you pain like you've never imagined. I'm going to make you scream. I'm going to make you bleed...” She moaned at my words, her knees giving out from under her in anticipation. When I pressed her harder into the wall, forcing the air from her lungs entirely, I let her know what she was truly in for.

“You're going to wish you were never born.”

* * *

Hours later, when she could hardly stand any longer, I stopped, letting her damaged body crash to the ground awkwardly. Even with her eye swollen shut and blood rolling down her face, she smiled up at me with the most devious grin, letting me know that I had given her precisely what she was looking for. Pain and pleasure were a precarious duo meant to be well-balanced. For Persephone, there was no balance needed. When bones started breaking and she looked close to death, I was forced to stop even though she begged for more. The second I pulled out of her, she inelegantly squirmed back toward me, hoping to reconnect with that which she so desperately needed.

For a brief moment, I pitied Hades. Persephone was built for brutal, violent fucking. He was not.

I knew that he loved her, and as I came down from my bloodthirsty high, I felt bad over what I'd done. Not about Persephone—she had bargained for what she got. I did, however, feel a pang of guilt for Hades. He did not deserve what she'd done. Sophie did not deserve what I had done either.

With that thought running through my mind, I attempted to clean off the blood that was drying on my skin before I left. I felt soiled by it, tarnished by what it stood for and the part of me that enjoyed doing it. By making Persephone keep my angelic side intact, I realized that I would have to continually battle between the two extremes that made up the fiber of my being. It was already becoming an exhausting feat.

“Leaving so soon?” she slurred, her bottom lip too swollen and cracked to properly form her words. “I was hoping we could discuss something first. A proposal I have for you...”

“Wait till your mother gets home and helps you heal. You can find me later to talk about whatever machinations you've come up with now.”

“No,” she said, slowly coming to stand, her weight carried only by her right leg. “You'll want to hear me out on this.”

“I have no more patience for your games, Persephone.”

“It's not a game. It's information. Information that you might enjoy having.”