Defeat chuckled, surprising Strider further. The demon had had a similar reaction during the games, when Kaia had been kicking major ass. At the time, Strider had been positive hed misheard. That the noise of the crowd had somehow invaded his head. Now
What did it mean?
Ponder it later. His demons amusement wasnt going to slice through his jugular. If he wasnt careful, Juliette might. He had to stay focused.
So, would you like to tell us why you were tracking me before or after we clean the floor with your faces? Kaia asked casually. And by clean, I mean coat with your blood.
While you decide, Strider added, maybe I should introduce you to Kaias friends. The guy holding the ax is Gideon. Hes possessed by the demon of Lies. The girl next to him, the one tossing and catching the daggers, is Scarlet. Shes possessed by the demon of Nightmares. The rocking blonde is the goddess of Anarchy. No reason to mention the minor thing. Didnt sound as impressive.
Anya gave a pinkie wave. Hey, yall. Welcome to the party. A few facts about me before youre too dead to ask. I like long walks on the beach, snuggling with my man and murdering people who offend me. Offered in the sweetest voice, the threat was all kinds of frightening.
Strider opened his mouth to continue, but Juliette snapped, I dont care about any of you. We didnt come here to fight. No reason to. Thats what the games are for.
Oh, really? He would have placed good money on the opposite being trueand he would have won, no question.
You sure? Kaia asked. I dont mind making an exception and pretending this is an event. Ill even let you take the first swing without retaliating. Although I cant promise my demon-possessed friends here will behave.
Mutely, Juliette pivoted on a booted heel and stalked to the bar. Her consort and clan followed her.
Won, Defeat said on a happy sigh.
Strider mentally high-fived him, delighting as yet another bout of pleasure spun through him. Only problem was, Kaia couldnt start training now. She couldnt leave, either. Leaving would smack of cowardice. So they were stuck, their marathon makeout session on hold, as well.
Kaia! a female voice shouted excitedly. Once again the front door swung open. This time, Bianka raced inside, dark hair flying behind her and slapping Lysander in the face as he followed. Another warrior angel strode in behind him. This one had dark hair, piercing green eyes and features so emotionless they resembled a deep, dark void.
Zacharel. Strider had met the winged warrior weeks ago, when the being was sent to the fortress to prevent Amun from leaving. Hed had a hard time facing the guy, his body reacting every time theyd neared each other.
Strider had never swung that way, but he couldnt be blamed. There was no being more physically perfect than Zacharel. Well, except for Kaia. This time, however, the reaction was muted. Maybe because, as strongly as he reacted to Kaia, nothing else could compare.
Sabin and Gwen strutted in next, moving to flank the angels. Even though Strider hadnt texted his leader to tell him the Eagleshields were here, the warrior didnt look surprised to see them. He must have watched them from the heavens, then, as planned.
Any luck finding the Rod?
Bianka, Kaia said with a laugh as she launched herself to meet her sister in the middle of the room. The twins hugged and danced as if they hadnt seen each other in years.
I would have been here sooner but Lysander held me prisoner in our cloud, Bianka said with a grin. He wouldnt relent until Sabin gave the okay. Which I still dont understand and will continue to punish him for until he spills. Secrets or guts, I dont care which.
That would explain the black eye the warrior currently possessed, Strider thought with a grin of his own.
Youre so lucky, Kaia said. You can harm your consort.
I know. And feel free to harm him yourself. Although, maybe dont hurt him too badly. Theres all kinds of trouble in the heavens nowadays, something about losing a piece of love, whatever that means, and my pookybear is stressed.
That was the last thing Strider understood as the sisters began talking over each other.
because you look amazing and
wouldnt believe the balls on
next time I want video feed of
cut just right, flesh makes the cutest purse
she doing here?
In unison, they faced the bar, leveling Juliette with glares of abject disgust. Juliette pretended not to notice. Not her consort, though. He smiled at the twins as if they were the Christmas present hed always wanted.
Bloodheating
Strider would have volleyed himself like an H-bomb if a hard hand hadnt settled on his shoulder. I wouldnt, Lysander said.
You wouldnt. I would. His gaze remained locked on the male he desperately wanted to slay.
An equally hard hand settled on his other shoulder. Perhaps you should rethink your strategy, Zacharel said in his cold, toneless voice.
Yeah, well, perhaps the humans disagreed with Striders physically perfect description, because they still loitered inside the bar, paying the angels no heed. And hell, they had wings and wore girly robes. Two other reasons to stare right there.
They cannot see Lysander or me, Zacharel explained. You were correct. If they could, they would stare.
Striders jaw clenched. Stay out of my head.
Stop projecting your thoughts.
He didnt mind when Amun read him, but Zacharel? An angel? Freaking irritating. The consort. What is he?
Lysander didnt ask for clarification. His name is Lazarus, and he is the only son of Typhon.
Oh, shit. Hed been rightguy was far from human. Strider wanted to shake his head, to deny, to do anything but accept. But when an angel spoke, there was no doubting him. Ever. Truth layered every nuance of Lysanders voice and every cell in Striders body believed what hed just been told.
As an elite guard to Zeus, Strider had fought many monsters. None had ever compared to Typhon. Bastard was a giant with the head of a dragon and the body of a snake. His wings spanned the entire length of a football field and a never-ending abyss had waited in his eyes.
Typhon had challenged Zeus, and he would have won, had been winning, until Strider and friends arrived on the scene, causing the giant to flee. Youre welcome, he thought dryly, recalling how Zeus had blamed them for distracting him, claiming he would have pulled through without them. Strider hadnt heard a shred of gossip about Typhon since, and now he had to wonder what had happened to the guy.
Whos his mother? Strider asked.
I do not know her name, only that she is a Gorgon.
This just gets better by the second, he muttered dryly. Gorgons could turn a man to stone with only a glance. They had snakes on their heads rather than hairsnakes that poisoned their victims when they bit. Medusa was the most famous of them, and so legendary even humans told tales of her evil prowess.
Mortals. So gullible. If they only knew Medusa was the cream of the crop and a real sweetheart compared to others of her race.
Clearly, he wants a piece of Kaia.
Who doesnt? Zacharel asked, deadpan. As always. She is a beautiful woman and I have seen how happy a Harpy can make an angel.
Strider had his nose pressed into the angels a second later, breath sawing in and out. You better stay away from her.
Win.
No problem.
I will, the angel said easily. Stay away from her, that is.
Strider blinked, confused, and backed a step away. But you just
I just agreed with you. Yes. Every unmated man in this building wants a piece of her.
He was back in the guys face a second later. And you? Damn it. He had to get himself under control. Hed vowed not to let himself be challenged majorly for the next few weeks, yet he kept reacting to everyone who so much as glanced in Kaias direction.
I was merely ensuring you desire her, rather thansomeone else.
Someone, like an angel. Once again, he stepped backward. Faster this time, his cheeks heating with mortification. So. The bastard had picked up on the earlier fascination.
You look all innocent and shit, but youre really a devil in disguise, arent you?
Zacharel merely shrugged, his expression unchanging.
Win?
Yeah. We won that round. The angel hadnt made a play for Kaia, and that was all that mattered.
Defeat might have agreed, but there were no accompanying sparks of pleasure. Nor were there spurts of pain.
What are you doing here, anyway? he grumbled.
Bianka competes in the next game. Lysander wishes me to
Lysander can speak for himself, the warrior interjected. I wished for a supporting arm to either hold me back or help me, should I be inclined to punish Biankas opponents.
Aw. True love. How sickening.
Both Lysander and Zacharel could create swords of fire from nothing but air. A few Harpy heads would probably roll by the time the second game ended if any harm came to Kaias twin.
You do know youll embarrass Bianka if you
Who are you talking to, Strider? Though Haidee had closed most of the distance between them, she asked the question from behind her beer bottle, not daring to glance in his direction. He knew she didnt fear Kaia, though she should, but merely thought to prevent another attack while the enemy was nearby.
And damn it. The angels had warned him. No one else could see them. Well, Sabin and Gwen could, he was sure, since they were smothering their laughter behind beers of their own.
No one, he muttered. No one important. He refocused on Kaia and Bianka, the Twin Troublemakers.
no better time, Bianka was saying.
Then lets do it, Kaia responded with an evil grin. Juliette will never know what hit her.
Shit. Do what? With those two, it always involved bloodshed, grand theft auto or a five-alarm blaze. Or, on special days, a combination of all three. He watched, dread coursing through him, ready to pounce at a moments notice, as the girls moved forward.
Then the worst of his fears were confirmed when they climbed onto the dais.
To karaoke.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PARIS PRESSED INTO A SHADOWED corner of the heavenly harem. Mindless chatter and the sound of playful splashing coasted on the over-warm air. The scent of jasmine oil and sandalwood drifted to his nose and he tried not to inhale. Ambrosia layered both, a waft of coconut that lured and seduced, and he couldnt yet afford to get high. No matter how much his body shook, desperate for a fix.
After his back-alley brawl, hed taken the first female hed stumbled upon. Sex had ensured her willingness, despite Pariss ragged appearance, and hed healed quickly afterward.
Unfortunately, the vital encounter had made him an hour late to his meeting with Mina, the goddess of weaponry, and hed had to pay extra for the crystal blades.
She liked her pleasure with a bit of bite, and hed had to do things to her that might haunt him for years. But he had the daggers now and had crossed item one off his To Do list.
He rubbed the hilts as he scanned his surroundings, hating the cobalt wisps of fabric that fell from the ceiling and draped the entire enclosure. Hating the beaded lounge pillows, the naked, glistening bodies strolling this way and that.
Time to cross off item number two. Arca, the messenger goddess. Surely she would know where Sienna was being held, as one of his many partners had led him to believe. Pillow talkhis best friend, and everyone elses worst enemy.
If she wasnt here, he had no idea where to go next. Or who to do.
Dont think like that. No one here had sensed him. Yet. That would change all too soon. Sex craved todays dose. Already the scents of chocolate and champagne drifted from him. Soon mortals and immortals alike, all brought here to service Cronus, would find themselves consumed by hunger.
The god king had given up keeping a single mistress. Now he was keeping thirtythree. Yes, thirty-three, Paris counted. The twenty-seven others standing around the pool ledge were bodyguards, not sexual conquests.
Paris doubted Cronus had slept with everyone here, or that the bastard even planned to nail them all in the future. But Cronus would do anything to piss off Rhea, his traitor of a wife, and nothing hurt a womans pride quite like infidelity. A fact Paris knew very well.
Hed never been faithful. Could never be faithful. No matter how much he wanted to be. No matter how much his many conquests screamed and ranted at him, desperate for something he couldnt give them. Somethingmore. His lovers were his demons food, that was all. He couldnt let them be anything else. And really, he didnt want them to be anything else.
He just wanted Sienna.
If he could find her, if he could touch her, if she no longer despised himwhich didnt seem likely, especially after the things, people, hed done up herewould she give herself to him?
So many ifs.
Hed been up here off and on ever since her disappearance, and hed kept his ear to the groundaka hed screwed the information out of anyone close to Cronus. See? Unfaithful. He was here for one woman, but had slept with another. And another. And another.
Buck up. Otherwise, hed start wanting that ambrosia.
Hell, maybe he should just give in.
Or maybe he should leave. Cronus was going to pop a vessel when he discovered Pariss whereabouts. Would definitely punish him. Becauseto hide his activities, Paris had to wear a necklacea manlace, as Torin called itthe god king had given him. A manlace he was only supposed to wear to hide himself from Rhea. Using it to conceal himself from Cronus as well was a small crime, sure, but couple that with Pariss intentions
Youre close. Closer than youve ever been. No matter what happened, he wouldnt give up. So, no ambrosia and no leaving.
Im so hot, one woman said. She lay on a velvet recliner, naked and glistening, arching her back as she traced her fingertips between her large, tawny-tipped breasts. So needy.
Me, too, another said. She licked her lips as she searched for a partner.