"I won't try to escape again. I swear it. I'll return to prison and quietly rot there. Please."
"You had that option, daughter of Rhea. Once." Gaze never leaving her, the god king tossed his blade in the air, caught it by the handle. "But I must admit, I do like the thought of your head rolling. Perhaps I was too hasty in selecting who should die. What do you think, Steel? Shall I kill your mother or shall I leave that honor to you?"
At that, Steel finally looked up. Shock curtained his features, overshadowing the acceptance and shame. "M-mother?"
Such a sweet voice, with hints of smoke and cloud.
Scarlet offered him a watery smile. "I love you." The very words she'd yearned to say for so long. "No matter what happens, Steel, I love you. I've always loved you and always will. I didn't give you up, my darling. You were taken from me." Choked now.
"Yes, she's your mother. Yes, you were taken from her," Zeus confirmed as the teen turned to him in stunned confusion. "You may offer your thanks now."
Steel's shock gave way to horror, liquid red bleeding into his azure irises. He was the reason she was chained, after all. Thinking she was an enemy to the crown, he'd led Zeus straight to her. "Mother," he said again, and this time, there was pain in that beloved voice. "II"
"Don't blame yourself, sweet boy. You are everything I wanted you to be. Strong. Lovely. Intelligent. You did exactly as I would've done had the situation been reversed. I love you so much." She couldn't speak quickly enough, knowing that at any moment
"Enough," Zeus barked, just as she'd feared. "I asked a question and desire an answer. So which is it to be, Steel? Will her death be delivered by my hand or yours?"
"II don't want you to kill her." Steel's watery gaze drank her in greedily, as if he were memorizing every little thing about her. "And I do not wish to kill her, either. Let her live. Please." His plea mirrored all the ones she'd given before.
Scarlet fought with every ounce of strength she possessed. She had to reach him. Couldn't bear to see him pained. "I'll be fine, darling. Let him do it. It's fine, I swear to you." She would rather die herself than allow a single scratch to befall Steel.
"I will not be merciful," Zeus said.
"I don't care," Scarlet told them both. Better she suffer now than Steel suffer in the coming centuries because he'd murdered her.
Silence. Terrible, terrible silence. But then, something far worse. "Kill me instead," Steel said. "I am nothing. No one."
"No!" Scarlet screamed.
But Zeus nodded, stroked his jaw and ignored her, focusing on her son. "You're right. She's much too valuable to dispose of. As the bastard daughter of Rhea, she is an embarrassment to Cronus and thus a priceless weapon to wield against him should the need arise."
She calmed. A chance. Hope. Zeus considered her a tool to be used against his enemies.
"Still. She must be punished for her actions. Whatever shall I do, then?" he asked, seeming genuinely pensive.
Hope dwindling... "Send Steel away," she pleaded. "That will punish me. I'll wonder where he is and what's happening to him. Please. Please. Nothing would hurt me more than that. You know this is true."
Slowly Zeus grinned. He nodded. "An excellent plan. I'll send him elsewhere."
Hope renewed, flooding her. "Thank you." Her shoulders sagged, her breath emerging shallowly. Her son would be safe. He would live. He would grow into the man he was meant to be. "Thank you so much, great king." Thanks continued to pour from her lips. She was babbling, she knew she was, but couldn't stop. "Thank you."
But she'd spoken too soon.
"I'll send him to the afterlife," the god added, at last silencing her. "As I originally planned."
As he'd always planned, she realized. He'd never considered letting the boy go, had only been toying with her.
Steel's eyes widened. In fear, in regret, then fixed on hers in resolve. "I'm sorry. Mother."
Scarlet screamed, the force shaking the temple, shattering her own eardrums. "No! No!"
"Yes." With no hesitation, Zeus raised the blade and struck.
GIDEON AWOKE with a roar and bolted upright. Tears were streaming down his cheeks in streams of acid. With a shaky hand, he reached up and wiped them away. Dear gods. He'd just seen Zeus slit his son's throat. He'd felt Scarlet's pain and helplessness. Her desperation.
That's how it had happened, he knew it was. Scarlet had shown him. He'd sensed her in the dream. Her sweet scent, the intensity of her emotions. She truly would have done anything to save that boy. Anything. That's how much she'd loved him. And she'd had to recover from his loss alone.
Gideon wouldn't have been able to do so. He was barely holding himself together now, and he still couldn't remember the boy. That beautiful boy. How strong Scarlet was. How resourceful. She was a survivor to the marrow of her bones.
His respect for her doubled. His desire for her tripled.
She deserved to be pampered. She deserved to be fought for as the prize she was. So pamper her he would. Fight for her he would. He couldn't make up for the past, but he could give her a better future.
Lock her away again? Never! He'd been a fucking idiot to think otherwise. Dangerous or not, she was his. He would kill anyone, even his friends, if they threatened her.
He'd have to find her, though. A difficult task, surely, considering she wouldn't want to see him. And
His gaze had been circling the bedroom, ensuring no enemies lurked nearby, a habit ingrained from centuries of war. Now he stopped abruptly.
Scarlet. Here. Sleeping. Surreal.
She was cuddled up beside him, her legs straight, one hand flattened over her heart, the other draped over her forehead. That mass of silky black hair was splayed around her shoulders, gleaming like polished ebony. She was a feminine feast, made to love and be loved.
He reached out, realized his shaking had increaseddamned truth-telling weaknessand caressed a fingertip down her nose before his muscles gave out and his arm flopped uselessly at his side. Need to touch her. Always.
For the moment, he would have to be satisfied with the knowledge that she was here. How? Why? Did it matter? She was here! They could talk, and he could begin that pampering. Foot massages every day, her enemies' heads delivered to her doorstep like the morning paper.
Come on, baby. Wake up. Through the windowed doors that led to a balcony, he could see that the sun was muted and falling, darkening. That pampering could begin sooner rather than later. Any moment now and Scarlet would
Her eyelids popped open and she bolted upright just as he had done. Her head slammed into his chin, and he winced.
As she rubbed the point of contact, their gazes met. Her eyes...so dark, so mysterious. So filled with pain and hope and regret. A treasure as priceless as this woman should only ever look satisfied.
She licked her lips and slowly eased back onto the mattress, twisting to her side to face him. Her mouth floundered open and closed for a moment, as if she were searching for the right words to say. He didn't want her to bring up the dream. Not yet. That was a heavy subject and right now they both needed to relax. Or rather, he needed to comfort her as he hadn't done before.
"So, who aren't you today?" he asked, lying down so that they were eye to eye.
There was a flicker of relief on her face. "Scarlet...Long," she replied.
Long. As in Justin. A man with black hair and brown eyes. Gideon almost smiled. Sweet progress. Hopefully, she'd never pick a blond again. And one day, maybe she'd even call herself Scarlet Lord.
Did he want that? Yes, he did, he realized almost immediately. He liked the thought of this woman belonging to him. Truly belonging to him in a way that all the world would recognize.
"How are you feeling?" she asked softly.
"Worse."
A lengthy breath escaped her. "Good. That's good."
With the last of his strength, he settled his arm over the curve of her waist. She didn't rebuke him for so intimate a gesture, and he took heart. "When I'm even worse, I don't want to hit Cronus's bedroom." He needed to get his hands on a slave collar. That way, the doors to Tartarus would open right up for him. Those collars were like keys to the gate. To get in, that is. Getting out would be a different matter entirely. "But damn. I've got my necklace, so I can roam freely." Without it, Cronus would know where he was and what he was doing. The god king could stop him and send him back to Buda before he set a single foot in the prison realm.
One of Scarlet's brows arched. "You're saying you don't have your butterfly necklace, so you can't move freely around this palace?"
He nodded, trying to gauge her expression.
She pulled both chains from a knife sheath at her waist, letting them dangle from her fingers. "I've got them. I found where you'd tossed yours like garbage." She sounded almost bitter. "So they aren't just pretty decorations?" Now she sounded...disappointed.
He'd made her think the necklace was a present from him. And when she'd found his, she had thought he'd "tossed it like garbage." As if she were garbage. He wouldn't allow her to think such a thing.
I will never lie to her again, he vowed. Then blinked. Wait. He would never purposely mislead her with his lies. Better. "They don't prevent the gods from watching us. From listening to us."
As he spoke, her eyes widened. With that widening, she should have been even easier to read. Only, those orbs offered no hint of her emotions. "The necklaces are blocks, then."
At least she hadn't erupted at his deception. "Exactly wrong."
"Good. Smart." She moved to anchor one around her neck, but he shook his head, stopping her. "But why wait?" Okay, now she looked ready to erupt. Her eyes were narrowed, almost...fiery, and her teeth bared in a fearsome scowl.
"I'm too strong to leave right now" too weak "and we shouldn't wait until we're ready to sneak out of the palace to fall off Cronus's radar." They absolutely should wait. The moment Cronus lost his connection to Gideon, he would suspect the truth and do everything in his power to stop Gideon from succeeding.
"So you're going to sneak out to"
Again, he nodded.
Anticipation wafted from her. The two of them were going to Tartarus, and they were going to kill Zeus.
"How long till you're recovered?" she asked.
"Not another day." One more day.
Blink. "So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
Kiss. Touch. Relearn each other. Make love. "Not talking."
She rolled her eyes as if he'd just made a funny. "You and me? Talk? I don't think so. We've said all we need to say to each other. We'll work together in this, because we're stronger as a pair, but that's all we're doing. Working together. Killing together."
Great. She was falling back into stubborn mode. But he didn't mind. She could say anything she wanted, do anything to him. He planned to stick to her like pasties on a stripper.
"And anyway," she continued, resolute, "let's be real here. I don't have to wait around. I can sneak through the palace and kill any god or goddess I stumble upon. I'm actually doing you a favor."
A growl rumbled low in his throat, rose, lashed out. The thought of Scarlet traipsing through the palace halls alone did not sit well. She wouldn't be up against humans, but immortals. Stronger, more violent immortals. Pure male instinct wanted her safe, happy and not in fucking constant danger.
Calm. He would just have to keep her busy. And if she wasn't interested in talking, that left only one other option. What he'd wanted to do in the first place.
He'd considered himself depleted, but the thought of having her rallied his cells, muscle and bone, allowing him to roll on top of her. She gasped at his weight, but he didn't shift away. No, he pressed himself down, giving her more.
"Talking it is, then," he said, and as he'd done the last time he'd needed to soften her, he meshed his lips into hers.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SCARLET STARTED to utter a protest. She'd already kissed Gideon once, and now had his intoxicating taste seared into her mouth, her body, after centuries of fighting to remove it. Centuries of fighting to forget his weight, his heat, his strength. She didn't need to do so again, didn't need another reminder. Didn't need the cravings to return.
Not that they'd ever stopped.
She thought to push him away. He was weakened right now, and wouldn't be able to stop her when she scrambled off the bed and out of the bedroom. He wouldn't be able to draw her back into his arms, hold her close, overshadowing pain with pleasure.
But then his tongue rolled against hers, so damn sweet she could have wept. Then he whispered "Scar" as if the nickname were a prayer, and rather than protest, rather than push him, she cupped the back of his neck with one hand and tangled her fingers into his hair with the other, canting his head.
The kiss deepened, from languid to shattering in a single second. A match lit, thrown. An inferno. Raging. Thoughts derailing. Nothing mattered but here, now. The man, the passion. The past fading.
Thoughts struggling to form.
What are you doing?
Mouths claiming. Feasting. Breath mingling. Warm, then hot, then scorching. Tearing her down. Building her back up.
A glimmer of reason.
Don't just start to protest. Do it! Protest. Don't just think to push him away. Do it! Push.
Fire, cooling. Ice, crystallizing. Yes, yes. That's what she needed to do. Protest, push. She wouldn't lose herself again. She was smarter than that.
Prove it.
Scarlet wrenched her lips from his. Panting, she said, "You want to talk, we'll talk." Her body shrieked a protest all its own. Still, she continued. "I'm the daughter of Rhea, and I was born inside Tartarus. For thousands of years, it was all I ever knew." The words rushed from her, laced with desperation. Surely this topic would douse her passion completely.
Gideon stilled. There was disappointment in his bright eyes, but also thrums of eagerness. Finally, he was getting what he'd really wanted. Information. "Don't go on." He didn't move off her, though, and she foolishly didn't insist that he do so. "I don't want to know everything about you."
How easy she was. Another declaration like that, and she might kiss him. "At first, Rhea loved me, cared for me. But then, as I grew older, she began to see me as a threat. She wanted me dead. Real bad."