The Darkest Lie

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

GIDEON WAS left alone in the cage for several hours. Alone in the bedroom, too. He didn't have to wonder where Rhea was, though; he could guess. She was with Galen, seeing to his health. He's my warrior, she'd cried. Mine. You were not to hurt him.

What he did wonder about was whether or not he was trapped in something akin to the Cage of Compulsion that Lucien was in the process of hiding, where the prisoner was compelled to do whatever the owner of said cage wanted. He'd rather cut out his heart than become Rhea's slave.

He wanted her head on a platter. A platter he would then gift to Scarlet as a token of his affection. Scarlet...

Where was she? What was she doing? He would speculate every day until he saw her. It wasn't that he was worried about her, either. The girl could take care of herself better than anyone he'd ever met. He simply missed her. She was a part of his life now. The best part.

He wanted to create new memories with her. Real memories, better than the ones she'd woven herself. He wanted to be there for her and make up for all the years he'd ignored her while she rotted in Tartarus.

First, though, he had to escape this fucking hell hole.

"Ray!" he shouted, shaking the bars. Gods, he reminded himself of Galen. Frantic, desperate. "Ray!"

Once again, a bright azure light filled his line of vision. Gideon remained on his knees, though he hated to do so. But there was no room in the cage, and standing wasn't an option.

Rhea appeared in the center of the bedroom, her pretty features tired and tight, her dark hair in tangles. No more gray, he realized. She wore a white robe that was stained with blood and soot. So yep, she'd been with Galen.

"You rang?" Hate and smugness mixed in her tone, creating a timbre that scraped at his ears. "So eager for your punishment?"

He knew no one would be swooping in to rescue him. He'd tried to remove his butterfly necklace, which blocked his whereabouts from all immortals, but somehow, some way, the metal had been fused together and now refused to part. He couldn't even lift the links over his head.

Rhea's doing, he was sure.

His guess? She didn't want Cronus finding him or even knowing what she did to him.

She waved her hand through the air and, shockingly, the bars around him disappeared. Since the bars behind him had been holding him up, he fell to his ass. Gideon was quick to recover, though, and jumped to his feet. He didn't have a weapon, as those had been magically removed.

"Smart of you," he remarked. She was as much a fool as Galen.

"Lunge at me, I dare you," she replied, remaining in place. Her teeth were bared, as if she couldn't wait to rip into him and work off a little steam.

He would have loved to accommodate her. He wanted her head on that platter, after all. But he wasn't Strider, and he didn't have to respond to every challenge. He didn't have to give the bitch what she wanted. Besides, he didn't know what powers she possessed, didn't know what she was capable of, but he did know what her husband could do and if she were anything like him...Gideon shuddered. He would lose before the fight even began.

"Well, coward? Just going to stand there?"

"Yes." He turned his back on her, heard her insulted gasp of breath and strode to the other side of the room as if he hadn't a care. He stopped in front of a vanity, lifted a perfume bottle to his nose and sniffed. Grimaced. Did she actually wear this shit? It was potent, like bat wings mixed with eye of newt.

"I have removed all the exits, so wipe all thoughts of escape from your puny mind. You're as trapped in this room as you were in the cage."

Truth. Lies hissed inside his head. "Sounds wonderful." He replaced the perfume and lifted a brush. Several strands of hair were intertwined in the bristles.

"What do you mean, wonderful? It's terrible, and you know it."

She knew he was possessed by the demon of Lies, she just hadn't connected the dots yet. Oh, the fun he could have with her, he thought, cutting off his grin before it could form.

"I'm not curious about why you brought me here and what you plan to do with me," he said.

"Ha! I know better. You're seething with curiosity."

He merely shrugged as he tossed the brush back onto the vanity surface, watching as it skidded and crashed into a jar of green paste. Clearly Rhea cared about her appearance. "Actually, I'm seething with worry for Galen. Please tell me he's recovered, oh, beautiful queen."

"Liar! You don't care about Galen." He never heard the woman move, but in the next instant, she was behind him, claws digging into his neck and whipping him around. "You hate him, want him dead. Well, guess what? You didn't get your wish. He's alive, and he will heal."

"Awesome."

She popped her jaw, eyes glittering. "He begged me to kill you. I told him no, that I had other plans for you."

Again, truth. Lies hissed at her. "Lucky me."

Scowling, she released him. But not for long. All too soon, she returned her hands to him, but this time, the action wasn't born of anger but of determination.

"Think yourself unflappable, do you? Well, let's see what we can do about that. Let's make you more comfortable." Her voice had become husky with sensual promise.

Hell. No. Scarlet was the only woman he wanted to bed. But he couldn't move away from Rhea. Somehow, she had pinned his feet in place. Relax your expression, boy. Don't let her know she's getting to you.

One of her fingers traced the center of his T-shirt and the material burned away, the cotton smoldering completely and leaving his chest bare. His skin remained cool to the touch.

Oh, yes, she was powerful.

"Wow. Thanks." Calm, smooth. No way would he let her know just how much he hated this. "This does feel better."

Bewildered, she stepped back, widening the distance between them. "I thought you liked my daughter."

"Wrong."

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What game do you play?"

"No game." A grin lifted the corners of his lips.

For a long while, she simply stared at him, gauging. Then she squared her shoulders. "You're lying. You love her. I can tell. But let's see how long that lasts, shall we?" Gaze never leaving him, she reached for the scooped bodice of her robe and tugged. The material split down the center, drooped from her arms and fell to the floor, leaving her utterly naked.

Gideon's molars ground together. He could just imagine his confession to Scarlet, because no way would he try and keep something like this a secret. He wanted no secrets between them. Ever. And besides, better she hear this from him than her bitch of a mother who would skew the facts. Hey, devil, your mom—you know, the woman you love so much—didn't disrobe in front of me and I didn't see her wax preference.

He'd deserve another fork to the chest.

"Gorgeous, aren't I?" Rhea smoothed her palms over the jagged butterfly tattoo gracing her breasts and shoulders, then down her sides, over her perfectly curved hips and then inched around to the apex of her thighs, where her fingers dabbled at the fine tuft of dark hair.

Every bit the coward she'd accused him of being, he peered up at the domed ceiling, watching as fluffy white clouds drifted by. Dread bloomed in his veins and spread through his entire body. He could guess where this was heading.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Yeah. Gorgeous."

"Tsk, tsk. Your tone suggests you're lying again, but we both know you desire me. And soon Scarlet will know it, too."

Motherfucker! His guess had been right, then. She planned to rape him. And it would be rape, because there was no way he'd consent. Then she would tattle to her daughter. Mother of the Year Award, meet Rhea. Or not.

Once again, Rhea reached out and touched him. Her fingers danced over the waist of his pants and those, too, burned away, smoldering as they fell, yet leaving his skin cool, unaffected.

"Isn't that so much bett...er." A growl of frustration escaped her.

No doubt she'd just seen his flaccid cock. Little Gid would not be responding to her in any way. He almost laughed. Almost. "I hope you feel really good about this," he said. "About what you're planning. After all, you haven't hurt Scarlet nearly enough over the years. And I'm sure she's deserved everything you've done to her. 'Cause she never loved you, did she? Yeah, you should be real proud of yourself, sweetheart."

With every word he uttered, the queen stiffened a little more. "Finished?" She scraped a nail down his chest, drawing blood this time. Red sparks lit her eyes, revealing the demon she tried so hard to hide.

"Yeah." Only a few weeks ago, Gideon had learned that Rhea was keeper of the demon of Strife, that she fed off conflict. She couldn't blame her demon, though. She'd been this much of a bitch before her possession. Look how she'd treated his beautiful Scarlet in prison. What's more, she could have controlled her darker impulses, but had simply chosen not to. He and his friends were proof of that.

Reyes's demon, Pain, had once wanted to hurt everyone it encountered. Reyes had learned to turn that desire inward, cutting himself to save others.

Maddox's demon, Violence, had once wanted to erupt at every cross word, every accidental touch. But Maddox had learned to hold the rage inside himself.

Lucien's demon, Death, had once wanted to steal the soul of every human it encountered. Lucien had learned to wait until those humans died before acting on the impulse.

Gideon could go on and on. Every demon-keeper had trials and struggles, but they'd done whatever was necessary to tame their beasts, to corral those darker urges. Rhea could've done the same, but she hadn't. She preferred to create discord, even among those she was supposed to love and protect.

"I've figured it out," Rhea suddenly said with a half smile. "You say the opposite of what you mean. You think Scarlet is innocent. You think I should coddle her. What you don't know is that she has plotted and planned to destroy me and take my crown. From the very beginning! She even slept with my husband. Your leader."

Lies. All lies. His demon purred with pleasure, even as Gideon fought a rage like he'd never known before. Not with Scarlet, never Scarlet, but with Rhea. How dare she utter such things about his woman. And yeah, Gideon totally got the irony.

He was tempted, so tempted, to yell at this woman, to tell her his true feelings about her and about his precious Scarlet. He wanted her to know and was more frustrated than ever that he couldn't say his thoughts outright. Had he not needed to keep his strength around her... But he did. For Scarlet.

Rhea's head slanted pensively as she reached up and dragged one of her nails along the curve of his jaw. He jerked away from her touch, but not before it burned him, searing his skin and leaving a raw, open wound.

"Well, well. Look who's willing to believe the best of such a disappointing brat. Stupid of you, but admirable. Perhaps one day you'll realize your mistake and give me that loyalty."

Never. "Totally possible."

She laced her arms around him and pressed her nakedness into his. His cock, of course, remained flaccid. That didn't deter her, though. She nipped at his bottom lip and rubbed against him, knee sliding up and down his thigh. "My daughter thinks to ruin me in my dreams, you know. I can feel her outside my mind, waiting. But she'll learn better than to challenge me. Do you want to know how, my darling boy?"

Gods help him.

"Every time she invades my dreams, you will make love to me." A slow, eager smile lifted her lips. "And believe me, you will."

He stiffened, though not the way she clearly wanted. "I wouldn't rather die." You raging psycho.

"Too bad. I'm not allowed to kill you, just as my husband isn't allowed to kill my Hunters. But there are other ways to ensure your cooperation."

He. Would. Fucking. Strangle. Her. With his feet still planted on the ground, he leaned into her, allowing his weight to hit her full force. Because she hadn't thought to pin his hands, he reached for her, intending to close his fingers around her fragile neck. His hands met some type of invisible block.

A tinkling laugh escaped her. "Silly demon. No harm can befall me inside this room. Why else would I stay here? Now, let me show you why you'll be making love to me whenever I wish...." One step, two, she backed away from him, forcing him to straighten.

Grinning, she spun in a quick circle. He would have laughed at her cluelessness—grinning? really?—but when she faced him again, she was no longer Rhea. She was Scarlet, and the shock was like a punch in the gut. Suddenly he was looking at Scarlet's lovely face. Scarlet's black eyes. Scarlet's bloodred lips. Scarlet's flawless skin. Scarlet's taller and stronger frame. And his body responded!

His horrified study intensified as he desperately searched for an imperfection. Shit, shit, shit. They were the same. Fuck, they were— No. Wait. Rhea lacked Scarlet's tattoos. Those amazing, lick-right-here tattoos. So, okay. All right. Fine. He could deal with this. They weren't the same. Down, boy.

"What? You don't like?" She even spoke in Scarlet's raspy voice.

"No." He liked. Fuck, he liked. He'd been so hungry for Scarlet, so damn hungry. And now, here she was, his for the taking. No tattoos, no Scarlet. Don't forget.

"Not even when I do this?" Watching him as she moved, Rhea slid her fingers up the flat plane of her belly, cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples, hardening them to little pearls.

No tattoos, no Scarlet. No fucking tattoos, no fucking Scarlet. Still. His body continued to react, unable to help itself. To his cock, this was his woman, soon to be his wife. He hoped. And his cock hungered for her desperately, had been without her for too long.

Not Scarlet, not Scarlet, not Scarlet, he told the traitor frantically, willing the blood to leave his growing erection.

Lies loved it, though. Loved knowing Rhea was living a lie. The demon had never been so excited, in fact.

You begged me to force Scarlet to stay. Now you're willing to betray her?

Scarlet. Love Scarlet.

A lie. But...but... You said she was yours.

She is. Isn't.

What the hell? Damn you. We're on Team Scarlet. Do you understand?

Sure, sure, was the reply.

Which meant, Lies was not on Team Scarlet.

What the hell? he wondered again. Was everyone conspiring against him?

"Told you." Rhea treated him to another grin, but there was an evil twinkle in those dark eyes, something Scarlet had never directed at him. "Let's stop playing games, and start on the pleasure."

She regally waved her hand through the air, a prelude he was coming to dread, and Gideon suddenly found himself lying on the bed, stretched out, again pinned in place and unable to move. He was like a rag doll, being tossed wherever the queen desired him, and he was sick of it.

"Listen, sweetheart, you—umph."

Rhea had whisked herself on top of him, her knees straddling his waist. Once again, she looked like herself and his body, as well as his demon, deflated. Thank the gods.

So you're on Team Scarlet again? he asked Lies.

Yes. No.

I don't understand you.

"Oh, Gideon. This is going to be fun." Rhea's smile didn't fade. In fact, she grinned all the wider. "Look," she said, and motioned to the right.

Dread thrummed through him as he turned his head. He saw...nothing and frowned. Why had she— No, wait. Tiny white lights were flashing just in front of the mattress, growing, linking together, and then Scarlet was there. The real Scarlet.

She was dressed completely in black. Black T-shirt, black leather pants, black boots. Even black leather bracelets. Her hair was anchored in a low ponytail, revealing the graceful length of her neck. A neck that didn't sport a butterfly necklace.

She spotted Gideon with a grinning Rhea on top of him and gasped in shock, in horror.

"Devil," he shouted, but she disappeared in the next instant, gone as if she'd never been there. "Bitch," he then shouted at Rhea, and Lies roared inside his head. Pain exploded through him, followed quickly by that hated weakness. He grimaced, shook, hated, hated...hurt.

Not again.

But he couldn't help himself. He was filled with so much hate, so much regret, so much rage, he couldn't stop the words from flowing from him. "I will kill you. I planned to anyway, but now you'll suffer at my hand. You'll regret all the ways you've harmed your daughter." More pain, more weakness.

Finally, Rhea's smile fell away. Her skin even leached of color. She inched down his body until she hit the end of the mattress and had to stand. Her knees must have been shaking because she swayed.

"Y-you are lying again. I know you are."

Before Gideon could reply, another voice rang out. "We have much to discuss, woman."

As the still-naked Rhea whipped around in dismay, Gideon's gaze—which was narrowing and darkening with every second that passed—moved to the center of the room. Cronus had appeared, and he had brought a...female? Yes, definitely a female. Her skin was charred to black and her hair had been burned away, but the delicacy of her bones was evident. A little too evident.

Perhaps Gideon moaned. Perhaps the god king merely sensed him. Either way, Cronus's focus swung to him, and the king sucked in an astonished breath. His eyes narrowed to tiny slits of fury.

"So. We have more to discuss than I realized. You think to use one of my warriors." Hard, yet devoid of any emotion. "After we agreed not to travel that road."

Rhea raised her chin, a white cloak appearing out of nowhere and wrapping around her. "He loved every minute of it, I assure you."

"That's why he looks ready to vomit." Cronus, too, raised his chin.

"You have no right to admonish me for my actions when my sister, your mistress, stands beside you." Her gaze brushed over the trembling female. "Why did you burn her?" She sounded surprisingly upset at the sight, despite the fact that her sister was sleeping with her husband. "Did she fall out of favor?"

Her sister. That soot-covered skeleton was the goddess of Memory, Scarlet's aunt, then. The shit-infested day was suddenly looking up.

Gideon threw himself from the bed. He didn't have the strength to stand, could only scoot his way toward the woman, planning to grab her and hold on until he could find a way home.

"I didn't burn her," Cronus snapped. "Your daughter did. But this should be a private conversation. Gideon, I trust you'll guard Mnemosyne until such time as I can retrieve her. After all," he added with a pointed glance at Rhea, "I doubt she's in any condition to follow in her sister's footsteps and seduce you."

Rhea screeched an unholy sound, and as Gideon reached up to cover his already hurting ears, he found himself lying on his bed in his bedroom. NeeMah was on his floor, his to do with as he pleased, apparently, since a slave collar now circled her neck.

"Thank you," he shouted, praying Cronus would hear and that the king would stab his queen through her rotted, black heart.

With this latest truth, his demon roared and his pain tripled, burning through him like fire. Darkness winked over his vision, but he threw himself to the ground and crawled to NeeMah.

She whimpered and tried to scramble away.

"No reason to want to escape, darling. You're in for a treat." Maintaining a grip under her arms, he stood to shaky legs and began dragging her to the dungeon.