The Darkest Lie

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

MISTAKE, Gideon thought. He might have killed her quickly. Even weak as Scarlet was, she was going to make her aunt suffer. He'd never been more confident about anything. Except, perhaps, how much he loved his woman.

He gripped her wrist with one hand and her jaw with the other, pulling her close while forcing her to face him. Her gaze remained on his mouth. "I hate you," he said. "And I know you're going to fail." Even injured, she wouldn't lose. Too much was at stake. Too much rage was directed at that bitch of a goddess.

Silent, she nodded, still refusing to look up at him.

He frowned. What was this? "Hey. Don't look at me."

"Gideon," Cronus said, impatient, and Gideon scowled at him.

"Don't need a moment," he snapped, returning his attention to Scarlet. The fight could wait. "Devil. Don't look at me. Now."

Slowly her gaze rose. Tears swam in those beloved eyes and dripped down her cheeks.

"Devil," he said, chest constricting. "What's right?" Wrong.

"I will kill my aunt. You're right about that. But afterward, I can't stay with you. When I thought I could find and kill my mother, too, there was a chance that I could make you happy. But now...with her alive...she'll use me to get to you, and I can't allow that. Which means I must leave you."

"Yes, yes, yes." No, no, no. "You didn't hear Cronus. You are to keep me miserable, and I can't be miserable without you in my life."

"For now, yes. But what happens after she sends her soldiers to attack you for the tenth time? The twentieth? The hundredth? What happens when she tries to abduct and seduce you again? She'll never stop. You make me happy, so she'll never stop. You'll get tired of it, and in turn, become tired of me. And you really will be miserable then."

He shook her violently. "Always. I'll always be tired of you." Never. For eternity.

The tears streamed down, one after the other, and she sniffled. "I can't be with you and lose you again. I just can't."

"You're going to lose me." He was desperate to make her understand. "I can be happy without you. Your mother matters, she really does. What do I have to do to dissuade you of that? Keep her alive?" Kill her. He would do it. He would betray Cronus in a heartbeat. Anything to keep Scarlet with him.

"No, I've hurt you enough. I—"

Okay. Time for tough love. He hadn't reached her any other way. "I thought I had married a weak woman, but look at you. Strong. Look how confident you are. Look how confident you are in me." He forced the words to emerge on a sneer. "This isn't disappointing at all. Here I am, unwilling to give you everything that I am. My heart, my life, my support, and here you are, willing to stand beside me, unflinching. You are absolutely the warrior I thought you were."

Gods, had that hurt to say. A far different pain than when he lied, mental rather than physical, and yet, so much worse.

Shocked, she blinked up at him. "You thought I was strong but now you think I'm weak? You think I'm not confident? You're disappointed in me?"

He forced himself to nod.

Eyes narrowing, she popped her jaw. "I'll show you. Just for that, you're stuck with me. I don't care how many times my mother approaches you. You'll have to deal with it, you cruel bastard."

He knees almost buckled, so great was his relief. "And it won't be my pleasure. Now. Don't go. Don't fight your aunt. And when you're done, we won't go on a real honeymoon. One with lots of violence."

"Bastard," she said again, but there was no heat in her tone. For the sweetest moment, she rested her forehead against his sternum. "You used reverse psychology on me, without the reverse. Right?"

Rather than admit it, he simply said, "I hate you, Scar. So much."

"Gods, but I hate you, too." And with that, she severed contact and stepped forward, ready to begin.

She hated him, he thought, a grin bursting forth. She really hated him! She'd never said the words before, and now that she had, he just kind of collapsed on the ground, laughing and crying and happier than he'd ever been. Yeah, that other happiness, when he'd married her, paled in comparison.

Soon as the fight was over, he was going to hold his woman and smother her with his love. And he didn't care how chicky that made him.

"Finally," Cronus said on an exasperated sigh. "I give a gift, and I'm ignored. And for the oddest conversation I have ever heard."

Everyone just looked at him.

"What? You recall my presence now? You desire what I offered?"

What a baby.

After a little more huffing, Cronus said, "Ladies. You may begin." In the next instant, he appeared at Gideon's side with a bowl of popcorn. "This is what humans enjoy during spectator sports, is it not?"

"Certainly isn't." Gideon grabbed a fistful of the kernels and popped them in his mouth. Without weapons, this wouldn't be too bloody of a fight, but it would be violent. That, Gideon would stake his life on.

Scarlet was finally going to get her pound of flesh.

He couldn't wait.

There was no trash talk, no circling each other. Scarlet simply lunged at NeeMah, ready. Contact. The two women were propelled to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Amid screeches, punches were thrown, nails were bared and used (by NeeMah), and elbows and knees were slammed (by Scarlet).

When they pulled apart, a wheezing NeeMah got lucky, grabbing Scarlet by the shirt, swinging her around and tossing her. Cronus must have erected some sort of air shield because Scarlet crashed into nothing before sliding to the floor. She didn't stay down long. A split second later, she was on her feet, blowing the hair out of her face and stomping forward.

Bitch goddess was gonna be sorry now.

"Got hot sauce for this disgusting snack?" he asked Cronus as he reached into the bowl for another helping.

"No." The king shuddered. "Why would you want hot sauce? Who puts hot sauce on popcorn?"

Just before Scarlet reached her aunt, she whipped out her arm as if she were throwing a blade. Only, her demon flew from her fingers, black and writhing, arcing a swift path to NeeMah. That black cloud hit, and she screamed, dropping to her knees and slapping at her skin.

Spiders? he mused hopefully.

Scarlet closed the rest of the distance, balled her hands and struck, flinging the goddess to the ground, on her side and still slapping at herself.

"My turn." When Scarlet held out her hand, the darkness raced back to her as if she'd switched on a vacuum. "No. It's mine." With an unholy screech, NeeMah kicked out her leg, connecting with Scarlet's ankles. Scarlet toppled beside her, air abandoning her in a whoosh.

"You deserve everything I'm going to do to you," Scarlet growled as she stood.

NeeMah jumped up, attention never wavering. "Bitch!"

"Whore."

"Nuisance."

"Whore."

Good girl, Gideon thought when his Scar repeated herself. Why deviate from the truth?

"While I'm killing you," NeeMah said, circling her as she hadn't gotten to in the beginning, "I'll make you thank me. I can make you do anything I desire. Remember how you cried for Gideon? Remember how you ached for Steel?"

Without a sound, Scarlet kicked out her legs and sent the whore to her ass. A second later, Scarlet had again closed the distance between them. She fisted the goddess's robe, momentum giving her strength as she flung the goddess around and around before releasing her and sending her soaring.

Like Scarlet had done, NeeMah slammed into nothing. She wasn't as quick to get up, though, and Scarlet used that to her advantage, rushing forward and elbow-diving for all she was worth. Smack. Bone cracked.

Gideon couldn't help himself. He whooped, slinging popcorn in every direction.

Cronus leveled him with a glare.

What? he silently mouthed, then turned back to the massacre.

Blood dripped from NeeMah's nose and mouth, her bottom lip was split and her jaw sporting a swollen knot, all courtesy of Scarlet's elbow. An elbow that wasn't done. Boom, boom, boom. As the goddess flailed to sit up, pushing at her, Scarlet nailed her three times in a row, knocking teeth right out of NeeMah's mouth.

Sweet heaven. Sexiest sight ever.

NeeMah's pain must have given her strength, an adrenaline rush, something, because she finally managed to land a punch in Scarlet's throat. Scarlet fell backward, gasping for air, probably seeing stars.

"Ouch," Cronus said.

"Heaven's about to reign," Gideon replied confidently. The fires of hell were going to rage.

NeeMah lumbered to her feet, and Scarlet did the same. The goddess obviously expected to circle her prey again, stealing a few minutes to recuperate, because she stepped to the side. Scarlet simply lunged and popped the goddess in the chin, causing her head to whip to the side, her feet to stumble.

Scarlet jumped on top of her, straddling her and sending her skull cracking into the ground. Her aunt clawed blindly, and actually managed to rake a hand down Scarlet's stitches, ripping every single one open.

"My former mistress is such a...girl," Cronus said, disappointed. "Where are the pounding fists?"

"Well, my man ain't got no skills," Gideon replied proudly. He wanted to stand up and point to himself and shout that Scarlet was his. That she belonged to him. "Don't you just wait and see."

A moment passed in silence, then Cronus shook his head and said, "How do the others stand you?"

Gideon ignored him. "You can't do it, devil," he called.

Maybe his "praise" gave her strength, because she shook her head as if clearing her mind. Blood trickled down her neck, and savage brutality pulsed from her. "You're gonna pay for that."

"You don't have the strength to—"

Panting, expression dark, she tackled the rising NeeMah even as she bit into the woman's throat and ripped. The goddess screamed so vehemently, even Gideon cringed. But as she lay there, gasping for breath, Scarlet straddled her waist a second time and grabbed her head, slamming it over and over against the ground.

NeeMah dug her fingers into Scarlet's neck wounds and tore them further. "Give up," she gritted out. "You want to give up. You deserve to die by my hand. You want to die by my hand. Remember how I—"

"No." Scarlet punched again, seemingly unaware of her own injuries. Blood sprayed, and the ground actually trembled. "I...don't. I don't think I want to give up."

While the goddess tried to shield her face with one hand, she again reached out blindly with the other...until flattening her palm over Scarlet's heart. "You don't want to hurt me." Gritted, barely audible. "You want to save my life, don't you? Remember? Just as I once saved yours."

Scarlet stilled, panting.

"You deserve to die. You've always thought so. You want to die. Remember?"

Fuck. "Not a foul. Not a damn foul!" Gideon tried to stand, but Cronus latched onto him and held him in place. Popcorn scattered. If Scarlet's memories were tampered with, she'd—

"Scarlet used her demon," Cronus said. "The goddess is allowed to use her powers."

"But—"

Gideon watched in horror as Scarlet's head canted to the side and her eyes glazed over. As she nodded. "Yes. I deserve. I want."

"I hate you, devil," he shouted. "Please, forget how much I hate you. Please."

"You want to save me, because I saved you," NeeMah said, voice stronger now as she continued to weave her tale. "I saved you from Gideon. He's the reason you're cut and bleeding. He's the reason—"

"No." Scarlet suddenly hissed. "No. These are my memories, and I love them. I do not want to save your life. I want to end it. I do not want to die. Gideon loves me. Me."

"How can you be sure? You are—"

Scowling, Scarlet grabbed her aunt by the neck and twisted with one brutal slash. The woman's spine was instantly broken, her body flopping lifeless to the ground. But she could recover from that, and Scarlet had to know.

Gideon opened his mouth to tell her she would have to find a way to remove the head from the body, but she beat him to it. She found a way. With her bare hands.

That's my girl.

"That won't kill her for good, will it?" he asked Cronus, just wanting assurance. Worked for immortals, but he'd never delivered the deathblow to a straight-up god or goddess.

"Time will tell," Cronus replied cryptically.

Gideon would just go ahead and take that as "bitch was wasted forever."

Panting all the harder by the time she finished, Scarlet straightened. He jumped to his feet and ran to her, the air shield gone, but just before he reached her, Cronus swept the two of them back to Gideon's bedroom. So when he collided with her, they tumbled backward into his bed. A bed he never wanted to leave again.

"I did it," she said, peering up at him through swollen eyes, split lips curled into a grin. "I really killed her."

Gideon planted little kisses all over her face, careful of her injuries. "Not proud of you."

"Thank you." Shaky arms wound around him. "When she tried to get inside my head, I felt her this time. I knew it was her, and knew that what she was trying to convince me of was false. Because my real memories were so strong. And cherished."

"Not glad, not glad." He hugged her tight. "Gods, I hate you so much."

Finally, she kissed him back. "I love you, too."

This was even better than hearing her repeat his lie. She loved him. He seriously couldn't ask for more than that. Oh, wait. He could. "And you'll leave me, right?"

"I'll stay," she said without hesitation. "After all, it'll piss off Mommy Dearest and as much as I hate to admit I have something in common with Cronus, I'm starting to enjoy messing with her. Or at least I'm not scared to cross her anymore. Look what I did to her sister. I'll do the same to her if she comes near you. And who knows. Maybe I can help you find Pandora's box and we can lock my mother inside. Now wouldn't that be fun?"

Now this was the confident, vengeful Scarlet he so adored. They were going to be so happy together.

There was a bang at his door, and Torin called, "Stop playing around, you two. Amun, Aeron and William just returned home with Legion. And you'll never believe who came with them."

"How doesn't he always know where we are and what we're in the middle of doing?" Reluctantly Gideon disengaged from his woman. If he'd hadn't missed his friends so much, if he hadn't needed to see for himself that they were all right, he would have ignored Torin's summons.

Scarlet stood beside him, a little wobbly on her feet, and linked their fingers. "Come on. Let's check on them. Plus, you need to officially introduce me so they'll stop trying to capture and kill me."

Such a darling girl, and so understanding. "No deal."

They strode out of the bedroom, down the hall, down the stairs and into the foyer, only to stop short at the sight that awaited them. A contingent of angels stood in a circle, murmuring to each other. Bright lights glowed around each of them, and they were so physically perfect it actually hurt to gaze upon them. Most were males, but there were a few females. No matter their gender, they all possessed white wings threaded with gold, stretching and invading every inch of space.

Determined, Gideon pushed his way through them. Where were— He spotted his friends in the center of that circle. They were lying on their backs, barely breathing. They were more ragged and injured than he'd ever seen them before. And shit, he'd seen Amun fucked up pretty badly. They were covered in soot and countless bruises and abrasions and reeked of sulfur.

Olivia, Aeron's female, had the warrior's head in her lap and she was smoothing the hair from his brow. William was moaning, calling for Gilly, one of his arms nearly detached from his body. Legion wasn't moving at all, just lying in a pool of her own blood.

Amun, though...Amun was the worst. He was clutching his ears and biting his lower lip, clearly lost in an agony even Gideon couldn't comprehend.

"Do not look him in the eyes," Lysander, leader of all the warrior angels, said. "His mind is infected."

"With what?" Scarlet asked, suddenly beside Gideon and wrapping a comforting arm around his waist. She squeezed him, offering support.

"Demon," Lysander replied.

Gideon just blinked over at him.

"We know that," Scarlet said for him. "We're all infected by a demon."

"No," Lysander insisted. "He is fully demon. You are merely bonded with one, but his mind is evil, no goodness is left inside it. If he looks at you, he will see into your soul and poison it with darkness."

Oh, shit, Gideon thought. He drew Scarlet deeper into his side. He loved Amun, but he wouldn't risk his woman. "What can't we do to help him?"

"He means, what can we do to help him?" Scarlet interpreted.

He squeezed her this time.

"Kill him," Lysander said matter-of-factly.

"Yes!" Gideon shouted. No!

"No, that's not gonna work for us," Scarlet said.

The angel sighed. "We wanted to imprison him in the heavens, but Olivia convinced us to bring him here."

"We'll take care of him," Scarlet assured him, as well as the other angels. "We'll help him. Without killing him," she added.

"Bianka wouldn't want you to give us time," Gideon said.

"Meaning she would," Scarlet clarified.

A muscle ticked below Lysander's eye. Bianka was his mate, or wife, or whatever the angels called their significant other, and Lysander lived to please her. And as Bianka was sort of related to Amun, in a roundabout way, she truly wouldn't be happy if Amun was killed.

"Very well. You can try to save him," the angel said stiffly.

"Thank you," Scarlet said for Gideon.

"But I cannot give you long. A week, perhaps two. And do not think to run with him." Every word hardened into iron. "We would only find you. And we would be...angry."

"So noted," Scarlet said.

After that, the angels began disappearing, one by one. Gideon helped cart the three men and Legion to their beds. Amun, he noticed, never tried to look at them, but kept his eyes closed. As if some part of him knew what had happened to him, and still thought to protect them.

When everyone was situated, Gideon and Scarlet stood at the side of Amun's bed. Olivia was caring for Aeron and Legion, and Gilly for William.

"He needs a doctor trained to tend immortals," Scarlet said. "I know you guys don't have one, but don't worry. We'll find one. Your friend will heal."

Truth or lie, Gideon didn't know. He faced her, took her hands. "I hate you," he told her again. He'd tell her a thousand times a day.

"I'm glad. And just so you know, if I ever hear you tell me you love me, I will kill you."

His lips twitched. He had learned how to ease her from her dark moods, and she had clearly done the same for him. "So I'm not stuck with you?"

"Oh, you're stuck with me. Forever."

"Shit," he said, and she laughed. They shared a soft kiss. "I'm not sorry the honeymoon doesn't have to wait."

"I know. But just being with you is a honeymoon."

He kissed the back of her hand now. He owed her more than this, and he would one day give her more, but her support meant so much to him. Especially since she couldn't be fond of his friends. But because she loved him, she was willing to forget how they'd treated her.

More than ever, he knew he didn't deserve her. But would he give her up? No. She'd chosen him, and his Scarlet got what she wanted. Or else.

Of all the tasks he'd ever undertaken, ensuring she was happy was the most important to him.

"We're going to get through this," she said. "Successfully. And so is he." She motioned to Amun with a wave of her chin. "I promise. He's infected by hundreds of demons, but so what. We'll find a way. We always do."

Yes. They would find a way. Before the angels returned. Nothing was impossible; he knew that now. Otherwise, he never would have won Scarlet—goddess slayer, warrior tamer...future queen of the gods, if the vision Cronus had spoken of was to be believed.

"Gideon? Do you believe me?"

"No. You're wrong, devil. We'll fail." No pain, no weakness. Lies.

She rested her head on his shoulder, snuggling close. "Good. Because it's time Team Gidlet kicked some ass."

Team Gidlet? Despite the direness of the situation, he found himself once again fighting a grin. "I'll love you for a single day, devil," he said, as close to a declaration of eternal devotion as he could get.

"I'll love you for a single day, too. And then all the ones that follow."

For them, to part really was to die. And he wouldn't have it any other way.