TARNISHED (Book 5.5, The Caged Series (Novella)) Read online

  “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 b
rief 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.”

  I eyed her tightly as her breathing labored on and she tried to find something to help bear the burden that her body had become.

  “What do you know?”

  “I know many things, Aniketos. Many things, indeed. Some of which I would love to share with you, but they are matters that involve Hades directly, and though I do enjoy getting him riled up, he would truly kill me if I were to let this particular kitten out of the bag—a true and final death that only he could give me. What I can tell you is something about your precious Sophie. Perhaps something that will ease the grief that is worrying your expression.”

  “What of her? I thought we sorted through all that already.”

  “We sorted out a plan to be rid of her. What I'm going to tell you is why that will be one of the best decisions you could possibly have made.”

  I felt my lips press hard together as my jaw flexed repeatedly with the clenching of my teeth. Persephone was a hard one to trust, but, if something suited her purpose, she often did have information to share that others were rarely privy to. It seemed ironic that the best vantage point for what went on amongst the living was the realm of the dead, but somehow, she always managed to stay two steps ahead of almost everyone.

  “Do not make me regret asking this,” I growled, pressing closer toward her. “What do you know?”

  “I know that, though she may be your wife for all intents and purposes, you are not her only lover. It seems as though Ares likes to keep things in the family, as it were...”

  I stood stoically, my expression unfaltering. Though her words pulled the rug out from under me, I would not let her see it.

  “Is that all?”

  “That is not enough?” she asked, a mild hint of amusement peeking through her annoyance. “Interesting... Perhaps we should ask Daddy to join us next time, if you're so very comfortable with sharing.”

  “There will not be a next time,” I said, walking past her to leave. “Do as you promised. Make her see that she needs to leave.”

  “Oh, there will be a next time. You and I are going to make a little arrangement. What you fail to see is that, for once, we are on an even playing field. I want what you have to offer, and you want what I have to share.”

  “You've told me that my mate is a whore. What else could you possibly have to tell me that I want to know?”

  “Now, now...you'll have to wait until next time to find out.”

  She reached for my arm, but I quickly batted her hand away, heading out the door as her laughter echoed off the walls of her mother's home. She would need to clean it before Demeter returned. It was decorated in blood.

  I walked back to my home, ruminating over my circumstance. If it was true that Sophie had been unfaithful, then it only further strengthened my conviction to force her away. I knew that there would be no leaving her of my own accord. Pushing her away only drew her toward you. She wanted that which she could not have almost more than she wanted me when I was buried deep inside her, causing her pain. I thought about the day that Ares brought her to me, the day that I was to choose the next Healer. I saw something in her then that ran deeper than just her beauty.

  The unfortunate situation was that I was no longer that man and she was still that girl. She was my counterpart, someone so depraved that there was no low she wouldn't sink beneath to get what she wanted. To get the job done. Ares had pushed for me to choose her and for us to be joined to one another specifically. His agenda was becoming clearer by the second. It was part of his plan to keep me what I was. What he had groomed: the ultimate killing machine. But though there was no denying that part of my being, I did not have to succumb to it. Being with Sophie was a detriment to who I thought I could be. Getting rid of her was paramount.

  In some perverse way, I had once loved her, but she hadn't truly loved me. She loved what I represented. Had she been a male born of Ares, with all the appropriate traits to serve in the PC, she would have likely been more ruthless than any of the brothers aside from me. She wanted to be as close to that as she could come. And that is why she was willing to bond herself to me so freely and join the life of violence that the PC had to offer. It was not love she sought, no matter how hard she twisted her mind to convince herself it was.

  There was no love in her to be had.

  The Unmasking

  There was much time to consider my next move during my trip home. By the time I arrived, I had conjured a plan. Opening the door slowly, I found Sophie there waiting, draped elegantly across a bed of pillows on the floor, her robe barely intact as though she knew I was about to walk in. When she sat up to greet me, I put my plan into action.

  “I had the most interesting encounter with Persephone today,” I started, walking past her casually as she slowly reclined back onto the pillows again, unsuspectingly.

  “And how was she? Difficult and prickly as always?” Her voice oozed with false disinterest. No one just encountered Persephone. She was sought out only.

  “Of course.”

  “Whatever made you go over there?”

  “I wanted something from her. Something only she could guarantee me.”

  She turned to look up at me over her shoulder. Her face was a study in calm, but I knew that, buried deep within her, a growing unease threatened to disarm her.

  “And did she grant it to you?”

  “Indeed, she did.”

  “Well,” she replied, forcing a smile. “I guess you'll have no need to see her again then, will you?”

  “I'm not so certain of that,” I purred, coming around to stand before her. “She offered me something that is difficult to turn down.”

  “Persephone offers nothing without something in return,” she snapped, exposing the slightest chink in her armor.

  “Correct, but I think we've all but ironed out that tiny detail.”

  “What does she want from you?”

  “Don't you want to know what she is offering first?”

  “Fine,” she said with a dismissive wave, feigning indifference. “Tell me what you're getting.”

  “Information...”

  I let the word hang in the air like a tempting smell, luring her into my trap. Sophie was not immune to the appeal of knowing something others did not. Knowledge was power, a fact she never ceased to drive into my mind.

  “About whom?” she asked, rising slowly from her place of rest.

  “Ares.”

  “Scandalous...” She breathed the word as though it gave her great joy. Her eyes glowed with delight at the thought of having leverage against the man she deemed my greatest competition for power. “What did she say?”

&nbs
p; “Not much at first,” I whispered, stroking my hand alongside her face to entwine in her hair before fisting it violently, yanking her head back beyond any measure of comfort. She smiled in response. Violence was foreplay to her, and she was practically salivating at the thought of being fucked while I told her of all I had learned. Sex and power, her two favorite things.

  I toyed with her for a moment, allowing her to think that she was about to receive all that she wanted. And then, I slapped her with reality.

  “She told me that you are fucking him,” I growled in her ear. “That you have been fucking my father, though to what purpose I cannot begin to imagine.” I tossed her back down to her earlier resting place and she landed hard.

  “I did it for us,” she pleaded. “For you.”

  “You lay with my father for me? How utterly selfless of you, Sophie. But let me do you one better: I fucked Persephone to learn that little fact, and I'm going to keep on fucking her until I learn all there is to know.”

  Her face went blank for a moment before an ice-cold, hateful stare settled into her eyes. She wasn't jealous; she was threatened. Sophie didn't tolerate threats to what she perceived was hers.

  “What's in it for her?” she asked, coming to stand before me. Her meek act was through and she was in her true form―ruthless as the day she was born.

  “Let's just say that things aren't as colorful in the bedroom with Hades as she would like so she asked me to paint it red for her.”

  Her eyes widened at my words.

  “She wants you for her own...”

  “She wants to be beaten to a bloody pulp while I bury myself deep within her.”

  “Liar! You want to be with her, don't you?”

  “As if that were an option on either side. How do you propose I fuck her when she's bound to the Underworld for half the year and I have no way to get there?”

  “You're extremely resourceful, Aniketos. I'm quite sure you'd find a way.”

  A wry smile crossed my face in response.