Page 18 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

“Then…” He hid the apple. “You have made your first choice since falling. You will fix what Eva did by any means necessary, and you’ll start with the immortal werewolf, who should not even exist. He should not have that blood running through hisbody or the gifts he does. You will start there, and you’ll promise to forget you ever knew him. By all costs.”

“And the girl?”

Sariel’s nostrils flared. “Leave her to me.”

Chapter Eight

Tarek

Present Day

“Well, this is great, just great.” It’s been an hour since Danu visited, and while Lilith is doing a stellar job of avoiding the need she has to both have sex with me and drink me dry, I don’t really have high hopes. “So, can you at least tell me your story before you murder me?”

“No,” she whispers, hanging her head in her hands. “You probably know all the gory details anyway. I’m one of the goddesses she controls to keep Discord,”—she uses air quotes—”from being released again. Balance has to remain the same. One slip of the scale to the wrong side, and disaster strikes. I’m sure Anubis knows all about it.”

I’m instantly annoyed. “Disaster always teeters toward us, every second of every day. Why is now different?”

She smiles down at her hands. “You don’t know your origins, do you?”

“Well, I clearly don’t have a really attractive werewolf to feed off of and gain power from, so I can remember. All I know is that I came to live in Scotland when I was around eight. Everything before that is somewhat of a blur, a nice dream, maybe a nightmare. There was fire, darkness, and a small girl. And then Mason, my brother. That’s all I remember. Maybe that’s for a reason.”

She nods as if she understands. How could anyone possibly? “Maybe it’s best that way before you die—to not remember the things you should.”

“I mean…” I try to laugh it off. “I’d like to at least remember all the sex we’re going to have, but I’m leaning more toward I’ll enjoy it in the moment, then go night night.”

She smiles. It’s so pretty, I really do want to lean in. But I wait for her to make the move first.

I’m no hero.

Maybe this is why I never saw my end. Ha, laughable that my end would come at the hands of the woman who started it all.

Lilith.

I should have done better math on that one and figured it out, but all I saw were her injuries, and all I felt was the need to save. I should have known someone that pretty, who fed off an immortal, was bad news.

Being saved isn’t something to take lightly. I was saved as a child. Protected. And I swore I would always do the same, no matter what.

I wonder what Mason will do without me?

Timber, Cassius, Alex, Stephanie, Genesis…Horus, so many family members. And now this is how I go.

I sit up as best I can while being chained. The crazy goddess is gone but probably not too far away since she’s extremely eager to get some blood in her.

“Let me guess…” I clear my throat. “Something about my blood mixed with what’s inside you will give her a supercharge, and the more she does it over the years, the more powerful she gets. The more she’s able to break her curse of having to look after the Fallen Goddesses—aka you—and the closer she gets to taking over all the divine power the Creator so generously stripped from her to limit her control of Their Creation… Am I close?”

“You’re practically on fire.” She folds her hands.

“And have you ever resisted?” I ask.

Slowly, she shakes her head. “No. I don’t remember ever saying no to temptation, not in the last thousands of years. It is, after all, what I’m known for.”

“And I think my life is hard sometimes.” I try to smile, but it falls flat. I never really had to face my death, never really even thought about it. “Will I at least orgasm? Because if I get no orgasm, I feel like that’s a no on this deal.”

She actually laughs and covers her mouth with her hand. “Don’t be funny right now. This sucks.”

“Me thinks you do all the sucking.”

“Me thinks you do all the moaning,” she snaps right back. Our eyes meet, and I understand why she never says no. Because I don’t want to say no either.

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