The Darkest Touch
Page 87

“You may call me Dr. Keeley.” We are going to be fast friends, and I am going to teach you how to torment William of the Dark for years to come.
“Do I not deserve a greeting, poppet?” William purred.
Gilly—Gillian—turned with a grace rivaling a ballet dancer and placed her hands on her hips. “Are you the person who burned all of my party decorations to ash?”
“I am.” And he didn’t sound sorry about it.
“Then no. You don’t deserve a greeting.”
Keeley crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed on the girl’s behalf. “You burned her decorations to ash?” A little human who’d had no way to stop him.
His eyes narrowed on her. “She doesn’t need a party. I have a surprise for her.”
Yes, and Keeley would bet the surprise was in his pants. “Your surprise isn’t what she wants, Willy, or she wouldn’t have bought the decorations.”
William raised his chin, flickers of red appearing in his eyes. “You getting angry, Majesty? Go ahead. Try to harm me. See what happens.”
Oh, she knew what would happen. Nothing. Like Torin and Anya, he had brimstone scars.
Too bad for him she had a weapon unaffected by those scars. Information.
She flashed a brilliant smile at Torin. “Guess what? You wanted to know who stole Pandora’s box after it was opened. Well, I’m ready to tell you.”
Torin took a step closer to her.
A strange, high-pitched ringing suddenly filled her ears. In seconds, massive amounts of strength seeped from her pores, her knees threatening to collapse.
Don’t understand what’s happening.
Something warm and thick dripped from her nose, and after she wiped, she saw streaks of crimson on her fingers.
“You should go to your room and rest,” William said. “Clearly you’re unwell.”
Have to tell Torin... “William...” she said, forcing herself to go on. “William is the one who...stole dimOuniak...he is...your betrayer.”
Her entire world went dark.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
TORIN MASSAGED THE back of his neck.
Eleven days. Long enough to get over his rage with William, who’d admitted his crime. The warrior had watched the Lords and waited. He’d stolen Pandora’s box seconds after it was opened, but before he’d gotten very far, Lucifer had stolen it from him.
Willy had seen no reason to tell them what he’d done, he’d claimed, because—get this—he just hadn’t wanted to tell them. He wasn’t sorry he’d done it, was just sorry he’d been found out. Typical.
According to William, Lucifer couldn’t touch the Morning Star. His darkness would be crushed by the light, and he would face the ultimate defeat. Which was why he’d never wanted anyone to have it.
Something to be dealt with later.
There was nothing more important than Keeley. And eleven days also happened to be the length of her newest illness. Blood had continuously leaked from her nose, and even her eyes and ears. Torin hadn’t known what was wrong until the back of her skull had basically exploded, revealing the tumor growing out of her brain.
The gruesome sight had nearly done Torin in...my Sugar Plum Fairy in pieces. It had been the worst moment in a life filled with worst moments.
Yesterday the bleeding had finally stopped and this morning her skull had healed. She was going to live.
“She’ll wake up soon,” he said to Lucien. They were alone in the warrior’s bedroom suite, sitting across from each other. This was the first time Torin had felt comfortable enough to leave her side.
“That’s good. Why do you look so miserable?”
“I have to give her the let’s just be friends speech for what seems the thousandth time—and mean it.” If they continued along their current path, she would grow to hate him the same way she hated Hades.
Hades had done too much to forgive, she’d said. Torin couldn’t allow himself to reach that point.
Actually, he might have reached it already. Not because of the demon, but because he’d told his friends about the brimstone. They would have remembered on their own, but they’d freaked about the vastness of her power and what it meant for their families, and well, he’d hoped to assuage them before they could ask him to choose between them and Keeley.
But wasn’t that exactly what he’d done? She certainly thought so.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but...would continuing to date her be such a bad thing?” Lucien asked. “I’ve never seen you so content.”
Content...angry...frustrated. With Keeley, he felt more than usual. “Bad? Try terrible. I’m no good for her.”
“I think she would disagree.”
Which was the biggest part of the problem. “I can’t keep doing this to her.” He pulled at his hair, welcomed the sting. “I’ve tried to leave her. You saw. I failed. I think I wanted to fail. Hell, I know I did.”
Lucien rubbed his scarred jaw with two fingers. “I have a theory about all of this. I think you can touch the Red Queen without consequences.”
“Screw your theory,” Torin muttered. “I’ve already proven it wrong.”
“Can...one day,” Lucien amended. “If she bonds with—”
“She is bonded to me.”
“Let me finish. If she bonds with you...and many others. As a Curator, the more bonds she has, the stronger she’ll be.”