The Darkest Lie Read Online Free PDF Page A

captured her, she'd been operating on autopilot, her thoughts consumed with one warrior in particular. The blue-haired, gorgeous, utterly frustrating Gideon.
              Why didn't he remember her?
              As always, recalling his selective amnesia had every muscle in her body tensing on bone. Her hands fisted; her teeth gnashed together, little pains shooting through her jaw. But most of all, a savage need to kill someone, anyone, consumed her.
              Anger isn't good for those around you. Calm down. Think of something else.
              She forced her mind to return to her demon; sadly, death and chaos were a much safer topic than that of her husband. During their hours awake--which amounted to twelve each and every day, though not always the same twelve--she pulled the strings. She could summon the darkness, and she could garner the screams. The demon could urge her, and she often heeded those urgings. Turnabout was fair play, after all. And usually, Nightmares liked to urge. Scare him... Make her scream...
              But right now, her demon was strangely content.
              We're out of the dungeon, Nightmares said, seeing their surroundings before she could.
              Aw. No wonder.
              The flames finally died, and Scarlet scanned the area. She frowned. Okay. So. Where the hell was she now?
              She'd been locked in that dungeon for several weeks, enclosed in crumbling stone and iron bars. Pained moans had constantly drifted from the other cells, and all kinds of pungent, acrid scents had taken up permanent residence inside her nose.
              Now...decadence. Floral paper decorated the walls, and dark velvet curtains hung over the bay windows. There was a glistening, violet chandelier over the bed, the lights shaped like bundles of grapes. And the bed, well, her gaze slid along every inch of it. Large, with soft blue sheets and four hand-carved posters.
              Best of all, the air smelled sweet, like those hanging grapes mixed with apples and vanilla. She breathed deeply, savoring. How had she gotten here? Without her knowledge?
              Clearly, she'd been carried while she'd slept like the dead. Something she usually despised but couldn't this time because it meant she'd been set free, just as she'd hoped. Yes, hoped. She hadn't wanted to remain in that fortress, just to be near Gideon. Really.
              Still. While she was lost to the dreams of others--and yeah, no matter what time she slipped into that realm of darkness and turmoil, someone, somewhere was sleeping, the demon feeding off their terror--anyone could attack her, and she would be unable to defend herself. Anyone could do anything to her, and she would be powerless to stop them.
              Being moved while she was helpless irked.
              Usually she protected herself from just such a situation with shadows. She had only to crook a mental finger just before she drifted and they would envelop her the entire time she slept, making it impossible for anyone to see her. But once she'd realized she was inside Gideon's home, she'd stopped summoning those shadows.
              Perhaps she'd wished, on some level, that watching her while she slept would revive his memory of her. Perhaps she'd wished he would grow to desire her again and beg to be a part of her new life. Which was stupid. The bastard had left her to rot inside Tartarus; she shouldn't want his desire.
              She should want his ruin.
              "Well, well. I'm so upset you're finally awake."
              At the sound of his voice, deep and rumbling, Scarlet stiffened, gaze once again roving. Then, she spotted him, and her heart stopped abruptly. He stood in the bedroom's doorway, muscled arms hanging loosely. He was a warrior whose wicked face promised incomparable nights of sinful pleasures, his eyes