The Darkest Lie Read Online Free PDF Page B

know that. But I have to do this. For both of us."
              Of course, she hadn't seen or heard from him after that. Not until the Titans escaped Tartarus, a prison for immortals, and wrested control of the heavens from the Greeks. Not until she'd come here to Earth and searched...only to find him carousing for tail at some skanky nightclub.
              The fury expanded, dotted her line of vision with red. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Slowly the dots dissipated.
              "We're done here," she said, though she remained still, gauging his reaction. "You're not getting what you want, and you're certainly not keeping me here."
              "Feel free to run from me." He crossed his arms over his massive chest, pulling the fabric of his shirt tight across his pecs. "You won't regret it."
              Again, she knew what he meant. Run, and he would ensure she suffered. But she said, "Soon as I stretch, I'll take you up on that offer and run. Thanks for the suggestion, by the way. I never would have thought of it on my own."
              He growled with frustration and anger, all hint of casualness gone. "I was cruel to bring you here. You don't owe me a favor in return, so you had better not stay put."
              "We're in agreement. You're cruel, and I don't owe you anything, so I won't feel obligated to remain."
              Another growl. She tried not to laugh. Damnation, he was still fun to tease.
              Fun? Her grin faded a second time. She should hate that he could only speak in lies, not enjoy it. That deceitful tongue of his had once shattered her already fragile heart.
              "That's so not enough from you," he sniped.
              "Wow. Already begging for more." Once, she'd thought him special. But he'd proven himself exactly like the others. Her mother, her king, her supposed friends. They should have cared about her, but they had betrayed her, each and every one of them.
              They'd been criminals, sure, but even criminals could love. Right? Right. So why couldn't they love me?
              She'd spent her entire life locked inside Tartarus because her mother, Rhea, wife to Cronus, had had an affair with a mortal just before the queen's imprisonment and had eventually given birth to Scarlet inside her cell. A cell she'd shared with several other gods and goddesses.
              Scarlet had been raised among them, and at first, they'd liked her. As she'd aged, however, jealousy had sprouted in some. Lust in others.
              Captivity, hatred and bitterness had soon become her only trusted companions.
              Until Gideon.
              He'd once been an elite guard to Zeus and every time he'd brought in a new prisoner, their gazes had met. She'd waited for those moments, desperate for them. He'd enjoyed them, too, because he'd begun to visit Tartarus regularly. Not to lock up another criminal but simply to see her, to talk to her.
              Don't think about your time with him. You'll soften toward him. And you can't soften, you idiot.
              After gaining her freedom, she should have stayed in Olympus, which was now renamed Titania, thanks to Cronus, and found a nice god to settle down with. But nooo. She'd had to see Gideon one last time. Then, having seen him, she'd had to remain near him. Then, having decided to remain, she'd just had to convince herself to warn the Lords away from her, since she'd heard that they were tracking every immortal paired with a demon from Pandora's box, with the intention of recruiting them...or killing them.
              Bastard, she thought about Gideon again. Excellent. That's more like it. He's a filthy liar, a cold-blooded killer, and you hate him. He still planned to kill her after he got his answers; she knew he did. Because she would never aid him, and that made her a