Chapter Twenty-Six

The moment the water sluiced down Nick's skin and settled in between the ridges of his sculpted abdomen, I was a goner. Nick normally is mouthwatering to behold. Drenched and soaked with water? He's devastating.

Our shower sex was slow and indolent. Nick again took me against the wall with an unhurried pace, mindful of the soreness between my legs.

After showering in his massive, gold and marble bathroom, we snuggle together beneath his signature black sheets in a four-poster California King size bed.

Nick's bedroom is an ode to tasteful decadence, with gold sconces lining the walls and oil paintings hanging within gilded frames. The walls are painted a dark, forest green, and except for a glossy, eighty- five inch black screen television, the room looks as though it belongs in an eighteenth century palace.

"So," I say, gazing up at him, "the King of Hell, huh?"

He shakes his head. "Necklace. Now."

I release an aggrieved sigh. Nick strokes the upper part of my arm encouragingly before I launch into the story about the necklace, starting with my first visit from the Moirai. The blood drains from his face when I tell him about the Bargain.

"Fuck, Rhi. The Moirai have no sense of morality or idea of justice. And if you don't-"

"I know, okay? But I was desperate. I was offered a way to save you, and I took it." I sit up and hold his stare. "You would have done the same, and you know it."

A pained expression washes across his face, and understanding dawns on me. "You already did. When you made the necklace."

He nods. "Finish the story."

I continue, telling him how the sisters of Fate again showed up in my room after our very first Combat class and that Atropos is using the necklace as collateral to force me to fulfill my end of the Bargain.

Nick mutters another curse. "I don't know what's more concerning, the fact that your Thread is cloaked, or the fact that Atropos stabbed you. Twice. " Dangerous heat flares in his eyes before it fades to a pensive warmth. "That's why you wanted the Titanomachy book, because of your veiled Thread."

I explain how it literally fell at my feet of its own accord before the Harbinger scared me out of my wits.

"Well, the good news is, the Harbinger shouldn't bother you anymore."

"Why is that?"

"Because once it delivers its message, and that message is fulfilled, it slinks back to the deepest crevice of Hell and awaits another errand by my father."

I raise my brows in alarm. "I thought you were the King of Hell?"

Nick swallows roughly. "Preparations are being made. Officially, I won't become the King of Hell until…"

He turns from me, so I place my palm on the side of his face and direct him back to me. "Until what?"

"Until I die."

I blanch, tears welling within my eyes.

"My father's Bargain with my mother was that she would raise me as long as she or I never revealed my true name. If she or I broke that promise, when I died, I'd return to claim my place as his heir. When I gave Lyncus my name in exchange for making the protection charm, it ignited a chain of events, so to speak, preparing me for the throne."

His loss of control. His emerging powers.

Remorse twists my gut as I recall our first meeting with Lyncus, and Nick's wretched, pleading expression. I can't, Rhi. He'd repeated again, and I'd been so angry that he wouldn't give up something I'd thought was so inconsequential.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, a single tear slipping free. Nick brushes it away with a knuckle, then gently cups my face.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I would do anything to protect you. My life holds no meaning if you aren't in it."

I spent all this time trying to keep him out of my life when, all the while, he was fighting to stay in it. "Neither does mine." More tears flow as I let out a shaky exhale. "But what was I supposed to do? I am going to kill you, Nick. How could I ever live with myself if I allowed that to happen? If I didn't at least try to stay away from you?"

Nick continues to wipe the tears from my face. "Prophecies don't always unfold the way you think they will."

I blink. "Lyncus said those exact words to me."

He sighs, pressing his forehead to mine. "I want you by my side, Rhi. I was so afraid of how you would react if you found out who I really was. I was so afraid I'd lose control and hurt you. I don't care if you are the cause of my death, because the only time I feel alive is when you're next to me. So, please," Nick draws in a ragged breath, "stay with me."

The steady beat of my heart reverberates in my chest as though answering him of its own accord. Yes . Yes. Yes.

I softly press my lips to his. "Always."

He kisses me back with fervor, igniting a familiar burning low in my belly. Gods, I can't get enough of this man.

I deepen the kiss, attempting to pull him on top of me, but Nick draws back.

"You need to rest."

"That confident in your skills, are you?" I mimic his earlier words to me.

Nick smiles, bestowing me with a look of smug male satisfaction. "Absolutely. You were walking a little funny coming out of the shower."

I feign offense by dropping my jaw and playfully pushing him in the shoulder. But in the end, I return to my position of cuddling into his side. I'm deliciously sore and spent, and my eyes start to drift close until his voice again prompts them open .

"So, all that time, the other copy of Titanomachy was in Alystair's Library."

"What do you mean?"

"There's only two copies in existence. One was accounted for. The other, no one has seen in centuries, and it turns out it was in the library, of all places."

I glance up at him. "Where is the other one?"

His golden gaze flits to a bookcase in the right corner of his room.

"You've got to be kidding me." I sit up faster than a fired bullet. "You have the other copy?"

"It was a gift from my aunt."

I ignore his proclamation of how he came to own the copy and toss the blanket from my lower body. A cool brush of air immediately caresses my bare legs. Dressed only in Nick's favorite band t-shirt bearing the moniker of Fleetwood Mac , I head toward the bookshelf, slowing my pace as the soreness between my legs increases with the friction of my steps.

"You really are walking funny."

I shoot him a withering glare before staring at the bookcase. "Not another word out of you."

"Third shelf. Fifth book from the left," he directs, though there's no need. I spot it easily.

I tip the book back and grasp it by the spine, removing it from the shelf. Once I'm again tucked into Nick's side, I open it.

Given the fact that I nearly died to get a hold of this book, I at least expected some sort of magical fan fare when I first opened it. Yet, nothing. No indication as to what chapter I should start with it or a page number that might be useful. I'm tempted to turn the book upside down and shake it out.

"I've read this book cover to cover, Rhi. There's nothing in there about Threads."

Ah. Right. Nick already knows the contents of this book.

"There has to be something useful in here," I argue. "Zo tried to get the book for me every day for about a month and never could. It only appeared when I went to the library. That has to mean something."

Nick appears unconvinced. "The entire book covers the rise and fall of the Titans. I don't see how that can be helpful."

My intrigue sparks. "The Titans?"

Nick nods. "The parents of the gods."

"What happened to them?"

"Their own children betrayed them, thus starting The Great Ten Year War." He taps the book. "When the gods won, Zeus imprisoned them in a place called Tartaros, a storm-wracked jail hidden deep beneath the earth…" His voice trails off as his bronzed skin turns pallid.

"What?" I ask, my voice heavy with anticipation.

Nick swallows, his eyes swimming with indecisiveness, and I gather he's toying with the idea of not finishing his prior sentence.

I place a hand on his forearm. "Nick. Please. No more secrets."

Nick relents with an exasperated breath. "There's a place within Tartaros that's said to house an ancient creature, one who is deeply feared yet deeply respected."

Excitement buzzes in my blood. "And you think this creature could have the answers we seek?"

A pregnant pause, and then, "Rhi, I think this creature could be your answer. It's supposedly omniscient and all-powerful."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I throw the covers off me again before Nick grabs my wrist when I go to leave the bed. I turn to face him, an ominous sheen masks his features.

"Rhi, not only is this creature in Tartaros, which is nearly impossible to get to if you are among the living, but it's said to dwell within a heavily guarded Cave."

"Nick, I realize you are saying this to deter me, which," I pat him on the shoulder, "‘A' for effort. But you know I'm going to figure out how to get there even if I have to stay awake day and night reading every book on your bookshelf and every book in Alystair's Library. Or…" I roll over and straddle him. "You can explain to me how we can get to Tartaros, and to this Cave."

Nick's eyes narrow, but that doesn't stop his fingers from trailing up my thighs. "Wicked little minx. Fine." His right hand dips underneath the hem of his shirt, and I gasp at the feel of his finger swiping through my wetness. "But I'm going to play with you while I do it."

Despite the soreness between my legs, I release a heady moan when his single digit slides into me. "To get to Tartaros, you have to go through the Underworld, which is Hades' realm." He pumps his finger in and out slowly, mindful of how sensitive I am. My breathing quickens, and I place a palm on his chest so I can rock against his hand.

"Hades is particularly territorial, especially since his beautiful wife, Persephone, will likely be in residence. Oh…" He presses a thumb to my clit, causing me to squirm. "...and he hates my father, which means he hates me by default."

"Why?"

Nick continues to work that one finger, easing it into me. "Because both men reign over similar realms." He shrugs, and the action is so nonchalant one would never know he's finger fucking me while simultaneously story-telling. "They consider each other to be rivals, of sorts."

I smirk, gazing down at him beneath heavy hooded lids. "Men and their petty egos."

With a sharp look of retaliation, Nick adds a second finger without warning, and a small burst of pain causes me to inhale sharply.

"Is this ok?" he asks, dark brows drawn together in concern.

I nod, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. Nick's eyes turn molten, and he continues pumping his fingers at the leisurely pace, pressing the heel of his hand against my pulsing clit so I can grind against him.

"Keep going," I command after a breathy moan.

"If we somehow get Hades' blessing and make it to Tartaros, we then have to brave its storm-wracked landscape to find the Cave."

I rock faster against his hand, Nick's fingers curling inside me as throes of pleasure wrack my body.

"And when we find it? What then?"

Nick doesn't answer. Instead, he flips me onto my back in one swift movement, still somehow never losing the maddening rhythm of his fingers.

"Then we have to get past an entity so destructive and wrathful, even Zeus fears her."

He speaks of destruction, yet his fingers are the only form of destruction I can fathom, obliterating every semblance of reality as they move in and out of me, bringing me closer and closer to the edge.

"Oh gods I'm so close."

And then it's gone. I'm painfully wrenched from that glorious edge as Nick's fingers disappear. Just as I'm about to throw a fit of monstrous proportions, his warm breath fans my slick center, and a shudder wracks my spine.

Nick's tongue strokes me in one languid, tantalizing lick. My hips buck wildly before they're pinned to the mattress by his powerful hand, and he continues with his story.

"She was born from Chaos." Lick. "The personification of Night." Suck. "And the devourer of men."

Nick's tongue spears inside me, right as the "who?" tumbles incoherently from my lips. My moans grow louder, more erratic, and I'm once again thrust towards that edge with each stroke of his tongue and hum of his lips as Nick feasts and feasts with insatiable hunger.

Suddenly, I'm tumbling, falling into an abyss of pleasure and pain as the orgasm spikes through every nerve and blood cell. I'm burning from the inside out and would gladly dance in the flames.

Nick doesn't stop the teasing strokes of his tongue until my breathing evens out and my body stills. He climbs on top of me, pushing sweat-matted hair from my face, and kisses me with abandon.

When he finally pulls away, it feels like hours have gone by, but one question still burdens the forefront of my brain: "Who is she?"

"She is the primordial goddess of night, mother of shadows." His voice dips low, as if speaking any louder might summon this entity of darkness. "Her name is Nyx."