Page 6 (1/2)

PROLOGUE

Reyes, once an iods, now possessed by the de in Budapest, entered his bedroo from the force of his workout Because he could not experience pleasure without physical suffering, the burn in his muscles had excited him

As always, his gaze sought out his wo their loveplay She was sitting at the edge of their big bed, lovely features drawn tight as she studied the canvas in front of her A canvas she’d propped on an easel and lowered so that she had a direct view Blond hair fell to her shoulders in wild disarray, as if she’d tangled her fingers through the thickon her bottom lipSex could wait She was troubled, and he would be unable to think of anything else until he’d solved this dilemma for her So he sheathed the blade

“Soel?”

Her eyes lifted and landed on him, worry in their emerald depths She offered him a small smile “I’m not sure”

“Well, why don’t I help you figure it out?” Anything that bothered her, he would dispatch No hesitation For her happiness, he would do anything, kill anyone

“I would like that, thank you”

“Shall I shower before I join you?”

“No I like you just how you are”

Darling wo her pretty clothes He quickly grabbed a towel from the bathroom and rubbed his encasing hers, his ar deeply of her wild storm scent, he rested his chin in the hollow of her neck and followed the direction of her gaze

What he saw surprised him

It shouldn’t have Her paintings were always vivid As the All-Seeing Eye, an oracle of the gods and one of their most cherished aides, she could peer into heaven and hell And did, every night, though she had no control over what she witnessed Past, present, future, it didn’t , she painted what she’d seen

This one was of a man A warrior, clearly With that old collar circled his neck, cinching tight He was on his knees, legs spread His arhs, pal up at a do In pain, perhaps Maybe even fury There was blood s from multiple wounds Wounds that looked as if his skin had been carved away

“Who is he?” Reyes asked

“I don’t know I’ve never seen him before”

Then they would reason this out as best they were able “Was he from heaven or hell?”

“Heaven Definitely I think he’s in Cronus’s throne room”

A god, then? A few o, Titans had overthrown the Greeks and seized control of the divine throne So, if this man was in Cronus’s throne room, chained up, hurt, and Cronus was leader of the Titans, that must mean the warrior was a Greek A slave who had been punished, perhaps?

“You saw only this iot him to this point?”

“Correct,” Danika said with a nod “I heard hih It was…” She shuddered, and his arms squeezed her in comfort “I felt so sorry for hie and helplessness”

“We can summon Cronus” Cronus wasn’t too fond of Reyes and his fellow Lords of the Underworld—the verythe evil from inside The men who had then been cursed to carry that evil inside the hated their enemy, the Hunters, more, because Danika had seen Galen, the leader of the Hunters, chop off Cronus’s head in a vision Now the god king was determined to kill Galen before Galen could kill hi the aid of the Lords “We can ask him if he knows this man”

A estion Finally, she sighed, nodded “Yes I’d like that” Then she surprised hi the sweetest smile he’d ever seen Well, all of her s to sus on your mind when you entered the rooested huskily

He was rock hard in seconds—that’s what she did to hiel”

She pushed hi “And mine”

CHAPTER ONE

“Be still, Nike You’re only th, stared down at the bane of his existence Nike, Greek goddess of Strength His godly counterpart His enerade-A bitch

Two of his best s They should have been able to pin her without incident She was collared, after all, and that collar prevented her froth—strength that was not on par with his, thank you But never had a female been more stubborn—or ainst their hold, punching, kicking and biting like a cornered anirowled at him

“Why? I’ to you that you didn’t once have done to me” Motions clipped, Atlas tore his shirt over his head and tossed it aside, revealing his chest, the ropes of his sto from one tiny brown nipple to the other, was her name, spelled out for all the world to see NIKE