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CHAPTER ONE

EVERY DAY FOR HUNDREDS of years the goddess had visited Hell and every day Geryon had watched her fro his blood more than the flames of damnation beyond his post ever had He should not have studied her that first tiaze downcast all the times since He was a slave to the prince of darkness, spawned by evil; she was a goddess, created in light

He could not have her, he thought, hands fisting No ht wish otherwise She would not want hi but despair He did not need more despair

And yet, still he watched her this day as she floated through the barren cavern, coral-tipped fingers tracing the jagged stones that separated underground froant back and framed a face so perfect, so lovely, Aphrodite herself could not co in those cheeks of smooth alabaster

"The wall is cracked," she said, her voice like a song amid the hiss of nearby flames--and the unnatural screams that always accoined the words In all their centuries together, they had never spoken, never deviated froate remained closed until a spirit needed to be cast inside That way, no one and nothing escaped--and if they tried, he rendered punishoddess of Oppression, she fortified the physical barrier with only a touch Silence was never breeched

Uncertainty darkened her features "Have you nothing to say?"

She stood in front of hih he never saw her move The scent of honeysuckle suddenly overshadowed the stink of sulfur andhis eyes in ecstasy Oh, that she would remain just as she was…

"Guardian," she proradually, slowly revealing the glow of her beauty Up close, she was not as perfect as he had thought She was better A s of freckles dotted her sweetly sloped nose, and dimples appeared with the curve of her half-smile Exquisite

What did she think of hiht him a ht so, she did not show it Only curiosity rested in those starlight eyes For the wall, he suspected, not for hi to do with him They’d run from him the moment he’d turned his attention to the And that was before he’d resere

Sometimes he wondered if he’d been tainted at birth

"Those cracks were not there yesterday," she said "What has caused such dae? And so swiftly?"

"A horde of Deht to break out They have grown tired of their confine humans to torment"

She accepted the neithout reaction "Have you their naate to knoho visited on the other side; he sensed it Always "Violence, Death, Lies, Doubt, Misery Shall I go on?"

"No," she said softly "I understand The worst of the worst"

"Yes They bang and they claw from the other side, desperate to reach the mortal realm"

"Well, stop them" A coiven up the last vestiges of his huift of her presence Anything to keep her just where she was, prolonging the sweetness of her scent "I am forbidden to leave ates for any reason but allowing one of the darant your request"

Besides, the only way to stop a deterh Lord was another forbidden act

A sigh slipped from her "Do you always do as you’re told?"

"Always" Once he had fought the invisible ties that bound hiht was to invite pain and suffering--not for him, but for others Innocent humans who resembled his mother, his father and his brothers--because his true ht here and tortured in front of him The screams…oh, the screahts… He shuddered

Had the pain and suffering been heaped upon hiht all the harder What was a little more pain? But Lucifer, brother to Hades and prince of the deain his cooperation

Thethe night, if he’d required sleep He remained awake, however, every hour of every day, never able to forget

"Obedience I expected differently fro and assured"

Yes, he was a warrior But he was also a slave One did not cancel out the other "I a"

"I will pay you to help me," she insisted "Name your price Whatever you desire shall be yours"

If only, Geryon thought again He would ask for a single taste of her lips

Why lih? he wondered next Whatever he desired He could ask for a night in her ar Yes Yes Every muscle in his body clenched In arousal In desperation

In despair