If I took him it would satisfy that part of me that wanted to reconnect to the past. Claiming him would be enough to quench my thirst. Peter was a fascinating Subterranean. He had always loved the old Gemma and he would learn to love the new one too. Soon there would be an Opalion in my honor and I needed a Champion. I stroked his bulging biceps. He was strong and would be trustworthy and loyal. I moved my mouth to his ear and emanated my seductive power. My Dakor emerged, hissing with impatience, but Peter didn’t even notice.

  I bit my lip, causing a drop of blood to seep out. “At last I’ve found my Champion,” I whispered. I moved my lips close to his and he was on the verge of touching them.

  “Stop!” A voice thundered in the room, interrupting our tête-à-tête. I whirled around and my eyes locked onto Evan’s, which were as sharp as ice. “I’ll be your Champion,” he told me in a determined voice.

  In a split second I was in front of him. “You’re lying.” I studied his face and he made no objection, allowing me to explore his mind and comb through his thoughts.

  “I have nothing left to lose,” he said, his voice low and resolute.

  Behind us, Peter stepped forward in protest, but I stilled him with my powers. My Dakor drew near Evan’s face and he didn’t move, his dauntless gaze locked on mine. There wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes. “A tempting offer,” I admitted. Devina had chased that Subterranean for centuries and now he was offering himself to me—not as a prisoner but as my Champion.

  “Don’t miss your chance, then,” he provoked me, his gaze proud and sharp.

  “Normally we’re the ones who hunt Subterraneans, but you’re different from all the rest. You’re stubborn. Why are you willing to die of your own volition?”

  He looked down and took my hand. “Sometimes you have to die to be reborn.”

  I studied our joined palms and shook my head, banishing my doubts. “Fine. Then you’ll die for me.” I touched my finger to my lip, dabbed it in the blood, and raised it to his mouth. He accepted it, caressing it with his tongue, and an image exploded in my mind.

  I never want to be separated from you again. Promise you won’t leave me. Samvicaranam. Samyodhanam. Stay together. Fight together.

  My heart belongs to you forever.

  I jerked my hand back in shock as a shudder gripped me. I had been the one to say those last words. I looked him in the eye. What had happened? What had I seen? It was the two of us locked in a desperate embrace, as though it were my own memory.

  No. It couldn’t be—he was deceiving me, and I wasn’t about to fall into his trap. I grabbed his chin and touched his lips with mine, absorbing his essence with my kiss of darkness.

  “Evan, no!” Ginevra screamed, appearing in the room, but it was too late. My Dakor attacked, sinking his fangs into the neck of the Subterranean who stared at me, wracked with the first tremors. Through his mind I sensed the pain he was experiencing—but there was no fear.

  He vanished, destination Hell. I clasped the Dreide I wore around my neck and studied it as it filled with a soft light.

  I smiled. His soul was mine.

  SWEET POISON

  I materialized in one of the rooms we reserved for rebels—or, as we called them, Torture Caverns. Usually only Subterraneans who refused to bend to our will ended up in them. Those we claimed were set free in exchange for having surrendered their souls to us. Different accommodations, though, had been prepared for Evan. He would pay for that last little trick he’d attempted to play on me. Ginevra had read my mind just before I took him and had tried to stop him.

  Evan appeared, his back to me. He looked around and instantly understood where he was. Spinning around, he stared at me boldly. “What’s going on? Why am I here?” he asked, furious.

  Smiling, I grabbed his shirt and tore it off him. “You won’t be needing this.” As I studied his body he didn’t take his eyes off me. Two Drusas approached to discourage any attempt at rebellion.

  “Seize him,” I ordered, turning my back on him.

  He struggled and broke free from my Sisters, grabbing me roughly by the wrist. “Gemma, wait!”

  Two panthers landed beside him, growling threateningly. “Halt!” I ordered them. I tilted my head toward the Subterranean without turning around. “Let go,” I hissed, my voice so icy he released his grip. “Lock him up. But first give him a shower.”

  “As you command,” my Sisters replied, bowing to me.

  “As you command?” Evan asked with surprise. “What does that mean?”

  I smiled and turned toward him. “That I’m in charge here.” The Subterranean’s eyes went wide, his mind grappling with what I’d just said. My Sisters forced him to his knees and bound his hands behind his back with poisoned chains.

  I turned my back on him and leapt up to one of the high windows. Giving him one last look, I found his gray eyes trained on me. I grunted with annoyance. Who did he think he was? He was a Subterranean like all the others. And now I had claimed him. If he thought he could make demands, I would put him in his place. Slipping out the window, I drew my knives and jammed them into the wall above me. Pulling myself up, I began to climb the Castle wall.

  The air was cool in the gloom of the kingdom. I liked being high up—higher and higher. What I needed, after all those strange emotions, was my Saurus. When I reached the roof, I went into the stable to wake him and he welcomed me with an enthusiastic whinny while all the others bowed before me. I stroked Argas and he unfurled his mighty wings. Pulling myself onto his back, I spurred him to a gallop, his hooves echoing through the silent twilight.

  “Away, Argas,” I whispered in his mind. “Carry me far away.” He took wing, sensing my need. I wanted to feel free, but I hadn’t been able to for a while now. My mind was imprisoned by the past, by my doubts, by those eyes of ice. I lowered my eyelids and tilted my head back, letting the wind lash my face. I hoped it would wash away the thoughts tormenting me, but it was no use. The image I’d seen returned to fill my mind.

  Promise you won’t leave me.

  My heart belongs to you forever.

  What was that flashback? Could it actually be a memory?

  Argas flew over the volcano and I ordered him to descend into it. I quieted the rage of the eruption, which diminished to a sputter on the surface. Nature bent to my every wish because I was its queen. My Saurus landed on a rocky outcrop and let me dismount. The scorching heat reddened my cheeks. The air was incandescent, but not even those temperatures could scathe my invincible body. Quite the opposite—a strong dose of boiling poison was what I needed. Maybe it would clear my mind. I unfastened my corset and took off my weapons, along with all my clothes, then sank down into the liquid, feeling its energy envelop me. The poison was just like me: lethally dangerous. Below the surface I felt the heartbeat of my Dakor, intoxicated by all that power. I slowly emerged, my eyes burning and glinting with purple tones, the eyes of my Dakor, who exulted inside me. I was a creature of Hell. I was Hell.

  I swam inside the volcano, thinking of Evan. The flashback had occurred the moment his tongue had touched my thumb. The contact had triggered some sort of energy between us—or maybe it was something else.

  What was it that had changed in me lately? My encounter with those two Souls by the river must have destabilized me. Through their minds I’d also seen images of Evan and me together. What could it mean? It had been a mistake to let them go. I had to find them and kill them. She would be easy prey since she was just another one of the Damned, but as for the other—Drake—he was a Subterranean and couldn’t die. Still, I would find a way to silence him. Our dungeons always had room for rebels. That was where I would have Evan locked up. It had been a great victory. I couldn’t wait to show Sophìa my trophy. I smiled. Devina wouldn’t believe her eyes.

  I should have ordered that Evan be brought to the spa, where the Champions entertained their Amìshas. Instead I had decided to grant him access only to the showers where the rebels were sent, despite the fact that he’d given himself to me and my Dreide now contained his deepest essence. Why couldn’t I treat him like the others? Why did I still feel the need to fight him? I closed my eyes. He had clouded my mind, forcing me to remain vigilant. Yet now that I’d claimed him I could no longer hide my desire for him, my desire to carefully watch him subjugate himself to me.

  I opened my eyes. The landscape around me had changed. I was no longer in the volcano. I looked around, confused. Hearing water crashing down furiously against rocks, I advanced and peeked around the wall. Evan was turned away from me, completely naked, his hands resting against the wall, muscles tensed, head bowed as the water ran down his golden skin in a sensual caress. My heart was pounding. How had I ended up there? And why was I experiencing those strange sensations? I felt vulnerable.

  I approached him, obeying my desperate need to touch him, the burning desire to feel his hands on me . . . like sweet poison. He turned, the hair hanging over his forehead dripping wet, his gray eyes locked onto mine. He swallowed, at the mercy of his emotions, and gazed at my naked body. His thoughts lost themselves, drifting. I wafted my seductive power to him as I advanced beneath the stream of water. He seemed dazzled by me, but in a different way from the others. There was a glimmer of awareness in his eyes.

  He ran his thumb over my wet lips and contemplated them for a moment, letting me read the desire in his mind. Then he kissed me—a sweet, sensual kiss that soon turned into a desperate need. Evan rounded on me and trapped me against the wall, our naked bodies touching as I surrendered to his kiss.

  A whinny from Argas filled my mind, bringing me back. I looked around, disoriented. I was still in the volcano. What the hell had happened? Had I imagined it all? It hadn’t been another flashback. It had been a vision of the present. It seemed so real I couldn’t believe it had happened only in my mind. Still dripping wet, I went to Argas. Had all that poison made me hallucinate?

  Dressed again, I leapt onto my Saurus’s back, still shaken by the vision. Maybe I’d been wrong to claim the Subterranean who’d hunted me down so stubbornly. Maybe I really should have left him to Devina. But I couldn’t resist. Challenges excited me, and he was different. He triggered sensations in me that made me fight yet also attracted me. Was that why my mind had so avidly sought him out?

  I flew to the Castle and hurried to his cell, slamming the door behind me. He was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and his chained hands resting on his knee. He raised his head and his gray eyes shone through the half-light, instantly finding mine. “Welcome back,” he said sardonically.

  I probed his thoughts. He was still unsettled by my role as commander and the reception he’d been given. Still, he wasn’t giving up. I’d never met a more stubborn Subterranean. Nevertheless, sooner or later I would bend him to my will.

  “Is this how you treat your Champion?” he asked with arrogant defiance.

  I approached him and planted the heel of my boot between his legs. “You’ll have to earn that title first.” He slowly rose to his feet, brushing his body against mine, and looked into my eyes. The sparkle illuminating his own was maddening. Neither rebellious nor subdued, I could see he didn’t want to bend. He wanted to bend me, but I would never let him. “Your mind is different from the others. It’s not trustworthy enough. What most distinguishes a Champion is his loyalty to his Amìsha.”

  “You can trust me,” he replied, “but I bet that’s not your real problem. Maybe you’re afraid you won’t be able to trust yourself.”

  “Nonsense!” I replied irritably, looking away. “Don’t think you’re the only one to aspire to the position.” I walked over to the Subterranean standing guard, staring at us through the bars of the cell. Upon my command, one of the bars disintegrated and he made his way toward me through the thousands of metal shards, utterly at the mercy of my power. “I’ve claimed many of you since I’ve been here. Any of them could become my Champion.” I touched the Subterranean’s muscular chest, staring steadily at Evan in a tacit challenge.

  He looked furious, his thoughts a black cloud that threatened to unleash its power. His gray eyes were tempestuous. Smiling, I pulled the guard to me and brushed his ear with my lips. He reacted and grabbed me by the hips, yearning for my kiss, but a howl of rage filled the cell as Evan lunged at him and hurled him to the floor. He pinned me against the wall, his hands still bound and his gray eyes locked on mine. The Subterranean got up to face him, prepared to protect me, but I raised my hand and stopped him. He bowed before me as my gaze remained steadily on Evan’s. I was more curious than ever about him. Perhaps the key to discovering the secret behind him was to go along with it. “At ease, Soldier. What makes you think you’re so special?”

  “Your body,” he replied impertinently. “You’re attracted to me.”

  “I’m attracted to all Subterraneans.”

  “No one attracts you more than I do—admit it,” he dared me.

  I locked my eyes on his, standing up to his insolence. “You have no effect on me,” I lied, enunciating each word.

  “You didn’t seem so indifferent back there in the showers.” I jumped in shock. What was he saying? It hadn’t only been a vision in my mind? “You look surprised.”

  “Did you do that?”

  “No, not at all. It was you who came to see me. I was in the shower. I was thinking of you and all of a sudden you were there. You let me kiss you,” he added, pleased. “Then you disappeared and I found myself with my hands against the wall again, as though it had never happened. But I know it’s not true.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because you’ve done it before.”

  I turned my back on him, nervous. “You’re lying.”

  “No I’m not, and you know it. Read my mind if you don’t believe me.”

  “I don’t trust your mind.”

  “Don’t you trust your own? You experienced that moment in the shower with me too. It was our desire that broke through the confines separating us.”

  Nirvana. It liberates spirits from their bodies, leaving them free to follow their desires. Soul and mind in a world all their own.

  “That’s impossible,” I murmured. “Only Sophìa has such great power.” It was the same power she had imprisoned in the sphere. That Subterranean was capable of awakening it in me.

  Evan walked up behind me and his mouth brushed my ear. “Our minds are bonded together.”

  I rubbed my cheek against his, overcome by the energy that quivered between us, but then shook my head. “There is no bond!” I snarled, furious.

  He took my hand and held it up before our faces. “So how do you explain this?”

  I stared at our two tattoos. He didn’t take his eyes off me. There was no doubt they had the same calligraphy. But why? It made no sense. How could my life before Sophìa be connected to a Subterranean’s?

  “Give me a chance,” he whispered.

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because I’m your husband.”

  “That’s absurd.”

  “No it isn’t. I bet your Sisters didn’t bother to tell you that.”

  “Even if they had, I would never have believed such blasphemy. You’re a Child of Eve.”

  The Subterranean ran his chained hands over my head and drew me to him tenderly, trapping me in his arms. “You haven’t always been here. Before, you were with me,” he whispered against my lips. “Mamåtmå mari‚yati tvayå saha.”

  I frowned. My spirit will die with you and rise again with you. The words meant nothing to me but they seemed important to him. There was something I was missing. His lips teased mine hungrily. Maybe he was trying to cloud my mind. Devina had told me he was dangerous. And yet . . .

  I rested my hands on his chest and pushed him against the wall, taking control. I instantly felt his erection against me and touched it through his pants as he bit my lip. As swiftly as a ghost, he grabbed my bottom and drew me to him, inverting our positions. His mouth moved avidly down my neck, his body pressed against mine, his hands inflaming me as they gripped me firmly by the buttocks.

  My Dakor awoke, inebriated by Evan’s presence, and his hiss snapped me out of my daze. I grabbed my dagger and shoved its blade against his throat, stopping him instantly. His eyes bored into mine, full of challenge. Part of me was irresistibly attracted to him. He’d given himself to me, surrendered his soul to me so I could claim it, yet I couldn’t subjugate him. That rebellious spark still lingered in his eyes of ice. “We’re the ones who hunt you down,” I hissed furiously. “We’re the ones who toy with you. Not vice versa.”

  “This isn’t a game,” he insisted.

  “It is for me.” I broke through his chains and strode past him, still clutching my dagger, but before I could walk out the door a shadow in the corner caught my attention. Nothing was there, but the second I looked at it an image burst into my head.

  Gromghus. Is that your name?

  Who we are isn’t important in here.

  “Gemma, what’s happening?”

  I emerged from the vision and turned to look at Evan, who seemed worried. “Gromghus,” I murmured to myself, to remember it. I felt the name was important, though I didn’t know why. What had just happened? I’d seen a strange creature hiding its face under a long hood, and I’d been speaking to it.

  “What did you say?” Evan asked, now looking shocked. Might he know the answer?

  “Who is Gromghus? Stop putting images in my head!” I snapped.

  “They aren’t images. They’re memories,” he exclaimed in surprise, his eyes lighting up. “Simon’s power is working!”

  “What power? What have you done to me?!” I felt a fire building inside me, ready to explode. A wave of energy burst from me and struck Evan full in the chest, sending him crashing against the wall.

  I stared at him as he hit the ground on his hands and knees. This Subterranean was poisoning me. Why did I keep seeking him out? I gripped my dagger. The whole thing had to end. It wasn’t important any more whether they were lies or whether this Child of Eve really had been part of my past. Hell was my world now, and I was its queen. I went to him and leaned over him. He raised his head slightly, his dark hair falling over his forehead. “I’ll send my maidservants to prepare you,” I told him icily. “You’ll soon have an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your loyalty. If you wish to become my Champion, you’ll have to prove you’re worthy.”