I’m happy.

I know. And it’s weirding me out.

Baden anchored weapons to his arms, his waist and ankles, his focus remaining on Katarina as she ate the “thanks for your help” breakfast Fox had delivered. Pancakes and eggs. There were dark smudges on her forearms. Definitely not dirt. Probably bruises. Anger... He’d handled her roughly. Next time he would have to be more careful.

Her features were soft, luminous, her skin still flushed from this morning’s debauchery.

The phone in his pocket vibrated, and he checked the screen. A text from Torin.

William wants revenge against the satyr & our help to get it

William would have to call in his favor if he desired Baden’s help. Two birds, one stone. “Where are the dogs?” he asked Katarina.

Her head canted to the side, as if she were listening for the pitter-patter of their feet. “In the backyard playing. Why?”

He frowned at her. “You can hear them from here?” The windows were closed, the yard on the other side of the palace.

Though color stained her cheeks, she shrugged off the oddity as unimportant. “I’m a momma bear, and they’re my cubs.” She smiled at him, the sweetness not quite reaching her eyes. “You and Destruction better not hurt them.”

Why would she say such a thing? “I would never. Why would you think otherwise?”

She licked her lips, clearly nervous. “Destruction mentioned his hatred for hellhounds, and I hope the hatred doesn’t extend to all canines.”

“The beast speaks to you?” Anger bloomed. “Without me?”

“Sometimes,” she said with a shrug.

Baden hated the thought of the beast interacting with her without his aid. “He hates hellhounds for a good reason. His mother sold him to the Master of Dark Pleasures. The former king of the underworld kept young...sex slaves.” Last night, the horrific memories had invaded his dreams. “Destruction ran and hellhounds gave chase...dragged him back to hell.”

The color drained from Katarina’s cheeks. “I despise the horrors he suffered. I do. But not all packs are—were—ambassadors of evil, I’m sure.”

Katarina, forever the dog lover. “Our pups will never suffer at his hand.”

Her eyes flared with hope. “You vow it?”

Her lack of trust cut at him, but he looked past it. From the beginning, he’d told this woman to fear him. He’d earned this. “I do.”

“Thank you.” Changing gears, she looked him over and whistled. “Sexy man. Are you headed out on another mission?”

“I am.”

“Well. If you refrain from killing today, I’ll do very naughty things to you...with my mouth.”

Both he and Destruction roared with a desire so hot the flames might never be extinguished. “I want that. And I will have that. Today. I go to see Aleksander.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re going to let him live?”

“I am. But he must sever his tie with you. Afterward, I’ll lock him away. He’ll never be freed, will die in his cell.”

Katarina set her plate on the nightstand and blew him a kiss. “You, Baden, are a wonderful man. Oh! In all the excitement, I forgot to tell you Alek’s mother is the one who gave him the coin.”

His mother? Who was his mother, and how had she gotten it?

Destruction supplied the answer, pushing a memory through a dark miasma of rage, blood and death.

A harem took shape in Baden’s mind. In his early days as king, Hades had kept a harem filled with beautiful women, immortals and humans alike. Anyone who’d caught his fancy.

I take what I want. No one stops me.

A blonde woman...one of his favorites, for a while, at least...was an angel who’d fallen for him, literally as well as figuratively, abandoning her home in the sky to live with him. Her wings had been removed by her sister, leaving thick, jagged scars on her back. He’d liked scars, and she’d liked the homage he paid them.

But she hadn’t been content inside the harem, had been insulted every time she’d had to share him with others, and she’d eventually lashed out, killing his other women in cold blood. He’d come close to killing her in turn, but in a rare moment of mercy, he’d exiled her to the earth instead.

Soon after, he’d learned the coin he’d kept under heavy guard had gone missing. He’d known instantly who’d taken it. Her only means of vengeance.

He’d gone after her. No one he’d marked could hide from him. Ever.

That day, she’d laughed at him.

You want the coin? Too bad. You’ll never find it. Especially if you kill me. The moment I die, it will be delivered to Lucifer.

He’d left her, then, sending one of his spies to remain near her at all times. Over the years, she’d married a human male and bore him a son—Aleksander—and by all accounts, the son who loved her had been the one who’d savagely torn out her insides. But, being only half immortal rather than fully, Aleksander would never have had the strength to overpower her. Which meant she’d allowed him to kill her.

Later that same day, Aleksander had cornered Hades’s spy and told him to deliver a message: I have the coin. I have no plans to use it—presently. But I, like my mother, have taken measures to ensure it’s delivered to Lucifer upon my death.

You should have told me sooner, Baden snapped at Destruction.

Sharing secrets is as new to me as it is to you.

In the present, Katarina climbed to her knees and wound her arms around his neck. “Where did you go, drahý?”

He loved when she called him darling. Even Destruction approved. The nickname told nothing of their strength but everything about the softening of their woman.

“I was right. Aleksander isn’t human,” he said. “His mother was a fallen angel.”

“How do you know this?”

“Everything is here, thanks to Hades.” He tapped his temple. “Sometimes I must dig. Sometimes the beast willingly offers.”

She pressed her perfect breasts against his chest, and he lamented the shirt that prevented the skin-to-skin contact he now craved more than breath. “Again I wonder how I missed my husband’s—”

He nipped at her lips. “That word is forbidden to you.”

She smiled slowly at him. “Because you’re jealous?”