Kiss of Darkness (The Dragon Legion Novellas) by Deborah Cooke Page A

true, but not due to Petra’s powers. Damien was ashamed that he had assumed the worst of her on that day, that he hadn’t asked for an explanation or given her a chance. He’d acted foolishly and couldn’t blame Petra for her anger.
    But according to that same prophecy, once each obstacle was confronted, their firestorm would have a chance of a future.
    He had to find Petra and change her mind.
    At the very least, he owed her an apology.
    To his relief, he saw a woman’s silhouette ahead. She was standing on the periphery of the strange forest, her back turned to him. He shouted Petra’s name, but she didn’t seem to hear him. She didn’t turn around, even when he ran toward her. He called her name repeatedly as he ran closer, then touched her shoulder.
    When the woman turned, Damien realized he’d made a mistake.
    It wasn’t Petra.
    This woman was hideously ugly, and an ancient crone, as well. Her face was lined and cracked, like an exposed rock. Her long dark hair turned to hundreds of small black snakes, their eyes bright and their tongues flicking. Bat wings stretched high behind her back and she bared her teeth, showing her fangs. Worse, blood ran from her eyes in a stream of red tears, sliding into the crevasses in her skin.
    He tried to shift, again without success.
    The monster lunged for Damien, her nails like yellowed talons. She screamed, and made a cry like a bird being strangled. Damien saw her forked tongue and smelled her foul breath as she fell against him. She was heavy and strong, intent upon attacking him.
    Damien pulled his dagger and buried it in her chest without hesitation. She fell back with a cry, her blood flowing from the wound, then attacked again. Was she immortal? Or dead already? Damien feared the odds were in her favor, especially as he felt his own strength fading. He knew he was fighting for his life, and he was determined to win.
    Being trapped in the underworld forever wasn’t the future he envisioned with Petra and his son.
    The fight was vicious and seemed to last a lifetime.
    Finally, the monster was motionless on the ground, lying in a pool of her own blood. Damien stood over her, watching for her to make another move, his heart racing. He was bleeding from a dozen wounds, exhausted and hungry. He stared down at the fallen creature until he felt someone’s presence behind him.
    He spun, his dagger at the ready, only to find Petra behind him.
    “For the love of Zeus,” she whispered, her horror clear as she looked at the corpse. “What have you done?”

 
    Chapter Four
     
    Petra couldn’t believe her eyes.
    The creature at Damien’s feet was clearly dead.
    He couldn’t possibly have made a worse choice. Petra rubbed her forehead, knowing that the chances of either of them escaping the underworld had just diminished to less than nothing.
    Damien read her reaction well. “What was she?”
    “One of the Erinyes,” Petra admitted, then gave Damien a look.
    He had paled. “The Kindly Ones?”
    The sight of him frightened her, for he looked more dead than she was. “They aren’t kindly and you know it. That’s just flattery, to keep them from doing their worst.”
    Damien eyed the fallen creature and shuddered.
    “You couldn’t have just scared her off, could you?” Petra asked, worry sharpening her tone. “You couldn’t have just injured her a little, instead of killing her outright?”
    “She attacked me! I didn’t have time to think or consider. It was her or me.”
    He was probably right about that.
    Damien fixed Petra with a look, then frowned. “But everyone in the underworld is dead already, except me. How could I kill anyone here?”
    “The Erinyes are half-divine.”
    “So, anything is possible.” Damien winced before she could say more. He passed a hand over his forehead, swore, then sank to his knees beside the fallen monster. “Of course, the Erinyes have a connection with Hades.”
    “They work for him, doing his will in tormenting the dead