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The Darkest Lie
Gena Showalter
Forced to his knees in agony whenever he speaks the truth, Gideon can recognize any lie—until he captures Scarlet, a demon-possessed immortal who claims to be his long-lost wife.He doesn't remember the beautiful female, much less wedding—or bedding—her. But he wants to. . . almost as much as he wants her. But Scarlet is keeper of Nightmares, too dangerous to roam free. A future with her might mean ultimate ruin. Especially as Gideon's enemies draw closer—and the truth threatens to destroy all he's come to love. . . .
Praise for New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author
Gena Showalter’s
LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD
The Darkest Night
“A fascinating premise, a sexy hero and non-stop action,
The Darkest Night is Showalter at her finest, and a fabulous start to an imaginative new series.”
—New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning
“Dark and tormented doesn’t begin to describe
these cursed warriors called the Lords of the Underworld.
Showalter has created characters desperately
fighting to retain a semblance of humanity, which
means the heroines are in for a rough ride. This is
darkly satisfying and passionately thrilling stuff.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews, 4 stars
“Amazing! Stupendous! Extraordinary!
Gena Showalter has done it again.
The Darkest Night is the fabulous start of an edgy, thrilling series…”
—Fallen Angels reviews
“Not to be missed…the hottest new
paranormal series.”
—Night Owl Romance
The Darkest Kiss
“In this new chapter the Lords of the Underworld
engage in a deadly dance. Anya is a fascinating blend
of spunk, arrogance and vulnerability – a perfect
match for the tormented Lucien.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews, 4½ stars
“Talk about one dark read…If there is one book
you must read this year, pick up The Darkest Kiss… a Gena Showalter book is the best of the best.”
—Romance Junkies
The Darkest Pleasure
“Showalter’s darkly dangerous Lords of the
Underworld trilogy, with its tortured characters,
comes to a very satisfactory conclusion…[her]
compelling universe contains the possibility
of more stories to be told.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews, 4 stars
“Of all the books in this series, this is the most
moving and compelling. The concluding chapters
will simply stun you with the drama of them…You
will not be sorry if you add this to your collection.”
—Mists and Stars
The Darkest Whisper
“If you like your paranormal dark and passionately
flavoured, this is the series for you.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews, 4 stars
Lords of the Underworld
In a remote fortress in Budapest, six immortal
warriors–each more dangerously seductive than
the last–are bound by an ancient curse none has
been able to break. When a powerful enemy returns,
they will travel the world in search of a sacred relic
of the gods–one that threatens to destroy them all.
Gena Showalter’s
paranormal series
LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD
continues with
THE DARKEST LIE
Also available in this series
THE DARKEST NIGHT
THE DARKEST KISS
THE DARKEST PLEASURE
THE DARKEST WHISPER
DARK BEGINNINGS
THE DARKEST PASSION
The
Darkest
Lie
Gena Showalter
www.mirabooks.co.uk (http://www.mirabooks.co.uk)
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gena Showalter has been praised for her “sizzling page-turners” and “utterly spellbinding stories”. She is the author of more than seventeen novels and anthologies, including breathtaking paranormal and contemporary romances, cutting-edge young adult novels and stunning urban fantasy. Readers can’t get enough of her trademark wit and singular imagination.
To learn more about Gena and her books, please visit www.genashowalter.com and www.genashowalter blogspot.com.
In honour of the keeper of Lies, I thought I’d write
this dedication in Gideon Speak.
To someone who didn’t (and doesn’t) help me
every step of the way: Margo Lipschultz
To the five men I absolutely despise:
Jill Monroe, Kresley Cole and PC Cast
To my hated wife: Max
And firstly, to Gideon herself. To my complete
delight, you made my job so easy, the words flowing
like smooth, rich wine. You never once proved
stubborn, drove me to the edge of insanity or put
yourself in impossible positions that I then had to
scramble to find ways out of. Thank you.
Prologue
GIDEON STARED down at the woman sleeping atop the bed of cloud-soft cerulean cotton.
His wife.
Maybe.
Inky hair tangled around an innately sensual face, long lashes casting shadows over graceful cheeks. One of her hands rested at her temple, her fingers curling inward, her azure-painted nails gleaming in the golden glow of the lamp. Her nose was perfect in shape and size, her chin stubborn, and her lips the plumpest—and reddest—he’d ever seen.
And her body…gods. Perhaps those made-for-sin curves were the reason she bore the name Scarlet. Her wickedly rounded breasts…the slender dip of her waist…the feminine flare of her hips…the lean length of her legs…every part of her was meant to lure, to ensnare.
Without a doubt, she was the most hauntingly lovely female he’d ever beheld. A genuine sleeping beauty. Only, this beauty would come up swinging if he tried to kiss her awake.
The thought had him grinning in pure male satisfaction.
One look, and a man knew she was passion and fire underneath that snow-white skin. What most men didn’t know, however, was that, like Gideon, she was possessed by a demon.
Difference is, I earned mine. She didn’t.
For-freaking-ever ago, he’d helped his friends steal and open Pandora’s box, unleashing the evil inside. Yeah, yeah. A mistake. Hardly worth a second’s thought, if you asked him, but the gods hadn’t, so, as punishment, each warrior responsible was cursed to host a demon inside his own body. Baddies like Death, Disaster, Violence, Disease, yada yada.
There’d been more demons than warriors, though, so the remaining fiends had been placed inside the immortal prisoners of Tartarus. Where Scarlet had resided her entire life.
