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The churning quickened, quickened, and the entire cave shook. Just a little. Just enough to cause dust to plume in the air and pebbles to fall from the ceiling, thudding on the ground.

“What’s that?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just hurry. Let’s get this done. Knife?”

“Here.”

Strong hands suddenly gripped Kane’s arms and flipped him over so that he was lying on his back. Those same hands pushed, hard, pinning him in place. Kane didn’t wait a second longer.

Now!

The shaking increased swiftly, the falling pebbles becoming falling boulders. Boom, boom. Boom! Someone screamed in pain. Kane was released. There was another scream, a round of curses.

Finally, Kane opened his eyes. Just in time, too. A boulder was heading straight for him. He rolled out of the way, coughing as his mouth filled with dirt and debris. The abrupt movement tore the stitches riding the curve of a rib.

His gaze panned his surroundings in one swoop. He was in a cave, just as he’d suspected, though it was more spacious than he would have believed possible, branching in several different directions. No wonder the Hunters had so easily overpowered his original captors. Not even an army could protect itself from ambush here. There were too many places to hide.

The Hunters scrambled for cover. The shaking continued and the rocks rained down. Another scream, a grunt. The crunch of breaking bone.

Kane lumbered to his feet. That’s the way, buddy. Keep at it.

“Don’t let him escape,” someone shouted.

“Got him in my sights!”

Crack.

A sharp pain lanced through his leg. A dark curse left him. Someone had shot him. He hurried to one of the darkened enclaves, dodging the boulders along the way. More shaking, more boulders. Soon he would be trapped. If he wasn’t already. But there was no way to stop a disaster of this magnitude once it had started.

He honestly didn’t mind the prospect of dying. He’d almost died a thousand times before and had long ago prepared himself for the eventuality. At least he was taking these Hunters with him. Not that Kane would give up without trying to save himself. His warrior instinct would allow nothing less.

He searched the shadows for a way out…saw the barest crack of light to the right. Not stopping to think, he dove for it, jerking at the rocks, widening the airy space, ignoring the twinges of pain shooting through him.

“Kane!”

William? He stilled, stiffened. Shit. Shit! If he killed his friend…

Crack.

“Human!” William shouted angrily. Someone must have shot at him. “You’re gonna hurt for that.”

Boom, boom, boom.

“Get out of here,” Kane shouted. “Run!”

“Kane, damn it! Where are you? I didn’t knock Nurse Ratchet out and travel all the way down here to my least favorite place just to play hide-and-seek with you. Get your ass over here!”

Kane pushed to his feet, inhaling more dust. He raced out of the safety of the enclosure—just in time to see William grab a Hunter by the throat. He wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see the massive rock descending on him.

And because Kane was watching William, he didn’t see the massive rock descending on him.

“SWEET SUNRISE, THAT was amazing.”

Paris rolled away from the grinning, panting female and her glistening sweat-sheened body to peer up at the ceiling. As he’d hoped, Arca hated Cronus and hadn’t minded betraying the god king. As he’d dreaded, she’d had a price— Paris’s body, his demon’s scent arousing her the moment he stepped inside her chamber.

He’d just spent the past hour pleasuring her in a way he was sure she’d never been pleasured. She had enjoyed every second of his attention, while he had loathed himself, his actions.

You do what you have to do.

He hadn’t had to worry about interruptions. The spacious bedroom was hidden in the back of the harem. A bedroom Arca couldn’t leave. Cronus had actually cursed her so that she would experience utter, absolute agony if she stepped outside the spacious boundaries of her “home.” And having learned from the mortals and their mistakes, the king had ensured there were no windows for the goddess to utilize.

Clearly, the king had thought it was better to deprive Arca of sunlight and fresh air than to chop off her long, silky hair.

She propped herself up on her elbow and stared down at him, white braids draped over her shoulder. “Well?”

“Yes, that was indeed amazing,” he said automatically, as he’d said to a thousand others.

Her smile slowly waned. “You could at least try to sound convincing.”

Sighing, he studied her. He’d been with countless others over the centuries, and she was by far the loveliest. But appearances mattered little to him. What was a beautiful face when a monster could very well lurk beneath? All that mattered was how the other person made you feel, inside and out.