What annoyed her most was how beautiful the women were. Long dark hair, big breasts, flawless skin and, from the angle of the camera, tall. She, on the other hand, was just over five feet with long blonde hair that now contained way too many split ends. Living on the road and using hotel shampoo for nine months had taken a toll on her perky outlook, too.
Zac, you jerk hole!
But here was the thing—the seed of doubt swimming in Tula’s head that had driven her on this journey: The person who sent the pics claimed to be from the underworld. He claimed to be holding the gods as prisoners. But did she really know if they were telling the truth?
Nope.
And did she really know if the photos were recent or taken during Zac’s pre-Tula days?
Nope.
Either way, she had to find the truth. If not for herself, then to free the immortals, many of whom were her friends.
Except Minky. She can rot! Tula loathed unicorns, which said a lot. She’d never hated anyone. Still, there’d been no sign of Minky either.
Yuri pointed his flashlight at his feet and stared at Tula’s face, as if trying to memorize it. “Miss Tula, please consider come back witt me. I feeling bad things will happen to you here. Diss unholy place is not meant for the living.”
Being in this cave didn’t scare her. Going to the underworld didn’t scare her either. The only thing that frightened her was that perhaps Zac had been lying, that nine months ago, he’d said all those sweet, sweet loving words simply to get her into bed. Which he had.
But what if he never loved me? He was, after all, the God of Temptation. Tempting humans was his job.
Okay, fine. And sometimes he helped them learn about their deepest desires, too. But mostly, he was the king of second guesses, forbidden desires, and greener grass—basically all things that could tempt a human on a disastrous detour.
Did that make him untrustworthy, unfaithful, or bad?
I wish I knew.
Until recently, Tula had been a water-bottle-half-full kinda gal. She always saw Zac as the god who helped humans tap into their hearts and discover their inner strength. After all, the antidote to temptation was knowing what you truly desired. It was being loyal to those around you. It was knowing your destiny. Bottom line, resisting temptation made people stronger.
But maybe she’d gotten Zac all wrong. Perhaps she’d been blinded by his stunning looks and those hypnotic turquoise eyes. In her defense, he was a god. Physically, she’d never seen a man so beautiful with his seven-foot frame packed with ripped manly muscles that seemed to always be flexing and rippling. And dazzling me.
Even his brothers, the God of Death and War, the Sun God, the God of Wine, and all the rest, couldn’t compete with Zac’s looks. Zac was simply…perfect, sculpted by the hands of the Universe herself.
Well, maybe perfect is an overreach. The man definitely had flaws. His ego was a bit much. And he was a bona fide playboy. Or used to be?
That was what she needed to know. Had she fallen for his tricks like so many women before her? Or was the bond they’d formed over these past years real? How about his marriage proposal? Now that he’d had the milk for free…
Tula exhaled slowly, willing her heart to stay in one piece. She couldn’t fall apart. Not yet. Not until she learned the truth. “I have to keep going, Yuri. But whatever happens, it’s not on you.” It’s on Zac.
Yuri’s brown eyes filled with giant sloppy tears that dried on his cheeks right before her eyes. “May the gods be with you, Miss Tula. I pray to them.”
Tula wanted to laugh. The gods couldn’t help anyone now. It was she who had to help them.
“Thank you, Yuri. See you tomorrow.” Tula turned, shining her flashlight ahead on the cave floor. “Or not.”
CHAPTER TWO
Zac, God of Temptation and the crankiest motherfucker on the planet, jerked his wrists for the thousandth time, attempting to free himself of the chains that fastened him to the Wall of Shame.
No use. He was stuck here naked, pinned to this cold, rough stone. And lucky him! Maury, the self-proclaimed “demon king,” had strung Zac up on the center of the wall so every soul traveling between this world and the next could see him as they passed through.
Of course, most souls stayed to party or play poker while deciding if they wanted to be reborn. Most did. Some rejoined the Universe’s cosmic soup of energy.
In any case, the underworld was meant to be a train station of sorts. Neutral ground. Unless one was deemed irredeemable by the gods. Those souls went to a very special section of the underworld to be taken out of circulation like a bad dollar bill. Now this demon king, a king Zac had never heard of, was in charge and freeing all the bad souls.
Not good.
A group of green moss nymphs skipped through the smoky cavernous room filled with endless poker tables. They giggled and pointed at Zac’s cock.
“What the hell are you laughing at?” he barked. “My dick is ten times bigger than your entire body!”
Fucking forest nymphs. The gods should’ve made them extinct along with sex fairies. Everyone knew their kind was trouble. Always hiding in cracks and crevices. No. He didn’t mean the types one found in rocks.
And how come they were allowed to roam free in the underworld, huh? Weren’t all immortal creatures imprisoned here as “guests” of the demon king?
Who let that fuck face out of his realm, anyway? Demons were banned from the human world, the underworld, and the internet. Can’t trust ’em. A few exceptions had been made for a handful of incubi, but only because they were part human or because they’d renounced demon life. Otherwise, out! The gods then sealed the portals to their realm and called it a day. So, someone either let “the king” out, or he found a new exit on his own.
“Zackie, boy, how are we today?” said a deep and very masculine voice, much like his own.
Oh goodie. It’s the king. And he was wearing a tuxedo today. What was the special occasion? Zac’s suspicious hackles rose.
“Hello, dick tart,” said Zac. “I was just thinking about how much fun I’m going to have killing you.”
The king shook his head of short black hair. “Why do you insist on calling me hateful names when you know it only feeds my evil soul?”
“Because it makes me feel better, Maury.”
“Then don’t let me stop you.”
“Speaking of stopping, when are you going to get on with this shitshow and tell me what you want?” Maury had to have an endgame. He’d somehow killed off, removed, cleansed, whatever, the entire Earth of all immortal life. At least, that was the intel coming from the newly arrived human souls who stopped by to see Zac and check out his naked junk. Not one lifted a finger to help him, though.
Stupid humans.
Of course, the only one he cared for was Tula, the love of his life.
They’d met when she came to work at Immortal Matchmakers, Inc.—the dating agency he and his sister Cimil opened specifically for immortals. Tula had been their wide-eyed, pure-as-the-driven-snow human assistant. One look at her big blue eyes, long blonde ponytail, and radiant innocence, and Zac immediately became infatuated. Didn’t hurt that she also prided herself on being a virtuous woman in great need of temptation, or that she wore full-coverage dresses.