Pandora's Pain (The Harem of Misery Series Book 1) Read online

  Pandora’s Pain

  Pandora’s Pain

  A.K. Koonce & Laura Greenwood

  Pandora’s Pain

  Copyright 2018 A.K. Koonce & Laura Greenwood

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover design by Vampari Design

  Editing by Gina Edits Words

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without express written permission from the author. Any unauthorized use of this material is prohibited.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Also by A.K. Koonce

  Also by Laura Greenwood

  Chapter One

  In the previous several thousand years I hadn't given much thought to my existence. Neither had the gods. Except the occasional heckler. They popped in from time to time to remind me of how exponentially I'd screwed up. How utterly worthless my life was.

  Until today.

  My eyes narrowed, attempting to block out the fresh, blinding light cutting through my vision. It was the first slice I'd seen in decades. Not at all like the darkness of my imprisonment.

  I could feel more too. My nerves tingled with unease throughout my body. Weakness clung to my heavy limbs. I felt like shit to be honest.

  "We appreciate you taking the time to meet with us, Pandora." His voice rasped over the ending of my name like he’d been waiting a lifetime to say it. The taunting, sensual tone made my stomach knot around itself.

  Yet, I stared up at him with feeble posture, my chin held defiantly high. "I didn't realize I had a choice."

  Zeus' golden eyes swirled with a fiery power which made my pounding heart all too aware of itself. Slowly, a cruel smile tipped his lips. I was nothing more than a play thing to them. They must have been truly bored today to have pulled my box from their little shelf for entertainment.

  “We all have choices, Pandora.” He gave the goddess next to him a confident smirk as quiet laughter skimmed through the room.

  “Is there something you wanted?” Pain struck through my jaw from how tightly I clenched it together.

  Could we just get on with it? I had guilt and petty sulking to attend to.

  A cool breeze whipped through the open court, pulling at my blonde hair. The dry locks of my hair were longer than I remembered. My bare feet shifted against the gritty cobblestone. Endless archways crafted into perfection and thousands of flowers surrounded me, but I didn’t dare deter my gaze from the dangerous god before me.

  I existed solely because the gods wanted to test me. They gave me a box filled with miseries and called it a gift. The world was filled with terrible things, not because I chose to open that box, but because they chose to gift it to a simple mortal.

  Not that they’d take responsibility.

  Who could blame a god after all?

  “We’ve been thinking.” His deep voice rumbled with hidden humor. “We think we’ve been a little unfair with you.”

  My lips parted as I glared up at him.

  A little?

  “Locking you away for all of eternity may have been a bit rash.”

  As he spoke, I tried my best not to let my total outrage scream from my lips. A look of sweet respect was all I gave. Or tried to give anyway.

  “We’d like to offer you a chance at redemption.”

  A knowing feeling tangled through my stomach. Fearful doubt flooded my chest as I waited for the game that was about to unfold.

  “If you could take back a small fraction of the world’s miseries that you unleashed, would you?”

  A heavy pause settled around us as my attention drifted from one god to the next. A dozen of them sat lazily around the courtyard, their gazes holding shining amusement in them. Except for one. The guard in gold-plated armor at Zeus’ side never once looked at me. His attention remained straight forward, seemingly unaware of the topic at hand.

  “Of course,” I finally said in a quiet tone.

  I wish I could strip the world of the darkness I unleashed all those years ago.

  Would the gods really allow that?

  “Good.” A smile crept across his sun-kissed features. “We’re going to send you back. If you can retrieve three great miseries that are impacting the world today, then we’ll pardon you for your tremendous sins.”

  “Retrieve?” Vomit threatened my words, my stomach growing more and more precarious as he spoke.

  “There are influential people in the world. People who simply snap a picture and share it with the world, causing a flood of misery and sin to follow in their wake. Capture three of those people—willingly—to make the world a better place.”

  “You want me to take someone’s life away?”

  Just like they had done to me.

  “You wouldn’t be taking a life. You’d be improving the world, Pandora.”

  Guilt lay bitterly in my stomach as I considered the god’s offer.

  How many more centuries of nothingness would I live? How long would they really keep me locked away within that box? Was my life worth less than the terrible people he just spoke of?

  “How would I even know how to find these people?”

  Why was I even considering it? I must truly have been a terrible soul. A mess right from the start.

  “Don’t worry about finding them. You may be blind to it, but misery is drawn to you.”

  A hum of mocking laughter shook through the air.

  Another few seconds passed while I stood from my meager spot at the gods’ feet.

  “And if I retrieve these miseries, you’ll set me free?”

  Free? Was there even such a thing when gods as mischievous as demons loomed over my life?

  There was a time I used to beg for freedom. The box was riddled with pain. The feel of it sank through my bones. It set into my mind and my heart until it was a numbing sensation that no longer held any meaning. But I remembered the early days well. I cried for years. I cried so much there were no tears, just tormenting sounds of my pain.

  I liked to think I wasn’t that weak person any more, but I was still the same person, just without the tears.

  “Bring us back three simple miseries, and we will release you.”

  It had been thousands of years since I saw the world. Was this a trap to see if I’d become the very thing I was trying to retrieve?

  “I’ll even send my personal guard to assist you while on Earth.”

  The man at his side gave me a shifting, stern look. The shining helmet that framed his sharp features made him appear impossibly angrier.

  This was definitely a trap. That guy looked like the biggest asshole I’d ever seen, and they wanted to send him with me to what would surely be a comedy for the gods to laugh at.

  Hesitation skimmed through the air as the guard and
I stared at each other, seemingly trying to gauge who would break first.

  It wasn’t going to be me.

  “I need an answer, Pandora. This kind offer will not happen again.” Zeus’ aggression boomed through the court.

  This was my only chance. Could I really take three people’s lives to atone for my own?

  “Yes.” My chin raised high. A look of confidence was all I clung to even as my stomach began to sink.

  A cruel smile twisted the god’s lips, and I knew then that I had made a mistake.

  The warm brick beneath my feet began to tremble. It shook so fiercely my knees gave out, hitting hard against the ground.

  “Have a… safe trip, Pandora.” Zeus’ blazing eyes, glinting with wicked embers, were the last thing I saw before pain struck through my chest.

  A single fearful breath was all I was given before he ripped away my existence.

  I didn’t realize I would land in a worse hell than I had left.

  Chapter Two

  The gritty earth tore at my skin when my knees hit painfully against the dirty sidewalk. My palms held me up, my face inches away from a piece of pink, chewed up gum.

  Gum?

  A small amount of foreign information drilled through my mind. It hurt. Magic tingled through me, and I knew the work of the gods was flooding my senses. They gave me a trickle of information about today’s world.

  But when I stood, I wasn’t prepared. I wasn’t ready.

  The information wasn’t enough.

  Chaotic noise washed over the city before me. Horns blared, shouting and yelling and harmonious music tangled together. It shoved anxiety through me at the sound of it all.

  Bland colors of gray and white and black decorated the towering buildings stacked high into the heavens.

  Early morning sunlight warmed my skin, and the feel of it alone gave me the strength to stand.

  Black boots stepped into my vision, and when I stood before the man, I vaguely remembered him as the hard-glaring guard Zeus appointed to help me.

  Crystal clear blue eyes studied me. His pale hair was shaved short, giving his features a more severe look.

  “What are you waiting for? You going to cleanse the world of these miseries or continue to waste our time sight-seeing?”

  The cold tone of his voice set annoyance through my veins. This man was here to mock me while the gods were away.

  Never in my life had I seen such beautiful but terrible people. This one was no different.

  “You look weird. They did something to you.”

  His words caused fear to slice through my chest. They did something to me? Something more?

  Why can’t they just leave me be?

  I turned abruptly, my shoulder jarring into several people as they quickly passed. Loud voices filled the busy street. Not one of them acknowledged me. Not an excuse me or apology was offered.

  When my gaze landed on my reflection in a shining storefront window, the breath fell from my lungs. My normally ratty blonde hair hung in a glossy wave of perfection that blew lightly in the breeze. The green of my eyes was brighter, more alive and my skin radiated with a warm hue of health and beauty.

  “They didn’t do anything to me, you asshole.” My eyes narrowed on his reflection. “They just put me back to how I was before the gods sank their claws into me.”

  “Careful how you speak of the gods, Dora.”

  My jaw ticked when he said my name. “Don’t call me that.”

  The stern look in his features smoothed and he almost smiled.

  Almost.

  The golden armor no longer covered his body. A soft cotton shirt was pulled across his broad shoulders. The simple clothing didn’t take away from his stiff, soldier-like posture.

  “I’m just saying you look tolerable now.” A taunting look shone in his pretty eyes.

  Tolerable?

  Was that supposed to be a compliment? It’s not as if I was a beast before.

  Asshole.

  “What’s your name?” My question was clipped, and I forced myself hold his hard gaze.

  “Alexius. Call me Alex. Unless you want a lot of music references coming your way, you’ll consider letting me call you Dora.”

  “What’s wrong with my name?” The two of us really might have wasted all of our time with petty banter like this.

  But the gods would never allow it.

  The skies rumbled, turning a brooding gray color.

  “Shit, it’s going to rain. Lead the way. Please. I have more important things to do than to prance around the mortal world with a plaything like you.” His attention shifted quietly over our surroundings, taking in every detail.

  Annoyance prickled through my nerves as I stared up at this insufferable man the gods had gifted to help me.

  Was he to be my protector here?

  Tension filled my spine.

  I didn’t need a protector. Especially a godly protector.

  He’d cause more harm than help.

  Without warning, I walked away from the warrior. A pleased smile pulled at my lips as he stumbled after me.

  My heels clicked against the sidewalk. An expensive pair of black high heels were on my feet, and I realized how easy it was to walk in them. It’s as if I hadn’t been curled away in a prison for the last several thousand years.

  The gods could truly do amazing things.

  Like make me look tolerable.

  I was still grumbling over my protector’s kind compliment when a woman turned the corner, her legs tangled with mine and I gripped her hand quickly before she almost fell to the dirty ground.

  Small specks of gold swam across my vision, blurring it slightly and making me wonder if I’d actually knocked my head as I landed.

  I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision. But nothing happened. They still glittered around the woman in front of me. Maybe they were real after all. Some remnant of the magic the gods had sent me here with.

  The woman’s lips tilted into a smile as her gaze trailed warmly over my skin. “I’m sorry,” she said in a purring voice.

  Finally, someone in this city knew how to apologize.

  Her palm smoothed a wrinkle from the front of my dress, her fingers lingering warmly against my abdomen.

  What a kind woman. So sweet.

  Alex stepped closer to me, his attention settling on the small contact of her palm against my body.

  “If you’re interested, I have a few hours to kill.” That smile still clung to her features as I stared at her in confusion.

  The glittering specks were fading a little now, but I could still see them in the corners of my eyes.

  “Interested in what?” My lips parted as I tried to understand what she wanted from me.

  Her warm body leaned nearer to me, brushing against my chest slightly.

  Alex shoved himself closer, his strong arm wrapping around my hip as he pulled me hard against his side.

  It was odd how perfectly I fit against him. The hard muscle of his arm melded against the curves of my body.

  “She’s with me.” He stared her down.

  Her attention drifted from me to the overbearing man beside me. The soft cotton of his shirt met my palms as I tried to push space between us.

  What was his problem?

  Finally, she stepped past us, forgetting me and the weird protector the gods thought could somehow help me.

  This was going to turn into a circus, I just knew it.

  “What is with you?” I asked, shoving hard out of his embrace, gold specks dancing around my fingers. What was with them? I hoped they'd go away, otherwise they were going to drive me mad.

  His beautiful eyes grew wide as he looked down on me with ridicule. “That woman wanted to fuck you, Dora.”

  “Stop calling me that. And no, she didn’t. She simply felt bad for running into me. Some people are just good people, Alex.”

  “No. They’re not. Not anymore. Her hand was three inches away from jumping the border and diving int
o your panties.”

  What was he even saying right now? “You’re delusional. You’re not going to be any help.”

  Anger shook through his strong frame. “And you’re not going to recognize sin. Sin literally just felt you up in broad daylight and you thought she was just a good Samaritan. The gods knew you’d fail. We’re fucked.”

  Doubt seeped into me, dropping hard to the pit of my stomach.

  What if he’s right?

  Chapter Three

  "I'm confused. What are we doing here?" I asked Alex, who paced in front of me. Why he couldn't just relax was a little beyond me. Especially with the big soft bed in the room.

  Then again, the big soft bed was mine. I didn't want him joining me on it and ruining my new luxury.

  "You don't expect to go running around collecting sin right away, do you?" Alex replied.

  A scowl pulled at my lips. He was going to just continue sucking all the fun out of my new-found freedom if he kept this up.

  I was here in the real world for the first time in so long. I wanted to explore it all. I wanted to see it all and experience it all before the gods ripped it away once again.

  "According to you, I wouldn't know sin if it was right in front of me," I parroted. I should have been insulted he thought that. I wasn't as naive as he seemed think. I couldn't be. Whether I liked it or not, I had opened that box. Sin was something I understood, even if I couldn't always recognize it.

  On second thought... this was going to be more difficult than I'd first imagined.

  "Which god are you anyway?" I blurted out, putting my hands out behind me and propping myself up so I could see him properly. I wouldn't be able to maintain this position for long, but this conversation would hopefully be short.

  "What?"

  "You heard me." I didn't recognize him, which meant he wasn't one of the original Pantheon. Or at least, not one of the ones who'd been powerful when I'd been given my box. Of course, that meant nothing. There'd always been hundreds of gods. No one could have known all of them.

  "I can't tell you that."

  "Can't or won't?"

  His scowl almost rivaled mine. That was a won't then. No matter. I'd work it out in time. Or he'd slip up and actually tell me by accident. That was always a possibility.