Pandora's Pain Read online

  Hephastios would have been the one ordered to make me, but what did Athena have to do with anything? Making things wasn’t exactly her remit. She was more into killing them. She was pretty standoffish from what I remembered of her.

  “So, a bit like Adam and Eve?” Brock sounded amused, but I didn’t quite understand why.

  Information rushed into my brain from the gods’ brain dump thingy. Good to see Zeus hadn’t removed that feature when he sent me back down to Earth. From what I could tell, Adam and Eve were pretty much the Christian equivalent of my creation story, only with fewer gods. The two of them must have had it easy, only having to deal with one.

  “Yes, I suppose so,” I replied to Brock.

  “Tell me, Pandora, how do you know everything? How do you fit in so well if you’ve been locked in a box for thousands of years?” he demanded.

  Of all of them, I hadn’t expected him to be the most antagonistic over this. He was kind of being a dick about it. I liked him much better when he was just naked and quiet all the time.

  Ah, the good old days.

  “That’s the gods’ doing,” Alex answered for me.

  “They gave her the tools to be able to live in this world, including any information needed.”

  “So, you’re like a walking encyclopedia?” Zavier’s eyes lit up as he asked, and a small smile threatened on my face. I was glad his opinion of me hadn’t changed too much then.

  “Pretty much,” I responded, before turning to Alex. “Wait, you said they, shouldn’t that be we?”

  Horror flashed over his face as my question sank in.

  “We need to talk.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I was in Ashton’s bedroom at least, though this wasn’t quite the way I’d had in mind. Not with a confused looking god in front of me and Ashton very firmly on the other side of the closed door.

  “What?” I demanded of him.

  “You’re my punishment,” he blurted out.

  “I’m what?” I half shouted.

  “Zeus caught me making small talk with one of his favorite concubines and assumed more than there was.”

  I laughed sharply. “So, you’re not the god of the moment then? Does it hurt your fragile ego not to be the favorite?”

  His pretty eyes narrowed into thin slits to stare down on me.

  “Is nothing ever serious with you? I just told you I’m in the same shit boat you are, and you’re mocking me.”

  “I so rarely ever get to mock the gods. And you’re so good at being mocked, Alex.” My arms folded across my chest, and he mirrored the stance, looking much more intimidating than I did.

  If I was being honest, I was only teasing him to take my mind off of the events of the day. Everything was laid out now. I had nothing to hide and everything to lose. So, yes, I was trying to distract myself a little bit from what my future would hold.

  It held more pain. I knew it would. I‘d admitted to a room full of people that I was Pandora, sent here to steal their lives away simply to save my own.

  And in doing so, I basically admitted I’d never be able to do it. I’d never be able to steal their lives the way the gods did mine. I should have just conceded right then and there.

  “I’m trying to tell you something. If you’d just listen.” The somber look in his eyes pinned me in place.

  It sank a twirling feeling all through my stomach. A quietness pushed into the space between us. Slowly, he lowered himself until he was kneeling at my feet. He leaned forward, his broad shoulders pressed against my legs in a way that made me shift against his body.

  I know you don’t believe me and I know I’m the last person you’ll ever trust, but I’m on your side.

  His unspoken words drifted through my thoughts. They sent a shiver across my skin as they repeated over, and over, and over, again.

  It’s something he’d never be able to say out loud. It’s something I shouldn’t have believed.

  He was a god.

  But he wasn’t one of them. And I believed him entirely.

  When I saw him in the same imprisonment I‘d lived, I suddenly felt a connection between us. Were we all just prisoners of the gods?

  My fingers trembled lightly, and his palms pushed against my knuckles until his big hands covered mine.

  I’d never had an ally before. I certainly had never had a friend. Was that what Alex was? Was he my friend?

  The way his lips felt against mine skimmed through my mind. That hadn’t seemed friendly.

  Is this really what you’re thinking about right now?

  His tone was a rumbling but amused sound.

  A smirk tilted my lips and for once, he looked like he wanted to smile as well.

  I was tired. I was tired of feeling like a plaything to the gods.

  Will you help me? Will you help me save them as well as myself?

  The god who I hated so much that first day leaned in a little closer. He pushed so close there wasn’t any space left between us. I arched into his touch as my heart pounded louder in my ears.

  If I had one ally in all of this, I knew I’d have a fighting chance. I had a real chance at a real life.

  It all came down to what Alexius said next.

  “Never trust a god, Pandora. They care for themselves much more than they’ll ever care for you.” He held my gaze as he spoke intently. He spoke as if there was an audience watching us closely.

  Dread sank through me.

  Until his words whispered quietly through my mind.

  But for some fucking reason all I care about is you. I’ll destroy that fucking box if it’s the last thing I do.

  Hope sparked in my veins. It was alive and breeding. Because if anyone could destroy Pandora’s box, it would be the god of misery.

  The End

  The next book in Pandora’s story is on its way. Pandora’s Envy is releasing soon!

  Also by A.K. Koonce

  The Mortals and Mystics Series

  Fate of the Hybrid, Prequel

  When Fate Aligns, Book one

  When Fate Unravels, Book two

  When Fate Prevails, Book three

  The Resurrection Series

  Resurrection Island, Book one

  The Royal Harem Series

  The Hundred Year Curse

  The Curse of the Sea

  The Legend of the Cursed Princess

  The Hopeless Series

  Hopeless Magic

  Hopeless Kingdom

  Hopeless Realm

  Hopeless Sacrifice

  The Severed Souls Series

  Darkness Rising

  For exclusive sneak peeks and never before seen scenes check out A.K. Koonce’s newsletter or Facebook group:

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  Also by Laura Greenwood

  Ashryn Barker Trilogy (urban fantasy/reverse harem)

  The Paranormal Council (Paranormal Romance)

  Thornheart Coven (Paranormal Romance)

  Fated Seasons: Winter (Paranormal Romance/Reverse Harem)

  Fated Seasons: Spring (Paranormal Romance/Reverse Harem)

  Beyond the Curse (Fantasy Paranormal Fairy Tale)

  Children of Cursed (Fantasy Paranormal Fairy Tale)

  Blessed (Post Apocalyptic Paranormal/Reverse Harem)

  Rats: Tori (Streampunk/Reverse Harem)

  Seven Wardens, co-written with Skye MacKinnon (Urban Fantasy/Paranormal/Reverse Harem)

  Twin Souls Trilogy, co-written with Arizona Tape (Paranormal Romance)

  Dragon Soul Series, co-written with Arizona Tape (Paranormal Romance)

  Standalones:

  - Reaper (urban fantasy romance)

  - Assassin Princess (fantasy romance)

  - Hidden (dystopia/reverse harem)

  Ocean’s Serenade, co-written with J&L Wells (Paranormal Romance):

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