Iphi dropped her snacks and rushed to me. Menelaus backhanded her and sent her flying across the room. She crashed against the windows, glass shards skittering across the dark floor.

“Take her.” The guards who still had their clothes on obeyed, dragging Iphi up by her arms and shaking her like a rag doll. Her head lolled forward, her unruly red mane covering her face. I knew Iphi too well. She was “playing possum,” as Lilah called it. What did Iphi mean by calling Menelaus her uncle, and how had she even wound up here?

Menelaus slid back between the sheets. “You see, Helen. I have this little idiot under my thumb. Harm any of my demons, and I’ll make her pay with interest.”

“When Artemis finds out—”

Menelaus laughed. “Do you still not understand the way the Underworld works? The gods do not rule here. The Titans created the Underworld to escape them. I rule Decanum, and soon I will rule the Bloodkeep. After that, everything is up for the taking. Even Olympus. With you at my side and all the peoples of the Underworld under my control, we could overrun even Zeus.”

I pulled against my chains and stared down the evil before me. “I will never help you enslave the Underworld.”

He pinched my chin and drew my face to his. “You will, or Iphi will start losing fingers. They’ll grow back, of course, but that won’t help the pain. Not to mention, there are other ways to make you comply.”

He crushed my mouth with his and fisted a hand in my hair, subduing my fight. It wasn’t so much a kiss as a stamp of ownership. My power shimmered around us. He let me go. “It’s a shame Cranfel got away with those bracelets. They would have made it a lot easier to help you control yourself. But it doesn’t matter. Your sister will do the trick, and I have nothing to fear from your little bouts of temper.”

I readied myself to end the demon and hoped Iphi was prepared.

A knock at the door stayed my hand.

“What?” Menelaus asked.

“I’m sorry, my lord, but there’s something over the desert. It’s big. My spies have sent word that it’s, well, you aren’t going to believe this, but—”

“Get on with it!” Menelaus roared.

“It’s a dragon. It’s laid waste to our outposts, burning them to the ground in seconds. It will be here in minutes. And there are riders atop it, though we don’t know who.”

My heart lightened. It had to be the great untamed creature on the watchtower. Had Paris gentled the beast and convinced it to aid him?

Menelaus stood and dressed hastily.

“Keep her close to you. If Helen does anything untoward, cut off one of Iphi’s fingers.”

“Yes, my lord,” the guards said in unison.

“You two idiots—follow me.” The strip poker losers followed Menelaus as he dashed from the room.

Godsdamnit. I had missed my chance.

“Don’t worry, my lady, he’ll be back for more.” One of the guards leered at me. His horns were short and curved back over his pale head. “Did you know I saw you the day you…” He mimed stabbing himself in the neck. “Yeah, I was there. Want to know what Menelaus did to your body before Artemis showed up? I watched.”

My magic sizzled in the air. The demon drew one of Iphi’s fingers into his mouth and showed me his sharp teeth. One bite would ruin Iphi’s ruse of unconsciousness. I calmed and willed my magics back down.

The guard released Iphi’s finger and shoved her into the arms of the other demon. “I think I’d like to get another glimpse of the woman who launched a thousand ships.” He grabbed his crotch for emphasis. I looked away.

He came closer, standing at the end of the bed. The sheet slid down my body, revealing first my breasts, and then the rest of me.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” The guard’s voice dropped an octave, lust thick in his words. “It’s even better alive.”

I needed him closer to keep my magic from harming Iphi, but he made no move to touch me. Menelaus would not have forgiven such a trespass.

I turned back to him. “It feels even better than it looks,” I purred.

His horns seemed to extend farther out behind his head, matching the heavy shaft in his pants. Still he held back. I allowed myself to shiver in the cold. He looked to my hard nipples, already budded in the night air. When he raised his gaze back to my eyes, I licked my lips. That tipped him over the edge. He jumped on top of me and scrambled to free his erection. Iphi looked up and winked. Done.

The demon was charred before he even knew he was on fire. He rolled off the bed and hit the floor, sending up a plume of ash. The chains flowed away from my wrists in molten ropes.

Iphi had taken the other guard’s blade and shoved it deep in his heart. He looked so surprised, it was almost comical. I jumped from the bed and threw on the clothes piled on the floor as Iphi took the remaining weapons from her guard.

“What in Hades are you even doing here?” I asked as we went to the door and listened.

Iphi blew a red corkscrew of hair from her face. “Long story. But I can say it was fun while it lasted. I’m awash in ingots and men’s clothing from all my poker matches.” She waggled her eyebrows.

“What am I going to do with you?” A smile crept up on me. Gods, Iphi had always been too much.

“Well, I suggest we go kick some major demon ass and then toss back some margaritas? But, of course, I defer to your strategy and all.” Iphi made a decidedly male, lewd pumping motion with her hand.

I laughed. “Oh, Iphi, I’ve missed you, and your plan’s as good as any.”

We backed up and kicked down the double doors before rushing out into a hallway filled with guards.

Iphi cracked her knuckles. “Let’s have some fun.”