TWISTED (Eternal Guardians Book 7) (45 page)

He fell against her, and she wrapped her arms around him, kissed his cheek, his temple, sifted her fingers into his hair and held him close for as long as she could. Her heart pounded hard as the bliss settled, and a warm happiness encircled her heart in the silence. One that brought a smile to her lips. One she’d never experienced before. Because this—he—was everything she’d never been strong enough to hope for.

But even as that happiness spread through her veins, a tiny voice whispered this was too good to be true. That love, for someone like her, would never last. And though she fought it, something in the center of her chest grew deathly afraid the voice might be right.
 

He pushed up on his elbow and looked down at her, his brows drawing together in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Thankful that he couldn’t read her mind, she swallowed back the fear and told herself that tonight she wouldn’t worry about the future. Tonight all that mattered was this. Him. Them. This moment. Everything else could wait.
 

She lifted her lips back to his. “Just kiss me again.”

A slow, sexy smile curled his mouth as he rolled to his back, pulling her on top of all his muscular heat. “Mm, baby.” He tangled his hand in her hair and tugged her down toward his tantalizing mouth. “That is never something you have to ask for twice.”

She held her breath and kissed him. And for the first time in she couldn’t remember how long, she prayed.

She prayed that he was right.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

I
sadora stood in the dark closet in the run-down apartment on the outskirts of Tiyrns and lowered the hood of her cloak. Looking up the long metal rungs of the ladder toward the trapdoor above, she drew a steadying breath. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to climb, but she wasn’t going back to the castle. Not yet, at least.
 

She’d known exactly where Demetrius would go. Knew his thoughts and what he was feeling better than he did. As she pulled herself up the ladder, she wondered how he was able to get his big body through this small space. How he’d done it for so many years when he’d chosen to live in this tiny place instead of in the luxury each Argonaut deserved.

She wasn’t letting him revert back to this. Not to thinking he didn’t matter. Because he did. More than anyone else in this world or the next.
 

Breathless, she reached the top and pressed her hand against the door. Metal hinges creaked. The muscles in her arms burned. But before she even pushed the door up two inches, it swung back, and strong male hands gripped her, pulling her up to the wood decking of the octagonal room, then tugged her into a sea of strength and heat.

“
Kardia
.” Demetrius dragged her so close, he was all she felt. “What the hell are you doing here? Are you crazy?”

“Yes,” she said against him, holding on and not letting go. “Crazy for you.”

He released a long breath above her head, but didn’t seem to want to let go of her either, and for that she was glad. So very glad. “How in the name of the gods did you get out of the castle unnoticed?”

“Orpheus’s invisibility cloak.”

“Damn daemon,” he muttered. “I’m gonna burn that thing.”

“No, you won’t. I won’t let you.” She hugged him tighter, digging her fingertips into the muscles of his back. “I looked everywhere for you.”

He swallowed hard. “I couldn’t stay. I would have come back. I just—”

“I didn’t do it.”

He stilled against her. “You didn’t?”

She shook her head and beat back the tears that wanted to fall. “I couldn’t. I don’t want anyone but you.”

His arms tightened around her with the strength of a vise, and he lifted her feet from the floor, turning his face into her neck as he held her to him. “Stupid female,” he whispered against her. “So, so stupid…”

Those tears spilled over. She couldn’t stop them. She sifted her fingers into his hair. “We’ll have to find another way, because I can’t be with anyone else. I would rather die than do that to us. I love you. Just you. Always.”

His mouth found hers. And she clung to him as he kissed her, knowing that this, their love, was stronger than any soul mate bond. His strength would keep her alive. It had to.

“Love me, Demetrius,” she said against his mouth. “Love me right now.”

He pulled her toward a pile of blankets on the far side of the small room and lowered them to the floor, tugging her on top of all his strong, delicious heat. After swiping the cloak from her shoulders, he slid his fingers up under her sweater, lifted his mouth back to hers, and whispered, “Ah,
kardia
. I already do. I’ll love you forever. No matter what.”

C
ynna lay in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling, unable to sleep. Again.

She glanced down at Nick softly dozing against her, his head pillowed on her chest, his legs intertwined with hers in the sheets, his arms wrapped around her, holding her close. Love blossomed all through her heart as she ran her fingers through his silky hair, but it didn’t ease her worry or stop that niggling voice in the back of her head.

Sighing, she looked back up at the ceiling. The voice was right. Even if Nick didn’t wise up to reality and leave her on his own, there were still a hundred reasons why they just wouldn’t work in the long run. The biggest of which, that voice whispered, was Zagreus.

A shudder ran through her as her mind drifted to the Prince of Darkness. He was still out there. Probably pissed that she’d left. And though she wanted to believe they’d escaped from his prison on their own, she knew if he hadn’t wanted them to go, they’d still be locked in that hellhole. Which meant he was biding his time, waiting for…something.
 

Disjointed memories swam through her head. She tried to pull them into view. Couldn’t quite make them connect. She remembered being in her room in the caves. Remembered someone holding her down. Remembered Zagreus’s menacing voice echoing in her ears.

“You’re going to make him fall for you. And when he finally turns his back on that useless hero honor and chooses you, then we’ll have what we want. Then I’ll come and reclaim you both.”

That shudder turned to icy fingers rushing down her spine. She’d been so focused on Isadora and what was happening with Nick and his soul mate these last few days, she’d ignored the biggest threat of all.

She glanced down at Nick again, her heart racing. And remembered Zander’s words earlier in the queen’s office.
 

“Have you ever seen what happens to an Argonaut when his soul mate dies?”

Yes, she had seen it. She’d seen Ari. The former Argonaut was completely broken. Nick was strong enough to fight the darkness but not a shattered soul. What would happen to him if Isadora died? What would he do?

In a firestorm of understanding, Zagreus’s plan made sense. The reason he’d let them go. The reason he hadn’t come after them yet. The reason he’d made her drink his blood that night in her room.

A new, more crucial urgency pushed at her from every direction. Slowly, so she didn’t wake Nick, she climbed out from under him, dropped to the floor, and found her clothes. Tiptoeing out into the hall, she pulled them on while her fingers shook with both fear and dread.

She didn’t bother with her jacket, just rushed downstairs and out onto Delia’s porch before it was too late. Picturing the castle, she closed her eyes and flashed to the front gates.

The guards let her pass with hardly a look, something she was grateful for now. She raced into the castle, then stopped in the massive foyer. It was past midnight. Everyone was likely asleep. But this couldn’t wait until morning. Gripping the banister, she skipped stairs and raced for the upper floors.

She sprinted down the long corridor toward the queen’s suite, then slammed on her brakes and jerked back when she heard voices in the same sitting area where she’d encountered Isadora and her daughter.

Her chest rose and fell as she stepped under the archway and peered inside. Demetrius sat back in the corner of a plush couch with one leg on each side of Isadora. She lay back against his chest cradling Elysia and feeding her a bottle. The baby cooed and tried to grab the bottle. Isadora laughed. Demetrius closed his eyes and pressed his lips against the queen’s temple, holding her close and breathing deep.

Happy. They were happy. A family unit. The way Cynna’s parents had once been with her. And she was about to destroy them for all eternity.

“Cynna?” Isadora looked up. “Is everything okay?”

Cynna swallowed the lump in her throat. Guilt washed through her. For a sister she’d always hated. And for a moment, she considered turning around, going back to Nick. But she couldn’t. Because this was too important.
 

She stepped into the room. “You have to do it. You can’t let Nick talk you out of it.”

Demetrius stiffened, but Isadora only frowned. “Nick and I both decided that is not something either of us is willing to do. That solution is off the table, permanently.”

Panic pushed Cynna forward. “You don’t understand what’s happening here. Zagreus couldn’t break Nick physically or sexually to gain his god powers, so he let us go. He knew Nick was already interested in me. He’s been waiting for Nick to fall in love with me so he can swoop in and tell Nick how I betrayed him, thinking that will be enough to break him emotionally. But he’s wrong. Nick’s too strong to break from that. But if you die, it’ll push him over the edge. The soul mate bond is stronger than anything. You’ve all said it. I’ve seen what a broken Argonaut looks like. If Nick loses you, it’ll be too much. It’ll—”

“Cynna, stop.”

 
She jerked around at the sound of Nick’s voice. He stood in the archway to the hall, wearing jeans and the same long-sleeved shirt she’d pulled off his chiseled chest only hours ago, staring at her with intense amber eyes that seemed to see right through her.

That panic swelled, making her throat tight and her fingers tingle.

 
“I didn’t know what he had planned.” Perspiration dotted her forehead with every step he took toward her. “I only just figured it out when I remembered what he said to me in my room before I blacked out. I wasn’t in on this stupid plan with him, I swear it. I—”

Nick stopped in front of her and lifted his hand to her face. “I already know that.”

Her gaze searched his face. His very calm, not the least bit angry face. “You do?”

“I figured out his plan a long time ago. I know you weren’t part of it.”

Relief and pain and heartache swirled inside her, and her eyelids fell closed. Gods, she loved this man. Loved him so damn much she was willing to sacrifice everything she wanted to keep him safe.

Forcing herself to turn away, she looked toward Isadora, who’d pushed to her feet and was watching their conversation with interest. Demetrius stood behind her, holding the baby.

“You have to do whatever you need to do so you don’t die and he doesn’t break,” Cynna said to the queen. “I don’t care about the consequences. None of you should.”

“Cynna.” Pity filled Isadora’s chocolate eyes. “I know you’re upset, but Nick and I being together is not the answer. We’ve already discussed it. Maybe if we weren’t already a family. Maybe if this wasn’t all so intertwined things would be different, but—”

“Oh, fuck family.” Cynna threw her arm out to the side. “What does family have to do with anything? This is about Krónos and what he’ll do with Nick once he breaks him and—”