TWISTED (Eternal Guardians Book 7) (47 page)

He just didn’t know how yet.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

N
ick pulled his blade from the chest of the daemon he’d just taken down, whipped around, and decapitated the beast, then turned to look for Cynna as the body fell to the hard ground.

Dammit, he’d told her to stay close. He swiped the sweat out of his eyes and scanned the battlefield, searching for her. Panic reformed beneath his ribs when he couldn’t find her. Argonauts, soldiers, and any able-bodied volunteers the castle had been able to round up clashed with satyrs and daemons in the moonlight outside the city walls, but they were losing the battle. It was only a matter of time before the monsters broke through the gates. And this was only the first wave. Hades and Zagreus—wherever the fuckers might be—hadn’t even unleashed the brunt of their armies yet.

His gaze found Zander, sinking his blade deep into a satyr’s belly; Demetrius battling two daemons, both as big as him; Theron rolling across the ground, then lurching to his feet behind a satyr, grabbing him by the throat, and using his blade to slice the beast’s throat open wide. But he still couldn’t find Cynna. She’d been beside him only minutes ago. When that satyr had charged him from the back and knocked him to the ground.

Something whirred through the air near his head. His instincts kicked in. He ducked, missing being decapitated himself, then swiveled and sank his sword into the back of another daemon. The daemon went down on all fours. Nick jerked his blade back and was just about to chop the fucker’s head off when his sensitive hearing picked up a high-pitched yelp, followed by a growl somewhere off to his right.

 
“Cynna…”

He sprinted over the small rise and spotted her, forty yards away, swinging her blade with both hands while a satyr ducked and rolled, then kicked her leg out from under her.

She hit the ground with a grunt.
 

The satyr circled around her and growled. “Now who knows more about the people of this world,
Mistress
?” He nodded down at her, his lips turning in a nasty sneer. “Look at you. You’re nothing but Zagreus’s hired slut.”

Fury erupted across Cynna’s face. She grasped her blade and scrambled to her feet. Tendrils of hair fell over her eyes. Her forehead was covered by a sheen of sweat. Her pants and boots caked with mud. But she didn’t seem to notice or care. Holding the blade in front of her, she stepped to the side, moving with the satyr. “Better to be a hired slut than a bitch who can’t follow a simple order. Tell me, Lykos. How’s that wound in your belly? Did it heal yet? I bet Zagreus was thrilled when you showed up looking like a stuck pig thanks to the female you were clearly told to let go.”

“Why, you little cunt.” The satyr’s eyes blazed, and he lifted his weapon. “It’s way past time someone taught you a lesson.”

The satyr charged, and Nick’s heart lurched into his throat as Cynna stepped back and her blade clanged against the satyr’s.

He’d never reach her in time. Not unless he flashed.

He didn’t think; he reacted. Power surged through his limbs. He felt his body flying. When his feet hit solid ground behind the satyr, he opened his eyes to find the beast on his knees, and Cynna standing over him, her blade sunk deep into his chest.

Blood splattered across her cheek. She shoved the blade deeper, making the monster howl. “I’ve already learned my lesson. And I’m not your mistress. Not anymore.”

 
The satyr fell back onto the ground and coughed up blood. Nick kicked the weapon away from the beast and stalked toward Cynna. Grasping her around the waist while the battle raged on the other side of the small hill, he pulled her close and kissed her hard. “I couldn’t see you. Don’t scare me like that again.”

She sagged when he released her. “I didn’t exactly have a choice. This fucker was about to gut a kid who has no business being out here.”

Nick knew exactly who she was talking about. A youngling, no more than twelve, who’d been thrown into the battle by some asshole Nick wished he could find and throttle.
 

“You won’t win this,” the satyr rasped from the ground.

Nick glanced down. Blood seeped from the satyr’s wounds, pooled at the corners of his mouth, and stained his grotesque body.

“They haven’t even started yet.” The beast coughed, and even more blood sputtered from his mouth. Then the motherfucker looked at Nick and grinned. “You’ll never be as strong as Zagreus. He’ll break you yet. And every single soul in this realm. He and Hades won’t be happy with just you. They’ll win. Wait and see.”

The dark energy surged to the surface, coloring Nick’s vision red, and he lurched toward the satyr, but Cynna grasped his arm and pulled him back.

“Don’t. He’s not worth it. Look.” She nodded toward the satyr, who sputtered one more time, then went still, his lifeless eyes staring up at the stars.

But Nick didn’t care that the beast was dead. All he could focus on was the fact that the satyr was right. They were outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and as soon as those city gates gave, they wouldn’t be able to stop Hades’s and Zagreus’s armies from sweeping over the land.
 

Cynna grasped Nick’s arms and turned him to face her. “He’s wrong. Do you hear me? You’re stronger than Zagreus; you always were. I know it. Hades knows it. Even Zagreus knows it. That’s why he hates you so much. Because you conquered the darkness, which is something he could never do.” Her hands tightened around his arms. “This isn’t over. We won’t let it be.”

The clouds parted above, spilling moonlight over her face. And as Nick stared down at her, awe and love swept through him. She always knew exactly what he needed, sometimes even before he did, and he would forever draw courage from that. But she was wrong this time. This battle would be over in a matter of minutes the way it was heading.

She picked up her blade and motioned him to follow her up the hill. Reluctantly, he did, but as they climbed to the top of the small ridge, part of him wished he could just give in to all the darkness so his people could use it to their advantage.

They stopped at the crest, and his gaze swept over the battlefield. Bodies littered the ground. Blood and dirt stained hands and arms and legs and clothing. The clash of weapon against weapon echoed through the darkness. As did grunts, growls, and cries of agony. Of pain. Of death.
 

“Look.” Cynna pointed toward Orpheus, swinging out with his blade, taking down a daemon, then a satyr, and finally another daemon as if they were nothing but paper dolls. “See? This isn’t finished.”

No, but as Nick took it all in, he suddenly knew how it could be.

A surge of energy, of hope rushed through him. “I can stop this.”

Cynna looked over. “How?”

“I need to find Skyla.” He scanned the battle once more, his feet already dragging him down the hill.
 

“Nick. Wait.”

He spotted the Siren, fifteen yards from Orpheus, lifting her bow and releasing an arrow dead center into a satyr’s chest. A daemon bared its fangs and lunged for her. Skyla lowered the bow with her left hand, reached for the dagger from her hip, and whirled, her blonde hair flying as she sliced the monster across the jugular.
 

“Skyla!” Nick shoved a satyr to the ground, stabbed him through the heart with his sword, stepped over him and sliced out again, taking down another charging from his right. It was like swimming through a sea of bodies. Every time he’d get by one, another would appear. When he finally reached her, Skyla was as breathless as him. She kicked a dead satyr to the ground and swiped her bloody forearm across her brow.
 

“I need you to get me to Olympus,” Nick told her.

“Why?”
 

“Because Zeus will know how to unleash my powers. I can’t do it on my own.”

“
What
?” Cynna’s voice lifted at Nick’s back. Nick turned to her. Damp hair stuck to her temples, droplets of sweat slid down her neck, and her jacket was ripped at the shoulder and shredded along one side. But her eyes were wide and frightened. More scared than he’d ever seen them. “No.”

“I have to go, Cynna. It’s the only way we stand a chance. We don’t have enough manpower. You said so yourself.”

“What about Krónos?” Skyla asked. “If you release your powers, won’t that free him?”

In theory, yeah. But Nick knew deep inside that wasn’t going to happen. Not this time. Because this was his choice. It wasn’t being forced upon him. He wasn’t breaking, he was accepting. “I can control it.”

Skyla stared at him several seconds, her green eyes searching his features as if looking for truth. Abruptly, she swiveled away. “Orpheus!”

Orpheus kicked the last of a group of daemons he’d been fighting. The beast growled and lunged forward. Ducking under the monster’s arm, Orpheus whirled around and stabbed the daemon through the back. The beast dropped to the ground. Orpheus glared down at the limp body. “I told you to stay down, motherfucker.”

“Orpheus!” Skyla fought her way to her mate. Nick and Cynna followed. Orpheus looked up at the sound of Skyla’s voice, his expression instantly morphing to concern.

He met her halfway, in a section of ground littered with bodies. The battle raged behind them, but they’d beaten back most of the monsters in this small area, and for the moment they could breathe.

Orpheus grabbed Skyla by the forearm as soon as he reached her. “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Her fingers slid along his arm. “I’m taking Nick to Olympus.”

“
What?
” Orpheus’s eyes widened, mimicking Cynna’s reaction. “No.”

“He’s right,” Skyla told her mate. “It’s the only way. Nick has the power to stop this. He just has to be able to release it.”

Orpheus’s gaze shot past Skyla and locked on Nick. “I’ll take him.”

“No,” Skyla said.

“I know the way as well as you, Siren. Zeus and Athena are still pissed you left the Siren order. You’re not safe on Olympus.”

“Fuck Zeus,” Skyla snapped. “There’s no guarantee he’ll even help Nick, and if he doesn’t, we still need more fighters. Athena hates Zagreus more than she hates me right now. His satyrs have been screwing with the Sirens for years. I can rally my sisters, you can’t. Athena will agree to it. She won’t be able to pass up the opportunity to destroy Zagreus’s army, but only if
I
convince her.”

Indecision crossed Orpheus’s face. Seconds ticked by in agonizing silence. Then his eyes darkened, and he grasped Skyla hard, pulling her against his chest. “You better fucking come back. Do you hear me? I’m not losing you to the gods again.”

“I’ll be back.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I promise. I promise,” she said stronger.

“This is a stupid plan,” Cynna said at Nick’s side. “Zeus will try to take your powers for himself.”

“Well, he can’t have them.” He turned to her. “You were right. I can control it. I can control it, because you showed me how.”

Her eyes softened. “I won’t let him break you.”

“No, you won’t.” He sheathed his sword at his back. “Because you’re not going.”

“What? Why not? You’ll need me there more than ev—”

“You were right about something else, Cynna.” Nick reached for her arms. “I am a leader, whether I want to be one or not. It’s who I am. I should have been with my people tonight instead of here, but I couldn’t go because I brought this nightmare to them. And because of that, I have to be the one to stop it. But I can’t be in two places at once. They still need someone strong to lead them. Someone who understands strategy and how the gods think. And I need it to be someone who’s not going to quit on them. No matter what. I need it to be you.”

“I…” Her gaze darted around, then shot back to his face. “I’m not a half-breed.”

“Race doesn’t matter. You know that. The measure of a person’s strength isn’t what they were born into but what they become. And you, Cynna. You’re the strongest person I know. You understand what it means to be a refugee. To be alone. That’s the definition of my people. That’s us.”

She stared up at him in the moonlight. And slowly, tears filled her eyes. Tears he felt in his own eyes. “You’re not coming back, are you?”

“I don’t know.” His heart squeezed so hard, pain echoed everywhere. “I don’t know what Zeus will do. But I have to try. I can’t stand back and watch everyone die because of me.”