Hunted: An Eternal Guardians Novella

by Elisabeth Naughton

  Her tongue had definitely sharpened in the time she’d been away from him and with the Sirens, a fact he didn’t like. Part of what he’d been most drawn to eighteen months ago was how sweet she’d been.

  He eyed her boots where he’d left them by the side of the bed. Even if she did bolt, she wouldn’t get far in bare feet. He stepped back and held his arm out toward the bathroom door. “Be my guest.”

  She huffed and stepped past him.

  “But, Sera…”

  She paused when she reached the darkened bathroom doorway but didn’t turn to face him. A fact that for some reason only heightened his desire for her.

  “When you come back out,” he said calmly, “we’re going to talk about the real reason you were running. And then we’re going to finish what we started in the tunnels.”

  * * * *

  “We’re going to talk about the real reason you were running...”

  Erebus’s words pounded in Sera’s brain as she closed the bathroom door and leaned back against the solid wood. But it was the second part of his command that made her heart thump even harder. “...then we’re going to finish what we started.”

  There was no way she was finishing anything with him. She’d seen what he’d done to the room out there and knew he was maneuvering her just where he wanted her. Her entire body was already vibrating with the need to feel his touch. She knew if she let him that close she’d melt under the weight of his erotic commands. But more than that, just the fact he’d said anything about the “real reason” she was running was a giant red flag telling her she needed to get as far from the minor god as possible. Because if she melted the way he wanted her to, she didn’t trust herself not to accidentally let the truth slip out. And the second he discovered she’d stolen the medallion from Zeus, any sexy mood he’d had toward her would turn to malice.

  Her fingers shook as she hit the lock on the bathroom door, then darted toward the window. It hadn’t been opened in over twenty years and she had to grit her teeth and pry up on the wood until her fingertips turned white. It finally gave, and she breathed easier as she pushed it up an inch, but as the crack of old wood separating echoed through the bathroom, her anxiety shot through the roof, and she froze.

  She listened, waiting to see if he’d heard it. When nothing but the sound of her own heart pounding met her ears, she let go of the window, rushed to the sink, flipped on the water to drown out any more noise, then moved back to her one shot at freedom.

  Her fingertips burned, and the muscles in her arms ached as she forced the window higher. When it was open far enough for her to crawl through, she pulled herself out and onto the small rock ledge that ran the length of this wing of the ruins.

  Wind whipped her hair around her face. Dusk was just settling in, shrouding everything in an eerie gray light, but she could still make out the waves of the lake crashing against rocks three stories below. And glancing up, she spotted another four stories above her and spires that reached for the darkening sky.

  It had once been an amazing castle. Still could be with a little work. Though she wasn’t sure why it had been completely abandoned after the inhabitants had obviously beaten back their invaders, she told herself that wasn’t her concern. Her only concern now was getting away from Erebus, retrieving the medallion she’d hidden in the woods, and taking it somewhere Zeus and the Olympians could never find it.

  Her stomach tightened as she leaned back against the wall and used her hands to help guide her to her right. The ledge was only six inches wide, and more than once her bare feet stumbled over chipped and broken sections. When she reached another closed window, she slid down the wall until she was crouched on the ledge, reached over and tried to pull the window up. Like the one in her bathroom, though, it was sealed tight. There was no way she could pry it open from out here, not without falling to her death in the process.

  She kept going. Her pulse thumped hard and loud in her ears as she moved faster, hoping and praying that Erebus wouldn’t suddenly realize she’d been gone too long and appear on the ledge beside her.

  Three windows down from the one she’d exited, she finally came to one that was broken, the glass jagged and half-covering the opening. Victory pulsed in her veins. Without shoes or long sleeves, she had nothing to shield herself from the glass, but she figured a few cuts were a small price to pay for freedom.

  She positioned herself in front of the broken window, turned sideways, and gripped the casing on both sides to steady herself. Then she held her breath and shoved the knee of her pants through the rest of the glass.

  A burn spread across her knee and thigh. She knew she’d torn her pants, was fairly certain she’d cut her leg, but she didn’t stop to look. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she knocked the rest of the glass away, then carefully lowered herself into what looked to be a sitting room for another suite.

  The room grew darker with every passing second, but somehow she managed to avoid stepping on shards of glass with her bare feet. Pulse racing, she rushed to the door, pulled it open a crack, and peered out into the dim hallway.

  Nothing moved. No sound met her ears. A golden glow to her right indicated the door to the room Erebus had taken her to was still open, the fire and candles continuing to burn bright.

  She couldn’t go that way. Couldn’t risk his seeing her. She glanced to her left. This castle was huge. There had to be a back set of stairs that led to the main level.

  Deciding that was her best bet, she crept out into the hallway and moved as quietly as she could, stepping over debris littering the space. Something moved in the shadows ahead. Her heart rate spiked again, and she stilled. But when no sound met her ears and nothing else moved, she realized it had to have been some kind of small animal, not Erebus, as she’d feared.

  She didn’t know how long he’d wait before checking the bathroom to see what was taking her so long. Reaching a set of back stairs, she hustled down as quickly as she could. At the main level, she looked around, trying to remember which way they’d come. The castle was surrounded by a lake. Her only hope for escape was to backtrack through the tunnels.

  She pushed her legs into a jog, searching for the stairs that led down. Just remembering those tunnels made her think of the way Erebus had backed her up against the rock wall in the dark, how he’d made her whole body tremble with just a few simple words. He’d always been able to do that to her, and she hated him for that. Hated him even more because her stupid heart was still hung up on the minor god who clearly didn’t feel anything for her besides lust. She’d been nothing to him but another recruit he could use to get his rocks off. He was still trying to use her for that, evidenced by the seduction scene he’d set up in that room upstairs. She was a complete fool for ever thinking he’d cared for her. An even bigger fool for falling for him when she’d known better.

  Disgusted with herself all over again, she found the stairs and hustled to the lowest level. Once there, she stepped over debris in what looked as if it had once been an anteroom, and moved out into the darkened tunnel.

  Her pulse jackknifed. The tunnel was pitch black. When Erebus had first led her into the caves, the cool air moving across her skin from different angles had made her think there were other tunnels jutting off from the main route. Without a light she could be lost down here for weeks. She needed to go back into the ruins. Needed to find a candle of some kind so she could see where she was going. She turned back toward the ruins. The stairs she’d just come down creaked, causing her to freeze.

  “Sera!”

  Erebus’s voice sent her heart straight into her throat. This time there was no hint of seduction in his voice. Only rage.

  Knowing she didn’t have time to find a light, she whipped back toward the darkness of the tunnel, swallowed her fear, and pushed her legs forward. Rocks and debris dug into the soles of her feet, but she ignored the pain. All she could do was hold her hands out in front of her so she wouldn’t slam face-first into a wall. All that mattered now was i
gnoring everything except the instinct echoing in her head to run.

  * * * *

  When Erebus reached the main cavern, he used his heightened sight to search the darkness for Sera. Several tunnels veered off from the main route. She could be in any of them, and though he could see well in the dark, he couldn’t see around twists and turns and through solid rock.

  He stilled and focused on his enhanced hearing. The sound of heavy breaths and the rustle of cloth echoed from the tunnel to his right.

  He darted in that direction, not even questioning if it was her. It was her. It had to be her. No one else was down here in these blasted caves.

  The tunnel curved to the right, then left. He pushed his legs harder, racing around the corners without slowing. This wasn’t the same tunnel they’d used to enter the ruins, and he had no idea how she was moving so fast. It was pitch black and he doubted she had any kind of light. She was being spurred on by pure panic. Panic, he sensed, that had little to do with him and what he wanted to do to her upstairs in that bedroom and everything to do with what Zeus wanted from her.

  Zeus’s intentions swirled in his head as he zigzagged through the cave, ducking under low-hanging rocks. The King of the Gods was nothing if not secretive. If he wanted to terminate Sera for running, he could have ordered Erebus to simply find her and kill her. But he hadn’t. And her panicked reaction now told Erebus there was more going on here than met the eye. More than what he’d been told on Olympus. Way more.

  He passed a small opening that looked like it led to a new tunnel. Something moved in the darkness, and he slowed his steps, wondering if she’d shifted direction and was trying to hide. Bracing one hand on the rocks above, he leaned down to peer through the archway, but saw only more rock. He listened for the sound of her rapid breaths, the beat of her heart, the rustle of fabric that told him she was in there. The cave was silent. Silent but for a faint clicking noise he was sure did not come from her.

  To his right, a flutter of blonde hair caught his attention and then was gone. Ignoring the animal he’d stumbled across, he tore after her. The sound of her labored breaths met his ears along with the thump of her footfalls on the uneven rocks and the roar of blood rushing through her veins.

  His adrenaline surged. He ran faster. And heard the unmistakable sounds of rushing water.

  Motherfucker...

  Running water meant some kind of underground river. Since he couldn’t see any puddles in this cavern, that meant the underground river was below them, accessible through a hole or fracture in the floor ahead. And he’d bet his position as a trainer with the Sirens that she didn’t know what she was about to run straight into.

  Blonde hair flashed ahead of him again. The roar of the water grew louder. He was gaining on her, but not fast enough to stop her. “Sera!”

  Whipped around to look back at him. Gasped. Stumbled when she realized he was closer than she’d thought. A panicked look crossed her features as she twisted away and burst forward.

  The roar of the river grew louder. He reached out to grab her. His fingertips brushed the ends of her silky blonde hair.

  Then she slipped through his fingers and her scream rose up around him.

  Chapter Four

  Erebus skidded to a stop at the edge of the sinkhole and stared down at the rushing river thirty yards below. Sera’s scream was drowned out by a splash of water that echoed in his ears.

  His heart lurched into his throat as he used his enhanced sight to scan the river for any sign of her. Come on, come on, come on...

  The surface of the water broke twenty yards from where she’d gone in, and a gasp echoed up to him.

  He didn’t pause to consider what could be in the river below. Just stepped off the cliff and fell feet first into the frigid liquid. Water bubbled above his head. Something green and totally out of place flashed in the corner of his vision, but he didn’t have time to see what it was. Instinct urged him up toward the surface.

  His head popped out and he sucked in air, treading water as he turned and searched for her. The current was strong, quickly sweeping him downstream. He whipped right and left, scanning the darkness. The sound of labored breaths met his ears. He twisted back around and squinted. Then spotted her clinging to a boulder, fifteen feet away on the edge of the river.

  Relief overwhelmed him, forcing air into his one-size-too-small lungs. He swam toward her, but the swift current slammed his body against the boulder she clung to before he could stop it from happening.

  He grunted. Pain shot up his spine. Ignoring it, he worked his way around the rock to her side, then wrapped an arm around her shivering body and drew her against him. “Agápi? Talk to me.”

  Her eyes were closed. She sagged against the rock. Water dripped from her hair over her face. She opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out. And when her arm slipped from the boulder and slumped into the water, he realized she was losing consciousness. He grasped her before the current could whisk her away.

  “Shit. Stay with me.” He tugged her with him as he climbed out of the water and hauled her up onto the rocky ledge.

  Blood dripped down her temple. Her head lolled to the side. Before he even let go of her, she started to shake, not just a shivering shudder of muscles, but full on tremors that told him she was going into shock.

  Nymphs weren’t immortal, not like the gods—not like him. Her race had been blessed with a long life-span—over five hundred years in most cases—but her body was still fragile and she could definitely die from injuries and hypothermia. Moving quickly, he tugged off his shirt and pants, then went to work stripping her of her clothing. Once she was dressed in nothing but her bra and panties, he pulled her onto his lap so her slim body was pressed up against his chest and he could close his arms and legs around her. As he leaned back against the rock wall for support, he grasped his wet T-shirt and held it against the wound on her head to slow the blood flow.

  “You’re okay, Sera. I’ve got you. I’m going to get you out of here.”

  Long minutes passed where she continued to tremble, and it felt as if his heart had taken up permanent residency in his throat. But slowly, as the heat of his body seeped into hers, her shakes slowly subsided, and she relaxed against him. He took that as a good sign. Lifting the shirt from her wound, he breathed easier when he saw the blood flow had lessened. She was going to have a nice-sized goose egg, but swelling outward from the impact was better than swelling inside the brain, and he knew that was an even better sign.

  His pulse inched down. Glancing at her familiar face resting against his shoulder, he brushed a lock of wet hair back from her cheek, and as he did something warm and sweet slid through his chest. An emotion he hadn’t felt before. A yearning that wasn’t just sexual.

  The feeling was so strong, so foreign, it threw him off kilter. He didn’t have emotions. He was a god who’d learned long ago that emotions were dangerous. And yet... Somehow he recognized the feelings taking up space inside him now had been spawned by fear. Not fear that she was going to drop to her death and that he was going to miss out on the rough, hot sex he’d been envisioning since the moment he’d recognized her in the woods, but fear that something bad would happen to her. That he’d never see her again. That he would lose her.

  Sweat broke out along his forehead, and an odd tingle started in his chest. He told himself it was her heat making him feel weird. Not denial. Not anything else. But even that didn’t sound right, and he had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do next.

  “Sera.” The word was a whisper, a plea, a demand. “Sera, wake up and look at me.” He needed to see her eyes. Needed her to explain what was happening to him. Needed to know if she felt it too.

  She didn’t move. He knew she was breathing. Knew she wasn’t in any real danger. But the danger to him was suddenly all he could focus on. “Agápi. Open your eyes. Look at me, baby.”

  She sighed and snuggled closer. But the reaction didn’t fire him up and make him ache to take her
as he expected. It brought a calm over him that was more unsettling than the fear he’d felt before.

  He didn’t know what was happening. This female was doing something to him he didn’t understand. He needed to get her back upstairs and into a bed. Needed to give her time to rest before he decided whether he was going to go ahead with his seduction plan or haul her back to Zeus without touching her. And he needed to think. Because the only thing he knew for sure at the moment was that he wasn’t ready to let her go. And he had no idea what that meant or how it was going to impact his service to Zeus.

  You can’t take her back to Zeus...

  The thought circled in his mind, unwilling to disappear. He glanced back down at her again, wondering just what the hell was really going on and why Zeus wanted her so bad.

  “It’s female,” a raspy voice said in the darkness.

  Erebus’s head came up, and his adrenaline surged all over again.

  “We haven’t had us a female in forever,” another low voice answered.

  He squinted through the darkness, searching for the source of the voices, and spotted two sets of beady eyes peering out from behind a large boulder. Two sets of gnarled fingers wrapped around the stone. Two sets of claws, digging into the rock.

  Fuck me.

  Kobaloi. The gnome-dwarves who mined and protected Hades’s invisibility ore. Erebus’s gaze shot back to the river, and he easily picked out the spots of green glowing from the bottom of the riverbed that he’d noticed when the water had rushed over his head, but which he’d ignored because he’d been so intent on getting to Sera.

  His jaw clenched down hard at his stupidity. The green glow was the ore, the therillium that powered Hades’s invisibility cap. No wonder this colony was now fucking empty. Because Hades had discovered it sat right over his precious ore. The kobaloi clearly had free run of the ruins. He’d sensed another creature in the tunnels with him when he’d been chasing Sera. While they weren’t particularly dangerous in small clusters, they often congregated in hordes. And while he knew he could fight off two or three or even ten, a thousand gnome-dwarves with razor-sharp teeth and knife-like claws could spell imminent doom for Sera.