Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8)

by Elisabeth Naughton

  “One of us has to.”

  She jerked free of his hold and sprinted across the temple. A harpy screeched and dove toward her, but Elysia ducked behind a column before the monster could reach her.

  Damon jerked to his knees. And something in the center of his chest condensed, finally kicking his ass into gear. “No. Godsdammit. Elysia!”

  She darted behind the statue as the three harpies shrieked and circled inside the temple. Grasping the back of the statue, Elysia began to climb.

  Damon’s gaze darted to the floor, searching for something he could use to buy her more time. He spotted a broken piece of marble as large as his fist.

  He slid across the floor, grasped it in his palm, and jumped to his feet. “Hey!”

  The harpy closest to Elysia jerked her head his way. Damon yanked his arm back and chucked the stone at the beast as hard as he could.

  The rock hit the monster in the side. It yelped and flapped its wings as it tumbled through the air toward the floor of the temple. At the last second, it regained its strength, screeched again, and darted toward Elysia.

  Elysia reached the middle of the statue and pulled the sword from the statue’s hand. “Damon!”

  He raced toward her. She dropped the sword and darted around the other side of the sculpture. Damon caught the hilt of the blade in his hand just as another harpy spotted him and charged. Swinging out with the sword as the second harpy reached him, he hoped like hell there was still some sharpness to the blade. The blade made contact with the beast’s wing. The harpy screamed. Feathers flew up into the air. Something whirred over Damon’s head. The harpy Damon had just hit sailed through the temple and out through the opening in the ceiling, one wing barely flapping.

  Another whir echoed above, followed by a screech that brought Damon around. He watched an arrow strike a harpy dead in the chest. It flapped once and dropped to the floor of the temple with a thunk.

  Shocked, Damon swiveled and looked up at the statue of Athena where Elysia stood on the platform, the bow poised perfectly in her arms, an arrow at the ready, her gaze locked on the third and final monster circling the temple.

  Its blood-red eyes locked on Elysia. On a long screech, the beast tucked its wings and dove straight for her. Damon’s pulse raced, pushing his legs into gear. He darted toward the pedestal of the statue to help her, but she was fifteen feet above him. The harpy would reach her long before he could. It would—

  Elysia followed the flight of the harpy with the tip of the arrow. And just as the monster spread its wings and screamed for the kill, Elysia released the arrow.

  The arrow struck the beast right between the eyes. The monster never even saw it coming. It dropped to the ground without another sound.

  Damon stared wide-eyed at the female—no, the warrior—who’d just saved both their asses.

  A beaming smile broke across Elysia’s lips as she climbed down Athena’s statue and dropped to her bare feet. “Did you see that? Did you see what I just did?”

  “How did you do that?” He hadn’t taught her that. None of the Siren trainers had taught her that. Three days ago when he’d worked with her after hours, she’d barely been able to ricochet an arrow off the trunk of a tree. There was no way the female he’d tutored in that meadow late at night could ever have been able to nail a moving target between the eyes.

  “I don’t know,” she said in an excited voice. “I just felt this calm come over me. I knew what I had to do, and I did it. Wow. Did you see me? I was good. Wasn’t I good?” She looked down at the bow still in her hand as if she’d found a new pet.

  But all Damon knew was that she could have been killed. Because of him. Because he’d brought her here. He’d put her in danger. He’d risked her life when he was supposed to be the one protecting her.

  He dropped the sword, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her hard against his chest. “This won’t happen again.”

  “Which part?” she squeaked.

  Realizing he was crushing her, he eased his hold, but he still didn’t let go.

  “The sex or the fighting?” she asked. “Because I rocked both.” Her lips curled into a smile against his shoulder. “I should definitely come here again.”

  Fear whipped through Damon. Gripping her shoulders, he pushed her back. “No.”

  Her brow lifted. “No?”

  He wasn’t making sense, even to himself. He knew he was acting like a complete loon. But the only thing he could think about was the moment that harpy had been ready to kill her and how helpless he’d been to stand there and watch.

  Grasping her hand, he pulled her toward the front of the temple. “We’re leaving.”

  She jerked back on his grip, but he didn’t release her. Not even when they hit the steps outside and he dragged her onto the hard, cold ground.

  “Drop the bow.”

  Defiance flashed in Elysia’s dark eyes. A rebellious confidence he hadn’t seen from her before. She tucked the bow over her shoulder. “No.”

  “We’re leaving this place, and you can’t take it with you.”

  She pushed the bow to her back. “Oh, I’m keeping it.”

  Down the hillside, another scream echoed up from the trees, telling Damon they were out of time. “Fine. Give me your hands.”

  Her eyes narrowed, but she slid her palms along his. “What’s going on, Damon? What happened to you in there?”

  Damon didn’t know. And he couldn’t think when she was close like this. Couldn’t focus when sparks of heat and electricity were skipping across his skin from just the simple contact. Especially when he knew she was at the root of everything.

  He closed his fingers around hers and pictured the field outside the Siren compound.

  “Talk to me,” she said softly.

  He wanted to, but he couldn’t. Couldn’t because they were already flashing back to Olympus. And because he still didn’t know what the hell he was going to say to her when they arrived.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Things are not going as planned,” the king of the gods grumbled.

  From her office window, Athena glared down at the training field, barely listening to Zeus at her back. She zeroed in on Elysia swinging a wooden sword she’d barely been able to hold days ago with the skill of Athena’s best Sirens. Hooking her leg around the Amazon recruit she was sparring, the Argolean princess dropped the larger female to the ground. Before the Amazon could respond, the tip of Elysia’s training sword poised for the kill at the Amazon’s throat.

  The Amazon had been the most promising of all the recruits in the training class so far, and Elysia—the brunette embarrassment to the class—had just bested her. In fact, she’d bested everyone since she’d come back from her night on Pandora four days before.

  “Did you hear me?” Zeus asked with an irritated clip in his voice. “We have a problem. We need to do something drastic. And fast.”

  Fury burned deep in Athena’s gut as she watched Elysia hold her hand out to the Amazon and help the other recruit to her feet. She could think of something drastic. A poisoned arrow straight to Elysia’s heart would take care of their so-called problem.

  “Athena,” Zeus said louder.

  “She needs to be punished. Serpents in her hair would be a good start.”

  “You’re not turning her into a gorgon.”

  Athena turned fiery eyes toward her father. “She fucked Aphrodite’s man whore in my temple. She stole some of my powers.” Holding her hand toward the window, she added, “She’s no mighty warrior. She’s a conniving little bitch of a thief who needs to be destroyed.”

  Zeus pushed away from Athena’s desk where he’d been leaning and loomed over his daughter. Soulless, empty, black eyes locked on hers. “You will not touch her. She is the key to our plan. Without her, everything we’ve worked for the last twenty-five years is ruined.”

  Right now, Athena didn’t care about their little plan. All she cared about was revenge. “But—”

  “But not
hing.” Zeus’s voice boomed through her office on the top floor of Siren Headquarters. “You’re not to go after her now. She will suffer in the end. When we have our prize, then you can relish in the knowledge that she played a part in destroying her world.”

  Athena ground her teeth. That wouldn’t be enough. She wanted the bitch to suffer now, to know not only heartache but unending agony and pain. Athena wasn’t stupid enough to cross the king of the gods to make that happen today, but after he had what he wanted… Then she’d find a way to turn that bitch into a gorgon.

  “So what’s the big problem?” Athena folded her arms over her chest. “They fucked. In my temple. You should be happy about that.”

  Zeus pinned her with an irritated look. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your temple. Sex was supposed to bring them closer together. Instead, it’s pushed them apart. He’s avoiding her. He’s skipped their last three seduction sessions.”

  Athena’s jaw locked again, but she didn’t respond to her father’s snarky comment. She knew Damon was avoiding Elysia. She’d gotten a sharp little thrill over the fact Aphrodite’s boy toy had rejected the bitch. She wanted him to go on rejecting her. “I don’t see the problem. He can’t avoid her forever. And if he tries, I can threaten him with the pit. He doesn’t like that place.”

  “We don’t have time for your stupid pit. This process is already taking too long as it is. Assign a new seduction trainer to her. Tonight. That should light a fire under his ass.”

  Athena’s eyes widened, and she dropped her arms to her sides. “But that is not what we agreed to.” And it wouldn’t prolong the bitch’s suffering now.

  Zeus moved for the door. “Our agreement was just revised. Everything hinges on what he does next. And I’m tired of waiting.” He pulled the door open and sent Athena one last scathing look. “Do it tonight, or I’ll send my Sirenum Scorpoli to destroy all your temples, everywhere in the human realm. Then you won’t have to worry about anyone fucking on your sacred ground.”

  The door slammed shut behind him, and Athena bit down hard as she curled her hands into fists at her sides. The Sirenum Scorpoli were the best of the Sirens, Zeus’s secret band of warriors who carried out his most devious plans. They were also completely out of her control. Athena had no doubt Zeus would follow through with his threat and have them destroy her temples if she didn’t comply with his orders. And if that happened, she wouldn’t just lose a little power, she’d lose all the power she gained from the humans who still worshipped her around the world.

  She couldn’t afford for that to happen. Which meant she had to spur Damon into action. And that meant giving that bitch exactly what she wanted—the male she’d clearly fallen for.

  Her jaw clenched harder, and as she turned her narrowed gaze back to the training field, she told herself to be patient. Zeus didn’t want her to go after the bitch now, but he hadn’t said a word about later. Once he had what he wanted, Athena would find a way to make Elysia pay.

  A smile slinked across her face. She’d find a writhing, snapping, slithering way to make the little bitch pay.

  Damon paced up and back on the gravel path in the dark outside the Hall of Seduction.

  Swiping a hand across his jaw, he told himself to stop dicking around and go in there, but he couldn’t seem to make his feet listen to his brain.

  He hadn’t seen Elysia in four days. He’d skipped their sessions in the evening and avoided her in the training field during the day, arriving late and leaving early so she couldn’t intercept him, choosing to work with recruits as far from her on the field as possible, even going so far as to avoid any kind of eye contact.

  He knew he was being a dick. He knew she had to be pissed. Knew he owed her an explanation, but he still had no idea what to tell her. That pressure in his chest hadn’t let up since they’d been back at the Siren compound. It had only gotten worse. And on top of that, the damn voice whispering, “She’s yours,” was only getting more demanding, pushing him to the point of wanting to scream.

  The door to the hall opened, and a flood of light spilled into the darkness, illuminating the white rocks on the path in front of Damon. He stopped, hoping whoever it was would just pass him by. Feminine laughter met his ears, followed by a deep male voice.

  Erebus. Damon turned the other direction, intent on rounding the corner of the building so they didn’t spot him.

  “Damon!”

  Shit. Too late.

  Damon turned and lifted his hand in a halfhearted wave. “Hey.”

  The door to the hall snapped closed, and gravel crunched as Erebus pulled the female with him to a stop. “What are you doing here?” Erebus asked.

  Rays of moonlight illuminated the path, Erebus’s dark skin, and the recruit’s blonde hair.

  “Just heading in,” Damon lied. “I got hung up with some paperwork.”

  Sera and Erebus exchanged worried glances, and foreboding rushed down Damon’s spine.

  “Why?” Damon looked between the two. “Where are you headed?”

  “For a walk.” Erebus’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you working with tonight?”

  “Elysia. Hopefully she didn’t fall asleep waiting for me.” He forced a smile he didn’t feel. Knew it fell flat when Erebus and Sera exchanged nervous looks once more.

  Damon’s stomach tightened. “Okay, you two. What’s going on?”

  Sera pulled her gaze from Erebus’s and met Damon’s. “Elysia was assigned to a different seduction trainer. I thought you knew that.”

  “She was what?” Panic ignited in the center of Damon’s chest.

  Worry wrinkled Sera’s brow. “She told me earlier today that you hadn’t shown up the last few nights. I guess Athena got tired of waiting for you and—”

  Damon pushed past both of them and bolted for the door to the hall. At Damon’s back, Erebus muttered, “What the hell was that about?” but Damon didn’t stick around to hear Sera’s response.

  She’s mine…

  He sprinted down the hall to the room he and Elysia had been assigned and yanked the door open. Candlelight flickered over the walls, and the scent of some kind of musky flower filled the air. Fabric rustled, followed by Elysia’s startled voice, gasping, “Damon.”

  Several things registered at once: the half-empty wineglasses on the nightstand, a fire crackling in the stone hearth, the dark-haired male leaning over Elysia where she sat on the edge of the bed, and her dress—not the sweet sundress style she’d been wearing the last few times he’d seen her, but something low cut, tight, and revealing. Revealing her body not to him but to another male, one Damon recognized as a trainer.

  A roar grew in Damon’s head. A roar that drowned out everything else. A roar that colored his vision red.

  “Damon?” Silky brown tendrils fell over Elysia’s shoulder as she pushed to her feet—her stiletto-clad, wobbly feet. But this time when she said his name, it didn’t sound shocked. It sounded a little bit scared.

  Petros, a mortal who answered to Apollo, the god of war, when he wasn’t working with the Siren recruits, rose beside her. “Dude. This isn’t your room anym—”

  Damon lunged and shoved his fist into Petros’s jaw. Petros sailed back and hit the wall. Elysia yelped.

  Petros stumbled to his feet and rubbed his jaw. “What the hell, Damon?”

  Damon barely heard him. Grasping the male by the shirtfront, he shoved him up against the wall and growled, “She’s mine. If you touch her again, you’re fucking dead. Do you hear me?”

  “Damon!” Elysia screamed.

  Petros’s green eyes grew wide with their own fury. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “You’re what’s wrong with me, asshole,” Damon growled.

  “Damon!” Elysia grabbed at his arm and pulled hard, jerking him back a step. “Let go of him.”

  Damon released Petros’s shirt. Breathing heavily, Petros swiped at his bloody lip with the back of his hand. “Holy hell, man. She’s just a recruit. You’re losing your s
hit over a fucking recruit who means nothing.”

  The roar sounded again. And Damon lurched toward Petros, but Elysia darted in front of him and pushed her hands against Damon’s chest, holding him back.

  “Go,” she yelled at Petros. “Get out of here.”

  Petros lifted his chest. “I can kick his ass.”

  The roar sounded louder, and Damon’s muscles flexed.

  “No.” Elysia pushed harder, keeping Damon back from the knock-down, drag-out fight he craved.

  Petros glanced once at her and then at Damon. “I don’t need this shit.” Sidestepping his way to the door, he shook his head. “You’re going down for this, buddy.”

  “Go,” Elysia yelled over her shoulder, her hands still pressed hard against Damon’s chest. “Get out of here.”

  “Fucking lost it,” Petros muttered, exiting the room.

  The door snapped closed, but the red haze lingered, only dulling at the edges as Elysia dropped her hands and stared at him with both horror and shock in her pretty chocolate eyes.

  “What in Hades was that?” she snapped. “You had no reason to go after him like that.”

  No reason? No reason?

  The red haze sharpened, and this time when the familiar voice he’d been hearing in his head all week whispered, “She’s yours,” Damon didn’t ignore it.

  Fuck no reason.

  He flipped the table upside down. Glass shattered. Wine splashed across the floor. Elysia gasped, but that didn’t stop him. Grasping her hand, he shoved the door open and jerked her out of the room.

  “Damon.” She fumbled in her heels, trying to keep up. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”

  He hit the door at the end of the hall with his shoulder. Cool night air washed around him as he yanked her outside into the dark. She yelped and stumbled. Before she could hit the ground, he swept her up in his arms and tossed her over his shoulder.

  “Put me down.” Her fist landed hard against his spine as he crossed the grass and moved farther away from the buildings. “Godsdammit. Put me down right this second.”