Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8)

by Elisabeth Naughton

  “He doesn’t remember you, Ari.”

  Elysia’s voice drifted up to his ears, and Cerek looked down to see her standing beside him, her soft fingers hovering over the strange markings on his arm. He drew in her honeysuckle scent, let it filter into his soul, and relaxed little by little, knowing she was close.

  “What do you mean he doesn’t remember me?”

  Footsteps sounded on the platform, and Cerek sensed the third Argonaut, the one with the long dark hair, move up beside Elysia’s father, but all he could focus on was her. On her calming presence, on the fact she hadn’t left him, on her silky fingers against his skin and the way he wanted her entire body pressed against his as it had been only hours ago in the sand.

  “Zeus wiped his memories. He doesn’t remember anything before his time on Olympus. The markings didn’t appear on his arms until we arrived in the human realm. He didn’t even know he was an Argonaut until very recently.”

  “I don’t understand.” Questions swirled in Ari’s mismatched eyes as he looked from Elysia to Cerek and back again. “Then how did the two of you—”

  “I recognized him,” Elysia said quickly. “He was one of the Siren trainers”—she glanced over at her father—“in the field. Archery and combat. That kind of thing. As soon as I saw him, I knew who he was.”

  Her fingers dug into Cerek’s arm, and his own confusion grew as he looked down at her. She was lying. She hadn’t recognized him. She’d only just figured out who he was when she’d seen the markings appear on his arms. And he’d trained her in a helluva lot more than just archery and combat.

  “We both knew we weren’t supposed to be there,” she went on, “so we helped each other escape.” Her gaze remained fixed on her father. “So there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

  Ari glanced over his shoulder toward the long-haired Argonaut, the one Cerek instinctively guessed was some kind of leader, and the two exchanged puzzled looks. But Elysia’s father’s gaze was still hard and appraising as it hovered on Cerek, and Cerek sensed the male had already guessed what other skills Cerek had trained Elysia in. Or, if he was being accurate, what skills she’d trained him in.

  The long-haired Argonaut turned his gaze toward Elysia’s father. “Demetrius?”

  Demetrius’s jaw clenched. “Elysia, come with me.”

  “Patéras.” Panic filled her voice. “You have to believe me.”

  Demetrius held out his hand. “Come.” But still he didn’t look toward his daughter. He only continued to watch Cerek the way a predator watches its prey just before it strikes. “Your mother will want to see you.”

  “Go with him,” Ari said quietly. “We’ll take care of Cerek.”

  Elysia cast a worried look Cerek’s way. Indecision brimmed in her dark eyes. “I’ll find you,” she whispered.

  Her fingertips released his arm, and she stepped away. Cerek’s stomach twisted hard, because she was the only thing familiar in this place, the only thing that made sense, and he couldn’t let her go. “Emmoní…”

  He reached for her, but Ari and the long-haired Argonaut both moved in his way, blocking his view of her.

  “It’s okay,” Ari said, lifting his arms in a nonthreatening way. “She’s just going to the castle to see her mother. This is Theron. He’s the leader of the Argonauts. You’ve got nothing to be afraid of.”

  Footsteps sounded on the stairs, followed by soft words Cerek couldn’t quite make out fading in the distance. His muscles tensed. He tried to look past the two Argonauts to see where Elysia was going, but her father had already whisked her out of the room.

  “We need Callia to take a look at him,” Theron was saying. “If Zeus really did block his memories, maybe she can find a way to bring them back.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Ari replied. “Is she at home?”

  “No, she’s at the castle. The sisters were having dinner together tonight.”

  “Let’s take him there, then.”

  Cerek’s attention snapped back to the males. They were taking him to the castle—wherever that was. To the same place Elysia’s father had taken her?

  “I know this is all confusing, yios,” Ari said. “But hopefully we can get it sorted out quickly. I’m just glad you’re home. You have no idea how happy I am that you’re home.”

  Cerek stared at the male Elysia had said was his father. Still nothing familiar passed through him. And Demetrius’s words…dark magic…floated in his head.

  Energy tingled all through his limbs again, some unseen force urging him forward. A tiny voice in the back of his head warned whatever it was couldn’t be good, but he ignored it and this time didn’t fight the pull.

  It was tugging him in the same direction Elysia had disappeared. And right now, he was determined to follow it. And her.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Oh, my darling.” Elysia’s mother held her in a tight embrace, one that left Elysia feeling safe and protected, just as she’d felt when she was young. “We’ve been so worried. I can’t believe you’re here.”

  Isadora drew back, framed Elysia’s face with her hands, and smiled as tears filled her warm brown eyes. She was roughly the same height as Elysia, and their features were eerily similar save their hair color, which Elysia got from her father, “I just can’t believe you’re here.”

  She pulled Elysia in for another hug, and Elysia blinked back her own tears. She hadn’t realized just how much she missed home until she’d been standing in the middle of her parents’ suite, surrounded by pictures of their family, looking out at the familiar view of the Olympic Ocean.

  “I still don’t understand how it’s possible,” Isadora said, easing back once more. “When Max returned from Olympus, he said you wouldn’t leave. And now here you are.”

  Unease rolled through Elysia’s belly. “Well, I wanted to come home, but I was worried about putting the rest of you in danger.”

  Her mother’s challenging gaze scanned her face. “What changed your mind?”

  Perspiration dotted Elysia’s forehead. She glanced across the room toward her father, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes locked on his daughter, listening to—no, analyzing—every word she said. “Cerek changed my mind.”

  Demetrius’s jaw hardened.

  Be careful… Elysia’s pulse ticked up. “I couldn’t go with Max because I’d just realized Cerek was there.” Gods, she was so going to Tartarus for lying. “I couldn’t leave without him. Not when I knew so many here would want him back.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Max about Cerek?” Isadora asked. “He could have helped get both of you out of Olympus.”

  Skata. That was a logical question. “Because Cerek didn’t trust me then.”

  Isadora turned to look toward her mate near the window, still watching Elysia like a hawk. And in his dark eyes, Elysia knew what her father was thinking…specifically just how his daughter had convinced a virile male to trust her.

  She swallowed hard and looked back at her mother. “I also didn’t want Max to get caught. The Sirens would have killed him if they’d found him.”

  Isadora brushed the hair back from her daughter’s face. “We didn’t know Max had used Orpheus’s invisibility cloak to gain access to Olympus. Had we known, we wouldn’t have allowed him to risk himself that way. But I have to admit, I was heartbroken when he returned without you.” She clasped Elysia’s hands in her own. “We tried to come up with a plan to come after you, but every one put you and us and our people in danger, and we just couldn’t risk that.”

  Elysia’s throat grew thick. “I know that.”

  Remorse filled Isadora’s eyes. “Do you? Skyla assured us you were safe. If we’d thought you were in any kind of immediate danger, we’d have been there to get you. As it is, your father was on his way to find you tonight. That’s why he was at the Gatehouse when you came through the portal.”

  Elysia’s gaze darted to her father. “You were?” She looked back at her mother. “But…why w
ould you think I was in any kind of danger?”

  “Because you are.” Demetrius pushed away from the wall and stopped at his mate’s side. “You’re not to see that male again.”

  That male.

  His Argonaut kin.

  Cerek.

  Shock rippled through Elysia. She’d expected him to say she was in danger of the Sirens finding her again, not this. “What do you mean I can’t see him? He’s an Argonaut. The Argonauts are always in the castle. Are you planning to lock me up so I can’t ‘see’ him within these walls?”

  A don’t-get-smart-with-me look flashed in her father’s eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  Yes, Elysia knew exactly what he meant. He was so old-fashioned, he couldn’t get over the fact she was still wearing Cerek’s shirt.

  Anger simmered beneath her skin. Regardless of what he thought he knew, he didn’t understand her or Cerek or what had happened between them, and he never would. It wasn’t enough that her parents had tried to bind her without her consent. Now they were telling her who she could and couldn’t be friends with.

  “No, I don’t think I do.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her father. “Explain it to me, patéras. Just so we’re clear.”

  Demetrius’s jaw tightened. “Elysia, I don’t like your to—”

  “It’s been a long night.” Isadora placed a hand on her mate’s chest and sent him a pointed look. “We’re all tired, and I think this conversation would best be put on hold until we’ve each had a chance to rest.”

  Demetrius’s dark eyes held on Elysia, and in his gaze, she saw mistrust. Who was he to mistrust her? He didn’t have a clue what she’d been through these last two months. Or what she’d done to survive.

  “Demetrius?” Isadora said softly.

  Elysia’s father frowned down at his mate and nodded. But not before Elysia caught the look between her parents, the one that said they’d convince Elysia their way was best tomorrow.

  He sighed, and his features shifted from the unbending Argonaut the world knew to the warm and loving father she remembered. “Yes, you’re probably right. We’re all tired.” Crossing toward Elysia, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Get some sleep, angeklos. We’ll talk more tomorrow. And just know that, contrary to what you think right now, I am glad you’re home. I missed you very much.”

  He stepped past Elysia and moved into her parents’ bedroom, closing the door softly at his back.

  “The last few months have not been easy on your father,” Isadora said softly. “He wanted to go after you right away.”

  Elysia knew that, and even though she was still good and ticked, a bit of her animosity trickled away. She recognized that his overprotectiveness came from a place of love even if she didn’t agree with it. Sighing, she dropped her arms. “I get that. But I’m not a child. I just spent two months with the Sirens. Not only that, but I held my own with them.”

  Isadora stepped close and squeezed Elysia’s arms. “I know you’re not a child. You’ve grown into a beautiful and strong gynaíka. And that worries your father even more because now that he has you back, he doesn’t want to lose you again.”

  Elysia frowned. “He’s not going to lose me. The Sirens can’t get into the castle. It’s too heavily guarded. Even if they try to come after me again, I know I’m safe here.”

  “Elysia, your father is worried because I had a vision.”

  “What kind of vision?”

  “About you. In great pain. Betrayed by someone you trust. By someone you love.”

  Elysia’s heart sped up. Her mother couldn’t possibly know she’d fallen in love with Cerek. She’d only just realized that herself. “But…your visions aren’t accurate when it comes to those in your immediate family.”

  “No, they’re not. But this one was very clear. Your father senses there’s something off about Cerek. I haven’t spoken with Cerek yet, but I’ve learned over the years that your father’s intuition is strong. He’s rarely wrong.”

  Elysia’s pulse turned to a roar in her ears. Her father was wrong this time. There was nothing “off” about Cerek. He was not any kind of threat. And she wasn’t about to let her parents convince her otherwise.

  “It’s late,” Isadora said, squeezing Elysia’s shoulders once more. “You should get some rest. Don’t worry. Cerek is with Ari and Callia downstairs. Whatever’s going on with him, they’ll figure it out. In the meantime, just try to get some sleep. Everything will seem brighter in the morning.”

  Elysia wasn’t convinced of that, but she nodded for her mother’s benefit. “Okay.”

  Isadora hugged her again and kissed her forehead. “I love you, angeklos. And I’m so very happy to have you home.” She drew back. “Tonight why don’t you stay with us in your old room?”

  Elysia absolutely did not want to stay in her old room tonight. Though she hadn’t gone far when she’d officially “moved out” at the age of twenty—only to her own suite of rooms across the main corridor—tonight she needed the space. “I think I’d be more comfortable in my own bed, materas. I’m looking forward to sleeping in.”

  “I understand.” Linking her arm with Elysia’s, Isadora walked her toward the suite’s main door. “I’m sure you’re also ready for your own clothing as well.”

  Elysia’s step faltered, and heat rose in her cheeks. “I’m not at all sure what you mean.”

  Isadora stopped at the door and faced her daughter with a knowing, motherly look. “And I’m entirely sure that you do. Be careful, daughter. Some things are not always as they seem. Having been on Olympus, you, of all people, should know that by now.”

  Isadora kissed Elysia’s cheek, then turned into her suite. And, alone, Elysia stared after her mother as her heart beat hard against her breast.

  Some things were exactly as they seemed.

  Her gaze drifted to her door on the far side of the corridor, but she wasn’t tired, and she didn’t want to go into her room. She wanted Cerek. She wanted him and nothing else. And she wasn’t about to let anyone convince her otherwise.

  “Go ahead and put your shirt on, Cerek.” The auburn-haired female Cerek was pretty sure was somehow related to Elysia stepped back from the bed where he sat on the edge and slung the stethoscope around her neck.

  He was never going to get used to people calling him Cerek. The name sounded foreign, strange, so not his name. But he didn’t want to use Damon, and, short of choosing something new, he was stuck. Sitting up so his legs fell over the side of the bed, he told himself he’d get used to it. Eventually.

  “Well?” Across the suite where he’d stood with his arms crossed over his chest while he’d observed the medical exam, Ari stared at the healer with his eerily mismatched eyes. “Did you figure anything out, Callia?”

  Cerek shrugged into the black button-down his father—now there was a title he’d never get used to—had given him when they’d arrived at the castle. He didn’t like being a specimen, and he liked even less that the Argonaut—father or not—wouldn’t let Cerek out of his sight. Especially when all Cerek wanted to do was find Elysia.

  “I don’t think it’s a block,” the healer answered. “It’s as if his memory has been completely wiped. I can’t find anything to access, even if we wanted to.”

  “So he’ll never get his memory back?” Ari asked.

  “No, I’m sorry,” Callia said.

  Across the room, Ari’s jaw tightened. “What else?”

  “Well, I definitely sensed some kind of energy. But I can’t say if it’s dark or light or what it’s related to. If Zeus used witchcraft to wipe his memory, it’s possible I’m picking up lingering elements from that.”

  An image flashed in Cerek’s mind, and his fingers stilled against the button at his chest. A female with fire-red hair, emerald-green eyes, and the body of a seductress, looking down at him as she called him back from the darkness with one word: Damianos.

  “So it’s not dark energy,” Ari said.

  He gave his he
ad a swift shake and resumed buttoning. He was not Damianos. He’d never go by that name again. And he really wanted to find Elysia.

  Callia reached for her healer’s bag from the table to her left. “I honestly can’t say.”

  “Demetrius thinks there’s something wrong with him,” Ari went on. “That he’s a threat.”

  Callia tugged the stethoscope from her neck and placed it in her bag. “Physically, I can tell you he’s in perfect shape. His vitals are good, his heart is strong, he shows no signs of abuse, mentally or physically. As for Demetrius, I don’t know what to tell you. He’s a descendent of Medea. He can sense and use spells. If magic was used to wipe Cerek’s memory, Demetrius could be sensing that himself.” She glanced Cerek’s way. “What do you think? Are you a threat we should be worried about?”

  Cerek’s pulse raced as he stared up at the healer, and that energy pulled at his limbs again, telling him to get up, to go, to search—

  “Cerek?”

  He blinked twice. “Yeah?”

  “I asked how you feel,” the healer said. Her eyes were a different color but shaped so much like Elysia’s, they made him blink twice. “Is there any reason to be worried?”

  Sweat broke out across his spine, and that energy intensified. Yes. there was a reason to be worried, he just couldn’t explain why, even to himself, and he knew these people would never understand if he tried. As for how he felt? Restless. Unsettled. Boxed in. Desperate for Elysia.

  He pushed to his feet. “No reason to worry. I’d like to take a shower if there’s somewhere—”

  “Oh, sure.” Callia crossed the room and opened a door. “Through here.”

  Cerek cast one quick glance at Ari, unsure what to say. This was worse than awkward. When the Argonaut only continued to stare at him, he figured there was nothing he could say. “Thanks,” he said to the healer.

  “I’ll make sure fresh clothes and pajamas are left on the bed,” Callia said as he stepped toward her. “I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

  He was. But he wanted Elysia more than he wanted sleep.